Is female genital mutilation a religious requirementbelief in Islam Research Proposal

Is female genital mutilation a religious requirementbelief in Islam - Research Proposal Example Women who did not undergo the procedure may have a hard time looking for a partner. This implies that women who failed to meet the expectation of men will have to suffer perpetual wretchedness. FGM was practiced in some African nations where it had originated and soon adapted by other followers of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The concoction of these religions who believe in this procedure raised a question on other ardent followers why had these been enjoined in their faith which is very superfluous when basing it in the Holy Book everyone is adhering to. Neither there is a clear substantial basis why this mutilating process occurred. Male circumcision is long been practiced since the time of Abraham. It is to promote cleanliness among male individuals. However, there was no established rationale whatsoever that circumcision binds men to God although Christ himself was also circumcised and several notable apostles have undergone the same. In the contemporary life, this practiced is warranted since it has to do with hygienic condition. Male circumcision is widely accepted and is never being questioned. ... Female circumcision was practiced prior to the birth of Islam which precisely implies that it was not stated therein in the book of Qur'an that circumcision is also through with females. However some FGM advocates quoted this weak proposition: "Um Atiyyat al-Ansariyyah said: A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet (pbuh) said to her: Do not cut too severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband".1. It is in this text lies the foundation of FGM wherein it is deem important in Sunnah or Tradition of the Prophet to follow the custom of women's circumcision. Several sayings from the prophet Muhammad also surface concurring the FGM practice. However there was no clear statement to confirm the situation as it only states the correct derivation of pleasure. It was on the interpretation surmise the event of female circumcision. Thus there was no authenticity to validate such practice. Part of those who practice female circumcision are Muslims but some religions practice the same. It is part of their tradition to conduct this act without any luminous reason. Cultural reasons dominate over religious traditions although some fervent believers are most likely to adhere on the tradition; it is still an immense question as to what is the point behind the unrelenting practice that until now millions of women are mutilated. Several indicators include: "That female circumcision is rampant in Christian nations such as Kenya and Ethiopia". "That forced female circumcisions are true in all faiths abovementioned. It is a common practice in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sierra Leone and Sudan". "That FGM was once practiced by Ethiopian Jews known as that Falashas. However

China and Inexperienced Industrial Revolution Essay - 1

China and Inexperienced Industrial Revolution - Essay Example Coal was at the time a better form of heat production. It gave constant, reliable amount of heat without giving out a lot of by-products as a waste (McCloskey 2010). The changeover was due to great innovation from individuals and group of people who skilfully devised ways to make work easier and create a better life for everyone (Chai 2011). Most of the innovations were involuntary and automatic, but additionally, there were others that founded through a series of experiments and exploit of science (Duiker and   Spielvogel 2011). This revolution, that is an industry based, commenced in Britain and a few years later it stretched to the United States of America, as well as Western Europe (Chai 2011). It grades one of the most significant turning points in the account of the history of the whole world. Nearly all aspects of the everyday life of the inhabitants of the planet were greatly influenced in one way or another (Nolan 2008). The thing that was mostly experienced was the sharp growth of the human population. The society at this period was exceedingly rural in nature. The revolution changed this to a much modern and urban society for most of the nations at that time (Beele 2002). Many countries experienced this mode of change that spread from the center of origin in Britain. China has had a dynamic economy in terms of its economy in the recent years (Nolan 2008). But why did it delay in achieving better industrialization that other states in Europe and other countries in the regions of the world were developing in the period? This paper is going to assess the reasons why China did not experience ‘industrial revolution’ between c. 1700 and 1949. According to Bayo r (2011), there was a delay in the industrialization in China until later in the century. In order to curb these problems, the country decided to raise its investment significantly together with the signing of a huge number of deals that included overseas companies that offered their services in the construction of some of the chief amenities for compound fertilizer manufacture, steel production and oil mining and processing in the refinery plant.These factors - availability of raw materials in Europe, a lot of richness acquired from the colonies, the widespread trade around the world, the presence of a unwavering form of government that offered support to the effectiveness of real establishments and was optimistic in scientific progress - made the European countries gain an upper advantage in revolutionising earlier in the century. China was not able to compete with these countries owing to the conditions which it was in that period.  

