Black Subjectivity Debate Essay - 1156 Words

| | | REGINALD JONES | 9/30/2010 | | America can never hide its dirty secret, but they will toil continuously to conceal this. Slavery is indeed the most atrocious act in American history. Just stating the facts is horrible, and this so dearly infuriates me to say this, but humans was brutally forced into armadas and compelled to capitulate what little rights of life they actually had. Families were interspersed, religion was lost, native glots were cut, and most importantly their identity was deleted. By the same token, how does one rebound from something like this enslavement? Unfortunately, there was no rebound; Therefore, Negros’ cultural instability was unspontanious. That is, they were breed intentionally to be†¦show more content†¦Booker T. Washington’s opinion on social equality was flagrantly different than Dubois’s opinion. Booker T. Washington was a former slave, so naturally I feel he was a fairly passive individual, yet very intelligent. But in respect to social equality, Wash ington felt equality was superfluous. As Washington explains in Atlantic Exposition Address, that he was called to deliver on behave of the Negro race. Washington fosters: Casting down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these ground, and to education of the head, hand, and heart, you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your field and run your factories. While doing this, you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, lawabiding, and unresentful people that the world has seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sickbed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humbles ways, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in your defense†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress (Washington 596)Sh ow MoreRelatedThe Beauty Of The Beholder1198 Words   |  5 Pagesroom for debate, discussion, and consideration. In order to comprehend beauty in an objective form versus a subjective form, the difference between the two need clarification. Objective truths are based on facts pertaining to the physical and material world. Primary qualities for example, are objective. The size, shape, and motion of a substance remain true whether or not there is someone present to perceive these things. On the other hand, secondary qualities are subjective. Subjectivity requiresRead MoreI Will Debate My Middle1379 Words   |  6 PagesI hold the following position- Must Not, Must, Can. I will debate my middle â€Å"must† with a middle â€Å"must-not† position. In essence, this would be debating my middle â€Å"must† against the Friedman-ian point of view. Friedman and the supporter of his views argue that for all publically traded firms, CEOs are agents of the shareholder, and by virtue of them being in that role, their primary fiduciary responsibility is to watch the interest of the shareholders and maximize the returns to the shareholdersRead MoreAs Shown By The British Security Service Mi5 And The French858 Words   |  4 Pageshowever highly contested and at the heart of much debate and research with no universal definition recognized yet (Weinberg et al., 2004). 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The present day world w ith the constant cultural encounters and clashes as well as the ideas regarding pluralism and multiculturalism motivates a curiosity on the part of the onlooker to search the answer to the question who is who in todays world when there is a continuous struggle between different countries not only politically and militarily but also culturally. In this situation theRead MoreSwansea Love Story By Leo Leigh And Andy Capper931 Words   |  4 Pages As a species, humans have been getting high since the prehistoric age. Drugs have been with us for a long time. Whether drug use is for the greater good or worse has been a subject of debate for social and scientific communities ever since the disciplines came into existence. While drugs have advanced us a species, with modern medicines such as penicillin and the vaccine for polio, drugs, have also hindered us as well with issues such as drug wars and drug addictions. In the documentary Swansea

The Egyptian Cultural Heritage Program Essay - 1167 Words

Overview Fekri Hassan has an out-standing and expansive resume, he is a well accomplished archaeologist who has been the President of the Egyptian Cultural Heritage Organization, Director of the Cultural Heritage Program at the French University in Egypt, President of the International Water History Association and many more. (UCL Institute of Archaeology). Additionally, the time and length of Hassan’s career spans more then 30 years of experience in the field of archeology (UCL Institute of Archaeology). He began his career in 1963 as a teaching assistance in the department of geology in Cairo University in Egypt (UCL Institute of Archaeology). He went on to participate in many research projects and fieldwork from about 1968 until 2009 (UCL Institute of Archaeology). Furthermore, in 2011 Hassan was the editor-in-chief of the UNESCO benchmark reference series, History of Water and Civilization (UCL Institution of Archaeology). Hassan has been employed as a professor at the Washington State University, University College London, Uppsala University, University of Rome La Sapienza and many more (UCL Institute of Archaeology). In addition, he has been employed as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Holocene, Water policy: The Journal of the World Water Council, Adumatu and the Egyptian Literary Periodical (UCL Institute of Archaeology). Hassan is the emeritus Petrie Professor of Archaeology at one of the most respected centers ofShow MoreRelatedThe Nile River-Egypt1187 Words   |  5 Pagesthe most important water sources in the world and has an extremely rich history dating back thousands of years. Without the Nile, the ancient Egyptian civilization would have never existed. Egypt is basically a whole lot of sand and not much else, except they have the Nile River flowing through it, on it’s way to the Mediterranean sea. 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Did the wall street crash cause the great deppression Free Essays

In the commencing essay, I will be evaluating whether the Wall street crash caused the Great Depression or not. I will be discussing whether is has played a major part in the Great Depression, whether it was just a minor incident. The Wall Street Crash was a defining moment in the American economic history. We will write a custom essay sample on Did the wall street crash cause the great deppression? or any similar topic only for you Order Now It occurred on October 29, 1929. Before this, the American economy was booming. During the 1920’s, share prices were rapidly increasing and businesses were doing very well. The image the world received from America was that that everyone was rich, which wasn’t. The farmers were given very small amounts of money for their work. This meant that people had more money so more products were being sold. There was a lot of speculation that share prices would continue to rise. However, in 1929, the stock markets began to fall dramatically and caused devastating effects on the American economy. This was the beginning of long-lasting consequences for the whole country, and the world. The Great Depression was a long gradual period in which America suffered great economic depression, during which financial activity slowed down and unemployment was high. America had a high rate of starvation, homelessness and poverty. People were living in poor conditions with very little money. There were a few causes of the Wall street crash. One was overproduction. Throughout the 1920’s there was a man known as Henry Ford began to produce cars at an extremely rapid rate. The amount of goods produced by the industry was increasing especially these auto mobiles,l and consumer goods. However, this was stopped from the 1930’s. As a result of overproduction, there was not enough wealth for people to keep on buying. The second cause was the weakness in banks. At the start of 1920, there were 30,000 independent banks. Most of these were small banks, in rural areas. They were liable to being withdrawn loans by their customers in large amounts. 10 years later, 5000 banks were gone, which was 1/6th of the country’s banks. Another main reason was the extremely uneven distributions in income. In 1929, a staggering 1/3 of the country’s wealth belonged to just 5% of the population. Meaning that just 2/3 belonged to 95%. This was a factor of overproduction as limited amount of people in the country could afford new products. Probably the main reason why the Wall Street Crash happened was that there was an international problem with the economy. The ability of the European country’s being able to sell goods to America and helping them out with debts, was limited by a Tariff policy which was introduced. This policy (Smoot-Hawley Tariff) was increasing the tax on imports. As a result they were not helped and assured by European countries with trades. This Wall Street Crash impacted many things. As well as the economic downfall, it also caused banks to come to bankruptcy. People borrowed money from the banks, and when the Wall Street crash happened, they were unable to pay the banks back. More than $8.5 billion was loaned out, which is even more than the entire American economy. This great crash also affected the everyday lives of the American citizens. Over 20 million American citizens lived on $2000 per year. People lost their jobs because the business they worked for couldn’t afford their wages. So people began to work in the agriculture. Also, all businesses were struggling to survive in this crash. Share prices increased rapidly, and the businesses were unable to pay for their stock. This was a cycle which inflicted on each other, and each one started from the other. The Wall street Crash itself was not the sole reason of the Great Depression. There was very severe drought in the 1930 in the USA, which impacted America even more. If the farmers were unable to grow crops, how would they receive money, and feed their families? If the businesses do not receive the crops, how would they be able to keep receiving profits? As a result, these farmers had to sell their land. This was when famous author John Steinbeck wrote the book ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, which was based on this drought. Also, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff as mentioned above, was a vital part in this depression, as trades were limited. In conclusion about whether the Wall Street Crash caused the Great Depression, personally I believe that the Wall Street Crash was not the sole reason for the Great Depression, but was definitely the main reason. If there was no economic downfall, the Great Depression would not have happened. The Wall street crash opened doors for many different problems, such as bankruptcy. If the Wall street crash itself did not happen, these things would not have occurred. How to cite Did the wall street crash cause the great deppression?, Papers

