Humanities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 10

Humanities - Essay Example In contrast, a closer look at the painting depicts a description of suffering the subject is experiencing. In other words, the subject is undergoing a personal crisis that causes alienation. In the background of the picture, there are two people, probably the two friends Munch refers to in the quote, â€Å"walking away in the opposite direction.† The illustration creates feelings of alienation in depicting the fear that Munch talks of in the quote. Edward Munch as an expressionist painter uses color in expressing his emotional turmoil. In the quote he describes the â€Å"red† sky and the â€Å"bluish black† Fjord, the color description shows his alienated world. The dark world seemingly black hole hell like where â€Å"tongues of fire† lick at the overwhelmingly tired sexless subject. The use of the word â€Å"blood† in the painting quote in conjunction with the swirling and whirling warm tones existing in the far background depicts the physical violence the subject might have been undergoing. The scream represents a sound and auditory sensation. The setting of the paint is near a slaughterhouse and insane asylum. Probably the artist was referring to the wailing of the dying animals and the cries from the nearby insane asylum. The scream depicts the modern society where human beings are suffering in hidden places but undergoing both emotional and physical suffering in the modern age. The insane asylum is the creation of the community standard because how does one precisely measure the level of insanity a person is undergoing to warrant lock up in the asylum. Unfortunately, the society believes that way, so it is quite hard to change the perception. Vincent Gogh’s â€Å"Night Cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬  shows a correlation in illustrating the alienation theme. The artist’s plunging perspective shows an impression of his alienation in a cruel world that was seemingly closing up on

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Essay Example for Free

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Essay I can get no satisfaction †¦ Rolling Stones Now here we are, standing near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Fashioned from stark slabs of black granite, this memorial perfectly represents America’s collective memory of its longest war and first defeat. The memorial, like the memory, is both somber and ambiguous. On the polished face of the memorial appear the names of some 58,000 U.S. military personnel who died in Indochina. My friend’s name is one of those names. This was the greatest cost of the war of our country. There were others as well: the bitterness of over 3 million Vietnam veterans who returned to more scorn than gratitude from their fellow citizens; the inflation that followed years of deficit financing to help cover more than $150 billion in war expenses; bruising divisions within American society about responsibility for the nation’s defeat and the devastation of the peoples and lands of Indochina; and a public cynicism about government, reinforced by the Watergate scandal, that was to mark U.S. politics for many years. However, I wouldn’t like to put the card before the horse and thus I’ll try to tell you the whole story about the America of those days in all possible details.   I’ll tell you how everything started and where it ended; about our youth and our epoch, which nowadays one can easily call the Vietnam War Era. We had had very poor knowledge of Vietnam by July 27, 1964. On that exact day the news reported that 5,000 US military advisors were ordered to South Vietnam to join other American militaries and support the government of South Vietnam in its struggle against the Communists of the North. Today I say that day marked the beginning of new era for all of us. How it started    I should tell that the very beginning of the Vietnam War had contained much controversy that later generated negative attitude of our society towards that military campaign. Now I understand that the initial problem lay in following. Congress passed the resolution in 1964 to support Johnson in taking measures to protect U.S. armed forces in Indochina. As requested by Johnson, Congress passed the resolution in response to incidents between U.S. naval destroyers and North Vietnamese gunboats in the Gulf of Tonkin, off the coast of North Vietnam. But this resolution was not the official declaration of the war against North Vietnam however served for Johnson as justification for sending 500,000 troops into South Vietnam. The President’s administration to avoid disquieting people did not use word â€Å"war† and invented a devious substitute for it: the â€Å"functional equivalent† of a declaration of war. We started discussion as regards the appropriateness of treating that resolution as declaration of the war. And as time went by our society split up into two camps: the supporters and detractors of war. Political division of society    Moreover, we felt that not only Americans are dubious of their attitude towards the war. The whole world was also divided into two hostile camps: supporters of American invasion into Vietnam (capitalistic democratic countries) and opponents of the military actions (communistic totalitarian countries). You must know that America has always been the proponent of democratic principles. What should you also keep in mind is that it was the time of the Cold War development. I must admit that the existence of external foe (the Communism) was permanently felt by every American. We witnessed of the development of the Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis when the Third World War nearly started, we watched how the nuclear power of the Soviet Union was rising. The fear of nuclear war haunted our country throughout the decade. Increase of social well-being    The threat of war had impacted all spheres of our life. We witnessed how police spent much time training for the very real possibility of nuclear attack. You would not believe but it is a fact that the threat of war was the reason for building of the Interstate Highway System during the 1960s. Our highways and roads expended quickly. Consequently, automobile became a common thing at the end of World War II and the demand for it was continuously growing. In the 1960s I and almost all my friends had a car and the number of young people driving a car reached an unprecedented level. At the same time our every day life contained the events not related to the Vietnam War. First of all it was a time of the unprecedented change in U.S. society. For the first time for the whole history we felt what the prosperity is! Technological advances in electronics, telecommunications and transportation changed the American lifestyle. A car became an affordable luxury for every American and since that time we could freely travel around the country.    Social protests The changes in our material well-being caused the drastic changes in the social order of our nation. I and my peers were born during the American first wave of the â€Å"baby boom† caused our young adult moms who followed the open rebel against society and those who represented its authority. To my view it was one of the implications of prosperity of American society. Only the prosperous people have courage to express their ideas freely.