Study Of Demographic Profile Of The Respondents Accounting Essay

In this chapter, consequence is obtained through the informations aggregation method from 300 questionnaires. The informations obtained from questionnaires are analyzed and computed by utilizing the Statistical Package societal Science ( SPSS ) package. Tables and charts will be exhibited to show the consequences in an apprehensible mode. This chapter started off with the descriptive analysis of the respondent demographic profile and cardinal inclinations measuring of concepts. Next, scale measuring is to supply the consequences of dependability trial. This is followed by the illative analysis with the Pearson correlativity coefficient analysis and multiple additive arrested development analysis. Last is to reason this chapter.4.1 Descriptive Analysis4.1.1 Demographic Profile of the RespondentsTable 4.1: Gender of RespondentsGenderFrequency Percentage Valid Percentage Accumulative Percentage Valid Male 105 51.7 51.7 51.7 Female 98 48.3 48.3 100.0 Entire 203 100.0 100.0 Beginning: Developed for the research In the Table 4.1 above, it showed the frequence and per centum of gender of 203 respondents. There were a sum of 105 male respondents ( 51.7 % ) and a sum of 98 female respondents ( 48.3 % ) . Table 4.2: The Age Group of RespondentsAgeFrequency Percentage Valid Percentage Accumulative Percentage Valid Under 21 old ages 5 2.5 2.5 2.5 21-30 old ages 67 33.0 33.0 35.5 31-40 old ages 54 26.6 26.6 62.1 41-50 old ages 31 15.3 15.3 77.3 51 old ages & A ; above 46 22.7 22.7 100.0 Entire 203 100.0 100.0 Beginning: Developed for the research Table 4.2 presented the frequence and per centum of the age group of respondents. 5 respondents ( 2.5 % ) were under 21 old ages old, 67 respondents ( 33.0 % ) were 21 to 30 old ages old, 54 respondents ( 26.6 % ) were 31 to 40 old ages old, 31 respondents ( 15.3 % ) were 41 to 50 old ages old and 46 respondents ( 22.7 % ) were 51 old ages old and above. Table 4.3: The Marital Status of RespondentsMarital StatusFrequency Percentage Valid Percentage Accumulative Percentage Valid Single 73 36.0 36.0 36.0 Married 130 64.0 64.0 100.0 Entire 203 100.0 100.0 Beginning: Developed for the research The Table 4.3 indicated the frequence and per centum of the matrimonial position of respondents. The bulk of the respondents were married which represented 64.0 % that is about 130 people out of 203 respondents. Besides that, 73 respondents ( 36.0 % ) were still individual. Table 4.4: The Education Level of RespondentsEducation DegreeFrequency Percentage Valid Percentage Accumulative Percentage Valid Primary instruction 8 3.9 3.9 3.9 Secondary instruction 77 37.9 37.9 41.9 Certificate / Diploma 80 39.4 39.4 81.3 Bachelor ‘s grade 33 16.3 16.3 97.5 Master ‘s grade 5 2.5 2.5 100.0 Entire 203 100.0 100.0 Beginning: Developed for the research From the Table 4.4, it showed the frequence and per centum of the instruction degree of respondents. From the information above, bulk of 80 respondents held a certification or sheepskin ( 39.4 % ) . The 2nd and 3rd largest groups were 77 respondents who had completed the secondary instruction ( 37.9 % ) and 33 respondents who held a unmarried man grade ( 16.3 % ) . Last, the respondents who had completed the primary instruction and which is a maestro grade holders were 8 people ( 3.9 % ) and 5 people ( 2.5 % ) severally. Table 4.5: The Working Period of RespondentsWorking Time periodFrequency Percentage Valid Percentage Accumulative Percentage Valid Less than 1 twelvemonth 23 11.3 11.3 11.3 1-5 old ages 63 31.0 31.0 42.4 6-10 old ages 48 23.6 23.6 66.0 11-15 old ages 25 12.3 12.3 78.3 16-20 old ages 19 9.4 9.4 87.7 Above 20 old ages 25 12.3 12.3 100.0 Entire 203 100.0 100.0 Beginning: Developed for the research The Table 4.5 represented the frequence and per centum of the on the job period of respondents. The respondents were divided into six classs. 23 respondents worked as an insurance agent for less than one twelvemonth ( 11.3 % ) , 63 respondents worked for 1 to 5 old ages ( 31.0 % ) , 48 respondents worked for 6 to 10 old ages ( 23.6 % ) , 25 respondents worked for 11 to 15 old ages ( 12.3 % ) , 19 respondents worked for 16 to 20 old ages ( 9.4 % ) and 25 respondents worked as an insurance agent above 20 old ages ( 12.3 % ) .4.1.2 Cardinal Tendencies Measurement of Constructs4.1.2.1 Commission PayTable 4.6: Cardinal Inclinations Measurement for Commission Pay No. Statement Mean Standard Deviation CP1 I think the committee wage is a really of import incentive for me. 4.3448 0.75078 CP2 I am motivated by committee wage to seek my best attempts in work. 4.2562 0.73350 CP3 My occupation public presentation determine the extra committee wage when achieve higher mark. 4.2808 0.81141 CP4 I will retain the occupation because I am satisfied with the committee wage. 4.0985 0.85025 CP5 I work hard is to acquire a better committee wage in this occupation. 4.3005 0.78561 Beginning: Developed for the research Table 4.6 illustrated the cardinal inclinations measurings of committee wage. Mentioning to the tabular array above, most respondents agreed to the CP1 with average value of 4.3448. The 2nd highest was CP5 with average value of 4.3005. The 3rd and 4th highest were CP3 and CP2 which had the average value of 4.2808 and 4.2562 severally. The lowest average value was CP4 which was 4.0985. From the tabular array above, CP4 had highest standard divergence value which was 0.85025. The 2nd and 3rd highest standard divergence value was CP3 and CP5 which had 0.81141 and 0.78561 severally. The 4th highest standard divergence was CP1 with the value of 0.75078. The lowest standard divergence value was 0.73350 by CP2.4.1.2.2 Job SecurityTable 4.7: Cardinal Inclinations Measurement for Job Security No. Statement Mean Standard Deviation JSM1 I think occupation security is another of import incentive for me. 4.1232 0.68188 JSM2 I am motivated by the good occupation security in current occupation. 3.9852 0.74779 JSM3 I feel my current occupation is unafraid, dependable and lasting. 3.9951 0.82951 JSM4 My occupation public presentation is influenced by the occupation security. 4.0000 0.79603 JSM5 I work hard is because I ‘m afraid to loss this stable occupation. 