Significant Life Event

I have read and understand the plagiarism policy as outlined in the syllabus and the sections in the Student Bulletin relating to the IWU Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I certify that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act/s, which could include expulsion from Indiana Wesleyan University. Significant Life Event One event in which all involved parties can still laugh about and I believed had brought a significant change to me, and affect me still today. My closest bond I have today it is my relationship with my mother. While our mother-daughter bond has been a blessing we have had the highs and lows of love. There were times when it has been joy and moments which can only be described as maneuvering through a minefield. Most females can relate to this journey through in life. In this relationship, hearts can be broken, feelings can be hurt, and the best intentions can turn a mistake into resentment. With patience and lots of love a mother and daughter can be develop a friendship and a trusting bond strengthened for a lifetime. I can now say as I look back we made a turning point when I was eighteen years old. I had just married my high school sweetheart and the father of my child and had been still living at home with my mother. We are both the oldest child oldest in our family and hence were the example for the younger siblings. We both had plans to make something of our life. We both grew up in an urban area where a teenage pregnancy usually ended a person’s dreams for a better environment. We had considered ourselves adults because we now had a child of our own. But this is hindsight; we thought we had all the answers. My first love and father of child, Robert decided he would enlist in the military and I would finish high school. When he completed boot camp and all the other required training the military deemed for him, his first duty station was thousands of miles away from home. No one could tell me anything about child rearing or the decisions I had made regarding my life. I did not appreciate the help I was receiving from his and my family. With Robert enlisting in the military, we relocated from everyone to start a new life together. By the grace of God his first duty station after boot camp was Hawaii. Most people image Hawaii as paradise on earth, almost anyone including me, at least that was what thought at first. Needless to say when time came near for me to leave I could not wait to get away from my mother’s rules and meddling interfering. My mother and I had differences of opinions on everything, even on the way to the airport until I got on the plane. Once I got to Hawaii to begin my new life, I remember not speaking to her for while except to let her know we made it there safely and besides this was actually a honeymoon for my husband and me. On the day we married he left and I did see him again for five months and we had some cuddling time to make up. Let me tell you once the honeymoon was over and we settled into married life I suddenly realized I was alone with a man who had a life, a job and friends. After I had done all the sight-seeking, daytime television watching, and culture adjustment. I suddenly realized I was home sick and missed my mother. All I had was a two-year-old child that took the word terrible two to another level. The long distant phone calls began and I would call her for the littlest things, from how to cook this recipe, to what are you doing, how to budget and make ends meet, what happened at the last family party or get together and don’t forget to send me pictures of what was going on at home. It hit me that my mother actually knew best, she had the answers from how handle a terrible two year old, why men are the way they are, to why my hair was falling out and skin breaking out. I was miserable with the life we had built and I could blame no one, not even my mother like as I had done so many times before. She was not around and could be blamed for this mess, but she was available by phone and we she would help me figure out what I needed to do to make this work. She suggested that I find something to do with my time, maybe get job, go to school or be more open to social life. I had alienated myself physically from everybody except a husband and a two-year-old child. As time past I adjusted to the island life and developed friendships. A funny thing happened that me, my mother and ex-husband laughs about still today. The situation, reminds me, how much my mother really missed me and how strong our love is. Without our knowledge our home phone was not working properly. We were able to call out but not able to receive incoming calls. This fact was brought to our attention when the military police knock at our door. In my mind at the time a very big official military police officer was looking for my husband. Once he was identified they were inquiring about my where about. The officer said â€Å"His mother-in-law had not heard from her daughter in about a week. † It hit me that my mother had not gone more than a couple days with out hearing from me. Since then my husband was sure we make regular calls home to my mother so the law would not be knocking on our door looking for him. I have a much better appreciation of this relationship with the fact that I now have a grown daughter. I learned later in life the hard way that what comes around goes around. I had my own separation event with my daughter when she moved away for college. But that is another significant life event in its self.

Paul’s Teachings Essay

1. Essay on the Epistle to the Galatians The New Testament Book Epistle to the Galatians is ascribed by the Catholic Church to St. Paul but now believed to be written by early Christian missionary Paul of Tarsus to the early Christian communities in Galatia, then a Roman province. It was an intensely personal letter wherein Paul primarily tackled the circumcision issue during those early days of Christianity. The issue of circumcising Gentile converts, considered to be culturally offensive to Romans, was then being hotly debated. In the Epistle, Paul cautions against the introduction of Jewish practices, such as circumcision, into the community of Christians. The circumcision debate written in Galatians was important for St. Paul because he wanted to point out to the Gentiles that the prescriptions that regulated the day-to-day lives of the Jews under the Law of Moses are meant to lead men to salvation through Christ. Some Galatian converts or Judaizers at that time insisted that observance of the Law, including circumcision, abstinence and certain ritual purifications, was prerequisite to being good or perfect Christians. During the Old Testament, circumcision served as a man’s public pledge to the complete observance of Mosaic Law. In Paul’s argument against circumcision, he mentions Old Testament figures such as Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Sarah and Hagar in order to explain and illustrate â€Å"what it means to follow God’s advice† ( 4:21, Galatians). Using the story of the birth of Isaac and Ishmael, Paul stresses that Christians should genuinely believe and follow all of God’s advise, not only religious traditions but more so, following the examples of Christ. In addressing the circumcision issue in the Epistle, Paul thereby explains that by itself, the Mosaic Law had no power to save because salvation needs individual faith and the grace of Jesus. 2. Essay on the Books of Timothy I, Timothy II and Titus The New Testament Books First Epistle to Timothy, Second Epistle to Timothy and Epistle to Titus are three Pastoral Epistles attributed to St. Paul but now believed to be from Paul of Tarsus. They are collectively termed as the Pastoral Epistles chiefly because the letters are addressed to pastors or heads of the early Church regarding proper handling of the ministry. Together, the Epistles instruct the Bishop Timothy and the Christian worker Titus on the general principles regarding community order and faith. Specifically, the greater part of the Timothy I is devoted to instructions on the proper ordering of Christian community life for it to function smoothly. It also admonishes Timothy on the duties of the bishops and deacons in terms of preaching, praying in public and care for the Church members. Timothy II, on the other stresses the faithful dispensing of the responsibilities by church leaders and provides encouragement to the Bishop. The Pastoral Epistles talk of the proper conduct of both men and women; proper behavior when inside the Church; respect for old and young people; treatment of elderly and rules for the enrollment of widows and other prescriptions for good and Christian behavior. They also talk of how to remain steadfast in faith by rejecting false teachings and safeguarding the truths in the Church. Such is a suggestion of the pressures against and the corresponding struggles to strengthen the faith within the community. The administrative activities, especially as found in Timothy I tell us that the early Church then was already, or at least beginning to be, structured and orderly and made up of united members. This is seen, for one, in the discussion on the selection of church leaders. These three Epistles definitely communicate to us the difficulties of the early Church. The part in Timothy II wherein Paul exhorted the Bishop to be patient in the face of persecution is best illustrates the serious problems they encountered. The recommendations in the Timothy I and Titus regarding the kind of character needed for the leaders of the Church suggest the earnest efforts to build and fortify what we know now to be a heavily challenged Church back then. In gist, Timothy I and II and Titus portray the picture of the Christian community during the incipient period of the Church. The Books show that times were hard but that the early Christians, herein guided by Paul, mustered their faith and effort for the ministry.

Ethics in Marketing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethics in Marketing - Term Paper Example The necessity for ethics in marketing research is; thus quite evident. This paper will examine the issue of ethics in marketing research noting the significance of ethics in all processes involving marketing research. Ethical behavior is a vital component in marketing research since marketing research directly controls the realization of strategic decision making in businesses. Businesses rely on information, which marketing researchers provide, to make day to day decisions, which affect business operations in one way or another. Consequence of the significance of marketing research, trade associations constantly establish guidelines to ensure ethical behavior by marketing researchers (Murphy, Gene, Norman and Bowie 79). The American Marketing Association (AMA) provides a number of ethical norms to guide the conduct of marketing research. These include the following: 1. Honesty; ensuring that marketing researchers remain forthright and faithful in all their contacts with stakeholders such as clients. 2. Responsible behavior, which entails accepting the implications of researchers’ marketing strategies and decisions. 3. ... 6. Citizenship, which aims at fulfilling the legal, economic, societal and philanthropic responsibilities, which serve stakeholders in strategic ways. Marketing researchers have immense responsibilities when it comes to different stakeholders such as research respondents, the public, clients and researchers. Ethical decisions encompass a number of characteristics that ensure that marketing researchers uphold. Firstly, ethical decisions provide for the realization of long term effects on business situations. In addition, although a majority of ethical decisions are sometimes rather doubtful, they encompass a variety of alternatives, which enhance the opportunity for ethical marketing research decisions (Murphy, Gene, Norman and Bowie 99). The points of view inherent in ethical decisions are essentially either negative or positive. Lastly, the results of ethical decisions, which include negative or positive outcomes, are relatively unpredictable and uncertain. For members of the public , ethical concerns deal primarily with the methods used by marketing researchers in obtaining and reporting research outcomes. The public sometimes depends on the outcomes of marketing research for information regarding products. If marketing researchers provide distorted information, the public stands to lose by purchasing faulty or wrong products. Therefore, it is the shared responsibility of researchers and the public to deter the incident of misguiding and incomplete reporting and biased research. Incomplete reporting occurs when either a client or researcher fails to reveal complete research results. This unethical behavior is likely to take place when marketing researchers conceal negative information, which customers would find undesirable. A misleading environment