The Man On The Moon Essay Example for Free

The Man On The Moon Essay The Road to Mecca is an eye opening play written by Athol Fugard that displays a deep and significant message about the importance women’s right to express themselves freely. Elsa, a character in the play, sums this idea up in a sentence she says in the play: â€Å"There’s nothing sacred in a marriage that abuses the woman†. The story is primarily based on a woman by the name of Helen Martin. Helen lived in a culture with certain social norms and conformities, where women specifically were afraid of pursuing their dreams due to an unwarranted fear of what others would think of their ideas and them, themselves as human beings. Helen conformed to the social norms and married, but when she died I believe that she was able to follow her dreams due to the fact that she did not have her husband’s religious judgments stopping her. After her husband’s death, her community expected her to begin a new life of quiet mourning, but instead she followed her dreams and began to build her own Mecca. This consisted of making many various statues in her backyard. Instead of the village residents in her community admiring and appreciating her art, instead they thought of her to be eccentric and rejected her. Helen was admirable as she continued her passion of art and creation even though her society was against her artistic ways. Instead of deciding to stop, even when stones were thrown at her house, she carried on building her Mecca. She dared to be different! Helen’s courage and free-will in this play portrays an important message of free expression that all women deserve and are entitled to have. Worrying about what other people think about you will never allow you to find out who you really are. Helen was torn between deciding whether or not to conform to the social norms expected of her or to carry on with her dreams and experience freedom. She chose the latter and fulfilled her own heart’s desires. Even though she lost many friends by doing so, there was Elsa, who accepted and supported her ways. Being yourself, and putting your dreams, thoughts and ideas in to reality is a true  representation of who you are and thus you will know who your true friends are. Helen’s courage in the play can be learnt by all women. Following societal norms and doing everything that is expected by you from society may be an easy way out. But by following this safe and easy way through life, there will be many potential characteristics and qualities wasted in your life. In Helen’s case she pushed through the societal norms and gained admirable qualities and characteristics such as love, courage, freedom and of course her artistic talent. Freedom is what we all desire, deserve and should have. Without it we will never have a true sense of happiness. Women have constantly either been forced or compelled to do what is expected of them. For example, in relationships, it is a husband’s expectation of a woman to cook, clean and even behave in a certain manner. In Helen’s case she was only able to follow her passion after her husband’s death. In these days women need to know that if they want to rather follow their dream, for exam ple to help people and become a nurse, they can! If their husband doesn’t allow it, the question must be raised, is he allowed to stop my dreams and passions from becoming a reality? Marriage is an extremely important decision to make, especially for women. It is very common for women to marry and for the husband to change and become abusive and controlling. This play can give women hope and a sense of courage to follow their hearts desire. If the husband does not allow for that, he does not truly love you because your dreams, hopes and passions all form part of who you really are. Therefore if they cannot be accepted and approved of, neither can the credibility of the relationship. Having trust with your heart’s desires and loving yourself are the most important things in order to be truly happy and free. To conclude, it is unfortunate that Helen was only able to follow her dream and portray her talent after the passing of her husband. All women can learn an imperative lesson from this play: A lesson of great courage and determination. It is never too late to follow your dream and realise that  you have a right and freedom to be who you want to be. Yes, some people may reject you, but you will gain friends who really matter and more importantly, you will gain a new sense of love for yourself. Nobody else has the right to stop you from expressing yourself freely and if they do try to, you must realise that they are not worth being a part of your life. Putting your dreams first may be a tough thing to do at times, as in Helen’s case, but if you don’t you will never experience the true joy and satisfaction that you could benefit from life. Finding and loving yourself should always be the biggest priority in women’s lives. By doing this first, the true friends and true love will follow.

Team Performance within Marks and Spencer

Team Performance within Marks and Spencer Performance management is a systematic process which improves performance of organization by developing the performance of individuals and teams. It is a strategy of getting better results from the organization, teams and individuals by understanding and managing performance within an agreed framework where goals are planned, standards and required competence are clearly defined. Strategic performance management is a process for establishing mutual understanding about what is to be achieved, and for managing and developing people in a way that makes it possible to achieve the goals in the short and longer term. It deals with broader issues of the organization. It is a tool to evaluate how the business is performing. Line management plays a key role in strategic performance Management who drive and fully owned this as per corporate governance regulation. I like to quote some other definitions as below, Performance management is: The development of individuals with competence and commitment, working towards the achievement of shared meaningful objectives within an organisation which supports and encourages their achievement (Lockett, 1) Performance management is: the process of Directing and supporting employees to work as effectively and efficiently as possible in line with the needs of the organisation (Walters, 3) Performance management is a strategic and integrated approach to delivering sustained success to organisations by improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of teams and individual contributors (Armstrong and Baron, 4) Be able to set performance targets to meet strategic objectives. Links between team performance and Strategic objectives. Team performance is directly related to companys strategic objectives. Organisation consists of number of people who