Les Miserables Essay Example for Free

Les Miserables Essay In Websters Dictionary the word Justice is defined by the words fairness and rightfulness. Around the world, the figure of Justice is portrayed as blind from all information but objective facts. In the novel Les Miserables written by Victor Hugo, the figure of Justice is meant to be completely blind, but it does not stay totally blind. Jean ValJean, the main character of the novel had been a prisoner for 19 years. When he was released from prison he was given a yellow ticket that identified him as a criminal. This made ValJean unable to live a normal life again. Today, due to the media and the abundance of information that is available for everyone on the internet these days, this system of Justice is not always executed properly. These two instances of the yellow ticket in Les Miserables and the media today resulted in no blind Justice for those who are affected. The system of Justice is supposed to be considered blind. This means that when a trial comes to court, no one knows any outside information on the trial before it begins. This includes all of the Jury and the Judge. The goal of blind Justice is to present a fair trial and eliminate bias. Part of the Jury selection process is to make sure that no one has any prior knowledge on the trial that they are being selected. When there is a trial that is totally blind, the trial is more likely to go smoothly because all of the facts would Just have been known from information presented in the court. There is no outside information that someone considers important which could cause chaos and confusion. Unfortunately in some cases it is difficult to keep a case blind. In todays society there are certain cases that are very tough to keep blind. These cases usually contain popular celebrities that the media is attached to. Whenever a celebrity gets in lots of trouble with the law, it is all over television, newspapers and the internet. The world knows everything that happened in the incident and what will happen to the celebrity. This results in the trial not being blind at all. A recent example ofa trial not being blind is the case of the former Buffalo Bills running back 0. 1. Simpson. Simpson tried to retain some of his old emorabilia from some old friends, but did it very aggressively with a weapon and was charged with numerous accounts of armed robbery and kidnapping. Before this, Simpson was well known for his success on the football field but also his prior trial for murdering his wife. Simpson was found not guilty in this popular trial but many people believe he was guilty. This recent trial was followed very intently by the media. Reporters were everywhere Simpson went and every development in the trial was in the news almost instantly. Before the trial started the Judge and Jury had lready known all about Simpson and his successes and mishaps. As a result the trial was very biased against Simpson. Simpson was found guilty and sentenced to at least 9 years in prison and a maximum of 33 years. This anti-blind Justice pretty much goes for any celebrity that gets in trouble with the law. In Les Miserables Justice is not completely blind for Jean Val]ean. The Justice is not completely blind because Jean ValJean is not a criminal but he was a result of a slightly corrupt Justice system during that time period in France. The Justice system as not intended to be blind. Jean ValJeans open Justice was not in court, it was present a yellow passport, showing that he is an ex-convict. This causes people to instantly look down on ValJean and treat him worse than a normal person. Since he is an ex-convict, anytime he does something he is quick to be arrested, because of his past. When he stays with the Bishop of Digne and steals some silverware he is quickly arrested. Luckily the Bishop was very gracious and let Jean ValJean go by teaching him some lessons. ValJean does continue to face adversity because of his ast. He is later wanted back in prison because he is thought to be disguising himself, to hide his ex-convict identity. Blind Justice was clearly not evident in the life of Jean ValJean. Clearly, Justice is sometimes completely blind, but it is very difficult to keep ones case completely blind. In the cases of 0. 1. Simpson and Jean ValJean blind Justice was not present and they both suffered from it. The Justice system suffers directly from the world around it and as time goes on it becomes ever harder to keep information private.

