China Currency Exchange Rate Essay

The cash system received by China is neither fixed nor adaptable conversion standard framework. China has declared in 2005 the â€Å"end of its firm peg against the dollar, rather permitting it to exchange inside a restricted band against a container of currencies.† China system is overseen skimming framework where the cash increments gradually step by step and the China government keep the money from changing rapidly for the time being. The motivation behind why Chinese government intercede in the money advertise is to bring down swapping scale to build work, keep up a fixed rate to keep up strength and improve their present record shortage. China government deal with its money rate by purchasing outside monetary forms to build flexibly of China cash, in this way bringing down its money esteem. They additionally bring down the estimation of its cash by bringing down their financing costs. On account of China, it is extremely troublesome and trying for them to embrace the fixed swapping scale framework because of their burdens. Right off the bat, China government should consistently change its loan cost so keep up the conversion scale. Changing the financing cost often will cause variances in ventures and development and furthermore stable business. There is likewise a likelihood that the fare rate might be set at an inappropriate level. For instance, on the off chance that it was set at a more elevated level, this could influence China send out intensity and their household market will endure. Question 4b In spite of the fact that China has been vigorously reprimanded by some outside nations like USA for their training, there are a few preferences to oversaw stream framework. Right off the bat, the oversaw stream framework will guarantee solidness in China contrasted with gliding. This is supposing that China out of nowhere value their cash, their fares creation will endure and there will be loads of joblessness thus. Anyway there are hindrances to oversaw drifting framework too. Individuals will attempt to challenge the gain assets from the cash as this framework is extremely inclined to theoretical assault. Encounters have demonstrated that theoretical assaults could diminish the development of a country’s total national output by 6 percent or more.

Examining The Ethics Of Undercover Reporting Media Essay

Inspecting The Ethics Of Undercover Reporting Media Essay In a day where we are burning through a huge number of worker hours revealing trickiness, we basically can't delude. By what means would newspapers be able to battle for genuineness and honesty when they themselves are under legit in getting a story? Benjamin Bradlee, previous official editorial manager of the Washington Post. A month ago, two prominent open figures in Britain were the subject of newspaper sting activities which have caused boundless discussion and discussion. This article will examine the activities of the columnist or paper supervisor for each situation, from both a deontological and consequentialist point of view, which will serve to delineate the moral complexities encompassing the entire idea of covert announcing. Duchess of York plots to offer access to Prince Andrew, Mazher Mahmood, News of the World, 23 May 2010 On 23rd May 2010, the News of the World announced that the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, had been tricked into tolerating a $40,000 ( £27,000) money up front installment from a covert correspondent acting like a Sheik. The papers Investigations Editor Mazher Mahmood had offered the Duchess a sum of  £500,000 to be acquainted with Fergusons ex Prince Andrew, who is a British exchange agent. The gathering where the store was given over to Ferguson and subtleties of the pay off were examined was caught on tape, and this video was posted on the News of the World site close by the article. The News of the World may guarantee they have done Britain a decent assistance in uncovering Fergusons illegal business bargains, however as a general rule, they have not introduced any verification that she had been taking part in pay off and defilement before the News of the World entered the fight and arranged this intricate sting activity. They guarantee that they have evidence that she had just traded out by acquainting two worldwide big shots with Prince Andrew, which brought about worthwhile business bargains for which she increased a commission. Would it not have been sufficient to investigate this proof which had been given by their nearby illustrious partner who blew the whistle on her? They state they have secured all the subtleties of her exchanges with these investors, and data about the new organization Ferguson set up a month ago to deal with her unlawful business, yet have not introduced any of these subtleties in the article, or in any of the horde of articles distri buted about the Ferguson undertaking since the recordings were posted on the site. Truly, the News of the World did without a doubt uncover that Sarah Ferguson was arranged to a degenerate arrangement with a worldwide businessperson. In any case, who is to state that she would not have been engaged with any illegal dealings had the News of the World not set her up along these lines? In April, another of Mahmoods covert sting activities carried an untimely end to the profession of snooker champion John Higgins when Mahmood recorded him in a lodging in the Ukraine consenting to fix a lose in a forthcoming snooker coordinate in return for à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢ ¬300,000. He had been set up by a gathering of covert journalists acting like businesspeople. Higgins has since guaranteed that he had been scared into the arrangement without wanting to, yet has been suspended from snooker pending an examination, maybe inconclusively. Mahmood claims that the choice to set Higgins up depended on a tip-off from a games insider that Higgins was participating in coordinate fixing. Be that as it may, no subtleties or proof was introduced in the article to back up the cases. This is simply one more late case of the sort of covert revealing that Mahmood is participating in for the News of the World, where a dramatist scoop, for the most part including a VIP or open figure, is gotten on cam era, causes a concise media free for all, however is immediately overlooked when the following sting activity hits the features. Mahmood, who has been acting like the phony Sheik for covert scoops since 1984, cases to have uncovered crimes in his sting tasks which have prompted in any event 250 criminal feelings. His camouflage has tricked pedophiles, cheats and medication pushers the composition of whom could be considered as being in the open enthusiasm just as philandering government priests and famous people with recreational medication propensities, whose accounts might be of obscene enthusiasm to the general population, yet are more likely than not in the open intrigue. The inspirations driving the News of the Worlds fixation on covert scoops are basic: trickery can frequently be the snappiest and most straightforward approach to get a story; the columnist has command over the situation that will in the long run end up in the paper, so basically they can make the title text before the occurrence has even occurred; and mystery film (sound accounts, video, and grainy or pixilated photos) sensationalize the story much further and make for extraordinary sight and sound substance for the web. The man expected to carry sound judgment to the FA, Ian Gallagher, Mail on Sunday, 16 May 2010 In another covert exposã © a month ago, the executive of the Football Association in England, Lord Triesman, was subtly taped guaranteeing that Spain and Russia were plotting to pay off arbitrators in the up and coming World Cup in South Africa. The chronicle was made by Triesmans previous helper Melissa Jacobs during a lunch meeting. Jacobs continued, with the assistance of superstar marketing specialist Mark Clifford, to offer the tapes to the Mail on Sunday for a detailed  £75,000, who ran the story on the first page on sixteenth May. While it must be noticed that the individual who made the account was not a writer, however a partner of Triesmans, comparative standards around the morals of secret chronicle and covert examination procedures are at issue here (leaving aside the morals of checkbook news coverage). In any case, there is one urgent contrast between this article and the covert sting activity articles composed by Mahmood referenced above, in that the situation was not arranged ahead of time by the paper. It appears to me, from the subtleties introduced in the article, that Jacobs went to the lunch meeting with the expectation of getting taped proof of their undertaking to offer to the paper, and the discussion about the World Cup pay-offs emerged obscure ahead of time to her. While she provoked him during the trade for more data, she didn't instigate the subject of discussion, nor did she steer the discussion a specific way. This is shown in the accompanying transcript from the tape, which is cited in the article: Master Triesman: Spain are searching for help from the Russians to help pay off the arbitrators in the World Cup, their votes may then change to Russia. Now, Miss Jacobs asks: Would Russia help them with that? Master Triesman: Oh, I figure Russia will cut arrangements. Miss Jacobs: Why will Russia help? Are Russia in the World Cup? Ruler Triesman: No theyre not. Miss Jacobs: Oh no theyre not, theyve got nothing to lose? Ruler Triesman: Absolutely nothing at all to lose. Precisely. Since the article was distributed, Lord Triesman has surrendered as administrator of the FA, yet expressed that he had been a casualty of ensnarement and his remarks about the intrigue were never planned to be paid attention to. Fifas morals group is researching the charges, and in the event that it is demonstrated that they were situated in truth, the Mail on Sundays choice to print the story will be vindicated (however this is looking progressively improbable). The article was met with across the board scorn in Britain, in all probability in light of the fact that the embarrassment truly endangered Englands odds of tying down their offer to have the 2018 World Cup. Be that as it may, the reasons given by most pundits were that the strategies utilized by the Mail on Sunday to acquire data for the article were filthy and unscrupulous. Consequentialist investigation As indicated by the consequentialists, the finishes must legitimize the methods all together for an activity to be considered ethically worthy. The ethically right activity is what realizes the most noteworthy conceivable complete total of utility(Wolff, p.49). It could be contended that in endeavoring to uncover Sarah Fergusons degenerate exercises, the News of the World were acting in the open enthusiasm, freeing the universe of a degenerate demonstration and along these lines carrying the best measure of satisfaction to the best number of individuals. On the off chance that perusers truly accepted that the columnist was acting to forestall the event of insidiousness, torment, shrewdness or misery to the gathering whose intrigue is thought of, which as indicated by Bentham, (The rule of Utility, cited in Singer, p.307) ought to be the primary reason for any game-plan, it could be contended that he was all in all correct to take on the appearance of a Sheik so as to uncover Ferguson s unlawful business bargains. Also, if the primary inspiration of the Mail on Sunday was to forestall defilement and match fixing during the World Cup, at that point the paper acted in the correct manner as per consequentialists. In any case, as I have clarified, it is profoundly questionable that these were the principle inspirations of the News of the World or the Mail on Sunday, as I would contend that they were increasingly keen on printing electrifying stories that would catch open eye and sell a greater number of papers than a definitive end. While the most grounded contention against misrepresentations has been forward by Kant and the deontologists (see beneath), utilitarians were likewise firmly against lie and trickery, in view of the damage done by deluding specific people, and the inclination of bogus articulations to reduce the common certainty that men should have in every others affirmations (Sidgwick, Issues for Utilitarians, in Singer, p.316). There is another moral issue raised by the Sarah Ferguson exposã © article that would bear some significance with a consequentialist, and that is the utilization of unknown sources. Tabloids like the News of the World are notable for paying enormous wholes of cash to all around associated sources, and the data took care of to them by their nearby illustrious partner likely could be genuine. It is broadly perceived among columnists and editors the same th

