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“A Scherzo A Shy Persons Wishes” Analysis Essay

What is the state of mind of â€Å"A Scherzo A Shy Persons Wishes.† How is the temperament passed on and what impact does it hav...

Saturday, August 31, 2019

Powwow of Love

The 30th annual MSU Pow-Wow of Love was held on March 16, 2013. Arriving at Jenison Fieldhouse around 7. 35pm, I found myself breaking one of the rules. I entered the building from the east entrance – where the entrance was reserved just for the dancers. I then walked towards the dance arena, where the crowd gathered. The first thing that caught my eyes was the colorful and unique dance regalia or outfit worn by the dancers. Bright colors such as yellow, orange, red, and light blue wrapped around the dancers beautifully.The older looking male dancers were wearing the feather warbonnets on the head and bustles on the back. Dancers with striking multicolored beaded and fringed outfits were crowding the dance floor. Some of the female dancers dressed simple with their colorful fringed shawls. I noticed that some dancers even had bells attached to their ankles or dance outfits that they wore. I also was told that the feathers and leathers used were inherited from their father up t o their great grandfather. The sight was so magnificent – it made me excited to stay for the show.The dancing has already started when I arrived. I was told that they were doing the ‘Intertribal Dance’. In this particular dance, everyone is welcome to take part – even the spectators. The dancers moved in a circular clockwise motion a without any particular moves. They then invited the public to join them in the dance. I was hesitating to try it at first. But I told myself that won’t get the experience anywhere else. So, I decided to just do it. The basic step is the same step used by traditional dancers. First, one foot is tapped on one beat, placed down flatly.The action is then repeated with the opposite foot, without missing a beat. I enjoyed taking part in the dance as it was the only chance for me to experience the Native American culture closely. Other dances that were performed are the ‘Fallen Feather’ dance, the Two-Step dance a nd the ‘Social Dance’. Out of all these dances, the ‘Fallen Feather’ dance fascinated me the most. It was performed because a feather fell from dancer’s outfit. It was performed by four of the veteran male dancers. They danced around and one of the dancers picked up the feather at the end of the dance – while saying the prayers to it.The feather was then given back to the dancer who dropped it. I was told that in some cases, if the feather is not claimed, the person who picked it up can give it to anyone he thinks deserve the feather. During this dance, the spectators were asked to stand and remove their hats to respect the ceremony. Also, to protect its sacredness, pictures and videos were not allowed to be taken during the dance ceremony. After watching all the dances, I went to check out the art vendors. I would say that the arts and handicrafts made are eye-catching. The beadworks are impeccable.Most of the arts were based on their beliefs and lifestyles. For example, the dreamcatcher was made to prevent nightmare. The rabbit foot, the turtle necklace, the bone knifes, blankets and weavings were some of the famous handicrafts sold that day. I even bought myself a dreamcatcher as a souvenir. I feel so honored to have experienced this ‘Pow-Wow’ event. They have such great pride and respect for their land, culture and tradition. Most of the Native Americans that I encountered that day do not look like those people I saw in the movie – they look much like the Americans.And what amaze me most is that they still live up to their culture and tradition despite the difficulties they experienced in the past and the U. S. government’s policies towards banning some of the Native American cultures in the name of ‘assimilation’ – to assimilate Native Americans  into the mainstream US  culture. Overall, this experience has altered my perceptions about how the Native Americans reall y look and live their life. Being an international student, this is definitely one of the most memorable nights I’ve ever experience in the U. S.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Chinese Labor and Employment Law Essay

In November 2001, China became a fully admitted member of the World Trade Organization and in n in international trade. China has not only become a major export power, but also an attractive investment target for world trade and investment continues to increase, its labor environment will likely attract more ? 2 1980. At least 130 million of these are migrant workers who move from relatively poor rural areas to urban and industrial centers to work. Many of these migrant workers remit portions of their earnings back to family members in their hometown. Until recently, China has typically had an oversupply of unskilled labor and a shortage of skilled and professional workers. However, in the past several years, some companies in the major industrial hubs have begun to complain about labor shortages. As a result, many companies now raise wages 10 percent or more annually to retain workers, while others have closed their doors and moved to poorer inland areas or countries with cheaper labor. Interestingly, salaries for new university graduates have stagnated university system. While university graduates start their careers with wages comparable to a factory worker, their salaries typically rise much more quickly than those factory workers. How have 35 years. Prior to the early 1980s, nearly all jobs were allocated to citizens through an administrative bureau. Employees could not choose their employer or terminate their employment. Further, regulations set an expectation that the employee would work for the same employer for her or his whole working life. Companies in this era could only terminate employees for gross misconduct. This type of labor market and social safety net was called the Iron Rice Bowl because the employer guaranteed job security and benefits to employees In other words, the benefits could not be taken away 3 In 1983, the government introduced a contract system that attempted to address the low productivity of the labor market by replacing the Iron Rice Bowl with short-term labor contracts. At first, state-owned companies resisted this trend and the government succeeded only in minimal reforms. In 1992, the N required all trade unions to be affiliated with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). This effectively brought labor unions under greater control of the government. The Labor Law of 1994 liberalized the labor market. The labor law, when combined with economic reforms, resulted in more than 40 million lost jobs in government and state-owned enterprises. As a result of the reforms, the government shuttered inefficient businesses and the formerly economically dominant northeast turned into a rustbelt. Meanwhile, Chinese entrepreneurs and Hong Kong investors transformed the formerly weak southeast province of Guangdong into the largest center of manufacturing in the world. In 2008, the government introduced a Labor Contract Law that rolled back some of the laissez-faire approaches to the workforce that the government introduced in the 1990s. This new law abolished the system of at-will employment for most full-time employees and required employers to provide employees with written contracts. Since 2008, the government has also revisited its policy of tight control over the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). While all unions must still be approved by and affiliated with ACFTU, it appears that the government is allowing the ACFTU greater authority to advocate for the rights of workers than it did just a few years ago. That said, the government continues to imprison workers who advocate for the formation of independent trade unions. W A G ES Does China have a minimum wage? 4 Yes. There are two standards of minimum wage: monthly and hourly. Minimum wages are set at the provincial and municipal level. The government prohibits employers from reaching an agreement with employees for wages that fall below the local minimum wage standard regardless of whether the employee is still in her or his probation period or internship. A probationary period occurs at the beginning of an employment relationship and allows employers to terminate employees without severance pay up to a maximum of six months, but usually just two months. The probation period allows the employer to make sure the employee is a good fit with the employer before being locked into the full term of the employment contract. Provincial and municipal governments frequently adjust statutory minimum wages. For example, many municipalities have raised their minimum wages twice in the past year alone. Ho It depends on the locality. -time employees is RMB 1,120/month, or roughly $165. However, in the poorer inland city of Chongqing, the minimum wage is RMB 870/month, or roughly $130. Of course, purchasing wages. The relative cost of living in China is lower than in many developed countries, but even when wages are adjusted for relative prices they remain much lower than in highly developed countries. How much do factory workers earn? It depends on the locality, industry, skill level, and a host of other factors. However, several sources keep broad indices of costs for general factory labor across many regions. Although the indices are only rough estimates, they are helpful in gauging wage differentials across the country. For example, a skilled manufacturing employee in Beijing can be hired for 5 RMB 3,000/month, or roughly $445. A similar worker in the poorer inland municipality of Chongqing can be hired for RMB 1,900/month, or roughly $280. To illustrate how important geographic location is in determining wage rates, the average employee salary in Beijing is nearly three times higher than in the poor inland province of Jiangxi. Do Chinese workers get overtime? T , an employer must pay overtime compensation to any employee who works more than 40 hours per week. As a general rule, an employer cannot require overtime of more than one hour per day, or three hours per day under special circumstances, and no more than 36 hours per month. As in many other countries, white collar workers like managers and sales staff are often exempt from the overtime pay rules. The following payment schedule illustrates the overtime pay requirements. E xtended Wor king Hours Typical working day Rest day (min. one per week) (i. e. , weekend) National holiday M inimum O vertime Pay (percent of regular wages) 150 percent 200 percent 300 percent Many migrant workers desperate to earn quick money agree with the employer to work beyond the maximum overtime requirements so they can send extra money home to their families. This type of overtime work is frequently found in industrial hubs and is a contributing cause of recent labor strikes because employees who agree to these arrangements place downward price pressure on wages and upward pressure on hours. Employers are also able to maneuver around overtime regulations by applying to the local labor authorities and asking for approval to use an alternative system of working hours. What are the wage levels for workers who are paid piece-rate? 6 Piece-rate is a compensation system where the employer pays the employee for each unit produced or action performed, not on the basis of time. Piece-rate wages are still a feature of to address the exploitation of employees through piece rates. For example, workers were exploited when employers paid workers at piece-rate, but then fined them for quality defects, tardiness, or no reason at all. These penalties effectively left workers with wages far below what the employer promised the workers during the hiring process. The first principle of piece-rate wages is that employers cannot set a work quota so high that it prevents an employee from completing the work within an eight-hour day or an average 40-hour week.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Social Work and Empowerment Assignment