Performance Appraisal: Textile Sector

Performance Appraisal: Textile Sector The present study was under taken with such a task in mind and it aims at unearthing the strengths and weakness of the current performance appraisal system in textile industry Coimbatore that is prevalent in the organization that sponsored this research work. Since organizations exist to achieve goals. The degree of success that individual employees have in reaching their individuals goals is important in determining organizational effectiveness. The assessment of how successful employees have been at meeting their individual goals, therefore, becomes a critical part of Human Resource Management. This leads us to the topic of Performance Appraisal. This project aims at knowing Performance Appraisal System in this research has studied the work atmosphere and the welfare measures provided by the organization. It also aims at finding out the employees relationship with the management. This survey is done within the organization. The sample size is 110. The data was collected by administering questionnaire and by adopting direct personal contact method. The persons met are all employees of the industry. Collections of data were analyzed and tabulated in a sequential manner and the interpretations are given along with the tabulation. The conclusion observations are also given in this report for the improvement of this system in the organization. Key Words: Appraiser, Self reliant, Appraisal, Judgmental, Distributive, Interactional INTRODUCTION The performance appraisal plays a vital role in identifying the productivity of workers; it also helps the company for its overall growth. It is the systematic evaluation of the performance of employees and to understand the abilities of a person for further growth and development. Performance appraisal is generally done in systematic ways which are as follows, the supervisors measure the pay of employees and compare it with targets and plans, the supervisor analyses the factor behind work performance of employees, and the employees are in the position to guide the employees for a better performance. In India, Textile Industry is one of the oldest and foremost industries and it provides tremendous opportunities for employment and huge amount as revenue. The Indian Government is also playing a major role in promoting the textile industries. Cotton is the most popular fiber and used to make clothing. Textile Industry is providing one of the most basic needs of people and it hold import ance. Maintain sustained growth for improving quality of life. It has a unique position as a self-reliant industry, from the production of raw materials to the delivery of finished products, with substantial value-addition at each stage of processing; it is a major contribution to the countrys economy. TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN COIMBATORE: Coimbatore is called the South Indian Manchester. The climate in Coimbatore city is very favorable for the development of textile industries. The easy availability of raw materials, sufficient skilled laborers, humid and soft wind prevailing in Coimbatore district are the other major factors for the development of the textile industry in Coimbatore. There are 98 textile firms in Coimbatore district in which few of the industry are taken into account for the study on the same. India has abundant natural resources in terms of availability of natural fibers like cotton, silk, wool etc. India is the third largest producer of cotton in the world and accounts for about 12% of the total world production. The availability of cheap cotton has been one of the biggest advantages to Indian exporters. OBJECTIVES To study about the employees opinion about performance appraisal. To gain practical knowledge about the various factors that forms part of performance appraisal To study about how they view the present appraisal method To provide opportunities for the employees to express their ideas REVIEW OF LITERATURE: Mowday, R.T., Steers, R.M., Porter, L.M. 1979 an employees perception of justice in the performance appraisal process will also affect the effectiveness of the performance appraisal process. Justice is thought to have three categories, procedural, distributive, and interactional justice. In a performance appraisal setting, a lack of justice in one area is predicted to have the same effect as a violation of justice in all areas. If an employee perceives that the system processes are fair, the supervisors efforts to distribute rewards and punishments based on outcomes of the process, and that the employee is treated fairly, the employees perception of justice will be high. Craig Eric Schneier and Richard W. Beatty, July 1979 Despite its standard practice in most public and private organizations for more than 50 years, performance appraisal still has many problems. Raters show resistance to criticizing subordinates, and the judgmental aspect of evaluating human performance is subject to both covert (subjective and individual) and overt (prejudice and bias) errors. Raters often arent trained in employee counseling and may be forced to conduct performance appraisals with inadequate or erroneous information about rate performance. American Institutes for Research, Washington, D.C.: AIR, 1979 In a 1984 study in New England, 16 raters (Extension administrators designated by their state Extension director as having agent performance appraisal responsibility) completed EABRARS on 141 rural New England Extension agents.5 Reliability analysis of the total ratings indicated that EABRARS was an internally consistent, highly reliable