Of Mice And Men Essays (434 words) - English-language Films

Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men Many of you may think it was easy enough for George to pick up that Luger and shoot this man, Lennie, right in the back of the head. This, however, is not so. The internal conflict that George must have faced was no doubt greater than anything you can imagine. George, an angel of mercy to his good friend and confidant, Lennie Small, is not a murderer. He is quite the opposite. The care of Lennie had been placed into George's hands by a dying woman. George had promised that he would take care of Lennie, watch after him, make sure he was safe. Because the greatest danger to Lennie, George and this Aunt Clara must have known, was himself. His sheer strength and simple mindedness had gotten Lennie in trouble many times before, and then, suddenly, he had killed a woman. The blame can not be placed anywhere for this woman's death. Lennie had no idea what he had done, the only thing he knew was that George would be upset. George did not kill Lennie out of spite, not because his thoughtless, innocent, act had dashed George's hopes of having a small farm. George had to do this because the other choices were grim. Lennie could be hanged, bludgeoned and beaten by the group of ranch hands that were after him. Or, maybe worse, Lennie would have been ripped from George's side and been thrown into some horrid mental institution, a danger to himself, a danger to others. After all, if they had escaped that town there would be the next town, the next dead girl, and another gang to out run. Perhaps it is best if Lennie's last, simple thoughts were of George telling him of the land they would own and work together. George did not, after all, just go up to Lennie and shoot him, point blank in the back of the head. He painted a lovely picture for Lennie to gaze upon before Lennie died, of the vegetable garden they would plant and the rabbit hutch that Lennie would be in charge of. Also, had Lennie lived, he would have never understood why there would not be ranch, only that there would be no soft rabbits for him to tend. What George did was a duty to himself, to Lennie, to society, because they would have always been running from something to somewhere. George has suffered the most out of any of these parties involved. He has lost a good friend and companion, a rarity in these times. What he did was out of love, not malice, and he should not be prosecuted. George has to live with what he had to do. That should be enough punishment.

