The Devil’s Snare

The Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 By Mary Beth Norton In the Devil’s Snare is a book about the Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 in which the towns people accused women and men of using witchcraft to cause unexplained happenings throughout the town. The men and women appeared to be possessed by the devil, nothing else could explain it. In early times people didn’t understand reason. Especially the Puritans who only saw God’s will and the evilness of the devil.During the Salem witchcraft crisis, Puritans struggled to decipher communal security and find the truth around them. They believed that Satan recruited humans to do his evil and be servants to him, i. e. witches. The witches had a magical power that allowed them to harm others. To protect the community the judges of the town took it upon themselves to hold jury trials and hang the witches as punishment. Many believed the witches were burned at the stake, however that is untrue. The idea of witchcraft seemed to be the only logical answer to the community.Nothing else could possible explain the fires, flood, windstorms, droughts, livestock disease, and epidemics raging through the town. These issues needed an explanation. Puritans could not conceive the notion that this could simply be misfortune, due to their belief in Gods will. Witchcraft was the only explanation because many members of the community dabble in it here and there to spell curses or fortune tell. Although the belief in witchcraft was widespread the prosecution of the witches was sporadic and only a few towns executed the witches.Many towns held trials, because they didn’t want to rush to judgment. However it was not easy to prove witchcraft, until 1692 when things turned for the worse and problems increased dramatically. Desparate for an answer the towns people finally started to believe this was the only explanation. The town of Salem was an already troubled when the happenings began. Me mbers of the town often fought over pretty much anything. The first witches were teenager girls who saw hallucinations; the town took this very seriously.The accusations led to formal charges filed against thirty-eight men and one hundred six women. Prosecutors were able to obtain fifty-four confessions, which was used at evidence to execute twenty people (fourteen women and six men). Mary Beth Norton wrote this book as if she was on a witch hunt herself. She had a one way direction of writing and was not objective to both sides. If she were on the jury of the Salem Witches she would have convicted them herself. I did not like the book because I felt it left me hanging, longing to know the other side of the story.

Pattern people’s development Essay

2.3 Explain how theories of development and framework to support development influence current practice. In this work I will refer to the main group of psychologists that are associated with child development and their consequent impact on the way we care for and teach our children. It is clearly a vast subject, but I hope to identify the most important theories and show how they are implemented in order to provide each child with the greatest chance of reaching their potential. Psychologists have spent whole lifetimes studying how we develop socially and emotionally. Some of the key theories are described below. Psychodynamic Theories Psychodynamic theories of personality are strongly influenced by the work of Sigmund Freud, and emphasise the influence of the unconscious mind and sometimes forgotten childhood experiences on personality. Psychodynamic theories include Sigmund Freud’s psychosexual stage theory and Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. Sigmun d Freud believed the three components of personality were the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is responsible for all needs and urges, while the superego for ideals and moral. The ego then moderates between the demands of the id, the superego, and reality in order to produce a satisfactory conclusion or compromise. Erik Erikson discusses psychosocial stages, and believed that personality progressed through a series of stages, with certain conflicts arising at each stage. Success in any stage depended upon successfully overcoming these conflicts He placed importance on the role of culture and society and the conflicts that can take place within the ego itself, whereas Freud emphasised the conflict between the id and the superego. According to Erikson, the ego develops as it successfully resolves difficulties of a specifically social nature. This involves establishing trust in others, developing a sense of your own identity within society, and helping children prepare themselves for their future. Erikson furthers Freudian ideas by focusing on the ego as ever-changing and creative, and he believed that the stages of personality development continued throughout our lifespan. Behavioural Theories These suggest that personality is a result of interaction  between the individual and the environment. Behavioural theorists study observable and measurable behaviour, and reject theories that take internal thoughts and feelings into account. B.F.Skinner Skinner believed that children learn through experience or conditioning. He coined the term ‘operant conditioning’, meaning simply changing behaviour by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response. Neutral operants are responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behaviour being repeated. Reinforcers are either positive or negative responses from the environment that will increase the probability of that behaviour being repeated. Punishers are responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated. The punishment weakens the behaviour. As children we constantly try out different behaviours, and learnt from their consequences, sometimes the hard way! Positive rewards/reinforcements for good behaviour are the basis of many behaviour management techniques. Albert Bandura Bandura developed the idea of ‘modelling’ or social learning, based on the idea that children will instinctively copy the adults around them. Bandura’s experiment where children watched a film of adults hitting dolls suggests that children learn social behaviour such as aggression through the process of observation learning, i.e. by observing the behaviour of another person. This study has important implications for the effects of media violence on children, in that the learned aggression was seen as acceptable behaviour. There is much evidence that a child who witnesses or experiences violence at home may also develop aggressive behaviour. Conversely, a child who witnesses kind or thoughtful behaviour can be seen to develop these qualities because of their need to emulate the behaviour of familiar or significant others. Humanist theories These theories emphasise the notion of free will and individual experiences in the development of personality. Humanist theorists put forward the concept of self-actualisation, defined as an inherent need for personal advancement that will motivate and influence behaviour Abraham Maslow wanted to understand what motivates people. His theory was that individuals possess motivational  ideas that are not linked to rewards or unconscious desires. In 1943, Maslow stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs, when one of those needs is fulfilled, that person will move on to fulfil the next and carries on in this way. The original ‘hierarchy of needs’ five-stage model is as follows; 1. Biological and Physiological needs- air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep. 2. Safety needs – protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, and freedom from fear. 3. Social Needs – belonging, affection and love, from family, friends, romantic relationships, work colleagues. 4. Esteem needs – achievement, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, and respect from others. 5. Self-Actualisation needs – fulfilment of personal potential, seeking personal growth and ultimate experiences. Carl Rogers was a humanistic psychologist who agreed with the main assumptions of Abraham Maslow, but added that for a person to â€Å"grow†, they also needed an environment providing them with genuineness (openness and self-disclosure), acceptance (to be viewed with unconditional positive regard), and empathy (being listened to and understood).Without these, Rogers thought that relationships and healthy personalities would not develop as they should, and likened this to a tree being unable to grow without sunl ight and water. Rogers also believed that every person has the ability to achieve their goals, wishes and desires in life. Self-actualisation was the term that was used to describe this pinnacle of development. Biological theories This theory puts forward that genetics are responsible for personality. Research on’ heritability’ (defined as ‘the extent to which genetic individual differences contribute to individual differences in observed behaviour’) suggests that there is a link between genetics and personality traits. Psychologists in this area assume that behaviour and experiences are caused by activity in the nervous system of the body. Things that people think, feel, say and do are caused by  electrochemical events occurring within and between the neurones that make up their nervous system, in particular those in the brain. Because the development of the brain is determined (at least partly) by genes we have inherited, then it seems reasonable to assume that behaviour could be seen to be influenced by genetic factors. Our inherited genes are also thought to be the result of evolution, so psychologists in this area also reason that behavioural and psychological characteristics may have evolutionary origins. Hans Eysenck linked aspects of personality to biological progressions, for instance he proposed that introverted people had a high level of brain arousal, leading them to avoid stimulation. Conversely Eysenck believed extroverts had lower levels of brain arousal, which led them to seek out exciting experiences. Social psychologists argue that behavioural reasoning is almost impossible without reference to relationships with others, and also suggest that culture, especially that of social learning and language, has a critical impact on thought and behaviour. It could be said that the biological approach to behaviour focuses on genetic and biological influences to the exclusion of social and cultural influences. However, the biological approach has contributed an enormous amount to our understanding of the fundamental processes of behaviour, and has provided explanations for a range of psychological disorders such as depression. Cognitive theories Cognitive psychology focuses on the way in which we process information, then looks at how we treat the information, or stimuli, and finally how this treatment leads to our response. There is a great interest in the variables that connect stimulus/input and response/output. Cognitive psychologists study these internal processes including perception, attention, language, memory and thinking, resulting in a huge amount of research into how children develop intellectual skills. Jean Piaget Piaget showed that intelligence is the result of a natural sequence of stages and that it develops as a result of the changing interaction between the child and its environment. Children are born with a basic and genetically inherited mental formation on which all subsequent knowledge and learning is based. Piaget became intrigued with the  reasons children gave for their wrong answers on the questions that required logical thinking. He believed that these incorrect answers revealed important differ ences between the thinking of adults and children, the common assumption in psychology was that children are less competent thinkers than adults, but Piaget showed that young children simply think in a completely different way. Piaget’s theory differs from others in that he is only concerned with children, rather than all learners, and focuses purely on development. Children construct an understanding of their environment, and then will experience differences between what they know and what they discover in the world around them. These ‘adaption processes’ enable the transition from one developmental stage to another, one of the most well-known of these are ‘schemas’, which a child will develop to help make sense of a changing environment. For example, a child may think that all dogs are black because they have a pet dog that is black, so on seeing a white dog, the schema will need to change to cope with this new information. Jerome Bruner Bruner believed that as children develop they use different ways of representing the world around them. In his research on the cognitive development of children he proposed three modes of representation: Enactive (0 – 1 years) This appears first, and involves encoding action-based information and storing it in our memory. For example, a baby might remember the action of shaking a rattle in the form of an actual movement, so it is a muscle memory. Iconic (1 – 6 years) This is where information is stored visually in the form of a mental images. For some people this is a conscious happening. This could explain why it is very often helpful to have diagrams or illustrations to accompany written or verbal information, so that the information can be visualised. Symbolic (7 years onwards) This develops last, and is the storing of information in the form of a code or symbol. Symbols are flexible, and can be manipulated, grouped, classified etc., so the child is not limited by actions or images. In this symbolic stage, knowledge is stored primarily as words/language, or mathematical symbols. These are known as modes of representation, and rather than being orderly stages of development, they are only loosely sequential and are gradually integrated into each other. Bruner’s work also suggests that even  a very young child is capable of learning any material as long as the work is worded or presented appropriately. Lev Vygotsky Zone of Proximal Development. This is where the potential learning capabilities of a child is determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or by interactions/collaborative working with more capable peers. Sociocultural Theory. Vygotsky also suggested that human development results from energetic interaction between individuals and society, where children learn gradually and continuously from parents and teachers. Trait theory This was put forward in 1936, by psychologist Gordon Allport, and unlike other theories, the trait approach focuses on the differences between people, and how the combination and interaction of similar traits creates a unique individual. Trait theory is aims to identify and measure these individual personality characteristics. A ‘Big Five’ theory emerged, which represents five fundamental traits that interact to form our personalities. The exact labels for each dimension are not set in stone by psychologists, but the following are used most commonly Extroversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism Openness Most people would agree that people can be described adequately based upon their personality traits, but there are some problems with this theory as it doesn’t address how or why personality differences develop, and also that traits can be a poor predictor of behaviour. The National Curriculum is a government framework that sets out a clear, full and con stitutional right to learning for all pupils. It determines the content of what will be taught, and sets achievement objectives for learning. It also determines how their performance will be assessed and reported. A successful national curriculum should be clear and comprehensive, and convey a full understanding of the skills and knowledge  that young people will gain at school. It should allow schools to meet the individual learning needs of pupils, whilst developing a strong character and ethos that is rooted in their local communities. It also provides a clear framework for all those involved in education to provide support for young people in their pursuit of further learning. Alongside the national curriculum is a government initiative known as ‘Every Child Matters’, or ECM. This applies to children and young adults up to the age of 19, or 24 for those with disabilities. Its main aims are that every child, whatever their background or circumstances, has a right to the support they need in order to- stay safe be healthy, enjoy and achieve, economic well-being positive contribution It is one of the most i mportant policy initiative and development programmes in relation to children, and was introduced partly in response to the shocking death of Victoria Climbià ¨ in 2000. In the past it has been felt that children and families have received poor service because of the failure of professionals to either understand each other’s roles or to work together effectively. The agencies in partnership may include children’s centres, early years, schools, children’s social work services, primary and secondary health services, playwork, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health services (CAMHS). ECM was an attempt to eliminate this poor service, stressing the importance of all professionals working with children, and making them aware that working together in the interests of the child was of the utmost importance. Reading through the aims and initiatives in both these government-led frameworks there are clear correlations with some of the work that has been carried out by psychologists into child development. Piaget’s work was extremely influential in developing educational policy and teaching. A review of primary education by the UK government in 1966 was based strongly on Piaget’s theory, and the result of this review led to the publication of the Plowden report in 1967. Discovery learning was the idea that children learn best through doing and actively exploring, and was seen as central to the  transformation of our primary school curriculum.it was also suggested there should be more flexibility in the curriculum, using the environment to learn, and to recognise the importance of each child’s progress not just measurable evaluations. Piaget’s theory is based upon biological maturation, promotes the notion of ‘readiness’ as being important, in other words, the right time for certain information or concepts to be taught is when they have reached the appropriate stage of cognitive development. A learner, according to Piaget, should be active, not passive, because problem-solving skills cannot be taught, they must be discovered. In the classroom this translates as pupil centred learning, where the role of the teaching staff is to facilitate learning rather than by direct tuition. Within the classroom the following methods are used; Focus on the learning process, not just the end result. Use active methods that involve rediscovering, or reconstructing ‘truths’ Use both collaborative and individual activities, as children can learn from each other as well as on their own. Devise situations that present problems for the child to solve. Regularly evaluate development levels so that appropriate tasks can be set for children. For Bruner, the purpose of education should not be just to impart knowledge, but to facilitate a child’s thinking and problem solving skills, so they can then be transferred to a range of situations. Bruner opposed Piaget’s notion of readiness, and argued that it was a waste of time trying to match the difficulty of subject material to a child’s cognitive stage of development. This means students are held back by teachers as certain topics are deemed too challenging so must only be taught when the teacher believes the child has reached the appropriate state of cognitive maturity. Bruner believed that a child of any age is capable of understanding complex information, and proposed the idea of the ‘spiral curriculum’. This is teaching that is structured so that complex ideas can be taught at a simplified level first, and then re-visited at gradually increasing levels of difficulty later on. Teaching this way should lead to children being able to solve problems by themselves. We can see then that the role of the teacher should not be to teach information by  rote learning, but instead to facilitate the learning process. A good teacher will design lessons that help children discover the connection between small amounts of information. To do this a teacher must provide children with the information they need, but without organising it for them A contemporary educational application of Vygotsky’s theories is known as â€Å"reciprocal teaching†, and is used to improve the children’s ability to learn from text. In this method, teac hing staff and children work together in learning and practicing four key skills: summarising, questioning, clarifying, and predicting. In my voluntary work at Lady Bay Primary, I use this when reading with children, either individually or in groups. Often the children offer the extra information even before I have prompted them. This is the beginning of a gradual reduction of the teacher’s role in the learning process. Vygotsky is also linked to instructional ideas such as â€Å"scaffolding† and â€Å"apprenticeship†, in which a teacher or more advanced peer can help structure or organise a task so that a child can work on it successfully. Vygotsky’s theories are relevant to the current interest in collaborative learning, suggesting that when working together in groups there should be different levels of ability so the more advanced children can help those who are working at a lower level of ability. Again this is a system that works well within my class of year 1’s, and they help and encourage each other in the task almost without noticing. B.F. Skinner’s research into behaviour modification has translated into the classroom in several ways, token economy and behaviour shaping. Token economy is a system in which targeted behaviours are reinforced with tokens (secondary reinforcers) and are later exchanged for rewards (primary reinforcers). Tokens can be in the form of fake money, buttons, poker chips, stickers, etc. and rewards can range be anything from snacks to privileges/activities. Within our school we use this system, in more than one guise. Our ‘dragons gold’ tokens are given out for a variety of different positive behaviours, and after reaching a certain amount the child is able to choose an activity as a reward. An even simpler way of instilling positive reinforcement in behaviour modification is by giving compliments, approval, encouragement, and affirmation when appropriate. The current practice in any child/young people’s development programme needs  to meet certain requirements aimed at their maturity level. It must also respect a child’s psychological needs and promote feelings of safety, security and belonging. By promoting interactive learning, and building conceptual understanding a curriculum will uphold and encourage the advancement of learning abilities, and provide children with a solid foundation on which to build their life and learning skills.