The purpose of this essay is to explore social work theory and practice. The essay is based on a scenario of a father (Mathew), who after many years of caring for his disabled son (David), and having suffered a stroke attack an year ago, finds he is struggling to care for himself or the son. In relation to working with the elderly, the essay will discuss the roles of a social worker, the practice of empowerment, possible ethical dilemmas and an anti-oppressive practice. The type of agency chosen for this essay is Learning Disability Partnership (LPD) in Cambridgeshire. LPD is an organisation, which includes multi-disciplinary teams of Social Care Services and Health professionals. LPD dedicates services which help learning disabled people lead normal lives and life in abundance. Fully aware of the strain and stress brought on by caring, LPD tries to provide services which help people with learning disabilities, and their carers, to cope with these pressures. The diversity of social work roles in this organisation includes advocacy, direct change agent and executive. These roles can be used singly, or as a combination of two roles. The role of advocacy is about people speaking up for themselves directly or indirectly (Beckett, 2006: 9). Despite having communication problems, and assumning a positive mental capacity rationale on David, a social worker may advocate for David by providing specialist communication equipment that enable him to directly communicate without undue influence by his father. Similarly, in the best interests of David and Matthew advocacy is met through negotiations for services and resources within the agency or through multi-disiplinary teams, this is a mixed role of a negotiator and a co-ordinator. The social worker is obliged to assess the needs of Matthew and David for community care services and implement services accordingly, role of a care manager. Simultaneously, eligibility criteria are checked (role of a researcher) after which costs and services availability are checked before commissioning resources. For effectiveness, a social worker must have sufficient knowledge, skills and values to conduct good professional practice. Empowerment means â€Å"working in a way aimed at increasing people's sense of power and control over their lives† (Beckett, 2006:126). The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) includes in their definition of social work the promotion of â€Å"†¦ social change†¦ and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. † (Thompson 2001) cites empowerment as an ongoing â€Å"process† and a â€Å"goal† that takes a long time. Cooper (2000:15) cites the four major principles of empowerment as â€Å"entitlement which include legislation, rights and policies; social model which looks at social, economic and culture; needs-led assessment which looks at wants in life; and promotion of choice and control which moves institutionalisation to independent living†¦ In view of this topic's diversity I shall address each principle briefly. In terms of entitlement law, rights and policies offer guidance and support, good example been the 1990 Community Care Act and the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 which places a duty and requirement on local authority to provide services, resources and funding for services and resources for the needy people in the community (Brammer, 2003:304). To empower David and Matthew rights to live in own home entitlement services like home carer provide personal care and help with shopping. David may also be entitled to practical home assistance to improve on safety and mobility. However, despite been eligible for service, due to limited resources services may not be easily implemented by local authority. The main objective of need's led assessment is to concentrate more on individual needs and preferences rather than the services available. Needs determine the level of assessment required based mainly on empowerment and choice (Parker, Bradley, 2007). Contrary, defining the meaning of ‘need' inevitably leads to procedural bias and restriction of services due to financial constraints. If the service user satisfies the local authorities eligibility criteria then they have a legal duty to provide the necessary assistance. For example needs for both Matthew and David vary and might change over time. Matthew's perspective might be need of rehabilitation and home help to enhance his physical well being whilst David's needs might be gradual introduction to socialisation and communication needs. Choices for independence targets services for persons at risk for institutionalisation. The Kantanian approach of individualisation (rights and respect for David and Matthew to be treated with personal differences) and user-self-determination (liberty to make informed choices or decisions) promote choice and independence (Banks, 2003:31). Direct Payments, supports self-directed care. This enables David and Matthew to recruit, organise and pay for their own services, enabling them to exercise choice and control over their lives. The campaign for real choice by guardian newspaper quotes that â€Å"the growth of direct payments is causing for celebration, alongside pilot schemes for individual budgets which give disabled people more independence† (www. guardian. co. uk). Social model is concerned with experiences of vulnerable people at a risk of oppression and social devaluation, seeking to reserve vulnerability. Medical terms have been used to normalise people, for examples labelling David as severe learning disabled and Matthew as suffering from stroke is disabling in itself, and leads to total loss of rights. However these terms are used to check threshold criteria for assessment of their needs enabling empowerment. Consequently, on meeting the criteria, local authority must facilities for services, which at this point must be pointed out that they may not necessarily be needs led as intended, but resource led due to limited resources. Simultaneously, this leads to David and Matthew depending on the state welfare instead of encouraging independence and active participation (Oliver, 1996:25). Similarly, choices encourage empowerment. David expressing his wish to stay at home proves that his mental capacity is able to receive, retain and make decisions. (Adams, Dominelli and Payne 2002:196) states capacity and ability to act on decisions brings about equality, however, this supports choice making more than services that best suits David. Possible ethical dilemmas encountered include: Choice and capacity: Because of communication problems with Matthew his dad may have to translate his thoughts expressed. Dilemma occurs as dad's interpretations may not be accurate with the Matthew's needs; this may lead to a social worker implementing wrong services. Similarly wrong services may also be offered if in the past Matthew has had little or no experience of choosing. Care and control imposed due to limited resources, social workers are obligated to evaluate David and Matthew against other service users who are in need. Following the utilitarian approach, the dilemma here is whose needs outweigh the other? On what orders would these needs be prioritised? If David and Matthew's priority are of low, then resources will be allocated to those in most significant risk. Consequently lead to two immoral issues: (a) Societal distrust in social work profession as most people fear being selected for sacrifice despite their needs, (b) David's and Matthew's health might get worse as they have to wait a long time for care packages to be implemented. Empowerment process shifts power away from social workers and given to service users. This reliance to create the conditions for empowerment and identify eligible for empowerment would appear to contradict this intended shift of power. Conflict of interest arises on who the primary client is. Once a referral has been made, a social worker will purposely be going in to assess whoever is in need. However it soon comes to light that both the service user and the carer are in need, torn between two people in need a social worker therefore has to work with the whole family creating conflict of interest. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 states that: â€Å"a person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that he lacks capacity†. In line with this, dilemma occurs on how to assess capacity and to what extend would capacity be measurable? A social worker is obliged to make a value judgmental call, and if the wrong move is made then the consequences lie with the social worker. To overcome these dilemmas awareness training and anti discriminatory practice would give a balance. From learnt theories it is evident that some social workers might have limited resources and lack of awareness. If a social worker is not aware or informed of these factors, then they will not be able to achieve empowering practice and that they will find their practice may revolve more around issues of empowerment and control are evidently forgetting service users and carers self-determination. Conclusively, Social workers are employed in varied social settings necessitating diversity of social work roles. Empowerment enriches and enhances human suffering, therefore should always be linked with anti-discrimination. The topic of empowerment is very broad, it not only requires technical competence but also qualities of integrity, genuiness and self-awareness.

Has the Euro Been a Failure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Has the Euro Been a Failure - Essay Example Conversely, those states that have bandwagon together in the hopes that joining the European Union will provide the prosperity that the fabricators have promised have found out that the benefits are oftentimes outweighed by the risks. For instance, in the beginning, phases of European Union integration, there was a subset of requirements that each of the member states must ensure that they ascribed to as a determining factor of being eligible to participate in and share the â€Å"benefits† of European Union membership. However, as time has progressed and the economic situation across the continent has substantially deteriorated, many of these determining factors have weighed heavily on some of the weakest member states. The article refers to these as â€Å"PIIGS† (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain). Although these economies are suffering from the pains of continental integration, their central banks, and economic institutions are beholden to upholding the demands that European Union membership has placed upon them. In this way, the needs of the nation are subjected to the demands of EU membership. The authors discuss the most prominent reason/factor which caused the European Union to integrate so hastily was the fact that European leaders, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, were in a rush to ensure that the torturous pains that Europe had experienced within the past 60 years would never again be repeated. Although the author states that this oversight was one that was born primarily out of a desire to ensure the peace and prosperity of the European block for future generations, this estimation is one that looks at the formation of the European integration through rose tinted glasses (Bergsten 18).

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Womens Occupational Distribution in the U.S Essay

Womens Occupational Distribution in the U.S - Essay Example Most particularly, women have been able to take paid jobs. However, they encounter difficulties in balancing between their work and house lives. Under the pressure of the double day, women have put pressure on government and employers to recognize the value of child bearing roles.  Ã‚   Many women strive to attain skills that will help them acquire well paid jobs and better working conditions. Women have also become organized and created movements that break down discriminatory barriers that hinder them from accessing better jobs.   In addition, â€Å"increased participation of women in labor force has spurred women struggles to improve wages and working conditions, and attack head on multiple discrimination they face in the labor force,   from sexual harassment to racism† (Amott and Matthaei 309). This has enabled women to gain financial freedom and avoid dependence on men. A substantial number of women have entered the paid labor force. The work force has ceased from b eing a preservative of white males.   Amott and Matthaei noted â€Å"In 1900, white men made up 72 percent of all workers, but by 1990, their share had fallen to 43 percent† (317).In conclusion, it can be noted that the occupational distribution of women in the United States has a historical background. It has been affected by racial-ethnicity, gender and class statuses. Women in the United States have risen above these challenges and have taken well paid jobs in the labor market. However, the current occupational distribution has in part been influenced.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

How Not Meeting The Assumptions Of The Hardy-Weinberg Principle Aid In Term Paper

How Not Meeting The Assumptions Of The Hardy-Weinberg Principle Aid In Evolution - Term Paper Example 298). The Hardy-Weinberg model is applicable to the context of populations of diploid, sexually reproducing individuals (Andrews 65). For a population to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, certain assumptions must be met. Andrews, Hartl and Clark and Hillis et al. comprehensively described and summarized the following assumptions, 1. Natural selection is not acting on the locus in question, indicating that there is no differential selection among genotypes. Individuals with different genotypes have equal probabilities of survival and equal rates of reproduction. 4. Population size is infinitely large, which means that genetic drift is not causing random changes in allele frequencies due to sampling error from one generation to the next. As all natural populations are finite and they are subject to drift. However the effects of drift are more pronounced in small than in large populations. where, p2, 2pq and q2 are the expected frequencies of genotypes AA, Aa and aa in zygotes of any generation, p and q are the allele frequencies of A and a in gametes of the previous generation of the population (Hartl and Clark 75). As there are only two alleles at a locus, p + q=1. â€Å"The Hardy-Weinberg genotype frequencies, p2 + 2pq + q2, represent the binomial expansion of (p + q) 2, and also sum to one†. (Andrews 65) â€Å"In case of loci with more than two alleles, it is possible to apply the Hardy-Weinberg theorem, in which case the expected genotype frequencies are given by the multinomial expansion for all k alleles segregating in the population: (p1 + p2 + p3 + . . . + pk)2†. (Andrews 65) Fig. 2- â€Å"Generation I of this population consists of migrants from several other populations, thus violating the Hardy-Weinberg assumption of no migration. Notably, the generation I has more homozygous individuals and fewer heterozygous individuals than would be expected under