3.7143 1.00845 Beginning: Developed for the research The Table 4.7 illustrated the cardinal inclinations measurings of occupation security. The consequence from the tabular array above, JSM1 had the highest average value of 4.1232. The 2nd highest average value was JSM4 which was 4.000. The 3rd highest was JSM3 with the average value of 3.9951 which was followed by JSM2 which had a average value of 3.9852. The JSM5 had the lowest average value of 3.7143. Harmonizing to the Table 4.7, the JSM5 had the highest standard divergence value of 1.00845. The 2nd highest standard divergence value was JSM3 which was 0.82951. The 3rd highest was JSM4 with the standard divergence value of 0.79603 which was followed by JSM2 which had a standard divergence value of 0.74779. The lowest standard divergence value was JSM1 which was merely 0.68188.4.1.2.3 Opportunities for Advancement and DevelopmentTable 4.8: Cardinal Inclinations Measurement for Opportunities for Advancement and Development No. Statement Mean Standard Deviation AD1 I think the chances for promotion and development is another of import incentive for me. 4.1034 0.79238 AD2 I am motivated by chances for promotion and development in current occupation. 4.0443 0.75321 AD3 I have more chances for promotion and development in current occupation if I retain the occupation for longer period of clip. 4.0936 0.78734 AD4 I have more chances to direct for preparation, learn accomplishment and developing myself in current occupation. 4.1084 0.81330 AD5 I work hard is to acquire more chances for promotion and development in this occupation. 4.1675 0.74563 Beginning: Developed for the research Table 4.8 illustrated the cardinal inclinations measurings of chances for promotion and development. In the term of average value, AD5 had the highest mean of 4.1675. Second, it is followed by AD4 of 4.1084, AD1 of 4.1034 and AD3 of 4.0936. The AD2 had the lowest average value of 4.0443. From the Table 4.8, the AD4 had the highest standard divergence value of 0.81330. Second, it is followed by AD1 with the standard divergence value of 0.79238, AD3 with the standard divergence value of 0.78734 and AD2 with the standard divergence value of 0.75321. The lowest standard divergence value was 0.74563 by AD5.4.1.2.4 Work ItselfTable 4.9: Cardinal Inclinations Measurement for Work Itself No. Statement Mean Standard Deviation W1 I have more independent when I ‘m working. 4.1724 0.78654 W2 I have more assurance to accomplish the mark of the occupation. 4.2217 0.75461 W3 I am willing to work hard with current occupation. 4.2069 0.72886 W4 I am non willing to alter another occupation even if I get other occupation in elsewhere. 3.8227 0.98909 W5 I think my ability can execute good in current occupation. 4.1527 0.75211 W6 I am proud to work with current occupation. 4.2020 0.77944 Beginning: Developed for the research The Table 4.9 above, it illustrated the cardinal inclinations measurings of work itself. Based on the tabular array, W2 had the highest average value of 4.2217. The 2nd highest was W3 that had 4.2069 of average value. The 3rd highest was the W6 that had 4.2020 of mean value which was followed by, the W1 and W5 which had the average value of 4.1724 and 4.1527 severally. The W4 had the lowest average value was 3.8227. In the tabular array above, the highest standard divergence value was 0.98909 by the W4. The 2nd highest standard divergence value was W1 which was 0.78654. The 3rd highest standard divergence value was the W6 that had 0.77944 which was followed by, the W2 and W5 which had the standard divergence value of 0.75461 and 0.75211 severally. The lowest standard divergence value was W3 which was 0.72886.4.1.2.5 Job SatisfactionTable 4.10: Cardinal Inclinations Measurement for Job Satisfaction No. Statement Mean Standard Deviation JS1 In general I am satisfied with my occupation. 4.1330 0.74265 JS2 I am satisfied with the flexibleness of the on the job hours in current occupation. 4.3054 0.68601 JS3 I am satisfied with the committee wage strategy in current occupation. 4.0394 0.78250 JS4 I will retain the occupation because I am satisfied with the occupation security. 4.0148 0.74779 JS5 I am satisfied with the accomplishment in current occupation. 4.0591 0.78125 JS6 I am happy with the manner my co-workers and higher-ups treat me. 4.0936 0.79982 JS7 I am truly enjoyed with my occupation. 4.2266 0.81925 Beginning: Developed for the research Harmonizing to Table 4.10, it illustrated the cardinal inclinations measurings of occupation satisfaction. Based on the tabular array, most respondents agreed to the JS2 with average value of 4.3054. The 2nd highest was JS7 that had 4.2266 of average value. The 3rd and 4th highest average value was JS1 and JS6 which is 4.1330 and 4.0936 severally. The 5th highest was JS5 with the average value of 4.0591 which was followed by JS3 which had a average value of 4.0394. The lowest average value was the JS4 which was merely 4.0148. In the term of standard divergence value, JS7 had the highest standard divergence of 0.81925. Following, it is followed by JS6 of 0.79982, JS3 of 0.78250, JS5 of 0.78125 and JS4 of 0.74779. The two lowest standard divergence values were JS1 of 0.74265 and JS2 of 0.68601.4.2 Scale Measurement4.2.1 Internal Reliability TestTable 4.11: Reliability Statistic Variable Cronbach ‘s Alpha N of Items CP 0.881 5 JSM 0.805 5 Ad 0.911 5 Tungsten 0.899 6 Joule 0.901 7 Beginning: Developed for the research The dependability trial is test the consistence and truth of the IVs and DV which the credence degree of cronbach ‘s alpha more than 0.70. Based on the Table 4.11, the highest cronbach ‘s alpha is chances for promotion and development standing at 0.911. The 2nd highest is occupation satisfaction which the cronbach ‘s alpha is 0.901 followed by committee wage and work itself which the cronbach ‘s alpha are 0.899 and 0.881. The lowest cronbach ‘s alpha is occupation security standing at 0.805. From the consequence, overall the cronbach ‘s alpha for all variable are more than 0.70. Therefore, the questionnaire in this research is dependability and consistence.4.2.2 Normality TestThe trial of normalcy, histogram with normal curve, P-P secret plan and spread secret plan diagram are being used to demo the normal distribution of informations. Table 4.12: Trials of Normality Kolmogorov-Smirnova Shapiro-Wilk Statistic df Sig. Statistic df Sig. Standardized Residual .055 203 .200* .988 203 .091 a. Lilliefors Significance Correction * . This is a lower edge of the true significance. Beginning: Developed for the research This research uses 203 study questionnaires which the sample size is more than 50. Therefore, Kolmogorov-Smirnov ‘s trial is usage for proving the normalcy as it is used to analyze larger sample size ( n & gt ; 50 ) . Based on the Table 4.12, the important value of Kolmogorov-Smirnov ‘s trial is equal to 0.200, which is more than 0.05. Thence, as the normalcy premise is achieved, the informations can be assumed to be usually distributed. Besides, based on the Appendix G, the histogram with normal distribution curve of trade name trueness demoing a sensible bell-shaped and therefore the informations can be assumed to be usually distributed. In add-on, from the Appendix F, the normal chance secret plan of trade name prevarications near to the fanciful heterosexual line which is lifting from the lower-left corner to the upper right corner and demo an upward incline of the graph. This can connote that the informations can be assumed to be usually distributed.4.2.3 Multicollinearity TestBased on the Table 4.14, the correlativity coefficient between IVs were 0.581 for CP and JSM, 0.496 for CP and AD, 0.528 for CP and W, 0.604 for JSM and AD, 0.612 for JSM and W, and 0.657 for AD and W. Therefore, these correlativity coefficients are high between IVs but there is no multicollinearity job since they are all less than 0.8 in this research ( Field, 2005 ) . Furthermore, harmonizing to Table 4.13 the tolerance and VIF value for CP ( 0.606 1.650 ) , JSM ( 0.493 2.029 ) , AD ( .497 2.013 ) and W ( .478 2.094 ) are more than 0.1 and less than 10 severally in the multicollinearity statistics. Hence, multicollinearity job do non show in this research ( Hair et al. , 1992 ) . Table 4.13: Multicollinearity Model Collinearity Statisticss Tolerance VIF CP_Average .606 1.650 JSM_Average .493 2.029 AD_Average .497 2.013 W_Average .478 2.094 Beginning: Developed for the research4.3 Inferential Analysis4.3.1 Pearson ‘s Correlation AnalysisTable 4.14: Pearson ‘s Correlation Analysis CP JSM Ad Tungsten Joule Commsion Pay ( CP ) 1 Job Security ( JSM ) .581** 1 Opportunities for Advancement and Development ( AD ) .496** .604** 1 Work Itself ( W ) .528** .612** .657** 1 Job Satisfaction ( JS ) .557** .659** .674** .836** 1 ** . Correlation is important at the 0.01 degree ( 2-tailed ) . Beginning: Developed for the research By implementing Pearson Correlation Coefficient, Table 4.14 illustrates the consequences of the correlativity analysis of the four independent variables ( CP, JSM, AD and W ) and one dependant variable ( JS ) . The consequence from Table 4.14 shows that p-value of committee wage is 0.000 which is less than the significance value 0.01 degree ( 2-tailed ) and the R value is 0.557. Therefore, the analysis consequence concludes that committee wage is moderate positive correlated with occupation satisfaction. For occupation security variable, the p-value is 0.000 which is lower than the significance value 0.01 degree ( 2-tailed ) and the R value is 0.659 which indicates there is moderate positive relationship between occupation security and occupation satisfaction. In the Table 4.14, the p-value of chances for promotion and development is 0.000 ( P & lt ; 0.01 ) and the R value is 0.674. Hence, the chance for promotion and development is moderate positive correlated with occupation satisfaction. As shown in the Table 4.14, the p-value of work itself is 0.00 which is lower than the significance value 0.01 degree ( 2-tailed ) and the R value is 0.836. As a consequence, the work itself has high positive relationship with occupation satisfaction.4.3.2 Multiple Regression AnalysisTable 4.15: Multiple Regression Analysis Independent Variables Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t-value Sig. Bacillus Beta Changeless .350 2.069 .040 Commission Pay .069 .074 1.610 .109 Job Security .158 .160 3.154 .002 Opportunities for Advancement and Development .130 .143 2.834 .005 Work Itself .562 .605 11.724 .000 R2 .748 Adjusted R2 .743 F 147.264** Beginning: Developed for the research From table 4.15 above, shows that the correlativity coefficient, R= 0.864, means that there is a positive correlativity between the four independent variables and dependent variable. The value of R Square is 0.748 which indicates that 74.8 % of the discrepancy in the dependant variable ( occupation satisfaction ) is explained by the 4 independent variables ( committee wage, occupation security, chances for promotion and development, and work itself ) . However, it is still leaves 25.2 % of occupation satisfaction is explained by other factors in this survey. Furthermore, harmonizing to table above, p-value ( Sig. 0.000 ) is less than alpha value 0.05, therefore, the F- statistic which equals to 147.204 is important. That mean this theoretical account is a good form for the relation between the residuary and forecasters. Therefore, the independent variables ( committee wage, occupation security, chances for promotion and development, and work itself ) are significantly explicating the discrepancy in the occupation satisfaction among insurance agents. Since the p-value is less than 0.05 and is in the cull part which H0 is rejected. Harmonizing to Table 4.15, occupation security ( p=0.002 ) , chances for promotion and development ( p= 0.005 ) , work itself ( p & lt ; 0.001 ) are important to foretell the dependant variable ( occupation satisfaction ) in this survey because their p-values ( Sig. ) are less than alpha value 0.05. From the multiple arrested development analysis, occupation security, chances for promotion and development and work itself are the of import motive factors that affect the occupation satisfaction among insurance agents in Malaysia. Among these IVs, work itself is the strongest determiner. However, the independent variable ( committee wage ) is non significantly foretelling the dependant variable ( occupation satisfaction ) . This is because committee wage ( p=0.109 ) is more than the alpha value 0.05. Therefore, a multiple additive arrested development is formed by utilizing the information from the column headed â€Å" B † shown in the tabular array 4.15 above. The arrested development equation is as below: Job satisfaction = 0.350 + 0.069 committee wage + 0.158 occupation security + 0.130 chances for promotion and development + 0.562 work itself4.4 DecisionThree independent variables ( occupation security, chances for promotion and development and work itself ) for this research are found to hold important relationship with the independent variable ( occupation satisfaction ) . However, the independent variable ( committee wage ) is non important relationship with the dependant variable ( occupation satisfaction ) . Consequences of the analysis and back uping grounds for the consequences are being discussed in the undermentioned chapter.

