Hebrew and Islamic Mythology Essay

While science and religion are notorious for their contentious and often violently contrasting relationship, they bear much in common in their agenda. Both set out to provide explanations for the world’s mysteries. And as such, they also share a large hand of unanswered questions. Perhaps chief among them, the question of the earth’s creation, and by extension, man’s ascension to awareness, is one with very few empirical explanations. And in an absence of any conclusive evidence, theories abound from all camps. A common thread in history’s chapters, myths regarding the Earth’s conception provide insight into the lives and cultures of their respective societies. In western society, the Judeo-Christian anecdote is easily the most well-known. This story is the primary creationist mythology for many monotheistic sects. Herein, God creates the earth in six days, with man arriving on the last. On the seventh day, the omnipotent rests and thus, delivers man the Sabbath. However, in the centuries that preceded the inflection point where monotheism began to take popular hold, polytheistic idolaters provided the most commonly held ideas about the earth’s origin. One of the earliest examples of the literate and elaborated nature that these myths could take on comes from the rich tapestry of Greek mythology. The Greeks were idol-worshippers who had developed a complex and extremely colorful cast of gods. Though not omnipotent like the Judeo-Christian almighty, these gods were believed to possess real and considerable power over the lives of their human subjects. The Greek myth of creation is an exposition of that relationship. It was believed that, prior to earth, there was nothing but darkness. And amid this darkness, the only object was a black-winged bird called Nyx. This bird, alone in the void, was impregnated by the wind. (Note the parallel to the immaculate conception of Christ. ). As a result of this cosmic union, she yielded a golden egg, which she proceeded to roost upon for many thousands of years. Eventually, this egg hatched and the god of love, Eros, sprang forth. Just as Eros was born, so too were his siblings, whom he was given the honor of naming. They were the upper and lower halves of his shell, which rose to the air and sank to the ground respectively. They became the sky and the earth. Eros called them Uranus and Gaia and blessed them with love. This love resulted in children and grandchildren who would blossom into twisted, war-bent gods whose better judgment would be often blinded by a hopeless quest for power. A first-generation child of Gaia and Uranus, Kronus took a wife in Rhea and produced many children, whom he grew to fear immensely. Kronus, a problem-solver by nature, swallowed his children while they were still infants, thus preventing what he considered to be the inevitable threat of usurpation. The youngest of his sons, however, was also the most beloved to Rhea so she deceived her husband into consuming a rock in the child’s place. This youngest child, Zeus, would grow strong in manhood and ultimately bring to realization Kronus’ greatest fear. Zeus liberated his brothers and sisters from his father’s malicious and all-consuming grasp. Then he led them to revolution, waging a war against the tyrannical god. In their victory, they turned their benevolent attention to the great creations of Nyx. The gods began to populate Uranus with the stars thus creating space. They began to furnish Gaia with life, thus birthing nature. After creating the appropriate backdrop, the gods recognized that the earth was correct excepting its want for animals and humans. Zeus set to the task his sons Prometheus and Epimetheus, whose names translate literally to mean forethought and afterthought. This provides some interesting insight, perhaps, into the Greek perspective about man’s intellectual capacity and eventual self-awareness. In addition, it offers literal details about the unique abilities and idiosyncrasies that mark the species which populate the earth. When assigned to the job of designing creatures, the brothers were given a variety of gifts to offer their creations. While Epimetheus set upon the task of creating the animals and awarding them all with gifts, Prometheus carefully sculpted man to be in the image of the gods. (Again, man’s definition as being in the image of god holds much in common with Judeo-Christian creationism). When he completed his task, he found that Epimetheus had given away all the gifts, leaving humankind with the shaft. Prometheus sought to rectify the matter by stealing a trace of fire from the setting sun and giving it to man. When Zeus awoke to find man in possession of that which was to belong only to the gods, he was furious. He punished Prometheus to an eternity stapled to a tree, having his liver chewed on by vultures. But the damage was done. Man had been created and given the power of fire. There is a great deal more to Greek mythology, as with the bible. The role of the gods takes on a wide array of purposes, gradually divining all of man’s vices and virtues. But in the story of the earth’s creation alone, there is much illumination. The Greek legend begins to tell part of the story of Greek culture insofar as it offers some true self-examination. In this story of violence, deception and a natural tendency toward roguishness, the Greeks provide a piercing look into a psyche long since perished from the world. Surviving with far greater ideological intensity are those creation myths driving modern faith. The traditional structure of the dominant monotheistic faiths incorporates a narrative regarding the creation of earth and man into its formative doctrines. Herein is typically contained an originating explanation for the relationship between god, man, heaven and earth that provides grounding for the entirety of the faith’s sacred text. This is a fundamental commonality between the texts of the Hebrew Bible and the Holy Qur’an, both of which dedicate significant portions of their second chapters to delineating the story of the first man. It is striking to compare the passages concerning the creation of the first man as they appear in the two texts. Though today Judaism and Islam function almost as antecedents to one another, with their practitioners often viewing their respective texts as placing them into diametric and practical opposition of one another, these passages provide evidence of their common derivation. The creation myths of the two religions suggest that their political, social and cultural differences today may stem from the nuances therein, which had the effect of placing their interests in close confines with one another while arming them with divergent perspectives on how best to achieve said interests. The details surrounding God’s deliverance of Adam to the Garden are essentially the same according to the two texts, but the wording of each calls for closer speculation. In Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible, God follows his work of creating the heaven and the earth by creating man: â€Å"Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.. † (Gen. 2:7) From here is taken a substantial assumption in the Judeo-Christian faith which proceeds from it, that man is created in the image and likeness of God. The breath of God, this passage indicates, circulates in the body of every man, suggesting a responsibility to godliness for all of us. The Qur’an, in its recognition of the same deliverance to the Garden, paints a different image in acknowledgment of God’s endowment of life. In keeping with a prominent thematic impulse of the Qur’an, convicting its readers to note the distinction in fates for believers and nonbelievers, the phrase depicting Adam’s creation is posed with a similar connotation: â€Å"How do you deny Allah and you were dead and He gave you life? Again He will cause you to die and again bring you to life, then you shall be brought back to Him. † (Koran, 2:28) This is a passage which demands not just belief in the creationist role of Allah but also a devotion to eradicating or combating non-belief. More explicitly and ideologically pertinent though, it carries with it a description of the process of reincarnation. Man, in this passage, is described as an entity being fully at the mercy of God within the bonds of the creator-to-created relationship. And where the berth into God’s image, held in the Hebrew Bible, ultimately predisposed man to divine immortality, this infinitude is represented differently in Islam. The overtones of reincarnation here suggest that man is not considered to be made in the image of God, nor even an element of the earth as also implied by Genesis 2:7, but is a soul perpetually disposed to take forms according to the will of Allah. This does not necessarily indicate a fundamental difference in the dispositions of the gods in question, Yahweh and Allah in the bible and Qur’an respectively. In Genesis, there is an articulated statement regarding God’s willingness and right, as creator, to snuff out his subject for transgression of his law. At the time, this law was constituted summarily of one directive in which â€Å"the LORD God commanded the man, saying: ‘Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. ‘†(Gen. 2:16-17) These foreboding words are those which assured our mortality on an earth characterized as the forum for exile from the Garden. The air which god breathed into us through Adam’s nostrils would, as God promised, be the price paid for partaking of the fruit. This fall from the grace of godly immortality would define the nature of man’s life-cycle, and by extension, theoretical concepts such as time and space and spiritual assumptions about death and the afterlife. God’s proposition to Allah as depicted in the Qur’an is not endowed with the same consequence, perhaps a product of the initial divergence between the two texts with regard to the fundamental construct of man in relation to his god: â€Å"And We said: O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the garden and eat from it a plenteous (food) wherever you wish and do not approach this tree, for then you will be of the unjust. † (Koran, 2:35) The fall from grace is described quite differently here, with man incurring no such threat as explicit as a certain death. This is a condition already possessed of man in the passage concerning his formation. It is not a punishment but a state of being given grounded in man’s relationship to Allah. Original sin is still a common element to the doctrines of the two faiths, but its consequences appear as quite different actually. In the Hebrew Bible, the serpent is a creature which plays the role of deceiver and, by metaphorical extension, the antithetical and fundamentally evil counterpart to God’s unchanging benevolence. This is contrasted by the Qur’an’s direct address of a Satan figure, a development affirming its composition as having occurred at a far later date than that of Genesis: â€Å"But the Shaitan made them both fall from it, and caused them to depart from that (state) in which they were; and We said: Get forth, some of you being the enemies of others, and there is for you in the earth an abode and a provision for a time. † (Koran, 2:36) A punishment dealt herein concerns man’s occupation of earth as a home, with God endowing it only a finite capacity to host mortal life. Again, the contrast between the implications to man’s punishment for Original Sin in the two texts can be traced to the contrast in man’s assumed composition. In the Hebrew Bible, God punished Eve and her offspring to a perpetuity of painful childbearing â€Å"and unto Adam He said: ‘Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying: Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. † (Gen. 3:17) In this passage, a fundamental difference in perspective is illuminated, that man’s lot, to toil on the land, is a punishment profoundly connected to his violation of God’s will and his organic relationship to the soil. Where the Garden of Eden was a sanctuary at Adam’s disposal, the Earth would be his responsibility and his shackles. His mortality would be profoundly chained to his capacity to manage the earth. Where Islam casts its subjects as inhabitants of a land inevitably bound to eventually leave them to resource-deprived oblivion, Judaism confines its followers to a eternity of suffering knowledge of the earth’s hard reality. God tells Adam of this fate as being a mixed blessing, with the knowledge equally capable of delivering him to pain and pleasure, â€Å" for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. ‘† (Gen. 3:5) In a way, this is a complete fulfillment of man’s emulation of the creator-image just as it is the downfall from godliness. Indeed, the serpent cavorts Eve by telling her that she and Adam will be endowed with knowledge and fortitude, and be gods themselves. In exchange for this transgression, god casts man without guidance into the desert abyss. This is contrasted by the denouement of original sin in the Qur’an, where Allah casts his children out but does so under the auspices of mercy: â€Å"We said: Go forth from this (state) all; so surely there will come to you a guidance from Me, then whoever follows My guidance, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. † (Koran, 2:38) Here, God reaffirms his commitment to man even in his failing, offering him an unconditional love as sanctuary for the pain and suffering of the land. The intricacies that differentiate the two texts offer a useful set of variations on a creation story that is highly associated with the evolution of monotheism. Particularly, the mutual centrality of the texts on man’s role and purpose in the earth’s creation and the heaven’s sanctity illustrates the capacity of each to elucidate its pursuant culture’s views on God’s divine plan for humanity. Bibliography: Fahs, Sophia Lyon, Spoerl, Dorothy T. Beginnings: Earth, Sky, Life, Death. Beacon Press. Boston. 1965. Freund, Philip. Myths of Creation. Washington Square Press, Inc. New York City. 1965. Koran Text. (1997 edition). The Holy Qur’an. University of Virginia: Online Book Initiative. Online at Masoretic Text. (JPS 1917 Edition). A Hebrew-English Bible. Mechon Mamre. Online at

