Project Proposal Essay Example for Free

Project Proposal Essay Introduction HIV/ AIDS is a disease which has been prevalent among many people particularly in poor developing countries sub-Saharan Africa is part. HIV stands for human immuno deficiency virus which causes aids. This disease leads to lowering of person’s immunity to other diseases (Chambers,D.E Wedel, K.R (2005). With the lowered immunity the body becomes vulnerable to attacks by opportunistic infections. HIV/AIDS has been termed by many as a monster of the present day because the devastating effects it has had on the population. It has caused the deaths of many reliable young men and women who were the back bone of the economy. It has rendered many people orphans widows and widowers leaving them with no one to provide for their daily bread. It is for this reason there fore hat urgent measure s should be put in place to curb the spread of the disease. This project is intended to bring down the prevalence rates by introducing key measures. These are creation of community awareness, supply of free ARVs, supply of free protective devices such as condoms. Another way is reduction of stigma through voluntary counseling and testing. Thesis statement The spread of HIV aids which has remained a problem for a long time can be curbed. This can be achieved only if approaches proposed in this project proposal are followed and implemented to the letter. Analysis The causes and consequences of HIV/AIDS have been widely discussed and as such much attention should be directed towards reduction of the spread. There are many ideologies that have been advanced to support the source or cause of HIV/ AIDS. Some people have argued that aids is caused by witch craft while others argue that it is not real and yet others say it is a punishment to man kind for sinning against God. How ever, none of these ideologies should be taken seriously because AIDS is real and it is actually a viral disease (www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3769 – 4). By actual analysis it has been established that the project on reduction of the spread of HIV/AIDS is likely to benefit the entire population. This is through increased economic growth as result of a reduction of deaths among the working population. Also through reduction of spread of aids there will be reduction on human suffering in general. It is also argued that reduction in spread of this disease its likely to impact negatively on manufacturers of ARVS and other drugs that treat the disease. Not with standing this is can concluded that there no absolute gainers and losers in the fight against the spread of this disease. Policy elements Mission To gain a remarkable reduction in the levels of HIV/AIDS prevalence among the population and thus an improvement in life. Goals Improving living standards Creating awareness about the reality Objectives Creating employment opportunities To achieve free supply of ARVS to the less fortunate in the society Educating the community on the causes of the disease Sensitizing the community on safe sex practices Benefits and services The project on reduction of spread of HIV/AIDS is seen to have great visible benefits to the targeted population. These benefits will range from information and education on the cause of HIV/AIDS and how it can be prevented. The project is intended to provide free ARVs to those already affected b the scourge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other benefits and services expected from the project include free guidance and counseling to both positive and negative people in terms of status. This is seen to along way in reducing if not eliminating stigma which has been long associated with this disease. There will also be ‘home care’ for the bed ridded victims of this disease. This is likely to give hope to those others already affected by this disease both directly or in directly. Eligibility There are two categories of people who will be eligible to participate for benefit from this project. There those already infected by the disease and negative people who are wiling t actively participate in spreading the gospel of fighting HIV/AIDS.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The two categories are to be identified by voluntary testing and call for volunteers among the population. Once identified the categories will be listed and actively engaged in order to discover the full benefits of the program. Service delivery   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To begin with as way of ensuring that service delivery is executed well, there will be a code of ethics that is to be observed by employees. An example of this a abiding by the confidentially rule which states that those dealing with clients or sick should not divulge their HIV status they are under duty to so.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another way to ensure proper service delivery is by acting promptly to distress call e.g. a call from a sick in need of help say counseling. Showing empathy to those affected by the scourge is another way to win public trust. Through this the services delivered through the project will be perceived good and important by the community.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Finally by taking complaints and compliments and acting on them appropriately will prove vital to good service delivery. Problem to be addressed The spread of HIV/AIDS has been a major problem affecting many countries especially in sub Saharan Africa. This proposal is aimed at tackling this key problem i.e. which has remained a nightmare to many i.e. spread of HIV/AIDS The spread of this disease has not been arrested as a result of failure to implement policies which have been formulated. The policies aimed at curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS has failed to succeed because the government has half heartedly opted to implement the policies. Evaluation At the end of every year assessment should be undertaken to evaluate if there has been any program in eradication of spread of HIV/AIDS in areas under coverage. Some of the activities for the indication of success in the program will entail; 1.Carrying out research   in the   areas   in the current prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS spreads prevailing data from hospitals and VCT centre through   questioners and interviews   to get   feedback from the community about their taking   of the activities   of the program   and its organization. Gain from the project and both compliments and complaints against the programs activity which will be used for appraisal of the program. There should be noted overall change in moral standards of the community. Prostitution, adultery and rape cases should have reduced in high rates from the social educational activities such as communal work, participation in the program and seminars in HIV/AIDS awareness campaign activities which should be undertaken in all cities and towns. Our supplies for products such as condoms dispensers and educational materials should be running out of stock and replenishing done more often. So tenders will eventually be often offered and varied. People should be freely attending aids testing and be ready to freely talk about the disaster without fear of stigmatization. Those infected should be able to undertake or carry on their normal life and remain productive. Family should have made it a norm to have HIV/AIDS and sexuality discussions at home. Timeline The program is to be undertaken in phases with each phase taking a 3 year period starting from phase1, through phase2 to phase4. In phase1, the main concern would be accruing professional and subordinate staff who shall be responsible for the policy formulated, implemented and evaluation of the program. Also   the conduct with community all have to start   to ensure the awareness   of the community   of the presence and the   fullness of the program The other hand achievement   