Health Care Debate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health Care Debate - Essay Example Part I â€Å"In Health Care Debate, Fear Trumps Logic† aired on NPR on August 28, 2009, is an apt example of the usage of scare tactics by the anti-reform camp to scuttle the health care reform initiatives and to make the general public, and especially the senior citizens, more apprehensive and weary of the proposed reforms. The anti-reform vested interests are actually manipulating the deep seated fears of the target audience to turn them against the health care reforms. The scare tactics relies for its success on the fact that fear is the most common and universally shared human emotion. Humans tend to learn from their past experiences and mostly store the information in their mind as to which things are to be feared and avoided (Goleman, 1996). So associating a proposed change with something that is already feared by the target audience is bound to generate feelings of fear and hence revulsion. Thus, linking the health reforms with communists, involuntary euthanasia, lack o f access to healthcare and other such things is an exercise in scare tactics. May sound enervating, but scare tactics do enjoy a fare degree of success rate. A large share of this success could be attributed to the biochemistry of human brain (Goleman, 1996). People are automatically programmed to a ‘fight or flight’ response to the things they fear (Goleman, 1996). It is seldom that people stop to recheck the facts pertaining to a situation that triggers fear, because this strictly goes against their instinct for self preservation (Goleman, 1996). Besides, the essential human gregariousness motivates people to spread the fear psychosis, so as to protect as many fellow humans as possible (NPR, 2009, a). Thus it is the human physiology that assures a partial if not complete success of a scare tactics. Such scare tactics do have the potential to drag the relevant public and political issues like health reforms into the realm of the impossible, and hence prevent formalizat ion of the intended reforms or changes into statutory provisions or laws. The usage of such influence tactics does have the potential to distort the very nature of a political process or debate and to discourage the social and political leaders supportive of a change. Owing to the very nature of democracy, political leaders are required to be sensitive to the majority opinion. The coercion of majority opinion through the subtle approaches like scare tactics may willingly or unwillingly force the courageous few to tow the popular line, when the facts point to the contrary. Part II In that context, â€Å"Senior Groups Reject Health Care ‘Scare Tactics’†, aired two days later on NPR that is on August 30, 2009, is a predictable outcome of the scare tactics used by the anti-reform camp, especially in a modern context when the authentic information and data are readily accessible. As previously told, humans are programmed to a ‘fight or flight’ response to the things that portend to be dangerous (Goleman, 1996). However, the thing to be noted is that ‘fight’ is as much a possible response to a scare tactics as a ‘flight’. Moreover, the interest groups and individuals that have much at stake, are posed to offer a tough fight to dispel the danger posed to their long term well being, by the intended outcome of a

Environmental Science Essay Example for Free

Environmental Science Essay Our world looses 40,000 species a year, while ocean fisheries collapse and global warming threatens ecosystems from the coral reefs to the melting of the North Pole poles to the grain-producing mid-latitudes. There is a greater need than ever before to understand ecosystem processes, man’s impact on these processes, and the value systems that will determine our future interactions with our own ecosystem. Conservation is akin to problem solving, hence the emphasis on the art of solving problems and the critical-analytical approach toward understanding the underlying issues. Conserving nature is thus related to solving problems arising from human interference. It thus combines the complexity of nature with the human dimension, which is complicated to say the least. Hence the multitude of dimensions, confusion of ideas and the widespread involvement in all facets of daily life.Conservation is rooted in the belief that something can be done to prevent the loss of an endeared entity. When we saw native forests disappearing to shipbuilding and firewood, we began to protect them, goes the story. However, the truth follows a slightly different path. Forests were saved because people discovered coal, which was much more efficient to use. Instead of building ships from timber, steel proved to be a better choice. Instead of burning firewood for locomotives, coal proved more efficient. Thus coal and steel saved the remnants of native forests. Likewise it was fossil oil that saved the whales. If no economic replacement can be found, people will use the resource to the last little bit. Conservation in its early days, often happened by accident. However, today, people are using knowledge, foresight, labour and technology for proactive conservation. Soil conservation: soil has become threatened by human cultivation and climate change, resulting in loss of fertility, erosion and desertification. Water conservation: water is needed for food and industry, but in many nations a severe shortage is looming as humans use over 50% of fresh water that never reaches the sea. Atmosphere conservation: clean air is needed by all organisms on Earth. The atmosphere regulates the Earths temperature and protects it from harmful radiation. Global warming and ozone depletion threaten all organisms, including humans. Natural habitat conservation: wildlife needs natural habitat, Wildlife conservation: preventing extinctions, maintaining biodiversity. Mineral conservation: the mining of minerals rests almost exclusively in the hands of mining companies. Their business is to supply an ever hungrier market. Conservation of minerals can be done only at the consumers end, by reducing the need, reusing by-products and recycling wastes Energy conservation: energy is the main driving force behind industry and indeed our civilisation. Our entire standard of living depends on energy to the extent, that people in developed countries use the equivalent of 50 human slaves each, or more. Fossil fuel is going to run out and alternatives have to be found, as well as energy conserved. Urban conservation: in recent times, many cities have grown so rapidly that they have become unlivable due to overcrowding, traffic jams, inadequate public transportation systems, air and water pollution, noise, and lack of recreational parks. People flee the cities to live in suburbs, causing urban areas to sprawl, which exacerbates the transport-related problems. Urban conservation aims to make cities more livable, while halting urban sprawl. Marine conservation: the marine environment has its own rules. To do conservation for the benefit of nature is difficult enough, but because humans are involved in every step, the matter becomes very much more complicated. In fact, this aspect can become quite time-consuming and energy-sapping, often obscuring what the whole purpose of conservation is all about. Human society has become more complicated over time, and will continue to do so. People have occupied every bit of land, and have also been allowed to own it. By having an interest in an area planned for conservation, or an extractable species, human lives are affected and conflicts arise. People who have a claim to be considered, call themselves stakeholders. Dont be surprised that a stakeholder can live hundreds of kilometres away from the place of conflict. Here are the human interests that need to be considered along every step: economic: peoples incomes are affected. Countries with a Bill Of Rights, require such people to be compensated financially. It increases the cost of conservation. However, often new opportunities present themselves, and people can get better jobs through re-training. Where fishing is stopped, boat owners and skippers can learn to earn a living from eco-tourism. Park rangers are required, and those displaced from the area make good rangers due to their local knowledge. rights: over time, people have given themselves all kinds of rights. Their present predicament is seen as a right obtained through custom, and any change to it is seen as an infringement of such rights. tradition: people have been doing what they do for many generations, often passed down in families from father to son. Villages have a tradition, and so do areas. A conservation effort may upset such traditions. culture: every ethnic group has a different culture. Within a culture, specific rights and beliefs are held dearly. Conservation may infringe on such cultural values. spiritual: persons and groups may have spiritual values, arising from beliefs and superstitions. emotional value: people often value a place or a species emotionally. Such values cannot be measured but are real to the beholders. A large range of emotional values can be held. race: racial matters may dominate conservation efforts. Original People like the Maori in New Zealand, the Aborigines in Australia and the Indians in America and Canada, have lived in the area for a long time, and have cultural and spiritual ties with an area. However, often the race issue is used to gain power and income. Nevertheless, it seems that the three underlying causes, population growth, economic growth and material needs (standard of living) are too holy to be stemmed, or even discussed. So it happens that all our conservation efforts are directed at fixing problems, rather than preventing them. Worse still, the concept of sustainable development requires us to increase economic activity while also conserving the environment, two opposing goals. Conservationists now try to improve our quality of life, the need for a clean environment, such as clean air and water, uncluttered living areas, and unspoiled scenic lands. Only very recently has the concept of biodiversity entered the conservationists vocabulary. It requires healthy ecosystems, not just for the benefit of people but also for those other millions of species. The ecological crisis, as an outcome of human impact on nature, has reached a point that could threaten the very survival of humanity. In keeping with the economic interests of a small minority, new production forms be implemented faster and faster, with no prior evaluation of their ecological consequences. These minority interests also require maintaining production techniques recognized as harmful. This is going on while technological progress is increasing the possibility of acting upon nature, and hence upsetting or destroying it. Industry, transports and the breakdown of more or less durable consumer goods release a great variety of toxic substances into the air. The unbridled and apparently uncontrollable growth of motor vehicle traffic makes this the primary source of sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide, far ahead of household and industrial heating. Formic aldehyde, mercury and asbestos, for example, are industrial pollutants. These are also found to a very significant extent in everyday consumer products, such as building materials in the case of formaldehyde and asbestos, and mercury in batteries. Waste, of household, agricultural or industrial origin alike, is carried off in the worlds waters, turning them into gigantic sewers. Continental waters, rivers and lakes are the hardest-hit, but pollution is reaching the sea more and more, via rivers and coastal cities. The direct consequences are the accumulation of heavy metals; mercury, cadmium, etc, and highly toxic organic compounds, in sediment on the ocean floor, riverbeds and lakebeds. Above all, fertilizer build-up, involving nitrates and phosphates, has led to an unbridled proliferation of algae and water plants. Their breakdown then exhausts the oxygen dissolved in the water: resulting in a massive death of aquatic life. Among the most dramatic manifestations of the ecological crisis, the destruction of the worlds forests is among the most disturbing, because of the extent of its consequences. In 50 years, one third of the worlds woodlands has disappeared. This has hit tropical countries the hardest. In the industrialized countries, the wooded area has remained relatively stable, but forests are slowly dying from air, oil and soil pollution. However, in the Third World, deforestation is at the heart of the ecological crisis. Deforestation is the outcome of a vicious cycle of poverty and depletion of arable land. Another cause is the over-harvesting of tropical woods, with no concern for sustainable management. This destroys biodiversity the tropical forests are home to over 50% of the plant and animal species of our planet and the forest populations resources, in order to provide a cheaper product for Western building and furniture markets. In future, we must see our neighbours as partners and friends rather than as poachers and foes. This partnership can also extend to adjoining industries, farming enterprises and business ventures. It does, of course, mean that human attitudes and behaviour will have to change. We should all see ourselves as custodians of the environment and learn to live in harmony with it. Only then will we see light at the end of a dark tunnel. Worked Cite: Daniel B. Botkin, Edward A. Keller Published by Wiley Text Books (June 2002) Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet

In Defense of the Original Ending of Great Expectations Essay example -

In Defense of the Original Ending of Great Expectations    Many critics prefer the original ending to the revised version because it is the ending that Dickens himself decided to write without consulting anyone. Many people believe that since Bulwer-Lytton gave Dickens input on the second ending that it is not as true. Although Dickens may have inadvertently been plagiarizing, the original ending is the way that Dickens felt the novel should end, as opposed to the way Bulwer-Lytton felt it should end.    Another reason that the original is preferable is because it seems to flow better with the overall themes of the novel. One of these themes is how people expectations differ from reality. Pip's expectations never seem to be what he thinks they are. He does not inherit money from Miss Havisham, it is really from Magwitch. In this sense, the fact that Estella has remarried to someone other than Pip is just another case of such luck. Although he had always hoped to someday be with her, it will never happen and this ending closes that possibility forever. However, the revised ending leaves the possibilities open. Because of this, Dickens' text loses one of it's major themes. Since Pip and Estella may be together in the future, Pip's mistaken perceptions lose their point. Dickens was using Pip's mistakes as a way to show that people should not expect things from other people, which is what Pip does throughout the novel. He expects money from Miss Havisham, Estella to fall in l ove with him, and his life to be easy. However, life does not work that way, and in the original ending Dickens does not let fictional life work that way either. Most of the problems that Pip finds himself in are the results of hi... ...s loss, but the novel ends on an acknowledgment of the possibilities the future holds for Pip's redemption. However, such a theme also gives rise to a theme of separation. By this point in the novel, Pip had already lost touch with everything that was important to him as a young man. He had grown in a different direction than Joe and Biddy. He could never be with Estella, although the revised ending attempts to have them together. In this sense, Pip is completely cut off from everything that once gave him solace. His only hope for redemption lies in the hands of little Pip. If little Pip can "grow up a much better man than I (Pip) did" (435; ch. 58), then hopefully little Pip will not have to suffer as the older Pip has. Works Cited Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Ed. Janice Carlisle. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1996. 440-441.    In Defense of the Original Ending of Great Expectations Essay example - In Defense of the Original Ending of Great Expectations    Many critics prefer the original ending to the revised version because it is the ending that Dickens himself decided to write without consulting anyone. Many people believe that since Bulwer-Lytton gave Dickens input on the second ending that it is not as true. Although Dickens may have inadvertently been plagiarizing, the original ending is the way that Dickens felt the novel should end, as opposed to the way Bulwer-Lytton felt it should end.    Another reason that the original is preferable is because it seems to flow better with the overall themes of the novel. One of these themes is how people expectations differ from reality. Pip's expectations never seem to be what he thinks they are. He does not inherit money from Miss Havisham, it is really from Magwitch. In this sense, the fact that Estella has remarried to someone other than Pip is just another case of such luck. Although he had always hoped to someday be with her, it will never happen and this ending closes that possibility forever. However, the revised ending leaves the possibilities open. Because of this, Dickens' text loses one of it's major themes. Since Pip and Estella may be together in the future, Pip's mistaken perceptions lose their point. Dickens was using Pip's mistakes as a way to show that people should not expect things from other people, which is what Pip does throughout the novel. He expects money from Miss Havisham, Estella to fall in l ove with him, and his life to be easy. However, life does not work that way, and in the original ending Dickens does not let fictional life work that way either. Most of the problems that Pip finds himself in are the results of hi... ...s loss, but the novel ends on an acknowledgment of the possibilities the future holds for Pip's redemption. However, such a theme also gives rise to a theme of separation. By this point in the novel, Pip had already lost touch with everything that was important to him as a young man. He had grown in a different direction than Joe and Biddy. He could never be with Estella, although the revised ending attempts to have them together. In this sense, Pip is completely cut off from everything that once gave him solace. His only hope for redemption lies in the hands of little Pip. If little Pip can "grow up a much better man than I (Pip) did" (435; ch. 58), then hopefully little Pip will not have to suffer as the older Pip has. Works Cited Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Ed. Janice Carlisle. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1996. 440-441.   

Eid Ul Azha

Eid is a great festival for Muslims. There are two Eid occasion- Eid ul fitr and Eid ul adha. Muslims celebrate these festivals with great respect and pleasure. Eid ul fitr is celebrated after the month of Ramadan. Eid ul adha is celebrated in 10th Jilhajj. We celebrated Eid ul adha in last month. Eid ul adha remembers the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son when God ordered him to. God appeared in a dream to Ibrahim and told him to sacrifice his son Isma'il. According to Islamic tradition, approximately four thousand years ago, the valley of Mecca (in what is now Saudi Arabia) was a dry, rocky and uninhabited place.Ibrahim was instructed to bring his Egyptian wife Hajirah and Ishmael, his only child at the time to Arabia from the land of Canaan by Allah's command. As Ibrahim was preparing for his return journey back to Canaan, Hajirah asked him, â€Å"Did Allah order you to leave us here? Or are you leaving us here to die. † Ibrahim turned around to face his wi fe. He was so sad that he couldn't say anything. He pointed to the sky showing that Allah commanded him to do so. Hajirah said, â€Å"Then Allah will not waste us; you can go†.Though Ibrahim had left a large quantity of food and water with Hajirah and Ishmael, the supplies quickly ran out, and within a few days the two began to feel the pangs of hunger and dehydration. Hajirah ran up and down between two hills called Al-Safa and Al-Marwah seven times, in her desperate quest for water. Exhausted, she finally collapsed beside her baby Ishmael and prayed to Allah for deliverance. Miraculously, a spring of water gushed forth from the earth at the feet of baby Ishmael. Other accounts have the angel Jibrail striking the earth and causing the spring to flow in abundance.With this secure water supply, known as the Zamzam Well, they were not only able to provide for their own needs, but were also able to trade water with passing nomads for food and supplies. Years later, Ibrahim was i nstructed by Allah to return from Canaan to build a place of worship adjacent to Zamzam well Ibrahim and Ishmael constructed a stone and mortar structure —known as the Kaaba— which was to be the gathering place for all who wished to strengthen their faith in Allah. As the years passed, Ishmael was blessed with Prophethood (Nubuwwah) and gave the nomads of the desert his message of submission to Allah.After many centuries, Mecca became a thriving desert city and a major center for trade, thanks to its reliable water source, the well of Zamzam. One of the main trials of Ibrahim's life was to face the command of Allah to devote his dearest possession, his only son. Upon hearing this command, he prepared to submit to Allah's will. During this preparation, Satan (Shaitan) tempted Ibrahim and his family by trying to dissuade them from carrying out Allah's commandment, and Ibrahim drove Satan away by throwing pebbles at him.In commemoration of their rejection of Satan, stones are thrown at symbolic pillars signifying Satan during the Hajj rites. When Ishmael was about 13 (Ibrahim being 99), Allah decided to test their faith in public. Ibrahim had a recurring dream, in which Allah was commanding him to offer his son as a sacrifice – an unimaginable act – sacrificing his son, which Allah had granted him after many years of deep prayer. Ibrahim knew that the dreams of the prophets were divinely inspired, and one of the ways in which Allah communicated with his prophets.When the intent of the dreams became clear to him, Ibrahim decided to fulfill Allah's command and offer Ishmael for sacrifice. Although Ibrahim was ready to sacrifice his dearest for Allah's sake, he could not just go and drag his son to the place of sacrifice without his consent. Ishmael had to be consulted as to whether he was willing to give up his life as fulfillment to Allah's command. This consultation would be a major test of Ishmael's maturity in faith, love and commitm ent for Allah, willingness to obey his father and sacrifice his own life for the sake of Allah.Ibrahim presented the matter to his son and asked for his opinion about the dreams of slaughtering him. Ishmael did not show any hesitation or reservation even for a moment. He said, â€Å"Father, do what you have been commanded. You will find me, Insha'Allah (Allah willing), to be very patient. † His mature response, his deep insight into the nature of his father’s dreams, his commitment to Allah, and ultimately his willingness to sacrifice his own life for the sake of Allah were all unprecedented.Ibrahim could not bear to watch his son die so he covered his eyes by a blindfold. When he cut Ishmael's throat and removed the blindfold, he was astonished to see that Ishmael was unharmed and instead, he found a dead sheep which was slaughtered. Ibrahim had passed the test by his willingness to carry out Allah's command. As a reward for this sacrifice, Allah then granted Ibrahim the good news of the birth of his second son, Is-haaq. And We gave him the good news of Is-haaq, a prophet from among the righteous.Ibrahim had shown that his love for Allah superseded all others: that he would lay down his own life or the lives of those dearest to him in submission to Allah's command. Muslims commemorate this ultimate act of sacrifice every year during Eid al-Adha. I celebrated Eid ul adha with my family in Chittagong. Our eid vacation was started 17 October. I went to Chittagong with a great pleasure. Before 3 days of eid my father bought a cow to sacrifice for Allah. The eid was celebrated at 27th October. On that day I take bath in 7. 00 am.Then I help my mother in cooking. My father was going to slay cow and collect beef. My father returned home at 1. 00 pm. Then my mother cooked meat. At afternoon I get out with my friends. I visited my friends’ house. My friends were gathering in one of my friend’s house and chatting. At 9. 00 pm I returned home . I took my supper with my family. I was tired but I enjoyed the festival. After 7 days I returned to Dhaka. It was an enjoyable Eid celebration. Dhaka is a busy city. Everyone is busy with his own business. I miss my Eid days in this busy life. â€Å"Thank You†

