Mera.Net Cafe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mera.Net Cafe - Essay Example The large initial capital investment will allow Mera.Net to provide its customers with a full featured Internet cafe. A unique, upscale, and innovative environment is required to provide the customers with an atmosphere that will spawn socialization. Mera.Net, soon to be located near at Sacred Heart College on 10th of March, will offer the community easy and affordable access to the Internet. Mera.Net will provide full access to email, WWW, FTP, Usenet and other Internet applications. Mera.Net will appeal to individuals of all ages and backgrounds. The instructional Internet classes, and the helpful staff that MeraNet provides, will appeal to the audience that does not associate themselves with the computer age. This educational aspect will attract younger and elderly members of the community who are rapidly gaining interest in the unique resources that online communications have to offer. Mera.Net's customers can be divided into two groups. The first group is familiar with the Internet and desires a progressive and inviting atmosphere where they can get out of their offices or bedrooms. The second group is not familiar with the Internet, yet, and is just waiting for the right opportunity to enter the online community. Mera.Net's target market falls anywhere between the ages of 18 and 50. This extremely wide range of ages is due to the fact that the Internet appeal to a variety of people. In addition to these two broad categories, Mera.Net's target market can be divided into more specific market segments. The majority of these individuals are students and business people.Potential Customers University Students Office Workers Seniors Teenagers IV. Required Capital 4.1 Start-up Summary Mera.Net's start-up costs of P200,000 that will cover for site renovation and modification and the communications equipment necessary to get its customers online. The communications equipment necessary to provide Mera.Net's customers with a high-speed connection to the Internet and the services it has to offer make up a large portion of the start-up costs. These costs will include the computer terminals and all costs associated with their set-up. Costs will also be designated for the purchase of two laser printers and a scanner. V. Equipments and Facilities List of Startup Equipments and facilities. Cost at least P200,000 of capital. 10 computer set P150 000 1 aircon

The Role of Competitive Intelligence on Google Essay

The Role of Competitive Intelligence on Google - Essay Example nce at Google Advantages of Competitive Intelligence The main objective of competitive intelligence is to identify new opportunities and potential threats that lie ahead. It tries to detect and counter the threat from competition. Competitive intelligence aims to remove or reduce the surprises and therefore tries to develop and enhance the competitive advantage. Globalization along with access to the huge databases and the realization of the new type of competitor and business opportunities has also led to the advancement in the competitive intelligence. Therefore, competitive intelligence keeps the companies ahead of their competitors and therefore opens new horizon for them (All Hands Business Solutions, 2009). The figure below explains the competitive intelligence cycle which begins with planning and ends at diffusion of the information at the organisation. Source: (Quoniam, n.d.). When the data is gathered from numerous sources, it is evaluated in order to identify the competitor ’s strategies as well as future directions. The main objective of the CI is to make informed marketing as well as strategic decisions through which gaining strategic advantage and reduction of the risk is possible (College of Business and Public Policy, 2011). It is worth mentioning that when a company has detailed information and knowledge regarding the product/ services of its competitors, the company is likely to gain advantage that will assist it in planning the best strategies and therefore enhance the overall profitability and market share (The University of New York, 2011). The main result obtained from the competitive intelligence is its capability to prepare forward-looking decisions. Hence, it can be stated that it is through competitive intelligence that the companies are...When the data is gathered from numerous sources, it is evaluated in order to identify the competitor’s strategies as well as future directions. The main objective of the CI is to make inf ormed marketing as well as strategic decisions through which gaining strategic advantage and reduction of the risk is possible (College of Business and Public Policy, 2011). It is worth mentioning that when a company has detailed information and knowledge regarding the product/ services of its competitors, the company is likely to gain advantage that will assist it in planning the best strategies and therefore enhance the overall profitability and market share (The University of New York, 2011). The main result obtained from the competitive intelligence is its capability to prepare forward-looking decisions. Hence, it can be stated that it is through competitive intelligence that the companies are capable of making strategic decision making as well as that of market leadership. Disadvantage or Potential Pitfalls of Competitive Intelligence As per the views of Malhotra (1996), its main goal is to collect pertinent information which is valid and accurate. Inaccurate information may endanger organisation’s competitive intelligence efforts. The other significant drawbacks of competitive intelligence are that there may be illustrations of fake confirmation where a significant source of data may tend to confirm the records received from other sources.

Braided River System in South-Eastern Spain Essay

Braided River System in South-Eastern Spain - Essay Example Landcover is mostly low bush and grasses with or without trees (Prakash, 2005). Land usage includes agriculture (barley and others under irrigated conditions), grazing, mining (gypsum, gravel and sand) and tourism (movie-making and others) (Prakash, 2005). The gypsum karst of the Tabernas-Sorbas basin of SE Spain is a Neogene intramontane one in the Betic mountain range and is composed of significant deposits of evaporates from the Messinian period (Calaforra and Pulido-Bosch, 2003). The semi-arid environment in the region has assisted in conserving the large numbers of surface and underground gypsum karstic forms and the speleogenetic processes characteristic of such a region (Calaforra and Pulido-Bosch, 2003). In essence, this implies that, at least for this field study at the Western edge of this karstic formation, a semi-confined status existed upon the gypsum strata (Calaforra and Pulido-Bosch, 2003) through which the old braided river section flowed and it is possible that only those speleogenetic processes characteristic of a karst region such as this have been influential in the accretion process of sediment evident today. In study of fluvial systems such as rivers the term 'braided' implies a low proportion of flood-plain mudstones and a high one of sedimentary sand elements like sandstone (Adams and Bhattacharya, 2005). There is characteristic distinction which states that 'meandering' channels have high mudstone-to-sandstone ratios and tend to have high sinuosity combined with single channel flows (Adams and Bhattacharya, 2005). In contrast, 'braided' channels have a high sandstone-to-mudstone ratio and tend to have multiple channel flows (Adams and Bhattacharya, 2005). This distinction is blurred at times by continuity of variables (Adams and Bhattacharya, 2005) but, for the purpose of this field study, it is accepted that the study area comprised of a 'braided' channel portion. Of eminent interest to this study are the depositional and erosional patterns of the river at the meandering stage and the braided one. It has single-layered laterally accreting patterns with similar eroding ones in the me andering stage while accretional patterns in the braided stage are multi-layered and vertical (Adams and Bhattacharya, 2005). Field Work Rationale: To test whether 'braided' stream sections have lateral and/or vertical sorting/fining tendencies. Methodology: Six different randomly selected channels of the known old braided river system in the Urra Field Centre were chosen. From each channel, three samples from the left and right banks and the centre of the stream were taken. Sample bags were used to collect the pebbles from the sample-taking areas. A tape measure was also used to measure the channel sections. A pebble template and a grain size chart were used to size up the collected pebbles. Additionally, a camera was used to collect photos of the sample-taking areas to provide rough assessment of the pebble characteristics at each site. The pebble sizes were measured and the data tabulated as per each site characteristic. In this part of the study the data shall be analysed through multiple statistical descriptive tests such as mean

Pennsylvania School Essay Example for Free

Pennsylvania School Essay It is my fervent wish to attend the prestigious University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine primarily because of the instant respect that a graduate of this 128 year old institution commands and also because I share the university and I share the same mission objectives and beliefs. I firmly believe that my goal of becoming and exceptional citizen who strives to offer the best available, affordable and even free dental services to those in need will be lent a guiding hand by the university. This is because just like the university, I believe that dentistry is a lifelong commitment that requires a lifetime of learning and discipline that will help me achieve my objective of providing a necessary dental care to the people who need it the most regardless of their status in life and financial capability. Achieving this will be possible for me because Penn Dental Medicine encourages their students to undertake dental researches and education that most often thrusts their students into the center of innovative and improved dental care methods. It is my hope that I will be given the chance to join the roster of students of Penn Dental Medicine who have gone on to become leaders in their chosen areas of dental specialization by attending regular classes in the atmosphere of the school that is conducive to students like me who strive for constant learning. Since Penn Dental Medicine encourages free expression, reasoned discourse, and diversity of ideas, I believe that I can only blossom and reach my full intellectual potential while attending this university because I will be allowed to explore my full potential not only as dental student and future dentist, but also as an individual whose rights are respected by the university as well.

