Civil Rights Timeline: Jan. 15, 1929 - Dec. 21, 1956 :: American Civil Rights

Civil Rights Timeline: Jan. 15, 1929 - Dec. 21, 1956 Jan. 15, 1929 - Dr. King is born - Born on Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Ga., he was the second of three children of the Rev. Michael (later Martin) and Alberta Williams King. Sept. 1, 1954 - Dr. King becomes pastor - In 1954, King accepted his first pastorate--the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. He and his wife, Coretta Scott King, whom he had met and married (June 1953) while at Boston University. Dec. 1, 1955 - Rosa Parks defies city segregation - Often called "the mother of the civil rights movement," Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, b. Tuskegee, Ala., Feb. 4, 1913, sparked the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott that led to a 1956 Supreme Court order outlawing discriminatory practices on Montgomery buses. In December 1955, returning home from her assistant tailor job in Montgomery, Parks refused a bus driver's order to surrender her seat to a white man. She was jailed and fined $14. Dec. 5, 1955 - Montgomery bus boycott- Although precipitated by the arrest of Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56 was actually a collective response to decades of intimidation, harassment and discrimination of Alabama's African American population. By 1955, judicial decisions were still the principal means of struggle for civil rights, even though picketing, marches and boycotts sometimes punctuated the litigation. The boycott, which lasted for more than a year, was almost 100 percent effective. Dec. 21, 1956 - Bus segregation declared illegal - The boycott's succeeded in desegregating public facilities in the South and also in obtaining civil rights legislation from Congress.  Civil Rights Timeline Sept. 24, 1957 - May 2, 1963 Sept. 24, 1957 - School integration - In September 1957 the state received national attention when Gov. Orval E. Faubus (in office 1955-67) tried to prevent the integration of Little Rock Central High School. President Dwight D. Eisenhower quickly intervened, in part by sending federal troops to Little Rock, and several black students were enrolled at Central High School. Aug. 19, 1958 - Student sit-ins - In spite of the events in Little Rock or Montgomery, or Supreme Court decisions, segregation still pervaded American society by 1960. While protests and boycotts achieved moderate successes in desegregating aspects of education and transportation, other facilities such as restaurants, theaters, libraries, amusement parks and churches either barred or limited access to African Americans, or maintained separate, invariably inferior, facilities for black patrons.

The Lost Tradition Essay -- Essays Papers

The Lost Tradition Every Sunday was understood to be a family day. No one even thought to make plans with friends or to schedule anything on that day. It was our â€Å"family tradition.† I only wish I appreciated that time with my family more as a child. It always started out the same way. My two brothers and I would awaken to the smell of breakfast, being cooked by my father. We would climb out of bed and wearily make our way to the table. After eating more than we knew we should have, the calm that we once were all in disappeared. The hectic â€Å"getting ready† took over. There was fighting over the bathroom and trying to find lost shoes, even the occasional fist fight between my brothers and me. Although I hated getting ready in such disorganized circumstances, I would love to relive it again. My father rushed the three of us out of the door with barely enough time to make the five minute drive to CCD class. Directly after CCD, we would meet my parents in the church for mass. As much as my brothers and I fought, we knew how to behave in church, and usually the hour passed uneventfully. We got the case of the giggles now and then, but a stern look from my father put that to an end very quickly. The next part of the afternoon was the part I dreaded most. We would all be loaded up into our minivan and taken for long boring drives to the places my parents loved to go. I would have no choice but to stare at the miles of trees and to listen to the local country station for hou...

An invesigation of the contribrution

Over the years, there have been many definitions of insurance but the most accepted definition is that given by ALAN WILLET in 1901. He defined insurance â€Å"As the accumulation of reserves for the purpose of contingencies†. Thus it is a business activity wherein some people or parties who are subject to certain risk pay monthly or yearly premium to an insurance company to transfer the burden of such risks.Insurance also may be defined â€Å"as a contract whereby a person called the insurer or the assure agrees in consideration of money paid to him called the premium by another person called the insured or assured to indemnify the latter against losses resulting to him on the happening of certain events†¦. J. O. Rusk (1991)†. The origin of insurance initially had a connection with ships and cargoes achieving a spread of risk.This origin dates back to as early as BBC (carter, 1991) when the â€Å"Babylonians developed a system of loans on maritime ventures whereb y the loans were not repayable in the event of the loss of the venture†, to the emergence of modern insurance development which owes its credence to Great Britain, though insurance Ewing introduced into Britain by the Lombard in the 14th and 1 5th centuries (Cooker, 2002). Insurance is an intangible service paid for and received at a future date.The technicality of insurance makes it obvious for uneven incidence of risks when there are infinite numbers of identical risks. It is also a risk transfer mechanism which provides enormous benefits to the individual/organizations (both profit and non- profit), government and socio-economy at large. Every individual or organization is faced with the likelihood of a loss, injury, destruction of life or properties; hence, it is asserted that â€Å"Risk is concomitant of life† (Chipolata 2006). In other words, risk is unavoidable.Since It is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncerta in loss, it is therefore because of the liability of an organization to predict the future that insurance is purchased. 1. 2 DEFINITION OF RISK The term risk is a simple notion which cut across a layman's definition to the technicalities of business practices. When someone states that there is risk in a particular situation or context, be it business or an event, the ordinary listener understands what it means on the face of it. What then is Risk?This question can easily be answered by adopting a generally accepted definition of Risk by a renowned scholar, Dry Matthias G. Healer. He defines it as the possibility that positive expectation of a goal-oriented system will not be achieved (uncertainty) and this will be due to either certain human or inhuman factors. Furthermore, risk refers to the uncertainty that surrounds future events and its outcomes. It has an expression which looks again at likelihood and impact of an event with the potential to influence the achievement of organiz ations objectives.When â€Å"risk† is said to exist, there is also the likelihood that expected results may not match those results hoped for I. E. A deviation. Benjamin Franklin in his book observed that in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Yet there is some uncertainty about those two phenomena: no one can be sure when he/she will die, and tax rules and rates are frequently changed. In fact, the whole of life is surrounded by uncertainty. In some situation uncertainties are within the control of individuals or firm, others are part of the environment in which our lives operate.However, the word ‘risk used here changes. Insurance is an unsought good and the uncertainty in future events is what is being insured. Insurers' profitability in any portfolio depends largely on the frequency, the severity of its impact and its final results (uncertainty). Uncertainty is not merely a dimension of threats, hazards and risks but opportunities w hich if anticipated may result in a reward. The risk is the thing which is insured, the insured peril, the expected claims cost for any given policy, or as a general term for unwanted and uncertain future events. 