Counseling Religious Clients

Different populations require different approaches in counseling. Counseling is a mean of attending to a person’s situation or condition using techniques, systems and approaches that differ among the groups of individuals. For instance, a raped teenager should be counsel in a different way as a homeless teenager. Conversely, African-American clients should be treated in a unique way as the Asian clients (cited in Miller, Leukefeld & Jefferson, 1994; Cook 1993). Nevertheless, just like the other populations, religious clients have unique characteristics and experiences that need a unique counseling approach.Likewise, religious clients have also unique needs for their mental health care. However, unlike the common people being counseled, religious people have sets of belief systems and values that, for a number of conditions, may interfere to the counseling program being implemented to them (Carpenter, 2003). In order to practice professionalism and ethics, counselors behave leg ally, morally and ethically. They are aware that they can only win the client’s trust and secure client’s protection by practicing high level of professional conduct (APA Ethics Code, 1992, 18).Principle D, Respect for People’s Right and Dignity, as stated in the Ethical principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct highlights: Psychologists are aware of cultural, individual, and role differences, including those due to age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, and socioeconomic status. Psychologists try to eliminate the effect on their work of biases based on those factors, and they do not knowingly participate in or condone unfair discriminatory practices (1992).Counselors take into consideration the client’s personal and cultural background before deciding on the assessment instrument that he will be using in the counseling process (APA Ethics Code, 1992, 11). One of the characteristic-factors that should be checked is religion. There are no religion restrictions in the counseling activity. Nonetheless, from among the mentioned factors or clients’ considerable backgrounds, religion—the foundation of people’s moral and faith—is the most controversial.The Code of Ethics of 2005 by the Governing Council of the American Counseling Association gives light to the five overlapping ethical principles that guide the counseling practices with religious clients. The principles that can be applied focus on the counseling relationship, freedom of choice, confidentiality and privacy in counseling process, professional responsibility, and evaluation, assessment and interpretation. Counseling Relationship In counseling, clients may have diverse cultural backgrounds.In order for the counselor to practice good counseling, he must need first to understand the cultural identity that each of his clients possesses. Section A. 2. c of the Code of ethics states that à ¢â‚¬Å"counselors communicate information in ways that are both developmentally and culturally appropriate. † Counselors must deal with clients in the most culturally appropriate way. The counselor’s approach to a religious client depends highly on the knowledge he or she has about the culture and religion of the client.People restrict their thinking on the concepts of races and ethnic groups when dealing with culture—yet this broad concept also includes the religious groups. As cited by Gardner, in the 1992 edition of Counselor Education and Supervision authored by Pate and Bondi, â€Å"the term culture includes religious beliefs and practices and that religion is understood to be intimately tied to ethnic identity† (1996). From this, in understanding the values of the religious clients, the counselor takes into consideration an approach that is culturally motivated.Freedom of Choice In the macro-perspective of culture, one reason for the disagreement, dif ference or dissonance between the counselor and the religious client, is the values and belief systems of the client which for the counselor, are inappropriate. There are set of beliefs that the religious clients have, that may intervene in the counseling process. â€Å"Clients have the freedom to choose whether to enter into or remain in a counseling relationship and need adequate information about the counseling process and the counselor† (Section A.2. a, 2005). Part of this principle is the right of the client to know the counselor’s values and beliefs, especially if these values may result to the restriction of the counselor’s range and ability to conduct the counseling process due to the conflicting views and beliefs between the religious client and the counselor. If this is so, clients should be given freedom to look and choose another counselor that has similar or directly related values with that of his (client). Confidentiality and Privacy in Counseling ProcessGetting the clients’ trust is one of the goals of the counselors. To achieve this, establishing and upholding boundaries, and maintaining confidentiality are given high considerations. Section B. 1. a states that â€Å"counselors maintain awareness and sensitivity regarding cultural meanings of confidentiality and privacy; counselors respect differing views toward disclosure of information† (2005). It is very crucial for the counselors to give respect and show sensitivity to the culture of the religious persons they counsel.Inquiry is important before the counselor acts on whether or not to disclose the information derived from counseling the religious client. Professional Responsibility â€Å"Counselors practice only within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience, state and national professional credentials, and appropriate professional experience† (Section C. 2. a, 2005). Understanding religious cli ent means having an adequate learning and understanding of their cultural beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral patterns.If the counselor can achieve this, then, it will be easier for him to understand the condition of his client. Moreover, for the success of the counseling process, the counselors should gain appropriate knowledge, awareness, sense of sensitivity, and skills relevant to the activity of working with the population of diverse backgrounds. Without good milieu and specialized training, the counselors who treat religious clients may neglect their condition and situation.With better understanding of the set of beliefs of the client, the counselor will be sensitive and intelligent enough to know what approach is to give the religious client. Evaluation, Assessment and Interpretation As summarized in Section E. 3. a of the Code, for the achievement of the goals, the counselors consider the client’s background in terms of his personal and/or cultural identity, his abilit y to understand the results based on his beliefs, and his possible reaction or the impact of the results to him.Moreover, â€Å"counselors recognize the effects of age, color, culture, disability, ethnic group, gender, race, spirituality, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status on test administration and interpretation, and place test results in proper perspective with other relevant factors† (Section E. 8, 2005). This is a process—first; the counselor needs to consider what counseling program is applicable to the client given sets of standards. Second, the counselor weighs all contributing factors to the possible outcome before considering results.Third, the results will be interpreted depending on the accuracy of the outcomes. Furthermore, Section A. 5. a says that â€Å"counselors avoid actions that seek to meet their personal needs at the expense of clients. † This concept, when applied to religious clients, means that the counselor must be aware of hi s or her personal opinion about the religious issues that may lead to certain reactions and overreactions—causing emotional harm to the client. Working with Religious Clients On his article, Gardner enumerated some ethical guidelines on how to work with religious clients.First, therapy in the context of evangelistic activities that promotes particular political and spiritual ideology and worldview must be avoided. Second, in the attempt to change some of the beliefs of the client that have direct effect on his or her disorder, the counselor must try to narrow down the approach and inform the client on the program he wants to implement. Third, a help from other professionals is better if dealing with the religious issue of the client is quite difficult to comprehend and accept.Fourth, counselors must try to include and integrate the religious beliefs of the client with the treatment she or he is undertaking. References American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA Code of Ethic s. Retrieved June 19, 2008, from http://www. counseling. org Carpenter, D. (2002). Ethical Considerations in Working with Religious Clients. Retrieved June 19, 2008, from Gestatalt-Global Corporation website: http://www. g-gej. org/1-2/religious_clients. html Gardner, J. N. (1996). Ethical Issues in Counseling Religious Clients. Retrieved June 19, 2008, from http://www. g-gej. org/1-2/religious_clients. html

Analysis of the Strategic Decision of Apple Inc Essay

Analysis of the Strategic Decision of Apple Inc - Essay Example Hence, this study has strong relevance as well as significance in the field of business research. For this study, Apple Inc. has been chosen as the organization. The reason behind choosing Apple is the recent shift in the leadership of Steve Jobs to Tim Cook. Analyzing the strategic decision making of Apple will also help in clearly understanding the differences in strategic management approach. However to get further deep into the study, a brief synopsis of the chosen company are presented below. Apple: A Brief Synopsis Apple Inc., commonly known as Apple Computers is a US based Multinational Corporation, headquartered at Cupertino, California. The company was incorporated in the year 1976 and was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The role of Steve Jobs has been instrumental in transforming the company into one of the world’s largest MNCs. Apple is best known for its continuous innovation and trendy products. The company now operates in almost every part of the world and is regarded as the â€Å"home of innovation†. The company is involved in designing, developing and selling consumer electronic goods, personal computers and computer software. The company presently operates with 406 company owned retail stores. Some of the bestsellers of the company include hardware products such as iPhone, iPad, iPod and software packages such as iOS, iTunes and Safari Web browser among others. In the year 2007, the company was renamed by removing the word ‘computer’ from its name thereby making it apparent that the company will focus more on the consumer electronics segment. The major competitors of the company are Samsung Electronics, Nokia, Motorola and LG among others.... The information to be collected for a study is considered as one of the most important factors for satisfying the objectives of the study. Information related to the strategy of the company during the era of Steve Jobs and the current strategy of the company will be collected. This will help in contrasting the strategic management styles of the two leaders. In addition, raw data in the form of responses from the managers of Apple will be also collected so as to get a better understanding of the situation. Furthermore, information related to the strategic decision of Apple will be also gathered. Another aim of the study is to recommend Apple about how they can deal with the challenges of the future. In doing so, it is important to at first identify the potential threats of the company. The information required in this context is the previous performance of the company and the information about its internal environment. The data will be collected again from the managers of the organiza tion. However, the assistance of the secondary sources will be also taken. The important part of a study is the analysis of the data. This stage appears after the collection of data. As mentioned earlier, data will be collected from both primary and secondary sources. The analysis will be done qualitatively. Since the aim is to identify the differences in the strategic decision making process of Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, it is evident that the study does not include any kind of numerical data. Thus, conducting a qualitative research is justified.