Entering Grooming Business in Hong Kong Pest Analysis

Personal management and human resource management (HRM) basically brings very similar meaning. The personnel who work for a company represent that company’s human resource. Human resource management (HRM) department didn’t actually exist until 1940s, the activities performed by these departments were not all brand new but in fact, quite a number of the human resource practices and programs that we see today top derivation in the earlier times. Human resource management (HRM) is historically known as personal management which deals with official system for the management of the people within the organization. Many renowned companies want to achieve the transformation of their workforce into a foundation of completive advantage. HR manager inevitably has concerns for their workers. These concerns consists of how to manage layoffs, address deduction of employee loyalty, generate a well trained highly motivated work force that can deliver HR mangers have many concerns regarding their workers. These concerns include how to mange layoffs, address reduced employee loyalty, generate a well trained highly motivated work force that can deliver higher quality and productivity. Mange and increase diverse workforce and contain health care cost. HRM has been undergoing transformation. In 1970s, the job of the HR manger was to keep their companies out of court and in compliance with the increasing number of regulations governing the work place. In the 1980s HR mangers had to address staffing costs related to mergers and acquisitions and downsizing. The economic issues related to an increasingly global and completive workplace characterize the 1990s. Beside these concerns Firms are also facing some other challenges regarding workforce before we take up the HR challenges that face managers, we need to define manager and say a word about where human resources fit into the organization. Managers are people who are in charge of others and are responsible for the timely and correct execution of actions that promote their units' successful performance. B. History of Personnel Management A group of people becomes an organization when they cooperate with each other to achieve common goals. Communication among them is therefore important. But people have individual motivations, which often differ, from the corporate goals. An effective organization is one which succeeds in getting people to accept that cooperating to achieve organizational goals also helps them to achieve their own goals provided they are adequately rewarded through extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. This is achieved primarily through leadership and motivation. Employers therefore increasingly view human resource management from a strategic perspective, and as an appropriate means through which the chasm between organizational and individual goals can be narrowed. As it has been aptly observed: â€Å"Part of the problem is that we have split off human resource management from the general management problem, as if there were some other kind of management other than human resource management. As long as organizations are based upon the coordinated action of two or more people, management is by definition human resource management. Despite the proliferation of writings and studies on HRM, there is a wide gap between the rhetoric and the reality, though the gap has been narrowing in the 1990s. There is as yet inadequate research to ascertain the extent to which practice matches corporate policy statements, and the impact of HRM policies and practices Page # 29 on employee behavior and morale. To have a major impact on enterprises, HRM has to be diffused across an economy, rather than remain islands of excellence. Nevertheless, promoting excellent models of HRM stimulates interest in better people management. HRM has three basic goals, which contribute to achieving management objectives. The first is integration of HRM in two senses: integrating HRM into an organization's corporate strategy, and ensuring an HRM view in the decisions and actions of line managers. Integration in the first sense involves selecting the HRM options consistent with (and which promote) the particular corporate strategy. The option is determined by the type of employee behavior expected (e. g. innovation) needed to further the corporate strategy. For instance, the HRM policies in relation to recruitment, appraisal, compensation, training, etc. iffer according to whether the business strategy is one of innovation, quality enhancement or cost reduction. A strategy of innovation may require a pay system less influenced by market rates but which rewards creativity, and the pay rates would even be low so long as there are ways of making up the earnings package. A cost reduction strategy may lead to pay rates being strongly influenced by market levels. Similarly, training and development would rec eive less emphasis in a cost reduction strategy than in one where the objective is innovation or quality. But such integration is difficult without securing the inclusion of a HRM view in the decisions and practices of line managers. This requires that HRM should not be a centralized function. A second goal of HRM is securing commitment through building strong cultures. This involves promoting organizational goals by uniting employees through a shared set of values (quality, service, innovation, etc. ) based on a convergence of employee and enterprise interests, which the larger Japanese enterprises have been particularly adept at. A third goal of HRM is to achieve flexibility and adaptability to manage change and innovation in response to rapid changes consequent upon globalization. Relevant to HRM policies in this regard are training and multi-skilling, re-organization of work and removal of narrow job classifications. Appropriate HRM policies are designed, for instance, to recruit, develop and retain quality staff, to formulate and implement agreed performance goals and measures, and to build a unified organizational culture. C. Shifting from Personnel Management to HRM The transformation is reflected by raising important role of HRM from the personal management purpose from one of focussing on employee welfare to one of managing people in a way, which matches organizational goal and individual goals and providing employees with intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Therefore Therefore, today Human Resource Management (HRM), historically known as personal management, deals with formal system for the management of the people within the organization. Many well-known companies report that they are trying to transform their workforce into a source of completive advantage. Stages of shifting of Personnel Management to HRM: First, HRM earlier reacted piece-meal to problems as they arose. Effective HRM seeks to link HRM issues to the overall strategy of the organization, with the most effective HRM policies and practices integrated into such corporate policies and strategies to reinforce or change an organization's culture. Integration is needed in two senses – integrating HRM issues in an organization's strategic plans and securing the acceptance and inclusion of a HRM view in the decisions of line managers. The HRM policies in respect of the various functions (e. g. recruitment, training, etc. ) should be internally consistent. They must also be consistent with the business strategies and should reflect the organization's core values. The problem of integrating HRM view business strategy arises, for example, in a diversified enterprise with different products and markets. In such cases it is difficult to match HRM policies with strategies that could vary among different business activities, each of which may call for different HRM policies. Second, building strong cultures is a way of promoting particular organizational goals, in that â€Å"a ‘strong culture' is aimed at uniting employees through a shared set of managerially sanctioned values (‘quality', ‘service', ‘innovation' etc. ) that assume an identification of employee and employer interests. However, there can be tension between a strong organizational culture and the need to adapt to changed Page # 30 ircumstances and to be flexible, particularly in the highly competitive and rapidly changing environment in which employers have to operate today. Rapid change demanded by the market is sometimes difficult in an organization with a strong culture. IBM has been cited as a case in point. Its firmly-held beliefs about products and services made it difficult for it to effect changes in time, i. e. when the market required a radical change in product and service (from mainframe, customized systems, salesmen as management consultants to customer-as-end-user, seeking quality of product and service) o personal computers (standardized product, cost competition, dealer as customer). Nevertheless, in the long term a strong organizational culture is preferable to a weak one. Third, the attitude that people are a variable cost is, in effective HRM, replaced by the view that people are a resource and that as social capital can be developed and can contribute to competitive advantage. Increasingly, it is accepted that competitive advantage is gained through well-educated and trained, motivated and committed employees at all levels. This recognition is now almost universal, and accounts for the plausible argument that training and development are, or will be, the central pillar of HRM. Fourth, the view that the interests of employees and management or shareholders are divergent and confliction – though substantially true in the past – is giving way to the view that this need not necessarily be so. As organization, which practices, effective HRM seeks to identify and promote a commonality of interests. Significant examples are training which enhances employment security and higher earning capacity for employees while at the same time increasing the employee's value to the enterprise's goals of better productivity and performance; pay systems which increase earnings without significant labor cost increases, and which at the same time promote higher performance levels; goal-setting through two-way communication which establishes unified goals and objectives and which provides intrinsic rewards to the employee through a participatory process. Fifth, top-down communication coupled with controlled information flow to keep power within the control of management giving way to a sharing of information and knowledge. This change facilitates the creation of trust and commitment and makes knowledge more productive. Control from the top is in effective HRM being replaced by increasing employee participation and policies, which foster commitment and flexibility that help organizations to change when necessary. The ways in which the larger Japanese enterprises have installed participatory schemes and introduced information-sharing and two-way communication systems are instructive in this regard. In enterprises that tend to have corporate philosophies or missions, and where there are underlying values that shape their corporate culture, HRM becomes a part of the strategy to achieve their objectives. In some types of enterprises such as ones in which continuous technological change takes place, the goal of successfully managing change at short intervals often requires employee cooperation through emphasis on communication and involvement. As this type of unit grows, â€Å"If there is strategic thinking in human resource management these units are likely to wish to develop employee-relations policies based on high individualism paying above market rates to recruit and retain the best labor, careful selection and recruitment systems to ensure high quality and skill potential, emphasis on internal training schemes to develop potential for further growth, payment system designed to reward individual performance and cooperation, performance and appraisal reviews, and strong emphasis on team work and communication †¦ In short, technical and capital investment is matched by human resource investments, at times reaching near the ideals of human resource management. Shift of personnel management to HRM took place in three stages: Records and 1. Records and Administration 2. Accountability Regulations 3. Competitive Advantage 1. Records and Administration In first stage the primary activities, which were carried out by personnel department, were, Planning Company picnics Scheduling vacations, Enrolling workers for health-are coverage, Planning retirement parties These concerns include how to mange layoffs, address reduced employee loyalty, create a well trained highly motivated work force that can deliver higher quality and productivity, mange and increase diverse workforce and contain health care cost. 2. Accountability Regulations During this stage primary framework of rules and regulations started emerging tin the organization. In 1970s, the job of the HR manger was to keep their companies out of court and in compliance with the increasing number of regulations governing the work place. In the 1980s HR mangers had to address staffing costs related to mergers and acquisitions and downsizing. The economic issues related to an increasingly global and completive workplace characterize the 1990s. Beside these concerns 3. Competitive Advantage The aim of this shift stage is from merely securing compliance to the more ambitious one of winning commitment. The employee resource, therefore, becomes worth investing in, and training and development thus assume a higher profile. These initiatives are associated with, and maybe are even predicated upon, a tendency to shift from a collective orientation to the management of the workforce to an individualistic one. Accordingly management looks for ‘flexibility' and seeks to reward differential performance in a differential way. Communication of managerial objectives and aspirations takes on a whole new importance. What separates or distinguishes HRM from the traditional personnel function is the integration of HRM into strategic management and the pre-occupation of HRM with utilizing the human resource to achieve strategic management objectives. HRM â€Å"seeks to eliminate the mediation role and adopts a generally unitary perspective. It emphasizes strategy and planning rather than problem solving and mediation, so that employee cooperation is delivered by programme of corporate culture, remuneration packaging, and team building and management development for core employees, while peripheral employees are kept at arm's length. HRM strategies may be influenced by the decisions taken on strategy (the nature of the business currently and in the future) and by the structure of the enterprise (the manner in which the enterprise is structured or organized to meet is objectives). In an enterprise with effective HRM polices and practices, the decisions on HRM are also strategic decisions influenced by strategy and structure, and by external factors such as trade unions, the labor market situation and the legal system. In reality most firms do not have such a well thought out sequential HRM model. But we are considering here is also effective HRM, and thus a model where HRM decisions are as strategic as the decisions on the type of business and structure. At conceptual level the interpretations of HRM indicate different emphases, which lead to concentration on different contents of the discipline. The various distinctions or interpretations indicate that HRM â€Å"Can be used in a restricted sense so reserving it as a label only for that approach to labor management which treats labor as a valued asset rather than a variable cost and which accordingly counsels investment in the labor resource through training and development and through measures designed to at tract and retain a committed workforce. Alternatively it is sometimes used in an extended way so as to refer to a whole array of recent managerial initiatives including measures to increase the flexible utilization of the labor resource and other measures, which are largely directed at the individual employee. But another distinction can also be drawn. This directs attention to the ‘hard' and ‘soft' versions of HRM. The ‘hard' one emphasizes the quantitative, calculative and business-strategic aspects of managing the headcounts resource in as ‘rational' a way as for any other economic factor. By contrast, the ‘soft' version traces its roots to the human-relations school; it emphasizes communication, motivation, and leadership. There are several ways in which HRM has changed earlier attitudes and assumptions of personnel management about managing people. The new model of HRM includes many elements vital to the basic management goal of achieving and maintaining