Apple Marketing strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Apple Marketing strategy - Essay Example According to Schneiders (2011), Apple is able to charge higher prices than its competitors buy its products remain competitive. He argues that Apple makes use of traditional and cult marketing strategies. Moreover, the company manages to manufacture products with high software compatibility hence easy to market in the competitive market. Madden (2010) argues that Apple has a unique marketing strategy that has not been mastered by many brands. The strategy enables Apple to cross-sell products that people already own. Moreover, the company designers have great understanding of the needs of the customers and focus on creating products that meet the changing needs of the customer. The alterations involve inclusion of more software to ensure the products are better than previous ones. For example, Apple iPhone was considered unique in that it has the features of an iPad as well as those of a smartphone. Mickalowski, Mickelson, & Keltgen (2008) argue that Apple makes advantage of trade sho ws and media coverage to market their products long before they are released into the market. Moreover, the company remains secretive about the features and outlook of their product to prevent imitation of new inventions by their competitors. For example, during development of iPhone, Steve jobs managed to sign Apple as the select carrier of the product. Moreover, the company understands the needs of the customers and comes up with unique products. Apple’s success had been greatly determined by the former CEO, Steve jobs. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who were quite unprofessional in terms of their academic qualifications founded the company. However, they became successful right from the start.

Difference Between the Bilateral and Unilateral Contract Essay

Difference Between the Bilateral and Unilateral Contract - Essay Example Businesses either being sole proprietorship or partnership require binding deals between two partners since equal contribution between each other is expected for the business growth. Input must be equal depending on what each is bringing to the business, and a unilateral contract becomes acceptable when the other party completely performs the action (Cheeseman, 2009). A unilateral contract would be considered in a scenario in which one expects some service done to them and in return, of remuneration for the service rendered thus, a promise is made for payment or honor of service rendered upon completion. For instance, an individual in an educational situation would consider a unilateral contract. Quintessentially, private tuition where payment is done upon completion of the desired session or as agreed. Production companies often sought unilateral agreements where they are paid upon completion of a task (Cheeseman, 2009). A bilateral contract would be considered between two individuals with the desire to start a partnership business whiles each makes contributions for security and more so if the two parties do not have a close, personal relationship. Large groups can also settle for a bilateral contract in case they plan to work together thus, a percentage of contribution is expected from each party and since law binds the contract, it helps to prevent a breach of the contract by either party. A unilateral contract can be changed by one party as it only stands when the other party performs the given task. The offeree only gets to be bound once he decides to commit to the contract. A bilateral contract is beneficial to the offeree since both parties make a law binding promise. A unilateral contract for the offerer can be beneficial once achieved as they bargain for completed performance rather than a promise to perform. An example being the case of an insurance company, which expects the insurer to make a promise for future performances.  

CRITICALLY REVIEWING A JOURNAL ARTICLE Assignment

CRITICALLY REVIEWING A JOURNAL ARTICLE - Assignment Example Researchers have outlined several practises of strategic human resources management and HR management policies and impacts of such policies on performance of various firms of China. Ngo, Lau, and Foley, has contrasted SHRM and HR policies in terms of ownership structure (Ngo et al., 2008). Integration of SHRM and HR practices in the ownership or management structure will increase operational efficiency, financial performance, and employee management. Researchers have outlined feasible strategies for organisational performance. In addition, researchers have developed investigation on various SHRM practises on the expansion, acquisition, and employee motivation strategies. In the page 74 of research paper, strategic HRM is recognised as the key HR strategy in terms of increasing organisational efficiency (Armstrong and Armstrong, 2000). Activities of HR managers are modified to increase competence of employees. HR managers must adapt performance appraisal policies to motivate efficient and performing employees. However, compensation of employees and improvement programs are essential to maintain employee relationship and motivation. Managing employee behaviours is one of the major strategies that will be followed by the HR managers. Globalised firms are increasing use of long-term strategies so that they are able to achieve objectives, growth and sustainability in the competitive firms. Ngo, Lau, and Foley, reported that strategic human resource will align different functions of the employees in order to competitiveness of the firms. However, growth and sustainability strategies of the firms are depending on employee’s performance as per predetermined goals (Armstrong and Armstrong, 2011). Researchers have investigated on the HR practices adopted in the developing countries. Effective HR policies will increase the competitive advantage of the firms in global and

Cyborg and identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cyborg and identity - Essay Example Discussion The relationship developed between the bionic limbs of a user and their identity is evident from the fact that they give the user a sense of being a different person – which allows them the ability to become and act like whoever they want to become. This relationship between the bionic limbs and the identities developed by their users is evident from the case of Aimee Mullins, who is known to take the roles of totally different persons; she an athlete and an artist, whenever the occasion calls for it (TED 1). From the wide spectrum of the identities that she has developed, it is evidence that her bionic limbs play a role that exceeds the functional role of allowing her to walk like the other people (Warren 38). Further, many of the users of bionic limbs are able to keep them a secret to the general public, which implies that their functionality goes beyond that of enhancing their experience of the environment, but also allowing them to identify with everybody else ( Sobchack 20-22). The relationship developed between bionic limbs and the identity of the user is evident from their ability to fit into the social norm, which makes them feel like a part of the norm of having legs. The wearing of bionic limbs is viewed like an artistic replacement of the missing part of the body – which offers the user an artistic outlook and edge, besides making them appear like everybody else. This relationship of shaping the identity of the user and their impact on their identity can be traced from the conventional definition of a prosthetic, which is an object inserted or attached to the body of the user to replace a defective or missing body part (TED 1). This definition leads to the relationship between bionic limbs and the identity of the users, where, wearing these limbs is viewed like an artistic way of replacing the missing part of the body (Sobchack 20-22). The artistic replacement of the missing part of the body, apart from being imaged as the com plement that makes the user an able-bodied person, it makes them fit into the social expectations of the appearance of a normal person, which makes them feel like other people. The role of bionic limbs in shaping the identity of the users is evident from the fact that the users can do things better than they could do before – and in some cases better than normal people can do – including the ability to run faster and riding bikes. The new person with better abilities and in some cases, abilities that exceed those of ordinary people becomes the new identity of the user of bionic limbs (Warren 39). This ability to change roles from a disabled to a fully capable person contributes to the development of their new identity, which points out the integral relationship between bionic limbs and the identity of the user. This relationship is evident from the life of Aimee Mullins, whose lower legs were removed after birth, but she has matured to become a star in the Paralympics through the use of her bionic limbs. For example, as a Paralympics champion, her identity is developed around her use of bionic limbs, and without them, she may never become that star again. Further, her

HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 3

HRM - Essay Example At this point comes in the HR Audit, that refers to â€Å"the systematic verification of job analysis and design, recruitment and selection, orientation and placement, training and development, performance appraisal and job evaluation, employee and executive remuneration† and the other HR functions such as â€Å"motivation and morale, participative management, communication, welfare and social security, safety and health, industrial relations, trade unionism, and disputes and their resolution.† (citehr.com) In simpler terms, HR Audit, similar to a financial and accounting audit is the review of the employees of the organization that helps to review and assess the relationship between the employees and the organization in terms of their best contribution to achieve the goals, of both, the organization and each individual employee. HR Function in GS Plumbing To date, GS Plumbing hasn’t conducted an HR Audit for their employees. They have 18 plumbers working for the m, and the four members of the senior management – Greg Smith, Alan Arrowsmith, Jane Brown and Gail White. It would be recommended to the management of GS Plumbing to conduct an HR Audit of not just the plumbers but all the members of the management as well. An HR Audit will be beneficial to the organization in the following ways: The management will be able to identify the contribution of every employee to the organization and vice versa. It will help to identify problems that may be arising and nip them in the bud. Employees will feel motivated as the management is taking a personal interest in each of them. Also, the employees will get a chance to personally speak out any sort of concerns they have. An HR audit will give the management confidence about their employees. They will know where there are gaps and will be able to device systems to close them. (humanresources.hrvinet.com) In the case of GS Plumbing, everyone should be involved in the HR Audit, from Greg Smith and the rest of the management, right to the plumbers working on part time and job sharing basis. It will show the rest of the employees that they are all on the same ground and all of them are equally responsible and accountable to GS Plumbing as an organization. Also, everyone is not perfect and an HR Audit will find out mistakes that people might be making and will help them by giving them solutions to fix it. Unplanned Employee Absence Massive absenteeism and illnesses could impact negatively on many lost working hours and medical insurance expense (Charles and Kell 2006). Employees of GS Plumbing are calling in sick regularly and not planning their absence. This creates a lot of problems for GS Plumbing, such as: It affects the daily allocation of duties. It disrupts the work routine of the organization. It could lead to the employees feeling pressurizes and over worked when they have to cover for their absent colleagues. It could disrupt team based and training activities that ma y have been planned for the employees’ benefit. (Lingham 2007) Also, repeatedly taking unplanned leaves is not a very ethical practice. An employee may be genuinely sick but it is hard for the management not to have a little doubt about the employees’ real reason for having taken a leave of absence at the last minute. There are various reasons an employee might have to take leave from work at the last