Integrating Strategy, Management and Change (Strategy Development) Research Paper

Integrating Strategy, Management and Change (Strategy Development) - Research Paper Example Academic researchers have pointed out significance of performance measurement in terms of both practical and theoretical perspective. The concept of performance measurement is multidimensional because the model incorporates not only accounting literature but other management fields like operation & production management, marketing and strategic management also. Organizational theory model played crucial role in developing performance measurement models such as Key Performance Indicator, Balance Scorecard and Performance Prism. Problem with the literature review of performance measurement is isolation because of disparate and fragmented findings of research scholars. Researchers have tried to create a link between Organizational effectiveness (OE) and performance measurement but unfortunately only a few of them have succeeded. Academic scholars have argued that organizational effectiveness plays cordial role for designing non financial elements of performance measurement tools. In 200 0, Flamholtz and Aksehirli proposed a relationship between financial aspect of performance measurement and organizational success model. They analyzed both financial and non financial elements of balanced scorecard in order to test the hypothesized relationship. They tested eight pairs of companies of various industries and Average Return on Equity was used as an indicator of financial performance. They used Friedman two way variance analysis and found statistically significant relationship between financial aspect of performance measurement and organizational success model (Flamholtz, 2003, pp. 15-26). Two Theoretical Perspectives for Strategic Performance Measurement Multidimensionality of performance always creates rift for deploying strategic performance measurement models. Multidimensionality of performance is exemplified due to involvement of complex financial and non financial elements. There is a common belief in the field of performance measurement that if the new models su ch as Balance scorecard or Performance prism are implemented, there will be overall organizational performance improvement (Bourne et al., 1999, pp. 373-95). Unfortunately the belief is partially true because impact of performance management is very much influenced by organizational objective. The study will be incomplete without mentioning impact subsystems in performance measurement. Researchers have pointed out that deploying enterprise strategic performance management is far more effective in comparison to strategic performance measurement. In 2005, Neely has argued business leaders need to adopt dynamic, flexible and capable strategic performance measurement model in order to cope with dynamics of external environment (Neely, 2005, pp. 1264-77). In 1993, Platts has presented a holistic approach of strategic performance measurement in terms of virtuous cycle of learning organization. Research scholars (Slack,

Evaluation of Current Accounting Policy of Phone Services Essay

Evaluation of Current Accounting Policy of Phone Services - Essay Example There are generally two key factors for revenue recognition: Completion of earning process, Assurance of payment. The policy which helps inter-department on recognition of revenue is the renewal of portable internet services for customers who already have phone-e-devices at a price of $240 (Kennon, 2010). The accounting policies which they are adopting can increase their market share and sales as they are offering a low price to their customers. This is also helping them in penetration of market for their new products. The new policies which the firm can adopt are cost policy and revenue recognition policy. They are offering the low price to its customers as compared to their competitors due to the low signal and service quality than their competitors. They cannot increase the price or service charge of Prepaid Portable Internet Connection, as doing so can result in shifting of its customers towards other brands. Another risk which firm faces are that if in near future their competit ors decrease the price of their products, the company may suffer losses. To avoid this company can practice cost-cutting techniques in the manufacturing of their products. If they do not manufacture their parts or components and buy it from suppliers, they should try to focus on cheap and best quality suppliers. The activities of any company which decides revenue recognition are: Sale of goods, Rendering of services and Construction contracts. Therefore these activities have to be properly managed.  

Qualitative Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Qualitative Research - Essay Example For example, a proponent could ask the respondent on the idea of whether a set price, placement or promotion for a new health and energy beverage might be effective or not. In-depth interview is somewhat advantageous because it seeks not only to get the opinion of the interviewee, but the interviewer’s understanding of the interviewee, even if the said qualitative tool is expensive and does not allow generalization to larger populations (Stacks, 2010). Another qualitative tool is the focus group. This is a qualitative tool that focuses on certain issue, which provides a great ability to come up with data that is focused on the chosen topic, but it could also substantially limit the responses of the respondents in order to ensure efficiency at some point (Hatch, 2010). Focus group as a qualitative tool can definitely help unravel ideas, concerning for instance the price, placement and promotion for a new health and energy beverage. Threaded discussion that may span for weeks might be a remarkable qualitative tool because it solicits feedbacks and critical ideas, but understanding its patterns is critical on the part of the target audience and the facilitator by which the failure to meet such requirement could lead to a failed discussion (Tomei, 2008). There is a great concern on how to separate the role of researcher and the respondent. In fact, this is one of the great ethical issues in qualitative research. The researchers may substantially instituted a bias on the subject at hand due to lack of objectivity, such as one observed in the quantitative research orientation. The second great ethical issue is on how the researchers might ensure respect for privacy of the chosen respondents. Considering that there might be inclusion of in-depth interviews that may broaden the topic, the researchers might end up asking questions that at some point might be able to violate

