Sunday, October 13, 2019
Suicide as the Best Option in Kate Chopins AwakeningSuicide as the Bes
Suicide as the Best Option in Kate Chopin's Awakening The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, was considered controversial at the time it was first published in 1892 because of its intense sexual context. In fact, the critics of that era wrote in newspapers and magazines about the novel "itââ¬â¢s not a healthy book," "sex fiction," "we are well satisfied when Ms. Pontellier deliberately swims to her death," "an essential vulgar story," and "unhealthy introspective and morbid" (Wyatt). Edna, the main character, engages in sexual relationships outside of marriage. These encounters reveal true sexual passion to Edna, which she did not receive at home with her husband. As a result of these experiences Ednaââ¬â¢s ability to continue living in a loveless marriage dwindles, and she eventually commits suicide. Although Edna had other options such as divorce, remaining in a loveless marriage, or simply deserting her family, suicide is most viable. One alternative, a separation, could have been hard to accomplish for Edna because of the male-dominated society that she lived in. However, it was a possibility. In fact, an author by the name of Charlotte Perkins Gilman received a divorce from her husband, Walter Stetson, prior to the creation of The Awakening. Through serious bouts with depression Gilmanââ¬â¢s marriage to Stetson became a struggle, and her divorce was granted in 1894. Stetson received custody of their daughter Katherine. Similarly, Edna would have probably lost custody of her children, but she said it herself that she is not a mother woman ("About Charlotte Gilman"). Gilman eventually moved on and remarried in June 1900. Ednaââ¬â¢s aspirations of marrying Robert could have possibly come true. With this possibility in mind, suici... ...escaping. What made matters worse was that Edna found a real lover that would not accept being known as the man who stole Mr. Pontellierââ¬â¢s wife. Edna was obviously placed in situation where she was left with all but one choice. Works Cited "About Mary Cassatt." 1999. http://www.boston.com/mfa/cassat/aboutmc.htm (4 April 2000). "About the Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman." 1998. http://www.Trenton.edu/~verasteg/aboutcp.htm. (20 March 2000). Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1892. Boston: Bedford/St. Martinââ¬â¢s, 2000. "Louisiana Civil Law: Differences Fading Over Time." 1999. http://www.theadvocate.com/help/welcome/laws.asp (18 March 2000). "The Womanââ¬â¢s Rights Movement." 1999. http://www.lyno.com.edu/~tlkinnon/Womenââ¬â¢s%Rights.htm (3, March 2000). Wyatt, Neal. "Times of Kate Chopin." 1995. http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng384/kate.htm (21 March 2000).
Saturday, October 12, 2019
The Fabulous Fifties Essay examples -- essays research papers
à à à à à Some may call it the ââ¬Å"fabulous fifties,â⬠but others call it a time of ââ¬Å"tensions and insecurities.â⬠Several people think back on the fifties and remember them as the ââ¬Å"good old days,â⬠while others think of it as a time of crisis and terror. Although Americans were faced with many hardships throughout the fifties, I think that the positive aspects such as the new technologies, growing economy, higher focus on education, and growing job opportunities of the era outnumber the negative aspects, such as racism that African Americans faced, and the changing roles of women, making the fifties an overall ââ¬Å"happyâ⬠period in American history. à à à à à The fifties are characterized as a watershed period, due to the unparallel growth and change that America socially and economically experienced after WWII. In the years during the War and the Depression there was high employment, low inflation and a yearning for normalcy, and stability in many Americans lives. The fifties changed all of this providing the American culture with prosperity by way of network television, air conditioning, computers, jet travel, a national highway system, chain hotels, and franchised fast food that made businesses boom. The fifties are also characterized as a golden age when everything was simple and innocent. People had peace and prosperity due to the war ending, and they expressed their feelings of excitement and anticipation through their clothing with men dressing in suits and hats, and women in dresses, stockings and heels, and by going out dancing to big bands downtown, and experimenting with the new technologies and organizations of the time. With World War II bringing thousands of men back to America seeking new lives and opportunities, the US experienced an economic expansion like it had never seen before. During the middle of the twentieth century wages increased 22%, family income went up from $3,000 to $5,400, and the Gross National Product increased from $206 billion to $440 billion. In order for the country to meet the demands of the massive consumptions of the