Police Administration Essay

In the general concern of police administration, strategic program evaluation is indeed important for the effectiveness of their service and function in the society. Through the thorough evaluation and analysis of their administration and programs, the police organization can understand their processes and strategies in which they can notice their challenges, pitfalls, and problems thus ensuring measures to further develop their performance and service. Another is that through evaluation, the police administration can likewise determine their strengths and advantages, which they can incorporate in their organizational development and further performance plan. Indeed, with the knowledge determined in the administration and program evaluation, the police organization can find effective solutions and strategies for the realization of further development in their function as public servants. However, for the effectiveness of the program evaluation, certain measures must be implemented to achieve the desired results and information accuracy. In this aspect, most evaluations of the police organization programs are conducted by outsiders from the said institutions who mainly represent the public sector which are the primary target of the said program. There are three reasons for this arrangement namely as inclined with humanitarian concern, neutrality view, and the awareness campaign for the fundamental characteristics of the program. Indeed, the dialogue of program evaluation by outsiders counteracting the police institutions is arranged mainly for the intention of achieving effective influence and positive results from the program for the benefit of its target namely the public sector. The arrangement placing outsiders as the evaluators of the programs and strategies of the police organizations is established based on three reasons inclined towards the effectiveness of the police function concern. The first involves humanitarian concern wherein the outside evaluation will be conducted on the perspective of its target sector and the realization of its effects on the public. In the process of outside evaluation, the examiners can thoroughly consider whether the said police program, strategy, or action will be either advantageous or detrimental to their concern. With them conducting the evaluation as the party representing the public interest, they can significantly determined if there are any abusive characteristics or grounds in the program which would be contradictory to the function and responsibility of the police department. Another reason for the said evaluation arrangement is the neutrality pursuit wherein both parties namely the police force and the public sector desire a transparent and unbiased view on the examination. Having an outside party conduct the program evaluation will result to a process free from the political nature and pressure existing inside the police organization. With this arrangement, any bias qualities inside the program can be reduced or even eliminated as both contrasting parties have reviewed and commented on the nature of the said program. The third reason for the said arrangement in police program evaluation lies in the awareness campaign and interest of the police organization. In this concern, the police group must acknowledge the presence and relevance of the public sector representation in terms of information dissemination and awareness. Manifested in the outside party evaluation, a party representing the public must be allowed to investigate and acquire knowledge regarding the program of the police organization. Having been informed of the program’s nature and characteristics, the said party can aid the public in understanding the purpose and relevance of that program thus, gaining the trust, support, and participation of the public sector. Indeed, doing the arrangement of outside party evaluation can effectively aid the interest of the program of manifesting the function of the police organization and benefit the need of the public sector. In the pursuit of achieving effectiveness in the action and performance of the police organization, programs embodying the function of the organization are created as part of their action. In the concern of achieving the beneficial interest from the police performance, the arrangement establishing outside parties to evaluate and examine the performance program of the police organization is created. This approach is developed mainly based on the reasons of humanitarian concern, transparency in the organization’s activities, and the interest of the public for awareness in the presence and activities of the police organization. In general, the development of the said arrangement as part of the procedural activity of the police organization is for the effectiveness of their function and duty of protecting the welfare of the public and promoting peace in the society.

From emigration to immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

From emigration to immigration - Essay Example The population of Ireland is 5.5 million at present, but had been over 8 million in 1841. It had augmented hastily from 4 or 5 million at the Act of Union with Britain in 1801. As the population was to be destroyed by the Famine of 1845 to1848, together by death and mass emigration, there had been elevated emigration well before the Famine. More than 1.5 million had emigrated between 1815 and 1840. One third of these left to Britain and of those who went west, half came towards Canada, and the other half to the United States in that period. This stage of emigration which was to rise swiftly in the stage instantly after the Famine was an extraordinary high proportion of the total population, unparalleled in other European states. The Famine directed to the death and emigration of over one million people. The population fell to 6.5 million by 1851 and by an additional million to 5.5 million by 1871. There was de-industrialization, as stated by the author (Crotty, R., 1986), in the 19th century in the majority of Ireland, with the exemption of the North East. Five million people emigrated between 1851 and 1921 and most of these were sole adults. The tough farmers left the farm to the eldest son and many siblings went abroad and so the honesty of their farms was preserved. People had far less children and those who had property were to become tough in their attitude to heritage. Emigration and transforms in productiveness permitted for augmented profits for those who stayed behind. The following table gives the net outflow each decade from 1850 up to the ending of the 20th century and in addition for the three years to 2003 inclusive. It shows a huge outflow of people from Ireland mainly given the small size of the population. (Crotty, R., 1986). The reasons for the continued growth of the Irish economy are difficult, yet

Overpopulation affects the environment Research Paper - 1

Overpopulation affects the environment - Research Paper Example he population has effected the environment through two agents: the increasing population itself, and the advances in technology that this population has brought with itself (Stancheva). However, currently both the problems have little hope of being tackled, so that the environment continues to be adversely effected. For this purpose, and in this paper, it is assumed that the problem of overpopulation is a fixed entity, and the only variable that can be modified is the way the environment is handled through lifestyle and habits of the general population. This paper, therefore, purports to present some of the problems that are inflicted on the environment, and the way they can be properly handled by appropriate changes in the lifestyle. The most dire issue related to overpopulation is that of fresh water supply (Stancheva). According to the United Nations, the supply per capita has decreased by one third in the past year (Stancheva). It is the worst in the developing and the underdeveloped countries of Asia, Africa, and South America, coinciding with the increase in the population in these areas (Stancheva). Nevertheless, the developed countries and the urban areas are also not prevented from this crisis (Stancheva); with the increase in population in the urban areas due to migration, the demand for fresh water has increased while the supplies either remain constant or have decreased. A case in point is Beijing (Stancheva). Another problem related to water is its pollution. Again, it is worst in the underdeveloped countries, where 95% of the sewage, especially from factories, is dumped into the water system untreated, which ultimately makes its way into the ocean (Stancheva). Combined with over-fishing, which results in the

Music in the Afro Brazilian Religion Candomble Research Paper - 1

Music in the Afro Brazilian Religion Candomble - Research Paper Example This "Music in the Afro Brazilian Religion Candomble" essay outlines the characteristics of Brazilian religion. The features included in the religion include vigorous rituals and music that are very imperative in its development. The Capoeira is one recognized art in the Afro Brazilian setting that has the combination of music and dance. The specific ritual is martial art created in Brazil by slaves of the African continent and characterized by very fast and swift moves that are rather complex for anyone not well trained to comprehend. The power exerted in the dance is vast and thus for a person to perform the art well, strength is an important factor. One of the instruments used in the Capoeira is the berimbau. The instrument has its importance in that it brings out the rhythm of the songs in performance. Rhythm is an integral part of the ritual and without it; there can be no sense of dance in the music played in the Capoeira. The berimbau is not the only instrument played in the Capoeira but rather one of a set. The set is arranged in a row where there are three berimbeu, an agogo and two pendeiros (Rohrig 167). The full formation of the set is very important in that each of the instruments has a role that it plays in the completion of a perfect Candomble dance. All the instruments are supposed to follow the formation of the rhythm of the berimbau. The songs played in the Capoeira have different themes and purposes. There are also the songs played in various games in an effort to boost the morale of the players.

