Monday, September 30, 2019

The Life of Endangerd Species

I am doing my project on endangered species. In the world there are a lot of endangered species for example: birds, insects, tigers, whales and many more. I have learned many things from this project on how the animals get endangered and ways how to help these animals. I learned that we should recycle because the more trees that we cut down the more homes for animals we demolish. We should all stop hunting animals for pleasure and just watch them have fun for pleasure. Endangered Species means when an animal or a plant of any kind is in danger of extinction for ever and is in danger to never be seen again. An endangered specie can get extinct any time, if it is endangered today it might be extinct tomorrow or extinct in the future. Or it might not happen like that. If you leave it alone and do not harm it, it might have baby†s and have more of its kind. A species is named endangered when of its kind occurs in a low number. About 1000 species in the world are named endangered, or are in threat to be extinct. I never knew that some kinds of birds were in danger. We can help these animals and plants by making laws that you are not allowed to hunt or kill any animal that is in danger of extinction. Only since the 19th century has there been worldwide concern about the case of species in their natural environments. Finally in 1916 they made a law called Migratory Bird Treaty. They had this law in United States, Great Britain, Canada, and later in Mexico. This law was made so that people can not kill animals that are endangered. This law did not work that well because the animals that were endangered were not put in zoo†s. People still killed theses animals not caring that they were in danger of becoming extinct. In 1973 a another law came down where a 100 nations came together and were working together to save endangered species that were being imported and exported. This organization was known as CITES. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The United States Fish and wildlife Service had to assist foreign countries on managing endangered animals. Here is a list of endangered species. This list is only describing a few examples. There were to many animals that were endangered to write about. So I took the most popular animals and decided to write about them. Birds provide several modern examples of how extinction can occur. One of the best known is the passenger pigeon, a species that occurred in greater numbers than any other bird or mammal for which there are records. Passenger pigeons looked very similar to mourning doves, a close relative that is still common. One distinction a requirement for nesting in colonies which finally led to the destruction of the passenger pigeon. The extinction of the passenger pigeon is a commentary on the mistaken belief that if a species occurs in large numbers it is not necessary to be concerned about its welfare. The last member of the species died in 1914. In 1918 the last Carolina parakeet died. This colorful green bird with an orange or yellow head was seen throughout the eastern United States in the 1800s. Parakeets were shot for their beautiful feathers and because they damaged crops. The ivory-billed woodpecker, the largest woodpecker to inhabit North America, was believed to be extinct in the United States, they are also seen in remote areas of the South. The cause of its disappearance is presumed to be the major habitat destruction that resulted from logging of large Southern forests. Ivory-bills required large tracts of land with old trees and were unable to cope with timbering activities. The world's last dusky seaside sparrow died in Florida in June 1987 because its habitat, Florida's coastal salt marsh, was severely depleted. In the early 1990s the spotted owl of the United States Pacific Northwest sparked debate between conservationists concerned with the survival of this threatened animal and the local timber industry workers which were worried in loosing their jobs. About 20 insects, most of them butterflies, are endangered species. Populations of two butterfly species the San Bruno elfin and the mission blue are very few now because they have been killed. The These animals are dying because we walk over were they live, we step on there food, we cut down there homes. FWS is looking after the few butterflies that are left. The recovery plan also provides for research programs designed to understand the requirements of each species so that proper habitat management decisions can be made. More than 90 species of United States fishes, most restricted to specific bodies of water, are in danger of extinction. Most live in deserts of the Southwest, where water is rare. Many species of desert fishes became extinct before protective measures were taken. The desert fishes do not have that much of a chance to live because in the desert when the sun gets hot the water starts to disappear. Now a days the NFW is looking after the fishes that live in the desert. Whales are endangered species too. There are very little whales left in the world. People still go hunting for them when the law says that you can kill them. People use whales for ivory for oil and to make lip stick and more stuff that women wear. More than 300 mammals of the world are recognized as threatened or endangered. These include eight whales, more than two dozen apes and monkeys, and more than 20 deer, as well as leopards, tigers, elephants, and other large mammals whose numbers have been severely reduced by overhunting and habitat destruction. Included among United States mammals that are protected to some degree are the gray wolf, the Florida panther, and the grizzly bear. The 1973 Endangered Species Act officially addressed the issue of why an endangered species of plant or animal should be offered formal protection. As stated in the act, such species â€Å"are of esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to the Nation and its people.† Numerous species are medically or agriculturally significant because of their unique properties or traits. It cannot be predicted when a species might be discovered to be of direct value to humans. Once a species becomes extinct, however, the opportunity is lost forever. As scientists try to solve the twisted network of plant-animal relationships in the natural world, more and more species are discovered to have a necessary, and often unsuspected, dependence on other species. Obviously, if the extinction of one species is permitted through rapid, human-caused activities that do not permit natural adjust and development to occur, certain other species may also be affected. This can result in a â€Å"domino effect† of likely extinction†s. Through breeding programs and introduction of animals into their natural habitats, several species, such as the black-footed ferret, have been brought back from the edge of extinction. Several more species undergoing such programs, such as the California condor, are soon expected to be introduced into the wild and to have similar success. By 1990 the FWS had compiled a list of almost 1,000 species of endangered or threatened animals (of which more than 500 are found only in foreign countries), and some 200 recovery programs were in effect. If fish got extinct than polar bears might get endangered because polar bears prey on fish. They eat the fish to stay alive. The eight whales that are endangered some of them might go extinct because they might eat fish. So if fish go extinct the world would have a lot of changes. If some different kind of insects go extinct than other kinds of insects would go extinct because insects eat insects. And some birds might go endangered because birds eat insects. If birds go endangered or get extinct than other animals that eat birds might get endangered because they have nothing to eat. It would go like a circle because meat eating animals will get endangered. In order to save endangered species hunting should be banned. There should be no trades in furs and animal skin. The animals natural habitat should not be destroyed. These animals should be allowed to be free to do as they please! There should also be harsh fines for anyone who even tries to kill an endangered specie. The government should also set up some fund for endangered species where when money is needed to preserve the land or habitat of the endangered animals there will be money available to use. Money should also be invested in research funds which would try to find solutions in preserving these animals. From my point of view if scientists could prefect coloning they can then use that method to protect endangered species from becoming instinct! However there needs to be more research done in this section before anyone can go along with this solution!

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Honesty In Advertising? Insanity!

Advertising is surely the most common art we see today. We have to go out of our way to see offensive movies or works of fine art, but advertising images are everywhere. We see them whether we want to or not, on billboards as we drive to work, on the walls of stores when we shop, in magazines and newspapers, on television, and on the products we use. We even get them in the mail. Everything gets advertised. Advertising industry is the biggest one today. But what is happening inside of advertising world? â€Å"The characters in this film do not depict people with real mental illness.Mental illness is a serious disease that affects millions of people. † Thus begins †Crazy People†, schizophrenic comedy that is very funny when it's a satire on modern advertising. Film talks about two types of nut cases: ones that are committed to institutions and the others who think they are normal and live on the other side of the wall. There are some targets of satire throughout a f ilm. First, this is the job itself and way of living of admen. †Let's face it, Steve,† says Emory Leeson, main character of the film to his associate, †you and I lie for a living. † Emory is a Madison Avenue burned-out adman suffering a breakdown.His wife has walked out of their suburban house, taking the furniture with her. Emory is suffering from writer's block. †Novelists have writer's block,† screams his partner, Steve. †All you do is write little slogans to go with the pictures. † (Canby) In a manic burst of energy, Emory creates a dozen new ad campaigns for everything from Volvo (†Boxy but good†) to United Airlines (†Most of our passengers get there alive†). He calls it †truth in advertising. † Actually, the ads are not so much truthful as they are crass. But Leeson feels they will tap into the everyday mindset of the common man.This is funny stuff, but Emory’s boss doesn't think so. Ste ve gently carts him away to a private mental hospital. Another target of satirizing is the advertising itself. Whether it is truthful or dishonest, consumer †eats† catchy slogans. You can say the right thing about a product and nobody will listen. You've got to say it in such a way that people will feel it in their gut. Because if they don't feel it, nothing will happen. Emory's †truthful† campaigns somehow reach all of the national magazines and appear on television, where they become instant hits. Leeson’s instincts are proven to be correct.People love them and sales zoom. But his boss and his crew can't grasp this â€Å"truth† concept. So they ask Emory to come back. He agrees to do more ads only if his friends – his fellow asylum inmates – can help. Soon the asylum turns into a productive business center. They are energized and inspired by Emery, who unwittingly wins back his former company's interest after an accidental truthf ul ad campaign makes headlines. One more satirized point, which depicts clearly that there are no big differences between admen and clients of mental hospitals at all, is that both of them making their job very well.Moreover, advertising ideas of insane people turn out to be more effective. Using the theme of sanity and insanity, film achieves the satire in comical situations, which articulate erected issues of modern advertising. â€Å"Crazy People† is equivalent to those commercials that pretend to be sending themselves up. Its upside-down ad campaigns wouldn't rate a smile in a college humor magazine, at least in part because they knowingly celebrate the system they are supposed to be satirizing.The concept is high but fraudulent. Interesting, that the director of film, Tony Bill said in interview he is counting on the controversy that is sure to be stirred up over †Crazy People† because of the fact that all the advertising in the film was used without permissi on or consultation. (Babbis) Conclusively, one trend in advertising, around no doubt for years that has become particularly shameless of late is to say exactly the opposite of what a company or product actually does.The implication is that nowadays people will accept anything you tell them. Pioneer of advertising Leo Burnett said, †Regardless of the moral issue, dishonesty in advertising has proved very unprofitable. † But perhaps everybody knows, consumers and advertisers alike, that anything anyone says doesn't matter any more. Finally, I think film accomplished with its goal and if it was ridiculing modern advertising, †Crazy people† have done it in a very funny and humorous way.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Moral reasoning using a new version of the Heinz story Essay