Yay for cheap stuff

Yay for cheap stuff Saturday/Sunday was the famous MIT Press Bookstore loading dock sale. Basically, they try to get rid of all of the overstock and damaged books, so theyre sold for drastically reduced prices. And the damaged books are usually in such good condition that you cant even really tell whats wrong with them. I decided to take advantage of this, so after sending my parents and sister back home (this weekend was Family Weekend, but I unfortunately have absolutely nothing interesting to report about it. The most notable thing that happened to me this weekend was standing outside for 2 and a half hours in the pouring rain to lose a field hockey game. Bleh), I headed across campus to the bookstore. All of these are highly reccomended reading: And it was all so cheap! I am now the proud owner of Nightwork, and that makes me happy. (It also makes April happy, because she says that now she doesnt have to buy it. See? April gives me food, I let her read my books. We have a symbiotic relationship.) In other news, I havent been keeping up with blogging at all, and Im really sorry about that. =( This week has involved some late night pset sessions. And by late night I really mean early morning. I did have help on one occasioin though- Aprils dad is an MIT alum, so after discussing with us some of the finer points of life at MIT, we sat him down and had him help us with our 18.01 pset. He definitely sat in the suite lounge with us until at least 3:30 in the morning doing calculus. Thank you, Aprils dad! Anyway, just to wrap up a few loose ends from my last couple of entries: A lot of people had questions my entry on tests and reference sheets. There were also some specific questions about tests past the freshman level, which I of course knew nothing about. So I turned to my fellow bloggers for help. I collected the following information: Sam gave the following list: closed-notes: everything in course 5 except 5.60, course 18 classes, 8.022, humanities classes limited number of self-made review sheets: 5.60, 8.01 open-notes: everything in course 10, 7.06 Mitra said: I can say that for my econ, math, and organic chemistry exams, Ive never been allowed to use a cheat sheet. Mollie even wrote a whole entry on tests! Isnt this neat? Ask one question, get 4 answers. MITbloggers, working together. So basically, it varies completely by course number. The one thing that everyone agrees on is that the actual creation of the review sheet is usually more helpful than the review sheet itself, although its always nice to not actually have to remember all those trig identities for 18.01. I can personally vouch for both parts of this statement, because a) I hate trig identities and b) while writing my 3.091 aid sheet, I wasnt exactly sure what PES graphs were, so I just drew a rough sketch of what I thought might be a PES diagram and moved on. It necessarily follows that there was a 12-point question on this topic, for which I proceeded to receive no credit because I had only copied the rough sketch of what may or may not actually be a PES diagram onto the test. Writing the review sheet will help you study. Unless you do dumb things, like me. In response to my Dont Panic index cards, Psylochwa asked, So if you dont know an answer to one of your test questions do you just write 42? I have not yet actually had to resort to this, but thats the spirit! My own personal rule is that the answer is always conservation of energy. I believe I wrote that on the top of my 3.091 aid sheet. Seriously. Emi and Shannon also asked about cooking and the related facilities. Emi said specifically, According to my investigation, most colleges dont have cooking facilities for freshmen, so Id like to take this opportunity to point out an important fact about life at MIT: there are no freshmen dorms. At most other schools, all/most of the freshmen live together in several designated dorms. And in most cases those designated dorms are probably not the nicest on campus. There is no such thing as a freshman dorm here- there is complete class mixing in all dorms, so the facilities available to you are determined on where you want to live. I live in Burton-Conner, which is set up in a suite arrangement- so theres a kitchen to every 6-10 people or so. Simmons, New House, McCormick, MacGregor, Random and East Campus all have kitchens that are either shared by each floor or each suite. Baker and Next both have 1 large kitchen shared by the entire dorm, and Im too lazy to look up about Bexley and Senior. Kitchens (in B-C, anyway) have a couple of fridges, a sink, and a stove, as well as counter space. As for everything else- youre on your own. People tend to be generous and share major appliances- theres no real need for everyone to have their own microwave. As for other kitchen supplies, it varies based on the people you live with. My suite shares everything but the food itself- so that includes dishes, silverware, spatulas, pots and pans, mixing bowls, etc etc. So thats all for today. Tune in next time for.. I dont even know what. I make this up as I go along. Last time I promised content in the next entry was a few weeks ago and it never happened. But it will! I swear!

Justification Definition and Examples in Typesetting

In typesetting and printing, the process or result of spacing text so that the lines come out even at the margins. The lines of text on this page are left justified--that is, the text is lined up evenly on the left side of the page but not on the right (which is called ragged right). As a general rule, use left justification when preparing essays, reports, and research papers.See Examples and Observations below. Also see: Choosing a Style Manual and Documentation GuideIndentationStyle Guide Examples and Observations Research papers follow a standard presentation format. . . . Do not right-justify (align) your paper. The right margins should be ragged. Your computer will automatically justify your left margin.(Laurie Rozakis, Schaums Quick Guide to Writing Great Research Papers. McGraw-Hill, 2007)Manuscript Guidelines (Chicago Style)To avoid the appearance of inconsistent spacing between words and sentences, all text in a manuscript should be presented flush left (ragged right)--that is, lines should not be justified to the right margin. To leave enough room for handwritten queries, margins of at least one inch should appear on all four sides of the hard copy.(The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. The University of Chicago Press, 2010)Full JustificationLeft-justified margins are generally easier to read than full-justified margins that can produce irregular spaces between words and unwanted blocks of text. However, because left-justified (ragged-right) margins look informal, full-justified text i s more appropriate for publications aimed at a broad readership that expects a more formal, polished appearance. Further, full justification is often useful with multiple-column formats because the spaces between the columns (called alleys) need the definition that full justification provides.(Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu, The Business Writers Handbook, 7th ed. Macmillan, 2003)Justification on ResumesDo not set full justification on an ASCII resume. Instead left justify all lines so the right margin is ragged.(Pat Criscito, How to Write Better Rà ©sumà ©s and Cover Letters. Barrons Educational Series, 2008) Pronunciation: jus-te-feh-KAY-shen

A Collection of Famous Short Quotes

What some of the most brilliant orators and the most memorable writers have always understood is that while a bounty is sometimes necessary, an economy of words can often be a much more effective use of language. A few of the best, such as William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde, are known for being able to pack a world of meaning in a mere sentence or two. Its small wonder then that some of the greatest quotes are also some of the shortest quotes. This selection from the worlds of politics, entertainment, philosophy, history, and literature includes some prime examples that illustrate the principle, less is more. Great Philosophers Cogito, ergo sum. (I think, therefore, I am.)—Renà © Descartes Das was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stà ¤rker. (What does not kill me makes me stronger.)—Friedrich Nietzsche â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living.†Ã¢â‚¬â€Socrates â€Å"One cannot step twice in the same river.†Ã¢â‚¬â€Heraclitus â€Å"If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.†Ã¢â‚¬â€Voltaire â€Å"Science is what you know. Philosophy is what you dont know.† —Bertrand Russell â€Å"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.†Ã¢â‚¬â€Plato Sir Winston Churchill Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room. The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see. If youre going through hell, keep going. There are a terrible lot of lies going about the world, and the worst of it is that half of them are true. The price of greatness is responsibility. The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes. History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. Franklin Delano Roosevelt The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. It takes a long time to bring the past up to the present. The truth is found when men are free to pursue it. I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm. The virtues are lost in self-interest as rivers are lost in the sea. Mohandas K. Gandhi Where there is love there is life. An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind. Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. Oscar Wilde â€Å"There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.† â€Å"The truth is rarely pure and never simple.† â€Å"There is no sin except stupidity.† â€Å"There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.† â€Å"Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are.† â€Å"I can resist everything except temptation.† â€Å"Work is the curse of the drinking classes.† William Shakespeare If music be the food of love, play on.—Duke Orsino, Act I, Scene I, Twelfth Night Brevity is the soul of wit.—Polonius, Act II, Scene II, Hamlet Lord, what fools these mortals be.—Puck, Act III, Scene II, A Midsummer Nights Dream A horse! A horse! My Kingdom for a horse!—King Richard, Act V, Scene IV, Richard III Cry havoc! and let slip the dogs of war.—Marc Antony, Act III, Scene I, Julius Caesar A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.—Romeo, Act II, Scene II, Romeo and Juliet Television Film Frankly, my dear, I dont give a damn.—Rhett Butler to Scarlett OHara in Gone With the Wind Yada, yada, yada...—Elaine from Seinfeld I have a feeling were not in Kansas anymore.—Dorothy to Toto in The Wizard of Oz My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!—Inigo Montoya to Count Rugen in The Princess Bride Heres looking at you, kid.—Rick Blaine to Ilsa Laszlo in Casablanca I hate the living.—Dr. Laurel Weaver, Men in Black Its a dog eat dog world, Sammy, and Im wearing Milk-Bone underwear.—Norm Peterson, Cheers From the World of the Classics Literature Fortune favors the brave.—Virgil, from the Aeneid â€Å"Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.†Ã¢â‚¬â€from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley One if by land, two if by sea.—from The Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow People change and forget to tell each other.—Lillian Hellman Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.—Alfred Lord Tennyson The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.—Dorothy Parker The best love affairs are those we never had.—Australian author Norman Lindsay People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.—Pooh, from Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.—Jane Austen There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.—Ernest Hemingway Where there is a monster, there is a miracle.—Ogden Nash Politics and Activism â€Å"America will never be destroyed from the outside.—Abraham Lincoln The bulk of the world’s knowledge is an imaginary construction.—Helen Keller If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.—Adolph Hitler Men are not the enemy, but the fellow victims. The real enemy is womens denigration of themselves.—Betty Friedan Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.—Frederick Douglass â€Å"There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers.†Ã¢â‚¬â€¢Susan B. Anthony Legendary Entertainers Theres a sucker born every minute.—P.T. Barnum In the end, everything is a gag.—Charlie Chaplin Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else.—Will Rogers I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.—Mae West Dont get even, get mad.—Frank Sinatra Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.—Bob Dylan I dont want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.—Groucho Marx Art Architecture Less is more.—Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.—Michelangelo â€Å"The truth is more important than the facts.†Ã¢â‚¬â€Architect Frank LLoyd Wright I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.—Vincent Van Gogh Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.—Andy Warhol The world doesnt make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?—Pablo Picasso

