Bloom Research and Response Paper free essay sample

Larkin and Burton’s abstract preface the Joint Commission’s directive for effective communication among caregivers during handoff to ensure patient safety (Larkin Burton, 2008, p. 360). The case study reviews the lack of handoff practice and its effect on continuum of care provided to â€Å"Ms. C, a 64-year-old woman, presented to the ambulatory surgery center for an open cholecystectomy† (p. 390), and the subsequent workshop utilizing Bloom’s Taxonomy of Education Objectives to educate and change clinical practice among the staff members. From this reader’s vantage Ms. C’s respiratory de-compensation was a result of the nurses’ failure to communicate patients medical history and critical findings during unit-to-unit transfer and shift report, inadequate nurse to patient ratio along with incomplete charting, failure to recognize early signs and symptoms of respiratory compromise, and lack of critical thinking skills. Evidenced by the case study’s assertions, Ms. C required oxygen in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU) but was transferred without it. We will write a custom essay sample on Bloom Research and Response Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Second, the PACU nurse did not communicate to the patient’s need for oxygen to the receiving nurse during handoff report. It is unclear if the surgeon wrote vital sign parameters and pulmonary toilet orders, or if there were standard protocols for this post operative unit. Ms. C’s incomplete graphic record indicate she was placed on four liters of oxygen within two hours of her arrival to the unit at 1630; however, fail to adequately trend abnormal vital signs such as low grade temperature and tachycardia (Larkin Burton, 2008, p. 392). The record does not document any nurse-initiated interventions or call to the doctor requesting a chest x-ray or recommending a respiratory therapy consult for breathing treatment and incentive spirometer. On post-op day two Ms. C’s respiratory status declined requiring a non-rebreather mask, rapid response team consult, and a transfer to the intensive care unit for a diagnosis of respiratory distress (p. 392). There were multiply factors that contributed to the above scenario; Larkin and Burton writes that â€Å"after this near-miss, failure to rescue incident† (p. 94) a task force consisting of management, clinical nurse specialist (CNS) and unit educator convened to discuss the event. The task force concluded that the nursing staff members were ineffectual in critically evaluating the patient’s signs and symptoms. The CNS chose a framework that utilized â€Å"Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives†, that provided measurable outcomes to the ed ucational activity and enabled the nursing team to optimize their critical skill levels. A workshop to assist staff to navigate through the case study in a realistic manner was implemented (Larkin Burton, 2008, p. 95). The cognitive domain contains six intellectual skills that measure: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information received. The affective domain contains five emotional factors: receiving, responding, valuing, organizing, also conceptualizing and characterizing by value concept. It is during this phase that individual buy-in occurs or not. Finally, the psychomotor domain contains five motor skills functions of imitation, manipulation, precision, articulation, and naturalization. The individual learn to adapt his or her movements intuitively to a given situation (Larkin Burton, 2008, p. 395). The key component of continued nursing education is to advance and apply evidenced based practice at the bedside. The use of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives as the framework promote the transfer of evidence based information, in a setting that allow the nurse educators to evaluate and measure the learner’s: cognitive, affective and psychomotor processes. It allows the learner (nurse) to assess his or her level of application within each domain. Both the educator and the nurse can reinforce successes and target learning opportunities to areas of inefficiency. References Blais, K. K. , Hayes, J. S. (2011). Professional Nursing Practice Concepts and Perspective (6th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Bouchard, G. J. (2011, November). In Full Bloom: Helping Students Grow Using the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. The Journal of Physican Assistance Education, 22(4), 44-46. Larkin, B. G. , Burton, K. J. (2008, September). Evaluating a Case Study Using Blooms Taxonomy of Education. AORN, 88(3), 390-402.

The Three Faces Of Psycho Essays - English-language Films, Psycho

The Three Faces Of Psycho Essays - English-language Films, Psycho The Three Faces Of Psycho THE THREE FACES OF PSYCHO Psycho has no doubt become one of the most beloved horror stories of all times. It is an undisputed classic. It spins a well-known tale of how the person living next door, in the next room, or down the road just might not be all they seem on the outside. Psycho first came into the world as a literary novel in 1958. It would become Robert Blochs signature piece. It told the story of a young woman named Mary Crane who was given the ultimate chance at the American Dream by stealing money from work and marrying the man of her dreams. It also told of her untimely demise at the hands of Norman Bates, quiet and shy hotel proprietor. The novel appealed to the public not only because of the suspense and horror of the story, but because the reader could easily identify with the characters. Mary-simply because everyone wants the American dream and will go to unreal lengths to achieve it at times. Norman-because everyone has had to live up to a parents expectations and fallen short at one time or another. In these characters, we find a sense of loneliness and desperation. Shortly after the release and immediate success of the novel, Psycho, the master of film horror decided to introduce the book to the big screen. Alfred Hitchcock made Psycho into an instant horror classic in 1960. With an adapted version of the novel, a screenplay by Joseph Stefano, some characters names were changed and actors were hired, but the story remained the same. Almost forty years later, following the release of Hitchcocks Psycho, director Gus Van Sant brought the picture back to the screen. The big difference was that he added color and modernized the picture. Van Sants goal was to remain true to the original picture, but took advantage of what the 90s culture had to offer. The base story of Psycho remains basically the same in the novel and film versions. A young woman disappears with money from her office to be used to create a better life for her boyfriend and herself. Along the way to meet her love, she stops at a roadside motel and meets the young owner Norman. After some deep conversation, she goes to her room and is murdered by Norman. It then becomes the quest of her younger sister to find her. Her sister, Lila, along with her boyfriend Sam, and an ill-fated private detective, they work to find the terrible secret of Norman Bates and the fate of Mary/Marion. The differences in the movies and the novel are subtle at times and at others, vast. Each director of the film chose to take different angles at some aspects of the story. Hitchcock was working within the confines of the late 50s and early 60s. One major change that was made in the movie was the physical appearance of the character, Norman. In the novel, Norman Bates is middle-aged man with a plump facerimless glassesscalp beneath thinning sandy hair. (Bloch 10.) In the first screen adaptation, Norman became somewhat attractive. He looked like the boy next door. Anthony Perkins played the part that just by looking at Norman you felt sympathetic for him. He looked like a normal trustworthy person (Hitchcock, 1960.) Hitchcock was also creating a movie in a time where explicit sexuality and nudity were taboo. The now famous shower scene, where Marion is murdered, took seven days and over 700 camera angles to shoot. Hitchcock wanted to make sure that there were no actual slashing shots shown or any nudity (Hitchcock/Psycho Trailer.) That would be left up to the viewer to use their imagination. Hitchcock chose the design of the house, which stands behind the Bates Motel. He believed that it cast a sinister feel on the whole area. In comparison, the 1998 version of the story was subject to more leniency. Director Van Sant chose to add nudity and visible stab wounds to the shower scene (Van Sant 98.) In the novel, Bloch is very descriptive about how Mary undresses and looks at her nude self in the mirror. The shower scene itself is very quick lived. Mary hears the scream