Ethical Issue Whistleblowing

Ethical Issue Whistleblowing Abstract Whistle blowing is a courageous act of reporting misdoings of other people. This paper looks at the act in an engineering context, where an engineer raises concern about problems with a current system before or after a disaster. The actor hopes to prevent future disaster based on problems identified. The paper presents the case of Salvador Castro, an engineer with Air-Shields Inc. who discovered design flaws in his company’s product.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Ethical Issue: Whistleblowing specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The flaws had the potential to cause death to end users, yet reporting them to management did not cause the company to take corrective action. The paper analyses the ethical factors at play. It intends to explain why Castro ended up losing his job. The paper also provides recommendations for companies and individuals faced with such an engineering ethical dilemma to have me asures that ensure there is no victimization of whistle blowers or abuse of whistle blowing privileges. Introduction Whistle blowing refers to the action of reporting ethical behaviour of another person or other people. For the whistle-blower, the intention to report comes from the existence of conflicts in morality. The overall intention is usually to promote justice and fairness and have a positive outcome for the benefit of all stakeholders. On the other hand, those who are subjects of a whistle blowing case may feel betrayed, and the whistle-blower can be considered disloyal (Waytz, Dungan, Young, 2013). In engineering circles, whistle blowing can occur before and after a disaster happens. It usually involves the presentation of facts about a disaster, which will put blame on engineers. In cases where the reporting happens after an accident or disaster, the acts of whistle blowing still remains futuristic (Harris, Pritchard, Rabins, 2009). The aim of reporting is to ensure tha t the good of the public and other stakeholders is considered in future engagements.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In some engineering cases, there can be warnings about projects and other endeavours, but these may not qualify as whistle-blowing because they occur within the channels of communication used by the engineering community. Whistle blowing only happens when there is a clear deviation from the norm in reporting of ethical violations. The case presented in this paper is about a medical electronics engineering firm called Air-Shields Inc. that manufactures life support equipment for medical institutions. An engineer in the company discovers a design flaw and informs his supervisor so that the problem does not reoccur and cause untold damage in future. However, no one in the company takes any steps to remedy the situation (Kumagai, 2004). Case overvie w Kumagai (2004) reports the story of Salvador Castro, a medical electronics engineer who acted as a whistle-blower. Castro came to know that the design of one of the earliest incubators was faulty. Based on his engineering knowledge and role in the company, he immediately informed his supervisor of the problem. He explained the situation and its consequences, should the company fail to undertake corrective action. It would cost some money to fix the problem, and on the other hand, there was risk of patient death if the problem goes unfixed. When supervisors and no one else at the company seemed to pay attention to the dangers presented by the design flaw, Castro informed his superiors that he was going to inform the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) so that regulative action against the company would be taken. The intention of reporting to FDA was to save lives of patients that would rely on the faulty incubators. However, Castro’s actions were not well received by the company. His intention to report to FDA cost him his job. Castro faced an ethical dilemma of keeping his job by not reporting the design flaw, or going ahead to whistle blow and lose his job. On the other hand, Air-Shields Inc. had to consider making the recommended fix or dismissing the claims and face the risk of being accused of contravening engineering obligations to take actions that benefit health, welfare and security of the public (Kumagai, 2004).Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Ethical Issue: Whistleblowing specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More A description of the engineering failure The persistent objective should be to protect the safety, health, and welfare of the public in any work done by engineers. Where there are abuses in areas that affect the public interest, an engineer is expected to speak out (Saini, 2012). Castro spoke when he discovered a design flaw. He did the right thing as an engineer. H owever, the company’s failure to address the flaw was an engineering failure, a deliberate mistake that increased the risk of death for innocent people. On the other hand, Castro made a mistake of not fully understanding how the system operates. Going directly to supervisors with the information was good, but it would also present trust issues with management. As a result, there were conflicts of interest. The company failed its ethical test by retaliating against Castro’s whistle blowing activities, instead of embracing required changes. An in-depth analysis of the major issues surrounding the failure Whistle blowing has moral complexities. An accusation and a retaliation both produce injury. Castro’s action to report the flaw threatened his career. Similarly, his actions also threatened the careers of other employees in the company. Thus, an analysis of the case reveals that there could be a situation where actions by the company against one individual, such a s Castro are meant to protect the careers of many other people, the staff members. The company needs to have a system of dealing with bad news about its manufacturing process. It needs to accommodate the findings by engineers that highlight errors in its products. The setup of safety and corrective mechanisms for its engineering and manufacturing processes is a moral requirement. If these systems were in place, then the reporting by Castro would be welcome. The company did not have a means of informing the public about its products. In such instances, the expectation by the public is that the company will issue a product recall, if the design flaw is very grave. Otherwise, it may issue a cautionary message. If the problem is not very serious, the company can fail to inform the public so that it does not create unnecessary panic. Nevertheless, it must undertake corrective action for the problem identified.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More An analysis of the ethical lapses When an engineer like Castro is making a whistle blowing attempt, he or she assumes that someone somewhere having the right authority will respond to the discovery. Such a response would arise because the person understands the moral importance of disclosure. In many cases, the whistle-blower puts this faith in the employer’s top management. This is a mistake. The action assumes that top management will be free of corruption. It also fails to consider the repercussions of the report. The action dramatizes the moral situation of many engineers who have the ability to detect problems that can affect the public. However, engineers must also develop the capacity to convince others to react. If Castro had the required skills in negotiating, persuading and allying with colleagues, he could have approached the case differently. He could have convinced many of his colleagues to consider the moral implications of the flaw and compelled the company to take action (Waytz, Dungan, Young, 2013). A formal communication channel that relies on the management levels of the company acted as an impediment to the overall effectiveness of whistle blowing. Communication to supervisors may have not been interpreted well (Harris, Pritchard, Rabins, 2009). The company needed an alternative feedback mechanism that allows different levels of management and technical departments to get information without allowing one level or individual to dictate message reception. If this were the case, some other managers or engineers would have taken up the case based on its moral principles and acted right. Another reason for the observed reaction to whistle-blowing in Castro’s case is that the valuation of fairness by the whistle blower was different from that of the company. Recommendations for actions Whistle blowers who receive heroic acclaim are rare. Practical, ethical reactions to whistle blowers in engineering may not always match expectatio ns of the whistle blower. It is important for both parties in the accusations to understand their motivations and work towards reducing the cost of their actions while they increase benefits to all parties involved. Companies should not just interpret whistle blowing as a disloyal action, especially when it happens through the available channels of organizational communication. The best way is for engineers at all levels of the organization to set up a brute force deliberate reasoning process that will override any tendencies of partiality or in-group favouritism (Waytz, Dungan, Young, 2013). This will ensure that all cases receive fair treatment and actions are based on facts and values of an organization. Such a system will also prevent abuse of whistle blowing privileges for personal vendettas. References Harris, C., Pritchard, M., Rabins, J. (2009). Engineering ethics: Concepts and cases. New York: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Kumagai, J. (2004, April 1). The whistle-blowers di lemma. Retrieved from IEEE Specturm: https://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/the-whistleblowers-dilemma Saini, A. (2012, February 20). Social engineering. Retrieved from Engineering and Technology Magazine: https://eandt.theiet.org/ Waytz, A., Dungan, J., Young, L. (2013). The whistleblowers dilemma and the fairness-loyalty tradeoff. Journal of Experiemental Social Psychology, 49, 1027-1033.

This I Believe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

This I Believe - Essay Example Based on my vision of the universe, my idea of life forms, and my concept of ‘God,’ I choose to believe in the existence of alien life in our universe. In terms of the awesome size of our ever-expanding universe, whose dimensions I can hardly imagine, I picture the location of our beautiful planet, Earth. I see that Earth is a little planet orbiting a minor star, the sun. The sun is but one star in the billions upon billions of stars in our galaxy. To go on, our galaxy is but one in billions of galaxies in the universe, and each galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars. Billions of stars have their own solar systems. Astronomers have already discovered about three hundred planets outside our solar system, which is but a small beginning. In this picture, I see that Earth is but a little piece of rock in a solar system that occupies a small space in a small galaxy in a vast, vast universe! How can life be exclusive to our planet alone? I believe that extraterrestrial life exists in various forms which are different from those on earth. When I allow myself to break free from the picture of ‘life’ only as it exists on earth, I am able to accept that extraterrestrial life is likely to be in forms adapted to the particular conditions of each unique planet.