Monday, August 26, 2019

TOPIC OF INTERES THAT AFFECT POPULATION HEALTH Research Paper

TOPIC OF INTERES THAT AFFECT POPULATION HEALTH - Research Paper Example The increase in elderly population and emergence of various lifestyle chronic diseases requires nurses with advanced skills that are offered by advanced nurse practitioners (White & Trauax, 2007). Scholarship is important for advanced practice nurses and entails conducting literature reviews that influence the current and future nursing interventions. Scholarship for advanced practice nurses refers to academic study of higher level or grants that awarded to support their higher education based on achievement. In order to attain the scholarship, the individual must first obtain the registered nurse’s (RN) license by passing the required national examinations that are the diploma from accredited nursing schools, associate degree or bachelors degree from nursing schools. According to the literature reviews, nurse practitioner status starts with a Bachelor of Nursing (BSN) and practice as a Generalistic registered practitioner for several years before the individual can attain licensure as registered nurse. Becoming advanced nurse practitioner requires enrollment in to a Masters of nursing practice programs and some individuals continue up to doctoral level. According to Jansen & Zwygart-Stauffacher (2010), the advanced programs focus on specialized nursing knowledge and skills such as cardiology, surgery and emergency medicin e (p 35). Accordingly, the nurses are required to pass a national board certification exam in special population focus such as adult-gerontology, psychiatric and family practice (Miller, 2008, p 257). Furthermore, the nurse practitioners are expected to attain a minimum continuing medical education credits and practice hours in order to attain licensure that is offered by the state boards of nursing (DeNisco & Barker, 2013). The literature reviews has identified some topics as health promotion, pathophysiology, different diagnosis and radiography

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Analysis paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Analysis paper - Essay Example reations inspired by phenomenal aspects related to human emotions and cognition to serve its function, and developed from one or multiple of art elements. Production of art utilises different components. Artists produce different effects using elements such as colour, textures, shapes, lines, dimension and space. The ability to use lines of diverse lengths and thicknesses and taking a particular direction tend to signal an action that perhaps other elements cannot produce. Colour has got critical purpose in producing effects whether used alone or in structures produced using other elements as shapes. It benefits the art through the hue, its intensity in brightness or dullness and value in terms of lightness or darkness. By joining lines together, flat shapes, either geometric or irregular forms can be created to express drawings. Art can arise from use of 3-dimentional objects that allow the artists to control their appearance. Such structures are expressed through length, width and height. Texture gives the feel of an art (e.g. rough or smooth) and allows viewers to relate with it as they do in reality. Art can also be produced under the illusion of space. Art productions grow with time and are inspired by certain happenings in particular moments. Some art pieces were created several centuries ago, but have been recreated severally which all show certain divergence in appearance, finishing and aesthetic quality. Art has proved not to be limited by time. Hence an art piece can best be described in the time it was developed. It has transformed from the stone-age art when expressions were mere carvings and sculpts on the walls and stones. Then came the clay works, but today they have expanded to the computer aided graphics. It’s not merely about a tangible piece, but more of feel as in choreography and music. Art has come to encompass great dynamism and complexities through use of advanced technology to incorporate motions and different visual impressions that

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Gulf Coast Medical Center Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gulf Coast Medical Center - Essay Example On the other hand, the presence of radiologists and the hospital administrators will ensure understanding of the issues with delay in scheduling procedures with the facility. Therefore, while physicians would be able to more easily identify the likely problems causing the unusually long time each procedure takes, the administrators and managed care companies might be better able to identify issues related with time it takes physicians to schedule a slot at the facility. The Shewhart Cycle proposes a four-step process of continuous quality improvement which includes: Act, Plan, Check and Do (Shewhart, 1980). Creating a work group to identify the relevant issues with the facility is obviously the first step, i.e. 'Acting'. The outcome of deliberations of the work group which will identify the relevant issues and propose steps towards resolving these issues is the Planning stage. The outcome of the work group will be critically appraised in the light of activities and practices of competitors and what is obtainable in evidence based practice, for viability; which is the 'check' process. Lastly, once the feasibility of these recommendations has been ascertained, implementation will follow. Reduction in the time and processes required for physicians to get a procedure slot in the facility by 40% after six months and keeping up with what is obtainable from competitors within th... Improving customer perception of the facility through better cleanliness, reduced charges and increased follow up screens. d: Measuring the Success of the Work Group The success of these measures would be measured by Reduction in the time per case from 1.5 hours per case to 55mins per case in the first six months and down to the national average of 50mins per case after 12months. Reduction in the time and processes required for physicians to get a procedure slot in the facility by 40% after six months and keeping up with what is obtainable from competitors within the next 18months. Better customer perception of the facility as measured by increased return rates for follow up screens and better customer satisfaction feedbacks. 2. Dealing with Physician Perforation Rates The medical profession being a human endeavor is prone to errors, miscalculations and other human errors, and the endoscopy services is not an exception. Several government documents have acknowledged the fact that medical error is a human fact (Linda, et al., 1999). Therefore, perforation after colonoscopy is no an unusual thing, however, the rates should not be too high. Thus to deal with the high physician perforation rates in the Gulf Coast Endoscopy Facility, the first step would be to get better commitment from physicians. The facility should be able to ensure that physicians get a procedure slot without having to go through so much time wasting processes and requirements. Furthermore, the facility should be placed in a better competitive position, through cleaner and tidier environment, better facilities, so that the improve customer levels will encourage the physicians to do better jobs (Wennberg, 2005, Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004). However, besides the

Friday, August 23, 2019

Can Professional Code of Ethics Be the Backbone of Management and Research Paper

Can Professional Code of Ethics Be the Backbone of Management and Leadership's Decision Making in Business - Research Paper Example h one side of ethicists arguing that the right thing to do is always determined by the verdict of moral principles, while the opposite side remains adamant on their stance that an ethical decision is subject to the intricacy of the situation, and therefore is dependant upon the individual’s subjective opinion rather than s certain set of principles. Philosophers refer to ethics as being the ‘science of conduct’, and that ethics comprise of all those basic foundational values and ground rules according to which we live our lives. This paper will open with a general discussion of ethics in the business world and move on to explain how this management discipline came into existence. Furthermore, the expedient tool of ‘professional codes of ethics’ is analyzed with regards to the decision making process, and finally the paper culminates with an in-depth analysis of the pros and cons of the codes of ethics in the decision making process (Ferrel et al., 200 9, 4). Different people can relate to the concept in different ways, and therefore it has come down to having various different subjective meanings, but generally it is referred to as the knowledge of what is right or wrong in the workplace environment and then doing what is right. Wallace and Pekel claim that it critical to pay considerate attention to business ethics at times occurrence of fundamental changes- times which are faced by most of the businesses today, whether profit or non-profit. In these certain precarious situations, the values in a business which were taken for granted previously are questioned, leading to the dismissal of many of the values, and therefore there remains no clear or definite set of values which would act as a compass in guiding the leaders to steer the business according to what is right or wrong. Thus attention to the concept of ethics in the workplace sensitizes the leaders as well as the workers to how they are expected to cope up with moments change. Most importantly,

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Independence of the judiciary in Australia Essay Example for Free