American people, industries had to expand and create more efficient ways of selling there products through advertisements, which as a result provided citizens with more job opportunities. à à à à à In my opinion I think that the fifties were defian... ...greater emphasis on engineering and mathematics, which provided a boom in many of these careers. The Government began building technical institutes focused on scientific, and space research encouraging Americans to further their education in these areas. After the Sputnik event, the US economy began to fall. Unemployment grew, and problems were erupting in the White House. Sherman Adams was dismissed for taking bribes, and many people were becoming to think that life was not as good as they thought it was. To many the fifties was a period when the United States prospered and dominated much of the worldââ¬â¢s economy, a time when girls wore poodle skirts and guys wore leather jackets and danced around to Elvis and rock & roll. When Americans began to take advantage of leisure time experiencing new inventions like hula-hoops, Barbie dolls, becoming active in sports like baseball and football, and making television a dominant part of mass media. Although it was also a time when society underwent world shattering changes, it was a period in history that helped stabilized a country that just got out of war and prepared America for the changes that it experiences in the upcoming years.
Friday, October 11, 2019
The phenomenon of truancy
Chapter 3: Research Design3.1 IntroductionThe intent of the survey is to look into the phenomenon of hooky and so to qualify the nature and associated factors, to guarantee appropriate direction thereof. It is envisaged that, with more penetration, effectual intercession schemes can be implemented. Furthermore, secondary -education decision-makers may take consequences into history when school-attendance policies are reviewed. The reappraisal of the literature presented in the predating chapters reveals that secondary school scholars continue to play awol and lose the educational chances provided by mandatory school ordinances. Learners who play awol limit their ain opportunities of geting the necessary accomplishments to fix themselves for future employment. We besides looked at the different types of hooky, insouciant factors and assorted attacks that have been used to cut down hooky. This chapter describes the manner the empirical survey is planned and conducted, and will concentrate on the undermentioned facets:The research inquiries ;The research method ;3.2 Research QuestionsThe research worker together with the community of educationists are concerned about the fact that scholars continue to remain off from school by either losing the whole twenty-four hours of school or by losing certain lessons without permission from the school governments and parents. Students who play awol licking the purposes of the vision of the educational system which is based on fixing scholars for effectual citizenship and employability. The follow are the chief research inquiries that will be confronted in this survey.What is the extent and grade of hooky in footings of the frequence and figure of learns involved?What are the forms, type or nature of hooky?Where make hooky players travel when non at school or in category?What steps are used to supervise and pull off hooky?3.3. The research instruments3.3.1. The QuestionnaireTo reply the research inquiries presented above, information was collected by agencies of a questionnaire ( See Appendix 1 ) . Using a questionnaire is appropriate for a assortment of grounds, viz. because it is economical, it ensures namelessness, peculiarly when covering with a big sample and it helps in developing a general image to a phenomenon within a community sing similar conditions ( Nardi, 2003 ; Punch, 1998 ) . Upon careful consideration of bing questionnaires from th e literature, the research worker has decided to roll up a new one for the current survey. The points that are included in this questionnaire are based on facts that are likely to lend to researching the phenomenon of hooky and are derived from the literature reappraisal. Some of these points are determined by the research inquiries set for this survey. The questionnaire employed for this first portion of the survey follows a quantitative attack. The determination to follow this design helps to research grounds of absenteeism from pupils ââ¬Ë positions, chiefly through the followers:Absenteeism against gender differences ;Absenteeism due to age and signifier ;Absenteeism due to school background ;Absenteeism with no ground ;Absenteeism due to household constructions ;Absenteeism related to repeated primary category ;3.3.2. Pilot surveyTwo processs were carried out during the pre-testing stage of the questionnaire. Harmonizing to Cooper and Schinder ( 2003 ) , the research worker may trust on experts when flying the instrument to place alterations that can be made with