Alone on the sea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Alone on the sea - Essay Example As more and more data are collected, retrieved and stored on these social media sites and internet, the concerns for its privacy and repurposing has been increased immensely. This superfluous information and data needs intelligent and sophisticated data base management systems, making this sensitive information prone to the advertising agencies etc. Advertising agencies lure these social media networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Twitter, Skype, Whatsapp etc to sell this personal sensitive data for marketing and advertising prospects. Highly customized, targeted and dedicated advertising campaigns have been designed by the advertisers managed by their back end running systems to reach their target markets. Highly targeted and specified advertising campaigns endanger the personals of individuals threatening the prospects of privacy violation. The goal of these advertising campaigns is unified that is to make their way to their target prospects that causes privacy violations. An advertising system has been established linking the middle users and the advertisers supported by the social media and internet so that they can display their ads and market their offerings. Moreover many of the internet tracking companies is also inclined towards gaining access to the private data of individuals through Facebook apps. The p oor infrastructure and least sophisticated systems of social media sites also cause privacy violations. As with the increased susceptibility of private data of internet users most of the renowned and gigantic social media sites have strengthened their privacy controls facilitating the users to gain trust in their platforms and services. For instance, Facebook, Instagram, Skype etc frequently make changes in their privacy control systems and proposing tight restrictive options in privacy setting for their users. Moreover they give options

A business process method for virtualized enterprises Research Paper

A business process method for virtualized enterprises - Research Paper Example Though the future is commonly tagged as unpredictable, business management gives room to forecasting especially when it is based on principles and empirical theories. Expecting business process improvement to remain competitive or to be even improved is therefore nothing much to ask from businesses in today’s fast changing business environment. Several definitions have been given to the term ‘business process’. According to the Business Process Incubator (2011), business process is â€Å"a co-ordinated set of actions that produce a business result, either within a single organization or across several.† Search CIO (2011) also has it that â€Å"A business process is an activity or set of activities that will accomplish a specific organizational goal.† To implement these set of activities that lead to the realization of organizational goals however, there are a number of methods and supporting frameworks to follow. In this paper, we discuss a business process method and supporting framework, including concepts for business-to-business interaction and human resources: to obtain business process environment with rapid, flexible, straightforward, efficient, and precise operations. Undoubtedly, a similar framework will be widely implemented in the near future, and methods such as this one will be widely used. This future implementation will be directed towards achieving a more advanced system and form of business and organizational structure. As the world progresses and advances by the day, business process methods and frameworks that are instituted must meet the growing needs of businesses and society as a whole. Future implementation would therefore be a huge step for the humanity, similar to transition from postal mail to email, utilization of computer-aided design, and use of professional and general purpose social networks. Just as in a swift of human imagination these innovations came to take over the norm that previously exist ed, it is expected that future implementations would solve more complex problems of humanity and businesses. Virtual profiles system and electronic contract negotiation and formation To allow for a more comprehensive discussion of this session, the session shall begin with the definition and explanation of some the salient terms to be used. Virtual profiles system is more related to virtual systems management that is used in most corporations, organizations and businesses. Virtual systems management basically has to do with the allocation and distribution of resources. Expanding the explanation further, Tech Target (2007) explain that â€Å"virtual systems management (VSM), is the process of remotely managing the allocation and use of resources in conventional networks as well as in virtual area networks (VANs), virtual private networks (VPNs), virtual network computing (VNC) and virtual servers.† Virtual prolife systems therefore work best with all kinds of organizations and businesses as far as they have technological facilities for implementation. Electronic contract has greater linkage with virtual profile systems in the sense that electronic contracts helps in the achievement of the management and allocation of resources; especially data on the institution in question. To this effect, Morciniec et al (2002) explain that â€Å"an electronic contract is its reification in software that can be instantiated as a set of obligations that are fulfilled between parties, refused or waived as future events occur.† This explanation was given in relation to the meaning of an ordinary contract, which was explained by the writers to be â€Å"a statement of intent that regulates behavior among organizations and individuals†