will have to be posted as media stations to give the program a wider outlook and presence. In phase2, the program the program will hit the road aggressive campaign now that the staff are ready morally and aware of the requirements and targets. In this phase activities still carried a phase1 will have to keep abreast with the developments in the stage. At this point the participation in the community work will have hit the road, as it is very acceptable with main challenge viewing changing community participation of the HIV/aids disaster. At the last phase will entail consolidating the gains and improving on the inadequacies of the programme with an aim to have holistic achievement of the programme. So those activities which are not producing required results will be done away with and instead concentrate most of the resources on those policies that have high result. Problem to be addressed The problem is that with all the material and human resource which have already been used, very little or no considerable gain has been achieved in the current fight against the spread of the disaster in majority of the countries especially the sub-Saharan countries in Africa. The statistics have shown very little reduction inn the spread of the disaster and infact it is has actually just been reduced to an arithmetic growth rate which is not acceptable given the size of the resources used in the curbing of the menace. The situation is even made worse by the fact that, the cure is yet to be discovered. The program world therefore ensures the spread of the disaster is controlled and that those affected are well cared for and the people perception of the disaster changes and that people give up the fight just because a cure is not currently on shelves. The most important thing should be achievement in ensuring that the working population is not depleted and the professionals still remain to carry on the research and above all keep mankind from extinction. References Chambers,D.E Wedel, K.R (2005). Social Policy and social programs for the practical public policy analyst, 9th edition Definition of HIV/ AIDS available at: www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3769 – 4, accessed on March 21, 2008 Definition of HIV/ AIDS available at www.answers.com/topic/hiv 277k accessed on March 21, 2008

Nude in art Essay Example for Free

Nude in art Essay The nude has changed dramatically throughout time in terms of its role in the art world. It has been used to portray a person’s power and their weakness, the way they see themselves and the way others see them. The majority of nude artworks are of the female nude, as highlighted by John Berger, ‘men look at women, women look back at themselves being looked at. ’ Vanessa Beecroft, a contemporary artist deems to challenge the way society views the nude in both high art and everyday contemporary society. She challenges the way women are judged on their appearance a base concept that is seen throughout many pervious images of the nude in art. In 1599 Pieter Pauwel Rubens depicts just that, the judgment of a women based on looks in his painting, The Judgment of Paris, which depicts Venus the goddess of beauty and love being judged as the most beautiful female by the judge Paris. In contrast to these female nudes, during the renaissance, Michelangelo’s nudes consisted of mainly males. He used the nude to show both desire and strength as well as his devotion to religion and art. The nude in art can been seen changing as society does throughout time. In the contemporary society we live in today, we, the audience, are more likely to accept the nude as part of everyday life because of the way mass media has influenced us as a society. However, before times when the nude was common sight and open sexual desire was seen as something preposterous, artists used the nude as a way of portraying their personal aesthetic ideals though religious figures, showing their love for both the art itself and their nude subjects. Michelangelo was first and foremost a sculptor. One of his most famous nude sculptures was that of David – depicted in the moments before he defeated Goliath. Created in 1504, Michelangelo sculpted for four years to create, in his own eyes, the finest sculpture of David possible. Michelangelo’s own dedication to the piece highlights his love for the subject as well as the art form. David was depicted as athletic but natural with some fetchers such as his hand and head enlarged for emphasis. David’s naked form symbolised his high religious status to Michelangelo. He felt that perfection such as David’s should not be hidden, this can be seen throughout a range of Michelangelo’s works, both sculpted and painted where he depicts religious figures of high value as nudes and covers lower class subjects with the cloth of a slave as if to cover their shame. Therefore, it can be seen that Michelangelo mirrors his own ideals in the form of religious figures to depict the perfection he desires as well as display this to the audience for them to subconsciously judge the subjects of his work under their own ideals. During the Baroque era, Rubens depicts the scene of the judgment of Paris, this painting allows the male subject to openly judge the female on their beauty alone. While depicting this mythological tale Rubens also himself paints the Venus to meet his ideal expectations of a woman’s desirable qualities, both physically and temperamental and offers her to the audience’s judgment also. Rubens has posed the women to show off their bodies in the most desirable way as well as highlight their key fetchers’ such as their nipples and lips in deep red and gold against their pure skin, he paints the woman with small breasts and wide hips – the ideal representation of female beauty at the time. Implied innocence hides the male voyeurism in this scene – all figures are equally naked however, only the female body is on show, all male’s in the image are either turning away from the audience or are modestly hidden by lavish draping’s, furthermore, the woman are surrounded by small winged children named, Putti; these figures are associated with love and sexual encounters. The ultimate goal for all the women in this painting is to win the love of Paris through their beauty and Venus’ ideal attraction symbolises the high value placed on this virtue and highlights their love and physical beauty as the most important quality they have to offer. Contemporary artist, Vanessa Beecroft challenges the way the nude has been viewed throughout past art as well as how it is perceived in modern society. Beecroft is most known for her confronting live performances in which a selection of like women are stood on high heels and not much else, facing the audience’s gaze. Beecroft aims to provoke reaction from the audience, both male and female, the gaze these models hold as well as their physical closeness to the audience highlight the fact that these women know they are being looked at and judged and consequently look back and judge the audience creating an uncomfortable but eye opening experience for both the models and the viewer. Beecroft challenges the way the nude body is perceived by both high art and by the public and questions a woman’s need to conform to societies expectations as well as focusing on how the concept of beauty can change over a period of time, Beecroft states, ‘maybe if they (the audience) see it twenty times they’ll start not to think of it in the same way, I’m not sure, it’s an experiment. In conclusion it can been seen that the nude has changed dramatically throughout time however, it has always been associated by different forms of beauty and judgment, due to the human nature of the artists that create such works. It can also be highlighted that the way the audience as well as the artist sees the nudes they depict can change during the artwork or during their lifetime depending on how they are influenced by the changing world around them.