1. 3 RISK MANAGEMENT AND INSURANCEOrganizations had long practiced various parts of what has come to be called risk management. Risk management is attempting to identify and manage the threats that could severely impact or bring down an organization. The management of risk is a fundamental aspect of entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurs manage the risk of accidental loss by weighing the costs and benefits of each alternative. In a structured risk management process, this involves: 1. Identify and analyze the loss exposure. 2. Formulate alternatives to dealing with such exposure 3. Select the apparent best techniques to treat exposure .Implement the decisions made 5. Monitor the effectiveness of the decisions implemented. Those who do not apply a structured process still m ake decisions about risk, although sometimes by default rather than design. For industrial or commercial firm, the objective of risk management may be to maximize profits, or to increase revenue, net worth or perhaps market share over some period, or to achieve a combination of several objectives, or Just to stay in business. Managing a multitude of internal and external risks is one of the most significant challenges facing organization set up today.Insurance serves a number of valuable functions that are largely distinct from other types of financial intermediaries. In order to highlight specifically the unique attributes of insurance, it is worth focusing on those services that are not provided by other financial services providers, excluding for instance the contractual savings features of whole or universal life products. The indemnification and risk pooling properties of insurance facilitate commercial transactions and the provision of credit by mitigating losses as well as th e measurement and management of non diversifier risk more generally.Typically insurance contracts involve small periodic payments in return for protection against uncertain, but potentially severe losses. Among other things, this income smoothing effect helps to avoid excessive and costly bankruptcies and facilitates lending to businesses. The scope of an economy's insurance market affects both the range of available alternatives and the quality of information to support decisions. For example, a manufacturer might produce only for the local market, forgoing more lucrative opportunities in distant markets in order to avoid the risk of losing goods in shipment.Transport insurance can mitigate this loss exposure and enable the manufacturer to expand. Similarly, to avoid the risk of total loss from drought, a commercial farmer may keep half of his seed in reserve. 1. 4 INSURANCE CONTRIBUTION TO AN ORGANIZATION Insurance through effective risk management contribute specialized expertise in the identification and measurement of risk. This expertise enables them to accept carefully specified risks at lower prices than non-specialists. They also have an incentive to collect and analyze information about loss exposures, since the more precisely they measure the cost of risk, the more they can expand.Over the years, the realization of risk management with the help of insurance has contributed enormously in achieving organizational goals severally. For instance, 0 It guarantees as far as possible, that the organization will not be prevented from pursuing its other goals as a result of losses associated with pure risks. 0 It contributes to profit by controlling the cost of risk for the organization 0 It can also reduce expenses through risk control measures (insurance) and as such increasing income.As a result, the insurance market generates price signals not only to manufacturing sector but to the entire economy, helping to allocate resources to more productive uses. In surers also have an incentive to control losses, which is a significant social benefit. Most fundamentally, the availability of insurance enables risk averse individuals, entrepreneurs and organizations to undertake higher risk, higher return activities than they would do in the absence of insurance, promoting higher productivity and growth. . 5 PROBLEM ANALYSIS All manufacturing companies are set up with a primary objective to produce goods that meet the needs of their customers and also to maximize profit. In the process of manufacturing goods the company is often exposed to varying and diverse risk(s) which affects all the factors of production. In as much as these factors are exposed, the logical conclusion is that the income of the company is threatened.Human lives are exposed to industrial injuries which sometimes end up in death, permanent or temporary disability, properties could be destroyed through fire out break or explosions, and liabilities could be incurred arising fro m the consumption of the product. When less emphasis is placed on these loss exposures, it will definitely lead to the demise of the company. This project therefore, will look at the effect of insurance in manufacturing sector and also whether manufacturing companies who place major significant on insurance are successful in their total business effort all other things being equal. . 5 PURPOSE OF STUDY As earlier mentioned, the aim of any manufacturing company is to maximize profit and ensure customer satisfaction. It is quiet obvious that in carrying out production the organization is exposed to so many risks. This study is focused on the effect of insurance in manufacturing these products, in essence, how risks that could not be voided, minimized, reduced or retained can be transferred to insurance companies while the organization focuses its attention to its real business. Our study seeks: 1. To find out how risks/ loss exposures has been managed in Banana breweries 2.To examine the effect of insurance in the development of the organization (Banana Breweries) as a case study 3. To examine risks that they have managed by way of transfer to insurance and how adequate are the various insurance covers. 4. To consider the extent to which insurance has contributed to the attainment of the corporate goals of Banana Breweries 5. To make policy recommendations on how insurance will assist to further develop Banana Breweries, GAMBLE, and The Gambia. 1. 6 RELEVANT RESEARCH QUESTIONS The research exercise is set out to answer the following questions: 1 .What is the level of insurance awareness in the manufacturing sector of The Gambia 2. Does insurance enhance corporate development 3. Has your company ever sustained any unusual, large or unique losses either insured or uninsured 4. Is insurance an effective risk transfer mechanism. Due to time and other constraints, the researchers had to narrow the scope of their duty to Banana Breweries co. Ltd and Gamble in The Gamb ia. The study shall focus on the effect of insurance in the above listed companies as well as its benefits.It will assist the company to continue appreciating the role that insurance plays in their activities, and also serve as a means of reviewing improvement measures in place which hopefully will bring about uncovered areas of loss exposures to their operations. 1. 9 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY All manufacturing companies exist to ensure that the shareholders maximize their wealth. Companies therefore undertake economic activities for profit. However, in heir pursuit of this venture all the factors of production are exposed to one risk or the other.Those study is primarily laying emphasis on the essence of insurance which will significantly aid the manufacturing concern to achieve their broad objectives, through a well coordinated and scientific measurement and assessment of the various risks that the manufacturing company is exposed to. The study will assist the company to continue app reciating the role that insurance plays in their activities, serve as a review of existing measures in place and hope to bring out uncovered areas of risks to their operation.

