Various Aspects of Life of the Oromo People Research Paper

Various Aspects of Life of the Oromo People - Research Paper Example However, as distinguishing factors, African communities have different cultural practices and beliefs. According to Freund2, societal beliefs and practices, which define each community, are used to distinguish various African communities. Traditional practices and beliefs are, thus, used to describe each ethnic community. Inhabitation of various parts of Africa mainly depended on geographical factors, such as accessibility, topography, and nature of a place at different weather conditions. Even though each African community was and is still distinguishable from other communities, certain issues, nevertheless, brought the communities together. Examples of the factors include economic, social, and religious accords among various communities. According to Freund3, most African communities have not only settled in Africa, but also inhabit other continents. Example of such communities is the Oromo people. The community has the highest population in Africa and considerable numbers in Ameri ca and Saudi Arabia. Therefore, while discussing the community, focus is directed to Africa. This paper explores the Oromo community. Background of the Community The name â€Å"Oromo† means â€Å"the powerful.† Triulzi4 informs that several suggestions attempt to explain origin of the name. One postulate argues that the name is associated with the river Oromiffa. Levine (Greater Ethiopia, 45) also claims that the name was coined from â€Å"qaala laa† an Arabic word. Galla is another name used to refer to the community. The term â€Å"Galla† is used mostly by Amhara to refer the community. Abyssinians, on the other hand, use derogatory characteristics to describe the group5. The offensive names, which include â€Å"pagan,† â€Å"slave,† â€Å"uncivilized,† or uncultured, are meant to generate inferiority complex within the community. Members of the community, however, insisted on the name â€Å"Oromo† because it described the st rength or self-defense of the community. Oromo community is a member of Cushitic-speaking individuals. The native language of the community is Oromo. The language is part of an Afro-Asiatic language family. The community is estimated to have a population of 30 million members. In Africa, the community is largely found in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. In Ethiopia, census carried in 2007 revealed that 34.49 percent of the entire population of the country was Oromoota. Records indicate that the Oromo occupy eastern and north-eastern Africa. Migration and Demographic Information Mohammed6 asserts that Oromo community is an ancient group in Africa. The author claims that physical features, language, culture, and various other aspects of life conform to traditions of African societies, with slight variations. Ethiopia, which is the main settlement region for the community, has an approximate of 74 ethnically diverse language groups7. Because population of the country is majorly the Oromo, individuals of the community significantly contribute to development of the country in various capacities. Based on the report published by United Nations Population Fund, about 95 % are settled agriculturalists.

Nursing Rresearch Utilization Project Proposal on Alternative Pain Essay

Nursing Rresearch Utilization Project Proposal on Alternative Pain Management - Essay Example Philosophers, psychologists, biologists and pharmacologists have attempted to understand pain based on an interdisciplinary approach. With technological advances and centuries of research, have led to an in depth of comprehension of pain mechanisms and accordingly several theories have been put forward over the years to explain the mechanism of pain. While the classical theories stressed the physiological aspects of pain, the multidimensional theories included the physiological as well as psychological, cognitive and social aspects of pain (Gatchel et al., 2007). The pain pathway involves three neuron route that carry pain stimuli from periphery to cerebral cortex: the primary afferent neurons, the dorsal horn of spinal cord where primary afferent neurons synapse with second order neuron (SON); and finally the third order neurons (TON) that synapse with SON in thalamic nuclei. Each of these routes involve several alternative pathways. The receptors and the fibers associated with pain perception in peripheral receptor system are known as nociceptors which can be of different types depending on the nature of stimuli received. However there are also two more dimensions to pain perception besides nociception. The individual’s description or assessment of experiences that he labels as pain and the emotional reaction to the pain perception forms the second dimension. The third dimension encompasses the social aspects of pain (Gatchel et al., 2007). Professional aid for pain management becomes essential when it restricts or interferes with daily activities, or when self care techniques fail to provide relief. The ultimate treatment goal for pain is the alleviation of pain symptom and improvement of individual functional ability. Due to its complex nature, pain management is rendered a challenging and multifaceted task. In accordance care providers today incorporate and utilize varied techniques including patient education, medications, physical therapies, relax ation techniques, psychosocial counseling, surgical procedures, injection techniques, various alternative medicine modalities for effective and intensive pain management (Gatchel et al., 2007). Based on this premise the current project proposal aims to explore the available and prevalent alternative pain management techniques and their comparative efficacies. B. Solution description Mind/Body Medicine During the last three decades many researchers have begin to explore the interconnections between mind and body; and have attempted to understand the hitherto unexplored efficacy of most traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda and Tibetan medicine. This has led to the emergence of the new field of psychoneuroimmunology. Mid body techniques are based on three premises; relation of body and mind, ability of body to heal itself and role of care provider in restoring health. This field includes techniques such as psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, and guided imagery. Psychotherapy Psych otherapy approaches are based on the interdependence of stress and pain forming a vicious circle. They therefore provide relaxation therapies to develop a sense of control, change the mode of dealing with pain and decreasing levels of discomfort. Hypnosis, music or audioanalgesia and other relaxation techni