Existence of God Argumentative Paper Essay

There are many different types of arguments for the existence of God. With each argument there is a conception presented of God. For each argument there are different approaches. I will be focusing on the Cosmological and Teleological Arguments. Teleological Arguments are known to be arguments from divine, arguing from order in the universe to the existence of God (1).With the ordering of the universe, created by an intelligent being, they hold that it is ordered towards a purpose or an end. The Cosmological Argument â€Å"is the argument that the existence of the world or universe is strong evidence for the existence of a God who created it. It is a first caused argument where the existence of the universe, the argument claims, stands in need of explanation, and the only adequate explanation of its existence is that it was created by God† (1). Behind this argument, it holds that though the universe still needs explanation for its existence, the existence of God Himself does not. In the article McCloskey is critical of these arguments for God’s existence supporting his stance by offering the problem of evil as reasoning to not believe. He believes the belief in the existence of God is not a source of strength and security (2). However, if we are to use the Cumulative Case approach we can have successive truths. This case cumulates the Cosmological, Teleological, as well as, the Moral Arguments together. It gives us the conclusion of a personal, moral, intelligent creator of the universe as the best explanation for the universe we experience (3). McCloskey maintains that the Teleological Argument is not satisfactory and that it can be rejected simply by rejecting its premise. The premise holds that there is in fact evidence of purpose and design. McCloskey says though, that there were many things that were considered evidence or proof, prior to evolution, but those very things are now not being considered as so. Thus, in order to be a proof, there has to be given indisputable examples. Given that the Teleological Argument, presenting disputable examples, says McCloskey, there is no proof. There can be no form of argument with evidence of an intellectual design and/or designer. I would have to argue with McCloskey by using the â€Å"fine-tuning argument.† Within the universe is nothing short of precision, not only of natural laws, but the beginning stages and state of the universe. These both are pointers to an intelligent Creator. The universe is finely-tuned maintaining physical constants of nature (5).The strength of gravity should be considered. With the occurrence of the Big Bang. The gravity had to have precision because even with a little more force used on either side, it would not have occurred as the Big Bang, but the Big Crunch. Even with the slightest change in gravity, it could change the world into something completely other than what we know. That which is being offered as evidenced cannot be questioned. If we were to give to evolution as truth, there is still no grounds for believing it is true. It does nothing but in the end support the theist position, and shows that evolution needs teleology. McCloskey’s main objection to theism is the presence of evil in the world, â€Å"No being who was perfect could have created a world in which there was unavoidable suffering or in which his creatures would(and in fact could have been created so as not to) engage in morally evil acts, acts which very often result in injury to innocent persons† (1). With this problem on McCloskey’s mind, he holds it to the theists. He still wonders how the theist does not take this to mind seeing that it goes against the perfection of the divine purpose. There can be no grounds in a belief of a perfect being. Even if all reason was thrown out, he says the theist at best could only present a pool of beings full of â€Å"concern, dismay, and anxiety, rather than comfort and security† (1). There is a logical problem of evil and there is logical inconsistency when there is both the existence of God and of evil. The atheist holds that there is severe contradiction between claiming God is good, yet evil exists. Mackie, an atheist, says â€Å"†¦the contradiction does not arise immediately; to show it we need some additional premises†¦these additional principles are that good is opposed to evil, in such a way that a good thing always eliminates evil as far as it can, and that there are no limits to what an omnipotent thing can do. From these it follows that a good omnipotent thing eliminates evil completely, and then the propositions that a good omnipotent thing exists, and that evil exists, are incompatible†(8). There exists two kinds of evil. There is â€Å"human evil,† and â€Å"natural evil† in which atheist claim are both forms of needless suffering. The logical problem of evil claims the â€Å"tension† between simultaneously having evil in the world, while also having a perfect God. This would without a doubt be a logical contradiction according to the atheist. There is also the evidential problem of evil. With this claim, there is not contradiction, but the fact that evil exists, if give grounding evidence for being able to reject that God is all-powerful. It is a weaker version of the former, and claims that it is highly unlikely that an all-perfect God exists. Plantinga responds with trying to defend that it is reasonable to believe in God, even without evidence. His positio n is known as â€Å"Reformed Epistemology†. In order for his view to hold he would have to reject the Evidentialist Credo., which he claims rests on Classical Foundationalism. This led him to his positive view, or â€Å"Reformed Epistemology.† This holds that a belief in God is â€Å"properly basic.†Some object to these claims, saying that evil is logically required for good and is needed for us to see the good. Evil is a means and will cause good. There is given the â€Å"free will† defense that is meant to try and answer the problem of evil. Either this would come about by humans free will resulting in a greater good and that evil is ascribed the humans and not God. However, those who oppose this, bring up the issue of natural evils. Mackie stands his ground that God should have given human beings free will in such a way that we always chose the good. The atheist propose God did not create men to choose between right and wrong, and that God is morally inconsistent. In response, the free will theodicy attempts to defeat the former by claiming the suffering of the innocent is justified because of the existence of free will. We as humans have misused our free will, thus what is known as ‘moral evil.’ Other sufferings from evil come from the natural evils. While McCloskey challenges the free will defense, Plantinga proposes the law of non-contradiction. He argues for there could be logically possible affairs whereby God would be unable of creating a world of both evil and autonomous humans (9). Evans puts it simply, â€Å"It does not seem to be true that a good being always eliminates evil as far as it can. What is true, perhaps, is that good being always eliminates evil as far as it can without the loss of a greater good or the allowance of a worse evil† (1). McCloskey objects to the cosmological argument claiming, â€Å"mere existence of the world constitutes no reason for believing in such a being†(1). There has been great objection to this however because of the fact of contingent objects. God is the â€Å"first cause,† the one who began it all. Because there is not explanation for contingent beings, if God is a necessary being, He is the necessary cause of the existence of creation and we as beings. God has no cause, otherwise He would not be God. It is the very existence of the world that implies the existence of God. The â€Å"laws of nature† imply the existence of a lawgiver, God. This position was held by Aristotle, holding firmly against the possibility of infinite regress. The argument from contingency suggests that it is possible the universe might not have existed, thus needing explanation of why it does in fact exist. In essence, it must have a cause. This leads to the belief in â€Å"necessary being,â⠂¬  meaning a being that needs no explanation. The temporal cosmological argument holds that the beginning of the universe was either caused or uncaused. However, objectors to this say we cannot actually claim whether the universe â€Å"had to exist.† Also, a â€Å"necessary being† comes into question. The refuters say this line of argument does not give enough explanation of why there could not be more than one cause. There is no ground for putting God as the first cause or prime mover. Time and causality as we know it cannot be grounds for explaining the beginnings of the universe. However, those objecting to McCloskey, hold if there were a being like the universe, then he would exist in time, thus he himself came into existence. But, the ultimate cause must not have come into existence. For it to be an ultimate cause, the ultimate Creator must be outside of time. (10).What McCloskey fails to realize, is that not every argument is going to capture every aspect of God. There are many different arguments that go abo ut doing that. If God does not exist, then all has no hope of immortality. Life, the world, and everything in it is meaningless. There would be no purpose or significance to anyone or anything. This leaves us with no ultimate meaning without immorality and God. Would we be able to say there was any purpose or meaning to someone who lived just to die? To be born just to pass out of existence? Lane says that it is not just each individual person that is headed towards the grave, but the universe itself is headed for extinction. This all in all is hopeless. Dying man, in a dying world. If this is the case, the small details in life do not matter, it does not make a difference. Our behaviors, our choices do not matter. Dotoyevsky said â€Å"If there is no immortality then all things are permitted† (11). Without God, there is no accountability, morality, or sense of right and wrong. Even more so, in a universe without God, good and evil do not exist (11). However, if we were to say there were no God, we would still be without purpose because we would just be accidental. We would just be accidents of chance. The only view that can save the human race from itself is a theistic view (11). The only thing going for an atheist is living with the fact of the absurdity of life. Such a view makes it impossible to live a fulfilling, happy life. For the atheist, absurdity of life and creating meaning for one’s life is a contradiction. A major disadvantage of atheism is that no one has hope or faith for reward of good or and punishment of evil. A believer’s hope is this, Christ. Ephesians 3:11 tells us that God had a purpose I mind before He created. Man within his own voluntary will would be able to love and choose God. Nature alone points to God. Humanity and the universe itself does not have to exist. Both are not self-existent but caused. There is no explanation for their existence. Within a Christian world view, life is not meaningless and pointless ending at the grave. We have hope in the resurrection and of eternal life. God and immortality are both necessary for a meaning full life (11). Bibliography 11- Craig, William Lane. â€Å"The Absurdity of Life without God.† In Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, by William Lane Craig, 71-90. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2008. 1-Evans, C. Stephen, and R. Zachary Manis. Philosophy of Religion: Thinking About Faith. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2009. 8- Kunkle,Brett. â€Å"The Logical Problem of Evil.† Truth Never Gets Old. April 21, 2009 2- McCloskey, H. J. â€Å"On Being an Atheist.† Question (1968): 63-69. 5- Biologos. â€Å"What is the â€Å"fine-tuning† of the universe, and how does it serve as a â€Å"pointer to God?† 9- http://kevinfannystevenson.blogspot.com/2012/07/on-being-theist-response-to-h-j.html 10- http://www.existence-of-god.com/first-cause-argument.html