Can the rich buy justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Can the rich buy justice - Essay Example Oscar Pistorius is 27 years old and is a former Olympian. He was accused of shooting his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, with a gun four times through the door to the toilet room in his room in the middle of night. However, Pristorius pleaded not guilty of murder. He explained that he thought at the time that it was an intruder and he acted instantaneously as an attempt of self-defence. The trial was started on March 3 and up till now thirteen hearings have been conducted and the court has heard eighteen witnesses. The proceedings of the trials have been entirely broadcasted by the media and there has been an intense media hype associated with the case (CNN Staff). Although the explanation given by Pristorius is the only possible defense which could save him, according to legal experts he will have a tough time winning the case because of the evidences pointing out towards him. According to South Africa’s law, the most serious punishment which may be given is that of minimum 25 y ears imprisonment. According to neighbors, they heard a woman and man arguing and they also heard the sounds of a woman screaming before the sound of gun shot. This was in contradiction with the Mr. Pristorius statement who said that she was in bed when he heard the noises and went to investigate (Lyall). Oscar Pristorius with his fame and money has the advantage to utilize the best of facilities and amenities. He called four forensic scientists and also hired the help of a US forensic animation firm so that they could recreate the crime scene digitally. This would help in explaining his defense in a more effective and visual manner (Smith). Pristorius has gained the support of millions of fans through his emotional scenes depicted during the court proceedings and the display of disgust and intense emotion when the pictures of the crime scene were displayed. There were news that Team Pristorius had created a twitter account of

Activity Plan and Initial Recommendations for Tourism Company Essay

Activity Plan and Initial Recommendations for Tourism Company - Essay Example The researcher will be looking into past results and report with the help of secondary data collections methods which will be gathered from books, journal, internet and previous report with respect to tourism. Since the idea is to increase the rate travelling in our target consumers, we will be focusing on questionnaire which will focus on questions like frequency of travel, favourite destinations, etc. with these kinds of data we will be able to understand the trend of our consumers, their preferable destinations so that design and modify our packages accordingly. Before the researcher starts the activity planning and showcases the company, he needs to build the audience in to present it to them. So audience building is an essential part of the tourism industry. So the first focus will be building a new and existing group of audience. Audience development is about putting them in the center of the stage and trying to comprehend what individuals need; exhibiting our facility, gatheri ng or activity in a manner which is receptive, and welcoming; and empowering interest and engagement. As of late, there has been an expanding accentuation on audience improvement, especially from Government, open segment offices and stipend giving forms, for example, the Lottery funders. The inclination is that creating a more extensive cross-area of help is critical to building future backing for the legacy and that openly subsidized organizations have an obligation to captivate with all segments of the neighborhood.