Recruitment and selection process of the fast food industry

Recruitment and selection process of the fast food industry This dissertation will discuss the recruitment and selection process of the fast food industry in London and case study about particular company. The practise of HRM in recruitment and selection process will also be discussed in this dissertation. In this chapter the background and motivation of this study is discussed along with the aims and objective. Moreover the research questions and the structure of this dissertation are discussed in this chapter. 1.2. Background and motivation In the past two decades the manner in which organization recruit people for their business has changed into a different level. The practise of human resource management in recruiting people has made a significant changed in the food industry across Greater London. Peoples food habit and ass well as recreational activities has also changed. And for changing those activities fast food played a very vital role in society. The competition among the competitors become intense as this is a very profit oriented business. As the competition gets intense and moves into higher value added work, strategic recruitment and selection is vital for organizations success. The trend of fast food can be tracked from the very early stage of the civilization and in UK from the beginning of the twentieth first century first food is growing as a lucrative business. Fast food gain popularity as peoples life gets busy and subsequently more and more things added in their life. The chain fast food shop start arriving in UK from the late 60s and KFC was the first to introduce followed by Pizza Hut and Mc Donalds. The practise of HRM into the fast food industry was present from the beginning but in many cases in was written or not classified as a necessary step. But in recent years the fast food chains bring themselves under very strict rules and policies. Trained staff always brings more profit to the business. And also for the past decades the kind of people interested in getting those job has changed significantly. Mostly students are seen in these jobs as it gives them the flexibility of working according to their college time table and also they can support their study while their working part time. The main principal for any job is the right person for the right job. Organizations always give importance for its manpower as they are their representative and profit maker of the organization. The operative manpower is equally important as managers working for the enterprise. All business organisations need different people to operate different activities inside their organization and it is equally important to select and recruit suitable candidate for that job. The practise of Human Resource Management in an organization is not possible if suitable candidate is not recruited in the organization. 1.3. HRM practise in the Travel Food industry in London In late 1990s, the HRM was significantly recognised as an integral component of business success by academic researchers and business practitioners (Kalleberg and Moody, 1994; Paul and Anantharaman, 2003; Hislop, 2005). Different arguments and concepts were presented by these researchers particularly how HR practices could affect organisation performance; how economic and social context shapes HR strategies and practices of organisations; the new organisational forms and relationships; and the importance of knowledge management and learning in the workplace. Every organization understands the need of HRM practise in selection and recruitment process. By doing so they prepared particular recruitment and selection plan according to the need of their own organization. Mc Donalds and SSP Ltd collaborated with different university to train up their manager according to their need. Most of the big franchises are tied up with different universities to train their staff in hospitality and Human Resource Management. And if we consider the practise of HRM most food franchise company nowadays has made their own prospectus and procedures about recruiting people. Selection and recruitment are two very interrelated process where one process ends another process starts. They are very important procedure of the organization and different from each other. 3.1 Bright Features SSP is promoting itself as food and travel expert, so giving the best possible service to customer is at the heart of SSP strategy. As a result it is important for the company to maintain cutomer satisfaction. So to maintained customer satisfaction employee job satisfaction is vital as dissatisfied worker may not provide good service to the customers. One who is happy at work place is more likely to influence other in a positive manner to make other happy. Therefore, to increase the satisfaction of customer it is important that employees at different level working for SSP are satisfied. Both at management level as well as ground level were actual customer service is being delivered. Company have a good mix of employees of different backgrounds which makes it even more capable to provide international quality service to its customers. Further, organisation also carry out research for understanding customer need during travelling, as it operates worldwide in 32 country to meet the dema nds of travelling customers. On the basis of customer demands of each location and information gathered through research, company have always tried to provide customers a good mix of food verity that meets their appetite. 1.4. HRM practise in SSP UK Ltd (Camden Food) The concept that people are the organisations key source of sustained competitive advantage continues to be an overriding theme in the research literature and a lever for Human Recourse practitioners Grattan, (2000); Pfeffer, (1994); Barney, (1995). It is not surprising, therefore, that the link between HRM practices and employee and organisational performance has attracted considerable attention over the past decade both in the US Huselid, (1995); Pfeffer, (1998) and the UK Guest, (1997); Wood and deMenzes, (1998). 1.4. Aims and objective The aim of this research is to help industry expert and employee to understand the importance of HRM in recruitment and selection process and the give an overall idea how effective HRM practise can change the recruitment process. The purpose of this study is to give a clear understanding what are the HRM practises used by the employer to select and recruit employee at present. Also suggest employer how the selection and recruitment process can be made more effective. The primary research question are listed as below 1. What procedures are used in recruiting and selecting employee in the industry and how the practise of HRM is ensured in that process? The dissertation will try to find out different process of selecting and recruitment process undertaken by different player in the industry. The reason why these methods are preferred? 2. How selection and recruitment process can be more effective and how it can contribute performance of the employee. 1.5. Limitation of the study Limitation in any study is not an unusual matter. Every research encountered by limitation. The study is undertaken in a small sample group from the hospitality industry and fast food industry. There are many organizations in the industry and many more way of selecting and recruiting people. This is a major limitation of the study as the finding only concentrates a particular organization. A larger sample size would give the chance to go through more data and also the application of both personal and HR functions. It can also be possible to investigate variety of examples of organizational practise if the sample size is larger. It would be better to investigate more than two organizations recruitment and selection process, but due to time constraint this could not be achieved. The researcher selected two group of people one pass through the selection process and get recruited and the other group who is looking for job or attempted but failed to pass the recruitment process. Some data were confidential enough not to pass to the researcher. As the topic of the dissertation covers a very wide area, researcher tried to cover as many areas as possible. 1.6. Contribution of the study The analysis of the study reveals the aims and objective of the research. Among the contributions are the literature for the researchers in future in relation to the HRM practice for the other industry. Analyzing the function of modern human resource management is another contribution in the perspective of academic study. Secondly, HR manager of travel food industry and more specifically SSP UK Ltd can evaluate their existing recruitment and training program. The study will help understand the standard recruitment and selection procedure and thus compare it with their own recruitment and selection procedure. 1.7. Research structure This study will follow a certain structure. The structure followed is given below Chapter 1: The introduction part will discuss the purpose of the study and also the aim and objective of the study. It will also briefly discuss the motivation and background of the study. A short description about the industry and also the history of the industry. Chapter 2: The literature review part will discuss the HRM practise in recruitment and selection process. It will also discuss the related theory about selection and recruitment process. The part will consist the definition of recruitment and selection and the process of respective ones. This part will relate the theoretical analysis and also states the finding of different scholar in this field. Chapter 3: In chapter three general research methodologies are described. It also discuss the method that this research use to complete the study. The data collection method and the difference between secondary data and primary data are also discussed. The limitations of the data collections are discussed at the end of the research. Chapter 4: Findings of the study and data are discussed in this chapter. Data are gathered from different sources for the study each source has been described with the method used. Chapter 5: At the end of the dissertation a thorough indication and conclusion of the current research have been drawn. Other important part of this chapter is to describe the contribution and benefit of this dissertation. Based on the research results some recommendations have been given followed by limitations of the current study, and future research. 2. Literature review 3250 2.1. Introduction The relevant literature review of this study is discussed in this chapter. The previous chapter has been discussed about introduction of the study which discussed the motivation and background, the aims and objective of the study and also the structure of the study. The chapter starts with a brief discussion about HRM and the role of HRM in recruitment and selection. The relevant theory about recruitment and selection are discussed followed by their process. The factors influencing the recruitment and selection process are also discussed. The historical work of previous researcher are also discussed and used as a guideline for further research. 2.2. The role of HRM The key characteristic of the HRM approach is the involvement of the personal function at a strategic level. The increased globalisation of busyness world and a very competitive market has triggered the emergence pf human resource management. Personnel management is the part of an organization which is concerned with people at work and their relationship with the enterprise. Personnel management aims to achieve both efficiency and justice. It seeks to provide fair terms and conditions of employment, and satisfying work for those employed (Cole, 2002). The modern human resource management has emerged from traditional personal management. Human resource management is defined as a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organizations most valuable assets the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives (Armstrong 2006). It is the people who always represent the organization in front of the public, so the management of people inside the organization is very important. And it is the trained and skilled staffs that generate the profit and give the organization a better position in the market. Organizations now days even compete about their staff that who has the better staff. They even hire independent organization to judge the service between different companies and based on that report they improve their service and organization. The synergy is achieved when the approaches are practiced all together. When practices are implemented together and synergistically then it is called bundles. The concept of bundling has defined strict definition but finds its roots in the concept of internal fit developed in the strategic human resource management literature (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004). The organization can deliver better service if all part of their business is providing a quality service and thus the organization as a whole performs better. If an organization implement couple of high performance work practise in their workplace that will not make a big difference as they are still lacking in many other part of organization skills. Suppose the organization implement team work as their high performance achievement but the total team performance will depend not only on one colleague but the performance of all colleagues. Different team members can have different issue with organization which might affect their performance so that also make a difference on the collective performance of the team work. Employment motivation is also a very important fact in case of team work. In 1998, British Workforce Relation survey (WERS) conduct a survey among the employer in Britain and found that there are some number of key human resourse management practise among British organisations that includes careful recruitment and selection, performance appraisal, training and team working. The survey also found some evidence of the integration of human resource management practise and survey(Cully et al.1999). There are two different side of the survey which is visible through data, the practice of human resource management in British organization is widespread but the level of strategic integration of these practises is quit low. Cully et al found is his research that only 15 percent of the role of training in 265 workplaces had a majority of the human resource management in place. Studies of high performance work systems have also shown a similar pattern; relatively common adoption of individual practices but little evidence of widespread integration (Appelbaum et al., 2000). 2.3. Recruitment There are few definitions available of recruitment. Recruitment involves actions and activities taken by an organization in order to identify and attract individuals to the organization who have capabilities to help the organization realize its strategic objective. Breaugh gave the following definition of recruitment Employee recruitment involves those organisational activities that 1) influence the number and /or the types of applicants who apply for a position and /or 2)affect whether a job offer is accepted. Edwin Flipo states that recruitment is the process of searching for prospective candidate and stimulating them to apply for the job.