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nevertheless, even well-being could not shield the upheaval rising within our nation. As U.S. troops and hardware poured into Vietnam, the casualty figures mounted and domestic unease intensified. Here I have to mention the anti-war movements of the Vietnam War Era. So, in the 1960s The New Left movement appeared. At those days the mass media treated them as parasites rejecting American values. But today I understand that they were young people with radical standpoints who attempted to change our society for better. The New Left was a movement of self-understood radicals, mostly students. Most of the central figures were my peers in their twenties during that decade, and were born during or just before World War II; most of the rank and file were born after the war and too were part of the mentioned baby boom, which filled the expanding colleges and universities. Although the central figures began as student activists, the New Left grew into an intellectual tendency that included academics, principally in the social sciences and humanities; professionals (doctors, lawyers, social workers, etc.) who shared its concern for the rights of helpless and victimized people. So where did they spring from, you wonder. Seeking intellectual coherence, student activists borrowed the term New Left from British intellectuals who had left the Communist Party and helped form the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (it was in 1957). Unlike the Britons, most of the U.S. New Left were not Marxists. They hoped to find other social constituencies with the social commitment to transform society in an egalitarian and democratic direction. I cannot help but describe the activity of this organization in details as my view of them has changed since then. We were continuously informed through TV, radio and newspapers on communist threat. We were told the communists had allegedly penetrated all spheres of our life and due to this the New Left made a noise in our society. From 1965 on, the main force that swelled the New Left was the Vietnam War. Gathering strength, the New Left spun off a movement against the war, and in the popular mind became principally identified with that movement. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), which had nine chapters and some 600 members in 1963, grew to some 300 chapters and 100,000 members in 1969. National demonstrations against the war grew from 25,000 people (April 1965) to 500,000 (November 1969). As the war escalated, the New Left (or what increasingly called itself â€Å"the movement†) became not only larger but more militant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During this time, however, the core of New Left organizers came to regard themselves as more than a protest movement. They increasingly saw themselves as committed to a radical transformation with an antiauthoritarian spirit. Pragmatic, many were reluctant to call themselves â€Å"socialist† or â€Å"anarchist†; they borrowed elements from both traditions, as well as from liberalism. Toward that end, they experimented with community organizing among the poor; with projects in student-centered education; with attempts to radicalize factory workers. But their principal base was the university campuses. Best represented among elite universities at the beginning of their movement, their class base later moved progressively downward. By 1970, demonstrations against the draft, against military education, against corporate recruiters, against disciplinary rules, and in favor of ethnic studies departments took place on hundreds of campuses and turned into a real trouble for authorities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By 1967, most of my friends in the New Left had moved (in the words of their own slogan) â€Å"from protest to resistance.† We, observing the massive disaffection of college-educated youth as signaled in drug use, popular music, hippie clothing, long hair, and so forth came to feel that a radical transformation of the society was necessary, although they had little conception of a new order. By 1968, we saw institutions from university administrations to the Democratic Party as hopelessly oppressive. Opposition to draft In relation to the protests of the young generation I want to stress upon such phenomenon of those days as draft evasion. Some of those who opposed the war were driven by the fact that as Johnson’s policy escalated, more and more young people were drafted into the armed services and sent to Vietnam. By 1967, half of the military servants were draftees. By 1969, more than the half of all combat deaths were draftees. These were extremely discouraging data.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I cannot but stress that no other war produced so much opposition to the draft. This fear was partially caused by its unfairness. Until 1968 senior students were entitled to defer military service by the time they finished their study. Another fact that evoked our rejection was the class injustice; many young middle-class men joined the National Guard and Reserves on the likely gamble that they would not be called up for duty in Southeast Asia. Consequently, the Vietnam War appeared to many to be a working-class war. There was a disproportion in numbers of draftees and enlisted men who mostly came from blue-collar class. During the war a lot of my male contemporaries preferred exile to Canada and Sweden to avoid the draft. The prospect of the draft also served as impetus for eligible guys to start family and have children, or continue their education.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As it could have been expected increasing draft resistance took form of civil disobedience and severe discipline problems. The poorly motivated behavior of militants in the field made the government think of dramatic reform. The president Nixon established a lottery system trying to make the draft system at least a little fairer. But we took it as a cynical joke. In September 1971, Nixon’s proposal for All-Volunteer Force was passed by Congress, and in July 1973, Nixon terminated the draft. Fight for you right      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is one important figure whom I cannot skip in my story of public protests. I am speaking about Martin Luther King. King started his social discussion attacking segregation as he hopscotched the nation. Later King attempted not only to achieve civil rights, but also to stop the Vietnam War and to eliminate American poverty. On 4 April 1968, an assassin’s bullet killed Martin Luther King Jr.; riots exploded in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. Another horrible assassination occurred the same year. In June, Robert Kennedy, John Kennedy’s brother and a presidential candidate in his own right, was shot and killed in Los Angeles. These terrifying events considerably undermine government’s credibility in our minds. Nonetheless, no assassinations could stop public protests which did their job gradually. The antiwar movement dramatically affected our national domestic policy. After 35,000 mostly young people besieged the Pentagon on 21–22 October 1967, Lyndon Johnson launched a public relations campaign that emphasized how well the war was going. When the Communists of the North Vietnam launched their seemingly successful nationwide Tet Offensive on 30 January 1968, most of us felt that we had been deceived by our own government. It caused even more severe protests. That widespread public disaffection led to Johnson’s decision on 31 March 1968 not to escalate further and not to stand for reelection. We carried our point and finally a man who had initiated war in Vietnam stopped being our president. Cultural Revolution As I already mentioned at the beginning our society was split in terms of political views. The divisions were cultural and generational too. A youthful counterculture expressed its alienation in more open sexuality, free love; long hair, and cast-off clothing; rock music, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Doors and Rolling Stones; and marijuana and other consciousness-altering substances. At Woodstock, New York, in August 1969 I witnessed the greatest youth gathering. About half a million of young people stayed there for a three-day music festival, laced with political and cultural protest. What we may conclude    As you can see from my story the Vietnam War Era was a complicated period for our society from which I hope it had derived correct conclusions. In my point of view these conclusions can be expressed by one sentence: â€Å"Win quickly or stay out†. Regardless of the camp to which you belong to those emphasizing the former or to those emphasizing the latter, you should feel that you are a part of one nation. I believe that the memorial near which we are staying now will help us remember this simple principle. Bibliography:    George C. Herring, Americas Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950–1975, 2nd ed. New York, 1986.