instrument. Differences between New England agents were detected at the .05 confidence level with respect to age, subject-matter area, years of experience, and state of employment. Nemeroff Wexley, 1979 study shows that employees are likely to feel more satisfied with their appraisal result if they have the chance to talk freely and discuss their performance. It is also more likely that such employees will be better able to meet future performance goals. Employees are also more likely to feel that the appraisal process is fair if they are given a chance to talk about their performance. This especially, when they are permitted to challenge and appeal against their evaluation. Proper feedback has to be given about their performance to the appraises. Robert M. Guion, the State of the Art, November 5-6, 1982, pp. 3-4Twenty years ago, nearly all civil servants in the central government of OECD member countries were paid according to service-incremental salary scales. This is not to say that civil servants previously lacked performance incentives. Promotions, and especially those into senior management, were rigorously controlled, serving partly as an incentive but partly also as a way of ensuring the independence of the public service with regard to the executive and thus its ability to serve governments of different political persuasions. Remuneration has been seen as an alternative or a complementary incentive to promotion. Socio-economic pressures have led to the need for types of incentives other than promotion to strengthen performance management. Craig Eric Schneier and Richard W. Beatty, May 1988 To try to rectify some of the problems, Smith and Kendall developed Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales, better known as BARS. The BARS format deals with measurable behaviors, not personality, provides raters and rates with clear statements of performance goals, and is based on a specific, thorough job analysis. Using BARS, raters focus on specific rate behaviors. These behaviors are compared to specific examples (job dimensions and anchors developed from the job analysis) that provide concrete benchmarks for making appraisal judgments. BARS are mainly used to measure the behaviors of rates. Dulewicz (1989), a basic human tendency to make judgments about those one is working with, as well as about oneself. Appraisal, it seems, is both inevitable and universal. In the absence of a carefully structured system of appraisal, people will tend to judge the work performance of others, including subordinates, naturally, informally and arbitrarily. This study, by Heneman, Greenberger Anonyou (1989) reported that in groupers are subordinates who seem to be favored by their supervisors. In their relationship with the boss, they enjoy a high degree of trust, interaction, support and rewards. Tsui, A.S. OReilly, C.A. 1989 most studies focus on the performance appraisal where the supervisor evaluates his or her employees. In this paper, based upon two research projects, we look at both sides of the coin. In one study subordinates evaluated their supervisors, in the other one the focus was upon supervisors perception of their subordinates. The contribution aims to determine whether age-related stereotyping plays a significant role in performance appraisals. In both studies, it was determined whether the assesses age is negatively related with the assessors view on his or her competencies. Age is taken into consideration for appraisal rating in the above study. Longenecker (1989) argues that accuracy in performance appraisal is impossible to achieve, since people play social and political games, and they protect their own interests. No savvy manager, says Longenecker, is going to use the appraisal process to shoot himself or herself in the foot.Accuracy in performance appraisal is a major drawback to the system. Recent research (Bannister Balkin, 1990) has reported that appraisees seem to have greater acceptance of the appraisal process, and feel more satisfied with it, when the process is directly linked to rewards. Such findings are a serious challenge to those who feel that appraisal results and reward outcomes must be strictly isolated from each other. Rewards and work performance are directly linked with each other. METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY: The study was more of a descriptive in nature and it was the survey research design that was used in, by taking a sample of elements at one point of time. The researcher adopted this type of research design to systematically gather the information from the respondents for the purpose of understanding and predicting some aspects concerned with the performance appraisal system in their organization. The sample unit of the study was 110 employees of Textile Company in Coimbatore Primary data: Primary data has been collected through a structured questionnaire. Secondary data: Secondary data has been collected from the books, journals, project reports and Internet. Data was collected through structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into three parts First section dealt with the queries relating to the personal details of the employees Second section dealt with the queries relating to the awareness about performance appraisal Third section dealt with queries relating to views about the present appraisal system. TOOLS FOR ANALYSIS: The primary data for the study was collected through structured questionnaire and has been analyzed using percentages and represented by pie charts and bar diagrams are used wherever necessary. Mean score value has also been used. 1) Score value = No. of respondents*score Mean score