Policy Analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Essay

Policy Analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Essay Example The main purpose of the given work is to analyze the benefits and drawbacks of the new policy and provide recommendations for improvement. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Policy Analysis Problems in the national health care system have long been a matter of serious public concern in the United States. Overspending, low efficiency, and the lack of insurance coverage have become the main policy priorities in America. More often than not, politicians and policymakers use health care problems to speed up their political careers. President Obama was probably the first to systematically address the problem of health care from within. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act marks a new stage in the evolution of American health care. Its potential benefits for common American citizens cannot be overestimated. Nonetheless, the controversy surrounding the ACA continues to persist, and it is imperative that policymakers address the existing policy inconsistencies, to ensu re that the proposed changes benefit the American society. Literature Review Needless to say, health care reforms and problems with health care provision are popular objects of empirical analysis. Much has been written and said about the main problems faced by American citizens and medical professionals. A wealth of strategies and recommendations was developed to improve the quality and efficiency of health care in the United States of America. Nonetheless, most policies provide only short-term solutions to issues surrounding health care provision. In this context, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is believed to have the potential to change the situation to the better. Given the scope of medical care problems in the United States, it is no wonder that the ACA has immediately become the most popular object of policy analysis. Health care professionals and medical practitioners provide their ideas regarding the new policy and evaluate its inconsistencies. Based on their findings, the proposed legal provisions exemplify both a promise and peril of health care in the U.S., depending on the direction American policymakers choose to take in their striving to improve the quality of medical care in America. In their study, Davis et al (2010) evaluate the financial consequences and implications of the new act. The authors analyze how the new law affects the quality, organization, and delivery of health care, financial incentives of health care providers, and its capacity to provide the best health care and improve health care outcomes for everyone (Davis et al, 2010). This study is probably the most successful attempt to reconsider the ACA from a financial viewpoint. Davis et al (2010) state that, prior to enactment of the Act, Medicate expenditures were projected to grow at 6.8 percent every year through 2019; with the ACA, these rates of growth will reduce by 5.5 percent. The fact is that the ACA involves a reform of Medicare, which will enhance the val ue of health care provided and, simultaneously, reduce the rates of spending growth (Davis et al, 2010). Another problem addressed by the ACA is the rapid growth of health care premiums, which burden millions of American families. With the new policy, including a public health insurance plan, system savings could reach an estimated $3 billion between 2010 and 2020 (Davis et al, 2010). The policy will also relieve the burden of health care pr

Managing International Operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managing International Operations - Essay Example The Six Markets Model is beyond the basic marketing of a product/service. It, in a way, markets the entire organisation as well as the industry rather than marketing merely the product/service. The Six Markets Model aims at categorising the markets to manage the business relationships. Figure 1 briefly explains the categorisation of the markets. Managing relationship is the key ingredient of a successful business. The survival and growth of any business is mainly dependent on the relationship it maintains with its customers, employees, collaborators and competitors. The Six Markets Model, especially the customer market, internal market and recruitment market would make a huge impact on the internal candidates and the global customers as they would assist the organisation in analysing and improving its relationship with them. The customer service model adopted by the organisation determines the strength of the relation the organisation would have with its customers. A customer service model consisting of the following features would be necessary to bridge the gap between the services provided and the services expected by the customer: Getting into the shoe of the customer: The organisation w... Recruitment Markets Designing a method to appropriately select, motivate and train employees Supplier Markets Managing relationships with suppliers and distributors Influence Markets Managing influential sub-markets such as the government regulators, stockholders, venture capitalists and so on Referral Markets Organisation's ability to attract new customers on the basis of referrals given by existing customers (http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.phpid=210431) Managing relationship is the key ingredient of a successful business. The survival and growth of any business is mainly dependent on the relationship it maintains with its customers, employees, collaborators and competitors. The Six Markets Model, especially the customer market, internal market and recruitment market would make a huge impact on the internal candidates and the global customers as they would assist the organisation in analysing and improving its relationship with them. Customer Service Model The customer service model adopted by the organisation determines the strength of the relation the organisation would have with its customers. A customer service model consisting of the following features would be necessary to bridge the gap between the services provided and the services expected by the customer: Research: A thorough research into the target market is a must to understand consumer expectation. Getting into the shoe of the customer: The organisation would not be successful in understanding customer's needs just through a survey. It needs to view the service through the eyes of the customers. Develop appropriate services: The services should be developed to fit the necessity as assessed

Compare and contrast the key features of public and private sector Essay

Compare and contrast the key features of public and private sector organisations and explain how these might impact on the role - Essay Example Public sector involve organisations owned and operated by government or their agents and are mostly set up not for profit, but to offer essential services to the public, though profit still reminds one of the objectives of such organisations. Public sectors will major in owning, producing, providing, allocating and delivering goods and services for the government or the public, on either local or international levels, with service provision being more important than making profits. The managers are government appointees, making public companies political institutions. Private organisations. These ere organisations set up, owned, financed, and operated by business people with the single aims of harnessing opportunities to make a profit. The government in private companies only plays a regulatory role through its legal framework, but does not involve in any decision making in such organisations. Their main aim is to invest and harness resources as much as possible to make the maximum p rofit possible from the community. Similarities between private and public companies Service to the public. Both the public and private companies are set up to serve a particular public need, though a private company is responsible to its shareholders and investors to offer such services at a profit. Competition. There are many private companies providing services similar to the public sector services; they all compete for customers and resources, as well as market for their products and services. Examples are schools or healthcare faculties. Organisational hierarchy. Both public and private organisations have different staff occupying differently levels of decision making process, though in the private sector such hierarchies may have different tag names. In the two sectors, hierarchy structure is set to delegate work to the appropriate sections or levels (Kearney, Hisrich, & Roche 2009, 28). Differences between Private and Public Companies Organisation level One factor that charac terizes the public sector is the many formal processes that must be in place to make such an organisation function appropriately (ESADE, 2011). Decision process in public companies involves more degrees of consultations to formalize, leading to increased bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is defined and the regulations, procedures, and rules that have to be adhered to, but have little or no efficacy to the functional object of the rules themselves (ESADE, 2011). Bureaucracy in public sector is mostly due to the divisions of authority between the executive, legislature, and judiciary arms of the government, which have to be involved in the decision making process. On the other hand, private firms are more efficient and have no elaborate formalisation to put in place. Once they have complied with the legal procedures, they can be as small as the owners prefer and as large as possible, with decision making being retained at the senior management level. This makes private sector more efficient in decision making. Market Economy Another difference between private and public sectors is the market economy and economic systems. The public sector has to provide

Assess Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assess - Essay Example It enables a person to understand things on a much higher plane and provides them with the leverage of better expression, when it comes to giving their opinions and ideas to others. My past memories of literacy, takes me back to my childhood days, when I lived with my family in Saudi Arabia and was in constant touch with my mother tongue Arabic, that came naturally to me because everyday, my mother would read me stories and narrate her own life events as the years passed by. Going to school and learning my lessons, taking part in school activities and moving with a good circle of friends, helped to influence me further and make me more literate over the years. A lot of my leisure time during the My adolescent years were greatly influenced in supplementing my reading by watching movies or engaging in multi-media by playing computer games and even entertaining role plays with my friends that I enjoyed so much. Both my parents played major roles where my language learning was concerned. They helped me imbibe a deep love for reading and speaking well, by taking me to meetings, debates and oratorical presentations where I had the opportunity of watching great speakers speak in depth on important subjects. Knowing that only my mother – tongue would not be sufficient for an all round education, they engaged me in special classes for learning the English language which I loved and further developed through reading and writing both at school and at home. Reading assignments given by my teachers over the years, helped to harness a deep understanding of both English and Arabic language and served to further influence my use of grammar and arrangement of sequential thoughts of expression, when I was given writing assignments. My English teacher was a major influential factor in my life because not only did she possess profound knowledge of the subject, but she showed genuine interest in every student while imparting that knowledge to us. understand that literacy has a

Privacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Privacy - Essay Example This boundary erected by the individual is different for different persons concerned and can be altered depending upon the circumstance and the relationship with other party. An individual is at complete liberty to voluntarily sacrifice his personal privacy. This sacrifice is often associated with benefits in exchange. People who exercise steps to preserve their privacy expect other to respect it. That is why an individual’s right to be not subject to unauthorized privacy raid by anyone is part of numerous countries privacy law. In today’s world, an individual’s privacy is not completely in his own hands. This protection of privacy is also dependent upon the other people with whom the individual has shared his personal information. Any breach of confidence can easily result in loss of privacy i.e. access or knowledge of your personal information to an unauthorized person. Increasing use of technology in workplace has brought with it various benefits ranging from lower operating cost to increased efficiency. However, these benefits are not without side effects because rapidly increasing technology use has become a point of concern for employer and employee both. At a workplace, employers have access to personal information of the employees. How much access an employer has and how is a question of debate. Employers believe that it is necessary to collect this information through monitoring the employee’s activities to avoid liability and discourage illegitimate activities. Employers believe that their act of surveillance and monitoring of employing activities in the office is their right as it leads to reliable performance evaluation of employees, helps in guarding trade secrets etc. Employers have various methods for monitoring employees in the office. These method ranges from recording office telephone, video equipments and having technological admittance to

Explain why regarding the complex project as a 'system' or 'group of Literature review