Accounting and Finance will send you fquestions file Essay

Accounting and Finance will send you fquestions file - Essay Example Therefore, the IRR calculated through Trial & Error method is 29.165% approximately at which the present value of estimated cash flows is  £99,996 which is approximately equal to initial investment i.e.  £100,000 The customer should take the project because the payback period is two years and eight months, besides, the IRR calculated through Trial & Error method is 29.165% approximately at which the present value of estimated cash flows is  £99,996 that gives an approximately equal to initial investment i.e.  £100,000. The ending cash balance during month of August is  £37,240 while the expected cash balance during September is  £43,390. Similarly the expected cash balance during October and November are  £48,930 and  £55,150 respectively as shown in the table above. Organisations need budget to help in the evaluation of its performance. Without a financial planning that makes use of the budget, they would not be in a position to assess their progress and institute appropriate measures. Besides, they need budgeting for efficient coordination of the organisational activities. The budget acts like a blueprint that provides the roadmap and the expectation of the activities like sales, expenditures, and other costs. When organisations do not use budgets to address these issues, they are at risk of running down the organisation because of unplanned activities that are likely to exceed the expectations. Budgeting helps organisations to take control of their finances, hence keeping focused on the goals they laid down when beginning the financial year. A budget helps the organisation plan savings and makes decisions in advance when expecting or not expecting any costs related to the activity of the organisation hence controlling debts (Young, 2003). Budgeting process can be very challenging especially when there is poor communication between the team tasked with the making of decisions. Therefore, enhancing communication and reducing the number of people

Bullied Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Bullied - Essay Example Many innocent lives have been lost owing to this problem of bullying and these precious lives could have been saved if proper intervention and help was provided for these issues. Bullying can be defined as acts of aggression which tend to humiliate the victim through every possible mean. According to Olweus, ‘A student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other students’ (Olweus 2001 p 5-6). Thus, bullying is basically a means of degrading a person to an extent that he may lose his confidence and morale and tend to consider options like suicide as the only solution. Different incidents have marked the severity of this act of bullying. Innocent young teenagers have died due to being the victims of humiliation. The examples of Tylor Cementi who was an 18 year old boy and Phoebe Prince who was a 15 year old girl serve as eye openers to highlight the issue of bullying. Tylor Cementi was a bright and intelligent boy who enrolled new in his university. Cementi was a homosexual and his sexual orientation was used as a point to bully him. His colleagues plotted against him and made a video of his private encounter with his homosexual partner. They then posted it on the internet which served to publicize a private encounter of Clementi.

Fear and Immensely Powerful Body Essay Example for Free

Fear and Immensely Powerful Body Essay In This Descriptive essay, I will be writing about the Monster Grendel, from the story of Beowulf. I will be giving details about him, while he is in action in a scene of the story, which will lead to my conclusion of why I believe he is a coward, a horrible monster, above all, an obmination. Prepared to spill the blood of unsuspecting, drunken warriors in their sleep, Grendel quickly broke doen the reinforced door to the Herot with great strength and viciousness. Grendels strides were expansive. With each step, the monsters huge, feet practically flew, one after the other. The floor seemed to be instantly displaced due to his impressive agility. His eyes gleamed in the darkness, burned with a gruesome light. Before any of the soldiers had the chance to wake up, Grendel had killed on of them. Torn apart like soft bread, the corpse was drained and wholly devoured. The bounty before me is exquisite, a divine-delicacy, unkept and delightfully vulnerable Grendel speculated refering to his favorable luck. Unbeknownst to Grendel, fate had a bad future arranged for the monster. Hardly satisfied with taking only one life, the demon walked on to his next vitcim. Laying before Grendel was the Geat called Beowulf. Without particular concern for the identity of his presumed meal, he thrusted his fiendish claws towards the laying man. His arm was instantaneously seized by Beowulf. Nowhere on Earth had Grendel met a man whose hands were harder. Frozen in shock, Grendels sense was delayed. Once he realized the situation he was in, His mind flooded with fear. The horrible monster was crazy in his struggle for control. Never had Grendel shown such fear, had he ever known such fear. Grendel wished for nothing more but to escape. Resisting the beast-among-men with every ounce of strength and determination in his immensely powerful body, but to no usefulness. Grendel weakened, his muscles had been thrashed, wounded, and completely exhausted of use. Beowulf, however, was far from failure. With his legendary grip tightening every moment, Grendels body began to submit to the boundless abuse delivered by the great Beowulf With a tremendous crack, the endurance of that monster had been compromised entirely. Beowulf tore the arm from Grendel, along with a considerable portion of the corresponding torso. Grendel then fearfully scurried to the marsh which he afflicted with his presence. The despicable coward festered in both physical agony as well as emotional trauma. As Grendel slowly faded from existence, the eternal darkness in-store wore away at his soul. His lifetime of fear and disgusting maliciousness had shaped an afterlife consisting of nothing. His soul was to be shed, Grendel then waited to end. Grendel expierences the same ammount of fear when he battled with Beowulf, that humans feel when Grendel attacks. Grendels character is rather a cowardly, a vicious, a horrible one. He attacks only at night is very fearful during the battle with Beowulf.

Positive functions for society Essay Example for Free

Positive functions for society Essay The family was once described as a social group that shared common residence, consisted of at least two adults of each sex that maintained a socially approved sexual relationship and had one or more children, their own or adopted. This is a nuclear family, described by George Murdoch to be a universal family type. Although it is correct to say that nuclear families reside universally, family types now vary from single-parent families to gay headed families. Despite the variety, they contribute to the society, in ways that can be positive and negative too. Many sociologists differ in their views as to whether the family is positive to the society or not- functionalists believe that the family has positive functions that contribute positively to the society but it has to be said that functionalists tend to ignore negative aspects of the family such as the dark side, which consists of all that makes the family a negative experience for its members. Nevertheless there are sociologists that focus on only the negative aspects, such as, radical psychiatrists, radical feminists and Marxists. The new right theory has faith that family is a positive function of the society, however new rights only refer to nuclear families, as they believe that any other family type is inferior. Functionalism is a consensus theory which looks at society positively. Functionalists often make an organic analogy, as a human body is maintained by the functions of each part of a body, keeping it alive and healthy, similarly, and society is kept going by its institutions- family being one of the institutions which function to sustain the well-being of society. It is recognised by functionalists that families change themselves over time for the sake of adapting to society, an exemplar would be leading functionalist Emile Durkheim who strongly believed that family was the most important institution of society. Durkheim believed that family positively functioned for both individuals and society. The family, he believed, is the institution that offers its members emotional support, stability and gives them their identity as primary socialisers, and to an extent, teaches them how they should act toward the rest of society. Thus he proves that they perform a positive function to society too, as they provide fundamental social order and stability, which helps to prevent the society from becoming disordered. Talcott Parsons was a functionalist who analysed the families  from a modern perspective and came to a conclusion that although families have less functions, as they are provided with help from outside agencies, they still perform two important functions which determine the actions within a society. These two functions focus on individuals- the first being the socialisation of children primarily, into the responsible, committed individuals that society can benefit from and the second is the stabilisation of adult personalities, as he stated that it was family who help ease away tensions of the modern world, particularly for male workers. He also believed that these functions were best found in nuclear families, where the clear sexual division in labour enabled wives to partake an expressive role while men held an instrumental role. However, there are functionalists like Fletcher who believe that family has not decreased their functions, he explains how the family do not just perform the apparent obvious functions of primary socialisation, social control and reproduction but they also play a role in providing basic education and support through school life and they still have an economic function because they provide support to their non-working members, whether they are un-fit to work, ill or unemployed and ultimately, family supplies the whole economy with workers. The functionalism theory sheds light on the positive aspects of family life which all contribute to the society positively. Each functionalist has consistently mentioned a vital performance that families partake- the primary socialisation of children. During this stage a child learns about his/her culture and is most likely to be taught the norms and values of their society. Primary socialisation is a vital performance which is done by the family, as a child is expected to have acknowledgement of the norms and values in order to adjust with the society they live in. Although the functionalist theory does not look at the negative aspects of the family there are others that do. It can only be assumed that the functionalist view was patriarchal- the belief that men are dominate. This assumption is only representative of Parson as he introduced the warm bath theory, whereby he suggested that it was men that had a hard day at work and their wives (women) stayed at home and made them feel better when the husbands came home. Radical feminists are those who focus on this discrimination and have firm belief that the world is wrongly dominated by  men. They believe that patriarchal ideology gives women a perception that motherhood is their natural role whereas it actually keeps women subservient to men. They express how women have at least a dual role but most have a triple burden which consists of the roles of a paid worker, a mother and a housewife. The Marxist theory characterises the society as being one that exploits and subordinates the working cl ass. They argue that the family only benefits capitalists as they produce the working class, teach their children to accept capitalist values when primarily socialising them, which are to hard work, accepting and respecting authority, and it is the family that makes their members feel that capitalism is the norm. Radical psychiatrists on the other hand, argue that the family as a whole is a deception. Clinical evidence proves that families suffer exploitation, oppression and a negative experience. The modern family is so independent that it leads to emotional stress between the members. They disagree with functionalists and say that families actually spend too much time trying to please others by doing what they are expected to do, which prevents them from having autonomy. Thus if someone did something wrong it would lead to shame, guilt and repression. This leads to the dark side to a family which includes abuse to children and domestic violence to both men and women. Child abuse consists of, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. A CPS report showed that five to six children died each day in 2001 due to child abuse or neglect. Approximately 84% of the children were abused by their parents and mothers alone were responsible for 47% of the neglect and 32% of the abuse. Domestic violence is also increasing the UKs crime rate and accounts for a quarter of the murders in the UK. Domestic violence is all the violence that occurs between partners. Not only does it account for physical violence but sexual and emotional abuse too. Although it is considered a crime against women because they are twice as likely to be threatened and injured, men are also violated against- a study conducted at the Leicester Infirmary in 1992 concluded that equal numbers of men and women were being assaulted at home and that men received more serious injuries, losing consciousness more often than women. It may be so that the family as individuals may be affected more if they suffer these negative experiences however, it may also affect the society because ones participation to society will become effortless regardless of the way they contribute, for examples if they are a student,  they will not work hard, if they are a worker, they will be less. Nevertheless there are 400 refuges around the UK and any help lines to support those that are suffering. There are different views of the family that that highlight how they function in society and towards individuals. Functionalism is the main theory that promotes the positive aspects of a family and reflects the positive contributions a family makes towards society by performing essential functions such as reproduction, primary socialisation and social control. There are also many theories that focus on the negative aspects of the family- the things that make family a bad function of society. However, it has to be said that all the theorys are correct if read from the perspective that they are written in. Thus, although the family does have a dark side and may not comply with all theorists, such as radical psychiatrists and radical feminists, they still manage to uphold the main functions, that is to reproduce, socialise with individuals and support their family members.