(Edwin Flipo, 2001) Recruitment includes the set of activities undertaken by the organisation for the primary purpose of identifying a desirable group of applicant, attracting them into its employee ranks, and retaining them at least for short time. (Taylor Collins, 2000). Recruitment involves actions and activities taken by an organisation in order to identify and attract individuals to the organisation who can help the organisations achieve their target and goal. Recruitment has emerged as arguably the most critical human resource management functions for organisational survival and success. Many organisations have increased their budget for recruitment. 2.3.1. Principal of recruitment process There are number of important characteristic in recruitment definitions. Firstly the process involves specific actions and activities that are undertaken to achieve particular outcome. Secondly in indicates that the purpose of those activities are to generate a pool of candidate to enhance their interest towards the organisations and eventually to accept a job offer in the organisation. The third important characteristic is that it the number of people attracted towards the process might have the capabilities to be hired but it depends on the selection process where the overqualified and under qualified people will be excluded from the process. Fourthly the recruitment is the process where any post hire process are not discussed because recruitment is the process to influence candidate to apply for the advertise jobs and accept the job offer. 2.3.2. Purpose and importance of recruitment There are some purpose and importance of recruitment which required to be clearly defined in any research. The importance can described as follows 1. Determine the present and the future requirements of the organisation on conjunction with its personnel -planning and job analysis activities. 2. To keep the cost minimum and also attracting maximum candidate. 3. As selection process depends on recruitment process it is the job of the recruitment process to increase the success rate of selection process by reducing the under qualified or overqualified job applicant. 4. It is also the recruitment process where the it is given priority that the recruited candidate stays inside the organisation for maximum number of year. 5. Organisations legal and social obligation about the ratio of recruited people whether ethnic, local or gender in its workforce is also served through recruitment. 6. Recruitment is the first step where the potential job applicants are identified. 7. By practising the daily job the effectiveness of different recruiting techniques and sources of all types of job applicants are explored. 2.3.3. Recruitment process In recruitment process identifying and attracting qualified candidate is the most important aspect. There are five interrelated steps about recruitment process. They are- Planning Strategic development Searching Screening Evaluation and control 2.3.1. Planning Planning is the first stage of the recruitment process. It involves about the vacancy and the duty surrounded by that role. Planning also gave an clear idea about number of candidate and the type of candidate applying for the job. An important part of the planning is to attract more people than the organisation needed so that they can choose the right candidate and also attracting the type of candidate similar to the advertisement. 2.3.2. Strategic development After deciding how many people are required and what qualification required the management concentrate in the strategic development. Different companies have different view about strategic development. The first thing is to decide in strategic development is to decide whether to recruit someone with past experience or whether to recruit someone with fresh knowledge and invest towards the future training of that employee. After deciding the eligibility of the employee the organisations look different medium to advertise the job and which labour market they want to target. All these activities are inside the strategic development of recruitment. 2.3.3. Searching The searching process begins after the planning and strategic development. If the first two processes run well then in searching process the organisation should receive many application because at this stage the medium is activated as the HR manager gives green signal about vacancy inside the organisation. All the application must be screened and after careful screening the candidates who passed should called for interview and the candidates did not pass should sent letter explaining the reason of failure. Another important criteria about searching process is to pass the proper massage through the proper channel. And it is the duty of searching option that maximum attention gets from the candidate by avoiding the undesirables. 2.3.4. Screening The selection process begins after a carefully scrutinizing the candidate at the recruitment process. However good the attraction process it is probable that there will be more candidates than positions to be filled and often the case there that there will candidates than can be realistically taken on to the next stage of more time consuming selection processes such as interviewing and testing. The reason for screening inside the recruitment process is that selection process starts only after candidates are short listed for the next stage. 2.3.4. Sources of recruitment There are two types how recruitment are processed in an organisation. They are internal recruitment and external recruitment. 2.3.4.1. Internal recruitment The advantages of internal recruitment are that: financial costs associated with recruiting can be saved by internal recruiting. It will also save training costs and time as the employee will have insight knowledge of the organization (Wanous, 1992). There are some tools organisation uses for internal recruitment. Promotions and transfers Promotions and transfers are very important role for internal recruitment. Promotions have very positive role inside the organisations as they encourage colleague, built moral attributes among employee. Through this process organisations can build employee by their need and as those employees are serving for a long time for the company they feel for their organisation. Employee referrals When an employee is working for an organisation for a long time they know the need of the organisation and sometime they refer employees according the need of the organisation. This way organisation can sometime get high skilled employee but in a very minimum cost. Another positive side about employee reference is through this employer are fulfilling their social obligation and establishing goodwill. Former employees Another source of internal recruitment is former employee. Former employees sometimes return to the organisation for better career growth and also sometime after in another job they can compare which is better this way they can differentiate which employee is better. 2.3.4.2. External recruitment External recruitment makes is possible interview a wide a range of candidate and chose from that selection. Sometimes employer need to pump some fresh blood inside their organisation to get some new business ideas and also to put some energy inside the organisation. But sometimes company end up with huge cost for hiring external employees but they are not as qualified as their curriculum vita says. Advertisement The most popular method of job recruitment is the advertisement through different medium. Employers describe the job responsibilities and requirement of the job followed by how to apply and by which date they have to apply. The most popular medium of advertisement are the newspaper, company website and different jobsite which post job from different company. Most people apply through this medium and sometimes company also promote themselves through these advertisements. Professional and trade association Professional association for trade and technical bodied are very active in the field of recruitment and selection. They provide employer with people according to their need and those professionals are trained with international standard. Like for accountant and technical jobs are always preferred by the professional bodies. Now days there are some websites like linked in which network among different professional people. Walk in store Another popular method among the employee or ob seeker for different store and food shops are known as walk in store. Company advertise in front of the stores or there is a particular place where companies hired. In Europe and other western countries where the chain stores are established they managed to recruit people from their own recruitment centre. In this process mostly entry level and unskilled employees are hired. Employer sometime announces open day recruitment for hiring people. Through open day recruitment organisation External Forces Supply Demand Unemployment Rate Labour Market Political Legal Image Recruitment Internal Forces Recruitment Policy HR Planning Size of the Firm Growth Expansion 2.4. Selection Selection is the process where employer chooses from a pool of candidate who is best suitable for the organisation. From the beginning of the selection process till the end selecting the right candidate is the only objective and to do that there are different test that employer choose to differentiate among the candidate. Selection is a process of differentiating between applicants in order to identify those with a greater likelihood of a success in a job. (Stone, 1999) Selection is a very constructive process through which right candidates comes out. 2.4.1. Preliminary interview The first step of the selection process is the preliminary interview process which comprises the subject to scrutiny the candidate based on their application and also eliminates the unqualified candidate. For HR managers scrutiny is the process to eliminate candidate based on the information provided on their application. Preliminary interview is the next available step for selection. Preliminary interview helps get that information which is not in the available in the application form. It can be held formally or informally, over the telephone or in a coffee shop. It helps HR manager to get an idea how many applicants can make it through the next stage and eventually will go forward. The interview processes are different in different countries. In UK they are more structured type. In UK they said that the more information you get about a person the reliable the person and the more valid and reliable your judgment is. Tixier in a survey in EU (but excluding France) Sweden, Switzerland and Austria found that structured interview were favoured in the UK, Scandinavia, Germany and Austria. This contrasted with Italy, Portugal, Luxembourg and Switzerland where unstructured were preferred (Tixer, 1996) 2.4.2. Selection test The essential criterion in choosing supplementary method is that they should provide information that is directly related to performance on the job. This should be the guiding principal both in choosing off-the-shelf tests and in designing exercises tailor-made for a particular workplace. In their review of what they call personal testing, Murphy and Davidshofer (2001) stress that better results are obtained the more closely a test, such as work sample test, resembles things that are actually done in the job concerned. A related issue that candidate can easily see the point of a test that requires them to do something they know will be done on the job. Psychological testing The term psychological tests are also known as psychometric test. They are developed to judge people based on their different capability. They are professionally developed and checked for reliability and validity. They are administered and scored in a standardized manner. The results found from these tests can be compared to norms for relevant population. The standardised administration of tests means all applicants answer the same questions in the same condition and objective scoring means that the scores are not open to individual interpretation as is the case with interview responses. Intelligence test Intelligence test is the most widely practised test in the selection process. The ranges of skills cover are verbal, arithmetical and diagrammatical reasoning. Selection team use intelligence test as one of the first tool to judge a candidate. Ability test Ability test are more specific test designed for individual to show their ability towards a particular test. How well a person can perform in a job can also be tested through this. There are two type of ability test one is attainment test and the other is aptitude test. Attainment test assess skills and knowledge that have been acquired through experience and learning, and aptitude test measure individuals potential to develop ability. Work sample test or school exams are examples of attainment test and the use of these would not require the special training. Where as aptitude test measure whether a applicant have the ability to learn something if training is provided. Most of the time aptitude test run when the candidate has no previous experience. It gives the indication that how successfully an individual can engage in a specialized activities. There is different type of aptitude test for all sector of the organization. Test of interest The relationship between interests and motivation and successful performance is not a straightforward one. For this reason these test are not used for selection (Smith and Robertson1993). But interest test can be used in career guidance and counselling. It gives an idea about the likings and disliking of the employee and give a hint sometimes why employee want to change their career. Personality questionnaire Personality questionnaire has been used in preference to personality test. When measuring the personality test there is no right or wrong answer rather than they are indication of habitual performance meaning that they reflect stable traits that are likely to be revealed in typical behaviour. Personality test is very important in case of job application. A person can do well in the entire test but may fall short as they have lack of motivation. It shows the maturity, interpersonal skill and behaviour in terms of difficult situation. 2.4.3. Work sample test When recruiter asks a candidate to perform a task that is related to the work or a element which is part of the job is known as work sample test. A recruiter may ask the employee to perform a lecture or to teach a subject to a group of people as a part of work sample test if the interview is about university lecturer. 2.4.4. Assessment centres An assessment centre is a method rather than a place, although some employer, particularly large organization might have premises dedicated to assessment, especially if they use them for both selection and development purposes. (Woodruffe, 2000) In a assessment centre a number of people are assessed at the same time by a number of assessor judging their numerical skill, interpersonal skill and how they coup with their colleague. This gives the chance to the employer to compare collection of range of information and observation and evaluation the candidate. The task included in an assessment centre test is work simulation where candidate were given a real life task usually performed in job. A based on their performance it is easier for a recruiter to distinguish the potential candidate. Group exercise is another tool used in ass