Explain why regarding the complex project as a 'system' or 'group of integrated systems' will help us to ensure delivery - Literature review Example Statement of Problem For any Corporation, as well as government or other service institutions the challenge is to deliver specialized services to a particular clientele yet in doing so in an efficient manner. It might be possible for a company to offer extremely favorable terms and financially unsustainable discounts on goods and services in order to attract customers in the short term, but there is a limit to the amount that can be given away as a gesture of goodwill. A company must also demonstrate inefficiency in its operations and organization in order to remain profitable and viable. On the other hand, an operation thinking only of the efficiency and interest of itself and its highest ranking members will be unable to draw new clients/customers competitively. With concern only for the interest of the operation internally, it becomes a virtual impossibility to be attractive to outside customers. Therefore, such an operation will be unable to grow – and will suffer the loss of new business to competitors. There are numerous variations on this theme, but ultimately the construction organization – for any other company providing services to clientele must strike a balance between these extremes. An operation must be efficient enough that the company is able to pay employees while still retaining profit for itself, yet at the same time it must have sought after products or services that it can offer under attractive terms for customers. Achieving this balance is the fundamental factor determining the rise and fall of businesses. Even organizations with only a small number of clients, perhaps a single investor or another company contracting a second company to perform some specific task is not immune to these challenges. Whoever the customers or clients are, they must be sufficiently satisfied to permit repeat business, and yet the organization itself must remain internally viable so that it is able to continue doing business. Neither of these fact ors can be ignored. Achieving this balance requires the deliberate establishment of management structures to ensure the efficient delivery of client objectives through a process of knowledge management (Anumba et al. 2005). In some respects, these twin factors can intertwine in terms of viable solutions to either issue. If a company is able to resolve issues of internal management sufficiently, that its own of viability is insured – it is then able to address the issue of client satisfaction. The reverse also applies; achieving client satisfaction in a sustainable way allows the organization to devote more attention to internal bookkeeping. This investigation will explore the potential of administrative models to address challenges in the delivery of client objectives and services. Fulfilling this dimension of business operations is integral to the success of the enterprise, and ongoing research permits new possibilities to achieve efficiency for client services. Specifically , this investigation will focus on integrated systems for the delivery of client objectives. The balance between customer service and efficiency is hypothesized to be enhanced by a theory of integrated systems for complex project management to achieve the delivery of client objectives. Analysis of the Problem Initially, it is helpful to discuss the systems themselves in order to foster an understanding of

Microsoft Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Microsoft Corporation - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that Microsoft Corporation has been ranked as one of the top companies in terms of its manufacture of electronics and the top company, which develops software. Microsoft offers software developers a lot of personal free will over the working environment where the individuals get to order their personal materials and modify their offices as they desire. Microsoft Corporation is responsible for its commitments, its shareholders and human resources. It also holds great enthusiasm for its clients, the associates that work with them and inventions of the latest technology. The company is open and respectful with other companies, and it is dedicated to making them better. It does share its information that is needful to improve the society rather than only make a profit for its benefit. It takes on challenges and drives them to the end to improve the lives of people by coming up with good, usable products. The main headquarters of Microsoft Corpora tion is located in Redmond, Washington in the United States. It also operates in different other countries, which can be more than 100 in number according to the recent case study conducted by the company itself. The region that attracts me is Chaoyang Beijing China. This company deals with information and technology. It mostly concentrates on the development of different software for desktop and servers and manufacturing of electronic devices. They hold the majority of consumers in the world in terms of their good products and services from their qualified personnel. They are coming up with new models and systems that give them an edge over other IT companies. Furthermore, they are improving their versions of the products that they had manufactures previously to meet the current emerging demands of the consumers.

Plato and Aristotle Essay Example for Free

Plato and Aristotle Essay 1. What are the major differences between Plato and Aristotle? Make sure you provide examples. Basically, Plato and Aristotle are highly different in their philosophical beliefs and their various teachings.   The main philosophy of Aristotle is to possess virtue in order to achieve the ultimate goal which is happiness. In order for people to possess virtue, he also believed that everything should be done in moderation only and not too sparse or too excessive. On the other hand, Plato used logic and dialogue as his main tools together with the aid of mathematics in order to arrive with rational conclusions so as to know the universal truth. Moreover, Aristotle strongly believed that acts of good must be habituated in order to become a virtue while Plato believed that merely knowing what is good is enough to be able to do good even without actually doing it. Another major difference between the two is their beliefs in metaphysics. Plato’s believed that there are higher or ideal forms that can only be acquired through knowledge while Aristotle believed that form and matter are inextricably bound and coexist. 2. Are you a Platonist or an Aristotelian? Provide specific examples to help illustrate your points. I am basically a Platonist simply because there are more of this teachings that are applicable today than Aristotle such as his theory of the universal ideal forms. For example, when looking for an ideal friend, that person I am searching for must possess the qualities that I desire. However, it is a well-known truth that there is no such thing as â€Å"perfect† or â€Å"ideal.† But since I know what an ideal friend is, I now have a pattern which I will use as a basis as I search for my ideal friend. I may not be able to find that person but I would definitely meet someone close to that, which is like the shadows that Plato described in the Allegory of the Cave. In addition, I know that the both the sky and a pair of blue jeans are both color blue. Although, in reality, they are not of the same color, I somehow have an idea of what blue is because it preexists in my mind.   Another reason that I also consider myself as a Platonist is because I do not believe in Aristotle’s idea that by possessing virtue, once can achieve happiness. For me, his belief is too idealistic, although his use of formal logic and scientific methods such as deduction and observation is still applicable today.

Melbourne Airport Runway Essay Example for Free

Melbourne Airport Runway Essay Rules and regulations serve as guide the aviation industry to promote the sole standards in the provision of the services and standards for location quality which are essential for the travelers. The service that is being offered should be valued in the same way as the physical locale for operation. Runways for the air vessel, more than just a strip of land solely functioning for the launch of air vehicle, is a subject for continuous planning, development and safety maintenance to respond with the growing demand for aerial transportation. Aside from the fact that airports represent a huge investment for capital that can range to the actual building of facilities, it can also support many employments outside its function such as the industry for taxi and delivery companies. It remained tough for commercial or even private airports and for the whole Aviation System of any flight to make sure that transferring from domestic to international sections was a breeze. Most people who are using the services of airport do not have any actual idea how complex the functions are being carried out and how important the impacts of airports as a community service provider can have in a society. Moreover, airports are part of transportation systems, thus, aviation activity defines portion of the economy as it acts to be vital in distribution process especially when it serves as a link between the producers and consumers. Melbourne Airport, sometimes called Tullamarine Airport, serves the second busiest city of Australia therefore we can expect heightened standard to be sufficient for the service demand. Melbourne’s Central Business District is the home of Melbourne airport which complements with its closest neighbor Avalon since they are about 40 km. apart. Their distance makes competition not necessary. Airports are vital assets making them look forward to the goal of having direct flights instead of passing through Sydney. The Government (national and local) is pushing for maximizing profits by promoting economic actions among the airports. Across Australia, it is apparent that the objectives of these companies are partly relative with the economic activity of their region. The ways their community responds to the quality of their service largely affect the standard being applied on their planning and strategies (Winston and de Rus 2008: 75-77). Background: Initiatives for development As shown in Melbourne Airport’s Master Plan (2008), they were preparing their aviation system to respond for the anticipated growth in the following 20 years therefore, they fortified agreements and legal relationship with the State departments. They wished to expand their service coverage as they were able to secure development pace with geographic control. Available lands, equipped with expansion and commercial potentials, surround the operational territory and they were subject for acquisition. Melbourne Airport, dubbed as a city inside a city for its dynamic location, handles its vast land area which has portions highly available for commercial purposes. With the location’s accessibility from the metropolitan primary locations, their property promised a wide range of opportunity for business partners. As per Melbourne Airport (2009), they also look forward to possible expansions and strategies for its further development for their long term goals as a commercial institution servicing over 22 million passengers and travelers per year in average. The business park, occupying the area for per, are became the home of initiatives for this development. How relevant is this expansion and development plan by Melbourne Airport? This move shows a particular necessity for the airport to adapt to the changing demand in the capacity of passengers. For example, according to Orlando Business Journal (2010) with the return of US Airways to them, the volume of passengers went up 75% compared to the volume last year. The strategy and hard work of the airport’s marketing department shows positive results. Materials and Methods: Melbourne Airport’s Master Plan 2008 In accordance to Part 5, Division 1, Section 67 of Airports Act of 1996, Melbourne Airport proposed their most recent Master plan last 2008 after the 2003 version which showcase the future development and strategic direction for commercial and aircraft operations of the airport and in the same year, The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government approved the proposal tackling the future capacity. Runways design seems to be one of the key considerations in making the master plan. The plan is set to work in the following decades thus, it is important to see how the runways are to be set in the future in compliance to the goal of its expansion, and development. The actual situation of the runway system, the pace of increasing volume of demand for it, and the structure framed in the plan should be analyzed to see its complementarities with the operational goal of the airport. Discussion: the Master plan for Runways and Facilities The master plan is not just a way to maximize the capability and function of the airport site in the present or to respond with the present requirement of the aviation systems, instead, it is a set of projected ideas for their long term goal of ultimate development. The Melbourne Airport currently has two runways, the North-South (16/34) and East-West (09/27), which are intersecting in directions and have taxiways and apron areas associated with each. In response to the volume of demand, apparent to their recent master plan, Melbourne Airport aimed to accommodate transportation functions faster. Runways (16/34 and 09/27) are planned to maximize runway capacity while waiting for the completion of the third runway by having taxiways for rapid exit and make 09/27 runway extended to the western side(Melbourne Airport 2008: 51-52). In totality, the plan included adding gates for passenger aircraft and apron areas, construction of a new runway with corresponding taxiways and upgrading both domestic and international terminals. The new runway is planned to be put west of the 16/34 runway in the early part to middle part of 2020’s as projected. They also project that it will not be completed and it is not yet necessary to have that added runway prior to 2020 at least, around 2017. The plan required computerized analysis of physical elements such as weather (particularly, the direction of the wind current), vessel type, length required for the runway and separations of aircraft, relative to the runway operations to end up having the closest to accurate design for its efficiency (Melbourne Airport 2008: 52-53). International Air Transport Association (IATA) has the standard that is followed by Melbourne Airport with the design of their terminal facilities. The level of Standard (LOS) ranges from ‘A’ being excellent to ‘F’ being the unacceptable quality (de Neufville 2010). Planning requires designs as designing the roads and terminals required well-defined standards and criteria to follow. In the Master Plan, Melbourne Airport (2008) specified the LOS to Level ‘C’ which indicates the standard minimum of service with acceptable comfort and service or flight delay but guaranteed a stable flow. While the terminals are based in IATA criteria, Melbourne Airport designed their roads using the Austroad’s Guide to road design which deals largely on its geometric elements and roadside considerations. Economic impact and Projected Effects The efficiency of Melbourne Airport relies on its interdependent functional elements which includes the function of facilities and the rest of the airport site. The measure of its effects can be seen in its contribution to the economic development. With the periodical study of the pace of passenger volume growth from 2007, the increase is steady among their passengers. As cited from Melbourne Airport Data, the international Passenger Transfers, as varied every 3 to 4 years, is increasing by 0. 2 million, thus it project that by 2017, the international traveler movement will be 7. 1 million. This is where the Master plan is intended for. This amount of people will contribute to the billion dollars tourism industry of Victoria which is believed to have an indirect relative to the quality of air transportation access (Sinclair Knight Merz 2008: 12-13). Aside from movement of people, air transportations are also beneficial for trades and commerce particularly with the function of importations and exportations of goods and raw materials. Melbourne Air’s goal to increase their capacity by maximizing runways complements with the purpose of trade. Airfreights’ volume is determined directly by the number of vessels capable of carrying them. Geographic elements remained to be the prime and competitive advantage of Melbourne Airport. It also has the initial advantage of established high number of locations for their services worldwide (Sinclair Knight Merz 2008: 18). Conclusion The initiative of Melbourne Airport in designing a plan to serve for its long term goals manifests a strong potential for future development in their vital service functions in which the travelers can look forward to. The runway, being the starting point of any travel defines the quality of the engineering, logistics and designing capability of the airport institution so it contributes to promoting the impression of the public. Any initiative done with careful and strategic planning should result to beneficial and continuous flow of economic elements. The trend in making sophisticated runway can be partially contributed by the evolutionary changes in sophisticated aircraft but far from that, it is important to value the projects implemented for the improvement of the runway facilities for the evolutionary changes in the way of the people in dealing with trades, commerce and tourism. List of References Winston, C. and de Rus, G. (2008). ‘Aviation Infrastructure Performance’. The Brookings Institution. [17 May 2010] Melbourne Airport. (2008). ‘Master Plan’. Melbourne Airport. [17 May 2010] Melbourne Airport. (2009). ‘Property’. Australia Pacific Airports (Melbourne) Pty Ltd. [online] available from http://www. melbourneairport. com. au/For -Business/Property/Overview. html[17 May 2010] Orlando Business Journal. (2010). ‘Melbourne Airport’s Passenger Traffic Up’. American city Business Journals, Inc. [online] available fromhttp://www. bizjournals. com/orlando/stories/2010/04/19/daily42. html [17 May 2010] de Neufville, R. (2010). ‘Defining Capacity of Airport Passenger Buildings’. [online] available from ardent. mit. edu/airports/ASP_current /Defining_Capacity04. pdf[17 May 2010] Sinclair Knight Merz. (2008). ‘the Economic Impact of Melbourne Airport’. Sinclair Knight Merz Pty. Ltd. [17 May 2

