History of Brazil Essay

It is a matter of fact that Brazil is a country of contrasts. One can easily observe that the development of this nation is incredibly uneven. Taking into consideration their past experience, the Brazilians are seeing some very good times as a nation. Certainly, they have overcrowding problems. However, each country has its own difficulties and tries to overcome them. Thus, the diversity of this country and its amazing history has brought a â€Å"mixing bowl† of culture preparing a bright future for Brazil. It is widely known that four major groups make up the Brazilian population. They are the Portuguese, who colonized Brazil in the 16th century; Africans brought to the country as slaves; various European, Middle Eastern, and Asian immigrant peoples who have settled in Brazil since the mid-19th century; and indigenous people of Guarani and Tupi language. (Skidmore, 131) Brazil is the only Latin American nation that takes its language and culture mainly from Portugal. Intermarriage between indigenous people or slaves and the Portuguese was a common phenomenon. Despite the fact that the major European ethnic culture of Brazil was once Portuguese, waves of immigration have greatly contributed to a diverse ethnic and cultural heritage. Admiral Pedro Alvares Cabral claimed Brazilian territory for Portugal in 1500. The early explorers brought back a wood with them that produced a red dye, pau-brasil. This is where the land received its original name. Portugal began colonization in 1532 and made the area a royal colony in 1549. During the Napoleonic Wars, fearing the advancing French armies, King Joao VI left the country in 1808 and set up his court in Rio de Janeiro. He was brought home later in 1820 by a revolution, leaving his son as regent. When Portugal wanted to reduce Brazil to colonial status again, the prince declared Brazil’s independence on Sept. 7, 1822. Thus, he became Dom Pedro I, emperor of Brazil. Harassed by his Parliament, Pedro I resigned in 1831 in favor of his five-year-old son who became emperor Dom Pedro II in 1840. Emperor Pedro II ruled to 1889 when a federal republic was established as a result of a coup d’etat organized by Deodoro da Fonseca, marshal of the army. A year earlier, while Dom Pedro II was in Europe, the Regent Princess Isabel had abolished Slavery. Abreu, 311) Dom Pedro II was a popular monarch. Yet discontent grew up and, in 1889, he had to resign because of a military revolt. Although a republic was proclaimed at that time, Brazil was ruled by military dictatorships until a revolt allowed returning gradually to stability under civilian presidents. From 1889 to 1930, the government was a const itutional democracy. The presidency was alternating between the dominant states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais. This period ended with a coup d’etat that placed a civilian, Getulio Vargas, in the presidency. He remained as a dictator until 1945. From 1945 to 1961, presidents of Brazil became Eurico Dutra, Vargas, Juscelino Kubitschek, and Janio Quadros. When Quadros abdicated in 1961, he was succeeded by Vice President Joao Goulart. (Abreu, 329) Goulart’s years in office were marked by high inflation, total economic failure, and the increasing influence of radical political parties. The armed forces alarmed by these developments organized a coup d’etat on March 31, 1964. The coup leaders chose Humberto Castello Branco a president, followed by Arthur da Costa e Silva (1967-69), Emilio Garrastazu Medici (1968-74), and then Ernesto Geisel (1974-79). All of them were senior army officers. Geisel began a liberalization that was carried further by his successor, General Joao Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo (1979-85). In the last of a long series of military coups, General Joao Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo became president in 1979. He pledged a return to democracy in 1985. Figueiredo not only allowed the return of politicians exiled or banned from political activity during the 1960s and 1970s, yet also permitted them to run for state and federal offices in 1982. (Alden, 284) However, at the same time, the Electoral College consisting of all members of Congress and also six delegates chosen from each state continued its activities of choosing the president. The election of Tancredo Neves on January 15, 1985, the first civilian president since 1964, brought a nationwide wave of optimism and activity. He was elected from the opposition Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB). (Alden, 287) However, when Neves died on April 21, Vice President Sarney became president. The latter was widely distrusted because he had previously been a devoted member of the military regime’s political party. Collor de Mello won the election of late 1989 with 53% of the vote in the first direct presidential election in his 29 years. (Abreu, 378) Mello promised to lower the persistent hyperinflation by following the path of free-market economics. Having faced impeachment by Congress because of a corruption scandal in December 1992, Mello finally resigned. Vice President Itamar Franco took his place and assumed the presidency. Fernando Cardoso, a former finance minister, won the presidency in the October 1994 election having 54% of the vote. He took office on January 1, 1995. (Skidmore, 232) Cardoso has organized the disposal of bad government-owned monopolies in the electrical power, telecommunication, port, railway, mining, and banking industries. His timely proposals to Congress included constitutional amendments in order to open the Brazilian economy to greater foreign participation and to implement such sweeping reforms as social security, government administration, and taxation so as to reduce excessive public sector spending and considerably improve government efficiency. Alden, 298) During his short time in the office, Cardoso’s economic wisdom has made a measurable progress in overcoming Brazil’s poverty level. It is remarkable to observe how the Brazilian government makes certain efforts in order to address basic needs of its people such as education, distribution of meals, health care, and the promotion of children’s rights. Co-signed by the President of Brazil and 24 state governors, the â€Å"Pact for the Children† is intended to fully implement the constitutional and legal obligations providing for protection of children and adolescents. Several federal agencies supervise the execution of government programs for children and adolescents aimed to give Brazilian youth opportunities for a better life, shelter, education, and love. Thus, if not forgetting about the past mistakes and taking care of its nation, the Brazilians will surely come to the brightest future.