Performance Appraisal System

Performance Appraisal System Procedural justice and Interactional justice: Assessing employees perception of fairness of performance appraisal; an empirical study of a small manufacturing company. ABSTRACT This research identifies procedural justice and interactional justice influences on perceived fairness of performance appraisal at a small private manufacturing company located in Newcastle, UK. Distributive justice refers to the perceived fairness of procedures used to determine the appraisal ratings. Interactional justice refers to the perceived fairness of the raters interpersonal treatment of the ratee during the appraisal process. A qualitative and quantitative case study method was used to obtain an understanding of employee perceptions of the fairness of their performance appraisal. Data from both interviews with nine employees was collected along with questionnaires completed by these participants. Two hypotheses were developed. Both hypotheses were supported by research data. 1.1 Aim of the researcher The researcher will assess the relationship between perceived fairness of justice among employees of the performance appraisal system. The aim of this research is to prove through this study that level of employees satisfaction with the appraisal system is influenced by the employees perceived fairness of procedural and interactional justice of the performance appraisal session. 1.2 Introduction Performance appraisal is a process designed to evaluate, manage and ultimately improve employee performance. It should allow the employer and employee to openly discuss the expectations of the organisation and the achievements of the employee. That is, the primary emphasis is on future development of the employee within the objectives of the organisation. There is no universally accepted model of performance appraisal. However, more often than not this process is designed around the following elements: setting performance goals and objectives; measurement of performance against those goals and objectives; feedback of results; amendments to goals and objectives. Performance appraisal systems can provide organisations with valuable information to assist in the developments of organisational strategies and planning. The information gained from this process can assist: in identifying and developing future management potential; in increasing performance and overall productivity; it works towards identifying strengths and managing weaknesses; in providing clarity to employees about an organisations expectations regarding performance levels; in providing an opportunity to audit and evaluate current human resources and identify areas for future development. Managers may conduct appraisals primarily to affect employee input through the feedback process, or justify some sort of human resource action (termination, transfer, promotion etc). Jawroski and Kohli (1991) identify other benefits that can be obtained from performance appraisals. Among these benefits are increase in role clarity, performance, and job satisfaction. Given the positive returns obtained from performance appraisals, one could reasonably expect that organisations would devote considerable resource to the appraisal process. Correspondingly, it may be anticipated that managers try to make certain that the dimensions of the appraisal process are known, understood, and supported by the participants. Theres probably no management process that has been the subject of more research than the performance appraisal. At the best managed companies, the performance appraisal is no joke it is a serious business that powers the success of the organization. (Montague, 2007) It has been suggested that to enhance satisfaction, managers should consider expanding the evaluation criteria to include those criteria which are important to the employee, perhaps creating a participatory performance appraisal system. (Thomas and Bertz 1994) In fact, employee input into the process has been described as having an impact on the perceived fairness of the evaluation (Latham at el. 1993). It has been stated that the opinions of employees, as they pertain to the appraisal system, may be greater determinant of the systems effectiveness than the validity or reliability of the system itself (Wanguri 1995). As stated by Thomas and Bretz (1994) without a sense of ownership, both managers and employees may view the process with fear and loathing. Thus, they contend that a major concern in the evaluation process is an acceptance of the system by those employees being evaluated. To this end, if employees believe they are evaluated based upon inappropriate criteria, it would fol low that their commitment to and satisfaction with the organisation supporting this particular evaluation system would be correspondingly reduced. Academic background 2.1 The social context of performance appraisal Levy Williams (2002) argue that identifying, measuring, and defining the organizational context in which appraisal takes place is integral to truly understanding and developing effective performance appraisals. Further, it is believed that this has been the framework driving the performance appraisal research since about the 1990 and into the beginning of the 21st century. Whether it is discussed as the social-psychological process of performance appraisal (Murphy Cleveland, 1991), the social context of performance appraisal (Ferris, Judge, Rowland, Fitzgibbons, 1994) the social milieu of performance appraisal (Ilgen at al. 1993), performance appraisal from the organisational side (Levy Steelman, 1997) the games that rates and rates play (Kozlowski, Chao Morrison, 1998), or the dues process approach to performance appraisal (Folger, Konovsky Cropanzao, 1998) it is argued along with other scholars that performance appraisal takes place in a social contact and the context plays a major role in the effectiveness of the appraisal process and how participants react to the process (Farr Levy, 2004). It has been suggested elsewhere that research over the last 10 years has moved noticeable away from a limited psychometric scope and toward an emphasis on variables that compose the social context (Fletcher, 2001). Distal factors Levy Williams (2002) definition of distal variables is generally consistent with Murphy and Cleveland (1995). Specifically, distal variables are broadly construed as contextual factors that affect many human resource systems, including performance appraisal. In other words, distal variables are not necessarily related to performance appraisal, but they may have unique effects on the performance appraisal process that are useful to understand and consider. Distal factors include but are not limited to organisational climate and culture, organisational goals, human resource strategies, external factors, technological advances, and workforce composition. Levy Williams (2002) believe these factors have an effect on rater and rate behaviour, although not directly. For instance, an organisation that espouses a continuous learning culture may structure and implement a very different type of performance appraisal system than an organisation without such a culture. A review of the performance appraisal literature over the last 7-10 years reveals little systematic empirical work on the distal variables other than some studies on culture, climate and technology issues (see, e.g. Hebert Vorauer, 2003). While this is at some levels disappointing, it is rather understandable. First, there is little theory specific to performance appraisal to methodically guide this level of research. Second, the breadth of the constructs Levy Williams (2002) construe as distal make it difficult to measure and implement within the research setting. Third, given the distal nature of these factors, their direct effects on performance appraisal behaviour may be small. Perhaps closer examination of the relationships between distal and proximal relationships would prove more fruitful. Even with the difficulties regarding this type of research, however, it is believed it will be important to continue examining these factors to fully understand the social context in which performance appraisal operates. (Levy Williams, 2002) Process proximal variables The next two section of the paper will underscore those proximal variables (both process and structural) receiving attention in the recent appraisal literature. Some researchers chose to categorize the proximal variables as either process (i.e. having a direct impact on how the appraisal process is conducted including things such as accountability or supervisor subordinate relationships), or structural (i.e. dealing with the configuration or makeup of the appraisal itself and including areas such as appraisal dimensions or frequency of appraisal). Rater issue Rater affect is one of the most studied rater variables. Although the literature has not been consistent regarding a formal definition of affect in performance appraisal (Lefkowitz, 2000), a good general definition linked to most of this research involves liking or positive regard for ones subordinate. The Affect Infusion Model (Forgas Georges, 2001) suggests that affective states impact on judgements and behaviours and, in particular, affect or mood plays a large role when tasks require a degree of constructive processing. For instance, in performance appraisal, raters in good moods tend to recall more positive information from memory and appraise performance positively. Consistent with the Affect Infusion Model, a few recent studies have examined the role of mood or affect in performance appraisal. Lefkowitz (2000) reported that affective regard is related frequently to higher appraisal ratings, less inclination to punish subordinates, better supervisor subordinate relationships, greater halo effect, and less accuracy. A couple of recent studies have looked at the role of similarity in personality and similarity in affects levels between raters and rates, finding similarity is related to appraisal ratings. Antonioni and Park (2001) found that affect was more strongly related to rating leniency in upward and peer ratings than it was in traditional top-down ratings and the this effect was stronger when raters had observational time with their subordinates. They concluded from this that raters pay so much attention to their positive regard for subordinates that increased observations result in noticing more specific behaviours that fit their affect-driven schema. It was also found that although affect is positively related to appraisal ratings; it is more strongly related to more subjective trait-like ratings, then to ostensibly more objective task-based ratings. Further, keeping performance diaries tended to increase the strength of that relationship between affect and performance ratings leading the authors to conclude that perhaps affect follows from subordinate performance level rather than the other way around. A second broad area related to raters that has received considerable research attention has to do with the motivation of the raters. Traditionally, research seemed to assume that raters were motivated to rate accurately. More recently, however, researchers have begun to question whether all or even most raters are truly motivated to rate accurately. One line of research related to raters motivation has focused on the role of individual differences and rating purpose on rating leniency. Most practitioners report overwhelming leniency on the part of their raters and this rating elevation has been found in empirical papers as well as surveys of organisations (Murphy Cleveland, 1995). The role of attributions in the performance appraisal process has also attracted some recent research attention. In some of these studies investigators have examined how the attributions that raters make for ratees behaviours affect their motivation to rate or their actual rating. For instance, using a traditional social psychological framework, researchers found that whether individuals opted for consoling, reprimanding, transferring, demoting, or firing a hypothetical employee depended in large part on the extent to which rater believed that the exhibited behaviour was due to ability or effort. It was found that both liking and attributions mediated relationships between reputation and reward decisions. More specifically, raters consider ratees behaviour and their reputations when drawing attributional inferences and deciding on appropriate rewards. The implications of this line of research are clear: attributional processing is an important element of the rating process and these attributions, in part, determine raters reactions and ratings. (Murphy Cleveland, 1995) A second line of research related to rater motivation has to do with rater accountability, which is the perceived potential to be evaluated by someone and being held responsible for ones decisions or behaviours (Frink Ferris, 1998) With respect to performance appraisal, accountability is typically thought of as the extent to which a rater is held answerable to someone else for his or her ratings of another employee. They concluded that accountability can result in distortions of performance ratings. It is demonstrated that raters told that ratees had been rated too low in the past responded by inflating ratings while others told that they would have to defend their ratings in writing provided more accurate ratings. In a follow up to this study it was hypothesized that the accountability pressure on raters to justify ratings may operate through an increased motivation to better prepare themselves for their rating task. This was manifested in raters paying more attention to performanc e and recording better performance-related notes. A related study looking at accountability forces in performance appraisal found that raters inflated ratings when they were motivated to avoid a negative confrontation with poor performers, but did not adjust ratings downward when good performers rated themselves unfavourably (Levy Williams 1998). Ratee issues A second major of focus of performance appraisal research consist of research centred on the performance appraisal ratee. Two areas were covered, in particular, the links between performance ratings and rewards; those elements of the performance appraisal process which increases ratees motivation such as participation. Related article argues the while pay is an important motivator along with recognition, work enjoyment , and self-motivation, very few organisations actually link the performance appraisal system to pay or compensation in a clear, tangible way (Mani, 2002). Both traditional academic research (Roberts Reed, 1996) and more practitioner-focused research (Shah Murphy, 1995) have identified the significance of participation in the appraisal process as an antecedent of ratees work motivation. It suggests that participation is simply essential to any fair and ethical appraisal system. It was identified that participation and perception of fairness as integral to employees pe rceptions of job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Roberts Reed (1996) take somewhat similar track in proposing that participation, goals, and feedback impact on appraisal acceptance which affects appraisal satisfaction and finally employee motivation and productivity. Performance appraisals are no longer just about accuracy, but are about much more including development, ownership, input, perceptions of being valued, and being a part of an organisational team. Focus on reactions to the appraisal process Cardy and Dobbins (1994) arguing that perhaps the best criterion to use in evaluating performance appraisal systems was the reactions of ratees. The claim was that even the most-psychometrically-sound appraisal system would be ineffective if ratees (and raters) did not see it as fair, useful, valid, accurate, etc. Good psychometrics cannot make up for negative perceptions on the part of those involved in