Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The pros and cons of globalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The pros and cons of globalism - Essay Example It extends to all forms of activities such as commercial, financial, or even religious as well as cultural. Such a development over the years has broadened the scope of human activities significantly thus giving rise to higher consumer expectations. One of the key reasons behind the sudden spurt in globalization is the range of technological innovations in the recent years, which has helped in transcending boundaries by breaking down barriers and made it possible for various businesses to take shape and reach a wider audience. The fact that technological revolutions have single handedly revolutionized the global arena has been documented by various authors and researchers alike (Langhorne, 2001). The internet revolution which has given rise to e-Business and e-Commerce has helped in creating global virtual communities These communities are known to display a strongly developed sense of awareness and play a vital role in participating in matters such as political as well as economic d iscourses, thus becoming a strong dominant force in enforcing their perspectives in matters related to public policies. The development of enterprise application systems, wireless communications technology as well as a range of effective business software have enabled the businesses to cater to the large and varied requirements of their consumers, in the fastest way possible. People have now taken to shopping online and expect their orders to be shipped to them as fast as possible. The marketing department has found a new virtual ground for aggressively advertising their products, while the company management are now aiming to sell their products virtually. Global connectivity has expanded the business hours and now provide for a new 24/7 working schedule thus, implying the intensity of competition in the global marketplace. Furthermore, technological advancement has also afforded various countries to enter into economic partnerships with each other for the provision of goods and se rvices, thus paving way for international e-commerce (Tompkins, 2007). Globalization also signifies the tendency of businesses to invest their funds in projects and avenues which are beyond their national boundaries and venture into international territories, thus expanding their scope to different markets worldwide. The proponents of globalization have termed such a change as a positive influence especially with respect to the developing nations, who can now avail the opportunities afforded to them, to develop faster by co-coordinating with the industrialized nations. However, the opponents of globalization on the other hand, have countered this recent development stating that it acts as a barrier for a nation's progress, questions its sovereignty and paves way for the development of other nations by compromising / trading the local jobs for cheaper jobs off shore. This paper on the ‘Good and bad of globalism’ seeks to assess and analyze the perspectives presented by T homas Friedman in his book ‘The World is Flat’ and derive conclusions regarding the actual impact of globalization in contemporary times. The World is Flat: Thomas Friedman's book "The World is Flat" examines and assess the various facets of globalization, and serves as a guide to those at the helm of affairs to analyze and introspect their policies and their resultant impact on the economies of their respective nations. Friedman states that there are various forces which has led the world to become flat. He has refers these

Monday, October 28, 2019

How To Secure Routers And Switches Information Technology Essay

How To Secure Routers And Switches Information Technology Essay You have been approached by your manager give a talk on the Network security standard ISO 17799. Write a short precise detailing the purpose of this document and the main components within parts 1 and 2 of the document. (http://www.17799central.com/iso17799.htm) Write a brief analysis detailing the possible threats and consequences for a company that does not have an adequate Security Policy. Write a summary of how an Edge router can be configured into a firewall; include detail of how it can be used to filter traffic. Describe the operation of CBAC Detail the encryption techniques that are used in VPN systems and explain how/when they are used. Describe how you can secure/harden routers and switches Router hardening, password requirements, ssh, parser views, etc Port security, vlan hopping, anti-snooping, private vlans Multi-choice Review Questions 1. In which type of attack does the potential intruder attempt to discover and map out systems, services, and vulnerabilities? stake out reconnaissance tapping sniffing 2. Which type of attack prevents a user from accessing the targeted file server? Reconnaissance attack Denial of service attack Prevention of entry attack Disruption of structure attack 3. Which type of action does the ping sweep pose to an organization? eavesdropping reconnaissance denial of service unauthorized access 4. An employee of ABC Company receives an e-mail from a co-worker with an attachment. The employee opens the attachment and receives a call from the network administrator a few minutes later, stating that the employees machine has been attacked and is sending SMTP messages. Which category of attack is this? B) denial of service trojan horse port scanning password attack social engineering 5. What is a major characteristic of a Worm? D) malicious software that copies itself into other executable programs tricks users into running the infected software a set of computer instructions that lies dormant until triggered by a specific event exploits vulnerabilities with the intent of propagating itself across a network 6. A large investment firm has been attacked by a worm. In which order should the network support team perform the steps to mitigate the attack? A) A. inoculation B. treatment C. containment D. quarantine C,A,D,B A,B,C,D A,C,B,D D,A,C,B C,B,A,D 7. At XYZ Company, the policy for network use requires that employees log in to a Windows domain controller when they power on their work computers. Although XYZ does not implement all possible security measures, outgoing traffic is filtered using a firewall. Which security model is the company using? D) open access closed access hybrid access Restrictive access 8. Which three of these are common causes of persistent vulnerabilities in networks? (Choose three.) new exploits in existing software misconfigured hardware or software poor network design changes in the TCP/IP protocol changes in the core routers on the Internet end-user carelessness 9. A new network administrator is assigned the task of conducting a risk assessment of the companys network. The administrator immediately conducts a vulnerability assessment. Which important task should the administrator have completed first? threat identification security level application patch and update deployment asset identification perimeter security upgrade 10. A company deployed a web server on the company DMZ to provide external web services. While reviewing firewall log files, the administrator discovered that a connection was made to the internal e-mail server from the web server in DMZ. After reviewing the e-mail server logs, the administrator discovered that an unauthorized account was created. What type of attack was successfully carried out? phishing port redirection trust exploitation man-in-the-middle 11. Users are unable to access a company server. The system logs show that the server is operating slowly because it is receiving a high level of fake requests for service. Which type of attack is occurring? reconnaissance access DoS worms, viruses, and Trojan horses 12. Which two are examples of Distributed Denial of Service attacks? (Choose two.) B) D) SYN Flood Stacheldraht Ping of Death Smurf WinNuke Targa.c 13. Which two of these are examples of DDoS network attacks? (Choose two.) A) B) smurf attack Tribal Flood Network (TFN) teardrop.c man-in-the-middle attack port redirection social engineering 14. Which two are technological weaknesses that can lead to a breach in an organizations security? (Choose two.) C) D) software compatibility weakness DHCP security weakness TCP/IP protocol weakness operating system weakness LDAP weakness 15. What is the effect of applying this command to a Cisco router? E) router(config)# no service finger UNIX commands are disabled on the router. All TCP/IP services are disabled. PING usage is disabled. Users logged into the router remotely will not be able to see if other users are logged into the router 16. A partial router configuration is shown in the graphic. The network administrator adds the following command at the router prompt. router(config)# security passwords min-length 10 Which of the following is correct? A) The current password will continue to be used as a valid password until changed. No password is required. The current password is invalid and will not allow a login. A password that is at least ten characters long must immediately be implemented for a successful login. 17. The Security Wheel promotes a continuous process to retest and reapply updated security measures. What is the core or à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"hubà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚  component of the Security Wheel? D) testing policy monitor improve security policy 18. After providing for all operational requirements of the network, the network support team has determined that the servers should be hardened against security threats so that the network can operate at full potential. At which stage of the network life cycle does server hardening occur? E) planning design implementation operation optimization 19. A network administrator installs a new stateful firewall. Which type of security solution is this? secure connectivity threat defense policy enforcement trust and identity authentication 20. XYZ Company recently adopted software for installation on critical servers that will detect malicious attacks as they occur. In addition, the software will stop the execution of the attacks and send an alarm to the network administrator. Which technology does this software utilize? host-based intrusion detection host-based intrusion protection host-based intrusion prevention host-based intrusion notification 21. A security team is charged with hardening network devices. What must be accomplished first before deciding how to configure security on any device? Audit all relevant network devices. Document all router configurations. Create or update security policies. Complete a vulnerability assessment. 22. Which two objectives must a security policy accomplish? (Choose two.) provide a checklist for the installation of secure servers describe how the firewall must be configured document the resources to be protected identify the security objectives of the organization identify the specific tasks involved in hardening a router 23. Which router command will result in the router only accepting passwords of 16 characters or more? service password-encryption enable secret min-length 16 security passwords min-length 16 security passwords max-length 16 24. Which command will encrypt all passwords in the router configuration file? D) enable secret password encrypt all enable password-encryption service password-encryption no clear-text password 25. MD5 can be used for authenticating routing protocol updates for which three protocols? (Choose three.) B), D) E) RIPv1 RIPv2 IGRP EIGRP BGP 26. Which configuration will allow an administrator to access the console port using a password of password? B) router(config)# line aux 0 router(config-line)# login router(config-line)# password password router(config)# line console 0 router(config-line)# login router(config-line)# password password router(config)# line console 0 router(config-line)# password password router(config)# line console 0 router(config-line)# access router(config-line)# password password router(config)# line vty 0 router(config-line)# password password router(config)# line vty 0 router(config-line)# access router(config-line)# password password 27. Which command sets the inactivity timer, for a particular line or group of lines, to four minutes and fifteen seconds? E router(config)# line-timeout 4 15 router(config-line)# line-timeout 4 15 router(config-line)# exec-timeout 255 router(config-line)# timeout 255 router(config-line)# exec-timeout 4 15 router(config-line)# line-timeout 255 28. Which encryption type uses the MD5 hash algorithm? Type 0 Type 1 Type 5 Type 7 29. Which privilege level has the most access to the Cisco IOS? level 0 level 1 level 7 level 15 level 16 level 20 30. Which algorithm implements stateful connection control through the PIX Security Appliance? Network Address Translation Algorithm Access Control Security Algorithm Adaptive Security Algorithm Spanning Tree Protocol Algorithm 31. The Cisco Security Device Manager (SDM) allows administrators to securely configure supported routers by using which security protocol in Microsoft Internet Explorer? B) IPSec SSL SSH L2TP PPTP 32. A network administrator has received a Cisco PIX Security Appliance from another division within the company. The existing configuration has IP addresses that will cause problems on the network. What command sequence will successfully clear all the existing IP addresses and configure a new IP address on ethernet0? B) pix1(config)# clear ip all pix1(config)# interface ethernet0 pix1(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.2 pix1(config)# clear ip pix1(config)# interface ethernet0 pix1(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0 pix1(config)# no ip address pix1(config)# interface ethernet0 pix1(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0 pix1(config)# clear ip pix1(config)# interface ethernet0 pix1(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.2 0.0.0.255 33. A network team is configuring a Cisco PIX Security Appliance for NAT so that local addresses are translated. The team is creating a global address pool using a subnet of network 192.168.5.0 with a 27-bit mask. What is the proper syntax to set up this global address pool? B) pix1(config)# global (inside) 1 192.168.5.33-192.168.5.62 pix1(config)# global (outside) 1 192.168.5.33-192.168.5.62 pix1(config)# global (inside) 1 192.168.5.65-192.168.5.95 pix1(config)# global (outside) 1 192.168.5.65-192.168.5.95 pix1(config)# global (inside) 1 192.168.5.64-192.168.5.127 pix1(config)# global (outside) 1 192.168.5.65-192.168.5.127 34. A network administrator has configured an access control list on the Cisco PIX Security Appliance that allows inside hosts to ping outside hosts for troubleshooting. Which debug command can be used to troubleshoot if pings between hosts are not successful? debug icmp inside outside debug ping debug icmp trace debug trace icmp 35. Which protocol provides time synchronization? STP TSP NTP SMTP L2TP 36. Which command would configure a PIX Security Appliance to send syslog messages from its inside interface to a syslog server with the IP address of 10.0.0.3? D pixfirewall(config)# syslog inside 10.0.0.3 pixfirewall(config)# logging inside 10.0.0.3 pixfirewall(config)# syslog host inside 10.0.0.3 pixfirewall(config)# logging host inside 10.0.0.3 37. The configuration in the graphic has been entered into a PIX Security Appliance with three interfaces. The interfaces are inside, outside, and DMZ. What source address range will the traffic from inside devices use when they access devices in the DMZ? 10.0.0.1 to 10.0.0.254 172.16.0.20 to 172.16.0.254 172.16.0.1 to 172.16.0.254 192.168.0.20 to 192.168.0.254 10.0.0.1 to 10.255.255.254 38. What source IP address will the traffic from devices in the 10.0.2.0 network have when they leave the trusted network? C) 192.168.0.8 always 192.168.0.9 always 192.168.0.8 if ports are available, or 192.168.0.9 if 192.168.0.8s ports are exhausted 192.168.0.9 if ports are available, or 192.168.0.8 if 192.168.0.9s ports are exhausted 39. The commands in the graphic have been entered into a PIX Security Appliance. Which two statements are accurate descriptions of what will happen to outgoing traffic when it leaves the trusted network? (Choose two.) B) C) The source IP address will be from a pool of addresses in the 192.168.0.3 to 192.168.0.254 range. The source port will be a random port above port 1023. The source IP address will be 192.168.0.2 for all outgoing traffic. The source port will be port 1024. The source IP address will be in the range 10.0.0.1 to 10.0.255.254. 40. Interface Ethernet3 on a PIX Security Appliance has been configured with three subinterfaces to pass tagged traffic from three different VLANs. What protocol will be used to tag the VLAN traffic? ISL 802.1x VTP 802.1q 41. Which two commands will configure a static default route on the PIX Security Appliance in the network shown in the graphic? (Choose two.) route inside outside 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 172.16.0.2 1 route outside 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 172.16.0.2 1 ip route inside outside 0 0 192.168.0.2 1 route outside 0 0 172.16.0.2 1 ip route inside outside 0 0 172.16.0.2 1 route outside 0 0 192.168.0.2 1 42. How are transactions between a RADIUS client and a RADIUS server authenticated? by using a shared secret which is never sent over the network by hashing the secret using MD5 and then sending it over the network by hashing the secret using MD4 and then sending it over the network by using a clear-text password and then sending it over the network 43. RADIUS uses which transport layer protocol? C) IP TCP UDP ICMP DLC 44. Which authentication method is susceptible to playback attacks? C) passwords using S/KEY passwords using token card passwords requiring periodic change passwords using one-time password technology 45. Which authentication method sends passwords over the network in clear text yet protects against eavesdropping and password cracking attacks? C) authentication with FTP authentication with Telnet authentication with S/KEY authentication in POP3 e-mail 46. After a security audit, network managers realized that the authentication method used by their telecommuting employees needed to be improved. They set up a server and installed client software on the employee laptops of their remote users. They also provided a device for each remote user that generated a password every time they needed to make a remote network connection. Which authentication technology does this process describe? B) authentication with S/KEY authentication with token card authentication with encrypted password authentication with compressed password 47. What function does a digital certificate offer to information security? C) authorization accounting nonrepudiation intrusion prevention 48. Bookline Inc., an online bookstore, recently installed a web server running Microsoft Windows 2003 Server. Where should the company obtain a digital signature for the web server in order to assure customers that they are connecting to Booklines server and not an impersonating web server? a digital signature generated by the CA in Microsofts corporate headquarters a digital signature generated by the CA from a trusted third party a digital signature generated by the CA from a government agency a digital signature generated by any CA that establishes a secure connection 49. A large law firm wishes to secure dialup access to its corporate network for employees working at home. Since much of the data to be transmitted is highly confidential, the firm requires a high level of encryption and also prefers that each component of AAA be provided separately. Which security protocol best meets these requirements? TACACS XTACACS TACACS+ RADIUS 50. What are three reasons TACACS+ is preferred over RADIUS for authentication services? (Choose three.) RADIUS has limited name space for attributes. RADIUS is not an industry supported standard. TACACS+ encrypts the entire TACACS+ packet. TACACS+ authentication is included with more recent Windows Server versions. TACACS+ separates authentication and authorization. RADIUS uses TCP as a transport protocol creating additional overhead 51. A static username/password authentication method is susceptible to which three types of attacks? (Choose three.) playback theft teardrop syn flood eavesdropping 52. Company security policy requires the use of a centralized AAA server for network access authentication. Which two protocols are supported by the AAA server? (Choose two.) C) D) IPSec SSL RADIUS TACACS+ SSH 53. Which three are functions of AAA? (Choose three.) A), C) E) accounting availability authentication architecture authorization accessibility 54. A network administrator wishes to use port-level authentication technology to determine network access and assign IP addresses from different DHCP pools to authenticated and unauthenticated users. What standardized framework supports this objective? A) IEEE 802.1x IEEE 802.11af IEEE 802.1q IEEE 802.1p 55. What will be the result of executing the command in the graphic? C) The default login method will use TACACS+ only. TACACS+ accounting will be enabled at login. The enable password will be used if a TACACS+ server is not available. The default TACACS+ user shell will be enabled. 56. Which AAA service reduces IT operating costs by providing detailed reporting and monitoring of network user behavior, and also by keeping a record of every access connection and device configuration change across the network? authentication accreditation accounting authorization 57. What tool should you use to add a single user account to the Cisco Secure ACS for Windows user database? database replication Unknown User Policy RDBMS Synchronization Cisco Secure ACS HTML interface 58. Refer to the exhibit. Which two services can the network access server use to direct requests from the remote user to the Cisco Secure ACS authentication service? (Choose two.) CSAuth CSUtil RADIUS RDBMS TACACS+ 59. RTA(config)# tacacs-server key [emailprotected]? RTA(config)# tacacs-server host 10.1.2.4 RTA(config)# tacacs-server host 10.1.2.5 What will be the effect of these commands on router RTA? C) The TACACS+ server is now authenticating for the hosts 10.1.2.4 and 10.1.2.5. The TACACS+ server key has been exported to the hosts 10.1.2.4 and 10.1.2.5. The TACACS+ servers 10.1.2.4 and 10.1.2.5 and the router have been set to share the same authentication key. The TACACS+ servers are 10.1.2.4 and 10.1.2.5 and the configuration adds router RTA as a third TACACS+ server. 60. RTA(config)# aaa new-model RTA(config)# aaa authentication login default group tacacs+ enable After entering the configuration shown, the administrator loses the connection to the router before having the chance to create a new TACACS+ account. What is the easiest way for the administrator to regain administrative access to router RTA? C) Connect to the router, and use the default TACACS+ username and password. Erase NVRAM, and redo the configuration from scratch. Connect to the router, and supply the enable password. Perform a password recovery procedure on the router 61. Which command associates the group MYGROUP with the AAA server using the TACACS+ protocol? D) Pixfirewall(config)# aaa-server MYGROUP tacacs+ protocol Pixfirewall(config)# aaa-server protocol tacacs+ MYGROUP Pixfirewall(config)# aaa-server tacacs+ protocol MYGROUP Pixfirewall(config)# aaa-server MYGROUP protocol tacacs+ 62. Which configuration command defines the association of initiating HTTP protocol traffic with an authentication proxy name MYPROXY? C) Router(config)# ip auth-proxy MYPROXY http Router(config)# auth-proxy MYPROXY ip http Router(config)# ip auth-proxy name MYPROXY http Router(config)# auth-proxy name MYPROXY ip http 63. With the following configuration command, how long does the PIX Security Appliance try to access the AAA server 10.0.1.10 before choosing the next AAA server if there is no response from 10.0.1.10? aaa-server MYTACACS (inside) host 10.0.1.10 secretkey 12 seconds 15 seconds 20 seconds 30 seconds 64. Which command will enable AAA services on a router? B Router(config)# aaa enable Router(config)# aaa new-model Router(config)# aaa set enable Router(config)# aaa new-model enable 65. What is the default timeout in minutes for the inactivity-timer parameter of the ip auth-proxy command? 15 30 45 60 90 66. The network administrator configured the aaa authorization command below on the PIX Security Appliance. What is the effect of this command? pix(config)# aaa authorization include tcp/22 outside 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 auth1 FTP traffic from outside is subject to authorization by the AAA server. SSH traffic from outside is subject to authorization by the AAA server. HTTP traffic from outside is subject to authorization by the AAA server. SMTP traffic from outside is subject to authorization by the AAA server. 67. Which type of authentication is being used when authentication is required via the PIX Security Appliance before direct traffic flow is allowed between users and the company web server? C) access authentication console access authentication cut-through proxy authentication tunnel access authentication 68. What will be the effect in the router after these configuration commands are entered? B) Router(config)# ip auth-proxy name aprule http Router(config)# interface ethernet0 Router(config-if)# ip auth-proxy aprule An authentication proxy rule called aprule is created making all authentication proxy services available only through the ethernet0 interface. An authentication proxy rule called aprule has been created for the HTTP protocol and is associated with the ethernet0 interface. An authentication proxy rule called aprule has been created for all protocols except the HTTP protocol and is associated with the ethernet0 interface. An authentication proxy rule called aprule has been created for the HTTP server running internally to the router and is associated with anyone attempting to access the web server from the ethernet0 interface. 69. When Cisco IOS Firewall authentication proxy is enabled, a user sends HTTP traffic which will trigger the authentication proxy. What is the first action taken by the proxy? C) The user will be asked to supply a valid username and password. The TACACS+ server will be contacted to see if the user is a valid user. The authentication proxy will check to see if the user has already been authenticated. If the authentication proxy has no user account for the user, it will check to see if a default guest user has been defined. 70. A TACACS+ server is configured to provide authentication, authorization, and accounting. The IP address of the server is 192.168.50.1, and the AAA authentication encryption key is S3crtK3y. Which command sequence will configure a Cisco router to communicate with the TACACS+ server? D) Router(config)# aaa new-model Router(config)# aaa authentication default group tacacs+ Router(config)# aaa authorization auth-proxy default group tacacs+ Router(config)# aaa tacacs-server host 192.168.50.1 Router(config)# aaa tacacs-server key S3crtK3y Router(config)# aaa enable Router(config)# aaa authentication default group tacacs+ Router(config)# aaa authorization auth-proxy default group tacacs+ Router(config)# tacacs-server host 192.168.50.1 Router(config)# tacacs-server key S3crtK3y Router(config)# aaa enable Router(config)# aaa authentication login default group tacacs+ Router(config)# aaa authorization auth-proxy default group tacacs+ Router(config)# aaa tacacs-server host 192.168.50.1 Router(config)# aaa tacacs-server key S3crtK3y Router(config)# aaa new-model Router(config)# aaa authentication login default group tacacs+ Router(config)# aaa authorization auth-proxy default group tacacs+ Router(config)# tacacs-server host 192.168.50.1 Router(config)# tacacs-server key S3crtK3y 71. The lead network administrator notices that unknown users have made router configuration changes. These changes are adversely affecting the network. Which command can be entered on the router to help identify future configuration changes and who made these changes? aaa accounting show uauth aaa accounting console aaa accounting match 72. Refer to the exhibit. Since ABC, Inc. is strengthening security, a PIX Security Appliance firewall must be configured with AAA services. Accounting should be provided for all FTP and HTTP traffic from any host to the WWW server at 192.168.2.10. Which command sequence would successfully process the desired traffic to the NY_ACS accounting server? A pixfirewall(config)# access-list 110 permit tcp any host 192.168.2.10 eq ftp pixfirewall(config)# access-list 110 permit tcp any host 192.168.2.10 eq http pixfirewall(config)# aaa accounting match 110 outside NY_ACS pixfirewall(config)# access-list 110 permit tcp any host 192.168.2.10 eq ftp pixfirewall(config)# access-list 110 permit tcp any host 192.168.2.10 eq http pixfirewall(config)# aaa accounting access-list 110 outside 10.0.0.2 pixfirewall(config)# access-list 110 permit tcp any host 10.0.0.2 eq ftp pixfirewall(config)# access-list 110 permit tcp any host 10.0.0.2 eq http pixfirewall(config)# aaa accounting match 110 outside NY_ACS pixfirewall(config)# access-list 110 permit tcp any host 192.168.2.10 eq ftp pixfirewall(config)# access-list 110 permit tcp any host 192.168.2.10 eq http pixfirewall(config)# aaa accounting match 110 outside 10.0.0.2 73. Which command displays the current authenticated users, the host IP to which they are bound, and any cached IP and port authorization information on a Cisco PIX Security Appliance configured for AAA? B) pixfirewall(config)# show aaa all pixfirewall(config)# show uauth pixfirewall(config)# show aaa statistics pixfirewall(config)# show aaa-server 74. A user has initiated an HTTP session through a firewall and has been authenticated by an authentication proxy. They have not generated any traffic in a while and the idle timer has expired for that user. What will the user have to do to allow them to go through the firewall again? D) The user can manually restart the idle timer. The user can simply TFTP their user profile to t

