Arnott

Problems exist through the current limited business scope to make ends meet. It also appears that the move to expand (diversify the business is meeting with â€Å"opposition† from ‘long -time employed' staff, major ‘obstacles' to the company's growth through diversifying the activities by introducing a new project have been identified and must be dealt with as far as possible and as quickly as possible by employing the strategies mentioned in my recommendations. A satisfactory resolution can only bring about a much more stable working environment and hopefully, greater profitability and business expansion.Background details: The main parts of the problems, from the company's historical background and the current situation, have come about as a result of the economic recession and the anti-change attitudes of the present staff-in particular of the inconsiderateness of the Project Manager. The business suffered significantly as a result of the drought years; the need for new grain silos diminished and resulted with a negative impact on the Company. The Managing Director correctly saw the need for expansion and diversification – especially when the company's infrastructure and staff expertise could be utilizes for the purpose.An opportunity presented itself when Christine met an old friend, Philip Thomson, who had successfully done an engineering project overseas. Another opportunity for expansion also came when It was found that a new Freeway Infrastructure was to be built using steelwork beams which the Arrant engineering firm could produce using skills Like those possessed by Phillip Thomson. The bid for the production of the beams was successfully made, with a time frame of six-months for completion. However, problems arose immediately: there were staff resentments, â€Å"unnecessary' delays occurred, and it appeared staff were â€Å"sabotaging† he project.The â€Å"old-timers† within the staff resisted change, and were resentful of the fact that they were not consulted- and used the excuse that Instructions were not ‘clear enough, that correct specifications for constructing the curved steel beams were not clearly explained to the staff, in particular, to the designer. As a result, two beams became ‘useless' and three weeks of time wasted. Major Recommendations: I would suggest Immediate action be taken to halt further production of the steel beams, In order to avoid additional losses through labor and material costs.The Motor Vehicle Freeway Infrastructure Project Authority should be contacted to inform them that there in some slight problem being experienced with the construction of the steel beams and there might be a minor delay with the completion of the 12 bridge support beams. However, your company will do its best to complete the work on time. Provide updates frequently. If necessary, suspend all bonuses to staff, with survival would be greatly, if not totally, reduced or elim inated. Have a meeting with the three senior staff members: the Project Manager, David Dobson, the QualityAssurance Manager, Heath Jones, and Philip Thomson, the new Project Manager in charge of the steel beams manufacture. Impress on them the need for the successful completion of the project as specified, and on time. If this doesn't happen then all will be lost, and most likely the Company will fold up and go under. The survival of the company is paramount; it is more important than the resentment of an individual or the unchanging views of a few. The result will affect all staff members. Success would bring greater opportunities for expansion and progress- of the Company and its staff.Mention that the current industry (the production of grain silos) has reached saturation point. Expansion and diversification is vital to industries, big or small, if they want to survive and be competitive. Seek ‘contributory remarks' and suggestions as to how the company can complete the new project work on time. The involvement would no doubt be seen as a Joint decision-making exercise, and would be more acceptable to the other staff members. Suggest that the new project must be considered more urgent, and in need of total support and commitment. All â€Å"surviving† companies have had to diversify in order to expand and prosper.Consider, when, or if the new project is successful, about establishing new â€Å"departments† within the company, so that the existing staff can be incorporated into either the ‘old' grain silos production section or move to the newer project areas whatever they may be in the future. Also consider the re-training of existing staff if seen appropriate. As well (and in complete confidence) the removal or retrenchment, of a trouble- maker' may be necessary, for the sake of the company's survival. Suggest that any further delays or ‘sabotaging of the Project would result in closure – and the end of all benefits.

Drown

The story â€Å"Drown† sets in the summer time in New Jersey. Diaz and his friend Beto are raging, out of control, in their neighborhood known as the ghetto. They† stole, broke windows†¦ pissed on peoples steps and then challenged them to come out and stop us. † While Diaz has another year of high school, Beto for college on the other hand is leaving for college at the end of the summer. Diaz has several recurring feelings such as, suffocation, problems defining his masculinity, and being trapped, problem is that Diaz would rather stay trapped in the Ghetto if it means not turning out like Beto.Why does Diaz use the metaphor drown? Why does Diaz struggle with masculinity? Does Diaz want to come up for air or continue to suffocate? In â€Å"Drown† the setting plays a key role in the story. Diaz described his neighborhood as, † The broken apart buildings, little strips of grass, the piles of garbage around the cans, and the dump†(Drown 91). Th e neighborhood where Diaz live shapes his life, so it plays an important role in the story. Most of Diaz anxiety is caused by the fact that he cannot leave his neighborhood, because he fears the outcome once in the outside world. Another setting that is important is the pool.The pool is described in a way that is similar to the neighborhood where Diaz live, † The water feels good†¦ while everything above me is loud and bright, everything below is whispers†¦ † this particular quote coincides with the fact that Diaz is trapped, but he'd rather stay below than come up and see the outcome of him leaving for the outside world like Beto. The metaphor suffocation occurs throughout the story and ties to the story title itself. In this story Diaz shows it more at the pool scene, it seem as Diaz move through the story, but something always draws him back to the pool where most of his drowning occur.This particular metaphor is used in several parts of the story, for insta nce, Diaz is suffocating where he lives because of all the poverty, misery, and drugs. Another way the author uses this metaphor is when he talks about how his mother keeps all the windows and doors locked, † Before we head out she drags us through the apartment to make sure the windows are locked†¦ we never open the windows†¦ this place just isn't safe†¦ â€Å"(Drown 96), this quote gives the notion that maybe his mother is also suffocating him by keeping all the windows closed at all times trapping the hot air which can also make Diaz think he is suffocating.Masculinity is something that Diaz struggle with more than anything in this story. In the start Beto and Diaz are both confused about their masculinity, but Beto in a different way because he's really a homosexual. In Diaz neighborhood homosexuality is viewed very negatively. On page 103 in the story, Diaz talks about how his friend Alex will stop by the side of the rode and say, Excuse me. When somebody comes over he'll point his pistol in their face just to see what they'll do, they also call the homosexuals patos throughout the story.Once Diaz have several sexual encounters with Beto, that's when Diaz starts to question his masculinity. Diaz states, † Mostly i stayed in the basement terrified that i would end up abnormal, a fucking pato†(Drown 104). It is obvious that Beto questioning of their masculinity is not so much like Diaz anymore, because Beto excepts the fact that he is a homosexual by going to college, while Diaz on the other hand is still trapped and confused with his masculinity. Diaz is maybe afraid to leave for the outside world because that would mean he's excepting that he is also a homosexual like Beto.In the story Diaz doesn't say it exactly that he wants to do the complete opposite of whatever Beto do, but he gives the reader that feeling. It is possible that Diaz can be satisfied with drowning in his neighborhood, because on page 100 the army recru iter offers Diaz a chance to escape his drowning, but Diaz refuses to come up for air. The author pathos, logos, and ethos plays a role in the story also. Diaz uses some symbols such as the pool and specific words to express himself in a way that makes the story feel more, drawing the reader into his world and his observation from first person point of view.Throughout the author Junot Diaz moves in and out of his character quotes, which is a good thing because it gives the author a credibility and it communicates that their statements are more than just facts, they're a piece of Diaz memory of a feeling or a specific time. However the only way possible for Diaz to discontinue his suffocation and drowning is by joining the Army, but Diaz is still against and unwilling to come up for air, but uses the fact that he helps his mother as an excuse for not leaving his neighborhood and coming up for air.