Lady Macduff of Macbeth Essay -- Macbeth essays

Lady Macduff of Macbeth      Ã‚  Ã‚   In reading Shakespeare's tragic drama Macbeth, one meets only one good woman - Lady Macduff. The remaining female characters are basically evil. Let's consider mainly Lady Macduff and only briefly the three witches.    Blanche Coles states in Shakespeare's Four Giants that Macbeth's wife had considerable leverage over her husband's mind:    This was her opportunity to do as she had promised herself she would do after she had read the letter - to pour her spirits into his ear, to chasten with the valor of her tongue all that might impede him from the golden crown. We may be sure she took this opportunity to use all her monstrous powers of persuasion. (48-49)    In Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy, Northrop Frye shows that a lady is the actual driving force in the play:    That Macbeth is being hurried into a premature act by his wife is a point unlikely to escape the most listless member of the audience, but Macbeth comes to regret the instant of fatal delay in murdering Macduff, and draws the moral that    The flighty purpose never is o'ertook Unless the deed go with it. From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand.   (91)    In "Memoranda: Remarks on the Character of Lady Macbeth," Sarah Siddons comments on how the feminine role of the leading lady is not a typical one as regards attitude:    [Macbeth] announces the King's approach; and she, insensible it should seem to all the perils which he has encountered in battle, and to all the happiness of his safe return to her, -- for not one kind word of greeting or congratulations does she offer, -- is so entirely swallowed up by the hor... ...rts, eds. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1997.    Kermode, Frank. "Macbeth." The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1972.    Knights, L.C. "Macbeth." Shakespeare: The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964.    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. http://chemicool.com/Shakespeare/macbeth/full.html, no lin.    Siddons, Sarah. "Memoranda: Remarks on the Character of Lady Macbeth." The Life of Mrs. Siddons. Thomas Campbell. London: Effingham Wilson, 1834. Rpt. in Women Reading Shakespeare 1660-1900. Ann Thompson and Sasha Roberts, eds. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1997.    Wilson, H. S. On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1957.

Sophies World By Jostein Gaarder :: essays research papers

Sophie's World is about the life of a 14 year-old girl called Sophie Amundsen. It takes you on a journey though 3000 years of Western philosophy, presenting important and in most cases annoying questions.This is the explanation of philosophy and philosophers given in the book:"A white rabbit is pulled out of a top hat. Because it is an extremely large rabbit, the trick takes many billions of years. All mortals are born at the very tip of the rabbit's fine hairs, where they are in a position to wonder at the impossibility of the trick. But as they grow older they work themselves ever deeper into the fur. And there they stay. They become so comfortable they never risk crawling up the fragile hairs again. Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others cling on desperately and yell at the people nestling deep in the snug softness, stuffing themselves with delicious food and drink.'Ladies and gentlemen,' they yell, 'we are floating in space!' But none of the people down there care.'What a bunch of troublemakers!' they say. And keep on chatting: Would you pass the butter please? How much have our stocks risen today? What is the price of tomatoes?"Some of the questions raised include:Why are we here? Is there a God? Where does the world come from?This book attempts to tell you what people in the past have thought, fusing the historical side with the story itself.Sophie is taking a course in philosophy from Alberto Knox. Together they are trying to find their own answers to the questions so important to mankind. Then Sophie begins to receive postcards addressed to Hilde. But who is Hilde? And why are the postcards being sent care of Sophie? Coupled with the course in philosophy, Sophie and Alberto begin to question their very existence. Sophie finds a book about herself in a book about herself, and things seem to fall into place. Does the world Sophie and all her friends live in exist at all, or is it just in someone's imagination or even in a book?

Adoption is a Family Affair!