Definition Of SME In China

Definition Of SME In China Abstract Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Background A large number of Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) came out in 1980s as China has been moving from a centrally planned system towards a market-oriented economy. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been involved in the economic reforms. Until the end of 2004, major SOEs rapidly change into small and medium non-SOEs. At the same time, many SMEs sprouted as the implementation of non-SOE promotion policy. Nowadays, Chinese SMEs have increasingly contributed to Chinas economic growth. As recorded until 2007, there are 42,291 medium-sized enterprises and 2,327,969 small enterprises which represent 1.78 percent and 98 percent respectively of the total number of enterprises operating in China. The output value of SMEs contributed at least 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) as well as generating more than 82 percent of employment opportunities in China. Since SMEs growth rapidly and pay the critical roles in Chinas economic, in order to improve SMEs performance, the governmen t has provided various ways to support SMEs such as introduced promotion law in 2003, issued a document State Council on Encouraging, Supporting and Guiding the Development of Private and Other Non-Public Owned Economies in 2005 and published the SMEs growth project in 2006. Despite the external support, the internal factor such as human resource management (HRM) has been evolving dramatically in recent years. The Chinese labor market is characterized by a vast pool of poorly qualified personnel, more than 15 per cent of the populations are illiterate and many university graduates lack marketable skills. The shortage of top-class professionals and managers is acute, especially in areas such as accounting, HRM and marketing. Aggravating such shortages is the concentration of professionals in the major coastal cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou (Verburg, 1996). Human Resource Management in China as new as its market economy, with its traditional personnel administrative system undergoing a period of profound change. Besides, HRM in China are different from those in other countries because of different political, economic systems and social and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, HRM in China faces several problems. First, Chinese enterprises in general do not have a systematic approach to HRM that is consistent with their enterprise business strategy. Second, despite the oversupply of labor, many employees are experiencing recruitment and retention problems. Third, there is a lack of an effective system which links long-term motivation and performance with reward. Forth, there is a lack of coherence and continuity in enterprise training. The growth of human capital is obviously lagging behind that of enterprise profit (Pawan, 2004). Hence, this study aims to find out what are the problems about HRM in Chinese SMEs, what are the roles of HRM in SMEs, how is the role of HRM affect employee performance, and extent where this employee performance affect organization performance. 1.1.1 Definition of SME in China With the SME Promotion Law of China effect in 2003, the new definition of SME came out as well. The new guidelines base on the number of employees, revenue and total assets of enterprises. The SME definition in China is quiet complex. Such as the specific criteria about the total assets of enterprises in industrial sector, including mining, manufacturing, electric power, gas, water production and supply and construction. However, in the industries like transportation, wholesale and retail business, and hotels and restaurants, there is no assets requirement. Guidelines for the industrial sector requires SMEs to employ a maximum 2,000 people, and to have an annual revenue not exceeding RMB300 million. Their total assets should not exceed RMB 400 million. Medium-sized enterprises should employ a minimum of 300 people. Their annual revenue and total assets should not exceeding RMB30 million and 40 million respectively. The rest are classified as small enterprises (Details see EXHIBIT 1-1 ). Consequently, an SME in China may be quite large relative to SMEs in other countries. Therefore, this paper mainly focuses on small enterprises (SEs), including the problems of SE, the survey of SEs, and the recommendations about human resource perspective for SEs. EXHIBIT 1-1 The definition of SME in China 1.1.2 Challenges to Chinese SMEs During the twenty-first century, businesses became more than slim; some became anorexic. Cost cutting achieved impressive short-term results. According to some studies, about 50 per cent of the company cost is the employee salary pay. Therefore, in order to cut operation cost, companies start to cut employee salary. Consequently, cutting the pay for the employee caused employee dissatisfaction and left. In China, the serious problem which the organization faces is the shortage of skilled staff to carry out maintenance and repairs or lack of trained employee. Likewise, one of the significant difficulties of SME is the cost of doing business in industrial areas and host towns are high; physical infrastructure is poor; and operational costs are high. 1.2 Research objectives In general, small firms pay less attention to human resource management than their larger counterparts do (Barron et al., 1987; Hornsby and Kuratko, 1990). The available empirical information on HRM within SMEs suggests that smaller firms make less use of high performance HRM practices than larger organizations do (Barron et al., 1987; Homsby and Kuratko, 1990). This is in line with the finding that small organizations are in general more likely to operate in an informal and flexible manner than larger firms are. For instance, Koch and McGrath (1996) find that, normally, firm size is positively related with the incidence of HRM planning and formal training, and with the level of overall HRM sophistication. Westhead and Storey (1997, 1999) find that both managers and employees are less likely to get formal training in a small firm. In a study by Jackson et al., (1989), smaller companies are found to have less formalized performance appraisals, less likelihood of bonuses based on compa ny productivity and less training than larger companies do. Aldrich and Langton (1997) find that larger companies have more formalized recruitment practices. However, firm size is not the only factor in predicting HRM practices. A large heterogeneity exists in the type and formalization of HRM practices found among smaller firms. Thus, this study aims to find out the problems of HRM within Chinese SMEs, to increase our understanding of HRM practices in SMEs and seek out what are the roles of HRM in SMEs. What is more, the impact of HRM practice will be also considered, via the chain of better HRM, better outcomes, to better firm performance, and then to better and more sustainable economic performance in the national economy. As well as what are the challenges for HRM in Chinses SMEs. 1.3 Problem statement The importance of HRM has received much attention in recent years. Some researchers