works collectively to achieve common objective of the company which is profitability, thus if team performs well whole company will perform well. Every member of a team is assigned with specific day to day tasks which he/she is expected to do well and contribute fully for team collective output. Within team tasks are divided and resources are shared, they are interlinked and work with in cycle so, if one member doesnt finish his / her task in time it may slow down a whole next chain which can lead to slow down performance of a team as a whole. Slow progress may result loss of potential opportunities existed in the market and result in loss revenue which goes directly against the strategic objective of the company. Therefore, it is vital that each member of staff is chosen on the merit of job requirement and are fully equipped to perform his/her tasks with given time period. Team is judged on the basis of result they deliver. In Marks and Spenser each role is aligned with specific duties as per job description, over all aim is clearly defined, each member of staff is expected to deliver best customer services and are assigned with specific day to day tasks which ultimately lead to achieve organisational objectives such as monthly sales targets. Greater the team performance is the better chances are to meet organisational objectives. This proves that team performance is directly related meeting strategic organisational objectives. The principle is everyone will be working together to contribute to corporate profits. 1.2) Tools and technique available to set team performance targets There are many performance improvement models and tools available to set team performance targets, decision makers choose any model which best suits companys needs and assist its process. Ive listed below some which are most commonly used, Balance Scorecard: A multi-dimensional framework for managing strategy by linking objectives, initiatives, targets and performance measures across key corporate perspectives. Business Process Reengineering: An approach to review and redesign organisational processes in order to achieve improved performance in terms of cost, quality of service and timeliness EFQM Excellence Model: Organisational improvement framework for assessing strengths and areas for improvement across the spectrum of an organisations activities. Investors in People: National standard for improving organisational performance by training and developing people to achieve organisational goals. ISO9001 Quality System: Global standard and approach for quality management systems. The standard focuses on the management of processes and documentation in order to meet customer needs and expectations. Six Sigma: A disciplined methodology for process improvement that deploys a wide set of tools based on rigorous data analysis to identify sources of variation in performance and ways of reducing them Management by Objectives: It is a process where objectives are agreed with in organization so management and employees understands what they are in the organization. It is driven by objectives. Evidence over the past five years suggests that the use of the various improvement models and tools has been variable with equally variable impact. The aim of the review is to raise awareness and understanding of some of the more popular performance improvement models and tools available to organisations and to share learning in their use to date. It is hoped that the review will enable authorities to make more informed choices on the use of appropriate approaches or tools if appropriate to use them at all. MS uses investor in Business model and invest vast amount of its resources on training and coaching to improve people skills to contribute more professionally and provide best customer services. There is a full time coaching staffs assigned for each shift whose duty is to be on the floor and assist instantly where ever any member needs assistance or to ensure the customer services is at its best. Every contribution adds to achieve corporate profit. 1.3) Value of Strategic Performance tools to measure future team performance Managing employee or system performance assist the effective delivery of strategic and operational goals. It saves time, assist to measure the output, it improves business results. It helps to check if efforts are in right direction and are serving the purpose of the organization rather wasting time. Companies are using integrated software to record employees contributions that assist them to measure, analyze and enhance employees output. This brings direct or indirect benefits to the companies. Direct Financial Gains Maximizes sales Minimizes costs Avoid any overruns Comply with the organizational Goals Speedy implementation of any changes in strategic or operational goals. Marks and Spencer (MS) took a great advantage by implementing and constant reviewing and adapting right strategic performance tool which best suits its need and manage to turn its portfolio from making loss to producing profit since 2006 onwards, since then they are managing to keep company in profit despite tough market condition like recession hit economy where buying capacity is at its low. Be able to agree team performance targets to contribute to meeting strategic objectives 2.1) How to determine required performance targets with in teams against current performance The term KPI has become one of the most popular terms in business development and management. In theory it provides a series of measures against which internal managers and external investors can judge the business and how it is likely to perform over the medium and long term. Different organisations need to monitor different aspects of their environment, there are many monitoring modules, and Ive chosen to list some of them below, Product/ service Competitive analysis Customer satisfaction Marketing management Personnel management IT management Contingency planning For each monitoring module, one can then establish what the current level of performance is in a measurable and understandable way. This is the current performance. From industry sources, the benchmark level can normally be introduced (getting to benchmarks is often a difficult process and one requiring a mixture of low cunning and/or sophisticated analysis). Then a target level of achievement can be entered. Let us take an example of customer satisfaction module in Marks and Spencer. Customer Satisfaction; Current Benchmark Target 60% 90% 100% A mystery shopper also visits twice monthly and assessed each store. If they are maintaining standards and providing best customer care which MS is renowned for and then award score. Each store is expected to score 100%. The KPI is central to a number of other elements in the planning platform which provides the Basis for answering the three crucial planning questions: Where are