Guide to performing a Job Evaluation

Guide to performing a Job Evaluation What are the main issues faced by the residents in Portugal? Click on the play button to watch the video. Highlight the issues and look for the solutions. Share your opinions in the LMS Forum. [MMP: Create video screen and embed video as shown in link] Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vKDyPJmQD0 Job evaluation is the process of determining the worth of jobs assigned to employees.The worth of a job is determined by the demand for it in relation to its job description, job specification and the expected outcomes from that job. In some cases, it is found that an employee who holds a similar position as his colleague may hold a different role, and have different responsibilities and accountability. In such cases, he/she should receive different pay. This chapter discusses the importance of job evaluation, basic job evaluation methods, the hay guide chart method, and inputs to refer to when pricing jobs. Job Evaluation and Its Importance Job evaluation is the process of determining the value of one job in comparison to the other jobs within the organisation so a fair salary system can be established. The job evaluation process is the most common method used to provide a rationale for a pay structure and to assign a job to a pay grade. Job evaluation can also be defined as a practical technique for trained and experienced employees to judge the size of one job relative to others. It does not directly determine the pay levels but establishes the basis for an internal ranking of jobs. Among other definitions are as follows: Job evaluation is concerned with assessing the relative demands of different jobs within the organisation. Its usual purpose is to provide a basis for relating differences in rates of pay to different in-job requirements. It is therefore a tool which can be used to help determine a pay structure. (Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), London 1984) A job evaluation system consists of compensable factors and a weighting scheme based on the importance of each compensable factor to the organisation. Compensable factors are the characteristics of jobs that an organisation values and chooses to pay for. These characteristics may include job complexity, working conditions, required education, required experience and responsibility. (Noe et. al. 2003) Job evaluation is a systematic procedure to determine the relative worth or value of jobs. Although there are several different approaches, each one considers the duties, responsibilities and working conditions of the job. The objective of job evaluation is to identify which jobs should be paid more than others. (Schwind et. al. 1999) The objectives of a job evaluation process in an organisation are as follows: Establishes the relative value or size of jobs, i.e. internal relatives. Produces the information required to design and maintain equitable and defensible grade and pay structures, critical in any organisation. Provides as a basis for grading jobs within a grade structure, thus enabling consistent decisions to be made about job grading. Ensures that the organisation meets ethical and legal equal pay for work of equal value obligtions. More recently the use of job evaluation is the hinge of most equal pay cases. Despite its popularity, it is often misunderstood. So, the following facts about job evaluation must be made clear: SELF-CHECK What is job evaluation and why is it important? What are the four facts about job evaluation? Job Evaluation Methods The human resource management is usually responsible for administering the job evaluation programme. However, actual job evaluation is typically done by a committee. The committee might include the human resource director as the chairperson and the finance, marketing and production heads. Job Evaluation Committee Chairperson (Human Resource Director) Head of Finance Head of Marketing Head of Production Figure 8.1: The job evaluation programme is typically performed by a committee within the organisation Small and medium sized organisations may elect to use outside consultants as they often lack job evaluation experience. When employing a qualified consultant, management should require the consultant to develop an internal job evaluation programme and train company employees to administer it correctly. This can be done by reviewing information obtained through job analysis regarding the duties, responsibilities and working conditions of the organisation. With this knowledge, the relative worth of jobs is determined and the consultant will be able to shape a job evaluation programme suitable to the company by selecting an appropriate job evaluation method. Figure 8.2: The 10 basic steps in conducting an effective job evaluation There are four basic job evaluation methods commonly used by organisations. They are job ranking, job classification (or job grading), factor comparison and the point system. Job ranking and job classification are categorised as non quantitative methods while factor comparison and the point system are classified as quantitative methods. A job evaluation committee or an outside consultant needs to choose one method and modify the method to suit the organisations particular need. Figure 8.3: Job evaluation methods Job Ranking Method In the ranking method, jobs are compared to each other and arranged in order according to their worth to the organisation. The worth of a job is usually based on judgements of skill, effort (physical and mental), responsibility (supervisory and fiscal), and working conditions. The steps involved in ranking jobs are Rank Jobs Make an overall comparison between jobs, by focusing on certain factors such as, responsibility, skills, effort, and working conditions. It is possible that elements of some jobs may be overlooked or weighed too heavily. Rank jobs from the highest to the lowest. The highest and lowest are ranked first, followed by the next highest to the next lowest, until all jobs are ranked. Conduct job analysis and write job descriptions. Pay scales are established based on the rankings, where more important jobs are paid more. However, as the ranking of jobs are subjective and lack precision, the pay levels may be inaccurate. The job ranking method is perhaps the simplest method of job evaluation but it is also known to be the least precise among the four evaluation methods. WEB-SITE Find out the ten worst jobs in the US of 2010. Go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/06/worst-jobs-2010-careercas_n_413511.html Job Classification Job classification is a form of evaluation that assigns jobs to an existing grade/category structure according to their relative worth to the organisation. First, job grades or categories are established and each is given a standard description, as shown in Table 8.1. Table 8.1: A Job Classification schedule for use with Job Grading Method Job Grade Standard Description I Work is simple and highly repetitive; done under close supervision; requires minimal training and little responsibility, or initiative. II Work is simple and repetitive; done under close supervision; requires some training or skill. Employee is only rarely expected to assume responsibility or exhibit initiative. III Work is simple, with little variation; done under general supervision; training or skill is required. Employee has minimum responsibility and must take some initiative to perform satisfactorily. IV Work is moderately complex, with some variation; done under general supervision; requires high level skills. Employee is responsible for equipment and safety, and must exhibit initiative regularly. V Work is complex and varied; done under general supervision; requires advanced level skills. Employee is responsible for equipment and safety, and must show a high degree of initiative. Next, the standard description that most nearly matches a job description determines the grade of that job. Job classification or job grading is slightly more sophisticated than job ranking, but it too is not very precise. Factor Comparison In the factor comparison method, each job is ranked according to a series of factors. This method includes five major steps. Under this method, instead of ranking complete jobs, each job is ranked according to a series of factors (as shown in Figure 8.3). Figure 8.4: The five universal job factors Job evaluators must then identify factors relevant and common in a broad range of jobs as shown in Table 8.2. A numerical point value is assigned to each job factor. The weights might be different for different job positions. Some organisations use different factors for managerial, professional, sales and other positions. Table 8.2: Factors relevant and common in a broad range of jobs Job Mental Skill Physical Responsibility Working Condition System Analyst 1 4 2 1 3 Data Entry Clerk 4 1 1 4 1 Programmer 2 3 3 2 4 Operator 3 2 4 3 2 Note: In the mental requirement, systems analyst ranked highest (1), followed by programmer (2), operator (3) and clerk (4). The evaluation allows the committee to determine the relative importance of each job. In this method, pay will be assigned by comparing the weights of the factors required for each job. This method of job evaluation is more systematic. Point System This method evaluates the critical factors of each job. But instead of using wages, as the factor comparison method does, it uses points. Under the point rating system, a number of factors such as skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions are identified as being common to all jobs being evaluated. Each factor is then given a weighting indicating its values relative to the others and for each factor there are varying degrees (as shown in Table 8.3). Table 8.3: Point system matrix No. Critical Factors Levels or Degrees Minimum I Low II Moderate III High IV 1 Responsibility Safety of others 25 50 75 100 Equipment and materials 20 40 60 80 Assisting trainees 5 20 60 50 Product/ Service Quality 20 40 60 80 2 Skill Experience 45 90 135 180 Education / Training 25 50 75 100 3 Effort Physical 25 50 75 100 Mental 25 70 105 150 4 Working Condition Unpleasant condition 20 20 60 80 Hazards 20 40 60 80 Total Points 100 A job description is prepared for each job and a committee then considers each description in turn, comparing it factor by factor, with the degree definitions. Points are allocated for each factor and the total point value determines the relative worth of each job. A point system is more precise than the factor comparison method because it can handle critical factors in more detail. This method is also used more than the other methods. Some 95% of the major corporations in the US are thought to use some variation of this method to evaluate jobs. Accountability Accuracy Analysis and judgment Complexity Contact and diplomacy Creativity Decision-making Dexterity (clever, skilful, neatness) Education Effects of errors Effort Initiative Judgment Know-how Knowledge and skill Mental effort Mental Fatigue Physical demands Physical skills Planning and coordination Problem-solving Responsibility for cash/material/confidential