confusing points. Experts and co-workers included a caput of school and my supervisor who are experienced in research were heartily requested to analyze the questionnaire to look into whether there were any points that needed to be changed or rephrased, every bit go od the rightness of the clip set for finishing the questionnaire. The following process involved completion of the questionnaire by a sample of 20 Form 1 pupils and 20 Form 2 pupils non included the sample. The points in the questionnaire were hence considered to be satisfactory in footings of both diction and format.3.3.3. Validity and ReliabilityCogency refers to the extent to which an instrument measures what is it is supposed to mensurate. In order to set up its cogency the questionnaire was given to experts to find content and face cogency. Harmonizing to Johnson and Christensen ( 2004 ) , content cogency is a judgmental act where experts check whether the points represent the concept which is being studied every bit good as the diction, arranging and marking of the instruments. On the other manus, face cogency refers to the extend to which the respondents will comprehend the instruments as being valid to prove what it is suppose to prove ( Black, 1999 ) . The extent to which the instrument will supply the same consequences on subsequent disposal known as dependability was statistically obtained. The Cronbach Alpha correlativity expression was used to cipher dependability. The value obtained is 0.83, which indicates that the dependability of the instrument is satisfactory.3.4 SamplingThe focal point of choice of participants for this survey centres on pupils and educational professionals in schools. For the quantitative survey, the mark population is Form 1 and Form 2 pupils in the secondary school degree. Schools identified for this research include State secondary schools and Church schools. State secondary schools include two types of schools, viz. the Junior Lyceum and the Area secondary school pupils. In the coming of the educational reform presently being undertaken in the Maltese educational system, a new construction of colleges is integrating both Junior Lyceum and Area secondary school pupils into one school. Data for this su rvey is collected from presently amalgamated schools and non-amalgamated schools. For the qualitative survey of this research, a focal point group with a figure of educational professionals is carried out. Participants for the focal point group include ; capable instructors, PSD instructors, Guidance instructors and one Young person Worker. The qualitative survey besides includes two semi-structured in-depth interviews with one Head of School whose school has besides been targeted for the quantitative survey every bit good as a Guidance instructor from the Guidance Unit in the province educational sector.3.4.1 The Quantitative StudySix different schools have been selected at random, integrating two Junior Lyceum schools, two Area Secondary schools and two Church schools. An mean equal sample of respondents was collected from each class of schools and is including a balanced sample from male childs and misss schools. The study questionnaire was administered to Form 1 and Form 2 pupils of the three school classs. The disposal of the study was carried out after reception of blessing both by the Planning and Development Department within the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education ( DQSE ) every bit good as by the schools targeted for informations aggregation. The existent disposal of the study was carried out in coaction with the school disposals and was chiefly distributed through the support of the Personal and Social Development ( PSD ) instructors who administrated the study and collected the duly filled questionnaires. The research worker finally made agreements with the school disposals to roll up the studies. The research worker besides engaged in informations aggregation processs to roll up informations from schools within her range. The questionnaire consisted of three chief subdivisions, including ( I ) demographics, ( two ) forms, type and nature of hooky and ( three ) policies undertaken at a school degree to battle hooky and school absenteeism. Following the necessary clean-up of unsatisfactorily filled questionnaires, the entire figure of questionnaires employed for analysis consisted of 1000 to the full returned studies.3.4.2 The Qualitative StudyThe qualitative survey incorporates two research designs. The first will be a focal point group and the 2nd will affect semi-structured in-depth interviews. The focal point group is intended to roll up informations from educational professionals on the manifestation and policies adopted across the three school classs on hooky and school absenteeism. Identified participants for this focal point group includes capable instructors, P.S.D. instructors, counsel instructors and one young person worker who is employed on a parttime footing by the