Ethical Consumption of Cell Phones Essay

1. INTRODUCTION In just 30 years, mobile telephony has grown into a major global industry, with an estimated 5 billion users around the world, compared with a total world population of around 7 billion people. While new subscriber growth has slowed somewhat in recent years, product turnover remains high, with over 1 billion new mobile phones shipped in 2009 alone. This paper firstly examines the life cycle of a cell phone, describing its stages from the extraction of the materials to its disposal or re-usage possibilities. It also discussed the ethical issues that impact the environment and society. Lastly, two cell phone manufactures (Apple and Nokia) are being compared in terms of how they deal with environmental impacts. 2. LIFE CYCLE OF A CELL PHONE Stage One: Extraction of Materials Mobile phones generally comprise approximately 40% metals and 40% plastics, with the remainder made up of glass, ceramic and other miscellaneous materials. The parts of a cell phone include the circuit board, the liquid crystal display (LCD) and the rechargeable battery. The circuit board, which controls all of the phone’s functions, consists of copper, gold, silver, lead, nickel, tin, coltan, and zinc. The LCD, which is a flat-panel display where all the information and images appear, is made of glass or plastic. Batteries power the cell phone and, depending on the type of battery, may contain nickel, cobalt, zinc, cadmium and copper. Many of these materials are so called â€Å"persistent toxins† that remain in the environment for a long period of time, even after disposal. Furthermore, an important life cycle consideration is the energy required to extract metals from their respective ores. From an energy perspective, precious metals gold and silver and exceed the impact of copper. In addition, the energy content of glass also has a significant energy footprint, due to the high melt temperatures that are required during manufacturing. Stage Two: Materials Processing Raw materials that go into making cell phones must first be processed before manufacturers can use them. For example, to make the plastic casing, crude oil needs to be combined with natural gas and chemicals. The copper used to make the circuit board and batteries has to be mined from the ground, heated and treated with chemicals and electricity before it can be formed into wires and sheets. Stage Three: Manufacturing The individual parts of a cell phone each go through a manufacturing process. The circuit board is shaped using plastics and fibreglass and then coated with gold plating. The circuits and wires of the circuit board are soldered, glued and coated. The LCD is made with liquid crystals layered between glass or plastic. These layers include two polarized panels, with a liquid crystal solution between them. Light is projected through the layer of liquid crystals and is colorized, which produces the visible image. Batteries have two electrodes (both made from a different metal) and each electrode is touched by a liquid material called electrolytes. When an outlet or another outside electrical source is applied, a chemical reaction between the electrodes and the electrolytes causes an electric current to flow and powers the battery. Stage Four: Packaging and Transportation The transportation process and packaging of cell phones is seen as harmful to the environment. Transporting cell phones for distribution requires the use of fossil fuels for energy, which can contribute to global climate change. While packaging protects products from damage, identifies contents, and provides information, excessive or decorative packaging contributes to the waste that we produce. Packaging consumes valuable natural resources, such as paper (from trees), plastic (from crude oil in the earth), aluminium (from ore), or other materials, all of which use energy to produce and can result in waste. Some packaging, however, can be made from recycled materials. Stage Five: Useful Life You can extend the use of your cell phone by taking good care of it as in protecting it from damage by storing it in a case, avoiding dropping it, and keeping it out of extreme heat and cold and away from water and other liquids. However, the materials that are used to make cell phones can potentially damage the environment and harm people. Therefore, it is important to reuse, recycle or properly dispose cell phones. Reuse: Many organizations, including recyclers, charities, and electronics manufacturers, accept working cell phones and offer them to schools, community organizations, and individuals in need. Reuse gives people, who could not otherwise afford them, free or reduced cost access to new phones and this also extends the useful lifetime of a phone. Recycle: Nowadays, many stores, manufacturers, and recycling centres accept cell phones for recycling. Some cell phones can be fixed and sold as refurbished phones, or parts can be used to fix phones. Some rechargeable batteries can also be recycled, as this way the recovered materials can be used to make new batteries and stainless steel products. Disposal: However, about 40% of cell phones can’t be sold as refurbished cell phones. These cell phones are shredded as well as smelted at a copper refiner. Many metals actually go back to their natural state. This process helps replenish some natural resources and it is called above ground mining. Still, many cell phones are simply thrown in the trash and end up in landfills (buried in the ground) or incinerators (burned). Because cell phones contain metals, plastics, chemicals, and other potentially hazardous substances, they should always be recycled or properly disposed. Phones that are thrown away waste energy and result in the loss of valuable resources. This figure shows the cell phone recycling rate from 2007 to 2010 in the United Stated. Even though sales were the highest in 2010, the recycling rate did not correspond to the sales. 3. ETHICAL ISSUES 1. Energy Conservation The quantity of mobile phone usage increases any environmental impact of this product. Life-cycle analysis conducted by the European Commission shows that energy consumption is the greatest impact, both during manufacture of components and during their usage. Nokia estimated that if 10% of worldwide subscribers would unplug their chargers once their phone is fully charged, the energy saved could to supply 60,000 European homes for one year. Issues like wastage of energy due to overcharging and or mobiles left unplugged even after being fully charged needs to be addressed more. 2. Exploitation & Illegal Trading The material used in the manufacturing of the mobile phones is coltan, a heat resistant material found in the Republic of Congo. In the Coltan, mines there are children that have to work instead of going to school and many reputable companies buy this mineral. Companies have to resort to material provided by controversial circumstances. What is Coltan? Coltan, short for columbite-tantalite is a metallic ore comprising niobium and tantalum. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite, and the tantalum-dominant mineral is tantalite. Niobium, whose leading producer in Brazil, is mostly found in the mineral pyrochlore whereas tantalum is extracted from the ore, tantalite and is created by smelting and tin mining in some places. Tantalum mineral is mainly mined in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, China, Ethiopia, Mozambique and other central African countries. Coltan is important for manufacturing cell phones because it is in the capacitors that control current flow in the cell phone’s circuit board. When refined, coltan becomes a heat resistant powder, metallic tantalum which has unique properties for storing electrical charge. Mining Coltan In the Coltan is mined by hand in the Congo by groups of men digging basins in streams by scrapping off the surface mud. They then â€Å"slosh† the water around the crater, which causes the Coltan ore to settle at the bottom of the crater where it is retrieved by the miners. A team can â€Å"mine† one kilo of Coltan per day. Most of these miners are children which are subjected to extreme conditions. Therefore, awareness has to be brought to these terrible working conditions by which these child workers are affected. Coltan financing war A recent report by the UN has claimed that all the parties involved in the local civil war have been involved in the mining and sale of Coltan. One report suggested that the neighbouring Rwandan army made US$250 million from selling Coltan in less than 18 months, despite there being no Coltan in Rwanda to mine. The military forces of Uganda and Burundi are also implicated in smuggling Coltan out of Congo for resale in Belgium. A report to the United Nations Security Council has called for a moratorium on purchase and import of resources from the Democratic Republic of Congo, due to the ongoing civil war that has dragged in the surrounding countries. 3. Toxics Waste disposal & Environmental Impact Persistent Bio accumulative toxins Persistent Bio accumulative toxins (PBTs) PBTs are particularly dangerous because they do not degrade over long periods of time, and can easily spread and move between air, water, and soil, resulting in the accumulation of toxins far from the original point source of pollution. Because PBTs accumulate in fatty issue of humans and animals, the toxins are gradually concentrated and are of great risk. Cell phone batteries Rechargeable batteries are rapidly changing as technological advances improve new power sources. Already 60% of rechargeable Batteries sold worldwide are used in cell phones. However, rechargeable currently have toxic constituents such as cadmium, as well as brominated flame-retardants. The total environmental impact from cell phone batteries depends on a batteries material composition as well as on the time cell phones are used before they are discarded. Therefore, many cell phone users replace their batteries at least once before retiring their phones Lead Lead is a highly poisonous metal affecting almost every organ and system in the body. It has been widely used in electronics as the primary method of attaching components to the printed wiring boards. Lead is a toxin to both humans and the environment. It is a common contaminant and can impact entire ecosystems. In humans, it affects the central nervous system, immune and vascular systems, kidneys, and the endocrine system, with serious effects on the development of children’s brains. Lead is also a possible carcinogen. It accumulates in the environment and has very high chronic and acute effects on microorganisms, plants, and animals. 4. Society In past few years, the boom in the usage of mobile phones has tremendously increased, a large percentage of which are children. With the advancement of technology with faster data rate and streaming videos, the youth has been given unlimited access to any contents on web. Restrictions should be established to prohibit children from accessing adult content. Also, mobile phones have been restricted to be used during driving as it has been one of the factors of road accidents. 4. COMPANY COMPARISON: APLLE vs. NOKIA How do these companies deal with environmental impacts? This part of the paper compared two companies in the cellular industry, Apple and Nokia, and how these firms deal with environmental impacts. Although Apple is not entirely a mobile devices producer, its only mobile phone, the iPhone, is very popular and widely sold. Nokia is a well known mobile devices producer, which was dominating the industry for a very long time. However, in past couple years they have faced tremendous difficulties catching up with the technological changes, and did not produce a â€Å"smart phone† in time. Despite their rapid losses in revenues, they still operate in this market, and one of their latest smart phones, the LUMIA 800, is very similar to the iPhone 4S. Both phones have similar hardware preferences and are comprised of similar materials. Now let’s take a look at which company is better off when it comes to sustainable business. Apple iPhone 4S Apple generally says that their products are brominated flame retardant – free, PVC – free, mercury – free, and that the glass they use is arsenic – free. All of these factors conclude in a positive result for Apple. Also, the iPhone releases a minimum of CO2 -gases. In fact, it releases only 1.2g of CO2-gases per hour, whereas a light bulb produces 48.4g per hour. This performance is due to the LED screen, as LED produces the least CO2 of all light sources. Furthermore, Apple has reduced the size of their packages of iPhones by 42%, which not only rapidly reduces the amount of materials necessary, but they can also ship 80% more boxes in each airline shipping container. That saves one 747 flight for every 371,250 units they ship. If you count in the amounts of fuel that is saved and add every aspect of this change together, it is clear that Apple’s Environmental Management is doing incredibly well. Their whole portfolio regarding environment is a p erfect marketing strategy. They claim that all of their products are fully recyclable. This also includes the power conservation, which in this case is a Lithium-Ion battery. This battery is efficient and long lasting, which eliminated the necessity to replace the battery often. Despite this, there is no way the battery can be removed from the phone without unscrewing the body of the phone, for which you need ultra thin screw drivers. Therefore, nobody can actually recycle these batteries themselves, unless they return it to Apple or give their phones to a recycling company. Despite all of these positive factors, Apple still operates this business using very irrational sales policies. They replace their products with twice as strong hardware every year and adapt the software to the new hardware, which makes the old products very slow and ultimately unable to use. This forces the customers to always buy the newest models, which eventually produces a lot of waste. Nokia LUMIA 800 Although Nokia now has very strong environmental reporting, this whole process started only after the crisis the company went through. Despite this, the LUMIA 800 proves to be a very sustainable product. In Nokia’s reports, it is stated that the phone is BFR-free and PVC-free. The company also states that this phone produces 16kg of CO2 emissions per constant 3 years of usage. Equally divided this yields 0.6g per hour of use, however this is not very reliable because it depends on the way these emissions are measured. When it comes to packaging, Nokia still uses the big boxes. After almost 15 years, they still use the same size of the boxes loaded with papers which contribute to a large amount of material waste. All in all, both companies provide very detailed information about their business ethics, and both rank positively. Apple as well as Nokia lay a great emphasis on improving the environmental aspects of their products and processes in each phase of the product life cycl e, from raw material acquisition till the end of the product’s useful life. Both companies state to have reduced their carbon footprint, while introducing new features and constantly improving their products. To conclude, it cannot be said which company performs better as each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. Taking all the above mentioned points into consideration, this paper aims to highlight the ethical issues of mobile phones. When buying a cell phone, most consumers do not even think about what impacts their choice can have on the environment; the same applies to the disposal after the end of life. There are estimated 5 billion cell phone users which should be made more aware of the potential hazards of mobiles. They can cause environmental and health issues, causing CO2-emissions which increase the carbon footprint. Therefore, in conclusion, the choice which cell phone to buy should not only be based on cost and technical factors but also include environmental aspects.