Information equipment, process, record and reports Social skills Supervision given/received Task completion Training and experience Work condition Work pressure Figure 8.5: A list of factors used most frequently in the point rating method as prepared by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) SELF-CHECK Describe how each of the four job evaluation methods below determine the worth of a job to an organisation. a) Job ranking b) Job classification c) Factor comparison d) Point system Hay Guide Chart The job evaluation process is enormously time consuming, complex and often a frustrating task as it is subjected to political pressures and biases that is natural among committee members who represent different functional areas. It has been proven that the job evaluation process is easier to do if the committee compares factors common to all jobs (compensable factors). For evaluating management jobs, the Hay Guide Chart Profile Method is the most popular method. This method provides a common language, an organised framework and the criteria to ensure that judgements applied can be tested and defended in an objective, consistent and equitable manner. This method is based on assessing three main factors, which are: know how problem solving accountability INPUT PROCESS CONTRIBUTION KNOW-HOW PROBLEM SOLVING ACCOUNTABILITY Figure 8.6: The Hay Guide Chart Method (a) Know How Knowledge, skills and experience needed for acceptable job performance. It consists of three dimensions which are: Scientific disciplines, specialised techniques, and practical procedures The depth and range of specialised knowledge required to perform the job. It requires a deep authoritative knowledge in areas of considerable significance to the organisation disciplines or general knowledge required to deal with strategic issues at the most senior level within the organisation. Managerial know-how Requirements needed in the job to plan, supervise, coordinate and integrate different activities, resources or parts of the organisation. Human relation skills Skills needed to communicate with and influence individuals and groups within and outside the organisation to achieve the necessary results. (b) Problem Solving The span, complexity and level of analytical, evaluative and innovative thought required in the job. The problem solving factor has two components. They are: Thinking environment The environment in which thinking takes place. Identifies and addresses problems that arise. Depends on the absence or presence of policy, procedure, supervision as well as other guidance. Thinking challenge Thinking done to assess the complexity of problems encountered, ranging from simple to complex situations. Also involves the extent of original thinking needed to arrive at conclusions. (c) Accountability Discretion given to the job holder to influence or determine the course of events and his/her answerability for the consequences of his/her decisions and actions. Accountability has three dimensions which are: Freedom to Act Assesses the degree of freedom of action given to a job by the organisation. Magnitude Gauges how much of the organisation is effected by the job holders accomplishment of the job. Job impact on end results Concerned with how directly the job affects end results in that area. SELF-CHECK Explain the three factors that the Hay Guide Chart method considers in evaluating the worth of a job to the organisation. Pricing Jobs Pricing jobs are divided into two activities: Establishing the appropriate pay level for each job. Grouping the different pay levels into a structure that can be managed effectively. It would not be unusual, for instance, for the personnel manager of Motorola to regularly share wage data on key positions. Firms in the community like Hewlett Packard identify job positions such as maintenance engineer, electrical engineer, key punch operators or clerk-typists and give comprehensive descriptions of these jobs. During the wage survey, various information can be requested (as shown in Figure 8.7). Figure 8.7: Information that can be requested when conducting a wage survey (a) Pay Level The appropriate pay level for any job reflects its relative and absolute worth. A jobs relative internal worth is determined by its ranking through the job evaluation process. The absolute worth of the job is controlled by what the labour market pays for similar jobs. Figure 8.8: Pay level Source: http://www.nursingtimes.net/whats-new-in-nursing/acute-care/pay-levels-confirm-lower-status-of-nurses/5008226.article (b) Scattergram In order to set the right pay level, the job evaluation ranking and the survey wage rates (the going rates in the industry) are combined through the use of a graph called the scattergram. [GD: Insert image of scattergram] Figure 8.9: Scattergram (c) Wage-trend line Through the dots that represent key jobs, a wage-trend line is drawn as close to as many points as possible (the line can be drawn freehand). Most importantly, this method can be used to identify jobs whose pay is out of the trend line. When a jobs pay rate is too high, it should be identified as a red circle rate. Undervalued rates (wage rate is too low) carry a green circle and attempts should be made to grant these jobs an average pay increase. Figure 8.10: Wage-trend line (d) Pay structure Jobs that are similar, in terms of class grades and points, are grouped together. For instance, pay grade 1 may cover 0-100 points, pay grade 2 from 1-200 points, and so on. The result is a hierarchy of wages. The more important jobs are paid more, and as individuals assume jobs of greater importance, they rise within the wages structure. Figure 8.11: Pay structure Source: http://skorcareer.com.my/images/salary-survey-asia.jpg Rate ranges are simply pay ranges for each job class. For example, the wage-trend line indicates that $8.00 is the average hourly rate for a particular job class. With a rate range of $1 for each class, a marginal performer is placed at a midpoint or $8.00. When performer appraisals indicate above-average performance, the employee may be given a merit rise of, say 25 cents per hour. Once the employee reaches the top of the wage range, no more wage increase will be forthcoming. Either a promotion or a general across-the-board pay raise needs to occur for this worker to exceed $8.50 an across-the-board increase moves the entire wage trend line upward. As new jobs are created, the wage and salary section of the personnel department performs a job evaluation. For this evaluation, the new job is assigned to an appropriate job class. If rate ranges are used, the new incumbent will start at the bottom of the range and receive raises, where appropriate, to the top of the rate range. SELF-CHECK What are the inputs that can be requested when conducting a wage survey to price jobs? Case Study The Thai Silk Company, Ltd. Source: http://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/ThaiSilk.html (a) Thai Silk Industry The production of Thai silk involves a number of stages. The earliest fiber production, was carried out by approximately 500,000 individual peasant families primarily in the economically-depressed northern portion of the country. Several hundred family firms located in the larger provincial towns and in Bangkok undertook intermediate stages dyeing, spinning and weaving. The final stages printing, converting and retailing were dominated by fewer than 100 enterprises located in Bangkok. (b) Finishing and Converting Thai silk moved directly from weavers into retail channels to be sold as fabric. However, a portion was finished (e.g. printed with a design) and/or converted (e.g. made into a pillow case, garment, window drape, etc.) before reaching retail. There were seven finishing establishments in the country, all located in Bangkok. The largest of these was a 51%-owned joint venture of Thai Silk Company Ltd. (TSC). It contained 16 hand painting tables compared to only 10 by its next largest competitor. It was the only finisher in the country specialising in silk to own an automatic printing machine. (c) Proposed New Weaving Mill On top of these changes, an important new development is currently under consideration. It involves a proposed 51-owned weaving joint venture, the Thai Silk Handweaving Co. Ltd. (TSHC). The plant was to be located at Pakthongchai in Korat Province about 100 miles northeast of Bangkok. It would initially contain 120 hand looms of the tradiational variety with capacity to supply about 20% of TSCs fabric needs. Currently, there are plans for an increase in the number of looms to 600 over a 6 year period. TSCs share of initial capitalisation would amount to 2.4 million Baht. SELF-CHECK The silk production involves many processes and stages, from dyeing to printing and retailing. As the Human Resource manager, how would you price the pay for employees working in the different stages of the silk production? Summary This chapter introduced you to job evaluation, its methods, the hay guide chart method, and inputs to refer to when pricing jobs. We have learned that: Job evaluation is the process of determining the value of one job in comparison to the other jobs within the organisation so a fair salary system can be established. It is the most common method used to provide a rationale for a pay structure and to assign a job to a pay grade. Job evaluation is usually administered by the human resource manager. However, it is typically performed by either a committee within the organisation or by outside consultants. The four basic job evaluation methods commonly used by organisations are: Job ranking Job classification (or job grading) Factor comparison The point system The hay guide chart method of evaluating jobs assesses three main factors: Know-how Problem solving Accountability When performing a job survey to price jobs, the following information can be requested: Pay level Scattergram Wage-trend line Pay structure Glossary Terms Definition Factor comparison Each job is ranked according to a series of factors, namely mental requirement, skill, physical requirement, responsibilities and working conditions. Hay guide chart method A job evaluation method that considers know-how, problem solving and accountability. Job classification/Job grading A form of evaluation that assigns jobs to an existing grade/category structure according to their relative worth to the organisation. Job evaluation The process of determining the value of one job in comparison to the other jobs within the organisation so a fair salary system can be established. Job ranking Jobs are compared to each other and arranged in order according to their worth to the organisation. Pay level What the labour market pays for similar jobs. Pay structure Jobs that are similar, in terms of class grades and points, are grouped together. Point system method Evaluates the critical factors of each job. But instead of using wages, as the factor comparison method does, it uses points. Scattergram A graph that uses plotted points to represent a set of data. Wage-trend line A line drawn as closely as possible to as many points representing key jobs in a graph.