Several Medical Record Formats at the Healthy Facility Record Assignment

Several Medical Record Formats at the Healthy Facility Record - Assignment Example For instance, all agencies which are owned by the local government are supposed to keep a defined general retention and disposition schedule. The retention policy should give a guideline on how the records should be retained by all kinds of EMS services. All EMS agencies are supposed to have the policy which shall describe all the procedures which are in compliance with the retention of records required. The policy should also describe the time length needed to document the records. Additionally, the policy should have described well how the document will be stored, procedures for retrieving the stored document and how the records will be protected. The following are the physical/ technical measures which are used to secure HIM department; both internal and external departments should be taught the importance of computer security, one should ensure that all other staffs take seriously security he or she does, ensure that all the information in the system components are catalogued because there are no two medical practices which have the same information, one should be ready for the disaster even before it has struck this means there should be an alternative method of backing up all the information in the system. Lastly, one should ensure that all his or her communications and network safeguards are robust and intact. The following are the both physical and technical measures which should used to secure health records; there should be facility access controls such as alarms and locks, there should be proper policies in the workstation to make sure that there is proper access and use workstations, workstation security measures, such as computer privacy filters and cable locks, there should be a good plan on how to restore lost data. There several areas in HIM those are outsourced. These areas are; contractors and consultants, data technicians, and also programmers.  Ã‚  

16th century Empires Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

16th century Empires - Essay Example To put the comparison in perspective, it has to be noted that religion dominated the public sphere of almost all civilization in the world be it among Europeans, Middle Easters, Andeans or Mesoamericans during the 15th century. Whether it be a the theistic god of the Christian or the pantheistic god of the Andeans and Mesoamericans, religion played a major role in their society. The extent of religious influence however on the policies that govern its empire varies with each civilization. There are civilizations or societies whose imperialistic thrust may be primarily motivated or at least veiled by religion such as the European Spaniards, and there are also societies or civilizations who adopted a more pragmatist approach toward its expansionary ambition such as Incas of the Andeans. We can cite as a classic example the Spaniards in 1521 who were at the height of its religious fervor sending its missionaries to pagan countries to hear the word of God from the Catholic church. Ferdin and Magelland, the leader of the expeditionary Spanish Fleet was in fact looking for spices in the exotic world but used religion to subjugate the natives of the Philippines when it landed in Mactan. It did not tell the natives that they were really there looking for spices and other items for trade but rather used the cross and the sword to justify their presence. What followed is a more than 300 years of colonial rule characterized by theocracy to usurp the country of its natural resources. Compared to the Incans who were dominant among the Andeans during its height in the 15th century, the Incans as representative of the Andeans were more pragmatic in its approach in gaining material resources to sustain its empire. From periods 1438 to 1533, the Andeans used a wide variety of method to sustain herself that ranged from conquest to peaceful assimilation that would integrate territories that they

Earth journey Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Earth journey - Research Paper Example It is also safe to assume that the earth is maintaining these conditions to enable its survival (Lovelock 59). Times are changing and humans are changing for the better. This evolution demands that the earth change also, to ensure its survival, in the long run. The thing I found intriguing about the theory in question is the ability it has to assist scientists find out what needs to be done to salvage the situation. Documented proof that the earth is indeed protecting its existence is available. An example is the research conducted 15-20 years ago Lynn Margulis over the formation of clouds over the ocean. It is through the emission of sulphur molecules as waste material by algae, which later become raindrops through condensation. Cloud formation, in turn, assists the earth maintain its temperature while reducing the heat intensity from the sun (Lovelock 62). I would like to learn more about this theory. This is so that it may assist me in comprehending the benefits of modelling my activities to better suit my immediate environment, and the entire

Obesity epedemic in america Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Obesity epedemic in america - Essay Example The good part of this issue is that it can be dealt with and controlled. Increased awareness programs by the government along with better management skills and promotion of healthy programs by the media which support a healthy lifestyle can prove to be very beneficial for the people suffering from this condition. Understanding the causes of the disease and dealing with the issue by analyzing these causes can assist in treating this condition. Obesity Epidemic In America With the changes in the living styles of human beings many pathological conditions have emerged and they have become matters of global concern owing to the wide range of impact that they lay on the health of the individuals. Obesity is one such example of a global pathological problem which is now a subject of much concern. Obesity is basically a condition in which there is an increase in the amount of fats in the body of an individual. This condition serves as a base for many degenerative diseases and it serves to af fect the most important systems of the human body. It has now also been observed that this condition also lays an impact on the psychological condition of the person (Stanford Hospital and Clinics 2010). The great number of risks and problems associated with the condition have made it a topic of concern for the entire world. The alarming levels of the condition in the United States have served it to be labelled as an epidemic. ... Examination Survey, two third of the people who reside in the United States either suffer from increased weight or obesity with on an average of one third of the population suffering from obesity (Weight Control and Information Network 2010). Another very important finding in the country explores the fact that the vulnerability of the children becoming obese has also increased and the in the last three decades the rate of this condition has increased by more than thrice in the country. The intensity of the issue of childhood obesity can be analyzed by the fact that the issue has come to the notice of the first family and even they have called for efforts to fight against obesity (Laing 2010). Obesity is a disease state which was initially considered to have no genetic role in its causation. But recent research has put forward the fact that obesity is a disease state which has both genetic component and environmental factors involved in causing it. It is caused by the deletion or dama ge in a gene known as Ob gene putting the subjects with these deletions at high risks of developing obesity (NCBI 1998). The disease can also occur because of an energy imbalance that is excessive intake of energy with lesser utilization by means of physical activity. Thus the increases energy is stored in the body in the form of fat leading to obesity. A diet rich in fat can also lead to obesity because a high fat diet stimulates a person to eat more. Another important reason for obesity is psychological disorders which include depression, eating disorders like binge eating and increased diet in times of stress. Obesity itself can also serve as a reason because it might lead for a person to lose his self confidence and hence the person loses the will to exercise and adopt weight loss

Brand McDonalds Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Brand McDonalds - Assignment Example   McDonald's and Golden arches can be said to be a beacon of success. As per 2011, it is the largest fast-food chain. Its revenue as of 2013 is the US $ 28.1057 billion. McDonalds’ has a good brand image and ranks among top ten in the survey of most valuable company in the planet (McDonald Corp. 2013). However, McDonalds is facing some peculiar problem.  McDonald's quite low when compared to its rivals in factors of quality perception.2. It has a new breed of customers with changing taste and preference and it has to keep itself relevant before it is too late or become history (Slama, 2014, pp. 9-11).Let us analyze the Brand management strategies of McDonalds through the lens of Keller’s brand equity model.Keller published this theory in his book strategic brand management. The theory of this model is pretty simple. It simply states that the company needs to redefine how customers think about their product for creating a strong brand. As per the figure there are fou r steps in order to build a strong brand image.  Applying the models 4 steps in case of Mc Donald’Step 1. Brand IdentityMc Donald wants to change its brand image in which it is identified as major culprit for the chronic obesity problem faced by US and other countries.  In wants to reposition itself as a brand that makes nutritional foods instead (Doole and Lowe, 2008, pp. 42-44). Its recent advertisement campaigns focus on people and emotions. Even there is a change in the product line to include new and healthy products.