Defining leadership as a process and property

Defining leadership as a process and property In defining leadership Jago (1982, p.315) states leadership is both a process and a property. The process involves influencing group members to undertake activities that will lead to the accomplishment of the group objective, while the property refers to the set of characteristics believed to be held by those with influence. Leadership theory began by focusing on traits but has since followed a varied course in the search for conclusive evidence on the factors that affect leadership. In this report we will focus on the dyadic process of leadership, looking at the leader as an individual (Lussier Achua, 2009) and will assume that leadership effectiveness will only be understood by looking at the influence of the leader on their followers. We will concentrate on three major theories trait, behavioural or style and situational. Trait Lussier Achua (2009, p. 16) proposes that leadership trait theories attempt to explain distinctive characteristics accounting for leadership effectiveness. Traits were initially thought to be innate or heritable qualities of the individual(Zaccaro,J.S,2007)   This perspective shifted to include all the other enduring qualities that distinguished leaders from Non-leaders. (Kiripatrick and Locke,1991 as cited in Zaccaro,J.S.,2007) There is strong evidence to prove that traits contribute significantly towards leader effectiveness, leader emergence, and leader advancement.()The following are some of the traits which each of us believed lacked in us following group discussion: Decisiveness Barlet Decisiveness is often identified as a key trait in leadership (Ghiselli, 1971 as cited in Lussier, 2008). It involves the ability to logically analyze a situation and make a decision in a timely manner. A leaders decisiveness also provides clarity and direction and gives others confidence in that leader. Readiness to make decisions was identified as a key personality trait that predicted a managerial advancement (Howard Bray, 1983 as cited in Hogan, Curphy and Hogan, 1994). Barlet has identified decisiveness as a weakness, especially in high stress situations where a quick and effective decision was required. After discussing with the group and analysing situations where Barlet lacked that ability to make the decision, it has been identified a number of steps to improve decisiveness. One was to have a procedure where a situation could be analysed and decision made quickly. Its also important to trust yourself and not be afraid of making the wrong decision. Motivation Saran Motivation is a key element of any type of leadership, whether the leader is informal, bureaucratic or and expert it is vital for the individual to be motivated. Three types of motivation stand out with regards to leadership. The first is the goals to which human behaviour is directed, the seconded involves how these goals are selected and pursued and the last involves the process of influencing others. (Huczynski and Buchanan, 1991) After discussion of these three factors with regard to Sarans ability to lead, we found some serious flaws in his motivation. The clearest point that emerged from the discussion was that to lead one must be able to achieve the targets of the task, build and develop the team and have concern for the individuals in the team. (Pettinger, 2007)   It was found that Saran had a clear and genuine concern for the individuals he was responsible for. The problems arose when trying to achieve the task. This problem was there because the goals to which his behaviour was directed did not compliment the task. The priority that Saran gave was based on his own goals, what motivates him to do the task in hand was not what necessarily what motivated Saran. This ultimately led to the problem becoming more and more difficult, and in many cases a serious trade off between time and quality had to be made.   This task has lead Saran to look at the basic attitudes towards goals, by changing this we beli eve he will be able to look at the prioritisation of tasks in a whole new light, completely transforming his ability qto   leaded. Self-confidence Jenny Research on leadership traits has consistently shown that self-confidence is considered to be an important characteristic (Hollenbeck Hall, 2004). McCormick (2001, p.) describes self-confidence as the following: Self-confidence refers to peoples self-judgement of their capabilities and skills, or their perceived competence to deal successfully with the demands of a variety of situations.   Up to now Jenny has persistently shown a lack of self-confidence when undertaking tasks and leading others. She feels particularly uncomfortable when she has to make a decision for a group as she usually has doubts about whether or not it is the correct decision. The group suggested that by increasing her task understanding, by breaking it into specific components, and knowledge Jenny could become more confident as she would have evidence to support her decision making. Hollenbeck and Hall (2004) suggests that self-confidence is built up by a process of taking a small risk and making progress to wards achieving a certain goal. Success in this will lead to increased confidence in your abilities. therefore Jenny would need to begin to take small risks also. Initiative Sandy Initiative has been defined as a leading action or a commencing movement, often associated with the first action of a matter. Effective leaders take initiative. This involves being proactive and making decisions that lead to change instead of just reacting to events or waiting for others to take action (Kirkpatrick and Locke, 1991). In most situations, Sandy has been finding it difficult to demonstrate initiative because she has high agreeableness, and very often prefer to listen to other members suggestions. She lacks self-assurance that she is uncertain about her own opinion, and therefore finds other peoples opinion more favourable. Research on leadership and personality has stated the importance of initiative and persistence in relation to effective leadership, and so by having other qualities such as conscientious and tenacity which are related to the above traits may help (Judge et.al., 2002). Sandy felt she do not have experiences in taking initiative because she felt she is n ot knowledgeable and informative enough. Our group agreed that Sandy should believe in herself and try to improve by gaining more knowledge, and do not have fear to speak up and be arrogant in a good way. Dominance Athmika Dominance was amongst one of the important traits associated with leadership and leader perception (Mann, 1959, as cited in Lord, De Vader and Alliger, 1986). Smith and Foti (1998) have listed several studies that show that dominance has positive correlations with leadership perceptions and people that score high in dominance tend to find themselves in a leadership position. Anderson and Kilduff (2009) found that people who are deemed as being highly dominant in relation to traits were likely to be categorized by other group members as more competent than they actually are. Athmika has always been a team player and values team opinions over hers. From her personal experiences and while discussing with the team, she realised dominance was a trait she lacked the most. To be more dominant, she should have faith in her ideas and be able to influence her group with her ideas. She can do this by reading extensively about the task which would guide her to make   informed decisions. Also, she should voice her opinion out strongly which would make her feel more in control of the situation. Behavioral Leadership theory progressed from researching traits to looking at the impact of behaviour style. Two main types emerged from the research body; task and relationship behaviours. Task behaviours facilitate goal accomplishment (Northouse, 2004) and relationship behaviours focus on how comfortable subordinates feel in a situation (Northouse, 2004). Communication Barlet Communication is essentially the ability to transmit a message from one person to the other, whether this is information, an idea, a feeling or an emotion (Pardey, 2007). Pardey (2007) also identifies communication as one of five critical skills for all leaders and according to Bass (1990, cited by Bligh and Hess, 2007) as communications distinguishes leaders who are successful and effective from those who are not. An effective leader is one who has a deep understanding of others and has the ability to establish a shared vision and motivate those around them (Parker and Stone, 2003). Effective communication is instrumental for all those things to occur and frequently it is the solution to many difficulties faced by an organization (Ashman and Lawler, 2008). So far Barlet has not been particularly effective in communicating his ideas clearly, and this in some cases has undermined the quality and depth of his work. After discussing this with the team members, it was identified that ora l communication and presentation skills specifically were his weaknesses and it was suggested that thorough knowledge of the subject being discussed as well as practice would help in getting the message through and eventually improve communication. Improving tolerance Saran Tolerance is described in many sources as a prerequisite to leadership, not having it places a cloud over ones judgment and leads to inefficient use of resources. Drucker 1993 believed to achieve results, one has to use all the available strengths the strengths of the associates A lack of tolerant behaviour comes from two elements, ones own ego and personal aspirations, as well as the personality and views held. This as an issue as not being able to get the full use of the people being lead is a poor form of leadership. After discussion it was found that this behaviour became more dangerous when leading people who are described as total miss-fits and poor fits by the eligibility versus suitability quadrant. Trusting others ideas Jenny Jenny sees herself as task focused. When working on projects she has difficulty trusting others to deliver top quality work. She finds herself carefully double checking other team members work and this can make the team members feel degraded. According to Blake Moutons Managerial Grid ® she would have an Authority-Compliance style. This makes her concern for results high but her concern for people is at the lower end of the spectrum. Based on this Managerial Grid one way that Jennys behaviour could be altered would be to engage in more people focused activities. She could become more concerned in the interests, needs and problems of her followers (Doyle Smith, 2001). The group suggested that one way to also improve this was match the task at hand to the abilities of each group member, meaning that Jennys trust in them would be increased by her knowledge that they were skilled in that task. Another suggestion was to attempt to communicate more clearly to the group members the task requirements and thus reduce ambiguity. Finally Yukl, Gordon and Taber (2002) suggest that increasing time spent monitoring may make leaders more effective. Giving instructions Sandy As leadership is about gaining power to influence others through communication (Northouse, 2010), it is essential that a leader should be able to give instructions. Lussier and Achua believes that in any supervisory role, such as how well a manager give instructions will directly affect their leadership ability of leading and motivating employees in accomplishing the task (Lussier and Achua, 2003). Sandy finds it difficult to state her objective in a precise and clear manner, due to the lack of confidence and partly because she is not able to use her voice effectively to catch the attention. Therefore, her message becomes difficult to transmit and deliver to other people. Moreover, Sandy described herself as the democratic decision-making leadership style, that she allows people to make their own decisions and only state her opinion in the final stage of the discussion (Lewins leadership style). Therefore, she often fails to give instructions as a leader and become more of a facilita tor when reaching consensus in the group. In order to improve, she should develop a relationship with her group and become more empathic in their needs, as well as checking the receivers understanding to ensure they know what objectives they have to attain. And also make sure these tasks are achievable and have it done by a certain amount of time. Sandy should use her influence power and be more persuasive as an authority to follow up at these situations (Lussier and Achua, 2003). Time Management Athmika Schuler (1979, p. 854, as cited by Macan, 1994) asserted that time management means less stress for individuals, which means more efficient, satisfied, healthy employees, which in turn means more effective organizations. Athmika has always faced problems with proper time allocation of her work. She tends to procrastinate her work until the impending deadline. This leads to unnecessary stress and has also impeded her performance significantly. On discussion with the group, the group suggested that Athmika has to be more task-oriented and should organize her work as described under initiating structure in the Ohio state studies (Stogdill, 1974, as cited in Northouse, 2004). She should prioritize her work by preparing time audits. She also can improve her time management skills by setting realistic and attainable goals. Situational Leadership Fielder (1967) stated that there is no ideal leader, and that both relationship-oriented and task-oriented leaders can be effective if their leadership style fits the situation. Fielders Contingency Theory is one theory where the effectiveness of a leaders behaviour is determined by the situation he or she confronts. Fiedler stated that it was much easier for individuals to find a situation that matched their leadership style than to change their style to fit the situation (Stroh, Northcraft and Neale, 2002). In contrast to this, the Situational Leadership Model suggests that leaders should adopt their style. Hersey and Blanchard (1993, as cited in Fernandez and Vecchio, 1997) stated that leaders are most effective when they employ a leadership style which is most appropriate to the situation they face and to the followers readiness and maturity to complete the task. Path-Goal theory is another model which states that an effective leader is able to clarify the path to various goals o f interest and provide the opportunity/path for the follower to achieve such goals. This then should promote job satisfaction, leader acceptance and high effort (Stroh, Northcraft and Neale, 2002). Delegating situations Barlet Delegating is one of the four leadership styles characterized by Hersey and Blanchard (1977 as cited in Graeff, 1997). It involves the leader passing tasks or responsibilities to an individual or group while the leader is still involved in monitoring the progress. So far, Barlet has not been particularly effective in these situations, and this has often delayed progress and limited performance as he. This has mainly been due to his lack of trust in the team members ability to do a certain task, but also due to his indecisiveness. Hersey (1985) stated that a good leader develops the competence and commitment of their people so theyre self-motivated rather than dependent on others for direction and guidance and in this case, the leaders high expectations causes high performance by the followers. Therefore trusting your people and showing confidence in them by passing responsibility and allowing them to complete a task will get the best out of your team and it is a situation where Barle t needs to improve. While playing vLeader, Barlets natural style was very directing, speaking most of the time and controlling the conversation and kept scenario length very short. In scenario one, Barlet did most of the work in every idea and did not let Olie participate or speak much. While in this case it worked, in many other situations the leader has to focus on the overall objective and delegation becomes more important. This was clearly demonstrated in the Wolfgang Keller case study (Gabarro, 1997 (part of module readings)) where Keller realised that being able to delegate operations was important in allowing him to progress further in the organisation. Supporing situations Sara Supporting situations require a low directive and highly supportive behaviour. (Northouse, 2004)   Ã‚  The S3 square in the four leadership styles is a situation where the task receives more focus than the people.   Being able to act with this leadership quality would allow a leader to flourish in a situation where low motivation   and a some level of skills were present. This situation is becoming more prevalent as Druckers knowledge worker theory become more common place in the work place. Saran finds that when leading a team he does not always actively acknowledge another team members input, this will lead to individuals feeling that they have not been appreciated. After discussion it was decided that Saran should be more empathetic and less task orientated. He could achieve this by   dedicating more time to handing out instructions for the task. Setting goals could also play a part with regular progress reviews forcing a more supportive role. Another strategy could also b e to change his leadership style to a less authoritarian one. Unstructured situations Jenny A situation where Jenny felt she was weak in terms of leadership was one with little structure or direction on how to complete it. Typically in these situations Jenny finds herself being hesitant to direct the group in case she is not undertaking the correct procedure to get a positive end result. Fiedlers Contingency Theory (1964, as cited in Northouse, 2004, p. 109) looks at the impact of a unstructured situation in terms of leadership. Fiedlers Contingency Theory attempts to match the leaders style to the situation as a means of attaining effective leadership. Fiedlers model is based on the leader being task or relationship focused. Situational variables are also taken into account and these are characterised by looking at three factors: leader member relations, task structure and position power (Northouse, 2004). This theory does not however offer an explanation of what can be changed if the leader style cannot be matched to the situation. The group came up with several ways in w hich Jenny could improve in this situation. These included focusing on the goal of the task and try to use the other team members to contribute ideas about how to develop a plan to reach it. Jago (1982) also mentions that in such situations one should try to alter the situational variables by training although the usefulness of such training is not unequivocal. Stressful Situation Sandy Sandy often feels difficult in dealing with stressful situations, especially in demanding situations that focused specifically the performance of her work in a social environment setting. There are conventional views of leaders being a crucial and significant impact on their performance in organizations, that they are constrained with respect to different performance outcomes (Thomas, 1988). The Cognitive resource theory also proposed that stress has been a key factor and had a great impact in determining how intelligence can affect performance (Fielder 1987). And therefore in most stressful situations, since intelligence become less important but higher performance is required; Sandy experienced difficulty in using her knowledge to solve problems and these expectations has created an uncomfortable and undesirable feeling in which Sandy felt challenging in accomplishing the tasks. Situational Leadership theory by Blanchard (1985) discussed that different leadership style has to be ap plied appropriately to a given situation, depending on the competence and commitments of the subordinates (Northouse, 2004). So Sandy should try to include both directive (task-orientated) behaviours and supportive (relationship-orientated) behaviours, and focuses on goal achievement, and also be supportive and meet the needs of the subordinates (Northouse, 2004). To improve, Sandy should try to anticipate and plan ahead, establish objectives and goals at an early stage, and to prepare herself for the unexpected. She also needs to reflect on her performance, learn from the failure experiences and make necessary changes. Directing unfamiliar situations Athmika Athmika finds herself handicapped when faced with new, unfamiliar, or critical situations when the team faces a challenge where she is required to take on a directive leadership style. Directive leadership is defined as providing the members with a framework for decision making and action in alignment with the leaders vision (Fiedler, 1989, 1995; Sagie, 1997; Stogdill, 1974, as cited by Somech 2006, p. 135). Being directive requires the leader to communicate their knowledge and expertise to the group and also telling them how to complete the work (Murphy, Blyth Fielder, 1992). In order to lead in such situations, the group suggested that Athmika should have a good working knowledge of the task and a clear vision on how to achieve it. Athmika should play an active role in problem solving and decision making in order to be more directive (Bass, 1981, as cited in Murphy, Blyth Fielder, 1992). Conclusion Hackman and Wageman (2007) believe that despite the reams of research that have been conducted on leadership the field still remains notably unformed. Building on this Zaccaro (2007) states that within the trait theory of leadership a general consensus has also yet to emerge from the research regarding the role of leader traits, the degree of their influence and how they influence leadership, and the part they play in leadership situations. However leadership is still seen as being an important construct to undertake research on as well as being important as a social phenomenon (Hackman Wageman, 2007). Avolio has proposed the idea that new research are required to acknowledge how leaders have learnt from their past experiences, particularly how they respond and cope in difficult situations. Failure and error has provided opportunities for learning than success, and these experiences will generate data to affect ones assumptions and actions for improvements next time (Hackman Wageman, 2007). However, such decisions are not easy because it require an individual to overcome ones own reasoning, mental model, behaviour routines and may provoke anxiety (Hackman Wageman, 2007). One may argue that if we have already developed a leadership style, it will be rather fixed and consistent that will be difficult to change, others may argue that leadership styles should be changed according to situations in order to be more effective. Fielders contingency theory (1964) has introduced the idea that leadership effectiveness is depending on the suitability of the leader assign to a particular cont ext. As a result, different leadership styles will be matched to different situations; and therefore our group believe that there are still room for improvement for our traits and behaviours to match with a specific situation.