Joyce Maguire Pavao, the author of â€Å"The Family of Adoption† has been successful in capturing the essence of adoption, the challenges it brings as well as the necessities that would help in handling these challenges.   Being an adopted child herself, she has a great understanding of the challenges and needs, not only of the adopted child, but the adoptive parent and birth parent as well.The book has a more practical and realistic feel since the author willingly shared her own experiences as an adopted child. One characteristic of the book that should be noted is the way the author categorized the whole book.   Covering the essentials not limited to the adopted child alone.The author also generously shared insights about the needs of the birth and adoptive parent.   It is very important to know the rationale behind her principle that the whole process of adoption does not only include the adopted child but the other individual surrounding her as well.   Her book has admirably captured and discussed this principle.In the book, the author well discussed the processes that the birth parent and the adoptive parents.   This part recognizes the fact that even the parents (birth and adoptive) may go through the process of grief and experiences dilemmas as well.In line with this, the book stated that the parents (birth and adoptive) may also need to go through the process of healing.   To further strengthen this fact, the author mentioned that there is a need for the adoptive parent to undergo counseling since this will help the adoptive parent to better understand and have a healthy relationship with the adoptive child.The book mentioned that an adopted child may go through â€Å"developmental stages† such us feelings of loss, experiencing problems in school and the wanting to know about their past.   The author mentioned that the adopted child have every right to know as much about his or her past.The adoptive parents should be open to this fact.   Apart from this, the author was able to clarify the different challenges and developmental stages that the adopted child goes thru.   She said that these are normal.   They may be challenging, but they are a normal process that the adopted child goes thru.In the book, it is stated that adoption â€Å"is not about finding children for families, but about finding families for children.†Ã‚   The items discussed in the book are somehow a reminder that the best interest of the adopted child should always be the priority of the parents.   In the first part of Chapter 1, the author said that â€Å"There have always been mothers and fathers who have not been able to, or not chosen to, or not been allowed to, parent their children†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚   This is a sad fact that Joyce Maguire Pavao has beautifully placed into proper perspective.The birth parents have had their share of criticism from many because they gave up their child.   But it is important to reme mber that the birth parents have reasons as to why they chose to give up their child for adoption.   Birth parents need the same understanding, perhaps, as that of the adopted child.This book presented us with the reality that adoption is a commitment more than anything else.   It is a process that needs the cooperation of both the birth and adoptive family of the child.Openness of both families is essential to the growth and better development of the child.   It is important to accept that the adopted child will go thru confusing stages that may prove to be a challenge for the parents.But because of the commitment that the parents choose to make, these challenges, when faced properly, may prove to be the cause of a better relationship with the child.  Ã‚   While the family (parents and child) are going through the different challenges that the process of adoption brought about, it is critical for the parents to remind themselves that the best interest of the child should al ways be the main concern.A lot of people have different opinion with regards to adoption.   Some may even have negative notions about it.   Apart from the usual challenges that an adoptive parent may face while going through the process of adoption, the opinions and reactions of the people around them is another thing that they would need to deal with.It is not enough that the adoptive couple alone understand and is happy about adopting.   It is vital that they have the support and understanding of the people they care about.The book â€Å"Adoption is a Family Affair† is perfect for the families and friends of the adoptive couple.   Patricia Irwin covered the different areas that families of the adoptive parents should know about.   Areas such as who can adopt, reasons behind the decision of adopting, kids understanding adopting and much more.She made the whole adoption process something that can be and should be shared amongst family members and even close friends.    This book is a helping hand to the families and close friends of the adoptive couple, for them to better grasp then reality of and better understand the decision made by their loved one.Patricia Irwin herself is an adoptive parent, given this, she may as well have experienced the confusions of her family and friends about her decision to adopt.   She has a clearer understanding of the need for the people who the adoptive couple cares about to know as much fact as possible with regards to adoption.It is important that the author pictured in the very beginning of her book that there can be a negative reaction from the people the adoptive parents care most about when the couple decides to share the information of adoption to them.   Like most of us, of course we would love for it for the people we equally love to feel the happiness and excitement we feel when we decide to adopt.   And as the author clearly illustrated, this is not always the case.The book acknowledges valid fears and concerns of the families and friends of the adoptive parents.   Some of the valid concerns that the author discussed were the permanence of adoption, whether the child will be different from them or will not fit, the racial difference, should grandparents include the adopted child in their will, how can the family have deeper bonds with the child, etc.These are all valid concerns and important.   In fact, the adoptive couple may have thought about all these things themselves.Patricia Irwin was great in giving solutions or suggestions on how to deal with these fears and concerns.   Some of her solutions were as simple as the family members spending time with the child to create a deeper bond, giving assurance to the family members that adoption is permanent, and the like.One interesting part of the book is where the author gave examples of the possibly irritating comments given by friends and relatives of adoptive couples upon knowing of the couples’ decision t o adopt.   These comments show how uninformed some people are about adoption.   It illustrates how some people, no matter how closely related they may be to the adoptive couple, can be insensitive about the whole adoption process.There were financial related comments where it appears as if the child is someone the adoptive couple picks from a shelf display of children and pays for it at the counter.   Some comments were just downright insensitive and would not be expected to have come from well educated individuals.Of course, we cannot expect everyone to be knowledgeable about adoption.   As the book illustrated, the families and relatives of the adoptive couple may be confused and misinformed about adoption.This book has truly been informative and is useful for the family and friends of the adoptive couple.   It plainly made clear the issues that the adoptive couples may go through in connection with the possible reactions, confusions and hesitations of the people around them who they wish to be a part of the adoption process.Reference ListPavao JM. The Family of Adoption. Boston: Beacon Press; 2004Johnston PI. Adoption is a Family Affair. Indianapolis: Perspective Press;

Murder Mystery story Essay

This is also securing the readers perspective on Sherlock Holmes. All through the Speckled Band Sherlock Holmes displays his distinct ability to decipher the exact meaning of a situation. At the same time that Holmes is doing this, the reader becomes more and more confused about the situation in hand. This is where Conan Doyle’s first person narrative becomes crucial to the story. He uses Dr. Watson as a translator of Holmes’ genius. Watson helps the readers understand exactly what’s going on and, in a way, puts their minds at ease. This is typical of Arthur Conan Doyle. He creates a psychological battle in the minds of the reader. He uses Holmes to create a trouble with interpretation of sequences past and to come and then simplifies it through Watson. This is what makes all Conan Doyle’s stories so brilliant for the reader. Conan Doyle uses Holmes to build up suspense with a possible flaw in Holmes’ brilliance when he declares that the committer of the crime is more cunning than himself. This is essential to the story. Holmes has been portrayed as the best detective in England up to this point and now he himself declares that he has been defeated. This creates extreme suspense for the reader. Also among Holmes’ abilities is his ability to disguise himself. He makes himself appear to be a person with distinct business at the Roylott estate. â€Å"This fellow should think that we had come as architects or on some definite business. † This adds to Holmes’ list of excellencies. He is now toying with the mind of the villain in order to accomplish he task he has been set. The unexpected ending. By the end of the Speckled band Doyle has created such suspense and confusion in the minds of the readers that they are waiting in dire anticipation to find out how it will end. The Speckled Band is, in fact, a poisonous snake native to India, the living place of Dr. Roylott for several years. Roylott used the snake to make its way through the ventilation and into the bedroom of Miss Stoner and poison her. No matter how intelligent the reader they would not have the ability to predict this ending. This is a classic ending because it surprises the reader and although the identity of the villain was obvious all the way through the story, it was never clear how he would have murdered his stepdaughter. This is again excellent writing by Conan Doyle. He builds up tension by repeating the events of the past death of Julia Stoner when Holmes re-enacts the sequences of that fateful night with Helen Stoner as a trap for Dr. Roylott. Arthur Conan Doyle uses vast imagery and description to keep the reader glued. It is with this imagery that he creates the tension and creates a sense of tragedy in the mind of the reader. The word black is repeated several times, and this gives a feeling of doom and imbalance. This, paired with nocturnal, silence, darkness and all the other words of sinister imagery creates more tension for the reader. It all builds up and gives the reader an incentive to carry on, to find out what will occur in the next sequence. All the way through there is a mysterious atmosphere and this only pushes the story further into the classic murder mystery genre. Everything down to he scenery and especially the buildings create a tense atmosphere. Conan Doyle wants to put a picture into the mind of the reader, such that they can almost see exactly they are reading about. â€Å"Grey, lichen-blotched stone†¦ windows broken†¦ picture of ruin. † All these are distinct factors of a house that can be picture in an infinite number of different ways for each individual reader. As this essay concludes the Speckled Band by sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a classic murder mystery story. All the criteria in the second paragraph have been fulfilled. There can be no argument that Sherlock Holmes is the greatest fictional detective in the whole of English literature and Arthur Conan Doyle is, without doubt, the most memorable writer of classic Murder Mystery stories up to the present day. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Conan Doyle section.

Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and 7 General Codes of Conduct Essay