Friday, October 25, 2019

leadership :: essays research papers

1. Introduction The current concept of evaluation of information technology makes certain assumptions. These centre in broad terms on the ability of evaluation systems to represent initiatives in ways that allow efficacious judgements to be taken. As a consequence of this assumption, representational faithfulness is assumed to be a primary requirement. Given representational faithfulness, it is assumed, rational decisions can be taken, and evaluation can be used to foster learning within feedback cycles. This assumption is consistent with a particular kind of leadership, which has been termed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“transactionalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Transactional leadership is based on the premise that leaders clarify the goals of subordinates, and provide rewards and punishments concomitant with performance against goals. Transactional leadership clearly has an important role to play within the modern enterprise but there is an alternative: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“transformationalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? leadership (Burns, 1978). Tr ansformational leadership begins with assumptions which differ markedly from transactional leadership, and thereby implies a different approach to evaluation. In broad terms, these assumptions centre on achieving results by stimulating subordinates; rather than through systems of contingent reward. The central question to be pursued in this paper concerns the relevance and implications of transactional and transformational leadership for the practice of information technology evaluation. The next section considers transactional leadership and explains its relationship to evaluation. Limitations of evaluation based upon evaluation and transactional leadership are explored both through the existing literature and through an existing study of the views of a group of Financial Directors of UK FTSE top-500 companies (all quotations used within this paper are taken from McAulay et al, 1997). Transformational leadership is then presented and comments made by the Financial Directors are used to suggest ways in which evaluation can be aligned with this form of leadership. The implicit argument is that familiar problems that are associated with the exercise of evaluation as framed by transactional leadership can be avoided within transformational leadership. The implication of the paper is that the exercise of evaluation should not be understood as an ontological inevitability but as a consequence of context, including the context provided by leadership. 2. Transactional leadership The leaderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s role within the transactional view of leadership is one of clarification; leaders clarify the role of subordinates and motivate them through rewards for good performance and punishments for aberrant behaviour. Transactional leadership stresses contract and contingent reinforcement (Bass, 1985). It is underpinned by path-goal theory, which establishes a role for the leader as the person who points out to subordinates the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“paths to successful effortà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Zen Plastics Company

This report aims to examine partnership arrangements and clearly identify advantages and disadvantages in terms of entering the export market. Besides, it is necessary to have a competent understanding of how Zen Plastics would successfully go into the export market and what they do to achieve this. Critically look at Zen Plastics’ s structure to see if the exporting is a suitable strategy for the firm concerned. The partnerships that Zen Plastics could enter into In some countries Zen Plastics cannot sell directly to the end user but must use a local agent or representative.Thus, they should enter into some partnerships. It is possible for Zen Plastics to use manufacturer’s representative or sales agent in local area. In other circumstance, the foreign distributor may purchase the product from Zen Plastics and is always responsible for payment of the item being exported. Accordingly, joint ventures might be a common way for most of exporting companies when two business es in different counties get together to start a new venture. This method normally follows one route such as licensing, franchising, industrial co-operation and contract manufacture.As for Zen Plastics, licensing, franchising and contract manufacture would be the appropriate ways to be taken into account. The owner of the licence grants someone the rights to produce goods using that licence. The owner of the licence allows other manufacturers to use the character in return for payment of a fee. In a word, the licensor won the rights and the licensee buys the rights. A franchise operation comprises a franchiser and a franchisee. The franchiser owns the rights to the products and sells these to the franchisee. This is used by exporters to get into overseas markets that are protected by tariffs or other barriers.It involves the manufacturer placing an order for the production of agreed items in another country. The export facilitating companies that could assist Zen Plastics to enter f oreign markets With the assistance of Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the people’ s Government, Zen Plastics can implement and carry out the state foreign principles, policies and relevant laws and regulations as well as the decisions made by Communist Party of China (CPC) and study and formulate working schemes and plans for key foreign affairs.To conduct investigation and study according to the needs in the process of economic and social development as well as the opening-up campaign and to provide proposals and suggestions for the decision-making. CHINA GROUP COMPANIES PROMOTION ASSOCIATION, it can help Zen Plastics correct evaluate the proposed market, research on size of target market, and then take further measures to plan. With the help of CGCPA, it can promote business cooperation and foreign matchmaking.They can investigate on the multinational business strategy formulation and implementation and the management of overseas companies to understand the s ituation and to exchange experiences as well. A new proper organization structure to assist Zen Plastics in its new venture Before Zen Plastics start exporting they must decide what their objective for exporting is. They must decide what type of work that needs to be done to accomplish the company profits or other objectives.There are many ways a company can create its structure. The most common are: Functional organization, Regional organization, and Product organization In the topical issue of environmental protection has become a global imperative to resolve the contradiction, Zen Plastics should seize the rare opportunities for the revolutionary era – the green plastics, it widely promotes the use of green plastics by making their own efforts depend on a new organization structure, which can assist Zen Plastics in its new venture.Summary With the help of the report, some relevant information about the various routes to the market place both direct and indirect can be prov ided. Besides, the advantages and disadvantages of each and organizational structure have been discussed, and apply it to the case study.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Is marriage an outdated tradition Essay