we? Where do we want to be (and when)? How are we going to get there cost effectively? The most rapid way to establish the KPI within any set of monitoring information is to work through the three criteria in sequence. Is the control information key to success of the organisation? Can we measure it and influence it? Does it provide leading edge indications of future developments? In MS when a new member of staff joins the company, proper induction is conducted, his role is fully briefed to him / her in detail and all key performance indicator markers (KPIs) are agreed with in one to one meeting with Manager. First three months are considered as probationary period where staff is expected to learn and demonstrate all basic qualities which are required at this role. There is a standard Career path and Job titles are self explanatory, so with in probationary period staff is provided with a title as trainee customer assistance. After successful completion of probationary period the staffs is promoted to qualified customer assistant. Next level is to become section coordinator which leads to become section Manager at next level. 2.2) need to encourage individual commitment to team performance in achievement of organisational goals. The overall aim of performance management is to establish a high-performance culture in which individuals and teams take responsibility for the continuous improvement of business processes and for their own skills and contributions within a framework provided by effective leadership. This stage refers to working to ensure the performance objectives are achieved. Identify development needs and support it with professional training one need. When performance objectives are agreed, line managers will need to plan how to achieve expected level of performance. Provide all support and resources which he/she may need to undertake specific day to day tasks. For any new role Introduce comprehensive induction and probation period is to assess employees performance and assess their need. All employees should be motivated to work effectively and efficiently. This applies to all including one who has been working for same post for over the years. The essentials of effective performance management includes, Appreciate its purpose Clarity in process cycle and how individual can best contribute in it. Recognition of responsibilities Prioritizing task Effective communication and feedback Suggesting ways to meeting individuals targets. Rewarding employees MS always encourages staffs and provide full support to increase performance. Staffs are rewarded with bonuses and reward vouchers based on feedback from customer as well as from mystery shoppers. Managers work closely with staff on the floor and assist them wherever required. Career path is designed to encourage employees to perform at their best which ensured their professional growth. It is highlighted that without every ones individual performance and contribution over all success of organization is not possible. 2.3) Application of delegation, mentoring and coaching to the achievement of the organisational objectives Mentoring is a popular tool of personal development and type of training which is long standing. It refers to support, advice and guidance of most experienced person with in organisation to new or inexperience person for his personal development which brings benefits to organisation. It is essentially a supportive form of development. It focuses on helping an individual manage their career and improve skills. Personal issues can be discussed more productively unlike in coaching where the emphasis is on performance at work. Mentoring activities have both organisational and individual goals. Coaching refers to developing persons skills to improve job performance in order to achieve of organisational objectives. It is generally short term more organised and time bounded with regular meetings. Coach needs to be qualified or experienced with formal occupational role. It focuses on development of work related and more specific issues or immediate goals. MS has kept a specific role as a coaching member who preset on the floor and helps staff with their day to day activities and trains them wherever required. Mangers also work on the floor with team and use mentoring wherever they feel necessary. Mangers also delegate work with in team and seeing them through with successful completion while paying attention to manage other tasks. All this leads to team success which ultimately help to achieve strategic objectives i.e. Best store lay out and customer service which brings more sale and help corporate profit. 2.4) evaluate a team performance plan A Team Performance Plan is a detailed plan used to: Identify the desired performance levels of the team Identify how these performance levels will be achieved Provide guidance and direction to the team Measure progress towards the desired performance levels Although there are no strict rules as to the format of a Team Performance Plan they normally contain the following information: Specific goals for team development Performance measures Actions required to achieve goals An indication of how long goals will take to achieve The Team Performance Plan should align with the organizations overall objectives. This can be achieved by: 1. Aligning the Team Performance Plan with the Team Purpose 2. Aligning the Team Purpose with the organizations objectives Team Performance Plans might include the following types of goals: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Goals to improve team competency Team building goals One of the most fundamental purposes of performance management is to align individual and organizational objectives. This means that everything people do at work leads to outcomes that further the achievement of the basis of performance management 7 organizational goals. Individuals and teams are provided with the opportunity to formulate their own goals within the framework provided by the defined overall purpose, strategy and values of the organization. Objectives should be agreed, not set, and this agreement should be reached through the open dialogues that take place between managers and individuals throughout the year. In other words, this needs to be seen as a partnership in which responsibility is shared and mutual expectations are defined. MS set KPI for each member for staff as per their role, lets take an example of customer assistant who is assigned with following objectives, Quantitative objectives include date rotation of all products which help to bring down daily waste ratio and ultimately help to increase profitability of store. Staffs is expected to keep a close eye on inventory to ensure products are available at all the time which help to achieve weekly sale targets of the store. Qualitative objectives includes all products are tagged with correct price and place