Since the adherence to international social standards has become a mandatory requirement in the international business arena, the local suppliers have to be compliant to these standards in order to remain in business. There have been some significant revisions to the Bangladesh Labor Law in 2006. This newly revised law already covers a lot of the common standards like employment conditions, occupational health and safety issues as well as the ILO core labor standards. Besides being complaint to the national labor law, the suppliers must also adhere to the international standards. These international standards may be defined through their individual buyers’ codes of conduct or general codes of the conduct. Compliance to the buyers’ codes of conduct is mandatory but compliance to the general codes of conduct is optional unless the buyer accepts a specific general code as a substitute for its own audits or requirements. These voluntary monitoring or verification initiatives have taken root since the 1990s to add legitimacy and credibility to companies’ social and environmental compliance programs. The comparative analysis shows that the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 significantly covers majority of the requirements of the different general codes of conduct. This indicates that if a factory is 100% compliant to the national law, it will cover approximately 85% of the requirements of the other general codes of conduct. Hence RMG factories should be encouraged to improve their compliance with the national law as a first step towards meeting the compliance demands of the brands and retailers who they supply to. The analysis does reveal that a few requirements are not fully or partially covered by the national labor law. It should be noted that the components which are not fully covered by the Bangladesh Labor Law are either covered by the Bangladesh Constitution or are not directly applicable in the Bangladesh context. This study clearly reveals that the revised Bangladesh Labor Law along with other supporting national legislations such as the Bangladesh Building Code and the Environmental Conservation Rules as well as the overall constitutional framework of Bangladesh, provides a comprehensive guideline for factories in the RMG sector to comply with majority of all international social compliance and environmental standards. By being 100% compliant with the national labor law, a supplier has significantly met majority of the international requirements. The Bangladesh Labor Law has gone through some majority revisions in 2006 which has made it into a strong piece of legislation. However, it is not still 100% perfect. There are still few gaps and lackings which need to be adjusted and amended in the future. As implementation of the revised law is ongoing, numerous other deficiencies might gradually be identified over time. Since recent revisions just took place, another series of revisions are not anticipated in the near future. This comparative analysis of the newly revised Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and seven general codes of conduct clearly illustrates where the commonalities and differences are. Overall, the recent revisions to the Bangladesh Labor Law and other national legislations that are associated with the RMG sector such as the Bangladesh Building Code and the Environmental Conservation Rules jointly provide comprehensive guidelines for RMG suppliers to manufacture and export products under socially and environmentally responsible working conditions which also meet majority of all prevailing international standards. 2. 1 General Codes of Conduct Definition of Codes The interest in the social situation of workers in developing countries has increased constantly over the last years in particular under civil societies and consumers in the industrialized countries. Social criteria have become an important part of consumer and investment decisions of individuals and organizations and therefore also big brands and retailers become more aware of compliance to social standards. Since Bangladesh is part of 1 A comparative analysis between the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and seven general codes of conduct he global market social compliance is extremely relevant for the export-oriented industry of Bangladesh, especially for the RMG sector. For competitiveness in the global markets, the compliance with environmental and social standards is a key point. Through modern information and communication technologies the economic activity of companies becomes increasingly transparent and makes it easier for the civil society to uncover and communicate social and ecological failure of multinational companies. Companies know about the vulnerability of their brand names and messages concerning bad working conditions can easily damage their image as well as the market position. A social responsible management policy is therefore in the long-term interest of the enterprise. However companies can have a positive influence on the economic development in the target countries through the introduction of social standards and on the same time improve their image and market share through social and ecologically responsible behavior. To address these issues voluntary monitoring or verification initiatives have taken root since the 1990s to add legitimacy and credibility to companies’ labor compliance programs. They are all voluntary, meaning that companies opt to participate in them. Each requires member companies to adopt its respective workplace code of conduct and verifies that they have complied with organizational requirements. Today, some industries have developed or are developing codes for the entire industry. That can be best seen for the apparel and footwear sector. General Codes of Conduct as well as buyers’ codes are very common in this industry. These codes of conduct are rules, which companies impose upon themselves in order to embody social and ecological goals in the enterprise. Companies formulate these rules mostly for itself and partly also for the suppliers and orient themselves with the formulation at the international regulations and agreements already mentioned. Codes of conducts may also be recognized as useful instruments to build on the companies’ image. A lot of companies are participating in this initiatives to show their interests in improving the working conditions of their business partners/suppliers across the global. Fair trade and buying practices are a competitive advantage for many businesses. The codes show their commitment to this process. Codes of conduct may be developed through a multistakeholder approach such as ETI etc. or companies may have their own codes of conduct which are specific for their suppliers or codes could be sector specific such as for garments, food, electronics etc. 2. 2 Basis of codes Social compliance can be measured in relation to a certain standard. Concerning environmental and quality management a multiplicity of standards and certification systems already exist. The introduction of examinable social standards represents however a new challenge. Internationally recognized social standards exist, e. g. ? United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights UN Convention on Children’s Rights UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women ? ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work ? Rio Declaration on Environment and Development However these are guidelines and recommendations which can be converted voluntarily. Standards that can be certified only exist to a small extent. Most of the codes refer to these mentioned international standards, especially the ILO core labor standards. The ILO formulates international standards in the form of conventions and recommendations setting minimum standards of basic labor rights: Freedom of association The right to organize 2 A comparative analysis between the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and seven general codes of conduct Collective bargaining Abolition of forced labor Equality of opportunity and treatment Besides the above mentioned standards, there are other standards regulating conditions across the entire spectrum of the work related issues. These principles are concretized in eight ILO conventions, in each case two for the four fundamental principles mentioned (see table 1). The ILO conventions are obligatory only if they are ratified by the member states. The entire number of the ratifications increased in the last years noticeably and varies – depending upon convention – in the order of magnitude between 148 and 172. Until July 2007, 128 countries had ratified all eight conventions. Bangladesh has ratified seven out of the eight core conventions. Table 1: ILO Core-Conventions and ratifications in Bangladesh1 Standard Freedom of association and bargaining Elimination of forced and compulsory labor Elimination of discrimination Abolition of child labor Convention Convention 87 (Freedom of association) Convention 98 (Right to organize; collective bargaining) Convention 29 (Forced labor) Convention 105 (Abolition of forced labor) Convention 100 (equal remuneration) Convention 111 (employment and occupation) Convention 138 (Minimum age) Convention 182 (worst forms of child labor) Ratification Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Codes of practice develop frequently from public pressure or are preventively developed. In addition to the mentioned core labor standards these codes include general working conditions like occupational health and safety, minimum wages, leave days and working hours. Other common aspects include women’s rights or environmental standards. Also the implementation of a management system can be a requirement. 2. 3 How codes evolved The overall aim of social standards is to protect the workers. During the industrialization in Europe they evolved as a reaction to bad working conditions in the newly emerging factories. The depletion of large parts of the workforce moved child labor, forced labor, freedom of association and collective bargaining as well as women’s rights in the centre of public attention. Socially responsible behavior – this means also ecologically responsible behavior – has its starting point predominantly in the developed industrialized countries. The observance of social standards must be further supervised also in these countries. The by far larger action needs lie however in developing and emerging countries. Through the increasing world-wide division of labor large parts of the production chain are located in developing countries which have deficits with the observance of social standards. While working abroad companies are supposed to be compliant to the legal regulations. In developing and emerging countries legal regulations do not always correspond to the domestic standards of the companies. So it can be difficult for companies to combine national legislation and generally recognized basic values. Even if the legislation in developing and emerging countries corresponds to the standards of the industrialized countries there are deficits in monitoring and implementation of the standards. 1 Refer to the ILO website: http://www. ilo. org/ilolex/english/docs/declworld. htm. 3 A comparative analysis between the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and seven general codes of conduct However an internationally defined and recognized social standard does not exist. Thus different stakeholder came up with the idea of codes of conduct to verify the compliance to international social standards. Social standards are extremely important in an industrialized world. Nowadays due to financial benefits, most companies outsource their production to developing countries where compliance to social standards is not as important. The problem is that consumers and respective governments ask for socially responsible behavior and working conditions and often the suppliers and governments of the developing countries cannot enforce or ensure compliance to these international standards. This issue has become a concern for the companies located in Europe and the USA and hence the companies came up with formulating codes of conduct which their suppliers have to adhere to if they want to do business with them. Companies started off by developing their own codes of conduct. Then gradually as the codes evolved, many companies teamed up with NGOs, trade unions, academia etc. to formulate common codes of conduct. Most general codes of conduct were developed with this multistakeholder approach. 2. 4 †¢ Classification of codes epending upon the standards they contain (all codes have similar requirements but differ in the definitions/design and some have also additional requirements e. g. waste management or anti-bribery policy); depending upon which organization or institution introduced the code and who controls the observance (companies, enterprise federations, trade unions, NGOs, management consultations or testing institutes); depending upon their members and their prevalence. Within these four categories subjects were identified as well as indicators to measure the implementation and coverage of the subjects. The indicators were selected according to the most common aspects of the general codes as well as the Bangladesh Labor Law. 2 Please refer to Annex I for a broad overview on the general codes of conduct. 4 A comparative analysis between the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 and seven general codes of conduct Subjects of Codes of Conduct ILO Core Labor Standards Employment Conditions Occupational Health and safety

Burger King Financial Overview 06-08

From the balance sheet point of view, we can see that total current assets initially decreased and then remained constant. This decrease was due to a reduction in cash and cash equivalents while simultaneously net receivables increased. This essentially tells us that Burger King’s short term liquidity position took a turn for the worse. On the other hand, considering the fact that long term assets such as ‘property, plant and equipment’ and ‘goodwill’ increased, therefore total assets increased during 06-08.This tells us that growth took place during the above mentioned period. Total liabilities decreased sharply in 07 but then rose again slightly in 08. This decrease was mainly due to a reduction in long term debt. However, growth was still taking place because total liabilities rose again in 08. The income statement for the fiscal year 06-08 shows an extremely healthy increase in the net income, especially from 06-07 (increase from $27 million to $1 48 million). This also corroborates with our initial analysis of growth taking place in the company.Referring back to the balance sheet, as mentioned before, there was a sharp decrease in cash and cash equivalents while on one hand we can see that net income has been steadily increasing. What we can gauge from these figures is that burger king has essentially been expanding its business by reinvesting cash. Total assets have increased during this period as well mainly due to an increase in fixed assets. Due to the growth in the net income, stockholder’s equity has also been increasing steadily during this period. Retained earnings as well as capital surplus have also risen considerably during this period.All of these figures point towards a profitable and growing company. From the cash flow statement, figures show that cash from operating activities has been positive and rising. Cash from investing activities, on the other hand, has been negative and we can see that most of t he cash has been used in capital expenditures, yet another sign of a growing and expanding company. Dividend payments have also decreased. The sale of stock has also decreased over this period and in 08 burger king repurchased its stock which is an indicator that they were trying to improve their liquidity position.From the cash flow statement, we can see that accounts receivables as well as current liabilities have increased. The augmentation of current assets therefore was mainly due to a rise in the value of the account receivables. However, both current liabilities and assets have increased during 07-08 which has resulted in the value of the current ratio remaining just below 1. Therefore, the liquidity position has remained stable although not as good as it should be. Referring back to the balance sheet, we can also that long term debt rose during 07-08. This might have essentially led to an increase in the interest expense of that year.From an overall point of view, we can see that burger king is a profitable and growing company. Every financial statement essentially hints towards a moderate expansion policy. The fact that net income has been steadily increasing tells us that burger king has been extremely profitable. If it continues to operate in the same manner, it will be able to sustain this growth, keep its investors happy and finance future expansion in an efficient manner. Sources: http://finance. yahoo. com/q? s=BKC William & Haka & Bettner, . Financial and Managerial Accounting. : McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2003.