Boundries of Artificial Intellegence Essay Example For Students

Boundries of Artificial Intellegence Essay Perhaps one of the most complex pieces to the human puzzle is our sense of humor. A sense of humor not only involves intelligence and comprehension but also an array of emotions. It is not enough to just understand something humorous, but it is also necessary that an emotional and physiological response be able to occur for a person to have a sense of humor. However, though there is much involved in getting a joke, there are even more factors involved in telling a joke(Ziv 27). This is, unfortunately, an oversimplified explanation of what a sense of humor entails, as many people have their own opinion about what a sense of humor is. It is possible that we may be able to measure the level of humor a joke has. It would seem that the greater the positive reaction a joke can evoke and the larger the amount of people it effects, the funnier a joke is. Conceivably then, it can be said that though it may not be all too difficult to create a joke, creating a really good joke requires much more capability. Now that there is some establishment of what a sense of humor is, the next question is, can a sense of humor be taught? To a human, perhaps it can be, but whether a good sense of humor can be taught to a computer is doubtful. Where our technology lies today there is little chance of computers replicating true human emotion(Beale 45). As our world simultaneously shrinks and expands through the growing abilities and applications of computers in our everyday lives, it seems that the role of the computer has been reversed. Before we knew that the computer only understood what we programmed it to understand; however, now the majority of our society is learning more from computers than they are able to input into it. As stated, it only seems that the roles are being reversed, because somewhere far down at the beginning of the line someone is programming the computer. However, a transition is occurring among computer programmers, as they attempt to create machines that learn rather than machines that must be programmed. It has become the hope of many engineers that the mechanisms of human thought could be precisely modeled and simulated on a computer. This is known as Artificial Intelligence(Artificial 3). Artificial Intelligence, or AI, since its conception, has grown from a dozen researchers, to thousands of engineers and specialists; from programs capable of playing checkers, to systems designed to diagnose disease(Dumm 4). With all that the computer is learning now a new question arises: How long before a computer can learn to understand and execute the attributes of a good sense of humor? It is believed that the theory of AI has existed long before recorded, but was not made conceivable until the invention of the electronic computer in 1941(Dreyfus 6). Since then many scientists and engineers have been working on a way to make the computer more human. Once it was noticed that the computer could perform simple tasks such as mathematical problems and memory recall much faster than humans the idea began that they should become more like us(Beale 2). However after almost sixty years scientists have still not been able to create AI in the sense that they had hoped. Even the Intelligence that they have given computers, which at the time was considered a triumph in reaching towards AI, is no longer considered valid(Kurzweil 14-16). This includes such simple machines as intelligent chess boards and other programs for elementary games. In the mid 1960s, however, Marvin Minsky created and interactive computer program that many believed to be Artificial Intelligence. Though Minsky was even doubtful of his achievement another scientist, Joseph Weizenbaum, quickly stepped forward with an even stronger representation of AI. This new program was called Eliza and was able to imitate a nondirective therapist. This form of AI was extremely believable to those who tested it, but Weizenbaum promptly explained the simplicity of his program. He then pointed out the directions and commands the program used to fake comprehension(Dreyfuss 69-72). Weizenbaum proved through his contest that both his and Minskys programs were little more .

Command and control style of management

Introduction The Command and control management method usually takes the form of a military management style. A manager- employee relationship is a mutual agreement whereby it should always be a â€Å"win- win† situation between the two parties (Linstead, Lilley, Fulop, 2009, p21).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Command and control style of management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When a manager assumes an unwarranted- commanding or authoritative stance with a junior employee, the subordinate staffs feels less respected and appreciated, and will acquire a reduced desire and self- confidence to contribute. Consequently, bottom- top communication will be reduced. This consequently reduces the manager’s capacity of making sound decisions, judgments and policies to the level of demeaning their perceptiveness to competency. Human beings work harder when they possess intrinsic motivation. This means that motivation comes when employees feel they are influencing organizational performance and decisions positively (Northouse, 2007, p12). The command and control style of management operates using intrinsic motivators that lean towards authority, threats, and monetary incentives. These motivations modes substitute employees’ intrinsic and natural motivation. A style of management that endows employees with a sense of ownership of their tools, methods, and results, as well as a good feeling of collaborating with and assisting fellow stakeholder (customers, co-workers, and suppliers) is a source of intrinsic motivation (Northouse, 2007, p13). Employees perform better because they enjoy how collaborative achievement makes them feel, as well as feeling appreciated and valuable. This line of thought is known as the â€Å"psychological pay† principle. Command and control or top- down management style takes the appreciative feeling from them.Advertising Looking for essa y on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Research has reflected that individuals put more effort in undertaking tasks for people they respect, and possibly like. A manager ought to understand that the employees in the lower levels, who carry out all the manual labor, normally have a clearer perspective of the organization’s problems and challenges better than they can (Graetz, 2006, p26). A manager who has this fact in mind can obtain the employees’ efforts and support more effectively and easily in comparison to a â€Å"commander† with a mindset that he or she knows better than their junior employees can. This attitude and belief distances subordinates and mislays their respect, loyalty, and input. Worse enough, it may push them to undercut and sabotage the organization’s performance in mild ad mysterious ways, though unacceptable, just in their urge to revenge. Employees work in a dedi cated manner when they are not working under any threat. Some â€Å"commander† managers use mild threats to accomplish tasks (Northouse, 2007, p36). This may place employees in a condition where they do not foresee success. This can significantly kill an employee’s morale and work output. In addition, it does not only demotivate the employee affected, but also, for Co-workers who view the happenings, as they will dread facing the same predicament themselves. Employees actively and indirectly look down at a manger that they suspect or observe that he disrespects them and abusive (Graetz, 2006, p29). This will drastically reduce their work output, as they would be demotivated to work with the manager. Furthermore, it also results to employee turnover especially of the productive and experienced to other organizations within the industry, causing more damage to the organization. Unavoidably, once a manager acquires a negative image, it may consume much time and effort to reverse the perspective and employee attitudes towards the manager.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Command and control style of management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, a manager should put in mind that it could take a minute to damage self-image, and take years to mend the damaged image. Thus, disrespect subjected to a subordinate employee, even in private, poses an immense threat to a manger’s career. The risk of achieving a negative image is augmented for managers since; their subordinates look up to them for guidance, and they require them to be well positioned to accomplish tasks effectively and efficiently (Linstead, Lilley, Fulop, 2009, p42). In order to be successful in their roles and duties, managers are supposed to maintain a reciprocally affirmative and positive association with their employees. Command and Control Style of Leadership Assumptions First, there is the â€Å"divi de and rule† concept, which focuses on dividing the organizational staff into two clusters: those giving direction and those following the direction (Northouse, 2007, p58). Secondly, another assumption is that the role of managers is to give employees instructions on how to undertake tasks, and the role of employees is to undertake the tasks directed to them. The third assumption is that the style values obedience and loyalty. The other assumption is that the style has the right to take an arbitrator role. The fifth assumption is that it gives significance to titles, assuming that with title brings about rank and privilege. Lastly, it assumes that titles bring about deference; this is belief that employee with minor titles will contradict those with major titles, and title alone is adequate to warrant the deference.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Characteristics Shared by Managers Whose Mannerisms Match the Command and Control Assumptions They make vital decisions individually within the department; thus, managers should be obeyed, as they reveal a representation of infallibility (Linstead, Lilley, Fulop, 2009, p61). In addition, the managers play favorites, and are the only distributors of sanctions and rewards, which are dispensed according to the manager’s pleasure or displeasure. Main Problems of Command and Control The command and control style aims at acquiring information to feed into the process of decision- making, though the employees in the lower level of the organizational hierarchy are only asked to supply raw data, and not required to suggest a course of action, since that role is left for command (Northouse, 2007, p64). The employees in the lower hierarchy level are thus informed on the local situation, and not about the wider picture, from which they are barred. The managers fear that if the minor emp loyees were aware of the wider perspective, this might alter their analysis of their direct environment. Secondly, the decisions of the commander depend on the second- hand or third- hand information. In spite of the fact that the leader or manager has his eyes on the wide picture, there are high chances that the commander may be misinformed on the vital facts on the ground (Northouse, 2007, p58). Another problem is that, it takes long before information made at the top management level is transmitted down the chain of command. The last serious problem is that command and control depends on a single individual’s judgment, that is, the commander. Thus, the possibility of success and failure depends on a single individual’s decision- making expertise and skills. There is a modern model of leadership style that has emerged. According to this mode, the management and control of modern organizations requires a higher level of consultation, collaboration, and employee empowe rment (Linstead, Lilley, Fulop, 2009, p66). The decision- making process ought to be brought nearer to the consumer and leaders have to support input and innovative ideas from the entire organization. The new model supports consultation such that contemporary managers and leaders are required to undertake continuous consultations with the entire organization (Graetz, 2006, p38). The consultations must result to a consensus prior to implementation of key policies. An organization that constantly seizes the opportunity to combat probable issues and challenges, which ensue from a new plan, has a higher chance of successfully implementing its plan. The success arises from the fact that the plan is not imposed on the employees, but rather they have imposed. A further pillar of the model is empowerment. Organizational managers and team leaders ought to be allowed enough space in choosing the best course of action within the entire strategy (Graetz, 2006, p42). Contemporary managers and l eaders ought to issue their teams the direction and goals, and then trust them to undertake quality verdicts for themselves. The contemporary leadership style also aims at shifting the decisions nearer to the consumer. In numerous organizations, the teams nearest to the consumer are best positioned to identify their needs (Northouse, 2007, p67). Contemporary leaders should set up systems to assure the requirements of all stakeholders are heard and involved in decision- making process in a sequential and structural way, as well as empower them to undertake fast and effective decisions. An additional pillar of the contemporary model is tapping organizational intelligence. The entire organization is more knowledgeable than the leadership and is an enormous resource of ideas and energy (Northouse, 2007, p58). Some contemporary organizations permit employees to influence the organizational direction by exhibiting their preference for various projects. Other organizations reward and encou rage entrepreneurial ideas from any stakeholder, and develop small ad hoc committees to explore and these ideas. The other leadership style is the achievement related style. This mainly entails instilling an inspiring purpose (Graetz, 2006, p56). A major source of enthusiasm and self- drive is a credible, clear and stimulating organizational function. This purpose is a â€Å"reason for existence† which in turn, interprets into a â€Å"purpose for being there†, which by far surpasses monetary gain. Every manager ought to underline precisely a strong reason for his unit. The purpose statement is impressive mainly because it was originated from a small company away from the attention of executives and professional wordsmith. In this style, the leader gives recognition to employees. Managers should ensure that all contributions made by employees are recognized, be they small or large. Workers have clearly stated repeatedly how much they treasure a compliment (Graetz, 2006, p59). However, the same employees are also apprehensive and distressed when the managers do not make an effort to express gratitude to them for a well-done job but are swift to condemn them for making mistakes. Instead of leaving employees contented, recognition augments their achievements, and pushing them to accomplish more. Moreover, another pillar of this style is communicating fully. Information in an organization ought not to be distributed based on â€Å"need to know†. This is normally a method of entirely, destructively, and unnecessarily, limiting information flow in an organization (Graetz, 2006, p62). Inadequate employee communication channels are one of the greatest causes of employee negative attitudes. Very few barriers should be placed in the organizational information flow in order to enhance employee morale and respect for the organization and senior managers. Follow- up on employees should be undertaken to ensure that they have clearly understood the messag e. One more aspect of this style is promoting teamwork. Most tasks require teamwork for effective accomplishment. Research has revealed that quality of group efforts in problem solving out passes the quality of work by individuals working separately. Thus, teamwork boosts employee motivation (Northouse, 2007, p70). Managers should group employees into self- managed teams handling matters such as scheduling, quality control, and costing. Such teams only demand little management efforts resulting to a favorable decline in management costs and layers. A manager requires undertaking careful assessment of the best combination of team players (Northouse, 2007, p71). Meanwhile, it is vital to develop an opportunity for cross- learning and variation of methods, ideas, and approaches. The manager should clearly inform the newly developed team of their role, the mode of its operations, and the organization’s expectations from them. Conclusion It has posed to be a complex task for the m anagement team to develop management systems that effectively encompass these principles. However, modern organizations are forced to drift towards that direction. The modern- day highly- knowledgeable and movable knowledge- workers cannot tolerate a ‘production line’ working approach. They continuously anticipate being asked for their contributions. A leader who is not tapping all the knowledge, skills, and experience of his or her Co-workers is wasting numerous talents, as well as failing to encompass employees in a combined effort to develop a high- performing and successful organization. Reference List Graetz, F. 2006. Managing organizational change. Milton: John Wiley Sons Australia. Linstead, S., Lilley, S., Fulop, L. 2009. Management and organization: a critical text. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Northouse, P. G. 2007. Leadership: theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. This essay on Command and control style of management was written and submitted by user Jerome Gamble to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Cutomer Relationship Management Negative Experience Essay Example