Physics of Skydiving Essay -- Sports Physics Sky Diving

The Physics of Skydiving What Is Skydiving? Skydiving is an adrenaline-based sport with a fairly simple concept -- jump from a high place (usually out of a plane) from several thousand feet above sea level and hope and pray for a safe landing. This safe landing is often times achieved through the use of a device called a parachute, which enables the skydiver to reduce his speed to such a point that colliding with the earth will not be fatal. This paper will explain a few of the key concepts behind the physics of skydiving. First we will explore why a skydiver accelerates after he leaps out of the plane before his jump, second we will try and explain the drag forces effecting the skydiver, and lastly we will attempt to explain how terminal velocity works. Acceleration Due To Gravity Why does a skydiver accelerate as he leaps from the plane? The answer to this question is relatively simple: gravity. Gravity acts on all bodies in the universe, and each bodies' gravitional effects are related. The body that the majority of the human population is affected by is the planet earth. The gravitational acceleration produced from earth is approximately 9.8 m/s^2, which changes slightly as you move closer to or away from the earth's center of mass. Lets examine an instance for which a person named Joe prepairs for his first skydiving experience. Joe gets on a plane with an instructor and heads towards the sky. First off, while Joe is in the plane, he does not constantly accelerate downward, assuming the altitude of the plane remains constant. Why might this be the case? Newton's Second Law states, "The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass" ... ...e equals mass times acceleration, and mass is constant, acceleration must then be equal to 0. Thus velocity has reached its max and is now constant. Here is an example of how air resistance affects two different bodies. Interestingly enough, one can actually change their "terminal" velocity. For instance, if Joe were to jump out of the plane and position in the prone, spread eagle position, his surface area would be at his maximum. Thus the terminal velocity he would reach would be lower than the terminal velocity he would reach if he dove from the plane head first. When Joe transitions from spread eagle to the head first position, his surface area decreases, thus allowing for an increase in speed. With the knowledge of these concepts of physics, one should now be able (with training) to safely partake in skydiving. A safe landing should not be an issue! Physics of Skydiving Essay -- Sports Physics Sky Diving The Physics of Skydiving What Is Skydiving? Skydiving is an adrenaline-based sport with a fairly simple concept -- jump from a high place (usually out of a plane) from several thousand feet above sea level and hope and pray for a safe landing. This safe landing is often times achieved through the use of a device called a parachute, which enables the skydiver to reduce his speed to such a point that colliding with the earth will not be fatal. This paper will explain a few of the key concepts behind the physics of skydiving. First we will explore why a skydiver accelerates after he leaps out of the plane before his jump, second we will try and explain the drag forces effecting the skydiver, and lastly we will attempt to explain how terminal velocity works. Acceleration Due To Gravity Why does a skydiver accelerate as he leaps from the plane? The answer to this question is relatively simple: gravity. Gravity acts on all bodies in the universe, and each bodies' gravitional effects are related. The body that the majority of the human population is affected by is the planet earth. The gravitational acceleration produced from earth is approximately 9.8 m/s^2, which changes slightly as you move closer to or away from the earth's center of mass. Lets examine an instance for which a person named Joe prepairs for his first skydiving experience. Joe gets on a plane with an instructor and heads towards the sky. First off, while Joe is in the plane, he does not constantly accelerate downward, assuming the altitude of the plane remains constant. Why might this be the case? Newton's Second Law states, "The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass" ... ...e equals mass times acceleration, and mass is constant, acceleration must then be equal to 0. Thus velocity has reached its max and is now constant. Here is an example of how air resistance affects two different bodies. Interestingly enough, one can actually change their "terminal" velocity. For instance, if Joe were to jump out of the plane and position in the prone, spread eagle position, his surface area would be at his maximum. Thus the terminal velocity he would reach would be lower than the terminal velocity he would reach if he dove from the plane head first. When Joe transitions from spread eagle to the head first position, his surface area decreases, thus allowing for an increase in speed. With the knowledge of these concepts of physics, one should now be able (with training) to safely partake in skydiving. A safe landing should not be an issue!

Film History

Have you ever wondered how the movies or videos that you watch first started? Well, you won’t stay with the doubt for long because I am about to tell you how it all began. One of the first inventions was called the zoetrope is a cylinder looking gadget which contains drawings in a strip of paper inside that appears to move according to The Museum of Childhood. This invention came out in 1834 by a great inventor called W. G. Horner. His invention is something that lots of people can enjoy by looking at the sequence.In 1867, the first device that showed movies and animated pictures was called a â€Å"zoopraxiscope† or the â€Å"wheel of life†. This starting invention was patented by a man called William Lincoln. The zoopraxiscope started by the motion of photographs and drawings. Later in 1895, a portable motion picture camera was invented by Louis Lumiere, a Frenchman. His invention became known as Cinematographe. It was a film processing unit and projector. This invention gave motion pictures the popularity. (According to the History of the Motion Picture http://inventors. about. om/library/inventors/ blmotionpictures . htm). After those two great inventions came even a better one. Thomas Edison and William Dickson, his British assistant, constructed a device for recording movement on film and another to view it in the late 1880s. (http://www. filmsite. org/pre20sintro. html). But new inventions didn’t stop here; in 1890 a new invention called Kinetograph was constructed by William Dickenson. This device gave directors a reason for motion pictures. The kinetograph was a â€Å"motor-powered camara that could photograph motion pictures† according to Film History Before 1920.It was designed so you were able to move the film through the camara by an electric motor. I think that the way that the inventions were coming was great because every time a new invention came it had better technology and it was a little bit more practical a nd easier to use than the ones from before. Film creation became greater later on, when one of the five big studios started: Warner Bros. Pictures. This is one of the world’s largest producers of film and entertainment. Warner Bros. Pictures was founded by Polish-Canadian immigrants in 1918. (According to Wikipedia)

Report Writing Essay

Eve-teasing is a widespread and most disturbing reality for the girls in Bangladesh. We hardly find reports of eve-teasing in the media until it ends up causing some serious damage to somebody. But we do come across, at times, news and reports telling us how terrifying the consequences of eve-teasing can be. And such news does not usually attract public attention until it grows into a national issue. According to figures released by the Ain-O-Shalish Kendra (ASK) human rights organization, 14 girls and women have taken their own lives over the past four months across the country as a direct result of the insults. It is also a great problem in Sylhet. Young girls, especially school and college girls and female workers top the list as victims of eve-teasing. Given the strict patriarchal social system, it is almost daring for a woman to protest against teasing in public places. In our society, it is usually the girl who is finally held responsible for such incidents. No matter how weak those laws are, most people are unaware of their existence as they are hardly aware of any implementation of those. Considering all these, we can say that laws alone are not enough. What we need most is to change the overall social outlook toward women. We need to raise collective voice and take action against eve-teasing, as we also need to increase the gender-sensitivity of the police force. X,08 Aug 2010: The problems of load-shedding is acute in Sylhet. Bangladesh faces one of the worst power crises of the world. Due to lack of planned investment in the power sector, load shedding has become the flagship phenomenon of the country’s electricity system. Some parts of the city of Sylhet may face black outs for more than 8 hours a day during the very hot summer. The power shortage eventually leads to the failure of water supply. Most citizens have to face a miserable life with little water and no electricity under the scorching tropical heat. There are no significant power station projects in the pipeline and the situation is going to get worse in the coming years. All on a sudden street are covered with darkness with a few lights of cars and buses flashing here and there. Thieves and pick-pockets freely prowl on the street. The suffering of the students due  to load-shedding is beggar’s description. The curse of load-shedding does not spare even the hospital. In fact, words are inadequate to give proper vent to the discomfort and harm caused in our life by this unscrupulous practice of load-shedding. All concerned must join their hands to liberate the people from the curse of load-shedding at a very early date.