Thought piece

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Historical Analogy of the Democratic Party’s position in the Southern Region of America Essay America’s Democratic Party is one of the country’s two major political parties. The organization has a long history, but when compared to the Democratic Party of 1792, today’s party is very different. The Democratic Party was founded in the 1790’s by Thomas Jefferson, who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson became the first Democratic President of the United States in 1800. Over next 70 years, as the organization grew, so did its support in the South. After the end of the Civil War in 1865, African Americans favored the Republican Party and its anti-slavery views, while the Democratic majority was Southern Whites, who were not in favor of political rights for former slaves (Grantham, 1992). In 1868, Ulysses S. Grant, a Republican, was elected President with the help of African American Republicans, who were voting in a presidential election for the first time. During Grant’s presidency, the Radical Republicans introduced the15th Amendment, which stated that a right to vote could not be denied because of â€Å"race, color, or previous condition of servitude† (Carnes Garraty, 2006, p. 434) Over the years, the Democratic Party has left behind many of its old principles and ideals, especially with today’s presence of African Americans in the party. The Democrats once maintained the support of White Southerners by backing Jim Crow laws and supporting racial Historical Analogy 2 egregation, but today, the majority of African Americans vote for the Democratic ticket (Aldrich, 1995). African Americans began to shift from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party in the 1940s, despite the Democrats opposition to 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship to â€Å"all persons born or naturalized in the United States† (Carnes Garraty, 2006, p. 430). In the election of 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, added civi l rights to his party platform. As a result, Roosevelt and the Democratic Party gained support from African American voters (Aldrich, 1995). Today, the majority of African Americans are registered as Democrats. John Kerry carried 89% of the African American vote in the 2004 presidential election, and African Americans continue to gain more political position in the Democratic Party (Wenner, 2004). In 2008, the Democrats nominated Illinois Senator Barack Obama, as its presumptive presidential nominee, solidifying Obama’s place in history as the first African American to be a major political partys presumptive nominee for President of the United States. For almost a century after the end of the Civil War, the Democratic Party had a strong presence in the Southern region of America. From 1880 to 1960, the region was known as the â€Å"Solid South† because Democrats won by large margins in the area (Grantham, 1992). The Solid South began to come apart when President Harry S. Truman, a Democrat, began supporting the civil rights movement (Black Black, 2003). Following Roosevelt’s path, civil rights was a part of Truman’s 1948 Democratic platform, used at the Democratic National Convention. Historical Analogy 3 As a result of Truman’s endorsement of the civil rights movement, which included adopting a resolution to condemn the Ku Klux Klan, many conservative Southern Democrats walked out of the National Convention and left the Democratic Party (Aldrich, 1995). The Democratic support of the civil rights movement significantly reduced Southern support for the Democratic Party and allowed the Republican Party to step in and gain a little success in the South. In the 1950s, the Southern Democrats, who opposed the Democratic Party’s support of the civil rights movement, formed the Dixiecrat Party, which was led by then-Governor of South Carolina, Strom Thurmond. When the Dixiecrat Party proved to be unsuccessful, Thurmond and many other former Southern Democrats switched to the Republican Party. â€Å"Thurmond, a tenacious champion of unreconstructed conservatism, abandoned the Democratic Party to become the first Republican senator from the Deep South in the twentieth century† (Black Black, 2003, p. 1) The Republican Party’s strength in the South grew during the election of 1964. Although Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat won the election, he did not carry the five states of the Solid South, which included Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama (Aldrich, 1995). The Deep South states provided an electoral victory to the Republican candidate, Barry Goldwater. It was the first time since Reconstruction that a Republican carried the South in a presidential election (Carnes Garraty, 2006). Johnson and the Democrats continued to lose support in the South by supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1964. After signing the landmark legislation, Johnson said to his aide, Bill Moyers, Historical Analogy 4 I think we just delivered the South to the Republican Party for a long time to come (Grantham, 1992, p. 12). As support for the Democrats in the South dwindled, in 1968 election Republican candidate Richard Nixon used â€Å"Southern Strategy,† to capitalize in the election (Carnes and Garraty, 2006, p. 810). Nixon used a method that attracted the former Southern Democrats, who were still conservative and supported segregation. With his strategy, Nixon defeated the Democratic candidate, Hubert Humphrey, in the election. The era of the Solid South proved to be over, with the Democratic candidate only carrying one Southern state in 1968 election (Dewey, 1992). The Republican’s strategy to win voters in the South alienated African American voters from the Republican Party and pulled in more Southern Whites, who did not support integration, which was favored by the Democratic Party. Over time, Southern White voters continued to support the Republican Party. Today the Democratic Party is no longer the dominant party in the South. The South is now considered a stronghold of the Republican Party. In 2000, presidential candidate Al Gore received no electoral votes from the South, and neither did John Kerry in the following election in 2004 (Wenner, 2004). As the Democratic Party‘s strength weakens in the South, the opposite is happening in the Northern region of America. The Democratic Party was weak in North from the 1880s to the 1960s, when the organization controlled the South, but it is now strongest in the Northeast (Black and Black, 2003). In the 2004 election, all nine Northeastern states, from Pennsylvania to Maine, voted for the Democratic ticket of John Kerry and John Edwards (Wenner, 2004. Historical Analogy 5 From supporting slavery in the 1800s to supporting its first African American presidential candidate in 2008, the Democratic Party has evolved. Despite going through name changes, leaders and incarnations over the years, the Democratic Party has retained its same basic values. It prides itself on being the party for the working people, but as Americaâ₠¬â„¢s view of who was entitled to be a referred to as the working people has changed, so did the views of Democratic Party.

Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management 1. Introduction By definition â€Å"Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people who work in the organization† (Hofstede,G 1984) Human Resource Management (HRM) can also be performed by line managers. As more and more cooperation are becoming global in their operations people management is becoming more complex and sophisticated. In this report it is briefly discussed whether it is possible to manage people from different countries with the same policies and procedures across the continents i.e. whether it is possible for a multinational company to have ethnocentric approach and still have global presence or should they adopt more geocentric approach to succeed in foreign markets. According to Porter (1980, 1985)† HRM can help a firm obtain competitive advantage and there is a direct correlation between strategic HRM and economic success† Since, the major (and developing) markets for mobile phones and electronics are USA and European countries, to be closer to these large markets a manufacturing plant should be established in either of the continents. It is very important for the company’s management to have clear understanding of HRM practices of both the continents (societies) before they invest in new plant in either of the continents. It’s clear from the studies in the past that for operational success in foreign land it is important for the management to deeply study the local HRM practices. A few studies have investigated the effects of culture on use of HRM strategies (Gooderham et al., 1999; Tregaskis, 1997), finding that the HRM strategies used by companies may reflect the cultural values of the managers and employees ( Gooderham et al., 1999; Hofstede, 1991 cited in Fields,D., Chan, A. , Akhtar, S. and Blum, T.C. (2006 ). This report will scan North American as well as European culture for huma n resource practises and compare it with Asian HRM practices (where firm is currently based) , also it will throw some light on cultural values, recruitment and training, payments and rewards, motivation and employment relations of North American (USA Canadian) and Europe Union companies. 2. Culture: The most important factor to look for while globalising the operations The best and most comprehensive definition of culture so far has been given by anthropologist Kluckhohn in 1951, according to definition: Culture consists in patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artefacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values. Culture involves a set of cognitions that are shared by all or many members of a social unit; these cognitions are acquired through social learning and socialization processes, and they include values, common understandings, and patterns of beliefs and expectations (Rousseau, 1990). According to Hofstede’s in his studies in 1984 it was found that there are main 5 dimensions to culture which are Power Distance, Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance and Masculinity/Femininity. When dealing with people from diverse background senior managers play the most important role in shaping cultural values of the organization (Sharma,B. and Chew,K.H 2005). Employment practices play an important role in shaping the organizational culture and become the motivating factor for employees. To have successful implementation of HRM policies and practices above mentioned cultural dimensions shouldn’t be ignored by HR manager especially when globalizing the operations. 2.1 High and Low context Cultures High context culture refers to a culture’s tendency to cater towards in-groups, an in-group being a group that has similar experiences and expectations, from which inferences are drawn. In a high context culture, many things are left unsaid, letting the culture explain. High context cultures are collectivistic in nature. (Hall, T.E 1976) Low Context culture has tendency to cater towards in-groups. Low context cultures, such as Germany or the United States make much less extensive use of such similar experiences and expectations to communicate. Much more is explained through words or verbalization, instead of the context. Low context cultures are usually individualistic. (Hall, T.E 1976) In order to communicate successfully managers have to consider the cultural differences and have to alter communication process according to individualistic or collectivistic cultures. It is best to explain theses differences in terms of low- and high-context communication. Context has to do with how much you have to know before you can communicate effectively. (Hall, T.E 1976) 3. Types of Organization In 1991 kabanoff in his research developed a typology that describes four value profile types organizations can fall into – â€Å"Elite†, â€Å"Meritocratic†, â€Å"Leadership† and â€Å"Collegial†. The value profile of an organization is determined by two factors – the degree of equality versus inequality in their structures and the degree of equity versus egalitarianism in their processes. The Collegial profile describes an organization where cohesion is the principal concern. Power, rewards and resources are evenly distributed; it relies upon a commitment to shared values and individual responsibility for actions as the basis for task-achievement rather than upon more tangible rewards; the organization exercises relatively little control over peoples activities (e.g. professional bureaucracies). (Kabanoff, 1991). The Meritocratic profile describes an organization whose members are highly concerned with both cohesion and productivity. This type shares many of the integration-oriented qualities of the collegial culture but with increased emphasis on performance and rewarding people for performance (Kabanoff, 1991).An international human resource manager should keep culture (of the country in which organization is based) and type of organization he works for in mind while designing or forming the people management policies for the organization to have successful results. Few organizations foster â€Å"high performance work systems† also known as high commitment or high involvement practices or systems (Wood, 1999 cited in Zacharatos, A., Hershcovis, M.S., Turner, N., Barling, J. 2007).This type of organizations treat its employees as assets, managers in these types of organizations treat employees with fairness and with respect more importantly employees in such organizations become part of decision making process. Such organizations provide employees with job security, opportunities to upgrade their skills or pay employees comparatively better wages. (Wood, S., Wall, T., 2002) According to Wood, S. and Wall, T., (2002) all the organization with â€Å"high performance work systems† have following characteristics: a) Foster employee involvement in their work. b) Fosters employee involvement and commitment towards organizational goal. c) Opposite to Taylorist model in which ‘control’ is favored, in â€Å"high performance work systems† instead individual and group autonomy is preferred. So far in this report we have discussed culture and its impact on work environment also, for clear understanding of the concept organizational types have been discussed. Now moving further this report will briefly discuss European and North-American work culture and compare it with Asian practices of human resource management. This knowledge will help management to understand what changes needs to be made to current employment practices in order to successfully manage and motivate employees in western countries. 4. Popular Models of HRM 4.1 The European model of HRM In his studies of HRM-economics success equation Beyer (1991) has said â€Å"Human Resource Management is the only true important determinant of success.† In the past most of the authors of HRM studies have focused on US and Japanese models of HRM practices as US is considered to be the birth place of management studies and Japanese model of organizational structure( including human resource practices) have been very successful in the past. Very little has been written or said about European model of HRM .There are clear country differences which can be understood and explained in the context of each national culture and its manifestation in history, law, institutions and trade union and employing organization structures; or in terms of regional clusters within Europe (Filella, 1991 as cited in Brewster, C; 1993). In the words of Thurley, K. and Wirdenius, H. (1991) European Management is emerging, and cannot be said to exist except in limited circumstances; is broadly linked to the idea of European integration, which is continuously expanding further into different countries (i.e. the 12); reflects key values such as pluralism, tolerance, etc., but is not consciously developed from these values; is associated with a balanced stakeholder philosophy and the concept of Social Partners. 4.1.1 Importance of Trade Unions in Europe In European countries the presence of unions are important â€Å"the definition, meaning and reliability of unions varies from country to country in European Union (Brewster, C.1993).† European countries are heavily unionized as compared to US. Countries like France, Germany for example has legislation making obligatory for firms over certain size and employee strength to consult trade unions in certain circumstances. (Brewster, C.1993). Few academicians argues that workforce in Europe as a continent is deeply influenced by trade unions for example Sweden has union membership of 85 per cent of working population, UK has 40 per cent and France has 12 per cent which is double of US (Gunnigle et al., 1993 cited in Brewster, C.1993 ). The most important function of trade unions in European countries is to get a collective bargain for the employees on industrial or national level (Gunnigle et al., 1993 cited in Brewster, C.1993). By studying the European style of management it can be said that Trade Unions can be seen by management as Social Partners which has a positive role to play in human resource management. This type of view of trade unions is quite opposite to American style of management. 