Cutomer Relationship Management Negative Experience Essay Example Cutomer Relationship Management Negative Experience Essay Cutomer Relationship Management Negative Experience Essay Timid Shopping Centre branch. The whole series of unhappy episode started from 2011 June. My wife was expected to due for delivery in September. We had discussed and decided we should get a domestic helper since I am working and both our parents were unable to help due to their work commitments. We started looking for maid agencies through walk-Len and feedbacks from friends and colleagues. There are few basic considerations before we decide which agency to enquire from. We hope to get helper who came from Manner. Reason being, mostly Indonesian and Philippine helper tend to bargain for more freedom and welfare even it was already minimally met by employer. The feedbacks on them were negative. They are not working focus, like to talk on phone with friends even not during their resting hours. Tendency to cut short house chores by doing the minimum or sometime do on the call-upon basis. They must have past experiences working as maid. Able to communicate In English and lastly able to take care of children with caring and patience attitude. Finally we decided to enquire from Prefect Team as they are specialized in employing Manner domestic helpers and they had the most bio-data compare to other agencies. My first visit to their branch was an unpleasant one. Although my first impression on the office layout was good due to the cleanliness and organized. It was a Saturday morning when I and my wife visited them and there were many other customers. I realized there were two unoccupied chairs hence we sat down and hopefully the staff will attend to us soon. Soon enough one of the female staff attended to us. After knowing our intent, she left us with an application form and two bio-data albums to browse. After 1 miss I realized the office was left with me and my wife sitting at the counter and there were only two staffs at the front desk. Episode 1 One of the staff was talking on the phone but I was pretty sure she was not discussing anything about work. She was talking happily on her upcoming holiday trip to Taiwan. The other staff who Just step out went to get lunch since It was near to lunch time. I was not too happy with the staff who was talking on the phone, her name was April. It was quite obvious we are still in the shop and instead of attending to us, she continued talking on the phone on her personal stuff. It has passed minis and I couldnt wait anymore thus made the initiative to signal her for attention. She reluctantly put down the phone and walked over. I think she was not happy that I Interrupted her conversation. I told her I had been browsing through the album for the past minis and no staff attended to me. She replied saying because I was previously attended by her other colleague who went out to buy lunch so she thought I would want to wait for her service. I do not wish to persuade the matter so I ask her to assist us in our request. Episode 2 After April acknowledged our terms of request, we had selected one of the helper named Nana. I wanted to know If the bio-data provided by the agency correspond was at the maid training centre back at her homeland. April said the interview could only be done during weekdays as she said the training centre at Manner does not operate in weekend. She also mentioned we can come over again during office hour and she will assist us in making the interview. Hence we made an appointment with her at Monday pm. On the following Monday, me and my wife deliberately took time off to visit the agency. I reminded the agency and saying I will be coming over at pm so hoping April could prepare the interview with Nana. At pm, we were guided by April into a small room. She started dialing the maid training centre at Manner but the line was disengaged. She attempted many times but to no vain. She told us to wait and she will check with her Assistance Manager. She returned after a short while and the first thing she does was to apologies. She said the line at Manner was down due to the overwhelmed riot caused between local Buddhist and Muslim residents. I was furious. I told her she should have done her ground check prior before our appointment. Such thing could have avoided and we would not have wasted our time coming to her office. She said now the only way is to wait for the fixed line to resume operation. She added by saying she will fix another appointment again once the line is up. My wife quickly accepted her apology and pull me out from the room to avoid further argument. Episode 3 After interviewing Nana on my third visit to the agency, we decided to employ her. Our last request before making the deposit was that the helper have to arrive by end of July. The reason was, my wife wanted to impart some knowledge on how to take care of baby so she can assist her during maternity period. April confidently said no robber since the maid was housed at training centre and there was no problem with her passport documents. Just one week before end of July, I called the agency to confirm on the arrival date of the helper. April told me Nana did not pass the first medical check-up and now they are waiting for the second check-up result in 2 weeks time. I was too frustrated to accept any apology and explanation gave by her. I told her I demand a refund of deposit if the maid did not arrive on 31 July and I hung up the phone. Episode 4 After discussing with my wife, I decided not to persuade on the late arrival of my helper. Since we have already paid the deposit and she was only going to be late for 1 week, it is really not worth the trouble to look for another maid from other agency. On 5 August, April called me and said Nana will arrive tomorrow so we will need to make the full payment. Nana started working the next day and my wife started to teach her how to prepare confinement food. I was surprised 2 months later, Nana told my wife she wanted to go back Manner as she missed her 4 years old daughter. I immediately called the agency and April told me she was busy and she will return my call later. In the end, nobody call back from agency. I called again the ext day. I told April I would want a replacement since Nana had no more interest in working for us. She suggested that I should try to talk to her and convinced her to continue work. She even have the cheek to ask if I had given her too much work to do. I was furious and demand a replacement. She said the next replacement will only arrive 3 weeks later. I was even fuming by the reply and thinking why such thing could have happened to me. Instead of waiting for the replacement, I decided to ask she Just need a phone to call back home at night and chat with her daughter as she had never left her daughter for so long since she was born. She even said she has no problem with the chores and taking care of my daughter. Therefore I decided to continue employ her till now. 2. Application of FIVE Customer Relationship Management concepts I. Customer-First Culture Customer-first culture forms a good understanding and proactive strategy around customer experience. This allow the customers to connect and engage with each other at any stage of their Journey. Pertaining to my encounter, April should attend to me since I am the only customer left in the office at that moment. Though she knew her colleague who had went out to buy lunch was the one who did the first serving. She should attend to me first and not chatting on the phone discussing on her personal issue. She should at least attempt to come forward and ask if we require any assistance on the bio-data. Source: The Water Cooler Building a Customer-First Culture And Lobed, Managing Director of Client Development Root Inc. It. Going the Extra Mile Extra-mile service is service that goes beyond customers expectations. The extra-mile mind-set involves proactively looking for opportunities to surprise and delight customers. When we go the extra-miles the customers feel special. We do not get a hence to go the extra-mile with every customer, but when it does happen, it can be a lot of achievement to really make someone say wow. For my instance, April knew we had an appointment for interviewing Nana at pm. She should at least call up the training center at Manner to ensure that Nana is available for interview and the telephone line is clear for conversation. What she did was the minimum expectation, by bringing us to a small room and start dialing training center at Manner. Then to realize the line was down due to riot. This resulted in wasting our time as we took time-off for this interview. Source: Customer Service Fundamentals Going the Extra Mile Jeff Sister. Iii. Meeting Customers Expectation To provide good customer service, you need to understand who your customers are and what they want in order to fulfill their needs. Gather as much information from your customers as possible. Try to find out what your customers are buying and why they are buying. When trying to understand their needs, it may be useful to know their concerns or situations as to tailor to meet their needs. I had mentioned to April on why I need the helper by end of July. It was for my wife to impart her some knowledge of babysitting so she can help my wife during maternity period. She was expected to due in September. In the end, Nana could not arrive in time as what April promised. She has failed to meet my expectation on my request. To make matter worse, I was not being informed in advance till I called the agency one week prior before her expected arrival. She should had informed me earlier, in the interim I would try to work something out during her absence. Alternatively, she can discuss with me to work something out like getting another helper who meet my requirements. Source: Business and Industry Portal Customer Service Meeting Customers Expectation Queensland Government. v. After Sales Service After sales service refers to various processes which make sure customers are satisfied with the products or services of the organization. The needs and demands current scenario, positive word of mouth plays an important role in promoting the company. After 2 months, Nana wanted to return Manner because she missed her daughter. When I informed April on this matter, her instant reply was to suggest I do the talking and try to convince her to stay. She immediately push back the problem to me and expect me to self-handle. She even added on by asking if I had given her too such chores and less freedom. Being the agency who I engaged the service from, she should take up this matter and do the initial talk to Nana and try to find out the reason behind. If nothing can salvage the situation, April can alternatively look into other branch for temporary replacement since she knew my wife is currently in maternity period. Instead of doing so, she expect me to wait for three weeks for the next replacement. Source: Customer Relationship Management After Sales Service Management Study Guide (MS) v. The Importance of Empathy Empathy is an important component of customer service from the heart. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in anothers shoes and walk a mile. It is the ability to imagine what it might be like to experience what the other person is. This kind of service has positive effects on the bottom line of the companies that model, train and encourage their employees in service from the heart. Companies that truly care for their customers are generally more profitable than those that do not. It was pretty obvious that April had failed to serve me with empathy since our first encounter to the moment the deal was closed. She knew that I need a helper to assist my wife urine her maternity period and I need her to start work in August so my wife could impart some babysitting knowledge to her. Knowing the importance of my request and yet she did not try to put herself in my shoe to facilitate me. Along the way, April faced some problem with my helper but she did not informed or discussed with me. She should at least show some empathy to my case by valuing my suggestions or opinions. This could also reduce some tension and anger from my dissatisfaction. Source: K R Consulting Customer Service from the Heart The Importance of Empathy. Kristin Robertson, KERR Consulting, Inc. September, 2004