approved that the practive of HRM might lead to better HRM outcomes that can enhance firm performance (Beer, Spector, Lawerence, Mills and Walton 1984; Fombrun, Tichy and Devanna 1984; Guest 1987; 1997; Schuler 1988; 1997). As well as suggest by Boselie et al.,(2001) and Guest (1997), increase usage of high performance HRM practices is generally associated with improved firm performance. Moreover, as MeEvoy (1984) already suggested, HRM practices may be an important cause of small-firm success or failure. However, there has different view of HRM. Some argued that there is a weak link between HRM and performance (Lee and Chee 1996; MacDeffie 1995; Purchell 1995; Dunphy and Stace 1992; Wong et al. 1997). In the recent Chinese economy, what are roles of HRM may contribute to better behavioral outcomes, and thus lead to better enterprise performance? Therefore, this study addressed the following research questions: RQ1: What are the roles of HRM in Chinese SMEs? RQ2: Do the roles of HRM enhance employee performance? If so, which role is the most important? RQ3: To what extent the employee performance affect the organizational performance? RQ4: What are the challenges to HRM in Chinese SMEs? The basic hypothesis is that the roles of HRM improve employee satisfaction. Further, positive employee satisfaction is positively correlated to employee performance. Consequently, positive employee performance is positively correlated to organizational performance.The Structural Equation Model as bellow: Organizational performance Employee performance Employee satisfaction The role of HRM H1: The role of HRM improve employee satisfaction H2: Positive employee satisfaction is positively correlated to employee performance H3: Positive employee performance is positively correlated to organizational performance 1.4 Research motivation How to manage an organizations workforce is a fundamental aspect of each organization, irrespective of its size. Enterprises are faced with the task of recruiting and retaining a suitable workforce. This is not only a challenge for large enterprises, but also for small and medium-sized enterprises. The increasing attention on HRM in SMEs is a comparatively recent phenomenon. HR- researchers have largely ignored the SMEs, even though smaller companies could be fruitful subjects for empirical investigation because their numbers, the growth-rates and not least diversity in the qualitative aspects of management practices. Traditionally, HRM is not being seen as important as other departments like marketing, accounting, operation. There are two reasons for the lack of interest for the HRM in SMEs. Firstly, the managers and/or owners of the SMEs, often ignored personnel, or HR issues like training and development, performance management, employee counseling etc. It seems that the mangers have the view that HRM is unresponsive or not tailorised enough to their needs, and it is considered too costly and activity to carry for a small organization. The lack of appropriateness, expectation of the activities being too bureaucratic, time consuming and the lack of clarity concerning direct effects etc., has resulted in very limited attention to the approach and the techniques associated with it among management (often without any background knowledge on personnel and HR). Earlier studies indicate even traditional personnel activities are rather seldom used in SMEs. Accordingly, with the growth of SMEs in China, and SMEs have increasingly contributed to Chinas economic growth, we need to pay attention to the SMEs performance, or we can say pay attention to HRM in SMEs. As HRM issue always been ignored, especially in SMEs, the researcher attend to do this research to explore the problems regarding HRM within SMEs and the roles of HRM in SMEs as well as the challenges for HRM in Chinese SMEs. 1.5 Scope of research Based on regional distribution (see EXHIBIT 1-2), 68.58 percent of SMEs are located in the east of China, 20.14 percent in the middle of China, 11.28 percent in the west of China. Small enterprises in the top five provinces make up 48.4 percent of all small enterprises. These provinces are all located in the eastern area of China which is Jiangsu, Zhengjiang, Guandong, Shanghai, and Shandong with 11.6 percent, 11 percent, 10.4 percent, 9.9 percent, 8.9 percent, and 7.6 percent of all SEs, respectively. EXHIBIT 1-2 Distribution of registered types of small enterprises (see EXHIBIT 1-3) is as follows: domestic enterprises in mainland China make up 96.1 percent of the total; HK-, Macao- and Taiwan-based enterprises, 2 percent; and foreign enterprises, 1.9 percent. Meanwhile, private enterprises comprise 66.1 percent of all SEs. EXHIBIT 1-3 Chapter 2 Literature review 2.1 Human Resource Management overview (à ¦Ã‚ ¦Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬  Ã‚ µ) HRM is about the management of an organizations workforce. Managing a workforce first of all requires the presence of a workforce, which calls for activities in the fields of recruitment, selection, appraisal and compensation. Next, the workforce must be organized. Tasks and responsibilities must be determined and communicated. To ensure that employees possess required knowledge and skills, training and development activities can be carried out. Such activities may influence the working climate within the organization, and thus employee commitment and job satisfaction. Organizations may also employ activities that directly aim to improve commitment and satisfaction, either because job satisfaction is a goal in itself, or because it is believed to have a positive impact on organizational performance. 2.1.1 Roles of Human Resource Management In the past few years, roles of HR professionals were viewed in terms of transition from operational to strategic, qualitative to quantitative, policing to partnering, short-term to long-term, administrative to consultative, functionally oriented to business oriented, internally focused to externally and customer-focused, reactive to proactive, activity-focused to solutions-focused. However, these transitions are too simplistic. In fact, the roles of HR professionals are in reality, multiple and not single. In order to create value and deliver results, HR professionals must begin not by focusing on the activities or work of HR but by defining the deliverables of that work. Therefore, Dave, (1997) came out the framework of four key roles of HR professional (See EXHIBIT 2-1). The two axes represent the HR professionals focus and activities. Focus ranges from long-term/strategic to short-term/operational. HR professionals must learn to be both strategic and operational, focusing on the long term and short term. Activities rang from managing process (HR tools and systems) to managing people. These two axes delineate four principal HR roles which are: (1) Management of strategic human resources; (2) Management of firm infrastructure; (3) Management of the employee contribution; and (4) management of transformation and change. In other words, the roles of HR professional are strategic partner; administrative expert; employee champion and change agent. Table 2-1 summarizes the deliverables, metaphor and activities the HR professional must perform