Is Marriage an Outdated Tradition? In this essay I will be explaining whether marriage Is an outdated tradition along with my opinion and the ones of Christians. In my oplnlon I believe that No, marriage Is the same strong, important connection it was 100 years ago. The difference is the people who enter into it, and the way society no longer supports the couples who choose it. We’ve become a â€Å"need It now† society and are ready to discard whatever doesn’t give us Instant happiness. Divorce has become so acceptable that couples go Into arriage with the plan to divorce If they aren’t satisfied (prenup) as compared to the people in our past who believed marriage was forever and were motivated to keep working at the relationship and to make it work. Today couples are ready to give up as soon as it’s not fun or the sex becomes dull. The other part of the problem Is society’s lack of support for marriage. The UK benefit system Is too lenient towards those who choose to have children without being married therefore helping them with housing, childcare, schooling and food. The rest f the family before would be providing emotional support and pressure for the couple to work at the relationship, now it’s more looked at it as being only their problem and not a problem for the people around them. Today we’re more concerned about an individual’s right to personal happiness than to supporting responsible or ethical behaviour-I believe a person’s happiness Is extremely Important but people’s morals and ethics are what make them happy. I also believe the idea that something that’s worth having is worth fighting for, having omething a long time, the pride of working at something, at pushing through the hard stuff to be able to stand back and look with pride at having made something great, is gone. The Christians of the Catholic Church teach prohibition of premarital sex along with the rejection of homosexual marriage, abortion and contraception but also the acceptance of everyone and equality but while all those are very Important none is what makes the bond of marriage stick. It happens when two people who are free to marry and are physically and emotionally capable of marriage give themselves o each other, understanding that marriage means being open to life and commitment and to faithful love till death.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Development Using Different Methods Children And Young People Essay Essays

Development Using Different Methods Children And Young People Essay Essays Development Using Different Methods Children And Young People Essay Essay Development Using Different Methods Children And Young People Essay Essay When kids and immature peoples development is monitored and assessed, it enables practicians and professionals to detect when kids and immature people are non come oning as expected. Therefore, if necessary cheques can be made to see why kids are non developing as expected may be due to impairment. When practicians and professionals intervene in early old ages of the kids, they will able to acquire appropriate support they need and their development and their public assistance is promoted. Children and immature people s overall results will be promoted significantly when professionals carry out early intercession. There are several methods of supervising kids s development explained below: Appraisals models Practitioners are required to transport out on traveling appraisals through observations on a diary footing as its built-in portion of development and acquisition. Any learning and development demands of kids and immature people must be addressed by the practicians with the parent/ carer and relevant professionals. Parents/ carers should be updated on a regular basis with their kids s advancement and development. Progress cheque at two: Practitioners should transport out a advancement cheque when the kid is aged between two and three. It should be carried out in the scene where the kids spend more clip and discourse how the sum-up of development can be used to back up their acquisition at place. It is a written sum-up of the kid s development in the premier countries. The practician must discourse with the parents and / carers how the sum-up of development can be used to back up larning at place. It must reflect on traveling, regular observation of kids s development. The advancement cheque at two enables practicians and any other professionals to place development demands early on in the kid s life in order he/she gets the extra support needed. Appraisal at the terminal of the EYFS the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile ( EYFSP ) . EYFSP must be completed for each kid in the concluding term when he/she turns five old ages old and should be before the 30th of June in that term. School must portion the consequences of the profile with the parents / carers and relevant professionals. The profile provides inside informations of the kid s cognition, understanding and abilities, their advancement against expected degrees and how ready they are for twelvemonth 1. Observations. In scenes, practicians watch kids play and watch how they are acting. Some observations do non necessitate the practician to interact with the kids while in others it may be more appropriate for the practician to be involved in order to back up acquisition and development. Observations play a really of import portion in measuring the kids s development. When practicians carry out observations, they are able to acquire information about the kid s development, involvements and their interactions with friends and grownups every bit good their degree of concentrations. Standard measurings Different professionals use assorted standardised measurings to supervise and measure the kids s development. Growth / healthy appraisals. These are used to mensurate and measure the kids s tallness, weight and caput perimeter. Auditory appraisals. These appraisals are used to supervise and measure the kids s degrees of response. Reasoning appraisals. These appraisals are used to supervise and measure the kids s logical thinking and they are carried out by educational psychologists. Cognitive aptitude appraisals. These appraisals are used to supervise and measure the kids s intelligence and they are widely carried out in schools. All the above tests aid professionals to see how a kid is executing compared to the big group/ population of other kids in the same age group. Information from parents/ carers, co-workers and others. Practitioners should roll up as much information as possible from parents/ carers when monitoring and measuring kids s development as the parents/ carers spend more clip and are more attune with their kids. They see the kid in a assortment of different state of affairss therefore have a batch to lend and they are cognizant of their acquisition and behavior outside the scene. They ever have a different position. It is really of import to besides affect the kid whenever possible. Cardinal workers by and large take lead function in monitoring and measuring their cardinal kids but co-workers who besides work with the kid should besides be consulted as they may hold different perceptual experiences. ( Walker 2011. p.117 ) . CYP 3.1: 3.2 EXPLAIN THE REASONS WHY CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE S DEVELOPMENT MAY NOT FOLLOW THE EXPECTED PATTERN. Children brush issues in their lives that have a positive or negative influence on their lives and impede them from following the expected form of development. As practicians, we have the responsibility of attention towards the kids and immature people to guarantee that we improve their life opportunity by following the Every Child Matter results, which are be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, do a positive part and accomplish economic wellbeing. Physical factors The childrens/ immature people s genetic sciences affects their development, which includes their physical growing and physical strength. Occasionally a ground for a kid non achieving the usual form of development can non be identified, even after professionals have investigated the influences on development exhaustively. One possibility is that it s in the kid s familial make-up to hold a slow start to their acquisition ( Walker 2011 p.119 ) . The societal, economic and cultural factors. Personal pick Families may make up ones mind to populate in a different manner illustration going households. The children/ immature people s instruction may be affected if their households travel a batch and they may non settle in. This may halt kids from following their expected development form. Some households bring up their kids otherwise and some bring up male childs otherwise from misss and this can impact the kids s development. Poverty Families live in poorness largely due to unemployment and low income. Due to miss of money, households may neglect to supply plenty nutrient to eat, apparels to wears, educational resources outside school and heat for winter for their kids, which may impact their wellness and that of the parent. This might impede the children/ immature people to make their full potency Housing and Community Children and immature people s development is greatly affected negatively if they live in hapless lodging conditions like life in a moist status may do wellness jobs to the kids that may impact their acquisition. Children and immature people populating in vicinity with anti-social behavior may be affected negatively as they may be isolated or they may make up ones mind to fall in in and their development will be affected. Poor parental supervision/ disregard Children need guidance to larn how to act good. If they do non acquire the counsel from their parent, they will misconduct at school because they do non understand the boundaries. Lack of boundaries may ensue in the kids and immature people being involved in offense and anti-social behavior. Educational Environment If the scene does non make the statutory demand, this will impact the kids and immature people s development and they will non accomplish their full potency therefore they might be un able to follow the expected development form. Health position and Disability Children and immature people with bing wellness status or with disablement may happen it difficult to suit in and if they are discriminated against, this will hold a negative impact on their lives. Learning demands. Children and immature people with larning troubles and those with specific larning demands may non follow the expected development form as they may necessitate a scope of extra support with their acquisition and development, for illustration with authorship, reading or maths. Children with Dyslexia they need support with their acquisition and development. Bereavement and loss Losing a loved one or pet can hold a great impact on emotional and physical wellness. Children/ immature people may happen it difficult to get by with the heartache and this may impact their wellbeing. Religious beliefs and imposts Children may be excluded from puting to go to specific scenes due to their spiritual beliefs and imposts therefore the kids may lose out on some activities and this might hold a negative impact on their live. Cultural beliefs Children might experience stray and discriminated against due to their cultural belief and this will hold a negative impact on their lives. Communication accomplishments. Children and immature people who have problem with their communicating, their acquisition and development will be impacted on and this leads to the kids non following their expected development form. Communication development is linked closely to societal, emotional and behaviour and intellectual/cognitive development. 3.3 EXPLANATION OF HOW DISABILITY MAY AFFECT DEVELOPMENT Practitioner should hold a good cognition of peculiar damages and understand that the same damage can impact each kid otherwise. Therefore, practicians must understand the kids they are working with, how the damage is impacting them in order to run into their demands suitably. Practitioners should look for ways of increasing acquisition and development chances for kids with disablements. Social theoretical account of disablement When society is non set up to run into the demands of people sing damage, this implies that damages give rise to disablement. The society disables them, instead than enabling them ( Walker 2011 p.285 ) . National Occupational criterions states that the societal theoretical account considers that it is society that needs to alter and that handicapped people have rights and picks. Children with larning troubles and damage that affect their societal and emotional development may happen it had to interact with others and they will be unable to do friends and positive relationships. Society should alter to give the kids with disablement an chance to take part in society and guarantee that it meets the kids and immature people s demands so as to accomplish positive result. Medical theoretical account of disablement In this theoretical account of disablement people without a disablement, they see the damage of handicapped people as a job that needs solved or cured whereas some damages have no remedy. Medical theoretical account limits the chances for kids and immature people and this impact negatively on their acquisition and development. The kids with long term medical conditions or physical disablements may non accomplish their full potency as they may lose educational chances due to their wellness, holding to remain in infirmaries and go toing medical assignments. Low outlooks When people/ societies have low outlooks for kids and immature people with disablement, they will be denied the chances they need to accomplish their full potency. If kids and immature people with disablement have low outlook of themselves they may non desire to acquire involved and they will experience stray and unable to suit in. Pigeonholing. Children with disablements may develop low assurance and self-esteem due to the stereotyping, favoritism and if the household members see them as a load or have negative attitudes due to their deficiency of ability to get by with their disablement. Cultural differences Children and immature people may lose out on the opportunity to larn, play and work due to favoritism because of their disablement every bit good as their background, therefore unable to accomplish a positive result. Peoples from different civilizations should be more understanding, accepting and promoting to kids and immature people with disablements. Due to miss of financess and resources, can impede the kids with disablement holding chances to see activities and achieve their full potency as run intoing the demands of a kid with disablement can be really expensive and funded services vary from one local country to another. The benefits of positive attitudes to disablement. Positive attitudes to disablement helps the kids with disablement develop a positive attitude towards themselves and they will hold high outlooks for their life. The kids and immature people will hold increased self-esteem and assurance, derive their independency and have a intent in life. They will be able to accomplish a positive result with their acquisition and development. Positivity can besides assist kids and immature people to develop resiliency to antagonize some of the negative attitudes that they will no uncertainty experience from others during their lives stereotyping and favoritism are premier illustrations. ( Walker 2011 p.287 ) . 3.4 AN EXPLANATION OF HOW DIFFERENT TYPES OF INTERVENATIONS CAN PROMOTE POSITIVE OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WHERE DEVELOPMENT IS NOT FOLLOWING THE EXPECTED PATTERN. A figure of professional bureaus may go involved when kids are identified as non following the expected developmental form. The professionals will all work together to back up kids and their households to guarantee that kids and younger people achieve their full potency. Children and immature people s results can be improved when multi-agency attack is involved and this includes the kids and immature people s development. Below are the professionals involved in the intercessions with kids. Professional/Agency Main country of duty Impact Types of intercession Behavioural Support Service ( BEST ) They work in partnership with commissariats within the model to include everyone. They promote good behavior and supply support to kids and immature people, parents and scenes. Behaviour impact the kids s and immature people accomplishments. When kids have positive behavior they achieve at school. Recognizing and pull offing their emotions and larn about dealingss. Improved educational result. Training of staff Advice on how to develop and reexamine behaviour policies. Address and linguistic communication healers. They are employed by the local Primary Health Trust. They assess and treat address, linguistic communication and communicating job to let kids to pass on to the best of their ability. Children being able to pass on with others. Meeting their single development demands. Improved linguistic communication accomplishments. Settling better in scenes and will to larn. Improved instruction result. They are referred from the GP or concern from the scene. Therapy Educating parents and staff. Promoting address and linguistic communication development through vocals and rimes affecting kids and parents. Physical therapists. They help kids who have jobs as a consequence of hurts to rehabilitate and increase their motion and coordination, unwellness or for medical grounds. When the kids and immature people are rehabilitated. Improved motion. Treatment Scope of gesture exercising Electrical stimulation Strengthening exercising Soft tissue motion. Psychologists They help and back up kids with societal, emotional job or acquisition troubles. They offer advice and giving reding to kids and parents. Bing able to heighten the kid s acquisition and enabling practicians to be more cognizant of the societal factors impacting kids s acquisition. Improved instruction result. Reding Training Health Visitors. They are wellness professionals who help, support and educate parents on the manner of preventing diseases through immunisations, good kid nutrition, minor unwellness and behavior issues. They advice parents on wellness and kid development. They do home visits and sometimes, they can be found in the local medical Centre at least one time a hebdomad. They support parents to guarantee that kids are protected from unwellness and they achieve their developmental mileposts. Improve instruction and life result for kids and immature people. Identifying female parents enduring from depression. Reduced post-natal depression. Medical advice Training Home visits Parental preparation Social workers They are employed by societal services. They provide aid and advice to kids, immature people and households with wellness demand, lodging issues, and poorness. They support immature people populating attention and those confronting troubles of any sort. Keep households together by giving them support. Child from attention fulfil their full potency. Families acquiring the aid they need. Crisis intercession Anger direction Stress direction Relaxation preparation Mid married womans They offer wellness support to parents anticipating a child/ kids. Parent has a successful gestation and birth. Reduce the figure of adult females smoking during gestation. Increased chest eating. Increased parental assurance. Training Antenatal attention. Pre- and station natal attention. Birth programs Training Breast feeding preparation. Play specializer They are employed by the local Primary Health Trust. They make observations and appraisals through drama with kids in infirmaries to place their demands and frights while in infirmary. The kids get full recover and drama freely without any jobs. Appraisals Introduction of drama Voluntary bureaus and services These include local and national services like NSPCC. They support and give advice to kids, immature people and their households sing baleful state of affairss. The households feel safe, secure and protected. They have a peace of head cognizing that they can acquire support and advice if they experience ant endangering behavior. Training Support and advice Particular Educational Needs Coordinator ( SENCO ) . Plants in the scene They have the duty to organize designation and support for kids with particular instruction demands Bing able identify that a kid has particular instruction demands and the kid being able to acquire the aid they need early on in clip. Referrals to respective professionals Support Psychiatrist They are physicians trained medically. They specialise in mental wellness. They diagnose and support kids and immature people with mental wellness jobs. When the kid and immature individual acquire all the support and intervention the Y demand. When they are able to take a normal life afterwards. Reding Training Awareness Nurse specializer They give advice and support to kids, immature people and their households on how to pull off chronic conditions. They besides step and assess kids s development. When households are able to manage and pull off chronic conditions. When households are able to acquire aid in clip if there are any underlining jobs with their kids s development. Training Raising consciousness Measurements and appraisal of kids development. Young justness squads. They work with kids and immature people with anti societal behavior in the community. They work manus in manus with the societal workers. When the kids and immature people get the support they need to be exemplary citizens. Recognizing and pull offing their emotions and larn about relationships. Improved societal and emotional accomplishments, attitudes, behavior and academic public presentation. Target piquing behavior Thorough appraisals of kids and immature people s single demands. Offer structured programmes. Offer programmes that can work that run into the households demands. Additional larning support squads They help kids with specific educational demands within early old ages commissariats, schools and out of school. Children get the support and instruction to accomplish their development ends. Improved learning results. Training Awareness Support Assistive engineering Children and immature people s development can be supported by utilizing a scope of engineering. A voice activated computing machine programme will help kids and immature people with delayed all right motor accomplishments with authorship. Children and immature people with troubles walking may utilize the latest wheelchairs so as they are able to accomplish their development end and be more independent. Physical therapists, address and linguistic communication healers and centripetal impairment support professionals have the duty to take the right type of assistive engineering for kids and immature people. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ehow.co.uk/socialworkers ( 16.02.2013 ) hypertext transfer protocol: //www.physiotherapy.notes.com ( 16.02.2013 ) hypertext transfer protocol ; //www.surreycc.gov.uk/social-careand wellness ( 17.02.2013 ) hypertext transfer protocol: //www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications ( 17.02.2013 ) . Tassoni, P. , Beith, K. , Bulman, K. , Griffin, S. ( 2010 ) Children and Young People s Workforce. Early Learning and child care. Level 3 Diploma. Essex: Heinemann. Walker, M. ( 2011 ) Children and Young People s Workforce. Early Learning and Childcare. Level 3 Diploma. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.