Springdale Health Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Springdale Health - Research Paper Example The apprehension or the uncertainty affects the motivation of each of the employees of both companies. It should be noted that the acquisition is also an opportunity for Springdale to assess its own organization to determine if their current pool of talents is already the best in the industry. It is also an opportunity for Springdale to learn new and better ways of handling operations. The similarity in the operation of the both Springdale and St Mary could be an opportunity for Springdale to learn from the current resources of St. Mary the best possible practice for a more efficient operation. In the same manner that it is also an opportunity to learn new and better ways of resolving issues if not fresh strategies for their operations. However, there are several legal aspects that needs to be resolved first if not legal processes that needs to be adhered to before an actual movement and changes in the roster of personnel can be affected by Springdale. The collective psychological ce nter of all the employees should also be taken into consideration to ensure that any apprehension originating from the employees because of the merger will not affect the operation. A comprehensive plan that will take into consideration the legal aspect and operational imperatives of Springdale will be described in the next couple of pages. Discussion The following solutions will not only tackle the legal aspect of the immersion into Springdale of St. Mary’s staff but its acculturation as well. In merging the operation of two entities that has the same operation it is imperative to maximize the possible benefit that Springdale can get from the deal. In terms of operational strategies it is prudent to know the current efficiency, effectiveness and quality of both the companies for each department. Surveying the processes of each of the departments from each company to come up with the best possible permutation of processes that works to come up with the best possible strategy and process will be the onus of any process improvement targets by Springdale. Evaluating the performance and qualification of the personnel from each company will enable Springdale to determine who amongst the Springdale and St Mary’s roster of employee has been a consistent top performer. To erase any apprehension from the staff especially for the effective staffs that will be retained a good communication strategy will have to be devised to ensure that proper communication of the intent and desire of the management is conducted. The legal aspect of any personnel action will have to abide with the affirmative action (The President of the United States, 1965) executive order of President John F. Kennedy which was later modified by Lyndon B. Johnson. Any action directly affecting the employess will also have to abide by the Labor Laws of the United States that would include the National Labor Relations Act or the Wagner Act (United States Senate, 1935). Other pertinent laws p rotecting the rights of the employees that will be laid off should be protected therfore all pertinent procedures should be adhered to. Diversity Workplace diversity is a personnel integration and management issue that focuses on the differences and similarities that people contribute to the organization (Bormann, Schmidle, & Miller, 2010). It is usually explained broadly to