United Utilities Competitor Analysis Essays

United Utilities Competitor Analysis Essays United Utilities Competitor Analysis Paper United Utilities Competitor Analysis Paper Competitor Analysis United Utilities is a British Utility company which owns and operates the water network mainly in the North West of England. It serves around seven million people in England and is considered to be the largest water listed company in the UK. The reason our group considers United Utilities as a major competitor to Severn Trent PLC is the competitiveness of the utility companies in the UK. Although United Utilities does not compete with Severn Trent PLC directly as Severn Trent PLC mainly serves areas around the Midlands of England and also certain regions of Wales. They remain close competitors as both companies strive to expand their market shares in their individual area where they mainly provide water. Both company also remain competitive in other non regulated services in different utility sectors such as waste water management, gas network and electricity sector. By assessing the share price movements between Severn Trent Plc and United Utilities which is shown in the plotted diagram, the movements shows the similarities of both companies throughout the study period. The first clear example would be the sudden increment of share price in between the November and December 2009 period. In this period, both companies share price increased almost at the same date and by the same amount. This is due to the released of sound set of interim financial results by both companies. Both companies recorded an increase of profit before tax which increased by 6% and 9. 8% for United Utilities and Severn Trent Plc respectively. After this period both companies did not show any significant changes in share prices and both companies share price movement remain closely similar till the starting period of February 2010 when both share a similar drop in share prices. This drop was not a result of any economic event but was due to the adverse weather occurring around UK which caused an increased in leakages and damages to both companies which in turn raises huge financial cost for the Utility industry. Other than these couple of events, both companies share price movement is almost identical. Reference Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia- Severn Trent http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Severn_Trent [Assessed 20/02/10] Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia- United Utilities http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/United_Utilities Assessed 20/02/10] United Utilities- About United Utilities-Where we operate-UK unitedutilities. com/UK. htm [Assessed 20/02/10] United Utilities- Investors Relations- Financial News- 2009 unitedutilities. com/financialnews-2009. htm [Assessed 20/02/10] Severn Trent- Investor Centre- Investor tools- Share Price Chart severn-trent. com/server. php? show=nav. 54 [Assessed 20/02/10] Severn Trent- Investor Centre- Announcements- 2009/2010 severn -trent. com/server. php? show=nav. 38 [Assessed 20/02/10]

Free Essays on Ready Made Garment (RMG)

VALUE ADDED HUMAN RESOURCE INITIATIVES FOR READY MADE GARMENT(RMG) SECTOR TO COMPETE IN POST-MFA ERA. ABSTRACT: RMG sector contributes 80% of our export earning. This vital sector developed in our country taking the advantages ensured by Multi-fiber agreement (MFA) done in 1974. But as part of the liberalization of trade and open-market economy, World Trade Organization set December 31, 2004 as phase-out of MFA on textile and apparel products. As a result, no quota & no more guaranteed access are available now. Market forces will determine who will survive, sustain. So, to have a competitive edges, RMG producers are trying to integrate ingredients like backward linkage facilities to reduce cost, lead-time, large production capacity to meet requirements of high-volume clients, highly-qualified management team to earn efficient & reliable production and better customer relationship. So it is necessary to have right technology, large investment, smart management and efficient & motivated workforce. Human resource management (HRM), therefore, is getting a heightened aura of importance in RMG sector which actually was not considered important previously. When order was determined by quota, the need for right person for right job in a right working condition was less. But No longer. The data we collected on leading and sound RMG exporters also support this idea. The message is simple: a proactive Human resource department is present and a basic requirement. Propelled by clients requirement, leading RMG firms’ HRM are getting more formalized, transparent and extensive to ensure productivity & quality, social accountability and ethical business practices. The results, as we found out by consulting HR personnel, are proactive HR department and fresh initiatives in areas ranging from recruitment to Human resource audit. Major initiatives includes inclusion of HRD in organizational hierarchy headed by a director/ administration & e... Free Essays on Ready Made Garment (RMG) Free Essays on Ready Made Garment (RMG) VALUE ADDED HUMAN RESOURCE INITIATIVES FOR READY MADE GARMENT(RMG) SECTOR TO COMPETE IN POST-MFA ERA. ABSTRACT: RMG sector contributes 80% of our export earning. This vital sector developed in our country taking the advantages ensured by Multi-fiber agreement (MFA) done in 1974. But as part of the liberalization of trade and open-market economy, World Trade Organization set December 31, 2004 as phase-out of MFA on textile and apparel products. As a result, no quota & no more guaranteed access are available now. Market forces will determine who will survive, sustain. So, to have a competitive edges, RMG producers are trying to integrate ingredients like backward linkage facilities to reduce cost, lead-time, large production capacity to meet requirements of high-volume clients, highly-qualified management team to earn efficient & reliable production and better customer relationship. So it is necessary to have right technology, large investment, smart management and efficient & motivated workforce. Human resource management (HRM), therefore, is getting a heightened aura of importance in RMG sector which actually was not considered important previously. When order was determined by quota, the need for right person for right job in a right working condition was less. But No longer. The data we collected on leading and sound RMG exporters also support this idea. The message is simple: a proactive Human resource department is present and a basic requirement. Propelled by clients requirement, leading RMG firms’ HRM are getting more formalized, transparent and extensive to ensure productivity & quality, social accountability and ethical business practices. The results, as we found out by consulting HR personnel, are proactive HR department and fresh initiatives in areas ranging from recruitment to Human resource audit. Major initiatives includes inclusion of HRD in organizational hierarchy headed by a director/ administration & e...