Team Performance within Marks and Spencer

Team Performance within Marks and Spencer Performance management is a systematic process which improves performance of organization by developing the performance of individuals and teams. It is a strategy of getting better results from the organization, teams and individuals by understanding and managing performance within an agreed framework where goals are planned, standards and required competence are clearly defined. Strategic performance management is a process for establishing mutual understanding about what is to be achieved, and for managing and developing people in a way that makes it possible to achieve the goals in the short and longer term. It deals with broader issues of the organization. It is a tool to evaluate how the business is performing. Line management plays a key role in strategic performance Management who drive and fully owned this as per corporate governance regulation. I like to quote some other definitions as below, Performance management is: The development of individuals with competence and commitment, working towards the achievement of shared meaningful objectives within an organisation which supports and encourages their achievement (Lockett, 1) Performance management is: the process of Directing and supporting employees to work as effectively and efficiently as possible in line with the needs of the organisation (Walters, 3) Performance management is a strategic and integrated approach to delivering sustained success to organisations by improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of teams and individual contributors (Armstrong and Baron, 4) Be able to set performance targets to meet strategic objectives. Links between team performance and Strategic objectives. Team performance is directly related to companys strategic objectives. Organisation consists of number of people who works collectively to achieve common objective of the company which is profitability, thus if team performs well whole company will perform well. Every member of a team is assigned with specific day to day tasks which he/she is expected to do well and contribute fully for team collective output. Within team tasks are divided and resources are shared, they are interlinked and work with in cycle so, if one member doesnt finish his / her task in time it may slow down a whole next chain which can lead to slow down performance of a team as a whole. Slow progress may result loss of potential opportunities existed in the market and result in loss revenue which goes directly against the strategic objective of the company. Therefore, it is vital that each member of staff is chosen on the merit of job requirement and are fully equipped to perform his/her tasks with given time period. Team is judged on the basis of result they deliver. In Marks and Spenser each role is aligned with specific duties as per job description, over all aim is clearly defined, each member of staff is expected to deliver best customer services and are assigned with specific day to day tasks which ultimately lead to achieve organisational objectives such as monthly sales targets. Greater the team performance is the better chances are to meet organisational objectives. This proves that team performance is directly related meeting strategic organisational objectives. The principle is everyone will be working together to contribute to corporate profits. 1.2) Tools and technique available to set team performance targets There are many performance improvement models and tools available to set team performance targets, decision makers choose any model which best suits companys needs and assist its process. Ive listed below some which are most commonly used, Balance Scorecard: A multi-dimensional framework for managing strategy by linking objectives, initiatives, targets and performance measures across key corporate perspectives. Business Process Reengineering: An approach to review and redesign organisational processes in order to achieve improved performance in terms of cost, quality of service and timeliness EFQM Excellence Model: Organisational improvement framework for assessing strengths and areas for improvement across the spectrum of an organisations activities. Investors in People: National standard for improving organisational performance by training and developing people to achieve organisational goals. ISO9001 Quality System: Global standard and approach for quality management systems. The standard focuses on the management of processes and documentation in order to meet customer needs and expectations. Six Sigma: A disciplined methodology for process improvement that deploys a wide set of tools based on rigorous data analysis to identify sources of variation in performance and ways of reducing them Management by Objectives: It is a process where objectives are agreed with in organization so management and employees understands what they are in the organization. It is driven by objectives. Evidence over the past five years suggests that the use of the various improvement models and tools has been variable with equally variable impact. The aim of the review is to raise awareness and understanding of some of the more popular performance improvement models and tools available to organisations and to share learning in their use to date. It is hoped that the review will enable authorities to make more informed choices on the use of appropriate approaches or tools if appropriate to use them at all. MS uses investor in Business model and invest vast amount of its resources on training and coaching to improve people skills to contribute more professionally and provide best customer services. There is a full time coaching staffs assigned for each shift whose duty is to be on the floor and assist instantly where ever any member needs assistance or to ensure the customer services is at its best. Every contribution adds to achieve corporate profit. 1.3) Value of Strategic Performance tools to measure future team performance Managing employee or system performance assist the effective delivery of strategic and operational goals. It saves time, assist to measure the output, it improves business results. It helps to check if efforts are in right direction and are serving the purpose of the organization rather wasting time. Companies are using integrated software to record employees contributions that assist them to measure, analyze and enhance employees output. This brings direct or indirect benefits to the companies. Direct Financial Gains Maximizes sales Minimizes costs Avoid any overruns Comply with the organizational Goals Speedy implementation of any changes in strategic or operational goals. Marks and Spencer (MS) took a great advantage by implementing and constant reviewing and adapting right strategic performance tool which best suits its need and manage to turn its portfolio from making loss to producing profit since 2006 onwards, since then they are managing to keep company in profit despite tough market condition like recession hit economy where buying capacity is at its low. Be able to agree team performance targets to contribute to meeting strategic objectives 2.1) How to determine required performance targets with in teams against current performance The term KPI has become one of the most popular terms in business development and