in a right position which is legal requirement and standard of MS. Staffs are expected to ensure customer safety is paramount. If there is any spillage on the floor it should be cleared quickly and any slippery floor is sign posted to aware customer with any possible hazards. Staff need to ensure the Environment is clean and customer friendly. Staffs are fully aware of product position and its description to answer and satisfy customer query if any. Be able to monitor actions and activities defined to improve team performance 3.1) Process for monitoring team performance and initiate changes where necessary Performance management provides better management control; it is flexible and responsive to their needs. It facilitates to comply with companies legal requirement. It also helps out in Audit. Workers know the criteria they will be appraised against. Goals are pre-defined. All businesses, whatever sector they are in, will have plans, aims and objectives. In some cases these can be very sophisticated but in some small businesses very modest. Whatever they are a business will need to monitor its performance in relation to these goals. Following are different ways of monitoring team performances, Meet with Team Conduct weekly or bi-weekly meetings with team leaders to review issues, share experiences, and resolve problems and concerns. Make sure that team leaders hold similar meetings with their team members, and that identified issues are recorded, communicated, and followed through to closure. Communication: effective communication may require nothing more than routine, informal, interaction among the team. Recognize Success Positive reinforcement is a key element of effective team building. This can be as simple as a few words of praise or public recognition, or nomination for a more formal rewards and recognition, such as Impact. Monitor Team Morale On a small project, management by walking around will be sufficient to assess team morale. On a project with multiple subprojects and/or a distributed team, more formal techniques such as team surveys may be used to identify problem areas that require corrective action. Conduct Team Performance Reviews Make sure that the process defined in the Employee Performance and Development Program is followed to provide regular, constructive feedback on each persons performance on the project. Reviews should occur at the end of each major phase, whenever the team member or his/her team leader is about to leave the project, at the end of the project, or on a minimum six-monthly basis. Lets take an example of Marks and Spencer where manager walk around on the floor every hour or so and observe each members performance against their agreed daily tasks, if needed they provide direction to member by prioritizing tasks. I like to pick Mckinsey 7-S Model to define a broad view of what contributes to performance effectiveness. McKinseys 7-S frame work In 1981 Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos started investigating success of Japanese industry, in the same time Tom Peters and Robert Waterman were exploring what made company excellent. The Seven S model was born at a meeting in 1978 between these four authors it was taken up by global management company called McKinseys, since then it is known as their 7- S model. It is used to organise a company in holistic and effective way. Shared Values This is interconnected centre of McKinneys model which describes what organisation stands for and what it believes in. Strategy It is a plan division of available resources over the period of time to achieve identified goals. Skills It refers to core competence of company workforce and their distinctive capabilities. Staff Number and type of staff members with in organisation Style Refers to Management style and how they act to achieve companys goal. Systems A procedure, process and routines which explain how the work should be conducted, financial system, MIS, performance appraisals and recruitment process etc. Structure The way Management structure is outlines, its hierarchy, i.e. centralised or de centralised, a matrix etc. 3.2) Evaluate team performance against agreed objectives Performance reviews are conducted by filling up appraisal forms with set of question in relation to KPIs set out and previously agreed with employees in one to one meeting. The outcome of review performance determine what action are required to ensure improve performance and future tasks are met. Any training required should be planned and resources are allocated in budget. Reasonable steps are taken to rectify problem if any. Excellent performance should be rewarded with bonus etc and it is assured to employees that their feedback/comments are valuable and their efforts are recognised. Any capability issue should be taken with care. Any underachievement should be dealt with as per companys policy guidelines and employee should be engaged in way where all efforts are made to provide enough support to staff to increase their output in order to achieve their targets. Manager should use all methods to increase staff performance that includes flexible hours, sharing of work load, providi ng new pattern of work, independent occupational advice, additional training and support. Marks and Spenser (MS) pays great attention to outcome of performance review, a copy of each review is attached with employees personal file. Any recommendations for training needs are scheduled at earliest opportunity. Any under performer is dealt with as per companys standard guidelines. 3.3) evaluate the impact of the team performance in contributing to meeting strategic objectives The out put of appraisal confirms if member has been able to meet his KPIs, if yes how should you rate them as that rating has a direct reflection of his/her contribution to companies objectives, if employees does well he is rewarded with incentives i.e. bonus payment as well as salary increase if he falls behind he is dealt with as per companies policy. In Marks and Spenser up until last year all employees were rewarded with Bonus payments because MS did well against its budget as well as its forecast. It was evaluated that this can not be achieved with out a great hard work team members had put it. 4) Be able to apply influencing and persuading skills to the dynamic and politics of personal interactions 4.1) determine influencing and persuading methodologies to gain the commitment of individuals to a course of action Market research shows that organization that invests and care about motivation of staff generally performs better. Organization is tasked with developing individuals and rewarding and retaining those who perform well. Organisations have a vested interest in finding out if the incentive schemes that they implement are resulting in the desired behavior from individuals. I like to highlight below the link between incentives