Product Life Cycle Theory By Vernon Economics Essay

Product Life Cycle Theory By Vernon Economics Essay Vernons international product life cycle theory (1996) is based on the experience of the U.S. market. At that time, Vernon observed and found that a large proportion of the worlds new products came from the U.S. for most of the 20th century. It was concluded that U.S. was the first to introduce technological driver products. Vernon theory was used to explain certain types of foreign direct investment made by the U.S. companies after the Second World War in the manufacturing industry. The U.S. has become a major importer of many of the goods that had once developed, produced and exported. Vernons international product life cycle is used to attempt to explain why this happened. According to Vernon, in the first stage the U.S. transnational companies create new innovative products for local consumption and export the surplus in order to serve also the foreign markets. According to the theory of production cycle, after the Second World War in Europe has increased demand for manufactured products like those proposed in USA. Thus, America firms began to export, having the advantage of technology on international competitors. In the first stage of production cycle, manufacturers have an advantage by possessing new technologies. However at these early stages of production, the products were not standardized as the nature of the goods has implications such as price elasticity, the communication throughout the industry and also the location of the product itself. As the product starts to mature, the conditions also start to change. A certain degree of standardization takes place and the demand of the products appeared elsewhere. As demand has increased, overseas markets were imitating those products at a cheaper labour and overall cost. The U.S. firms were forced to perform production facilities on the local markets to maintain their market shares in those areas. Consequently the U.S. exports were limited. As the markets in the U.S. and these other developed countries mature, the product became standardized. The developments of the life cycle were once again changed. There were more demand and cheaper labour costs from overseas countries, the pricing became the main competitive tool and cost became more of an issue than previously. The producers internationally based in advanced countries then had the opportunity to export back to U.S. This has led to the undeveloped countries offering competitive advantage for the location of production and finally they became exporters. This evidence suggests that the more a product is standardized; the location of production is more likely to change. At the same time there is also evidence that unstandardized products will maintain their location in more phosphorus location. This also explains; between 1950 to 1970 there were certain types of investments in Europe Western made by U.S. companies. There were areas where Americans have not possessed the technological advantage and foreign direct investments were made during that period. To resume, Raymond Vernon believes that there are four stages of production cycle: Introduction Growth Maturity Decline And the location of production depends on the stage of the cycle. Stage 1: Introduction New products are introduced to meet local needs, and new products are first exported to similar countries i.e. countries with similar needs, preferences and incomes. Stage 2: Growth A copy product is produced elsewhere and introduced in the home country to capture growth in the home market. This moves production to other countries, usually on the basis of cost of production. Stage 3: Maturity The industry contracts and concentrates and the lowest cost producer will win. Stage4: Decline Poor countries constitute the only markets for the product. Therefore almost all declining products are produced in LDCs. Vernons product life cycle model can explain both trade and FDI. By adding a time dimension to the theory of monopolistic advantage, the product life cycle model can explain a firms shift from exporting to FDI. Initially a firm when innovate a product, it produces at home enjoying its monopolistic advantage in the export market, thus specializes and exports. Once the product becomes standardized in its growth product phase, the firm may tend to invest abroad and export from there to retain its monopoly power. The rivals from the home country may also follow to invest in the same foreign countrys oligopolistic market. Vernons theory implies that overtime the main exporter may change from exporter to importer. This leads to the low cost producers becoming exporters. One weakness of this theory can be that Vernons view is ethnocentric. It can also be said that many new products are now produced in advanced economies such as Japan. Globalization means that there is more dispersed and simultaneous production of comparative advantage. The final weakness of this theory is that this study was carried out in the 60s. The worlds trading importing and exporting has changed immensely over the years.

Enormous Changes at the Last Minute: Postmodern Humanism :: Grace Paley Enormous Last Minute Essays

"Enormous Changes at the Last Minute:" Postmodern Humanism in the Short Fiction of Grace Paley(1) On the jacket of her second book of short stories, Enormous Changes at the Last Minute, Grace Paley, a feminist, postmodernist, antiwar activist, and writer, identifies herself as a "somewhat combative pacifist and cooperative anarchist." In 1979, she was arrested on the White House lawn for demonstrating against nuclear weapons, and her rÃÆ'Â ©sumÃÆ'Â © is full of such protest-related arrests. Paley's statement in a 1998 interview with the online magazine Salon is typical: "Whatever your calling is, whether it's as a plumber or an artist, you have to make sure there's a little more justice in the world when you leave it than when you found it." Paley's fiction expresses similar sentiments but in rather subtle ways. Women in her short stories do not get arrested for protesting; instead, they visit their aging fathers in the hospital. (2) Paley's concern for justice appears in her short fiction as a postmodern humanism that works itself out in the establishment of storytelling, re ality-making communities. In "Toward a Concept of Postmodernism," Ihab Hassan schematizes postmodernism in opposition to modernism. This sampling of the catchwords he identifies gives us a window into the project of postmodern theorists: Antiform, Play, Anarchy, Decreation/Deconstruction, Antithesis, Absence, Dispersal, Anti-narrative/Petite Histoire, Indeterminacy (591-2). Postmodern writers, then, play with language, experiment with narrative fragmentation, introduce previously ignored voices, borrow heavily from both popular culture and "canonical" literature, and generally break boundaries. How can we classify Paley as a postmodern writer if an ethical framework underlies her writing? Shouldn't she be trying to deconstruct reality and expose the meaninglessness of the American experience? Of course, no work or writer fits perfectly into postmodernism's theoretical agenda. For that matter, the very establishment of an unyielding definition of postmodernism is antithetical to its self-proclaimed turn away from the rigidity of modernist thought. For students of postmodernism this can be a maddening maze of deconstruction that eventually leads to the extinction of the study of literature. If, as radical deconstructionists might argue, our language systems and understandings of reality prove to be valueless, the scholar of literature is left with little to do, as is the social critic. It is for this reason that Hassan writes Thus we can not simply rest-as I have sometimes done-on the assumption that postmodernism is antiformal, anarchic, or decreative; for though it is indeed all these, and despite its fanatic will to unmaking, it also contains the need to discover a "unitary sensibility" (Sontag), to "cross the border and close the gap" (Fiedler).

Setting and Theme in Barn Burning Essay -- William Faulkner American L

All stories, as all individuals, are embedded in a context or setting: a time, a place, and a culture. In fact, characters and their relationship to others are better understood in a specific context of time, place and atmosphere, as they relate to a proposed theme or central point of a story. Abner is revealed as a sadistic character who confronts his son with the choice of keeping his loyal ties to the family or parting for a life on his own with no familial support. Sarty is Abner's son, a young boy torn by the words of his father and the innate senses of his heart. Sarty is challenged by an internal conflict, he wants to disobey his father, yet he knows that if he leaves he will have nowhere to go and no one to turn to. We will take a look at the setting, specifically the era in which William Faulkner's "Barn Burning" took place. The circumstances surrounding Abner's barn burning also play a crucial role in finding the underlying message or the theme seeing as how it is no t always the obligation of an individual to support another family member when his or her choices do not morally coincide with one's own ethical choices. Setting plays a vital part in establishing the background for the events that take place in any piece of literature. "Barn Burning" was set in the 1930's, a time when the Great Depression produced great social and economic problems among the people of the era. The economy was not stable. National wealth was not spread evenly. Instead, most of the money was in the hands of the wealthy. Lowly farmers like Abner were forced to grow crops as a source of food during this time of unemployment and overpriced goods. Abner had a difficult time providing for his large family, which was why he went abo... ... Sarty could never again return home. Richard Bach put it best when he said, "The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life," which represents Sarty's deviance from his father's wishes. Although everyone was affected by the Great Depression, they did not have to live like savages. Abner could have farmed a larger variety of crop and established a reputable name for himself to become one of the leading salesmen of the area. Sarty was conflicted with keeping his loyalty to his blood ties or leaving. Sarty made an intelligent choice of disobeying his father and abandoning his family for a legitimate life on his own, one in which he did not have to steal, destroy, or lie to live a meager life. Sarty probably left in hopes of some day becoming like Major de Spain, a man of intelligence and wealth.

Landing :: essays research papers

Troy Mosley   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Process Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  December 12, 2001 Landing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It’s been said that, â€Å"A pilot’s second greatest thrill is flying. Landing is the first.† Without a doubt, while flying around may be fun, it’s not worth it if the pilot can’t land the plane safely. Flight schools spend approximately 50 percent of ground school time going over landing procedures with soon-to-be pilots. The process is not all that complicated, but every step in the process is important and there is a lot to remember.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first requirement when landing an airplane is to inform air traffic control that you entering the traffic pattern of the airport as you approach. Once the pilot gets the go ahead from air traffic control, he must maintain proper altitude in the traffic pattern until he is lined up with the runway. Before dropping altitude the pilot must go through the landing checklist. The checklist is called the GUMPS check and stands for gas, undercarriage, mixture, power, and seat belt/shoulder harness/systems check. The GUMPS check requires the pilot to check the fuel gauge to determine that the aircraft has enough fuel to land. The â€Å"undercarriage† check is the reminder to lower the landing gear. The mixture check reminds the pilot to set the mixture gauge so that the mixture of fuel and air is at the proper level for landing. The Power check reminds the pilot to maintain the proper power level or landing. Finally, the GUMPS check reminds pilot to prepare them selves and their passengers for landing with seatbelts and shoulder harnesses, as well as, to check all the system gauges once more before descending.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once the GUMPS checklist is complete, the pilot is lined up with the runaway, and the air traffic controller has given the go ahead, it is time to land the aircraft. At that point, the pilot aims for the threshold marker on the runway, while lowering the aircraft flaps and pitching the aircraft nose down to the proper glide ratio. This delicate balance continues while the aircraft slows and descends to grounds level. Just before touch down the pilot flares the nose of the aircraft upward and glides the plane onto the runway for a soft landing. Landing :: essays research papers Troy Mosley   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Process Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  December 12, 2001 Landing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It’s been said that, â€Å"A pilot’s second greatest thrill is flying. Landing is the first.† Without a doubt, while flying around may be fun, it’s not worth it if the pilot can’t land the plane safely. Flight schools spend approximately 50 percent of ground school time going over landing procedures with soon-to-be pilots. The process is not all that complicated, but every step in the process is important and there is a lot to remember.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first requirement when landing an airplane is to inform air traffic control that you entering the traffic pattern of the airport as you approach. Once the pilot gets the go ahead from air traffic control, he must maintain proper altitude in the traffic pattern until he is lined up with the runway. Before dropping altitude the pilot must go through the landing checklist. The checklist is called the GUMPS check and stands for gas, undercarriage, mixture, power, and seat belt/shoulder harness/systems check. The GUMPS check requires the pilot to check the fuel gauge to determine that the aircraft has enough fuel to land. The â€Å"undercarriage† check is the reminder to lower the landing gear. The mixture check reminds the pilot to set the mixture gauge so that the mixture of fuel and air is at the proper level for landing. The Power check reminds the pilot to maintain the proper power level or landing. Finally, the GUMPS check reminds pilot to prepare them selves and their passengers for landing with seatbelts and shoulder harnesses, as well as, to check all the system gauges once more before descending.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once the GUMPS checklist is complete, the pilot is lined up with the runaway, and the air traffic controller has given the go ahead, it is time to land the aircraft. At that point, the pilot aims for the threshold marker on the runway, while lowering the aircraft flaps and pitching the aircraft nose down to the proper glide ratio. This delicate balance continues while the aircraft slows and descends to grounds level. Just before touch down the pilot flares the nose of the aircraft upward and glides the plane onto the runway for a soft landing.