Innovation and Knowledge Essay -- History, Marx, Schumpeter, Kondratie

For centuries now the subject of innovation has given ground for much discussion and debate. In its wider context economic historians and sociologists have theorised and argued its contribution to economic growth and society in general, nevertheless, many have termed innovation as the ‘engine of growth.’ Therefore, to appreciate the extent of benefit that innovation can offer business this introduction begins with some of these theories. Famous names such as, Karl Marx, Joseph Schumpeter, and Nicolai Kondratieff respectively, which are seen by many as experts in their field have all, in their own manner, cited innovation and technological progress as the stimulus for economic growth. However, it was Marx who first realised that economic growth could be associated to innovation, and innovations and entrepreneurs were the drivers of technological progress. Given that one new innovation by an entrepreneur or inventor can open up a new profit stream which then persuades anot her of their kind to innovate, thus providing new wealth and increasing profits in the economy as a whole, which in turn drives growth. More recently Kondratieff using his ‘long-wave theory of innovation’ demonstrated how innovation was responsible for major eras of economic growth and technological development. He described this as a series of wave-like peaks and troughs each lasting between forty or fifty years, which span prosperity during peak periods of innovation and technological progress, and as this recedes a gradual recession into a trough of depression exists. For instance he observes over the la... ...sign training called the T-shaped designer a new way of design thinking by using design processes and methods to foster innovation and grow business – design is a way of thinking. The stem of the T is the depth of knowledge in their specialist subject while the horizontal cap of the T represents the breadth – their ability to make their method, skills and thinking work in a different context. This has led some American schools and university to change their approach to design schooling. In the United Kingdom new courses from centres of excellence are to be offered with a hands-on and multidisciplinary classes combining management studies, engineering, technology and design creativity. All this is positive for business and UK design as heading into the 21st century the need for innovative products will grow as global business becomes even greedier for new things.