Relationship between legal immigration and drug crime Dissertation

Relationship between legal immigration and drug crime - Dissertation Example The issue that criminologists focus on is whether immigration is associated with higher than expected increases in levels of criminal deviance. Crime researchers have addressed this question using one of two general approaches. The first is through individual-level analyses that examine immigrant involvement in crime. Such studies provide insight into the question of whether immigrants are involved disproportionately in the commission of criminal acts. The second approach is less interested in the criminal behavior of individuals, focusing instead on the impacts of immigration, measured at the macro-level, on observed levels of crime. Using data measured at higher levels of aggregation (i.e., neighborhoods, cities, metropolitan areas), this line of scholarship is concerned with the extent to which the presence of an area's foreign-born population affects levels of crime, net of structural and socio-demographic characteristics of an area. Studies falling into this category address the question of whether immigration is related to increased levels of crime. Historical Studies on Immigration and Crime The earliest quantitative studies that focused explicitly on the immigrant/crime link began to emerge as rates of immigration peaked in the early decades of the twentieth century. Three separate reports issued during this period represent the earliest research efforts to take seriously the notion that there may be nativity differences in patterns of criminal offending. A 1901 report issued by the Industrial Commission concluded that foreign-born whites were less involved in crime than their native-born counterparts. This conclusion was supported in a report released by the Immigrant Commission a decade later. In 1911 the Immigrant Commission argued that there was no evidence indicating that immigrants contributed disproportionately to increases in crime. The most extensive of the three reports, the "Wickersham Report," was released in 1931 by the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement. The conclusions drawn by the Wickersham Report are similar to those mentioned above that, in general, there was little evidence supporting the notion that foreigners engaged in higher levels of criminal activity than natives (Martinez, 2002; LaFree et al. 2000). Exceptions to this general trend were also noted in the early immigration/crime research. For example, each of the reports mentioned disparities in levels of offending across immigrant generations. Increased involvement in criminal behavior was seen as a consequence of assimilating into American society, particularly for members of the second generation. The Wickersham Report also suggested that immigrants may be more likely to be involved in particular types of crime (i.e., homicide). The conclusions drawn in the early immigration/crime studies have been viewed with suspicion mainly because they were not based on careful empirical analyses. An author of one of the sections of the Wickersham report questioned the results from any criminological research of the period because of the limitations of the data a nd the lack of methodological sophistication used to analyze

The three world of bali Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The three world of bali - Movie Review Example These midnight-to-dawn performances can be viewed from either side of the screen and also from behind the puppeteer. The ancient literary texts, collected in the old Javanese language of Kawi and Sanskrit (The Balinese Digital Library), are captured on Lontar leaves. These leaves come from Lontar trees that belong to the family of palm trees. The Lontar manuscripts are placed in boxes or bags for proper protection. The older women dancing in Gambuh dance and other performances are seen to be dancing closer to the ancestral shrines in temples. They do so as to honor their ancestors in this endless cycle of rebirth. For Balinese, the idea of time differs from ours. Flowers are seen to have a short time cycle, a rock to be have a much longer cycle while humans are somewhere in between. For them, there is never an end, but a continuous cycle. Balinese Hindus call their religion "Agama Tirtha" because water plays a very important role in their life. Water, represented by a circle in the Hindu tradition, symbolizes completeness and the un-manifest. The Balinese carefully plan out and stagger the use of Balis water supply. Water temple rituals promote a peaceful relationship between people and their environment. When changing the system, many problems were faced with problems such as of water, mice and other pests. Eka Dasa Rudra, in Bali, is held every one-hundred years. In 1963, upon the urging of then President Sukarno, Balinese priests organized to hold the ritual before the exact date it was supposed to be held on. Preparations were met with the first eruption in recorded history of Balis great volcano. This terrible disaster was seen as a confirmation of the gods and demons powers and the necessity of honoring the traditional calendar. The central temple was miraculously spared when the volcano erupted. The Balinese people saw this as a grand

Naturalization Complicated for Many Immigrants by Marlena Hartz Essay

Naturalization Complicated for Many Immigrants by Marlena Hartz - Essay Example The states are still truly a place foreigner’s consider a place to achieve economic prosperity. Mexicans such as Marlena want to leave their homeland because in the United States they can earn in a day the salary that the typical worker earns in a week. To obtain a visa to enter the United States is not easy since there are so many people applying for them. According to the author of the article the US immigration offices have had a backlog of applications of over 12 years. Once a person obtains a visa the visa is given for up to 10 years, but the person is not a resident and has to renew the contract on a yearly basis after a rigorous auditing process. The person has to be a stellar citizen and comply with requisites as having a job, being in good standing with the law, and be able to write and read English. The article made a lot of relevant arguments on the subject which I agree with. Immigrants are hard workers that reach the mainland to improve their lives. The hard obstacles legal residents have to surpass are one of the reasons foreigners at times utilize other mediums such as illegal entrance into the USA. I agree with the article and the author’s points of view because the United States is a nation founded on the collective efforts hundreds of races, ethnic groups, and cultures created a rich blend of persons that founded the democratic nation of the United States of America. The second article analyzed on the topic of immigration in the US is called â€Å"A day without immigrants† by Lee Siu Hin. The article talks about the event that occurred on May, 1 2006 when over 10 million immigrants across the world went out into the US Street protesting for the civil of rights of immigrants across the nation. The article opposes the American policy on the immigrant issue which is taking right away from people living and working in the nation.

The Negative Effect of the Internet on Non Western Societies and Essay

The Negative Effect of the Internet on Non Western Societies and Should Cover Areas in Business and Culture - Essay Example On the other hand, some critics of the Internet believe that it encroaches on traditional values and practices. This essay focuses on the negative effects of the internet. It aims to discuss the negative effects of the internet on non-western societies, specifically on their business and culture. After doing secondary research on this topic, the Internet can have harmful effects on business because it is used as a tool for different cybercrimes and it can easily violate user privacy and confidentiality; moreover, the Internet also harms cultural values and practices by promoting unhealthy sexual beliefs and practices, converting actual political participation into superficial spectatorship politics and breaking down traditional socialisation relations and conduct. The Internet can enhance access to economies of scale, but because of its ability to reach an almost infinite number of organisations and consumers, criminals have also used it as a tool for their crimes. Internet crimes, a lso called cybercrimes, have become increasingly prevalent because of the widespread adoption of the Internet, the existence of unsecured websites, and lack of security measures on the part of online consumers. Hacking, for instance, can be used to steal financial and personal information. Hackers can and have used the Internet to steal credit card information and use that to make unauthorised purchases online. Internet fraud is one of the most alarming criminal activities. The U.S. Department of Justice (2000) defines internet fraud as: any type of fraud scheme that uses one or more components of the Internet - such as chat rooms, e-mail, message boards, or Websites - to present fraudulent solicitation to prospective victims, to conduct fraudulent transactions, or to transmit the proceeds of fraud to financial institutions or to others connected with the scheme. (cited in Viosca Jr, Bergiel & Balsmeier 2004, p.12). In Africa, Nigeria has gained bad reputation because of Nigerian fr audsters working online. In the article ‘Effects of the electronic Nigerian money fraud on the brand equity of Nigeria and Africa,’ Viosca Jr, Bergiel and Balsmeier (2004) study the effect of Nigerian money fraud on Nigeria’s and Africa’s brand equity. Kotler and Armstrong (2004) define brand equity as something that stands for ‘consumers’ perception and feeling about a product and its performance’ (cited in Viosca Jr, Bergiel & Balsmeier 2004, p.13). Countries and regions can also have brand equity because of the feelings and perceptions that consumers attach to them (Viosca Jr, Bergiel & Balsmeier 2004, p.14). Viosca Jr, Bergiel and Balsmeier (2004) learned that because of Nigerian fraudsters, some foreigners see the county as a haven for criminals and unreliable as business partners and customers. Nwankwo (2003) stresses that: ‘Economic crimes have impacted negatively on the international image of Nigeria, giving it the toga of a crime-ridden nation according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’ (cited in Viosca Jr, Bergiel & Balsmeier 2004, p.14). Another article is concerned of the rise of West African criminal networks in ‘Are There Emerging West African Criminal Networks? The Case of Ghana,’ by Aning (2007). This article reveals that these criminal networks are using the Internet to conduct computer and Internet fraud. These journals reveal that many criminals in non-Western societies are exploiting the Internet as a tool for operating fraud and other crimes. As