Abstract The current informal case study used Kohlberg’s paradigm of assessing moral reasoning based on responses to a moral dilemma. A nine-year-old girl’s stage, relative to the expectations of Piaget (1932/1965) and Kohlberg (1984), was assessed. A new version of Kohlberg’s Heinz story was used so that, unlike Heinz and the druggist, two characters were in the same situation. The situation was more realistic than in the Heinz dilemma, and the characters were more similar to the child being assessed. The child’s responses were more morally advanced than either Piaget or Kohlberg would have expected. Moral Reasoning Using a New Version of the Heinz Story Both Piaget (1932/1965) and Kohlberg (1984) conceptualized the development of moral reasoning as hierarchical in the sense that children progress from using one form of reasoning to another. While this view has been challenged by theories and evidence that children use different forms of reasoning simultaneously (reviewed in Killen, 2007), in the current report Kohlberg’s paradigm (1984) of using responses to a moral dilemma to assess a child’s stage of moral development was used. A nine-year-girl, â€Å"Anna† (fictitious name), read a scenario about a moral dilemma (Appendix A). She would have been expected to be in Piaget’s â€Å"heteronomous† stage, a broad stage where moral reasoning is directed by rules – from parents, the law, religion, etc. This stage preceded â€Å"autonomous† reasoning, where children understand there are morally correct reasons for breaking rules. Kohlberg broke moral development down into three levels, with two stages in each: preconventional (based on consequences and then on personal gain), conventional (based on approval and then on law), and postconventional (based on preserving relationships within society and then on abstract justice). Kohlberg dropped Stage 6 because virtually no-one fit into it (Colby & Kohlberg, 1987). Anna would be predicted to be at the conventional level, either stage 3 (approval) or 4 (law). Appendix A, a new version of Kohlberg’s Heinz dilemma (1984), was motivated by the original version seeming slanted in the direction of agreeing with Heinz (e.g. , the greedy druggist saying, â€Å"†¦ I discovered the drug, and I’m going to make money from it†), seeming unbelievable to current generations (e. g. , a small-town druggist inventing a cure), and not particularly relevant to children (using adult men, Heinz and the druggist). Summarizing, Anna first said she wasn’t sure whether Kathy was right or wrong. She said she could understand how much the girl loved and cared about her own mother, but the other girl also loved and cared about her mother. She said she couldn’t think of any reason why one girl was entitled to the medicine any more than the other, that Kathy knew nothing about the other girl and her mother, so she had to conclude that Kathy was wrong. But then she added, â€Å"but if I were in her place, I’d probably steal the drug even though it would be wrong. † Regarding Piaget’s stage of â€Å"heteronomous† reasoning, Anna said nothing about using the kinds of rules Piaget described (1932/1964). Instead she compared the situations of both girls, basing her conclusion on the equality of their situations. Since it would seem reasonable to conclude she knew that stealing was against the law, she instead used what seemed to be an abstract rule of fairness, which would seem to indicate she was using â€Å"autonomous† reasoning (Piaget, 1932/1965). Similarly, she said nothing indicating concern for approval or for laws, as a child at Kohlberg’s stages 3 and 4 would. She spoke not only of one girl’s personal relationship with her mother, but the relationship the girl knew existed between those she didn’t know, suggesting she valued human relationships in the abstract. Thus her responses were indicative of stage 5 reasoning (Kohlberg, 1984). They were more advanced than either Piaget or Kohlberg would have expected. Most interesting, Anna’s last statement suggested she had an intuitive understanding of research findings that moral reasoning ability is not a strong predictor of behavior (Blasi, 1980) or that she sensed but wasn’t yet at a stage where she could express a morally correct reason for stealing the drug (society’s need for strong within-family bonds, strong attachment between mothers and children, etc.). Had Anna read the original Heinz dilemma, based on the obviously greedy druggist and caring, hard-working Heinz, she might have responded with a morally advanced reason supporting stealing the drug. References Blasi, A. (1980). Bridging moral cognition and action: A critical review of the literature. Psychological Review, 88, 1-45. Colby, A. , & Kohlberg, L. (1987). The measurement of moral judgment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Killen, M. Children’s social and moral reasoning about exclusion. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 32-36. Kohlberg, L. (1984). Essays on moral development. San Fransisco: Harper & Row. Piaget, J. (1032/1965). The moral judgment of the child. New York: Free Press. Appendix A Moral Dilemma A teenaged girl, Kathy, and her widowed mother lived alone. Kathy’s mother was dying from a rare illness that could be cured by taking a very recently developed drug. The drug was so new that there only was enough for one patient, and the drug company was willing to provide it to someone in need. Kathy went to the drug company at the same time as another girl. The other girl said she needed the drug because her mother was dying. Both girls were waiting to speak with a representative from the drug company. While the other girl was in the restroom, Kathy noticed the door to the representative’s office was open, the room was empty, and she saw the drug. She hesitated but then stole the drug. Should she have done that?

Friday, September 27, 2019

Three Privai Products and Three Ingredients Per Product Research Paper

Three Privai Products and Three Ingredients Per Product - Research Paper Example According to Mayo Clinic, tea may also work against viruses that cause genital warts. Tea also contains polyphenols, potent antioxidants that may reduce the risk of cancer, according to TeaBenefits.com. It may also lower both cholesterol and triglyceride levels while it prevents blood clots effectively as aspirin to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Grapeseed oil is pressed and extracted from the seeds of various varieties of Vitis vinifera  grapes, an abundant  by-product  of  winemaking. Primary uses of grapeseed oil include culinary and cosmetics. It is a significant to antioxidant products because it helps in moisturizing the skin. According to wisegeek.com, it is often combined with other oils to make  massage  oil because of its quality to glide well on the skin and its moisturizing properties. It also appears to assist with skin repair because of its mild astringent  and antiseptic qualities. It is also used as a  lubricant  for  face  shaving. Pomegranate seed oil is an extract from pomegranate (Punica granatum), fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to between five and eight metres tall. Pomegranate is native to China, India, Egypt and regions of the Middle East. It is rich and nutritious. Its phytochemical content such as ellagic acid makes it useful to antioxidant products. According to the mountainroseherbs.com, it’s because of these properties that make it commonly used in cosmetics products. It helps to revitalize dull or mature skin, assist with wrinkles, and to soothe minor skin irritations. Pomegranate seed oil adds moisture, improves skin elasticity, and protects the skin. It can also provide relief from minor skin irritations and inflammation such as dry skin, eczema, psoriasis and sunburned skin. In one study conducted by the University of Michigan Medical School (published in the February 2006 Journal of Ethnopharmacology), it have shown that pomegranate

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Factory Farms Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Factory Farms - Research Paper Example For instance, chickens are so overcrowded that they must have their beaks cut off, because, if they do not, they will peck one another to death. Pigs are in tiny pens that are so small that the pig cannot turn around, and they are stacked in pens, one on top of the other, so that the animals above them deposit their wastes onto the animals below them. Since pigs are, by nature, clean animals, this is no doubt abhorrent to them, yet this is how they must live, for years, until they are carted off to go slaughter. Cows are cruelly branded with a hot iron and crammed into feed lots. The fate of these animals is abhorrent to anybody with a conscience. These animals can feel pain and fear, and to put them into these conditions is beyond barbaric and cruel. Beyond this, factory farms are also bad for the environment. The animal excrement causes pollution that runs off into the water. Taking the animals off the farm and onto the feed lot deprives the farming soil of fertilizer, which means that artificial fertilizer must be used, and this means using fossil fuel. Moreover, land must be clear cut to raise food for these animals. In short, factory farms and the proliferation of animals on these farms is a very inefficient use of resources. Regular methods of farming, in which animals are free to roam the land, and graze on grass, and have a natural life, must be brought back. This would not only be good for the environment, but it would result in much less cruelty to animals. Even though factory farms produce a large quantity of food, and the food is ostensibly necessary to feed a growing planet, farmers should make innovations that make their operations less cruel to animals and more kind to the environment. A. Cruelty to Animals Animal rights activists and animal lovers everywhere are clear that animals should not be subjected to needless suffering. The evidence regarding factory farms indicates that animals suffer needlessly, so these factory farms are violating ever ything that animal lovers and animal rights activists stand for. James McWilliams, author of ?hy Free-Range Meat Isn't Much Better Than Factory Farmedstates that the basic argument against factory farms is that ?nimals held in confinement are denied access to the basic preconditions of happiness the freedoms to move, make basic choices, have sex and socialize. The fact that animals are transformed into the moral equivalent of machinery, rather than respected as living creatures, will stike any sensible observer as fundamentally wrong...thoughtful consumers do not want animals to be needlessly hurt(McWilliams). And ?eedlessly hurtis exactly what animals are on the factory farms. For instance, chickens are kept in extremely overcrowded conditions. According to Freedman & Barnouin, chickens have to have their beaks cut off of their faces because, in their overcrowded conditions, they would peck each other to death if they did not (Freedman & Barnouin, p. 84). Chickens are also given ho rmones that make them grow so rapidly that their hearts and lungs cannot keep up with the growth, and they die of heart failure. Cows are branded with a hot iron without anesthesia, and can live on the range without shelter or veterinary care. Cows may also live for months in an overcrowded feedlot, where they are fed growth hormones and rich grains. The rich grains sometimes causes the cows intestines to ulcerate and rupture. These factory farms have so many cattles that they often have downed animals which are lame when they come to the slaughterhouse. These animals are often beaten and prodded to get them to move (Factory Farming Animal Cruelty is Standard Operating Procedure for 95-99% of Animals Raised For Food). Pigs also live in deplorable conditions. Naturally clean animals, they are forced to