Monday, October 21, 2019

World War 1 Oral Pres Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers

World War 1 Oral Pres Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers World War 1 Oral Pres. War can be interpreted as many different things. Involving physical combat, verbal arguments, murder, and much more. World War 1 is an example of one of the major wars in the history of our world that truly has placed a mark on humanity. It demonstrates how war was truly interpreted by the people involved at that certain time and place. On June 28, 1914, a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip assassinated Franz Ferdinand the Archduke of Austria, in Sarajevo. One month following the incident, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The war divided Europe into two armed camps. One side was the Triple Alliance which was made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and their enemy was the Triple Entente which was made of France, Russia and Great Britain. As other countries began to join sides, the Triple Alliance became known as the Central Powers and the Triple Entente became the Allied Forces. Most of the action took place in trenches which were dug deep into the ground in zig-zag patterns. Soldiers would spend an average of up to 8 days in these trenches, protecting themselves from gunfire, snipers, diseases, and more. The war was different from previous wars due to the use of efficient machine guns, tanks, and air force. The war ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month when the parties signed the Armistice and agreed to stop fighting. Why were the different sides fighting? The major event of the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand triggered the retaliation of Austria-Hungary and its allied countries. A war that resulted in millions of deaths was triggered by death itself. Death Millions of soldiers were killed purposely during WWI thus meaning that this war did in fact involve murder between fighting parties and there was the intent to not just harm, but kill. What happened after the war? The war may have ended with a signed truce, but it also lead to another major war which was World War 2. This proves that war will always be present in humanity and that war will never be avoided forever.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Biography of Gilda Radner, American Comedienne and Actress

Biography of Gilda Radner, American Comedienne and Actress Gilda Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) was an American comedienne  and actress known for her satirical characters on Saturday Night Live. She died of ovarian cancer at the age of 42, and was survived by her husband, actor Gene Wilder. Early Years Gilda Susan Radner was born on June 28, 1946 in Detroit, Michigan. She was the second child born to Herman Radner and Henrietta Dworkin. Gildas father Herman was a successful businessman, and Gilda and her brother Michael enjoyed a childhood of privilege. The Radners employed a nanny, Elizabeth Clementine Gillies, to help raise their children. Gilda was particularly close to Dibby, and her childhood memories of her hard of hearing nanny would later inspire her to create the character Emily Litella on Saturday Night Live. Gildas father ran the Seville Hotel in Detroit, and served a clientele that included musicians and actors who came to the city to perform. Herman Radner took young Gilda to see musicals and shows, and had a fondness for silly jokes that she shared. Her happy childhood was shattered in 1958, when her father was diagnosed with a brain tumor and subsequently suffered a stroke. Herman languished for two years before dying of cancer in 1960, when Gilda was just 14 years old. As a child, Gilda dealt with stress by eating. Her mother, Henrietta, took 10-year-old Gilda to a doctor who prescribed her diet pills. Gilda would continue a pattern of gaining and losing weight into adulthood, and years later, would recount her battle with an eating disorder in her autobiography, Its Always Something. Education Gilda attended the Hampton Elementary School through the fourth grade, at least when she was in Detroit. Her mother didnt care for Michigan winters, and each November she would take Gilda and Michael to Florida until the spring. In her autobiography, Gilda recalled how this annual routine made it difficult for her to establish friendships with other children. In fifth grade, she transferred to the prestigious Liggett School, which was then an all-girls school. She was active in the schools drama club, appearing in many plays throughout middle and high school. In her senior year, she served as the Class of 1964 vice president, and performed in the play The Mouse That Roared. After graduating high school, Gilda enrolled at the University of Michigan, where she majored in drama. She dropped out before earning her degree, however, and moved to Toronto with her sculptor boyfriend, Jeffrey Rubinoff. Career Gilda Radners first professional acting role was in the Toronto production of Godspell in 1972. The company included several future stars who would remain her lifelong friends: Paul Shaffer, Martin Short, and Eugene Levy. While in Toronto, she also joined the famed Second City improvisational troupe, where she performed with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi and established herself as a bona fide force in comedy. Radner moved to New York City in 1973 to work on The National Lampoon Radio Hour, a short-lived but influential weekly show. Though the show only lasted 13 months, National Lampoon brought together writers and performers who would push the boundaries of comedy for decades to come: Gilda, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Christopher Guest, and Richard Belzer, to name a few. In 1975, Gilda Radner was the first performer cast for the inaugural season of Saturday Night Live. As one of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players, Gilda wrote and performed in sketches with Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman, Garrett Morris, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and Dan Aykroyd. She was nominated twice for an Emmy as a Supporting Actress on SNL, and won the honor in 1978. During her tenure from 1975 to 1980, Gilda created some of SNLs most memorable characters. She parodied Barbara Walters with her recurring Baba Wawa character, a tv journalist with a speech impediment. She based another of her most beloved characters on a local New York news anchor named Rose Ann Scamardella. Roseanne Roseannadanna was a consumer affairs reporter who couldnt stay on topic in the early Weekend Update segments. As punk rocker Candy Slice, Radner channelled  Patti Smith. With Bill Murray, Gilda did a series of sketches featuring The Nerds, Lisa Loopner and Todd DiLaMuca. Gildas characters were so well received, she took them to Broadway. Gilda Radner – Live from New York opened at the Winter Garden Theater on August 2, 1979, and ran for 51 performances. Besides Gilda, the cast included Don Novello (as Father Guido Sarducci), Paul Shaffer, Nils Nichols, and the Candy Slice Group. After her Broadway debut, Gilda Radner landed roles in several movies, including First Family with Bob Newhart and Movers and Shakers with Walter Matthau. She also appeared in three films with husband Gene Wilder: Hanky Panky,  The Woman in Red, and Haunted Honeymoon. Personal Life Gilda met her first husband, George Edward G. E. Smith, when he was hired as a guitarist for her Broadway show Gilda Live in 1979. They married in early 1980. Gilda was still married to G. E. when she landed a role in a new Gene Wilder movie, Hanky Panky, that began filming in 1981. Already unhappy in her marriage to G. E. Smith, Gilda pursued a relationship with Wilder. Radner and Smith divorced in 1982. The relationship between Gilda and Gene Wilder was rocky at first. In an interview years later, Wilder said he found Gilda needy and demanding of his attention at first, so much so that they broke up for a time. They soon reconciled, however, and on September 18, 1984 1984, Gilda and Gene married while on vacation in France. Cancer Gildas happy ever after with Gene wouldnt last long, sadly. On October 21, 1986, she was diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. While filming Haunted Honeymoon the year before, Gilda couldnt understand why she  constantly felt fatigued and rundown. She finally went to her internist for a physical exam, but the lab tests only showed a possibility of Epstein-Barr virus. The doctor reassured her that her symptoms were likely stress-induced, and not serious. When she started running a low grade fever, she was instructed to take acetaminophen. Gildas symptoms continued to worsen as time passed. She developed stomach and pelvic cramps that kept her in bed for days. Her gynecologist didnt find any cause for concern and referred her to a gastroenterologist. Every test came back normal, despite Gildas deteriorating health. By the summer of 1986, she was experiencing excruciating pain in her thighs and had lost a startling amount of weight, with no obvious cause. Finally, in October 1986, Gilda was admitted to a hospital in Los Angeles to undergo extensive testing. A CAT scan revealed a grapefruit-sized tumor in her abdomen. She underwent surgery to remove the tumor and had a complete hysterectomy, and immediately started a long course of chemotherapy. Doctors assured her that her prognosis was good. In June of the following year, Gilda had completed the prescribed chemotherapy, and her doctor scheduled an exploratory surgery to make sure all signs of the cancer were gone. She was devastated to learn that it wasnt, and more chemotherapy was required. Over the next two years, Gilda endured treatments, tests, and surgeries that would ultimately fail to eradicate the cancer. Gilda Radner died on May 20, 1989 at Cedars-Sinae Medical Center in Los Angeles, at the age of 42. After Gildas death, Gene Wilder joined two of her friends, cancer psychotherapist Joanna Bull and broadcaster Joel Siegel, to found a network of cancer support centers. Gildas Clubs, as the centers are known, help patients living with cancer by providing emotional and social support as they go through treatment. Sources â€Å"Gilda Radner.†Ã‚  Biography.com, AE Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017, www.biography.com/people/gilda-radner-9450459.â€Å"Gilda Radner (1946-1989) - Find A Grave Memorial.†Ã‚  (1946-1989) - Find A Grave Memorial, www.findagrave.com/memorial/848/gilda-radner.â€Å"Gilda Radner - Live from New York Broadway Winter Garden Theatre - Tickets and Discounts.†Ã‚  Playbill, www.playbill.com/production/gilda-radner-live-from-new-york-winter-garden-theatre-vault-0000011534.Hevesi, Dennis. â€Å"Gilda Radner, 42, Comic Original Of Saturday Night Live Zaniness.†Ã‚  The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 May 1989, www.nytimes.com/1989/05/21/obituaries/gilda-radner-42-comic-original-of-saturday-night-live-zaniness.html.Johnson, Hillary. â€Å"Goodbye, Gilda Radner.†Ã‚  Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 13 July 1989, www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/gilda-19890713.Karras, Steve. â€Å"Gilda Radner Remembered.†Ã‚  The Huffington Post, TheHuffingt onPost.com, 6 Jan. 2013, www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-karras/gilda-radner-club_b_2366303.html. Radner, Gilda.  Its Always Something.  Simon and Schuster, 1989.Saltman, David.  Gilda: an intimate portrait. Contemporary Books, 1992.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Ethical issues surrounding children advertising Essay

Ethical issues surrounding children advertising - Essay Example The organization tends to do those activities that could earn them maximum returns but doing marketing ethics would earn them a competitive advantage for a longer period of time (Kotler and Armstrong 1999). A business does well when they are focused in satisfying the needs of the customers then their competitors as per the requirement of their target market. As the world are getting more savvy about their rights in getting a desired product, the company has to adhere ethical values rather than just providing the products. Customers develop a positive attitude towards the organization when it behaves ethically. A company that tends to follow otherwise leads to the negative behavior from the customers and results in dissatisfied customers and a negative publicity and eventually losing a customer. So, forming an ethical advertisement that would target the children in a sociably ethical manner would earn the company’s revenues (Hebert 1998). In this paper, the effects of advertise ment on children’ attitude and behavior and social upbringing is discussed by addressing different issues and literature that currently exists on this subject. Children have a mentality of learning things very quickly and they have a nag of remembering those things that they often see in their childhood. Everything that they pick up these days has an essence of advertising in it. Cartoons are no longer fun and excitement nowadays, but the commercials for a certain toys are more attraction to them. But the most significant thing that we want to ask ourselves is what it has done to our children and what effect it may cause in the future. The advertisements that were made previously were subtler and every child that was asked about the future aim they would prefer being a doctor, or an engineer or a pilot. But due to the effects of these commercials on children they prefer to make money. They have been converted into a materialistic non-thinker (Paula 1998). Advertising agencies have pretty much made these children to force their parents to buy them the latest stuff that has been in the advertisements and magazines. The kids are literally begg ing parents for the newest toys and children are the first in line to get them. Many of them have the feeling that if they would not get these toys then their friends would not like them. Now advertising agencies have help from the psychologists that tells them how to target these children and are barraging the kids will all sorts of commercial which would attract them. These advertisements have become so severe that these psychologists have taken this matter to the government to put an end to this situation. The task force has studied the situation and the effects that it has on the children. But some psychologists would start protesting about it because they think they are not doing anything wrong. They have a viewpoint that they are making these children better consumers so it would be helping them to make good decisions (Clay 2000). The children are being exposed to the product that is offered in the market but there are no studies that have justified the effect of advertisement s on these kids and their behaviors to force their parents in making the purchase decision. This has caused a depression for certain parents and children and has caused low self-esteem of not buying the product that

Friday, October 18, 2019

How to improve kent cssa relationship with other student organization Research Paper