Examine an episode of the Colbert Report through the lens of Geoffrey Essay

Examine an episode of the Colbert Report through the lens of Geoffrey Baym's article on discursive integration - Essay Example Baym examines The Daily Show as an example of this hybrid format stating how The Daily Show new format has spark a new genre, of hybrid of many, and has become an important part of the media. As a show that is packed with lots of comedy satire but still disseminates real news, The Colbert Report is a hybrid. It opens with a serious news opening, then shows him running and jump carrying a flag. Then, the camera pans to the audience, who are clapping and cheering. Similar to TDS starts of serious shows, the show then moves to some more like a late-night show with audience cheering. Typical Colbert shows include mock reportage on political events, using a strong degree of sarcasm and irony to mock traditional news programs that claim to be â€Å"fair and balanced,† but really are not. This use of satire can be favorably compared to Baym’s idea of â€Å"The Daily Show’s† John Stewart, as another show which acts to criticize the very object of culture which it is serving up to the people. Both shows use the trappings and production values of real news programs in a subversive, surreal manner. The first segment of The Colbert Report, like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, focuses on news updates on current events. Both shows share many similarities in this segment. They both incorporate a great deal of comedy satire into the news while taking aspects from both late-night shows and comedy shows (Baym, 263). Another great example of the similarities between these shows is that the hosts provide subjective nature on the subject. As Baym points out in his essay, Stewart â€Å"instead engages in subjective interrogation† going against all normal journalist standards (265). In the episode of The Colbert Report used by the current investigation, Stephen displays his subjective nature while talking to Arturo Rodriguez on immigration, or