Analysis: Decision Making In Kava Essay

Decision making is one of the important and crucial aspects in running a business that business executives delegate to their subordinates, in the hope that those they think are qualified to make sound decisions indeed make very good decisions that will always be for the best interest of the company. Decision making is a privilege, but it is nonetheless a difficult task that cannot be avoided. Because of its importance and the difficulty that goes along with decision making, professionals over time managed to draft certain decision making techniques that can help those who find themselves in a great difficulty over the inability to produce a decision making process that will guarantee the providing of the best result possible for a particular business scenario. Decision-making technique to identify the solution – There are several business models of decision making techniques that anyone can utilize; there are no perfect techniques for decision making, what is important is that the person manages to identify the technique that suits his or her needs best. For the case that is being tackled in this paper, the decision making technique which will be utilized is the Measured Criterion technique. What is the Measured Criterion technique? In the Measured Criterion technique, the individual will have to create a table or matrix wherein important goals as well as options to attain the goal(s) is/are identified to allow the person/organization making the decision to look at the goal and the options they can take and decide which option they will resort to. Why is the Measured Criterion the ideal decision making technique for the particular case being discussed in this paper? It is the ideal decision making technique for this particular case because the Measured Criterion style will allow Nik and Alex to plot and identify the particular goals that they need to accomplish so that they can achieve their ultimate goal – to act as catalysts in the island so that their company can have a greater and broader business presence in Kava. These particular goals will definitely open up options for both Nik and Alex, and when there are two persons deciding, there is a very good chance that they may not opt for the same course of action. But through the use of the Measured Criterion, every option is designated with a numerical equivalent that suggests the range and probable efficacy, practicality, comfort and other aspects and characteristics of a particular option, from which the decision will be based. This information will be used on how the decisions and options are considered and weighed. For example, Part 1 of Nik’s planning involved the human resources part. For example, during the decision making process on whether Nik and Alex should advice its head office on hiring Kava local’s to work for the company when its expands its operation and presence in the island, the decision can be based after consulting the Measured Criterion chart, which would reflect points represented in numerical significance – what are the points for opting for hiring locals and the probability that they will stay long and loyal to the company compared to using non-locals to work in Kava and the corresponding level or chances that these particular type of employees will stay long and loyal in the Kava office of the company? Having identified these issues and other issues involved in the decision making task of Nik and Alex necessary to accomplish the goal delegated to them by their company, there is a better guarantee that the option they will take are considered very well and that there are minimized chances that Nik and Alex left something out unintentionally. Steps in decision making – Following the guidelines necessary to undertake the Measured Criterion technique for decision making, the steps towards decision making of the company so that it can achieve its goal in Kava will include the following steps: identification of the course of action needed to be taken, identification of the existence of alternatives and wide variety of options present for every step or action to be taken, the providing of the necessary data and points consistent with the style of Measured Criterion so that every action that presents many different options will reflect the best and worst possible option for the company to take, and lastly, the deliberation on whether the best option as reflected in the Measured Criterion tables should be taken first en route to the actualization of the business plan. During the process of decision making to attain the goal of having the business expand in Kava, Nik will have to identify key information to aid his decision making and provide information in the measured criteria table for further deliberation and consideration. This is important since there are what Luo consider as â€Å"international expansion imperatives† that act as â€Å"building blocks on which a wide variety of international expansion strategies, decisions, and policies are based. They are imperatives because they cannot be unlinked from the decision making process during international expansion (Luo, 1999, p. 6). † Decision making technique analysis – Why is the Measured Criterion selected and used as the decision making technique to assist in the goal of Nik and Alex to undertake the creation of a business plan that will allow their company to grow in Kava? As explained in Virtualsalt. om about how Measured Criteria works, this particular decision makin g technique can help the task at hand (which is the planning of the company on how to have a greater business presence in Kava) by providing a way in which the target goals for the accomplishment of the business plan is already laid out and the corresponding alternatives and options of the company are weighed correctly. Nik, who is an important player in the effort of the company to expand in Kava, needs to be equipped with a decision making technique which would allow him to be able to sort things out and plot the objectives and goals he needs to accomplish, identify his options and plot the strengths and weaknesses of each and every option so that he can pick the best option, use it and contribute to the overall efforts of him and Alex in the achieving of the company’s business goal in Kava for which Nik was sent there for. The Measured Criterion can provide Nik with the style that will enable Nik to efficiently and systematically sort things out. The situation in Kava, with all the confusion that was illustrated in the case scenario, will take its toll on Nik’s ability to focus his mind and his thoughts, and using the Measured Criterion will help offset the negative impact of the messy surroundings in the place. Don Aslett, in his book The Office Clutter Cure, points out that â€Å"a poorly kept workplace makes everyone tense† and that â€Å"too much stuff around is distracting (Aslett, 2005, p. 20). Proposed Solution – The proposed solution for the expansion of the company in Kava includes the implementation of a business action plan that includes human resources, marketing and business strategy. The company should consider the hiring of locals and consider the socio economic and socio political impact of this action to the locals and the government of Kava, including ensuing empathy and support and stabilization of the company; the company should also realign its business strategy so that it will suit the diversity in culture and the heterogeneity of the people present in the island which will be affected in many different ways by the business; the company should also consider the logistics that the company will have to shoulder and address should the company expand operation and business presence in the island, with a back up study on the financial impact of such logistics adjustment on the overall performance of the company; and lastly, the company should plot a timeline to allow themselves the opportunity to measure the positive yield and impact this move will make to the company, so that in the event that the move is deemed as unproductive or lacks promise financially an d business-wise, appropriate remedies can be set up and implemented to cover losses and redirect expansion actions by the company. Examining the decision making model – The use of the Measured Criterion will work well in this particular condition with one consideration in mind: that both Nik and Alex make honest appraisals and put corresponding numerical symbolisms of the importance of each item presented in the matrix. Toney explains that â€Å"other researchers have shown conclusively that the most common reason for organizational failure is flawed decision making† (Toney, 2002, p. 21), and the only way for Nik and Alex to avoid having a flawed decision making is to make sure that the decision making process is free from personal agenda and other politics that go against the best interest of the company. As in the use of any decision making technique, the absence of honesty and objectivity in the part of individuals make human error a significant factor. If Nik uses the Measured Criterion in a way that there is a controlled outcome in numerical value because Nik wants the outcome to correspond with his personal wants and desires (i. e. to leave Kava since Nik expresses dislike in the island), the credibility of the Measured Criterion and the decision that was reached is jeopardized, as with the use of any other decision making technique so long as there is an effort to manipulate the outcome.