Directorate of Education al Services. The interview agenda for the focal point group is here presented in Appendix 2. The semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out with a Head of School and a Counselor from the counsel and reding unit. The interview agenda for these interviews was developed from the literature reappraisal carried out in chapter 2, the informations obtained from the quantitative survey and the feedback obtained from the focal point group. These interviews are intended to endorse up the quantitative analysis and to supply extra penetration on current patterns and schemes adopted to battle school hooky and absenteeism ( See Appendix 3 ) .3.5 RestrictionsThe initial program was to include all pupils registered for Form1 and Form2 categories in the identified schools. A little figure of pupils in each category were regarded as absent at the clip of informations aggregation. When using for the relevant permissions, the Research Planning and Development section clearly indicated the research worker to curtail the research to a lower limit of pupils, instructors, decision makers, schools and to avoid any waste of clip during the visits to schools. As a effect to the limitations made upon the research worker, a purposive sample of participants undertook the procedure of informations aggregation for this survey.3.6 Datas ProcessingThe nature of the information here being investigated reflects features in the general population that should non convey out any differences between males and females on behaviors of hooky and school absenteeism. In this respect the statistical analysis will use the non parametric step of rating viz. Chi square. Any ascertained differences will function to accept or reject the void hypotheses on these parametric quantities. Any important differences ensuing from this analysis would assist to accept the alternate hypotheses from the sample of participants in this survey, hence bring forthing evidences for accepting the alternate hypotheses. All the informations shall be analysed utilizing the Statistical bundle for the Social Sciences ( SPSS ) version 17.3.7 DecisionsThis chapter provided an overview of how this survey was planned and conducted. This chapter has besides presented research inquiries for the current survey and identified the research instruments to roll up informations in this respect. The research design is constructed upon a quantitative survey and a qualitative survey with well-thought-of instruments. Elementss of cogency and dependability of the questionnaire and the pilot testing of this instrument present an first-class scenario for a valid information aggregation procedure. The participants for this survey include pupils every bit good as instructors and other professionals working in close contact with the phenomenon here under probe. This chapter presented a elaborate reappraisal of the trying method every bit good as the features of both surveies to be carried out. Finally restrictions in the re search design are besides presented. The consequences of the empirical survey are presented in the following chapter.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Week Two Discussion Questions
Week Two Discussion Questions â⬠¢ What are the different types of plans that organizations can use? What types of plans does your organization use, and why do they use these plans? There are different types of plans for an organization like examples, a financial plan, a production plan, a sales plan and etc. My organization uses very similar plans like the ones I mentioned because in order to have a success business one must plan ahead and have a future view of the organization. What are the steps in the planning process? Which step is the most crucial? Why? The steps in the planning process are, Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling. I think the most crucial one is Leading because in order to have success you must lead the organization to the correct path and a leader has been placed at its position because of their management skills which involves almost all steps in the planning process. Do you think organizations can overplan? Explain your response. Yes, I think over planning can happen. I think it is always best practice to have a plan B in the case that something goes wrong with plan A. â⬠¢ What are three factors that affect the planning process? How do these factors affect the planning process? Three factors that can affect a planning process can be, competition, the economy, and management.Competition of course is when there is more than one organization out there offering a very similar product at a different price or a better one. The economy always affects business, if there is no jobs, there is no income therefore we do not have money to spend on offered products. Finally management can also fail in planning a good plan and may fail for what was expected. â⬠¢ What role does organizational responsibility and ethics play in the planning process? It plays a role make things efficiently and the right way.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