Independence of the judiciary in Australia Essay To understand the expression the independence of the judiciary you first must understand what is meant my judiciary. The judicature is: The judicial power of the commonwealth shall be vested in a Federal Supreme Court, to be called the High Court of Australia, and in such other federal courts as the Parliament creates, and in such other courts as it invests with federal jurisdiction. The High Court shall consist of a chief justice and so many other justices, not less than two, as the Parliament describes. Using this definition contained in the Australian Constitution, the expression the independence of the judiciary to my understanding refers only to independence in making decisions in court cases. It means that in making such decisions a judge must be individually independent and free from pressures which could influence a judge in reaching a decision in a case other then by intellect and conscience based on a genuine assessment of the evidence and an honest application of the law . The independence of the judiciary also incorporates that the judiciary is totally isolated from the other branches of the government these branches being the executive and legislative arms which make up the separation of powers as outlined in the Australian Constitution. Judicial independence is of the utmost importance to our judicial system, and to our system of government, because without judicial independence they become useless institutions. The importance of an independent judiciary is to maintain the rule of law, the rule of law being the principle that no member of society is above the law, every member of society is bound by the law, and everyone is equal before the law. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states the fundamental rights that every human being is entitled to and includes rights referred to in the section, Procedural Guarantees in Civil and Criminal Trials . Article 14 (1) states:All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial  tribunal established by lawThe appointment of a judicial branch of government, as outlined in the Australian Constitution and the guarantee that it is completely separate and independent of the other branches, represents the main way by which most states seek to adhere with the principles contained in the previously stated provision of the ICCPR. As Sir Anthony Mason said:The separation of judicial power is not only protection against the exercise of arbitrary power, but it also assists in maintaining the independence of the judiciary and contributes to public confidence in the administration of justice. This statement highlights the importance in ensuring that the judicial power remains separate to ensure that the public can have confidence in the application of the judicial process. Public perception of judicial impartiality is the essence of judicial independence. The independence of the judiciary can be threatened in Australia because total separation of the judicial power is near impossible in the real world. In many countries, including Australia, the Executive Government appoints judges and. this may be seen to threaten the independence of the judiciary. The executive can affect the judicial through the manner in which it seeks to exercise its power of judicial appointments. By exercising this power the executive can shape the future directions in judicial interpretation, especially by a court which has the task of constitutional interpretation, such as the High Court of Australia. This was seen in the request of Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer for appointment of Capital C conservative judges in the wake of the Wik decision. The Constitution says that the separation of power is divided between the three arms of government so there can be a system of checks and balances in place to ensure the power of the other two is being exercised in accordance with their outlined role. But can we really have a complete separation of power, when the Prime Minister works within the Executive and Judicial arms of government. However the independence of the judiciary is put to the test when it comes to judges being guided by their understanding of the law, the facts of the case and the pull of conscience to a judgement which is opposed to what the other branches of the government may want. As Kirby CJ highlighted the High Court of Australia has on a number of occasions, over the past 100 years upheld the Constitution and has made judgements which have gone against the principles of the elected Governments and Parliaments. In 1948 it struck down the nationalisation of the private banks . In 1951, it declared unconstitutional an attempt to dissolve the communist party and to deprive communists of basic rights . In 1992 it overturned much earlier law to uphold the rights of Australias indigenous people in their land . In 1996 it held that such rights were not necessarily extinguished by the grant of pastoral leases which cover about half of the land of the Australian continent . These court decisions show that judicial independence has not been threatened in Australia over the last 100 years. The above decisions would be highly unlikely in a country where judicial independence was not guaranteed by the letter of the Constitution. A Privy Council case which dealt with separation of arbitrary and judicial powers was the Boilmakers Case (1956) . The High Court held that it was unconstitutional for the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration to be vested with both arbitral and judicial powers because of the acceptance in the Constitution of the separation of legislative and judicial powers . As a result, the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 was amended to establish two separate bodies. From 15 August 1955 to 2 March 1956 a Full Court of the High Court of Australia, heard an application by the Boilermakers Society for a writ of prohibition on the grounds that the exercise of the earlier orders was . . . contrary and repugnant to the provisions of the Constitution of the Commonwealth and, in particular, Chap. III thereof.The application was  upheld by a majority of the Court. The decision was also affirmed in an appeal to the Privy Council. This case set a precedent that the Parliament cannot invest Ch III courts and/or judges with non-judicial power, which further instates that independence of the judiciary within Australia. A further Case which also highlights that the independence of the judiciary is not threatened in Australia is the case Brandy v Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) [1995] . This case reinforced that the HREOC was not originally given the power or authority to enforce its judgements, as it was not a court in accordance with Ch III of the Australian Constitution. If the judgement was to be legally enforced upon the respondent then the matter would have to be heard in the Federal Court. The court held that it was an invalid exercise of judicial powers by the HREOC, which highlights that the independence of the judiciary is being upheld within Australia. Sir Ninian Stephen observed that an independent judiciary, although formidable protector of individual liberty is at the same time a very venerable institution, a fragile bastion indeed . In 1989 he was of the view that judicial independence was still flourishing in Australia. A year later, Sir Daryl Dawson was confident that it was alive and well. Judicial independence does not mean that judges are not accountable for their decisions and judgements. Judges are just as accountable as the executive and legislative arms of government just in a different way. This was highlighted in a paper prepared in 1998 for the New South Wales Parliament on Judicial Accountability, the author noted that Australia has important procedures operating to make the judiciary accountable to the community, these procedures are informal measures; judges are obliged to hear argument from both parties; judges are obliged to conduct hearings in public, which makes them more accountable; judges must give reasons fortheir decisions; and their judgements are subject to appeal. There are a number of ways in which the independence of the judiciary is maintained within Australia. These include, most significantly, the provisions in the Australian Constitution guaranteeing security of tenure and fixed remuneration for federal judges and magistrates. Chapter III of the Constitution outlines in s72 that:(i)shall be appointed by the Governor- General in Council;(ii)Shall not be removed except by the Governor- General in Council on an address from both Houses of the Parliament in the same session, praying for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. (iii)Shall receive such remuneration as the parliament may fix; but the remuneration shall not be dismissed during their continuance in office. These protections are intended to ensure members of the judiciary may carry out their functions without fear or favour, in accordance with their oath of office. To further cement its independence in relation to the Government and in relation to Parliament S 71 of the Constitution which states shall be vested means that the High Court cannot be eliminated by Parliament. Section 72(ii) means that the Government cannot remove a judge except by persuading Parliament that there is proved misbehaviour or incapacity. Section 72(iii) is to make sure that the Government or Parliament cannot punish a judge financially for decisions it does not like. The independence of the judiciary is necessary to the rule of law, to ensure that the Government itself acts in accordance with the law. For the Independence of the judiciary to remain strong within Australia public confidence is essential. It is important that the judiciary be, and be seen to be independent. From the cases above and decisions made by the High Court it can be seen that judicial independence is still flourishing  within Australia and will continue to flourish if the judiciary can secure and preserve the confidence of the public. Bibiliography 1. Journal Articles/Books/ReportsBooks-Elizabeth Ellis, Principles and Practice of Australian Law (2nd Edition 2009)-Enid Campbell and H.P Lee, The Australian Judiciary-Christopher Enright, Federal Administrative Law2. Cases:- R v Kirby; Ex parte Boilermakers Society of Australia (1955-56) 94 CLR 254- Wik Peoples v Queensland (1996) 187 CLR 1- Bank of New South Wales v The Commonwealth (1948) 76 CLR 1- Australian Communist Party v The Commonwealth (1951) 83 CLR 1- Mabo v Queensland [No 2] (1992) 175 CLR 1- Brandy v HREOC [1995] 183 CLR 245; 127 ALR 13. Legislation:- International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, Art 14- The Australian Constitution4. Other- John Kilcillen, The Australian constitution: First Reading Macquarie University 2004- Kirby, Michael Justice, International Bar Association Human Rights Institute, Independence of the Judiciary 12-14th June 1998- A Lamer, The Rule of Law and Judicial Independence: Protecting Core Values in Times of Change (1996) 25 Monash University Law Review 209- General Jeffer Michael, The Opening of the Judicial Conference of Australia Colloquium, 6th October 2006

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Importance of time Essay Example for Free

Importance of time Essay Do to the fact that I could not maintain punctuality in a classroom environment I shall be writing an essay of the importance of punctuality in the United States Military. Now of course it seems like this would be easy to understand however I had managed to forget it and this shall explain it in this essay. Before you can understand how being punctual is important you must understand what being punctual means. Punctuality is the characteristic of being able to complete a required task or fulfill a moral duty before or at a specific time. There is often an understanding that a small amount of lateness is acceptable.. However in some cultures, such as Japanese society, or in the military there basically is no allowance. Some cultures have an unspoken understanding that actual deadlines are different from stated deadlines; for example, it may be understood in a particular culture that people will turn up an hour later than advertised. In this case, since everyone understands that a 9 A.M. meeting will actually start around 10am, no-one is inconvenienced when everyone turns up at 10am. In cultures which value punctuality, being late is tantamount to showing disrespect for anothers time and may be considered insulting. In such cases, punctuality may be enforced by social penalties, for example by excluding low-status latecomers from meetings entirely. Being at the right place at the right time for any member of the Army is extremely essential to the defense of the entire United States of America. Its because of this that being on time is remarkably important. Dependability, accountability, consistency and discipline are all crucially related to being on time. Furthermore, promptness also shows that the individual Soldier aims high and has their priorities straight. However, being where one needs to be at the appointed time will always be one of the most important aspects of being a Soldier. This is why failure to be on time not only severely hinders mission capability and readiness, but also can without a doubt cost unnecessary loss of life. It is important to realize that it is necessary for those in the Armed Forces are held to a higher standard. Being punctual in the military is important for many reasons, some of which I shall describe, right now. One of the few reasons for punctuality in the military would be if someone is late for a patrol or convoy that patrol or convoy might have to leave without that person, or maybe wait for them or can’t leave without them and be late to a rally point in which it is possible that it would cost some one  there life for you being late being late to a convoy and could lead to dire consequences. Not necessarily to you but to your battle buddies you let down by not showing up. While they are on patrol, or convoying to another area, something could happen that could either need your expertise and training or they could just need another soldier to keep watch of their area and without you it would take more manpower from less people to do the job that you were supposed to do. Or maybe the patrol you were supposed to be on could be ambushed and your weapon, your eyes and your training could be what makes the difference between your patrol losing soldiers or not. It is possible that if you had been there your patrol could have seen the ambush with the extra set of eyes watching, or taken out the enemy with the extra soldier carrying a weapon he/she was trained to use. Now being late could be what makes you lose battle buddies that could have survived if you were there to help them in that situation. Even more possible is that your battle buddies are on a convoy and it could have been your eyes that notice the strange object in the road or the slight discoloration, or maybe the disheveled earth of the road ahead of you that could have prevented your convoy from running into an IED. Or in another situation one might be on their way to meet someone from another country and showing up late would be looked at as a dishonorable and that you didn’t care about them or what they were trying to do. Also being late could also hinder your battle buddies at work. You being late makes your battle buddy who you are supposed to relieve stay later than he/she is supposed to, meaning that said person loses sleep time. Another reason might be because if you were going to relieve someone from duty on a guard duty it will make whoever your relieving have to stay at work. Therefor making them stay longer which then makes them tired and sluggish. And because they are because they are tired and sluggish, it increases the high chance that whatever work that person does would be under par and not up to standards because of lack of sleep. Which on a guard post they might fall asleep and someone might slip in or pass along some classified information to the enemy without any difficulty. Although the United States is not the only society that places a high regard on being on time, Americans in particular it would seem have been criticized in the past for being a highly time-oriented people, and some other cultures may not place the same level of importance on being punctual as exists in the United States today. This sense of being tied to a clock may strike some observers from other cultures as being downright psychotic, but the fact remains that the importance of being on time is an enormously important part of the American value system and it would be reasonable to suggest that this will not change. In addition, people who fail to be on time also demonstrate whether intentionally or not what may be considered as a callous disregard for other people and their time. In the United States, then, the importance of punctuality is well established and those who are even a few minutes late for say, a job interview, run the very real risk of losing out to lesser qualified candidates simply because they were unable to find a place to park in time. Similarly, people who are consistently late will be viewed as unreliable by most employers and also run the risk of losing whatever employment they have managed to secure in the first place. Being on time is one thing, but being early is completely different. When you’re assigned to be at an appointed place at an appointed time then there is no room for tardiness. Not only is it disrespectful to your co-workers in regards to making them stay later and putting them â€Å"under the bus† but also it is an integrity check and denotes your lack of responsibility. When you have a trend of being late none of your co-workers will feel as if they cant rely on you.