Mcmillan

There are many ideas that revolve around what is quality assessment. What can be done to make sure that we are ‘building proficiency in basic skills, closing achievement gaps, and fostering the top notch knowledge and skills that students will need in a competitive global society’ (Scherer, 2009, p. 5). The following paper identifies five key aspects of what represents quality assessment. The method of assessment can influence a student’s motivation and achievement. A student’s performance can be improved through their involvement in the assessment process and enable them to take responsibility for their own learning. McMillan states that by allowing a student to be involved in the grading criteria and apply those criteria to their work a teacher may increase the student’s motivation to learn and succeed. (McMillan 2000) Every student has an individual learning style, McMillan states that using multiple methods of assessment a teacher can shape the way students understands, processes, and uses information. By doing this a complete picture of what students understand can be compiled. Using multiple methods can assist to address each student's strengths and weaknesses. (McMillan 2000) Just as assessment impacts student learning and motivation, it also influences the nature of what is being taught. (McMillan, 2000) McMillan states that when assessment is incorporated with instruction it informs teachers what activities and assignments would be most useful, and what level of teaching is appropriate, where her students are, when to ask more questions, when to give more examples and what responses to student questions is most appropriate (McMillan 2000). Fair and ethical assessment ensures that all students are given a level playing field, which they are given the opportunity to demonstrate what they know. The Standards presents four views of fairness: as absence of bias (e. g. , offensiveness and unfair penalization), as equitable treatment, as equality in outcomes, and as opportunity to learn. ’ (McMillan 2000) Teachers have limited time, they need to be able to achieve a balance between providing to provide a full understanding of study material and score re sults. Therefore the efficiency of assessments needs to be considered. There are many facets that exist within the process of assessment that can influence a student’s enthusiasm and achievement. Teachers need to recognise the ability of students to take control of their own achievement and accept responsibility for their own learning. Clay, M. (2002) An observation survey of early literacy achievement. New Zealand. Heinemann Education. Code of fair testing practices in education (1988). Washington, DC: Joint Committee on Testing Practices (American Psychological Association). Retrieved from http://ericae. net/code. htm McMillan, J. H. (2001). Essential assessment concepts for teachers and administrators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Publishing Company. McMillan, James H. (2000). Fundamental assessment principles for teachers and school administrators. Practical Assessment, Research ; Evaluation, 7(8). Retrieved from http://PAREonline. net/getvn. asp? v=7;n=8 McMillan, J,H. (2011). Classroom Assessment Principles and practice for effective standards-based instruction. Boston USA: Pearson Education Inc. Schafer, W. D. (1991). Essential assessment skills in professional education of teachers. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 10, (1), 3-6.

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buy custom Negros Oriental State University essay This article has been written by four authors. Madeleine Gregg is professor at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Marcia L. Rock is associate professor in the department of Specialized Education Services, University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Naomi P. Zigmond is distinguished professor in the Department of Instruction and Learning, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Robert A. Gable is Constance F. and Colgate W. Darden professor at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. The audiences targeted are the virtual coaches and teachers. The article technically focuses on introducing, explaining and encouraging the use of Bug-In-Ear (virtual coaching) as a method of coaching teachers. It describes a virtual coach as a supportive companion who inspires and builds up teachers and should offer more encouraging, supporting statements than corrective or instructive ones. The article clearly outlines good qualities and skills required for a good coach-teacher relationship. It can be a good reference material for those who would like to know more about virtual coaching and its advantages over the traditional side-by-side coaching. The author of the article is a research associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning and the president of the Instructional Coaching Group. He is also the author of Unmistakable Impact: A Partnership Approach for Dramatcally Improving Instruction (Corwin, 2010). In his work, he targets coaches as his audience, with an aim of illustrating what good coaches are expected to do. The author emphasizes on the benefits of a good interaction between the coach and the teacher. It also explains seven partnership principles of coaching and the actions of good coaches. It outlines partnership as an act of shared learning as much as it is about shared power. The article also explains the activities in which coaches who act on the partnership principles should engage in. It depicts a coach as a thinking partner for teachers, and coaching as a meeting of minds. Generally, the article is useful and forms a good advice for coaches hence helps improve their performance. The site deals with designing a professional development program for a school or district. It explains the characteristics of an effective professional development. It notes that the content of professional development programs is based on organizational needs. The site also gives the categories and connections that schools should focus on so as to ensure continuous improvement. An option for taking a survey is also granted so as to collect opinion, views and facts. Its audiences are administrators of a school, district or both. It is purposely gives appropriate advice and guidance to them. It provides the tips that ensure that schools and districts remain on an improvement plane. It maainly stresses on directly helping the students achieve their goals and supporting student learning needs. Furthermore, it states that cooperation is needed between teachers and the administrators in planning and implementation process to ensure the smooth running of the institution. This website can f orm a good reference for administrators, though it does not provide clear management skills. EDC Science Foundation. Resources for Teacher Leadership: Mentoring and Coaching The site avails resources that help to improve teacher leadership. It contains a list of links to other resourceful sites which elaborates deeper about mentoring and coaching. The links gives more detailed and clearer notes about the various issues related to mentoring and coaching. In addition to that it offers resources for assisting a colleague who may be new to teaching, the school, the discipline, or to a change in the practices or curriculum recently instituted by the district, school, or department. The site describes the components of a high-quality mentor program. The site targets mentors especially those who are new to teaching, a school, department, or curriculum change. The site may also be a source of references to coaching staffs. The site provides very useful information to the targeted audiences. It adequately enables them to deal with crucial issues at hand satisfactorily and with great skill. Buy custom Negros Oriental State University essay