The Attributes that makes the Best Corporations Essay

The Attributes that makes the Best Corporations - Essay Example Managers are people who get the work done through other people. Managers use their conceptual, human, and technical skills to perform four management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling in all organizations - large and small, manufacturing and service, profit and non-for-profit. But not all managers' job is the same. Managers are responsible for different departments, work at different levels in the hierarchy, and meet different requirements for achieving high performance. All managers must contribute to planning, organizing, leading, and controlling in their organizations - but in different amounts and ways. Top managers are at the top of the hierarchy and are responsible for the entire organization. They have such titles as president, chairperson, executive director, chief executive officer (CEO), and executive vice-president. Top managers are responsible for setting organizational goals, defining strategies for achieving them, monitoring and interpreting the external environment, and making decisions that affect the entire organization. They look to the long-term future and concern themselves with general environmental trends and the organization's overall success. Among the most important responsibilities for top managers are communicating a shared vision for the organization, shaping corporate culture, and nurturing an entrepreneurial spirit that can help the company keep pace with rapid change. Today more than ever before, top managers must engage the unique knowledge, skills, and capabilities of each employee. Middle managers work at middle levels of the organization and are responsible for business units and major departments. Examples of middle managers are department head, division head, manager of quality control, and director of the research lab. Middle managers typically have two or more management levels beneath them. They are responsible for implementation the overall strategies and policies defined by top managers. Middle managers are concerned with the near future, are expected to establish good relationships with peers around the organization, encourage teamwork, and resolve conflicts. Recent trends in corporate restructuring and downsizing have made the middle manager's job difficult. Many companies have become lean and efficient by laying off middle managers and by slashing middle management levels. Traditional pyramidal organization charts are flattening, allowing information to flow quickly from top to bottom and decisions to he made with the greater speed necessary in today's highly competitive global marketplace. Nowadays there is a tendency of middle management shrinking. For example, Eastman Kodak recently cut middle management by 30 percent and reduced its middle management levels from seven to three. The Medical Systems Group at General Electric cut middle management by 33 percent. These cuts have improved the efficiency and performance of many corporations via improved responsiveness to customers, speed in new product development, and increased profits. The decline in middle management and the simultaneous improvement in corporate efficiency are

Single European Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Single European Market - Essay Example Single European Market The Single Market is the European variant of the answer to the economic and technological challenges of the twenty first century and a basis for successful monetary and political integration. As a matter of fact the European Union has reached more than all the other integration groupings. Some of such groupings consider the European model as an example for imitation. Mutual opening of markets is not an easy task even for the safe and economically developed Europe. The idea to create a space without internal borders, comparable in the sizes with the USA market, has come more than fifty more years ago. And perhaps only the first step was rather unproblematic for the countries of the European community: the European Customs Union has been constructed in 1968 even before the planned term. But then they have to wait for almost twenty years for preconditions of completion of the Single Market formation. In 1985 the European Commission under the direction of Jacques Delors has issued the White Paper, a plan of elimination of internal protectionist barriers (physical, technical and tax) on the way of free movement of the goods, services, capitals and people. Proposals of the White Paper have turned out in the development of 282 regulations and directives, most of which has been accepted by December, 31st, 1992, that is to the official date of the Single Market formation completion. ... But the basis, which has been constructed, represented only a good skeleton for so-called "four freedoms". Construction of the Single Market proceeded. The EU institutions consistently revealed and eliminated loopholes in the national law and practice doing all possible to prevent any opportunity of state and corporate protectionism. Today the Single Market is already governed by more than 1500 directives and 400 regulations. The EU law-making has concerned with the newest goods and services, which mass distribution could not been predicted in 1980s. And it seems like there's no bottom to it. Most likely the construction of the Single Market will be conducted without a breach of continuity. While one set of tasks moves forward, the other one even more complex will certainly appear. According to the official reports (EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 2004) of the beginning of the decade, positive influence of the Single Market on economy of the member-states began to fade on a number of parameters. Therefore the fifth, the most arrogant expansion of the European Union of 2004 has been called to recover dynamics of economic parameters. And indeed in the process of the Single Market expansion on the East export-import opportunities of the EU were strengthened. For the period of 1992 -2005 the parameter of foreign trade has increased from 6.9 per cent up to 12.3 per cent of cumulative gross domestic product (GDP). Realization of the other project, the economic and currency union has made the freedom of movement of capitals full-fledged. Owing to active lawmaking during last seven years the price of trans-boundary transfers has fallen from 17 - 25 euro for each one hundred up to 2.5