A study of citizenship and its relation to surveillance and privacy Essay Example for Free
A study of citizenship and its relation to surveillance and privacy Essay Surveillance (10) , Biometric passport (2) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints ? à ââ¬Å"When you single out any particular group of people for secondary citizenship status, thatââ¬â¢s a violation of basic human rightsâ⬠- Jimmy Carter. Often taken for granted, citizenship is something that we know superficially what it is, but never think too deeply about. But every single day, for millions of people, citizenship is something to be worried about, something that others use to rise above the rest. Based on personal experiences as well as extensive research, this essay will discuss not only what citizenship at its core is, but also its uses as surveillance and how it impacts everyday life. I will be drawing primarily from concepts detailed by three scholars in the area of surveillance- David Lyon, Steven Nock, and Michel Foucault, with some material from John Torpey. From Lyon, I will be referencing the ideas of social sorting and data flow; from Nock, I will be referencing the idea of credentials; from Foucault, I will be referencing the idea of disciplinary power. Furthermore, I will be looking at the impact of these concepts from each scholar onto the issues of social exclusion and discrimination. Through such an analysis, I will detail the net benefits and harms of citizenship as it pertains to surveillance and the everyday person. What is citizenship? Websterââ¬â¢s Dictionary simply defines it as ââ¬Å"being an inhabitant of a city or town; especially one entitled to the rights and privileges of a freemanâ⬠. But of course, this is an incredibly superficial definition. At itââ¬â¢s core, according to John Torpey, citizenship is a way for states ââ¬Å"to deprive people of the freedom to move across certain spaces and to render them dependent on states and the state system for the authorization to do so ââ¬â an authority widely held in private hands theretoforeâ⬠. While citizenship, at first glance, simply seems to be just another way to distinguish between nationals of one state opposed to nationals of another, its use for governments goes far greater than that. The creation of passports and other such devices has led citizenship to not only be simply documentation, but also a method of control and surveillance. As Torpey furthers, ââ¬Å"A critical aspect of this process has been that peopl e have also become dependent on states for the possession of an ââ¬Å"identityâ⬠from which they can escape only with difficulty and which may significantly shape their access to various spacesâ⬠. While originally just a way for states to determine borders and other logistics, citizenship over the years has evolved greatly. From passports and Social Security numbers to crime databases and border patrol checks, the methods by which governments restrict and control our movements are growing. However, the question remains: How do states use citizenship to surveil its citizens? The primary way governments surveil its citizens through citizenship is the creation of passports. Passports allow for entry into the issuing country and are accepted as valid identification for international border crossings. Because passports are used as identification, they contain information such as name, date of birth, and biometrics. However, past simple identification, passports also serve as a means of surveillance is by providing identification/classification as well as tracking/restricting movement. As Torpey states, ââ¬Å"states have sought to monopolize the capacity to authorize the movements of persons ââ¬â and unambiguously to establish their identities in order to enforce this authorityâ⬠. As detailed before, the ultimate goal of citizenship is to restrict and control the movements of persons. The role passports play in this is by establishing the identity of such persons in order to better restrict them. Passports act as a credential, which, as Steven Nock writes, is ââ¬Å"a way to create reputation among strangers, or ââ¬Å"A minimum basis for trust in the absence of personal knowledgeâ⬠. He further, saying that credentials are necessary to the extent that we must trust people we donââ¬â¢t know. In this case, passports act as a simple way for law enforcement to ensure criminals are not moving about freely. As such, checking passports at border crossing or flights not only establish identity, but also trust. The way passports do this is through data flow. As defined by David Lyon, data flow is the transferring of information collected by one surveillance technology to another. In the case of passports, most, if not all, have an embedded chip that allows police, border patrol agents, and the like to simply swipe a passport to pull up all of a citizenââ¬â¢s