and employee motivation. Paying for performance Advocates of pay for performance systems argue that good systems motivate employees towards achievements that support corporate goals and strategies. Rewarding the right behaviour By rewarding staff for their right behaviour motivates them to make the good performance consistently or make every effort to deliver best services all the time. Incentives and staff performance Incentives are very much welcomed by staff weather its time off or free drinks or bonus payments it motivate them to achieve higher goals or achieve excellent performance. The rewards usually relate to the achievement of certain goals, either personal, team or organisational, or a combination of all. In addition, the critical success factors are: 1. To keep the scheme simple 2. Participants should be able to calculate their incentive 3. Payouts should be meaningful 4. Targets are set in month 1 and goal posts are not moved during the incentive period Incentives do not work well in isolation from other management practices. Rather, they are further supported by other elements such as good working conditions, performance management, performance appraisals, and training opportunities. Weak administration and processes will inhibit its effectiveness. There are three contributing factors for performance motivation. Money Social recognition Performance feedback. Traditional Motivational Models and persuading methodologies to gain the commitment of individuals to a course of action Maslows hierarchy of needs Each of us is motivated by needs. Our most basic needs are inborn, having evolved over tens of thousands of years. Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs helps to explain how these needs motivate us all. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself. Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development. Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs. Source (http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm) Douglas McGregor theory x y Theory x (authoritarian management style) The average person dislikes work and will avoid it he/she can. Therefore most people must be forced with the threat of punishment to work towards organisational objectives. The average person prefers to be directed; to avoid responsibility; is relatively UN ambitious, and wants security above all else. Theory y (participative management style) Effort in work is as natural as work and play. People will apply self-control and self-direction in the pursuit of organisational objectives, without external control or the threat of punishment. Commitment to objectives is a function of rewards associated with their achievement. People usually accept and often seek responsibility. The capacity to use a high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in solving organisational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population. In industry the intellectual potential of the average person is only partly utilised. Tools for teaching, understanding and evaluating xy theory factors There are a number of fundamental concepts that underpin the Excellence Model that are reflected in the criteria and sub criteria of the framework. These concepts are: 1. Results orientation 2. Customer focus 3. Leadership and constancy of purpose 4. Management by processes and facts 5. People development and involvement 6. Continuous learning 7. Innovation and improvement 8. Partnership development 9. Public responsibility. Source (http://www.businessballs.com/mcgregor.htm) Frederick Hertzberg theory Herzbergs research used a pioneering approach, based on open questioning and very few assumptions, to gather and analyse details of critical incidents as recalled by the survey respondents. Herzbergs research identified that true motivators were other completely different factors, notably: achievement recognition work itself responsibility advancement In MS Bonus payments, rewards vouchers are used to gain individuals commitment which has been very successful. In addition names are posted on notice boards who ever achieve best customer services award of the month to recognise their employees effort. This also motivate other employees to work extra hard and be no 1 next time. Promotions are also awarded to persuade employees to take more responsibilities and face fresh challenges in order to progress on professional career. 4.2) discuss the impact of individual dynamics, interest and organizational politics on securing the commitment of individuals to a course of action. The approaches and tools vary. However all aim to address one or more of the following objectives, with the ultimate aim of improving performance: 1. Help understand what customers need; 2. Help organisations and employees become more results orientated; 3. Improve the quality of service to customers by improving processes or practices; 4. Provide a structured approach to strategic management; 5. Create links between individual, service and corporate objectives; 6. Translate strategy in to performance measures and targets and in doing so rationalise performance information; 7. Help demonstrate individual staff contribution to organisational objectives and create ownership of performance by staff involvement in the improvement process; 8. Identify strengths and areas for improvement; 9. Aid internal and external communication. Marks and Spenser selected Mary Gober method as chosen service style in order to enhance its reputation, improve sales and business results, and make employee and customer proud of Marks and Spenser. Through employees efforts, this service style became a part of MSs very nature, character which never fades away. It acts as a powerful force, consistently delivering great service every time customer interacts. The method really helped changing individuals behaviour throughout the chains of store. It emphasised that employees should be positive, take ownership and responsibility, be respectful and be determined from the minute they say Hello to customer to the minute say Goodbye, everything In Between and Beyond. This makes a dramatic, powerful impact on the customer and leaves a feel good impression. Summary The study of strategic performance management gives us the knowledge that how managers achieve the organization overall long term goal. The study of SPM is all about the need for finding common ground between strategy management and operations management. While strategy management seeks to make strategy relevant to employees day-to-day responsibilities, operations management seeks strategic context for implementation and improvement projects. This assignment give us an idea and understanding to find out the gap between management strategy, management accounting, and strategic human resource management to analyze the link between organizational strategy and systems of planning and control.