Why Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a Great Man Essay Example for Free

Why Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a Great Man Essay â€Å"†¦History is created by people and the role of the individual cannot be denied, even though it needs to be seen in a historical context. While there are limits to the role played by individuals, might the part they play in critical circumstances be decisive in the chain of causality? Pertaining to this ‘Great Man Theory’ it can be said that Franklin Delano Roosevelt upheld his victorious and highly regarded government through means of social, economic and political reforms, as well as ambitious personal and strategic decisions that have successfully remained influential to American society today and maintained his image as a prominent historic leader. Franklin Roosevelt was the 32nd President of America from 1933 – 1945, eminent historian Sean J Savage articulated that Roosevelt remained a central figure in world events during the 20th Century, leading the United States through a time of world wide economic depression and war. In his first hundred days in office, which began March 4, 1933, Roosevelt spearheaded major legislation and issued a profusion of executive orders that instituted the New Deal; a variety of programs designed to induce relief like government jobs for the unemployed, recovery through economic growth and reform through regulation of Wall Street and major banks as stated by Professor John Simkin. Following the example of his fifth cousin, President Theodore Roosevelt, whom he greatly admired, Franklin D. Roosevelt entered public service through politics, but as a Democrat. The White House Presidential website provides a patriotic American insight based on primary sources that when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Roosevelt directed organization of the Nations manpower and resources for global war, feeling that the future peace of America relied upon relations between itself and Russia. Roosevelt devoted much thought to the planning of a United Nations, in which, he hoped, international difficulties could be settled. As the war drew to a close, Roosevelts health deteriorated, and on April 12, 1945, while at Warm Springs, Georgia, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Franklin Roosevelt is named as one of the most transcendent American Presidents in history due to his influence over the Democratic Party and the regimes it implemented. Roosevelt fought to change the Democratic Party and make it a united coalition through which America would thrive. The Democratic Party put together a formidable coalition whose main components were lower-income groups in the great cities; African-Americans, union members, and ethnic and religious minorities, many from recent immigrant groups, this coalition aimed to improve and bring American lives to great new consummate levels (Tennen, 2012). As Susan Dunn emphasizes in Roosevelts Purge; FDR was motivated not merely by personal pique and short-term legislative goals but by a vision of a refashioned party system, he worried that the Democratic Party would remain a chronically weak minority party unless it clearly distinguished itself as a liberal organization and improved its appeal among voters dissatisfied with republican policies. Peri E Arnold, American historian and college professor explains that in early 1937 Roosevelt surprised Congress with judicial reform and executive reorganization bills that he and his newly formed Democrats had assembled; by 1938 those bills, along with economic measures such as the New Deal, were treated indecisively by conservative Democrats. This Democratic Party and Roosevelt’s ideals helped ensure that effective relief efforts were introduced and would allow Roosevelt to help to play an integral part in WWII. Roosevelt’s involvement in the Great Depression and WWII was essential for these incidences to occur the way they did. The Great Depression in the United States began on October 29, 1929, a day known forever after as Black Tuesday, when the American stock market–which had been roaring steadily upward for almost a decade; crashed, plunging the country into its most severe economic downturn yet (University of Virginia, 2010). When Roosevelt was elected into presidency he promised that under his government he would act decisively to end the Depression. Once in office, FDR said yes to almost every plan put forward by advisors and congress said yes to almost ever program proposed b the President. Barbara Welke from the History Channel Website provides information on the programs Roosevelt initiated; one part of the whole program was to promote recovery, supply relief to the needy and furnish permanent reforms especially in banks and stock exchanges. WWII ended both the temporary New Deal programs and the Depression the Roosevelt government was attempting to cure but many facets of the New Deal have remained features of American life from the 1930’s until the present. Barbara Welke author and reporter stated that FDR spearheaded the successful wartime alliance between the Soviet Union, Britain and the US. And that he helped to lay the groundwork for the post-war peace organization that would become the United Nations. While many favor Roosevelt’s decision Republicans and several members of congress argue that he made some poor appointments such as never giving his quickly put together war administration real organization. Robert A Guisepi, an American correspondent believes that another way of understanding Roosevelt’s Depression fighting efforts is to analyze the New Deal Initiative. The Aim of the New Deal was essentially conservative and it sought to save capitalism and the fundamental institutions of American from the disaster of the Great Depression. The New Deal was a successful and positive economic and social advancement which Roosevelt played a pivotal role in initiating. Roosevelt made strenuous attempts to help those without work but as well as this also attempted to reduce the misery for those who were unable to work through funding. Deb Tennen, author of Society in FDR’S New Deal emphasizes the success of the temporary closure on all banks to halt the run on deposits; he formed a â€Å"Brain Trust† of economic advisors who designed the alphabet soup agencies. These agencies were created as part of the New Deal to combat the economic depression and prevent another stock market crash in the US and were established during Roosevelt’s first hundred days of office (Clifird Berryman Library of Congress 2007). Ronald Reigan 40th President of American and Republican Party leader stated upon reflection of FDR’s New Deal â€Å"With his alphabet soup of federal agencies, FDR in many ways set in motion the forces that later sought to create big government and bring a form of veiled socialism to America†¦.. He called for cutting federal spending by twenty-five percent, eliminating useless boards and commissions and returning to states and communities powers that had been wrongfully seized by the federal government†¦Ã¢â‚¬  By 1936 the economy showed signs of improvement. Gross national product was up 34 percent and unemployment had dropped from 25 percent to 14 percent (Berryman, 2007). Chris Trueman opposes this success stating that Roosevelt increased government spending, encouraged unbalanced budgets and attempted to advance America towards socialism. Chris Trueman; Author and historian enthusiast explains that those who criticize the New Deal claim that it never actually got rid of unemployment in America and that Roosevelts New Deal only had short term impact which lulled the unemployed into thinking that all their troubles were at an end. However The White House Presidential Website argues that, for many Americans in the 1930s, Roosevelt was the president who included in his policies the people who had felt excluded by politics once the Depression had taken its hold; now the excluded were the included. The New Deal Initiative was an economically and socially positive regime which would power the Democratic Party for the next thirty years. This regime along with other critical personal and strategic decisions, helped to confirm Franklin Roosevelt’s position as a favored and highly regarded President who continues to influence America today. Franklin Roosevelt and his administration ensured he maintained his influential status as one of America’s greatest President’s. Franklin Roosevelt tried to establish a close relationship with the American people. Roosevelt talked to the American people by radio to explain what actions were being taken and what he planned for the future; these radio broadcasts helped him gain widespread support for his programs. Suzanne Bilyeu iterates frequently in her report that Under Roosevelt the American federal government assumed new and powerful roles in the nation’s economy, in its corporate life and in the health, welfare and well-being of its citizens. The legislation he pushed through congress as part of his New Deal not only helped ease the Depression, it also formed the underpinnings of the modern welfare state. Bilyeu credits Roosevelt with rescuing capitalism and America’s way of life at a time when widespread economic misery made socialism and communism more appealing to many. Father Charles E Coughlin a radio priest from Detroit and critic of Roosevelt however, argues that he opened the door to a government that was too big, too powerful and too costly for taxpayers. The Great Man Theory that a powerful figure is only as commendable as the circumstances that surround him and the person that he is are precise of Franklin Roosevelt. He has remained an influential presidential figure from his election into government up until present day due to his battle and triumph through the Great Depression and World War II, his strong and independent reform decisions, ingenious public awareness campaigns and widespread communication, development of peace organizations, economic and social rehabilitation and New Deal programs. As a person Franklin Roosevelt was a decisive and wilful man, dedicated to the success and well being of his nation, he acted swiftly against pressing matters and resolved them with the utmost diligence.