Establishing Strategic Pay Plan

INTRODUCTION The Companies Act, 1956 provides for a variety of companies of which can be promoted and registered under this Act. The three basic types of companies which may be registered under the Act are: †¢ Private companies; †¢ Public companies ; and †¢ Producer companies PRIVATE COMPANY Section 3(1)(iii),a private company means a company, which has a minimum paid up capital of one lakh rupees or such higher paid-up capital as may be prescribed , and by its articles: a) Restricts the right to transfer its share, if any ) Limits the number of its member to fifty c) Prohibits any invitation to the public to subscribe for any share in , or debenture of the company d) Prohibits any invitation or acceptance of deposit from person other than its member, directors of their relative. PUBLIC COMPANY Section 3(1) (IV), public company means a company which: a) It not a private company; b) Has minimum paid –up capital of five lakhs rupees such higher paid – up ca pital as may be prescribed; ) Is a private company which is a subsidiary of a company which is not a private company A public company may be said to be an association consisting of not less than 7 members, which is registered under this Act NOTE every public company existing on the commencement of the companies (Amendment)Act, 2000. with a paid-up capital of less than five lakh rupees, was required to within the a period of two year from such commencement, enhance its paid-up capital of five lakhs rupees.Where a public company failed to do so such company was deemed to be Defunt Company within the meaning of section 560. EMPLOYEE STOCK OPTION SCHEME (ESOS) Employee Stock Option Scheme means the option given to the Whole Time Directors, Officers and Employees of the Company which gives them a right or benefit to purchase or subscribe the securities offered by the Company at a predetermined price at a future date. THE MINIMUM WAGES ACT, 1948 ACT NO. 11 OF 1948 1* 15th March, 1948. ] A n Act to provide for fixing minimum rates of wages in certain employments. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 is designed to â€Å"prevent exploitation of the workers and for this purpose it aims at fixation of minimum rate of wages which the employer must pay â€Å"The minimum rate of wages fixed or revised may consist of the basic rate of wages to be adjusted according to the variations in the cost of living index number (cost living allowance).It also includes house rent allowance. The Payment of Wages Act 1936 – according ,all organisation employing less than one thousand employees must pay the wages before expire of the seventh day after the last day of wages period and before the expiry of the tenth day in case it employs thousand or more employees . all payment must be made on working days . n case of terminated employees all wages earned by them shall be paid before the expire of the second working day from the day employment is terminates. All wages must be paid in curren t coin or currency or by cheque or credit in the bank by prior authorisation. FIXING OF MINIMUM RATE OF WAGES. Fixing of minimum rates of wages. – ) fix the minimum rates of wages payable to employees employed in an employment specified in Part I or Part II of the Schedule and in an employment added to either Part by notification under section 27: Provided that the appropriate Government may, in respect of employees employed in an employment specified in Part II of the Schedule, instead of fixing minimum rates of wages under this clause for the whole State, fix such rates for a part of the State or for any specified class or classes of such employment in the whole State or part thereof; b) Review at such intervals as it may think fit, such intervals not exceeding five years, the minimum rates of wages so fixed and revise the minimum rates, if necessary: Concepts of Wages: While evolving, wage policy, three concepts of wages, viz, I) minimum wages, ii) fair wages, iii) living wages are generally considered.These are broadly based on the needs of workers, capacity of the employee to pay, & the general economic conditions prevailing in a country. Minimum Wage Minimum wage is one which provides not merely for bare sustenance of life, but also for the preservation of the efficiency of worker. For this purpose, the minimum wage must also provide for some measure of education, medical requirements & amenities. Fair Wage Fair wage is understood in two ways. In a narrow sense, wage is fair if it is equal to the rate prevailing in the same trade & in the neighbourhood for similar work. In a wider sense, it will be fair if it is equal to the predominant rate for similar work throughout the country. Living Wage Living wage is a step higher than fair wage.Living wage may be described as one which would enable the wage earner to provide for himself/herself & his/her family not only the bare essentials of life like food, clothing, & shelter, but a measure of frugal co mfort including education for children; protection against ill health; requirements of essential social needs; &/or measure of insurance against the more important misfortunes including old age. WHAT IS COMPENSATION? Compensation may be in the form of financial returns, tangible services, and benefits received by employees as part of their employment. It does not include other forms of rewards such as recognition and interpersonal relationships etc.Extrinsic Rewards are rewards that an employee receives because of the job itself, including cash compensation, benefits, promotions and job security. Intrinsic rewards come from the work environment and are valued internally by the employee. Job satisfaction, self-esteem, achievement, growth, and professional and personal development are some examples of intrinsic rewards. COPONENTS OF COMPENSATION SYSTEM Compensation systems are designed keeping in minds the strategic goals and business objectives. Compensation system is designed on the basis of certain factors after analyzing the job work and responsibilities. Components of a compensation system are asfollows:TYPES OF COMPENSATION Compensation provided to employees can direct in the form of monetary benefits and/or indirect in the form of non-monetary benefits known as perks, time off, etc. Compensation does not include only salary but it is the sum total of all rewards and allowances provided to the employees in return for their services. If the compensation offered is effectively managed, it contributes to high organizational productivity. †¢Direct Compensation †¢Indirect Compensation Compensation Strategy Strategic compensation is determining and providing the compensation packages to the employees that are aligned with the business goals and objectives.In today’s competitive scenario organizations have to take special measures regarding compensation of the employees so that the organizations retain the valuable employees. The compensation sys tems have changed from traditional ones to strategic compensation systems. OR Compensation Strategy is the organization’s plan for how compensation decisions on the types and amount of pay are made, based on the interests of the employees and keeping with the organization’s mission and competitive position in the market. COMPENSATION POLOCIES A compensation policy provides general guidelines for making compensation decisions. Some employees may perceive their firm’s compensation policies as being fair and unbiased and other may have different opinions.The result of these perceptions may well have an effect an employee’s perception of fairness and result in lower productivity or turnover. Pay leaders. Pay leaders are organizations that pay higher wages and salaries than competing firms. Using this strategy, they feel that they will be able to attract high-quality, productive employees and thus achieve lower per-unit labor costs. Market Rate: it is the aver age pay that most employers provide for a similar job in a particular area or industry. Pay followers: companies that choose to pay below the going rate because of a poor financial condition or a belief that they do not require highly capable employees Labor Market is the geographical area from which an organization recruits employees and where individuals seek employment .Market Rate is the rate of pay established for a â€Å"benchmark job† outside of the organization. It is determined though the collection of pay data gleaned from surveys of numerous organizations Forms of Pay Base Pay is compensation based on time worked, such as an annual salary or an hourly wage and it does not include pay benefits, overtime or incentive pay Performance Pay is a monetary onetime payment made to an employee, team or the whole organization for achieving results established at the beginning of a performance cycle . Merit Pay is a monetary reward given in recognition of outstanding performan ce which increases base pay. It may be paid in a lump-sum or added incrementally to base pay.Indirect Pay is part of an employee’s total compensation package, non-cash items or services provided to employees in return for their contribution to the organization (i. e. , health benefits, paid time off). Sometimes the costs for the items are shared by the PAY STRUCTURE Once job analysis has been done organizations need to decide upon the pay structures. Pay structure refers to the process of setting up the pay for a job in an organization. The process deals with internal and external analysis to estimate the compensation package for a job profile. Internal equity, External equity and Individual equity are the most popular pay structures. Job description provides the in depth knowledge about the job profile and its worth. Pay structures are the strong determinant of employee’s value in the organization.It helps in analyzing the employee’s role and status in the orga nization. It provides for fair treatment to all employees. Pay structures also include the estimation of incentives. The level of incentives also depends on the level of job position in the organizational hierarchy. †¢Internal Equity The internal equity method undertakes the job position in the organizational hierarchy. The process aims at balancing the compensation provided to a job profile in comparison to the compensation provided to its senior and junior level in the hierarchy. The fairness is ensured using job ranking, job classification, level of management, level of status and factor comparison. †¢External EquityHere the market pricing analysis is done. Organizations formulate their compensation strategies by assessing the competitors’ or industry standards. Organizations set the compensation packages of their employees aligned with the prevailing compensation packages in the market. This entails for fair treatment to the employees. At times organizations off er higher compensation packages to attract and retain the best talent in their organizations. Motivation is the activation of an energized goal-oriented behavior. It is seen not only humans, but even animals show a level of motivation to achieve their goals. People with a vision always control their destiny and the life they live.If a person is without a vision in life, he or she is controlled by the will of others and end up living a life not their own, but one that is on terms dictated by others. Everyone takes up a job as they are motivated by some factor or the other. Some are motivated by the challenge they will face in carrying out their job, some are motivated by the level of fame they may earn, others and majority of people are motivated by the money they will earn. The last factor plays a major role in making or breaking a company. People will work better when they are motivated enough with the pay scale, the incentives and the perks they are offered in return of a job well done. Introduction to Equity TheoryEquity theory helps propose the idea about individuals who think of themselves as over-rewarded or under-rewarded. These individuals will experience distress that tries to restore balance. Equity thus measures the contributions and benefits earned by each individual. It is not necessary one need to put in exactly the same contribution as the other partner, as long as there is a balance between contributions and benefits. Thus, every individual employee feels his contribution and work needs to be rewarded with equal pay. If the individual feels underpaid, s/he will come under distress and feel hostile towards the company. To avoid this feeling of hostility, equity theory comes into play. What is Equity?When individuals think their inputs are rewarded according to their outputs and are equal to others around them, they are satisfied. But when they notice others are getting more recognition and rewards, in spite of doing the same amount of work, they become dissatisfied. This leads to feelings of unworthiness and under-appreciation. This is the opposite of equity, wherein the outcome (rewards) are directly proportional to the quality and quantity of work of the employee. When all employees are rewarded equally, the general feeling about the organization becomes fair and appreciable. The following equation will help explain what equity is in a clear and concise manner:Individual’s outcome = rational partner's outcome Individual’s own input rational partner's input Equity Theory Examples As the main focus of the researchers moved towards employees and their motivation factors, following the Hawthorne Study results, there were many theories put forward to understand employee motivation. The following are the five major equity theory examples that have helped in understanding motivation. Maslow's Need-Hierarchy Theory: Maslow put forward five levels of needs of employees. These needs included physiological, safety, eg o and self-actualizing.Maslow put forward an argument that said the lower level needs of employees need to be satisfied before the next higher level need is fulfilled to motivate them. The motivation was categorized into factors by Herzberg; motivators and hygiene. The motivators including intrinsic factors like achievement and recognition help produce job satisfaction. The hygiene or extrinsic factors like pay and job security lead to job dissatisfaction. Vroom's Theory: This theory was based on the belief that employee effort leads to performance and performance leads to rewards. These rewards can be positive or negative. The positive rewards lead to a more positive employee ho is highly motivated. The negative rewards lead to obviously a less motivated employee. Skinner's Theory: This theory states that the positive outcomes will be repeated and behaviors that lead to negative outcome won't be repeated. Thus, managers should try to reinforce the employee behavior, such that it le ads to positive outcomes. Negative reinforcement by managers will lead to negative outcomes. Adam's Equity Theory Model: This theory shows that employees strive to achieve equity between themselves and their coworkers. This equity can be achieved when the ratio of employee outcomes over inputs is equal to other employee outcomes over inputs.Application of Equity Theory of Motivation When a manager is striving to achieve employee satisfaction, motivation levels, etc. then he should consider Adam's Equity Theory. Therefore, he should consider the balance and imbalance that is seen in the inputs and outputs of the employee. When we talk about equity theory, we use the terms input and output. An input is the contribution made on the part of the employee. This input helps determine his/her reward or pay. Some of the inputs made by an individual towards his/her organization include: †¢ Ability to do his/her job †¢ Adaptability around the company environment †¢ Flexibility à ¢â‚¬ ¢ Tolerance †¢ Determination Enthusiasm to complete a task or job †¢ Commitment towards his/her work and organization †¢ Hard work †¢ Loyalty †¢ Time given to the company †¢ Efforts take to complete tasks as required †¢ Personal sacrifice †¢ Trusting superiors when it comes to delegation and management †¢ Support given and taken from colleagues Outputs are the tangible and intangible rewards or pay given to an individual based on his/her inputs. These outputs include: †¢ Salary received in accordance to company policy, experience and work done †¢ Job security †¢ Employee benefits †¢ Recognition for work done †¢ Responsibility entrusted upon an individual †¢ Praise received Examining EquityThe process of assessing internal equity can serve to highlight many organizational problems. First compensation philosophies need to be identified and examined for fit with internal equity adjustment plans. Next, manag ers need to know whether the organization has the funds to implement such a plan. Questions that managers may need to consider are †¢ Is the pay structure properly defined or is it inadequate? †¢ What are employees making in comparison to those with identical skills and equally important experience? †¢ How are employees compensated for internally developed experience versus external experience brought with them to the organization? †¢ Is length of service valued? What is the turnover rate and what, if any, impact does internal equity have on it? †¢ Is the organization unable to attract candidates to a position because it cannot maintain market-competitive salaries? †¢ Has the organization needed to increase compensation for a position, resulting in it being higher paid than the same type of jobs with more skills or responsibilities, thus throwing salaries out of alignment? †¢ Does the organization have consistent hiring and promotion practices? EST ABLISHING STRATEGIC PAY PLANS STEP 1 SALARY SURVEY SALARY SURVEY Organizations have to bridge the gap between the industry standards and their salary packages.They cannot provide compensation packages that are either less than the industry standards or are very higher than the market rates. For the purpose they undertake the salary survey. The Salary survey is the research done to analyze the industry standards to set up the compensation strategy for the organization. Organizations can either conduct the survey themselves or they can purchase the survey reports from a reputed research organization. These reports constitute the last 2-5 years or more compensation figures for the various positions held by the organizations. The