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census Essay Example for Free

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census Essay Race is a biological entity, but it has been proven that the concept of race can be constructed or manipulated by societies that even though since an anthropological and biological perspective the barrier between races is very clear. Ethnicity isn’t a societal concept founded by the color of skin, since everyone knows individuals of the identical race have variations of skin color. For example in European circles, Middle Easterners such as Arabs, Jews, Iranians (Indo-Europeans or Aryans); North Africans like Berbers and Arabs; Latin Americans of pure Caucasian descent and Northern Indians and Pakistanis are not considered Caucasian or white, even though anthropologically and genetically they are. People can deny kinship or invent their kinship to people of other genetic markers if this makes them keep their status or way of life; this has to do with issues like migration, religion and the like. Race refers to the bodily and biotic features for specific sets of individuals. For example: anyone may recognize an individual’s ethnicity founded up skeleton construction, predominantly the cranium, since the various races have distinctive, skeleton structures. Diverse ethnicities have diverse bone concentrations. Afro-American’s have the thickest bone because they need to stockpile â€Å"calcium and vitamin D in their bones† because of the dusky color that does not allow the sun to simply infiltrate and produce the vitamins to protect their skeletal frame (Comer, 1972). White and Asian ethnicity produce smaller skeletal density since light skin permits the sun to infiltrate into the skin easier. This makes it easier to take up vitamin D from the sun. There are a large number of variations within ethical groups than may be condensed to tinier clusters of ethnic clusters. However, ethnic groupings are not unsubstantiated and illogical societal tags. There is a plethora of fabrication concerning race around, and most 19th century anthropology scientists that studied race were mistaken concerning many facts, however the entire theory should not be trashed. Even Darwin made mistakes concerning many facts, however it should not require the complete Theory of Evolution should be trashed as well.. A societal structure may function as an instrument of organization that sustains the domination of specific ethnic races and the subservience of other races. Race is described as being â€Å" ‘Race’ is first and foremost an unequal relationship between social aggregates, characterized by dominant and subordinate forms of social interaction, and reinforced by the intricate patterns of public discourse, power, ownership and privilege within the economic, social and political institutions of society† (Commer,1997). Ethnicity merely turns out to be genuine when societies act in other habits that cause subservience to last. It converts actual once society acts toward one another that maintain the subservience. Race often causes ethically emotional discourse which includes constant practices of displacement and ethnic suffering. Principles and individuality are also societal structures (permanent. The description of individuality by Sarikaya: â€Å"†¦identity is not only a story, a narrative which we tell ourselves about ourselves, it is stories which change with historical circumstances. And identity shifts with the way in which we think and hear them and experience them. Far from only coming from the still small point of truth inside us, identities actually come from outside, they are the way in which we are recognized and then come to step into the place of the recognitions which others give us. Without the others there is no self, there is no self-recognition† (Sarikaya, 2011). It is similar to a camera, the controlling scrutiny changes an individual to thing and â€Å"†¦the normalizing gaze [is] a surveillance that makes it possible to qualify, to classify and to punish, and it establishes, over individuals a visibility through which one differentiates and judges them† (Foucault,1991 pg. 25). Race has the capacity to change anyone into a historic minute outside of that which a person is unable to step out of. Race adopts the theory that there is a pattern of regularity and accurate, each person separate from this pattern should be conveyed to the pattern – the normalcy is considered to be a young, Caucasian, Christian, man. The societal imagination is a broad area that groups is now created, made-up, placed and formed by dominate dialogues and governing society. There is no social justice or injustice of classifying or not classifying people according to the race they belong to, some can say racial classifications are harmful to the unity of the group, that it causes racism, etc. It should not be something bad or something to be afraid of or something to avoid, there should be not prejudice in the concept of race, and everyone should be happy with their ancestry and celebrate their phenotype and genotype and not suffer prejudice from society for being descendant of certain people. References: Comer, J. P. , (1972). Beyond Black and White. New York, NY: Quadrangle Books. Retried from: http://kcmo. ent. sirsi. net/client/en_US/NKCPL/search/results/? ln=en_USq=Beyond+Bla ck+and+Whitert=rw=0. Foucault, M. , (1991). Discipline and Punish The birth of prison (2nd ed. ) New York, NY: Random House, Inc. Sarikaya, D. (2001). The Construction of Afro-Caribbean Identity in the Poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson. Journal of Caribbean Literatures, (Spring 2011, Vol. 7, Issue 1, p161-175, 15p). Retrieved from: http://av4kc7fg4g. search.serialssolutions. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/? ctx_ver=Z39. 88-2004ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc %3AUTF-8rfr_id=info:sid/summon. serialssolutions. comrft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:jo urnalrft. genre=articlerft. atitle=The+construction+of+Afro-Caribbean+cultural+identity+in+t he+poetry+of+Linton+Kwesi+Johnsonrft. jtitle=Journal+of+Caribbean+Literaturesrft. au=Sar ikaya %2C+Dilekrft. date=2011-01-01rft. pub=Journal+of+Caribbean+Literaturesrft. issn=1086-01 0Xrft. eissn=2167-9460rft. volume=7rft. issue=1rft. spage=161rft. externalDBID=n %2Farft. externalDocID=338524281paramdict=en-US.