The business activities of Wal-Mart and Tfl Essay Example for Free

The business activities of Wal-Mart and Tfl Essay For this assignment, I will be describing how political, legal and social factors are impacting upon the business activities of Wal-Mart and Tfl. For businesses, this is important because they need to know how these change such as political decisions made by the government or changes to the law or changes that take place in society over time is going to affect their business. Political Factors Political factors is an external environment in which a business functions. This is a type of external constraint for a business and are related to actions of governments. This factors can affect how the business operates. Political factors include politicians, who make important decisions. These can be done at national level at the UK parliament. This is because the UK is a representative democracy, who has a member of parliament that are elected. There are political parties who with the most Members of Parliament run the country. This party is led by the Prime Minister who appoints the Cabinet of Ministers in charge of key areas of the government. Political stability is the durability and integrity of a current government regime. This is determined based on the amount of violence and terrorism expressed in the nation and by citizens associated with the state. A stable society is one that is satisfied with the ruling party and system of operations and is not interested in revolutionary or despotic ideas. For businesses, they hate instability. Businesses operates according to forecasts and scenarios about the future so instability is not what they want. Political stability is important for Wal-Mart because the society is satisfied so that this provides a platform for Wal-Mart to sell their goods. However if the is political instability in the UK, it affects the decision making process and their profits. This is because the confidence in the economy will go down and customers will be less likely to spend. For Tfl, political stability is important because as the organisation budget is paid by the government, if there is instability the money flow will get disrupted. Also when political instability happens there is usually conflict and as Tfl provides a transport service, there could be damage. However in the UK there is a stable political system, so this is the environment for the business to grow  and expand. Another political factors which affect a business is the fiscal policy of t he business. Fiscal policy is the means by which a government adjusts its spending levels and tax rates to monitor and influence a nations economy. It is the sister strategy to monetary policy through which a central bank influences a nations money supply. These two policies are used in various combinations to direct a countrys economic goals. Fiscal policy works by increasing or decreasing tax levels and public spending to maintain the health of the economy. Fiscal policy affects Wal-Mart because by changing the amount of disposable income people have to spend. This can affect the consumer demand. This happens by higher taxes. If taxes are higher than customers will have less money to spend and this will affect the profits of Wal-Mart as less people have money to spend. For Tfl, the fiscal policy will affect the business because as Tfl is a publicly funded, if there is a cut in taxes this will lead to less money for the government. To balance the books, the government will have to cut spending. This directly affects Tfl because their budget will be cut. Another political factor which affects a business is the membership of inte rnational trading organisations. For the UK, they are part of the EU or European Union. The European Union, or EU, is known formally as the European Economic and Monetary Union. It establishes a common market among its 28 member countries. This means that all border controls between members have been eliminated, allowing the free flow of goods and people. The EU common market also means that any product legally manufactured in one member state can be sold in any other member, without tariffs or duties. Taxes have been standardized. Practitioners of most services can operate in all member countries. The cost of airfares, the internet and phone calls have fallen dramatically. By being the EU it affects Wal-Mart because as Wal-Mart is an international company it is easier to operate in the EU because the regulations are same and taxes are similar. Also the EU sets regional policies, so if a country in the EU is struggling and need help the EU will help. This affects Wal-Mart because their investment will be safer because the EU will not let the country collapse. For Tfl, being in the EU helps because as Tfl provides a transport service it needs to import the go ods to improve the infrastructure of the London and being in the EU it is easier and with less paperwork to get the goods. Another political factor which  affects a business is the enhancing of the skills of the working population. This means the education of the youngster of the UK, the training of the working population and research. The government can affect this by the spending it does on the education system and apprenticeships. This affects Wal-Mart because as the UK economy recovery there is an increase in the demand of skilled workers. Wal-Mart needs skill workers for the finance, Management and etc. so with the skilled workers the business can expand. For Tfl, it needs skilled worker because as Tfl provides a transport service it needs engineers how there is a shortage as 88% of employers report not being able to find qualified engineers. Also as Tfl is a publicly funded organisation is has a set budget for employees so the business is at a disadvantage because it cannot pay the same as private businesses. So this is why the enhancing of skilled workers is important for businesses. Finally, another political factor which affects businesses is the government support for different types of organisations. For private businesses, the government gives tax credit to businesses for employing more people or expanding their business. This affects Wal-Mart because this provides a goal because if the grow they will get awarded. Also if Wal-Mart expand they will get bigger profits and with the tax credit, it is easier to grow. For publicly owned companies, the government supports them by paying for part of their budget and the public businesses don’t pay taxes. This affects Tfl because the company doesn’t have to worry about taxes cutting into their profits and as the government pay for their budget, there is less worry about paying for everything. So these are five political factors which affect Wal-Mart and Tfl. Legal Factors Legal factors are things and laws that the government or higher authorities pass that would have an effect on how business are run. Businesses must operate within the framework of the law. However if the business fails to follow the law then it can lead to fines and even imprisonment of directors. Therefore, businesses give high priority to make sure they comply with the law. There are three main types of laws business follow: Company law – Tow businesses are set up and run Contract law – The contract that businesses make with employees, consumers,  suppliers and so on Competition law How businesses deal with employees, consumers, suppliers, and so on, and how businesses are allowed to compete with each other. Company law Company law is providing a framework for businesses. Company law is the field of law concerning companies and other business organizations. This includes corporations, partnerships and other associations which usually carry on some form of economic or charitable activity. One example of a company law is the Companies Act 2006. This is an Act which was passed by the Parliament of the UK. The act provides a rule book for the companies in the UK. This act is an improvement on the Companies Act 1985 because it now it is: To enhance shareholder engagement and a long term investment culture; To ensure better regulation and a Think Small First approach; To make it easier to set up and run a company; and To provide flexibility for the future The key parts of the act is: The Act codifies certain existing†¯common law†¯principles, such as those relating to†¯directors duties. It implements the†¯European Unions†¯Takeover†¯and Transparency Obligations†¯Directives. It introduces various new provisions for†¯private†¯and†¯public companies. It applies a single company law regime across the United Kingdom, replacing the two separate (if identical) systems for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It otherwise amends or restates almost all of the Companies Act 1985 to varying degrees.[2] This affects Wal-Mart because as Wal-Mart has a board of directors, this act states that there must be one person as a director and there cannot be one sole director and the minimum age of the director must be 16 years old. This affects Wal-Mart because it needs to employ more individuals to help run the business and this will affect the profits of the business. For Tfl, this act affects the business because as a part states that accounts must be submitted within 9 months of the year end and this is a change from within 10 months. This affects Tfl because now it needs to spend money reorganising the structure of the business so that it can submit  the account on time. Furthermore, a failure to do some will lead to a fine. Contract law Contract law is the protection of consumers and employees. This is a body of law that governs verbal or written agreements relating to exchanges of goods and services, money, and properties. Businesses form contract with many different individual, groups and bodies outside the business. This include: Lenders Employees Consumers Suppliers of stock Suppliers of equipment Sellers of land and building For contract law there is two main types. These are contracts with consumers, and contract with employees. However I will be doing contracts with employees. The legislation I will discuss is employment law. Employment law is the legal relationship between the worker and employer. A key component of employment law is the creation of a contract. A contract of employment should include details such as names of employer and employee, job title and job description, date employment starts, the place of work, the address of the employer, amount of pay and how it will be paid, hours of work, holiday pay entitlement and notice period required. The contract is legally binding and if the employer or employee breaks the law they can get sued. This affects Wal-Mart because a part of employment law is the minimum wage, which is currently at  £6.50 per hour for workers aged 21+. This is the lowest Wal-Mart can go in payment, this affect the choice of Wal-Mart because they cannot decide how much they want to pay but it is forced upon them. For Tfl, the employment law affect them because of parts such as the EU directive call the Working Time Directive. This set out that there should be a minimum rest period of 11 consecutive hours in every 24-hours period. So Tfl have to give their employees this, even if they are falling behind in work, they have to employ a new set of worker to catch up. Competition law Competition law is a set of rules that promotes or seeks to maintain market  competition by restricting anti-competitive practices by businesses. Also these are laws governing how businesses can compete with each other. For example law against restricting business practices to reduce competition such as two or one businesses agreeing to a set price. Also laws against monopolies and mergers to stop businesses from dominating a particular market. This affects Wal-Mart because this company is one of the largest in the world, so they can investigated by the UK’s Competition Commission because they don’t want Wal-Mart to be dominate. This affects Wal-Mart because it restrict them to the amount they could grow. For Tfl, the competition law affects them because as Tfl is in the tertiary sector of the economy, it offers contracts to supply them. This law states that Tfl must review all the bids to make it fair. This adds to the time and costs because it will take a longer period of time to process the bids and accept one. Social factors Social factors relate to changes in the behaviour, taste and lifestyle of communities on the local, national and international scale. Over time many changes take place in society which are relevant for business organisations, such as in: Demographic issues Households and families Education Attitudes to work Changes in structure of the society One social factor is the demographic issues. For the UK, they are experiencing population growth. Currently, the UK population is 64.1 million and it grow by 400,000 last year. This is 0.63% increase from the previous year. For businesses this can be a good thing because there will be an increase in demand. Also population growth also means economic growth. For Tfl, population grow has pros and cons. this is because with population grow will mean there is an increase on the amount of people who use the services. So Tfl will have to spend more money to reduce the strain on the service. This affects the profits of the business. However because of the increase in the population there is going to be an increase in revenue because it costs money to use the service. For Wal-Mart, population growth  is a good thing because more individuals will use their products. This will increase their profits. Another social factor is the changes in structure in the society. Social structure is the di stinctive, stable arrangement of institutions whereby human beings in a society interact and live together. Social structure is often treated together with the concept of social change, which deals with the forces that change the social structure and the organization of society. For businesses, one way the social structure changes is the ageing of the society. Currently, the UK population is ageing. For Tfl, this affects them because as the population ages, there will be less engineers and such to run the services or build it. For Wal-Mart this affects them because there will be less workers to run the business so Wal-Mart will have to spend more on employees to get the best. Another social factor is education. The average level of education in a society affects the interests and sophistication of consumers. For example, in a community in which a high percentage of potential customers have some form of post-secondary education, small-business owners might use more details and explanations while advertising and promoting products. For Tfl, this affect them because most of Tfls jobs are high skilled, so an educated society is important and required to expand. However they can get around it by getting employees around the world. For Wal-Mart it is not as important because they need less educated employees because most of their employees are cashiers and shop assistants. However they need mangers. The UK does have an educated society so the business need not worried. Another social factor for businesses is attitudes to work. This is the way society thinks, feels or behaves to work. For businesses, this is important because businesses need employees who are motivated so that they care about. For the UK, the attitude of work is good because this society is a individualistic. This means individuals care about themselves and how they are going to a success. For Tfl, this is important because they want employees to work hard but also care about the people who is going to use the service. This is going to improve the customer experience because if they don’t care than the service will not be the best it could be. For Wal-Mart, the attitudes of work is important because the more they care the better the busin ess is. This will affect the profits of the business because customers will like the business because employee will show passion.   Another social factor of the business is the attitudes to male and female roles in business. Gender roles are societys concepts of how men and women are expected to act, and are shaped by cultural norms. For the UK, male role and females are one of the most equal in the world. However in some jobs males get more money than females for doing the same job. This affects Tfl because if there is inequality than female will not become engineers and such, which leads to less engineers and Tfl will need to pay more for engineers. So this affects their profits. For Wal-Mart, the gender role affects them because there will be less workers because females will be discouraged to work. Also if females work this will boost the economy and more people will spend on their business.