The takeover of HBOS

The takeover of HBOS Introduction Mergers and acquisitions have become the most frequently used methods of growth for companies in the twenty first century. Nowadays the information about mergers and acquisitions (MA) can be seen every day in newspapers, internet, television MA can suddenly become a hot topic at anyones workplace because their company is going to merge with another. There are many sides to an MA transaction strategic, legal, financial, and technological to getting a deal done. One very important element to every deal is the human element, this should always be kept in mind. We are going to evaluate the challenges faced by the management of the new organisation in terms of Human Resource Management (HRM) with reference to the recent takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) by Lloyds TSB in September 2008. The evaluation will include the role of HRM in analyzing the Lloyds TSBs decision to make a takeover bid for HBOS, how this analysis related to Culture, Conflict and Change within the organisatio n and possible dilemmas facing Lloyds TSBs stakeholders. Background and purpose of the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB Background On 17 September 2008, very shortly after the demise of Lehman Brothers, HBOSs share price suffered wild fluctuations between 88p and 220p per share, which lost almost half its market value in the week, despite the Financial Services Authoritys assurances as to its liquidity and exposure to the wider credit crunch. However, on 18 September 2008 the terms of the recommended offer for HBOS by Lloyds TSB were announced. The two lenders also revealed plans to raise a combined  £17 billion under a government-funded recapitalisation programme aimed at strengthening the UK banking sectors capital reserves. The government backed the deal using a special national interest clause on the grounds that a collapse of HBOS would have had a disastrous impact on the UK. On 16 January 2009 the Lloyds TSB acquisition of HBOS was completed following final court approval and Lloyds TSB was renamed Lloyds Banking Group plc. Purpose of the takeover: The proposed acquisition of HBOS would combine two powerful financial institutions, and would be another significant and positive step on our journey to provide substantial benefits and value for customers and shareholders alike. Challenges faced by HRM in MA Organisational Behaviour Model Due to the resulting pressure for the MA to succeed, the management of the new organisation is forced to find new strategies as well as evaluate the additional challenges faced. To answer the question of how well the management performed during the integrating activity, it is useful to look at internal factors using the McKinsey 7-S framework. This framework was developed in the early 1980s by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman. The basic premise of the model is that there is a framework which maps a constellation of interrelated factors that influence an organisations ability to change. The McKinsey 7-S model involves seven interdependent factors which are categorized as either hard or soft elements: Hard elements are easier to define or identify and management can directly influence them: these are strategy statements; organisation charts and reporting lines; and formal processes and IT systems. Soft elements, on the other hand, can be more difficult to describe, they are less tangible and more specifically related to HRM. These soft elements are as important as the hard elements. A conservative estimate is that roughly 10% of people at work at any one time are directly affected by transformations of this sort. Moreover, another 30% are closely related to those experiencing combination-related tensions and trauma (Buono and Bowditch, 2003). These figures show how the critical challenges faced by management in every MA relate specifically to HRM. The company that effectively addresses people-related issues up front and throughout integration will have a better chance of succeeding and gaining the competitive advantage it seeks. The challenges faced by management in term of HRM in MA. The HRM issues in the MA can be classified in two phases; the pre-MA phase and the post MA phase. HRM should be involved from the beginning and throughout all stages of the MA process. Due diligence is important in the first phase while integration issues take the front seat in the later phase, including: Cultural clashes: Each organisation has a different set of beliefs and value systems. The exposure to a new culture during the MA leads to a psychological state called culture shock. Dissimilar cultures can produce feelings of hostility and significant discomfort which can lower the commitment and cooperation on the part of the employees, therefore post-merger cultural clashes are often blamed for disappointing MA outcomes. According to Anders Spilling and Jarle Hà ¸ien, managers in BearingPoints Business Strategy and Transformation pratice, there are five areas of cultural conflict: Leadership: every companys leadership style can seem unique. When post-MA senior leaders sitting at the same table motivate their staffs and resolve conflicts in diverse ways the resulting friction often creates additional risks. Examples of these risks could be a lack of commitment to new company goals or a high level of turnover among key employee groups. Governance: effective corporate governance requires much more than a system to protect stakeholder interests. It must encompass the way decisions are made in each part of the company and across organisations. One problem that usually arises is the debate over whether the new organisation should adopt one merger partners governance model or define a different model. Communication: Attitudes about confidentiality, preferences for formal versus informal channels and the frequency of communications may all come into play. By anticipating these risks well in advance, the acquiring companys leadership can develop communication tactics that best support the merger objectives. Business process: most companies have distinct ways of developing, updating and enforcing core business processes which must be understood and respected during the integration phase. If changes in core business processes are not deliberately and systemically thought through during the integration phase, organisations face the risk of internal breakdowns and failures in delivery of products and services to customers. Performance management and reward systems: new organisation should include efforts to harmonize performance standards and compensation systems where possible, while explaining important differences when necessary. Newly merged companies must help employees understand that their different recognition and reward systems are fair, even if not always uniform across the organisation. Because cultural change involves both hard and soft issues, HRM considerations will include visible manifestations such as key performance indicators, communication styles, employee interaction, as well as less tangible corporate values and assumptions about how a company does business, such as how leaders drive and assess results and new organisation governance model These findings have important implications for how organisations can anticipate post-merger cultural clashes and tailor leadership programs to address their underlying roots, ultimately enhancing merger success rates. Uncertainty job security: The MA leads to duplication of certain departments, bring about the excess manpower and downsizing is, unfortunately, an inherent result. Hence talking about MA, the first set of thoughts that occur in the minds of employees are related to security of their jobs, changes in designation, career path, working in new departments and fear of working with new teams. The MA also changes future opportunities for the employees in the organisation. Some employees also have to be relocated or assigned new jobs. This may have an impact on the performance of the employees and cause the organisation to lose some talent. The enormous challenges posed by an MA to the HRM are keeping all employees informed of all crucial decisions as well as enhancing effective two-way communication by involving line managers; ensuring an equitable and fair treatment of employees and in case of lay-offs, HRM should offer outplacement services and fair severance packages. All these efforts from HRM can help build trust, quell the rumour mill, relieve anxiety, focus people on the business and its possibilities and lessen productivity loss. Inability to manage changes: Often there are rapid changes in the business environment after MA. Internally HRM will manage a bigger work force, externally HRMs industrial relations will be extended The role of HRM is to quickly develop a HR plan to lead the process for helping the company to achieve the synergies it needs. The HRM must fully be prepared for the significant role they will play throughout the MA process. The issues faced by HR professionals when supporting the MA are extremely demanding they require the creation of a single unified organisation with a clear purpose and set of values from two groups of people with different cultures. HRM should continuously update their knowledge and skills in managing, controlling and monitoring the enlarged workforce, HRM need the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, acknowledge the problems when they arise, improving communications skills, create training programme, explain new roles to employees, implement stress reduction programmes and orientation pro grammes, help post merger team building and feedback helpline for employees. The issues faced by HR during MA deals are enormous, yet it is clear that the key to the success of an MA is the management of people. By identifying the common challenges and finding solutions which work for the new organisation. The value of HRM in the MA should be realised early enough to enhance the chances of a successful deal. Analysing Lloyds TSBs decision in making a takeover bid for HBOS. Issues related to Culture, Conflict and Change: The theory mentioned above regarding issues related to organisation development in term of culture, conflict and change applied very closely to the general challenges faced by the new Lloyds TSB organisation in the post-takeover period. Culture The basis of corporate culture is shared values. These values must be stated as both corporate objectives and individual values, explicit or implicit fundamental beliefs, concepts, and principles that underlie the culture of an organisation. Lloyds TSB and HBOS were two of the UKs leading financial services companies, they have some similarities in organisational structure. According to Charles Handy (1985), who popularized the work of Roger Harrison (1972), has linked organisational structure to organisational culture, both Lloyds TSB and HBOS have Role culture in where people have clearly delegated authorities within a highly defined structure. Power derives from a persons position and little scope exists for expert power. Lloyds TSB and HBOS rest on the strength of strong organisational pillars-the functions of specialists, for example, customer advisors, banking advisors, personal financial advisors On closer inspection, each of them will have its own unique culture, and like most large businesses are likely to be something of a mix of culture and even, each branch, or division has its own culture. From table 1- Soft elements by McKinsey 7-S framework in Lloyds TSB and HBOS, while Lloyds TSB creates an exciting place to work with a lively and fun atmosphere, they affirmed on their website that they have a work hard, play hard culture. HBOS seems to have a more formal working environment with very professional attitude in their approach to work, results-driven, always looking for more ways to move forward and over-achieve. About leadership style, Lloyds TSB built a feedback and coaching culture with regular appraisals twice annually based on Key Performance Indicator system with hierarchy structure. HBOS employed a non-hierarchical culture where everyone was treated equally, fairly. The communication system in Lloyds and HBOS followed these styles as well, hierarchy and non-hierarchy respectively. I dont think these differences in leadership style and communication system were sufficiently considered in the takeover decision. Governance model of Lloyds and HBOS were almost the same, the core purpose was to make it better for their staff, customers and to maximise shareholders value over time. Both groups were led by a board comprising executive and non-executive directorswith wide experience.The roles of the chairman,the group chief executiveandthe boardand its governance arrangements, including the schedule of matters specifically reserved to the board for decision, were reviewed annually. Lloyds and HBOS had very different ways of doing business. Lloyds was very conservative, largely a consumer bank. HBOS was aggressively following the high risk business model, HBOS transformed their traditional banking activities into global trading and speculative operations with little oversight and policing. Although the way of doing business is very important in choosing a strategy for the organisation, the unexpected result of HBOSs strategy and the dominance of Lloyds in the takeover meant that the new merger organisation did not take time to affirm which business model should be followed, therefore this aspect was not critical in the decision making of the takeover. The performance management and reward systems: The Lloyds performance approach includes objective setting using a balanced scorecard, Lloyds has regular performance reviews with competitive remuneration package. HBOS has results-driven rewards, always looking for more ways to move forward and increase achievements. The salary they received is only the beginning because for every role there was a tailor-made total rewards package which was based around three key areas: Performance, Flexibility and Choice. Furthermore, remuneration package for each role, contributory pension scheme, share-save and share-plan schemes, numbers of holidays. are hard to match between the two organisations. These differences of culture will involve much due diligence to identify implicit as well as explicit issues and will require time to build up a proper plan for HRM. The outcome of this plan has an integral role in the decision of the takeover. As the result of the takeover, the above differences in culture mean that the exposure to a new culture is unavoidable. The employees of both Lloyds and HBOS not only need to abandon their own culture, values and belief but also have to accept an entirely different culture. The takeover also leads to changes in organisational climate, the main source of organisation conflicts, which are summarized below Conflict Post-takeover integration demands significant involvement in all level of organizations, both Lloyds and HBOS, causing conflict at work from individual level to organisation level. Organisation cultural: there is no doubt that Lloydss culture is dominant and may lead to feelings of superiority among some of the employees. The employees of non-dominating culture, HBOS, may also get feelings of loss of identity associated with Lloyds. The dissimilarity in the cultures can produce the feelings of hostility and significant discomfort, for example HBOS may feel uncomfortable with the hierarchy of organisation structure and the communication system of Lloyds. In case of hostility in certain environment, some teams may