HRM Effectiveness In Improving Performance

HRM Effectiveness In Improving Performance This article examines the strategic role of HR and its main practices, describes the outcomes of the respective category of HR practices, explains the critical reasons for measuring HRs efforts, and proposes a framework for assessing HR. Ultimately, organizations would be able to utilize the information to determine how particular HR practices correlate with better business results; determine potential areas for investments, expansions, and reductions; justify budget allocations; and be more accountable for each dollar spent within the organization. The framework proposed does not merely explain the cost for each of the major HR activity, but demonstrates the value of the activity and hence, the opportunity to determine if it is a worthwhile investment and strategy for creating a competitive advantage. What value does the human resources (HR) function contribute to the bottom line of the organization? Over the years, there has been tremendous emphasis placed on HR practitioners becoming strategic business partners and being a value-added source within organizations. Traditionally, HR professionals could talk generally and conceptually about employee morale, turnover, and employee commitment being outcomes of HR efforts. Furthermore, the HR function is often viewed as an expense-generator and an administrative function and not as a value-added partner. Ulrich (1997b) reiterated that to fulfill the business partner role of HR, concepts need to be replaced with evidence, ideas with results, and perceptions with assessments. This article examines the strategic role of HR and its main practices, describes the outcomes of the respective category of HR practices, explains the critical reasons for measuring HRs efforts, and proposes a framework for assessing HR. Ultimately, organizations would be able to utilize the information to determine how particular HR practices correlate with better business results; determine potential areas for investments, expansions, and reductions; justify budget allocations; and be more accountable for each dollar spent within the organization. The framework proposed does not merely explain the cost for each of the major HR activity, but demonstrates the value of the activity and hence, the opportunity to determine if it is a worthwhile investment and strategy for creating a competitive advantage. The framework has proven its effectiveness at many companies showing how HR creates value, utilized the information collected to increase investments in specific HR strategies and eliminating ineffective investments, and used as a critical resource in the strategic business planning and budget allocation. The companies include Fortune 500 and smaller companies from retail, transportation, and financial industries. Understanding the Strategic Role of HR In todays business environment, organizations need to be constantly evaluating their internal and external environment for challenges and opportunities to remain competitive and to sustain growth. Political, economic, social, and even psychological changes within our societies create significant impact on organizations. Given any significant change or event, how ready are we as an organization to react in order to remain competitive? Many factors are driving changes in organizations today including the use of technology, globalization, changes in workforce demographics, eliminating the bureaucracies in organizational structures, and balancing work-family issues. Understanding the potential of an organizations resources and optimizing the output of such resources given the changes, provides the impetus for HR being the key source of creating the competitive advantage for the organization. Insert figure 1 about here To create value and deliver results, HR professionals must begin not by focusing on the work activities or work of HR but by defining the deliverables of that work. HRs roles in building a competitive organization include management of strategic human resources, management of transformation and change, management of firm infrastructure and management of employee contribution (Ulrich, 1997a). Although these roles are valid and have proven to be value-added in recent years, there is now the critical need to move beyond the strategic business partner role to players in the business (Ulrich Beatty, 2001). Players, according to Ulrich Beatty, contribute to the profitability of the organization, they deliver results and they do things to make a difference. The roles of players are to a) coach b) design, c) construct, d) change the organization, e) creating followers, and f) playing by the rules. Another perspective on the role of HRM suggests that in leading-edge companies, HR profession als play four key roles: a) strategic business partners, b) innovators, c) collaborators, and d) facilitators (Schueler Jackson, 2000). As a strategic business partner, HR professionals should understand the nature of the business from a strategic, operational, financial, and other aspects necessary to be part of an effective team managing an organization. Functioning as an innovator, HR professionals are challenged to continuously search for strategies that will create value for the organization and not merely function in a reactionary mode. Furthermore, HR professionals will also serve as collaborators with senior leaders and all employees to implement business strategies forming the strategic link throughout the organization. As facilitators, HR professionals function as the change agent providing rationale, support, and readiness for planned changes designed to support the business strategies. The fundamental role of HRM is essentially to maximize profitability, quality of work life and profits through effective management of people (Cascio, 2003). Given this premise, it can be easily inferred that HRs role is to help create value to the organization. Figure 1 illustrates some of the external challenges and changes facing organizations, their impact on the organization, and how HR is impacted. The Importance of Measuring HRs Activities Even though HR professionals are convinced that their efforts add value to the organizations bottom-line, there is frequently little evidence to demonstrate such belief. A recent survey of 54 companies in the Midwest, USA conducted by the author revealed that 51 of the 54 companies conducted little or no assessment of their HR departments efforts and therefore could not have provided any quantitative measures of HRs value to the organization. In addition, a study conducted by Becker, Huselid, and Ulrich (2001) indicated that less than 10% of the 968 firms that participated in their study had a formal estimation procedure to measure HRM. Measurement in most HR departments is usually restricted to processes measuring costs and not showing value added (HRPS, 1993). There is now the imperative need to justify each dollar invested, compare strategies to determine maximum worth, and to decide on where to invest especially as companies scramble to survive after the September 11 tragedy. Pepitone (1997) reiterated that HR leaders should know how to prove the value-added of their services because management is increasingly requiring departments to give evidence of their worth. In addition, Sorensen (1995) stated that the best way for HR to gain credibility so that it can make meaningful changes is for practitioners to measure the cost and effectiveness of what they do. And they must put that into language that senior executives understand: financial results. HR managers need to measure the cost and effectiveness of their activities far more closely than they have in the past. Many organizations have been forced and are conti nuing to determine ways of being more cost-effective. Many of the other functions including finance, accounting, and marketing are able to show a return on investment for their respective efforts, so given the increased emphasis on HR practices, it is imperative for HR to be able to show its effectiveness in creating value for the organization. The new HR is a transformed role comparing itself to any other function, not only through espoused value creation strategies, but through outcomes, qualitative and quantitative measurements, and direct relationships to profitability. The simple option of showing HRs value or becoming extinct as a department presents itself to HR professionals and given the strong belief of HR as a source of added value in organizations, there is no choice than for HR professionals to be able to quantitatively and qualitatively explain its strategic role in the organization. There has been substantial evidence over the years to show the relationship between HR and organizational performance as summarized by (Yeung Berman, 1997). Some of the studies include MacDuffie and Krafcic (1992), US Department of Labor (1993), Pfeffer (1994), Arthur (1994), Huselid (1995), and Ostroff (1995). Even though these studies exist, there still lacks a framework that is grounded in theory, yet practical enough for practitioners to use that shows the major HR activities, outcomes of the respective activities, and how they can be measured. The framework describes clusters within the HR function and encompasses: a) strategic planning, b) selection, c) training and development, d) organization development and change, e) performance management, f) rewards system, and g) organizational behavior theory. HRs Activities Outcomes Even though there are several classifications or groupings of HR activities, the author uses seven groups of activities seen as being most strategic and influential in realizing the strategic business objectives of the organization. Todays economy dictates that organizations continually assess the external and internal environment and make relevant changes in order to remain competitive. The author examines each of the clusters and provides a description of each, its importance in achieving the business strategy, and how it can be measured to determine its effectiveness. Insert figure 2.0 about here Strategic Planning The role of the HR function has changed tremendously over the past 10 years where HR functions have previously been viewed as not being an integral core of the business and merely viewed as an administrative function to todays economy where HR practitioners are more frequently considered business partners. Being a business partner, the ideal situation would be the inclusion of the HR leader in the strategic business planning (SBP). In the most fundamental sense, SBP involves choosing how an organization will compete (Rothwell, 1994). The questions of what product to produce, where should the product be sold, how many to make available, how the products and services differ from the competition are included as part of the business planning process. Business strategy can also be defined as the process by which the basic mission and objectives of the organization are set and the process by which the organization uses its resources to achieve the objectives(Tichy, Fombrum, Devanna, 1982) . Why is it important for HR to be involved in the strategic planning process? In developing strategies in todays complex and dynamic business environment, there is the critical need for business leaders to continually assess their talent pool to determine if the appropriate expertise needed to accomplish the business strategies are available within the organization. If not, where and how can the organization acquire the necessary skills? Another critical area is to identify what skills are needed to be developed internally for current employees to perform at the level necessary for the organization to be competitive. Does the organization need to change any of its current policies and practices in order to derive the intended behaviors of employees? How should performance be measured and what types of rewards should be given for the intended behaviors? These are all fundamental areas of effectively managing an organization and imperative to be addressed at the strategic planning stage . Typically, the HR function has the most experience and knowledge in addressing these critical issues. Strategic planning seeks to identify those organizational decisions and actions, which yield the greatest advantage under various assumptions about the organization and its environment. The integration of human resource function into the organizational strategy provides the basis to enable the human resource function to support and implement the strategic plan to achieve a competitive advantage (Wofford, 2002). This strategy provides for the maximization of human capital, reduction of wasted and inefficient labor and other financial investment, and eventually maximizing profitability. By addressing these issues at the strategic planning stage with HR included, there is the higher likelihood of more efficiently reaching the business outcomes and avoiding chaos, massive layoffs, crises resulting from not having skilled employees to carry out particular tasks and not having the right fit among employees, corporate strategies, and business environments. C.K Prahalad (Prahalad, 1990) in describing the roots of competitive advantage, stated that the real sources of competitive advantage are to be found in managements ability to consolidate corporate wide technologies and production skills into competencies that empower individual businesses to adapt quickly to changing opportunities. Moreover, Tichy et al., (Tichy et al., 1982) reiterated that there are three core elements for organizations to function effectively and include mission and strategy, organization structure, and human resource management. Clearly, the HR function plays a pivotal role in determining the busi ness strategy through the assessment of the organizations capabilities to successfully compete through a particular strategy, determining the appropriate rewards system, determining appropriate organization structures, and developing strategies to increase employees performance. Given the definition of strategic planning as how an organization will compete, the question arises as to how would an organization be able to assess the effectiveness of its strategic plan. Indicators of a successfully crafted strategic plan include creating advantages that are sustainable over a long period of time. Has the planning resulted in a) the attainment of the organizations goals and objectives, b) financial profitability, b) positioning to create advantages for the short-term and long-term, and d) created a sense of social responsibility? In essence, this process determines the decisions and actions an organization will undertake to create and sustain competitive advantages. Acquisition of Employees In the era of increasing globalization and the struggle to create sustainable competitive advantages, organizations are continuously evaluating their strategies to ensure that they have the expertise needed to help achieve the mission of the organization. The economic challenges due to the consequences of the 9/11 terrorists attacks on the United States also continue to affect organizations financial position and subsequently on recruitment and selection strategies. Gatewood Feild (2001) define selection as a process of collecting and evaluating information about an individual in order to extend an offer of employment. Fitz-enz (2002) described ways of measuring the cost per hire, source cost per hire, and interviewing cost. Indeed, these are critical metrics in deciding the cost in acquiring employees. Nevertheless, to fully understand the value and effectiveness of the selection process, one has to analyze the impact of the employees contribution to the organization not only from a cost