the system. Folger et al. (1992) define three elements that must be present to achieve higher perceptions of fairness: adequate notice, fair hearing, and judgement based on evidence. Although they identified specific interventions that should be implemented to increase due process, they cautioned that â€Å"due process mechanisms must be implemented in terms of guiding principles (i.e. designed with process goals in mind) rather than in a legalistic, mechanical, rote fashion. In general studies have found that both ratees and raters respond more favourably to fair performance appraisal systems (e.g. less emotional exhaustion, more acceptances of the feedback, more favourable reactions toward the supervisor, more favourable reactions toward the organisation, and more satisfaction with the appraisal system and the job on the part of both rater and rate) (Taylor et al. 1995, 1998). Trust issue Researchers have posited that trust is the key element in managing the supervisor employee relationship. According to Mayer and Davis (1999) trust is made up of three components: ability, benevolence, and integrity. In other words, if an employee believes a supervisor has the skills to properly appraise, has the interests of the employee at the heart, and believes the supervisor upholds standards and values, the employee is likely to trust that supervisor. Interest in understanding the processes related to trust are the result of research that support both direct and indirect effects of trust on important organisational and individual outcomes. For instance it is supported by research the relationship between trust and outcomes such as employee attitudes, cooperation, communication, and organizational citizenship behaviours. As with appraisal perceptions and reactions it is also believed that trust issues can limit the effectiveness of performance appraisal. If ratees have low level s of trust for their supervisor, they may be less satisfied with the appraisal and may not as readily accept feedback from the source. More to come 2.2 Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) performance appraisal Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) are a relatively new approach to performance evaluation. They are in effect a combination of the graphic rating scales and the critical incident method. An actual description of important job behaviour is developed and â€Å"anchored† alongside the scale. The evaluator is then asked to select the description of behaviour which best matches actual employee behaviour for the rating period. In a controlled field study, Silverman and Wexley (1984) used BARS to test the effect of rate participation on the appraisal process. BARS were developed for each of the following job classifications: clerical, non-clerical staff, technical and professional, nursing, management/supervisory. Those employees who participated in creating, and were evaluated by, the behaviourally-based scales, had a more positive reaction to the entire performance appraisal process. Specifically, they felt that the performance appraisal interviews were more useful, that their supervisors were more supportive, and that the process produced more motivation to improve job performance. BARS address many of the problems often found in traditional evaluation approaches such as the halo effect, leniency, and the central tendency error. In addition, research suggests that many employees prefer this evaluation method (Rarick Baxter, 1986) BARS are however not a panacea for management and do possess both advantages and disadvantages. According to Rarick and Baxter (1986) advantages of BARS are: clearer standards both subordinate and superior have a clearer idea of what constitutes good job performance. Ambiguity concerning expectations is reduced; more accurate measurement because individuals involved with the particular job develop the BARS instrument they have a good understanding of the requirements for good performance; better performance feedback since the BARS is based on specific behaviour it provides a guideline for improving future work performance; better consistency BARS have been shown to be more consistent in terms of reliability than more traditional e valuation methods. In other words, when more than one supervisor rates the same employee, the results are more similar when BARS is the evaluation method. Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales are, however, not without drawbacks. Disadvantages of BARS are: more costly more time and effort, and eventually more expense is involved in the construction and implementation of BARS; possible activity trap since BARS are more activity oriented, they may cause both supervisor and subordinate to become more concerned with activity performance rather than accomplishing actual results; not exhaustive behaviour scale even if the rator posses lengthy listing of behaviour examples he/she may not be able to match the observed behaviour with the stipulated anchor. As Rarick and Baxter (1986) note Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales have the potential to increase both the accuracy of employee appraisal and ultimately the effectiveness of the organization. BARS are equally useful as a judgemental instrument and as an employee developmental device. They are designed to make performance appraisal more accurate by minimising ambiguity and focusing on specific behaviour. BARS move employee performance appraisal away from the subjective opinions of the evaluator and closer towards on objective measure of true performance. 2.3 Limitations in performance appraisal The advantages and disadvantages of using performance assessment in making employment decisions are well documented (e.g. Murphy Cleveland, 1995). The limitations of performance assessment, such as inflated ratings, lack of consistency, and the politics of assessment (Tziner, Latham, Price Haccoun, 1996), often lead to their abandonment. Managers responsible for delivering performance reviews who are uncomfortable with the performance rating system may give uniformly high ratings that do not discriminate between rates. Poor ratings detract from organisational uses and increase employee mistrust in the performance appraisal system (Tziner Murphy, 1999). Employees on the receiving end of the appraisal often express dissatisfaction with both the decisions made as a result of performance assessment and the process of performance assessment (Milliman, Nason, Zhu De Cieri, 2002), which may have longitudinal effects on overall job satisfaction (Blau, 1999) and commitment (Cawley, Keepin g Levy, 1998). The extensive research on performance appraisal (Arvey Murphy, 1998: Fletcher, 2001: Fletcher Perry, 2001, Murphy Cleveland 1995) has not addressed the fundamental problems of the performance appraisal process the performance appraisal is influenced by a variety of relevant, non-performance factors such as cultural context (Latham Mann, 2006), that it does not provide either valid performance data or useful feedback to individuals (Fletcher, 2001) , or that performance appraisal instruments often measure the â€Å"wrong things† (Latham Mann, 2006). Murphy and Cleveland (1995) state that â€Å"a system that did nothing more than allow the making of correct promotion decisions would be a good system, even if the indices used to measure performance were inaccurate or measure the wrong set of constructs.† No assessment system, however, would meet with success if it did not have the support of those it assessed. In developing a new performance appraisal system it is important to use past research on performance appraisals that identified a number of factors that lead to greater acceptance of appraisals by employees. Firstly, legally sound performance appraisals should be objective and based on a job analysis, they should also be based on behaviours that relate to specific functions that are controllable by the rate, and the results of the appraisal should be communicated to the employee (Malos, 1998). Secondly, the appraisals must be perceived as fair. Procedural fairness is improved when employees participate in all aspects of the process, when there is consistency in all processes, when the assessments are free of supervisor bias, and when there is a formal channel for the employees to challenge or rebut their evaluations (Gilliland Langdon, 1998). In addition to perceptions of fairness, participation by employees in the appraisal process is related to motivation to improve job performance, satisfaction with the appraisal process, increased organisational commitment and the utility or value that the employees place on that appraisal (Cawley et al. 1998). 2.4 Blended approach Competencies To overcome the problem of job-specific performance dimensions, the performance assessment system was based on behaviourally defined core competencies (Dubois 1993; Klein 1996). The core competencies had been previously identified through an extensive process as being common to all positions; these competencies were to become the basis for training new recruits and for the continuous development of existing members (Himelfarb, 1996). Fletcher Perry (2001) stated the â€Å"the elements constituting what we normally think of as performance appraisal will increasingly be properly integrated into the human resources policies of the organisation using the same competency framework for all HR processes, linking individual objectives with team and business unit objectives framing the input of appraisal to promotion assessment in an appropriate manner, and so on† making it â€Å"more effective mechanism and less of annual ritual that appears to exist in a vacuum.† Along the s ame lines, Smither (1998) went on to note that the same competency model should guide â€Å"numerous human resource initiatives†. The competency development process used for this study followed the suggestions of Fletcher Perry (2001) and Smither (1998) and included a review of functional job analysis data for general police constables that covered a majority of the different job positions. In this sense, the competencies were blended by incorporating the values and specific attributes (Schippmann et al., 2000). A blended approach is one that couples and organisations strategy in the derivation of the broad competencies with the methodological rigor of task analysis. As Lievens, Sanchez, and De Corte (2004) note, blended approach is likely to improve the accuracy and quality of inferences made from the resulting competency model because a blended approach capitalizes on the strength of each method. Strategy is used as a frame of reference to guide subject matter experts to identify those worker attributes or competencies that are aligned with the organisations strategy and the to use the task statements to pro vide more concrete referents for the associated job behaviours (Lievens et al., 2004) 2.5 Justice of fairness The study of justice of fairness has been a topic of philosophical interest that extends back at least as far as Plato and Socrates (Ryan, 1993). In research in the organizational sciences, justice is considered to be socially constructed. That is, an act is defined as just if most individuals perceive it to be on the basis of empirical research (Cropanzao Greenberg 1997). Each approach propose a different way of conceptualizing justice, from the provision of process control (Thibaut Walker, 1975) to a focus on consistency control (Leventhal et al. 1980) and an examination of interpersonal treatment (Bies Moag, 1986). Performance appraisal systems are among the most important human resource systems in organizations insofar as the yield decisions integral to various human resource actions and outcomes (Murphy and Cleveland 1995). Reactions to appraisal and the appraisal process are believed to significantly influence the effectiveness and the overall viability of appraisal systems (Bernardin and Beatty 1984; Cardy and Dobbins 1994; Carroll and Schneier 1982, Lewer 1994), For instance. Murphy and Cleveland (1995:314) contended that â€Å"reaction criteria are almost always relevant and an unfavourable reaction may doom the most carefully constructed appraisal system†. Perceptions of fairness are important to all human resource processes, e.g., selection, performance appraisal, and compensation, and particularly so, to the performance appraisal process. Indeed, a decade ago, Cardy and Dobbins (1994:54) asserted that â€Å"with dissatisfaction and feelings of unfairness in process and inequity in evaluations, any appraisal system will be doomed to failure.† Other researchers have also acknowledged the importance of fairness to the success or failure of appraisal system (Taylor et al. 1995). 2.6 Procedural justice Procedural justice refers to the perceived fairness of the procedures used to determine appraisal outcomes (Greenberg 1986a), independent of favourability or fairness of the performance rating or its administrative consequences (Skarlicki, Ellard and Kelln 1998). Folger et. al (1992) have developed a procedural justice model for performance appraisal, rooted in the due process of law, and possessing three basic factors: adequate notice, a fair hearing and judgment based on evidence. Adequate notice involves giving employees knowledge of appraisal system and how it affects them well ahead of any formal appraisal. More specifically, it entails developing performance standards and objectives before the appraisal period commences. These standards and objectives must be well documented, clearly explained, fully understood and preferable set by mutual agreement, with employees only held accountable for standards and objectives properly communicated to them. Adequate notice also involves hi gh appraisal frequency and giving employees constant feedback on timely basis throughout the performance evaluation period, so that employees can rectify any performance deficiencies before the appraisal is conducted (Folger et al. 1992). Studies show that adequate notice is important to employee perceptions of procedural fairness. Williams and Levys (2000) study of 128 employees from three US banks revealed that system knowledge significantly predicts appraisal satisfaction and procedural fairness, controlling for the much smaller effect on organizational level. The second factor that affects employee perceptions of procedural fairness is a fair hearing. A fair hearing means several things in a performance appraisal context. These include: an opportunity to influence the evaluation decision through evidence and argument, access to the evaluation decision, and an opportunity to challenge the evaluation decision (Folger et al. 1992). Fundamentally, a fair hearing entails two-way comm unication, with employee input or voice in all aspects of the appraisal decision-making process. Several researchers have consistently found the ‘voice effects procedural justice in a variety of work contexts (Greenberg, 1986; Korsgaard and Robertson, 1995). In a study of 128 food service employees and their 23 supervisor at a large, US university, Dulebohn and Ferris (1991) found that the informal voice provided by influence tactics affected employee perceptions of fairness in the appraisal process. Two types of influence tactics were differentiated: the first on the supervisor and the second on the job. Influence of the supervisor focused on, for example, efforts at ingratiation. Influence on the job focused on, for example, manipulating performance data. Uses of supervisor-focused, influence tactics were positively associated with employees perceptions of procedural justice, but uses of job-focused influence tactics were negatively associated. The authors argue that this negative association may result from reverse causation: perception of unjust appraisal procedures ma y encourage employees to adopt job-focused influence tactics. The third procedural justice factor is the judgment based on evidence. This means convincing employees that ratings do accurately reflect per