Difference Between Your Mother and Your Grandmother Free Essays

Difference between Your Mother and Grandmother ‘Grandma’, a word which fills you with emotion as soon as you hear it. She is a person who would go over the top to fight for you. Be it her own son, or even her soulmate, she would fight with anybody to defend you. We will write a custom essay sample on Difference Between Your Mother and Your Grandmother or any similar topic only for you Order Now Even if you’re wrong, even if you hurt her, she would be good to you no matter what. Your mom, for once, might hit you, scold you, but your grandma would never do that. Mothers have the household to look after, but you; believe me, you mean the world to your grandma. She, being elder to your mom, has several stories to share with you, her own life experiences as well, though some turn out to be boring, I bet you’d enjoy most of them. She’d even make false promises, like if you’d make a mistake, she’d stand by your side, saying, â€Å"Oh, he’s just a kid. Forgive him this time, he’ll never do it again,† to the person who’s scolding you. She’d blame herself for your mistakes, saving you from the trouble, and being in soup herself. But despite all this, grandmothers are believed to spoil children. Parents often shout at them for giving so much of ‘unconditional’ love and all they do is listen, without a word. Now, I’d like to share my personal experience. My grandma was a talented and well-educated lady. We’d often sit and gossip about stuff, and play cards with each other. I also enjoyed her company. She, till class VII, was my teacher as well. All I am today is because of her. Everybody asked me to take tuitions at home, but I refused every time because she was more of a friend to me, than a teacher. Being the oldest woman in the family, she was in charge of all the money matters of the house. She used to keep some change in her purse, which always ended up in my pocket. Though dad often asked her not to give me so much of money, she used to agree, but I somehow managed to butter her up and get the notes and she also could not say ‘no’ to me, and was ready to give me whatever I wanted, as and when demanded. I cannot recollect a single occasion when she did not pay me. But due to her old age, her health was deteriorating for some time now. She was undergoing depression for the past seven-eight months and finally, she left for heaven earlier this year. In the end, I’d like to tell my fellow classmates who still have their grandparents with them that guys, you’re lucky to have such great people in your life. Respect them, and spend time with them. I wish I had practiced what I’m preaching because when on the bed, she used to call me, but all I did was giving a silly reason continuing to enjoy my own life and I still regret it. I wish I could thank her for all she did for me, but life is not always the way you want it to be. How to cite Difference Between Your Mother and Your Grandmother, Papers

Information Technology in Business Health Industry

Question: Discuss about the Information Technology in Business for Health Industry. Answer: Introduction Due to the Aging population being higher, there is a serious shortage of skills as well as growing expectations from the community. The community needs a higher standard of health care in all angles, and this is giving pressure to the health industry. There are new ways that have been derived to collaborate, as well as mobility tools that are used to give doctors and patients a better flexibility, security as well as centralization of data to help the community get the best services at a lower cost. To better achieve this, the Australian health care industry has deployed the Telstra Health to provide digital solutions to the health care industry. The technology is aimed at providing an equitable, safe as well as cost-effective health care across Australia since this is the biggest challenge in the country(Delloite, 2016). Telstra Health solves budget challenges in the health care industry in a way that is more innovative. They have a well-connected ICT infrastructure which is rationalized, and it enables them to connect administrators, clinicians, patients and the entities of the healthcare industry to provide a robust framework for collaboration and communication. Telstra Heal is beneficial to patients and doctors alike since they get a platform where they can securely access clinical data, telehealth, applications as well as online and video collaboration tools(Australian Trade Commission, February 2016). History of Digital Health in Australia. The digital health industry in Australia has a very long history that has used innovative communications technology to better the health care delivery. In 1929, there was an invention of a pedal powered the radio that helped the people in the isolated areas to advise them on medical emergencies. This was from the Royal Flying doctor's service. The Royal Flying Doctors are now one of the largest and comprehensive aeromedical company in the globe due to the continuation of the of IT usage in communication technology in the medical industry. In Australia, travel time is very significant. The terrain is bad and therefore many people are in urbanized areas. This means that many communities leave far away from centralized healthcare services like hospitals. In a scenario like this, Information Technology is critical, and it is used to solve the challenges in a better way. Adoption of IT in the health care industry in Australia makes it stand as the leading in health messaging as well as electronic health records. Today, Australia is at the forefront of medical care best practices because the government has invested heavily in digital health. This investment is supported by the work force that is highly technology driven and backed up by research institutions. Due to the expertise in the Australian health-related disciplines, their expertise is in high demand across the world. Smart solutions for healthcare services Digital health applications have been developed in Australia to assist in the delivery of quality medical care services as well as planning. These applications include the patient flow applications for instance to predict the number of patients who will arrive at the emergency section their needs as well as the number which will be admitted and that who will be discharged. Another one is the investment on surveillance of clinical statistics and detection of influenza outbreak as well as other diseases and infections. Benefits Of Telstra In Healthcare Industry The investment in Telstra health has come up with many benefits to the Australian health care industry. Some of the benefits are; Better patient comfort- the bedside units which are multipurpose lets the patient's access movies, emails, and the internet while in the hospital. Also, they can access health information, contact nurses as well as settle their accounts. Home healthcare services- telehealth technology has provided the ability to extend effective health care to homes as well as remote areas. Automated monitoring-monitoring of vital signs such as heart rate, blood glucose as well as oxygen saturation is an important feature of telehealth because patients can do so remotely. There is improved health education because of wider data visibility. This has bought about the ability to investigate patterns in infections as well as deliver informative health care education campaigns. Routine checks are streamlined, nurses can now dispense their prescriptions or even update the patient notes anywhere anytime. The routine checks enable them to keep up to date centralized data. The patients can get access to the right clinicians fast due to there is the enhancement in provider index of health professionals subspecialties as well as expertise which makes it possible to select the clinicians best suited for needs of the patient. Better patient understanding- to increase awareness and understanding of the patient's ailments, the doctors bring the medical imaging as well as rest results to the bedside where the patient is comfortable. Clinicians can check case notes and view test results faster hence improving the time needed to make decisions. The decisions are made faster and are more informed. There is great team collaboration through video conferencing as well as desktop sharing. This makes it easy to offer multidisciplinary care over long distances. Challenges In Adopting Telstra In Businesses Telstra health operates in a rapidly changing environment with a great change in how people communicate. This environment poses a challenge to the Technology(Kenny, 2016). Below is explanations of some risks that affect Telstra. They include environmental, material exposure as well as social sustainability risks and measures taken by Telstra to mitigate the risks. The risks are not encompassing, neither are they listed in the order of significance but they reflect the most significant as identified during this research.(Letts, 2016) The risk of the inability to respond to market and technology developments in a way that is both productive as well as cost effective. Telstras exposure to this risk is on the increase due to the change of market conditions increased expectations of the customers, increased advancement of technology as well as competitors with simpler business models in global and domestic markets The strategy Telstra used to mitigate this risk is to invest a combination of monitoring new and disruptive business technologies, ensuring efficiency in their business as well as investing actively in innovative as well as technology-driven opportunities. Involvement of multi-year portfolio that aims at simplifying their systems technology and processes. Develop the capability to innovate internally while acquiring the required people capability, business models as well as technology innovations through key suppliers(Telstra, 2015). Material business risk and their key drivers Disruption of services offered to customers due to rapidly changing demands as well as the dependence on telecommunication services, greater exposure to global complex networks as well as external shocks(Dumlao-Abadilla, 2017). Significant disruption of Telstra services brings about a major impact on their clients as well as the communities they serve. It also affects the company reputation. Maintain and developing their capability to prevent, respond to, withstand, anticipate as well as recover from the events that caused the shocks and disrupted the customer services. To deal with this, Telstra focuses on technology and network service continuity, business management continuity, emergency management as well as incidence management. All these are done by the business Resilience team to make sure they continue to meet their operational needs as well as taking advantage of opportunities that come up to grow their business Data management Collecting, managing or even using both customer and cooperate data in an inconsistent way is a risk faced by the Telstra health. This is because the data does not lie in line with the regulatory obligations or it does not meet the customer expectations The other risk in this group is the growing risk due to business changes that leads to higher volumes of data, and this poses a great opportunity for cyber criminals as well as other data set threats. Financial, reputational as well as regulatory implications caused by the failure to manage both customer and corporate data. This can also lead to losing customers due to lack of trust for Telstra to keep their data secure. Some controls have been made to control the risk. These controls include privacy compliance as well as data security. Mandatory data security awareness training for all the Telstra staff and partners. There is also vendor compliance training for all the vendors to make sure to take in consideration data security requirements developed by Telstra. Reviewing and continuous updating of all the security controls on their network that are based on known security threats and up to date intelligence. Work support compliance with Telstra privacy obligations done through their mandatory privacy training as well as privacy policy. Again, they are trying to improve the governance of the company as well as decision-making processes based on the use of corporate and customer data. Regulatory environment Increased complexity as well as the cost of doing things due to the emergence of unfavorable regulatory requirements. In Australia, Telstra is highly regulated because more and more people are relying on telecommunication. This means that there more regulatory intervention to protect the consumers, service as well as competition issues. Enforcement of new or existing regulations has a significant impact on the company revenues as well as the pricing, costs and product strategy. These regulations can also bring about additional compliance burden that hinders the ability to work with their plan. Management plans Telstra risk management strategy is focusing on putting a limit to the adverse consequences of existing as well as new regulations to service the needs of their customers in a way that efficient while making compliance costs to be as low as possible. Developing good relationships with regulatory policy stakeholders together with the policy makers, community groups and the industry to better their reputation. Telstra has engaged with ACCC and the Australian Communications and Medial Authority to discuss the scope and the outcomes from the regulations. Also, Telstra is aiming at developing relationship with jurisdiction and government where their products operate People Capability The risk of the inability to move value from their core and use it to build new growth powered businesses. As they advance from the telecommunications company in Australia to a more multifaceted technology, the capability of people will need to change to meet the needs of the customers. In their core business, there is need to make the business simple while delivering innovative products ad services. The capabilities of people a great strength to push them to achieve their growth target as well as realizing the benefits of their mergers as well as joint venture activities. Management plans Telstra is aimed at delivering all the capabilities that are required to make the business simpler, move to an NBN operating environment as well as getting value from their core business. The capabilities that are key are; IT network simplification, data analytics as well as product development. In the line of developing new businesses, Telstra is aimed at providing the capabilities that are required for their Healthcare business software application integration and development; enterprise managed services as well as international growth. In the global markets, Telstra is promising to set up mobility and remuneration policies and practices to better appeal people with talents from all over the world. Telstra has involved some recruitment team in Asia as well as recruitment partners in making sure their strategy to access international talent is not in vain. Conclusion Information technology has done a strong impetus on how businesses today operate by giving companies a touch of flexibility and efficiency. This paper has discussed the role information technology has played in the Australian health care industry making more emphases on Telstra Health. A few decades ago, There was no flexible access to health care especially in the remote area, but now with several inventions of IT systems, health care is now available to all the people. The paper also discusses the benefits Telstra has brought to the communities, the challenges the business is facing and the planes they take to make sure they remain in business especially in the environment of rapidly changing demands and expectations as well as advancement of technology Bibliography Australian Trade Commission, February 2016. DIGITAL Health, s.l.: Austra; in Unlimited. Delloite, 2016. Global health care outlook: 2016 Battling costs while improving care, s.l.: s.n. Dumlao-Abadilla, D., 2017. Telstra venture saw challenging, rewarding.' A Partnership to make a difference in telecom space, 23 January. Kenny, M., 2016. Election 2016: Telstra wins a contract to manage your health records. Federal Election 2016, 26 May. Letts, S., 2016. Telstra's $3 billion NBN black hole puts dividends under pressure. ABC News, 20 May. Telstra, 2015. Our material business risks, s.l.: Telstra.