Software Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Software Engineering - Essay Example by which a hacker or a foreign source can enter in another system can exploit that system by deleting the data or stealing the information from that system thus the whole architecture of system can be modified. The vulnerabilities in chat application cause a lot of problem as it is to enter other system’s domain. The vulnerabilities are found in every operating system so if we are chatting either through Windows or through Linux or UNIX, we have to secure our system. There are many vulnerabilities found in which mainly are multiple vulnerabilities in Yahoo Messenger, multiple vulnerabilities in BIND and SNMP, Buffer Overflow in Microsofts MSN Chat ActiveX Control etc. In the case Yahoo Messenger, multiple vulnerabilities are found. The hacker can easily enter the domain of the other system and hack that system easily by using some codes which may be written in JAVA or some other languages. The yahoo messenger is use every where in the world and so it has to secures but still some soft spots exist. And vulnerabilities like a buffer overflow and URL validation vulnerability exist. The vulnerabilities like VU#137115, VU#172315 exist. These vulnerabilities are due to the buffer overflow in URI handler (VU#137115) and other one is caused as the addview function permits the other arbitrary codes to execute in its own system. Thus the hacker can send some scripts to other system and can exploit the situation. Thus due to these vulnerabilities and others the remote attacker can easily modify other system. The Yahoo Messenger has removed these vulnerabilities by using advance version like Yahoo! Messenger version 5,0,0,1058, released February 25, 2002 or by server side solution. The Yahoo Messenger whenever is

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Accounting Ethics and Impact on Business Performance Term Paper

Accounting Ethics and Impact on Business Performance - Term Paper Example This paper seeks to explain the relevance and need to embrace these ethical practices and their impact on the general business performance. Accounting ethics are moral values that govern the profession of accounting. They can also be described as judgments that apply in course of undertaking accounting tasks (Saleemi, 2002). These ethics have become accepted globally by government agencies and companies and help instill some degree of discipline both at organization level as well as employee level. Embracing these ethics cannot be ignored at this time of global economic crisis caused by malicious employees who collude with others and form cartels that have ripped off organizations and government resources leading to complete collapse or closure of once profit-making companies and organizations. Driven by the need to earn profits, an organization should also strive to ensure that shareholders’ interests are met. These interests vary among individual shareholders and as such acc ounting ethics in an organization are paramount in meeting these. It is with regard of its importance in controlling and monitoring the accounting profession that this paper concurs with adherence to accounting ethics. Accounting Ethics Lead to Better Management and Profitability There are shareholders whose interest is in the capital gains from the company. Pandey (2003) states that if the motive behind investing in a company is driven on capital gains, then the shareholders are likely to have a keen interest in the dividend policy of the organization. Accounting ethics in this case would strive to ensure proper reporting of the accounting statement. Alternately, there are another group of stakeholders or investors who are mostly concerned with a company’s management style and hence would demand that accountants have the necessary skills to help them undertake their task in the most professional way. All government bodies and companies have set ethical measures for the pract ice of this profession. These include competence, confidentiality, integrity, objectivity, timeliness, full disclosure, materiality and many others which are to look in the discussion. At the height of growing concerns of whether or not ethics play a role in companies’ management, the duty to ensure that all works well rests with the management. Everything progresses or fails due to the management and as such it is paramount to ensure that all ethical practices begin with them (Carbone, 2012). Business is not all about making profits but also how the company is perceived in the general business environment (Belkaoui, 1992). Most of the organizations are driven by the desire to retain their clients. This begins right from the way such clients are handled and their needs met. There are cases of companies that have embarked on this journey of adherence to accounting ethics and as such have reaped a lot of benefits over the years. Some of these are Safaricom Ltd, Sammer Group of Companies, Equity Bank, Kenolkobil, British American Tobacco, Oldmutual Investment Services, Kestrel Investment Services, and British American Insurance (Garrison, 2009). Safaricom has been applauded for observing high standards of integrity in customer relations. This extends from the way they respond to client complaints to the preparation of their accounting statements (Ferugson, 2007). The company has been the most profitable company in Eastern Africa for the past seven years maintaining the lead even in economic recessions as experienced since 2011(Kieso, 2009). Their

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Milton's Paradise Lost Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Milton's Paradise Lost - Essay Example mon values riches of the world as Milton puts it, â€Å"Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell From Heaven; for even in Heaven his looks and thoughts Were always downward bent, admiring more The riches of heaven’s pavement, trodden gold, Than aught divine or holy else enjoyed In vision beatific.† (Milton 25). The followers of Mammon also value riches and earthly pleasures and the reason for this is that, they took after their master, Mammon, who fell from Heaven due to his greed. The love of the followers of Mammon for the things of the world affect their relationship with God due to the fact that, Mammon, is more like the opposite of the one and only true God. Thus, while the children of God lay up treasures in heaven, the followers of Mammon lay treasures for themselves on earth. the implication of this is that, the more the followers of Mammon layup treasures for themselves on earth, they keep getting farther away from the truth. Another implication of this is that, the followers of Mammon can never have a cordial relationship with God as one cannot serve God and Mammon. The values of the devil Mammon and the values of the followers of Mammon are similar in the sense that, just like their master, the followers of Mammon also have an irrationally strong desire to acquire and keep money. Thus, the values of the followers of Mammon and their master are similar in their avariciousness. It is significant that Milton chooses to make Sin a woman as it is believed that the devil used woman to bring Sin into the world. It was through the deception of the first woman, Eve by the serpent that Satan succeeded in turning the hearts of men from God. This shows the significance of Milton’s choice to make Sin a woman. Milton used the relationship between Sin, Death, and Chaos to show how sin brought many plagues to mankind. Milton tried to show that it was sin that brought chaos and confusion into the world and the result of which is ultimately death. The Bible even

Monday, September 23, 2019

IRB questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

IRB questions - Essay Example When these expectations become inflated and exaggerated, the health of the marriage will suffer because the couple had a misguided belief on how they would behave toward one another. As an example, if a woman believes that marriage will mean that her husband will come home from work every night and spend his time discussing the day and being attentive to her needs, she may be surprised to find out that all he wants is his own space. However, if she realizes that the effort he went to in making sure that her car is running at top performance was his way of conveying his concern for her safety, then she might find a greater satisfaction in his behavior. Learning to understand the flow of these examples of romance that are not based on materialism or grandiose action, but on everyday subtleties in communications within relationships, can provide a future couples that are overwhelmed and inundated with a complex set of rules that are media driven and unrealistic into tempering those expectations so that joy can be found in the little ways in which two people interact. From the perspective of a researcher, understanding this part of the human experience will allow for a better understanding of the culture of marriage. In designing this research, it is hoped that the way in which fulfillment can be achieved is identified in order to encourage future research into human interaction within the emotional connection of love. 19. Describe methods for selecting subjects and assuring that their participation is voluntary. Attach a copy of the consent form that will be used. If no consent form will be used, explain the procedures used to ensure that participation is voluntary. Note: This information is particularly important in determining that there is no actual or implied coercion to participate. (See attached information on consent forms) Subjects will be selected through recommendations and introductions made by religious leaders within the local community.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Essay Example for Free

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Essay Whether or not there is a doomed afterlife in which is called â€Å"hell†, everybody has their own perception of what their â€Å"hell† would be like. Rather your view of hell is eternal detonation or a place consisting of deathly flames and Satan’s head down in a bucket of ice, most people do not wish to be summoned into the depths of hell. However; Jonathon Edward’s sermon, â€Å"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,† portrays briefly the vivid imagery of how hell was represented during the Second Great Awakening. In addition, Edwards aim was to teach his listeners about the horror of hell. Thus, Edwards’s dramatic interpretation of hell frightened the people who followed by God’s word and urges those who don’t to call upon Christ to receive forgiveness. Jonathon Edward’s briefly described hell in his sermon. His justification regarding hell was a â€Å"lake of burning brimstone,† (Edwards 98). Edward’s Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, emphasized the belief that hell is real and he did not tolerate the voices of opposing opinions, urging that they had a â€Å"black cloud of God’s wrath now hanging directly over your heads†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Edwards 98). Edwards anticipated that the imagery and the message contained in his sermon would instill the reality of being doomed into hell if they did not take the step into following Christ. Therefore, the preaching’s made by Edwards were not sympathetic toward the nonbelievers, and infused the believers with terror of being summoned to hell. There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of Hell, but the mere pleasure of God (Edward 100). Edward’s words represented God’s power in being able to cast wicked people in hell at any moment. The people sitting in the pews of the Church were most likely coped with fear as a result of Edward’s harsh speech. He further warns the people of the only thing keeping them from hell is the thin air which God creates as a barrier. According to Edward’s, God would have no pity for those people casted into hell since he provided humans with a chance to resolve their sins. Since the sermon of Edwards was conducted during the Second Great Awakening when people were regaining their religion, people would most likely be on edge from the words of Jonathon Edwards. In summation, the brief representation of hell from Edwards commended God’s lack of sympathy for those people who did not abide by God’s words and instilled fear in the hearts of people who attended Church. Accordingly, Edwards’s remarkable explanation of hell frightened the people who pursued in God’s word and recommend those who didn’t to follow Christ in order to receive forgiveness. Edwards, in addition assisted in teaching his community the horrors and lifelong detonation of hell. Therefore, in Jonathon Edward’s sermon, â€Å"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,† his brief but vivid descriptions of how hell was characterized gave the era of the Second Great Awakening great fear if they did not chose to obey by Christ. He wanted to preach to the people about the lasting effects not obeying by God had. Thus, Jonathon Edwards approached the people of his teachings with fear of hell and the representation he had of hell.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The United States Relations With Pakistan And India Politics Essay

