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...