Media Violence Essay -- essays research papers

Does entertainment influence society's attitude towards violent behavior? In order to fully answer this question we must first understand what violence is. Violence is the use of one's powers to inflict mental or physical injury upon another; examples of this would be rape or murder. Violence in entertainment reaches the public by way of television, movies, plays, music, and novels. Through the course of this essay it will be proven that violence in entertainment is a major factor in the escalation of violence in society, once this is proven we will take all of the evidence that has been shown throughout this paper and come to a conclusion as to whether or not violence in entertainment is justified and whether or not it should be censored.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Television with its far reaching influence spreads across the globe. Its most important role is that of reporting the news and maintaining communication between people around the world. Television's most influential, yet most serious aspect is its shows for entertainment. Violent children's shows like Mighty Morphing Power Rangers and adult shows like NYPD Blue and Homicide almost always fail to show human beings being able to resolve their differences in a non-violent manner; instead they show a reckless attitude that promotes violent action first with reflection on the consequences later. Contemporary television creates a seemingly insatiable appetite for amusement of all kinds without regard for social or moral benefits (Schultze 41). Findings over the past twenty years by three Surgeon Generals, the Attorney General's Task Force on Family Violence, the American Medical Association, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other medical authorities indicate that televised violence is harmful to all of us, but particularly to the mental health of children (Medved 70-71).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1989 the results of a five year study by the American Psychological Association indicated that the average child has witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence on television by the time he or she has completed sixth grade. In further studies it was determined that by the time that same child graduates from high school he or she will have spent 22,000 hours w... ...p;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If the government ever did censor violent entertainment who knows where they would stop, or even if they would. Perhaps they would try to censor violent speech or try to censor the speech of those who disagreed with the actions of the government. The simple message is don't promote censorship, because it could easily get out of hand, and as the old saying goes â€Å"the road to hell is paved with good intentions†. There are then only two ways to get rid of the violent entertainment in our lives: we could shame those who make the violent movies, television shows, books, and plays, into having a social conscience, making them be less prone to creating violent entertainment; or we could simply solve the problem ourselves, with a push of a button, or the turn of a page. Work Cited ~ American Rifleman (1993). TV Violence: Does it Cause Real-Life Mayhem? Lamson, Susan R, 19-23, 30-50, 100-109 ~ Greenhaven Press, (1992). Youth Violence. Leone, Bruno, 32-48. ~ www.nccev.org/violence/statistics/statistics-media.html ~ www.columbia.edu/cu/21stC/issue-1.2/Media.html ~ www.health.org/govpubs/ms714.html ~ www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/ september99/media_violence.html