Motivational Factors

Abstract This paper will explore and discuss the motivational factors that managers must be proficient with in order to accomplish the organization’s goals and objectives. This exploration and discussion will include aspects of different theories to understand how motivation affects the accomplishment of the organization’s goals and objectives. This exploration will be emphasized and interconnected with motivational theories to increase the success of today’s organizations and explain the impact managers have on the success of their organizations.In addition, this explanation will discuss how motivation is initiated and how this affects the personal and organizational goal settings. Implications and conclusions will be drawn from the application of ample discussion setting forth a better management practice that strengthens the understanding of the need of more motivation in today’s organizations. Motivational Factors and Organizational Goals Accomplishmen t Managers must consider many motivational factors to motivate their employees to perform at their highest ability.Motivation has internal and external forces, which influence employees’ behavior. â€Å"Motivation refers to the forces either within or external to a person that arouse enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a certain course of action† (Daft & Marcic, 2010, p. 404). Any person who is successful in whatever they are doing it is very likely due to set goals. Goal Setting is extremely important to motivation and success. Motivating employees is beneficial for both managers and employees because it enhances productivity and the accomplishment of the organizational goals.In order to achieve these goals, employees need to be well trained and motivated by managers which are the key factors in the success of this task. Employees are the most important assets and they are human being first and then the employees. For that reason, they must be treated fairly and with dignity. This is one of the most prominent motivating factors in any organization. Leaders and managers need to earn the respect of their employees in order to excel in their task. Departing from the premise of treating others with respect and dignity, employees will react in the same way.Managers can show respect to their employees by assigning them tasks that they are best suited for them. Every employee has a unique set of skills and talents that are an enormous resource for managers. Managers by communicating employees’ strong points will motivate them to accomplish their task resulting in a higher level of job satisfaction. It also builds the employee’s self-esteem and confidence leading to very strong and loyal employees. This starts a cycle of self-motivation and confidence that continually builds upon its own momentum if carefully managed.Organizations with this type of management achieve their organizational goals with ease. Everything starts with a common cy cle of motivation that needs to be fulfilled to attain the motivation desired of the employees. Figure1 shows this cycle. Figure 1. A simple model of motivation. This figure illustrates the basic elements of human motivation: need, behavior, and rewards. Source: Daft, R. (2008). Management. (8th ed). Mason, OH: Thompson South-Western, p. 522, exhibit 16. 1. Need The basic element of the motivational process in management starts with the satisfaction of employees’ needs.While motivation is universal and each employees needs are unique, managers must focus on identifying what needs are important to each individual in order to satisfy these needs and encourage the motivational environment within the organization. It is important that â€Å"managers take into account theories that will provide them a full understanding of motivation and its implementation in the workplace† (Patterson, 2007, p. 57). For instance, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory proposes that withi n every person there are needs that must be satisfied.These include safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. Within each of these stages, there is a vast range of needs that could fit into each category suggesting each individuals needs could be different and unique as illustrated in table 1. Behavior â€Å"Motivation is what influences behavior† (Daft & Marcic, 2010, p. 72). Therefore, employees’ motivation must be what influences employee behavior at work. Employees can be motivated by an employer, a co-worker, or any situation in their life.While employees behave at the level their employer is looking for, managers must develop proficiency in the motivational arena. This proficiency of the application of the motivational factors will help managers to motivate their employees and fulfillment of their needs. It is important to mention that employees are human beings that have needs and they want to fulfill those needs in a successful manner. Abraham Maslo w's theory is one of the most widely discussed theories of motivation emphasizing that Table 1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of NeedsNeed HierarchyFulfillment off the jobFulfillment on the job Self-actualizationEducation, religion, hobbies, personal growthOpportunities for training, advancement, growth, and creativity EsteemApproval of family, friends, communityRecognition, high status, increased responsibilities BelongingnessFamily, friends, community groupsWork groups, clients, coworkers, supervisors SafetyFreedom from war, pollution, violenceSafe work, fringe benefits, job security PhysiologicalFood, water, oxygenHeat, air, base salary Note: This table represents the hierarchy of needs theory.This theory proposes that people are motivated by five categories of needs that exist in hierarchical order as illustrated in the table from bottom to top. Daft, R. (2008). Management. (8th ed). Mason, OH: Thompson South-Western, p. 525, exhibit 16. 2. human beings have wants and desires which i nfluence their behavior as illustrated in table 1. Daft ; Marcic (2010) mentioned, â€Å"Only unsatisfied needs influence behavior, satisfied needs do not† (p. 233). For that reason, managers have to be proficient in the motivation arena in order to have employees performing well in the organization.They also need to understand what makes employees behave well in the workplace. Reward Employee motivation, positive employee morale, and rewards are important for the success of every organization. People have unique characteristics that make them special. These characteristics will define the level of satisfaction needed to satisfy their needs whether physically, economically, emotionally, or among others. The satisfaction level will affect morale, motivation, and their quality of life in a positive or negative way. Therefore, it is imperative every organization develop a recognition program that is motivational and rewarding.No discussion of rewards would be complete without ad dressing intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. When someone feels gratification when doing something it is considered as an intrinsic reward. â€Å"Intrinsic rewards are the satisfaction a person receives in the process of performing a particular action† (Daft, 2008, p. 522). This satisfaction is caused by choices and perception a person has when accomplishing a task. Keun and Kulviwat (2008) mentioned in their research that â€Å"expectancy is the perceived connection between the effort and the outcome and the perception between the outcome and the reward† (p. 95). Expectancy theory is about the mental processes that an individual undergoes to make choices. Intrinsic motivation is motivated by the interest or enjoyment in the task itself and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure as in the case of extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic rewards can be considered as when somebody tries to make someone else do something by giving them an external i ncentive that gratifies the receiver. Daft (2008) mentioned, â€Å"Extrinsic rewards are originated externally as a result of pleasing others† (p. 522).External rewards are extra pay, bonuses, promotion, incentives, among others. In the article, James (2005) presents a point of view of the cognitive evaluation theory to explain how â€Å"external motivation occurs when explicit rewards are implemented, which results in individuals having greater satisfaction† (p. 549). This theory is a theory in Psychology that is designed to explain the effects of external consequences on internal motivation. Intrinsic motivational factors are part of the job itself and boost the personal satisfaction by accomplishing something worthwhile.Many organizations need a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators to encourage top-notch performance. Managers must ensure their organization has a very good employee reward program in place that promotes creativity and excellence. Feedback Providing ample feedback would work for employees motivated by esteem, while â€Å"providing predictable work, with minimal risk and uncertainty† would satisfy employees who desire security (Moyer ; Dunphy, 2007, p. 37). Any company that values its employees should provide feedback to their employee regularly.Feedback offers invaluable insight to employees about their performance that ultimately can affect the employees’ motivation. The key to a successful feedback is to focus on positive rather than negative feedback on the employees’ performance, which is the primary purpose of feedback. Feedback is not difficult but is a skill that all managers must master. Once mastered, managers have a powerful tool for sharing knowledge and facilitating knowledge skill enhancement. From Where Motivation Comes From Motivation may come from within a person or as the result of the situation.In contemporary workplaces, employees have become accustomed to external motivations such as bonuses, extra days off, contest prizes, etc†¦ The problem with motivation resulting from a situation is that they no longer motivate employees when they are no longer in the situation. External Motivation can make people dependent on things that are never part of a long-term motivational scene. If people want motivation to go deeper, they will have to find a way to create it within themselves or intrinsically. Internal motivation is self-motivation. It resides in everyone although it may be dormant. It is lasting and powerful.In combination with the external motivators mentioned earlier it is the foundation for success of organizations. Therefore, motivation comes from within and from a situation but self-motivation may be more powerful and last longer. Conclusion Overall, the motivational process is universal as all organizations through various strategies attempt to motivate employees in order to attain high performance and achieve organizational goals. The categorie s within these theories are wide-ranging thus suggesting that there are no definite motivator factors for each employee but each individual motivation is unique.Managers must consider many motivational factors and apply them to the employee’s need uniqueness. The basic element of the motivational process in management starts with the satisfaction of employees’ needs. For that reason, managers have to be proficient in the motivation arena in order to have employees performing and behaving well in the organization. It is essential for each organization to develop a motivational and rewarding recognition program. In addition, a good feedback program must be implemented to provide employees a valuable insight about their performance allowing them to realize the achievement of their goals.