to fulfill the role. EXHIBIT 2-1 HR Roles in Building a Competitive Organization Table 2-1 Definition of HR roles Management of Strategic Human Resources This role focuses on aligning HR strategies and practices with business strategy which requires that the HR professional works as a strategic partner, helping to ensure the success of business strategies. Translating business strategic into HR practices so that the business can adapt to change, better meet customer demands and achieve financial performance through its more effective execution of strategy. Management of Firm Infrastructure Management an organizational infrastructure is a traditional HR role. This role requires HR professionals design and deliver efficient HR processes for staffing, training, appraising, rewarding, promoting and managing the flow of employees. HR professionals must ensure that these organizational processes are designed and delivered efficiently. Management of Employee Contribution This role indicates that HR professionals involve in the day-to-day problems, concerns and needs of employees. As employee champions, HR professionals need to understand employees needs and ensure that those needs are met, overall employee contribution goes up. Therefore, HR professionals should be active and aggressive in developing human resource, linking employee contributions to the organizations success. Management of Transformation and Change The final role of HR professional is to management transformation and change. Transformation entails fundamental cultural change within the firm. Change refers to the ability of an organization to improve the design and implementation of initiatives and to reduce cycle time in all organizational activities. HR professionals help to indentify and implement processes for change. Ulrich, in conjunction with Brockbank, reformulated the 1997 model in 2005, listing the following roles: Employee advocate focuses on the need of todays employees through listening understanding and empathizing. Human capital developer in the role of managing and developing human capital (individuals and teams), focuses on preparing employees to be successful in the future. Functional expert concerned with HR practices that are central to HR value, acting with insight on the basis of the body of knowledge they process. Some are delivered through administrative efficiency (such as technology or process design), and others through policies, menus and interventions. Necessary to distinguish between the foundation HR practices recruitment, learning and development, rewards, etc and the emerging HR practices such as communications, work process and organization design, and executive leadership development. Strategic partner consists of multiple dimensions: business expert, change agent, strategic HR planner, knowledge manager and consultant, combining them to align HR systems to help accomplish the organizations vision and mission, helping managers to get things done, and disseminating learning across the organization. Leader leading the HR function, collaborating with other functions and providing leadership to them, setting and enhancing the standards for strategic thinking and ensuring corporate governance. 2.1.2 Strategy Human Resource Management There is a growing awareness of the importance of human resources as well as strategy HRM. An integral component of organizing and staffing is SHR, which is becoming more widely recognized as critical to developing and implementing considered responses to profit pressures (Kawalek and wastall, 2005; Lam and Schaunbroeck, 1998; Murphy and Zandvakili, 2005). As a result, .Much attention has been given to SHR in recent years (Ericksen and Dyer, 2005; Martin-Alcazar, Romero-Fernandez, and Sanchez-Gardey, 2005; Richard and Johnson, 2004). Strategy HRM is an approach to making decisions on the intentions and plans of the organization in the shape of the policies, programmes and practices concerning the employment relationship, resourcing, learning and development, performance management, reward, and employee relations. According to Hendary and Pettigrew (1986), strategic HRM has four meanings: 1. The use of planning; 2. A coherent approach to the design and management of personnel systems based on an employment policy and manpower strategy and often underpinned by a philosophy; 3. Matching HRM activities and policies to some explicit business strategy; 4. Seeing the people of the organization as a strategic resource for the achievement of competitive advantage. SHR is concerned with the contributions HR strategies make to organizational effectiveness, and how these contributions are accomplished (Ericksen and Dyer, 2005) and involves designing and implementing a set of internally consistent policies and practices to ensure that an ganizations human capital contributes to overall business objectives (Baird and Heshoulam, 1988; Huselid, Jackson, and Schuler, 1997; Jackson and Schuler, 1995; Richard and Johnson, 2004; Schuler and Jackson, 1987). The idea that HR management systems can play a significant role in creating success for organizations is not new. Porter (1985), for example, argued that HR management practices can help organizations gain competitive advantage by lowering costs, increasing sources of product and service differentiation, or some combination of the two. 2.1.3 Strategy Human resource vs Traditional Human Resource Strategic HR differs from traditional HR in a number of ways: 1. In a traditional approach to HR, the main responsibility for people management programs rests with staff specialists in the corporate HR division. A strategic approach places the responsibility for managing people with the individuals most in contact with them, their respective line managers. 2. Traditional HR focuses its activities on employee relations, ensuring that employees are motivated and productive and that the organization is in compliance with all necessary employment laws. Strategic HR focus to partnerships with internal and external. 3. Transitioning From HR to SHR Although HR has made great strides in becoming more strategic, it has yet to fully achieve an established role as a strategic business partner. SHR expands the traditional role of I i R from bureaucratic to strategic (Leonard, 2002). Due to the tremendous differences between traditional HR perspectives and SHR, it is not shocking that few organizations are successful in transitioning to SHR (Fisher, Schoenfeldt, and Shaw, 2003). For HR to become a strategic business partner, a complete change in mind-set is needed. Table 1 provides a discussion of the key issues or aspects of HR management and examines differences between what is required for traditional and strategic HR. Fundamental Mind-set Lepak and Snell (1998) report that a survey of 1,050 companies indicated that HR professionals devote less than one-third of their time to SHR activities. Instead, their time is spent on traditional activities. (Fisher, Schoenfeldt, and Shaw, 2003; Creen, 2002). In short, the basic mind-set of traditional HR is very transactional in nature-strict focus on these basic activities does not bode well for perceiving HR as strategic. The most frequently cited barriers limiting HR