Deviant Behavior / The Social Learning Theory Essay

A person would be considered to be acting in a deviant manner within a social setting if they are violating the established social â€Å"norm† within that particular culture. What causes a human being to act in certain ways is a disputed topic among researchers. There are three types of researchers that have tried to answer this question. There is the psychological, biological, and the sociological approach. With all of the studies that have been performed, not one group has provided an exact reason or explanation as to why people behave in a deviant manner. Although sociologists’ theories have not been disproved as often as the psychologists’ and biologists’ theories because their experiments are too hard to define and no one definition for deviance is agreed upon by all experimenters (Pfuhl, 1980, p. 40), the sociological perspective has provided the most information concerning why people exhibit deviance. The definition of deviant behavior is considered to be broad with multiple viewpoints which makes it complicated and difficult to find an accurate answer (Pfuhl, 1980, p. 18). This is why this topic is so important in the study of sociology. Sociologists have more information, and therefore may be closer to finding the best explanation for the major contributing factors in explaining the development of deviant behavior(s) within a certain culture. For this reason, the main focus of this paper is based on the sociological stand point of deviance based upon the Social Learning Theory and social reaction(s) to deviant behavior(s). According to The Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977), one person can learn simply by observing the behavior of another person (DeLamater, 2011, p. 10).  The family is the major link to socialization in one’s environment (Four Categories of Family Functions that Seem to Promote Delinquent Behavior, p. 1). In the family, divorce, conflict within family, neglect, abuse, and deviant parents are the main determinates for the offspring’s actions or behavior. Early researchers first thought parental absence only affected girls and members of the white population. Modern research finds that the lack of supervision or support of the child’s needs is a link to delinquency in any race. It occurs more in single parent homes because they have a more difficult time providing supervision and support. Poverty can be another reason within the family for conflict because it can lead to both family breakups and delinquency. Children need close and supportive relationships with parents. The inability to talk to parents also promotes deviance within the home. The child may feel that they need to obtain attention elsewhere, thus acting in a deviant manner if their parents are not there to provide guidance and support. Parents can prevent this type of behavior by being competent, providing non-aggressive punishment, and by being supportive in order to build the child’s self-confidence. Family conflict has more damaging effects on children than divorce, whereas parental death has less impact than divorce (Four Categories of Family Functions that Seem to Promote Delinquent Behavior, p. 2). When a parent dies a child at least knows that the parent did not want to leave on his own terms and probably did not inflict any abuse to his or her psyche before the parent passes away. Also, if a child still has contact with both parents after a divorce the less likely the child will feel neglected and feel the need to react with deviant behavior. Family size also leaves an adolescent without the necessary attention they need as an individual. Middle children are more likely to exhibit deviant behavior because they go unnoticed more than their younger or older siblings. The legal definition of abuse and neglect varies from state to state but does, in any form, create serious consequences for behavior. This abuse and/or neglect occurs in sustained patterns, which causes stress, poor self-esteem, aggressiveness, lack of empathy, and fewer interactions with peers. Child abuse is defined as any physical or emotional trauma to a child for which no reasonable explanation is found. Neglect refers to the deprivation that children suffer at the hands of parents (Deviance: Behavior that Violates Norms, p. 1). Such components that apply  to these definitions are non-acciden tal physical injury and neglect, emotional abuse or neglect, sexual abuse, and abandonment. Over one million youth in America are subjected to abuse each year. In terms of sexual abuse, one in ten abused are boys, and one in three of them are girls. It is unknown how many cases go unreported in any area of abuse or neglect each year. From 1980 to 1986, the number of reported cases rose sixty percent. The most common reason for parents abusing their children is due to a learned function they acquired from their parents. This tendency to pass down deviant behavior through generations is a cycle of family violence (Lemert, 1972, p. 48). Parents are unable to separate childhood traumas from the relationships they have with their own kids. Another unhealthy thing to learn from a parent is the feeling of isolation from family and friends. This is more common is single parent families and lower socioeconomic classes. If a person is living in a lower class, single-parent environment, that p erson is at a real disadvantage. It may be because they do not feel they are good enough to belong in the realms of society. Delinquency is when a child acts out their hostility towards the parent or abuser in a deviant manner (Lemert, 1972, p. 59). Parents need to provide adequate guidance and punishment to their child when the child exhibits deviant behavior; however, the problem is that some parents do not see or choose not to see the child’s deviant behavior. Other influences outside of the home can cause a person to act in a deviant manner. Peers, media images, and other people in society establish what the â€Å"norm† should be in a given area or culture. What is considered â€Å"normal† can be relatively different in various areas of the world. What is considered deviant can be changed over time once society as a whole feels more comfortable and accepting of the certain type of deviant behavior. For instance, only certain people once obtained tattoos and now it is a current fad to cover the entire body with them. Media portrays models and famous figures with unusual tattoos, piercings, and certain attitudes as â€Å"normal† and acceptable to teenagers in today’s culture. There are more devil-worshipers, or so they portray, in the music business. This implies to children that it is cool to wear the black clothes and act somewhat gothic. This is just one example. It may depend on the person as to how much their  peers and media influence them to go against the â€Å"norms†. Once a person is labeled deviant, they usually continue to respond to society as if they are deviant. This aspect of deviance is called The Labeling Theory. There are sociologists who seek to find why certain acts are defined as criminal, and others are not. They also question how and why certain people become defined as a criminal or deviant. In this realm of study, the acts that they perform are not significant to the criminals, but it is the social reaction to them that is (Becker, p. 1). The response and label from other individuals in society, such as peers, are how the individuals view themselves. When a person performs a deviant act, they are then labeled by society and separated from the â€Å"normal† people. Such labels in today’s society are whore, abuser, loser, etc. These people are then outsiders and associate with other individuals who have been cast out of the societal â€Å"norm†. When more and more people within the â€Å"norm† of society think of these people as deviant, then these people performing deviant behaviors think they are deviant too. The Labeling Theory states that once they feel this way, they will continue to behave in the way society now expects them to behave. The question is, are humans genetically predisposed to deviant behavior, or do the people around them influence them to act in this way? The sociological perspective is the factor that has been the least questioned explanation even though it does not always give the exact justification for the origin of the deviant behavior. Sociologists learn from cultural influences in lieu of biological or psychological biases. Rather than concern with behavior from certain people, sociologists view deviance as a behavior engaged in a person by having a common sociocultural or the same experiences within a culture. Edwin H. Sutherland explains that deviant and non-deviant behaviors are learned in the same ways through his Differential Association Theory. Sutherland demonstrates that criminal behavior is learned from intimate groups by the means of communication. When they learn how to act in a deviant manner, they know what is involved in, and what drives a person to commit a crime. This does vary in people who have different characteristics and learning abilities. However, one group may view certain behavior as deviant, i.e. shopl ifting, while others may view shoplifting as justified because businesses charge too much money. The  viewpoint of each group develops by observing others and imitating their behavior, otherwise known as The Social Learning Theory (DeLamater, 2011, p. 386). Whatever the cause of deviant behavior, it is a major problem within society. The exact determinates that contribute to a person’s deviant behavior are controversial. It may be from inherited traits, behavior learned from society and family, or even a combination of the two. The social interaction certainly leads to The Labeling Theory and how individuals may strive to meet the expectations of their â€Å"labeled† identity. However, The Social Learning Theory seems to best explain the major environmental influences on children by family members and peers which contribute to the development of deviant behavior and society’s reaction to various behaviors that are considered to be deviant. Bibliography Becker, H. S. (n.d.). Overview of Labeling Theories. Retrieved from http://home.ici.net/~ddemelo/crime/labeling.html DeLamater, J. &. (2011). Social Psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Deviance: Behavior that Violates Norms. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.elco.pa.us/Academics/Social_Studies/Care/ITTP_2/Chap.8.html Four Categories of Family Functions that Seem to Promote Delinquent Behavior. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mpcc.cc.ne.us/aseffles/delcrslides/ch.09/tsld012.html Lemert, E. M. (1972). Human Deviance, Social Problems, and Social Control. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Pfuhl, E. H. (1980). The Deviance Process. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company.

Operational Risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Operational Risk - Essay Example (Dictionary of Accounting, 1999). Most of the prior studies on operational risk have focused on estimating operational risk in a financial institution. Frachot et al. (2001) explored the Loss Distribution Approach (LDA) for computing the capital charge of a bank for operational risk where LDA refers to statistical/actuarial methods for modelling the loss distribution. In this framework, the capital charge is calculated using a Value-at-Risk measure. Frachot et al. (2001) show how to compute the aggregate loss distribution by compounding the loss severity distribution and the loss frequency distribution, how to compute the total Capital-at-Risk using copulas, how to control the upper tail of the loss severity distribution with order statistics. Fachot et al. (2001) also compare LDA with the Internal Measurement Approach (IMA) proposed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to calculate regulatory capital for operational risk. The results show that LDA and IMA are bottom - up internal measurement models which a re apparently different. (Frachot et al., 2001). As earlier mentioned, much of the Literature has focused on operational risk in financial institutions with a particular emphasis on the Basel II accord and the quantification of operational risks. Kuritzkes (2002) notes that the Basel II Accord definition of operational risk considers only a subset of operational risks. According to Kuritzkes (2002) the term "operational risk" commonly refers to all non-financial risks whereas the Basel II Accord definition considers only a subset of non-financial risks including those resulting from failure of "internal processes, people, or systems or from external events". Mainelli (2002) suggests that operational risk has many pseudo-standard sub-taxonomies, such as people (e.g. workforce disruption, fraud), process (e.g., documentation risk, settlement failure), systems (e.g. failure, security) and external risks (e.g., suppliers, disasters, infrastructure utilities failures). However, day-to-da y operational risk management involves decisions about opening times, cleaning standards, rodent controls in dealing rooms, secure electricity supply, security controls and other management decisions not suitable to real-time spreadsheet analysis. (Mainelli, 2002). Mainelli (2002) further suggests that there is a tension between the top-down imposition of a change and the bottom-up nature of these detailed decisions. If the purpose of risk-based capital allocation is to reflect differences across banks in business mix and risk profile, then operational risk measurement will need to be supported bottom-up within individual institutions. (Kuritzkes, 2002) Figure 1: Taxonomy of Operational Risk. Source: Kuritzkes (2002) As shown in figure 1 above risks can be divided into financial and non-financial risk components. The financial risk components include market risk, credit risks and ALM insurance and other risks whereas the nonfinancial risk component includes internal event risk, external event risk and business risk. As the figure indicates, the Basel II Accord only considers a subset (internal event risk and external event risk) as the nonfinancial risk. It fails to take into consideration a very important aspect of the risks - business risks.

The Economic Impact of Insurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Economic Impact of Insurance - Essay Example Indeed, both individuals and organisations in UK appreciate this postulate thus the insurance industry has a major role to safeguard numerous livelihoods and businesses in the country. As indicated by ABI, 20.2 million, 19.6 million, 17 million and 3.6 million of the 26.4 million households in the UK have household contents insurance, motor insurance, building insurance and mortgage protection respectively.9 Furthermore, some other 1.7 million households have medical insurance. Such covers ensure that firms and families do not lock their money in readiness for emergencies but allows such money to be used in building the country’s economy. Employment The insurance industry in UK provides massive job opportunities directly and indirectly. The economy has about 976 firms registered to sell general insurance and some other 285 registered to sell long term insurance as documented by Smart.10 These firms directly provide employment to many citizens of the UK who would have probably had no jobs. Currently, ABI documents 320,000 people directly employed by the UK’s insurance industry.11 This is a substantial contribution to the labour market by UK insurance industry, bearing in mind the statistics by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] indicating that this accounts for about 33% of all the jobs in the financial services.12 Smart observes that the industry employs twice the number employed in water supply, gas and electricity sectors combined.

Academic Goals and Interest in Public Administration Personal Statement

Academic Goals and Interest in Public Administration - Personal Statement Example I have observed older family members who have chosen this path, and I can see that those who study hard are able to make a much bigger contribution to their organization. I would like to be an employee who makes a difference, and not just one who puts in regular hours and takes a salary without adding much to the lives of others. I also like teamwork, and this is another reason why Public Administration is a good choice for me. I am looking forward to learning more about the theories that have been devised to explain the way that organizations should be run and I have a particular interest in human resource management (HRM). As a person, I am very concerned about the need for people to be treated fairly, whether they are employees or clients. I know that it is difficult to balance operational and human needs and this something that I think our country needs to improve. Everyone should have the same right to assistance with official processes when they need it, and our public organizations are there to make this happen. If I were to be accepted to study Public Administration then I hope that in about ten years’ time I will be an office manager with a happy team of workers who deliver excellent services to the public. I realize that I have a long way to go before I reach this goal, but I am hard working and committed to achieving this long term personal goal.