Possible Topics for The Crucible Essay

1. Which character in the play best exemplifies courage and integrity, and in what ways? 2. The causes of the witch-craft hysterias include many things: vengeance, jealousy, greed, power (the formerly powerless accusers suddenly gained total power), sexual repression, guilt and shame and the need to confess one’s sins, the need to blame others for one’s own misfortunes †¦ pick a character who sees and recognizes all these true motives and argue that of all the play’s characters, this character demonstrates the most insight into the root causes of the hysteria and also into human nature. Consider: Proctor, Hale, Rebecca Nurse. 3. A more highly evolved thinker is someone who can, in part, transcend dichotomies (or, Dualism, a simple way of dividing the world into paired opposites, such as black-white, night-day, good-evil). Which character, of all of the characters in the play, comes closest to being able to see beyond simplistic, Dualistic thinking? Consider: Proctor, Elizabeth, Martha and Giles Corey, Reverend Hale. 4. Argue that if the vast majority of Puritans in Salem had not had a Dualistic way of viewing the world—that is, they all transcended dichotomous ways of thinking—that the witchcraft trials would never have happened. Do this by showing how central their Dualistic way of viewing the world was to the witch-hunts and trials. 5. Redemption is a common theme of a lot of religious, particularly Christian, stories and Christian-influenced cultures. Which characters in the play seek redemption, and how do they go about it? Who actually finds it? (Redemption is when someone has done something bad, and atones for, or makes up for, the bad stuff to ‘redeem’ their soul, or character, to make themselves—if not pure—at least, better than they were, to ‘balance the scales’ again). Bear in mind that confession is a huge part of the process of redemption for many Christians, but that the Puritans did not have confessionals in their churches, as is common among Catholics. Consider: Proctor, Hale, Elizabeth. 6. Who among all the characters best fits with the definition of a ‘person of tomorrow’? Twelve characteristics of ‘The Person of Tomorrow’ (according to Carl Rogers, cited in An Introduction to Theories of Personality, Fourth Edition, by B.R. Hergenhahn) 1. An openness to both inner and outer experience. 2. A rejection of hypocrisy, deceit, and double talk. In other words, a desire for authenticity. 3. A skepticism toward the kind of science and technology that has as its goal the conquest of nature or the control of people. 4. A desire for wholeness. For example, equal recognition and expression of the intellect and the emotions. 5. A wish for shared purpose in life or intimacy. 6. A tendency to embrace change and risk-taking with enthusiasm. 7. A gentle, subtle, non-moralistic, nonjudgmental caring. 8. A feeling of closeness to, and a caring for, nature. 9. Antipathy for any highly structured, inflexible, bureaucratic institution. They believe that institutions should exist for the people, not the other way around. 10. A tendency to follow the authority of their own organismic valuing process. 11. An indifference toward material comfort and rewards. 12. A desire to seek a meaning in life greater than the individual—spiritual yearning. 7. Pick a character whose choices throughout the play show how he or she morally changed, and explain how that character’s social and moral choices helped him or her to grow and change. Your Essay’s Basic Outline: I. Introduction. 1. Write your thesis here, and include this phrase: â€Å"In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible†: 2. Now write (in brief) what the three main points that support your thesis are (do not write your actual topic sentences, but just mention what those sentences will be about). Do that here: II. First Body Paragraph 1. Here, write your actual topic sentence: 2. (skip item 2 and do item 3 first and then come back to this later) Write your set-up (context) for the quotation: 3. Write the page number and the quotation you will use here: 4. Now go back and write the set-up for the quotation (item 2). Then come back to this item and write the sentence explaining why that quotation is significant, how it proves your topic sentence and thesis. Do that here: 5. Now write the sentence where you say how the quotation proved the topic sentence that supports your overall thesis. Do that here: III. Second Body Paragraph 1. Here, write your actual topic sentence: 2. (skip item 2 and do item 3 first and then come back to this later) Write your set-up (context) for the quotation: 3. Write the page number and the quotation you will use here: 4. Now go back and write the set-up for the quotation (item 2). Then come back to this item and write the sentence explaining why that quotation is significant, how it proves your topic sentence and thesis. Do that here: 5. Now write the sentence where you say how the quotation proved the topic sentence that supports your overall thesis. Do that here: IV. Third Body Paragraph 1. Here, write your actual topic sentence: 2. (skip item 2 and do item 3 first and then come back to this later) Write your set-up (context) for the quotation: 3. Write the page number and the quotation you will use here: 4. Now go back and write the set-up for the quotation (item 2). Then come back to this item and write the sentence explaining why that quotation is significant, how it proves your topic sentence and thesis. Do that here: 5. Now write the sentence where you say how the quotation proved the topic sentence that supports your overall thesis. Do that here: V. Conclusion 1. Now re-write your thesis statement from your introduction here that communicates the same idea but using different words. 2. Re-list the three examples you gave in your introduction, in the order in which you addressed them in your body paragraphs (list the example from your first body paragraph first, then the example from your second body paragraph second, and the example from your third body paragraph last). Exemplar Outline for The Crucible I. Introduction. Thesis: â€Å"In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, social inequalities led to struggles for power in the time of the Salem witch-hunts, with tragic (fatal) results.† Examples: social class, gender and age (Abby and the girls), race (Tituba), social class (Goody Osburn). II. Body Paragraph. Topic Sentence: â€Å"In Salem of the 1690’s, all children—especially girls—were essentially powerless, even more so if they were poor; these inequalities led directly to Abigail and the other girls’ ruthlessly exploiting the only opportunity they had to gain power in their society: through accusations of witchcraft.† Alternative: â€Å"Those who had been denied power in Salem—poor servant girls—got a taste of it by accusing others of witchcraft, and, power-drunk, became addicted to it: their society gave them no power at all, at first, then gave them absolute power which corrupted them absolutely.† Examples: From Miller’s description of Parris, â€Å"Until this strange crisis he, like the rest of Salem, never conceived that the children were anything but thankful for being permitted to walk straight, eyes slightly lowered, arms at the sides, and mouths shut until bidden to speak† (3). The way Proctor treats Mary Warren; Proctor says to Mary Warren, â€Å"Be you foolish, Mary Warren? Be you deaf? I forbid you leave the house, did I not?† Mary Warren says, â€Å"I only come to see the great doings in the world.† Proctor says, â€Å"I’ll show you a great doin’ on your arse one of these days. Now get you home; my wife is waitin’ with your work!† (20). When Proctor goes to whip her, Mary Warren says, â€Å"I saved her [Elizabeth’s] life today!† (56). Her newfound power is shown when she says, â€Å"I am bound by law, I cannot tell it. I only hope you’ll not be so sarcastical no more. Four judges and the King’s deputy sat to dinner with us but an hour ago. I—I would have you speak civilly to me† (57)†¦. and when she says â€Å"I’ll not be ordered to bed no more, Mr. Proctor! I am eighteen and a woman, however single!† (57). The new-found power of the accusers, now at the center of attention: Proctor says, â€Å"Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers? †¦ We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!† (73). Danforth says, â€Å"Do you know, Mr. Proctor, that the entire contention of the state in these trials is that the voice of Heaven is speaking through the children?† (82). Elizabeth says, â€Å"Abigail brings the other girls into the court, and where she walks the crowd will part like the sea for Israel. And folks are brought before them, and if they scr eam and howl and fall to the floor—the person’s clapped in the jail for bewitchin’ them† (50). III. Body Paragraph Topic Sentence w/ Elaboration: â€Å"Racism also played a role in forcing Tituba, an accused witch, to participate in the hysteria. As a black woman slave, she had to do what her master Reverend Parris commanded, and so in the guise of ‘confessing’ what he and other whites so clearly wanted to hear, she was also able to express her hatred of her oppressor by attributing it to the Devil, and also exercise some power over white people, things she otherwise could never have safely done.† Examples: â€Å"Tituba †¦ is also very frightened because her slave sense has warned her that, as always, trouble in this house eventually lands on her back† (8). Abigail says, â€Å"She made me do it! She made Betty do it!† (40). Abigail says, â€Å"She makes me drink blood!† (41). Tituba says, â€Å"You beg me to conjure! She beg me make charm—† (41). Parris says, â€Å"You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!† (42). Putnam says, â€Å"This woman must be hanged! She must be taken and hanged!† (42). Putnam says, â€Å"Sarah Good? Did you ever see Sarah Good with him [the Devil]? Or Osburn?† (43). Hale says, â€Å"You have confessed yourself to witchcraft, and that speaks a wish to come to Heaven’s side. And we will bless you, Tituba† (43). Hale says, â€Å"You are God’s instrument put in our hands to discover the Devil’s agents among us. You are selected, Tituba, you are chosen to help us cleanse our village† (44). TITUBA. Oh, how many times he bid me kill you, Mr. Parris! †¦ He say Mr. Parris must be kill! Mr. Parris no goodly man, Mr. Parris mean man and no gentle man, and he bid me rise out of my bed and cut your throat! †¦ And then he come one stormy night to me, and he say, ‘Look! I have white people belong to me.’ And I look—and there was Goody Good †¦ Aye, sir, and Goody Osburn. (44) IV. Body Paragraph Topic Sentence w/ Elaboration: â€Å"Lastly, inequalities in social class played a huge role in the hysterias. Those who were middle class might be accused by those jealous of their rise in social stature, or because a wealthier person (like Putnam) could afford to buy the forfeited property of the ‘witch’ once s/he had hanged, but the easiest targets for false accusations of witchcraft were those who were very poor, like Goody Osburn. Salem’s poor became victims of false accusations because these victims, as social outcasts and undesirables (or, nuisances) would not be missed.† Examples: Mary Warren says, â€Å"Goody Osburn—will hang! †¦ When she come into the court I say to myself, I must not accuse this woman, for she sleep in ditches, and so very old and poor. But then—† [and describes how Goody Osburn sent her spirit out on her] (54). Mary Warren says, â€Å"So many time, Mr. Proctor, she come to this very door, beggin’ bread and a cup of cider—and mark this: whenever I turned her away empty, she mumbled† (55). V. Conclusion Restatement of thesis: â€Å"Inequalities in Salem in terms of age, gender, race, and social class made the witch-hunts possible. Those who had been denied any power in their society were suddenly able to become all-powerful through accusing others of witchcraft: often, they targeted those even less powerful than themselves.† Examples: Abby and the girls accuse Tituba, Tituba accuses a white woman of low social class (Goody Osburn), who Mary Warren (a servant girl) also accuses.

Organization Development and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Organization Development and Change - Essay Example (Cummings, T. & Worley, C., 2008) According to the reading, when the OD consultant and Lincoln’s president prepared the contract they stated their expectations of each other and that no steps were to be taken until the OD consultant had interviewed the two parties. I am unsure if the information was insignificant to the issue or not but after this mention of a meeting with the president, another contract or a supplement to the contract stating the steps, ground rules and resources to be spent on the intervention was never mentioned in the reading again. I think this is important in this case especially because a hospital is a very busy workplace. The two participants in the intervention have jobs that demand most of their time, and the intervention would require their time as well to be effective. If these steps were set in the contract, the participants would not be in a position to say no because they are wasting their work time on something that may appear useless to them given their predisposition towards each other. Also, the president would not be interrupting sessions, asking the participants to attend to their tasks, because the hours the OD consultant would need are in the contract he signed. With regard to the diagnosis stage, I also approve of what the OD practitioner did. Interviews were not confined to the two main participants. Since each person was complaining of the other’s personality mostly than the individual’s skills as a nurse and surgeon, respectively, it helped the OD consultant to also ask the people who were exposed to the participants’ personalities and work attitudes. These additional interviews were able to give him a much clearer picture of how other people viewed each participant and enabled him to identify the problem area(s) and define solutions for these. He was also able to strategize on what was the best plan

The book YO by julia alvarez Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The book YO by julia alvarez - Essay Example Because her family members and a couple of her friends are incapable of doing anything but rail at their depiction in the â€Å"fiction story†, they each find an opportunity to redeem their images by telling their own tales and giving their sincere opinions about Yo. They give tales about her not mincing to reveal how she was always deceitful, how she stole the plot for a story from a fellow scholar (plagiarist) and not forgetting how her professor endlessly struggled to stop her from destroying her life and talent. In Alvarez’s Yo, she narrates Yolanda’s story through different characters, while Yo is given no slightest chance to shield herself from all the â€Å"venoms† spat in her way. It is quite paradoxical in that the novel initially has Yo as the central focus and her family and close friends, who become angry when she publishes information about them, consequently uncovering private life of each one of them. Different characters are striving to set the story straight and portray the exact Yolanda Garcia they know. Yo’s mother is depicted saying that Yo’s murky tales have endangered her life. The family is quite infuriated, especially because their associates and acquaintances keep asking them which character corresponds to them in the book. Yolanda’s mother is ominous to take legal action against her while her sisters vehemently avoid talking to her. It is true that Yo-yo loves telling stories as is confirmed by her teacher but it is this attitude that glides her into trouble. With rumors of disappearing friends, house apprehension in the middle of the night, narrow escapes as well as stories of torture chambers, Yo’s family had a reason to worry about their father’s subversive activities, let alone the likelihood of snooping Yo narrating her â€Å"stories† to the authorities. Yo’s parents make known to her that her stories could end their lives. Did they imagine that telling Y o that her story could spell their destiny would be a punch line to the narrator? Even after leaving for the United States, Yo’s mother cannot disentangle her self from her worries about Yo’s stories. Why the visit by a case worker in school? Was Yo unleashing something about the family behind doors? Well, perhaps it is Yo’s strategy of making her family to bite a humble pie. Lou Castellucci is another character that exposes Yo true identity in self defense. He is Yo’s student, pursuing a writing course. In the entire course, Yo criticized Castellucci’s writing. However, she motivated and assisted him to improve. Yo was very happy by the end of the course, particularly by the stories Lou could write. She takes Lou’s story and refurbishes it by changing the characters and also altered the sport from bawling to baseball. This brings out the nature of Yo as a great plagiarist. Professor Garfield is one individual who never ditched Yo. College p rofessor is destined to reiterate the phrase â€Å"once in a career comes a student† (Alvarez 1997, pg 73) in trying to assist Yo to get through with her doctoral program in order to uncurl her already tainted life. In many occasions, Yo would ask for his approvals or any form of assistance to bring her life back on to the right track. In fact, the professor would never let her down. Garfield got inspired by Yo and had gigantic dreams for her than she held for herself. As a tradition, many teachers usually give up on students who quit