factor, but the performance in the short-term and long-term. Has the employee been able to contribute to the successful implementation of the business strategy? In examining the efforts that are part of the acquisition, one has to examine the effectiveness of the planning process, advertising and recruitment sources, effectiveness of the interviewers in selecting the right candidate, change in the pool of qualified candidates, and performance of the incumbent on the job. HR Planning involves the process that specifies the activities that a firm must use in order to develop its human resources to improve its overall practices (Gatewood Feild, 2001). The process entails determining how many employees the organizations needs to be performing at its optimum and where the employees should be working in the organization given the external and internal challenges and opportunities. With the economy still struggling to improve after 9/11 terrorists attacks, organizations have been forced to layoff even thousands of employees in some cases in order to survive. The real challenge for HR in the upcoming months and even years would be to predict the demand for their products and services and then to determine the need for labor. Nevertheless, one still has to be able to reasonably predict labor demands and determine if employees have to be laid off or how many employees have to be recruited within a specific period. In addition, HR Planning should involve the s kills and competencies currently available within the organization and what other intellectual capital would be needed in the future to adequately meet the needs of the stakeholders. Another aspect of the acquisition process involves the advertising and recruitment sources. Given the high costs of advertising in newspapers, internet websites, journals, employment agencies, and direct and indirect costs associated with advertising, there is a definite need for HR professionals and other senior leaders to be aware of the effectiveness of the respective sources being used to advertise and recruit their candidates. In assessing the effectiveness of recruitment and advertisement sources an organization uses to recruit its employees, it is imperative to relate the actual performance of the incumbent to the advertising and recruitment. Some of the factors that should be included in this evaluation are historical employee turnover data, absenteeism, actual performance on the job, and ability to advance in ones career. There may also be a high level of correlation with specific school, number of years of work experience, education major, GPA, and other such factors with o nes performance. Given the collection and analysis of this data, HR is much more likely to invest their advertising and recruitment budget to where real value is created for the organization. Fitz-enz (2002) described the need to ensure that the recruitment function to be efficient and further stated that it is better to measure recruiters as a team than as individuals whenever applicable. In determining their efficiency as a team, Fitz-enz stated that the measurements should focus on the productivity of their interviewing techniques, the average length of interviews for the respective job groups, number of interviews needed to make a quality hire. Another means of determining the effectiveness of the recruitment function is a measure to show the change in the number of qualified candidates that is available for selection. This could be a significant cost reduction strategy given that advertising costs can re reduced if there are qualified candidates available for future openings and other jobs currently available. Training and Development The American Society for Training Development estimates that US organizations are spending more than $60 billion annually on employee training and development. Given this significant investment, it is reasonable for one to ask about the benefits of such investments, especially since more companies are seeing a need for lifelong learning and are integrating technology in their strategies. Swanson (1995) defined employee training and development as the process of systematically developing expertise in individuals for the purpose of improving performance. The argument as to whether T D helps to create a competitive advantage has shown that conceptually, it can be a source of competitive advantage. Nevertheless, there still is a critical need to develop frameworks and strengthen the argument for being aware of the actual benefits provided by this intervention. Developing a framework for assessing the financial benefits of T D, Swanson (2001) listed three questions that provide the vari ations on the assessment of HRD, of which T D is a major category. What is the forecasted financial benefit resulting from the HRD intervention? What is the actual financial benefit resulting from the HRD intervention? What is the approximate financial benefit resulting from the HRD intervention? (Approximate financial benefit is used whenever there is some level of uncertainty of the exact value created by the intervention). The framework describes three perspectives to assess the benefits including positive benefits, relative benefits, and return on investment. The positive benefits are those indicators that show the benefits exceeding the costs. The key issue in this perspective is to determine that the benefits at least equal the costs. It may also mean the inability of the measurement to show a financial benefit, but demonstrates the benefit of for example, strengthening the culture and maintaining the tradition of the organization. Return on investment (ROI) is a ratio that expresses the relationship of every dollar of performance value to every dollar expended to achieve that value. In understanding the impact of the training, it is imperative to determine what difference, if any, the investment made in supporting the business strategy of the organization. The assessment of the training should focus on the difference of the performance of the employee, the department, the process, and the overall performance of the organization. Furthermore, were there adequate opportunities for the employee to practice what they learned in the classroom, were they rewarded for improvements made as a result of attending the training, and can a relationship be demonstrated with the training and the organizations performance? Fitz-enz (2002) suggested that in addressing the results of the training process, the following questions be answered: How well did the employee learn? How effectively did the employee apply the learning from a business standpoint? What difference did it make to the business perspectives? In sum, measuring the impact of a training initiative regardless of the scope, size of investment, and number of employees involved, there is the imperative need to determine the purpose of doing the training and if the goals have been met at various intervals after the intervention had been completed. To determine the benefit, ROI, or whatever terminologies we choose to describe the outcome, one has to consider the direct costs of developing and implementing the intervention, in addition to the indirect and opportunity costs. This total cost would then have to be compared with the intended benefits and actual benefits immediately after the training and at different intervals after the intervention based on its nature. It is therefore imperative to address the following questions given the critical need to understand the impact of the intervention: Has the employees attitude changed since the training? Did the employee acquire knowledge and expertise in an area that would enable him/her to perform more effectively on the job? Has the employees performance changed after the training? How has the change in the employees performance affected the business strategy and performance of the organization? These are all areas to be integrated in assessing the impact of training and development in todays economy. With answers to these questions, it is relatively simple to determine if the training investment was worthwhile and to articulate how training and development supports the business strategy and contributes to the bottom-line of the organization. Organization Change and Development Given the continuing changes in the global economy, demands of customers, preferences and values of employees, it is a necessary component of the HR strategy to ensure that the organization is adapting to the external and internal variables it current faces and would likely face in the future in order to meet its stakeholders expectations. The pace of global, economic, and technological development makes change an inevitable feature of organizational life (Cummings Worley, 2002). A growing importance and competency expected from the HR professional, therefore, is his or her ability to plan and implement the necessary changes for the purpose of improving performance. Swanson (1995) defined organization development (OD) as the process of developing and implementing planned changes in organizations for the purpose of improving performance. The opportunity for HR through its organization development interventions is to create organizational effectiveness at the individual, department, f unction, process, and organizational levels. Many OD practitioners may argue that OD is not a measurable effort, at least quantitatively. The challenge arises again as to what value do the change efforts really have on the bottom-line of the organization. Should OD be excluded from quantitative measurement? Given a downturn in the economy and the need to reduce labor cost, are OD practitioners able to justify their worth to the organization? In answering these questions, it is necessary to examine the outputs of OD. In many instances, the outputs should be an improvement in performance at the individual, process, and organizational levels. Fitz-enz (2002) suggested that OD can be measured through productivity, quality, service, responsiveness, development, and survival. How efficiently are products and services delivered to the customer? These factors are indeed critical in assessing the effectiveness of ODs efforts and therefore, should be part of the process of making changes in organizations. Some of the key measurements can be derived from the following questions: What is the quality of the output and does it meet the customers expectations? Does the service offered by the organization provide a competitive advantage as compared to its competitors? How effectively does the system respond to changes in the external environment? Does the organization allow for maximum sharing of information, leveraging each employee and work unit, and resolving any internal or external challenges? Are the values and ethics of each employee and work unit representative of the overall culture of the organization and supportive of the business strategy? The responses to these questions based on the respective organization provide the basic measurements in assessing the readiness and effectiveness of the organization to function effectively in its current and anticipated internal and external environments. Should the responses indicate less than optimal performance at the individual, process, and organization levels, the opportunity exists for HR to conduct an analysis and develop, and implement planned changes to improve performance at all levels. As pointed out by (Becker et al., 2001), HR professionals too often want to measure their success by their activity rather than the actual business results. By having concrete answers to these questions, there will be appropriate responses in answering the role of OD in achieving the business strategy of the organization. Performance Management Performance management systems make clear to employees what is expected of them and assure line managers and strategic planners that employee behaviors will be in line with the companys goals (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright, 2003). Many organizations still rely on the performance appraisal viewed as an annual ritual and primarily the responsibility of the HR function. In todays economy and the utmost of managing performance to create a competitive advantage Noe, et al (2003) grouped performance management into three categories of defining performance, measuring performance, and the feedback aspect of performance. Performance management systems are geared to ensure that each employee within the organization, based on previously conducted job analyses, is performing the tasks intended at the expected level to support the strategic business objectives of the organization. The thinking of HR practitioners and other business leaders that an annual performance appraisal is performance management must become obsolete. Effective performance management entails a process where each employee is fully aware of his or her role in the organization, what type of output is expected, and how the output will be measured. How would one determine the effectiveness of the performance management system in creating competitive advantages for the organization? In answering this key question, the following areas should be addressed: Ensuring that job descriptions are developed through timely and effective job analyses. Job descriptions are updated on a regular basis to reflect to changing business environment. Feedback is shared continuously among all stakeholders. Every employee is fully aware of his or her role in the organization, which can easily be accomplished in the performance planning phase of the process. There are measurable outcomes assigned to every task reflecting the role of the position and incumbent in achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. There must be congruency and consistency in performance measures across the entire organization and performance standards should always be measured consistently. The process and the system must be viewed as credible, fair, valid, and reliable. A survey with numerical ratings can be used by employees and supervisors to assess if ones role and responsibilities are fully aligned with the goals of the organization, satisfaction with the actual process and satisfaction with the supervisors management of the performance management process. An aggregate of the responses produces an assessment of the performance management system and its effectiveness in improving individual and organizational performance. One of the critical strategies in performance management is to understand the fundamental role of each employee in achieving the mission of the organization. By mapping a process through the identification of the purpose and role of each incumbent, one is easily able to identify where the deficiencies may exist and to develop corrective actions, identify the strengths of each individual and to maximize each employees potential and hence their contribution to the financial contribution to the bottom-line of the organization. Rewards System The starting point for any reward system design process needs to be the strategic agenda of the organization (Lawler, 1990). By understanding where the organization is positioning itself for various intervals in the future, an organization could design the reward system to provide incentives specifically designed to foster behaviors, attitudes, and outcomes among the workforce that directly correlate with the strategic agenda of the organization. As indicated by Lawler (1990), numerous studies including (Vroom, 1964, Lawler, 1971, and Kerr, 1975) have shown that effective rewards systems can significantly increase the motivation of individuals to increase their performance. As inferred from these studies, the fundamental intent of rewards in organizations is to provide incenti