Faculty of Business Environment and Society Essay - 7

Faculty of Business Environment and Society - Essay Example From this discussion stresses that  workforce engagement is referred to the concept which has become more and more mainstreamed into the management thought. It is observed as an inner state of being i.e. both emotional and mental, and physical; which brings together previous notions of organisational commitment, work effort, and job satisfaction. The definition of workforce/employee engagement gives three scopes to the workforce engagement: intellectual engagement, social engagement, and affective engagement.This study outlines that  managers of human resource department can promote the employees’ engagement within their own company or elsewhere by involving in different practices. Competent and passionate leadership is vital to workforce engagement. Showing an authentic interest in the employees as well as investing time to understand the aspirations and needs of workforce will help them to realise that their contribution in the firm is valued. Engaged workforce should be provided with the opportunity to effectively use their talents and should also be encouraged to expand those skills and talents to show their progress in the company. Managers should involve the workforce in discussions in order to help them to realise that their suggestions are valued and taken by the top management.  The companies should adopt people-focused customs/culture in their operations as employees are the biggest asset of the company.

Terrorism ResponseYour team is the first responder law enforcement Essay

Terrorism ResponseYour team is the first responder law enforcement agency to a crime scene where a bomb has exploded at City Hall - Essay Example Specialized responders are the FBI, the Center of Disease Control teams and Explosives Ordnance Detonation (EOD) specialists, who take charge of the situation, identify toxin and take appropriate disease control, and detect and render safe secondary devices respectively. This essay discusses First Responders' Strategy to a hypothetical scenario wherein a bomb explodes at City Hall and an anonymous caller claims responsibility and indicates that the explosion released toxins. The paper addresses preliminary evaluation, concerns about scene safety, life saving efforts and scene protection and security and control measures. It premises that the anonymous caller's claim and hint are true. The scenario is a post blast incident in a populated enclosed cite with possible biological and chemical (BC) toxins released during the explosion. Law enforcement first responders are faced with a situation where there are people killed and hurt; people in a state of shock and panic, danger of infrastructure collapse, danger of the presence of secondary devices within the building or in proximate buildings, and danger of biological and chemical (BC) contamination. The anonymous call is presumably post facto. As such, the conservative posture is to assume that there is exposure to toxins. The first task is to set up a command post (CP) where activities among first responders and speci

ECONOMICS AND GOVERNEMNT Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

ECONOMICS AND GOVERNEMNT - Assignment Example The federal government’s other transfers include Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing programs which help less prosperous provinces and territories. These provinces have comparable levels of taxation as other more prosperous provinces. Thus raising tax rates is not feasible. 5. The Great Depression was decade-long economic downturn that was witnessed by practically every country of the world. It is considered to be the deepest depression of the 20th century. The long contraction and agonizingly sluggish highlighted the need for an expanded role for government. Hence the Great Depression is linked to the growth of government in the developed world. 6. ‘If the prices are right, people will respond correctly’ indicates that if people feel the payment that they will shell out for a product or service brings in commensurate benefits to them and is thus of value to them, they will go ahead and buy that product or service. Thus right here means ‘fair’ and ‘correctly’ refers to the decision to buy. 7. Global warming refers to the constant warming up of the Earth’s atmosphere due to increase in the levels of the greenhouse gases. This increase in temperature has occurred as humans continue to use more and more fossil fuels in their day to day lives. While this usage helps in business and trade, there is a cost involved, cost that neither the buyer nor the seller bears, but we as a nation (for that matter, the World) collectively bear. Thus global warming or climate change can be termed as one of the biggest market failures as the market forces did not allocate scarce resources to generate the greatest social welfare. Failure to adopt stringent emissions reduction targets, excessive deforestation, adoption of technology at the expense of the environment are all market failures relevant to the problem of global climate change and relate to the world-level policy failure regarding global warming. To correct the problem, the world has

Marlboro cigarettes Essay Example for Free

Marlboro cigarettes Essay Marlboro cigarettes has not responded to the importance of Social responsible by developing and implementing socially responsible, sustainable, strategies and practices. Although Marlboro was directed by law makers and authorities to take actions in order to limit their marketing strategies and define measures to reduce sale of cigarettes to teenagers, but so far, the company has not been able to take any concrete step or action regarding these directives. Although the company plans to implement one of the worlds largest marketing plans in line with corporate social responsibility, however, nothing practical has been to date. Introduction The purpose of this report is to basically look upon to the matter of corporate social responsibility hat tobacco companies have towards the environment and the consumer. For this report, we will specifically target Marlboro, a renowned cigarette brand that is marketed by Phillip Morris. In this report we will see what Phillip Morris has done in order to assume, realize and act upon its corporate social responsibility along with the argument on areas where it still does needs to work in order to assume its responsibility to the fullest. The report will start with a brief introduction of the company, Phillip Morris, followed by a brief paragraph of information on how bad is smoking for health and what are the diseases that generate in a human body due to smoking. Phillip Morris Phillip Morris is an international company that markets tobacco products, mainly cigarettes in over 160 countries worldwide. The share of this company in the international market extends to 15. 6% outside America which makes it one of the biggest tobacco marketing companies around the world. With revenues shooting up to 22. 8 billion dollars, Phillip Morris employs over 80000 employees around the world. Marlboro is one of the major brands that are marketed by the company along with LM, Phillip Morris, Morven Gold and Virginia Slims. However, of all major brands mentioned above, Marlboro is world best selling cigarette brand with customers all over the world. Besides being the best tobacco marketing company in the world, Phillip Morris is also the world’s third best company with respect to profitability in international consumer goods category (Bianco 2003). Marlboro has over 23 different verities of cigarettes under its brand in order to cater to different customers with different tastes and preferences. Marlboro is also one of the brands which spend huge amounts of money for its sponsorships and advertisements as it is evident by the fact that it sponsors one of the most expensive motor sport events along with brands like Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and BMW. Smoking Injurious to Health Around 1. 1 billion people around the world smoke daily which include one third of the entire adult population of the world. Other then US and EU, hen we go towards Asia, we see that people who are habitual of smoking smoke so excessively that most of them are known as chain smokers. The moment they put off a cigarette, they light a new one instantly. Although it is not the case that people are not aware of the fact that smoking is injurious to health, they do know this, but the fact is that most of the people know only this much. By this we mean that the technicalities and the diseases related to smoking are mostly ignored by smokers who only know that it is injurious to health and they do not bother to take into account the seriousness of diseases that are caused by smoking. In this part of the paper we will discuss what the diseases that are caused by smoking (Kelder 2005). Before stating the harmful deceases that smoking causes first we need to realize hat there are around 4000 different chemicals that are used to make single cigarette. Some of the chemicals out of these 4000 and their function in daily life are listed below: Nicotine: It is a deadly poison Arsenic: this chemical is used in poisons for killing rats Ammonia: A chemical that is used to make Floor Cleaners Carbon Monoxide: this is one of the emissions from car exhausts Cadmium: a chemical used in daily use batteries Methane: a fuel component Butane: Used to fill lighters Now, a consumer good, that contains all of the above chemicals and goes inside the human directly, no wonder how deadly it would be for health. Smoking actually kills the air sacks in the lungs every time the smoke goes in. The more you smoke, the more your lungs are damaged because these air bags are limited in quantity and they are not produced again. Excessive smoking causes lungs to turn black because of the fact that tar that comes out of the smoke