IT Trends Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IT Trends - Essay Example Various organizations such as Gartner and Juniper have listed some of the top technological trends that are leading in the field of information systems. This section will briefly explain two major trends from the two firms According to Gartner, the arrival of Windows 8 made battles related to mobile devices as one of the top technological trend for the year 2012 and 2013. Gartner claimed that the conflict among the vendors to have full attention from the consumers had forced IT managers to be heterogeneous. It was predicted that by the year 2013, mobile phones would overtake personal computers, mostly among those workers whose jobs required them to do so though a few still require the PCs. The rise of mobile devices signaled the end of PCs as well as Windows as the only corporate platform. This means that by 2015, it is highly likely that Windows 8 will be lagging behind Apple and Android, reducing Microsoft’s share (Miller par.4). The mobile money has attracted immense attention and related services have been diversifying and growing rapidly. According to Juniper, the environment in Asia and Africa has led to an increased uptake of mobile money oriented service, leading to the development of other services such as product tracking (Koetsier par. 3). In successfully adopting mobile devices in organizations, it is important to first understand some of the drawbacks such as loss of data and insecurity. In this case, there is a need to provide a strategy or framework for mobile users to work in a secure manner, including the use of applications with business oriented data at prescribed entries to heighten cost savings. Consequently, this will unleash innovation and easily solve business related problems. Another way of effectively adopting mobile devices in businesses is by heavily investing in IT. If the IT staff does not have the ability to support the devices, it is essential to outsource external support to ensure that users have someone they

Cloning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cloning - Research Paper Example This is the very reason that an identical clone is formed through this process. The future of cloning depends totally on the new researches which are being done. Cloning Cloning so far has not been successful as it was expected. A sheep dolly was cloned in the year 1996 and it was considered as one of the most successful cloning experiment on an animal. Cloning has never showed any positive results on human beings. Cloning has been approved by many scientists and groups who argue that it holds the potential for many benefits for human beings and can serve to provide results and treatments that other methods have failed to provide. On the other hand, cloning has been rejected on the basis of ethical considerations. It has faced social as well as religious criticism owing to many reasons which include the fact that cloning has not yielded any major benefits as yet and also it serves to challenge the normal working and equilibrium of the world (Human cloning 2011; Phil B). Cloning is a process which can be compared to the stem cell research. Extracting stem cells and using them for curing diseases uses the process of cloning. Currently many research therapies are being carried out to find the viability of the stem cells. A study done in New England Journal of Medicine validates the use of stem cells in the patients who are suffering from leukemias. The research undertook many patients into consideration who were suffering from leukemias and their treatment options. The research then compared the patients who were provided with stem cell transplants with those who were not and it was found that stem cell transplant from newborn babies were effective in treating these patients. Thus it was concluded that leukemias can be treated with effective treatment by adult stem cells based on the process of cloning (Leukemia Patients Survive with Stem Cell Transplant, 2004). Similarly another research done by the UC researchers showed that bone marrow stem cells can be used to effectively treat disorders which are related to the eye. These stem cells can greatly help to cure the genetic eye disorders in children. Research done by the UC researchers was carried out on animals and the tests were positive. This showed that stem cells may also effectively work on human subjects to cure eye disorders (Bone Marrow Stem Cells May Cure Eye Disease, 2007). Not only this, but it was also found that adult stem cells can be used to cure heart attacks by the British physicians. The new treatment helped the heart muscles to recover from the shock that the treatment received. In other words because of the patients own stem cells the patient could recover from a heart attack as their heart muscles could be revived (Julie Wheldon, 2006). Another research carried out on skin cells to make them act as the stem cells worked quite effectively in treating rats with diseases of the brain. Parkisons Disease is one of the examples which the rats were suffering from and showed im provement because of the stem cells. This clearly shows that embryonic stem cells which are considered to be the basic cells of an organism can provide a breakthrough in treatments of different diseases which were previously not curable. (Stem Cells from skin treat brain disease in Rats, 2008). Another research being carried out in Spain shows that stem cells can greatly help to treat genetic disorders such as the Crohn’s Disease. It was found that 20% of the patients on which the stem cell transpl

Fossils Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Fossils - Essay Example Lastly, energy can be converted when nuclear reaction occurs – when subatomic particles that make up atoms nuclei rearranges. They may either combine (fission) or split apart (fusion) (D. Yogi Goswami, 2008). This paper discusses basic facts of fossil energy and compares it with other forms of energy. Fossil fuel covers a wide range of fuels used in many different ways and in different forms. Fossil fuels refer to fundamentally any carbon based substance used by human beings as a source of energy advantage. They possess their name of fossil fuel because they are usually formed from remains of dead organisms (plants and animals) fossils form when animals or plants dies and their remains get covered with earth sediment over time. As more layers begin to cover these remains, they start acting like a press. The pressure and heat over time change these organic remains to the hydrocarbons called fossil fuels (Snedden, 2006). There are three main forms of fossil fuels: natural gas, oil and coal. All three were formed hundreds millions years ago before the dinosaurs time. The age they got formed is referred to as the Carboniferous Period, part of Paleozoic Era. "Carboniferous" derive its name from carbon, which is the basic element in all fossil fuels. The Carboniferous Era occurred from around 360 to 286million years ago (Snedden, 2006). In that period, the land was concealed with swamps filled with big trees, ferns and other leafy plants. The water and all seas were occupied with algae – the green organism that forms on stagnant water (Snedden, 2006). Algae is in fact millions of small plants. In many countries, the most well recognized fossil fuel is coal. It used to be a source power since the onset of the industrial revolution. Nevertheless, its application as a source of power has changed over time. Initially, people used coal to

Benefits of Implementation a Good Accounting System Essay - 3

Benefits of Implementation a Good Accounting System - Essay Example Accounting system requires three financial accounting documents; the balance sheet, which determines financial position of the business, income statement, which shows if the business is making a profit or loss and finally and cash flow statement which shows money inflow and outflow in the business. Business activities are run by money given to the management body by the owners. Therefore, a financial statement is useful in monitoring the effectiveness of management. Financial statements also act as a tool used in making an assessment. These statements show how management spent resources allocated to them in the process of reducing the company’s cost and increasing profitability (Kieso and Weygandt 34). It is the work of the accounting department to make such assessments and give a report. Good accounting system helps a company’s stakeholder to make economically informed decisions. The decisions made are based on the information received after analyzing financial statements. Business decisions are always based on accounting information. The accounting system is also very important for record keeping. Information collected from numerous sources is received, analyzed and communicated to the prospective users for decision making. Based on accounting details, company records can be used to make monetary policies. Efficient accounting system helps to detect deception by putting in proper internal control mechanism to monitor events (Kieso and Weygandt 47). Effective and efficient tracking of internal events can be achieved by having a good accounting information system in place.

Recommendation of taxtion for sole proprietor Canada incorporate Research Paper

Recommendation of taxtion for sole proprietor Canada incorporate - Research Paper Example parameter that requires a broader perspective based analysis here in order to comprehend the structural, organizational and legal framework of reference in the Canadian context. Corporate entities including sole proprietorships in Canada have their own tax obligations. Thus sole proprietors’ tax liabilities to the government are determined by the same rules of liability determination under the commercial law. For instance under the corporate tax laws in Canada a sole proprietor is liable to pay taxes on his gross income after such deductions as for those of his dependents, Capital Cost Allowance on equipment, professional dues, if it’s a home-based business a certain amount as rent deductible and Canada Pension Plan contribution have been made. At a glance it seems simple that for a sole proprietor in Canada has no reason to grudge but nevertheless it must be noted unlike in the US, in Canada the businessman pays his income tax based on all his global operations. Again from province to province, there are some changes. Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) is the sole authority for the purpose of administering the country’s corporate income tax rules. Therefore it has the final say in determining the extent of liability for any individual business. CCRA acts in its capacity as the government agency for the administration and supervision of all tax related regulations and thus acquires a very significant dimension in the whole process, including granting exemptions as per individual merits. In the absence of reforms to the existing income tax regulations as per sole proprietor businesses there is much to be desire in respect of the individual businessman’s ever increasing tax liability under the Canadian income tax law. Thus the sole proprietor businesses in Canada have been subject to a variety of situational analyses and studies during the last few decades. This is basically due to the fact that sole proprietors in Canada have been growing number at

Business Description For Students Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Description For Students - Case Study Example The business will identify ways to advertise and promote customers in order to reduce competition and to be known widely. Several pricing strategies will be used to determine the price of different cars depending on size. Sales tactic will be adopted to increase the number of net sales. Being a sole proprietorship the business will be managed by the owner ,it will also employ other personnel with the required qualification they include; the manager, cashier(accountant ), cleaners and general workers there will be recruitment and training programs for the employees .employees are to be fairly paid for them to be satisfied, incentives will be used in order to motivate the workers ,the business has acquired license, permit, and bylaws to run smoothly without government interruptions. Necessary support service like banks, postal services, insurance and health services are included for easy run For business to run, various production facilities are to be purchased basing on the size and capacities required. The estimated amount of the machines start the is$ 1.3 million .the scanning machine at the entrance will be unique to ensure safety and attract customers .the, monthly labour in terms of wages and salaries is to be $50000 .the business will have various rules and regulation that will affect the business from running smoothly such as health regulation and operation time The operation cost for the business is to be$ 27500 and the working capital will total to 56000 the projected cash flow statement for the year shows the total sales for the Year to be $482580 the purchases are 1415000.