The United States Relations With Pakistan And India Politics Essay Realism has made the United States building its policies toward South Asia. Since the end of Cold War, the United States and India actively improving relations with each other, meanwhile the importance of Pakistan and the United States declined. Since the Kashmir incidence between India and Pakistan, both countries remain in tension and conflict. When the United States administrations decided to focus its partnership toward India, it resulted on the growing distance relationship between the United States with Pakistan, but the September 11 attacks suddenly restored Pakistan strategic importance to Washington. With the new strategies, the United States has to balance its policies toward India and Pakistan. ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK Realism has been the dominant theory of foreign affairs since the concept of international relations theory.  [1]  The universal goals of realism are security and power, with the key concept of power and interest. Realism assumes that its key concept of interest defined as power is an objective category which is universally valid, but it does not endow that concept with a meaning that is fixed once and for all. The idea of interest is indeed of the essence of politics and is unaffected by the circumstances of time and place.  [2]   The United States realists would focus on strengthening security ties in Asia and work to establish clearer threshold with the growing power Chinas leadership. The United States administration has moved in this direction, as represented by the strategic partnership with India and the recent pivot to Asia.  [3]  Realists stated that there is no eternal friend or eternal enemy, only eternal national interest. The U.S. eternal interest is to preclude a hostile power from dominating Europe or Asia. In order to maintain that interest the United States built a global alliance system to contain the Soviet Union during the Cold War era, and wanted India, the dominant state in South Asia to join it.  [4]   THE UNITED STATES RELATIONS WITH PAKISTAN AND INDIA In a security alliance since 2004 and strategic partners since 2006, the United States and Pakistan for decades experienced major shifts in the nature and tone of their relations. In the post-9/11 period, assisting in the creation of a more stable, democratic, and prosperous Pakistan actively combating religious militancy has been among the most important U.S. foreign policy efforts. Vital U.S. interests are seen to be at stake in its engagement with Pakistan related to regional and global terrorism; efforts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan; nuclear weapons proliferation; links between Pakistan and indigenous American terrorism; Pakistan-India tensions and conflict; democratization and human rights protection; and economic development. As a haven for numerous terrorist groups, and as the worlds most rapid proliferator of nuclear weapons, Pakistan presents a combination that places it at the top of many governments international security agendas.  [5]   India, the regions dominant actor with more than one billion citizens, is often characterized as a major power and partner of the United States and counterbalance for Chinas growing power. Washington and New Delhi have since 2004 been pursuing a strategic partnership based on shared values such as democracy, pluralism, and rule of law. Numerous economic, security, and global initiatives, including plans for full civilian nuclear energy cooperation is underway. This latter initiative, launched by President Bush in July 2005 and provisionally endorsed by the 109th Congress in 2006 (P.L. 109-401, the Hyde Act), would reverse three decades of U.S. nonproliferation policy. It requires, among other steps, a Joint Resolution of Approval by Congress. Also in 2005, the United States and India signed a ten-year defense framework agreement that calls for expanding bilateral security cooperation. Since 2002, the two countries have engaged in numerous combined military exercises. Major U.S. arms sales to India are planned.  [6]   Further U.S. interest in South Asia focuses on ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan rooted in unfinished business from the 1947 Partition, competing claims to the Kashmir region, and, in more recent years, cross-border terrorism in both Kashmir and major Indian cities. In the interests of regional stability, the United States strongly encourages an ongoing India-Pakistan peace initiative and remains concerned about the potential for conflict over Kashmir sovereignty to cause open hostilities between these two nuclear-armed countries. Both India and Pakistan have resisted external pressure to sign the major nonproliferation nuclear weapon treaties. In 1998, the two countries conducted nuclear tests that evoked international condemnation. Proliferation-related restrictions on U.S. aid were triggered, and then later lifted through congressional-executive cooperation from 1998 to 2000. Remaining sanctions on India and Pakistan were removed in late 2001.  [7]   THE UNITED STATES POLICIES TOWARD PAKISTAN Most of the United States policies in Pakistan emphasize a security-oriented approach that could risk derailing trends by eliciting even stronger anti-American nationalism among the Pakistani people.  [8]  The policies are as follows: Pressure counterterrorism on Pakistan. In May 2012, The Security of State Clinton requested more Pakistan efforts to clear its territory of terrorist sanctuaries. U.S. officials remained acutely concerned about the apparent impunity with which Pakistan-based extremist and militant groups are able to act.  [9]   Weaken U.S. Pakistan relationship to strengthen U.S. India relationship. This issue made Pakistan more reliant on its partnership with China, also in response to this issue, Pakistan actively improved its nuclear weapons. Leahy amendment provisions by withholding train and equip funding for several Pakistani army units.  [10]   According to the U.S. Department of State, the overall human rights situation in Pakistan remains poor, and that lack of government accountability remains a pervasive problem; abuses often go unpunished, fostering a culture of impunity.  [11]   Foreign assistance and coalition support reimbursement.  [12]   Pakistan is among the leading recipients of U.S. aid in the post-9/11 period, having been appropriated about $24 billion in assistance and military reimbursements since 2001. By the end of 2011, the U.S. Congress had appropriated more than $8.3 billion in development and humanitarian aid, and nearly $7 billion for security-related programs over ten years.  [13]   THE UNITED STATES POLICIES TOWARD INDIA The United States experienced challenges in maintaining its relations with India to manage disagreements on five potentially divisive strategic issues: Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy, China policy, arms control, climate change, and high-technology cooperation. The Obamas administration policies adopted to solve the issues listed as follows: Deploy 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan should reassure those Indians who view the fight there as a test of U.S. staying power in South Asia.  [14]   Devote increasing time and energy to cultivate the U.S.-Chinese relationship. Indians are asking whether Washington envisions a role for India in maintaining a balance of power in Asia, or whether the Obama administration views India as tangential to U.S. priorities there.  [15]   Renew U.S. efforts to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). If China wants to do so, too, India will be pressured to follow suit, even it is unlikely.  [16]   India is the worlds fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Both Washington and New Delhi support investment in green technologies, but internationally mandated and monitored emissions reductions are political problem in India, where they are often seen as a drag on growth and an affront to Indian sovereignty.  [17]   The United States emphasis on national security export controls and intellectual property protection has excessively restricted licenses and transfers.  [18]   India remained on the U.S. Special 301 Priority Watch List in 2011 for failing to provide an adequate level of IPR protection or enforcement, or market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection.  [19]  Moreover, since 1998, a number of Indian entities have been subjected to case-by-case licensing requirements and appear on the U.S. export control Entity List of foreign end users involved in weapons proliferation activities.  [20]   RECOMMENDATION The U.S. military aid has done little to stem Islamist militancy in Pakistan and may even hinder that countrys economic and political development. For that reason, Indonesia should voice its disagreement to this policy. The United States policy should have been targeting effective nonmilitary aid, perhaps especially that which would strengthen Pakistans civil society such as nonproliferation, governance, economic growth, and also support Pakistan initiatives that could promote its regional stability. The United States and India share important interests: both seek to restore global growth, protect the global commons, enhance global energy security, and ensure a balance of power in Asia. Indonesia administration could recommend enhancing the level of transparency in their relationship. Closer cooperation such as on counterterrorism would mean closer coordination on developments regarding Pakistan as well. They must therefore increase the scope, quality, and intensity of their cooperation at every level. Some of other United States policies in the South Asia are based on Washington strategic interest, but if Obamas policies able to ease the tension between India and Pakistan; Indonesia administration might support them, having acknowledge that the war can lead to nuclear war. CONCLUSION History shows that the relations between The United States with India and Pakistan have been based strictly on military and economic support.  [21]  Strategic interest has been the most important factor for U.S. policy toward South Asia. The policy has been a part of a U.S strategy to prevent external power from dominating Asia. From the U.S. perspective, the Soviet Union was that power in the Cold War era, and China emerges as the most likely candidate for the power in the post-Cold War era. The United States failed to change India and Pakistan nuclear policy and decided to lift part of the sanctions. President George Bush administration at first treated India as a focus of relations in South Asia, but the September 11th attacks restored Pakistans importance to the United States. In order to win the support of India and Pakistan for anti-terrorism, the United States lifted all the sanctions against them, provided Pakistan with loans and strengthened military cooperation with Pakistan. Due to terrorist actions in India, tensions between India and Pakistan repeatedly flared up. The United States had to step in, to evade the escalations that might become war, or even more nuclear war. But the United States is unable to help solve the Kashmir dispute. As long as the United States still see China as the threat to its global power, they will treat India as its partner in South Asia. As long as the anti-terrorist campaign continues and the Afghanistans conditions established, the United States will need Pakistans cooperation; hence the United States will try to maintain its current policies toward India and Pakistan.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Martha Stewart: The Goddess of Greed Essays -- Exploratory Essays Rese