management. In theory it provides a series of measures against which internal managers and external investors can judge the business and how it is likely to perform over the medium and long term. Different organisations need to monitor different aspects of their environment, there are many monitoring modules, and Ive chosen to list some of them below, Product/ service Competitive analysis Customer satisfaction Marketing management Personnel management IT management Contingency planning For each monitoring module, one can then establish what the current level of performance is in a measurable and understandable way. This is the current performance. From industry sources, the benchmark level can normally be introduced (getting to benchmarks is often a difficult process and one requiring a mixture of low cunning and/or sophisticated analysis). Then a target level of achievement can be entered. Let us take an example of customer satisfaction module in Marks and Spencer. Customer Satisfaction; Current Benchmark Target 60% 90% 100% A mystery shopper also visits twice monthly and assessed each store. If they are maintaining standards and providing best customer care which MS is renowned for and then award score. Each store is expected to score 100%. The KPI is central to a number of other elements in the planning platform which provides the Basis for answering the three crucial planning questions: Where are we? Where do we want to be (and when)? How are we going to get there cost effectively? The most rapid way to establish the KPI within any set of monitoring information is to work through the three criteria in sequence. Is the control information key to success of the organisation? Can we measure it and influence it? Does it provide leading edge indications of future developments? In MS when a new member of staff joins the company, proper induction is conducted, his role is fully briefed to him / her in detail and all key performance indicator markers (KPIs) are agreed with in one to one meeting with Manager. First three months are considered as probationary period where staff is expected to learn and demonstrate all basic qualities which are required at this role. There is a standard Career path and Job titles are self explanatory, so with in probationary period staff is provided with a title as trainee customer assistance. After successful completion of probationary period the staffs is promoted to qualified customer assistant. Next level is to become section coordinator which leads to become section Manager at next level. 2.2) need to encourage individual commitment to team performance in achievement of organisational goals. The overall aim of performance management is to establish a high-performance culture in which individuals and teams take responsibility for the continuous improvement of business processes and for their own skills and contributions within a framework provided by effective leadership. This stage refers to working to ensure the performance objectives are achieved. Identify development needs and support it with professional training one need. When performance objectives are agreed, line managers will need to plan how to achieve expected level of performance. Provide all support and resources which he/she may need to undertake specific day to day tasks. For any new role Introduce comprehensive induction and probation period is to assess employees performance and assess their need. All employees should be motivated to work effectively and efficiently. This applies to all including one who has been working for same post for over the years. The essentials of effective performance management includes, Appreciate its purpose Clarity in process cycle and how individual can best contribute in it. Recognition of responsibilities Prioritizing task Effective communication and feedback Suggesting ways to meeting individuals targets. Rewarding employees MS always encourages staffs and provide full support to increase performance. Staffs are rewarded with bonuses and reward vouchers based on feedback from customer as well as from mystery shoppers. Managers work closely with staff on the floor and assist them wherever required. Career path is designed to encourage employees to perform at their best which ensured their professional growth. It is highlighted that without every ones individual performance and contribution over all success of organization is not possible. 2.3) Application of delegation, mentoring and coaching to the achievement of the organisational objectives Mentoring is a popular tool of personal development and type of training which is long standing. It refers to support, advice and guidance of most experienced person with in organisation to new or inexperience person for his personal development which brings benefits to organisation. It is essentially a supportive form of development. It focuses on helping an individual manage their career and improve skills. Personal issues can be discussed more productively unlike in coaching where the emphasis is on performance at work. Mentoring activities have both organisational and individual goals. Coaching refers to developing persons skills to improve job performance in order to achieve of organisational objectives. It is generally short term more organised and time bounded with regular meetings. Coach needs to be qualified or experienced with formal occupational role. It focuses on development of work related and more specific issues or immediate goals. MS has kept a specific role as a coaching member who preset on the floor and helps staff with their day to day activities and trains them wherever required. Mangers also work on the floor with team and use mentoring wherever they feel necessary. Mangers also delegate work with in team and seeing them through with successful completion while paying attention to manage other tasks. All this leads to team success which ultimately help to achieve strategic objectives i.e. Best store lay out and customer service which brings more sale and help corporate profit. 2.4) evaluate a team performance plan A Team Performance Plan is a detailed plan used to: Identify the desired performance levels of the team Identify how these performance levels will be achieved Provide guidance and direction to the team Measure progress towards the desired performance levels Although there are no strict rules as to the format of a Team Performance Plan they normally contain the following information: Specific goals for team development Performance measures Actions required to achieve goals An indication of how long goals will take to achieve The Team Performance Plan should align with the organizations overall objectives. This can be achieved by: 1. Aligning the Team Performance Plan with the Team Purpose 2. Aligning the Team Purpose with the organizations objectives Team Performance Plans might include the following types of goals: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Goals to improve team competency Team building goals One of the most fundamental purposes of performance management is to align individual and organizational objectives. This means that everything people do at work leads to outcomes that further the achievement of the basis of performance management 7 organizational goals. Individuals and teams are provided with the opportunity to formulate their own