AI essays

AI essays Artificial Intelligence and Singularity Within the next thirty to fifty years, there will be technological means on earth which can create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after this occurrence, humans will no longer be needed to run the world and therefore the human era will be extinct. The question that we all need to ask ourselves is, can we avoid this process? If this process is not avoidable, can humans still guide these events so that the human era survives. The rise of technology is the single most amazing event in this past century. The speed of technology has been mind-blowing. In the next thirty to fifty year, human life will change on earth drastically due to great advances in technology. The exact cause of this great change will be the creation of technology which is grater than human intelligence. According to Verner Vinge [1], a world famous mathematician, author, and computer scientist, the consequences of this event will be that greater-then-human intelligence is much more rapid. An example used by Vernor Vinge is that animals can adapt to problems and make inventions in their environments, but often no longer than nature can do its work on a place. He continues to say that the world acts as its own simulator in the case of natural selection. Humans have the ability to solve problems in their heads much faster than natural selection. But by creating machines which can execute problems at much faster speeds than humans, humans will be entering a world which is much different than the human past. For example, humans will no longer be needed for jobs that they are needed for now because computers will be able to have a though process which is much faster than the human one. This process can be described as singularity. Stan Ulam [2], a respected member of the national mathem atical society, paraphrased John Von Neumann [3], professor, mathematician, and author, by saying, One conversation centered on the eve...

5 Reasons Why Summer Job Hunting Will Get You a Job

5 Reasons Why Summer Job Hunting Will Get You a Job You may think nothing happens in the summer. No one is really working or hiring, so you may as well take a break from your job search until Labor Day rolls around, right? Big mistake. The fact is there are still job offers to be found out there- even in the dog days. Remain at the top of the game, and hopefully one of those jobs will be yours for the taking. Here are 5 specific reasons why you should persevere in your hunt for the next great opportunity over the summer months.1. It’s the perfect time to take stockThis is particularly true if you’ve been looking for a new job for a few weeks or months. The summer is a good time marker. Take a step back and evaluate your progress. What has and hasn’t been working? Could you glam up your resume or LinkedIn profile a bit? Re-hone and rehearse your elevator pitch? Come up with a new strategy? The self-examining work you do now will pay off–not only over the summer, but throughout your career.2. You’ll ge t a leg up on the competitionWhile there are still jobs out there in the summer, there are far fewer applicants. Now that you’re in on the secret, you can be sure that your resume is circulating among far fewer resumes in the summer months. So while the other guys are at the beach, you’ll be making forward progress. Keep networking, keep applying. Keep your eye on the prize.3. Interviews are less complicated to scheduleYour workload has eased up a bit, and the same is probably true for recruiters. You’ll find it’s much easier to find a mutually convenient time to meet someone in the summer months. Plus, there’s often a more relaxed and casual feel in the office. And, if your boss is away, you won’t have to worry about lying to her when you duck out for an interview with a headhunter!4. Networking can be more casualJust like the office dress code, the professional networking scene eases up a bit in summer. Gone are the formal mixers and event s. You can try the â€Å"grab a burger and a beer† strategy, or perhaps join a league sports team. And when you’re relaxed? You probably appear more confident. There are many more opportunities for casual conversations. You can start with the weather or the Red Sox and end up with a job prospect.5. You’ll have time to reevaluateHow did your year go at your current job? How well were you compensated? How well did you meet your goals? If you have a dream job on the horizon, now’s a good time to take stock and figure out what skills and certifications you may need to acquire to get there. Confer with your time table and make sure you’re not straying too far from it.In short, use these slower months to kick your job searching butt into high gear! Your future fall self will thank you.

Howard Phillips The Constitution Party essays

Howard Phillips The Constitution Party essays Howard Phillips is classified as a family man. He is married to Peggy Phillips and has six children ranging in age from 13 to 34, and 12 grandchildren. Phillips is, like many politicians, well educated from a well known ivy-league university. He is a 1962 graduate of Harvard College where he was twice elected president of the Student Council. In 1974 Phillips left the Republican Party after twenty years of being a precinct worker, election warden, campaign manager, Congressional aide, Boston Republican Chairman, and assistant to the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (not simultaneously). Phillips headed two Federal agencies under the Nixon Administration. Phillips ended his Executive Branch career as Director of the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity in the Executive Office of the President. Phillips resigned frrom this position when President Nixon reneged on his commitment to veto further funding for "Great Society" programs. After his resignation in 1974, Phillips has been Chairman of TCC, a non-partisan, nationwide grass-roots public policy advocacy group which has provided leadership in opposition to the Panama Canal and Carter-Brezhnev SALT II treaties during the 1970's. TCC want's to preserve the U.S. military presence at Panama, deploy SDI, eliminate the graduated income tax, and to eliminate Federal subsidies to ideological activist Phillips is President of the Policy Analysis, Inc. (PAI), a for-profit consulting firm which provides strategy, management, research, and training services. The "Howard Phillips Issues" and "Strategy Bulletin" are bi-monthly bulletins published by Phillips' PAI. Phillips has published four books: The New Right at Harvard (1983), Moscow's Challenge to U.S. Vital Interests in Sub-Saharan Africa (1987), The Next Four Years (1992), and Victory 2000 (1999) ...

Literature and History in Times of War Essays

Literature and History in Times of War Essays Literature and History in Times of War Essay Literature and History in Times of War Essay Essay Topic: The Things They Carried Elements of war, such as violence, blood, and death are not things that all people are able to sink in their heads without puking or feeling dazed. The brutality of people involved in war, on either side, is extravagant in horrendous ways because of the mass destruction on either side. The loss of innocence of young soldiers and civilians was intense, with nearly every single one of them being involved in war crimes or violence in general. â€Å"The Things They Carried† by Tim O’Brien gives its audience great examples of war while â€Å"The Secret Lion† by Alberto Alvaro Rios provides a good example of the loss of innocence that history conveys. Historical events like The Great War and World War II are filled with bloody massacres and crimes against humanity. According to military historian, John Keegan â€Å"It is assumed to be an orderly affair in which states are involved, in which there are declared beginnings and expected ends, easily identifiable combatants, and high levels of obedience by subordinates,† proving the actuality of war and how it is supposed to be run. War is a subject in history individual feel strongly for or against, but do not usually understand war in every single element.With that said, not all of history includes blood, violence, and gore, but all of it includes emotion and morality. O’Brien’s description of the burdens that soldiers carried, ranging from â€Å"P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes,† (430) all the way to â€Å"The carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die,â₠¬  (439) provides a true example of the heavy mental and physical weight of war, allowing readers to understand the prospect and nature of war in history, and the brutality it brings out in even the best people. Aspects of â€Å"The Things They Carried† introduce humanity’s greatest weaknesses in times of war. Weaknesses that everyone possesses

4 Words to Delete from Your MBA Application Essays

4 Words to Delete from Your MBA Application Essays Certain words or phrases appear in almost every MBA application essay. I’ve explained below why you don’t want to use 4 of these too-common words/phrases and what some alternatives might be. If you want to make your application stand out, do some editing and make sure to avoid these words completely. You might be surprised at the result. 1. HOPE e.g. I hope that you will accept me to your program. OR e.g. I hope to be able to obtain a management position with the help of your education. Why not? MBA schools are seeking confident applicants who know where theyre going, and believe in themselves. Your competitors know that theyll reach their goals; they see themselves as naturals for the school. Alternatives: My short-term goal is to become manager of financial analysis at a leading investment bank. OR My ability to take clear, decisive action, combined with MBA courses in strategic planning, will allow me to make an impact at ABC company from day one. OK, now we’re talking! 2. HIGH SCHOOL e.g. My most substantial accomplishment was leading the school drama club in high school. Why not? MBA applicants are expected to be professionals and current leaders. Writing about high school indicates that your leadership has been on a downward path, with less impressive things done in college and/or since graduation. Imagine a leading CEO you admire, and imagine him or her answering this question by talking about high school. (On a related note, remove any high school or earlier items from your resume.) Alternative: My leadership of a production quality team at my employer led to improvements that doubled gross margins. It’s obvious this person is someone impressive who should be seriously considered for admission. 3. WORLD-RENOWNED e.g. I am applying to your business school because of its outstanding reputation and world renowned faculty. Why not? Business schools with outstanding reputations don’t need to be told that you want to go there because of their outstanding reputations. Your goal is to differentiate yourself from the competition so why join every other applicants in describing the place or faculty as world-renowned? HBS applicants neednt talk about the schools world-renowned case study method, unless they want to be the same as every other applicant. Alternative: The schools unique marketing to China specialization matches perfectly with my short-term career goal, which is to start and lead a business unit at my familys firm focused solely on marketing to China. That’s so much better, isn’t it? 4. FEEL e.g. I feel that Ill be happy in the financial services business. Why not? Tell a school what you know is true, confidently; and do it as an adult, giving reasons, often based on research. Just as with the first word I discussed, hope, feel is a sign of lack of confidence. Say I intend, I know, etc. and explain why thats true. Start to project the aura of a leader. Would any CEOs that you know, lets say Donald Trump or Larry Ellison, ever speak that way while trying to sell themselves? Theyd do their homework, just as youll have to do during your MBA studies, and confidently state the results of their careful research. Alternative: The combination of my work experience as a financial analyst, my strong interest in investing, and conversations Ive had with management at XYZ financial services firm have led me to set a short-term career goal to move from the buy side to the sell side by joining a financial services firm as research associate. Delete these four words from your MBA application essays and I promise you more effective and powerful language will show up. Can you think of some other words to delete from your essays? Please share them in the comments. Need guidance in your MBA/EMBA Application process? Maximize your applications with help from The Essay Experts MBA Admissions Consulting Services. Or feel free to email me directly at larryessayexpert@gmail.com. Larry Sochrin