Free Essays on Stupidity Is A Normal Phenomenon

"...of the many individuals of any species which are periodically born, but a small number can survive. I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful is preserved, by the term Natural Selection . . . " Charles Darwin, M.A., 1859 Not long ago, my brother and I were driving down Main St. on a Friday night. We were pulled over by a police officer. The officer had time only to ask us for our drivers licences and registration, before we heard the sickening crunch of twisted metal. It seemed that a young man, who was driving a lifted Ford pickup, had been mesmerized by the flashing red and blue lights on the patrol car. Failing to look where he was going, he crashed into the rear of the four door car stopped at the light. It was obvious that he was rubber necking, and paying more attention to us than the road. With a frustrated growl, the police officer let us go. As we drove away, we saw the young man standing outside his vehicle wearing a foolish grin, shrugging his shoulders as the police officer spoke to him. I sat, amazed at the sheer stupidity of the driver, and his amusement in a situation that should be somber, or at least serious. I read an article about two years ago in which a U.S. Marines plane, on a low-level flying mission in Italy, cut the wire supporting a cable car on its way down from a ski resort on Cermis Mountain. All twenty passengers, including the cable car operator, perished when the gondola plunged to the mountain below. Each of the four men manning the plane was initially charged with negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter, but only the two men actually flying the plane were court martialed. Over the course of the trial, it was found that the plane was flying at speeds more than 500 miles per hour, faster than military regulations allow. Additionally, it came out in the trial that the military-issued map that the pilots were using did not show the cabl... Free Essays on Stupidity Is A Normal Phenomenon Free Essays on Stupidity Is A Normal Phenomenon "...of the many individuals of any species which are periodically born, but a small number can survive. I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful is preserved, by the term Natural Selection . . . " Charles Darwin, M.A., 1859 Not long ago, my brother and I were driving down Main St. on a Friday night. We were pulled over by a police officer. The officer had time only to ask us for our drivers licences and registration, before we heard the sickening crunch of twisted metal. It seemed that a young man, who was driving a lifted Ford pickup, had been mesmerized by the flashing red and blue lights on the patrol car. Failing to look where he was going, he crashed into the rear of the four door car stopped at the light. It was obvious that he was rubber necking, and paying more attention to us than the road. With a frustrated growl, the police officer let us go. As we drove away, we saw the young man standing outside his vehicle wearing a foolish grin, shrugging his shoulders as the police officer spoke to him. I sat, amazed at the sheer stupidity of the driver, and his amusement in a situation that should be somber, or at least serious. I read an article about two years ago in which a U.S. Marines plane, on a low-level flying mission in Italy, cut the wire supporting a cable car on its way down from a ski resort on Cermis Mountain. All twenty passengers, including the cable car operator, perished when the gondola plunged to the mountain below. Each of the four men manning the plane was initially charged with negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter, but only the two men actually flying the plane were court martialed. Over the course of the trial, it was found that the plane was flying at speeds more than 500 miles per hour, faster than military regulations allow. Additionally, it came out in the trial that the military-issued map that the pilots were using did not show the cabl...

Ivy League MOOCs - Free Online Classes from the Ivies

Ivy League MOOCs - Free Online Classes from the Ivies Most of the eight ivy league universities are now offering some form of publicly available free online classes. MOOCs (massively open online classes) offer learners everywhere the opportunity to learn from ivy league instructors and interact with other students while completing their coursework. Some MOOCs even provide students the opportunity to earn a certificate that can be listed on a resume or used to demonstrate ongoing learning. See how you can take advantage of no-cost, instructor-led courses from Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, UPenn, or Yale. Keep in mind that free MOOCs are different from registering as a student at a university. If you would prefer to earn an official degree or graduate certificate from an ivy league online, check out the article on How to Earn an Online Degree from an Ivy League University. Brown Brown offers several no-cost MOOCs to the public through Coursera. Options include courses like â€Å"Coding the Matrix: Linear Algebra Through Computer Science Applications,† â€Å"Archeology’s Dirty Secrets† and â€Å"The Fiction of Relationship.† Columbia Also through Coursea, Columbia offers a number of instructor-led MOOCs. These online courses include â€Å"Economics of Money and Banking,† â€Å"How Viruses Cause Disease,† â€Å"Big Data in Education,† â€Å"Introduction to Sustainable Development,† and more. Cornell Cornell instructors offer MOOCs on a wide variety of subjects through CornellX - a part of edX. Courses include topics such as â€Å"The Ethics of Eating,† â€Å"Civic Ecology: Reclaiming Broken Places,† â€Å"American Capitalism: A History,† and â€Å"Relativity and Astrophysics.† Students can audit the courses for free or earn a verified certificate by paying a small fee. Dartmouth Dartmouth is still working on building its presence on edX. It currently offers a single course: â€Å"Introduction to Environmental Science.† The school also offers the Trustees of Dartmouth College seminar series, featuring livestream seminars for health care professionals every other Wednesday. Past seminars have included: â€Å"Behavioral Economics and Health,† â€Å"Letting Patients Help Heal Health Care: Extents and Limits of Patient Contributions,† and â€Å"Characteristics and Consequences of Hospital Closures.† Harvard Amongst the ivies, Harvard has led the way toward greater open learning. HarvardX, a part of edX, offers over fifty instructor-led MOOCs on a wide variety of subjects. Notable courses include: â€Å"Saving Schools: History, Politics, and Policy in U.S. Education,† â€Å"Poetry in America: Whitman,† â€Å"Copyright,† â€Å"The Einstein Revolution,† and â€Å"Introduction to Bioconductor.† Students may choose to audit courses or complete all coursework for a verified edX certificate. Harvard also provides a searchable database of their online courses, both current and archived. Finally, through their Open Learning Initiative, Harvard offers dozens of video lectures in Quicktime, Flash, and mp3 formats. These recorded lectures were created from actual Harvard courses. Although the recordings are not complete courses with assignments, many lecture series provide a semester’s worth of instruction. Video series include â€Å"Intensive Introduction to Computer Science,† â€Å"Abstract Algebra,† â€Å"Shakespeare After All: The Later Plays,† and more. Students can view or listen to the courses through the Open Learning Initiative site or subscribe through iTunes. Princeton Princeton provides a number of MOOCs through the Coursera platform. Options include â€Å"Analysis of Algorithms,† â€Å"Fog Networks and the Internet of Things,† â€Å"Imagining Other Earths,† and â€Å"Introduction to Sociology.† UPenn The University of Pennsylvania offers a few MOOCs via Coursera. Notable options include: â€Å"Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society,† â€Å"Principles of Microeconomics,† â€Å"Designing Cities,† and â€Å"Gamification.† UPenn also offers their own database of current and upcoming online courses, searchable by date. Yale Open Yale offers learners the opportunity to review video / audio lectures and assignments from previous Yale courses. As courses are not led by an instructor, students may access the material at any time. Currently available courses include subjects such as â€Å"Foundations of a Modern Social Theory,† â€Å"Roman Architecture,† â€Å"Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner,† and â€Å"Frontiers and Controversies in Astrophysics.† No discussion boards or opportunities for student interaction are provided. Jamie Littlefield is a writer and instructional designer. She can be reached on Twitter or through her educational coaching website: jamielittlefield.com.

Gen. Henry Hap Arnold - World War II History

Gen. Henry Hap Arnold - World War II History Henry Harley Arnold (born at Gladwyne, PA on June 25, 1886) had a military career peppered with many successes and few failures. He was the only officer to ever hold the rank of General of the Air Force. He died January 15,  1950  and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Early Life The son of a doctor, Henry Harley Arnold was born at Gladwyne, PA on June 25, 1886. Attending Lower Merion High School, he graduated in 1903 and applied to West Point. Entering the academy, he proved a renowned prankster but only a pedestrian student. Graduating in 1907, he ranked 66th out of a class of 111. Though he desired to enter the cavalry, his grades and disciplinary record prevented this and he was assigned to the 29th Infantry as a second lieutenant. Arnold initially protested this assignment but ultimately relented and joined his unit in the Philippines. Learning to Fly While there, he befriended Captain Arthur Cowan of the US Army Signal Corps. Working with Cowan, Arnold aided in creating maps of Luzon. Two years later, Cowan was ordered to take command of the Signal Corps newly-formed Aeronautical Division. As part of this new assignment, Cowan was directed to recruit two lieutenants for pilot training. Contacting Arnold, Cowan learned of the young lieutenants interest in obtaining a transfer. After some delays, Arnold was transferred to the Signal Corps in 1911 and began flight training at the Wright Brothers flying school in Dayton, OH. Taking his first solo flight on May 13, 1911, Arnold earned his pilot license later that summer. Sent to College Park, MD with his training partner, Lieutenant Thomas Millings, he set several altitude records as well as became the first pilot to carry US Mail. Over the next year, Arnold began to develop a fear of flying after witnessing and being a part of several crashes. Despite this, he won the prestigious Mackay Trophy in 1912 for the most meritorious flight of the year. On November 5, Arnold survived a near-fatal crash at Fort Riley, KS and removed himself from flight status. Returning to the Air Returning to the infantry, he was again posted to the Philippines. While there he met 1st Lieutenant George C. Marshall and the two became life-long friends. In January 1916, Major Billy Mitchell offered Arnold a promotion to captain if he returned to aviation. Accepting, he traveled back to College Park for duty as the supply officer for the Aviation Section, US Signal Corps. That fall, aided by his friends in the flying community, Arnold overcame his fear of flying. Sent to Panama in early 1917 to find a location for an airfield, he was en route back to Washington when he learned of the US entry into World War I. World War I Though he desired to go to France, Arnolds aviation experience led to him being retained in Washington at the Aviation Sections headquarters. Promoted to the temporary ranks of major and colonel, Arnold oversaw the Information Division and lobbied for the passage of a large aviation appropriations bill. Though mostly unsuccessful, he gained valuable insight into negotiating the politics of Washington as well as the development and procurement of aircraft. In the summer of 1918, Arnold was dispatched to France to brief General John J. Pershing on new aviation developments. Interwar Years Following the war, Mitchell was transferred to the new US Army Air Service and was posted to Rockwell Field, CA. While there, he developed relationships with future subordinates such as Carl Spaatz and Ira Eaker. After attending the Army Industrial College, he returned to Washington to the Office of the Chief of Air Service, Information Division, where he became a devout follower of the now-Brigadier General Billy Mitchell. When the outspoken Mitchell was court-martialed in 1925, Arnold risked his career by testifying on behalf of the air power advocate. For this and for leaking pro-airpower information to the press, he was professionally exiled to Fort Riley in 1926 and given command of the 16th Observation Squadron. While there, he befriended Major General James Fechet, the new head of the US Army Air Corps. Intervening on Arnolds behalf, Fechet had him sent to the Command and General Staff School. Graduating in 1929, his career began to progress again and he held a variety of peacetime commands. After winning a second Mackay Trophy in 1934 for a flight to Alaska, Arnold was given command of the Air Corps First Wing in March 1935 and promoted to brigadier general. That December, against his wishes, Arnold returned to Washington and was made Assistant Chief of the Air Corps with responsibility for procurement and supply. In September 1938, his superior, Major General Oscar Westover, was killed in a crash. Shortly thereafter, Arnold was promoted to major general and made Chief of the Air Corps. In this role, he began plans for expanding the Air Corps to place it on par with Army Ground Forces. He also began pushing a large, long-term research and development agenda with the goal improving the Air Corps equipment. World War II With the growing threat from Nazi Germany and Japan, Arnold directed research efforts to exploit existing technologies and drove the development of aircraft such as the Boeing B-17 and Consolidated B-24. In addition, he began pushing for research into the development of jet engines. With the creation of the US Army Air Forces in June 1941, Arnold was made Chief of the Army Air Forces and acting Deputy Chief of Staff for Air. Given a degree of autonomy, Arnold and his staff began planning in anticipation of the US entry into World War II. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Arnold was promoted to lieutenant general and began enacting his war plans which called for the defense of the Western Hemisphere as well as aerial offensives against Germany and Japan. Under his aegis, the USAAF created numerous air forces for deployment in the various theaters of combat. As the strategic bombing campaign commenced in Europe, Arnold continued to press for the development of new aircraft, such as the B-29 Superfortress, and support equipment. Beginning in early 1942, Arnold was named Commanding General, USAAF and made a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combined Chiefs of Staff. In addition to advocating for and supporting strategic bombing, Arnold backed other initiatives such as the Doolittle Raid, the formation of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), as well as communicated directly with his top commanders to ascertain their needs firsthand. Promoted to general in March 1943, he soon had the first of several wartime heart attacks. Recovering, he accompanied President Franklin Roosevelt to the Tehran Conference later that year. With his aircraft pounding the Germans in Europe, he began focusing his attention on making the B-29 operational. Deciding against using it Europe, he elected to deploy it to the Pacific. Organized into the Twentieth Air Force, the B-29 force remained under Arnolds personal command and flew first from bases in China and then the Marianas. Working with Major General Curtis LeMay, Arnold oversaw the campaign against the Japanese home islands. These attacks saw LeMay, with Arnolds approval, conduct massive firebombing attacks on Japanese cities. The war finally came to an end when Arnolds B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Later Life Following the war, Arnold established Project RAND (Research and Development) which was tasked with studying military matters. Traveling to South America in January 1946, he was forced to break off the trip due to declining health. As result, he retired from active service the following month and settled on a ranch in Sonoma, CA. Arnold spent his final years writing his memoirs and in 1949 had his final rank changed to General of the Air Force. The only officer to ever hold this rank, he died on January 15, 1950 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Selected Sources HistoryNet: General Henry Hap ArnoldHenry H. Arnold

Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 9

Research Proposal - Essay Example According to Leau et al. (2012), agile practices include Crystal methodology, dynamic software development method, feature-driven development, lean software development, scrum, and extreme programming. These practices could be integrated into the traditional software development life cycle to change how project are run instead of completely changing to the new methods. This would enable software developers take advantage of both methodologies. The purpose of this study is to identify how the agile practice could be integrated into traditional software development cycle instead of completely changing the cycle. The integration can be done in various ways whose difference depends on the type of practice. In the study, we will identify several agile practices as well as analyze how each one of them could be integrated to the cycle to achieve the purpose of the study. The study will have some limitations and delimitations based on the limited resources available for the research and the dynamic changes in the technology of software development. We will therefore use qualitative approach due to the limitation in the resources available for the research. This approach is economical and does not require many resources. Moreover, because of the dynamic nature of the agile practices, we will not be able to study all of them. In this study, we have planned to discuss only the above-mentioned six agile practices although there are some that have lately introduced. Another limitation of this study is the many ways in which agile practices could be integrated into the traditional software development life cycle. Because of these, we will not be able to cover all of them in this study. What will be covered in this study will be the main ways in which these integration could be done. Traditional as well as modern software development life cycle have

Employment-At-Will Doctrine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Employment-At-Will Doctrine - Essay Example Given her educational background, it is already a behavioral and attitude issue more than learning issue. Also, given that she had a chance to perform and still did not even after months of training and support, it would be appropriate to talk to her about her performance (there might other factors why has learning issue such as personal problems) that if she does not improve, she may be asked to leave the company. After months of dismal performance even with training and support is already enough ground to terminate her employment â€Å"at will† unless otherwise stated or implied that she has contract with the company (Gibson et al., 2010). 2. The employee tends to burst into a rage when criticized and is frequently late to work as noticed by her boss and other staff members. When her boss attempts to address her behavioral issues and the company late policy, the employee’s response is that she â€Å"knows her rights and what to do† if she is wrongfully discharg ed. She also says she took a business law class in undergrad that taught her â€Å"everything she needs to know about exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine and wrongful discharge in violation of public policy†. ... There are only few categories in the exemptions of the employment of will that can be invoked which are discrimination, public policy exemptions, implied contractual relationship and Sabarnes Oxley Act (Radin and Werhane, 2003). Tardiness is both attitude and performance issue which does not fall into the exemptions of â€Å"employment of will† and is a valid ground for termination. 3. The employee takes a day off from work, without management consent, for her religious holiday observance that falls on a day that is during â€Å"tax season†. The day off occurred during an incredibly busy period for the company during which the employer had notified all employees they were not allowed to take off without prior management approval. Also, there is no labor union for accountants. However, she begins talking to her co-workers during lunch breaks and sometimes during regular work hours, encouraging them to organize and form a union to â€Å"protect ourselves†. Describe what steps you would take to address the following scenario involving policies and procedures: It may be tempting to â€Å"fire† the employee to get rid of the many problems she brings but that would not be a prudent course of action for the management. Firing her might be construed as a discrimination against her religion and an exemption for â€Å"employment at will† (Sennel, 2008). In addition, the company might also be accused of either discriminating against fair labor practice or might fall in the exception of Sabarnes Oxley Act as the action might be construed as retaliation for the employee’s intention to put up a union or report some perceived wrong doings. It is more advisable to write her up for the absence during the peak season and talk to her about her talk of organizing a union. Her immediate

On the Economy and Family Crises Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

On the Economy and Family Crises - Essay Example Focus on the concrete social life proves that actual social institutions are characterized by a crisscross of numerous normative systems. For instance, the Federal Reserve’s response to economic inflation has a wide spread impact on other institutions such as the social institutions i.e. it can affect the process of acquiring mortgages for various households. Political decisions emanating from political institutions affect the salary level of the American workers. The relationships between the stakeholders can be exemplified through focus on central governments and corporations. The decentralized government reduces control of the organizations’ actions that in turn impacts on the welfare of workers. The corporations’ main goal is the generation of profit while the government purposes to improve the welfare of workers. This makes the constitutional requirements and corporate goals to conflict. The regulatory measures on business activities will be bent to the corp oration favor in case they win the conflict. This will have complex negative repercussions on the societal welfare. However, if the government wins the conflict, the society will benefit because the corporations will be forced to adopt measures that favor the public welfare even if they do not promote business. Maintenance of a sustainable system of public assistance and entitlements requires cooperation and participation of all stakeholders to ensure that the individual needs of all stakeholders are satisfactorily addressed. According to the short articles by William P. O'Hare and Paula Mergenhagen for American Demographics, Who are the poor in America and what do they do with their money? Document any departures you make from their assertions. Poverty is a product of the imbalance between income levels and expenditure; with expenditure always superseding the income Spending is compulsory to all people because they have to satisfy their needs. The main characteristic of poor people in America is that they work in low paying jobs. Most poor people in America inhabit rented homes located in insecure and underdeveloped neighborhoods. Most of them are underinsured; making them wait until the health conditions allow them to be liable for insurance consideration for the costly access to medical facilities. Poor people in America belong to three categories; working poor, retired people and students. The working poor spend their income on used cars and clothing. Retired people draw on their savings to meet their living expenses. They spend most of this money in personal care and health care. College students spend their meager income, mostly derived from their parents, on entertainment and clothing. Generally, most poor people spend most of their income on rent and food. Most of the working poor adults in the society have not graduated from school, with the majority of them possessing only a high school degree. Those who receive social assistance in the form of food or financial resources are categorized as poor. Most poor people spend more than they earn because necessity, rather than impulse determines the expenditure level. The minimum wage level households spend less compared to well-off households although they spend higher that the average shares on most products. Devoting large chunks of budget on basic

Hispanic American Diversity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hispanic American Diversity - Research Paper Example Among the major Hispanic groups, Mexican Americans take the major portion. The other groups, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, and others have relevant influence in America. These Hispanic or Latino groups, that constitute a major portion among the population of America, are not well considered in the land. This research paper takes a study on Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban, and central/south Americans and analyses the linguistic, political, social, economic, religious and familial problems of these groups in America. Mexicans: Mexicans are the largest group among the Latino Americans. They contribute about one third of all Hispanic groups: â€Å"as of 2002, about 23 percent of Mexican Americans are English dominant, 26 percent are bilingual, and 51 percent are Spanish dominant† (Schaefer, 2006, p. 241). It indicates that Mexicans in America use a different language other than what is commonly spoken in America. Many times the Mexicans are denied of their heritag e towards their language- Spanish. The people who speak Spanish are considered to be less able before those who speak English. This language handicap is there among the people of Mexican Americans. The author, Schaefer in the same book makes out the distinction of Mexicans in terms of language. The students who speak Spanish were separated from the other students and bilingual education started with the hope of changing their native language towards English. The main objective of bilingual education turned to teach English as second language (ESL) among the Spanish spoken students of America in a way paved way for discouraging Spanish and establishing the supremacy of English. This language barrier affected the Mexicans in other aspects like political, social, religious and economic spheres. In the political realm many Hispanic members are considered to be non citizens and are denied to vote. Jamieson et al. observe that â€Å"at the time of the 2000 presidential election, 39 perce nt of Hispanics of voting age were non-citizens compared with only 22 percent of White non-Hispanics† (Schaefer, 2006, p. 245). This indicates that many of the Hispanic groups are not accepted in America. They are cut off at many levels. Even though much disparity is there, the political notion and involvement of Mexicans in it are on the move. If the American political scenario is watched carefully it can be understood that Democrats have gained much benefits from the Hispanic groups. It was evident in the election 2000. Schaefer says that in the election 2000, George W. Bush gained only 35 percent of their votes whereas Al Gore could gain 62 percent of the Hispanic vote. Most of the Mexicans are Roman Catholics and they consider much priority for religion whereas in America they face the language problems in religion too. The Mass in America is enacted mostly in English and these groups are denied to get actively involve with the Holy Mass. In the matters with economic too t he Hispanic Americans face hardships. Knowledge of English is considered to be a pre requisite for economic growth. In considering the economic levels of the Mexicans it can be stated that the economic level of Hispanic or Latino people are much lower than that of the non-Hispanic people. As the author states: â€Å"over the last twenty years, the proportion of Latinos in poverty has been two or three times that of non-Hispanic Whites†