Importance Of Dream in Black Boy by Richard Wright :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The author of the story â€Å"Black boy†, Richard Wright, expressed the theme, the importance of dream by making readers relate to the situation in â€Å"Black Boy†. â€Å"Black Boy† is about this little boy who writes a story and the story’s title causes this uproar because it has the word hell in it. â€Å" The Voodoo on hell’s half acre† is the title of the story. The theme is importance of dream, and this theme relates to the story because the main character had a dream. Stayed with that dream, and he didn’t let what others said about him bother him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theme importance of a dream relates to â€Å"Black Boy† because the boy decided to go for his dream. His dream was to become a writer, as seen on page 431, the narrator expressed that the boy woke up one day wanting to be a writer, and he then picked up his composition book and he wrote the story. He showed a way on how go with that dream and he had also had the courage to stay with that dream.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Also, The character had stayed with his dream; this is shown on pages 432-434. He had put so much time into that story that he took it to the editor himself. Once the editor got it he wanted a response immediately. That shows that he stuck with his dream, he wanted an immediate response from the editor. After that he wanted to know what was he going to do with the story. The main character had a dream, and he didn’t care what others said.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lastly, the main character in the story â€Å"Black boy† didn’t care what people said about his 3part story. He even was hurt by his own grandmother, (as seen on pages 432-