is deposited on the lungs which also blocks arteries that go to the blood. The heart and lungs both get weak and the stamina of a smoker is manifold lesser then a non smoker. Tar also gets deposited on teeth and mouth walls which causes infections and increases the chances of mouth cancer. The stains that are left on teeth damage the teeth and smokers have a high rate of getting dental cavities as compared to a non smoker. T. B and cancer are on of the most common and deadliest diseases that are found in excessive smokers. Cancer is a disease which cannot be cured in many parts of the world today. Even if it can, the treatment is so expensive and difficult, that a cancer patient looses all his fitness, his brain cells get damaged and the patient looses all signs of hair on the body (Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Health Committee 2000). Radiations and therapies have to be daily in order to remove cancer from the blood, however, studies show that once a patient gets cancer, it is very difficult to cure him. Moreover, a smoker has many times more chances of getting cancer then a non smoker. Studies show that out of all those who have lung cancer, 90% of them are smokers. Thus smoking not just only damages your health to a great extent, but, it also ensures that you also live way shorter then a normal non smoker human being. CSR assumed by Philip Morris According to news, Phillip Morris is intending to come up with a new advertising campaign which will be in line with the corporate social responsibility that is required by law makers and authorities for the company to assume. According to Phillip Morris this new advertising campaign will be the world’s largest campaign that will be in line with the corporate social responsibility with respect to tobacco marketing and the corporate world as well. In this marketing campaign, the company would not focus on the benefits of smoking and associating it with different icons in the leading sports and Media industry. Moreover, the company also intends to stop marketing campaigns which are directly promoting youth to consume cigarettes and also it intends to raise prices as required by authorities aim order to control the sale of cigarettes. These are responsibilities that the company should have assumed on its own rather then regulatory authorities imposing them on the company. CSR ignored by Marlboro in the current marketing campaigns. Marlboro along with many other tobacco brands has till date ignored there corporate social responsibility in order to discourage or at least not motivate new consumers to start smoking. Like all other consumer brands, Marlboro has also found to be promoting its brand and motivating consumers to start smoking Marlboro cigarettes as they are the leading brand in the world (Hilts 1996). For this purpose, Marlboro is using different techniques to capture different markets by differentiating its products with the need of the consumer in order to increase sales. However, it does not realizes the fact that the more the company promotes the sale of cigarettes, the more it plays with the consumers lives because it is a proven fact as discussed in the above discussion that smoking cigarettes is an activity that is seriously harmful for human health and excessive use can also be fatal in the form of Lung Cancer. Little information about ingredients on Packets As required by authorities, all Tobacco companies are required to print the ingredients that are used to make a cigarette from paper, to filter and the ingredients of tobacco as well. As discussed above the number of chemicals that are used in cigarette manufacturing is very large, thus the companies are require to at least print the most harmful ingredients of them all in order to provide full information to the consumers about the product that they are consuming. However, when we look at the packaging of Marlboro, none of the chemicals listed above are found in the ingredients section which is against their corporate social responsibility. Surveys suggest that a number of people will at least think of quitting or reduce smoking cigarettes if they find these ingredients on the packing. Controversy of Filters Marlboro along with all the other brands manufacturing cigarettes project to their consumers that the filters that are present at the tip of the cigarette actually prevent a large amount of tar from going into the lungs (Feldmen 2004). However, studies show that the filters only make the smoke smoother for throat and prevent only a small amount of tar from going inside, thus, they ma be taken as useless. The fact about the manufacturing of these filters is that they are made of ammonia which is used for cleaning floors and toilets in domestic use. Moreover, when the smoke goes into lungs after passing through these ammonia filters, they actually reutilize the vaporized fumes of nicotine in the lungs which increases the dosage of nicotine as much twice. Variations in the same brand In order to cater to all segments of the society, Marlboro has a portfolio of around 23 flavors which are designed for consumers of all backgrounds, mentality, tastes and gender. From light to hard, short to long, red to black, Ferrari packs to Marlboro slims for ladies, Marlboro tries to attract smokers from all segments of the society by showing them that Marlboro has all the reasons for them to smoke the cigarette of their choice. Surveys predict that the more the simple a company keeps its tobacco products, the lesser it will attract new smokers, but Marlboro is actually doing the opposite. People are given choices and motivations to smoke and this is one of the reasons why teenage smoking has been increasing drastically. Teenagers are immature enough to try all of the variants that are marketed by Marlboro because every variant offers them something different then the previous one. The roasted tobacco tastes different then the fascinating and attractive Ferrari pack. Marlboro doesn’t realizes the fact that it has to think that the way the number of teenage smokers are increasing due to its marketing campaigns, the count of people having cancer 20 years down the lane would triple the present count today. Exchange of Packs Campaign As far as marketing to that consumer who already smoke is concerned, Marlboro’s latest technique of making non Marlboro smokers to switch to Marlboro includes activities such exchanging packets of non-Marlboro smokers with a brand new special pack of Marlboro cigarettes so that they use Marlboro from then onwards. This activity not only promotes them to consume more cigarettes, but also, this activity requires the consumers to recommend more people about the taste of Marlboro (Michaels 2008). The representatives of the company do not at all inform the consumer about the harms that the consumption may cause to their health; rather, all they take about is the finest tobacco blends and the fresh new taste that Marlboro brings to them. Pricing Also as required by the law makers, Marlboro is required to increase its costs so that the sales of the product can be reduced as it is a demerit good which does not has any benefit of the consumer but it poses a cost to the society and the environment as a whole. However, Marlboro has not taken any such step in this regard; in fact, Marlboro along with many other brands is actually marketing its sale offers online at different forums and portals in order to increase its sells. The special packs that include a special lighter and a fabulous cigarette case are also one of the ways that Marlboro uses to attract more customers. Largest Sponsor of Formula 1 Marlboro is the largest spending sponsor of formula one as it is one of the most watched motor sport event on all sports and TV channels. People from around the world watch this event on television and online, thus Marlboro does not leaves any chance to let go this opportunity and spends heavy sums of money to sponsor the fastest cars like Ferrari and McLaren. The cars are all painted with the brand logo of Marlboro along with the crew which has Marlboro written on them from head to toe (Givel 2000). All across the track and the stadiums, Marlboro tries to fill out every bit of space available with its logo in order to reiterate its logo and brand in the consumers mind. Conclusion Funny as it may seem that many believe on the statement that governments might use smoking as a tool to control population growth in several countries. However, if we look at this matter closely, governments which are not taking serious actions on companies who are not assuming their corporate social responsibility are exactly doing what the statement suggests. The more their approach is lenient towards cigarettes and their marketing, the higher are the chances that the average life of the population will be low as the cases of cancer will grow rapidly and thus the population will reduce. Thus, governments and authorities should look up to this matter more loosely and seriously in order to stop or limit the marketing campaigns of cigarettes for the benefit of the society. Work Cited: Bianco, E (2003). Tobacco industry marketing strategies and women. Womens Health Journal Feldmen, E (2004). Unfiltered: Conflicts over Tobacco Policy and Public Health. Harvard University Press Givel, M (2000). The public health undermined: The tobacco industrys legacy in Missouri in the 1990s. Institute for Health Policy Studies, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Health Committee (2000). The Tobacco Industry and the Health Risks of Smoking: Report and Proceedings of the Committee v. 1 (House of Commons Papers). Stationary Office books Hilts, P (1996). Smokescreen: The Truth behind the Tobacco Industry Cover-Up. Addison Wesley Publishing Company Kelder, G (2005). The tobacco industry under fire. Trial Michaels, D (2008). Doubt is Their Product: How Industrys Assault on Science Threatens Your Health. Oxford University Press