How to improve kent cssa relationship with other student organization - Research Paper Example .....................................5 Research results †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.6 SOLUTIONS Solution 1†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...7 Solution 2 †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 Solution 3†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...7 Comparisons †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...............7 CONCLUSION Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8 Benefits †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.8 REFERENCE†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..............9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CSSA ( Chinese Students and Scholars Association) is one of the leading student associations in the world, having operations in over 40 world class universities and several hundred other universities and colleges (Martinez et al 4). It offers Chinese students opportunities to enjoy their campus life in overseas colleges and universities by providing sufficient academic and entertainment resources (Donovan 80). The association also links the students from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong to other cultures, with a mandate to spread the Chinese culture. There have been numerous activities and events organized and run by the CSSA. These events, such as the Mid Autumn Festival and the Chinese New Year Festivals, have helped bring together students of Chinese origin together to celebrate their culture. After working as a member in Kent CSSA for two years, I found that Kent CSSA helped Chinese students getting used to the American life, but Chinese students cannot get involved in American lif e. Chinese students still eat Chinese food with Chinese friends, and speak Chinese during the most of day. After studying, I realized, even Kent CSSA has few relationships with native organizations. Kent CSSA, as a united organization for all the Chinese students, did not provide channels for Chinese students getting to know American friends, and opportunities to real American life. In order to help Chinese students to live a real American style life, Kent CSSA should increase its relationships with the native organizations. In this research paper, I took surveys among Chinese students and native students to find out the reasons of few relationships between Kent CSSA and native organizations in Kent. According to the different reasons, I can get different solutions to solve the problem. The final step of my research is the comparison. By comparing different solutions, the best way for Kent CSSA to develop its relationship with other native organization will be found. As the results, Chinese students may have a real American style life. INTRODUCTION Despite the fact that Kent State University offers numerous opportunities for students to be involved and enjoy the campus life, most international students find it hard to get involved in the student organizations in the University (Fingar and Reed 102). With a specific focus on Chinese students, this paper aims to explore the relationships between Chinese Student Scholar Association (CSSA) with other organizations and how these relationships can be

Adam Smith and Karl Polanyi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Adam Smith and Karl Polanyi - Essay Example The basic mechanisms include (a) regulation of market transactions, (b) regulation of market participants, (c) disputes resolution and enforcement actions, and (d) pre-commitment of resources (Polanyi and Karl 34). According to Polanyi and Karl (1944), market economy implies a self-regulating system of markets in which there are various human processes involved. They iclude: technological processes, learning processes and economic processes that involves human activities. Commercial societies, they claim that the free-market system of property rights, freedom of contract, and other liberty rights – the â€Å"negative† right of individuals to peacefully pursue their own ends – is impersonal and dehumanizing, or even inherently divisive and adversarial. While market societies are controlled market (Polanyi and Karl 47). Karl Polanyi remains one of the most cogent critics of neoclassical economics. As an alternative to the market society, he emphasizes the embedded-ness of economic activities and institutions and the historical relativity of economic concept (Polanyi and Karl 35). Karl Polanyi denounced the â€Å"economist prejudice† found in both the market liberalism of Ludwig von Mises and the communism of Karl Marx, Polanyi and Karl (1944). Polanyi drew his own inspiration from Christian social thought and yearned for â€Å"a Christian spirited guild life. He also had an objection to the "ruling economic class", or "the richest 1%", having undue influence on government policies and that this situation reflects a "failure of democratic representation" for the middle and lower classes, or the "other 99% (Polanyi and Karl 47). A self-regulating market demands nothing less than the institutional separation of society into an economic and political sphere. Such a dichotomy is, in effect, merely the restatement, from the point of view of society as a whole, of the existence of a self-regulating market, Polanyi and Karl (1944). It

Questions week 10 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Questions week 10 - Essay Example This would mean that cars that could not move could not be stolen. Thus, this solves the crime of stolen cars. Other crimes such as murder cannot necessarily be solved since people are free to make their own decisions and decisions are often unpredictable. However, positive role models and morals can influence better decisions. Society in general, has a responsibility when it comes to crime in society. Geographical locations, race and gender determine how society acts towards others. These actions can leave society responsible for crime. It is also important to determine influences that society has. Society can influence crime and should take responsibility for its influences whether positive or negative. Our current policies are not enough since the increase of crime is happening everywhere. A change needs to take place that enforces better policies that work. If I could personally do something differently I would choose to help change society which in return can help to change crime. A better and more responsible society with adequate morals can contribute to a lessened crime rate and better actions throughout society. Most of this positive change should come from role models, mentors and any parental

Thursday, October 17, 2019

MGMT 670 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MGMT 670 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - Essay Example The acquisition of Salomon in the year 1998 was done with an aim, so that Adidas could get a market of the diversified type of sporting goods that were manufactured by Salomon. The restructuring of sporting goods of the Adidas Company was further done with the acquisition of the Reebok Company in 2006 by which, the company felt that it would get wider market coverage, since Reebok was specializing in the areas of the athletic footwear, golf equipments as well as the footwear and apparel markets. (Reuters) Adidas felt that by such a kind of restructuring process done by means of acquisition, the company could make a huge impact in its business, since it would be able to get the market shares, which are enjoyed by the companies that were acquired. This would in turn help the company to face the threat of cutthroat competition from Nike and at the same time would increase its sales and help it to regain the top spot in the sporting goods business. This was the main idea behind the acqui sitions and the Adidas management thought this to be the fitting reply to Nike. The corporate strategy of Adidas can be truly rated as a good one, since the European company had to get the market share of US which it had lost to its rival Nike. ... (Reuters) The Acquisition of Salomon and its products Adidas acquired Salomon in the year 1998 since the company was manufacturing a variety of sports goods products. This acquisition was done to make Adidas to overcome Nike and become the number one sports goods manufacturing company. But once the acquisition was underway the industry dealing with the winter sports was showing a decline, since it was becoming less attractive among individuals and this could really affect the prospects of Adidas. After the acquisition it was seen that, there were some difficulties that cropped up in integrating both the companies. It was only after a span of about five years from acquisition that, Adidas started to regain its share value in the sports market. The Salomon business unit also contributed only very less to the total operating profits of Adidas and this was a further blow to the company, since it had expected a very good operating profit. As a result the overall financial performance of A didas did not show any sort of improvement even after the acquisition. The golf division of the Taylor made Adidas products also struggled a lot to make profits initially ever since the acquisition. As a result of this Adidas divested almost all of its winter sports brands to the Amer sports corporation in the year 2005. (Mike) The Acquisition of Reebok and its products In the year 2006 Adidas acquired the Reebok Company with an idea to make its presence felt in the athletic footwear and apparel as well as the golf market. The Reebok international company already was involved in the designing as well as the sales of the apparels, footwear as well as hockey equipments for Greg Norman, Rockport and CCM respectively. Thus through

Managing Conflict in Interpersonal Communication Essay

Managing Conflict in Interpersonal Communication - Essay Example This may not be common to all individuals because of the differences in our beliefs but truly speaking, granting pardon to an individual can really yield great results in enhancing positive communication. It is therefore a very important principle in management as it fosters positive communication. In order to show grace, there is a need to sometimes show willingness to demonstrate forgiveness and excuse the convicts’ actions. It is an act that comes out of an individual’s generous spirit and not out of provocation of rules and societal expectation. Grace isn’t demonstrated because we should but because of the will to grant it unconditionally. To fully understand the concept of grace let’s consider this scenario that two persons agree to share responsibilities and duties and on a particular day, when one of the persons is expected to perform his duties skips doing so because he realizes that he has a lot of work in office. His counterpart however decides t o do all the chores even when it is not his duty to perform. From the above case study the person who decides to take up responsibility when he shouldn’t be doing so in actual sense demonstrates an act of grace. It is worth noting that nothing has compelled this person to do so. He only does so out of will and does not expect a kickback when his counterpart comes back. From the case cited above, grace is said to be appropriately granted. It will however be inappropriate if the worker intentionally and repeatedly misses to conduct his duties with the notion that he will be helped do so. It is also an act of grace when someone foregoes own preferences while giving in to someone else’ preference. Grace also entails letting go of resentment, guilt and judgment about a coworker, friend or companion. When this is done, we release ourselves and others from consequences of guilt and blame. In addition, it is important to note that grace entails totally forgetting the bad sides of a worker, counterpart or companion other than hanging onto hostile feelings of the past that negatively impact on positive communication and management in general. Basically, grace should always comprise of an act of kindness, deferring needs or forgiving a wrong without an expectation of a payback. It is worth noting that showing grace is sometimes appropriate and sometimes inappropriate depending on the situation or problem in question. This is because there is a tendency that if it is always shown it can be easily misused by people who take advantage of kindness. For instance, someone might frequently abuse and upset others with a mind that pardon would be granted. This is out rightly wrong and therefore not appropriate to continue showing grace to the same person. When grace is granted and then exploited, a repeat of the same becomes inappropriate. However, in the event that grace is granted in good trust and another takes advantage, we should not take responsibility ourselv es. Being kind and always willing to pardon are worthy moral principles and therefore those who abuse grace are to take the blame. Ethical principles of self- assertion and self interest are not sufficient in interpersonal relationship and though it is seen as having the ability to create rich interpersonal relationship, grace is equally important. This is because we are all not perfect in what we do, more often we make mistakes, hurt others by what we say, or fail in performance of responsibilities and occasionally do

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

MGMT 670 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MGMT 670 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - Essay Example The acquisition of Salomon in the year 1998 was done with an aim, so that Adidas could get a market of the diversified type of sporting goods that were manufactured by Salomon. The restructuring of sporting goods of the Adidas Company was further done with the acquisition of the Reebok Company in 2006 by which, the company felt that it would get wider market coverage, since Reebok was specializing in the areas of the athletic footwear, golf equipments as well as the footwear and apparel markets. (Reuters) Adidas felt that by such a kind of restructuring process done by means of acquisition, the company could make a huge impact in its business, since it would be able to get the market shares, which are enjoyed by the companies that were acquired. This would in turn help the company to face the threat of cutthroat competition from Nike and at the same time would increase its sales and help it to regain the top spot in the sporting goods business. This was the main idea behind the acqui sitions and the Adidas management thought this to be the fitting reply to Nike. The corporate strategy of Adidas can be truly rated as a good one, since the European company had to get the market share of US which it had lost to its rival Nike. ... (Reuters) The Acquisition of Salomon and its products Adidas acquired Salomon in the year 1998 since the company was manufacturing a variety of sports goods products. This acquisition was done to make Adidas to overcome Nike and become the number one sports goods manufacturing company. But once the acquisition was underway the industry dealing with the winter sports was showing a decline, since it was becoming less attractive among individuals and this could really affect the prospects of Adidas. After the acquisition it was seen that, there were some difficulties that cropped up in integrating both the companies. It was only after a span of about five years from acquisition that, Adidas started to regain its share value in the sports market. The Salomon business unit also contributed only very less to the total operating profits of Adidas and this was a further blow to the company, since it had expected a very good operating profit. As a result the overall financial performance of A didas did not show any sort of improvement even after the acquisition. The golf division of the Taylor made Adidas products also struggled a lot to make profits initially ever since the acquisition. As a result of this Adidas divested almost all of its winter sports brands to the Amer sports corporation in the year 2005. (Mike) The Acquisition of Reebok and its products In the year 2006 Adidas acquired the Reebok Company with an idea to make its presence felt in the athletic footwear and apparel as well as the golf market. The Reebok international company already was involved in the designing as well as the sales of the apparels, footwear as well as hockey equipments for Greg Norman, Rockport and CCM respectively. Thus through

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

HCM367-0801B-01 The Health Care Organization - Phase 2 Discussion Essay

HCM367-0801B-01 The Health Care Organization - Phase 2 Discussion Board - Essay Example of physicians, nurses and para-medics, and our health plan which provides medical and health care to thousands of patients, and group health plans which assist thousands of employees in various firms and their families is witness and testimony to the goodwill Vitruvian enjoys. Our involvement in the medical field makes it obligatory for us to pursue excellence while providing the healing touch. Our principles and policies have been established and nurtured over the years which speak for themselves on the course we have chosen in spite of difficulties and hurdles that came our way. There is no question of any deviation on issues concerning our vision and mission. As has always been the case, we will continue to involve in the best practices, attract the best medical professionals, follow the best ethical and business standards, and provide the most effective care and services to society at large for the mutual benefits of our patients as well as our staff and partners. Medical treatment and practices have existed since the foundation of the world. A great amount of faith and fellowship blended with the line of treatment that Dr Montenegro espoused and demonstrated. It challenged the modern day often misinterpreted belief that the best medical treatment can be found only in technologically advanced facilities. Many times these advanced facilities are resorted to even when simpler ones would have sufficed. Nevertheless, the scope to harness the best in technology does exist. As is the case in the medical fraternity the world over, and keeping in view the tremendous potential in the medical technology of the day, it is imperative that we have access to the best medical treatment and facilities for the mutual benefit of our patients and our organization, as and when required. The guiding principles enshrined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will continue to be operational in the future as it is so now. Any changes or modifications required in the days ahead