Legalization of Drugs Research Paper

Legalization of Drugs Research Paper Legalization of Drugs Research Paper Research Paper on Legalization of Drugs has more benefits than harm: Introduction A drug is any substance that alters the normal biological functions of the body. Production of Illegal drugs is normally prohibited and their use is strictly controlled because they can lead to addiction or habituation. Drugs such as heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana can be extremely dangerous if wrongly used and beneficial if put into correct use. The issue of drug use and misuse has posed a serious real problem. Prohibition of drug use has been at the center of discussion in various countries across the globe. Since this drugs are now on the hands of the nastiest criminals all over the world, control and regulations are necessary. The only remedy to this menace is full legalization accompanied by appropriate controls. I fully support the motion that drugs should be legalized since prohibition will deny the authorities the chance to educate the children on proper use of the drugs (Gargaro). The ongoing debate on legalization of drugs is asking the government whether it will help in solving drug problems appropriately. If I were asked a similar question, I would say yes. This is because the current prohibitions on drugs are just mopping up the problem and not providing real solutions. Legalization and taxations are the only ways through which real solutions can be achieved. Just think of this situation; at least every year in Britain, criminals control billions of pounds in the drug industry instead of the government and traders through the black market. This kind of business has encouraged global terrorism, illegal munitions trade, control on prostitution, and sexual slavery. Almost half of all the criminal offenses committed in the country are drug related. Couldn’t reducing these crimes free our legal services and prisons at least for a moment? Unnecessary prohibitions on drug use has led our children into committing drug related crimes, and this has denied the m the much needed advice on drugs, besides undermining our respect for the law. The government should therefore take the obvious step, put all the drugs state control, and impose legislation and taxes on their sale. This will relieve our country the burden of staggering under unnecessary prohibitions (Gray). Prohibitions on drug and substance abuse such as alcohol have been in place since the 1920s in the US and other developed countries. It has made people believe that taking it is a criminal activity, which can land someone in jail. The ill effects of the drugs and alcohol are so adverse such that no sane person could like to be associated with them by using the drug. So many people are convinced that these effects are harmful, and have successfully restrained from the habit. It is good to establish such a law in the society, and most government has effectively controlled drug abuse since time immemorial through prohibitions. For example, the alcohol prohibition act of the 1920s proved effective because cases of alcohol consumption greatly dropped even though it did not succeed in eliminating the alcohol. The rate of crime and drunkenness dropped and taxes were reduced by putting the offenders in jail. Minor crimes such as vagrancy, public indecency, and disorderliness have been succes sfully eliminated use to these prohibitions. This is enough prove that this method really works (C.S). Prohibition of drug use in countries such as the United States, Britain, and other parts of the larger Europe has proved to be futile and the war on drugs in these societies has caused multiple harms to the users. Since prohibition is aimed at increasing price and penalty of a serious drug habit, it makes it unaffordable for most individuals. Penalizing the use of the drugs drives the law-abiding individuals into the criminal market economy. Criminalizing users and prohibitions exposes them to health risks that could have otherwise been avoided. In addition, it doesn’t make sense to criminalize some drugs while providing a free market to others. This distracts attention from legal to those that are harmful but legal, such as alcohol. The prohibition on drugs has never and will never work. This attempt of trying to deny people their right of doing what they want with their bodies is doomed to fail as long as the person using the drug does not harm his or her neighbor. The curre nt method that has long been used to fight the drug war is very expensive and has not yielded any meaningful results. It is a simplistic solution that has all along failed to recognize the complexity surrounding the problem. It has also been oblivious of the dangers a drug has on the individual. Full scale legalization of the drug act will enable the state to educate the public on risks associated with drug use, and how such problems can be taken care of. While there is a possibility that the act of legalization of drugs will attract more users, their lives will be much healthier and safer. Let us not get speculative here, since we are aware of people who used to take drugs but still leading healthy lives. For instance Barrack Obama to have taken Cocaine (Hope). The common myth surrounding the whole idea of legalizing drugs is that it will make people law abiding citizens, and enable the government to tax the industry. However, I am not sure whether the cartels will be naà ¯ve enough to allow the government takes over such a lucrative business. If the cigarette market has been able to evade the government’s taxing system, what about this industry that has an elaborate network of producers and illegal suppliers in the market? Legalizing and taxing drugs as some argue is not a solution to the drug menace in the world today. The reason is that the black market will be given an easy path to groove is because the act will be made socially acceptable. It will be much easier to take these substances to the market under the legalization act as opposed to government regulated outlets. This would also increase funding for the crime because the drugs will be easily accessed by users who can in turn lure non-users since there are no laws prohibi ting the act. What are the results? The drugs will circulate in the society, destroy more lives, tear families, and cause people to be violent. Even if the current war on drugs is not effective, legalizing drugs is much worse and should not be passed into law (James). Conclusion The war on drug has brought more harm than good, and the policy on drug use has failed to protect the people it is intended to. In Mexico alone, the war on drug policy has claimed close to 14,000 lives since 2006. This figure does not however include those people who have been traumatized, maimed or displaced. Prohibitions on drug use have resulted in wars between the authority and the users in most cities across the world, and this battle seems not to be coming to an end any time soon. The war on drug should therefore, be stopped and pave way for the government to impose control measures and legalize the whole business. I support this motion because I believe that the outcomes of such a move would be beneficial, both for the state itself and in the fight against global drugs crime. At you can buy research papers on Legalization of Drugs. All custom research papers are written from scratch. High quality and timely delivery guarantee!

Personal, Professional and Career Development Assignment

Personal, Professional and Career Development - Assignment Example nced or reworked for the better and through my curiosity, I often strive to reach at the best possible solutions or approaches to issues or challenges in the course of my personal and professional development. Most importantly, my drive to explore the new and unfamiliar territories often leads to more creativity since I often discover new opportunities that can be exploited for better results or enhanced outcomes. Nonetheless, I am highly uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity both in my personal and professional life and I often prefer to have the specific information regarding everything such as the right answers to all questions, the exact time schedules for particular events, and so on. This natural desire for certainty comes in handy in my line of work as a project manager, particularly in the project implementation stages since it contributes to timely completion of projects and proper planning beforehand for specific roles to be performed by key individuals. I am reasonably confident in my own capacity to originate and work with ideas and even if I may not be so creative, I never shy away from experimenting with ideas; whenever I am faced with a challenge or opportunity to solve a problem, I like to experiment with creative solutions to the issues at hand because creativity can yield solutions to real life problems (Fobes 1996, p.19). I am more likely to take up the roles or tasks that present me with the chance to exploit and prove my creative genius and I consider all challenges as stepping stones to discovering new approaches to success, particularly in work environments that are highly demanding in terms of high pressure to perform (Ahmadi 2014, p.19). I am more inclined to sharing ideas since I strongly believe it does help in stimulating more ideas in other people as well as new dimensions of novelty in coming up with new ideas; furthermore, the collaborative thinking effort in group settings highly contributes to the collective p roblem-solving

Child Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Child Psychology - Essay Example There are numerous theories, studies and researches that are focused on the development of children and their psychology. This paper would study the behavior of Amy, a 5 year old girl, and would correlate her behavior to various concepts and theories. The behavior would be linked to the cognitive, language and emotional perspectives of child psychology. Discussion Human development is the science of studying how a human develops physically, psychologically as well as socially with the passage of time. It is a branch of psychology that studies the behavioral changes that come within people as they grow older (Meggitt, 2006). The subject that I observed is my niece, Amy. She is currently five years old and would turning six after one month. Amy is the eldest child and has one younger brother who is three. Both her parents are working; her mother is a lecturer in a college while her father works for a company. Amy lives in a joint family where her paternal grandparents live with them. B eing the eldest child, and being on her on most of the time, Amy is more mature than other children of her age. According to the periods of development, Amy is presently in her early childhood stage, but soon she will enter middle childhood when she turns six years old. Erik Erikson was a development psychologist and psychoanalyst who had worked extensively to develop his theories on social development. The most significant development among the works of Eric Erikson was the innovation to have eight stages of human life span instead of five. Erikson had eight life stage virtues that are helpful in understanding the lifespan model these virtues include hope, will, purpose, competence, fidelity, love, caring and wisdom (Berk, 2000). According to the stages of Erickson's development model, Amy would be right in the middle of the play age (3 to 5 years) and School age (6 to 12 years). As she created play situations based on her imagination and is developing a social stage where is she m aking new friends. The bioecological model of development of Bronfenbrenner is focused upon child development with respect to the relationships that form his or her environment. Bronfenbrenner defines layers of environment that influence the development process such as family, school, religion, society and culture. The layers of environment form the Microsystems which are the direct interactions, Mesosystems which are the linkages between Microsystems, Exosystems which encompasses the experiences which are gained and also Macrosystem and Chronosystem (McCormick, 2011). According to the environment, I have come to notice that Amy is very independent, she does not rely on attention and is more focused in what ever she does. This is because of the family environement. As both the parents are working and Amy's mother is also doing her post-graduate degree, Amy has seen a studious environment in her house and this has inculcated in her, an interest in reading books, writing and drawing. Cognitive Development Cognitive development is referred to the development with respect to a childs ability to process information, grasp concepts, develop perceptual skills and other aspects of brain development. Piaget is the most prominent psychologist in the field of cognitive development with principles that stand true through the development phases (Berk, 2008). When interacting with Amy, I observed that she had some ideas related to things as she perceives them. This could relate

Free writing journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Free writing journal - Essay Example It is a normal thing as we are similar or different from each other. But it is not easy to understand and accept that the large gap between the upper class and the lower class has negative results. It increases discrimination. It increases a negative acceptance of things, which would limit the skills and capabilities of individuals. Who would want to work hard when you know that no matter how much you work, you will always be at the bottom end of the scale? Sylvia may symbolize the social resistance existing within the society. But a single person or group’s effort is not enough. There should be a large social movement to create changes in the society. Isn’t it sad to see that the upper class has access to things that lower class do not have? Education, medicine, leisure. These are things that the upper class have more access to than lower class. Since they have the money, they can go to school without needing to skip classes almost everyday, or having to stop schooling for a year or two to save up for your education. Because they have the money, they can seek medical help whenever they’re not feeling well, even if it is just a simple headache. They also have more time to relax, and they can even go places, because they have the means. Those in the lower class have less means to have an education, less access to medical help and very little time for leisure. Why? Because they don’t have the money, and they h ave to keep on working just to sustain their daily

Commercial Law Dissertation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Commercial Law Dissertation - Essay Example ea of regulation that administers different types of possession (ownership) in real property and in personal possessions surrounded by the common law structure. In the civil regulation scheme, there is a separation among variable (movable) and immovable goods. Movable goods approximately correspond to personal goods, at the same time as immovable goods are real estate or real property, and the connected rights and duties thereon. Commercial law is the body of rule that oversees trade and operations. It is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law. Commercial law regulates corporate contracts, hiring practices, and the manufacture and sale of consumer goods. There is also a vast difference between in the rights of ownership and possession in English commercial law. The law and regulation, associated to rights of ownership, will not provide any preference to any exact type of property rights. Right of possession is the authori ty to work out power or authority above the real possessions. A right to ownership can be formed by a variety of legal deals for example: deed, rent, life, estate, will etc. It is necessary to examine the differentiation among Property and Ownership, where goods are most precisely explained as the thing or object to be possessed, and possession is the act of owning, or association that the proprietor has with his belongings. There is also dissimilarity among "ownership", and "possession". Ownership is the condition of exclusive rights and power above the possessions which may be anything, soil or intellectual property. At the same time, right of possession means that somebody presently holds or possesses something. â€Å"There are various legal aspects to the ownership of a property in English law. We will try and cover them all in this section of the website. They include The research aim and methodology of the study is to help us understand the difference between the rights of