4.2 The US model of HRM HR policy is defined by a set of principles, which aim to solve a set of problems and that materialize in a set of practices (Tome, E.,2005). The pioneering study in the field of scientific management which found its way in modern HRM was conducted by Taylor in US in 1964. Few of the important points from Taylor’s study are as follows: Human skills and organizational competences are essential to the development of any company. The skills pyramid has a small top and large base. Knowledge is essentially possessed by the small group at the top. The small top group members should be highly rewarded because they possess a very important asset: knowledge. (Cited in Tome, E., 2005). These points have acted as base of US model of HRM since long time. According to Hofstede (2001) in his studies have shown that US culture is more individualistic and achievement-oriented as compared to any other country, Managers from US give more importance to knowledge as compared to anything else and employees do not relate personally (moral connections) to the jobs like Japanese employees do. 4.2.1 Anti- Unionism in US US model of HRM is anti-union and anti-collective-bargaining. The contemporary approach of HRM ignores trade-unions and are being based on a unitary view of organizations (Strauss, 1968). Since the US society is high on individualistic characteristics so trade-unionism is not very popular in American society. According to research conducted by Marsh,R. and Pedler, M in 1979 on unionization in white collar jobs, eight factors were found that affect white collar unionization in US and UK ( See Appendix 1) : (1) Company organisation structure (2) Occupational composition of the workforce (3) Managerial attitudes (4) Existence of staff associations (5) Employers Associations (6) Trade Union recruiting strategies and organisation (7) Professional Associations (8) Government Interventions 4.3 Asian model of HRM Managers and workers from companies originated from Asian countries may tend to see a relationship with an organization as a moral connection, where the collective unit and worker have reciprocal obligations to each other. On the other hand, US managers may tend to view employment relationships as primarily calculative in nature (Hofstede, 2001; cited in Fields,D., Chan, A. , Akhtar, S. and Blum, T.C. ,2006 ). This difference may reflect the higher individualism in US culture, where conformity to an organization is seen negatively as intrusion in the self-interest of the employee (Hofstede, 2001). Managers and worker in Asian countries for example China and Hong-Kong differ from the workers in US (North America) in power distance i.e. a preference is given to more formal interactions with superiors. More importance is given to collectivism in Asian societies as compared to individualism in western societies. These cultural differences may combine to establish differences in decision-making and models of employee-organization relationships that influence choices of strategies to counteract uncertainties in the supply of labor (Fields, D., Chan, A., Akhtar, S. and Blum, T.C. (2006). 4.3.1 Performance assessment In Asian cultures workers may view performance monitoring and assessment positively. Increased performance monitoring can be perceived as a symbol that managers are taking a greater interest in the workers (Hofstede, 2001). Performance assessment is viewed by Asian workers as one of the ways by which they show their moral connections with the company. According to Redding and Wong, 1986 â€Å"the retention of existing workers in Asian organizations may be increased by placing more emphasis on performance monitoring and assessment† On the contrary, because of lower power distance in US culture increased performance monitoring is seen negatively. It is seen as management’s way of emphasizing the differences between bosses and workers (Hofstede, 2001). In US and European countries this policy of constant and strict performance assessment/monitoring can lead to high attrition within the organization, also it may lead to workers seeking different jobs which could possibly lead to labor shortage in the organization. 4.3.2 Training and Recruitment In collectivist culture like Asian cultures more emphasis is paid on training and development of existing employees as companies/organizations take it as their moral obligation to increase its employee’s skills (Hofstede, 2001; cited in Fields, D., Chan, A., Akhtar, S. and Blum, T.C. (2006). Also, Asian firms view training of employees as one of the way to reward them, these in-house trainings make employees feel that they are accepted and important part of collective unit. (Redding and Wong, 1986). In US and European culture where workers are more individualistic and self-interested in their pursuits companies see training as building technical and interpersonal skills of employees (Drost et al., 2002). Such employment practices are popular in US and Europe because of tight labor market and individualistic employees use newly acquired skills to find better position elsewhere. 5 Five Key Factors for successful transfer of HR policies from HQ to subsidiary (See Appendix 2) 5.1 International experience of local HR director The local HR director plays an important role while transferring HR policies. HR director needs to deal effectively with HQ staff, the foreign CEO and the colleagues from other countries. It is desirable that the local HR director have international experience from working and living abroad. (Diplomingenieur, W.S., 2004) 5.2 International experience of HQ HR staff HQ staff needs to have the experience of ‘the other side’ to be a valuable partner to the subsidiary. The necessary experience, in addition to subject expertise, includes cultural sensitivity and a keen sense for the daily business challenges in the subsidiaries. (Diplomingenieur, W.S., 2004) 5.3 Practice manuals, clear guidance Company/firm should avoid generic policies and guidelines that need to be translated into practices to be justify to management in HQ. HR managers should rather have clear practice manuals and directives, with the freedom to deviate if appropriate. As a simple example consider a policy that says ‘performance review is mandatory’ versus a manual that says ‘in April each year every employee gets to speak face to face with his or her manager about past performance and expected future performance’(Diplomingenieur, W.S., 2004) 5.4 Establish feedback routes to HQ other than the CEO Using the CEO as a feedback route to HQ for HR matters is a ‘short term fix’ that prevents the long term solution of having a more versatile and internationally functioning HR, both in HQ and in the subsidiaries. (Diplomingenieur, W.S., 2004) 5.5Organisation by region, not by issue (mentor) Cultural barriers are reduced and a more direct communication is possible if responsibilities in HQ are organised by region rather than issue. If every country has ‘their’ HR generalist in HQ as a partner, there will not only be fewer misunderstandings but also the HQ tendencies to have very theoretical, or specific, policies will decrease. (Diplomingenieur, W.S., 2004) Conclusion It is not essential that managing people is same in all the countries but it hugely depends on the organizational culture and values. Pieper (1990) in his study of European management styles has concluded that ‘a single universal model of HRM doesn’t exist.’ High and low context culture plays an important role in organizations success. An HR manager should keep typology of organization in mind while forming policies, procedures and processes for his firm as it is evident from empirical studies that companies fall under â€Å"Elite†, â€Å"Meritocratic†, â€Å"Leadership† and â€Å"Collegial† typologies and equality/inequality, power distance and individualism/collectivism in the organizational culture depends on typology of the organization. It can also be argued that a multinational company has to keep few values for e.g. The vision and mission of the organization uniform in each and every country of operation in order to achieve its short and long term goals. However, in its endeavor HR manager should not forget that people from different countries have different value system which makes International HRM a challenging task while globalizing the operations. Recommendation The transfer of policies and procedures from the parent organization to subsidiary location is very important for the multinational organizations in order to globalize its the operations. The ability to transfer knowledge effectively across the border is identity of a successful MNE, while doing this management should keep cultural difference in mind, to formulate policies and processes that are not only motivating for employees but also helpful to management for smooth operations. Management should keep five key factors mentioned above in mind to successfully transfer HRM policies to western countries. It is expected from local HR manager to adapt companies polices according to European or North-American style of HRM and translate into practice. Firm should encourage HR managers as well as employees to participate in cross-border cultural training. Recruit people with international experience or else some of the staff can be transferred from HQ in Asia to the subsidiary in Europe or North-America for short period of time. Create a company specific, regional, practice manual for HR. And lastly encourage at least one annual trip for the local HR director at Europe or America to HQ in Asia. References Beyer, H.T. (1991) â€Å"Personalarbeit als integrierter Bestandteil der Unternehmensstrategie† paper to the 1991 DGFP Annual Congress, Wiesbaden. Brewster, C; 1993 â€Å"Developing a ‘European’ model of human resource management† Diplomingenieur,W.S.,(2004) : the dissertation submitted in University of Southern Queensland, Australia , on â€Å"Transfer of human resource policies and practices from German multinational companies to their subsidiaries in South East Asia † P :165-169 Drost, H., Frayne, C., Lowe, K., Geringer, J.M. (2002), Benchmarking training and development practices: a multi-country comparative analysis, Human Resource Management, Vol. 41 No.1, pp.67-86. Fields,D., Chan, A. , Akhtar, S. and Blum, T.C. (2006), â€Å"Human resource management under uncertainty.† Gooderham, P., Nordhaug, O., Ringdal, K. (1999), Institutional and rational determinants of organizational practices: human resource management in European firms, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 44 pp.507-31. Hofstede, G. (1984), Cultural dimensions in management and planning, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Vol. 1 No.2, pp.81-99. Hofstede, G. (1991), Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, McGraw-Hill, London, . Hofstede, G. (2001), Cultures Consequences, Second Edition: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, . Hall,T.E (1976); Beyond Cultures Kabanoff, B. (1991), Equity, equality, power and conflict, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 16 pp.416-41. Kluckhohn, C. K. (1951). â€Å"Values and Value Orientations in the Theory of Action† Marsh,R. and Pedler, M. (1979),†Unionizing the white collar worker† P: 2-6 Pieper, R. (1990), â€Å"Human resource management: An international comparision, Berlin† Porter, M. (1980) Competitive Strategies, New York: The Free Press Porter, M. (1985) Competitive Advantage, New York: The Free Press Redding, G., Wong, G.Y.Y. (1986), Chinese organizational behaviour, in Bond, M.H. (Eds),The Psychology of the Chinese People, Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, . Rousseau, D.M. (1990), Assessing organizational culture: the case for multiple methods, in Schneider, B. (Eds), Organizational Climate and Culture, Jossey Bass, San Francisco, CA, Strauss, G. (1968) ‘Human relations – 1968 Style’ , Industrial relations, 7: 262-76. Sharma,B. and Chew,K.H (2005); â€Å"The effect of culture and HRM practices on firms performance.† Taylor, F. (1964), Scientific Management, Harper Row, London, . Thurley, K. and Wirdenius, H. (1991) â€Å"Will management become ‘European’ Strategic choices for organisations† , European Management Journal, 9, 2: 127-34. Tome, E. (2005) â€Å"Human resource policies compared: What can the EU and the USA learn from each other?† P 405-418 Tregaskis, O. (1997), The role of national context and HR strategy in shaping training and development practice in French and U.K. organizations, Organizations Studies, Vol. 18 No.5, pp.839-56. Wood, S., Wall, T. (2002), Human resource management and business performance, in Warr, P. (Eds),Psychology at Work, Penguin, London, pp.351-74. Zacharatos, A., Hershcovis, M.S., Turner, N., Barling, J. (2007 ) â€Å"Human resource management in the North American automotive industry: A meta-analytic review† : 231 – 254 Appendix 1 Source: Marsh,R. and Pedler, M. (1979),†Unionizing the white collar worker† P: 2-6 Appendix 2 Source: Diplomingenieur,W.S.,(2004) : the dissertation submitted in University of Southern Queensland, Australia , on â€Å"Transfer of human resource policies and practices from German multinational companies to their subsidiaries in South East Asia † P :165-169