goals within the framework provided by the defined overall purpose, strategy and values of the organization. Objectives should be agreed, not set, and this agreement should be reached through the open dialogues that take place between managers and individuals throughout the year. In other words, this needs to be seen as a partnership in which responsibility is shared and mutual expectations are defined. MS set KPI for each member for staff as per their role, lets take an example of customer assistant who is assigned with following objectives, Quantitative objectives include date rotation of all products which help to bring down daily waste ratio and ultimately help to increase profitability of store. Staffs is expected to keep a close eye on inventory to ensure products are available at all the time which help to achieve weekly sale targets of the store. Qualitative objectives includes all products are tagged with correct price and place in a right position which is legal requirement and standard of MS. Staffs are expected to ensure customer safety is paramount. If there is any spillage on the floor it should be cleared quickly and any slippery floor is sign posted to aware customer with any possible hazards. Staff need to ensure the Environment is clean and customer friendly. Staffs are fully aware of product position and its description to answer and satisfy customer query if any. Be able to monitor actions and activities defined to improve team performance 3.1) Process for monitoring team performance and initiate changes where necessary Performance management provides better management control; it is flexible and responsive to their needs. It facilitates to comply with companies legal requirement. It also helps out in Audit. Workers know the criteria they will be appraised against. Goals are pre-defined. All businesses, whatever sector they are in, will have plans, aims and objectives. In some cases these can be very sophisticated but in some small businesses very modest. Whatever they are a business will need to monitor its performance in relation to these goals. Following are different ways of monitoring team performances, Meet with Team Conduct weekly or bi-weekly meetings with team leaders to review issues, share experiences, and resolve problems and concerns. Make sure that team leaders hold similar meetings with their team members, and that identified issues are recorded, communicated, and followed through to closure. Communication: effective communication may require nothing more than routine, informal, interaction among the team. Recognize Success Positive reinforcement is a key element of effective team building. This can be as simple as a few words of praise or public recognition, or nomination for a more formal rewards and recognition, such as Impact. Monitor Team Morale On a small project, management by walking around will be sufficient to assess team morale. On a project with multiple subprojects and/or a distributed team, more formal techniques such as team surveys may be used to identify problem areas that require corrective action. Conduct Team Performance Reviews Make sure that the process defined in the Employee Performance and Development Program is followed to provide regular, constructive feedback on each persons performance on the project. Reviews should occur at the end of each major phase, whenever the team member or his/her team leader is about to leave the project, at the end of the project, or on a minimum six-monthly basis. Lets take an example of Marks and Spencer where manager walk around on the floor every hour or so and observe each members performance against their agreed daily tasks, if needed they provide direction to member by prioritizing tasks. I like to pick Mckinsey 7-S Model to define a broad view of what contributes to performance effectiveness. McKinseys 7-S frame work In 1981 Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos started investigating success of Japanese industry, in the same time Tom Peters and Robert Waterman were exploring what made company excellent. The Seven S model was born at a meeting in 1978 between these four authors it was taken up by global management company called McKinseys, since then it is known as their 7- S model. It is used to organise a company in holistic and effective way. Shared Values This is interconnected centre of McKinneys model which describes what organisation stands for and what it believes in. Strategy It is a plan division of available resources over the period of time to achieve identified goals. Skills It refers to core competence of company workforce and their distinctive capabilities. Staff Number and type of staff members with in organisation Style Refers to Management style and how they act to achieve companys goal. Systems A procedure, process and routines which explain how the work should be conducted, financial system, MIS, performance appraisals and recruitment process etc. Structure The way Management structure is outlines, its hierarchy, i.e. centralised or de centralised, a matrix etc. 3.2) Evaluate team performance against agreed objectives Performance reviews are conducted by filling up appraisal forms with set of question in relation to KPIs set out and previously agreed with employees in one to one meeting. The outcome of review performance determine what action are required to ensure improve performance and future tasks are met. Any training required should be planned and resources are allocated in budget. Reasonable steps are taken to rectify problem if any. Excellent performance should be rewarded with bonus etc and it is assured to employees that their feedback/comments are valuable and their efforts are recognised. Any capability issue should be taken with care. Any underachievement should be dealt with as per companys policy guidelines and employee should be engaged in way where all efforts are made to provide enough support to staff to increase their output in order to achieve their targets. Manager should use all methods to increase staff performance that includes flexible hours, sharing of work load, providi ng new pattern of work, independent occupational advice, additional training and support. Marks and Spenser (MS) pays great attention to outcome of performance review, a copy of each review is attached with employees personal file. Any recommendations for training needs are scheduled at earliest opportunity. Any under performer is dealt with as per companys standard guidelines. 