Womens Writing Changes essays

Womens Writing Changes essays Women's writing styles have changed over the years as women's roles have changed in this world. The more that woman's roles have changed the more that their writing changes. There are many reasons to account for the changes in women's writing. At first, in the early years, women were not even allowed to be writers. After women were allowed to become writers, they didn't write about what interested them, they wrote about what about what would interest men. Women writers were writing for a male audience. That soon changed women were writing more about things that were of interest to women because now women were writing for a female audience. Another reasons that can account for the change in women's writing is that woman's role in life have changed. Women don't all have the same role in life, taking care of the home and family. When women's roles only consisted of taking care of the home, their children, and husband, their writings were very different than when the women were out in the world doing different things. Some women's writing inferred that they were being suppressed because they wanted more out of life that what the men would allow them to have. When women felt suppressed in their lives they brought that feeling into their writing. Later, after women could do more with their lives and didn't feel maybe as suppressed by men, women's writing changed. Another reasons that can account for the change in women's writing are the change in what concerns women now from what the concerns of women years ago. When the concerns of women change, the writing changes too. At one point the only major concern that women had was their family and the home. Now, women have more concerns about themselves and their careers. It's not to say that women are not concerned with their family and home anymore, it's just to say that now women have more to be concerned with, and that can accoun ...

Entrepreneurial business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Entrepreneurial business - Essay Example The share of powered brushes is almost half of the value of the market. The social factor that influences the toothbrush market is that consumers are getting more sensitive towards dental healthcare in order to reduce dental treatment. According to date UK consumers’ concerns regarding toothbrushes are: they value the features of the toothbrushes, the comfort they provide, if they are recommended by professional and they also have concerns more about health of gums rather than cavity protection. The findings suggest that consumers are willing to pay premium prices for toothbrushes addressing these concerns: (The Infoshop.com, Toothbrushes –UK-April 2004, There is no specific environmental factors mentioned in reports, however the fact that more people are environmentally concerned should not be ignored. Any efforts in producing a new toothbrush should take this factor into consideration and adapt its manufacturing ability accordingly The powered toothbrushes continuously evolve the ones with round oscillating bristle heads have helped to improve oral hygiene. According to clinical studies, powered toothbrushes are more efficient to remove plaque than manual therefore they are widely accepted among dentists. In the late 1990’s the market of powered toothbrushes was shaped into two distinct categories: the high end toothbrushes ($20-$110) that provided complex motions to the bristles and the low end which provided very little cleaning benefit. â€Å"The brush head, with its combination of fixed and moving bristles, was designed to have a more traditional sized brush head permitting patients to brush their teeth in an optimal manner recommended by a dentist, while the motorized circular portion of the brush promotes more effective cleaning.   In addition, this brush has an angled shaft to permit easier access to the back teeth in the oral cavity† The type of consumers that use powered toothbrushes are the

The weakness of using Fackbook and Twitter for consumer engagement Essay

The weakness of using Fackbook and Twitter for consumer engagement with the firm - Essay Example The other extra duties of this individual or individuals include monitoring as well as responding to questions and comments robbing marketing department off necessary hands on personnel in keeping the company afloat (Hu, 2011). This is especially a problem for small companies or start-ups with limited resources. In this sense, social media presents a weakness in increasing a firm’s running overheads without necessary guarantee for increased revenue. Facebook and Twitter may pose a weakness in a firm’s engagement with its customers due to having a wrong strategy for online branding (Kuzgun, 2013). This could put the firm at a viral social disadvantage and could even end up damaging the firm’s reputation. Few people will most probably notice mistakes made offline, but when the mistakes regarding a firm’s portrayal are made online, they are immediately noted by many and spread over the net. This is aggravated by the fact that bad news or negativity on Facebook and Twitter trends faster than good news for gossip is considered juicy while normal news is boring. The online interactive media like any other Information Technology field is highly prone to threats of hacking or malicious compromise of content (Thomases, 2010). The hackers may be out to malign the firm and jeopardize its online marketing efforts through posting false tweets. There has been evidence and news of hackings into Facebook and Twitter accounts of established and renowned companies sending the message across the business world that really no firm is invisible. This loophole mat cost the firm its reputation negating the intentions to use social media in the first place. Social marketing is also seen as somewhat intrusive. Some ardent members on Facebook and Twitter feel that advertisement placement through collection of member information from these sites is intruding on their privacy and that confidentiality is compromised. This causes marketing efforts to be met