My Strategies To Develop My Pdp Education Essay

My Strategies To Develop My Pdp Education Essay SCENARIO I have been appointed as a manager of Finance 4 U and the first assignment that I need to undertake along with other managerial activities is to prepare a detailed Personal Development Plan. The plan will include strategy of developing a plan, goals and objectives, milestones, timescales and resources needed. Hopefully the PDP that I will prepare shall provide guidelines for the rest of the employees on how to form the PDP for themselves leading to the betterment of the whole organisation. OBJECTIVES Explain about PDP. Describe the importance of PDP. Explain my current situation and need for improvement. My goals both short and long term. My Strategies to develop my PDP. My short term PDP including goals, resource needed, timescales, milestones and checkpoints and success criteria. Importance of reviewing. Conclusion in slides. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN DEFINITION Personal Development Planning is basically a structured process developed by an individual to relook and reflect upon his/her own current situation, performances, achievements, goals and to plan for their personal, educational and career development. It is a process or tool which can be adopted by individuals at all levels and all areas of life. If the PDP is well planned and used effectively, it tremendously improves the ability of individuals to review, plan and take responsibility for their own personality and learning improvement and to understand what and how they learn and develop. Putting it bluntly, Personal Development Planning is a process by which an individual can manage their own development through a process of reflection and structured planning on how they can meet their own goals. Many organisations and universities require their employees and students to prepare their PDP and follow accordingly as the importance of a PDP is widely understood in this modern era. PDP PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE The purpose and importance of a Personal Development Plan is providing the individual with an aid to learn and develop more effectively and to be able to: Improve the way of learning different scenarios via different methods. Make him/her responsible enough to understand and manage his/her learning process as a whole. Make him/her more independent. Set up both long and short term goals and objectives. Understand the resources needed to achieve those objectives. Set up a list and analyse his/her own strengths and weaknesses. Take corrective actions if necessary on the progress. Improve on his/her effectiveness and efficiency. CURRENT SITUATION In order to explain my current situation I have identified and classified the following facts into my educational, professional and personal status. Educational: I have completed my Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA). I have completed all papers from Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) but havent completed the 3years of practical experience requirement. Professional: I have worked as a junior accountant for 6 months in a UK based company. I have worked as an assistant to the Finance Controller for 1 year in a UK based company. Personal: My presentation skills are not satisfactory as I have always been quite shy on that respect (although good at interviews). My leadership skills are not quite as much as Id have liked as I have never really tested my leadership skills due lack of experience. My time management skills are not adequate as I believe there is a room for improvement. My decision making skills are definitely under par as I believe it is vital in this todays modern world. I dont seem to remain motivated and positive over a long period of time. GOALS My short-term goals are as follows: Understanding how the company is operating. Understanding the reasons for low motivation amongst staffs. Addressing the lack of awareness of skills development amongst staffs. My long-term goals are as follows: I need to improve my presentation skills significantly. I need to develop my leadership skills. I need to better my time management skills. I need to enhance my decision making skills. I need to learn to be more motivated and positive. 6. STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF PDP My basic strategy for the development of PDP was not to develop a completely new system but alter the currently available practices and processes and produce a system that works for me and which will reflect my goals, skills and performances. Hence my strategies for development of PDP are as follows: Materials from online and other sources about how PDP can be developed efficiently are to be gathered. As the goals are already identified, timescale and milestones for the attainment of those goals are then determined. Resources needed and the feasibilities of those resources for those goals to be achieved are then amassed. Any obstacles or hindrances are ascertained and contingency plans be made in advance. Review and Monitoring of the performance will also be an essential part of my PDP. PDP Name: Sudhir Gurung Company: Finance 4 U Position: Manager Period from: Jan 1, 2010 To: Jan 31, 2010 Short term Current Situation Desired Situation Resources and support needed Success Criteria Target Dates New to the company. -Very less idea why staffs have low morale. -Understanding how the company is operating. -Understanding the reasons for low staff morale. -Increasing awareness about the need and importance of skills development amongst staff. -Good briefing by Managing Director. -Support and co-ordination from employees. -Authority to do interviews and issue questionnaires if necessary with staffs. -Authority to conduct meetings and seminars. -Get a general idea about the operation of the company. -Identify the reasons for low staff morale issues. -Every staff is clear about the necessity of skills development for themselves. -Perform a preliminary meeting with Managing Director and receive clear briefing and guidelines before joining the office on 1/1/2010. -Conduct interviews and questionnaires by 15/1/2010. -Conduct final meeting and elaborate your findings by 31/1/2010. Long Term Skills Current Situation Desired Situation Resources and support needed Success Criteria Target Dates -Presentation Skills -Leadership Skills -Time Management Skills -Decision Making Skills -Motivational Skills -Good speaker at interviews but lack flair and command while speaking in public. -Not much leadership experience. -Respect time but problems in prioritizing issues. -Ability to make logical decisions but cannot make it quickly. -De-motivated during tough times. -Excellent public speaker. -Good leader with ability to designate authority and responsibility properly. -Be able to prioritize the important things with other. -Be able to make quick decisions with a logical approach. -Be able to motivate both others and myself towards obtaining goals and self improvement. -Practice in plenty of seminars and meetings. -Take public speaking class. -Support and advice from superiors. -Learning relevant books and practicing. -Good relevant books and articles. -Logical reasoning -Study materials. -Motivational seminars. -Professional help. -Motivational autobiographies and other books. -Confidence in passing through the idea. -People looking up to me. -First and important things getting done first. -Efficient and effective decision making. -Source of inspiration. -Within two years -Within three years -Within one year -Within three years -Within two years REFERENCE Online http://www.leeds.ac.uk/sddu/gts/pdp_student.html http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/progressfiles/guidelines/pdp/pdpguide.pdf http://www.engsc.ac.uk/downloads/resources/pdp.pdf Paperback R. Grit, N. van der Sijde, Career Development, Managing Your Competencies- The Personal Development Plan, 2008, page 200. Sonnentag Sabine, Psychological Management Of Individual Performance, Revised Development Plan, 2002, Page 516. TASK 2 INTRODUCTION It is very important that from time to time we need to review our performances in order stay in-line with targets we need to achieve. It is very helpful as we will be able to take corrective actions. Hence, in this task I shall be referring back to the PDP that I produced in the previous task and I shall carry out a detailed self-review for each goal. OBJECTIVES Identification of obstacles that hinders achievement of my targets. Explaining the importance and need to reviewing, self-reviewing and monitoring. Providing reflective record of management experience in achieving my objectives. Elaborating the importance of obtaining support from other to achieve goals and objectives. REPORT From: Sudhir Gurung (Management consultant) To: Managing Director Subject: reviewing, self-review and peer support for target attainment I have realised the fact that a good plan is the base for anything however we cannot go through with it without reviewing it while in process and checking if we are on-course or not. It is so because there may be several obstacles on the road. Obstacles: The short term obstacles might be that as I am new to the organisation it will be difficult to obtain confidence and support from the staffs and get the real understanding of the situation. As my task will start from 1st of January many staffs may not return to work after holidays and may be difficult to conduct interviews and questionnaires within the deadlines. The long term obstacles might be in achieving leadership skills and motivational skills. These are very vague areas and one will require constant researching and improvement. It is extremely hard to be able to perfect these skills if any of the resources mentioned are not adequate. Dedication however is the key to succeed in these areas. Need of reviewing and monitoring plan: There is always the need of reviewing and monitoring of plans as in the absence of these things planning will have no meaning. Reviewing basically means watching at things with a critical viewpoint whereas monitoring means not letting things go out of track. The operations or activities will need to be in line with the plans and then only the goals that need to be achieved will be achieved. Importance of self-review: As it is said that self-review is the best review. One can only be able to understand others if he/she understands himself/herself. Self-review is a great tool available which will help to self analyse the strengths and weaknesses of oneself so that he/she can understand the opportunities and threats that may be there. It enables people to obtain a proper understanding of what they are doing well, what areas they need to improve and how to focus on those. It also helps to get a broader view on the issues and be clear of what your objectives are. My management experience I joined as a customer service agent in Gulf Air, Kathmandu, Nepal. After one and half years of service there I was made the baggage handling supervisor. My main objectives and their achievement were as follows: To get proper lost baggage handling training. I requested to the airport manager for providing me with the necessary training to do the job properly asap. I was sent to Bahrain for a week long training for baggage handling within a month of my appointment. Making sure proper records of lost baggage were kept in the system. I gave on the job training to one staff from the morning shift and the other from the late shift so both the morning and evening flights were covered. Increasing the efficiency of system update. I wanted to update the info for the baggage which reached Kathmandu mistakenly instead of the intended destination into the system immediately so other airports would be able to locate it and Gulf Air does not have pay extra compensation. Need for support from others: A positive integration of peoples efforts towards same direction causes synergy which will result in better performance and increment in the chance of better result. It is one of the most fundamental of management principals. I, in order to achieve my target, have rated support from my superiors and colleagues as one of the most important resources in my task 1. Conclusion To conclude I would like to say that I have determined the obstacles that may halt my progress towards attaining the goals. I have understood and explained the importance of reviewing, self-review and monitoring. I have provided a reflective record of my management experience in achieving objectives and also elaborated the need for support from others. REFERENCE Online: http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/workforce-management-employee-records/3779163-1.html http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=srf http://www.accel-team.com/techniques/employee_evaluation.html Paperback: New Zealand Institute of Public Administration, Self-review: doing it for yourself, May 1992. TASK 3 INTRODUCTION As per the requirement of task 3 of my assignment I have undertaken a research in various personal and professional skills needed by the companys staff member in three different organisations. I will, on the basis of my research will produce a presentation to the managing director of our company about the outcomes of my research. I will also produce a report regarding the recommendations. OBJECTIVES Choose three organisations and analyse how their staff personal and professional skills are developed Presentation to Managing Director and staff with outcomes Report to Managing Director with recommendation The three organisations: For the above mentioned purpose I have selected and researched the following three companies: Gulf Air ASDA InterContinental Hotels Group Gulf Air: In order to ensure their staffs develop personal and professional skills Gulf Air initially uses induction. It is given initially to the foundation skills required to operate successfully in the new role, training is provided in theory and practical work, in other words classroom and on the job. Learning and development is then the process used by Gulf Air where it is delivered through a variety of departments to ensure there is a focus on the specialist nature of roles in our business and to maximise access for our people. Training Departments form part of a Corporate Training Board ensuring that learning and development for all Gulf Air staff has a recognised place at an executive level of the business. All training and development is built on a firm commitment to release and maximise the full potential of every Gulf Air employee. More information is available under the sections for individual job areas. The next step will be to provide career paths to motivate and satisfy individu als within the organisation and to meet the on-going skill requirements of