Employees Perception About Merger Management Essay

Employees Perception About Merger Management Essay The present economic scenario has witnessed a large number of merger and acquisitions in banking industry all over the world. One of the principal objectives behind the merger Acquisition in banking sector is to reap the benefit of economies of scale. The growing competition has compelled banks to expand their size and to penetrate in market place; it indicates the rule of the ocean that big fish will eat small fish. Consequently, one of the most widely used tools is mergers and acquisitions. However, the market situation is such that there is bombardment of many new and divers products from large pool of bankers. For survival, deliberate decisions are required to mitigate the diverse effects of market forces. At the time of taking decision of MAs, generally financial issues are taken care of and HR issues are ignored which is most important issue for success of any merger. Therefore, the aim of this research paper is to assess the level of satisfaction among employees of the merged bank i.e. the erstwhile bank of Rajasthan ltd. This study is based on a pilot survey; small sample of 30 employees, which is taken from the 14 selected branches from Udaipur city, and paired sample t-test, is applied to test the significant difference of the sample along with weighted average method. The results revealed that post merger satisfaction level is low and stress level is high among bank employees after merger. The implication of the study is for policy makers, strategist, bankers, future researchers, and scholars. Key Words: Merger, Acquisition, Bank, Employees, Perception 1. Introduction: In recreation of organizational growth, augmenting geographic networks, to accelerate market share, creating strategic fit and synergy; organizations are adopting strategic tools like Mergers and Acquisitions (MAs). It is evident from the pages of history that MAs is the most widely used inorganic strategic tool for growth. A merger is a combination strategy of two or more organization in which one acquires the assets and liabilities of the other in exchange for share or cash. At this point of time, it becomes imperative for strategist and policy makers to undertake the confidence of their employees, customer, shareholder and subsidiaries and to understand how they perceive any strategic move because this surely affects the image of the company. Kotler (1997, p. 185-86) has illustrated in his book that perception is the process by which an individual selects, organizes and interprets information inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world. Since the world market is shrinking and consumers are becoming aware about various products and services offered by global players due to the emergence of ICT, it has become strategically important for banks to understand the perception of employees under the purview of MAs, this is so, because they deliver the services. Many researchers have proved that human factor is the key element in delivery of services. Thus, we can say that core reason for success and failure of mergers are human resources i.e. personnel and behavioral issues, blends of cultures and sets of policies practices. Therefore, Transferee Company must create an environment where the employees of Transferor Company can project merger as a steps towards growth. Consequently, employees will strive to work with integration of vision and mission of Transferee Company. Thus, this study can contribute in the field of strategic management as a view point of employees and human resource management. Strategist can consider this view as an input in strategy formulation. In this scenario, this study on employees perception may be a modest attempt to trace the hard realities regarding employees perception of ICICI Bank Ltd. It will be helpful for ICICI mangers, executives, and employees, government, banking industry, RBI, research scholar, strategic managers, HR managers and policy makers. 2. Review of Literature: Schneider and Bowen (1985) reported significant relationships between branch employees perceptions of organizational human resources practices and branch customers attitudes about services. Schweiger and Weber (1989) suggested that Mergers and acquisitions (MAs) are corporate events that have the potential to create severe personal trauma and stress which can result in psychological, behavioral, health, performance, and survival problems for both the individuals and companies involved. With the increasing size and number of MAs transacted and the number of employees affected, it is essential that executives and human resource professionals pay greater attention to understanding the sequence of actions and reactions associated with the process. Schweiger and Denisi (1991) conducted a longitudinal field experiment to evaluate the various effects of a communication program on employees of an organization; they called it a realistic merger preview. This study was intended to measure the effects of mergers and acquisitions on employees. Their results suggested that realistic communication during a merger process in the form of a realistic merger preview can help the employees to get through the process of merger. As illustrated by the significantly lower measures on global stress and perceived uncertainty and significantly higher on job satisfaction, commitment and self-reported performance for the experimental group, exposed to the communication program. Schneider and Dunbar (1992) suggest that media plays an important role in shaping the social context for mergers and acquisition. Weber (1996) assessed the role of corporate cultural fit, autonomy removal, and commitment of managers to the merger in predicting effective integration between merger partners in different industry sectors. He found that relationship was very complex; they varied across industries and had different relationships with different measures of performance. Further, he found that cultural differences at the top management level were most likely to influence the merging organizations ability to realize synergies. Literature shows that communication also plays vital role in the success of a merger. Nikandrou, Papalexandris and Bourantas (2000) explored a number of variables which bear an impact on managerial trustworthiness, for example frequent communication before and after acquisition, and already the existing qualities of employee relations seem to play the most important role. Therefore, a carefully planned, employee-centered communication programme, together with a good level of employee relations, seem to form the basis for a successful outcome as far as employee relations in the face of mergers and acquisitions is concerned. Therefore issues related to human resource management are also raised by researchers in articles. Appelbaum, Gandell, Yortis, Proper and Jobin (2000) conclude that communications throughout the MA process plays a crucial role in its eventual success. Providing clear, consistent, factual sympathetic and up-to-date information in various ways will increase the cooping abilities of employees, which will in turn increase their productivity. This increased productivity will positively impact on firms performance and create sustained competitive advantage by achieving the projected strategic fit and synergies. Communication and a transparent change process are important, as this will often determine not only how a leader will be regarded, but who will be regarded as a leader. Leaders need to be competent and trained in the process of transforming organizations to ensure that individuals within the organization accept the changes prompted by a merger. Hurtt, Kreuze and Langsam (2000) suggest that growth is the primary reason for MAs. Panchal and Cartwright (2001) investigated post-merger stress in a sample of field sales employees. A survey methodology was used to examine group differences, comparing those from the two pre-merger companies and those newly merged organization. Results revealed that group differences in both sources and effects of stress existed. Those from the dominant pre-merger company reported the highest stress levels and most negative work attitudes. Lynch and Lind (2002) also suggest that mergers and acquisitions is one of the major tools for organizational growth and on the other hand Dario, Fabio and Carmelo (2002) investigated using Italian data that mergers seek to improve income from services. Bryson, (2003) reviewed the literature around managing HRM risk in a merger. He found that poor merger results are often attributed to HRM and organizational problems, and that several factors related to maintaining workforce stability are identified as important in managing HRM risk. Schraeder and Self (2003) also found that organizational culture is one factor as a potential catalyst to MA success. DeLong (2003) studied sample of 54 bank mergers announced between 1991 and 1995, tests several facets of focus and diversification. The study found that upon announcement, the market rewards the merger of partners that focus their geography and activities and earning stream. Only of these facets, focusing earning streams enhances long-term performance. Shanmugam and Nair (2004) identified factors in their study on mergers and acquisitions of banks in Malaysia like globalization, liberalization and information technology developments have contributed to the need for a more competitive, resilient and robust financial systems. George and Hegde (2004) reported a case for the delicate aspect of employees attitudes, their satisfaction and motivation, which are posited as prerequisites for customer satisfaction, which is, again, sine qua non for the competitive sustenance of the organization. Chew and Sharma (2005) examined the effectiveness of human resource management (HRM) and organizational culture on financial performance of Singapore-based companies involved in mergers and acquisition activities. They used the method of content analysis to collect information on cultural values and HRM effectiveness, using Kabanoffs content analysis. Culture profiles were then assigned to organizations in the sample following the results from cluster analysis. Various financial ratios were used to measure organizational performance. Finally, regression analysis was performed to test various hypotheses. The key finding of the study suggests that organizations with elite and potential leader, when complemented by human resource effectiveness, had a better financial performance as compared to other organizations. At the end it was concluded that to achieve better financial results by undertaking merger and acquisition activities organizations need to have elite or leadership value prof ile. Seo and Hill (2005) identified six theories viz. anxiety theory, social identity theory, acculturation theory, role conflict theory, job characteristics theory, and organizational justice theory to explain problems in managing the merger and acquisition and organizational change process. These theories have implicitly or explicitly formed the basis for the past MA literature. The authors integrate these theories into one conceptual framework that clearly delineates unique sources of problems that can emerge in different stages of MA integration, their psychological and behavioral effects on employees, and prescriptions to address the problems. According to Mylonakis (2006a) an important parameter in the relationship between the number of branches and employment is branch size. He has used most well-known indicators for the evaluation of staff efficiency in banking sector i.e. operating revenue per employee, personnel expenses per employee and pre-tax profits to personnel expenses. He observed that operating revenue either fall or remains stable, administrative expenses per employee increase for every examined bank and pre-tax profits to personnel expenses indicator showed how many Euros are gained by the bank for every euro spent in staff payroll. Mylonakis (2006b) has examined in his article that how bank employees perceive bank MAs and how it is expected to affect their personal and professional career. The results showed that bank employees feel personally threatened by mergers and acquisitions, which are not considered to be justified and necessary entrepreneurial activities conducive to enhanced, quality banking services. Mergers and Acquisitions often have a negative impact on employee behavior resulting in counterproductive practices, absenteeism, low morale and job dissatisfaction. It appears that an important factor affecting the successful outcome of acquisitions is top managements ability to gain employee trust. Wickramasinghe and Chandana (2009) took views of 109 employees of two banks of Sri Lanka, which had undergone an extension merger and a collaborative merger and reported that employee perceptions are affected by the type of the merger and employees are less satisfied in the collaborative merger than in the extension merger. Further findings revealed that age, gender, and marital status influence the perceptions of the respondents and among those age is the most influential. DeYoung, Evanoff and Molyneux (2009) have found in their study that the changes in deregulation, allowed commercial banks and other financial services firms to expand through mergers and acquisition into geographic markets and product markets. Marmenout, K (2010) conducted experimental study to examine how employees make sense of a merger announcement and investigates the relationship between deal characteristics (culture clash potential, degree of integration, position in deal structure) and employee attitudes. As employees make sense of the merger, higher perceived uncertainty is associated with greater dysfunctional outcomes. Calipha, Tarba and Brock (2011, p. 1-24) have reviewed MA motives and success factors in their article such as entering a new market, gaining new scarce resources, achieving synergies and other managerial and organizational factors that are associated with MA i.e. relative size of MA partner, managerial involvement, culture and organizational structural issues etc. Goyal and Joshi (2012a) identified the general sentiments, challenges and opportunities for the Indian Banking Industry. They concluded challenges and opportunities like rural market, transparency, customer expectations, management of risks, growth in banking sector, human factor, global banking, environmental concern, social, ethical issues, employee and customer retentions. They further concluded that banks are striving to combat the competition and the competition from global banks and technological innovation has compelled the banks to rethink their policies and strategies. (2012b) studied the growth of ICICI Bank Ltd. through mergers, acquisitions, and amalgamation. The article concluded that a firm must devise a strategy in three phases i.e. Pre-merger phase, acquisition phase and post-merger phase. 