develop us versus them attitude which may be detrimental to the organisational growth. Conflict in maintaining stability: The need for reform in organisation structures, redefinitions of assigned duties and responsibilities, adjusting the procedures and methods of work after the takeover, can result in conflict in maintaining stability. There should be a commitment to maintain employment in those parts of the UK in which either HBOS or Lloyds TSB currently have significant operations. This should be backed by a commitment to take all possible steps to avoid involuntary redundancies in order to avoid the potentially devastating impact on local communities and economies of large site closures. Conflict in investment in resources: both Lloyds and HBOS have their own large resources that may already be committed to investments in other areas or strategies before the takeover. As this takeover had a short notice period, assets such as branch offices, CRM software, equipment and people which have just been invested cannot easily be altered, thence conflicts arise. Which invested categories should be dropped? In fact, HBOS had in-house call centre operations, while Lloyds had a policy to outsource or off-shore its call centre. Each call centre model has its own advantages and disadvantages, what operation model should be maintained? In the short term, HBOS calls for Lloyds TSB to review all existing and planned outsourcing or off-shoring of operations to maximise employment opportunities in the UK for current employees. Conflict with past contracts or agreements: Both Lloyds and HBOS entered into contracts or agreements with other parties, such as government, trade unions, suppliers, customers and their own employees. These contracts and agreements can conflict with the changes cause by the takeover. For example, there should be a statement from Lloyds TSB committing that HBOS employees pay, pension provisions, employment benefits will be protected. Also, there should be a commitment that if there are new terms and conditions of employment for HBOS and Lloyds TSB staff, those should be no less favourable than the terms and conditions applying before the acquisition. Conflict in power or influence: Another practical problem is differences in the grading or organisational structures. The organisational structures used have different designations for the employees. During the integration Lloyds need to develop a mechanism to remove the differences in the grading systems, bring them to equal levels between Lloyds and HBOS, introducing standard levels of control over decisions, resources or information. Lloyds TSB should make a commitment to dignity at work for all employees and commit to the highest standards in relation to equality, diversity, equal pay and future career development opportunities post-takeover. The reaction of the employees in conflicts can vary from anger to dejection and depression. There can also be a fall in the morale, commitment and loyalty which can lead to impaired performance. Identifying the conflicts in advance will help Lloyds TSB management decide on the takeover. I think Lloyds TSB management was confident enough in their ability to control the above defined conflicts and believed that they would get more chances of success in the changes below: Change: In the decision of the takeover bid for HBOS, Lloyds TSB management board had targeted the opportunity to change for a stronger Lloyds Banking Group. As a common reaction, every change in the enlarged Lloyds TSB is resisted at both the individual and the organisational level. According to Alvin Toffler (1970), people are naturally wary of change and suspicion is out of control. Besides the changes in strategic, legal, financial and technology, the changes in HRM should be carefully designed and proceed with gradual pace. As part of the decision regarding the takeover, Lloyds TSB had considered the strategy to overcome the individual resistance and organizational resistance. Monday 19 January is Day one, the two brands still remain separate. A spokesperson for Lloyds TSB said: It is business as usual. This statement helps to maintain the secure feelings in customers, shareholders and employees. From the early stage of the takeover, Lloyds TSB had set up a guiding team to provide change leadership and handle every steps of the change process. They have created a website to update on a regular basis to shareholders, employees and customers on the proposed acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB and to give them information about the Lloyds Banking Group in this rapidly changing environment.Divisional changes will be communicated via line management and divisional intranet sites. HBOS partner unions, Accord and Unite, will continue to play an important role as before in the new business. There will be no major changes for the vast majority of HBOS employees. The existing HR policies and procedures remain in place. The 2009 pay review will be in May as usual. There will be little immediate change to Total Reward. The current pension arrangements will continue for all employees. Initially, there will be no change to the HBOS performance management approach. Employees will be introduced to the Lloyds Banking Group performance approach during 2009. Lloyds TSB was aware of the default response of resistance during the change of the takeover decision. Therefore they had suitable response to manage the sustaining of a healthy climate in order to gain a commitment to change in the whole organisation. Dilemmas facing Lloyds TSBs stakeholders Lloyds TSB and HBOS had, on a number of occasions over the years since 2000, discussed the possibility of a merger. It was only the unique circumstances of September 2008 that enabled this transaction to happen with the nature of the Governments involvement in the banking sector. In particular, the purpose of Governments interventions that is to stabilise the banking system, provide liquidity and to encourage more lending. Following the collapse of Lehmans, closely followed by the nationalisation of the worlds biggest insurance company AIG and the spreading of the world recession meant that the Government needed to take swift and decisive action by taking the extraordinary step of waiving competitions concerns to get the deal done. Lloyds TSB management board was very aware of the compelling logic of this transaction, including the substantial market positions they would secure and the significant and substantial synergies, the opportunities for growth which a stand-alone Lloyds TSB might not have been in a position to deliver to the same degree. Furthermore, the opportunity to acquire HBOS only came about in the middle of economic adversity and in conditions which are unlikely to be repeated. Besides the support from Government and the opportunity for growth, Lloyds TSB management board was very mindful of the difficult economic backdrop to this transaction with the prospect of further declines to come. However, Lloyds TSB purchased  £17.9 billion of HBOS net asset value for  £7.7 billion so, they were very much convinced that this was the right transaction for Lloyds TSB. The short-term outlook was indeed difficult and problems with the finances of HBOS will not disappear overnight. However, the earnings potential of Lloyds Banking Group will be significantly improved in the longer term. Lloyds TSB directors also understood that after the takeover, to reduce the systemic risk in the UK banking system, the recapitalization scheme has already cost Lloyds its 240-year-old independence. The UK Government, as part of the capital raising process, has now become a 43.4 per cent shareholder in the group. As part of Her Majestys Treasury (HMT) recapitalisation scheme, the Group was required to suspend the payment of cash dividends to ordinary shareholders until the HMT preference shares issued as part of the scheme are repaid. This is considered as a noticeable contribution from Lloyds TSB shareholders in their favourable voting for the takeover. One big concern to the Lloyds TSB employees and unions is the redundancy issue during the global financial recession. Although Lloyds TSB and the government dismissed reports of redundancies involving one third of the workforce and pledged to continue using HBOS headquarters in Scotland, the union leaders believe the job cuts will be about 15,000 in one year out of a 140,000 workforce. This brings concern to the employees about the serious plan which is designed to protect the members jobs and terms conditions of employment. The governments dilemma is how to stabilise the banking system and maintain an equitable business environment. The management boards dilemma is how to continue growing and manage the burden of the ailing HBOS, between short term and long term outlook. The shareholders dilemma is the potential of future substantial share value versus waiving current dividends or the workforce redundancies. In the context of the economic downturn in autumn 2008, Lloyds TSB had to consider the weighting between the benefits and adversities of the takeover, it was really the hard dilemma facing Lloyds TSBs stakeholder in making the decision of the takeover. Conclusion: 2008 was a very difficult and challenging year for the banking industry, the deteriorated market conditions have continued into 2009, both in the UK and overseas, a prolonged period of economic difficulty for many households and companies. The UK Government had to intervene in the banking system by providing capital and liquidity where the markets had failed. At times of great economic and financial uncertainty, many apparently settled ideas come under great scrutiny. When Lloyds TSB announced it was acquiring HBOS plc; and now about a year since the transaction was completed (16 January 2009), the deal is still receiving ceaseless criticism. Critics should consider what would have happened to the UK banking industry and the UK economic situation if the takeover had not taken place? If HBOS had failed, how many HBOS branches would have closed? How many employees would have lost their job? How many bank accounts of customers would have been affected? As a bank with a strong focus on customer relationships, Lloyds TSB is committed to helping its customers wherever possible to manage their way through these challenging times. Without doubt, the Lloyds Banking Group have spent great deal of time to overcome the challenges faced and fulfilled all necessary obligations to society. Here, never forget to mention about the crucial role of Human Resource Management during the pre-takeover and post-takeover. With only a short period of time for preparation, Lloyds TSB Human Resource Management have tried their utmost to create new HR practices and strategies that meet the requirements of the takeover. Employment law challenges, culture clashes, talent retention, employee engagement, recognition and conciliation conflicts, the HRM of Lloyds TSB has harmonised all activities in all phases leading to the creation of a unified organisation with a mission, vision, a clear purpose and values from two culturally different groups. Although there a re some shortcomings due to subjective and objective factors, the job that Lloyds TSB Human Resource Management is doing for employees and company is very valuable and highly valued, and it managed not to cause a big disturbance in the UK labour market. Finally, the decision by Lloyds TSB to takeover HBOS appears to have been the right transaction for the company. The support from government was definitely necessary and the favourable vote from both Lloyds TSB and HBOS shareholders showed that they believed this to be the best solution to the problems of both banks. The short-term outlook for the enlarged Group is challenging. Whenever economic conditions do begin to normalise, however, we believe Lloyds TSB will be in a very strong position to reap the benefits. Their strong franchise across the whole range of product lines will enable them to do just that. One of the most important ways in which leading businesses differentiate themselves from their peers is through the quality of their people and their strong commitment and Lloyds Banking Group believes that they have the qualities and the right people to ensure the bright future. APPENDIX 1: Background of Lloyds TSB and HBOS Lloyds TSB Bank Plc is a UK-based financial services group, which employed about 70,000 people. It was established in 1995 by the merger of Lloyds Bank, established in 1765 and traditionally considered one of the Big Four clearing banks, with the TSB Group which traces its origins to 1810, creating Britains largest retail bank, over all, Lloyds-TSB would be the fourth-largest bank on the stock exchange in terms of assets. Lloyds provides a wide range of banking and financial services to personal and corporate customers. Its main business activities are retail, commercial and corporate banking, general and life insurance, pensions and investment provision. Its services are offered through a number of brands, including Lloyds TSB, Cheltenham Gloucester and Scottish Widows. Its UK turnover in 2007 was  £18 billion. HBOS is a financial services group, which employed about 72,000 people in the U.K., was created in 2001 in the 9.7 billion-pound merger of Yorkshire-based mortgage lender Halifax Plc and Edinburgh-based the Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland. It is the UKs largest mortgage lender. HBOS provides a range of banking, insurance, financial services and finance-related activities in the UK and abroad. Its UK turnover in 2007 was  £4.25 billion. The deal of takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB was concluded on 16 January 2009. The three main conditions for the acquisition were: Three Quarters of HBOS shareholders voted in agreement with the boards actions; Half Of Lloyds TSB shareholder voted to approve the takeover; UK government dispensation with respect to competition law. On 19 November 2008, Lloyds TSB shareholders voted 95.98% in favour of the takeover. They also approved plans to raise  £5.5bn by issuing new shares and special preference shares. On 12 December 2008, the takeover was approved by HBOS shareholders. A group of Scottish businessmen challenged the right of the UK government to approve the deal by overruling UK competition law, but this was rejected. The government has allowed the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB to bypass normal competition rules. The exchange of HBOS shares for Lloyds Banking Group shares took place at an exchange ratio of 0.605 of a new Lloyds Banking Group share for every one HBOS share held. As a result, the UK Government through Her Majestys Treasury owned approximately 43.4% of the enlarged ordinary share capital of Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds Banking Group is now the largest financial services franchise in the UK with a range of leading market positions in important product lines, such as savings, current accounts, mortgages, insurance and long-term savings. They are also a leading player in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) and wholesale banking sectors. The Group clearly has a very significant retail banking footprint and, with approximately 3,000 branches, is present in more UK locations than any other financial institution. Lloyds TSB Chief Executive Officer Eric Daniels will be Chief Executive of the enlarged company, and the banks Victor Blank will be Chairman. References Mullins, L.J. (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 8th edn. London: Prentice Hall Buono, A.F. and Bowditch,