Stress and Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Stress and Health - Essay Example e body to any demand whether it is caused by, or results in pleasant or unpleasant conditions†¦We must, however, differentiate within the general concept of stress between the unpleasant or harmful variety, called â€Å"distress† (from the Latin dis = bad, as in dissonance, disagreement), and â€Å"eustress† (from the Greek eu =good, as in euphonia, euphoria)†¦However, the fact that eustress causes much less damage than distress graphically demonstrates that it is â€Å"how you take it† that determines ultimately, whether one can adapt successfully to change.(p.6) Thus, stress may affect an individual positively or negatively. It depends on one’s outlook of the situation. Does stress affect the well being of individuals? This paper attempts a response to this question and provides certain practical solutions that can be used to ease the burden of stress on one’s health. Firstly, today’s society demands that an adult is faced with several responsibilities namely, children, family, work, or one may even be in the process of fostering a social relationship which will require quality time. As Seyle implied distress or eustress is determined by the individual’s perception of the circumstances. For example, an individual who has family responsibilities and is also a full-time student may view the course as a distressing factor because the time lost in attending these courses may have been used to obtain a job that would provide income to attend to the needs of the family. This individual may experience and perceive this lost time as depressing and as a result may respond negatively to the conditions, thus worsening his/her mental and physical well-being. Contrastingly, the same individual could decide to take a different perspective and recognize the value of this time as an investment into procuring a job with better-quality remuneration that could not otherwise be acquired. This student, then by changing his/her viewpoint can reduce the stress level from a

The legal rules and regulations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The legal rules and regulations - Assignment Example Different ethical theories studied in chapter 3 include the ethical decision-making theory of utilitarianism as well as deontology and theories of ethical actions such as virtue ethics. The theory that has appealed to me the most is the ethical decision-making theory of utilitarianism. The theory provides a guideline for managers for making ethical decisions. The guidelines state that in order to make ethical decisions a manager needs to view each decision associated with an issue from the lens of cost. In order to ensure that the decision that a manager is taking is ethical, the manager should select the decision which is offering the highest number of benefits and lowest number of costs to the overall society. I am quite attracted by this ethical theory because it promotes the idea that ethical decisions are those that benefit a higher percentage of the population and does not benefit a few powerful individuals who are in the decision making positions. It promotes the idea of viewi ng the society as a whole and not as different parts that are independent of each other. It can even be considered unethical under the light of virtue ethics. Abortion is one of those practices that have been heavily debated in the profession of healthcare due to the ethical issues associated with it. Abortion is a legal practice in several nations and the USA has even rendered it legal during the initial stages of pregnancy. But, this very act is considered as unethical by many and several stakeholders are completely against it.

Stress and Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Stress and Health - Essay Example e body to any demand whether it is caused by, or results in pleasant or unpleasant conditions†¦We must, however, differentiate within the general concept of stress between the unpleasant or harmful variety, called â€Å"distress† (from the Latin dis = bad, as in dissonance, disagreement), and â€Å"eustress† (from the Greek eu =good, as in euphonia, euphoria)†¦However, the fact that eustress causes much less damage than distress graphically demonstrates that it is â€Å"how you take it† that determines ultimately, whether one can adapt successfully to change.(p.6) Thus, stress may affect an individual positively or negatively. It depends on one’s outlook of the situation. Does stress affect the well being of individuals? This paper attempts a response to this question and provides certain practical solutions that can be used to ease the burden of stress on one’s health. Firstly, today’s society demands that an adult is faced with several responsibilities namely, children, family, work, or one may even be in the process of fostering a social relationship which will require quality time. As Seyle implied distress or eustress is determined by the individual’s perception of the circumstances. For example, an individual who has family responsibilities and is also a full-time student may view the course as a distressing factor because the time lost in attending these courses may have been used to obtain a job that would provide income to attend to the needs of the family. This individual may experience and perceive this lost time as depressing and as a result may respond negatively to the conditions, thus worsening his/her mental and physical well-being. Contrastingly, the same individual could decide to take a different perspective and recognize the value of this time as an investment into procuring a job with better-quality remuneration that could not otherwise be acquired. This student, then by changing his/her viewpoint can reduce the stress level from a

Them typical of the detective Genre Essay Example for Free

Them typical of the detective Genre Essay This is typical in detective fiction because the detective has already solved the case, but doesnt reveal it until he has all the evidence to back up his theories. For example in The Beryl Coronet when Watson is narrating, we can clearly see that even Watson doesnt know what his companions conclusions are about the crime. It was obvious in despair. This shows us that Holmes has made his conclusions and Watson and the audience cant even dimly imagine what it could be. On the other hand there are also concrete clues which are simple and easy to follow for the reader, an example of this would be in the Solitary Cyclist. The horse and trap were to have come this week, but for some reason they were not delivered. The reason this is a concrete clue is because, you can clearly see that the horse and trap were not delivered for a reason, and you can even begin to link Mr Caruthers in with the solitary cyclist. The horse and trap would mean that The Solitary Cyclist would not be able to follow Miss Violet, so if it did not arrive it would be quite convenient for The Solitary Cyclist. Another example of a Concrete clue would be in The Speckled Band when Holmes has to work out how Julia Stoner was killed because there was no way someone could get in. The Speckled Band is a locked Room mystery meaning it will create more suspense and tension. The dummy bell-pull and the ventilator are significant concrete clues because, it gets the reader thinking why there is a bell which doesnt work connected to a ventilator which is not in use. Red-herrings mislead us in our trail to find the villain in a crime, but they also add a sense of mystery and suspense. The gypsies bandana is a very crafty red herring used in the Speckled Band; it leads us to think that the gypsies have something to do with Julia stoners death, because her last words are about a Speckled Band. But further on we are aware they have nothing to do with the case and are just there to hoodwink us. Another well used red herring would be Arthur Holders debts, initially you would firstly presume that he needs money and would go to extremes measures, even steal from his own father to clear his Gambling debts. Theses are the three main types of clue and a well written detective story will contain all three, just like Arthur Conan Doyles literature does. Although Sherlock Holmes solves most of his cases there isnt always a punishment, for example in The Beryl Coronet, when Mary Holder and George Burnwell escape without a suitable punishment. Although they do not receive a physical punishment, they will receive a moral one. There punishment will be as Sherlock Holmes puts it a more than sufficient one. In contrast in the Speckled Band the mystery is solved and the culprit is found, although he has already received a more than suitable punishment, of death. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. Grimbesby Roylotts death, and I cannot say that it is likely to weigh very heavy upon my conscience. This quote shows us that although Holmes is responsible for the death of Dr. Roylott, it will not affect him that much because he feels that Dr. Roylott deserved what he got for all his sins. Even though Edgar Allen Poe, Wilkie Collins, and others had written mysteries before him, somehow Arthur Conan Doyle captured the public imagination as no detective writer has. The formula Doyle helped establish for the classic English mystery usually involves several predictable elements: a closed setting such as an isolated house or train; sometimes corpse; a small circle of people who are all suspects; and an investigating detective with extraordinary reasoning powers. Edgar Allen Poe was well known for his crime stories in the 19th century and his stories are still popular today. Although he cant really be called the inventor of the detective story he certainly created a kind of detective. Chevalier C Auguste Dupin was his name; he was a brilliant detective quite like Sherlock Holmes in fact. The detective and mystery stories we read and watch on television and in film can often be traced directly to this literary tradition. Contemporary writers continue to reinvent the basic formula so that, over a hundred years since readers met the great Sherlock Holmes, the detective story is more fresh, interesting, and popular than ever. The key to Arthur Cannon Doyles success include many factors such as, his timing. Doyle let his stories loose in the 19th century where people felt insecure and unsafe; Doyles captured their hearts by introducing to them an extraordinary detective who could solve all their problems when they needed him the most. Also Doyles stories were predictable to a certain extent this made his audience feel safe and reassured that the detective would always solve the case unlike the police at that time. Doyle used crafty red-herrings to complicate matters in his stories adding more suspense and keeping his audience at the edge of their seats although the plot would always be predictable. In addition Doyle knew his target audience, so he used sophisticated language and settings and characters which they could easily relate to. This made Doyle stories very suitable to their target audience. Doyles stories often contain many of these features making them typical of the detective genre. Radia Osman Miss Mubashar English coursework Page 1 of 5 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Conan Doyle section.