departments to more effectively contribute to their organizations bottom line were HRs strong focus on administration and the inability to directly measure HRs impact on the bottom line (Fegiey, 2006). This may contribute to a perception that HR merely plays an operational role and is not an important strategic partner. Therefore, SHR requires a different mind-set, one that focuses on organizational transformations, as well as transactions. SHR can play a more consultative role in organizations in which HR profess ionals help organizations achieve goals within the larger organizations HR system (Creen, 2002). Additionally, SHR can be more involved in transformations using change management techniques instead of strictly focusing on the transactional activities. SHR can fulfill an important role in change management by helping upper management understand the fear of change and the negative reactions to it, as well as ameliorate anxiety and prepare the work force for change. It appears that some HR professionals recognize this need (cf., Harvey and Dentà ³n, 1999), but it is uncertain if HR is currently prepared to take on such roles. View of Organization Some contend that HR professionals suffer from a lack of vision when it comes to the big picture of the organization {Leonard, 1998). HR management tends to hold a micro view of the organization and HR managers are viewed as somewhat insular, focusing solely on their HR departments and on day to-day operations. In fact, many HR professionals see the HR function as a separate entity and are not involved in finding business solutions{Caudron, 2002). For example, HR planning often takes place separately from the overall strategic planning process and only at set intervals (e.g., annually). Additionally, HR planning is often used as a means of convincing top management to allocate sufficient resources for HR rather than to enhance the organizational performance process (Lam and Schaubroeck, 1998). Although HR planning is important in its own right, even the most sophisticated HR planning processes are ineffective unless done in concert with the organizations overall planning process (Dav id, 2005; Lam and Schaubroeck, 1998). HR should develop a broad and far-reaching vision and understanding of where the organization is headed and how it can help steer the organization in that direction (Leonard, 1998). The importance of the need for a fit between HR strategy and the overall business strategy cannot be over emphasized. HR needs to focus on recruitment alignment, selection, compensation, discipline, training, reward and recognition processes, and leadership development with the strategy and goals of the overall organization. HR must understand the business and make a business case for its decisions, programs, and practices to receive full acceptance at the planning table. Education and Training Another area where HR needs enhancement to become more strategic is in its formal education and training (Meilich, 2005). First, many HR practitioners do not have formal training or education in HR management. Recently, the Society for Human Resource Management surveyed members concerning the strategic nature of HR. Surprisingly, only 35 percent of the respondents indicated that their highest level of education completed involved a concentration in HR (Fegley, 2006). Additionally, many HR professionals do not have business degrees, often reflecting inadequate knowledge of business principles and practices. The survey revealed that only 20 percent of the respondents indicated that their highest degree completed was a B.B.A. or MBA (Fegley, 2006). Consequently, many HR professionals may not have adequate understanding of business concepts that are critical for acceptance as a strategic partner. HR has the potential to positively affea numerous important business activities but HR profe ssionals need to strengthen their knowledge of HR practices and regulations as well as financial knowledge, especially in the areas of business finance, financial planning, and accounting, to do so. While a change concerning HR education and training is needed, traditional HR education should not be abandoned. Rather, its important to develop business-related capabilities to complement the technical HR capabilities that HR professionals already possess. Critical Skills Another potential barrier to strategic HR management is the basic skill set or competencies that traditional HR professionals possess. Like lawyers, HR professionals are trained to be orderly, keep accurate employment records, complete documentation, and protect organizations from litigation (Green, 2002). Although such skills are necessary, many HR professionals mistakenly see this as their only job. Senior managers need HR professionals to serve as problem solvers, conflict managers, coaches, and liaisons with considerable organizational savvy (Green, 2002). HR practitioners must re-examine their existing skills and competencies to meet these new challenges. IIR professionals may look to develop additional skill sets such as critical thinking, strategic planning, project management, organizational analysis, consulting, and change management (Hayton, Cohen, Hume, Kaufman, and Taylor, 2005). This is quite a shift from what is traditionally expected, but it is essential for HR profess ionals who are working to become strategic partners. View of Employees Traditionally, HR views employees as heads or costs to the organization. With traditional HR serving mostly an administrative function, this attitude is somewhat understandable. However, this view is certainly not strategic in nature, and surely will become even more problematic as the United States experiences the labor shortages that are forecasted. The tight labor market of the present and future will make recruiting and retention top priorities in most organizations (Leonard, 1998). Hnder these conditions, the margin for error is small and the costs associated with selecting the wrong employees or losing the right ones is exacerbated. Therefore, it is critical to view employees as extremely valuable sources of produaivity and innovation. Timeframe As previously discussed, traditional HR professionals focus more closely on the transactional aspeas of their jobs. Most of these transaaional functions fulfill immediate needs of the organization and have a near-term deadline. As a result, most traditional HR practitioners are somewhat short-term in their focus. In contrast, SHR requires a long-term focus encompassing both the immediate and future needs of the organization. SHR must anticipate where the company is going to be in five to six years and help organizations understand the impact of changing demographics and expectations of the work force (Leonard, 1998). Process/Outcome Orientation when it comes to the bottom line, many believe HR has generally been out to lunch (Leonard, 1998). Some HR professionals seem more concerned with processes than with results. While issues concerning processes (e.g., employee participation, fairness, due process) are important, IIR must place more emphasis on results and work to understand how internal decisions and actions affect the bottom line. To accomplish this effectively, HR