analysis is done on the basis of certain factors defined in the objectives of the research. Uses of salary surveySalary surveys are a consultative tool that employers and associations use to obtain salary information that is useful in determining the competitiv e wage rates needed to attract and retain competent employees. Employers can use surveys in different ways; as well as establishing a competitive salary structure, they can use the surveys to support their job evaluation system. When job evaluation and survey data are used jointly, internal and external equity are mutually reinforced. The focus of surveys tends to be on collecting base salary information and they can also be an effective means of researching trends in the design of benefits packages and pay systems. This explains how to identify salary surveys which are relevant to the needs of organizations within the not-for-profit sector, and specifically within community-based agencies.It also provides information on the meaning of some survey terms and discusses the value of survey participation. Objectives of Salary Survey †¢To gather information regarding the industry standards †¢To know more about the market rate i. e. compensation offered by the competitors †¢To design a fair compensation system †¢To design and implement most competitive reward strategies †¢To benchmark the compensation strategies Commercial, Professional and Government Salary Surveys BLS gives: †¢ Area wage surveys †¢ Industry wage surveys †¢ PATC surveys Private consultants Hay Associates, Heidrickand Struggles, and Hewitt Associates publish data covering compensation for top and middle managementTypes of Compensation Surveys There are two types of compensation surveys undertaken by the organizations. †¢Standard Surveys Standard surveys are undertaken by organizations on a regular basis. These surveys are conducted annually based on the organizational objectives. These surveys attempt to cover the same companies every year and provide the same time of analysis. The reports are published annually by the research organizations. The organizations willing to formulate their compensations strategies based on the surveys purchase the reports fr om the research organization. †¢Custom Surveys At times, a few organizations need to know some specific information.The surveys which cater this need are known as custom surveys. The organizations either higher research organizations to conduct theses surveys for them or they themselves conduct the survey by sampling few of the competitors on their own. These surveys do not have any time interval. They are undertaken as the need arises. Survey Reports The survey reports consist of the analysis and conclusion drawn from the evaluative data based on the objectives of the study. The reports also include the data, facts and figures to support the analysis and conclusion. The supportive data and annexure provided in the report form the basis for the un-biased conclusion and validation of the analysis. BENCHMARK JOBSA benchmark job is one well-known in the company industry and one performed by a large number of employees. In addition to surveys, there are other ways to obtain compens ation data. Some professional organization periodically conducts survey, as do several industry associations. The compensation Survey contains pays and benefits information. Compensation data are presented by worker traits and by characteristics of the establishment. The survey attempts to respond to common question from employers such as: What is the average salary for administrative assistants in my area? How have wage cost changed over the past year? How Have benefit cost, and specially health care cost, changed over the past year?What is the average employer cost for a benefit plan as opposed to a defined contribution plan? Useful Online Sources for Collecting and Analyzing Salary Survey Data This section lists websites which can be useful for managers in community-based organizations in Canada who are seeking salary survey data that is already published or available by subscription or who wish to conduct or commission a survey. Some sites offer information at no cost. Others re quire payment. †¢ Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE) at www. csae. com †¢ Economic Research Institute at www. erieri. ca; and, www. salariesreview. com †¢ Human Resources Internet Guide at www. hr-guide. com †¢ Peter T.Boland & Assoc. Inc. at http://ptbaconsulting. com/NonProfitSurvey. html †¢ Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Surveys are available at www. statcan. ca †¢ Toronto Board of Trade at www. bot. com †¢ Vault Employer Research at www. vault. com STEP 2 JOB EVALUATIONS JOB EVALUATION Job Evaluation involves determination of relative worth of each job for the purpose of establishing wage and salary differentials. Relative worth is determined mainly on the basis of job description and job specification only. Job Evaluation helps to determine wages and salary grades for all jobs. Employees need to be compensated depending on the grades of jobs which they occupy.Remuneration also involves fringe benefits, bonus and other b enefits. Clearly remuneration must be based on the relative worth of each job. Ignoring this basic principle results in inequitable compensation. A perception of inequity is a sure way of de-motivating an employee. Job evaluation is a process of analyzing and assessing the various jobs systematically to ascertain their relative worth in an organization. Jobs are evaluated on the basis of content, placed in order of importance. This establishes Job Hierarchies, which is a purpose of fixation of satisfactory wage differentials among various jobs. Jobs are ranked (not jobholders) Scope of Job EvaluationThe job evaluation is done for the purpose of wage and salary differentials, demand for and supply of labour, ability to pay, industrial parity, collective bargaining and the like. Methods of Job Evaluation Analytical Methods Point Ranking Methods: Different factors are selected for different jobs with accompanying differences in degrees and points. In the point method, rates assign nume rical values to specific job factors, such as knowledge required and the sum of these values provides a quantitative assessment of a job’s relative worth. We will walk though an example of how the point method works. Select job Cluster Let us assume that we are going to develop a point system for an administrative job cluster. Identify Compensable FactorThe next selects the factors for measuring job value. These factors become the standards used for the evaluation of jobs. Determine Degrees and Define each compensable Factors The next consideration is to determine the number of degrees for each compensable job factor. Degrees represent the number of distinct level associated with a particular factor. The number of degrees needed for each factor depends on job requirements. If a particular cluster required virtually the same level of formal education fewer degrees would be appropriate than if some jobs in the cluster required advanced degrees. Evaluator must divided each facto r into number of degrees. Determine Factor WeightsThe committee must then establish factor weights according to their relative importance in the job to be evaluated. In our example let us example let us assume that the committee believes that education is quite important for the administrative job cluster and sets the weight for education at 35 percent. The weight of the other four factor were determined by the committee: Job Knowledge-25; Contact – 18; Complexity of duties – 17; and Initiate – 5. The percent total is 100 percent. Determine Factor Point Values The committee than determines the total number of point for the plan. The number may vary, but 500 or 1,000 points may work well. Our committee has determined that 500- point system will work fine Job Evaluation Worksheet (500-Point System) Job Factor |Weight |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 | |Education |35% |35 |70 |105 |140 |175 | |Job Knowledge |25% |25 |50 |75 |100 |125 | |Contacts |18% |18 |36 |54 |72 |90 | |Complexit y of Duties |17% |17 |51 |85 | | | |Initiative |5% |5 |10 |15 |20 |25 | Factor Comparison Method: The important factors are selected which can be assumed to be common to all jobs. Each of these factors are then ranked with other jobs. The worth of the job is then taken by adding together all the point values. Non-Analytical Methods Ranking Method: Jobs are ranked on the basis of its title or contents. Job is not broken down into factors etc. Job Grading Method: It is based on the job as a whole and the differentiation is made on the basis of job classes and grades.In this method it is important to form a grade description to cover discernible differences in skills, responsibilities and other characteristics. Compensable Factors are the most important characteristics of a given job, on which pay rates are established and relative worth evaluated. They are determined by their ability to further an organization’s strategy and relate directly to the work itself. The four major cr iteria most often used to measure jobs are skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions. Job Evaluation Process: The job-evaluation process starts with defining objectives of evaluation and ends with establishing wage and salary differentials Objectives:The main objective of job evaluation, as was studied earlier, is to establish satisfactory wage and salary differentials. Job analysis precedes the actual programme of evaluation. Job Analysis: It provides job-related data which would be useful in drafting job description and job specification. Job description provides the information relating to duties and responsibilities. Job specification provides information relating to the minimum acceptable quality of an employee Job Evaluation A job-evaluation programme involves answering several questions. The major ones are: i. Which jobs are to be evaluated? ii. Who should evaluate the job? iii. What training do the evaluators need? iv.How much time is involved? v. What should be t he criteria of evaluation? vi. What methods of evaluation are to be employed? Wage Survey: Now that the job hierarchy has been established with the help of evaluation methods, it is time to fix wage and salary differentials. Before fixing such differentials, the wage rate must be ascertained. It is here that wage survey assumes relevance. Employee Classification: The last phase in the job evaluation process is to establish classification. Employee classification is the process of assigning a job title to every employee in the organization. Computerized Job Evaluations †¢ Other methods can be time consuming CAJE or computer automated job evaluation streamlines things †¢ Simplifies job analysis †¢ Increases objectivity †¢ Manages data †¢ Uses structured questionnaire and statistical models STEP 3 GROUP SIMILAR JOB PAY GRADE A pay grade is comprised of jobs of approximately equal difficulty or importance as established by job evaluation. †¢ Point method: t he pay grade consists of jobs falling within a range of points. †¢ Ranking method: the grade consists of all jobs that fall within two or three ranks. †¢ Classification method: automatically categorizes jobs into classes or grades Pay Structure Pay Structure is a hierarchy of jobs within an organization. Jobs are ranked based on content and value to the organization.The pay structure includes all the pay rates for different jobs within a single organization, factoring in the number of pay grades/levels with or without ranges, differences between grades/levels, and the criteria used to determine the differences. Pay Grade Pay Grade is a grouping of jobs of the same or comparable value to the organization. Each job within a pay grade will have the same pay range – minimum, midpoint, maximum. Movement to another grade is through promotions or demotions. Pay Range Pay Range is the upper and lower limit of pay rates to be paid for jobs in a pay grade, from minimum to max imum. Movement through a pay range is a result of experience, seniority, training, etc. Broad banding Broad banding is the condensing of multiple salary grades into several broad and wide ranging grades.Benchmark (or key) job is a standard job from either within the organization or outside the organization used as a reference point for pay comparisons. These jobs have relatively the same job content and there is not much difference in their rates of pay. Hierarchy (or Job Structure )is a ranking of jobs based on their value to the organization STEPS 4 PRICE EACH PAY GRADE THE WAGE CURVE The relationship between the relative worth of jobs and their wage rates can be represented by mean of a wage curve. This curve may indicate the rates currently paid for jobs within an organization, the new rate resulting from job evaluation, or the rates for similar jobs currently being paid by other organizations within the labor market..A curve may be constructed graphically by preparing a scatter gram consisting of a series of dots that represent the current wage rate Developing a wage curve involves the following: †¢ Find the average pay for each pay grade †¢ Plot the pay rates for each pay grade †¢ Fit the line called a wage line through the points just plotted †¢ Price the jobs STEP 5 FINE TUNE PAY RATE Correcting Out-of-Line Rates The wage rate for a particular job may fall well off the wage line or well outside the rate range for its grade, as shown. This means that the average pay for that job is currently too high or too low, relative to other jobs in the firm. You should raise the wages of underpaid employees to the minimum of the rate range for their pay grade. PAY RANGES A grade is a horizontal grouping of different job that are considered substantially equal for pay purpose ? Grades enhance an organization ability to move people among jobs within a grade with no change in pay. ? The objective is for all the jobs that are similar for pay purpos e to be placed within the same grade ? How many pay grades? A. Number of Jobs B. Organization hierarchy C. Reporting Relationships ? Pay ranges refer to the vertical dimension of the pay structure ? Each pay grade will have associated with it a pay range consisting of a midpoint and a specified maximum and minimum. ? Midpoints correspond to the competitive pay policy. ? Midpoints are the control point of range. The midpoints represent base pay for a seasoned employee. ? The midpoint can be determined as soon as the pay grade limit are set. ? Find the Job Evaluation point value in the centre of the pay grade. ? Substitute that point value for x in your equation of the pay line ? Solve the equation for Y. this value is the midpoint of the range. Range spread is a based on some judgement about how the ranges support career path, promotions & other organization system. Range spreads vary between 10 to 150 percent. Once the midpoint (based on the pay policy line) and range spread (based on Judgement) are specified, minimum & maximum are calculated Minimum = midpoint / [1+ (1/2 range spread)Maximum = Minimum + [range spread x Minimum] Pay ranges are a series of steps or levels in a pay grade, usually based on years of service Sample pay grade schedule PRING MANAGERIAL AND PROFESSIONAL JOBS What Determines Executive Pay? †¢ CEO pay is set by the board of directors taking into account factors such as the business strategy, corporate trends, and where they want to be in the short and long term. †¢ CEOs can have considerable influence over the boards that determine their pay. †¢ Firms pay CEOs based on the complexity of the jobs they fill. †¢ Shareholder activism and government oversight have tightened the restrictions on what companies pay top executives. Boards are reducing the relative importance of base salary while boosting the emphasis on performance based pay. Compensating Professional Employees †¢ †¡ Compensating professional employ ees, like engineers and scientists, presents unique problems. †¢ †¡Analytical jobs like these emphasize creativity and problem solving, compensable factors not easily compared or measured. †¢ Determining professional compensation presents another question how is ? performance? to be defined and measured? †¡ †¢ Compensable factors focus on problem solving, creativity, job scope, and technical knowledge and expertise. †¡ †¢ Firms use the point method and factor comparison methods, although job classification is most popular. COMPENSATING BASED PAY MEANINGCompetency–based pay means the company pays for the employees range, depth, and types of skills and knowledge, rather than for the job title he or she holds. Experts variously call this competency -, knowledge–, or skill -based pay. Why Use Competency—Based Pay? [pic] Competency–Based Pay in Practice Main elements of skill/competency/knowledge based pay programs: 1. A syst em that defines specific skills 2. A process for tying the person’s pay to his or her skill 3. A training system that lets employees seek and acquire skills 4. A formal competency testing system 5. A work design that lets employees move among jobs to permit work assignment flexibility [pic] ———————- 10 9. 0 8. 0 7. 0 WAGE RATES 100 200 300 400 POINT VALUE OF JOBS Salary Survey FACTOR COMPARISONRATE Extrinsic Reward Intrinsic Reward Compensation JOB RANKING INTERNAL EQUITY POINT SYSTEM JOB CLASSIFICATION ORGANISATIONAL FAIRNESS MARKET RATE INDUSTRY STANDARDD COMPETITORS RATE EXTERNAL EQUITY Determine Degrees and Define each compensable Factors Identify Compensable Factor Select job Cluster Determine Factor Point Values Determine Factor Weights Validate Point System Object of Job Evaluation Job Specification Job Analysis Job Description Job Evaluation ProgrammeWage Survey Employee Classification ESTABLISHING STRATEGIC PAY PLAN Jo b Evaluation Pay grade grouping Price Pay Grade- Wage Curve Fine–Tune Pay Rates Tune Rates Compensating Executives And Managers BASIC PAY Short-term Incentives Long– term Incentives Executive Benefits/perks Competency-Based Pay Supports High-Performance Work Systems Strategic Aims Performance Management PAY GRADE STRUCTURE 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 100 150 200 250 300 350 I II III IV V PAY POLICY LINE Our Monthly salary (‘000) PAY Our Job Evaluation Points EASTABLISHING PAY PLAN