Social Media and Social Relations

Introduction This paper is aimed at discussing the ways in which social media are contributing to changing social relations. This issue can be illustrated by examining profound transformations that were brought by new technologies, especially Web 2.0.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Social Media and Social Relations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For instance, it is necessary to mention that currently people representing different social classes, religious groups, or cultures have more opportunities for interacting with one another in order to achieve certain goals. More importantly, an individual is better able to convey his/her views to a greater number of people. Additionally, these tools can be viewed as the platform which enables people to discuss the most important social, political, and administrative issues affecting the entire community. These are some of the main trends that can be distinguished. Thes e issues can be discussed by examining empirical data showing how people use social media and how their interactions with one another have evolved during the last decade. Additionally, it is vital to consider social media as one of the factors contributing to the transformation of social norms. This analysis should be based on empirical studies carried out by various researchers. For instance, one can look at the values of people who are active users of social media. Apart from that, it is possible to examine the statistical surveys illustrating how people’s attitudes have changed due to the influence of mass media. This quantitative information can throw light on the impact of social media on the relations within the community. In order to analyse these issues, one should apply different frameworks that can explain people’s behavior. In particular, it is possible to apply the theory of affordance and the theory of mediatisation. These models are particularly useful fo r explaining how social media transform the behavior of individuals and groups. They are particularly helpful since they demonstrate how social and cultural norms are changed due to the development of information technologies. This paper will include several sections. At first, it is critical to overview the main concepts and theories that can be useful for describing people’s online behavior and discussing their worldviews and perceptions.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More One should also illustrate the empirical findings that can throw light on the application of these theoretical models. Furthermore, the second section will include the main argument about the influence of social media on the changing relations between individuals and groups. Much attention will be paid to the transformation of people’s attitudes and new forms of cooperation between various s takeholders. On the whole, this discussion can be important for understanding the main trends affecting various communities. Additionally, this analysis can be useful for identifying the origins of various social phenomena. Yet, it can only be a starting point for further studies that can increase people’s awareness about the specific impact of information technologies, especially the way in which they influence people’s actions. Key research, theories, and debates It is possible to distinguish several concepts that are useful for discussing the questions relevant to this topic. At first, one should mention such a notion as social media that can be viewed as the tools that enable individuals to create information and share their views or ideas with another (Scott 2011). So, users are not only the recipients of content; more likely, they can act as producers and publishers (Scott 2011, p 5). In this case, one should not speak only about such social networks as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and so forth. It is important to mention that conventional media also become more oriented to the needs of modern Internet users who can also create content. For instance, the website of such a newspaper as The Guardian enables people to comment on news and discuss the most important social issues. T his is one of the main changes that can be singled out. Overall, social media can take different forms such as forums, social networks, wikis, and so forth (Choate 2008). One should bear in mind that the rise of social media can be traced back to the late nineties at the time when Web 2 0 technologies were elaborated. These tools provided people with the opportunity to create or modify content (Choate 2008). In the previous decades, Internet users could act only as the recipients of information. So, this concept is critical for the discussing the way in which technologies can impact social relations as well as the norms or values accepted by the community. It is critical to mention that conventional media such as radio or television do not enable people to communicate with one another or create content without the permission of the mediators representing a specific organisation such as a publishing house or a broadcasting company that can determine what kind of content can be made public. Social media remove this barrier almost completely.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Social Media and Social Relations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is one of the main details that should be singled out. Admittedly, social media can also include some restrictions; for example, one can speak about the work of moderators. However, their use is not very widespread, and they can be overcome. It is also vital to mention that social media are extremely interrelated. To a great extent, these online resources facilitate the flow of information from one another. This attribute can be partly explained by the fact that people can use different mass media such as Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram at the same time. Such a concept as convergence is often used to describe this interconnectedness of social media and their links with other information technologies as radio or television. It is possible to apply different theoretical frameworks that can be applied to describe the impact of social media on the relations among individuals and groups. In particular, one should examine the theory of affordances developed by Ian Hutchby (2001). In this case, the term affordance can be described as the main quality of a certain medium such as the Internet or television. This model is often helpful for explaining how different media complement one another. Nevertheless, this approach is also useful for explaining the way in which modern media change social relations by providing a set of opportunities to users who can get access to more sophisticated communication tools. For instance, information technologies provide people with the opportunities for self-representation (Kuo et al. 2013). Furthermore, they can display their creativity on the Web. In turn, the researchers note that this attribute is one of the factors that contribute to the increased number of social connections. To some degree, this theory implies that technology is the agent that changes the behaviour of individual and groups. It opposes the premise according to which technological tools, including social media are shaped by the emerging needs of the community and separate individuals. Overall, this viewpoint is not sufficient for explaining the impacts of new information tools.  There are certain important concepts that are related to this theory, In particular, it is necessary to mention such a notion as polymedia which is supposed to describe integrated media environment that shapes the behavior of users. Social Web can be viewed only as the component of polymedia. This concept is important for showing that social media do not function independently of other technologies such as radio or television. However, at the same time, social media profoundly transform the behaviours of many people because they have specific affordances or attributes such as increased functionality that enables users to modify content.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is one of the aspects that should be taken into consideration by researchers who study the relations between social media and community.  Additionally, it is important to consider the theory of mediatisation introduced by Stig Hjarvard (2013). This model is aimed at explaining how digital technologies can alter social and cultural norms. These changes can be attributed to a wide range of factors such as increasing availability of information, new economic trends, and ability of a person to examine the same question from different perspectives. In this case, one should not speak only about the changing communication between people. More likely, it is important to focus on the transformation of people’s attitudes, values, and worldviews. In this case, technologies can also be described as the agent that changes the society. For instance, these media can make people more open to new lifestyles and behaviours. Moreover, they can question the key messages conveyed by the ma instream media such as television or radio. These are the main elements of this theory. The main assumptions of this model have been examined in empirical studies; for instance, researchers note that customers can rely on social media in order to evaluate different goods or services before making purchases (Barreto, 2014, p. 631). This trend is of great importance to producers and retailers. This example shows that social media enable individuals to examine the messages such as commercials conveyed by mass media more critically. Thus, their attitudes can also change profoundly. The theory of mediatisation is also supported by researchers who note that the users of social media can re-evaluate some of the values that could be viewed as the topmost priorities by previous generations. For instance, one can speak about the diminishing role of privacy in social networks (Young Jordan 2013). It should be mentioned that the users of social networks can openly display their photographs or state their marital status. Apart from that, the users of social networks are more willing to explore such issues as sexuality (Castaneda 2013). This behaviour was not a part of the norm before the arrival of Web 2.0. Researchers identify these patterns by examining the attitudes of people who actively use social media (Young Jordan 2013). These studies are important for identifying the changes in the behaviour of various social groups.  Apart from that, it is important to mention that social media help different stakeholders to discuss various questions related to politics or economy. In some cases, social media can also assist those people who may disagree with the policies of the state. This argument has been particularly relevant if one speaks about mass protests that are usually known as the Arab Spring (Jamali 2014). These protests were largely coordinated with the help of social networks. It is important to mention that these technologies facilitate the spread of informati on within the community. Thus, citizens can better mobilise their efforts and force the government to consider the needs or concerns of various social classes. In many cases, these people try to bring changes in the political and social agenda. For instance, social media are often applied by LGBT activists (Peterson Panfil 2003). Thus, social media lead to profound transformation in the life of many communities. Overall, these changes can take place at the global level. Additionally, it is necessary to speak about the creation of online communities or groups of people who have similar interests, values, or agendas. Much attention is paid to the online behaviour of adolescents and young adults who are more active users of social media (Solis 2010, p. 19). As a rule, researchers prefer to examine the lifestyles of people whose age is lower than thirty. In the past, online communities were made up of people who were very skilled in the use of technology (Warburton 2012, p. 4). Neverth eless, the situation has changed profoundly because information technologies have become more accessible, and modern social media can attract people with diverse educational and professional backgrounds. One should keep in mind that people who interact in online communities have more opportunities for anonymity (Farrington et al. 2014, p. 125). As a result, they can openly express their opinions that can seem provocative or even insulting (Farrington et al. 2014). Moreover, these individuals can become more critical of the assumptions that are often taken for granted. This opportunity is also vital for the re-evaluation of the existing norms. These are the main trends that attract close attention of various researchers who want to determine how the behaviours of individuals and groups have evolved due to the influence of social media. Argument Social media produce two important impacts on the relations between individuals and groups; in particular, they contribute to the transformat ion of the norms established in the communities. Moreover, they can create new forms of cooperation among individuals who may have similar interests. Nevertheless, these people represent different cultural groups or classes. These elements of the argument should be elaborated in greater detail. Although, social media enable people to make a more personalized use of technologies, they also create new ties between various community members who can interact without the use of intermediaries. As a result, people can establish social ties even though they did not know each in the past. There are several important trends that can be identified. In particular, one should mention that social media enable people to transcend the boundaries of the social class, religious groups and so forth. In fact, these barriers can become irrelevant to Internet users. In the past, these people could be deprived of this valuable opportunity. For instance, it is necessary to mention that on average, a Faceb ook user can have about 130 online acquaintances (Lee 2012, p. 18). Furthermore, the users of social may compete with one another in terms of how many friends they have (Bakardjieva 2014, p. 375). Certainly, one can say that such behaviours can deprive the word friendship of its meaning as well as value (Bakardjieva 2014; Vihalemm 2003). This is one of the short-comings that should be taken into account by people who are too optimistic about the role of social media. However, in many cases, these people can share values or interests, even though they may have different backgrounds (Lee 2012, p. 18). However, this evidence indicates that people have more opportunities for establishing social relations with one another. As it has been said before, conventional media such as television, radio and internet do not enable individuals to communicate with one another. These details are important for explaining the popularity of social media and the profound implications that they have for t he community.  There are other impacts that should not be overlooked. For instance, it is possible to speak about changing relationship between employers and employees who now have opportunities to work online (Daft 2012; Chehimi 2013). For instance, companies can encourage workers collaborate on joint projects with the help of Wikis or Intranet sites. Thus, social media can be useful for the creation of employment opportunities. Additionally, much attention should be paid to crowd-sourcing activities that are also facilitated by social media. This case is important because it illustrates new forms of cooperation between individuals and organisations. In some cases, these new forms of interactions can be important for the economic growth of the society (Daft 2012). This is why they should not be overlooked by researchers.  Much attention should be paid to the creation of the network communities in which people are able to discuss various issues in a more critical way. As it has been said before, these online tools promote political activism that is important for bringing changes into the social or political norms. In particular, they are critical for upholding the rights of people who could be previously marginalised or discriminated. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the increasing use of social media transforms the values of individuals, such as their perception of privacy. Additionally, one should also speak about the increased openness of people who are more willing to speak about such issues as sexuality (Warburton 2012). Such behaviours could hardly be possible in the communities that did not incorporate online environment. To a great extent, this argument is based on the theory of mediatisation introduced by Stig Hjarvard (2013). One can say that new technologies do not change only the process of communication; more likely, they influence social norms and create new forms of cooperation among individuals. Overall, it is possible to argue that socia l media produce a positive impact on the social relations. Admittedly, one should not forget about some negative impacts. For instance, researchers pay much attention to the changing meaning of such a concept as friendship and its devaluation (Lee 2012). However, these negative impacts can be mitigated. In this case, much depends on the actions of parents and educators. This is the main details that should be singled out.  On the whole, it is possible to agree with the theories of affordances and mediatisation because they explain the way in which social media influence both individuals and groups. They cannot be viewed as mere tools that serve the interests of the society. Such an assumption cannot fully reflect a variety of new trends influencing different social groups. More likely, they can be regarded as the factors that change social interactions. Certainly, the issues that have been discussed still require additional research. In particular, it is important to find empirica l evidence which may fully illustrate the theory of mediatisation. Researchers can conduct additional studies that can test the assumption according to which the values and the norms are shaped by social media. Nevertheless, despite this limitation, one should not reject this model because it is important for explaining the emerging social trends. Conclusion On the whole, the examples that have been included in this assignment indicate that social media have profoundly changed the interactions between individuals and groups. The main impact of these media is that they transform social norms accepted by community members who are able to take a more critical look at the assumptions that are often taken for granted. In particular, one should mention the diminishing role of privacy and the development of new political agenda. This is one of the main details that should be taken into consideration. Apart from that, it is important to remember that social media eliminate cultural, social, and religious barriers. Moreover, these information tools create new forms of cooperation between various individuals. For instance, it is critical to remember about new economic opportunities originating from this cooperation. To a great extent, these arguments are based on empirical studies examining the behaviour of people using social media. Overall, it is possible to accept the theory of affordances introduced by Ian Hutchby (2001) and the theory of mediatisation. In particular, they show that social media can act the drivers of change. The themes that have been identified require additional studies which can illustrate the impact of specific media on certain social relations such as employment or political activism. These are the main arguments that can be put forward. References Bakardjieva, M 2014, ‘Social media and the McDonaldization of friendship’, Communications: The European Journal Of Communication Research, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 369-387. Barreto, A 2014, à ¢â‚¬ËœThe word-of-mouth phenomenon in the social media era’, International Journal Of Market Research, vol. 56, no. 5, pp. 631-654. Castaneda, D 2013, The Essential Handbook of Women’s Sexuality, ABC-CLIO, Boston. Chehimi, N 2013, The Social Web in the Hotel Industry: The Impact of the Social Web on the Information Process of German Hotel Guests, Springer Science Business Media, New York. Choate, M 2008, Professional Wikis, John Wiley Sons, New York. Daft, R 2012, Organization Theory and Design, Cengage Learning, New York. Farrington, N, Hall, L, Kilvington, D Price, J 2014, Sport, Racism and Social Media, Routledge, New York. Hjarvard, S 2013, The Mediatization of Culture and Society, Routledge, New York. Hutchby, I 2001, ‘Technologies, Texts and Affordances’, Sociology, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 441-456. Jamali, R 2014, Online Arab Spring: Social Media and Fundamental Change, Chandos Publishing, New York. Kuo, F, Tseng, C, Tseng, F, Lin, C 2013, ‘A s tudy of social information control affordances and gender difference in Facebook self-presentation’, Cyberpsychology, Behavior And Social Networking, vol. 16, no. 9, pp. 635-644. Lee, N 2012, Facebook Nation: Total Information Awareness, Springer Science Business Media, New York. Peterson, D Panfil, V 2003, Handbook of LGBT Communities, Crime, and Justice, Springer Science Business Media, Boston. Scott, P 2011, Auditing Social Media: A Governance and Risk Guide, John Wiley Sons, New York. Solis, B 2010, Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web, John Willey Sons, New York, 2010. Vihalemm, P 2003, â€Å"Changing Media in a Changing Society†, Demokratizatsiya, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 587-600. Warburton, S 2012, Digital Identity and Social Media, IGI Global, New York. Young, S Jordan, A 2013, ‘The Influence of Social Networking Photos on Social Norms and Sexual Health Behaviors’, Cyberpsycho lology, Behavior and Social Networking, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 243-247. This essay on Social Media and Social Relations was written and submitted by user Jadon Brooks to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Consumer Behavior Example

Consumer Behavior Example Consumer Behavior – Coursework Example Consumer Behavior Consumer Behavior Complaints against Wal-Mart According to the complaints posted by consumers on the independent complaints website Consumer Affairs, it can be inferred that a number of consumers are not satisfied with the service of Wal-Mart. According to one of the complaints, the customer had to face disappointment because no one from the staff helped him out with his queries. According to another customer, the staff did not have knowledge regarding the products available at Wal-Mart therefore he could not find the product he was looking for. Therefore, the company should conduct trainings for its staff in order to enable the staff to satisfy the customers (ConsumerAffairs.com).Complaints against DisneyAccording the complaints posted on an independent website by consumers, it can be inferred that Disney does not treat its customers empathetically. There have been complaints against the Disney cruise by a number of customers. According to one of the customers, he booked a cruise and received a booklet only to find out the dates were incorrect. When he called to find out the problem, he was told that there could be no modifications and the charges to cancel the booking were unusually high. Therefore, Disney should revise its policies to make them consumer friendly (ConsumerAffairs.com).Complaints against SaturnSaturn is a popular car but there have also been complaints about it by a number of consumers on an independent complaints website. According to one of the consumers, the key got stuck in ignition and the consumer was unable to turn down the engine. According to the consumer, the same problem was faced by a number of other consumers as well. Another problem had to face a problem with starting the car in cold or damn mornings. Similarly, other problems faced by consumers were locking of the ignition switch, problem with door locks, and automatic acceleration. Therefore, the company should initiate quality control procedures in order to e nsure that the vehicles do not have any problem. The company should also conduct a survey in order to realize the main problems faced by the consumers (ConsumerAffairs.com).ReferencesConsumerAffairs.com. Wal-Mart. Retrieved March 24, 2011 from consumeraffairs.com/retail/walmart.htmConsumerAffairs.com. Disney Cruises. Retrieved March 24, 2011 from consumeraffairs.com/travel/disney_cruises.htmConsumerAffairs.com. Saturn. Retrieved March 24, 2011 from consumeraffairs.com/automotive/saturn.htm