tundra :: essays research papers

The tundra artic plains completely covering most of the earth’s lands north of the coniferous forest belt. The tundra’s ecosystem is very sensitive. It doesn’t have a good ability to restore itself. Controlled by sedge, heath, willow, moss, and lichen. Plains that are pretty much alike, called alpine tundra, occur above the timberline in the high mountains of the world. Even the Antarctic area has a couple of its own arctic regions itself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The climate of the tundra is characterized by harsh winters. The average temperature in the tundra area is about –27 degrees. But what is even worse are the long night. At nights the lowest temperture recorded was –67.36 degrees. There are even times in the year when the sun doesn’t come up for days. In the tundra we have little snow and even less rainfall. The rainfall is about a quarter inch in a yearly rainfall. Even though the tundra’s winters are long a harsh there summers are the shortest season of all. Do to the terrible weather and climate in the tundra their animals and plant life is very limited. This artic tundra is mainly formed by permafrost, â€Å"a layer of permanently frozen subsoil in the ground. Putting frozen ground and flat landscape stops the drainage of water. As the water is being held up on the surface it makes ponds and bogs that give moisture for the plants, or countering the low precipitation. â€Å"The periodic freezing and thawing of the soil forms cracks in the ground in regularly patterned polygons†. Some areas are not drained very well causing irregular landforms. Some of these landforms like the following hummocks, or knolls, frost boils, and earth stripes. Another common area to the alpine tundra is a â€Å"bare rock covered ground† also known as fell fields, in which not alone support but helps the growth of lichens. The many â€Å"microhabitats† given by these landforms provide a variety to the tundra’s landscape. As you already know the amount of different plant species in the tundra is very few. Also their growth level is low, â€Å"with most of the biomass concentrated in the roots. To add to the many difficulties the growing season isn’t very long its self. The plants are better off â€Å"to reproduce vegetative by division and budding than sexually by flower pollination†. The main plant life in that area is cotton grass, sedge, and dwarf heath also including mosses and lichens. tundra :: essays research papers The tundra artic plains completely covering most of the earth’s lands north of the coniferous forest belt. The tundra’s ecosystem is very sensitive. It doesn’t have a good ability to restore itself. Controlled by sedge, heath, willow, moss, and lichen. Plains that are pretty much alike, called alpine tundra, occur above the timberline in the high mountains of the world. Even the Antarctic area has a couple of its own arctic regions itself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The climate of the tundra is characterized by harsh winters. The average temperature in the tundra area is about –27 degrees. But what is even worse are the long night. At nights the lowest temperture recorded was –67.36 degrees. There are even times in the year when the sun doesn’t come up for days. In the tundra we have little snow and even less rainfall. The rainfall is about a quarter inch in a yearly rainfall. Even though the tundra’s winters are long a harsh there summers are the shortest season of all. Do to the terrible weather and climate in the tundra their animals and plant life is very limited. This artic tundra is mainly formed by permafrost, â€Å"a layer of permanently frozen subsoil in the ground. Putting frozen ground and flat landscape stops the drainage of water. As the water is being held up on the surface it makes ponds and bogs that give moisture for the plants, or countering the low precipitation. â€Å"The periodic freezing and thawing of the soil forms cracks in the ground in regularly patterned polygons†. Some areas are not drained very well causing irregular landforms. Some of these landforms like the following hummocks, or knolls, frost boils, and earth stripes. Another common area to the alpine tundra is a â€Å"bare rock covered ground† also known as fell fields, in which not alone support but helps the growth of lichens. The many â€Å"microhabitats† given by these landforms provide a variety to the tundra’s landscape. As you already know the amount of different plant species in the tundra is very few. Also their growth level is low, â€Å"with most of the biomass concentrated in the roots. To add to the many difficulties the growing season isn’t very long its self. The plants are better off â€Å"to reproduce vegetative by division and budding than sexually by flower pollination†. The main plant life in that area is cotton grass, sedge, and dwarf heath also including mosses and lichens.

The Use of Intensity and Passion as Resources for Social Transformation

Baldwin saw his race lynched, beaten, and emotionally tormented, alongside white America’s indifference towards this social problem. He witnessed firsthand the shortcomings of his country. Meanwhile, his father obfuscated this intense reality, which likely paralleled a similarly hidden reality of white people his age whose parents repeatedly eluded such inequalities because it was easier than facing them head-on. For Baldwin, trouncing social injustice requires the white man’s knowledge of how to love the Negro, to love one must suffer reality by facing their fears of experiencing the wicked and unknown. Ironically, the only wicked and unknown is that of the white man’s private fears and longings projected onto the Negro, fear of the burdensome reality that life is tragic and death is inevitable. The Negro more or less accepts his eventual death, since throughout American history he was raped, tortured, humiliated, and experienced a loss of human identity and human authority from confronting the twisted beauty of suffering (Baldwin, 98-99). The Negro was forced to face sensuality, that which Anglo-Teutonic, anti-sexual Whites have not (Baldwin, 43 & 30). â€Å"The [white] person who distrusts himself has no touchstone for reality—for this touchstone can be only oneself† (Baldwin, 43). It is for this reason that the Negro must rise-up, assuming that any potential for social justice rests in his hands. The few relatively conscious whites and relatively conscious blacks must, â€Å"like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of others† (Baldwin, 105). Up to this point in American History, blacks and whites have instead experienced universal joylessness (Baldwin, 43). To the white man’s benefit, love for the Negro absolves his ... ...rm their own lives, at the same time the members desire to learn from the students and from inspired self-reflection about how they can transform their own lives. On the other end of the spectrum, extremist examples of passion and intensity used as resources for transformation include groups like Wikileaks.org, Al-Qaida, and the Dove Community Outreach Center. Such resources may invoke the spirit of war, rebellion, and deceit, detract from societal progress and antagonize tensions already rooted in sensitive geopolitical relationships. However, we must recognize that outside the western world, many people see these resources as positive for social and personal transformation. Ascertainable from these diverse resources is that passion and intensity may be leveraged regardless of geographical, political, or social divides, to effect diverse social and personal change.