Iraq War Was Wrong Essay Example for Free

Iraq War Was Wrong Essay The Iraq war was a horrible thing. It caused many things to happen. I’m against going to war with them because there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as the US government claimed. One of the main reasons listed by George W Bush for the war was to secure Iraqs chemical and biological weapons, which did not even exist. Secondly, there were no terrorists in Iraq, and Iraq had no connection to Sept. 11. We should have focused our resources in Afghanistan where the real terrorists were. Thirdly, we were underprepared for the occupation of Iraq and couldnt deal with the insurgency that followed. And lastly, the war was a huge waste of resources which the US gained nothing from. The United States lost over 1,040 American soldiers fighting in this war that we got nothing from. The war has hurt our country economically greatly. Over $151.1 Billion has been out towards the war. I feel since from this outcome that we shouldn’t have gone to war with them. It’s a hard thing to put our country through. Iraq was attacked by the United States in the year of 2003. The US went to war with Iraq, because on either the administration or disinformation, and the started reason have changed over the time. The main reason given by the administration of George W. Bush was that Saddam Hussein the leader of Iraq was engaged in having nuclear weapons. Many thought that Hussein might use these weapons to attack against The United States. One of the main reasons for the attacks on Iraq was to disarm them of any weapons of mass destruction that they have. This makes sense to prevent future terrorist attacks, but no weapons of mass destruction were in Iraq. Iraq did use weapons of mass destruction in the 1980’s but not since then. Almost all of Iraqs weapons of mass destruction were destroyed or otherwise made unusable in the 1990s. Also, Saddam wanted to stay in power. Using weapons of mass destruction would mean a sure end to his power. This calls into question whether or not invading Iraq was justified because the Bush administration should have known that weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were effectively contained. Because Iraq is effectively contained, it was no longer an imminent threat to the United States or any other countries anymore. Saddam Hussein had never threatened to attack the United States or to use weapons of mass destruction offensively. Sure, Iraqs surrounding countries such as Kuwait and Iran hated Saddam Hussein, but they were not afraid of him. They knew that Iraq was the weakest country in the region. Iraq had been weak and under control since the Gulf War and has not troubled its neighbors. If Iraq is not a threat, there was no reason to be attacking them. Iraq was not involved in the September 11th attacks. So why did we go to war with them? Since, the war had continued, because the forces of the US were attacked by Iraqi guerillas. The US supported a new democratic government within Iraq, which was opposed by various Islamic groups that held power in the country. The US attempted to control the flow of oil from Iraq, one of the largest petroleum producers in the Middle East.