Peer review of the proposals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Peer review of the proposals - Essay Example   The second proposal covers most of the criteria but fails to point out the hypothesis precisely. The writer claims that the intent of the study is to explore curatorial modes of contemporary art specific to the Asian-Pacific region and develop guidelines for curators to use when deciding on the most appropriate mode. The study will achieve this by adopting a qualitative method in analyzing the history of curatorial practice and how it affects contemporary practice. Also, the author will explore a number of case studies in modern museum art with the emphasis on the display to determine the mode that best promotes public attendance in the specific region. The study topic is stated in the title of the proposal and explained in the proposal. The author also provides possible outcomes of the study which includes improved local economy, advocating existing culture and creating an environment that suits the needs of the community.The content of the study is relevant as it is focused on art administration. The author concentrates on improving the competence of curators with an aim of improving the administration of the museum. The author suggests that the guidelines developed from the study will help the curators to improve the local economy by aggregating the number of visitors. Also, the museum will maintain its role as a representative of the local culture since it will be rearranged to suit the needs of the local community. However, the lack of a clearly stated hypothesis and the study design used to reduce the viability of the study.

Introductory Economics (Macroeconomics) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Introductory Economics (Macroeconomics) - Essay Example If interest rates are forecasted to be low in an economy, then it makes productive investors believe that in the long run, cost of borrowing funds would be less. Under such circumstances, the rate of investments made in an economy would increase and level of economic productivity would also rise. Finally, a rise in the domestic product of a nation simply indicates a fall in unemployment rates. The Bank of England initially claimed under the regime of Forward Guidance Policy that it would not increase the lending interest rate above .5% in the long run, until the unemployment level in the country falls to 7% or below (BBC, 2014). Accordingly, such claims made by the Bank had succeeded in lowering the level of volatility in the market as well as enhancing the level of investments made in the country (BBC, 2014). Nonetheless, governor of the bank had mentioned that it was required to revise the Forward Guidance Policy because such forecasts would generate excessive job opportunities in the nation, that would automatically increase the amount of money and hence, demand in the economy; ultimately carving the path of inflation in the long run (Howker and Malik, 2010). The Bank also claimed that in its revised Forward Guidance Policy, it would forecast several macroeconomic factors, apart from unemployment and interest rate. The bank asserted that it would increase the interest rate to 2% to stabilize the unusual growth of employments in the nation. Although Mark Carney claimed that the country would experience high growth from 2.8% to 3.4% in the recent years, he also added that the growth was â€Å"neither balanced nor sustainable† and way below the pre-financial crisis levels (BBC, 2014). With reference to such revised estimates for future, the risk adverse attitude of investors in the nation would fall to some extent. They would realize that they had overestimated stability of the economy

Effectiveness of Racial Discrimination Act in the UK

Effectiveness of Racial Discrimination Act in the UK Discuss the relationship between opportunities and outcomes of how successful legislation against racial discrimination has been a failure in the UK As Blackstone et al. (1998, p247-249) have argued, there have been many legislative initiatives within Britain to deal with the problems associated with racial discrimination. The problem of ‘man’s inhumanity to man’ has cropped up on numerous occasions in Britain since the problem of race discrimination was first recognised, officially, back in the 1960s. The progress of these initiatives can be discussed using the lexicon of opportunities and outcomes, a lexicon which has in many ways and often justifiably been regarded as failing to incorporate legislation which deals adequately with the problems relating to race discrimination in Britain. In historical terms discrimination against people of difference race, for example; Jews, Gypsies, Black People and Irish People had been a feature of everyday society prior to and during the 1960s. Speaking of racial difference in a discriminatory and disparaging way and the unequal treatment of foreigners was widely accepted in Britain during the 1960s, when this mentality first started to improve (Ifekwunigwe, J. (2004), p301). As Moore, R (2000, p1) acknowledges, migration to the UK was probably a catalyst for this problem, and in many ways this is still true today. Therefore the threads of racial discrimination, which existed years ago, exist today, giving momentum to the argument that the outcome of legislation in Britain regarding race discrimination has been a failure. The period immediately following the Second World War also saw huge numbers of foreigners coming into Britain. Even the British government of 1905 shared the prejudice which was rife within society, when it passed the 1905 Aliens Act, which made reducing the numbers of Jewish people in Britain a legislative objective (www.cre.gov.uk, 2006). These attitudes were encouraged by the presence of right wing groups and the fact that certain resources like hospital beds and housing provision among poor people were in high demand amongst both ethnic and British people. In assessing the background of how the forces of racial discrimination developed in Britain, it is possible to form an argument that the government did not do enough to use the opportunities of progress in other countries to try to ingrain more tolerance in British society, through the use of legislation. This too can be regarded as a failure on the part of the British government. But failure is a complicated matter and as more efforts were made by the British government to deal with racism, the idea of whether the outcome of their efforts was a failure becomes more complicated. The passage of legislation which prohibited racial discrimination has its main roots in 1965, when the first moves were made within Britain to accept racial discrimination as a problem that should be dealt with by the government. The move happened against the backdrop of a successful American civil rights movement in the early 1960s. 1965 saw the introduction of the first Race Relations Act, which included a definition of what racism was. This definition set down that it was unlawful to treat a person less favourably than another on the grounds of colour, race or either ethnic or national origins (www.cre.gov.uk, 2006). These steps have been criticised as being very limited, and some critics like Blackstone et al. (1998) have argued that the protections offered by the first Race Relations Act were hard for people to access as they were so difficult to prove. Therefore this piece of legislation can be described as in some ways a failure and in other ways, the somewhat successful outcome of an opportunity in which the government used a legislative tool to deal with problems associated with racial discrimination. 1968 saw the introduction of a new version of the Race Relations Act which made the parameters of making a claim of racial discrimination, broader in scope (www.cre.gov.uk, 2006). This is arguably an example of how Britain used a piece of legislation as an opportunity to address certain problems of race discrimination. However, one must look towards the outcome of this to measure the relative success of any legislation. This is a complicated task. The 1968 Act provided that it was unlawful for people to be discriminated against on the grounds of race in the areas of employment, goods and services, housing and trade unions (www.cre.gov.uk, 2006). The Race Relations Board which had been formed to ensure that the Race Discrimination Act was implemented appropriately had its membership increased during the late sixties, making the Board a more effective body. Although whether one accepts whether the Board was an effective body is a matter of opinion, indeed it can be argued here that the Board was successful in that it oversaw the implementation of the Race Relations Act, but it was limited in its mandate, as it could not oversee the functions of government or small businesses in its scope. The 1970s saw the introduction of the 1976 Race Relations Act which in still in operation today. This addressed the continuing problem of racial discrimination in Britain. How well the Act addressed the problem of race discrimination is the subject of much debate, and the answers to this question are rooted in subjectivity. The success of the Race Relations Act 1976 as the outcome of an opportunity is therefore a complex matter. The new Act defined two forms of discrimination, ‘Direct’ and ‘Indirect’. It also further defined the idea of victimisation, which was classified as a form of discrimination which was direct. On the more negative side many exceptions remained and this was not addressed by the Act; examples were, the recruitment process for certain types of jobs and certain roles within government were not covered by the legislation. Therefore a dichotomy exists relating to whether one can effectively argue how much of a success and/or a failure opportunities and outcomes associated with the problem of race discrimination in the UK have been. Blackstone et al. (1998, p247) have argued that much has been offered in terms of progress by the race relations legislation, yet Blackstone et al. (1998) have also argued; ‘Most of the problems that troubled the early 1980s are still with us. The political climate has, in a number of ways, remained unhelpful†¦.[1]’. It must be remembered however that the idea of failure is inherently linked with ideas of opportunities and outcomes in this discourse of racial discrimination provision and is also linked with how these processes have overlapped and complimented one another. Therefore, while it is easy to see the many failures of the British government to deal with the problems of racism, the outcomes of many of their attempts to deal with the problem of racial discrimination cannot be regarded as an abject failure, and equally cannot be regarded as a resounding success. The answer to this question, as is often the case, lies somewhere in between these two diametrically opposed positions. Bibliography Website: http://www.cre.gov.uk/40years/act_one.html >> Books and Articles Blackstone, T, Parekh, B and Sanders, P. (1998) Race Relations in Britain: A Developing Agenda. Publisher: Routledge. Place of Publication: London. Ifekwunigwe, J. (2004) Mixed Race Studies: A Reader. Publisher: Routledge. Place of Publication: New York. Moore, R. (2000) Race, Class and Struggle: Essays on Racism and Inequality in Britain, the US and Western Europe. Journal Title: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Volume: 26. Issue: 2. Publication Year: 2000. Page Number: 372. Footnotes [1] p247. Blackstone, T, Parekh, B and Sanders, P. (1998) Race Relations in Britain: A Developing Agenda. Publisher: Routledge. Place of Publication: London.