Gene Therapy and Cancer :: Genetics Science Technology Medical Essays

Gene Therapy and Cancer In 1997, an estimated 1.38 million Americans will be newly diagnosed with cancer (Blaese, 1997). The treatments available only cure half of them. Many new strategies, including gene therapy are in developmental stages for treating cancer. Nearly half of all gene therapy trials currently under way deal with cancer and experts believe a number of these applications will be in use within the next three to five years (Lyon, 1997). Cancer is considered a genetic disorder. Studies have identified a small number of genes that must be mutated to bring about development of cancer or maintain the growth of malignant cells (Klug, 1996). Two main properties of cancer are uncontrollable cell division and the ability to spread or metastasize. Both are results of genetic alterations. Mutations in the cells that lead to certain forms of cancer, can be identified as inherited in some families. In most cases, however, it is difficult to identify a simple pattern of inheritance. There are two ways to regulate cell division. One way is with tumor suppressor genes, which usually function to inactivate or repress cell division. These genes or their products or both, must be inactivated sporadically for cell division of take place. If they are permanently inactivated or lost through mutation, uncontrolled cell division occurs. Another way cell division is regulated is by proto-oncogenes, which usually promotes cell division also. These genes can be in an "on" or "off" mode and when in the "on" mode, cell division is promoted. When the genes or their products or both are inactivated, cell division is stopped. If they are permanently switched "on", cell regulation is stopped and tumor formation begins. Oncogenes are the mutant form of proto-oncogenes. An example of a transformation of a proto-oncogene to an oncogene is the p53 gene, which encodes a nuclear protein that acts as a transcription factor. The p53 gene is usually a tumor suppressor gene that controls passage of the cell from one phase of mitosis to another. The mutations in p53 gene are estimated to be associated with over half of all cancers. The most prevalent cause of death in cancer patients is metastasis, where cancer cells detach from the original tumor site and settle elsewhere in the body, to grow and divide producing another tumor. There are two kinds of tumors, benign and malignant. Benign tumors can be removed and usually do not return.

Labor and Employment Law Synthesis Paper

Labor and Employment Law Synthesis Paper Honglei Qin HMD 259-2005 11/14/2012 Labor and Employment Law This law is the one capable of explaining the economic motivation, background and implication of employment and labor regulation so as to help the policymakers, researchers and advocates express their own positional ideas (Simpson, 2011).. These regulations are the ones that provide the initial ideas of the labor law to any person getting into the studies regarding the economic perspectives.The labor law consists of various aspects which mostly are directly involving the employment processes. In this case, there are many categories of employments whereby the regulations guiding them are of different kinds. Some of the examples are the gender bases in the labor sector whereby both sex are protected by the law from any kind of discrimination in the workplaces (Simpson, 2011). In case of age matter, the law provides regulations on the age required for the employment hence preventing any kind of child labor.Other special cases that are guided by the labor law are the issues of slavery, human trafficking and the forced labor whereby the victims are being forced to work in bad conditions without their requirements been observed by the employers. According to the study conducted by Ann Sophie, the role of employment law economically is to generate a frame work of legal aspects to maximize the labor exchange joint value by reducing the incentives of the parties (Simpson, 2011).This is done in order to an advantageously use the element which are unspecified of contractual relationship and by doing this the cost of detailed employment and enforcement is reduced at a high rate. In order to understand well the concept of the employment or labor law, let us look at different ways of employment. Two of the main ways that a person can be employed is as an employee or may be as a contractor that is independent contractor. This will help as understand various obligation of the labor law since the two employment categories are assigned different rights under different obligations in the employment law (Simpson, 2011).Taking the case of the employee, he/she works directly under the service contractor with the employer, that is he/she works completely in the employer’s authority (Pagura, 2011).. He therefore have contract of service. In the other case of contractor, they do they work under sails of service and they do not only sell these services to one employer at a time but can as well sell them to many employers. Therefore they work under the contract for service. In order to understand this more, let us take an example of john and James who are both mechanics working in the same garage.John works there as a full time employee while James works as a contractor reporting to duties only in two days a week (Pagura, 2011).. In case of john, he waits to be told how, when and where to work by the boss. He gets his salary at the end of the month and it is fixed regardless of how many cars he has repaired (Pagura, 2011). All the tools are provided by the employer and he does not pay for any breakages or loses all that is under the employer’s obligation. In the case of James, he works only on Mondays and Fridays.After every peace of work he records it and at the end of every week he prepares an invoice for the job done of which he receives payments. Unlike john, James has to bring his toolbox with him and if he wants to use any from the garage he has to pay for it. Here are the deferent obligations provided by the labor law to these two different workers. In terms of flexibility, James is more flexible and independent than john. The independence of both is measured in terms of ability to work for others (Pagura, 2011).James is allowed to work for other contracts from Tuesday to Thursday while john is working exclusively for this one employer. Looking at the case of commercial risks, the employee is free from any commercial rich instead are taken by the employer while the contractor bears or the risks at work. These points are some of the points that an industrial court look at in order to determine whether a certain worker is an independent contractor or an employee.According to the contractor’s Act 2006 all the contractors are provided by the same rules and regulations. The labor law also provides regulations among the employee themselves. Let us look at one example of a case that is common in workplaces and that, if not handled properly, can be dangerous (Cornock, 2012). This is the issue of discrimination. There are several different types of discriminations such as the gender discrimination whereby a certain worker is denied her / his regal rights simply because of the sex type.The other type of discrimination is the religion or belief. This kind of assault can be from the employers or from the employees themselves. In order to report or raise such an issue, the victims should do it using a wri tten grievance with clear grounds of the problem and should be done before the end of three months from the incident (Cornock, 2012). In conclusion, the whole paper has tackled some of the aspects of the labor law and their implementations.We have seen how each employee is eligible to these employment rules which protect them in all kinds of work. The topic of labor law is broad and in order to understand further more studies are required. References Cornock, M. (2012). What to do when an employer acts unfairly. Nursing Standard, 26(38), 63. Pagura, I. (2011). Employment law: Employee v Independent Contractor. Journal Of The Australian Traditional-Medicine Society, 17(2), 36-37. Simpson, B. (2011). Labor and Employment Law and Economics. Industrial Law Journal, 40(1), 111-114.