Everywhere you look, there she is. Martha Stewart has invaded every avenue of domesticity. Her "radiant presence... seems to be infinite, like that of the Almighty, or of Starbucks" (Lippert & Ferguson: 26*) The outposts of her "omnimedia empire" are quite fortified (Africannet page). Reigning over a vast technical spectrum, her multi-million, multi-media kingdom includes a magazine with a circulation of 1.2 million, a syndicated column, and a TV show with audience of 5.3 million, but she does not have an official web site (Lippert & Ferguson: 26). There are numerous webpages that fans and foes have dedicated to her.   Martha Stewart is energizing the homemaking marketplace. The home is a key part of the American Dream, Her ideas of housekeeping depart from the long-standing tradition of frugality, where practicality was paramount. She mentions Helen and Scott Nearing's The Good Life in an essay in Martha Stewart's Living April edition. While she enjoys foraging for 'nature's hidden treasures,' she does not share the Nearing's core values. Their idea of getting back to nature is to live lightly-- few things, low energy consumption. Hers is highly technical, wasteful and showy. "Make due with less" is not Martha's motto, it's "Just have more." Perfectionism is integral to her image. Having her audiences attempt the impossible ideal of perfection which she claims gets them hooked (if it's easy for Martha, it can be easy for you, too). Most people never realize the staffing that is involved for a layout in her magazine, Martha Stewart Living, or the production hours that go into a few minute long segment on her Lifetime cable show. The photo layouts in her magazine regularly have both a director an... ...ecome more profuse. To proselytize the population must be one of the things she thinks about during the mere four hours she allows for sleep each night. Sources Cited Hoge, Sharon King. "The Place Settings of Kilimanjaro." Forbes (Oct, 23) 1995: 39-40*. Kasindorf, Jeanie Russell. "Martha, Inc." Working Woman June 1995: 26-31*. Leyner, Mark. "Martha Stewart." Esquire Aug. 1995: 52. Lippert, Barbara. "Power Hausfrau vs. Working Woman." Working Woman Dec. 1992: 98. Lippert, Barbara and Sarah Ferguson. "Our Martha, Ourselves." New York (May 15) 1995: 26-35*. Money, Joe. "Little Ms. Perfekt." Boating, March 1995: 30. Speidel, Maria et. al. "The Best Revenge." People Weekly (Oct. 2) 1995: 100-110*. --"*" Indicates an article was obtained through online services, exact pagination is not available (estimates were made).

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Famous American Womens Song for the Blues Essay -- Jackie Kennedy Bes

Song for the Blues The "blues" is a form of music that tells of human suffering. As the saying goes, "You gotta pay the dues if you wanna sing the blues." In no other way than persevering the suffering of abandonment, separation, divorce, infidelity, loss, alcoholism, and prejudice could Jackie Kennedy, Bessie Smith, and Mahalia Jackson have inspired the powerful empathy of a nation. "We rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." This biblical scripture personifies the lives of Jack8ie Kennedy, Bessie Smith, and Mahalia Jackson. Through their own personal suffering, each of these women's lives "became all human sorrow." Their suffering and perseverance became the words for a nation's "song for the blues." For instance, Jackie Kennedy's "song for the blues" started early in her childhood, with the divorce of her parents. She continued the suffering when she was forced to spend her childhood divided between her parents in New York City and Long Island. She was compelled to totally exclude her father from her life when her mother remarried and moved Jackie and her younger sister to Washington, D.C. Jackie's "song for the blues" began with the separation and divorce of her parents, but even as a young child she persevered and was hopeful for the future. Jackie was optimistic as she entered womanhood. She graduated from George Washington University and accepted a job with a local newspaper as an "inquiring photographer." She began dating the handsome and aspiring Senator John F. Kennedy. Although their romance progressed slowly, they finally married in 1953. This was a time of happiness, of being in love, and of planning for the f... ...s. Mahalia persevered by becoming an activist in the Civil Rights Movement. A driving force in her life was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because he believed, as she did, that nonviolence was the means of eliminating racial tension. She sang songs such as "Amazing Grace' to give hope to all people to persevere. In conclusion, Jackie Kennedy, Bessie Smith, and Mahalia Jackson are all quite different in that the lived at different times in American history and hailed from diverse backgrounds. Despite their differences, they each suffered and persevered. They played the hand that life dealt them, and through their suffering and perseverance they developed character and hope that should be a lesson to all mankind. These three American women each had their own "song for the blues;" they each sang a different song, none of which should be forgotten by our nation. Famous American Women's Song for the Blues Essay -- Jackie Kennedy Bes Song for the Blues The "blues" is a form of music that tells of human suffering. As the saying goes, "You gotta pay the dues if you wanna sing the blues." In no other way than persevering the suffering of abandonment, separation, divorce, infidelity, loss, alcoholism, and prejudice could Jackie Kennedy, Bessie Smith, and Mahalia Jackson have inspired the powerful empathy of a nation. "We rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." This biblical scripture personifies the lives of Jack8ie Kennedy, Bessie Smith, and Mahalia Jackson. Through their own personal suffering, each of these women's lives "became all human sorrow." Their suffering and perseverance became the words for a nation's "song for the blues." For instance, Jackie Kennedy's "song for the blues" started early in her childhood, with the divorce of her parents. She continued the suffering when she was forced to spend her childhood divided between her parents in New York City and Long Island. She was compelled to totally exclude her father from her life when her mother remarried and moved Jackie and her younger sister to Washington, D.C. Jackie's "song for the blues" began with the separation and divorce of her parents, but even as a young child she persevered and was hopeful for the future. Jackie was optimistic as she entered womanhood. She graduated from George Washington University and accepted a job with a local newspaper as an "inquiring photographer." She began dating the handsome and aspiring Senator John F. Kennedy. Although their romance progressed slowly, they finally married in 1953. This was a time of happiness, of being in love, and of planning for the f... ...s. Mahalia persevered by becoming an activist in the Civil Rights Movement. A driving force in her life was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because he believed, as she did, that nonviolence was the means of eliminating racial tension. She sang songs such as "Amazing Grace' to give hope to all people to persevere. In conclusion, Jackie Kennedy, Bessie Smith, and Mahalia Jackson are all quite different in that the lived at different times in American history and hailed from diverse backgrounds. Despite their differences, they each suffered and persevered. They played the hand that life dealt them, and through their suffering and perseverance they developed character and hope that should be a lesson to all mankind. These three American women each had their own "song for the blues;" they each sang a different song, none of which should be forgotten by our nation.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Sure Thing by David Ives :: Sure Thing David Ives

The Play "Sure Thing" from David Ives examines the endless variations of boy meets girl and the ensuing pick up lines. The central theme throughout the play displays a few varieties of a possible conversation that end with a ringing bell that symbolizes a fresh start and a second chance to make a good impression.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The swift conversations begin in a coffee house with the two main and only characters are Bill and Betty. From the beginning till the end of the play one can see a series of pick up lines, from a man to a woman sitting in a coffee shop reading. The lines start out short and rapid with an equivalent short response from the woman. Each line is separated by a ringing bell. All humans are critical of their fellow human?s beings. They are critical about their looks, cars and etc. Generally there is an old saying ?you never have a second chance to make a first impression.? In this play the author uses a bell as a mechanism of separating the dialogue of subsequent pick up lines, which gives the characters another chance to make a good impression. The ringing bell represents a fresh start. It is the device which allows these two characters to commence again, it is almost like the bell that is used for boxing matches which divides the rounds and lets the boxer rest before the next round begins. The play begins when Betty is setting down quietly reading her book when Bill walks in. The dialogue starts out very short, Bill glances at Betty?s book which is The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. In Bill?s pick up line he misidentifies the author. Generally women like to meet men who are intelligent, interesting and have a funny sense of humor. On pages 845 and 846 Beatty asks where Bill went to college and he said, ?I went to Oral Roberts University. ? (Bell.) In the next round Beatty repeats the question again but Bill said he is lying about ever going to college.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Reasons for the Spratly Island Disputes Essay

The main reason for the conflict within the Spratly islands lies in the territorial disputes and quarrels among the different countries. Natural resources include fish, guano, undetermined oil and natural gas potential. There are mainly 2 reasons for disputes to occur in these islands mainly 1. The potential oil and natural gas reserves that lies dormant under the Spratly Islands. 2. Construction of the Busiest port Asia’s had been experiencing a rapid economic boom with giants such as China emerging as the next economic superpower. However, its economic advancement requires a large amount of energy and to claim the Spratly Islands would be useful for the countries’ future economic advancement. The 6 countries involve in the conflict is mainly Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Each of these countries requires the oil and natural resources within the sea bed of the Spratly islands to serve for these economic needs. Many of the emerging Asian countries require oil from the Middle East and Africa, these resources would have to pass through the Strait of Malacca into the South China Sea. The Spratly Islands lies on the strategic lines of the South China Sea therefore means that all 6 countries hope to have their hands on the Spratly islands to set up a sea port along the South China Seas. Over half of the world’s merchant fleet sails through the South China Sea every year. Therefore setting up a sea port at the Spratly Islands would therefore create one of the busiest ports in the world. This port will create numerous job opportunities and revenues for emerging countries. This had therefore sparked a part of the conflict as due to countries desire for the strategic location to belong to them, they would quarrel and fight over the claims of these islands to support their economic needs. However, the main reason for the conflict for the Spratly Islands would still be the scarce oil and natural resources found in the Spratly Islands. The future world is a world of a competition of economic development and economic gains and to obtain a substantial amount of oil and natural gas is the ability to create energy. The more energy a country has, the faster it can develop, the faster its economy can grow and become robust. Indeed, the strategic location of the Spratly Islands is also a cause for the conflict among the 6 countries. However, there is already a shortage of oil and natural gas in the world but there is not yet a shortage of strategic location in the South China Sea. The oil and natural resource is the main reason for the Asian countries to fight over these areas and it being a strategic location is merely an addition to their claim over these islands.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Ethics in Public Administration Essay