Impact of Information Technology on Human Resources

Impact of Information Technology on Human Resources CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE TOPIC Technology has affected every aspect of human life. Every field of business has been affected by it. It has changed the ways of living of human ,the way we communicate, the way we learn, the way think. It has a great impact on private and business sector as well. It provides huge opportunities to help the development of business. Due to technology many impossible things have been become very easier for businessmen. It has reduced the large need of employees, but increased the efficiency of work. In past times which work required a lot of people and a lot of time to be completed, nowadays only single person finish that work in just few minutes. For example, in past time the work of typing required many people to do that work, but now only a man can do that work in just few seconds. So we see how technology is affecting our business. Human resource management also has its great influence. Technology has affected directly organizations and HR functions. It has some positive and negative influences on HRM organizations and its functions. In this dissertation researcher have going to discuss the influence of information technology and telecommunications on human resource management. What are its good and bad effects on HRM, researcher will discuss in this dissertation. A) POSITIVE IMPACTS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS ON HRM In past few years it was a belief that human resource managers use technology only to fulfill few needs such as administrative tasks. But nowadays it is no longer like this, these days the whole structure of business depends upon technology. A single step cannot be taken further without the think of information technology. ‘The future growth and development of business will depend on the use knowledge of technology, information technology and services provided by them (Barley 1996). So these days information technology is helping businesses to grow and to develop on a large scale. It helps managers to recruit efficient employees, to save their personal information, for the motivation and good leadership if the employees, to finding new techniques of work, to increase profit and for future planning for business. So lets discuss the positive impacts of technology on human resource management: Recruitment of new employees: As we see these days maximum people rely on the internet, and according to the predictions of researchers number of people who use internet is growing in millions every year. ‘Well educated people, who have skills and full of ambitions, regular working with information technology and communication, have more influence of information technology (Bola and Truman, 2003). So many companies are taking advantage of this thing; they are recruiting efficient, skilled and passionate people online according to their needs. This procedure of recruitment is very much beneficial for the employers, one side it provides those efficient employees and on the other hand it is very cheaper and the third thing is it is a very quicker way of recruitment. By postal or any other way only limited people can be informed for the companys requirement, but via internet hundreds of people can be attracted by your job and company. So we see information technology has made recruitments very easier. To save employees full data: Because of information technology the whole data of each employee can be saved for years. Means even after 50 year it can be confirmed that who worked on which post that time. An employees personal details, job title, post, pay, duty hours etc can be saved for future use. Even his or her performance at work also can be measured, an organization can come to know that who is performing in the favor of the company and when time comes he or she can get promotion or can be fired from the job due to bad performance. On the other hand organizations required to save employees skills, work experience, his efficiency on work and his performance in previous job and his salary for that job. These all things organization can get through internet can save on their system. This information that firm can use in future, and if any employee needs any additional training then that firm can arrange it for him. Organizations are finding new ways of work: Because of developments of technology and communications now organizations are finding new advanced ways of work. ‘Communications and information technology is providing a wide range of opportunities to organizations to perform well (Lindstrome, mob erg and Rapp, 1997). These days organizations are adopting new ways of ways of work which are more efficient, advanced, and profitable for them. By using these ways they are getting more productivity and more presence of employees at work. Example: The most relative of changing ways of work due to technology is teleporting, in which method an employee of an organization can do his or her job sitting at home even in his bed. ‘In this term of work, work comes to the worker not worker goes to the work (Niles, 1998). Because of this term of work an organization can save a lot of money. If they will do work at offices then organization would have to provide a lot of facilities to the employees, like a table, chair, computer, and a lot of other things but in teleconferencing an organization can save the cost of all these things. There is another term of work which is being used in project oriented work with subcontracting. Today most skilled and ambitious people do not want to be bound with a company and organizations also hire those people who are necessary for their projects they need their assistance for work just for a limited time of period. So those people are not formal members of the company. It is very beneficial for the firms because they can get 100% benefits of the skills of that man, and they need not to employee him for a long time and if firm starts a new project then they can hire another man required to that project. ‘A huge number of people who work for an particular organization may be still work for the same job in future, but a slowly growing small number of people will not work like this. Part timer workers are the contractors for a limited period of time for an organization, (Ducker, 2001). Better information management Because of information technology and communications storage of data and information has become so easier. IT is providing a lot of possibilities for the betterment of information management in organizations. ‘By using IT an organization can protect its information from outside world and IT also provides simple storage, maintenance, and sharing of information among organizations members. These all are the essential tasks for a better information management (Marched et al. 2001). Information technology helps to improve the performance of a business so to improve the performances. For the motivation of employees: Information technology helps organizations to motivate its employees for better performance. They can offer their employees much psychological, financial reward. An organization can offer many beneficial policies to its employees, by these rewards an employee tends to be honest with his work the organization can achieve its goals because without the co-operation of employees organization cannot be successful. ‘Because of information technology we can think of many changes about the motivation of an organization employees (Bola and Truman, 2003). So we can say that information technology helps a lot for the motivation of the employees, an organization can allow them to know how it is going to satisfy its employees. Like this it can attract other firms skilled employees who are unsatisfied with their firm or organization. Technology used in training of employees: Nowadays many companies required employees trained with modern techniques of information technology because technology is developing with a fast pace and to compete in the industry organizations need employees with the knowledge of modern technology. Organization using technology for the training of employees, they can train them according to their requirements in a particular skill and they can be used for organizations favor and these trained workers can proved to be a profitable asset for the organization. Organizations need not to recruit a large number of employees, who are not perfect for that job, organization can spent money in a positive manner instead of giving wages to those employees who are not useful for them. Another term is related to that is a company can give training of more than one to a single person, it is beneficial for them in case of one of the employees left the job who was working on a particular project then organization can recruit another employee from their own organization on the same post rather than finding another employee with the same skills, wasting time. Like this an organization can save a lot of time and money. More profit for the organizations: Today we can reduce the cost of organization with the effective use of information technology and the profitability of the organizations is increasing day by day with more improved technologies. There are a lot of things to get more profit for instance, these days due to technology; recruitment of people has been decreased. In past organizations had to recruit employees in a large number, their speed of working was less, but organization had to pay them a lot of money without getting much profit. But these days because technology has developed on a large scale so a large part of work which was done by people in past, now days by developments in technology has been done by fewer employees in a very short time period. Due to advancement in technology many HR functions such as recruitment of employees can be performed with less usage of time and resources and organizations can find easily the right persons for their jobs. Another thing is organizations can always keep an eye on the performance of employees, due to this employee cannot shirk work. He gives his 100%. So like this an organization can get more profit, and more productivity. So all these are the positive impacts of Information technology and communication but there are some negative impacts also. So lets discuss those too. B) NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FIELD OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS There are many positive influences of speedily improving information technology but there also some negative effects of it. Due to the developments in this field of business every aspect has been changed, strategy of work, planning of work etc. and it is continuously changing even in present too. So for employees who are working with the old techniques, it is hard to understand new techniques of working. Those organizations which do not adopt new method cannot meet the ever changing requirements of the industry and it is also very hard for an organization to find out right skilled person for them, because persons with the knowledge of latest technology are rare. Technology is directly affecting the functions of human resource management. So these all things are discussed here: Cutting jobs: As we have discussed above that technology is very cheaper and very fast, by technology any type of work can be done quickly as compare to men. So in past a huge number of employees had been recruiting. But nowadays organizations need a few employees with proper skill. As manpower planning a human being is referred as a machine in this technological era means if he is working or giving profit then its ok otherwise through him out. It is not fault of organizations or human beings rather it is the requirement of todays world. Because of technological developments organizations require less but skilled person for employment to compete the world. An organization cannot tolerate the burden of overstaffing, because it is wastage of money, so organizations are cutting jobs. This action gives harassment to many people, especially to them who were old employees of the firm, having comparatively less knowledge of information technology, but now companies have to kick them out, so they do not h ave any other way of survival. People are compelled to study technology. The competition among todays generation has been increased. They have to do hard work to have a good job, but cutting in jobs harass them. Unsatisfied employees of the company: Organizations are using advanced technology in their work to get more profit and to be more efficient but this makes many employees unsatisfied and angry with the organization because they do not know about that technology and how to deal with that, and they also afraid of to lose their job. So it results in strike or other activities like this which affect the whole structure of the organization. The latest example is ‘royal mails strike and strikes in bus and train departments because all these companies want to adopt new and advanced techniques but their employees are unsatisfied with them. The reason is same because they do not know how to deal with rapid changes in firms technology, they are also afraid of losing their jobs. Skill shortage for organizations: As we know that using new technology in todays era is necessary for organizations, but to use that technology properly organizations need proper skilled persons for each project but there is a shortage of skilled persons for the organizations, because people are known to last techniques of work, and if an organization immediately decides to adopt new technology then it results in shortage of skilled workers. For example, in last time period, Australian organization experienced growth in economic era, but suddenly they also faced crises due to the same problem of skill shortage as they want to adopt new technologies. So this thing is more challenging for the organizations, because on one time they have to consider about so many things, like they have to manage their staff properly, have to satisfy the needs of their staff, and have to maintain themselves in this competitive industry. Expenditure on employees for further training: To get employees with proper skills organizations have to train people themselves with new technology, it costs a lot. Organization spend a lot of money on the training of people, but it is not guaranteed that all of them who are taking training will be able to perform a good job, will stay in your company and work with you for long time. All these things are not guaranteed. Moreover, other thing is technology is changing day by day, so in future a new technology can be introduced so it will cost again for the organization to retrain their employees with these changes, so all these factors are affecting organizations. Hard to do for old people: If a company is adopting new technology, but its old employees who are working with them for a long time cannot tolerate this change because they are working with old techniques and new ones are difficult to understand for them. On the other hand, organizations also not want to train those people because they want to use new ideas from new generation and if organization will train those old people then it will cost them a lot because those people are near to retirement and spending money on them will be wastage. Next thing is due to changes in technology organizations are transforming people to one side to another side. So it irritates them a lot and results in strike etc. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Performance management is the process of creating a work environment or setting in which people are enabled to perform to the best of their abilities. Performance management is a whole work system that begins when a job is defined as needed. It ends when an employee leaves your organization. Many writers and consultants are using the term â€Å"performance management† as a substitution for the traditional appraisal system. I encourage you to think of the term in this broader work system context. A performance management system includes the following actions. Develop clear job descriptions. Select appropriate people with an appropriate selection process. Negotiate requirements and accomplishment-based performance standards, outcomes, and measures. vProvide effective orientation, education, and training. Provide on-going coaching and feedback. As companies reorganize to gain competitive edge, human resources plays a key role in helping companies deal with a fast-changing competitive environment and the greater demand for quality employees. Effectively managing and utilizing people. Increasing the innovation, creativity and flexibility necessary to enhance competitiveness. Applying new approaches to work process design, succession planning, career development and inter-organizational mobility. Managing the implementation and integration of technology through improved staffing, training and communication with employees. PROBLEM STATEMENT To explore how much information technology is deeply rooted in the organization and effect the efficiency of employees in ICI Paints. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY To find out the impacts of information technology on the ICI paints. To see the impact of independent variables i.e., data processing, work burden, record keeping, on the dependent variable efficiency of employees in ICI Paints. In this study researcher try to find out to what extent the work has become easy because of the use of computer based information technology in ICI Paints. HYPOTHESIS H1Information Technology is designed to make people more effective and efficient when performing daily activities. HoInformation Technology is not designed to make people more effective and efficient when performing daily activities. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY It has great advantage for H.R. It is useful for human resource department as well as executive level management. It has benefit of future and future decisions. It is useful for common people who are working in Human Resource Department and Accounts Department. It is helpful for maintaining records and retrieving records. It gives analysis reports of the employees. It helps for H.R managers for hiring the new employees in particular job. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Purpose of this research is to understand and to analyze the process of development of I.T to enhance the efficiency of H.R, so as to have better understanding of the MIS and to make an informed judgment about the future decisions. The purpose of this evaluation is to identify strengths and weaknesses of the process of development of I.T in HRM. Main purpose is to achieve future objectives of the organization. CHAPTER2 LITERATURE REVIEW To understand the nature of the IT impact on human resource and firm performance, we must consider the fit between the characteristics of the IT and the users tasks (Goodhue and Thompson 1995). Since the primary responsibility of professionals in public accounting firms involves information-intensive activities (Auditing Concepts Committee [ACC] 1972) such as gathering, organizing, processing, evaluating, and presenting data, the use of IT is likely to improve the productivity of accounting professionals (Pinsonneault and Rivard 1998). Teamwork is critical in a public accounting firm as audit engagements are performed by teams composed of professionals at different ranks. Therefore, the use of groupware technology is also expected to improve work collaboration and communication within teams, and thus enhance their productivity (Ellis et al. 1991). Although previous IT research has examined the impact of IT investments on firm performance in different industries such as manufacturing (Barua et al. 1995), banking (Parsons et al. 1993), insurance (Francalanci and Galal 1998), healthcare (Menon et al. 2000), and retailing (Reardon et al. 1996), empirical research has not examined the professional services industry, such as public accounting firms, in which information and knowledge work play a prominent role. Hence, examining the impact of IT implementation on public accounting firm productivity is of considerable interest to both academic inquiry and practice. Exploration of the productivity impact of IT implementation requires the recognition that the conversion from IT expenditure to business performance enhancement is a longitudinal process (Soh and Markus 1995). Proper IT management is essential to convert IT expenditure to IT assets. Appropriate use of IT assets generates organizational innovations and redesigned business processes, and favorable competitive dynamics enable improved organizational performance due to these organizational innovations. Davern and Kauffman (2000) extended this IT conversion process sequence to emphasize the importance of considering the impact of IT planning and selection activities on realized IT value. A few field studies have explored the longitudinal IT conversion process to identify the factors at different points of the process that determine the success of IT adoption. Venkatesh and Davis (2000) found that at different time points before and after IT implementation, factors such as subjective norm, voluntariness, job relevance, and output quality consistently influence users perceptions about the usefulness of the systems. Bergeron and Raymond (1997) reported that organizational support, implementation process, and control procedures impacted the initial realization of benefits from Electronic Data Inter exchange (EDI) adoption, but three years later, only organizational support and control procedures remained significant. While these studies have examined factors that may impact the IT value creation process, they did not estimate the improvement in firm performance, if any, due to IT implementation. Lucas et al. (1996) conducted a case study of the introduction of a financial imaging system at Merrill Lynch. Comparing the data flow diagrams of the old and the new business processes, they identified changes in organization structure, workflows, and operations. They reported improvement in customer service and reduction in costs. However, they did not conduct any statistical evaluation of improvement in firm performance after IT implementation. Some cross-sectional studies of IT impact have compared the business performance of firms with IT to those without IT, and statistically estimated the impact. Using data from Hardees fast food chain, Banker et al. (1990) compared the performance of the restaurants deploying the Positran technology (a computerized cash register point-of-sale and order-coordination technology) to those without Positran. They found that the use of the Positran technology is associated with a significantly greater productivity for stores with high diversity of sales. Analyzing data for 107 banks, Pennings (1995) found that the banks with ATM adoptions incurred significantly less non personnel operating expenses than those without. There are several IT productivity studies that evaluate the contribution of IT as an input factor in the production function, for example, Brynjolfsson and Hitt (1995) and Barua and Lee (1997) estimated the economic production function using cross-sectional data to evaluate the marginal contribution of IT on output. Wang et al. (1997) and Shafer and Byrd (2000) employed DEA to evaluate the role of IT investments in firm production. Our research differs from this stream of research in two important ways. We consider EU adoption as an event and evaluate the extent to which it shifts the production function for a firm, instead of the marginal contribution of the IT input that differs cross-sectional. Thus, we make a longitudinal instead of cross-sectional comparison of the impact of IT implementation. For IT to positively impact a users performance there should be a good fit between the IT and the users tasks (Goodhue 1995). In addition, training is a significant determinant of the IT users effectiveness (Igbaria 1990). The FIRM has designed the new IT program to fit the requirements of its professionals, and enforced the training in the use of the software. Our field interviews suggest that the IT changes had a positive impact on the auditors performance. Since an audit team is composed of professionals at different ranks (such as managers, seniors, and juniors) with different job responsibilities (Carmichael and Willingham 1989), IT adoption may benefit audit professionals at different ranks in different ways. IT Impact on Auditors The primary tasks that junior auditors perform are assigned audit procedures and preparation of working papers. Most of these tasks are relatively repetitive and involve substantial calculations and referencing across different accounts. Computer applications can automate such structured tasks and substantially reduce the processing time (Abbe and King 1988). In addition, the reduction in monotone work allows individuals to concentrate on more complex tasks and enhance their individual performance (Giuliano 1982). Our field interviews indicate that the principal benefits to a junior auditor from the IT changes are the savings in effort and the reduction in errors afforded by the electronic preparation of working papers. Incorrect computation is one of the major causes for misstatement (Bell et al. 1998), and by reducing such errors; IT use also benefits other audit team members. A junior auditor describes his experience using the new computerized systems as follows: The most important benefit to me is that I can develop the working papers electronically. Without the computer, I have to write down all the numbers by hand and make difficult calculations using a calculator. Sometimes I need to repeat the same entry several times on different sheets. For example, the amount of cash may appear on the balance sheet, the working trial balance, the cash flow schedule, the bank reconciliation and so on, and all the numbers are the same or related. I have to be very careful when I write those numbers down. It is very tedious! However, using the audit software, I only need to key in the entry once and make the appropriate choice. Then, all the related numbers are generated automatically and cross-referenced, and there is no need to punch any keys on a calculator. With a computer, my working hours on an engagement can be reduced by more than half of that without the computer. As the middle-level member of an audit team, a senior auditor assists in audit plan development, organization of audit activities, and supervision and review of the work of junior auditors. The firms audit software organized all required audit procedures in a common list and cross-referenced them to items in the working papers. Since electronic presentation of information facilitates users information acquisition (Jones et al. 1993), a senior auditor is likely to benefit from the convenient information gathering and organization enabled by the new software. A senior in the FIRM describes her favorite IT helper as follows: I like to use the audit software to edit my audit plan and programs. It helps me get organized. The software lists all the necessary planning items for me, so I dont need to worry about missing an important element. All related forms are available by clicking a button, which is really convenient. In addition, we also have a database of document templates that I can use for almost all occasions. IT Impact on Managers As supervisors and reviewers, audit managers do not benefit directly from the audit automation process, except for the convenience of computer-based presentation of information. Analyzing survey data from 260 public managers, Kraemer et al. (1993) found that managers perceived computer-based information to be more useful. Since the firms audit software organizes all audit evidence collected by juniors and seniors in an electronic format, audit managers are likely to be more effective when reviewing such data. Since the order of audit working paper documentation can impact the decision of the reviewers (Ricchiute 1992), electronic working papers that comply with a regular organization should provide more consistent audit decision quality. An audit manager expresses his support for electronic working papers as follows: I dont use many functions of electronic working paper software. I just review its output. However, I do enjoy the neat screen output because everything is clear. Also, every item is cross-referenced which makes it easy for me to trace them. I can easily switch around and search for the items I want to see. In the Notes, the FIRM includes various local and international databases regarding companies, industries, and regulations. Managers can easily search for information relevant to a certain client to help them perform analytical review (Cohen et al. 2000). In addition, the information in the databases is more reliable and objective (Reimers and Fennema 1999). The FIRM has also created some exclusive case databases that can be shared by its professionals. Such knowledge-sharing applications have been found to improve the quality of decision making (Orlikowski 1997). A manager describes his experience as follows: Our Notes database has helped me increase my professional knowledge. We share our case experience, and business regulations using the database. It helps a lot in problem solving and keeps me updated on the current trend. IT Impact at the Business Process Level A current trend is to create a paperless office environment that replaces paper documents with electronic documents so that information can be accessed easily and with much less effort. In the practitioner-oriented literature, advantages of a paperless office in improving work efficiency and reducing operating costs have been reported (Hunton 1994). Together with the audit software, the FIRM created a client database to store all related audit files for each client. The documents in the database can be easily retrieved by a search function or with associated links. Consequently, auditors in the same team can share audit files and significantly reduce the coordination effort of the senior auditors (Salamasick et al. 1995). An audit senior at the FIRM also observed that database storage allows quick reference and modification from previous audit plans and reports for the client and, consequently, work hours for a client can be reduced significantly. In addition, the FIRM uses Notes as a tool to manage internal resources and documents to save time and increase effectiveness. IT Impact at the Work Group Level A professional service firm stands to benefit substantially from the knowledge-sharing applications (Vandenbosch and Ginzberg 1996). The Professional Development Department in the FIRM updates the Notes database everyday and communicates the update to everyone by email. To encourage audit professionals to collaborate, a Question and Answer electronic bulletin board in the Notes was set up for the discussion of all types of work-related questions. The Professional Development Department checks the board periodically and ensures responses to all the questions. Network applications that enable real-time information circulation can also facilitate communications efficiency in a public accounting firm (Zarowin 1994). Email is the most important network application for the professionals in the FIRM to communicate with each other, clients, and overseas colle