Human Resources Management In Small and Medium Enterprises Essay

Introduction Competitive advantage to a firm accrues from the judicious employment of three basic types of resources, namely Physical Capital Resources, such as Finances, Plant and Equipment Organizational Capital Resources – Structure and systems in the organization Human Capital Resources, which include the skills, competencies, experience and intelligence of employees.[1] Human resources are among the most important resources that an organisation utilises and hence its importance to any organisation can be easily understood. Small-to-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are no exception to this rule, although this aspect is frequently lost sight of. This paper examines the role and importance of Human Resources in SMEs, and compares SMEs from two different cultural backgrounds – Taiwan and the UK. Role of Human Resources in SMEs â€Å"The study of human resources management in SMEs needs to be strongly encouraged. CEO/founders in SMEs view human resource management decisions as very important to the growth of their enterprises†[2]   A study into the perception of important HR issues in small organizations showed that â€Å"top six issues were wage rates, availability of quality workers, government regulation, training, benefits, and job security†[3] The role of Human Resources in SMEs is to contribute meaningfully to organisational objectives in a flexible and demanding environment. Lack of strategic employee management is widely accepted as characteristic of small enterprises. Decision-making has been perceived to be of relatively short-term nature compared to larger organisations, making small enterprises more flexible and less conflict-prone. At the same time, this also means that the advantages of long-term planning such as greater efficiency and effectiveness are lost. On the human resources front, this means that such organisations tend to have reduced capability to attract, retain and motivate the best human resources. This becomes important in view of the fact that out of thousands of small businesses that are established every year, only a few manage to survive in the long-term. While long-term planning and HR strategy are not the only reasons for this, they are among the important reasons. Hence an examination of the HR function as a strategic part of business, and its relevance to long-term planning, is in order. In addition, the role of recruitment and selection, training, and performance management, are also relevant to any discussion on the role of human resources. Planning and Human Resources Management Strategic planning for the organisation needs to be linked to individual goals. In turn, this means that the job design should take into account the long-term objectives of the organisation. â€Å"A framework for strategic management incorporating HRM involves developing a mission statement that answers questions of what businesses the organisation is in; determining goals that are general and long term; and establishing objectives that are short term and measurable. It should also encompass a complete SWOT analysis that incorporates HRM as a functional unit of analysis.†[4] One of the essential requirements of Human Resources Planning is proper job design. Human resources planning involves the matching of the knowledge and skills that are likely to be required in future with those that it has or will have. Human Resources Planning will help the organisation to estimate critical resource requirements, plan training and development needs, and link individual goals to organizational objectives. Job design involves specifying the characteristics of the job and the requirements such as skills for performing these jobs. Job design will thus provide the framework for a host of HR planning activities that can be linked to organizational objectives.[5] Recruitment and Selection Once the plans of the organization are clear the next important issue that any organisation needs to address is to get the right staff to implement the plans. â€Å"Surveys indicate that about 25 per cent of small businesses view the lack of qualified workers as a threat to their expansion and very survival.†[6] The problem assumes particular importance in the case of small enterprises because they almost always have a problem in attracting and retaining the best talent. This is partly due to the fact that they are unable to compete with larger firms for quality staff, because it is impossible for them to match the rewards and prestige that come along with positions in larger firms. Additionally, smaller firms have a reputation for being oriented towards a ‘hire and fire’ culture. Training Once the plans are clear, and the recruitment of the right people has been completed, it becomes necessary to motivate the staff, as well as to enable them to perform their tasks efficiently. This requires periodic training of the employees. Training is important in the case of small enterprises because they are more prone to changing environments and higher attrition rates. This makes it necessary for people to be more flexible, and to be trained in all aspects of the business. While the need for training of staff is thus greater in the case of a small enterprise, it is also accompanied by greater constraints that make it more difficult for these organisations to implement training programmes. Small organisations face two constraints in t his respect: Their budget for training may be more limited, and they may lack the necessary resources to carry out such training It is more difficult for small enterprises to spare their people for training programmes. In spite of the above limitations, however, small enterprises need to concentrate more on training, as it is an investment that needs to be done. â€Å"It has been suggested that top performing companies are distinguished by their higher spending on training and development.†[7] Performance Management Performance Management â€Å"includes work and job design, reward structures, the selection of people for work, the training of these employees, assessment of work performance and policies associated with rewarding and improving performance.