value = score value/No. of respondents 2) Percentage value = no of respondents/total no of respondent*100 CHI-SUARE [X2] TEST: X2 test is based on the Chi- Square distribution and it is a parametric test. It is used for comparing a sample variance to a theoretical population variance. In a non- parametric test, no assumption about the parameters of the population is made. These tests have become very popular because, they can be applied in any type of distribution, they are easy to compute and they can be used in situations when parametric test cannot be applied. Conditions to be satisfied for applying chi-square test Data should have been collected at random. Items constituting the sample should be independent. The total number of items should be at least 50. From the chart above it is understood that most of the employees in textile industry fall under the category of the age group between 46-55 years and also most of the employees are from the under graduate background. TABLE INDICATING THE YEARS OF SERVICE AND THE INCOME OF EMPLOYEES: From the chart above it is clearly understood that the workers with more than 10 years of experience only earning a return of Rs. 8001 and more. The employees with more years of service are expected to perform well as they have very good experience in their work. FACTORS INFLUENCING PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL The ranking of factors given by the respondents show that behavior with peers, dependability, behavior and attitude towards superiors, initiative, and attendance were ranked very high. They felt those factors have to be given higher weightages in the appraisal form. There are respondents who have ranked quality of work and cooperation on lower side. There were respondents who felt that all the factors in the appraisal system should be given equal weightage and there was no meaning in awarding high weightages to few factors. OPINION ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL RATING The above table clearly shows that opportunities to increase job satisfaction, need of appraisal for employee, encouragement by raters and knowledge about the appraisal system, are high for employees. Assistance by organization, monetary reward unbiased assessment and satisfaction with the present system were rated average. This may be due to reasons like the employees are not given feedback about their performance since it is maintained confidentially. But the need of appraisal, knowledge about system, encouragement and opportunities to employees were rated high because they want to know about their work performance. CHI-SQUARE ANALYSIS GENDER AND YEARS OF SERVICE TEST STATISTIC: Null hypothesis (Ho): There is no significant relationship between gender and years of service. Alternative hypothesis (H1): There is a close relationship between gender and years of service. RESULT: The result that the calculated value is less than the tabulated value, we accept the null hypothesis. Therefore, there is no significant difference between the gender and years of service. MARITAL STATUS AND MONTHLY INCOME (in Rs) TEST STATISTIC RESULT: The result that the calculated value is more than the tabulated value, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. Therefore there is a significant difference between the marital status and monthly income. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS: From the study it if found out that, most of the respondents feel that the appraisal system creates confidence and hence increase the production level of the employees which in turn will increase their income in one hand. Many employees in the textile industry are not aware of the errors that is caused by performance appraisal like halo effect, horns effect, central tendency and leniency. Majority of them have no idea about errors and its types in the appraisal system. Good training can help improve the appraisal system to prevent errors while rating. Raters are expected to observe the performance in order to judge ones effectiveness and skill in the work condition. Also the superior should avoid bias in appraising their subordinates. The system could be made open to a possible extent and discussions could be encouraged. The employees can come to know about their performance appraisal, how are they rated and what other improvements they can do to their performance. The organization m ight take up steps to arrange discussions and make the employee aware of how he is getting along and what improvements he needs, where and how he can best utilize his capabilities and skills. Most traditional methods emphasize either the task or the personality of the individual while making an appraisal. In such evaluations, bias always prevails. To bring about a balance the evaluation of task and personality and the modern methods of appraisal by results of MBO can be used. Performance appraisal motivates employees and influences their productivity and ensures that they are producing at acceptable levels. Performance evaluation system could be linked to company objectives to get better results and good performance of the employees. Effectiveness of any appraisal system depends on how all the users of the system understand the purposes, accept and strive for achieving them. For designing any system, employee and managerial performance should be taken into consideration. From the study, it is found that feedback to the employees is not proper in the organization. Periodical and routine feedback can be given to the employees for their good performance in the work, which motivates the employee to enrich the relationship between the superiors and subordinates.