needs to measure the effects of its systems and processes, and demonstrate their impact on the bottom tine to gain equal status in the strategic planning process. Currently, fewer than half of HR departments have an established method to measure the effectiveness of their strategies (Fegley, 2006). Through measurement, HR can help demonstrate its value to the organization while tracking how well the organization is implementing various policies, systems, and initiatives, and ensuring that the desired behaviors and processes support the organizations strateg ic goals (Pfeffer, 1995). Risk HR professionals are typically risk averse, tending to err on the side of caution as they comply with the myriad laws and regulations. HR is often seen as the entity that stops companies from doing the right things (Caudron, 1997) rather than helping companies achieve their goals and objectives. One can argue that extreme caution may be appropriate in some circumstances; however. traditional HR can generalize this approach across its functions. More risk taking is required in todays business environment. Organizations must now respond to change faster and with greater risk while operating in an unpredictable internal and external environment (Briggs and Keogh, 1999). HR practitioners should display a willingness to try new things to meet the challenges of todays global marketplace (Leonard, 2002). Response to Change HR should accept some blame for the stumbling blocks experienced in working to achieve equal status as a strategic business partner. Chief among these problems is the HR professions resistance to change (Leonard, 2002). As a group, HR practitioners have been slow to respond to changes in their jobs and in the business environment. Perhaps the most critical or damaging instance is the slow acceptance of technology. Originally, numerous HR professionals viewed technology as something that would eliminate many of their jobs, rather than enhance their roles and responsibilities. Purthermore, some were reluctant to give up their paper-based processes (Leonard, 2002). This reluctance to accept technology damages the professions image and makes HR slower to react to workplace changes, To become more strategic, HR must accept and respond to changes in the business environment. In addition to ensuring their own viability, HR professionals should show more responsiveness to change in the futur e. HR Systems and Practices Perhaps to simplify and standardize their policies and practices, traditional HR often prefers a one-size fits-a

AP1 :: essays papers

AP1 The short story "A & P," a nineteen year old boy who works in a small grocery store on the East-Coast, called an A & P. He works in the store as a check out clerk until a warm summer day when three girls wearing only wearing their bathing suits came into the store to buy herring snacks and sour cream for one girl's mother. All was going well until--the owner of the store enters and puts down the girls for coming in the store in inappropriate attire. In a pointless heroic move to try and win over the girls; Sammy quits his job to protest the treatment of the girls. This "selfless" act was in vain, for when he left the store hoping the girls would be there waiting for him, they were gone. Updike has painted a perfect picture of what is in the inner mind of a young man--SEX. He does this by the detailed description of each of the three girls and a "heroic" act to save the day. Updikes use of description of the smallest details of the three girls let the reader know where Sam's mind is; right in the gutter. In the first paragraph Sam's thoughts of the first girl he sees, or as he calls her, "Plaid" are nothing but analyzing every curve on her body. As Plaid walks into the store Sammy begins to have a mental description, of oddly enough--her butt, "with a good tan and a sweet board soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs" (480). Updike takes on this rule as a sex driven nineteen-year-old character very well. Sammy seems to like another quality, "They didn't even have shoes on" (480). This struck me as odd-at least by todays standards. Seeing girls without shoes is an everyday event. The girl that Sammy is most in awe of is "Queenie" the leader of the three girls. Being the leader of the three girls and the most flamboyant may be what attracted Sammy to her; "what got me, the straps were down†¦off her shoulders looped loose around the cool tops of her arms" (481). Sam's only desire was simply sex and this blinded his judgment.

Alternative Medicine and the Christian Responsibility Essay -- Medical

Alternative Medicine and the Christian Responsibility Acupuncture, ayurveda, chiropractice, homeopathy, meditation, osteopathy, and yoga are just a few of the many types of medicine practiced all over the world. According to the western establishment, all these forms of medicine are called alternative medicines. However, some of the aforementioned techniques have been in continuous use for over six thousand years, predating western medicine by over four thousand years. Yet, still many M.D.'s reject alternative forms of medicine. One of the buzzwords in medicine in recent years has been "holistic medicine". Physicians are becoming more aware of the need to treat the whole patient rather than just certain symptoms. Due to this realization, a small percentage of doctors are turning to ancient forms of medicine as a guide to alternative treatments. As alternative forms of medicine emerge in the western world, Christian scientists need to determine the moral, religious, and scientific validity of such techniques in order to gain a more holis tic approach to medicine. Moral Issues According to the Hippocratic Oath, which every physician must take, each physician is expected to deliver the form of care which she considers most beneficial to a patient's health. There are a few minor stipulations guiding treatment by a physician, but for the most part, doctors have much liberty in choosing a regimen for a particular patient. If we look only at the Hippocratic Oath as the governing body of a physician's actions, then we must admit that no doctor is obligated to broaden his views and seed treatments with which he is not already familiar. However, every year doctors are required to fulfill certain requirements in continuing educatio... ...at an open mind about many of the forms of alternative medicine may reveal new forms of beneficial treatment that can save money and even lives. Each Christian scientist has the responsibility to seek morally, religiously, and scientifically sound forms of alternative medicine as a supplement to the western medicine in our society today. Works Cited Collinge, William. 1996. The American holistic health association complete guide to alternative medicine. New York: Warner Books. Inglis, Brian and Ruth West. 1983. The alternative health guide. New York: Dorling Kindersley Limited. Maciocia, Giovanni. 1989. The foundations of Chinese medicine. New York: Churchill Livingstone. Marti, James E. 1995. Alternative health medicine encyclopedia. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. Plotkin, Mark J. 1993. Tales of a shaman's apprentice. New York: Penguin Books Ltd.