Effects of The War of 1812 Essay --

Under the command of Andrew Jackson the United States was able to take home a victory in a clash with Britain, the world’s largest military power. The War of 1812, also recognized as a â€Å"second war of independence†, was The United States’ pathway towards its goal to further expand territory boundaries. After the war there wasn’t as great an impact on foreign policy as there was on political and economic aspects. Society underwent a variety changes due to a chain of changes in politics itself. These political influences introduced the idea of sectionalism, the division of the nation. Slavery, in fact, was still a matter that would further divide the nation. The Missouri territory had previously classified as a slave state. Eventually, the North and the South differed upon whether or not it should have been a slave state. This disagreement would be resolved by the Missouri Compromise, proposed by Henry Clay from Kentucky. In order to maintain balance in the senate, Missouri was to be admitted as a slave state in favor of the South and Maine admitted as a free state in favor of the North. The compromise also introduced the concept of 36 °30' N latitude, also referred to as the â€Å"Missouri Compromise Line†, in which all forthcoming states north of that line were to be left as free states. President James Monroe signed the document and would come to effect by 1820. Sectionalism also succeeded in influencing the political party system. Once the national bank was established, an influx separate parties formed. The Federalist party was terminated as a whole. In the place of this, arose the National Republicans and the Democrats. National Republicans supported the establishment of the national bank but were against indiv... ...f tariffs. Tariffs would be used to protect the American product by encouraging its sale. The growth of the economy fueled as the tariff aided the federal government with funds to construct the federal treasury. Though the economy was quickly moving forward, there were of course setbacks. An outstanding setback was the Panic of 1819. The European demand for American products including grain, meat, tobacco, and cotton hit American farmers with force. The rush to increase production casued the fluctuation of the farm product prices and even land prices. A sense of depression overcame the country as Europeans hesitated to buy American products. The Europeans had turned to buy crops and less expensive cotton from India. Along with the depression came high rates of unemployment, failure of state banks, and foreclosure of local homes, farms, and shops.

What is the importance of family in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry? Essay

What is the importance of family in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry? The novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, is set in Mississippi, in the Deep South of America, in the 1930's and covers a year in the life of the Logan family. The Logans are a respectable black family closely bound in love, respect, and support for each other. The story is told through the young eyes of Cassie Logan and through her experiences we see the great importance of family throughout the novel. Family plays one of the most important themes of the story and it seems as though the author, Mildred Taylor created the Logan family to present them as a role model family for life. Throughout the novel, the guiding role of parents is clearly shown by Mama and Papa Logan. They teach their four children by example at several points in the story. One of these times is when Mama covers the offensive pages in the books at school. The other teachers regard mama as something of a maverick because of her liberal views. When told that her children have, "got to learn how things are", she replies that they will, but they don't necessarily, "have to accept them". She glues paper over the offensive pages, despite what others think, and therefore shows Cassie and Little Man the way to behave when an incident like this occurs. Mama and Papa use firm discipline with their children throughout the story. This is shown when Papa whips the children for going to the forbidden Wallace Store, and when Mama whips Stacey for cheating in the test. Mama and Papa use this punishment to discipline their children, and, as a result, they learn their lesson. After the children are punished for going to the store they never go there again, proving that their parents ... ...ence of his grandmother is made clear. Mr Jamison says that, "Harlan's always lived in the past", and goes on to say that, "his grandmother filled him with all kinds of tales about the glory of the south before the war." This explains why Harlan Granger has such cold southern values; he learned it from his grandmother. This is yet another example of the powerful influence parents and elders have on their children from one generation to the next. Mr Jamison and his wife are a rare positive image of a white family, discussing and agreeing on all important issues that affect them. They, as a family represent a hope for a more tolerant society in the future. Mr Jamison shares the same respect for his family that the Logan family shares. He tells Papa that he and his wife talked about backing the loan in Vicksburg and, "discussed it fully", with each other.