Monday, October 14, 2019

High Staff Turnover in Hotel Industry

High Staff Turnover in Hotel Industry Hotels, catering and leisure industry in the UK remains the sector with the highest level of staff turnover, with all leavers in this category hitting 41%, according to a survey carried out by the CIPD (2008). Many organisations are badly affected by high levels of staff turnover and the survey identified that 74% of organisations in the UK, reported a negative impact on their business performance. This report also identified four main reasons that cause labour turnover. They are, change of career (55%), promotions outside of the company (45%), level of pay (41%) and lack of career development (33%). Employee dissatisfaction caused by poor relationships with supervisors and line managers, undesirable working conditions and lack of career development and training opportunities are also seen as major factors that cause high staff turnover ( Griffeth, Hom and Gaertner 2000). As mentioned in an article published by the Adecco Institute (2008) skills shortage in the jobs market is seen as a major human resources challenge for the future and this is particularly true of the hospitality and leisure industry in the UK, as it has suffered from constant recruitment difficulties over the past so many years. Age positive carried out a survey in the year 2005 and according to the results of the survey nearly 40% of all vacancies in the hospitality industry were hard to fill and much of the problem has been caused by poor retention strategies implemented by organisations. Another factor identified by the survey with regard to why so many vacancies were hard to fill is the lack of necessary ski lls and abilities by potential applicants who apply for jobs in the hotel and hospitality industry. A similar percentage of employers who participated in the survey stated that applicants lack excellent communication skills required, and this is particularly true of receptionists, managers and administrators and this has created immense pressure on HR executives and managers to attract, manage and retain key talent within their organisation which is an essential factor in creating sustainable competitive advantage. The results and information unearthed from these surveys make it crystal clear that high levels of staff turnover is a major problem to all organisations and the HR department of an organisation has a key responsibility of closely monitor labour turnover levels and figures and make right steps in order to bring staff turnover to a manageable level and face the future with resistance. High levels of staff turnover in an organisation may compromise the quality and high standards of customer service, and may impact on the organisation loosing loyal customers, revenue and long term sustainability (Tracy and Hinkin, 2008). Once the well established staff leave a company it may not only increase the workload of the remaining staff members of the company, but would be difficult for the organisation to gain the same highest levels of service from the newly hired staff as they would still be in a period of learning their job, and other key tasks and responsibilities associated with the job. Furthermore when employees leave on a regular basis it creates extra workloads for the remaining staff and as a result they could become depressed with work and not be able to deliver their best performance on the job. This may further exacerbate the problem and may also result in staff getting absent from work regularly and their good health deteriorate. The article of Tracy and Hinkin (2008) also states financial implications for organisations as a result of high levels of staff turnover. The costs associated with replacing staff can be sorted into hard costs, soft costs, and opportunity costs. Hard costs are costs such as money spent on newspaper advertisements, adverts on recruitment agencies etc, and they have a direct impact on the organisation. Other elements such as the time it takes to interview new recruits, and time spent on exit interviews will not be shown in company account statements as they are regarded as soft costs. Opportunity costs such as missed customers and market shares, usually go unmeasured but can still be substantial and may also lower company profitability and competitor advantage of the organisation ( Simons and Hinkin 2001 cited Tracy.J and Hinkin.T, 2008). The following five are identified as major costs categories that contribute towards the total costs of replacing an employee. They are pre-departure, recruitment, selection, orientation and training, and lost productivity (Hinkin and Tracy 2007, 2006, cited Tracy.J and Hinkin.T,2008). The already high staff turnover rates in the hotel industry also reflects high turnover of newly selected staff who leave the company within their first 30 days because the job did not suit them (Woods,1997:141). Does this mean possible issues with the prevailing recruitment and selection methods adopted by the hospitality sector organisations? According to the article by Tracy.J and Hinkin.T, only a few turnover studies have been so far carried out in the hotel and hospitality sector, despite reporting high levels of turnover every year. Therefore my literature review aims to conduct a much broader view of this issue by critically examining the current procedures and practices carried out by the High Beech Hotel UK and some of the other local selected competitor hotels, which may be associated with employee turnover. By doing so this study aims to understand the root causes of high levels of employee turnover of High Beech Hotel and propose solutions and recommendations to overcome those issues. This research benefits High Beech Hotel in terms of minimising the unnecessary costs that may occur due to advertising, interviewing, training of new staff as well as improving the overall standard of the hotel. High Beech Hotel is a three start hotel located in beautiful Hastings area and is faced with stiff competition with many three to four star hotels operating in the area such as, The White Rock Hotel, Travelodge Hastings, The Hotel Undum and the Chatsworth Hotel. The High Beech Hotel is therefore fighting to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage and grow its market share. The opinions of the General Manager, Operations Manager and the HR manager prove that jobs in the industry are difficult in the area and finding the right talent for the right job and the retention of quality staff are major HR challenges currently faced by the hotel. The general manager of the hotel is new to her post and has already expressed concerns about the high staff turnover. Turnover is high among front line staff, waiters and porters and the management has had few discussions to find the reasons why staff left, and find out ways to resolve the problem. I having worked at the hotel as an HR executive (placement student) managed to gain a good understanding of the high turnover and the possible effects the turnover levels have had on the existing staff. Literature review Labour turnover is the rate at which staff leaves an organisation and are replaced by new employees. Too high a labour turnover rate may mean that there is something unsatisfactory about working for the organisation and that action therefore would need to be taken (Adams et al, 1993) Denver and McMahon (1992:143) defined labour turnover as the movement of people into and out of employment within an organisation and can both be voluntary and involuntary. Eade (1993) further categorises turnover into management controllable and unavoidable turnover. Labour turnover index is used to measure staff turnover and according to Armstrong (2001) labour turnover rates provide a valuable means to benchmarking the effectiveness of HR policies and practices in organisations. The hotel industry is essentially comprised of both a production and a service aspect and the creation and rendering of services from the hotel to the customer are mainly achieved through employees. Therefore the industry is essentially represented by people (Lewis 1989; Thompson and Abbott, 1990; Schneider , 1993) and is considered as one of the most labour intensive industries. Turnover in the hotel industry in the UK has been shown to be unacceptably high (Kennedy and Berger, 1994), averaging as much as 200% to 300% per year. Statistically this means that the entire workforce of the industry turns over two to three times per year. The main factors identified, that could impact on turnover are, orientation and good socialisation procedures (Kennedy and Berger 1994, Woods, 1992), ad-hoc recruitment and selection (Benn and Farbringer, 1992, Woods and Macaulay, 1989; Wagner, 1991; Wheelhouse, 1989), discrimination at the workplace (Antolik,1993), lack of training and development oppor tunities (Hogan, 1992; rowden,1995), organisation culture (Woods and Macaulay, 1998) shortage of skills in the labour market (Debrah, 1994; Woods, 1992), high levels of work related stress ( Vallen,1993;Woods, 1992; Ham and Griffeth, 1995), seasonal nature of the industry ( Boella, 1998) and job dissatisfaction ( Bonn and Frbringer, 1992). All of these factors have contributed towards high levels of staff turnover in the hotel industry and it is clear that the success of the industry depends upon taking necessary steps to reduce the above mentioned issues, and problems, and the calibre of employees, and how well they are managed (Nankervis and Debroh, 1995; Berger and Ghel, 1995). Deery and Iverson, (1996) commented that high degree of staff turnover levels consist of recruitment and replacement costs, and regular and loyal customers switching to other competitor hotels as they expect to see their favourite staff members. It is clear labour costs play a major part in the industry and high staff turnover is seen as a prime issue hampering the smooth functioning of hotel and organisations within the hospitality industry (Obrien and McDonnell 2003). Deery and Iverson (1996) examined the employee turnover phenomenal and found that high turnover resulted in organisations loosing revenue and profits. They also argued that high turnover, especially when skilled staff leave, contributes to lowering the employee morale and the overall ability of teams within the organisations to get quality work done. Therefore the retention of skilled and well trained staff in any hospitality organisation is important to save unnecessary tangible and intangible costs as well as retaining regular and loyal customers and to provide them with a quality service. It is clear from the arguments put forward by the above mentioned authors and scholars but Despite an array of academic evidence and research on labour turnover the question to be asked is do management of hospitality sector organisations understand the gravity of the issue of staff turnover, and its negative effects on the performance of the organisation and how far they are willing to go to retain the valuable staff. At a time of difficult economic times it is imperative and organisation takes measures to outperform its competitors and any hospitality sector organisation that understands the value of human capital and adopt good HRM policies and management practices in pursuit of employee retention will inevitably outperform the competition (Cho et al., 2006, Hinkin and Tracy, 2000). Staff leaving on a regular basis involves heavy administration costs and a loss of productivity through the breaking up of teams who are used to working together (Denvir and McMohan, 1992:144). Therefore the critical importance of employees staying with an organisation is evident (Brayfield and Crockett, 1995; Cho et al, 2006). It is clear that satisfied and highly motivated employees stay with the organisation which in turn helps the company to reduce unnecessary recruitment and selection costs which could amount to a substantial amount of money, but also produce high quality work which helps the organisation to achieve competitive advantage and increase its profits (Cho et al., 2006; Hinkin and Tracey, 2000). Exit interviews are a great method of collecting information as to why employees leave an organisation. Employees leave for various reasons ranging from lack of employee oriented organisational measures such as succession planning, pay , non-financial rewards, work life balance and undesirable working conditions as well as more personal reasons such as inability to look after their children, other child welfare issues and transport problems. This can also vary depending on how long they have worked for the company and it is a common factor as evident from the High Beech Hotel, and that staff leaves because they soon found out that the job did not suit them. Some other staff members leave after serving the organisation after serving a considerable amount of time and their issues could very well be different to people leaving early. According to the CIPD (2007) costs an organisation approximately  £3500 pounds every time an employee leaves and as stated earlier these costs include bo th tangible costs and intangible costs such as time spent on interviewing new recruits and these often go unreported in company accounts. Denver and McMahon (1992:146) also found out that individual hotel organisations experience different levels of turnover, which helps to confirm that staff turnover is partly within the control of the hotel management. This also contradicts with the common acceptance that staff turnover is high and uniform throughout the industry and uncontrollable. Therefore it is evident that high levels of staff turnover is harmful to the smooth functioning of any organisation, may it be in the hospitality sector or some other sector and hinders the efficient operation of the business resulting in the hotel gradually losing its market share. Therefore it is important that the hospitality sector organisations develop effective and vibrant HRM policies that enable them to successfully recruit, select and retain skilled and efficient employees, who would contribute towards the achievement of the corporate objectives of the business. Factors influence on high Labour Turnover. The hotel industry in the UK is constantly troubled with high staff turnover resulting in increased personnel costs arise from recruitment and selection of new staff, training them (Ham and Griffeth, 1995). There is a strong negative relationship between turnover and organisational commitment which indicates that staff with low levels of commitment and loyalty are more likely to withdraw from the organisation than more committed staff (Johnston et, 1993). He also identified a positive relationship between organisational commitment and career progression opportunities given to employees through internal promotions and succession planning. These employees who are given opportunities to progress up the ladder, exhibit higher levels of organisational commitment, and loyalty and results in skilled staff retention and a gradual decline of low performing employees. This makes it much easier for HR managers to successfully identify low performing employees and eliminate them from the work fo rce which is important and a good for the success of the company as this turnover is considered healthy. Another key factor which may influence staff turnover is the gender difference and certain problems it creates within the organisation. Female workers have different responsibilities to their male counterparts and may value work life balance more as a result. The pressures of work and life, has resulted in more female workers leaving their jobs than male workers (Doherty and Manfredi, 2006:62). In most hotels it can be seen female workers working in the bottom of the organisation hierarchy and the pay gap between males and female workers has been a much talked about issue in the UK. Iverson (2000) conducted a study in the USA involving hotel establishments and found that female managers earn much less than the male managers doing the same job which is commonly seen in the UK and this has resulted in, female workers being reluctant to return to work after their maternity leave. On top of this, most organisations have failed to assist their female workers to arrange necessary child car e arrangements which have aggravated the number of female workers leaving their job. As per above authors the reluctance of female workers to return to work may also be caused by factors such as stress, work dissatisfaction, lack of commitment and low promotion opportunities coupled with a poor organisation culture that does not provide a platform to encourage female workers to move up the career ladder. Therefore the problems and issues female workers face in the workplace is clear and applicable in hospitality sector organisations, and it is very important the HR department address these issues and understand why many female workers leave their jobs early. Organisation culture, average age of the total labour force of the organisation, gender and racial composition and male-female pay gaps are among the reasons why employees leave (Bennett et al, 1993). Prospective employees when joining an organisation look into a number of factors such as career development opportunities, total reward policy and work life balance. Lack of incentives is therefore a main reason why many employees leave their jobs after some time. Incentives include both financial and nonfinancial and employees may simply want praise for their good work and lack of recognition could seriously hamper employee retention. Ritz Carlton hotel in London, has managed to reduce employee turnover to a significant level by focusing on quality recruitment, providing better training and development opportunities and by forming a positive psychological contract with the employees, and also by creating long term incentive and reward systems ( Barky, 1996). Therefore it is fair to assume that to a large extent organisation HRM practices, policies and procedures determine staff turnover. Organisation policies and lack of employee oriented practices and procedures may not only be the sole reason why many organisations particularly in the hospitality industry experience high level of staff turnover. Another factor that affects turnover is the ability of staff to carry out their tasks and responsibilities up to the required standard and the job performance of employees largely affects staff turnover and this is also confirmed by a study conducted by Jewell and Siegal (1990). They found that employees having very high levels of on-the-job performance are highly unlikely to leave their job in contrast with employees with low levels of performance. High performing employees are confident in their job and have better work related knowledge and skills. Low pay, lack of training and career development opportunities, lack of regular and realistic performance appraisals and undesired work environments are among the key reasons that cause low performance which in-turn result in high staff turnover. Therefore it is clear HR professionals in hotel establishments must pay very close attention to developing employee oriented HRM policies and practices that help staff achieve their full potent ial. To name a few these HR policies and practices are training and development opportunities open management communication systems, employee welfare such as child care, flexible working, transport assistant to employees and a comprehensive induction programme that helps new recruits to adopt well to their new roles. When analysing the hospitality and hotel industry in particular it has been found that most organisations have a poor reputation for providing good staff training and development opportunities (Maxwell et al, 2004). High staff turnover in most hospitality sector industries may have also led managers to be reluctant to providing staff with opportunities to further develop their careers fearing they may leave after that ( Davies et al, 2001, Jameson, 2000: Lowey et al, 2002). High staff turnover also causes managers to be occupied with recruitment and selection activity as well as grievance issues, and this may also be a reason for them not to have sufficient time to focus on staff development and talent management. Training and development and staff retention has a close match as poorly trained staff are less satisfied with work and may leave quicker and more than fully trained and highly satisfied staff. Therefore training and development directly affects job satisfaction and organis ational commitment (Lam and Zhang, 2003, Taylor et al, 2001, Lowry et al, 2002). Working hours is another key factor that causes employees to leave and most hospitality sector organisations, because of high staff turnover may require remaining staff to work extra hours on a regular basis. Long working hours without breaks are against the working time regulations as well as current health and safety rules and Female workers are largely affected by this practice because of their family commitments and a research conducted by Erdogan (1996:26) revealed long working hours are among the main reasons for many female workers to quit their jobs. There has also been an increase of single parent families and long hours and unsocial working hours have forced females to leave their