Cable Modem Access :: essays research papers fc

Cable Internet   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Internet has been around for over 40 years and despite technological advances in speed, people still complain that it’s too slow. How can people get their favorite songs or visit their favorite sites before dinner is over? This paper will discuss one option, cable internet access.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Until now internet the public had to access the WWW through slow phone lines, connecting anywhere from 300 bps in the infancy of public access to 56k. But now there are several high-speed alternatives to the old phone line, one being the cable modem. Using your cable TV provider as your ISP, people can access the Internet at speeds up to 27 Mbps, but limitations with hardware limit this to about 2Mbps (www.TechTarget.com). This speed is fine for most users. It is also â€Å"always on†. Meaning you do not have to dial-up to your ISP. It is similar to a LAN connection. This hasn’t been done before mainly because when cable TV companies were being formed, the networks were only being set up to send data and not to receive it. The remedy for this was to upgrade the networks not only to be able to receive information, but to handle the larger amount of bandwidth (www.Vicomsoft.com). The way cable internet access is possible is my using a standard cable TV coax line as the medium and a cable modem to connect the computer to the Internet. The cable TV provider has a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) that then goes through the coax line to the home. The coax line is then connected to a splitter, with one line going to the television or set-top box, and the other to the cable modem (www.Techtarget.com). The cable modem then is connected to a PC via a Cat 3 or 5 cable to a network card. Some modems can also be connected via the USB or FireWire port. The type of modem a person needs depends on the standard the provider is using. One may be using the Multimedia Cable Network Systems (MCNS)/ Data over Cable Systems Interface Specification (DOCSIS) standard, and the IEEE 802.14 standard. The faster, bandwidth efficient, better performing, and more robust choice is the MCNS DOCSIS standard (www.Vicomsoft.com). Because this is the standard, most manufacturers have developed their modems to work with it, though some manufacturers have based theirs off of the IEEE 802.14 standard.

Commedia dellarte Essay -- Art

Commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte is a truly popular form of theatre - of the people, by the people, for the people. Discuss this statement with specific examples of Commedia dell'arte scenarios, stock characters, performance features and circumstances. Commedia dell'arte is definitely an artform centred on people and their world. Although its origins are hazy due to the illiteracy of its first performers and audience, it is believed to have stemmed from the carnivals in Italy during the sixteenth century. Here it rose from the people from folk theatre, which used masks and music, and from the charlatans using pretence as a means of earning money. The scenarios involved in Commedia arose from the thematic concerns the form had. It was mainly concerned with examining the human condition via satire. Therfore, the canovaccios were filled with driving themes such as food, drink, sex, love, money and vengence. The artists created the scenarios to fit into the peoples living conditions as a safety valve. They could laugh at their situation on stage, making their conditions a little more bearable. In this way, Commedia was designed by troupes, simply the Italian public, for their audience and the people. Stock characters came from the people in that they were often satirizations of them. Ill Dottore, an expert on everything who could talk unendingly, was a satirization of the bolognese academics. Ill Capitano was a satirization of invaders of Italy, partic...

Dubai as Rentier State

United Arab Emirates Political Economy The success of the United Arab Emirates come directly from its high revenue made from oil exports. This country was a desert region that turned into an economic boom in the recent years. According to CNN World News, â€Å"Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates [is] the richest city in the world. The Emirate's citizens, who sit on one-tenth of the planet's oil and have almost $1 trillion invested abroad, are worth about $17 million apiece. Because of this factor, the UAE is considered one of the wealthiest countries in the world. However, turmoil struck the country with the recent global recession in 2008 that led to contradictions in their global oil wealth. Now that the country is recovering from this down point, the state infers global oil position will recover in sales on a slow but steady pace. In this research paper, I will demonstrate how the United Arab Emirates functions under a rentier economy and the country has not built the political stability they intended which led to challenges faced by the people and government.The rentier model of the United Arab Emirates depicts the stability of the political economy from its high oil revenues. A unique characteristic of the prosperity of the country stems from the fact of the discovery of oil. What oil production really means is a natural resource taken from the earth and not an existing good that is produced through sales. What distinguishes a rentier economy from other countries is the oil profits and its high dependence on one necessity for foreigners. A rentier is a group or entire state that profits on income from property or investments, and in such a case oil from the UAE.The rentier is not involved with the making of the incentive, but is entitled to a high amount of the money. In his journal, â€Å"The Rentier State in the Arab World,† Beblawi explains what a rentier economy is based upon. He claims, â€Å"There is no existence of a real ren tier state. Every rentier economy is an economic structure with the backings of external rent coming into the funds† (Beblawi). This rent is vital to the measurement of success in a rentier economy. This is the key factor in holding the economy together without a domestic sector. Also, a entier economy doesn't have many hands involved with the generation of the wealth. The creation of such wealth is maintained and kept within a small number of elites. The governance of the country is able to rely on the discovery of oil mines to external profit being it is a main factor in the county's high success rate. Previously, this