The Manhattan Project :: Papers

The Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was one of the most secretive projects in the history of the United States. It took place during World War II and its purpose was to create a bomb by splitting atoms apart. This project was a success and created one of the most devastating bombs ever used by mankind, the atomic bomb. The president at the time, Harry S. Truman, had to face the many factors that were involved in making the decision to drop the bomb. In this paper I will discuss those and the events leading up to The Manhattan Project. The factors in dropping the bomb can be put into three categories: military, moral and political. I will also go into the scientific means of developing such a weapon. Albert Einstein was living in Germany at the time Hitler came into power. Albert Einstein, Edward Teller, Leo Szilard and the rest of his colleagues wrote a letter in August 1939 to warn the United States that Germany was researching and developing nuclear weapons. They were afraid that once Germany finished building the bomb, they would use it on the United States. (Cayton, Perry, Winkler, 1995, pg. 786) When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt received the letter, he was both amazed and scared. He was amazed that science could make such a devastating weapon, a weapon that could destroy an entire city. President Roosevelt then quickly assembled the Manhattan Project so they could build the bomb before Germany. The Manhattan Project started in 1942 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The name "Manhattan Project" was secretly coded as a United States effort in an attempt to build an atom bomb during World War II. It was named after the Manhattan Engineer District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, because most of the research was done in New York City. In Oak Ridge there were tests for separating a rare Uranium-235 (U-235) an unstable isotope from Uranium-238 (U-238). General Leslie Groves was chosen by President Roosevelt to lead the project. Grove's major task was to build the huge industrial facilities needed to separate the small amounts of rare uranium-235, uranium-238 and plutonium needed for a bomb. He built the facilities on an isolated mesa at Los Alamos, New Mexico. The project employed nearly 129,000 people. But out of those couple of thousands of scientists, there were six scientists who contributed to the project the most: Neils Bohr, Joseph Carter, Glen Seaborg, Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynman, and Albert Einstein.

‘A Cup of Tea’ by Katherine Mansfield Essay

The story is written by Katherine Mansfield a famous New Zealand writer. She is well known for her short stories. The analysis of the one of them called A Cup of Tea (1922) which is considered to be one of her latest works you can find below. From the first lines we get acquainted with the protagonist of the story Rosemary Fell. Her appearance is being presented. No you couldnt have called her beautiful Pretty? We have rather vague image here. The author writes she is amazingly well-read in the newest of the books which sounds controversial. Her husband adores her; her child is a duck of a boy. We can trace that she is extremely arrogant and she has a certain amount of charisma. No lilac. Its got no shape. The attendant put the lilac out of sight as though this was only too true. But even fabulously rich people have their problems. After shutting the discreet door she sinks into a grey cold and dull life of the city, the life of ordinary people to which she is like an alien. A cold bitter taste in the air, sad lamps, regretting fire of lamps, rushing people and their hateful umbrellas everything speaks of her inner dissatisfaction and maybe allergy to the other life, the life which is outside her shelter. She wants to escape from the place and presses a muff against her breast as though touching herself and saying I want to be back to my real life not this awful parody of being. Suddenly a girl stammered as author writes for the price of a cup of tea in a very desperate way. But in fact Rosemary is amazed instead of feeling some kind of sympathy. She peers through the dusk as though feeling some distance and it seems to her such an adventure. Rosemary doesnt spare even a smallest moment of her thought to stand in the girls shoes or rather she just cant since she doesnt know the opposite side of the coin. The only way of living she knows is one that is in the little antique shop on Curzon Street or, say, another one on Bond Street. So Rosemary takes her home feeling a triumph as she nets a little captive. Its evident that Rosemary is just playing with a prey like a cat does.Now, I  got you. Rosemary is longing to be generous and is going to prove that as Mansfield writes wonderful things do happen in life, in the life of the upper class, to which Rosemary is a fine example, and it seems that the only things she cares about are her feelings and amusement. After they arrive at the house the action starts in Rosemarys bedroom. Mansfield is trying to underline Rosemarys status the fire leaping on her wonderful lacquer furniture, gold cushions all these things dazed the poor girl. Rosemary on her part was very relaxed and pleased; she lit a cigarette in stead of taking proper care of Miss Smith. By the way her name is not even mentioned yet, like its of no importance at all. We can find the girl on the brink of the psychological despair. I am going to faint, to go off, madam. So much she is stuck by the contrast. It was a terrible fascinating moment. Rosemary knelt beside her chair The girl becomes completely restless: I cant bear it. I shall do away with myself Rosemary is really touched beyond words but suddenly she asks her to stop crying Its so exhausting. Please stop crying Rosemary shows her true face here. She cant face the reality the poor as it is; Rosemary Fell sees everything in rose-coloured spectacles, through the filter of the upper class society. And it looks if not pathetic then quite sad. But after the marvelous meal our creature transforms into something undeniably attractive frail creature, a kind of sweet languor. And for Rosemary its high time to begin. Instead of asking her name or other decent question Rosemarys firstly was interested in her meal, it is quite impolite. The Philip enters, smiling his charming smile and asks his wife to come in to the library. He requires explanations from his wife, learning that the girl is as Rosemary says a real pick up that Rosemary wanted to be nice to her. Philip guesses what is all about shows his remonstrance against the idea it simply cant be done. And then he uses his heavy artillery calls miss Smith so astonishingly pretty. He knows it will do some harm to his wife. These words immediately heat jealousy in Rosemarys veins up. Pretty? Do you think that? and she could help blushing. Shes absolutely lovely! Rosemary looses her temper You absurd creature! She recollects his words over and over. And  all leads to the phrase Miss Smith wont dine with us tonight We can observe that Philip doesnt seem to look surprised Oh, what happened? Previous engagement? he rather knew it would happen. Rosemary is eager to retain her husbands attention.Do you like me? May I have the enamel box? Philip, am I pretty?The Rosemary seems to be so distant from poverty but on the other hand she doesnt have anything really valuable, like a basement to lead such glorious life in this world no taste, no wish to see the world in the raw, sometimes no manners, and perhaps even no prettiness. Thats why she is trying to have things and do things which would help to retain the status like knowing more about the poor and having beautiful things to be associated with. To put in a nutshell the story is reach in different stylistic devices and I think conveys a distinct and valuable message. Bibliography 1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Mansfield2.http://www.studyguide.org/mansfield_cup_of_tea.htm3.Microsoft  ® Encarta  ® 2009.  © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. 4.English by Correspondence Vesnik D.A. Moscow, 1976