Ihrm In The Multinational Context Today Commerce Essay

Ihrm In The Multinational Context Today Commerce Essay The back bone of an organization is its human resource management thus within an organization HRM activities include human resource planning, staffing, performance management, Training and development, compensation and benefits, Industrial relations. Having these things in hand HRM then walks in to International with IHRM. The class discussion was lead under the main topics of Defining key IHRM terms (HRM, IHRM, HCN, PCN, TCN, Expatriates and impetrates) which gave me a broader understanding on the basis of what IHRM really meant. The lecture further explained on review expatriate management evolution which gave us the understanding of the review trends in the international management. Then the discussion moved in to understanding the difference between domestic and international HRM, the functions and the differences these two has was then clearly brought out with examples. Then the discussion linked in to discovering the increase complexity and potential challengers of current IHRM. The importance of the topics guided me to think critically on how it could be implemented to the work place performance. Having being able to use the knowledge what I learnt in class at my work place gave me a real life experience. Learning outcome of the increased travels, advancement of global technology telecommunication, the rapid development of new technologies, the impacts of free trade, the effectiveness of new education system further helped me to advance my knowledge in IHRM context. Learning of global village lead me in further search on new market performance when a company is thinking global and it helped me to significantly comprehend when I need to converge with global lifestyle and values during my performance at my work place. Most importantly at the use of E- Commerce to lower the cost being business globally helped me when I had to communicate with the upstream customers in negotiation on purchasing products. When working in a multinational company IHRM can be implemented in many ways thus it would implemented to my work by assisting me when I need a broader perspectives on curtain things. When handling the boarder external influences this would be very important. I will also be exposing to risks in the field and this knowledge would enhance me with what I have to do when an IHRM issue comes up. In analysis the learning outcome of the session brought out a vast knowledge in IHRM mainly focusing on the IHRM in the multinational context. The inter relationship in approaching to the field with the idea of domestic and international IHRM brought out a very argumentative yet very interesting points and examples to prove the importance of it as a whole. 3.0 Cultural differences Sri Lanka is a country which is originated from a collectivist culture however the counties culture has now evolved more in to individualistic subcultures which had become more powerful in certain cities i.e. Colombo compared to Anuradhapura. The cultural dimensions in a country has a greater impact when discussing, the focusing on the individualism vs. collectivism, power distance, short term vs. long term orientation, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and femminity. (Hofsted) The video which was showed to us in class on Saudi women and their ability to educate themselves cleared us on that they have their own freedom to learn, Islamic word explains it to everyone. The discussion then moved to understanding limited dimensions as a critical analysis and brought out the fact that conquering nature is an approach to certain societies which lead to an interesting argument on how nature can bring out different dimensions. Then the atmosphere of the class turned in to an exciting point where counter agreements came up with general beliefs and how it deprives with trust. I.e. when the society is driven as being bad it is a good opportunity for the lawyers to succeed. The discussion further evolved around how Japaneses people around the world has more respect to the history of them and how people believe that they are more trustworthy. Understanding of different cultural dimensions in IHRM context helped me significantly as I had to communicate and make purchases from different cultured individuals around the world at my work place. Knowing from what country that supplier comes from and what context he belongs to I can adjust the way I think when dealing. I now have an understanding on the cultural differences globally and it helps me to respect each culture as it is a crucial thing in culture. My broader perspective helps me to make a difference in day to day work place performance. In analysis the overall cultural differences which are unique to each country brought up the idea that it is significant when communicating and making agreements globally and how human nature would effect to the overall outcome of the company cultural perspective. 4.0 The organizational context This weeks lecture was based on organizational context and the class discussion went ahead relating to a case study on how Chinese companies work in western counties. Then we discussed on how the global matrix structure coordination and corporation is highly needed in an organization. Then the organizational context as a whole was discussed with regard to the path to the global status. Then the class argued on how does a networked organization bring strength and good will to a company and the answer was with a lot of understanding and negotiation companies can differentiate work, responsibilities and authorize them across the network subsidiaries only then a company could cherish its strengths and good will. Controlled mechanism was then added in to the discussion to see how the formal and informal mechanisms within the organization coordinately function when going global. Global area division structure became the next sub topic conversation in relation to how it is geographically implemented in the organizational context i.e. within these structures political problems occurs turf battle is one of those on which colleagues fight on who get the opportunity first and on the contrarily when a hot issue comes along nobody will be waiting to take it which will cost in loss of accountability. The discussion became very interesting as I could relate some of my work experience to the debate as I know that having a good knowledge of the organizational context I can make decisions which could bring profit to the organization. This would further enhance on my experience when I relate what I have learnt in class without any issue. Having a good understanding on the organizational context it is easy for me to avoid risky situations where I might end up doing something that would ruin the image of the organization and my skill level. In my point of view I believe that understanding on the organizational context is very important to a business personal as they should be trained to face any problems within the organization through such a thing. The structural responses to international growth, Control and coordination mechanisms, including cultural control and effect of responses on human resource management approaches and activities had critically analyzed on how the organizational context should be functioning. 5.0 HRM in the Host Country Context International human resource management has become one of the most important subjects in the degree as it had brought many of us the intelligence of how to deal with human resources when working in a subsidiary. The class discussion took off with describing the Standardisation and localisation of HRM practices,Factors driving these, Retaining, developing and retrenching local staff, The HR implications of language standardisation and Monitoring the HR practices used by intl subcontractors. The hamlets question standardize or not to standardize HRM? Was put across to the students to argue by bringing up their own justifications. As Mr. Chandana would always recommend the students to do so. He expects us to answer with deep understanding of the broader perspective. The breakdown of IHRM was then elaborated to us with its segments of Host country, parent country and third country nationals. When elaborating the Host country national HSBC (the worlds local bank) can be taken as an example where HSBC practice a standardized culture as a host country company. This is done in order to capture the market within a shorter period of time. Uniliver is another company which would use the localization aspect when it comes to marketing as they bring out the village atmosphere in most of their advertisements. Nestle however stands at standardization in marketing methods. The strategy most of the foreign company s uses to get close to the host country is by getting along with their culture and lifestyles i.e. HSBC. Thus it will lead a very strong business relationship among the country and the company as well as the parent country. In contrary at some point even though they make it visible to the out sides that they are using the customs in with the host county culture, It comes out otherwise when they malpractice cultural values. Then standardization vs. Localization took in to discussion making everyone speak up of their own view. Where everyone understood that companies go through various marketing campaigns to localize their product yet keep the internal culture standardizes i.e. the dress code, believes of standard charted bank is standardized all over the country The best part being a student of Mr. Chandana Kumara is that for every answer or argument we come up with we are presented with some marks. This motivates a lot of students and at the same time it helps the students to understand on the topic much more clearer than when he just teach the subject. When foreign companies start recruiting the local human resource they would first mold the local the way they want this is done so that they can practice the same policys around the world, It will further help them and to us to make the decision making process easier. This is done in order to retain and develop the person as well as the organization. Furthermore we were asked to come up with what extend the localization is imposed and to what extend the standardization is imposed. It is a must for a HRM to support the corporate Operations and HRM should go line in line and to an extend both localization and globalization should go in order to retain the market leadership. Thus its the only way to have a successful approach. Companies move in to villages as a strategic objective i.e. HNB gami pubudu. Branch managers being recruited with different criterias. I.e. Salary, expertise and culture. HR has described on 5 s, quality circle, 6 sigma. (High quality products) Sunlight is another global product where global products being localized has brought out significantly. It was truly a privilege to have being in the class as I have learnt a lot out of it and at the work place I saw certain things that can be implemented and this discussion helped me to understand the process and way . The overall class has knowledge and we believe that Mr. chandana has done a very great job. In the analysis of the days session we can now come to a conclusion that even though a company can stay standardizes it is essential for them to look in to Host-country culture workplace environment in regard to Mode of operation, involved Size and maturity of the firm, Relative importance of the subsidiary. Only then a successful host country context can be seen through a company. 6.0 Sustaining International Business Operations and staffing As a full time working student Thursday nights seem to be long but the moment I step in to the class our lecture pitch a high note. This had always being a wakeup call for me. Thus the discussion took in to place and this time its quite different as Staffing approaches, Reasons for Intl assignment, Types of intl assignments, Role of expatriate, non-expatriates and corporate HR took off and I loved it because I can imagine what is happening at my work place and relate it to the lecture. As Mr. Chandana would say relate my lectures to real life experience The discussion took lead with understanding PCN (Expatriates) to understand the talent available from them impact to the performance of the organisation and how it could be of use to greater control over the others. PCNs could bring alot of company experience and their special talent of mobility has a greater impact in the organisation. On the other hand this could be looked in to as experience provided to corporate executives. I.e. The CEO at Ceylon Tobacco Company is British and he is an expatriate who has given a task from the British American Tobacco company. Working with him at CTC has made me understand the true nature of an expat the way he behaves and the way he relates to the company culture is just the right experience I get. Speaking of HCN (Locals) it is quite a different approach as they would know what is happening in the culture aspect preference aspect and the intimate knowledge of the environment. They would be masters in language skills to make the company perform w ell when working with HCNs and TCNs. Our supply chain director is from Bangladesh and he is the best example I could find for a TCN he has Broad experience as he worked in Pakistan Tobacco Company and now working at Ceylon Tobacco Company with a broader perspective in international outlook, multilingualism. The discussion then moved to factors affecting approaches of staffing which elaborated on Ethnocentric, Polycentric, Geocentric and Regiocentric which focuses on positioning subsidiaries. The reasons for international assignments was then taken in to consideration with regard to Position filling, Management development and Organizational development , when an expatriate is working in an organization to full fill above reasons they would also undergo mental stress as Home and family issues frequent absences , Work arrangements domestic side of position still has to be attended to, Travel logistics waiting in airports, etc., Health concerns poor diet, lack of sleep, etc. and Host culture issues limited cultural training come in to action. The role of expatriates differ vasty when compared to the role of non expatriates who do not relocate to another country, the only reason they would go to another country is for business meetings and periodic visits to foreign operations , so the stress level is less. Therefore we can now understand the importance of expatriates in a sustaining international business operation as his unique effort of playing different roles Agent of direct control, Agent of socialization, Network builder, Boundary spanner, Language node and Transfer of competence and knowledge leads the company to a better passion in the global market situation. According to Charles M. Vance (2006) as with all other management decisions and practices, global staffing should be linked to the overall strategy and the objective of the multinational enterprises. These strategies and objectives are of cause influenced by and set within the context of overall business environment. This weeks lecture was an interesting and a important leasson about recruiting staff for international assignments. working and exposing my self in a forign country as an employee will give me a different experience rather than being a tourist. Working in a alian soil wont be a simple task due to the culture, demographic, social interfierences and the mantality has to compete with their environment. according to Dessler (2003) he has identified five important personalities that would need to be considered when selecting a manager for a foreign assignment they are job knowledge and motivation, relational skills, flexibility, extra