3.3) evaluate the impact of the team performance in contributing to meeting strategic objectives The out put of appraisal confirms if member has been able to meet his KPIs, if yes how should you rate them as that rating has a direct reflection of his/her contribution to companies objectives, if employees does well he is rewarded with incentives i.e. bonus payment as well as salary increase if he falls behind he is dealt with as per companies policy. In Marks and Spenser up until last year all employees were rewarded with Bonus payments because MS did well against its budget as well as its forecast. It was evaluated that this can not be achieved with out a great hard work team members had put it. 4) Be able to apply influencing and persuading skills to the dynamic and politics of personal interactions 4.1) determine influencing and persuading methodologies to gain the commitment of individuals to a course of action Market research shows that organization that invests and care about motivation of staff generally performs better. Organization is tasked with developing individuals and rewarding and retaining those who perform well. Organisations have a vested interest in finding out if the incentive schemes that they implement are resulting in the desired behavior from individuals. I like to highlight below the link between incentives and employee motivation. Paying for performance Advocates of pay for performance systems argue that good systems motivate employees towards achievements that support corporate goals and strategies. Rewarding the right behaviour By rewarding staff for their right behaviour motivates them to make the good performance consistently or make every effort to deliver best services all the time. Incentives and staff performance Incentives are very much welcomed by staff weather its time off or free drinks or bonus payments it motivate them to achieve higher goals or achieve excellent performance. The rewards usually relate to the achievement of certain goals, either personal, team or organisational, or a combination of all. In addition, the critical success factors are: 1. To keep the scheme simple 2. Participants should be able to calculate their incentive 3. Payouts should be meaningful 4. Targets are set in month 1 and goal posts are not moved during the incentive period Incentives do not work well in isolation from other management practices. Rather, they are further supported by other elements such as good working conditions, performance management, performance appraisals, and training opportunities. Weak administration and processes will inhibit its effectiveness. There are three contributing factors for performance motivation. Money Social recognition Performance feedback. Traditional Motivational Models and persuading methodologies to gain the commitment of individuals to a course of action Maslows hierarchy of needs Each of us is motivated by needs. Our most basic needs are inborn, having evolved over tens of thousands of years. Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs helps to explain how these needs motivate us all. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself. Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development. Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs. Source (http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm) Douglas McGregor theory x y Theory x (authoritarian management style) The average person dislikes work and will avoid it he/she can. Therefore most people must be forced with the threat of punishment to work towards organisational objectives. The average person prefers to be directed; to avoid responsibility; is relatively UN ambitious, and wants security above all else. Theory y (participative management style) Effort in work is as natural as work and play. People will apply self-control and self-direction in the pursuit of organisational objectives, without external control or the threat of punishment. Commitment to objectives is a function of rewards associated with their achievement. People usually accept and often seek responsibility. The capacity to use a high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in solving organisational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population. In industry the intellectual potential of the average person is only partly utilised. Tools for teaching, understanding and evaluating xy theory factors There are a number of fundamental concepts that underpin the Excellence Model that are reflected in the criteria and sub criteria of the framework. These concepts are: 1. Results orientation 2. Customer focus 3. Leadership and constancy of purpose 4. Management by processes and facts 5. People development and involvement 6. Continuous learning 7. Innovation and improvement 8. Partnership development 9. Public responsibility. Source (http://www.businessballs.com/mcgregor.htm) Frederick Hertzberg theory Herzbergs research used a pioneering approach, based on open questioning and very few assumptions, to gather and analyse details of critical incidents as recalled by the survey respondents. Herzbergs research identified that true motivators were other completely different factors, notably: achievement recognition work itself responsibility advancement In MS Bonus payments, rewards vouchers are used to gain individuals commitment which has been very successful. In addition names are posted on notice boards who ever achieve best customer services award of the month to recognise their employees effort. This also motivate other employees to work extra hard and be no 1 next time. Promotions are also awarded to persuade employees to take more responsibilities and face fresh challenges in order to progress on professional career. 4.2) discuss the impact of individual dynamics, interest and organizational politics on securing the commitment of individuals to a course of action. The approaches and tools vary. However all aim to address one or more of the following objectives, with the ultimate aim of improving performance: 1. Help understand what customers need; 2. Help organisations and employees become more results orientated; 3. Improve the quality of service to customers by improving processes or practices; 4. Provide a structured approach to strategic management; 5. Create links between individual, service and corporate objectives; 6. Translate strategy in to performance measures and targets and in doing so rationalise performance information; 7. Help demonstrate individual staff contribution to organisational objectives and create ownership of performance by staff involvement in the improvement process; 8. Identify strengths and areas for improvement; 9. Aid internal and external communication. Marks and Spenser selected Mary Gober method as chosen service style in order to enhance its reputation, improve sales and business results, and make employee and customer proud of Marks and Spenser. Through employees efforts, this service style became a part of MSs very nature, character which never fades away. It acts as a powerful force, consistently delivering great service every time customer interacts. The method really helped changing individuals behaviour throughout the chains of store. It emphasised that employees should be positive, take ownership and responsibility, be respectful and be determined from the minute they say Hello to customer to the minute say Goodbye, everything In Between and Beyond. This makes a dramatic, powerful impact on the customer and leaves a feel good impression. Summary The study of strategic performance management gives us the knowledge that how managers achieve the organization overall long term goal. The study of SPM is all about the need for finding common ground between strategy management and operations management. While strategy management seeks to make strategy relevant to employees day-to-day responsibilities, operations management seeks strategic context for implementation and improvement projects. This assignment give us an idea and understanding to find out the gap between management strategy, management accounting, and strategic human resource management to analyze the link between organizational strategy and systems of planning and control.