the business. Gulf Air recognises the need to identify and develop high quality replacements for positions designated as key to current and future organisational success. Gulf Air has a number of lateral career programmes in place providing existing employees with the opportunity to move across organisational boundaries in a co-ordinated and formal way. When vacancies arise, they are advertised internally and where possible we promote from within. ASDA: ASDA is very much into supporting its staffs to reach their potential. They have a wide variety of training and development options available. ASDA also starts with induction to increase the personal and professional skills of the new staffs. All new staffs are initially given an intensive induction session. It focuses on the best way to get staffs up to speed with business and find their feet as quickly as possible. It will ensure that the staffs are well versed to their business and culture and are also equipped with the tools to deliver in their roles. It then provides tailored training. After induction, first three months will involve tailored training programmes suitable the new staffs position in order to give him/her the support he/she need to be really efficient in their relevant roles. To help new managers learn how to best operate their department and perfect their leadership style, theyre given eight weeks of dedicated training in one of their specially selected training s tores which are called Stores of Learning (SOLs). These are typical ASDA stores with a training centre attached; set up to deliver tailored training to all our new managers in purpose built facilities. SDA has a Distribution Academy for new managers for its Distribution business so that staffs are given the best start possible, are trained in best practice and given all the necessary tools they may require. Every new manager spends time in the Academy learning the technical aspects of their role and working on their personal development. Part of the training also includes spending time in stores who are the Distribution networks internal customers. This gives new managers a thorough understanding of the issues that stores can face so that good support can be provided. It has programmes like a training plan to help strengthen technical skills, courses to develop behavioural skills or to prepare staffs for a bigger role. ASDA encourages staffs to create a Personal Development Plan w ith the help of their managers. This process will enable to set the goals for the staffs and the managers will also be aware of the desires of the staffs. Motivation level will be highly influenced by this method. InterContinental Hotels Group (IGH) As per the statement of IGH, it recognises human resource as one of the most influential resource needed to be successful in the business world. Hence it has a strong belief to invest in improving the skills of its staffs, quenching their thirst for career development will eventually make a huge difference in their area of business which is hospitality. As the first hotel group to develop and conduct an online version of the renowned Cornell Hotel Administration Simulation Exercise. The programme offers psychometric assessment and course content delivered by leading university academics thats focused on connecting with individual corporate, personal and career goals. This group has assessment centres across the world to help high performing individuals in corporate, executive and supervisory roles move on and up to the next level. IHG offers Fast Track Graduate Programmes Operations and Revenue Management. Over 24 months, candidates can gain experience in two hotels based in the UK. Each hotel will set their own individual projects linked to an individual training plan that will be supported and mentored by professionals. Candidates will also attend centralised training courses run by experts in their field. Programmes like this will provide ideal opportunities for fresh graduates to kick start their careers. PRESENTATION IN MICROSOFT POWERPOINT ( THE ATTACHMENT) REPORT To: Managing Director From: Sudhir Gurung (Manager) Subject: Clear and concise recommendations on the approach that need to be taken by Finance 4 U Dear Sir/Madam As it was my responsibility as a manager to look into various organisations as how they were doing in regards to personal and professional development of their staffs, I researched three companies on their strategies which were Gulf Air, ASDA and IHG. I found out several methods and techniques used by these organisations as my research shows earlier. In my personal point of view following methods and techniques could be used in our organisation to enhance the staff morale and overall efficiency at workplace: Induction: In my research I found out that induction is a must for any new staff as it acts as a bridge towards new company. It is an essential process of familiarising and hence has to be carefully designed by Finance 4 U management. Tailored training: It is a useful method I found out when researching the methods used by ASDA. Every individual is different with different knowledge level, language barrier, age group, education etc. As we are not a very large company tailored training can be provided to individual staff as and when needed. Appreciation day: It is also another unique idea that can be applied to increase the motivational level of the staffs in Finance 4 U. Different staffs at different levels and departments do not seem to understand the efforts of each others in here. If supervisors of one department are made familiar to another department and vice versa, I believe levels of appreciation of each others will improve leading the way for increment in morale. Providing career paths Maslows motivations theory is one of the most famous theories in management. It says that there is always a hierarchy in needs in a professionals vision. Initially he/she will look more into physical and security needs and later move towards more challenging and self-actualisation needs. Hence Finance 4 U should also understand this theory and be able to stimulate the interest of its important staffs so that they stay motivated by laying out clear paths and performance related incentives. Lateral career programmes I have been confirmed; through this research that monotony is one of the prime reasons for low morale. Hence in order to help avoid it, a good move would be lateral career programmes as well. It is actually a process of shifting employees to different departments so that they will be more experienced and also more motivated. Personal Development Plan (PDP) PDP needs to be prepared for each staff and passed on to their immediate manager and hence a general plan can be made on the basis of that guideline. Graduates Programme People with huge amount of potential needs to be provided with the opportunity to increase their educational background as well, as it will only benefit the organisation. He/she will have various management and other theories to back up their ideas and experience towards a progressive future of the company. Conclusion Id like to conclude this report by saying that there is a severe need in Finance 4 U to address this issue of personal and professional development amongst staffs so that the morale may climb high. I believe the recommendations I provided will be very helpful if it is implemented properly by the management. TASK 4 INTRODUCTION This task is about looking into the various methods used by management in skills development. For this purpose I have looked back at the three companies that I have researched and analysed what methods have they used. Along with that Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is also to be looked in detail. OBJECTIVES Analysis of various methods of skills development. Analysis of methods used by the three organisations. Examples of Continuous Professional Development (CPD). Importance of CPD. Various methods of skills development: Just because you have two ears and a mouth doesnt mean you know how to communicate. A Mothers Advice To Her Son Like the quote said just because you can speak well amongst your friends, it doesnt mean that you can communicate well professionally. These are all part of skills that one person must acquire to develop him/herself personally and professionally. The initial part of skills development begins and develops during our education. We develop lot of personal skills at that time period like some communication skills, listening skills, time-management skills, problem solving skills etc. However generally professional skills are developed as it is a case of practice and experience mostly after a person is employed. Having said that skills development is a life-long process and hence it needs to be honed with practice as the famous quote says, Practice makes perfect. The three organisations: I would like to look back at the three organisations that I had researched and analyse their methods of skills development again. Gulf Air: Gulf Air is committed to setting people up for success from the moment they join the organisation. Induction is given initially to the foundation skills required to operate successfully in the new role, training is provided in theory and practical work, in other words classroom and on the job. Gulf Air is very much committed to the growth and development of its people. Learning and development at Gulf Air is delivered through a variety of departments to ensure there is a focus on the specialist nature of roles in our business and to maximise access for our people. Training Departments form part of a Corporate Training Board ensuring that learning and development for all Gulf Air staff has a recognised place at an executive level of the business. Gulf Air realises the need to provide career paths to motivate and satisfy individuals within the organisation and to meet the on-going skill requirements of the business. It also recognises the need to identify and develop high quality replacements for positions designated as key to current and future organisational success. Gulf Air has a number of lateral career programmes in place providing existing employees with the opportunity to move across organisational boundaries in a co-ordinated and formal way. When vacancies arise, they are advertised internally and where possible we promote from within. ASDA: ASDA is very much into supporting its staffs to reach their potential. They have a wide variety of training and development options available. The few of the methods used by ASDA are given below: Induction All new staffs are initially given an intensive induction session. It focuses on the best way to get staffs up to speed with business and find their feet as quickly as possible. It will ensure that the staffs are well versed to their business and culture and are also equipped with the tools to deliver in their roles. Tailored training After induction, first three months will involve tailored training programmes suitable the new staffs position in order to give him/her the support he/she need to be really efficient in their relevant roles. Colleague to manager training New retail managers New distribution managers ASDA House colleagues Career progression through practical development programmes: Seven step practical development programme At ASDA there is a seven step practical development programme that helps staffs to take their development to the next level. The programme builds on current leadership and shop keeping skills through off the job learning, on the job activities and coaching sessions. Stepping Stones is targeted at staffs who want to grow to become Department Managers and some have even continued their development to General Store Manager and further more. New managers stores To help new managers learn how to best operate their department and perfect their leadership style, theyre given eight weeks of dedicated training in one of their specially selected training stores which are called Stores of Learning (SOLs). These are typical ASDA stores with a training centre attached, set up to deliver tailored training to all our new managers in purpose built facilities. Store Appreciation Day At ASDA, it gives priority to its customers and for all the staffs of ASDA who do not work at stores are given induction about how the stores are run. This will lead to those staffs being more aware of the circumstances in the store where all the business is actually performed. Career Progression for staffs ASDA has understood the fact that if there is no progression in ones career even though the job is rewarding becomes monotonous and the efficiency will drop. Hence it has a variety of programmes of sessions available at different stages of the staffs development in any role. It has programmes like a training plan to help strengthen technical skills, courses to develop behavioural skills or to prepare staffs for a bigger role. Personal Development Plan ASDA encourages staffs to create a Personal Development Plan with the help of their managers. This process will enable to set the goals for the staffs and the managers will also be aware of the desires of the staffs. Motivation level will be highly influenced by this method. Professional qualifications At ASDA there are many opportunities with funding or study leave for Professional qualifications such as CIMA for Finance, CIPS (for Retail Development team) etc. This does depend on the role of the staffs in the different departments. There is a structured programme in place whilst others may be able to consider ad hoc requests for study funding or time off, if this is related to their role. InterContinental Hotels Group (IGH) Belief in investing in people: As per the statement of IGH, it recognises human resource as one of the most influential resource needed to be successful in the business world. Hence it has a strong belief to invest in improving the skills of its staffs, quenching their thirst for career development will eventually make a huge difference in their area of business which is hospitality. CHASE: As the first hotel group to develop and conduct an online version of the renowned Cornell Hotel Administration Simulation Exercise (CHASE), you can also take part in a sophisticated virtual reality game for running a hotel. Assessment centres across the world This group has assessment centres across the world to help high performing individuals in corporate, executive and supervisory roles move on and up to the next level. The basic points of these assessment centres are that their staffs know what success means their roles; they will be involved in regular, quality feedback instructions; they will have the opportunity to develop both in their current and future roles; they will know what career opportunities are available with IHG around the world.