Father and Son Essay -- essays papers

Father and Son Just whom is Edmund Gosse’s Father and Son written for? Is it for the Father, or for the Son, or, as Edmund Gosse tells us, for the public, so they can have a record of life in a rigidly religious family? Edmund begins his book by telling you that it is a historical record, an important chronicle that is to be used, basically as a reference for a period of time. Yet, in the first sentence of the first chapter, we can see that this is truly not his purpose. The first words on the page does not reference a historical event; they are, instead, cathartic. Edmund tries very hard to convince his reader that â€Å"this is not an autobiography† (217). Try as he might, he did not persuade me. I will grant that for Edmund Gosse to profess to have written this book as if it were a biography of his father, or even as a historical chronicle, was beneficial. First off, by writing something which is to document a period of time Edmund would be writing in the methodical and scientific style of his father, which then would mirror the lifestyle in which he is forced to live. Secondly, Edmund wants the reader to see his father as he did, with honor, awe, resentment and even shame. Edmund does this quietly, he does not shout his shame, he merely reiterates it as a anecdote of a story â€Å"...his very absence of imagination aided him in his work. (113)† . Finally, Edmund, being able to portray this book as a portrait of someone other than himself, is a chance to humble himself, no matter what he says about the father, to the reader. All of these methods that Edmund uses to sway our thinking actually serve only to benefit Edmund Gosse himself. This actually makes it more of an autobiographical account than ... ...ren. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seen not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forts. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.†

Birmingham International Airport – Competitors

Like any other airport, Birmingham International has enough competitors that want their own share of its market. The theory is the bigger the better, and better = more profit. This means that BIA will keep having to continually renew their prices so that they stay ahead of the market, and cause their opposition to loose out. I will now discover how BIA keeps ahead of their game, consistently from year to year. One way that BIA keeps ahead is making sure that the facilities that they offer are up to scratch at all times, and they constantly update them to meet demand, and maintain them if necessary (such as toilets etc). BIA have also displayed instances where they care for the customer, one by investing in the EuroHub tunnel, and the other by adding an ‘Air-Rail' link to the airport, one of this have decreased the flight transfer times dramatically, and the other has made the travelling times lower than they were before. By creating and maintaining these type of facilities, they do not award their competitors the opportunity to beat them at their own game, and therefore will always stay on top, which has been proven in my other parts of work (how big they are). Referencing to the ‘Master Plan' again, they are going to develop the airport fore dramatically which shows again they are always growing bigger, and reducing the opportunity for any other airports to get in edgeways. If you were to contrast this airport against their major rivals you will see that London's Heathrow has become the biggest mainly because of the flights, facilities and the number of runways that are on offer. An airport that is hardly referenced to is ‘Heathrow' whom is growing at a rate like BIA, as they too have released plans to increate their traffic to 30,000,000 passengers flying with them every year, which was names the ‘Development Strategy for the year 2005'. Airport are no longer about providing solely the best flights, but they are about providing the best overall facilities to their customers, and if they fail to do this, you may see that in the future, they could loose out on potential customers. Alike with any business, BIA would encourage all customers to use the facilities more, an implying to use their competitors less! Despite this, you cannot persuade someone to travel from Heathrow to Birmingham so they can fly internationally, as this would not make sense if they could fly from their local airport, unless there were exquisite travel links, which took a fraction of the time that they should have. As a result of this, they would only try to tap the market that are available to them, which may result as far out as London, but if their campaigns produced results, then this would be all worth while. For example, London's Heathrow have an internal ‘train' system that will connect you from terminal to terminal, which I have personally experiences. This is like no other, and the facilities that are provided by them are excellent (not that I have tried BIA's personally), so I would find that hard to beat. On the other hand, if the facilities of BIA are anything like theirs, then they would stand a chance of matching the size of Heathrow, but this would not happen with the right staff motivation, capital and long term experience. One of the main factors within the competition is the flights, or even the lack off, and prices. For example, if someone in the vicinity of BIA is charged double that to fly to the destination they want that Heathrow is quoting, then it would obviously make sense for them to go to a different airport, which would mean BIA will loose customers quickly. The rule â€Å"it's 8 times harder to win an old customer back as to gain a new one† takes a leading role here. Providing that BIA has the right accessibility to their airports, and the fact that they offer good prices would mean that they will be quite successful in the long term. As you can see from my research below (provided courtesy of Expedia.co.uk), there are major price variations with the same flights: Birmingham International Airport Global: Adults: 2 | Children: 0 As you can see from my research above, it is not completely obvious who is the cheapest in the market, because it depends solely upon where the flight's destination is. For example: * At the specified time period, BIA was the cheapest to fly to Barcelona * In spite of this, they were the most expensive to fly to Copenhagen (When compared to Gatwick and Heathrow) I believe that the reason that BIA cannot be the cheapest for all of the available flights is because of the fact that if a fly is not popular, they would not fly that often, so tickets may be more expensive (for advanced bookings). As everyone has witnessed over the past year or so, each of the airports has had to dramatically increase the security due to terror attacks. They've had to reduce the number of liquids that you may carry on a flight, and they have diverted even entire flights because they thought there was a suspected attack, where 99% of the time, the were wrong. This shows that competition for security is not always good, as it may put of even the most frequent flyers because of all of the security checks that are involved.