†[8] Performance Appraisals are an important part of Performance Management and are useful in improving performance, assist HR planning, and identify development needs and potential for promotion. Small businesses, in general, lack a formal performance appraisal system. The disadvantages of not using structured and formal appraisal systems are that appraisals, and the consequent rewards, are often subjective, and may promote greater dissatisfaction. Consequently, appraisal systems and Performance Management play an important role in determining the alignment of HR planning with organisational goals, and ensuring that a proper climate is available for the achievement of the objectives. â€Å"In developing formal performance appraisal systems, small businesses not only are able to ensure that performance management may become strategically aligned with organisational goals, but also increase accountability, decrease under-utilisation of human resources, address concerns of productivity, and decrease employees’ concerns about fairness and accuracy.†[9] In addition, the salaries and rewards that are offered as part of the employment and the management of diversity within the workforce are important considerations for any organisation. These have a greater significance in the case of small organisations. As can be seen from the above, the role of Human Resources management in small organisations is an important one that needs to be well understood and implemented with care. One interesting extension to the role of HR management in small to medium industries is the use of Balanced Score Cards, which are normally viewed as the exclusive tool of large industries. The Balanced Score Cards approach shifts the focus to long-term growth, and includes measures of operational efficiency, customer satisfaction and employee related measures. The Balanced Score Card method thus includes a part of HR Management to assess the overall performance of the organisation. In a case study that included three SME organisations, Gumbus and Lussier present some interesting conclusions that have significance for the HR function in SME companies. The cases also serve to highlight the importance of HR in SME companies and the link between performance and HR. One of the three companies cited in the case is Futura Industries, an international company based in Clearfield, UT with 230 employees. It has over 50 years of experience in aluminium extrusion, finishing, fabrication, machining and design. The company believes that the two competitive weapons that put them ahead of competition are â€Å"their ability to hire and retain the best people and their devotion to the customer.† Futura’s President, Susan Johnson’s belief that committed and loyal employees make the difference has led the company into using the Balanced Score Card method. In the words of Ms. Johnson, the company â€Å"had all the financial metrics, lots of customer measures, and got ISO accredited three years ago †¦ but it is our employees that differentiate us from all other extrusion companies.†[10] A Comparison of SMEs in the UK and Taiwan A study by Lin found that successful SMEs in Taiwan place greater emphasis on soft skills and attitudes rather than on hard skills. He infers that SMEs in Taiwan seemed to have a better grasp of its human resources.   â€Å"Whenever SMEs modernize equipment, alter production processes, revise compensation policies, and engage in other reorganisation activities, they take pains to handle employees’ responses and feelings with special care and invest heavily in skills development.â€Å"[11] According to Hu, the Human resource scenario in Taiwan is characterised by abundance of entrepreneurs and availability of high quality professionals. Hu traces this to the importance laid on education by Chinese, and the large-scale injection of high quality human resource into the island in the aftermath of the retreat into, and subsequent withdrawal from, Taiwan of the KMT government. In addition, the Taiwanese population has inherited from its ancestors the qualities of â€Å"hard working, brotherhood, strong family ties, competition, and similar attributes that form the basis for strong family businesses.†[12] According to McKenna & Beech, the following values characterise the Asian HR scene[13]: Politeness and courtesy Emphasis on personal relationship Not losing face Harmony- avoidance of open conflict Predominance of group interests over individual interests Discipline and respect for authority and for elders Normative, rather than externally imposed control Trust and mutual help in business relationships Centralisation and authoritarianism As against the above, the HR scenario in Europe is characterised by the following features[14]: Pluralism as against unitarism Collectivism and social orientation instead of individualism, with the emphasis being on national, rather than individual, interests Legal framework: firing is more difficult Social Partnership: Employment security, protection of workers’ rights, and representation of workforce through trade unions. Social Responsibility: Concern for environment and other social obligations Tolerance for diversity Recognition of complexity and ambiguity. The characteristics enumerated under Asian values represent the Taiwanese scene, and the scenario in Europe is representative of the UK. From the above, it can be seen that the SMEs in Taiwan are formed with reliance on individual assistance, based on respect for authority, with trust and mutual relationships as the supporting factor. In the UK, and other European countries, it is the legal framework that gives the necessary assurance and support to the business rather than trust. In Taiwan authority is enforced, and followed, because it is natural to the culture. In the UK, the legal aspects are augmented by collective bargaining with a recognized trade union to achieve this purpose. Taiwanese take great care to handle employees’ feelings appropriately whenever major decisions need to be taken. This is replaced by collective bargaining and more formal communication in the UK. SMEs predominate in Taiwan, whereas larger firms represent the more prevalent form of business in the UK. SMEs constituted 99.43 percent of Taiwan’s total manufacturing firms in 1954, the highest level ever recorded; 95.26 percent in 1976, the lowest; and 98.07 percent in 1996. Among them, the smallest firms, employing fewer than 10 persons, accounted for 90 percent of all firms in the manufacturing sector in the 1950s.[15] On the other hand, SMEs generate roughly one quarter of the GDP of the UK. The generation of employment by SMEs varies from sector to sector, the highest being in the construction sector with 84% of the employment being generated by this sector. The SME sector, which was declining up to 1970, picked up momentum thereafter, and showed a rising trend till 1994. Since 1994, the number has remained constant.