cultural openness and finally family situation. If we consider Desslers points almost all the recruits have an idea about the job they also motivated and they also have relational skills but most of them dont have flexibility in the sense they cant adjust to the alien environment. Also most of the recruits go through a cultural shock which almost led them to withdraw for the host country. And finally the family situations, as we all are from the Asian region; we belong to a collectivist cultural dimension we expect and like to live with the family and be a part of it. Especially when it comes to a females perspective unlike the western world most of the Asian women are married and committed to their family and children, in a situation like this most of Asian woman will be reluctant to take the opportunity even its a better offer or else they make an early return. Mr. Chandana also explained the above mentored criterias also can be known as expatriate failure. He also mentioned most of all cultural shock plays important role in expatriate failure. Cultural shock also can turn a good employee to a worst employee. Also he explained how some employees adjust themselves with the culture and overcome the situation. Basically in a phase on cultural adjustment there are four stages, those are entering the culture, facing the cultural shock, accepting or exiting the culture, adjusting to the host culture. By reviewing the class discussion I understood when a company selects its employee on a foreign recruitment it has to spend fair amount of time in selecting the correct candidate also they have to take some counter measures like training the candidate properly and making awareness of the host culture and the job specification. By taking these counter actions the company can increase in its productivity and efficiency. As a conclusions from this discussion I learnt how important is to select a proper candidate for an international assignment. Also as an IHRM student I understand the importance of knowing the alien culture and work environment and adjust to accomplish my goals and to do a better job. 7.0 Training and Development The lecture took off at 6.00pm and everyone is ready for another session of arguments examples and real life experience stories. This weeks lecture was based on Training and developing the individuals who falls under International Human Resource management. We were thus made to understand that within a global market more firms are focusing on human resources as a critical part of their competence and as a source of competitive advantage. In order to do so a firm must focus on the Role of expatriate training, Components of effective pre-departure programs, The effectiveness of pre-departure program, Developing staff though intl assignment and Trends in Training and development. In order to develop the Human resource a company must focus on Expatriate orientation, Cross-cultural training and Development of global managers. The firms originally use expatriates as trainers because they show how system and procedures work and they would monitor the performance of (HCN). We were thus enlightened on that the use of job rotation is a form of management development. The training is done to have a better skilled manager whom is capable of developing with various procedures. Before going in to training programs the trainers undergo training mainly on cultural awareness and language skills furthermore for successful cross cultural Intercultural business skills are highlighted and looked in to with greater concern and also making them understand the cultural variations for those with regional responsibilities. Reflective my learning to my work experience our supply chain director Mr. Khalid is always full of questions. The moment we step in to quotation committee meetings he would unfold his set of questions making all of us very uncomfortable but the learning at class has now made me understand that they are trained to put across such questions in order to showcase their global managerial skills. His experience in other country operations speaks through his questions and it is important for him to ask them and make everyone understand what to be inquired before purchasing a product i.e. the country of origin, The make , the brand , the part number why is it cheaper in India than china etc in regard to a machine . IHRM had made me feel that I am not a fresher to the multinational world as now I understand why certain managers behave that way and why they would question such things and so on. Thus I can happily say that the discussion at class are very effective as it made me understand the real concepts behind training and developing an individual in order to make him a successful global manager . 8.0 Performance management Its Thursday again and I am ready to learn IHRM, listening to all arguments justifications broader perspectives and so on. A class a session a time period full of hot arguments and explanations. This weeks discussion was based on the differences between performance appraisal, performance evaluation and the broader perspective of Performance management. Re entry and career issues were discussed along with this Performance appraisal is used to evaluate the output of the behavior of an individual within a company A format is sketched in order to showcase the way in which appraisal is conducted Difference appraisals could come in with appraising with different languages i.e. English is spoken with different accents/ pronunciations. According to the performance the company will decide whether to keep a specific individual or not. However the performance appraisal has its drawbacks too since it is capable of demotivating individuals. This happens if performance appraisal is used in a wrong country context the employees will suffer due to the fact that they are demotivated with evaluation of their own behavior. However using the correct format one can overcome this situation. The discussion thus moved in to Factors which makes the Performance evaluation critical. I.e. Culture of an organization the Language they use in day to day work environment, the format they follow in the work area and the specific believes the company has from years. Taking Performance appraisal discussion with regard PCN s and HCN s I came to the understanding of that they will be affected when the format changes according to the TCN s further in to consideration how we understand the emotional attitude of them is by understanding who gets appraised and who matters. Then we moved on to discuss on the concepts of whole Vs part. whole is when the company is taking decision as a whole which will give them a long term perspective and Part is when the company is taking subsidiary dictions as a part which will give the company a short term perspective Dowling Welch (2004) However when performance appraisal comes in to action the performance management can be used when evaluating. If this is such you cannot expect a good evaluation. In this factor year on year increase and decrease is not relevant Substitutes are made open to make yourself felt to your clients. You can get company information then it is possible to learn the strengths weaknesses of the competitors as well as the customer behavior even though it wont give a financial contribution. In performance network the contribution of the substitutes are not handling in good grounds when compared to other subsititiues i.e. Airtel being expand to Sri Lanka they are still running at a loss for 5 years. This how ever could be a different strategic approach, in order to research the market For my account this information has helped enormously as a trainee at a multinational company my performance has also being evaluated to see who can do better and who has the capacity in doing a project and what is the limit I could go at a stretch. The discussion in class assists me in a greater perspective as I can understand how the performance appraisal and performance evaluation is done with regard to performance management Therefore Performance management is a combination of individual performance and subsidiary performance and the outcome could motivate or demotivate an individual of an organization and it would also give the current status of a company 9.0 Re-entry and Career Issues This weeks discussion was in relate to re entry and career issues in IHRM and MR. Chandana began to explain that the expatriate process also includes repatriation which is the activity of bringing the expatriate back to the home country . This process needs careful management as re entering in to a country and to an organization is not as easy as it seems. As global managers it is with great difficulty they struggle to settle down in their assigned country and when returning they will have to face culture shock again for what they have missed while they were away. It is very challenging for them to re enter as they would face the reverse culture shock this will also lead some individuals to exit the company. If an expatriate need to repatriate first he needs to prepare himself by developing plans for the future and gathering information about the new position however if this is done accordingly he would have a less cultural difficulties when adjusting back. We were them made to under stand that physical relocation, Transition and readjustment are some of the crucial aspects a repatriate should look in to. Say the repatriate adjusted to the culture of the home country again but he will again face career issues when he needs to look for a job to settle down. He will thus have a career anxiety which post will he be assigned to do will he get the same job back or will he get a lesser position and will his experience be enough to compete with others repatriates. In reflection the same scenario is being evident at my work place our production manager just returned from his foreign assignment and he is yet again starting to readjust himself with the company culture and etiquettes. According to him what he misses most is coming to work from home and going back to his family every day. The understanding I got through this discussion further enhanced me in with what kind of procedure a repatriate would go through before completely feeling home again. The language the customers which were away for a long time is now right there in front of him and he still cannot practice them as he is taking time to readjust. When analyzing on repatriation it is necessary to understand that in IHRM it is a must to take up such challengers as it brings positive aspects to an individual in both financially and also in career wise. The experience an expatriate gets cannot be compared with the person who had not begin assigned to such operations. However in order to help the repatriates to settle down in the home country they should be given counselling, their family also should go through counselling and it is important for them to have a family repatriate programmes. If such necessary actions are taken in to consideration settling a repatriate will not take such a long time. 10.0 Compensation This week the lecture is all about money, as for all I am also an employee at a multination company I was excited about the lecture today. Thats because the subject is mainly based on how a compensation package is made, what are the elements that must include init and the problem which occurs when selecting a proper compensation package. As we all know while working for a firm a good employee will expect a reasonable compensation from the employer. When preparing the compensation package the HRM manager has to consider many things mainly how it has to be, what are the benefits it must include and whom it will be most suitable for ?, are like some of the main questions to clarify at the first step. When we consider the situation as an international compensation package a HRM manager must understand the environment before preparing. When a company recruits an employee from a foreign country or sending someone to a foreign country, the HRM managers job is to find out some basic elements such as inflation, life style, cost of living, taxations, currency value and mainly the housing and education costs if the employee have any family. Mr. Chandana very clearly explained this point and also spotted us how to overcome this situation by arranging multiple paying schemes, compensating in multiple currencies, multiple taxations schemes and multiple expatriate benefits. When selecting a compensation package it should be always designed wisely, as an example the CEO at C.T.C is an Englishman though hes working for Sri Lankan Tobacco Corporation hes been paid according to their compensation system while all the other employees are paid according to the Sri Lankan system. By this I understood the company has managed to fulfill the employee interests. Also its very important to consider how the compensation package meets certain objectives that will motivate the employee to move to the host county. This can be covered by giving an incentive which will make the employee to consider the opportunity also considering to full filling family and other needs and facilitating them on their re entry. When considering compensation there are two well recognized approaches one is going rate approach the other one is the balance sheet approach. As we all know, these methods hold its own advantages and disadvantages. In order to simplify the methods the company can also follow an international compensation method which will include the base compensation, this consists of salary, benefits and other need depending on the job requirement. This can be added with more benefits or can be deducted according to the companies prospective with the addition of incentive components and equalities adjustments. By adding up these two components its always easy to satisfy an employee. As the final conclusion of this chapter I learnt how a HRM manager prepares the compensation packages for their recruits. I also understood when a employee is selected for a operation like this, the responsibility is high, risky and important, because not all the employees gets a chance like that. Also I understood satisfying both the employee and the employer can be tough job for the HRM manager. 11.0 Business Etiquette Social Custom It is the final day of interesting IHRM lectures and the interesting arguments, IHRM related stories will come to an end. However to make the last class interesting the lesson played a huge role Business etiquette and social customs was explained in class with interesting examples of food fashion and lifestyle one would face in different cultures Manners and behavior considered acceptable in social and business situations (Dowling Welch, 2009) this is what business etiquette Social custom means from the authors point of view. However Business etiquettes and social customers can be further elaborated under believes values and the way people think in certain cultures. This lesson became more interesting as Mr. Chandana showed us a video of how culture can affect different personal globally. Having a basic idea of culture from a previous semester as I learnt cultural framework through a counties point of view. The discussion at this lecture made me clear out doubts and clearly understands on some of the concepts. The learning on netiquettes the electronic communication techniques further added on to the intriguing aspect of the discussion. The verbal expression and non verbal expression made me understand that when dealing with suppliers at work premises I should follow the same instructions in order to retain and attract more suppliers. The discussion also helped me to understand the high context and low context cultural aspect when dealing with expatriates in my working place. In analysis I believe that if a business ind