Bachalor of Commerce, Knowledge and Organisational Learning Essay

Bachalor of Commerce, Knowledge and Organisational Learning - Essay Example Knowledge management has recently emerged to be a successful management strategy that can help organizations manage the available human capital in the business (Noe and Hollenbeck, 2004, p. 1-3). People in the organization are most valuable assets and therefore recruiting and retaining knowledgeable, skilled, experienced and productive people have become highest priority of modern human resources management. This piece of research paper described knowledge management, as an HRM interdisciplinary and examines how it becomes relevant in today’s business landscape. This paper presents various elements that are relevant in the knowledge management process and examines various strategic perspectives as well as suitable technologies for fostering knowledge management in the business. Knowledge Management As Noe (2002, p. 168) noted, knowledge management is a management process that the performance of a business can be enhanced by designing, implementing and strategically aligning va rious tools, processes, systems, structure and cultures with a view to create and share knowledge among its people and to use for overall business purpose. The very basic three elements included in Knowledge management are 1) creation of the knowledge through some effective strategies, 2) sharing of the created knowledge among people and 3) making it available and useful for any business purpose. Knowledge Management has been found to be useful for the organization as it helps it get the products to the target market quicker, develop innovative ideas, serve the customer well in order to maintain customer loyalty and retention and achieve sustainable competitive advantages. As Boxall and Macky (2009, p. 10) emphasized, knowledge management helps a business achieve high performance working through various strategic processes and organizational development programs. Knowledge Management has emerged to be a management tool that focuses on data, information and knowledge among the employ ees in an organization (Awad and Ghaziri, 2007, p. 26) and encompasses the processes by which experience, skills, expertise, knowledge and abilities are gathered, then shared among the people and utilized so that these can be converted to collective organizational learning process (Foster, 2005, p. 397). Knowledge Management Models Explicit and Tacit Knowledge Knowledge management talks about creating, storing, sharing and utilizing data, information and knowledge either throughout papers, documents and database, or throughout the minds of people. This is a classification of knowledge based on where data and information are stored. When it comes to the management aspects, pure data and pure information have relatively less impact for a manager whereas structured data and information are relatively highly useful and effective measures that can be used to analyze and find solutions to issues (Noe, , 2002, p. 170). Based in the above classification, knowledge management is systematic p rocess and strategic approach for obtaining and making use of knowledge in the business throughout papers or documents or computers as commonly referred as explicit knowledge or sharing and making use of the knowledge throughout the people’s minds as commonly termed as tacit knowledge. To be more specific, KM is managing either explicit knowledge, or tacit knowledge or both together effectively. In managing

Commercial Law Dissertation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Commercial Law Dissertation - Essay Example ea of regulation that administers different types of possession (ownership) in real property and in personal possessions surrounded by the common law structure. In the civil regulation scheme, there is a separation among variable (movable) and immovable goods. Movable goods approximately correspond to personal goods, at the same time as immovable goods are real estate or real property, and the connected rights and duties thereon. Commercial law is the body of rule that oversees trade and operations. It is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law. Commercial law regulates corporate contracts, hiring practices, and the manufacture and sale of consumer goods. There is also a vast difference between in the rights of ownership and possession in English commercial law. The law and regulation, associated to rights of ownership, will not provide any preference to any exact type of property rights. Right of possession is the authori ty to work out power or authority above the real possessions. A right to ownership can be formed by a variety of legal deals for example: deed, rent, life, estate, will etc. It is necessary to examine the differentiation among Property and Ownership, where goods are most precisely explained as the thing or object to be possessed, and possession is the act of owning, or association that the proprietor has with his belongings. There is also dissimilarity among "ownership", and "possession". Ownership is the condition of exclusive rights and power above the possessions which may be anything, soil or intellectual property. At the same time, right of possession means that somebody presently holds or possesses something. â€Å"There are various legal aspects to the ownership of a property in English law. We will try and cover them all in this section of the website. They include The research aim and methodology of the study is to help us understand the difference between the rights of

Statistics Research Paper based on a Regression Study Term

Statistics Research based on a Regression Study - Term Paper Example This paper seeks to investigate how household income levels influence prices. In particular, we are interested in investigating whether increases in average household earnings lead to higher costs of living. We use state wise data to explore the question. Given the nature of the data, the specific query that we seek to answer is: Does more affluent states tend to have relatively higher costs of living? The secondary questions are regarding the nature of dependence, i.e., is there a linear dependence or is there in fact a non-linear relationship among our variables of interest? In this section we discuss the basic economic theory that we intend to validate and then develop the hypothesis to test using the data. Economic theory establishes that other things remaining the same, higher income leads to higher demand. That is, if there is an increase in the income of the consumer, ceteris paribus, at each price the consumer will demand more of the good, provided it is not an inferior good (Varian, 2006). Now, given the market supply curve is fixed, such a rise in demand always results in higher prices for the good (Sullivan and Sheffrin, 2003). This is elaborated in the diagram below: In the diagram above, E1 is the initial equilibrium price. Now if there is an increase in income of the consumer, the quantity demanded at each price increases. As a result, the demand curve shifts from D1 to D2. Given the supply, curve remains unchanged, this results in the new equilibrium point E2. Clearly, the new equilibrium price P2 is higher than the initial price P1. Therefore, we find that higher incomes tend to boost up equilibrium prices. Extending this logic implies that localities where more affluent individuals reside should witness higher relative prices. This is because people with higher incomes will bid up prices of general merchandise and, thus, the cost of living could potentially be higher for such places. It is

Immanuel Kant Essay Example for Free

Immanuel Kant Essay The following is taken from Immanuel Kant’s The Metaphysics of Morals (Part II, â€Å"The Science of Right†), translated by W. Hastie with emendations and paragraph numbers added by Jeremy Anderson. The complete text is available free online here. In this excerpt, Kant first explains what crime is and the different sorts of crimes (paragraph 1), which is not very important for our purposes. He then presents his view that punishment is justified by the criminals having committed a crime (par. 2). This is to be contrasted with other theories of punishment such as the Utilitarian theory, according to which punishment is justified by the good it brings to society. Kant rejects the Utilitarian theory for two reasons. First, he believes it treats criminals as mere means to others good; Kant’s Categorical Imperative forbids this. Second, the Utilitarian theory could, possibly, justify punishing an innocent person because of the good it might bring to society. To Kant, this sort of injustice is absolutely intolerable. Having explained why we punish people Kant goes on to discuss how and how much to punish criminals (par. 3-8). Here he asserts that the hurt done to the criminal should equal the hurt the criminal did to others, both in amount and in kind (in class we are calling this the Equal Punishment version of the lex talionis). The rest of the piece mostly explains what he means by this, with particular emphasis on the need for the death penalty. In paragraphs 8 and 10 Kant considers some interesting exceptions to the rule that murderers must be executed. Okay, so Kant believed that punishment should always be in response to a crime punishing someone to protect society or to deter others is immoral. Kant goes on to say that it is also immoral for a person to commit a crime, and not be punished. In other words, every crime merits a punishment; it is Kants form of equality. Kant refers to this as jus talionis, which is loosely translates as the right of retaliation. However, Kant was opposed to punishing people if it took away their humanity. In other words, if a person tortures people, that person should not be punished by torture, because doing so would be dehumanizing OURSELVES. In other words, it would be stooping to the level of the torturer. Kant did believe in Capital Punishment in fact, he insisted on it. He states in his book, Metaphysics on Morals, that according to Jus Talionis, murderers MUST die there is no earthly punishment other than death that can balance out a murder, and thus preserve Jus Talionis, the balance between crime and punishment. It is like a scale the side of justice must balance the side of injustice. An Exposition of Kant’s, Arendt’s, and Mill’s Moral Philosophy Immanuel Kant adheres to Deontological ethics. His theory offers a view of morality based on the principle of good will and duty. According to him, people can perform good actions solely by good intentions without any considerations to consequences. In addition, one must follow the laws and the categorical imperative in order to act in accordance with and from duty. Several other philosophers such as Hannah Arendt discuss Kant’s moral philosophy. In her case study: â€Å"The Accused and Duties of a Law-Abiding Citizen†, Arendt examines how Adolf Eichmann’s actions conformed to Kant’s moral precepts but also how they ran of afoul to his conception of duty. In contrast, John Stuart Mill adopts a teleological view of moral philosophy. He exposes his view of consequentialism and utilitarianism to argue that an action is morally right only to the extent that it maximizes the aggregate happiness of all parties involved regardless of the motive. In the present paper, I will expose Kant’s moral precepts and the importance of duty in his Deontological principles. Then, I will evaluate Arendt’s report on Adolf Eichmann to analyze the ways in which his actions were in accordance to or against Kant’s moral philosophy. I will conclude my discussion with an evaluation of Mill’s approach to morality in order to examine the differences between his teleological philosophy and Kant’s ethical principles. Kant’s moral philosophy is based on the categorical imperative (CI), good will, and duty. According to the CI, it is an absolute necessity, a command that humans should accord with universalizable maxims to treat people as ends in themselves and exercise their will without any concerns about the consequences or conditions of their actions. This concept can also be expressed in systematic terms by the two following formulations.