[16] As can be seen from these figures, the SME sector is less dominant in the UK than in Taiwan. Why Human Resources are important in firms â€Å"The resource-based view of organisations explains variations in firm performance by variations in firms’ human resources and capabilities†[17] Firms can gain competitive advantage by generating specific knowledge and skills that are difficult to imitate. This can be achieved through human capital development. The importance of Human Resource Development in small firms is thus self-evident – they help the firms to succeed by being competitive. In a study of more than 100 small enterprises in two towns from Germany, Rauch et al found that â€Å"human resources are essentially important and an optimal utilization of skills and knowledge increases small business growth.† [18] In order to harness this important resource and ensure it gives the best returns, an organisation needs to select its employees with care. â€Å"It is expected that as firms grow, the skills and abilities required to perform various functions and activities no longer would be available from the familiar and informal recruitment sources preferred by the owner-manager†[19] Apart from recruitment, other functions such as Training and Development, Performance Appraisal, and formal procedures and documentation help the organisation in improving efficiency. According to Kotey and Slade, â€Å"Benefits of formal HRM practices include meeting legal requirements, maintaining records in support of decisions in the event of litigation, treating employees fairly, and increasing efficiency.† [20] A study by Kotey and Slade involving more than 1300 small firms in Australia showed that as firms grow they tend to introduce formal HR practices and procedures. In the words of the authors, â€Å"While the analyses show that a significant percentage of SMEs implement formal HRM practices with growth, HRM remains informal in the majority of firms, particularly in small firms. It could be that implementation of formal HR structures and procedures necessary to support growth differentiates successful from unsuccessful SMEs.†[21] In a small organisation, people need to be more flexible and undertake a greater variety of jobs. This needs both motivation and skills. In turn, many employees may get better exposure and greater opportunities to learn and shoulder higher responsibilities in a small firm. All of these underline the importance of Human Resources Management in organisations, particularly small firms. The HRM model is â€Å"composed of policies that promote mutual goals, influence, respect, rewards and responsibility between employees in the organisation.†[22] These policies are promoted by practices such as team working, aligning performance objectives with organisational goals, and a flat organisation structure, all of which can be achieved only through a proper Human Resources Management in the organisation. Survey Research findings have confirmed the theoretical position with the conclusion that good HR systems is a source of competitive advantage. One study has shown that higher performance in a number of areas is correlated to good HR systems and practices. Companies that had significantly higher ratings on their HR practices also reported better market value, higher accounting profits, higher growth rates, better sales per employee, and lower employee turnover. Another study has found that newly started companies had a better survival rate if they had good HR practices. The probability of survival was found to vary by as much as 42% between the firms with the best HR practices and rewards, and those with the worst. Yet another study found that performance of the organisation was strongly linked with practices such as acquisition and development of skilled people, better job design, better autonomy, and positive employee attitude. All these studies clearly show that good HR could positively impact organisational performance practices, highlighting the importance of Human Resources in an organisation. Apart from improving performance good HR practices result in lower costs, while poor practices increase the costs to the organization. One of the contributing factors for this is the cost of employee turnover. â€Å"Interviewing and training recruits has significant out-of-pocket costs for the employer.† Replacing an employee involves expenses for Separation, Replacement, and Training. [23] Employee turnover costs can be divided into three major elements: Separation costs: These are the costs that are directly incurred when an employee leaves the firm, and include such costs as exit interviews, administrative and paperwork costs, disbursement of separation benefits, and revenues lost due to shortage of staff. Replacement Costs: These represent the cost of replacing the employee who has left and include the costs of advertising, sourcing, interviewing and selection. Training Costs: These are the costs that the company incurs for training and induction of a new employee. Apart from the actual expenditure on these activities, the costs of loss of efficiency in the initial stages, and the time lost during the training period should also be considered. Thus employee turnover could represent a fairly high cost to the organisation. Employee turnover can be classified into avoidable and unavoidable turnover. Most of the avoidable turnover results from lack of proper HR initiatives.[24] How Good/Bad employees affect the firm â€Å"A good employee is possibly the most valuable asset a small firm or SME can possess; a bad one could ruin the enterprise.†[25] Any firm, and more importantly a small firm, can ill afford to have people who do not perform. Robert Townsend, a noted Management expert was once asked the secret behind his ability to take over loss making firms, and changing them into profitable ones. The reply that he gave will be of interest to anyone asking how good or bad employees make or mar the firm. Mr. Townsend identified three factors that contributed to his success: Releasing the potential of employees so that they could perform at much higher levels by the practice of appropriate management styles Identifying people within the organisation who were blocking progress and preventing others from performing, and either changing their ways, or dismissing them Identifying people who had the ability and drive to take the company to greater heights, and promoting them. It can be seen that this highly successful Management practitioner reduced success to three simple rules, namely, eliminating deadwood, promoting and encouraging those with potential and creating the right climate in the company. This clearly shows that apart from creating the right environment, the most important requirement for success is the quality of people. Good people could transform a loss making company into a profitable one.[26] â€Å"Whether a firm is small or large, it’s only as good as its staff.