3. Research Methodology 3.1 Objectives of the Study: To identify the factors responsible for employees satisfaction. To assess the satisfaction level of employees, after merger. To assess the stress level of employees (post merger). 3.2 Sampling Distribution 3.2.1 Universe Total 463 branches of BoR were operating across India before merger and out of this total 293 Branches were operating in Rajasthan. Out of these 293 branches, there were total 31 branches operating in Udaipur before merger and merely 14 branches were situated in Udaipur city. 3.2.2 Sample unit There were total 14 branches of erstwhile BoR, which are now functioning as ICICI Banks branches after merger, Employees of these branches are considered for sampling purpose. 3.2.3 Sample Size A small sample of 30 bank employees from erstwhile BoR is drawn by using stratified purposive sampling. 3.2.4 Data Type Primary and Secondary data will be used to achieve the objectives. 3.2.5 Research Instrument Schedules (structured) and personal interviews methods are used for primary data collection. Publications from company, books, journals, magazines and various websites are referred for secondary data collection. 3.2.6 Research Tools Paired sample t-test and is used to test the hypothesis and process the data. Data processing is done by SPSS 13 software (student version) and weighted average method is used. Where; d = x -y 3.2.7 Limitation of the Study The limitation of the study is that it is based on small sample size with geographical constraint and time. The respondents were contacted at the respective bank and appointments were taken. Then, they were contacted as per their convenience and ease. The budget was a major constraint for this study. 3.2.8 Hypotheses H01: There is no significant difference between employees satisfaction level (pre-merger and post merger). H02: There is no significant difference in stress level of employees between pre-merger and post-merger. 4. Conceptual Framework: Mergers and acquisitions is a phenomena which has been used as a tool for growth and a tool for survival of sick units in banking industry. There are certain provision in the Banking Regulation Act 1949, which helps us to understand the basic concept of mergers and acquisition. 44A of Banking Regulation Act 1949 clearly defines procedure for amalgamation of banking companies. According to it a draft of amalgamation scheme should be produced before shareholders of each banking company. If the scheme of amalgamation is approved by the requisite majority of shareholders in accordance with the provisions of this section, the sub-section (4) states that it shall be submitted to the Reserve Bank for sanction and shall, if sanctioned by the Reserve Bank by an order in writing passed in this behalf, be binding on the banking companies concerned and also on all the shareholders thereof. Section 45 of the act defines the power of Reserve Bank to apply to Central Government for suspension of business by a banking company and to prepare scheme of reconstitution of amalgamation in certain condition like public interest, depositors interest, for the interest of banking system and reconstruction of the banking company. 5. Conceptual Analysis of Merger of the Erstwhile Bank of Rajasthan Ltd. and ICICI Bank Ltd. 5.1 Historical Background: The Bank of Rajasthan Ltd. (BoR) was incorporated on May 7, 1943 as a Company defined under the Companies Act, 1956 and has its Registered Office at Udaipur, Rajasthan. The Bank of Rajasthan had a network of 463 branches March 31, 2009. The primary object of the Transferor Bank was banking business as set out in its Memorandum of Association. For over 67 years, the Bank of Rajasthan had served the 24 states with 463 branches as a profitable and well-capitalized Bank in India. It had a strong presence in Rajasthan with branch network of 294 which is 63 percent of the total branches of BoR in India. The men power strength of BoR was more than 4300 employees across India. The balance sheet of the Bank shows that it had total assets of Rs. 173 billion, deposits of Rs. 150.62 billion and advances of Rs. 83.29 billion as on March 2010. The profit and loss account of the bank shows the net profit as Rs. -1.02 billion as on March 2010, which shows that bank, was not in good financial condition. On the other hand The ICICI Bank Ltd. was incorporated on January 5, 1994 under the Companies Act, 1956 and has its Registered Office at Landmark, Race Course Circle, Vadodara, Gujarat. The Transferee Bank, as on May 21, 2010, has a network of 2,000 branches and extension counters and has over 5,300 automated teller machines (ATMs). At present the bank has 79,978 employees with strong financial position like total assets of Rs. 3634 billion, total deposits of Rs. 2020.16 billion, advances of Rs. 1812.06 billion and net profit of Rs. 42.25 billion as on March 2010. 5.2 Scheme of Amalgamation: According to the scheme of amalgamation of the Transferor Bank with the Transferee Bank, it is clearly stated that the Scheme was formulated as per the Section 44A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, as per the guidelines of Reserve Bank of India for merger/amalgamation of private sector banks and in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, and the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Transferor Bank and the Transferee Bank and other applicable provisions of laws. 5.3 Strategic Intent: The objectives and benefits of this merger are clearly mentioned in the scheme of this merger by ICICI Bank that its customer centric strategy which places branches as the focal points of relationship management, sales and service in geographical micro markets. As it is evident that the BoR had deep penetration with huge brand value in the State of Rajasthan where it had 294 branches with a market share of 9.3% in total deposits of scheduled commercial banks. It was presumed that the merger of BoR in ICICI Bank will place the Transferee Bank among the top three banks in Rajasthan in terms of total deposits and significantly augment the Transferee Banks presence and customer base in Rajasthan and it would significantly add 463 branches in branch network of ICICI Bank along with increase in retail deposit base. Consequently, ICICI Bank would get sustainable competitive advantage over its competitors in Indian Banking. 5.4 Issues Emerged: When the information about this merger was communicated to the employees, they did not accept this merger. All the employees were against this merger as it was evident from the strike and agitation by all the three major employee unions i.e. All India Bank of Rajasthan Employees Federation, All India Bank of Rajasthan Officers Association and Akhil Bhartiya Bank of Rajasthan Karmchari Sangh, subsequently demanding the immediate termination of the ICICI-BoR merger proposal. It is a very strong phenomenon from the behavioral aspects of employees in the growth strategy like mergers and acquisitions. It is quite possible that this human aspect may hamper the whole strategic challenges of the bank or any other organization adopting the strategic tool. 5.5 Future Implication: The issue of employees perception towards mergers needs special attention from researchers and thinkers in order to convert mergers as synergy. At this juncture, the prevalent challenge for ICICI Bank Ltd. was to encounter the agitation from the 4300 BoR employees. Now, since the merger has taken place the critical issue for discussion is the management of Human Resources in the course of Mergers and Amalgamation. The mist of human aspect in the process of MAs can be removed by the turning the pages of available literature for better vision in strategy formulation. 6. Data Analysis and Interpretation: Demographics Table 1: Age * Gender Cross tabulation Gender Total Male Female Age 20-30 1 2 3 31-40 2 7 9 41-50 3 5 8 51-60 8 2 10 Total 14 16 30 Table 2: Designation of the Employees * Gender Cross tabulation Gender Total Male Female Male Designation of the Employees Branch Manager 10 0 10 Senior Manager 2 1 3 Manager 2 3 5 Senior Executive 3 4 7 Executive 2 3 5 Total 19 11 30 In analysis, following scale (Table 3) will be used to interpret the mean values of ranks. Results Interpretation 1.00-1.80 Very poor 1.81-2.60 Poor 2.61-3.40 Moderate 3.41-4.20 Good 4.21-5.00 Very good Table 4: Pre-Merger Rank Analysis S. No. Factors Weight Total Weighted Total Weighted Mean Rank 1 2 3 4 5 Very Poor Poor Moderate Good Very Good 1 Satisfaction Pre-Merger 0 8 12 9 1 30 93 6.20 9 2 Work Culture Pre-Merger 0 7 16 6 1 30 91 6.07 12 3 Quality of Management Pre-Merger 0 7 18 5 0 30 88 5.87 17 4 Infrastructure Pre-Merger 0 7 9 12 2 30 99 6.60 2 5 Salary Pre-Merger 0 7 17 6 0 30 89 5.93 16 6 Time Schedule Pre-Merger 0 7 19 4 0 30 87 5.80 18 7 Communication with Senior Pre-Merger 0 4 21 4 1 30 92 6.13 11 8 Authority Provided by the Bank Pre-Merger 0 7 17 5 1 30 90 6.00 13 9 Responsibility Level Pre-Merger 0 9 18 3 0 30 84 5.60 21 10 Designation Provided by the Bank Pre-Merger 0 10 15 5 0 30 85 5.67 20 11 Benefit Provided Pre-Merger 0 7 16 7 0 30 90 6.00 14 12 Involvement In Decision Making Pre-Merger 0 6 22 2 0 30 86 5.73 19 13 Job Security Provided Pre-Merger 0 7 16 7 0 30 90 6.00 15 14 Opportunity for Advancement Pre-Merger 0 3 21 6 0 30 93 6.20 10 15 Working pattern Pre-merger 0 3 18 6 3 30 99 6.60 3 16 Stress Level Pre-Merger 0 4 19 6 1 30 94 6.27 5 17 Ambience Pre-Merger 0 4 20 4 2 30 94 6.27 6 18 Training Development Pre-Merger 0 4 17 8 1 30 96 6.40 4 19 Compatibility Pre-Merger 0 4 19 6 1 30 94 6.27 7 20 Perks Responsibility Pre-Merger 0 4 20 4 2 30 94 6.27 8 21 Redressal Pre-Merger 0 3 14 12 1 30 101 6.73 1 Table 4 reveals the ranks of the variables used in the study and derived by weighted average method. The responses were taken from bank employees on five-point Likert scale and as per the above table it can be observed that the most ranked variables are redressal, infrastructure, working pattern, training and development, stress level, and ambience and so on. Thus, we can say that employees were on the verge of merger and they were in ambiguous situation what to do. On the contrary, in table 5, the employees rated one of the most important factor is Benefit Provided Post-Merger, infrastructure, compatibility, working pattern, stress level, perks and responsibility and so on. Thus, it can be said that financial benefits provided by the transferee banks like salary hike has affected employees. Some more variables rated by employees like working pattern which has also affected the employees. BoR employees were not exposed to high end technologies in banking sector. Stress management in the course of mergers and acquisition is one of the most debatable issue as MAs brings new working culture, new technology, infrastructure, colleagues and peers and it takes time to make adjustments with these. Table 5: Post-Merger Rank Analysis S. No. Factors Weight Total Weighted Total Weighted Mean Rank 1 2 3 4 5 Very Poor Poor Moderate Good Very Good 1 Satisfaction Post-Merger 0 2 8 16 4 30 112 7.47 12 2 Work Culture Post-Merger 0 2 7 14 7 30 116 7.73 8 3 Quality of Management Post-Merger 1 2 11 11 5 30 107 7.13 19 4 Infrastructure Post-Merger 1 1 3 19 6 30 118 7.87 2 5 Salary Post-Merger 1 3 8 14 4 30 107 7.13 20 6 Time Schedule Post-Merger 0 3 8 14 5 30 111 7.40 13 7 Communication with Senior Post-Merger 0 2 11 13 4 30 109 7.27 16 8 Authority Provided by the Bank Post-Merger 0 6 6 6 12 30 114 7.60 10 9 Responsibility Level Post-Merger 0 4 9 12 5 30 108 7.20 18 10 De