Environmental policy Essay

Environment is the surrounding of any specific object of the system. The current issue of environmental problems had risen in late 1970 when several industrials masses become evident. Several new industries started and developed several chances for employment for the world. The industries although produce a positive impact on the economy of the world with reference to their monetary benefits but they, as a counter effect, produce several harms to the society as well as their environment. Due to the fact that every input have the output which is some what lower and the remain residual as waste, the world feels that there should be some how some regulation or rules or a guide line to restrict these industries for the betterment of the society and specially for the environment. So it became much more eminent to build an effective guide line, commonly known as policy, as a safety valve for the environment of the world. So a new concept of social economics arrived. For example, an industrial unit which contributes its share to contaminate the environment has an extra opportunity cost known as social cost which effect its market position. After the emission of social economics the concept of an affective environmental control procedure or rules arises this further processed and formed an environmental policy. Although, in social economic that extra social costs were not on the account of the company that produce it but on the account of the whole market. That was the major reason behind the evolution of the environmental policy. The major key interceptors for any environmental policy are its basic harming agents which possess an effective entity in the market or economy. Like deforesting, Water contamination, greenhouse effect etc. An effective environmental policy not only contribute in the development of the country in form of its economic impact but it also prevent from over budgeting and decrease the unit of social cost of any economy. An environmental policy is the basic key element to build a cleaner and safer environment. In other words, the economic policy is the preservator of future raw material for the industries. So an effective environmental policy works as a catalyst for the development of any economy as well as it also creates a conducive environment for the labor and entrepreneurs to use their skills and capabilities. (McKee, 1991) Let’s have a look on the factors that are currently being configured as a primary concern of any environmental policy. The first factor which is currently most important is the global warming. The temperature of the world has now being in process of change. Mean to say that the temperature of the world is rising. Green House gas effect is the main reason behind that global warming. This green house gas occurs due to the emission of carbon dioxide in burning fossil fuel. Methane (a byproduct of agricultural form) is another element behind that change in temperature rise. They allow the sun heat rays to be in but they don’t allow the rays to upward emission that’s why the surface of the earth is getting much hotter. Another factor which effects the environment is clean air. Again the main source for this contamination is again fossil fuel. After burning these fuels emits carbon dioxide and carbon mono oxide which then mix with air and contaminate it acid rain is also a byproduct of this contaminated air. Another important factor is species preservation. The rapid economic growth has caused several species to vanish. Again the waste from these industries polluted water and caused serious effect on several species. Water quality is one more important factor that effect environmental policy. It’s also a major issue. Just like water pollution Air pollution with chemicals is also concerning to policy. One of the most important concerns of any environmental policy is the industrial waste because this is one of the most basic elements in contamination of almost every impurity. The true implement of any environmental policy is only possible when we have an effective management system of industrial waste distribution. That how can we protect our resources and environment from polluting by recycling or destroying our industrial waste by any means. The basic industrial waste is usually the by products of any economic yield products. This waste can be in any form. It can be solid, or liquid or gracious or in some cases, radioactive. After the starting of the era of nuclear science another form of waste arrived. This is known as nuclear waste. (Environment, 2008)