†[27] This can be easily understood because the employees of the organisation make the vital difference between good and poor performance in every area. Apart from the demonstrated effect that this has on the firm’s performance, which has been cited earlier, this also stands to reason. A company depends on coordinated working by its employees towards a common goal to achieve its objectives. In order to meet these objectives, the organisation has to do what it does well. In other words, the competence of its employees should be good if it wants to achieve results. Secondly, the soft skills of the employees are important to achieve internal teamwork as well as to nurture customers with excellent performance and service. Thirdly, the employees of the company need to work efficiently if it is to have a healthy bottom line. All these objectives can be achieved only with good employees who know their job and possess the necessary hard skills, have the necessary soft skills, and are committed to the company’s success. In other words, a company needs good employees who have the right levels of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Conclusion Human Resources Management in Small-to-medium industries has been gaining a lot of attention lately. There is increased awareness among many of the SME entrepreneurs themselves about the importance of good HR practices and policies. It has been shown that organisations having formal Human Resources practices grow faster, and are more profitable, than those that do not do so. A comparison between SMEs in two countries, namely Taiwan and the UK, shows that the SME sector is more predominant in Taiwan, which is characterized by a culture that lays greater emphasis on group working, respect for authority, and mutual trust. This is contrasted by the UK situation where the SME sector is les pervasive, and the HR climate is characterised by formal and legal supports, collectivism, and social responsibility. Although the two situations are quite different from each other, the importance of formal HR systems in the SME segment is being recognised in both cases, and seem to affect performance positively, irrespective of the background. Works Cited A Causal Analysis. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 29(6): 2005: 681+. Bennett, Roger. Small Business Survival: Strategies for Delivering Growth and Staying Profitable: Second Edition. London, Financial Times Management, 1998. Burns, Paul. Entrepreneurship and Small Business. New York, Palgrave, 2001. Griffith, Roger W and Hom, Peter W. Retaining Valued Employees. London, Sage Publications, 2001. Gumbus, Andra, and Robert N. Lussier. Entrepreneurs Use a Balanced Scorecard to Translate Strategy into Performance Measures. Journal of Small Business Management 44(3): 2006: 407+. Heneman, Robert L., Judith W. Tansky, and S. Michael Camp. Human Resource Management Practices in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Unanswered Questions and Future Research Perspectives. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 25 (1): 2000: 11. Holbeche, Linda. Aligning Human Resources and Business Strategy. Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001. HRD in Small Organizations, Edited by Graham Beaver & Jim Stewart. New York, Routledge, 2004. Hu, Ming-Wen. Many Small Antelopes Make a Dragon. Futures 35(4): 2003: 379+. Kotey, Bernice, and Peter Slade. Formal Human Resource Management Practices in Small Growing Firms. Journal of Small Business Management, 43 (1): 2005: 16+. Lin, Carol Yeh-Yun. Success Factors of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Taiwan: An Analysis of Cases. Journal of Small Business Management, 36(4): (1998): 43. McKenna, Eugene and Beech, Nic. Human Resource Management, A Concise Analysis. Essex, Pearson Education Limited, 2002 Megginson, David, Banfield, Paul, and Joy-Mathews, Jennifer. Human Resource Development. Kogan Page India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2001. Rauch, A., Frese, M., & Utsch, A. Effects of Human Capital and Long-Term Human Resources Development and Utilization on Employment Growth of Small-Scale Businesses: Satava, David. The A to Z of Keeping Staff: Few Firm Employees Leave without a Good Reason-Here’s How Not to Give Them One. Journal of Accountancy 195 (4): 2003: 67+. [1] L. Holbeche, Aligning Human Resources and Business Strategy, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001, pp.10-11. [2] R.L. Heneman, T.W. Judith and S. M. Camp. Human Resource Management Practices in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Unanswered Questions and Future Research Perspectives. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice 25(1): (2000): p. 11 [3] HRD in Small Organizations, Edited by Graham Beaver & Jim Stewart, New York, Routledge, 2004, p. 81. [4] Ibid, p81 [5] Ibid [6] ibid, p82 [7] ibid, p 85 [8] ibid, p 89 [9] ibid, p 89 [10] A. Gumbus and R. N. Lussier. Entrepreneurs Use a Balanced Scorecard to Translate Strategy into Performance Measures, Journal of Small Business Management, 44(3): 2006: p.407. [11]C.Y. Lin. Success Factors of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Taiwan: An Analysis of Cases. Journal of Small Business Management, 36(4): (1998): p. 43. [12] M. Hu. Many Small Antelopes Make a Dragon, Futures, 35(4): 2003: p. 379. [13] E.McKenna and N. Beech. Human Resource Management, A Concise Analysis. Essex, Pearson Education Limited, 2002, pp.4-5. [14] ibid [15] M. Hu. P. 379. [16]   P.Burns. Entrepreneurship and Small Business. New York, Palgrave, 2001, p12. [17] A. Rauch, M. Frese & A. Utsch. Effects of Human Capital and Long-Term Human Resources Development and Utilization on Employment Growth of Small-Scale Businesses: A Causal Analysis. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 29(6): 2005: p681. [18] ibid [19] B.Kotey and P. Slade. Formal Human Resource Management Practices in Small Growing Firms. Journal of Small Business Management, 43(1): (2005): p.16. [20] ibid [21] ibid [22] E. McKenna and N. Beech, p34-35 [23] D. Satava. The A to Z of Keeping Staff: Few Firm Employees Leave without a Good Reason-Here’s How Not to Give Them One, Journal of Accountancy, 195(4 ): 2003: p. 67. [24] R. W. Griffith and P. W. Hom. Retaining Valued Employees, London, Sage Publications, 2001, p10 [25] R. Bennett. Small Business Survival: Strategies for Delivering Growth and Staying Profitable: Second Edition, London, Financial Times Management, 1998. [26] D. Megginson, P. Banfield and J. Joy-Mathews. Human Resource Development. Kogan Page India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2001, p. 82. [27] Satava, David. â€Å"The A to Z of Keeping Staff: Few Firm Employees Leave without a Good Reason-Here’s How Not to Give Them One.† Journal of Accountancy 195.4 (2003): 67+.