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Thier Eyes Were Watching God :: essays research papers

In life everyone tries to find their true identity. For some it comes naturally, for others it might take years to find their identity, or they might never find it at all. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God; Zora Neale Hurston reveals a woman’s identity through her struggles in life, her treatment by society, and her thoughts on life. Janie a young African American girl who grew up in white life style; believed she was related of them till about the age of six. This impact changed Janie’s view on life. While she thought she was able to do things the color of her skin held her back. This made her try harder to accomplish her goals. When her grandmother insisted that she marry Logan she did not want to. Janie married him to fulfill her grandmother’s dreams. Even though Janie did not love him she struggled till she could not stand it and left with Joe.† It had always been his wish and desire to be a big voice and he had to live nearly thirty years to find a chance.† (28) While, Janie was with Joe in Eaton Vile she had a higher status then the rest of the towns people. Janie tried to interact with them, but Joe would not let her. He thought of Janie as being better then all of them. This led to the way she was treated in society. All of the women in the town thought Janie had everything, but Janie did not. She wanted to be excepted as part of them. When Joe died people in the town expected Janie to be mournful, so she put on an act for them. â€Å"She sent her face to Joe’s funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world.† (88) After, Joe’s death Janie still ran the store. While working she meet Tea Cake, he showed her how to play checkers. â€Å"Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play.† (96) This represents how he treated her as equal. Tea Cake compared to the other two husbands in Janie’s life was everything she was looking for. Tea Cake taught her so much that she started to fell more independent. After, Tea Cake’s death Janie grieves on the inside so much that she

Monday, August 19, 2019

Victor Frankenstein Essay example -- Literary Analysis, Mary Shelley

The wise Uncle Ben once told Peter Parker, â€Å"remember, with great power. Comes great responsibility.† There is no greater power than that acquired by the infamous Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein when he discovers the secret to creating life. Shelley’s Frankenstein is a tale of creation that depicts acts of human conception and discovery. The Oxford English Dictionary defines creation as â€Å"the action or process of bringing something into existence from nothing by divine or natural agency; the fact of being so created.† It defies the natural order of things and creates a world of its own. The multiple acts of creation and discovery bring upon a certain set of responsibilities and implications as depicted by David Collings who analyzes the responsibilities that come as a result of these acts in his essay â€Å"The Monster and the Maternal Thing: Mary Shelley’s Critique of Ideology†. The main act of creation is evident through Victor Frankenstein’s creation of the Being which is depicted most prominently in the novel. However, there are multiple other acts of creation and discovery that may not be apparent at first sight. One of the most important being, Victor’s discovery of the knowledge required to create life. Apart from initially creating the Being, Victor also plays a critical role in the Being’s evolution into a raging and vengeful creature. Perhaps above all other acts of creation and discovery is Victor’s personal creation of himself into a monster. As stated by Collings most of these acts of creation on Victor’s part are subconsciously brought upon because of their lack of a maternal figure but also in part because of his desire for fame and glory. However, he is blinded by his motives and forgets that with his... ...eatures. Victor Frankenstein is given this power when he discovers the secret to reanimating dead remains, by which he creates the Being we have all come to call Frankenstein. In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley depicts this amazing power and the change it causes in not only Victor’s life but in the world. Along the way the young Victor Frankenstein creates more than what he initially believed but his greed and vanity shield him from recognizing the responsibilities and implications that arise, all of which are analyzed the by David Collings in his essay â€Å"The Monster and the Maternal Thing: Mary Shelley’s Critique of Ideology.† As Uncle Ben once told Peter Parker â€Å"remember, with great power. Comes great responsibility.† Victor acquired great power but disregarded all responsibilities that resulted out of his creations, therefore creating himself as a monster.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Man vs. Woman in A Streetcar Named Desire :: Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

During the time period Tennessee Williams, author of the play A Streetcar Named Desire, lived in, men were typically portrayed as leaders of the household. Through Williams' usage of dialogue, specific descriptions of each characters, as well as sound, he illustrates to readers of today's society how differently a man and woman coexisted in the mid-1900s, compared to today. Through the eyes of a topical/historical theorist, who stresses the relationships between the story and the time period it takes place, the distinction between today's society and that of five decades past, can be observed with depth and precision. Â   Stanley Kowalski, a main character in A Streetcar Named Desire, is a common man who is simple, straight forward and brutally honest. He treats his wife with no respect, for she does not deserve it because she is a woman. To him, her duties are to obey his commands and tolerate his intolerable actions. If she chooses to disobey or challenge his orders, it is then his duty to abuse her physically if he deems it necessary. He insincerely apologizes for it afterwards, and expects his wife to learn from her mistakes and to continue with her duties as though he did nothing wrong. During this time period, domestic violence is not uncommon and is widely accepted as a means in obtaining a desired behavior from one's wife. Stanley is clearly aware of this. Â   After an attack, his wife states to her sister, "He was as good as a lamb when I came back and he's really very, very ashamed of himself (Williams, 2309). Due to human nature, he does show that he feels sorry for his wife, in order to make sure she doesn't get any ideas to leave. Stanley is unaware of this, but the fact that he fears his wife's departure is an insecurity we will never admit to (psychological/psychoanalytic approach). Â   Stella, Stanley's wife in the play, is a passive woman. She is displayed this way through how she responds to the people and situations around her. When she is beaten by Stanley, she understands that his drunkenness takes hold of him and he has no control over his actions. She knows he never means her harm and his intentions are good.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