jobs. This not only creates staff to leave but unfriendly working hours coupled with a poor corporate and work culture and a hostile working environment of the organisation , may affect the job satisfaction of female workers and even if they remain with the job their work could be highly unproduct ive and suffer from work related stress. Despite the fact that many researchers and academics stressing the importance of a good organisation work environment that provides employees oriented HR measures to achieve these goals and objectives many organisations still suffer from high levels of staff turnover and female staff turnover as evident from research findings. All of the above stated factors and elements contribute to employee dissatisfaction and it is a result of various internal and external factors that were mentioned above. Labour turnover of High Beech Hotel High Beech Hotel had a newly appointed general manager and she has been investigating the reasons for the high staff turnover levels of the hotel over the past three years and has had several discussions with the operations manager and the HR manager of the company. Unfortunately no proper investigation has not been done so far to find out the possible causes of staff turnover but the management in consultation with the company HR records and turnover figures has assumed the reasons as job dissatisfaction, long and unfriendly working hours, pay issues, lack of training and development opportunities for staff, issues with working condition and other personal issues of staff such as work life balance. Importance of HR practices and concepts in relation to staff retention and turnover HRM plays a vital part in creating a sustainable competitive advantage for any organisation, and forward looking organisations adopt good HR policies and practices to ensure the smooth functioning of the organisation (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997; Stewart, 1997; Verma and Dewe, 2008). Research studies have confirmed that well defined organisational goals and corporate objectives directly influence employee retention and productivity. Kim et al, (2005) in their study on corporate orientation found that organisational direction and support had a significant impact on employee job satisfaction and overall commitment. ORGANISATIONAL INITIATIVES The organisational HR initiatives as mentioned above, illustrate how internal factors and forces contribute towards employee retention. The model does not mention about external forces such as local and national competition in the labour market, economic situation, globalisation and international competition which affects attracting skilled employees to various jobs. It can be seen that this model covers the internal factors and reasons that affect staff retention or turnover and it is critically important for an organisation and HR professionals to pay close attention to the factors mentioned under the model to critically assess where they stand as an organisation and take steps to implement those HR practices and policies to retain talented staff ( Horwitz et al, 2003; Steel et al, 2002). These internal HR policies and practices are bundled under the term retention management and it is defined as the ability to hold onto those employees an organisation would want to keep, for longe r than the competitors (Johnson,2000 cited De Vos and Meganck,2007). The external factors should not be neglected at the same time because there may be times employees may leave an organisation due to their influences. The impact of financial and non-financial rewards cannot be undermined and play a critical role in motivating skilled and valued employees and retaining them within the organisation. Financial rewards such as a good basic pay combined with performance related pay and non-financial rewards such as training and development opportunities, initiatives to achieve work life balance for staff and other employee retention initiatives such as a pensions scheme and internal promotions motivate staff and force them to think again before quitting their jobs (Horwitz et al,2003;De Vos and Meganck, 2007). When analysing the theories and ides put forward by the above mentioned academics and scholars it is evident they focused on retaining highly skilled employees and researched to find out the possible reasons why valued employees leave organisations. This is being described as retention management and the word retention embraces with other HR practices such as recruitment and selection, development of employees to achieve their full potential and succession management (Lewis and Heckmanp 2006:140). HR Practices and the importance of Human Psychology HRM involves all management decision and practices that directly affects other people, or human resources, who work for the organisation. The question that arises is that despite the fact that many organisations including the hospitality and hotel industry, implement all accepted HR practices and procedures, why employees still leave and the staff turnover rates are extremely high. A good understanding of the implications of human psychology would help HR managers to find the root causes to this problem. Psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced his concept of hierarchy of needs in 1943 which suggests that people are motivated to fulfil their basic human needs before moving on to other needs. The hierarchy of needs is displayed as a pyramid and the lowest level of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are at the top. The needs located at the bottom are the most basic human needs and as people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social. Therefore when it comes to employees staying or leaving a particular organisation which stage the employee is in could play a vital role in his or her decision making process. At the core this theory of Maslow suggests that when an individual satisfies one set of needs they always try to move into the other level. This makes it critically important for HR professionals in the hospitality organisations how this theory of Maslow affects individual employees and how it influences an individuals decision about him staying or leaving the organisation. When an individual joins an organisation the first concern is to organise his life in-terms of food shelter and other essential psychological needs through wages and salary. The next concern would be job security and personal health and safety in the job. Once those needs are satisfied the employee would move in to the other set of needs which are social needs such as friendly colleagues and staff as well as a desirable working environment. After this comes the next stage which is satisfying the esteem needs which is comprised of individual being recognised for his work and valued by the management of the organisation as well as taking full advantage of any courses and exams they could take to get promoted. Once this set of needs are fully satisfied t he employee reaches the stage of self actualisation. Therefore to satisfy the individual employee needs the HR executives working in hospitality sector organisations must understand the needs of employees and aim to provide tailor made HR solutions in line with the corporate strategy of the company. In order to accomplish this, the HR managers must have accurate methods and procedures to understand which stage the employee is in his hierarchy of needs because if this is not done or if the right methods and procedures are not in place there will inevitably be a contradiction. For an example the HR managers may direct their full efforts into satisfying the esteem needs of employees through individual recognition and internal promotions at work when the employees are seeking safety needs. This would result in a waste of company resources and employees considering leaving the organisation. Individuals decision making process An individuals decision making process is comprised of a number of internal and external variables as shown below and the final decision makes by an individual employee is made up of a collection of those internal and external variables. This model is highly useful in understanding an employees decision making in an organisation (Kotler, 2000, p98). As seen the model is comprised of five main stages which an individual may go through before coming into a decision. They are, * Problem recognition * Information search * Evaluation of alternatives * Decision to leave or stay * Post- purchase evaluation Therefore the first stage is problem recognition and that is recognising there is a problem or issue to be answered by the employee. The problem arose can be triggered by internal influences, external influences or both. Once the main problem or problems are recognised by the employee he then moves into the next stage which is information search. For an example if the initial problem recognised by the employee is concerned with training and development opportunities offered by the organisation then through information search he would try to gather as much information as possible through various external and internal sources about what actions and steps he could take in order to gain the desired level of training. The next stage once sufficient information is gathered is the evaluation of alternatives. As per with training and development, the employee in this stage will go through various possible courses to be taken and evaluate the appropriateness of those courses to his job and what help he could get from the organisation in order to take the course. The next stage of the process is the final decision of the employee to stay with the organisation or to leave. This is called the purchase decision and according to Kotler (2000, p 99) two factors can intervene between the purchase intention and purchase decision. The first factor is the attitudes of other people, which is what the others around think of the individuals decision. Influence of other people can become complex and varied when there are more than one persons involved. The second factor Kotler (2000,p 99) mentions is the unanticipated or unexpected situations and as per the above example of training and development, factors such as the recession and cost cutting measures by the organisation could hamper the employees aspiration of embarking on the course. The final stage of the decision making process is the post purchase evaluation which involves the employee evaluating the positives and negatives of the decision taken, and the possible consequences of it. This concept has a high degree of importance to HR even though it is widely used in marketing and regarded more as a marketing related concep High Staff Turnover in Hotel Industry High Staff Turnover in Hotel Industry Hotels, catering and leisure industry in the UK remains the sector with the highest level of staff turnover, with all leavers in this category hitting 41%, according to a survey carried out by the CIPD (2008). Many organisations are badly affected by high levels of staff turnover and the survey identified that 74% of organisations in the UK, reported a negative impact on their business performance. This report also identified four main reasons that cause labour turnover. They are, change of career (55%), promotions outside of the company (45%), level of pay (41%) and lack of career development (33%). Employee dissatisfaction caused by poor relationships with supervisors and line managers, undesirable working conditions and lack of career development and training opportunities are also seen as major factors that cause high staff turnover ( Griffeth, Hom and Gaertner 2000). As mentioned in an article published by the Adecco Institute (2008) skills shortage in the jobs market is seen as a major human resources challenge for the future and this is particularly true of the hospitality and leisure industry in the UK, as it has suffered from constant recruitment difficulties over the past so many years. Age positive carried out a survey in the year 2005 and according to the results of the survey nearly 40% of all vacancies in the hospitality industry were hard to fill and much of the problem has been caused by poor retention strategies implemented by organisations. Another factor identified by the survey with regard to why so many vacancies were hard to fill is the lack of necessary ski lls and abilities by potential applicants who apply for jobs in the hotel and hospitality industry. A similar percentage of employers who participated in the survey stated that applicants lack excellent communication skills required, and this is particularly true of receptionists, managers and administrators and this has created immense pressure on HR executives and managers to attract, manage and retain key talent within their organisation which is an essential factor in creating sustainable competitive advantage. The results and information unearthed from these surveys make it crystal clear that high levels of staff turnover is a major problem to all organisations and the HR department of an organisation has a key responsibility of closely monitor labour turnover levels and figures and make right steps in order to bring staff turnover to a manageable level and face the future with resistance. High levels of staff turnover in an organisation may compromise the quality and high standards of customer service, and may impact on the organisation loosing loyal customers, revenue and long term sustainability (Tracy and Hinkin, 2008). Once the well established staff leave a company it may not only increase the workload of the remaining staff members of the company, but would be difficult for the organisation to gain the same highest levels of service from the newly hired staff as they would still be in a period of learning their job, and other key tasks and responsibilities associated with the job. Furthermore when employees leave on a regular basis it creates extra workloads for the remaining staff and as a result they could become depressed with work and not be able to deliver their best performance on the job. This may further exacerbate the problem and may also result in staff getting absent from work regularly and their good health deteriorate. The article of Tracy and Hinkin (2008) also states financial implications for organisations as a result of high levels of staff turnover. The costs associated with replacing staff can be sorted into hard costs, soft costs, and opportunity costs. Hard costs are costs such as money spent on newspaper advertisements, adverts on recruitment agencies etc, and they have a direct impact on the organisation. Other elements such as the time it takes to interview new recruits, and time spent on exit interviews will not be shown in company account statements as they are regarded as soft costs. Opportunity costs such as missed customers and market shares, usually go unmeasured but can still be substantial and may also lower company profitability and competitor advantage of the organisation ( Simons and Hinkin 2001 cited Tracy.J and Hinkin.T, 2008). The following five are identified as major costs categories that contribute towards the total costs of replacing an employee. They are pre-departure, recruitment, selection, orientation and training, and lost productivity (Hinkin and Tracy 2007, 2006, cited Tracy.J and Hinkin.T,2008). The already high staff turnover rates in the hotel industry also reflects high turnover of newly selected staff who leave the company within their first 30 days because the job did not suit them (Woods,1997:141). Does this mean possible issues with the prevailing recruitment and selection methods adopted by the hospitality sector organisations? According to the article by Tracy.J and Hinkin.T, only a few turnover studies have been so far carried out in the hotel and hospitality sector, despite reporting high levels of turnover every year. Therefore my literature review aims to conduct a much broader view of this issue by critically examining the current procedures and practices carried out by the High Beech Hotel UK and some of the other local selected competitor hotels, which may be associated with employee turnover. By doing so this study aims to understand the root causes of high levels of employee turnover of High Beech Hotel and propose solutions and recommendations to overcome those issues. This research benefits High Beech Hotel in terms of minimising the unnecessary costs that may occur due to advertising, interviewing, training of new staff as well as improving the overall standard of the hotel. High Beech Hotel is a three start hotel located in beautiful Hastings area and is faced with stiff competition with many three to four star hotels operating in the area such as, The White Rock Hotel, Travelodge Hastings, The Hotel Undum and the Chatsworth Hotel. The High Beech Hotel is therefore fighting to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage and grow its market share. The opinions of the General Manager, Operations Manager and the HR manager prove that jobs in the industry are difficult in the area and finding the right talent for the right job and the retention of quality staff are major HR challenges currently faced by the hotel. The general manager of the hotel is new to her post and has already expressed concerns about the high staff turnover. Turnover is high among front line staff, waiters and porters and the management has had few discussions to find the reasons why staff left, and find out ways to resolve the problem. I having worked at the hotel as an HR executive (placement student) managed to gain a good understanding of the high turnover and the possible effects the turnover levels have had on the existing staff. Literature review Labour turnover is the rate at which staff leaves an organisation and are replaced by new employees. Too high a labour turnover rate may mean that there is something unsatisfactory about working for the organisation and that action therefore would need to be taken (Adams et al, 1993) Denver and McMahon (1992:143) defined labour turnover as the movement of people into and out of employment within an organisation and can both be voluntary and involuntary. Eade (1993) further categorises turnover into management controllable and unavoidable turnover. Labour turnover index is used to measure staff turnover and according to Armstrong (2001) labour turnover rates provide a valuable means to benchmarking the effectiveness of HR policies and practices in organisations. The hotel industry is essentially comprised of both a production and a service aspect and the creation and rendering of services from the hotel to the customer are mainly achieved through employees. Therefore the industry is essentially represented by people (Lewis 1989; Thompson and Abbott, 1990; Schneider , 1993) and is considered as one of the most labour intensive industries. Turnover in the hotel industry in the UK has been shown to be unacceptably high (Kennedy and Berger, 1994), averaging as much as 200% to 300% per year. Statistically this means that the entire workforce of the industry turns over two to three times per year. The main factors identified, that could impact on turnover are, orientation and good socialisation procedures (Kennedy and Berger 1994, Woods, 1992), ad-hoc recruitment and selection (Benn and Farbringer, 1992, Woods and Macaulay, 1989; Wagner, 1991; Wheelhouse, 1989), discrimination at the workplace (Antolik,1993), lack of training and development oppor tunities (Hogan, 1992; rowden,1995), organisation culture (Woods and Macaulay, 1998) shortage of skills in the labour market (Debrah, 1994; Woods, 1992), high levels of work related stress ( Vallen,1993;Woods, 1992; Ham and Griffeth, 1995), seasonal nature of the industry ( Boella, 1998) and job dissatisfaction ( Bonn and Frbringer, 1992). All of these factors have contributed towards high levels of staff turnover in the hotel industry and it is clear that the success of the industry depends upon taking necessary steps to reduce the above mentioned issues, and problems, and the calibre of employees, and how well they are managed (Nankervis and Debroh, 1995; Berger and Ghel, 1995). Deery and Iverson, (1996) commented that high degree of staff turnover levels consist of recruitment and replacement costs, and regular and loyal customers switching to other competitor hotels as they expect to see their favourite staff members. It is clear labour costs play a major part in the industry and high staff turnover is seen as a prime issue hampering the smooth functioning of hotel and organisations within the hospitality industry (Obrien and McDonnell 2003). Deery and Iverson (1996) examined the employee turnover phenomenal and found that high turnover resulted in organisations loosing revenue and profits. They also argued that high turnover, especially when skilled staff leave, contributes to lowering the employee morale and the overall ability of teams within the organisations to get quality work done. Therefore the retention of skilled and well trained staff in any hospitality organisation is important to save unnecessary tangible and intangible costs as well as retaining regular and loyal customers and to provide them with a quality service. It is clear from the arguments put forward by the above mentioned authors