money would have to come from the population, such as merchants and artisans, but now it can be received precociously from dependent revenue provided by the oil. The settlement between the social group and the workers create a social contract.About seventy to eighty percent of the lower to middle class, also known as the labor force, participates in the produc tion of oil in the United Arab Emirates. Whereas a large percentage is involved in the production, a small fraction of society partakes in the distribution, and benefits of the revenues. According to the Financial Times, â€Å"Due to the high volume of oil distribution and price increase, the early 1970's began an era of investments in industry, services, public works, and investments in infrastructure.Because of these investments, a high demand for a workforce grew which surpassed the demand of supply† (Chazan). This chain reaction led to a foreign workforce that would interfere with the national workforce. It became such a huge development that the foreign workforce evolved into the primary workforce in all sections of the economy. Developing the infrastructure system was one of the main fields where the Emirates sought improvement through other investments. Works such as roads, highways, airports, telecommunication networks, and governmental ministries were built.They revo lutionized the states from a barren into a highly developed country. The Arab monarchs then invested in another industry so they could ensure a long term source of income in a time where oil prices constantly changed. The last investment was an investment in social needs and services. These services included health care, educational improvement, and even housing facilities. The three areas of investment was designed for one purpose. That purpose is for a smoother more easy form of oil transportation, which would lead to a boom in the economy.The wealthy Arab monarchs spared no expense as they imported laborers from many countries. The countries in which they imported labor were India, Pakistan, Great Britain, Germany, and even the United States of America. Despite the heavy importation of laborers, it was only meant to be temporary, as the Monarchs believed the national population would serve as the workforce and take over where the foreign labor force left off. The Monarchs thought wrong as the national population were not too fond of taking manual labor jobs that were unpleasant or difficult.This created a problem of social structure within the Emirate people of the UAE. The population didn't want to take on these manual jobs after the federation set up a system of other high industry incomes. This led to influx of millions of foreign labors who remained in the country, which the government had no intention for tending to. A short term plan turned into a drawn out problem for the country. The astonishing detail of the United Arab Emirates is that they were able to create an oil revenue that provided the rulers with an upper hand.This country has built an entire welfare state in which it doesn't have to extrapolate tax from it's subjects. According to The New York Times, â€Å"Oil is the mainstay of the UAE economy and the driving force behind it. If there were to be a negative development in the country's financial situation or on the policy of the state, t he country will be faced with direct implementation due to these factions. † The oil prices have always been unsteady in the global market which has created a myriad amount of oil revenues. Certain common citizens are allowed to own their own portion of oil.But unfortunately, some of the oil revenues are given out in the federal government through high Emirate elites which hinders on the country's aptitude of generating their own in-housed wealth. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi earns the sanction of creating more than 90% of the total contribution to the oil market to secede in their country's fortune (CIA World Factbook). Dubai also contributes to this fund as well. The government structure of UAE, known as a federation system, do not procure ownership in the federal profits of oil so this makes the country highly susceptible to the dependence of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi.This ultimately makes the oil revenuers indirectly dependent. What toughens the situation for the country are the changing oil prices constantly that is not controlled by government or elite officials. State planning is hard to carry out under such circumstances. This is bound to stem from state profit being relied upon oil revenue that isn't promised for today and tomorrow's plans. This creates a setback from the people of the Emirates who cannot be supported by the federal budgets of such an economy thriving on the oil industry.There is an annual deficit of millions of dirhams (UAE currency) because of this fluctuation in oil prices. The focus of this essay has been to analyze how the United Arab Emirates try to obtain political firmness as a rentier state and not follow through with it successfully for the inhibitions of the people. The rentier theory points out that loyalty in politics is rooted in economic motivation. Economic welfare is meant to go hand in hand with political opposition. Yet, the economic welfare of the people are closely linked to oil revenue of the United Arab E mirates in the world market.The problem of foreign labor plays a part in the state's welfare policy as well. The importation of foreign labor was vital for the economic growth that started as a result of the oil price increase. The government thought that the national population would be able to give the needs to fill the workers’ place. This assumption turned out to be wrong. This essay has shown that the rulers’ welfare policies have made nationals skeptical in their choice of labor. In addition, this essay has depicted how the rentier model can exult the explanation of Abu Dhabi’s leading role within the federation.These facts have strengthened the assumption that the rulers use the oil economy as an instrument in securing stability but not to the country's best ability. Bibliography Beblawi, Hazem. â€Å"The Rentier State in the Arab World. † Politics of the Middle East (2009). Web. 5 May 2012. Chazan, Guy. â€Å"Oil: Finally Aligning Strategic Plans . † Financial Times. 16 Apr. 2012. Web. â€Å"Economy of UAE. † CIA World Factbook. 12 Apr. 2010. Web. Gared, Davidson. â€Å"Economy and Financing Projecting the UAE. † The New York Times. 16 Mar. 2011. Web. Gimbel, Barney. â€Å"The Richest City in the World. † CNN World News. 12 March 2007.