history. Most notably, this chip contains data from the TECS (Treasury Enforcement Communications Systems) which allows different law agencies to exchange criminal information with each other. That means that your entire criminal record, whether it be with the Border Patrol, the FBI, or even the local police, can be found with just a swipe of your passport. But even more so, this data is then used for social sorting. Social sorting, as defined by David Lyon, is ââ¬Å"the social practice of surveillance and control to sort out, filter and serialize who needs to be controlled and who is free of that controlâ⬠. At face value, this seems to be a good thing. After all, ensuring criminals are walking around free sounds like a good deal for a small invasion of privacy. However, the issue comes with the use of social sorting today. As Lyon states, ââ¬Å"the new penology is concerned with techniques for identifying, managing and classifying groups sorted by levels of dangerousness. Rather than using evidence of criminal behaviour, newer approaches intervene on the basis of risk assessmentâ⬠. Instead of allowing or denying movement based on tangible criminal behavior, the use of such data has moved towards prediction of criminal behavior. As such, social sorting in the case of citizenship has progressed past simply who is a criminal versus who is not a criminal and instead sorts people based on who is likely to become a criminal. The impact of this to everyday life is great. One specific way is through the idea of disciplinary power, which is, as Foucault defines it, the idea that ââ¬Å"Discipline is a mechanism of power which regulates the behaviour of individuals in the social body.â⬠This simply means that the use of surveillance allows institutions to use discipline to enforce specific behaviors within people. In the case of citizenship, this disciplinary power exists in two ways. Firstly, it exists from the government. A historical example of such is the case of the Soviet Union and Soviet passports. In this case, the Soviet Union issued passports based on who supported the Soviet ideology. Those who were completely indoctrinated were allowed to travel freely; however, those who did not support the Soviet ideology were effectively restricted to poor areas. As such, the Soviet Union used disciplinary power (restricting movement based on ideology) in order to promote a specific behavior (supporting t he Soviet ideology). In this case, itââ¬â¢s directly from the government itself. However, the second way disciplinary power exists in citizenship is through the deinstitutionalization of disciplinary power, as offered by William Staples. Instead of the government itself directly enforcing specific behavior, this type of disciplinary power relies on other citizens to promote citizenship. And indeed, this concept is prevalent even today, with prejudices against the ââ¬Å"foreignersâ⬠and the ââ¬Å"illegalsâ⬠. This kind of social exclusion and discrimination promote the idea of citizenship if only to escape the attacks of others. Talking to my parents, who immigrated to the United States from China, I found it interesting and slightly disheartening to hear their experiences. They way people treat citizens and noncitizens if very different. Because my parents didnââ¬â¢t speak very much English, communication was an issue and it was difficult getting jobs. There was a certain amount of prejudice against immigrants and not being a citizen incurs a certai n amount of suspicion. After all, citizenship is seen as a ââ¬Å"patriotic dutyâ⬠, and not engaging in such a process can be perceived as not embracing the American culture. While the difference in attitude wasnââ¬â¢t immediate and polarizing, there was a lot more acceptance when my parents became citizens. The attitude of those around them became more akin to that of a community rather than sticking out like a sore thumb. As such, from this experience, I found it clear the impact that disciplinary power had upon citizenship and social exclusion and discrimination. Thereââ¬â¢s a certain ââ¬Å"us versus themâ⬠mentality, and the stigma associated with not being a citizen is great. As such, itââ¬â¢s clear the impact citizenship has on everyday life. Although it may seem innocuous, the role citizenship plays in surveillance is great. With the use of credentials and data flow, citizenship ultimately results in issues such as social sorting and disciplinary power. What then results is a great amount of social exclusion and discrimination based solely on the characteristics of citizenship. From immigration to criminal activity, everyone is subject to judgement and the increasing pervasion of privacy only exacerbates these impacts. While there does need to be a certain amount of credibility associated with each person, the overreach of states through surveillance will only result in increased tension and stratification. A study of citizenship and its relation to surveillance and privacy. (2018, Apr 13).