Numeracy Levels in BT1 Training Programme

Numeracy Levels in BT1 Training Programme Research Methods BT1 Numeracy Abstract This research will investigate the readiness of students to join the basic training program. It will focus on the perceptions of staff at No1 Radio School while marrying these comments to student performance. The research will focus on the levels of numeracy within the student population and their ability to apply this to the course material, whilst relating this to their current level of qualifications. These issues are not purely associated with the Royal Air Forces training but are prevalent throughout the education and training sectors. The subjects of literacy and numeracy have been identified as areas that are vastly under research, it is hoped that the issues raised in the short research project will identify further research questions that in turn may form part of further research. Introduction The field of work this research will investigate lies within the MoD, specifically the RAF at DCAE Cosford. The school being used to conduct this research is No1 Radio School, delivering training to Basic Trainees and Assimilation Trainees for all ground trades now known as Trade Group Four (TG4). The students ages range from 17 to 30 years of age. This research will focus on one specific target group, Basic Training 1 (BT1). These students are new members of the Royal Air Force and will have just completed their basic training at Halton (Ten weeks); they have come to Cosford to begin their trade specific training. The course is ten months in length, over which the students will cover both principles and trade training. The entry requirement for this trade is a minimum of three GCSEs, in Physics, Maths and one other subject. However they do accept some individuals with lesser qualifications as an exception and occasionally current members of the RAF who wish to change their trade. The trade requirements are specific and therefore it would be reasonable to assume the students basic level of literacy and in particular numeracy, would be sufficient to allow them to develop throughout this course. Research Issue. This research will look specifically at the levels of numeracy within the BT1 student population. It will try and identify if there is a problem and seek to provide evidence of any issues while providing recommendations for improvement. To ensure that there is no breach of ethics, the research will focus on the perceptions of the staff and the results from the students. This research issued raised questions that required answering, why is it that qualified students find the level 2 key skills and the level 2 maths phase of the BT1 training difficult? It is these issues that have intrigued me for some time. I believe this issue is worthy of research, however it is quite possible that additional questions will be raised that fall outside the scope of this research and may require additional research before they can be answered. Research Focus It has become apparent that new students entering the Royal Air Force as trade group 4 operator maintainers, although qualified for trade do not appear to posses the prerequisite knowledge required to complete the Key Skills at level 2 and the Maths phase of the course. That is not to say they all fail. That would be far from the truth, it is the difficulty they demonstrate when completing this phase of the course. The reason that this research is so important is this first phase of the course is crucial for the students. It gives them the skills and knowledge they require, which in turn will allow them to apply this knowledge to new problems and situations as they progress through the course. These skills could be considered tools of the trade, without a good grasp of these concepts the students will not gain the maximum benefit from the course. Literature Literacy and numeracy have become major issues in the field of education since the Moser report 1999, the working group chair by Sir Claus Moser in the opening statement of the report stated, Something like one adult in five in this country is not functionally literate and far more people have problems with numeracy. Moser, C (1999) This statement is met with surprise when you discuss this subject, however Moser states, We have found that people are staggered when one confronts them with the basic facts about literacy and numeracy, and rightly soIt is a state of affairs that cannot be allowed to continue, and our Report proposes a wide ranging approach to the challenge Moser, C (1999) Many organisations have concerns about the statistics when it comes to Literacy and numeracy in the adult population, Wells, A (2004) states, Surveys in the 1990s suggested that between 15 and 19 per cent of adults had poor basic skills. However, the International Adult Literacy Survey in the late 1990s suggested a much higher figure of 23 per cent or seven million adults. Wells, A (2004) Are we seeing a true picture of the problem? This research has highlighted concerns from staff about the students abilities. It would seem from the statistics that there is a strong correlation. One area this research was unable to quantify was how does gender affect numeracy, It was not possible to confirm or deny this because there were insufficient females included in the sample group to make a good judgement. However a recent article published by the DFES suggests there is a considerable difference between females and males when it comes to numeracy. Grinyer, J (2006) states, Women and men perform near equally for literacy, but men significantly outperform women at numeracy. Grinyer, J (2006) At level 2 this is an interesting fact and one that is perhaps worth of further research. If gender is an issue then what about current qualification level. Grinyer, J (2006) states Highest qualification appears to be the best predictor of an individuals literacy and numeracy level, with parental background and local deprivation having larger effects than current employment status Grinyer, J (2006) Research Hypothesis. The research hypothesis should be constructed in such a way that the research can disprove the hypothesis. So while the researcher believes students have issues with numeracy that directly affect their ability to perform throughout the course, and that the accepted entrance qualifications standards do not reflect the abilities of the students, the hypothesis should refute this. (See the hypothesis) The Hypothesis for this piece of research is: All BT1 trainees are sufficiently numerate to attend the BT1 course, as all trainees are qualified to a minimum standard. (Three relevant GCSEs) Research Hypothesis. There are a number of possible questions encompassing a range of different methodologies the scope of this research will be limited to one Research question, below are two possible questions. Why do students on the BT1 course suffer with the issue of numeracy when attending the taught lessons, completing assignments and examinations when they are course qualified? How do staff perceive the readiness of students on the BT1 course to deal with the academics of the course? After consideration and due to the constraints of this research it was decided to use the later, an interpritivest approach. Using this question offers the research some distinct advantages, firstly a limited scope and secondly and more importantly, it eliminates the students from the research which removes a large percentage of the ethical issue that may arise from questioning the students directly. This research should identify how instructors feel about the perceived problems students have when using the different forms of numeracy. Mercer, N states, one function of theories is to set agendas for research  ¿Ã‚ ½ to generate certain kinds of questions which the research will attempt to answer. Mercer in Walford (1998 p.42) This question could use a likert style method of answering, thus allowing the individual to grade their agreement or disagreement of the above question. This question as it stands would not necessarily be suitable for the students to answer as it is likely to produce a Yes/No response, however it could be acceptable for the staff. The same question could be asked in a different way. i.e. How has the GCSE maths helped the students with their study of the other principle subjects? Although it would be more difficult to analyse a short answer would bring out more of the individuals feelings, where as the likert style just grades the agreement or disagreement. Other questions that might be asked are: I. Do you feel the students could complete this course successfully without this qualification (GCSE maths)? II. How did the students maths affect their ability to complete this phase of training? III. Has the student qualification helped them with their studies? Youngman (1986) in Bell said, The more structured a question the easier it will be to analyse. Bell (1999 p.119) Research Paradigm What is a paradigm? A Paradigm  ¿Ã‚ ½ group of coherent ideas about the nature of the world and of the functions of researchers that are adhered to by a group of researchers, conditions and patterns of their thinking which underpins their research actions. What paradigms exist? There are a few key paradigms that exist within educational research positivist and Interpretiveist. Positivist research uses scientific, Statistical analysis and empirical methods, Cohen and Manion said, Traditionally, the word refers to those techniques associated with the positivistic model  ¿Ã‚ ½ eliciting responses to predetermined questions, recording measurements, describing phenomena and performing experiments. Cohen and Manion(1996 p.38) Interpretiveist research deals with human emotions, personnel perspectives. Cohen and Manion said, The central endeavour in the context of the interpretive paradigm is to understand the subjective world of human experience. Cohen and Manion(1996 p.36) Ethnographical methods are interpretivist. Gall, M. et al (1996, p607) say, Ethnography involves first hand, intensive study of the features of a given culture and the patterns in those features. Judith Bells thoughts on quantitative and qualitative research identify that quantitative researchers collect facts and study the relationship. They are measured using scientific techniques producing quantifiable and generaliseable conclusions, where as a qualitative perspective is more concerned with individuals perceptions of the world; Seeking insight rather than statistical analysis. In addition she concludes that on occasions qualitative researchers draw on quantitative techniques and vice versa. This would suggest that one method alone does not have all the answers and therefore we could consider various methods when conducting research. This research will use an interpretiveist methodology, this approach has been selected as the most appropriate as the information will come from members of staff, the information they provide will be their interpretation of the situation hence interpretiveist. This approach has been chosen as more appropriate than positivist approach because there is little scientific evidence and the amount of data collected would be insufficient to produce any valid statistical analysis. Ethnographical and eclectic research was also dismissed although it bridges the gap between Positivist and Interpertiveist research. It would however,still have positivist elements as mentioned previously. However the over arching reasoning for adopting an interpretiveist approach was the limited nature of this research project. Although, it is hoped that the findings from this research will generate further questions and spark yet further research questions for future research Research Methodology This style of research could be considered a case study, as its focus is centred on a specific group of students, belonging to a single organisation. Cohen and Manion state, a case study researcher typically observes the characteristics of an individual unit  ¿Ã‚ ½ a child, a clique, a class, a school or a community Cohen and Manion (1996,p106) While this approach would work it is more suited to a continuous improvement program and not a specific piece of research, in addition the length of time it would take to conduct a program of this nature makes this approach unsuitable. In planning the research, various methodologies were considered, however due to the limited nature of this research and to limit the impact of ethical issues, this research decided that an Interpretiveist approach would be most suited. This style of research is relevant, as the research will investigate the attitudes and opinions of the staff and not the students, while using student data to support or refute the findings. To facilitate this research there were a number of preferred techniques available for gathering the data: Interviews / Meetings Academic results Reference to external sources (Collages, Universities, Schools, Government Departments) The main reason behind this strategy, methods and analysis tools was time. The other key issue was ethics, for these reasons this research will be conducted through focus group meetings with staff using structured questions, this data will then be compared with the average results for a class. This approach will limit the impact of ethical issues and allow some conclusions to be drawn. This approach was discussed with the staff that felt that due to busy teaching commitments this was the most appropriate solution. Judith Bell states, Talking through problems and possible topics with colleagues is an essential stage of any plan. Bell (1999 p.21) The focus group will consist of five lecturers and four instructors, it is envisaged that a single meeting will take place to pose the questions to the staff. The data will be collected via questions directed to the staff in discussion groups; the responses of the staff were recorded. (See Annex B) To support the findings from the discussion groups the students results will be analysed. Data Collection instruments The data collection will be achieved through structured questions delivered at group meetings where the responses will be tabulated; this will give a feeling for the staffs concerns and perhaps some misconceptions. It will also allow any further research to focus its attention on specific areas of concern. Once the data has been collected this can be cross referenced to the student results, identifying any disparities, in addition student results and student retention rates may be useful sources of information. The other methods considered were, interviews, these could be