and scholars but Despite an array of academic evidence and research on labour turnover the question to be asked is do management of hospitality sector organisations understand the gravity of the issue of staff turnover, and its negative effects on the performance of the organisation and how far they are willing to go to retain the valuable staff. At a time of difficult economic times it is imperative and organisation takes measures to outperform its competitors and any hospitality sector organisation that understands the value of human capital and adopt good HRM policies and management practices in pursuit of employee retention will inevitably outperform the competition (Cho et al., 2006, Hinkin and Tracy, 2000). Staff leaving on a regular basis involves heavy administration costs and a loss of productivity through the breaking up of teams who are used to working together (Denvir and McMohan, 1992:144). Therefore the critical importance of employees staying with an organisation is evident (Brayfield and Crockett, 1995; Cho et al, 2006). It is clear that satisfied and highly motivated employees stay with the organisation which in turn helps the company to reduce unnecessary recruitment and selection costs which could amount to a substantial amount of money, but also produce high quality work which helps the organisation to achieve competitive advantage and increase its profits (Cho et al., 2006; Hinkin and Tracey, 2000). Exit interviews are a great method of collecting information as to why employees leave an organisation. Employees leave for various reasons ranging from lack of employee oriented organisational measures such as succession planning, pay , non-financial rewards, work life balance and undesirable working conditions as well as more personal reasons such as inability to look after their children, other child welfare issues and transport problems. This can also vary depending on how long they have worked for the company and it is a common factor as evident from the High Beech Hotel, and that staff leaves because they soon found out that the job did not suit them. Some other staff members leave after serving the organisation after serving a considerable amount of time and their issues could very well be different to people leaving early. According to the CIPD (2007) costs an organisation approximately  £3500 pounds every time an employee leaves and as stated earlier these costs include bo th tangible costs and intangible costs such as time spent on interviewing new recruits and these often go unreported in company accounts. Denver and McMahon (1992:146) also found out that individual hotel organisations experience different levels of turnover, which helps to confirm that staff turnover is partly within the control of the hotel management. This also contradicts with the common acceptance that staff turnover is high and uniform throughout the industry and uncontrollable. Therefore it is evident that high levels of staff turnover is harmful to the smooth functioning of any organisation, may it be in the hospitality sector or some other sector and hinders the efficient operation of the business resulting in the hotel gradually losing its market share. Therefore it is important that the hospitality sector organisations develop effective and vibrant HRM policies that enable them to successfully recruit, select and retain skilled and efficient employees, who would contribute towards the achievement of the corporate objectives of the business. Factors influence on high Labour Turnover. The hotel industry in the UK is constantly troubled with high staff turnover resulting in increased personnel costs arise from recruitment and selection of new staff, training them (Ham and Griffeth, 1995). There is a strong negative relationship between turnover and organisational commitment which indicates that staff with low levels of commitment and loyalty are more likely to withdraw from the organisation than more committed staff (Johnston et, 1993). He also identified a positive relationship between organisational commitment and career progression opportunities given to employees through internal promotions and succession planning. These employees who are given opportunities to progress up the ladder, exhibit higher levels of organisational commitment, and loyalty and results in skilled staff retention and a gradual decline of low performing employees. This makes it much easier for HR managers to successfully identify low performing employees and eliminate them from the work fo rce which is important and a good for the success of the company as this turnover is considered healthy. Another key factor which may influence staff turnover is the gender difference and certain problems it creates within the organisation. Female workers have different responsibilities to their male counterparts and may value work life balance more as a result. The pressures of work and life, has resulted in more female workers leaving their jobs than male workers (Doherty and Manfredi, 2006:62). In most hotels it can be seen female workers working in the bottom of the organisation hierarchy and the pay gap between males and female workers has been a much talked about issue in the UK. Iverson (2000) conducted a study in the USA involving hotel establishments and found that female managers earn much less than the male managers doing the same job which is commonly seen in the UK and this has resulted in, female workers being reluctant to return to work after their maternity leave. On top of this, most organisations have failed to assist their female workers to arrange necessary child car e arrangements which have aggravated the number of female workers leaving their job. As per above authors the reluctance of female workers to return to work may also be caused by factors such as stress, work dissatisfaction, lack of commitment and low promotion opportunities coupled with a poor organisation culture that does not provide a platform to encourage female workers to move up the career ladder. Therefore the problems and issues female workers face in the workplace is clear and applicable in hospitality sector organisations, and it is very important the HR department address these issues and understand why many female workers leave their jobs early. Organisation culture, average age of the total labour force of the organisation, gender and racial composition and male-female pay gaps are among the reasons why employees leave (Bennett et al, 1993). Prospective employees when joining an organisation look into a number of factors such as career development opportunities, total reward policy and work life balance. Lack of incentives is therefore a main reason why many employees leave their jobs after some time. Incentives include both financial and nonfinancial and employees may simply want praise for their good work and lack of recognition could seriously hamper employee retention. Ritz Carlton hotel in London, has managed to reduce employee turnover to a significant level by focusing on quality recruitment, providing better training and development opportunities and by forming a positive psychological contract with the employees, and also by creating long term incentive and reward systems ( Barky, 1996). Therefore it is fair to assume that to a large extent organisation HRM practices, policies and procedures determine staff turnover. Organisation policies and lack of employee oriented practices and procedures may not only be the sole reason why many organisations particularly in the hospitality industry experience high level of staff turnover. Another factor that affects turnover is the ability of staff to carry out their tasks and responsibilities up to the required standard and the job performance of employees largely affects staff turnover and this is also confirmed by a study conducted by Jewell and Siegal (1990). They found that employees having very high levels of on-the-job performance are highly unlikely to leave their job in contrast with employees with low levels of performance. High performing employees are confident in their job and have better work related knowledge and skills. Low pay, lack of training and career development opportunities, lack of regular and realistic performance appraisals and undesired work environments are among the key reasons that cause low performance which in-turn result in high staff turnover. Therefore it is clear HR professionals in hotel establishments must pay very close attention to developing employee oriented HRM policies and practices that help staff achieve their full potent ial. To name a few these HR policies and practices are training and development opportunities open management communication systems, employee welfare such as child care, flexible working, transport assistant to employees and a comprehensive induction programme that helps new recruits to adopt well to their new roles. When analysing the hospitality and hotel industry in particular it has been found that most organisations have a poor reputation for providing good staff training and development opportunities (Maxwell et al, 2004). High staff turnover in most hospitality sector industries may have also led managers to be reluctant to providing staff with opportunities to further develop their careers fearing they may leave after that ( Davies et al, 2001, Jameson, 2000: Lowey et al, 2002). High staff turnover also causes managers to be occupied with recruitment and selection activity as well as grievance issues, and this may also be a reason for them not to have sufficient time to focus on staff development and talent management. Training and development and staff retention has a close match as poorly trained staff are less satisfied with work and may leave quicker and more than fully trained and highly satisfied staff. Therefore training and development directly affects job satisfaction and organis ational commitment (Lam and Zhang, 2003, Taylor et al, 2001, Lowry et al, 2002). Working hours is another key factor that causes employees to leave and most hospitality sector organisations, because of high staff turnover may require remaining staff to work extra hours on a regular basis. Long working hours without breaks are against the working time regulations as well as current health and safety rules and Female workers are largely affected by this practice because of their family commitments and a research conducted by Erdogan (1996:26) revealed long working hours are among the main reasons for many female workers to quit their jobs. There has also been an increase of single parent families and long hours and unsocial working hours have forced females to leave their jobs. This not only creates staff to leave but unfriendly working hours coupled with a poor corporate and work culture and a hostile working environment of the organisation , may affect the job satisfaction of female workers and even if they remain with the job their work could be highly unproduct ive and suffer from work related stress. Despite the fact that many researchers and academics stressing the importance of a good organisation work environment that provides employees oriented HR measures to achieve these goals and objectives many organisations still suffer from high levels of staff turnover and female staff turnover as evident from research findings. All of the above stated factors and elements contribute to employee dissatisfaction and it is a result of various internal and external factors that were mentioned above. Labour turnover of High Beech Hotel High Beech Hotel had a newly appointed general manager and she has been investigating the reasons for the high staff turnover levels of the hotel over the past three years and has had several discussions with the operations manager and the HR manager of the company. Unfortunately no proper investigation has not been done so far to find out the possible causes of staff turnover but the management in consultation with the company HR records and turnover figures has assumed the reasons as job dissatisfaction, long and unfriendly working hours, pay issues, lack of training and development opportunities for staff, issues with working condition and other personal issues of staff such as work life balance. Importance of HR practices and concepts in relation to staff retention and turnover HRM plays a vital part in creating a sustainable competitive advantage for any organisation, and forward looking organisations adopt good HR policies and practices to ensure the smooth functioning of the organisation (Edvinsson and Malone, 1997; Stewart, 1997; Verma and Dewe, 2008). Research studies have confirmed that well defined organisational goals and corporate objectives directly influence employee retention and productivity. Kim et al, (2005) in their study on corporate orientation found that organisational direction and support had a significant impact on employee job satisfaction and overall commitment. ORGANISATIONAL INITIATIVES The organisational HR initiatives as mentioned above, illustrate how internal factors and forces contribute towards employee retention. The model does not mention about external forces such as local and national competition in the labour market, economic situation, globalisation and international competition which affects attracting skilled employees to various jobs. It can be seen that this model covers the internal factors and reasons that affect staff retention or turnover and it is critically important for an organisation and HR professionals to pay close attention to the factors mentioned under the model to critically assess where they stand as an organisation and take steps to implement those HR practices and policies to retain talented staff ( Horwitz et al, 2003; Steel et al, 2002). These internal HR policies and practices are bundled under the term retention management and it is defined as the ability to hold onto those employees an organisation would want to keep, for longe r than the competitors (Johnson,2000 cited De Vos and Meganck,2007). The external factors should not be neglected at the same time because there may be times employees may leave an organisation due to their influences. The impact of financial and non-financial rewards cannot be undermined and play a critical role in motivating skilled and valued employees and retaining them within the organisation. Financial rewards such as a good basic pay combined with performance related pay and non-financial rewards such as training and development opportunities, initiatives to achieve work life balance for staff and other employee retention initiatives such as a pensions scheme and internal promotions motivate staff and force them to think again before quitting their jobs (Horwitz et al,2003;De Vos and Meganck, 2007). When analysing the theories and ides put forward by the above mentioned academics and scholars it is evident they focused on retaining highly skilled employees and researched to find out the possible reasons why valued employees leave organisations. This is being described as retention management and the word retention embraces with other HR practices such as recruitment and selection, development of employees to achieve their full potential and succession management (Lewis and Heckmanp 2006:140). HR Practices and the importance of Human Psychology HRM involves all management decision and practices that directly affects other people, or human resources, who work for the organisation. The question that arises is that despite the fact that many organisations including the hospitality and hotel industry, implement all accepted HR practices and procedures, why employees still leave and the staff turnover rates are extremely high. A good understanding of the implications of human psychology would help HR managers to find the root causes to this problem. Psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced his concept of hierarchy of needs in 1943 which suggests that people are motivated to fulfil their basic human needs before moving on to other needs. The hierarchy of needs is displayed as a pyramid and the lowest level of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are at the top. The needs located at the bottom are the most basic human needs and as people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social. Therefore when it comes to employees staying or leaving a particular organisation which stage the employee is in could play a vital role in his or her decision making process. At the core this theory of Maslow suggests that when an individual satisfies one set of needs they always try to move into the other level. This makes it critically important for HR professionals in the hospitality organisations how this theory of Maslow affects individual employees and how it influences an individuals decision about him staying or leaving the organisation. When an individual joins an organisation the first concern is to organise his life in-terms of food shelter and other essential psychological needs through wages and salary. The next concern would be job security and personal health and safety in the job. Once those needs are satisfied the employee would move in to the other set of needs which are social needs such as friendly colleagues and staff as well as a desirable working environment. After this comes the next stage which is satisfying the esteem needs which is comprised of individual being recognised for his work and valued by the management of the organisation as well as taking full advantage of any courses and exams they could take to get promoted. Once this set of needs are fully satisfied t he employee reaches the stage of self actualisation. Therefore to satisfy the individual employee needs the HR executives working in hospitality sector organisations must understand the needs of employees and aim to provide tailor made HR solutions in line with the corporate strategy of the company. In order to accomplish this, the HR managers must have accurate methods and procedures to understand which stage the employee is in his hierarchy of needs because if this is not done or if the right methods and procedures are not in place there will inevitably be a contradiction. For an example the HR managers may direct their full efforts into satisfying the esteem needs of employees through individual recognition and internal promotions at work when the employees are seeking safety needs. This would result in a waste of company resources and employees considering leaving the organisation. Individuals decision making process An individuals decision making process is comprised of a number of internal and external variables as shown below and the final decision makes by an individual employee is made up of a collection of those internal and external variables. This model is highly useful in understanding an employees decision making in an organisation (Kotler, 2000, p98). As seen the model is comprised of five main stages which an individual may go through before coming into a decision. They are, * Problem recognition * Information search * Evaluation of alternatives * Decision to leave or stay * Post- purchase evaluation Therefore the first stage is problem recognition and that is recognising there is a problem or issue to be answered by the employee. The problem arose can be triggered by internal influences, external influences or both. Once the main problem or problems are recognised by the employee he then moves into the next stage which is information search. For an example if the initial problem recognised by the employee is concerned with training and development opportunities offered by the organisation then through information search he would try to gather as much information as possible through various external and internal sources about what actions and steps he could take in order to gain the desired level of training. The next stage once sufficient information is gathered is the evaluation of alternatives. As per with training and development, the employee in this stage will go through various possible courses to be taken and evaluate the appropriateness of those courses to his job and what help he could get from the organisation in order to take the course. The next stage of the process is the final decision of the employee to stay with the organisation or to leave. This is called the purchase decision and according to Kotler (2000, p 99) two factors can intervene between the purchase intention and purchase decision. The first factor is the attitudes of other people, which is what the others around think of the individuals decision. Influence of other people can become complex and varied when there are more than one persons involved. The second factor Kotler (2000,p 99) mentions is the unanticipated or unexpected situations and as per the above example of training and development, factors such as the recession and cost cutting measures by the organisation could hamper the employees aspiration of embarking on the course. The final stage of the decision making process is the post purchase evaluation which involves the employee evaluating the positives and negatives of the decision taken, and the possible consequences of it. This concept has a high degree of importance to HR even though it is widely used in marketing and regarded more as a marketing related concep