Minimum Legal Drinking Age

We believe that adults should have the right to make their own decision about the consumption of alcohol. 18 is the age of adulthood in the United States: you are eligible to vote, you can legally purchase cigarettes, you are eligible for the military draft – which includes that you are willing to die for this country-, you can sign contract, get married and you are even able to serve on a jury.So why can’t someone at the age of eighteen not drink alcohol? There is a study that shows there are fewer road accidents due to alcohol in countries where the minimum age for alcohol consumption is 18 years. Despite the fact that in 1984 the United States defined the minimum legal drinking age at 21 years old, its rate of traffic accidents decreased less than that of European countries during the 1980s. Moreover, allowing 18- to 20-year-olds to drink alcohol in regulated environments with supervision would decrease unsafe drinking activity.Prohibiting this age group from drinkin g in bars, restaurants, and other licensed locations causes them to drink in unsupervised places such as fraternity houses or house parties where they may be more prone to binge drinking and other unsafe behavior. We can also prove that high non-compliance with minimum legal drinking age 21 promotes general disrespect and non-compliance with other areas of US law.In fact, MLDA 21 encourages young adults to acquire and use false identification documents to procure alcohol. In this era of national security concerns, including terrorism, illegal immigration, and other threats, it would be better to have fewer fake IDs in circulation and more respect for the law. Finally, lowering MLDA 21 would be good for the economy. More people would legally be able to drink in bars, restaurants, and other licensed establishments. Revenue would increase for private business owners, and greater amounts of tax revenue would be collected by the government.