buy custom Buy Custom SUCCESSFUL STRESS MANAGEMENT Essay Sample

buy custom Buy Custom SUCCESSFUL STRESS MANAGEMENT Essay Sample Successful Stress Management Today, stress management is highly important, especially in business administration field. Every professional activity is followed by situations that cause stress. The vast majority of people cannot function normally while being stressed, because it may affect their coordination, ability to think clearly, common psychological condition, etc. Therefore, proper stress management is the key for success in business and career in general. Since there are many ways of managing stress, every person should find the one that will fit him/her the best. Successful stress management can be achieved with the help of relaxing music, sports, professional psychologist, etc. However, every person can find out his or her unique method to manage stress. One of the best ways to cope with stress in business administration is to memorize the phrase This problem is not the worst thing that could happen to me. Thus, loosing a very good client or spoiling an important official document is not as serious as a death of a close relative or getting an injury that leads to physical disability for the rest of life. Obviously, this phrase does not imply that every problem in business is insignificant and does not require to be solved immediately. This should only help to stay reasonable in mind and actions, which is vital for problem solving. In fact, every professional must be able to evaluate the seriousness of any problem in business thinking in a wider way and considering all aspects, which are both in and outside the problem; this can be done only by the people who do not respond to stress. The idea of the abovementioned way of managing stress is not only the tool for not becoming stressed but also for solving the problem in the best and the fastest way possible, which cannot be done by a person under stress. Therefore, people who had found the method of successful stress management are usually the best workers, because they are the most reliable in difficult situations and are valued by the authorities.

The Millenium of the West essays

The Millenium of the West essays According to The Economist article "The Millennium of the West," the last millennium, especially the last 250 years, has seen a triumph of the West's beliefs, ideas, military and government. The article makes an attempt to step back in time and analyze the evolution of economic growth, science and technology throughout the world. A commonly stated adage is that one can predict the future by looking into the past; therefore, we will use The Economists research into our past millennium in order to peer into the future and predict the state of the world in June of 2007. When one questions the future of the world they are forced to and must examine the past and current status of the West and its coming state as well. Currently the western world is characterized by electoral democracy, the rule of law, tolerance of descent, and the belief in individual rights. The triumph of western civilization has brought a flourishing of knowledge and wealth, health and population, and institutions and ideas. What if western characteristics were suddenly to change by a world-altering event? Our what if all the West's characteristics slowly evolved into an altered structure? From research into the past we understand that it is possible that certain dominant civilizations are vulnerable to change and may fall as a result of more influential and commanding structures. As a result, a change in the dominance of western civilization is foreseeable, yet it may be unlikable that such an event would occur in the next five years. However, nothing proves that the West's triumph will endure. In fact, Japan has already made a huge mark on the world economy with its exceptional technological advances and its highly efficient organizational and manufacturing structures. Furthermore, with their enormous population's, China and India may also pose a threat to the West's power and influence over the world. In addition, India's influence continues to pose a t...

What do you think hitler's view would be on western expansion Assignment

What do you think hitler's view would be on western expansion - Assignment Example Hitler had this in mind since he masterminded the Second World War (Muller & Gerd 49). After annexing Austria, Hitler’s view was that Germany needed to be powerful at the expense of eastern nations like Russia and Poland. To Hitler, these nations were populated by ‘Sub-humans’, hence, their territories needed to be taken away. Germany was rising in terms of power, and led by Hitler, they believed that whatever suited them needed to be taken by them. Hitler first went to German speaking regions that had initially been taken away from German by the Versailles Treaty. German first took the Saar Basin and later attacked the Rhineland. After taking Austria, they moved up to the Southern region of Czechoslovakia which was called Sudentenland. Hitler’s view was that there were many German nationals in these regions. Hitler then went ahead and took the whole of Czechoslovakia. None of the Western Alliance powers were able to stop Hitler. This marked the beginning of the Second World War. This had been a ploy by Hitler to form a large alliance that w ould fight for him in the Second World War (Muller & Gerd 78). Yes. At that time, there was a battle for supremacy. Hitler fathomed that German’s allies in the First World War would not support them in case another major war came up. Hitler wanted to conquer the whole of Europe, hence he triggered the war. By annexing most German speaking regions, he formed a formidable

GEOLOGY HOMEWORK ASSIGNMNET Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

GEOLOGY HOMEWORK ASSIGNMNET - Essay Example Until recently, it was accepted that we live in the Holocene epoch which began at the end of the last ice age. However, the Dutch chemist Paul Crutzen coined the word Anthropocene epoch. The Anthopocene epoch can be considered to have begun sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. This is because, human impact upon the world has grown much more prominent since the last century and continues to do so with the human population being quadrupled in this period and the human biomass already being much larger than that of any species that ever existed on earth. The concept of a new epoch after the Holocene epoch was first introduced by an Italian geologist named Antonio Stoppani in 1870, but was rejected as unscientific. Since then however the human impact on earth has grown by immense standards and thus the Anthropocene epoch can be said to have begun after the late 19th century. I do support the concept of the Anthropocene epoch primarily because along with the increase in popula tion, the impact of technology on the earth cannot be overlooked.