Terrorism has become a major concern in todays world

Terrorism has become a major concern in todays world Terrorism is widespread around the world. On September 11, 2001, the attacks on New York not only inflicted thousands of casualties and significant economic damage, but also marked the beginning of a new era of terror in which counter-terrorism has become one of the highest priorities for international institutions and national governments. Ruinous events including the modern attacks in Madrid, London, Bali, and Mumbai have placed fights against terrorism high on the political agenda. As a result, many governments reacted not only by limiting civil rights and individual freedoms but also by raising their budgets for anti-terror spending. Terrorism is stated as one of the main challenges to global security. This has led to terrorism affecting a national social and economic development. Hence, the most critical evolution of a strategy is how to reduce the threat and result of catastrophic terrorism while protecting public liberties. This essay will describe and analyze the economic cos ts and overall consequences of terrorism for society, and thus provide and evaluate several practicable solutions to counter-terrorism. These include governmental aids and international cooperation strategies. Terrorism has a complicated definition that has spread all over history appropriately describes in many expressions. Among the variety of definitions of the term are: to create regular social activity difficult; to make high image impact on the public with the goal of destroying public confidence in their own government; to seek revenge on everything without justice; to cause as much casualties as possible; and to make physical suffering and stupefying psychological emotions, such as a sense of grief, anxiety, fear, unrest, chaos, anger and panic (Drummond 2002; Loza 2007). Terrorism in reaction to political power or ideology is not a new phenomenon. This type of political violence and crime has occurred since the dawn of human chronicle. The nature of this form of political conflict has changed over time, though, developing from domestic activities to regional and international events. Because of this, terrorism has become an experience shared by many individuals, organizations, and states. Nowadays, global terrorism has become a severe actuality in society. In the 19th century, some of the most famous events of terrorism happened by anarchists who murdered many political leaders. There are several reasons have given for the use of terrorist movements. Franks (2009) points out that terrorist activities are advanced plans and beyond public expectation, the main elements are shocking, and illegal violence versus common people and non-armed personnel for the sake of threatening or forcing civilian population or a government to accept an underlying ideology of terrorism or armed attack of demands. Terrorist events are depicted according to the dynamic type of uncertainty. For instance, terrorists use suicide bombings, armed attacks, and kidnapping, to accomplish goals of inflicting damage against the military, people and government. Whatever terrorist attacks depend on, the terrorist facilities and locations and time of occurrence will bring different outcomes. Terrorism has critically affected international economic harmony between the economy and led to panic. Recently, developments in terrorist acts, in particular the 9/11 events have created vast collapses in the global economy. Lenain et al. (2002) mentioned that nearly 200,000 jobs were devastated and people have been forced to move out of New York City, and this is only temporary minimum. Manhattan has lost scores of businesses and about 30 percent of its office places have vanished. Furthermore, the damage of physical property was calculated sum of $14 billion for private businesses, thus the state and local government had spent at least $1.5 billion enterprises and $700 million for federal government. Following the cleanup, rescue and related costs have been calculated the sum of $11 billion. For trade and commercial assets, casualty insurers, the calculated costs arising from the 9/11 attacks in total $40 billion U.S. dollars. (Brown et al. 2002).The global tourism, financial mark ets and the airline industries had a huge collision in short-term effect. Despite the global economy has recovered from the 9/11 event and adapting to the new global realities, thus the asset markets that around the world can feel the longer-term impact of security risk in high-risk premiums, also the handling terrorism in substitution for resources. In terms of its economic impact, the 9/11 attacks exacerbated the defects already observed seen in the global economy in 2001. Abadie and Gardeazabal (2008) state that before the terrorist attacks, great economic depression in the United States had already increased unemployment and equally revealed global total demand fell on the back of weakness in the United States economy. Based on purchaser and merchant surveys, demonstrated decline in the overall confidence measured in the United States due to 9/11 attacks, and in other countries with similar in extent measure. Therefore, counter-terrorism procedures are required in order to settl e the social, cultural and governmental panic caused by terrorism. As the result of the terrorism has destroyed the whole world economical conditions, if the society and the government want to return to the regular path and operation, counter-terrorism can be the only solution. Terrorism not only causes social problems, but inevitably aggravates international stability. That is why security is to encourage by governments to improve counter-terrorism in seven different methods: Development of terrorist detailed databases and relevant intelligence gathering; Creation and use of third-force, by means of build special military units, or Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams to deal with terrorist cases (Branscomb, 2004); Countries should signing and complete of new treaties; Adequate use and development of anti-terrorist technologies; Extended use of counter-terrorism intelligence and justice; Signing and implement of new laws in violation of national and international terrorism (Boulden, 2009); Keep suspected terrorists and their supporters under su rveillance. Therefore, governments could built an anti-terrorism systems; such a system brings together advanced and diverse and technologies, reconnaissance missions, persistent intelligence and surveillance, to potential actions. Another valuable way to defeat terrorism is by refusing resources to the terrorists. As Sandler and Enders (2004) emphasized, it is more productive to deny terrorists resources of financing, support groups, weapons, propaganda, recruits and intelligence. Rather than trying to protect wealth at risk which is extraordinarily hard or impossible in view of the extremely large amount of purpose and substitute possibilities. With use these ways to resist terrorism will control the terrorist activities in actuality or potency. The scope of international cooperation and mutual support should range from local law enforcement and first responders to corporations, states and regions, up to and including nations and international organizations. For example, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an institution that combats terrorism at the international level that includes Russia, China, and the central Asia republics, sharing intelligence and has a training program in Bishkek (Intriligator, 2009). Another suggestion has been the collection and timely analysis of superior intelligence, both human and technologically be captured. Although the aims of counter terrorism require nations cooperation, government agencies lack for a common definition of the term terrorism. Thus, there have some of the perplexities that impede effectively counter-terrorism, these include the lacking of cooperation; not only between countries that may have helpful terrorist information, but also among state agencies who have an intere st in monitoring terrorism. Mass of these entities are refuse to share information to each other, especially secret intelligence, only when they believe that it is in their short-term political benefits. Also, countries will need to rely more on good informants. Stewar (2009) claim that the confidential nature of anti-terrorist organizations, including the inability to develop appropriate sources, and the lack of expertise in appropriate foreign languages caused many intelligence make it difficult for agencies to obtain detailed information on terrorist organizations. Therefore, states should develop a holistic national database to track suspected terrorists and to permit criminal justice to integrate the appropriate infrastructure. These plausible solutions will most definitely be useful in practicing counter-terrorism. In conclusion, counter terrorism will become an ineluctable part of our lives. Even though the immediate economic influence of the 9/11 events was devastating, consumer confidence and the stock markets recovered rapidly. Public cost on military operations and security is rising. The governments use counter-force in terms of anti-terrorism, carrying out passive sanction in reality and disincentive policy to presumptive terrorists to reduce the event of terrorism. Countries and their national security agencies must also carefully balance the personal freedoms of citizens versus that of the pursuit of terrorists. Otherwise, there would be a lot of repression and the legitimacy of the existing regime would be questionable. In reprisal of terrorist actions, there is always the possibility of collateral damage, especially when innocent civilians are detained, injury of death and when property is damaged or destroyed. Terrorist attacks will cause economic social and political panic; therefo re, every country should adopt complete policies and operations to resist terrorism, through governmental aids and international cooperation strategies. By solving the problems caused by terrorism, nationals will indubitably draw closer to a more harmonious and peaceful world. References ¼Ã… ¡ Abadie, A Gardeazabal, J 2008, Terrorism and the world economy, European Economic Review, vol. 52, pp. 1-27. Boulden, J 2009, Terrorism and civil wars, Royal Military College of Canada, vol. 11, no.1, pp.5-21. Branscomb, L 2004, Protecting civil society from terrorism: the search for a sustainable strategy, Technology in Society, vol. 26, pp. 271-285. Brown, JR, Kroszner, RS Jenn, BH 2002, Federal terrorism risk insurance, Nberworking Paper, vol. 9271. Drummond, JT 2002. How to fight terrorism: alternatives to deterrence, Defence and Peace Economics, vol. 14, pp. 237-249. Franks, J 2009, Rethinking the roots of terrorism: beyond orthodox terrorism theory-a critical research agenda, Global Society, vol. 23, No. 2, pp154-176. Intriligator, MD 2009, The economics of terrorism, Economic Inquiry, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 1-13. Lenain, P Bonturi, M V 2002 The economic consequences of terrorism, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Discussion Paper, vol. 20, pp. 22-30. Loza, W 2007, The psychology of extremism and terrorism: a Middle-Eastern perspective, Aggression and Violent Behavior, vol.12, pp.141-155. Sandler, T. and Enders, W. 2004, An economic perspective on transnational terrorism,European Journal of Political Economy, vol.20,pp.301-316. Stewar, MG 2009 , Risk-informed decision support for assessing the costs and benefits of counter-terrorism protective measures for Infrastructure, International Journal of Critical Infrastructur protection, vol. 3,pp.29-40.

Pluralistic Extension System :: Politics, Government Programs

Definition Pluralistic extension system is provision of extension services for a community which is conducted by more than one source of extension services (Okorley, Grey, & Reed, 2010). According to Rivera & Alex (2004), pluralistic extension system may hold complex providers like non-governmental organizations, private companies, farmers’ organizations, commercial individuals, extension specialists’ associations, and public extension services at municipal, state, and national. Non-pluralistic extension system, by definition, is single provider of extension service which is conducted by only public extension agents. It is clear that pluralistic extension system do not eliminated the public extension workers from the system, but the system adds other potential extension agencies along with the existing public extension agency. Why is it necessary? There are several reasons why pluralistic extension system is required. One of the reasons is that previous single provider of extension system, mainly Training and Visit (T&V system) was criticized for its limited advantages. As the case in India, the T&V system was blamed for only boosting commodity and supply-driven but not generate income. It was also criticized as the cause of the fall of commodity price, disintegration among sub-sectors, and poor focus on farmer organization development (Singh & Swanson, n.d.). Former extension system was occasionally considered as inefficient, having unclear and incompatible objectives of state intervention, vague rules for implementation; it also provides limited incentive for extension workers, and lack of financial transparency (Rivera & Alex, 2004). Moreover, the pluralistic extension system is expected to reduce financial burden of national government due to large institutional structures and perceived ineffectiveness of former extensio n system (Swanson & Rajalahti, 2010). Earlier extension system was also blamed for not giving much attention in involving farmers to define and solve their own problems, while having poor linkage of extension-research-farmer system (Davis, 2008). The support of farmers’ group as possessing power for extension provider comes from Davis’ research in Kenya (n.d.), in which she found that farmers’ groups were considered by local farmers as credible source of agricultural information provider (Davis, n.d.) What are the main dimensions? Rivera & Alex (2004) maintain, â€Å"extension is not necessarily a government program, but rather the complex set of institutions whereby rural people obtain new knowledge and information† (p. 339-340) and it allows the possibility of differences extension system among different countries. This proposition has led to the implication that the dimension of (pluralistic) extension system could cover variety of issues like policy implementation (for rural change or mobilization), information collection, particular salient issues (like health problem: HIV/AIDS, etc.

Analysis Of Bel Air :: essays research papers

Analysis of Bel Air   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the essay â€Å"Bel Air: The Automobile As Art Object;† Daniel L Guillory uses a combination of narrative and expository writing as a way of showing his audience the connection between an icon, which in his case is a 1958 Chevy Bel Air, and the effect that it can have on a person.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Guillory starts off the essay with narrative writing. He is telling his audience about how he was in Illinois when he came across a flea market. He saw a 1929 Ford Model A, but the price was too high for him. The farmer told him that his friend was selling a 1958 Chevy Bel Air up the road. So Guillory went and looked at the car, and ended up buying it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By starting this essay with narrative writing he captures the reader’s attention, especially the readers with the same literary repertoire. This is what happened in my case. I have a certain fascination for cars, so when I noticed it was about a car it just grabbed my attention and kept it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Guillory then goes into expository writing. He compares his 1958 Chevy Bel Air to â€Å"every man’s space ship,† and he relates it to a space ship because the year before the car was made Sputnik was launched. He than says, â€Å"Eisenhower was enclosed safely in the White House, Elvis was king, and the Cold War was turning icy-hot, as suggested by the Civil Defense Conelrad logo on the radio dial.† Just looking at this car brought him back memories of what was happening at the time the car was made. Then he says, â€Å"I dimly understood that by possessing this car I was retrieving part of my past and—through a kind of Proustian logic—expanding my present.† In order to understand the term used in this sentence you need to be familiar with the French author Marcel Proust. In his novel, Remembrance of Things Past, the narrator eats a piece of cake that takes him back to his childhood. So the term Proustian is when an object has the power to take us back to the past. I know how this experience feels. My first car was a blue 1994 Hyundai Elantra GLS. I loved that car. I would pamper it with the best gas, the best oil; and I would wash it once a week. I would go everywhere with my car.