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Trusts and equity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Trusts and equity - Essay Example The first of these is the certainty of intention to create a trust. The second relates to the certainty of the subject matter. This requires a clear description of the property involved and the related beneficial interests. The last relates to certainty of objects or specification of the beneficiaries of the trust. Charitable trusts are not required to satisfy this last requirement.2 With regard to discretionary trusts, individuals who can benefit from a discretion, are initially beneficiaries as they are the possible objects of a power of appointment. However, it should be possible for the trustee to establish unambiguously, as to who is encompassed by such power of appointment. This requires certainty of criterion. In other words, the court should be able to determine with certainty whether any specific person is within the range of benefits.3 The fundamental consequence of having a trust is that it imposes a binding obligation on the trustees. In Lambe v Eames, the court held that a trust was not created, merely due to the presence of precatory words.4 In Adams v Kensington Vestry, a husband made a gift to his wife that was for her absolute use.5 The court held that a trust was not created by a testator who gave his entire property to his wife, with the understanding that she would do whatever was necessary regarding the disposal of the property. This was to be done between the children either during her lifetime or upon her demise by means of a will.6 Moreover, the court opined that the entire will had to be interpreted, although confidence could create a trust. As such, the trust relationship has to be expressed in sufficiently certain terms, so as to enable the trustee to carry out his duties. Moreover, trustees should be aware of their obligations under the trust. Strictly speaking, the settlor cannot impose a duty upon a trustee that is legally unenforceable due to its ambiguity.7 Trustees are provided with a measure of protection
Monday, October 7, 2019
Employee management in HM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words
Employee management in HM - Essay Example The present-day HRM approach refutes this fallacy and asserts the view that employees can rightly be considered as very valuable assets which are the major players in the achievement of organizational goals. There has been a lot of controversy about the alignment of HRM practices and establishment of strategy with the goals of the organization (Caldwell R. 2004; Ulrich, 1997: 27). In theory, this sounds plausible, although in practice it requires a significant reorientation in the conventional remit of the personnel function. Ulrich has captured the scope of this new role when he argues that: 'HR professionals become strategic partners when they participate in the process of defining the business strategy, when they ask questions that move the strategy to action and when they design HR practices that align with the business' (1997: 27). Unfortunately, Ulrich is somewhat vague in describing how this 'role change' can be practically enacted and empirical evidence of the emergence of new strategic roles is often contradictory (Caldwell, 2003; CIPD, 2003; Gennard and Kelly, 1997). One of the distinguishing characteristics of HRM is that it seeks to transform the often disparate array of policies associated with traditional personnel management into a strategically co-ordinated or 'integrated' set of policies and processes that improve organisational performance (Caldwell R. 2004). Where this has been achieved there is empirical evidence that organisational performance can improve (MacDuffie, 1995). Conversely, when HRM is unable to affirm its integrative ambition, it loses much of its significance as a distinctive approach to people management and becomes old-style personnel management: 'a collection of incidental techniques without much internal cohesion . . . a hodge podge' (Druker, 1961, quoted in Sisson, 1995: 87). Main Functions of HRM All the models of HRM, whether American or European, are based on the three basic functions of HRM which are Recruitment and Selection; Performance Evaluation/Management and Rewards Management & Career Growth. These are discussed in detail in the following text: Recruitment & Selection Human resources recruitment and selection decisions are widely regarded as some of the most important decisions made in organizations (Ferris et al 1999). Furthermore, a principal focus of staffing decisions is the employment interview, so it is appropriate to examine this decision-making tool with respect to influence and politics. Research has continued on how influence tactics in the employment interview affect interviewer decisions, following some of the suggestions for future research proposed by Ferris and Judge (1991). Kacmar, Delery, and Ferris (1992) conducted an investigation that was designed to assess the relative effectiveness of two types of influence tactics used by applicants on interviewer decisions. They found that interviewers gave higher ratings and recommendations for job offers to applicants who employed self-promotion tactics than those who used ingratiation-type tactics (Ferris et al 1999). To illustrate this further, in a carefully conducted investigation, Stevens and Kristof (1995) reported evidence of
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)