The national bicentennial in 1976 marked two important birthdays for public administration. It was the ninetieth anniversary of the appearance of the first fully developed essay on what was considered a â€Å"new† or at least a separately identified field — public administration. In that essay, the young political scientist Woodrow Wilson (1941) wrote the now famous words, â€Å"administration lies outside the proper sphere of politics. Administrative questions are not political questions; although politics sets the tasks for administration, it should not be suffered to manipulate its offices. â€Å" And it was exactly fifty years since the publication of Leonard White (1926) text, Introduction to the Study of Public Administration, the first in the field. White’s book was, for his time, an advanced and sophisticated attempt to marry the science of government and the science of administration. Whereas Wilson had argued that public administration is â€Å"a field of business† and should be separate from â€Å"politics,† White forty years later countered that public administration can be effective only if it constitutes an integration of the theory of government and the theory of administration. As fields or professions go, public administration is young. Its early impetus was very much connected with civil service reform, the city manager movement, the â€Å"good government† movement, and the professionalization of the administrative apparatus of government. It was in this era that â€Å"principles of administration† were developed and the first academic programs in the field were established at American universities. This was a heady era, during which the United States civil service was developed, an innovation adopted in many American states and municipalities. Formal systems of budgeting and purchasing were adopted, and other aspects of the science of management were applied to government affairs. Many of the early leaders in this reform movement also played out important political roles, most notably Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Public administration was new, a response to a rapidly changing government. The second â€Å"era† in public administration could be said to have begun with the Depression and the New Deal, followed by World War II. This era was characterized by the remarkably rapid growth of the government, particularly at the national level, the development of major American social programs, and ultimately the development of a huge defense program. At this time it became apparent that a large and centralized government can accomplish heroic tasks. Patterns were being developed and attitudes framed for the conduct of American government and the practices of public administration for the coming twenty years. This era also produced most of the major American scholars in public administration who were to dominate the scene from the 1940s into the 1970s. The period that followed was characterized by rapid growth in the public service and by extensive suburbanization and urbanization. But it was also a period of great questioning of the purposes and premises of public administration. A broad variety of social programs and services were developed, a cold war machine was maintained, and the public service continued both to grow and to professionalize. It seemed as if such expansion could go on endlessly. But by the mid-1960s several crises were developing simultaneously. In many ways, these crises seemed in part to result from the excesses of an earlier time. In other ways, they seemed to be an expression of old and unanswered problems built into our society and our system of government. The urban crisis resulted from relentless suburbanization — governmentally supported. The racial crisis is closely connected, resulting in part from the serious ghettoization of American minorities in the central sections of our great cities. As the central cities have deteriorated, so have their public services. We continue to have unacceptable levels of unemployment, especially among minorities. And our welfare system is badly overloaded. The rapid depletion of our fuel resources results in an energy crisis, which comes hard on the heels of the environmental crisis. And, of course, there is health care, transportation, and on and on. All of these crises have affected public administration. Three particular events or activities occurred between the mid-1960s and 1970s that indelibly marked the society and the government and, hence, public administration: the war in Vietnam, the urban riots and continued racial strife, and Watergate. These crises and events resulted in new government programs and changed ways of thinking about and practicing public administration. Frederick C. Mosher and John C. Honey studied the characteristics and composition of the public service in the mid-1960s. 3 Their basic finding was that most public servants feel little or no identity with the field of public administration. Few have ever had a course and fewer still hold a degree in the subject. Public administration at the time seemed to have a rather narrow definition of its purposes, centering primarily on budgeting, personnel, and organization and management problems. Most public servants, it was found, identify with some or another professional field, such as education, community planning, law, public health, or engineering. Even many of those who would be expected to identify with public administration are more particularly interested in some subset of the field, such as finance, personnel, policy analysis, and the like. There was very little policy emphasis in public administration — very little discussion of defense policy, environmental policy, economic policy, urban policy. There was, at the time, much talk of public administration as everyone’s â€Å"second profession. † Education for public administration in the mid-1960s hardly sparkled. The early furor of the reformers had died. The American Society for Public Administration was beginning to struggle. By the late 1970s, public administration had changed, both in its practice and its teaching. There are many indicators: the Intergovernmental Personnel Act; Title IX of the Higher Education Act; the Federal Executive Institute and the Federal Executive Seminars; the remarkable growth and vigor of education for public service; the President’s Management Intern Program; the Harry S. Truman Foundation; the size and quality of ASPA; the development of the Consortium on Education for the Public Service; several HUD grants to public administration-related activities; a much heavier policy emphasis; a renewed concern for ethics and morality in government service; and the continued professionalization of the public service coupled with refinement of management methods at all levels of government. To affix the label â€Å"new† to anything is risky business. The risk is doubled when newness is attributed to ideas, thoughts, concepts, paradigms, theories. Those who claim new thinking tend to regard previous thought as old or jejune or both. In response, the authors of previous thought are defensive and inclined to suggest that aside from having packaged earlier thinking in a new vocabulary there is little that is really new in so-called new thinking. Accept, therefore, this caveat: Parts of new public administration would be recognized by Plato, Hobbes, Machiavelli, Hamilton, and Jefferson as well as by many modern behavioral theorists. The newness is in the way the fabric is woven, not necessarily in the threads that are used. And the newness is in arguments as to the proper use of the fabric — however threadbare. The threads of the public administration fabric are well known. Herbert Kaufman describes them simply as the pursuit of these basic values: representativeness, politically neutral competence, and executive leadership (Kaufman, 1969). In different times, one or the other of these values receives the greatest emphasis. Representativeness was preeminent in the Jacksonian era. The eventual reaction was the reform movement emphasizing neutral competence and executive leadership. Now we are witnessing a revolt against these values accompanied by a search for new modes of representativeness. Others have argued that changes in public administration resemble a zero-sum game between administrative efficiency and political responsiveness. Any increase in efficiency results a priori in a decrease in responsiveness. We are simply entering a period during which political responsiveness is to be purchased at a cost in administrative efficiency. Clearly, the most interesting developments in modern public administration are not empirical but are philosophical, normative, and speculative. In public administration, the phrase â€Å"social equity† has emerged as a shorthand way of referring to the concerns and opinions of those who are challenging contemporary theory and practice. As yet, the phrase social equity, however, has little substance or precision. The problem of equity is as old as government. Dwight Waldo (1972) points out that â€Å"much governmental action in the United States has not been simply discriminatory but massively and harshly so. Much governmental action has also, however, been directed toward achieving equality; paradoxically, action to assure assimilation and uniformity also has sometimes been insensitive and coercive. â€Å"Equality,† he concludes, â€Å"is central to the understanding of much recent and contemporary public administration. † It has been seriously suggested that social equity be a standard by which public administrators, both in the bureau and the academy, assess and evaluate their behavior and decisions. Social equity, then, would be a criterion for effectiveness in public administration in the same way that efficiency, economy, productivity, and other criteria are used. Whenever an ethic or standard for behavior is described, it is essential to provide an accompanying caveat. In the present case, the social equity point of view will need to be buffered by recognition first that there is a high ethical content in most significant public decisions; public problems do not succumb simply to factual analysis. This being the case, if the public servant is to be an interpreter of events and an influencer, if not a maker of decisions, what, then, should be included in the standards of ethical behavior that guide the public servant? Surely the standards of ethics and morality that are applicable and sufficient to a citizen in private or in social relationships are not adequate for the public decisions of an administrator. And it is now increasingly clear that the decision problems faced by these administrators are seldom black or white in relation to their ethical content and consequences. There often is really no â€Å"one best way,† but rather a decision should be made that maximizes such results as are attainable given the resources available and minimizes negative side effects. And finally, one must accept the proposition that politics and administrative organizations are themselves the best protectors of administrative morality provided that they are open, public, and participatory. Within this context, then, we pursue the development of a social equity ethic for public administration. Modern public administration cannot assume these conditions away. Certainly pluralistic governments (practicing majority rule, coupled with powerful minorities with special forms of access) systematically discriminate in favor of established, stable bureaucracies and their specialized clientele — and against those minorities who lack political and economic resources. Thus widespread and deep inequity are perpetuated. The long-range continuation of widespread and deep inequities poses a threat to the continued existence of this or any political system. Continued deprivation amid plenty breeds hopelessness and her companions, anger and militancy. A public administration that fails to work for changes that try to address this deprivation will likely eventually be used to oppress the deprived. What new public administration is striving for, then, is equity. Black’s Law Dictionary (1957) defines equity in its broadest and most general signification: [Equity] denotes the spirit and the habit of fairness and justness and right dealing which would regulate the intercourse of men with men, — the rule of doing to all others, as we desire them to do to us; or, as it is expressed by Justinian, â€Å"to live honestly, to harm nobody, to render every man his due. † †¦ It is therefore, the synonym of natural right or justice. But in this sense its obligation is ethical rather than jural, and its discussion belongs to the sphere of morals. It is grounded in the precepts of the conscience not in any sanction of positive law. Equity, then, is an issue that we will find to be a question of ethics. We will also find it to be a question of law. The foremost theorist presently supporting a concept of equity in government is John Rawls (1971). In his book A Theory of Justice, he sets out a splendid framework for a fundamental equity ethic. When speaking of our government institutions, Rawls states: â€Å"For us the primary subject of justice is the basic structure of society, or more exactly, the way in which the major social institutions distribute fundamental rights and duties and determine the division of advantages from social cooperation. By major institutions I understand the political constitution and the principal economic and social arrangements. † Justice, then, is the basic principle and is dominant over other principles in Rawls’s form of ethics. Rawls begins his theory with a definition of the individual or citizen and states: Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by the greater good shared by others. It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the larger sum of advantages enjoyed by many. Therefore, in a just society the liberties of equal citizenship are taken as settled; the rights secured by justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interest. In developing his theory, Rawls suggests an intellectual device or technique by which the principles of equity can be set forth. The first and most important intellectual technique is the notion of original position. The original position constitutes an agreement upon the most basic principles of justice upon which all of the basic structures of society (social, economic, and political) will be predicated. The principles of justice that emerge are both final and binding on all: â€Å"Since the original agreement is final and made in perpetuity, there is no second chance. † To make this theory operative, Rawls then proposes two principles of justice: â€Å"The first principle is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all. The second principle is that social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both: (a) to the greatest benefit to the least advantaged, consistent with the just savings principle, and (b) attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality and opportunity. † 11 These two principles, then, are to be a right of the same significance or order as the present rights as we understand them in government. Hart further states: According to Rawls, acceptance of the two principles of justice means that the collective efforts of society would be concentrated in behalf of its less advantaged members. This does not mean that all inequalities would disappear and all good will be equally distributed to achieve parity throughout the society. There would still be disparities in income and status. But there is an irreducible minimum of primary goods (such as self-respect, rights and liberties, power and opportunities, income and wealth) that are due every man, and the minimum must be met. 12 Rawls states that this is â€Å"a strongly egalitarian conception in the sense that unless there is a distribution that makes both persons better off (limiting ourselves to the two-person case for simplicity), an equal distribution is to be preferred. † 13 It is obvious that Rawls theory of justice is vastly different from other contemporary patterns of moral reasoning. Rawls does not argue it because it is good or right but rather because there is an increasing importance to the interdependence of persons that makes notions of advantages and disadvantages less and less acceptable. It is a pervasive sense of noblesse oblige or a sense of eternity among people. Rawls states that â€Å"in justice as fairness men agree to share one another’s fate. In designing institutions they undertake to avail themselves of the accidents of nature and social circumstances only when doing so is for the common benefit. † Because not all persons are genetically â€Å"equal,† the more advantaged have a moral duty to serve all others including the disadvantaged, not for altruistic reasons but because of the significance of human interdependence. As Hart (1974) says, â€Å"One serves because justice requires it and the result is the continuous enhancement of self-respect. Just actions, then, not only create the optimal condition for human life, they also are a major element in the rationalization of self. â€Å" Although all of this theory and definition is interesting, we live in a world of large and very complex organizations where the application of such concepts is difficult. This is also a world in which organizations tend to elevate their own needs over individual needs and goals. The problem is one of making complex organizations responsible to the needs of the individual. This requires rising above the rules and routines of organization to some concern for the self-respect and dignity of the individual citizen. Rawls’s theory is designed to instruct those who administer organizations that the rights of individuals would be everywhere protected. Hart summarizes this approach to social equity with the following: (1) The theory of justice would provide social equity with an ethical content. Acceptance of the theory of justice would provide the equitable public administrator with clear, well-developed ethical guidelines which would give social equity the force that it now lacks. (2) The theory of justice could provide the necessary ethical consensus -that the equitable public administrator has both the duty and the obligation to deploy his efforts on behalf of the less advantaged. (3) The theory of justice would impose constraints upon all complex public organizations since no organization would be allowed to infringe upon the basic liberties of individuals. (4) The theory of justice would provide a means to resolve ethical impasses (the original position). (5) The theory of justice would provide a professional code for public administration that would require a commitment to social equity (Hart, 1974).