Light in August Essay

Violently employed, religion sallies forth the souls and lives of the Deep South. Consequently, â€Å"the weight of God’s wrath, according to the Bible, becomes white men’s ‘burden’ to carry [†¦]† (Bush 1). Bible Revealed through myriad characters, Light in August not only proves that Southerners inculcate their practice of religion but also engender religious brutality. Presented through Reverend Hightower, Doc Hines, and Mr. McEachern, Light in August establishes distinctive notions of faith. Reverend Hightower â€Å"believed with a calm joy that if ever there was a shelter, it would be the Church; that if ever the truth could walk naked and without shame or fear, it would be the seminary† (Faulkner 478). Diverging from Hightower, Mr. McEachern, viciously pious, believes that â€Å"the two virtues are a work and fear of God† (Faulkner 144). Blinded by his own version of religious life is Mr. Hines. Through lives of these characters, religious views with power from the Bible are evident. The initial moment Mr. McEachern adopts Joe Christmas, he emphasizes the significance of religion. In a serious manner, while introducing himself he avers, â€Å"†¦I will have you learn soon that the two abominations are sloth and idle thinking, the two virtues are work and the fear of God† (Faulkner 144). From a failure to memorize the â€Å"Presbyterian catechism,† Joe receives routine whippings from Mr. McEachern merely at the age of eight. (Faulkner 147). Habitual whippings â€Å"desensitized† Joe towards pain and violence; as a result, receiving them did not have an effect of him. (Faulkner 149). Using violence to teach religion, Mr.  McEachern employs two opposite methods which alter Joe’s mentality. Because the punishment and pain he receives from McEachern, he refuses to learn anything religious; consequently, Joe sees religion as pain. Without reservation, the single answer to this young boy’s incapability to memorize is severe punishment. â€Å"He believes that his job was to teach Joe his religion even if it meant by force, hence, his means to achieve this goal was relentless physical punishment. † (Bush 2) His own inability â€Å"to do God’s work† is his own failure as well, which tremendously frustrates him. This brutal implementation causes Joe to see Mr. McEachern and â€Å"His† religion as antagonists. Moreover, one night as Joe returns home accompanied by a number of bruises and marks, Mr. McEachern asks if Joe left a mark on the person he fought with. He does not ask who he is fighting with or why he is fighting; therefore, this proves to Joe that violence is tolerable. With his pants around his knees while McEachern sadistically beats him ten strokes per whipping, Joe ‘did not flinch. ’ The boy stares outward ‘with a rapt, calm expression like a monk’ (Faulkner 149). The scene demonstrates how a young child is taught, through brutal religious fanaticism, [†¦], he is nothing more than an animal: ‘Joe rose from the bed and went and knelt in the corner [†¦ ] above the outraged food kneeling, with his hands he ate, like a savage, like a dog. ’ (Bush 1) Faulkner produces characters that illustrate a failure to amend. Joe still receives that same punishment at the age of eighteen as he did when he was eight. Out of fear, Joe lies to Mr. McEachern about selling the heifer just to save himself from physical punishment; however, treating him as if he’s still young, Mr.  McEachern strikes Joe after discovering his lie. Present, Faulkner suggests a yearning of vengeance in Joe as he asserts, â€Å"Don’t you hit me again† (Faulkner 164-5). The last time Mr. McEachern attempts to strike Joe steers him to his death. Despite teaching Joe the peace, love and joy of religion, McEachern forcefully teaches Joe his own extreme vision of religion, the dark side. As a result, McEachern fails; he also lessens Joe’s feelings and emotions. Inherently, Joe inherits violence through the lessons of Mr. McEachern.

Aviation’s Most Critical Human Factors Challenges: Past and Present

Human error has been documented as a primary contributor to more than 70 percent of commercial airplane hull-loss accidents. While typically associated with flight operations, human error has also recently become a major concern in maintenance practices and air traffic management [1].Human factorsThe term â€Å"human factors† is often considered synonymous with crew resource management (CRM) or maintenance resource management (MRM).   Human factors involves gathering information about human abilities, limitations, and other characteristics and applying it to tools, machines, systems, tasks, jobs, and environments to produce safe, comfortable, and effective human use [1].Human factor specialists study each factor which can influence on the human activity on the cockpit. The job of an aviation psychologist is to reduce human error during flight. The main and most general objective of their work is optimisation of the human-computer interaction. From the one side electronic equ ipment should provide the full control of the flight and make easier pilot job. But just one error of board computer may be the cause of the disaster.Therefore crew should be aware and control all situation along with computer program to be able correct its mistake.   Because of high level of system automation often pilots even do not know what it is doing and why. Despite rapid gains in technology, humans are ultimately responsible for ensuring the success and safety of the aviation industry. They must continue to be knowledgeable, flexible, dedicated, and efficient while exercising good judgment [2].Events of aviation human factorsSince the world's first airplane was invented in 1903 by Wilbur and Orville Wright people studied human factors in aviation and tried to make easier pilot work by all known methods. The first navigation aid was introduced in the USA in the late 1920s.It was airfield lighting to assist pilots to make landings in poor weather or after dark. The concept o f approach lightning was developed from this in the 1930s, indicating to the pilot the angle of descent to the airfield, which later became adopted internationally through the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).With the spread of radio technology, several experimental radio based navigation aids were developed from the late 20s onwards. These were most successfully used in conjunction with instruments in the cockpit in the form of Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), first used by a scheduled flight to make a landing in a snowstorm at Pittsburgh in 1938.A form of ILS was adopted by the ICAO for international use in 1949. Following the development of radar in World War II, it was deployed as a landing aid for civil aviation in the form of Ground Control Approach (GCA) systems, joined in 1948 by Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), and in the 1950s by airport surveillance radar as an aid to air traffic control [3].After numerous air incidents and accidents w ere also solved (or minimized a danger of) a lot of technical problems like positive lightning, engine