Dennis Kozlowski: The Implications of Unethical Behavior Essay

Brief Historical Summary Dennis Kozlowski, is the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tyco International Ltd. During his tenure, Kozlowski engaged in activities that were considered unethical. In 2005 Kozlowski was convicted of misappropriation of corporate funds. Kozlowski had been involved in illegal and unethical behavior during most of his tenure. The findings that lead to the conviction of the former CEO were due to the persistent questioning and interrogating tactics of the shareholders and stakeholders because Kozlowski held within his authority to make decisions that could change the course of the company. Business ethics, auditing practices, and government regulations will forever be affected by the $500 million loss endured by the company. Needless to say this scandal had an major impact on the economy and the business world. Kozlowski’s long line of bad decision making is used by businesses as well as academics as an examples of unethical behavior and why internal controls are important to corporate governance. As the primary indicator of performance, corporate governance reports often display the strength and weaknesses of the company but are only as reliable as the set of values and ethics of the person’s implementing the rules. â€Æ' Unethical behavior/event examined Was it unethical practices, poor governmental regulations, or bad organizational behavior that lead Kozlowski to make the decisions that lead to the 2005 conviction? Vasile (2004) defined business ethics as â€Å"learning what is right and what is wrong and simply doing what is right† (p. 2). However, the actions attached to the decisions are not always as easily derived. In most instances, leaders are faced with making the decision as to what is... ...934 USA Today. (2005) Timeline of Tyco International Scandal. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/2005-06-17-tyco- timeline_x.htm Valentine, S., & Fleischman, G. (2008). Professional ethical standards, corporate social responsibility, and the perceived role of ethics and social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 82(3), 657-666. doi:10.1007/s10551-007-9584-0 Bandsuch, M., Pate, L., & Thies, J. (2008). Rebuilding stakeholder trust in business: An examination of principle-centered leadership and organizational transparency in corporate governance. Business & Society Review. 113(1), 99-127. doi:10.1111/j.1467- 8594.2008.00315.x Caldwell, C., Hayes, L.A., & Long, D.T., (2010). Leadership, trustworthiness, and ethical stewardship. Journal of Business Ethics. 96:497–512. doi: 10.1007/s10551-010-0489-y Dennis Kozlowski: The Implications of Unethical Behavior Essay Brief Historical Summary Dennis Kozlowski, is the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tyco International Ltd. During his tenure, Kozlowski engaged in activities that were considered unethical. In 2005 Kozlowski was convicted of misappropriation of corporate funds. Kozlowski had been involved in illegal and unethical behavior during most of his tenure. The findings that lead to the conviction of the former CEO were due to the persistent questioning and interrogating tactics of the shareholders and stakeholders because Kozlowski held within his authority to make decisions that could change the course of the company. Business ethics, auditing practices, and government regulations will forever be affected by the $500 million loss endured by the company. Needless to say this scandal had an major impact on the economy and the business world. Kozlowski’s long line of bad decision making is used by businesses as well as academics as an examples of unethical behavior and why internal controls are important to corporate governance. As the primary indicator of performance, corporate governance reports often display the strength and weaknesses of the company but are only as reliable as the set of values and ethics of the person’s implementing the rules. â€Æ' Unethical behavior/event examined Was it unethical practices, poor governmental regulations, or bad organizational behavior that lead Kozlowski to make the decisions that lead to the 2005 conviction? Vasile (2004) defined business ethics as â€Å"learning what is right and what is wrong and simply doing what is right† (p. 2). However, the actions attached to the decisions are not always as easily derived. In most instances, leaders are faced with making the decision as to what is... ...934 USA Today. (2005) Timeline of Tyco International Scandal. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/2005-06-17-tyco- timeline_x.htm Valentine, S., & Fleischman, G. (2008). Professional ethical standards, corporate social responsibility, and the perceived role of ethics and social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 82(3), 657-666. doi:10.1007/s10551-007-9584-0 Bandsuch, M., Pate, L., & Thies, J. (2008). Rebuilding stakeholder trust in business: An examination of principle-centered leadership and organizational transparency in corporate governance. Business & Society Review. 113(1), 99-127. doi:10.1111/j.1467- 8594.2008.00315.x Caldwell, C., Hayes, L.A., & Long, D.T., (2010). Leadership, trustworthiness, and ethical stewardship. Journal of Business Ethics. 96:497–512. doi: 10.1007/s10551-010-0489-y