Career Development Plan Part Iv †Compensation Essay

Now that we have structured our new team, identified their roles, identified ways to manage their performance and created an appraisal system we are now proposing a new compensation plan. This part will outline the plan, describe how it will help motivate employee performance, describe our total rewards program and outline how this program will benefit the individual and InterClean. Account Executive Financial Compensation Plan Compensation structures can be broken down into two distinct categories, financial and non-financial (Cascio, 2006). This section overviews the financial compensation plan for account executives, which includes pay and benefits. Account executive pay will be primarily commission based. Each account executive will receive a base salary at minimum wage, with the rest of their salary coming from commission. We feel that a generous commission structure will motivate performance because pay will have a direct correlation with sales volume. We structured our proposed commission plan to reflect InterClean new strategic direction (University of Phoenix, 2007), and how employees are rated in their quarterly appraisal. This means a focus on retention, up-selling and volume. Account executives will receive 8% commission on sales for the first six-months of revenue. 10% commission on sales after six-months of continuous revenue. 13% commission on sales after one-year of continuous revenue. 13% commission on up-sells and account executives that meet their quarterly sales volume will also receive a bonus equaling 3% of total revenue earned. New Business Account Executive, The New Business Account Executive has different goals, and therefore a different pay scale will apply. He or she will receive a base salary of $30,000 per year, plus a 3% quarterly commission on revenues earned from the accounts he or she acquired. We feel that this structure will adequately reflect the difference between new account acquisition and account retention. Cumulatively, the maximum amount of commission paid on revenues to account executives would be 19%. In related to the benefits Account Executives will receive the standard benefits due to all InterClean employees, including; †¢ Health Insurance with employee share of cost †¢ 401k match 14 days paid vacation †¢ 6 days sick time †¢ Health, Financial, Stress and Motivational Counseling through our employee wellness program. Managerial Financial Compensation Plan The managerial financial compensation plan will focus on overall team performance. We feel that creating a plan that rewards managers for team performance helps ensure management’s focus on creating a strong team that meets financial objec tives. Managers will receive a base salary dependent on their pay grade, ranging from $50,000 annual for the solution expert and $65,000 annually for the sales manager. The rest of their salary will be based on team performance as 3% commission on total revenues per quarter of all account executives that have met his or her goal, and 2% on total revenues per quarter if all account executives meet their goals. We feel that paying based on meeting objectives, and sharing in total revenues accomplishes two important things such as rewards managers who ensure account executives meet their goals by providing the tools and support they need. And it encourages over-achieving by not setting a limit on revenue sharing. In terms of the benefits, managerial employees share in the aforementioned benefits, and are given one additional week of paid vacation (five days) per year. As mentioned, compensation does not only include financial compensation; there are certain non-financial rewards that motivate employee performance, increase loyalty and decrease turnover. The following non-financial rewards were chosen based on a survey conducted in the United Kingdom (Employee Benefits, 2006) as additional â€Å"perks† for employees. Sales Employees, All sales employees are eligible the following reward package flexible working arrangements. Employees can work at home when appropriate on dates arranged between them and their manager. Flexible work time is the top-rated non-financial reward in the UK survey (Employee Benefits, 2006) and offering such an arrangement can increase productivity by diminishing stress caused by work-life conflicts. And corporate gym membership also ranked high on the survey, and using our corporate pull to offer a free membership not only encourages wellness, but exercise has countless benefits such as stress relief, increased creativity, and energy. Also, we will include employee discount at restaurants. Using the promise of higher volume by internally promoting local restaurants to our employees, HR has arranged for employee discounts at local restaurants. This benefit decreases the costs of lunch for our employees and gives them another reason to value InterClean. Managerial Rewards, The following rewards are available to managers in addition to the preceding rewards available to all employees such as use of company vehicle: Surprisingly, the UK survey listed â€Å"sports car as company vehicle† as the number one â€Å"benefit they don’t receive but wish they had† (Employee Benefits, 2006, para4. . Company gas card, not only should our sales manager ride in prestige, but we understand that the majority of driving they do benefits our company, so they also have use of our company gas card. The compensation and rewards system outlined in this plan are geared to motivate performance by tying pay directly to the revenue gained for InterClean. Our new strategy of fo cusing on solution-based selling (University of Phoenix, 2007) means we must grow retention, up selling, and total volume. This plan rewards all three by reducing the base pay of account executives, increasing commission and tiering commission based on retention and up selling. We reward achievers and not low-performers. Tying managerial pay directly to the performance of the team rewards good managers (Vigoda-Gadot & Angert, 2007. ) Finally, offering a substantial but not overly high base pay takes into account fluctuating economic and environmental constraints. Offering bonuses quarterly rather than annual avoids penalizing employees for one bad quarter, which can happen to even the best sales person. Finally, our reward system is built to make InterClean a great place to work, that values the employees well-being and offers perks as part of the job. Offering this reward system can help InterClean retain the best possible account executives and managers (Cascio, 2006). Because we offer competitive pay and creative rewards that ease the work-life conundrum, and add a certain level of prestige to those who work for InterClean.

Relationships in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre Essay

‘To what extent is Jane Eyre influenced by relationships in chapters 1-10 in the novel?’ Relationships are a key theme in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Throughout the novel we see the rise and fall of Jane, all most importantly due to relationships. This starts primarily with her lack of relationship with her parents, as she was orphaned when she was very young, she has no idea what it is like to love or to be loved and we see her strive to find out these feelings throughout the novel, until finally she achieves it, but the journey towards this is deeply important. In chapters one and two we see the basis of Jane’s view of relationships through her connection with the Reed’s. Firstly Mrs Reed does her upmost to make sure Jane is excluded from her and her ‘contented, happy, little children’ we as readers see this as a cruel act from Mrs Reed, she does not care that Jane is deeply unhappy because Jane is not one of her children, therefore she does not see it as her duty to care for her emotionally and thinks by punishing her and excluding her from the family that this will teach Jane to be a ‘contented child’ however we as readers see that this causes Jane to be deeply troubled within herself. This leads to Jane not only resenting Mrs Reed but also her children as they have been taught that Jane is a ‘dependant’ especially John who ultimately sees himself as above Jane in every aspect of life, he believes that Jane is just scavenging off them and this causes him to act in a horrific and bullying manor towards Jane. This causes Jane to act in a way she ordinarily would not, she even says herself that it causes ‘sensations for the time predominated over fear’ she feels so angry and let down that she finally stands up for herself. Therefore this influences Jane in a way that she feels like nobody will ever truly love her and she feels very much an outcast, this causes Jane to act in a way that even she herself expresses that she does not want to, she is cold and unloving and strives desperately to be appreciated but of course, this all happens in vain. We also see Jane to act very irrationally towards Mrs Reed, she deeply wants her to love her, yet w hen it comes down to it and she realises Mrs Reed never will she has an explosion of anger and tells Mrs Reed all the things that have been stewing up in her mind for so long; ‘I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to visit you when I am grown up; and if anyone asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick. . . .† this we  see as Jane being bitter towards Mrs Reed which we learn in later chapters as a very uncharacteristic feature of Jane Eyre, she is usually forgiving. The relationship between Jane and the nursery maid; Bessie is an important one, in the first few chapters we see Bessie as being somewhat cruel and dismissive of Jane compared to the other Reed children, she does not feel a connection towards Jane as she is not as pretty or funny as the other children therefore Bessie does not see her appeal. However after the event in the red room we see a change with Bessie’s attitude towards Jane, she turns somewhat softer as we see her feel sorry for Jane and how hard Mrs Reed is on her. This is an extremely important turning point in the novel as we see Jane in the chapters leading up to this as very self involved and saddened as she has no one to love, yet as soon as Bessie softens to Jane and tells her that she can sympathise with the position she’s been put in she tells Jane ‘I don’t dislike you, Miss; I believe I am fonder of you than of all the others.’ This affects Jane greatly and we see a completely different little girl, she seems to talk which much more glee and excitement and even for her ‘life had its gleams of sunshine’. So we see how much relationships influence Jane and her attitudes in the novel, relationships affect Jane and how her personality is. In chapter five Jane meets Helen Burns, Helen is also an orphan and see’s the school as somewhat of a sanctuary even though she is constantly picked upon by the teacher. Helen is Jane’s first friend but more importantly she becomes Jane’s best friend and we see as the relationship grows that Helen deeply influences Jane, she teaches her to be less excitable and too see the best in others, a quality that Jane desperately needs after her experience with the Reed’s. She teaches Jane to be self sacrificing when she tells her ‘it is far better to endure patiently a smart which nobody feels but yourself, than to commit a hasty action whose evil consequences will extend to all connected with you’. Helen believes that you should suffer pain yourself than have others see and feel an action that you may regret when you have calmed down. Jane learns from this and this causes Jane to be a character who thinks beyond this life and onto the next with God. We see Jane finds this as a great comfort and now instead of looking onto God as something to be feared, she looks at him as somewhat of a comfort, especially after Helen dies of typhoid. Helen believes that after she dies she is going to be with her family and loved  ones and most importantly with God, therefore she does not fear death and although Jane is deeply distraught by the death of the only friend she’s ever had in the world, the fact that she will, if she lives correctly see her again is a great comfort. This shows the importance of friendship throughout the novel and how with Jane having the comfort of a friend she can be the person that she has always wanted to be, thanks to Helen Jane finds herself acting more appropriately and being able to handle her anger. Therefore this relationship has greatly affected Jane as she strives to be more like Helen. Relationships are of key importance to Bronte writing about Jane Eyre, it is how she expresses her feelings of how relationships have perhaps affected her and it shows how deeply the lack of love can affect someone. This novel is primarily about love, whether it being a lack of love or so much love that it turns into passion, Jane strives to feel this emotion and closeness with anyone who will allow her to be their friend. Therefore relationships are a key influence to Jane Eyre, they affect how she acts and how she feels and without them, as we learn in the first few chapters, life can be a very lonely existence.