A Moral Basis for the Helping Professions Essay -- Employment Careers

Our consideration of moral issues in the helping professions should go beyond decision-making in particular cases. We need a more basic set of moral attitudes that can provide the context for making these decisions, and which describe the sort of person the helping professional needs to be. The helping professional needs to be able to perform a large number of supererogatory actions. We can compare helping professionals to both saints and good parents. The work of Sarah Ruddick on the virtues that inform maternal practice can be of great help to us here. She characterizes the kind of emotional and moral attitudes that exemplify good mothers as preservative love. The attitudes that make up preservative love-humility, attentive love, holding and humor-share some common ground with the qualities of saints. The helping professional is in an unusual position in the sense that who he/she is has a strong influence on the efficacy of treatment. Morality in the helping professions needs to ta ke this into account. To be a good helping professional involves a commitment to develop into the right sort of person. The issue of morality in the helping professions is much discussed at present. Most recently, it has come up in connection with issues involving the abuse of trust in relationships of unequal psychological and emotional power. It is a good thing to raise these issues. From the clergy accused of abusing young people to therapists taking advantage of their positions to sexually or emotionally abuse their clients, actions which were formerly concealed through the vulnerability of the client and the authority of the professional need no longer be kept secret. However, this, along with issues such as involuntary incarceration and the u... ...ehavior are not immediately accessible to the will. To become a person capable of preservative love requires a strong desire to do so and a willingness to do what is necessary to develop into the sort of person who can manifest preservative love. We cannot become unselfish, humble and attentive in the same way that we can decide to follow a moral rule. We require both education in virtue and transforming self-knowledge. Notes (1) Sarah Ruddick, "Maternal Thinking" in Mothering: Essays in Feminist Theory, ed. Joyce Trebilcot ( Rowan and Allanheld, Totowa, New Jersey, 1983) p. 240. (2) Ruddick, op.cit., p.213 (3) Ruddick, op.cit., p. 217 (4) Ruddick, op.cit., p. 223 (5) See Bonnelle Strickling, "Self-Abnegation" in Feminist Perspectives: Philosopohical Essays on Method and Morals, ed. L. Code, S. Mullet and C. Overall (University of Toronto, 1983).

5 Essential Factors to Improve Memory

5 Essential Factors To Improve Memory What factors help improve memory? Here are five factors that are proven to significantly improve memory, help you learn and recall more and be less forgetful. 1. Positive Attitude While ever you think you have a bad memory that is exactly what you will have! If you say, I can’t remember numbers or, I’m no good with names you are making a self-fulfilling prophesy. You are conditioning your brain with negative thoughts and statements.Your brain will ensure that what you say and think is true and make it almost impossible for you to improve your memory. So banish those thoughts from your mind right now! If you ever catch yourself thinking or saying something negative about your memory, immediately say, Cancel! Cancel! Every day my memory is getting better, better and better! You CAN improve your memory; commit to doing so and celebrate every achievement no matter how small. 2. Healthy Lifestyle Maintaining a healthy lifestyle pays huge dividends.Practise these healthy habits that improve memory: * Exercise. Any form of aerobic exercise such as running, cycling, or even walking briskly, performed for 15 minutes per day will increase the flow of blood, oxygen and nutrients to the brain. This will enhance your brain performance, improve memory and reduce the risk of disorders that lead to memory loss. * Diet. A balanced diet is essential for a healthy body and a healthy mind. Research indicates that certain nutrients enhance brain function and improve memory.These include: the B vitamins (especially B6, B12 and folic acid) found in spinach and other dark leafy greens, broccoli, asparagus, strawberries, melons, black beans and other legumes, citrus fruits, soybeans; antioxidants like vitamins C and E, and beta carotene found in blueberries and other berries, sweet potatoes, red tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, green tea, nuts and seeds, citrus fruits, liver; and omega-3 fatty acids found in fish such as salmon, herring, tuna, halibut, and mackerel, walnuts and walnut oil, flaxseed and laxseed oil. * Sleep. Sufficient good quality sleep is essential for memory consolidation (storing things you have learnt during the day). Lack of sleep impacts your concentration and ability to absorb new information. 3. Organisation Give yourself less to remember by organising your life. Keep a To Do list of all the tasks, big or small, that you want to get done. Use a diary to keep track of birthdays, anniversaries, appointments, events and due dates for bills and to schedule tasks from your To Do list.Use sticky notes for reminders; for example, stick one on the front door to remind you to switch the answer machine on when you leave the house. Organise your possessions; a place for everything and everything in its place is a good maxim. Even if being organised does not improve your memory, you will receive a lot of the same benefits, for example, you will not have to search for your keys anymore! 4. Memory Techniq ues and Systems Memory techniques and systems help you learn and recall information.Start with simple techniques such as chunking, breaking up information into smaller, easier to remember chunks, and build up to the more complex systems. You will then have an arsenal of tools to help you memorise anything you want. 5. Practise Use it or lose it! The brain needs exercise just as your body needs exercise to perform at its best and not deteriorate. When you learn a new memory technique practise it until it becomes second nature.Keep your brain active: play memory games and brain games, do puzzles. Try something new: a new hobby, learn to play a musical instrument, learn a foreign language. By regularly exercising your brain with new challenges you will stimulate the development of new nerve connections that can help improve memory. Pay attention to these essential factors to improve memory and you will soon find yourself less forgetful and able to learn and recall new information with ease.