Troops should NOT be Withdrawn from Iraq :: War Military

Iraq is not stable enough to risk the United States withdrawing their troops, security is too weak and it will show in the near future. It is evident that Iraq cannot hold a steady government that can support the people and maintain a state of armistice throughout these hard times that the country is going through. This statement is clear seeing that there have been about one hundred and sixty three insurgent attacks daily since May of 2007. The United States is currently controlling the country due to Iraq housing terrorist groups that withhold weapons of mass destruction. Like Al Qaeda for example, their leader, Osama Bin Laden has been on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s â€Å"Most Wanted† list since the year of 2003. Ever since March 19th of 2003 many people have died because of this evil, ruthless man. That is why the United States Defense Department has kept our troops stable in Iraq to prevent some outrageous outbreak of violence. David Patraeus is a General in the United States Army and has written several reports on the war in Iraq and the progress the United States has made. He states that are still enormous difficulties that Iraq has to deal with. A lot of that may come from the many terror groups that inhabit the country. General Patraeus also says, â€Å"the addition of troops will enable the growth of Iraqi security†. (Patraeus 12) He, and many of the other brave men serving in the military completely understand that they have made substantial progress but know for a fact that the situation is still fragile and very reversible. Why would we pull our troops out of something that could be reversed? Would that not be a waste of taxpayer time and money? The General was actually asked why the troops are still in the country, he replied that the only way to secure the population of Iraq is by living with them. The last thing he noted is that he noticed that as force levels grew, the security s ituation improved. The better the security, the more likeliness that the soldiers can come home sooner. Troops should NOT be Withdrawn from Iraq :: War Military Iraq is not stable enough to risk the United States withdrawing their troops, security is too weak and it will show in the near future. It is evident that Iraq cannot hold a steady government that can support the people and maintain a state of armistice throughout these hard times that the country is going through. This statement is clear seeing that there have been about one hundred and sixty three insurgent attacks daily since May of 2007. The United States is currently controlling the country due to Iraq housing terrorist groups that withhold weapons of mass destruction. Like Al Qaeda for example, their leader, Osama Bin Laden has been on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s â€Å"Most Wanted† list since the year of 2003. Ever since March 19th of 2003 many people have died because of this evil, ruthless man. That is why the United States Defense Department has kept our troops stable in Iraq to prevent some outrageous outbreak of violence. David Patraeus is a General in the United States Army and has written several reports on the war in Iraq and the progress the United States has made. He states that are still enormous difficulties that Iraq has to deal with. A lot of that may come from the many terror groups that inhabit the country. General Patraeus also says, â€Å"the addition of troops will enable the growth of Iraqi security†. (Patraeus 12) He, and many of the other brave men serving in the military completely understand that they have made substantial progress but know for a fact that the situation is still fragile and very reversible. Why would we pull our troops out of something that could be reversed? Would that not be a waste of taxpayer time and money? The General was actually asked why the troops are still in the country, he replied that the only way to secure the population of Iraq is by living with them. The last thing he noted is that he noticed that as force levels grew, the security s ituation improved. The better the security, the more likeliness that the soldiers can come home sooner.