10 Practical Steps to Help You Retire as a Millionaire

10 Practical Steps to Help You Retire as a Millionaire So you want to be a millionaire. Who doesn’t? You’re probably also thinking that there’s no chance in h-e-double-hockey-sticks that you could ever reach that stage by your retirement- at least not in your current job. But there are ways. And plenty of strategies you can employ to set yourself up to retire with that kind of cash. It won’t work for everyone, but at least if you follow these steps, you’ll have saved enough for your retirement.1. Save your money.It’s the simplest advice out there- and the hardest to follow. But if you put aside 20% of your earnings every year (even if you only make $40k) and put that into a 401(k), a combination of factors including investment, compound interest, matching funds, etc. nets you in the seven digits. 401(k)s are also typically protected from creditors in financial catastrophe. $10k a year (which would really only require you to save $5,760) can grow outrageously if invested wisely and you don’ t take anything out of your account until you’re over 70.2. Quit your vices.Millionaires are far less likely to smoke, be overweight and unhealthy, etc. This is because a) smoking is expensive, and b) so is poor health. Start eating quality food and taking care of yourself and you’ll last long enough to enjoy the money you save.3. Get married (and stay married).If this kind of commitment is in the cards for you, there can be significant financial benefits to matrimony. Two incomes. One set of expenses. Tax breaks. You do the math.4. Learn about the tax code.The tax code is the best pal of the rich. Learn about the stepped up basis loophole and learn how to factor deferred liabilities into your tax model. Once you know the rules and how they’re written, you can figure out how to exploit them for your gain.5. Think outside the box.There is no one way to accumulate wealth. And if there were, it probably wouldn’t be salaried or wage employment. The top 1% of households in this country spend only about half their time selling their time for money. Think about business ownership opportunities, personal investment, real estate, mutual funds, stocks, securities, etc.6. Geek out on finance.There are tons of resources out there for how you can make wealth happen for yourself. Learn about all of them: accounts and markets, entrepreneurship, etc. Read blogs and books about money management. Make a program that works for you and stick with it. In 50 years, you’ll be thrilled you did.7. Be prepared for the worst.Crises and emergencies do happen. Prepare yourself for this, rather than getting caught by surprise. Don’t let setbacks negatively impact your saving efforts. Have a rainy day fund to prepare in advance for setbacks.8. Save more as you are able.Once you start earning more, bump the amount you save from month to month. This will help the amount you’re hoarding to spiral into fatter and fatter sums. And don’t aut omatically increase your spending when you start earning more.9. Get/stay out of debt.Debt is not your friend. Make sure you stay as liquid and free from pesky interest rates as possible.10. Be patient.You won’t become a millionaire overnight. But you can start chipping away at a brighter financial future. It just takes making a plan, setting a goal, and sticking to it.

How Meaning of Words Change Throughout the Generations Research Paper

How Meaning of Words Change Throughout the Generations - Research Paper Example That indicates that it is common for an individual from outside a circle to get lost when engaging in a discussion from members who belong to the same circles. However, some slang words usage remains almost the same with only acquiring growth in terms of usage across various cultures and group settings. The usage of the words may at times become seasonal where almost every group uses the word at a certain period and then the word gets replaced by another more appealing word. Some slangs may, however, maintain the same meaning while compared with the dictionary meaning although changes may result over time. The paper examines the usage and meaning of the word cool according to the researcher’s perspective and how the circle that the researcher belongs to uses the word in expressing opinions or reactions. As a student, my circle comprises of students in a few groupings from the academic platform and the extra-curricular platform. As a student, interactions are common with group members and other classmates as most of the day time hours are spent together with other students. On the other hand, as a footballer for the school team, interactions with other team members are evident during training and game time. The word cool as used in the two group settings is often used in the two group settings mostly to signify something good. The difference between the meaning of the word is portrayed while examining the result that I attributed to the word cool by these two groups. Consider for example a situation where upon submitting a group representation in the class, our study group scored eighty percent, although the performance was the fifth while compared to the other groups. From citing the performance as cool, the group leader and the group members signified that although the performance was not excellent, it was good.

(Character) and relationship to society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

(Character) and relationship to society - Essay Example What is it? It is the protagonist’s attempt to pretend to be treated as a white woman, although she belongs to another nation. It should be mentioned that both Helga (Quicksand) and Clare (Passing) are Mulattos, who are unhappy because the community they live in do not like all â€Å"not-whites.† Both the stories under consideration introduce two women who are eager to navigate their way through ideological, economic and social structures of their communities. It is important to add that Passing and Quicksand not only document the long and continuing dynamic of race in the United States of America; they also describe all the challenges of being â€Å"not-white.† The women described by the author have to struggle for their happiness. Unfortunately, they do not manage to succeed in the fight for their rights. For example, Clare mysteriously dies after her secrete of being black becomes known to her husband. Helga turns into a poor woman who brings up her children a nd is not satisfied with her miserable life. We cannot ignore the fact that only the society is to blame in this situation. Both Helga and Clare found no opportunity to realize themselves and their dreams in their community. Racial discrimination and improper attitude towards black people left no place to recognition and sympathy needed by Mulatto women (p. 11).

Sonoco Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sonoco - Article Example The major contributor was the United States (US) and then Asia and Western Europe. The packaging industry represented consumer packaging as the 70% contributor of revenue and the remaining 30% was through industrial packaging. Due to globalization, the industry was facing challenges along with noticeable growth opportunities. Companies functioning in nations such as the US were shifting their businesses to other countries for cheap labor and were trying to gain profit. The packaging industry exhibited an increase in the market share from 40% to 60%. The packaging industry was changing its business strategy and increasing the level of profit. The changes in the industry were because of the changes in the preferences of the customers in the food and beverages industry. Packaging was now gaining its importance to promote a brand; it had now several versions of the products. Companies were strategizing their approaches by providing better packaging which would help them to advertise thei r product. Several strategies were being formulated to provide different packaging to attract the retailers. The idea of â€Å"One-Stop-Shop† was becoming attractive for the manufactures as they now needed not to depend on several suppliers for their business. With this concept, they were now able to meet their packaging needs with a few suppliers. With the changes in the packaging industr

Confucianism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Confucianism - Essay Example In China where Confucianism was a way of life, it was a patriarchal society where the home was considered to be the center of social relations. Here women were never considered equal to the man and were expected above all to be obedient to their fathers or husbands and in later life to their grown sons. Confucianism takes a very practical view of matters regarding sexuality and hence homosexuality too was considered a normal facet of life. However today things have changed and although women have more freedom than ever before, the country is still deeply rooted in tradition and hence women are torn between personal freedom and traditional values. Gender and sexuality in modern societies is being increasingly studied in relation to the past, in order to understand how these societies have either progressed in their thinking on these subjects or have remained static on such issues. An understanding of past and present societies is possible only through a study and analysis of sexuality in past societies, and the way they are viewed today in those societies. China today an economic and industrial giant is the subject of much controversy and misunderstanding since Chinese society in the past has not been very open to the outside world. Today however, questions on sexuality and the roles of men and women in society are being looked at differently by the new generation due to western influences on Chinese society. The new generation of Chinese youth is going through a very rapid process of social change and is driven by consumerism as is the youth in most parts of the world today. This generation therefore looks at sexuality and g ender through a different prism and is more open. Therefore one may conclude that China is going through a social and sexual revolution. Historically women were treated as second class citizens with no legal rights and very little education. During the time of the imperial government, there