Performance Appraisal: Functions and Implementation

Performance Appraisal: Functions and Implementation Chapter 1: 1.1 Introduction This dissertation project has been undertaken for the fulfilment of the business degree MBA, General Management from the University of East London. The findings of this dissertation will contribute to concerned company and the author to complete the MBA degree. At the beginning, a leading mobile tele-communication organisation in Bangladesh named Banglalink was chosen as the research organisation. In the middle of the study, the management refused to cooperate with providing information. As a result the author had to find and choose a suitable company to collect research information and data to finish the study. Secure Facilities Management Company Ltd. (SFM) was the new company chosen to finish the research. The introduction chapter gives an overall idea about the study. In this part, the background, objectives and research questions and the structure of this dissertation will be discussed. 1.2 Background of the Study The study discusses about the functions and the implementation of performance appraisal in the new era. The concept of ‘Welfare Personnel was developed in the end of the British golden colonial history by the humane concerns of some business families like Cadbury and Rowntree. Then within the next century, the concept had changed and became Personnel Management and later on Human Recourse Management. Now the world has just entered into a new millennium and the concept of human resource management has become a strategic partner for the business organisations. (McKenna Beech, 2008:2 3) Organisations require many things in order to be effective, a method for producing a product or service, financial resources, a way of marketing and human resources. While all of these are important to organisational effectiveness, the only factor that represents a potential competitive advantage is human resources. This is why the concept of human resource management is s important to every organisation.. The basics of managing people are getting people, preparing them, stimulating them motivate them. To manage human resources in any organisation the following questions are to be considered: (Dessler, 2005:4-5) Are the persons hired for the job wrong? Is the organisation able to milk out the best from the employees? What is the most frustrated area of human resource management? Is the rewarding system working properly? The above refers to how people worked in the past, what changes are required in future to make the production system effective, what are the weaknesses of the system and how to improve. These actually refer to the evaluation of employees of job which is called Performance Appraisal. Performance appraisal system is an important function of personnel department in any organisation. The system has a close relationship between organisation goals and individual performance. The performance appraisal system represents a year round exercise of managing individual performance in an integrated manner with a view to enabling employees to perform at their performance standards. (Dessler, 2005:310) With the view of increasing organisational effectiveness through the effective management of human resources, the organisations use different methods of appraising performance of their employees. For this research a small security service company named ‘Secure Facilities Management Company Ltd. (SFM) a private single owner security service company has been chosen. SFM became a successful organisation in the last few years. Their high standard efficient employees are one of the key factors for their success. For that, SFM has been chosen to practice the theoretical knowledge and to get familiar with the existing system of Performance Appraisal of a small private company. 1.2 Research Question In general, most of the organisations have a kind of formal or informal performance appraisal system. Through the performance appraisal system, the employees get to know their performance standards, which area of their performance needs to be developed etc. The supervisor also provides them with feedback, development and incentives to help them eliminating their performance deficiencies. If performance appraisal system is effectively used, it can improve attraction motivation of the employees on the job. If inappropriately used the appraisal process can have disastrous effects (Dessler, 2005:310). Hence the discussion leads to the research questions: What is the level of understanding and compliance of the employees on performance appraisal? What are the reactions of the employees regarding the performance appraisal? What are the constraints of the performance appraisal in practical life? 1.3 Aims and Objectives of the Study The research has been undertaken for the fulfilment of the requirement for completion of MBA, General Management for the year 2008/2009. This is mainly aimed to develop the job expertise in the performance appraisal activities under the guidance of expert faculty member of University of East London. It is really a difficult task to assess consistency, relevance and reliability of the tools and techniques of the system, however and effort is made to have some ideas about the matter. 1.3.1 Aims The study mainly aims at knowing about the awareness, the level of understanding and compliance of the employees of SFM regarding performance appraisal system. The study attempts to analyse the present performance appraisal system and the role of both appraisers and appraises in connection with the implantation of the system in real life situation. 1.3.2 Objectives To be acquainted with and acquire practical knowledge regarding performance appraisal system of an organisation. To relate the theoretical knowledge of performance appraisal with practical implication. To determine the acceptability and reliability of the performance appraisal system in a certain organisation. To assess the constraints/factors which influence the performance appraisal system. 1.4 Scope of the Study Target group includes officers of all level. The working forces those who are working in the head office and also in the other sites. Value Perception of both appraisers and appraises of the organisation under study. 1.5 Limitations of the Study While preparing this report, the following limitations had been faced: At the beginning a renowned mobile Tele-communication company in Bangladesh, Banglalink, was chosen for the study but they refused to deliver any information and cooperation just one and half month before the submission date. As a result, the author had to choose a small security company, Secure Facilities Management Company Ltd. (SFM) to carry on and finish the study within such a short time. SFM has a master plan on performance appraisal, but at present implementing a part of it. As a part of the business strategy, SFM did not provide all information on their performance appraisal procedure. The major limitation of the study was the lack of time for such an intensive work which compelled the author to narrow the scope of the study. All officials were very busy with their own assignments. As a result, they had a little opportunity for giving much time in this regard. Limitation was faced on the volume of the report due to which many relevant and important things will remain unexplored in detail. 1.6 Organisation Profile Introduction to Secure Facilities Management Company Ltd. (SFM): Since its formation SFM has built its reputation by providing security personnel of the highest calibre. This has been achieved by combining sound management with sensible terms and conditions for all staff. SFM strives to ensure that their clients and staff benefit from a focused and well-defined professional approach, the ratio of management to client is kept to no more than one manager per 10 clients. SFM strives to provide the highest standards of efficiency to all its clients, both large and small. SFM understands the importance of first impressions and that their personnel are often the first point of contact for their clients visitors and residents. 1.7 Structure of the Research This structure of this study has the following five chapters: Chapter 1 is the introduction chapter where the background, research question and rationale, objective, company profile and structure of the research are stated. Chapter 2 contains a brief literature review on performance management, history and meaning of the performance appraisal, purposes, functions, types of performance appraisal, MBO, 360 degree appraisal, problems and solutions of performance appraisal and essentials of a good performance appraisal. This chapter will provide a basic understanding about performance appraisal which is related to the research questions. Chapter 3 contains Research Methodology which includes research framework, the design of the research, population and sampling, and questionnaire. Chapter 4 provides Data analysis, statistical analysis and findings of the research. Chapter 5 describes the critical review of the findings. Chapter 6 discusses on recommendation and conclusion of the study and reflection summery. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction Organisations require consistent levels of high performance from their employees in order to survive in a highly competitive environment. In a view of this, performance appraisal can be a systematic system through which evaluation of an employee is done analyze effectively to determine required performance. It plays a key role in rewarding systems. It is the process of evaluating the performance of employees, sharing information with them and searching for ways to improve their performance. Appraisal is necessary in order to: Allocate resources in a dynamic environment; Motivate and reward employees; Give employees feedback about their work; Maintain fair relationships within groups; Coach and develop employees; and Comply with regulations. It is also a formal opportunity to do what should be done much more frequently in organisations to express appreciation for employee contributions. Companies must administer their employee performance reviews, at all levels, fairly and without discrimination. Since all appraisals can be used against a company in an appraisal employee lawsuit, it is critical that these reviews should be completely accurate. This practice of performance appraisal has been given a variety of titles. The academicians call it performance appraisal, performance review etc. In Government services in Bangladesh, it is known as ACR (Annual Confidential Report). In private organisations, it is often described as merit rating, personnel rating, progress rating, annual performance, etc. Performance appraisal plays a major role in Human Resource Management. The subject is a part of Performance Management. It is necessary to discuss the performance management briefly before proceeding to performance appraisal. Performance Management The primary concern of performance management is the improvement of individual and collective performance. It is a continuous cycle of self-renewing. The aim of performance management is make direct link together individual goals, departmental purpose and organisational objectives. It integrates the major elements of HRM like appraisal and employee development, performance-related pay and reward management, individualism and employee relations. In other way it can be called as day-to-day management activity as it deals with organising works to get the best result. â€Å" a strategic integrated approach to delivering sustained success to organisations by improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of tams and individual contributors†. Armstrong (2001:467) According to Armstrong (2001:475) the main activities of performance management are Role Definition, The Performance Agreement or Contract, The Performance Development Plan, Managing Performance Throughout the Year and Performance Review. These activities are a continuous cycle. According to Marchington Wilkinson (2004:187), the process of performance management system involves Induction and Socialisation, Reviewing and Appraising Performance, Reinforcing Performance Standards and Counselling and Support. Beardwell and Holden (2001:538) stated â€Å"Performance Management is not simply the appraisal of individual performance: it is an integrated and continuous process that develops, communicates and enables the future direction, core competencies and values of organisation, and helps to create an ‘horizon of understanding†. Performance Management is an effective tool by which the employees work behaviours are aligned with the organisations goals. There is no one way to manage performance. Whatever system is adopted needs to be similar with the culture and the principles of that organisation. However, most system of performance management has several parts: Defining Performance: Carefully defines employee performance so that it supports the organisations strategic goals. Setting of clear goals for the individual employee is a critical component of performance management. Measuring Performance: Measuring performance does not need to be narrowly conceived, but can bring together multiple types of performance measured in various ways. The key is to measure often and use the information for mid-course corrections. Feedback and Coaching: In order to improve performance, the employee needs information (feedback) about their performance, along with the guidance in reaching the next level of results. Without frequent feedback, employees are unlikely to know that behaviour is out of synchronization with relevant goals, or what to do about it. The major aim of performance management is to find ways of continual improvement of levels of both organisational and individual performance and performance appraisal is the perfect weapon for that improvement. The Rise of Performance Appraisal The performance appraisal has a long history which started China in the third century, the reign of Wei Dynasty. It was mainly used for the civil servants, army officers and managers until recently. Now it is very much wide spread all over the world and has become a popular management tool. In the UK most of the private sector organisations has introduced and are practicing performance appraisal during the last decade or two. Some people suggested that the reason behind for its growth is to use the individualised performance-pay system. Some other factors like market competition, managing change, organisation goal, milk out the best from the employees etc. are also important. Now the terminology ‘performance appraisal is changing to ‘personal development review and ‘performance review and development. (Taylor, 2004:247-248) Meaning of Performance Appraisal Performance Appraisal (PA) is a methodical, on the job-review of an employees abilities and accomplishments. Performance appraisal functions as a valuable management assessment tool and a superior employee motivation weapon. It enables us to strike a workable balance between organisations need for qualified and trained personnel and employees need for feedback and motivation. Performance is the contribution and appraisal is the procedure of measuring the contribution. Performance