The Economy and Environment of Canada :: Geography

The Economy and Environment of Canada 1. The expression "official area of Canada" refers to the actual landmass of the country, thereby including all inland bodies of water, whereas "Greater Canada" includes external peninsular and coastal bodies of water (e.g. Hudson and James Bay). 2. As Hamelin stated, Canada has been both blessed and cursed by isolation and accessibility. Settlement was not possible in Canada until a relatively recent historical period. The Canadian coastline, at any point, is too great a distance to allow for regular trade via sea, thus creating an economic dependancy on the United States, Canada's oldest and original trading partner. This, however, has given Canada a relative amount of safety, being too inaccessible in historic battles. Given Canada's great expanse, it was forced to create an extensive communication/transportation network, the first wind from the bellows of Canadian industry. Because of Canada's size there are a variety of industries available for cultivation, however because of this diversity no one particular industry is focused upon and none are truly achieving their economic potential. 3. The average Canadian's view of Canada is one of a giant land mass extending from west to east, capped by hundreds of archipelagoes. The extent northward is often taken for granted given the practically nonexistant population (there are no large centres in the north) and the severed land. 4. There are few people living in the area north of 60 degrees for a few very obvious reasons. The sheer isolation is enough to drive any person from the area. There are no major commercial centres, and trade international trade is near impossible. The distance from Canada's single largest trading partner (The U.S.) is practically imeasurable. Even if that were not the case, sources of income are hard to come by given encironmental conditions. Mining and other resource based industries must deal with insurmountible cost and risk. 5. The most obvious agreements between the US and Canada are the FTA and the impending NAFTA. These economic agreements superficially remove trade barriers by eliminating tariffs and allowing the free exchange of goods, however the deal is much deeper than most realize. In the original FTA there are practically no environmental safeguards; we have all but sold our life blood (natural resources, most notably water) to the USA. It appears on the surface to be an act of sheer economic desperation designed to hold firm the trust and support of America with little thought for future stability. The NAFTA will see a surge of industry head south in search of cheap labour and lower taxes; the effect on the Canadian

Why I Hate Hr

Why I Hate HR MGT/431 Why I Hate Hr The issue we are addressing in this assignment below is the problems of Human Resource Management; the author has written the topic â€Å"Why we hate HR? †. He has listed several issues faced such by the human resource management – managers and there is quite a number of times having to distance themselves from the employees. He has started his case by talking about â€Å"why human-resource does not do such a good job†, and how can we fix it? hen he continues with the Sarcastic criticism of the general outlook of people towards HR , and considers that the HR people just find a great excuse of partying, calling it a HR leadership training program at the most expensive resorts. Considered by many as a waste of time and money. Author Keith Hammonds, Deputy Editor of Fast Company magazine lit up HR managers with his long August 2005 article entitled, â€Å"Why We Hate HR. † He made a number of harsh accusations about HR peop le. As we have seen the article is provocative. I know many people think such accusations are true for some in the line of work, though as generalizations all are wrong. Should HR say nothing, or what exactly should they say instead? In fact Human Resource is making vast leaps forward as we speak. Instead of bashing pet peeves in the profession we should look into what is working. Punching at a problem rarely encourages improvement, though it gets lots of notice and expected email, both from irritated HR people and those who love to instigate them. It’s time for an equally pointed response. The author drags out most of the cliche, tired-but-not-yet-dead accusations. He ploughs out four in particular: that HR people are â€Å"not the sharpest tacks,† that they are paper and policy mongers, that they are by treating everyone exactly equally â€Å"the mistaken belief† this is fairness, and that the HR managers cannot see the bigger picture. The last is truly the key issue. The others, nonetheless, grow from this. If they miss the larger picture of creating value, they are missing it not only for the companies they work for, but the individuals and their needs as well. It is irrelevant to compare Human Resource to finance and other support operations. As all HR managers make pretty much the same accusations about all of these sectors. They joke about â€Å"blinker eyed† accountants who only focus on lockstep processes and can't see the value of investing in pioneering ventures. HR managers at the same time support division’s needle line executives for their tendency to brush off â€Å"technical† issues in their hurry to take shortcuts just to make their bonus numbers. Such digs may be humorous, but none of this is constructive. â€Å"Not the Sharpest Tacks† Looking at HR in perspective against Keith’s claim that HR Managers are generally dull, side-lined executives who couldn’t make it in other fields. Keith alludes to, but doesn’t spell out that HR is relatively new as a profession without the 400 year history that, for example, accounting