time consuming, as staff are not always available. A well constructed questionnaire could produce valid reliable results in a reasonable time frame. However due to the limited time constraints, this research will utilise meetings with a number of groups and evaluate comments from those meetings to produce an Interpretivist style report. This will not provide hard evidence, however it will illustrate any concerns or trends that may be apparent which in turn could instigate further research. This approach although less structured will give a general feel for the issues, which could lead to further research questions. Sapsford and Jupp note the following facts about collecting data, There are both advantages and disadvantages to both highly structured and less structured methods; in no sense is it true to say that one is more objective than the other. Sapsford and Jupp (1996, p94) Research validity ensures the data collected is accurate and meaningful, collecting data in a non valid way would affect the final analysis; which may produce misconceptions when analysing the research data, thus rendering the research valueless. The research will improve validity through accurate data collection and careful analysis of the results, in addition reliability and repeatability could be enhanced through the triangulation of the data collected. Triangulation is method of verifying the data, checking and ensuring accuracy and ensuring that the findings are qualitative and thus reducing the chance of unsubstantiated data. Cohen and Manion said, Triangulation may be defined as the use of two or more methods of data collection the study of some aspect of human behaviour. Cohen and Manion(1996 p.233) The triangulation of the data was achieved through data collected from the meeting notes; these were then supported by student results and reference to national statistics. Chosen methods of data collection. This project will use a structured set of questions derived from the research question. The aim was to ask these questions at the focus group meeting, where the staffs responses and opinions were recorded. The rationale behind the choice of research and the methodology is predicated upon the limited nature of the research this in turn has limited the choice of methodology (interpertiveist). The limited time scale in which this research was conducted has in turn restricted the modes of research used to produce the data for evaluation; the aim was to gain a feeling from the staff as to how they perceived the research issue. The use of structured questions helped guide the process of data gathering and allowed the collection of data within a very short time scale, this was imperative due to the limited time constraints of this research. The interpritiveist approach allows the staffs feelings to be represented against the set criteria thus giving a good degree of relevant data for analysis. While this approach aided the collection of data at a rapid rate it did not offer the widest selection of data. Other methods could have produced further data to support or refute the findings. However this research hopes to triangulate its findings against student data (examination and assignment results). Research ethics. The matter of ethics is an important one; if the researcher wants to achieve open and honest answers they must consider ethics when conducting the research. To reduce the impact of this research the methodologies have been carefully chosen to reduce the data collection to that of the staff. The students results will be anonymous, to such an extent that the research will not identify the individual students, thus reducing the opportunity for others to identify individuals through the results and class group. Researchers cannot always predict what they might find and they may not like what they find; however it is the duty of the researcher to be open and honest about the research they are conducting. These are some of the things to consider when conducting research: Peoples amenity, that is to say protecting an individuals identity, ensuring that a respondents comments cannot be tracked back to a single individual or group. The Oxford Brookes University classifies research ethics and says, The integrity of any research depends not only on its scientific rigour, but also on its ethical adequacy. Ethical issues are many and varied, and may be quite complex. Research involving human participants is undertaken by many different disciplines and conducted in a broad range of settings and institutions. While some issues are specific to professional groups, all research should be guided by a set of fundamental ethical principles to ensure the protection of human participants. Wood,L (2006) Design Constraints One of the main issues when conducting any form of research is time; given enough time the research could produce massive amounts of facts, figures and an impression of peoples feelings. In addition to time there is always the cost of conducting research. However most organisations would expect any form of research to be conducted within certain time constraints, thus limiting costs and obtaining results within that time frame. Therefore the research can only be expected to deliver some of the information that is available, and that data would need to be substantiated through triangulation, generalisability and reliability. It is the limited nature of this research that has influenced the chosen methodology, interpertiveist. Although this may limit the validity of the research, the triangulation of the staffs comments and answers to the set questions when linked to student results, should give a reasonable confidence in its findings. Analysis of Results The questions asked at the focus group and the responces are given below: The group was asked, Are current BT 1 Trainees academically equipped to join this course? The staff responded with the following statements: Although students are qualified they do not seem to be prepared for the challenges this course offers. Some staff feel that GCSEs are a lower level qualification than a traditional O level (This used to be the entry requirement some years ago.) Although the students are qualified they do not seem to have the prerequisite skills to work effectively on the course. Students do not seem to remember some of the basics of mathematics. It would appear from the response that the staffs perception is that students are not prepared for this course and that the qualifications they hold do not reflect the students abilities. The BBC news web site on 30 October 2003 stated, The survey found 47% of the adults in England or 15 million people had a lower level of mathematical knowledge than was needed to gain a grade G at GCSE. The Department for Education and Skills blamed decades of neglect for figures showing millions of people lacking basic literacy and numeracy skills. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/3227263.stm There seems to be a general distrust of current qualifications as opposed to the traditional O Levels. This was the minimum entrant standard for this trade. The group was then asked, Which area of the course do students find difficult? The Maths is the most difficult for students because they do not possess the basic skills required to complete the work. Key Skills, Numeracy Some struggle with Electronic fundamentals mainly due to a lack of maths ability. They coped well with Addition and subtraction, however multiplication, division were more problematic. Additional areas where students struggled were percentages, area and fractions. These are not the only subject areas where students found difficulty, however they cover the major problem areas. These issues are similar to those identified in a recent TES, they stated, In last years skills action plan, the Assembly government revealed that 24% of the working age population lacked level 1 literacy skills and 53% level 1 in numeracy. In Wales, 20% have no qualifications compared with 14% across the UK (TES Cymru, June 30 2006) The focus of the problem seems to be centred on the Maths / arithmetic elements of the course. One of the key areas was Key Skills, in particular numeracy. Students seemed to find this difficult; they did not seem to posses the basics. Staff were asked to consider, Are there any circumstances that might affect students ability to perform on the course? Poorly prepared when leaving school. Length of time away from a learning environment. Lack of ability Some seem unable to apply previously learnt knowledge to new situations. Its is difficult to believe the students were poorly prepared as they all are qualified, suggesting they once had the knowledge, however it is interesting to note the comment about the length of time, as it is well known that constant and repetitive use of knowledge aids retention, lack of use leads to little or no retention of knowledge. A recent news article in the Daily Mail by HARRIS, S (2006) stated, One in five about to embark on teaching careers still have problems spelling and using punctuation as well as doing the most simple multiplication, division and percentages. Harris, S (2006) The question, Do you believe the students are suitably qualified? Staffs response to this was, Yes, they are for the trade and on paper, but do the qualifications match up to the expectations of the course? This alludes to a previous question about students being prepared. Do the qualifications meet the minimum requirements of the course. The answer is yes they do, however there seems to be a void between students retained knowledge and the paper qualifications. To illustrate this issue the House of Commons raised the issue of literacy and numeracy with the Secretary of State for Defence being asked, how many and what proportion of new recruits to the army in the last 12 months had (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills at or below (i) entry level 3, (ii) entry level 2 and (iii) entry level 1. Mr. Touhig replied, Consolidated literacy and numeracy initial assessment figures for recruits to the army in the period 1 November 2004 to 31 October 2005, are provided as follows. Literacy Numeracy Entry level 1 Entry level 2 Entry level 3 Entry level 1 Entry level 2 Entry level 3 Percentage 0.71 7.81 32.51 0.19 7.65 37.11 Number of recruits 72 795 3310 19 770 3737 Total number of recruits(11) Literacy Numeracy These figures were given from an Official Report, column 98W on departmental staff literacy and numeracy. No Author (2005) The group was also asked, Are students prepared for the academic rigor of this course? No, Students are ill prepared when it comes to learning in this environment. This may also relate to the time away from a learning environment, the beginning of the course is quite intensive and therefore the students find it difficult to get back into a learning environment. In summary of the responses, the staff feel the students were inadequately prepared for this course. However this was not for lack of qualifications more a perceived difference between the more traditional O Level and the existing GCSE qualifications, while the time away from the learning environment may have its part to play. Student results for the first eight classes illustrate that not all students struggle to achieve good results. (RAF pass is set at 60) So could this purely be a staff issue and not one of the students. As the results below indicate some classes obtain reasonable results, that is to say, not all struggle. The results for the first eight classes are shown below: Maths BT1/01 BT1/02 BT1/03 BT1/03 BT1/05 BT1/06 BT1/07 BT1/08 59 66 75 56 72 66 68 62 Electronic Fundamentals BT1/01 BT1/02 BT1/03 BT1/03 BT1/05 BT1/06 BT1/07 BT1/08 68 73 82 77 73 74 59 While these classes passed the respective subjects, there are some low scores in maths for classes 1, 4 and 8. Electronic Fundamentals produces better results, however class 1 and 7 have still scoured low marks. This information is not entirely conclusive as can be seen from the results, some classes did well. Findings The hypothesis has been refuted through the data collated from staffs responses to questions and the student data, all be it limited in nature this research has been shown to support the staffs comments. The analysis of the questions suggests a lack of ability on the students part, this however does not seem to be predicated on qualification. The staffs perceptions of students abilities seem to suggest the students are not sufficiently prepared to attend this course, more over they are not used to the training methods utilised within the MOD. These facts when grouped together cause the students and staff some problems, however this is not to say that large numbers of students are failing to achieve a pass in these subjects, therefore is there a problem? On the face of it, no. However modifications to the training methodology and some additional sessions may improve some of these issues. This research has investigated a broad range of issues relating to new students entering the RAFs BT1 training program, their ability to cope with the academic pressures of the course and their ability to complete the work to the required standard. It would appear many students, although qualified on paper have some difficulty when it comes to the Maths and Electronic Fundamentals phases. Some of the underlying problems relate to the methods of delivery on the course as it is unlike traditional academic institutions. This means that the students take time to adjust to this training methodology and as the Maths and Electronic Fundamentals phase of the course is at the front end, it does not allow sufficient time for this adjustment to take place. On the subject of time between learning, many students left school twelve months before joining the course and have not practiced these skills for some time. As with the maths unless a student continues to use these skills they are quickly forgotten. However this does not explain why students do not remember when prompted. Perhaps this could point to a lack of understanding at the initial point of learning and may require further research to substantiate this theory. Recommendations This piece of research has been limited in its nature, however it has allowed the researcher to gain a wider perspective on these issues, to further improve this work and make the findings more valid it is proposed to include the students in any future research. The students were excluded in this case to speed up the data collection and to reduce any ethical issues that may arise from the research. Further research could be developed from the fi