E-Library – Requirements Specification

E-Library – Requirements Specification Author:Jiri Walek Status:Draft Contents 1. Introduction2 1. 1. Overview of the E-Library System2 1. 2. Keywords2 1. 3. Abbreviations and Terms2 2. Administration Requirements3 1. 4. Types of User Accounts and Permissions3 1. 5. Administration Interfaces3 3. User Requirements4 1. 6. Online User Registration4 1. 7. User Login/out4 1. 8. Catalog Search4 1. 9. Catalog Quick Search4 1. 10. Catalog Browsing5 1. 11. Advanced Catalog Browsing5 1. 12. Create Select List5 1. 13. Check Out eBooks6 1. 14. Explicit eBook â€Å"Return†6 ? 1. Introduction This document is an example of a Software Requirements Specification document which can be imported into Polarion, then exported and re-imported in a collaborative process utilizing the Word Round-trip feature. It is intended for demonstration only. The document describes a fictitious online eBook lending library with optional eBook online sales component. The focus is on simplicity rather than depth and completeness, that you may more easily understand the Document features. 1. 1. Overview of the E-Library System This system provides an online portal analogous to a public library where registered patrons can borrow books. The main difference is of course that the books in the library catalog are all in electronic formats which incorporate Digital Rights Management (DRM) enabling the system to â€Å"lend† an allowed number of copies to registered users. In addition, when a book has the proper rights, the E-Library can sell patrons a license for a personal copy of the electronic book which they can retain permanently. 1. 2. Keywords This document contains keywords which correspond to Severity values in the Polarion system when to document is imported for management by Polarion. DOCUMENT KEYWORDPOLARION SEVERITY VALUEMEANING â€Å"MUST_HAVE†must_haveNo release without SHOULD_HAVE†should_haveMay slip to next release if time runs short â€Å"MAY_HAVE†may_haveMay be included in release if dependent things are implemented, otherwise will not be included â€Å"OPTIONAL†optionalMay be included in release if time/resources allow, otherwise will be postponed to another release 1 . 3. Abbreviations and Terms TERMDEFINITION Carti. e. â€Å"shopping cart† – a collection of one or more eBooks that a patron has marked for purchase during the current session CatalogThe database of eBooks available for loan and possibly for sale as well Check OutThe act of â€Å"borrowing† an eBook from the library. Term is not used in reference to the process of paying for a purchased eBook (see Purchase) Check InThe act or â€Å"returning† a previously â€Å"borrowed† (checked out) eBook. DRMDigital Rights Management eBookAn electronic book or other publication lent or sold by the E-Library system ISBNInternational Standard Book Number LCLibrary of Congress Loansee Lend LendThe process of flagging an eBook so the appropriate DRM understands that one of the allowable number of â€Å"copies† has been allocated to a patron for the lending period. PatronA user of the E-Library portal PurchaseThe process by which library patrons purchase a DRM license for a personal copy of an eBook. Also the action of a user navigating into the process for purchasing the eBooks listed in their Cart. StoreAn area of the portal that lists a subset of the library’s eBooks, that being eBooks for which users may purchase a license for a personal copy of the eBook. 2. Administration Requirements This section outlines the main requirements that relate to administration and management of the E-Library system. 1. 4. Types of User Accounts and Permissions The system must provide for the following types of user accounts: ACCOUNT TYPE NAMEPERMISSIONS AdministratorUser can access any component or area of the system including accounts of other users LibrarianUser can access the catalog management features of the system PatronUser can access the general library features, including browsing, searching, check out, check in, reserve, and purchase StudentSame as a Patron, except may not access Purchase features The system must provide user management to manage the user role assignments. Each user can have multiple user roles assigned. It must be possible to 1. 5. Administration Interfaces The system must provide user interfaces for the following roles/functions: †¢System Administration – including database management, server management, backups, etc. User type: Administrator †¢Catalog Management – all non-technical functionality related to managing eBooks in the library catalog. User types: Administrator, Librarian 3. User Requirements This section outlines the main requirements that relate to the end users who borrow and purchase eBooks from the E-Library. . 6. Online User Registration Users must be able to create Patron or Student accounts by registering online. A suitable registration page or pages should be provided. New users must go thru a verification process (TBD) to confirm their email address before their account is activated in the system. 1. 7. User Login/out Once verified, users must be able to log in to the portal. Users must be able to change their password (but not their user name/ID) There must be a way for users to retrieve a lost password Users must be able to log out. There must be a session timeout mechanism that will automatically log the user out after a period of time (period TBD). On logout, the contents of user’s Select List and Cart are cleared. The contents of the Reserved List is preserved. 1. 8. Catalog Search Users must be able to search for eBooks The system should provide interfaces for both â€Å"simple† and â€Å"advanced† searches †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"simple† should be a search on any one of fields Author, Title, or ISBN. †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"advanced† should provide an easy way to construct complex searches on multiple fields with different logic (e. g. AND, OR, NOT) 1. 9. Catalog Quick Search The system should provide several â€Å"quick search† options: †¢Newest eBooks – returns a listing of the 10- 50 (configurable) most recently added eBooks †¢Top 20 Titles – returns a listing of the 20 most frequently borrowed eBooks oThe actual number should be configurable by an administrator oThe UI should provide a pick list of values: 10, 20, 25, 50, 100 †¢Latest Returns – returns a list of 10-50 (configurable) most recently checked-in eBooks oEither explicitly checked in by a patron, or lending period expired freeing the eBook for loan oeBooks listed in this set must not have any reservations†¦ must be available for immediate loan 1. 0. Catalog Browsing Users must be able to browse the eBooks in the catalog Users must be able to select how they want to browse: †¢Browse by Author oMust be able to select an alphabetical subset†¦ e. g. author names beginning with A, or M for example †¢Browse by Title oMust be able to se lect an alphabetical subset†¦ e. g. author names beginning with A, or M for example †¢Browse by genre (e. g. fiction, non-fiction, science fiction, etc. 1. 11. Advanced Catalog Browsing Users should be able to browse by Publisher Users should be able to browse by Book Award Users should be able to browse according to a combination of data, such as by Author + Genre, Title + Year of Publication, Author + Book Award, etc. 1. 12. Create Select List The Select List is similar to a shopping cart except that the checkout processes a loan of the eBooks in the list rather than a purchase. Each user must be able to save a list of eBooks they want to borrow – their â€Å"Select List† †¢The Select List is only for the current session and is cleared when the session terminates †¢Each eBook added to the Select List remains in the list for 20 minutes. During this time, the number of copies available for loan is reduced by 1 and the number available is shown to ot her users. oIf the time expires and the eBook is removed from the Select List, then the number of copies available for loan is increased by 1 and the number available is shown to other users. The number of eBooks user may add to their Select List is limited to the checkout limit defined in the system configuration minus the number of eBooks patron has currently checked out. oIf user currently has the maximum number checked out, then all Add to Select List links should be disabled for that user. †¢If all copies allowable under the eBook’s DRM are currently on loan to other users, then the eBook cannot be added to any user’s Select List (the UI widget is disabled) and the UI must inform the user that no copy is currently available for loan. 1. 13. Check Out eBooks User should be able to navigate to Check Out any time via a readily visible link or button The checkout page must display the eBooks in the user’s Select List The user must be able to remove eBooks from the Select List at this point Via an appropriate UI widget, user should be able to execute check out which processes on all the eBooks left on the Select List. When checkout is complete, user must be presented with a page of the checked out titles, each title having a DOWNLOAD widget. Clicking the widget downloads a copy of the eBook with appropriate DRM applied. Each checked out eBook should remain listed on the user’s Downloads page until the loan period expires. 1. 14. Explicit eBook â€Å"Return† Users must be able to â€Å"return† any eBook on their Downloads page that has not yet been downloaded via an appropriate â€Å"RETURN THIS EBOOK† widget. Executing the return must remove the eBook from the user’s downloads page, decreases the count of eBooks the user currently has checked out (if that value is greater than zero), and increases by 1 the number of copies of the eBook available for loan.