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Human Resources Management in Business Essay

Human resources department is a part of business that deals with its staff. The department is seen as part of strategic management, in the effort to achieve the goals of the business, and is crucial to the business’s success. Some of the human resources department’s responsibilities include recruitment, retention, selection, job enlargement/enrichment, motivation and leadership, job role allocations, training, and payroll appraisals. The department’s decisions are influenced by, however, internal issues for workforce planning. One of the issues could be the cost of its operations. The business would want to minimize cost, so any decisions made by Human resources should be cost-effective. Another issue could be the company’s business strategy, for example when the company want to expand, the Human resources department would have to recruit more employees; if the company wants to cut costs and increase profit, the department would have to consider reducing the number of staff. It is also responsible for training current employees for any new equipments. There are also external factors that affect how workforce planning is carried out. These external factors include government actions that affect the business environment. For example, the government can impose new minimum wages that would increase the Human resources department’s spending on wages payment. The education situation of the country can also affect Human resources, as education is the means that workers gain their skills; without proper education, Human resources wouldn’t be able to recruit highly skilled workers without paying large salaries or recruit foreign nationals. An important external factor is the economic situation of the economy. If unemployment rates are high, Human resources would be able to recruit new employees much easier and cheaper than when the economy is in boom, which makes labour more expensive. The age ranges of the labour force can affect Human resources decisions, since they don’t want to recruit too old of employees who are going to retire soon. The business often want more young employees who can potentially contribute to the company for a long period of time, and can also be more innovative. Another external factor is technology advancements, as this may result in the introduction of new equipments into the company. The Human resources department would then have to organise training for their current staff to enable them to work with the newly acquired machineries. There are many benefits to Human Resources planning. One of the most important purpose of the Human Resources department is to motivate staff. This can be done by means of promotions, training, and rewards. Another benefit is that Human Resources help import important skills into the business through the process of recruitment. Human Resources would compose a recruitment process that selects the right people for the business. Without a Human Resources department, a firm cannot efficiently recruit employees that they need. Also, the department helps the business plan the right number of workers. They make sure that there are no redundancy or shortages of labour in the company, and if there is any, Human Resources would fix this either by cutting or recruiting staff. Human Resources department also ensures smooth operations in regards to labour management. This means they make sure that employees arrive when they are needed, and are allocated to the right tasks, and that each workers know their role within the business. In addition, they resolve whatever arguments that may arise between the workers and company management, making sure that the employees are clear of company regulations, and that management are clear of their workers’ conditions. Finally, the Human Resources department ensures that no laws are broken in regards to labour employment. For example, the recruitment process must not violate discrimination laws. All necessary laws are briefed to staff to ensure no illegal activities are conducted within the company. Before selecting staff for any position, key skills needed for that particular job need to be identified, creating a list of criteria for candidate selection. British Sugar is one of the largest provider of sugar products in the UK. Their Human Resources department has been directed to recruit three new production managers, as part of the company’s expansion project in China. The Human Resources department has identified the key skills for a potential production manager: Confidence: the manager needs to be confident in handling large responsibilities, whether it be meeting production deadlines, ensuring worker safety etc. They need confidence to be able to make decisive actions, taking the initiative without too much dependence on higher directives. As they direct the production process, confidence is also needed for negotiating with suppliers, making the best deals for the factory. Technical skills: a production manager has to be sufficiently knowledgeable about the production technology of their factory, to be able to understand and resolve technical problems should they arise. Technical knowledge of a manager does not have to be detailed, but must be sufficient to issue correct directives to the factory’s engineer force. High technical skills is preferred, as the manager will be more likely to be innovative in improving production methods of the firm. Communication skills: a good production manager is able to communicate to all different divisions of the company. They are quick to absorb information from different levels of the company, whether it be top management or floor workers, and then provide quick and effective feedback. Communication skills are crucial in a manager, as it helps him ensure the coordination between different elements of the company. Problem-solving skills: the production manager should be able to independently deal with problems within their factory. They will be extremely resourceful in coordinating factory or company-level efforts to solve problems. This requires an intelligent person that can improvise upon their resources to damage-control and reverse the problem and put the factory back onto its original course. Motivating staff is an important part of company operation, as it ensure the employees do their best and be productive while working for the company. There is a variety of reasons why employees would want to work harder in their working environment. Such reasons could be money, bonuses, power, working with friends, social aspects of work, the need to provide for family, promotion, team work, and promotion. Frederick Taylor’s theory of motivation simply stated that all workers are worked by money. This means that in order to better motivate employees, the employer simply just has to raise their pay, and this would make them work harder. Taylor introduced the Theory of Scientific Management, which said that workers are naturally lazy and need close supervisions and control. The theory also says that managers should break down work to the simplest tasks to their employees. Workers also need adequate training and equipment to perform their simple tasks as efficiently as possible, then they would be paid according to the amount of products they had produced. The theory is often applied in mass production lines which involves repetitive tasks. Elton Mayo later introduced a new theory of motivation of his own. He believed that money is only part of the worker’s concern, and social needs are more important in motivating workers at their work place. Mayo published the Human Relation school of thought, which encourage managers to focus more on social interactions between workers. Mayo went further in his studies and conducted his own experiment at the Hawthorne factory in Chicago. From these series of experiments, he concluded that although physical conditions worsened, they do not affect the productivity of the Hawthorne workers. Instead, social factors such as better communication between workers and managers, better involvement in employees’ lives from their manager, and team work was what improved productivity levels. In the 1950s, Abraham Maslow introduced the Neo-Human Relation school of thought. This new theory focus on the employee’s psychological needs, which are structured into five different levels of needs. The theory says that once a lower level of needs is satisfied, would then the worker could be motivated by an upper level of needs. These levels of needs in lower to higher order are physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualisation respectively. Managers also need to realise that each worker moves up this ladder at a different pace, and therefore might need different sets of incentives from worker to worker. In financial-related type of motivations, the most common motivation is salaries and wages. Salaries are what permanent employees are paid monthly or annually. Wages, on the other hand, is what is paid to workers per hour they have worked. These can motivate the employees, for the harder they work, the more they would earn. A piece rate system is when an employee is paid a fixed rate for each unit of production; In other words, they are paid by results, which motivate them to achieve better results. Commission and fees are similarly dependent on the results of the workers. Commission is a percentage of the sale revenue, and fees are fixed amounts that are earned after sale. The more the employee sells, the more commission or fees they get, motivating them to sell more. Fringe benefits are any non-wage payment or benefit such as pension plans, profit-sharing programs, vacation pay, and company-paid life, health, and unemployment insurance. Having these extra benefit with their jobs can make the employees feel more secure and work harder. Performance-related pay or pay by performance is money paid relating to how well the employee works. This would motivate them by giving them knowledge that the better they perform in their field, the better their assessment would be and the more they would be paid. Profit sharing is another way of motivating staff, it consists of a plan that gives employees a share in the profit of the company. Each employee receives a percentage of those profit based on the company’s earnings. This makes staff work harder, knowing the more their company earns, the more they would get in shared profit. Share ownership is when employees who have worked in the company for a long time are given part of the business as shares. These shares would give the employees power, and they get to take part deciding how the company is run. Other than financial motivations, there are non-financial ones that could boost motivation while costing minimal for the business. Job redesign involves restructuring the elements including tasks, duties and responsibilities of a specific job in order to make it more encouraging and inspiring for the employees. Job enlargement is basically increasing the employees’ work load, so that they feel more responsible and work harder. Job rotation is when employees are moved between two or more jobs in a planned manner. The purpose of this is to expose the employees to different experiences and wider variety of skills to enhance job satisfaction and to cross-train them. Job enrichment is a variation of job enlargement. Job enrichment adds new sources of job satisfaction by giving the employee additional authority, autonomy, and control over the way the job is accomplished. Team work is a Cooperative effort by the members of a group or team to achieve a common goal. Working in a team may motivate employees to do better to fulfill their part on the team. External link for employees motivating can be found here: http://www. forbes. com/sites/glennllopis/2012/06/04/top-9-things-that-ultimately-motivate-employees-to-achieve/ The fundamental method which British Sugar would use to motivate their staff is to make them feel safe. Feeling safe would clear the employees’ minds from external worries, helping them to focus more on their tasks and try harder to achieve. This method would include providing their employees with adequate facilities to work in. This means that British Sugar’s factories and offices would to the most basic safety regulations such as fire safety, electrical safety, and protection from hazardous conditions inside their factories. British Sugar would also make sure that their facilities have appropriate security measures to protect employees and their possessions safe. This method of motivation is one of the most basic levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Another method that British Sugar uses is providing extra employee benefits beside their regular salaries and wages. They would give company cars for manager and directors, along with free O2 mobile phones. British Sugar also looks after their employees by providing them with free healthcare in the form of free check-ups with company nurse, eyesight tests and glasses, and subsidised scheme with AXA. Families of employees can also enjoy company benefits with provided child vouchers and team meals for spouses. British Sugar’s factory workers are also provided with free safety work wear. There are numerous other benefits that employees can enjoy working for British Sugar, which includes sports clubs, gym facilities, free parking†¦etc. A popular method of motivation from Taylor’s school of thought is recognition. British Sugar would give out tokens of appreciation and to recognise employees/teams that have made a significant contribution over and above that reasonably expected. Company managers would award their employees with vouchers, meals, bouquet of flowers, or bottles of wine to boost their work morale. Long Service Awards are given to employees with significant length of service. Annual bonuses of ? 400, ? 600, ? 800, and ? 900 are given to employees who have served 20, 30, 40, or 45 years in the company respectively. British Sugar also use chances of promotion to encourage their employees. This is a process known as internal recruitment. When a position is open, employees are often promoted to fill the position instead of recruiting new people externally. This keeps the employees motivated to work harder, knowing there are chances of future promotion. Another method of motivation used by British Sugar is performance management. Performance management is a proactive and continuous process of communicating and clarifying role responsibilities, performance expectations and priorities in order to ensure mutual understanding between managers and employees. To ensure the proper functioning of the business, British Sugar would have to maintain a high level of cooperation and satisfaction in its employees. Making employees cooperate would increase productivity, reduce labour turnover, and make sure that they can maintain the quantity and quality of work they are capable of. One of the methods of doing this is by communication. This method involves staying in touch with the staff to make sure they are updated with company information. When staff have the information that they need for their job, they will be more likely to be oriented towards their tasks, and be able to do it correctly and more efficiently. Communication with employees can be done by many means. It includes emails, which are quick, efficient, and reliable. Face-to-face communication is an important form of communication, often in the form of meetings; however it has time and distance limitations , for example a manager might not have the time to see all of his employees to talk about new policies, while he could just send them all an email. There are other methods such as telephone calls, which can be made easily over long distance or face-time technology that allows employees to communicate despite the long distance. Another way of improving employees’ cooperation and commitment in the business is making them more involved in it. In British sugar, this is know as the â€Å"quality circle†. British Sugar would engage its employees group discussions, where groups of workers meet and discuss the good and bad side of the issues that they face. The employees would try to resolve their problems together, and discuss ways to improve how they work and how the company works. This method generates a feeling of involvement, employees would feel that they are a contributing part of a team, and therefore view their work more positively and become more inclined to cooperate with other employees as well as the company managers. Clear employment contracts also help boost staff cooperation and commitment. A clear contract would have to explicitly explain the details of the job, such as explaining the roles and duties that the employee is expected to carry out, along with the hours of work required. The business would also need clearly identified procedures such as disciplinary policies or grievance policies. A clear pay structure that explains basic time as well as overtime is essential. All of these will reduce arguments in the company, enabling more efficiency and cooperation within the business. Motivational methods are a way of getting more cooperation from staff. Motivated employees would perform better while feeling better about their prospects than demotivated ones, therefore cooperating more in their work. Similarly, training and charity links should also be used to boost the morale of workers. Training would increase the employees motivation and performance, as well as charitable activities such as helping out the local community. A well-motivated workforce with high morale is more likely to cooperate with the company and to each other. The culture of the business itself will also affect how its employees cooperate. If the company has a culture of cooperation and an atmosphere of teamwork, then the employees are more likely to have more cooperation in their work. Training in a large organisation such as British Sugar is carried out extensively. An example of British Sugar’s training operation is their Graduate scheme, a scheme in which British Sugar finds apprentice in universities. The company would offer university graduates a period of vocational training, with the assurance of a job at the end of their training, in addition to have year-long job placements for engineering students. British Sugar also organises over 1000 training courses every year involves all levels from senior managers to new apprentices and our seasonal workers. The company encourages its sites to play an active role in local communities through media visits, schools activities, agricultural and environmental events. British Sugar have regular dialogues with leading and local non-government organisations. They also organise sponsorships and charitable funds, allocated to their employee fundraising activities through a â€Å"Supporting YOU to support others† programme. Measuring the workforce can be done by a number of ways. This is generally looking at the key indicators in the business’ workforce such as labour productivity, health and safety, labour turnover and absenteeism. Labour productivity is how much the workers produce in terms of goods and services per hour worked. In the business, it can be measured by looking at the efficiency of individual or teams. However, this method should be used with cation, because there are factors that could affect labour productivity such as the age of machinery, type of sector that the business is in or whether production is automated or labour-intensive. If machineries are old, they wouldn’t be able to produce as much, therefore being the cause of low labour productivity. A business in the secondary sector would be more productive than one in the tertiary sector since manufacturing makes more products than service. Similarly, a business that has automated production will be much more productive than one with labour-intensive production, since machines are able to mass produce more products than individual workers. A business can try to improve labour productivity by using motivational tools such as bonuses. Training can also be used to add productivity to workers, and business plans help staff work more efficiently. The business can also buy new equipments to improve productivity of their workers. Another measurement is health and safety. As it is one of the motivational factor, the quality of health and safety at the workplace can affect the staff. The better the health and safety standard, the better the staff will perform. The business must consider the possible causes of poor health and safety, such as poor equipment, dangerous environment and also the poor training in the matter. Labour turnover can also be used to measure a company’s workforce. Labour turnover is the proportion of staff leaving the business over a period of time, usually each year. A company can lose their staff due to de-motivation, retirement, social factors, better opportunity elsewhere ,or that the employee wants to start their won business. Staff leaving can also be involuntarily as their positions become redundant or they are fired due to performance. A high labour turnover is generally not good because it spawns many problems such as the loss of productive capacity, the costs and the time taken to recruit new staff, and the extra training and induction programmes to new employees. However, new staff can bring benefits such as introduction of new ideas to the business, or more efficient workers. Absenteeism is another measurement to the company’s workforce, as it tells managers how much their staff go on break from work. This can be a substantial problem for the business, because production output will suffer if employees are absent, projects will run into delays, and the quality of products affected due to the lack of staff. There are many other costs associated with absent staff, such as sick pay, and temporary staff pay, which is often expensive. Absenteeism also cause de-motivation in the business, as other employees will have to take the work load of the absent employees. To lower the level of absenteeism, the business can issue fines to absent staff, improve the safety of the work environment so staff would want to be at work, and improve their motivational methods. British Sugar uses a range of performance indicators to evaluate and improve their performance. SMART targets are a set of criteria that are based on the specific words: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-specific. These criteria are applied in the process of making goals and objectives, to maximise the business chances of obtaining them. Punctuality is the characteristic of being able to complete a required task or fulfill an obligation before or at a previously designated time. Attendance is the frequency with which a person is present. An appraisal system, or performance management, is a proactive and continuous process of communicating and clarifying role responsibilities, performance expectations and priorities in order to ensure mutual understanding between managers and employees. It is very useful as it is both a motivational strategy and a review system where mangers can assess their employees. The appraisal system would fulfill the employees’ social and recognition needs according Maslow’ theories, motivating to work harder to achieve more and be more recognised. The system is not without flaws, however. The appraisal system can be very costly, requiring a lot of administrative work, and is time-consuming. It is also exposed to favouritism. Managers can tend to trust and praise some employees more than others, causing distrust discontentment among team members.