The Education System of Today

Testing today has taken over schools. The pressure of society for a person to strive to reach the best schools and therefore the best education, to do this your test scores have to be the best. This brings up the question on weather or not the highest test scores show who the smartest people really are? These high test scores raise the question, does the school you go to have an influence on how you do on your tests. If it does make a difference does the money involved create a preddjudicous. Also should someone use all their powers available to find get into the best schools? Society is leaning more towards Machiavelli†s view where the ends justify the means. This also brings morals into the situation. The education system of today has used testing as an easer way to show how smart someone is. Teachers use tests to see how well students understand what they have taught. This has a positive effect making the students learn the material that the teacher wants them to learn, however the student ends up just learning it because they have to. In order to become educated someone has to want to learn something. That is the only way that they would truly push themselves to further their knowledge. The only thing that pushes students to learn today is the pressure that society makes. These pressures consist of anything from parents pushing the child to go to college, to business that will not hire anyone without a college degree. Parents want to see their child succeed more then the child wants too. The child wants to succeed too because no one wants to grow up only to be able to work in a minim wage job. Without the benefits of a college degree a person is limited as to what positions are available in today†s workplace. The better the college that the person got the degree from the better chance they have at the job. This leads into the whole network of schooling involved to get the best jobs available. In order to get into the best college to get the best job one has to go to the best high school, which takes the best lower school, and to get into that lower school one has to get into the best preschool. This path is not an exact one but there is a quality of school that has to be kept up with. At the young age where this cycle is started the child has no say in any of it. The parents are left to put their child in the best school they can. Most parents will go threw many lengths to give their children the best possible start into the world. They will spend all of their precious money and they will use all of their contacts to get their child into the best schools they can. This however is an unfair system. Not everyone can afford the best schools because they usually end up being the most expensive. Like wise not everyone has an aunt to get them into the collage that they otherwise would not have been able to get into. This raises the question do the ends justify the means like in Machiavelli's peace â€Å"The Qualities of the Prince†. The system that he suggests a prince should govern under is not the ideal system but in the end it makes the best prince. The system that someone uses to get threw schools using all available resources may not be the fairest but in the end they will get the best education possible. I believe in using all available resources to give yourself a leg up on others. Sure it is not an ideal way to run the education system. It is not fair to everyone that dose not have the same resources, but it is a dog –eat-dog world and you have to do what you can to make it. In order to make education less of a social and financial thing standardized testing was invented. These tests were and still are supposed to be a way that gives everyone, no matter what connections or how much money they have, the equal chance. This in theory would be perfect but it dose not work that way. The tests can only test on so much material, and who says that the material is the most important. These tests did lessen the gap between schools. Someone that went to a private school with the best teachers had just as a student that was home taught. It tested on the same material and it gave everyone the chance to show their knowledge. There are many nitpicky things that come up about the unfair ness of tests like the SAT. It is impossible to make questions that equally apply to everyone. As an example a question about sailing would be a lot harder for someone that did not live near water then it would be for someone that grew up on a sailboat. The only major problem with tests like the SATs, is that it dose not take into account the people that are smart and know just as much as the next guy but just doesn†t do as well on tests. Tests only show you so much of a person. The problem of a test is in its inability to show the person. Sure it shows how well that person knows the material he or she is tested on, but it dose not show that person. What if the student dose poorly on the SAT, but ends up having the best management skills. He won†t get into the best collage and there fore the biggest companies will not look at him and he will end up getting a lesser job. It also has the opposite possibility. If someone dose amassing one these tests and gets hired by a big aw firm but this person cannot get along with anyone, it turns out just as bad. This too can be argued by the fact that many of these business hiring these people, that do amassing on these test, are looking for they type of person that is known to test well. There is an endless list of prows and cons for testing. Some of them are so nitpicky they are laughed at, but in the hole I believe that tests are good. They are only good for finding someone†s intelligence if they are used along with other methods. There is no one way that is good for everyone. If every person was the same and knew the same things then you could fined one way to see who was smarter, but people are different. Some people excel in English and some excel in math but how do you judge who is smarter. They do not have a common area to be tested in. The editoral by David Ignatius points out all the wrongs with today†s education system, but it dose not give a realistic solution. Sure it would be nice to encourage people to go to collage just to learn more and farther their knowledge, but most students go to school now because it is the only way to keep their options in life open. I personally came to college to learn how to become an engineer. I am very interested in this field and am doing well. In the beginning of the year I started taking psychology, which I fined very interesting. I had to drop the class. In order to excel in my required core sources I needed more time and therefore had to drop psychology. This was a very hypocritical move on my part. I wanted to farther my knowledge in other subjects that interest me but I gave in to the pressures to succeed instead of learn. School is not ideal and the education systems are not completely focused on learning, but that is the way it is now so as a student I have to deal with this and make the best out of what I am given. Every advantage that is possible should be taken, like when Machiavelli pointed out the methods for becoming the best prince, not the best methods for becoming a prince. They were not always the ideal way of dealing with situations but it was the most effective. Just like testing and using connections is not the best method for getting an education but they will give you the best shot at excelling at it. The Education System of Today Testing today has taken over schools. The pressure of society for a person to strive to reach the best schools and therefore the best education, to do this your test scores have to be the best. This brings up the question on weather or not the highest test scores show who the smartest people really are? These high test scores raise the question, does the school you go to have an influence on how you do on your tests. If it does make a difference does the money involved create a preddjudicous. Also should someone use all their powers available to find get into the best schools? Society is leaning more towards Machiavelli†s view where the ends justify the means. This also brings morals into the situation. The education system of today has used testing as an easer way to show how smart someone is. Teachers use tests to see how well students understand what they have taught. This has a positive effect making the students learn the material that the teacher wants them to learn, however the student ends up just learning it because they have to. In order to become educated someone has to want to learn something. That is the only way that they would truly push themselves to further their knowledge. The only thing that pushes students to learn today is the pressure that society makes. These pressures consist of anything from parents pushing the child to go to college, to business that will not hire anyone without a college degree. Parents want to see their child succeed more then the child wants too. The child wants to succeed too because no one wants to grow up only to be able to work in a minim wage job. Without the benefits of a college degree a person is limited as to what positions are available in today†s workplace. The better the college that the person got the degree from the better chance they have at the job. This leads into the whole network of schooling involved to get the best jobs available. In order to get into the best college to get the best job one has to go to the best high school, which takes the best lower school, and to get into that lower school one has to get into the best preschool. This path is not an exact one but there is a quality of school that has to be kept up with. At the young age where this cycle is started the child has no say in any of it. The parents are left to put their child in the best school they can. Most parents will go threw many lengths to give their children the best possible start into the world. They will spend all of their precious money and they will use all of their contacts to get their child into the best schools they can. This however is an unfair system. Not everyone can afford the best schools because they usually end up being the most expensive. Like wise not everyone has an aunt to get them into the collage that they otherwise would not have been able to get into. This raises the question do the ends justify the means like in Machiavelli's peace â€Å"The Qualities of the Prince†. The system that he suggests a prince should govern under is not the ideal system but in the end it makes the best prince. The system that someone uses to get threw schools using all available resources may not be the fairest but in the end they will get the best education possible. I believe in using all available resources to give yourself a leg up on others. Sure it is not an ideal way to run the education system. It is not fair to everyone that dose not have the same resources, but it is a dog –eat-dog world and you have to do what you can to make it. In order to make education less of a social and financial thing standardized testing was invented. These tests were and still are supposed to be a way that gives everyone, no matter what connections or how much money they have, the equal chance. This in theory would be perfect but it dose not work that way. The tests can only test on so much material, and who says that the material is the most important. These tests did lessen the gap between schools. Someone that went to a private school with the best teachers had just as a student that was home taught. It tested on the same material and it gave everyone the chance to show their knowledge. There are many nitpicky things that come up about the unfair ness of tests like the SAT. It is impossible to make questions that equally apply to everyone. As an example a question about sailing would be a lot harder for someone that did not live near water then it would be for someone that grew up on a sailboat. The only major problem with tests like the SATs, is that it dose not take into account the people that are smart and know just as much as the next guy but just doesn†t do as well on tests. Tests only show you so much of a person. The problem of a test is in its inability to show the person. Sure it shows how well that person knows the material he or she is tested on, but it dose not show that person. What if the student dose poorly on the SAT, but ends up having the best management skills. He won†t get into the best collage and there fore the biggest companies will not look at him and he will end up getting a lesser job. It also has the opposite possibility. If someone dose amassing one these tests and gets hired by a big aw firm but this person cannot get along with anyone, it turns out just as bad. This too can be argued by the fact that many of these business hiring these people, that do amassing on these test, are looking for they type of person that is known to test well. There is an endless list of prows and cons for testing. Some of them are so nitpicky they are laughed at, but in the hole I believe that tests are good. They are only good for finding someone†s intelligence if they are used along with other methods. There is no one way that is good for everyone. If every person was the same and knew the same things then you could fined one way to see who was smarter, but people are different. Some people excel in English and some excel in math but how do you judge who is smarter. They do not have a common area to be tested in. The editoral by David Ignatius points out all the wrongs with today†s education system, but it dose not give a realistic solution. Sure it would be nice to encourage people to go to collage just to learn more and farther their knowledge, but most students go to school now because it is the only way to keep their options in life open. I personally came to college to learn how to become an engineer. I am very interested in this field and am doing well. In the beginning of the year I started taking psychology, which I fined very interesting. I had to drop the class. In order to excel in my required core sources I needed more time and therefore had to drop psychology. This was a very hypocritical move on my part. I wanted to farther my knowledge in other subjects that interest me but I gave in to the pressures to succeed instead of learn. School is not ideal and the education systems are not completely focused on learning, but that is the way it is now so as a student I have to deal with this and make the best out of what I am given. Every advantage that is possible should be taken, like when Machiavelli pointed out the methods for becoming the best prince, not the best methods for becoming a prince. They were not always the ideal way of dealing with situations but it was the most effective. Just like testing and using connections is not the best method for getting an education but they will give you the best shot at excelling at it.