Comparing the Power of Love in Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Beloved :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

The Power of Love in Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Beloved There are several common themes in the film Beloved and the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin. They both deal with the effects of slavery on the white and black communities. They both address the brutal treatment of blacks within slavery, including the sexual mistreatment of black women by their masters. A prevalent theme out of both works is the power of a mother’s love for her children. The film Beloved paints a grim picture of what it was like to be a black woman in the 1860’s. Like the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, it takes us through the story of an escaped slave in the South traveling to the North in order to gain freedom. The main characters, Sethe, in the movie Beloved, and Eliza, in the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, are both mothers who want nothing more that to see their children delivered from the bonds of slavery. Although the film and the book were created using very different styles, their objectives are somewhat similar. In Stowe’s book Uncle Tom’s Cabin we follow Eliza through a dramatic escape from her plantation after she learns about the impending sale of her only son. Determined to take him out of slavery or die trying, she runs away in the night with him holding on to her neck. Stowe focuses much attention on the power of maternal love. She felt strongly against slavery because it often broke the bonds of maternal love by ripping children away from the mothers. Families were continually being torn apart by the auction block; Stowe wanted the reader to be aware of the effects of this horrible institution. Logic tells us that no mother would ever willingly put her children or herself in danger. However, through Eliza’s character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin we see the desperation that many women had to experience to save their children. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, though fictional, did more to change the hearts of Americans who were standing on the edge abolitionism than any other work at that time. In fact, near the conclusion of the Civil War she was invited to the White House in order that President Lincoln might meet the â€Å"little woman that started this big war.† Stowe felt that she had an obligation to inform the world of what really went on in the South, what life was really like for slaves.

The Psychology of Pedophiles Essay -- Child Molesters, Sex Offenders

In the news today we frequently hear about pedophiles and child molesters. We have heard the horror stories of priest and bishops molesting boys, public school teachers having sex with students, and family members molesting children. While it is still taboo, the public view of a child molester has changed in the past years. It used to be that when we thought of a pedophile, we thought of a scary man lurking behind the bushes. This is not the case today, most of the cases of child molestation are by a person known to the child, whether it be a family member or a family friend.(Herkov, 2012) A pedophile is a person who is significantly older and has conscious sexual interests in prepubescent children. There are two kinds of pedophiles, the violent offenders and the non-violent offenders. The violent offenders are the minority of offenders. These are the one that pose the greatest risk to the victim and the public. Violent offenders are also known as child rapists. They use threat, intimidation, and physical force to overpower their victims. In most cases the child relinquishes sex for survival.(Bridges, 2012) The non-violent offenders are the most prevalent of all molesters. These are the people who use deception and enticement to lure their victims into submission. In a way, these offenders are using a form of sexual extortion. Sex is often rewarded or exchanged for acceptance, recognition, attention, or material gain. Often times the victim will resist, and since these are non-violent predators, they will increase the efforts to get the victim to accept their advances . If the child is persistent, the offender will most likely move to a more vulnerable target. If the offender does start sexually abusing the victim, the sexual... ...July, 2004. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. http://www.transformationsjournal.org/journal/issue_08/article_01.shtml Bridges, Debbie. "Sexual Addiction Treatment, Signs,Causes, Symptoms." MedicineNet. MedicineNet, 28 July 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. D’Amora, David and Burns-Smith, Gail. How Offender Treatment and Victim Advocacy can Work Together in Response to Sexual Violence," Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, The Official Journal of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers,11 (October 1999), 296-297. Deirmenjian, JM. â€Å"Pedophilia on the Internet.† Journal of Forensic Sciences, 47.5 (2002): 1090-1092. Herkov, Michael. "What Is Sexual Addiction?" Psych Central. Psych Central, July 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. Lamberg, Lynne. â€Å"Researchers Seek Roots of Pedophilia.† JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, 294.5 (2005): 546.

Ready to Quit Smoking? Essay

Tobacco is the most preventable cause of death in the United States. An estimated 443,000 people prematurely die from smoking cigarettes. It also causes serious illnesses, such as Coronary heart disease, lung cancer, and oral cancer. 46.6 million Americans continue to smoke despite their knowledge of these risks (CDC). How hard is it to quit smoking? Nicotine is in fact one of the most addicting substances in society. Some people say it is extremely difficult. There are many different ways to quit smoking. The most effect yet, most difficult way is complete abstinence from smoking. Other alternatives include, nicotine gum or patches, medication and e-cigarettes. In order to quit smoking one must understand addiction of nicotine and how it affects the body. The human brain has tiny neurotransmitters called dopamine. â€Å"Dopamine is the brain’s primary motivation neurotransmitter (Polito). â€Å" For example, when you are hungry or thirsty and you finally find time to eat or quench your thirst, that overwhelming, satisfactory sensation is caused by the flow of dopamine released from the brain. Nicotine is an external chemical that passes through the blood/brain barrier that stimulates dopamine. Once there is that chemical dependency on nicotine in order for your brain to release dopamine, it becomes and addiction. There are 4 steps in this addiction cycle. First, a person’s blood nicotine level falls. Second, the brain generates a craving by building up and restricting the flow of dopamine. Third, one inhales new nicotine. Fourth, the brain releases dopamine and the cycle continues. Now that one can fully understand the effec ts of nicotine, the next step can be taken. â€Å"Cold Turkey,† the common term used by smokers, means complete abstinence from smoking. To start the quitting process one must first set a date to quit. One should remove all tobacco products from their persona, house, and vehicle. Then they should tell their friends and family that they are  quitting. Also, it is wise to inform their smoking buddies to not smoke around them or offer them any cigarettes. This completes the start process. In the first five days of not smoking, the number of cravings can reach up to 8 cravings. It is tough to power through. However, there is hope. There is something called, â€Å"The 5 D’s to Quitting Smoking.† The first is â€Å"Delay (CoxHealth).† Cravings only last to a maximum number of three minutes per craving. If the smoker can set a timer and wait three minutes the craving will, in fact, go away. However, it will probably feel like the longest three minutes of their life. The second is ,â€Å"Distract yoursel f (CoxHealth).† If the smoker can direct their attention to something else during their craving, they will have a greater chance of fighting their withdrawals. Perhaps playing a sport, running, or watching television can help distract them from their mental obsession. The third â€Å"D† is, â€Å"Drink water (CoxHealth).† Staying hydrated is essential to fight cravings. Water is good for the body and helps ease the physical withdrawals. The fourth is, â€Å"Deep breathes (CoxHealth).† This refers to meditation and breathing exercises, such as circular breathing. Circular breathing is where one inhales for three seconds, holds their breath for 3 seconds, exhales for three seconds, and then holding that for 3 seconds before inhaling again. The last â€Å"D† is, â€Å" Discuss your feelings (CoxHealth).† These are the fundamental principles to quitting smoking cold turkey. However, there are other ways to quit smoking. Nicotine gum and nicotine patches seem to work just as well as cold turkey. It is a substitute, but it does help stop the habit of inhaling harmful smoke into the lungs. When prescribed these, â€Å"Crutches,† there is a set of instructions that the smoker should follow. They start at a high milligram dosage, then every week the doses become smaller and smaller. It is effective but extremely expensive. Medication can also be prescribed buy doctors. Scientists have come up with a special pill that makes a person sick from smoking a cigarette. It’s a form of negative reinforcement that makes a person not want to smoke because it makes them sick. This is probably not the best way to quit because is extremely expensive. Quitting this way does not yield a long-term effect. It  is only a temporary means to completely quit smoking. Electronic cigarettes are not as expensive but it is still a substitute. These e-cigarettes do tend to break easily and the cartridges need to be replaced every so often, which may become expensive over a long period of time. There is an atomizer in their products the shoot liquid nicotine into the lungs via water vapor. This is not very harmful yet the nicotine addiction remains. When smoking these e-cigarettes there is no real plan to quit. Instead it is just to maintain a healthier lifestyle. Smoking is by far the worst and hardest habit to stop. It is expensive and creates harmful repercussions. Cold turkey is probably the best way to quit due to the fact that it is natural and inexpensive. However, it is not the only way to stop smoking. Alternatives like nicotine gum and patches, medication, and electronic cigarettes effectively stop the habit of smoking. In retrospect these seem to be temporary unless following a solid plan to completely stop. There can be no definite way to stop smoking. The choice is still always up to the person who wants to quit smoking, where will power plays an important role to smashing this horrible habit completely. Work Cited CDC. â€Å"Tobacco Use.† Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Nov. 2012. Web. 22 Feb. 2014. CoxHealth. â€Å"The 5 Ds to Quitting Smoking.† CoxHealth. CoxHealth, n.d. Web. Polito, John R. â€Å"Tobacco Company Deception Aboutchemical Addiction to Nicotine.†Nicotine Addiction 101. Nicotine Cessation Educator, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. â€Å"Using the Nicotine Patch, Nicotine Gum, Nicotine Nasal Spray or Nicotine Inhaler.† – American Family Physician. N.p., 1 June 2001. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. Nordqvist, Christian. â€Å"Electronic Cigarettes Can Harm The Lungs.† Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 3 Sept. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