Patient-Focused Pharmacy Arguments

Patient-Focused Pharmacy Arguments Catalysts For Change: Will Pharmacy in the United States Embrace Them? David A. Latif, M.B.A., Ph.D. OBJECTIVES: To briefly discuss previous paradigm change calls for pharmacy practice to move toward a more patient-focused profession, and to make the case that several catalysts are in place to move toward a more patient-focused profession in the near future. SUMMARY: From Eugene White’s â€Å"Office Based† practice model to Helpler and Strand’s â€Å"Pharmaceutical Care† model, during the past 50 years there have been no shortage of expert advocates for the pharmacy profession moving toward a patient-focused one. The results so far have not been as optimal as many would have hoped. An argument is made that the confluence of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, pharmacist manpower stability (and fear by many of an impending oversupply), and the imminent and future impact of automation and technology serve as excellent catalysts to influence the profession to move much more rapidly toward the patient-focused care paradigm. CONCLUSION: The profession must embrace the opportunities discussed regarding moving quickly toward the patient-focused paradigm. Although several barriers still exist, especially in the community setting, it is difficult to see a path whereby pharmacy can rely on dispensing for its livelihood to the extent it has historically. Therefore, the profession has little choice but to embrace the role of the pharmacotherapy expert in collaborative health care practice. During the past half century several authors have called for a paradigm change in the pharmacy profession away from a drug product focus to a more patient and clinically focus.1-7 From Eugene White’s concept of an â€Å"office-based pharmacy† practice in the early 1960s (in violation to the profession’s 1952 Code of Ethics) to Donald Brodie’s thoughtful â€Å"Drug-Use Control† in the 1969 to Hepler and Strand’s â€Å"Pharmaceutical Care,† in the late 1980s there has been no shortage of expert advocates espousing the need for pharmacists to reduce their reliance on the distributive function of prescription medications and emphasize the cognitive component.2,5,6 The need for the paradigm shift revolved around several themes, including the following: 1. To reduce preventable drug-related morbidity and mortality; 2. To regain the professionalization of pharmacy that was ameliorated due to the rise of prepackaged and premixed drugs after Wo rld War II; and 3. To protect against future loss due to automation.1-7 Despite this, especially in the community setting, there is wide-spread agreement that patient-focused care is not practiced as optimally and consistently as it could be practiced.8,9 In addition, historically there have been many barriers to patient-focused care, including time constraints at the community level.10 Perhaps the most significant barrier is the fact that pharmacies have not been reimbursed at a profitable level for providing patient care services. 10,11 One major reason for the underwhelming changes relates to the fact that, with significant shortages of pharmacists during the recent past resulting in meaningful salary increases, there was not a sense of urgency to consistently and fundamentally change pharmacy practice. The situation may be different today due to at least two major factors. First, according to the Aggregate Demand Index (ADI) most of the United States is â€Å"in balance† with a minority of states in moderate demand.12 This contrasts to a high demand for pharmacists as recently as 2007.12 Contributing factors to this supply change include an unprecedented growth in both new schools and colleges of pharmacy, as well as significant expansion of current programs.13,14 Also, some will argue that many pharmacists are working longer than they expected due in part to the Great Recession of 2008. A second reason for why the situation may be different today has to do with the advances in automation and technology. Although there have been previous discussions regarding automation and technology and their impact on the profession, there is some evidence to suggest that the distributive function of pharmacy (i.e., dispensing) will be negatively impacted in the near and long term. A recent summary by Colvin regarding the advances made in technology spotlights the impact these advances may have on the world of work. 15 According to Colvin, the key question to ask is: â€Å"What can people do better than computers?† For example, what impact will Google’s autonomous car have on the future of trucking? What is happening to lawyers is a useful example of how technology can impact professional jobs. In the discovery phase of litigation, computers are much better than people for screening documents for relevance related to germane law cases. They are also better at predicting Supreme Court decisions than humans. That does not bode well for high salaries and full employment in the law profession. Watson, IBM’s cognitive computing system, is not only smarter than we are, but has become 240% faster in the past 2 years! In pharmacy, the robot at University of California at San Francisco’s hospital has replaced all dispensing and has not had an error in 350,000 prescriptions.16 Although the hospital has not reduced its pharmacist staff it is possible that they could in the future. In addition, the technology can be used in other pharmacy organizations to potentially reduce the need for pharmacis ts. On a macro-economic level, economists struggle to explain why the 2008 economic recovery was so tepid. In past recessions, it has taken only 18 months for the U.S. economy to return to pre-recession levels. It has taken 77 months for the 2008 recession. Could advancing technology be a factor in why real wages have stagnated? Former Treasury secretary and economist Larry Summers recently stated: 17 Until a few years ago I didn’t think this was a very complicated subject; the Luddites were wrong, and the believers in technology and technological progress were right. I’m not so completely certain now. We now have the lowest work participation in decades for those in the 25 to 54 age range. Why? What is the answer in pharmacy to the question â€Å"What jobs can humans do better than computers?† Certainly, pharmacists cannot dispense prescriptions better than computers. But pharmacists can perform the non-routine task of patient-focused care better than computers (although some believe that future automation will include robots that can show empathy and emotion). Quality investigations such as the Ashville Project have demonstrated that pharmacists can reduce health care costs and improve patients’ medication therapy outcomes.18 Despite these successes, due to a myriad of reasons such as lack of consistent reimbursement for pharmacist services, many pharmacists’ clinical skills remain underutilized. Interestingly, former APhA President Bruce R. Canaday’s gave a thought provoking inaugural address on March 21, 2006 when he stated the dilemma facing the pharmacy profession.19 He stated that pharmacy needs to change its model of practice â€Å"Becaus e if we don’t, we could become extinct, with our roles in the health care system replaced or eliminated.†19 He cogently argued that optimal medication order fulfillment can be done from anywhere in the world; therefore not changing may result in the pharmacist’s job being marginalized. Since 2006, automation and technology have become more advanced. Paradigm changes often are precipitated by catalysts for change. The catalysts today present tremendous opportunities for pharmacists to utilize their previous underutilized skills in optimizing patients’ complex medication management therapy. In addition to the threat on pharmacists’ jobs from remote medication order fulfillment serving as a catalyst to change, provisions stemming from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that includes Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) and Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMH) may serve as meaningful catalysts.20,21 These provisions have the goal of reducing costs while imp roving quality. Because of ACA, millions of more citizens and residents of the United States have health insurance. Subsequently, the aforementioned opportunities exist for many health professions, including pharmacists, to optimize patients’ health outcomes. To realize these opportunities, a necessary first step is to be recognized as a Health Care Provider under Social Security. Then, the profession must find a consistent way to get paid for their services in a consistent manner. Because of the Pay-For-Performance incentive programs inherent in ACA the environment is amenable to the cost-saving pharmacist services that pharmacists can excel at. White and Latif presented a model that could work where the pharmacist (with residency training) works as the pharmacotherapy expert in physicians’ offices throughout the United States.22-24 These highly skilled pharmacists would initiate and monitor patients’ complex medication management outcomes. About a third of pri mary care physicians’ time is spent with chronic medication patients.25 By combining the physician’s expertise (diagnosis) with the pharmacists expertise (optimal pharmacotherapy outcomes) the synergy gained may optimize patient outcomes and reduce health care costs due to drug misadventures. White and Latif discussed the changes needed for such a model to work.22-24 The United States spends approximately 50% more on health care than the next most expensive country, Norway.26 If health care were a country, it would be tied with France for the 5th largest economy. The rate of increase of health care expenditures is unsustainable. At its current pace, 50% of our GDP could go to health care by 2070! Therefore, there will be intense pressure on the industry to reduce its costs. In addition to nurse practitioners and physician assistants, pharmacists can play a crucial role in reducing health care costs. Despite the aforementioned positives for pharmacy three key issues remain to be seen: 1. Will pharmacy be awarded Provider status in the near term?; 2. If and when they are awarded Provider status, will they be able to consistently procure fair reimbursement for services that save the health care system money?; and 3. Assuming #s one and two come to fruition, will the United States need as many pharmacists as pharmacy schools are producing? It could b e that highly trained pharmacists will add significant value to the health care system, but because the dispensing function ameliorates fewer pharmacists are needed. In summary, healthcare and pharmacy has and will continue the change. Health care costs must be reduced in the coming decades or the United States economy will collapse (i.e., it is not possible to have 30 to 50% of GDP going to Health Care). The next 5 to 10 years will be critical for the pharmacy profession. Because it is difficult to see a path whereby pharmacy can rely on dispensing for its livelihood to the extent it has historically, pharmacy has little choice but to embrace the role of the pharmacotherapy expert in collaborative health care practice. As former APhA president Canady stated regarding the alternative: â€Å"Because if we don’t, we could become extinct, with our roles in the health care system replaced or eliminated.† 19 REFERENCES White EV. An interesting pharmacy. VA Pharm 1962;46(3):24-7. White EV. How the family medication record was originated. Pharm Times. 1971; 34-37. White EV. The development of the family prescription record system. Am Pharm Assoc. 1973; NS13; 357-359. Hepler, CD. Pharmacy as a clinical profession Am J of Hosp Pharm. 1985 42, 1298-1306 Hepler, CD, Strand LM Opportunities and responsibilities in pharmaceutical care. Am J of Hospital Pharmacy.1990 47(3), 533-543. Brodie, DC, Drug Utilization and Drug Utilization Review and Control, U. S. Depart. of health, education and welfare, 1969. Knapp, DA, Wolf, HH, Knapp DE. The pharmacist as a drug adviser, J Am Pharm Assoc. 1969, 502-505. De Young M. A review of the research on pharmacists’ patient-communication views and practices. AJPE, 1996, 60, 60-77. Shah B, Chewning B, Conceptualizing and measuring pharmacist-patient communication: a review of published studies. Res Social Adm Pharm. 3006, Jun; 2(2) 153-85. Raisch DW., Barriers to providing cognitive services. Am Pharmacy. Vol, NS33(12), 54-58. Scott MA, Hitch B, Raye L, Colvin B. Integration of pharmacists into a patient-centered medical home. J Am Pharm Assoc.2011;51(2):161-166. Aggregate Demand Index, Pharmacymanpower.com. Accessed Jun 15, 2014. http://www.aacp.org/about/pages/vitalstats.aspx. Accessed June 15, 2014. Brown D., From shortage to surplus: The hazards of uncontrolled academic growth. Am J of Pharm Educ., 2010; 74(10) Article 185. Colvin G., In the future will there be any work left for people to do? Fortune, June 2, 2014. Rush-Monroe K., New UCSF robotic pharmacy aims to improve patient safety.March 7, 2011. www.ucsf.edu. Accessed on July 20, 2014. Summers L. The 2013 Martin Feldstein lecture. National Bureau of Economic Research. 2013(4). Cranor CW, Bunting BA, Christensen DB. The Ashville Project: Long-term clinical and economic outcomes of a long-term community pharmacy diabetes care program.J Am Pharm Assoc.2003;43(2):173-84 CanadayBR. Taking the fork in the road†¦and changing the world!J Am Pharm Assoc.2006;46:548–50 Abelson R. The face of future health care. The New York Times. March 20, 2013. Accessed June 5, 2014. Smith M, Bates DW, Bodenheimer T, Cleary PD. Why pharmacists belong in the medical home. Health Aff (Millwood). 2010;29:906–913. White EV, Latif DA. Office-based pharmacy practice: Past, Present, and Future. Annals of Pharmacotherapy. 2006 40: 1409-1414. Latif DA, White EV. Reengineering pharmacotherapy delivery to maximize the role of the pharmacist and improve patient outcomes. Research in Soc and Admin Pharm. 2007 3: 223-235. White EV, Latif DA. Restructuring the role of the community pharmacist. J Am Pharm Assoc.2006 46(5); 532-35. Ghorob A, Bodenheimer T. Sharing the care to improve access to primary care. N Engl J Med. 2012;366:1955–1957. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(2010),â€Å"OECD Health Data†,OECD Health Statistics(database). doi: 10.1787/data-00350-en (Accessed on 14 February 2011).