failure, metal fatigue, delamination, stalling, fire, bird strike, volcanic ash, etc.Much progress in applying human factors to improving aviation safety was made around the time of World War II by people such as Paul Fitts and Alphonse Chapanis. However, there has been progress in safety throughout the history of aviation, such as the development of the pilot's checklist in 1937. The ability of the flight crew to continually maintain situation awareness is a critical human factor in air safety [3].During WWII, psychologist Norman Mackworth studied performance of radar operations as he watched for German aircrafts to cross the English Channel. He noted the difficulty of attending to the radar operations for more than a few minutes.After WWII, Paul Fitts studied selective attention and how pilot's eyes scanned an aircraft's instrumental pattern. He questioned how the brain knows wha t is important in the environment and how much information can the eye take before moving to another fixation point [4].Decades after WWII, the focus of research was on aircraft flight design, layout of instrument displays, and basic tasks of flying. Flight simulators were invented for pilot training and would allow for teaching of skills in a safe environment on ground which would transfer into performance in the real task. In the 1950's jet aircrafts were invented with faster speed and less stability.In the 1970's, the focus was on the mental workload and limits of human attention in performing several tasks at once. Finally, in the 1980's a focus on on-board computer power changed the pilot's task from an active pilot to more of a monitoring role [4].To reduce the commercial aviation accident rate modern aircraft companies establish human factors departments. Human factors specialists work closely with engineers, safety experts, test and training pilots, mechanics, and cabin crew s to properly integrate human factors into the design of airplanes. Their areas of responsibility include addressing human factors inFlight deck design. Design for maintainability and in-service support. Error management. Passenger cabin design.Flight deck design should satisfy such validated requirements as customer input, appropriate degree of automation, crew interaction capability, communication, navigation and surveillance traffic management. For instance Boeing commercial airplanes propose flight decks which are designed to provide automation to assist, but not replace, the flight crew member responsible for safe operation of the airplane.These systems support instrument displays with visual and tactile motion cues to minimize potential confusion about what functions are automated. Flight crew communication relies on the use of audio, visual, and tactile methods. This includes crewmember-to-airplane, crewmember-to-crewmember, and airplane-to-crewmember communication.Design for maintainability and in-service support includes chief mechanic participation, computer-based maintainability design tools, and fault information team and customer support processes [1].Boeing has developed human factors tools to help understand why the errors occur and develop suggestions for systematic improvements. The tools are: Procedural Event Analysis Tool (PEAT) and Maintenance Error Decision Aid (MEDA). PEAT is an analytic tool created to help the airline industry effectively manage the risks associated with flight crew procedural deviations.MEDA began as an effort to collect more information about maintenance errors. Three other tools that assist in managing error are: Crew information requirements analysis (CIRA), Training aids, and improved use of automation. CIRA provides a way to analyze how crews acquire, interpret, and integrate data into information upon which to base their actions.The passenger cabin represents a significant human factors challenge related to both passengers and cabin crews. Human factors principles usually associated with the flight deck are now being applied to examine human performance functions and ensure that cabin crews and passengers are able to do what they need or want to do. Some recent examples illustrate how the passenger cabin can benefit from human factors expertise applied during design.These include: automatic over wing exit and other cabin applications. The improved version of the over wing emergency exit opens automatically when activated by a passenger or cabin or flight crew member [1].ConclusionThe list of events in the history of aviation can be endless as the list of events of aviation human factors. However the number of aircraft accidents had not been reduced to zero. Along with legacy achievements should be provide more efficient and modern ones. Therefore aviation industry is an extensive field for specialists of various directions.BibliographyCurt Graeber, Human factor engineering, Boeing commercia l airplanes, July, 2005Robert R. Tyler, An interesting career in psychology: aviation human factors practitioner, October, 2000Wikipedia (free encyclopedia), 6 July 2005. History of human factors, Human performance training institute, July, 2005

President truman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

President truman - Essay Example He had assumed office at a time when the WWII had ended and the country’s priority had shifted from the war to domestic challenges which were multifold and needed to be addressed at the earliest. Truman’s Fair deal reforms basically addressed the 4 main areas of concern. According to Truman, the reforms program ‘symbolizes for me my assumption of the office of President in my own right’ (whitehouse.com). It became known as the Fair Deal. The foremost was the unemployment. The America had recently come out with the long depression and even though its economy was growing by leaps and bound, labor situation was still grim and with war veterans coming back as heroes, the unemployment situation urgently needed to be addressed. Truman’s FDR enacted Employment Act in 1946 that was designed to provide full employment through creation of job opportunities and at the same time increased the minimum wages significantly to improve the living standard of the average Americans. Truman also introduced Housing Act that helped to remove slums and promoted affordable housing through low income houses, making special provision for war veterans. He also lengthened the rent control till 1951 to help those who were living in rented premises. Truman was the only president who really went out of his way to implement his welfare policies and introduce reforms, irrespective of the opposition in Congress thus earning the displeasure of many of his own colleagues. He had increased the social security provisions for the elderly and created committees and council of economic experts that would study and suggest measures to stabilize and improve overall economic conditions. Another very important area that Truman focused on was agriculture and farmers. Like President Roosevelt, Truman was also very concerned about the deteriorating conditions of farmers. His FDR1 made provisions for farmers and ensured standard