has. It was born out of payroll administration to take on a chaos of work that line executives didn’t want to make time for such as hiring, familiarizing with company atmosphere, training, terminations, HR legal issues, human rights, health and safety rules and literally dozens of other tasks loosely related to people. It can be a punching bag for all departments and Head Honchos and add to that few functions have to deal with the complexity of issues that HR does. Clear cut accounting rules have become increasingly complex lately, but nothing to compare with the massive grey areas and differing legislation that HR executives routinely have to deal with – many of which offer few absolute, clear-cut answers to tell your CEO or staff. Do really dumb people get stuck in HR? As per Keith’s views many line managers, still sideline weaker managers into the function and assign them mainly paper-pushing tasks, â€Å"party-planning† and police duty as he notes. Nevertheless those who may look like losers frequently aren't. HR is often asked to impose rules, sometimes some that don’t fit with most employees, mostly not thought up by HR at all, but by irritated fuming CEO’s demanding spontaneous responses to routine organizational problems better handled in other ways. In one situation HR was routinely held responsible for a poorly designed bonus plan that time after time paid out top awards, including even south sea cruises, to some of the worst performing area head, which were only good at sweet talking. Dumping weak executives into HR shows as much or more a failing of line managers than of the individuals who end up in the HR function. This will be fatal going forward and won't be allowed to continue. A bigger issue is whether senior teams can learn to effectively absorb the input of their HR members as valuable. Agreed not everyone is great, but HR certainly isn’t the only area with some weaker players by any means as every function holds its share of those who couldn't make it elsewhere, but have hung on where they started, barely coping with the basics. What Keith doesn't seem to be aware of is that most executives never reach the top jobs in any case, nor could they. Organizations thrive because they're tough on people in every function and ideally only the best rise to the top. Conclusion Keith Hammonds, author of, â€Å"Why We Hate Hr†, clearing has no good feeling towards Human Resource Managers. Team B strongly believes if we did not have HRM’s in organizations today, there would clearly be a lot of confusion and no development training in today’s workforce. Keith spends a lot of time talking down on human resources but does not clearly provide any facts about his opinions. Team B is disagrees with the author on this article as it has been stated above; these are truly just and only opinions from an individual who clearly hates human resources. References Hammonds, K. H. (2005). Why We Hate Hr. Noe, R. A. , Hollenbeck, J. R. , Gerhart, B. , & Wright, P. M. (2007). Fundamentals of human resource management (2nd ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

First Day of School Essay

The first thing I remember about this day was my mother; she woke me up early and started dressing me and combing my hair. I remember I was so excited that I got in the car while singing and dancing. I sat in the front seat and we drove off to the beginning of my life. My mom walked me in while holding my hand and just then I remember not wanting her to let go, I felt so safe with her by my side. Just then the class teacher comes up to us, and I remember her asking me my name, but I was too shy to answer. Then my mom explains to me that she had to go and that I’m going to have so much fun here and make a huge amount of friends. I stood there watching my mom walk away with tears falling down my face; I have never felt so alone. But the teacher turned out to be so nice she immediately started to calm me down. That’s when she took me to this room filled with toys and beautiful pictures on the wall, I remember how noisy it was because kids my age were running around everywh ere playing and laughing. see more:first day of school essay At the moment the feeling of missing my mom was completely gone and all I wanted to do is join the kids with whatever they were doing. I was shy at first, but then a group of little kids came up to me and asked me if I would count for them while they would all go and hide. I immediately agreed and just like that I was a part of the best hide and seek game in my 4 year old life. I remember how easy it was to make friends but how hard it was to memorize their names. It was an extreme problem for me then because I didn’t know how to call out to them while playing. The best activity of the day was when the teacher took us outside and we played on the swings and slides. The best of all was the sandbox, we would run to the back of the school yard where the water taps were, and fill our little buckets with water and spill it on the sand so this way it would be wet and perfect to make sand castles with. As the day came to end I remember not wanting to go home. But that all changed when I saw my mom in the front door of the class room ready to take me home, I was so glad to see her, as I had so many things to tell. I went on and on about what I had experienced, telling my story with a smile on my face. And when I got back home I repeated the whole thing to dad, everyone was glad I had such a wonderful day. I was looking forward on going back there again tomorrow, but this time with a mission, I was determined on memorizing all of their names, so I would know how to answer when someone asked about the names of my friends. I was officially the happiest kindergartner of all times.