Equal opportunities for all in employment Essay

1. Do you think that legislation is useful in ensuring that there are equal opportunities for all in employment? There has been a gradual reduction in discrimination through the last century, legislation past by the government in numerous acts have acted to reduce discrimination in the work place. The Equal pay Act 1970, The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relation Act 1976 are the main legislation that reduce discrimination. The Equal Pay Act 1970 ensured that men and women get the same terms and conditions for working a comparable job. Previous to this there were many employers paying women less for doing the same amount of work as a man. The Sex discrimination Act 1975, made it illegal to discriminate in employment on the grounds of sex and martial status. This act also brought to light direct discrimination; where someone is treated less favourably than a member of the opposite sex; and indirect discrimination; where a particular requirement apparently treats everyone equally but has a disproportionate effect on a particular group; the required must also not be justifiable (Bratton & Jones 1994). The Race Relations Act 1976 made it unlawful for employers to discriminate on grounds of race, colour, nationality and ethnic or national background. This was in an effort to reduce racism especially in the work place. These pieces of legislation are in an attempt to provide ‘equal opportunities’. Employer should only make decisions based upon the person’s ability to do the job. Though the government tries to ensure equal opportunities by giving out legislation that is encouraging, equal opportunities relies on good working practice. This is highlighted in job analysis where a person specification must not be more favourable to men than women. Advertising must not discriminate on grounds of sex or martial status, ‘sales person’ as appose to ‘salesman’. Interviews and selection must not ask discriminating questions such as whether a woman intends to have children. In conclusion legislation goes a long way to helping equal opportunities, and some cases (Grieg V Community Industry (1979), Gubala V Crompton Parkinson Ltd (1979)) have been brought against employers for discrimination. But real equal opportunity relies on the employer’s good practice of this legislation (Pendlebury 1996). 2. Is positive discrimination a worthwhile policy for an organisation and for society in general? Is there an overriding justification for positive discrimination? Positive discrimination is only worthwhile when used to dismiss preconceptions. Ethnic groups do not go into the police force generally for fear of racism and discrimination. UK police have a policy of encouraging recruitment from ethnic groups. This is to help represent society, which is multi-cultural; therefore enforcement officers should also be multi-cultural for an equal representation. Though positive discrimination must not be confused with or lead to preferential treatment on the basis of tokenism e.g. everyone past the recruitment test except for the woman, therefore we re-test or just allow her in anyway, as we need a woman. In politics, the House of Parliament is meant to be a representation of Great Britain’s society this is not the case. The majority of the House of Parliament is middle-aged, white and male. Steps have been made to positively discriminate to attain a more un-biased representation of the population. In this case there is an overriding justification for discrimination to help the young, women, ethnic groups into the House of Parliament. 3. Why is the interview such a popular method of selection, and what are its advantages and disadvantages? The interview is the most popular method of selection because it allows much more detail than any other form. Questions can be posed and the responses gauged as they are given. The advantages of the interview are that it has direct face-to-face communication. A rapport can be built up between candidate an interviewer; giving a relaxed atmosphere and more natural answers. The interview can be used to find out specific details crucial to the job and the candidates ability in this area. The candidate is less likely to exaggerate face-to-face than they might on an application form. An interview generally outlines what the candidate wrote on an application form. It is the best method of getting an accurate prediction of work performance. The disadvantages of a interview is that the candidate can deceive the interviewer in specialist areas that the interviewer knows nothing about e.g. the candidates knowledge of internal computer circuit boards, the interviewer might not know enough information about them to tell if the candidate is really the right person for the job. The interviewer’s perception may be selective, s/he may be racist, and this lack of objectivity may go unnoticed. A rapport with the candidate might cloud the interviewers objective judgement. An interviewer might dismiss a candidate on first impressions or stereotyping and then spend the rest of the interview confirming their decision. Or the halo effect where a smart dressed candidate distorts later judgements. The interviewer can make a logical error just because the candidate has not held down a job for more than six months doesn’t mean they won’t this time. Interviews place more emphasis on the negatives rather than the positives. Inexperienced interviewers might make errors of judgement and bias the results (Chambers 1997). 4. Analyse the problems associated with psychometric testing, and the underlying assumptions on which this selection procedure is based. Psychometric testing has a number of drawbacks: There is not always a direct relationship between the candidate’s performance in the test and their ability in the job. The job situation may be very different from the artificial test scenario. The interpretation of the results is usually complicated requiring training and experience. It is highly subjective, which belies the apparent scientific nature of the approach. Individual psychometric tests have their own drawbacks; an aptitude test for arithmetical ability would need to be constantly revised to ensure that later applicants would not know its content. Personality tests are often misleading as applicants try to guess which result will be viewed most favourably. Intelligence tests do not usually take into account different cultures and attitudes, which affects their chances of scoring well. It can be very hard to test for obscure traits such as maturity and creativity. It is difficult to erase bias from tests. Many tests are completed better by men than women, tests are usually designed by men this influences the make-up of the test. It is hard not to discriminate against race or sex in particular aspects of the testing. The underlying assumption is that all applicants test on fair and equal terms. If an applicant’s mother is ill in hospital this will weigh on the applicants mind and may distract them in the test. The best applicant may be having an off day, while the worse applicant might be on top form. Rewards Management 1. Analyse the connection between motivation and pay using three mainstream motivation theories. Herzberg’s two factor model of motivation claims that money is a ‘hygiene factor’ which means it is a dissatisfier if it is not sufficient, however money is not a potential satisfier or positive motivator. Herzberg said that money’s impact on favourable feelings is short term, while not enough pay produced long term unfavourable feelings. Adams’s Equity theory of motivation argues that satisfaction from pay is related to the employee’s perception. This is the amount of effort they put in for the amount of pay they get compared with the ratio of others. Expectancy Theory states that motivation will be strong if individuals can expect their effort to produce worthwhile rewards. Armstrong & Murlis (1998) say that ‘the greater the value of a set of awards, the higher the probability that receiving each of these rewards depends upon effort, the greater the effort that will be put forth in any given situation.’ For example to get a bonus of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100, they may have to reach certain targets, if they think the effort they have to put in would match the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 they will. Pay is very important to people because they rely on it to satisfy their basic needs. It is also a sign of their worth, it can therefore improve self-esteem and thus motivate them. Pay is the key to attracting people to a new job although other benefits may also be a factor pay is the most crucial. Employees will make comparisons between themselves and other employees, which will relate to equity and fairness. If they feel they’re not being paid enough they will leave, or work to attain a pay-rise. Pay can motivate (Armstrong & Murlis 1998) but to achieve lasting motivation attention has to be paid to other non-financial motivators. 2. When considering their reward systems management and employees will have differing priorities. What might these priorities be and why do they differ? Managers want to increase productivity by motivating their staff to get as much work out of them as possible. Employees on the other hand want as much money and benefits for doing their work as they can get. This produces a common ground on which employers and employee’s can negotiate. Employees want to maximise their rewards for working which affects their standard of living and their lifestyle. The organisation wants value for money from its employees, to attract and retain staff, to gain commitment and improve performance, which affects profitability and cost-effectiveness. Employees are looking after themselves and want rewards for doing as little work as possible. Employees are concerned that for putting a certain amount of effort in they get a justified reward. Management are concerned that the employee put in enough effort to deserve the award. Sale targets are a good example, if the employee meets the managers requirements they get a bonus (Armstrong & Murlis 1998). 3. What do we mean by differentials and relatives, and why are they important? The pay structure must provide appropriate differentials between ranges to reward significant increase in job size by moving a job to a higher grade. This means that there must be a meaningful pay increase with an increase in workload. If there is not sufficient differential between ranges of pay, then some workers will become borderline and frequent re-evaluations will be required. In a chain of command the pay is highest at the top and lowest at the bottom. Before being able to move up the chain, the length of the link must be overcome. Their needs to be at least a 10% pay rise for going from one link of the chain to the next, despite small pay rises as the employee moves up the link. Internal Relatives can be monitored by looking at the differentials that exist between groups of employees. If it is felt that because of changing roles that the pay does not reflect the new job size, investigations can be conducted to rectify the situation. When looking at pay for an employee, comparisons must be made on other organisations (monitoring external relatives). This is the competitive stance it has with other organisations; this might be matching others, more or less. It is important for managers to look at the pay differences in their own staff to see whether they aren’t being treated fairly; not being paid enough for the work they do compared to another employee. If the employee’s feel there is not enough pay rises to accept extra work they will not. If there is not sufficient differentiation between stages of the chain of command they will not be so keen to advance upon it. Also if employees of McDonalds employees learn that Burger King is relatively paying an extra pound per hour more, they will try to defect to Burger King. (Armstrong & Murlis 1998) 4. What changes has the development of HRM brought to management of reward systems? Are these changes beneficial to employer and employee? Armstrong & Murlis (1998) claim that Reward Management philosophy evolved in accord with many aspects of HRM philosophy. This is emphasised by treating people as assets to be invested in, this is HRM philosophy being incorporated by rewards management. By rewarding people; putting money in; this should get greater productivity; getting more out. Demonstrated by