appraisal is an integral part of a system of managing individuals working in an organisation. Performance appraisal is an inevitable inspire of modern technology and all the systems and controls coming into widespread us, people remain the most important factor in all kinds of business, government agencies, charitable organisations and all other organisation. Performance appraisal is a process of bringing together the approaches of performance management like counselling, training, improving performance etc. that helps the managers to exercise them to achieve the goal of the organisation. It is a procedure of rewarding and disciplining the employees to improve the over performance of the organisation. It is the process of evaluating performance or contribution of an employee to the organisation during a specific period of time by his or her supervisor with relation to his or her job requirements. An effective, reliable and valid performance appraisal system recognizes the legitimate desire of employees for progress in their professions. Integration of organisational demands and individual needs through career management is the part of performance appraisal. Therefore, the performance appraisal program is inevitable for measuring the contribution of both â€Å"employees and managerial personnel†. Performance appraisal program is the basis of determining who is profitable to higher position and who is to be rewarded for better contribution to the organisation he or she belongs to. Performance feedback lets employees know how well they have performed in comparison with the standards of the organisation. Performance appraisal program is the administrative and employee development tool, which is the domain of the management not shared by the employees. Opponents of the performance appraisal attack it on a variety of grounds but without appraising performance of the employees career development, organisational development, recently a number of organisations have revamped their appraisal system in a bid to reduce possible negative outcomes. Appraisal, no doubt is a complex issue and it is clear that to be effective, a system must be designed and implemented with great care. â€Å"Performance appraisal means evaluating an employees current and/or past performance relative to his or her performance standards†. (Dessler, 2005:310) Michael Armstrong (2001:486) says â€Å"Performance review discussions enable a perspective to be obtained on past performance as a basis for making plans for the future.† He explains that the five elements of performance management (measurement, feedback, positive reinforcement, exchange of views and agreement on action plans) can be achieved through performance review. In the conclusion it can be said that, performance appraisal is the process by which an employees contribution to the organisation during a specific period of time is assessed. Performance Feedback then lets the employee know how well they have performed in comparison with the standards of the organisation. Who Should Do The Appraisal? By traditionally a managers authority typically has included appraising subordinates performance. The logic behind this tradition seems to be that since managers are held responsible for their employees† performance, it only makes sense that these managers do the evaluating of their performance. The employees immediate boss conducts about 95 percent of all performance appraisals at the lower and middle levels of the organisation. Purposes Purposes of Performance Appraisal: HRD Employees View Performance appraisal or evaluation serves a number of purposes for Human Resources Department and for the development of the employees. Management uses performance appraisal for general human resource decisions. Evaluations provide input into such important decisions, transfers, and terminations. Performance appraisals identify training and development needs. They pinpoint employee skills and competencies that are currently inadequate but for which programs can be developed to remedy. Performance appraisal can be used as a criterion against which selection and development programs are validated. Newly Hired employees who perform poorly can be identified through performance appraisal. Similarly, the effectiveness of training development programs can be determined by assessing how well those employees who have participated do on their performance appraisal. Performance appraisals also fulfil the purpose of providing feedback to employees on how the organisation views their performance. Furthermore performance appraisals are used as the basis for reward allocations. Decisions as to who gets merit pay increases and other rewards are frequently determined by performance appraisal. Purposes of Performance Appraisal: Organisations View Identify the successful less successful aspects of the employee needs organisational goals. Assist decision makers in allocating resources in planning for future. Assist managers in just frying expenditure accounting for those expenditures. Monitor employee activities to detect any change in activities or the quality of services. Serve as a benchmark, i.e. identifying best practice performance, using that performance as a goal, investigating the factors that led up to that performance, then trying to replicate that level of performance. Functions / Uses of Performance Appraisal Multiple uses of Performance Appraisal are: Development uses. Administrative uses/decision makings. Organizational maintenance/objectives. Documentation. Types of Performance Appraisal There are various types of performance appraisal which includes Alternation Ranking Method, Graphic Rating Scale, Management By Objectives (MBO) etc. (Dessler, 2005:315) These are explained below. Alternation Ranking Method It is the oldest simplest of formal systematic rating is to compare one person with all others for the purpose of placing them in a simple rank order of worth. In doing this, the appraiser considers person and performance as an entity; no attempt is made to systematically fractionize what being appraised into component elements. Graphic Rating Scale This method is widely used in merit rating is similar to the techniques in point-evaluation plan. This involves the supervisor to rate employee performance in terms of prescribed traits i.e. quality of work, quantity of work, initiative, dependability, knowledge of work etc. Each trait is defined various degrees of each are prescribed in some way. From traits degrees over-all rating can be obtained. Forced Distribution Choice Another attempt to counteract the tendency of raters to give average ratings or even sometimes to â€Å"twist† a report to bring about a desired result is the forced-choice technique. Here the rater is faced with groups of three of four statements, he must tick the one, which applies most nearly to the employee under assessment. These statements are so devised that it is impossible for the rater to know which will give the most favourable rating. Grading It is a further development to the guideline approach which attempts to provide a frame work of reference by defining a number of levels at which the characteristics is displayed asking Managers to select the definition which most closely describes the individual they are assessing. For example, in rating effective output the Manager in a typical grading scheme is asked to choose between: Outstanding Outstanding output of high quality work Satisfactory Satisfactory level of output effort Fair Completes less than the average amount of effective work Poor Low output poor worker. Critical Incident Method The critical incident method requires every Supervisor to adopt a practice of recording in a note-book of those significant incidents in each employees behaviour that indicate effective or poor behaviour. These are recorded in a specifically-designed notebook that contains characteristics under which the various behaviours can be recorded. Management by Objectives (MBO) Management by Objectives (MBO) is a critical process that often consists of four steps as a way to attain desired performance: Objective setting-joint determination by manager employee of appropriate levels of future performance for the employee, within the context of over-all unit goals resources. These objectives are often set for the next calendar year. Action planning-participative or even independent planning by the employee as to how to reach those objectives. Providing some autonomy to employees is invaluable; they are more likely to use their ingenuity, as well as feel more committed to the plans success. Periodic reviews-joint assessment of progress toward objectives by manager employee performed informally sometimes spontaneously. Annual evaluation-more formal assessment of success in achieving the employees annual objectives coupled with a renewal of the planning cycle. Some MBO systems also use performance appraisal to tie rewards for employees to the level of results attained. MBO had been taken likened to a modem form of scientific management. It is also subject to the same possible criticisms of too great an emphasis on individual job definition together with a management authority structure, the assumption of no conflict between individual organisation goals. MBO should not be applied simply as a pressure device by which management apply increasingly demanding targets which Staffs are expected to achieve. MBO draws attention to the objectives for individual members of the organisation as a whole. MBO is a potentially attractive system. It provides an opportunity for staff of accept greater responsibility to make a higher level or personal contribution. There is much to recommend it to both the organisation individual managers. 360 Degree Appraisal or Evaluation The latest approach to performance appraisal is the use of 360 Degree evaluations. It provides for performance feedback from the full circle of daily contacts that an employee might have, ranging from mailroom personnel to customers to bosses to peers. The number of appraisals can be as few as three or four evaluations or as many as 25; with most organisations collecting five to ten per employees. The appeal of 360-degree appraisals is to fit well into organisations that have introduced teams, employee involvement, and TQM programs. By relaying on feedback from co-workers, customers and subordinates, these organisations are hoping to give every one more accurate reading on employee performance. Appraising Performance: Problems and Solutions Few of the things a manager does which are more risky than appraising subordinates performance. Employees in general tend to be overly optimistic about what their ratings will be, and also know that their raises, career progress, and peace of mind may well hinge of how they are rated. This alone should make it somewhat difficult to rate performance; even more problematic. There are more numerous structural problems that can cause serious doubt on just how fare the whole process is. Some of the main appraisal problems and their solution are explained below. Dealing with the Five Main Rating Scale Appraisal Problems Five main problems can undermine appraisal tools such as graphic rating scales: unclear standards, halo effect, central tendency, leniency or strictness, and bias. Unclear Standards: The problem of unclear standards is illustrated. Although the graphic rating scale seems objective, it would probably result in unfair appraisals because the traits and degrees of merit are open to interpretation. For example, different supervisors would probably define ‘good performance, ‘fair performance, and so on differently. The same is true of traits such as ‘quality of work or ‘creativity. Halo Effect: The halo effect means that the rating of subordinate on one trait (such as ‘gets along with others) biases the way that person is rated on other traits (such as ‘quality of work). This problem often occurs with employees who are especially friendly (or unfriendly) towards the supervisor. For example, an unfriendly employee will often be rated unsatisfactory for all traits rather than just for the trait ‘gets along well with others. Being aware of this problem is a major step toward avoiding it. Supervisory training can also solve the problem. Central Tendency: Many supervisors have a central tendency when filling in rating scales. For example, if the rating scale ranges from 1 to 7, they tend to avoid the highs (6 to 7) and lows (1to 2) and rate most of their people between 3 and 5. In a graphic rating scale, this central tendency could mean that all employees are simply rated ‘average. Such a restriction can distort the evaluations, making them less useful for promotion, salary, or counselling purposes. Ranking the employees instead of using a graphic rating scale can avoid this central tendency problem because all employees must be ranked and thus cannot all be rated average. Leniency or Strictness: Some supervisors tend to rate all their subordinates consistently high (or low), just all some instructors are notoriously high graders and others are not. This strictness/leniency problem is especially serious with graphic rating scales since supervisors arent necessarily required to avoid giving all their employees high (or low) ratings. On the other hand, when the raters rank subordinates, they are forced to distinguish between high and low performances. Thus, strictness/leniency is not a problem with the ranking or forced distribution approach. In fact, if a graphic rating scale must be used, it may be a good idea to assume a distribution of performances-that, say, only about 10% of the people should be rated ‘excellent, 20% ‘good, and so forth. In other words, try to get a spread (unless, of course, the raters are sure all their people really do fall into just one or two categories). Bias: Individual differences among raters in terms of characteristics like age, race, and sex can affect their ratings, often quite apart from each rates actual performance. In one study, for instance, researchers found a systematic tendency to evaluate older rates (over 60 years of age) lower on ‘performance capacity and ‘potential for development then younger employees. The rates race and sex can also affect the persons rating. However, bias is not necessarily consistently against minorities or women, as it seems to be in the case of older workers. In one study, high performing females were often rated significantly higher than were high performing males. An interesting picture of how age can distort evaluations emerges from a study of registered nurses. When the nurses were 30-39 years old, they and their supervisors each rated the nurses performance virtually the same. In the 21-29 category, supervisors actually rated nurses higher than they rated themselves. However, for the 40-61 nurse age categories, the supervisors rated nurses performance lower than the nurses rated their own performance. The conclusion here may be that supervisors are tougher in appraising older subordinates. Specifically, they dont give them as much credit for their success, while attributing any low performance to their lack of ability. A related problem is described in the Diversity Counts feature. An employees previous performance can also affect the evaluation of h