Formal And Informal Assessment And Evaluation Education Essay

Appraisal and judge has become circumstantial issues peculiar(a)ly in the atomic number 18a of erudition and larning it requires alert consideration by whatsoever teaching practician in any educational establishment. This is besides the country where umpteen instructors sink into the pool of confusion. But it has its of import map, which is to roll up reading on the skill of every star scholarly person and sound away their mundane approach. In some opposite newsworthinesss, it serve lively carry in the surgical process of effectual instruction and acquisition.Therefore, this rousevass go out explicate my dread of idea and judge from the readys of encyclopedism, formal, familiar, event demands, and monetary standards in brief. However, to cook up this, we foremost need to specify judgment and rating.The word approximation is derived from the Latin word assidere signifi tidy sumce to sit beside . It is obvious that mere(a) tone of this phras e is comforting, and it suggests common authorization and affright. So, it indirectly tells that macrocosm of positive standstill amid assessment and the procedure of instruction and acquisition in schools is necessary.By and big, idea is a procedure of roll uping schooling relation to some identified purposes and aims problematic with savants advancement and effectment in the procedure of instruction and acquisition. More specifically, schoolroom estimation refers to the procedure of assemblage, entering, construing, utilizing and pass oning information close their advancement and accomplishment during the development of cognition, constructs, accomplishments and attitudes.Harmonizing to Lloyd-Jones and grate ( 1986 ) idea is referred to the procedure in which legitimate feature of a student s instruction is footprintd, by the instructor, an tester or the disciple. It is essence to mensurate worthiness of school-age childs popular presentation. Assessment, hence, involves much more than than proving. It is an on-going procedure that encompasses some formal and informal activities intended to essay and separate instruction and acquisition in all countries of the logical argument of register.On the other manus, rating is more or less(prenominal) defined as the procedure of judgement comparative virtue, value, or worthiness of educational intents, or techniques by utilizing realistic information generated with approximation. It helps in updating the character and grade of acquisition plays polar manoeuver in curricular determination making and it favour better links between acquisition, and the purposes and aims of learning. Furthermore, it creates strong bond between larning and the environments in which larning takes topographic point. Therefore, in educational scene, judgment and rating seeks movement that the acquisition activities k without delaying for pupils argon effectual.Appraisal and Evaluation from the positio n of developmentWhy do we sum and measure? This is the first interrogative that knocks in my head whenever I learn assessment and rating from an angle of development. Generally, instructors plays critical function in developmental appraisal and rating of pupils acquisition and plans for many groundsFirst, appraisal and rating aid instructors and pupil matter decision makers to heighten their apprehension of the demands of a persistently changing pupil population. In add-on, it volition take to heart in placing developmental holds in pupils and to develop schemes for intercession. For that, I would prefer to utilize the construct of desegregate hypothetic account of kid development. It is because the theoretical account covers up all developmental countries such as sensory, behavioral, linguistic communication, motor, perceptual, societal cognitive and emotional accomplishments. So it can besides be used to better holistic development of pupils as a pupil, ego, and valuable c itizen of the state as it reflects their genius every bit good as their grade of accomplishment in the field of acquisition.Second, appraisal is besides meant to develop economical educational institutional programs and policies to run into pupils developmental demands and acquisition sorts. They are important for progressing the quality and easy handiness of plans and services.Third, we can non evacuate its greatest part in itinerary of study development. Through appraisal and rating, we pass on be able to assist course of study developers for make up ones minding how we tycoon better classs and programmes. At the similar twitch, as a instructor we can lend in making alteration on course of study, class stuffs, learning methodological analysiss, etc. It is because assessment consequences can specially fork up a powerful thinking(prenominal) for procuring support for course of study alterations, development and reappraisal.Formal and Informal Assessment and Evaluatio nA formal appraisal is besides sometimes known as summational appraisal. And it is by and large assessed in the signifier of quiz, foot race, or paper and is pass judgment ground on how good pupil is able to execute. A summational appraisal is usually carried out at the termination of unit or faculty.Furthermore, formal appraisals are categorized into criterion-referenced trials and norm-referenced trials. Criterion-referencing is assessment based on certain standard or rule, and norm-referencing is order appraisal based on the comparings of scholars accomplishment against one another from range to clip.I prefer more of standard citing method than norm-referencing because it can be used to judge pupils accomplishment and advancement on a series of cardinal standards set based on moderately expected acquisition results and aims. Whereas, norm-referencing is based on the hypothesis, that a more or less similar range of mountains of human world presentation can be anticipated for any pupil group.On the other manus, Informal appraisal is referred as formative trial, and it is a incessant procedure of appraisal and rating. Feedback plays critical function here as it allows both scholars and instructors to measure acquisition and topographic point out the countries for forward motion.But which one could be the take up signifier of appraisal, formal or informal? In my sentiment, the usage of informal appraisals is shell for the overall acquisition. It facilitate instructors to assess pupils through with(predicate) a scope of classroom-based activities, place pupils weakness so and at that place and stop down work for the betterment, instead than postponement at the last minute wish well informal appraisal.Appraisal and Evaluation for particular demands pupilsStudents belongings jobs such as motor, lingual, cognitive, behavioral, organisational, address and natural disablements are customaryly referred as particular needfully pupils, and it bes ides includes talented pupils. They should non be left out without ordinary instruction. grumpy agreements or particular demands adjustments should be offered to them in order to prosecute their academic ends and accomplish a higher percentage point of personalised autonomy.Similarly they besides need to be evaluated and identified their strengths, failings and offend guiding rules to do effectual advancement in achieving their academic ends. Other than instructors and equals, pupils planetary house should affect in it. So, I feel that, by constructing an bond with their parents obtaining pupils developmental history and current household experience and discoursing issues with them would assist greatly for dig toing challenges in steering particular necessarily pupils to win manage other normal pupils. Furthermore, rating will be holistic and addresses all facets of operation. For that we should non bury to take pupils single acquisition manners into history as all pu pils do non hold same learning capableness and ways.Sometimes pupils with particular demands are integrated in fixity schoolrooms because the capitulum thought of appraisal and rating in this field itself is to see whether a pupil is able to accommodate, do advancement and met aims in normal category like normal pupils. Assessment indicates whether the pupil larn the stuffs intended and what are some of the drawbacks countries to be improved.So schools and teacher must give all pupils an equal chance to instruction. Infect, they should supply counteractive aid to particular needs pupils. Never the less, we as a instructor, in order to choose instruction plan and activities suited for our pupils, we must carefully measure our options and see the particular needs of our invalid pupils.Standards based Assessment and EvaluationHere, it includes cardinal types of educational criterions, a nub criterion and a commonplace presentation criterion. A content criterion defines the cogni tion, constructs, and accomplishments get at each class degree, while public presentation criterion province the degree of public presentation that is considered acceptable alining to the benchmark set by the instructors.Standards-based appraisal and rating is meant to place pupils with different gait and capablenesss in acquisition, so that we can plan schemes to assist them and do all of them achieve and overlord to the degree that they are required to detain certain benchmark in acquisition. sagaciousness Standardized Test and its features is necessary when we handle almost appraisal and rating from the position of criterion as it is one of the instrumental role required in standard appraisal and rating procedure. Range of cognition and apprehension in specific topic is organism assessed through standardised testing on pupils. And it is a snapshot in clip where appraisals are administered and scored in the same manner for all pupils.For illustration, multiple-choice inquir ies and written responses to be answered within a given clip frame are illustrations of standard trial. That means pupils are non allowed to utilize outer resources or mentions in order to finish the trial. Their public presentation on these trials decides whether they will be promoted or non from one class to the following. And this is what about every school territory now administers it.However, it is of import for us non to acquire fragmented of Standardized trials with the criterions motion, which approve definite grade-level content and public presentation criterions in chief topic sphere. Frequently, regulated unvarying trials are non associated with province and territory content criterions, and these causes observably lose of connexion between what is being taught and what is being tested. So as a instructor we have to treat our learning harmonizing to the course of study.The standard rating will enable other school betterment program and undertakings, and to convey progres s alterations in course of study and teaching method, and incorporation of new appraisals. So standardised appraisal and rating is uniformly regulated trial which it refers to when every pupil at a peculiar class degree has to bear up under the same trial with same inquiry, at same clip frame in same twelvemonth throughout the state.In the nutshell, we would happen that the descriptions given in to a higher place paragraphs are all positions from different positions constructed by speculating the both particular needs pupils and normal pupil as an active in structuring their ain acquisition in the stage setting of societal interaction function of educational establishments and instructors in set uping the kid s phase of development in any facet of acquisition, and that information collected through assorted appraisal and rating methods will so be used to scaffold the following acquisition and course of study development.