gaining employees commitment to the objectives and values of the organisation. Through strategic integration by incorporating HR issues into strategic plans and ensuring that the various aspects of HRM cohere and are mutually supportive. Lastly HRM has enabled employees to fulfil their full potential and to deliver their maximum contribution to the achievement of organisational goals. These changes really benefit both the employee and the employer, the employee gets more out of rewards management, while the employer recognises the employee as an asset. HRM tries to bring the goals of employers and employees closer together, by involving the employee more with the business increasing his loyalty while getting more out for he employer (Armstrong & Murlis 1998). Restructuring of Work 1. Why might the structure or design of work be important for the individual worker and for the organisation? The structure or hierarchy of work may help aid communications from the top level of management down to the lowest worker. An organisation with many layers of hierarchy or along chain of command will have difficulty in communications between top and bottom men. Communications from the top will go through many layers and tend to distort as the message is past on like Chinese whispers. Communications from the bottom will take ages to reach the top if they ever do. This is why a process of delayering has been happening in many UK businesses to reduce the levels of hierarchy to around four. Clearly defined aims and objectives help to ease systems of communication between different parts of the organisation. Rolex want to be perceived as a luxury brand, this is their aim and objective. Knowing this their marketing department is not going to do a cheap and tacky advert e.g. Pot Noodle. A good structure will help to keep all aspects of the organisation working in the same direction, for the organisations goals. To have a good structure is important to eliminate mistakes and therefore not waste time and money. 2. Explain the limits of taylorism as a job design strategy. Fredrick Taylor’s technique of scientific management is based upon the division of labour. This was done by taking a complex job and splitting it into its component parts, then train employees to carry out a single task in the most efficient way. This is in effect a production line with each worker doing a bit more to the product. The drawbacks of job design by task fragmentation are that workers experience extreme repetitiveness. Doing a task with little mental stimulation will result in daydreaming and not paying attention as a result of social interactions and diversions. This can lead to accidents and errors in the task. Stress is related specifically to high-workload, low discretion jobs. Symptoms include nervous tension, withdrawal and low morale; this will tend to affect performance. Motivation will suffer as a result of dissatisfaction with the work and extra efforts will need to be made by the managers. The simple tasks will also build walls between workers and management, as the workers tasks are perceived theirs and under the control of the manager (Mullins 1999)(Marcouse 1999) 3. â€Å"Job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment are simply attempts by managers to control individuals at work†. Discuss. Job rotation involves workers changing jobs from time to time. This could mean moving down a production line or from one department to another. This should reduce boredom and give the employee a wider variety of skills and understanding of the business. An employer will also gain from a more widely trained staff, as it allows for staff being ill and having trained employees who can take over. Although rotation might keep the worker interested, the time spent for the worker to learn new skills in each department would counter balance the gains in productivity. In addition moving workers from one boring job to another equally repetitive is unlikely to motivate them. (Hall, 1997) Job enlargement gives employees a chance to do a number of small-related tasks as appose to just one repetitively. For example they might be able to construct the whole bicycle, not just the handlebars. This is meant to reduce boredom as the employees have a wider variety of tasks to do and encourage satisfaction with a sense of closure. However in contrast it is argued that it reduces efficiency because of a fall in productivity from carrying out a greater number of tasks. Many workers also resent this because they prefer doing a singularly boring repetitive job so they do not need to concentrate as much. Job enlargement works better within a group situation, where each worker has specific jobs and job rotation can take place. (Hall, 1997) Job enrichment is designed to give individuals a greater freedom and feeling of responsibility. It focuses on intrinsic satisfaction; by giving employees authority over planning and execution of a task they should gain a greater sense of achievement upon completing the task. It is a more complex and challenging job that should develop their unused skills and encourage them to be more productive. Job enrichment isn’t without its problems though, workers who feel they are unable to complete the required tasks will not react positively to it feeling they have been forced in to it. Also not all employees will react in the same way feeling they should be paid more for the extra responsibility. (Mullins, 1999)(Hall, 1997) All these techniques of increasing productivity are designed not to cost the organisation any more money. In some ways it is managers just manipulating the workers, by changing their work patterns in a way to increase output. Job enrichment however gives the employee a sense of responsibility, lessening direct managerial supervision. But ultimately these techniques are used by managers to get the workers motivated and as productive as possible. 4. We are said to be living in a post Fordist era. What does this mean and how, do you think this came about? With so much hostility to Taylor’s scientific management, despite its benefits for employers, it had to be dropped. However the principles have evolved into a more acceptable model mainly incorporating job enrichment. The development of mass assembly line work was invented by Henry Ford in 1913 (Fordism); this took many of Taylor’s principles. This has been moved on from in an effort to try and increase motivation and productivity. Littler and Salaman (1984) listed five points of good job design: – 1. Closure – finishing a product or process 2. Assuming responsibility for quality control 3. Job flexibility is enabled by allowing training in different skills 4. Self regulation of the speed of work 5. The job structure allows social interaction and a degree of co-operation among workers. (Bratton & Gold 1994) Since this there have been three broad types: job enrichment, reorganisation of assembly lines and Japanese-style job design. Job enrichment as above is concerned with rotation and enlarging among others. The reorganisation of assembly lines has been associated with increased product differentiation in highly competitive consumer industries and unstable labour relations. This creates more flexible work structures in order to accommodate more rapid product changes. Japanese-style job design has three main elements: flexibility, quality control, and minimum waste. Businesses now tend to use one of these three techniques in the post-fordist era this has come about as an evolution of techniques and trial and error. Scientific Management didn’t work but lessons were learnt from it and are still applied today. The Concept of HRM in Transition 1. Should human resources be dealt with any differently from other resources? Justify your answer by referring to the managers control function. Human resources need to be dealt with differently than other resources; otherwise they’ll just leave the job. To ensure against this Human Resource Planning is carried out, this will include how to motivate staff, how to develop an organisational culture and planning how to support or develop employees e.g. training. Human resources are not like raw materials where they are purchased and used, a constant understanding is needed. The management want to have as flexible workforce as possible; this means training staff so they become multi-skilled. This can allow job rotation and covering other employees in the event of illness (Hall, 1997). 2. Discuss the four key elements of the Storey Model of HRM The four key elements of the Storey model 1992 are: Beliefs & Assumptions, Strategic Aspects, Line Management and Key Levers. The Beliefs & Assumptions of HRM are Unitarist, the differences between PIR and HRM are that HRM tries to instil commitment and trust in the employee looking to go ‘beyond the contract’. Therefore employees should be carefully selected and developed (Bratton & Gold, 1994). The Strategic Aspects are central to HRM, always trying to think of the business and the consumer. HR policies should be integrated into the business strategy – stemming from it and even contributing to it (Storey, 1999). The Line management is concerned with the critical role of managers. This is because HR decisions are crucial to a business and too important to be left to specialists alone (Storey, 1999). As appose to needing specialist key managers HRM allows the general managers as key players in HR issues. The Key Levers according to Storey (1999) are that: managing culture is more important than managing procedures and systems; integrated action on selection, communication, training, reward and development; and restructuring and job redesign to allow devolved responsibility and empowerment. 3. Evaluate the possible experience of working in an HRM environment, as opposed to a Personnel environment. Torrington and Hall state that the nature and degree of difference between personnel management and Human Resource Management as remaining ‘largely matters of opinion rather than fact, and the similarities are much greater than the differences’. Personnel management is ‘workforce-centred’, directed mainly at the employees. Although a management function, personnel are never totally identified with management interests. Personnel managements underlying theme is that workers have a right to proper treatment and to make sure this is the case in manager-worker relationships. HRM is ‘resource centred’; the main aim is to plan, monitor and control rather than mediation as in personnel. HRM is directed mainly at management needs for human resources to be provided and deployed. The underlying theme is that human resource management is much like any other aspect of management and an integral part. This means that it should not be separated, and only handled by specialists (Mullins, 1999) In a Personnel management organisation there can be tension between managers and workers, despite the personnel management intervening. The worker seeks to maximise his wages and rewards, while the employer wants to reduce costs, as they are a drain on profits. In a HRM organisation the employee should feel more involved and therefore be aware of the consequences. HRM also allows a more flexible workforce, which can be deployed more cost effectively than an inflexible one. 4. How, if at all, has the HRM allowed managers to increase organisational efficiency? If managers get better motivate their staff then they will work more efficiently and productivity will rise. Alternatively they might produce a higher quality piece of work. Storey (1999) says that it has become widely accepted that motivation is beneficial to the organisation. If human resource management encourages motivation of employees, if this is successful then efficiency will rise. However a definite link between a satisfied workforce and improved performance has never been proven. There is no reason for a workforce to be satisfied if it isn’t relevant to organisational efficiency or effectiveness other than for human reasons. HRM managers who train their staff get a much more flexible workforce allowing them to be deployed in the best way to reduce costs. HRM managers are much more likely to train their employees as a workforce gaining skills which can be used in a greater cross-section of the business. If last minute orders come-in it is much easier for HRM managers to deal with as they are more flexible than Personnel in contrast who couldn’t make last minute alterations. This makes HRM a much more effective and efficient style of management.