Negotiations and Alternate Dispute Mechanism

Alternative Dispute resolution encompasses distinct forms of dispute resolution through arbitration and mediation. Arbitration is a method of dispute resolution involving one or more neutral third parties who are usually agreed to by disputing parties and whose decision is binding.[1] Arbitration generally proceeds in a similar fashion to that of the court with opening statements, the presentation of witnesses and evidence, cross-examination, and closing arguments. Arbitrators then decide cases based on the evidence, and their decision is final binding on the parties. Mediation on the other hand is an informal dispute process in which the third party – the mediator helps disputing parties to reach an agreement. A mediator, unlike the arbitrator, has no power to impose his decisions on the parties. Therefore, the mediator’s role is to bring the parties closer together through discussions of weaknesses in the case for both sides, in an effort to convince each to settle the dispute. Arbitration and mediation are voluntary mechanisms- that is the parties are only required to mediate or arbitrate if they agree to do so. The absence of such an agreement will see the parties go to the court of law; therefore the parties in contention cannot be hauled into private mediation and arbitration against their will. It is at the disposal of the parties to decide how they will go about to do it. Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms have advantageous such that they are cheaper and quicker than court proceeding and permit parties to resolve their differences more efficiently. Studies have shown that arbitration proceedings in the employment discrimination area to take an average of 8.6 months to be resolved, whereas the average court cases involving alleged employment discrimination takes almost two years.[2] This has seen businesses and employees placing mediation and arbitration in the employment contracts or agreements thus discrimination conflicts can be solved amicably without going to the court of law. Arbitration Arbitration proceedings are like informal court proceedings. They take place in conference room and not in the courtrooms at date scheduled by the parties. In African traditional setting arbitration proceedings take place under a tree called a baraza[3]. Generally during the proceedings of the arbitration the parties select a particular rule to apply to the arbitration and are free to modify such rules by agreement. The reason parties prefer arbitrations to court is because they are more streamlined and friendly. Discoveries in arbitrations tend to be less comprehensive and persistent, with arbitrators frequently imposing limits on the number of depositions each party can take. The arbitrators equally understand that the parties select arbitration in part to avoid the cost of court proceeding and issue rulings considering these goals. While arbitrators make evidentiary rulings and can bar evidence and testimony they deem improper, arbitration rules generally shun strict compliance with rules of evidence.[4]   In conforming to the informal nature of the Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms, the arbitrators generally make mistake on the side of admitting all the evidence and when they are weight to particular testimony and exhibits. Therefore due to the informal nature the arbitration process give a loophole for some biasness in the process of making decision among the arbitrators. Unless parties’ arbitration provides otherwise, arbitrators generally are chosen with the help of designated arbitration organization. The process entails the organization submitting names of the arbitrators to the parties then the parties will strike the names they consider lowly ranked. The highly ranked names by the parties will be then asked to arbitrate the dispute. Various formats of arbitration can be highlighted in this sense. Most traditional is for a single arbitrator to act as the judge of the case, that is, to preside over trial and then issue a ruling based on the evidence. This varies slightly from the use of panel of arbitrators –rather than a single arbitrator- to hear a dispute. A single arbitrator handles small to medium-sized disputes, with a panel of arbitrators used to solve more complicated disagreements. Sometimes parties can decide the number of arbitrators they want in resolving their dispute. Parties can also select other forms for arbitrating dispute. For instance, parties can use â€Å"baseball-style† of arbitration where the one party, which table its proposal for example of a salary to a panel of arbitrators and the employer for example, tables his/ her proposal too.[5] Then the arbitrators go through each party’s proposal and come up with an amicable figure or solution to the dispute. This is a case where the winner takes it all since the arbitrators do not have the ability to split their decision but to choose one side’s proposal. This kind of scenario is equally done in business settings where each party endeavors to offer the best possible offer, as the more aggressive a party’s submission, the less likely it is to be chosen by the arbitrator. Another variation from traditional arbitration is the so-called â€Å"Party arbitrators†. This is contrary to the traditional arbitrators who are unbiased and must be free of conflict of interest. Parties’ arbitrators are not neutral and instead are appointed by one of the parties. In this case each party appoints its arbitrator to join a third neutral arbitrator who serves as the chairperson of the panel. This can be depicted in sport disputes, which handle players’ grievances, for example. This form of arbitration is also common in boarder labor environment, with a union and management each appointing its own chosen representative to join a neutral chairperson. Party arbitrators complicate the process of reaching an amicable solution to a problem because the representatives of the parties of course support the position of the parties that appointed them. Some even go ahead and act  Ã‚   as advocates by questioning witnesses. In this effect, arbitrations involving party arbitrators tend to hinge on the vote of the lone neutral arbitrator, with the two party arbitrators generally ruling in favor of the party that appointed them. Mediation Mediation, on the other hand, entails the effort of a single and neutral party- the mediator- to act as an intermediary between parties to help them resolve disputes. Most of the mediation proceedings are nonbonding with the mediator having no authority to compel the parties to reach a resolution. In this sense the mediator considers each parties point of view and their reasons in the light of settling the dispute. This therefore is a case where a skillful and a man of high integrity can act as a broker between the parties and help each party to see the case from a neutral perspective. The mediator can save the parties time and money by pushing them to accomplish their resolution in a day what would have taken weeks and months. Mediation comes in various facets. One form of mediation is the facilitative mediation. In this form the mediator uses the best efforts to convince each side the reasons to settle. The mediator does this by highlighting the weakness of its case, the strengths in its adversary’s case, the cost of litigation, the downside risk of not prevailing, and any other factors that the mediator believes the parties should focus on in properly assessing the case. A good mediator- by the fact that he/she is respected by both the parties- can be suited to soften each side’s position. He can ascertain the strongest and weakest points in each side’s case and may be able to advance each side’s position with the opposing party. Facilitative mediation sessions begin in a conference room where the mediator and the all parties are present. Each parties counsel is given an opportunity to make an opening statement in support of its case (the party’s case). After this opening statement, the parties break into different rooms, separately meeting with the mediator who shuttle back and forth to bring the parties closer. The mediator tries to convince the defendant when he is in the defendant’s room and give him the reasons for not pursing further the case. The mediator also brings out the expenses that the two parties will incur in the process of fighting in the case. He shows how difficult it would to prove her case. In facilitative mediation the mediator does not formally evaluate the case or promote any particular settlement. His goal is to find areas of potential compromise between the parties, and creatively search for a resolution acceptable to each party. On the other hand evaluative mediation, the mediator does not only facilitate the discussions between the parties but also evaluates the claims in the issue. The mediator in this examines the case, by looking at the pleadings and damages modes and arrives at specific recommended settlement- based on his assessment of the likely result of the prospective trial. Even if this does not lead to  Ã‚   an immediate settlement, it may focus on the parties on middle ground and form the starting point for negotiations in the ensuing days. As in the case of facilitative mediation the mediator ought to be a person of integrity in the society if not so no party will accept his judgment thus making the whole exercise to be in futility. There is also the kind of mediation referred to as binding mediation. This is where the mediator not only evaluates the parties but also ultimately imposes a settlement on the parties. This method is less prevalent since it the mediator takes the position similar to the judge at the law court. Parties prefer to discuss through their dispute but not to trust third parties. So instead of taking this form of mediation, parties just decide to go for full-blown trial. In preparation of mediation sessions, as an initial matter the selection of the mediator is very important. In most instances it is the parties that select the mediators. It is important to choose a mediator respected not only by one side but the two sides.   The goal of the of mediation is to use the mediator as an instrument to prod the other side to settle on favorable terms, and only a respected mediator   is likely to have that ability. In the preparation of mediation process the parties concerned have to prepare and submit confidential mediation statement in support of their position in the case. The statements are confidential and only accessible to the mediator and not to the other party. They are meant to orient the mediator in the case so that he can be a more effective intermediary.   The mediators’ objective is to reach settlement- and not to reach the result he believes is most equity- and he is mostly likely to succeed if he knows in advance what potholes to avoid. Negotiations In the endeavor to negotiate effectively, negotiators require a thorough knowledge of client’s case. They also have to know their clients priorities with the respect to the item in dispute. Negotiations require tact and skills, the understanding of the personalities and interests at play, and the trust and respect of the other side. The main mistake in negotiating is to be caught in a bluff, threatening to take certain action then not following through. Once this happens, it diminishes the opposing side’s trust in the counsel and makes favorable settlement far more difficult settlement far more difficult to achieve going forward. Negotiations sometimes can be long so synchronizing the negotiations is paramount for the success of the processes.[6] Generally, a claimant will make a demand before ever initiating alternative dispute response mechanism; it is the respondent’s rejection of this demand that leads to arbitration. Most arbitration organizations offer voluntary mediation to the parties and arbitrators. Thus effective counsel advocates never fully  Ã‚   give up on the possibility of settlement, even if a negotiation resolution does not seem realistic in the near term.   Effective negotiations require careful preparation by counsel. The main element of negotiations is to accurately express a client’s view of the case and properly set opposing counsel’s expectations. None of the mechanisms of resolving disputes –arbitration, mediation or private negotiation are exclusive and independent on their own. Therefore none can work without the backing of the other. If for instance a counsel is doing her job properly, she is not just focused on arbitrating or just on negotiating; rather, she is at all time considering the best and most efficient way to get her client form the point of dispute to a satisfactory resolution. If the counsel feels that there is another good mediator who will help to bridge the gap between the parties then she should steer the case toward mediation. Works Cited Lewis, Maltby. Private Justice: Employment Arbitration and Civil Rights, 30 COLUM.HUM.REV.29, 55 (1998) Wax, Robert. Staying Out of Court: Using Alternative Dispute Resolution Can Save Time and Money. Journal (2006) Whittlesey, Dave. Baseball-Style Arbitration: Don’t Strike Out, Broadcasting & Cable (Jan. 30, 2006). [1] See Black’s Law Dictionary [2] See Lewis L. Maltby, Private Justice: Employment Arbitration and Civil Rights, 30 COLUM.HUM.REV.29, 55 (1998) [3] Baraza- a meeting of elders aimed at arbitrating a conflict in East Africa. [4] The parties may offer such evidence as is relevant to the dispute and shall produce such evidence as the arbitrator may deem necessary to an understanding and determination of the dispute. Conformity to legal rules of evidence shall not be necessary. [5] See R. Rabin and D. Whittlesey, Baseball-Style Arbitration: Don’t Strike Out, Broadcasting & Cable (Jan. 30, 2006). [6] See Wax, Robert. staying Out of   Court: using Alternative Dispute Resolution can Save Time and Money (2006)