Write a critical appreciation of pages 214-16 of The Kite Runner Essays

Write a critical appreciation of pages 214-16 of The Kite Runner Essays Write a critical appreciation of pages 214-16 of The Kite Runner Essay Write a critical appreciation of pages 214-16 of The Kite Runner Essay Essay Topic: The Breadwinner The Kite Runner In The Kite Runner, the author Khaled Hosseini tells a narrative spanning the lives of characters amid political upheavals and war. Therefore, the themes he presents to the reader are highly prevalent to their understanding of the war throughout the novel, and this scene reflects these themes well. The sheer destruction war causes is a rather established theme throughout the novel and is an important theme in the scene where the protagonist, Amir, returns to Kabul after living in America. It is between pages 214 to 217, that this scene presents how the brutality and violence of war has detrimentally affected both Afghan society and the physical surroundings itself and reinforces the themes presented throughout the novel. The social and historical context surrounding the novel is significantly important in considering the portrayal of Afghanistan, particularly Amirs return to Kabul. Afghanistans history during the latter decades of the 20th century directly influenced the lives if the characters and provides a basis for the readers own understanding of the war. From 1973, when a coup dà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½tat ended the monarchy, Afghanistan has been fighting against both foreign invaders and itself. In 1992, Afghanistan was converted into an Islamic state and in 1996, a group of Pashtun supremacists, the Taliban, took control of the country. They massacred Shiites and Hazaras in addition to enacting fundamentalist laws. The strife of war continued and undoubtedly is presented in this scene and throughout the novel as a whole. The placement of this scene within the novel, concerning the plot and movements of the characters, is also highly important in consideration of the war. Historically, Amirs return is during the Talibans control of Afghanistan, after many years of fighting. His memories of Afghanistan and Kabul are from his childhood during peacetime and as a result, his return after many years of war presents a detailed illustration of how Kabul now is. His use of the past continuous tense such as: There used to be shops here and hotels draws references to his experiences from when he was young serving as a reminder that for a long period of time prior to the war, Kabul had many amenities that have now been destroyed. This reinforces the fact it was war that destroyed these amenities and so war that has dealt a serious blow to society, plummeting it into what one would expect from a fledgling third world nation rather than a country rich in culture and tradition. The atmosphere that Hosseini creates is incredibly significant in his portrayal of the key themes of violence and brutality of war. His use of diction, imagery and syntax creates a unique yet alluring style of writing which allows the reader to delve deeply into the atrocities of a war-torn Kabul. Significantly, the opening sentence of the final paragraph on page 214 sets the tone for the remainder of his description of the city. Hosseini deals with the harrowing social problems caused by fighting for he simply states: Rubble and Beggars. This automatically sets the precedent one might expect for a city ravished by war. What is quite intriguing about this statement is its blunt approach to the issue. Rather than skirting around the subject, Hosseini instantly illustrates a city ravaged by fighting. He demonstrates the poor conditions Afghans are living in simply by stating: beggars which suggests an enormity of poverty-stricken people living on the streets (of which have turned to rubble) and shortly after by saying: they squatted at every street corner. This reinforces the idea that there were large amounts of people displaced by the war and the term squatted suggests that these people are close to the earth and so seen as dirt by the Taliban. These are the victims of the wars much as the Hazaras were victims of the Taliban. This is an excellent use of empathy to convey Hosseinis outlook on war and helps to contribute to the readers understanding of it. It allows the reader to experience from the victims point of view of war how it was indiscriminate, that it was not only the racial targets of the Taliban that suffered but also society overall. It shows that the war indiscriminate and so reflects one of the novels chief concerns: the idea of brutality of and its destruction li ves. Hosseini makes it clearly apparent that the victims of the war were the innocent, evidently remarking upon how the war was indiscriminate. The war did not care who it hurt, for it ruined the lives of children who were left without fathers for: fathers had become a rare commodity in Afghanistan. The use of the word commodity suggests an item of value to be bought or sold and in this sense is a metaphor for the value of a father. It suggests that fathers are very important and valuable to a child, as stereotypically (yet especially real in Afghan society) men are the breadwinners and provide for their children. The men have fought in the wars leaving their children without fathers, without a means of support and subsequently must rely on supporting themselves. This idea relates to the novel as a whole for Amir returns to Kabul in search of Sohrab, Hassans son, who has been orphaned by the war. In a sense Amir is this rare commodity, somebody looking to help and provide for a child whos e life has been destroyed by the war. It is quite ironic that this person should be Amir, the one who witnessed yet did nothing to stop the rape of Sohrabs father by Assef, who has subsequently sexually abused Sohrab. This shows how the war has hampered Afghanistans future, for the new generation must not only be burdened in the future with looking after the old, but will have had the burden of looking after them up until that point. It contributes to my understanding of the war; that the war has not only destroyed the current society of Afghanistan but its legacy will continue to destroy future generations as well. The war severely affected Afghanistans culture, traditions and society through physically destroying many of the amenities and through impoverishing much of the population. Hosseinis powerful descriptions and literary techniques allow the reader clearly to empathise with both the characters but more importantly with the victims of war. He allows me to understand that the war was indiscriminate, many of the victims being children. This means that the war has severely hampered Afghanistans survival in future years because of the enormous strife the younger generations have been through caused by the war.