Approaches to Employee Retention

Approaches to Employee Retention Attracting and retaining the quality staff is the competitive advantage for many organizations in challenging economic environment. There are two main approaches to attracting and retaining employees by the strategies employer of choice and employee engagement. Employer of choice has become in HRM in contemporary business recent years. It is representative of a whole new design of corporate culture. Employer of choice is applied in the company priorities by most successful and respected business leaders today. Now more and more employers are using an employer of choice strategy by providing and offering varieties of employee benefits in order to attract and retain best people. There are four measurements for monitoring the companys performance. In addition to market share, consistent financials and being a valuable corporate citizen, the fundamental element for a successful company is being an employer of choice. When companies are losing talent and experienced staff, the companies are losing professionals and expertise that gained at company expense, hard -built customer relationship as well that are very hard to replace todays labour market. To put employer of choice as the top priorities list can give the company competitive advantage be cause it can attract and retain critical human assets. The employee engagement is becoming very important across the globe as the customer power and employee power are increasing in the modern economic and business world. As 200 companies survey found that it can have $21 million benefit moving a workforce of 8000 employees from low level to high level engagement. And compared with 20% of disengaged the employees, more than 65% engaged employees say that they have a better understanding how to meet the customer requirements and needs. Employee engagement can also make effort on mental and emotional commitment to the organization. Engaged employees are willing to give extra effort to their job that can lead to increase the productivity. Some researches show that the employee engagement strategy makes an average less than three days sick leave per year than six days for the disengaged employees A successful employee engagement strategy helps create a community at the workplace and not just a workforce. When employees are effectively and positively engaged with their organisation, they form an emotional connection with the company. This affects their attitude towards both their colleagues and the companys clients and improves customer satisfaction and service levels. As the question mentioned that the companies must reject the concept that the loyalty is dead among todays employees. The company has to create a challenging environment that can attract and retain people. I totally agree this conception that employee royalty and satisfactory can be build up by employee engagement. It make employee make effort to the organization from coginitive level, emotional level and physical level. Engaged employees always think about the company, feel inspired by their job, they are customer focused in their approach, they care about the future of the company and are prepared to invest their own effort to see that the organization succeeds. It is now a generally acknowledged business fact that employee engagement is a key driver of business success. Employee engagement strategy can be applied no matter in small or large companies. It benefits the organizations and individuals, improving the performance, boosting the bottom line and makes employees happier and the work more enjoyable. However, it is not always the win-win situation. Some organization use employee engagement that can drive work intensification. It would obviously run this risk of being detrimental to the individuals concerned. The organization is expecting the employees to go one step further that can make overtime working normalised. And the over-performance rewarded can leave behind the staffs that just do a good job. In other hand, it is not easy to achieve work-life balance in some high-performance companies under employee engagement strategy. The priority of work with long and non-standard hours takes over family and social life. The increasing effort that engaged employees put into the work time make the work and life unbalanced. The latest research shows th at the employee engagement by high performance work systems may accrue marginal benefits in terms of the higher level of involvement and commitment. However, these benefits are outweighed by the associated increases in responsibility, workload, work-life spill over and work stress. 2. How companies are dealing with the linkages between HR and strategic formulation. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) in an organization can be defined as accepting and involving the HR function as a strategic partner in the formulation and implementation of the companys strategies through HR activities such as recruiting, selecting, training and rewarding personnel. SHRM means linking of HR with strategic objectives to improve business performance and company culture to develop competitive advantage, innovation and flexibility. There are four different levels of linkage between HR strategic and the strategic management process: administrative linkage, one-way linkage, two-way linkage and integrative linkage. These four levels of linkage are very helpful for an organization to categorize which HRM strategy has to be applied. The administrative linkage has no linkage between strategic plan and HR function. It simply engages in administrative work that has no emphasis placed on achieving the linkage in both strategy formulation and strategy implantation. It focuses on day to day activities and personal management. In one-way linkage, the company develops the strategic plan and then informs the HR function. Although it does recognize the importance of human resources in implementing the strategic plan, it precludes the company from considering human resource issues while formulating the strategic plan. In two-way linkage, he strategic planning team informs the HRM function of the various strategies the company is considering à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   HRM executives analyze the human resource implications of the various strategies, presenting the results to the strategic planning team à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   The strategic plan is passed on to the HRM executive, who develops programs to implement it. The Integrative linkage is based on continuing interaction. The HRM function is built right into the strategy formulation and implementation processes. In the higher level linkage such as two-way linkage and integrative linkage are characterized by a close relationship between HRM and business strategies. HRM effectiveness can be explained by examine the contributions of the HRM function in the process of achieving strategic integration. In both of the short term and long term, SHRM should complement and contribute to the improvement of the productive capacity of enterprises. Strategic business partner: a role performed by HR practitioners, aiming to execute organisational strategy by aligning HR processes with the organisational strategy. HR managers become able to reengineer the way HR department executes its job, accomplishes those transactional HR jobs cost-competitively, and increasingly turn its attention to truly being a strategic partner with the firms top executives With an integrative linkage, strategic planners consider all the people-related business issues before making a strategic choice. These issues are identified with regard to the mission, goals, opportunities, threats, strengths and weakness, leading the strategic planning team to make a more intelligent strategic choice. While this process does not guarantee success, companies that address these issues are more likely to make a choice that will ultimately succeed. Research has supported the need to have HR executives integrally involved in strategy formulation. The level of HR involvement was positively related to the refinery managers evaluation of the effectiveness of the HR function. HR involvement was highest when top managers viewed employees as a strategic asset and this was associated with reduce turnover. HR practices that are properly implemented do deliver significant financial benefits to an organization. ( profitability, shareholder return, stock prices and organizational survival) Administrative linkage level will either become more integrated or face extinction. In addition, companies will move toward becoming interactively linked in an effort to strategically manage human recourses. Integrating the HR function into strategy formulation may help the strategic planning team make the most effective strategic choice. Once the strategic choice is determined, HR must take the active role in its implementation. HR is emerging as the key concept in assessing the competitive assets of organizations. HR managers and professionals, by virtue of their knowledge of human performance, are well positioned to exercise strategic leadership and contribute significantly to a firms competitive advantage. Therefore, the company has to create opportunities for the HR function to develop a more strategic role in a firms operation (Lawler Mohrman, 2003). As the arrival of the global economy, the HRM has more challenges to create an environment to maintain the competitive advantages. In order to become a strategic partner in the organization, the HR executive must have the abilities to research and training that from being acknowledge of the HR concepts, logic and practices. HR executives have to show the competencies which add more value to the organization. The role of HRM is becoming more creative and strategic to adapt the changes of worldwide workforce structures. More and more high performing companies have HR executive involved in business at a strategic level. There are four major factors of competencies related to how well an HR professional contributes in a strategic way to businesses in areas such as strategic decision making, culture management, fast change, and market driven connectivity. Previously, organization structured on a centralized and compartmentalized basis-head office, marketing, manufacturing, financing etc. By the end of the 1980s, HR played largely on administrative work that focus on HR operations and processing standardisation and technology which has no connection with the strategic management. The role of HR traditionally in the organization is no more than a one- way linkage role. They were doing what the business manager wanted. In recent years, theres a fundamental reassessments of human resources structures and positions. The massive change of business conditions, organizational structure and strategic decision makers has been leading HR to develop their perspectives and functions. Today, senior management expects HR to move beyond its traditional. HR is more tightly linked to corporate strategy and to creating business value through HR services that address a companys most pressing strategic challenges. HR now seek t decentralize and to integrate their operations and developing cross-functional teams. HR is anticipating critical workforce trends, shaping and executing business strategy, identifying and addressing people-related risks and regulations, enhancing workforce performance and productivity, and offering new HR services to help a company improve and grow. In order to become a strategic partner in the company, the HR executives need to fulfil five challenges to help the company to achieve critical goals. Posses and use their knowledge of how people can and do play a role in competitive advantage as well as policies, programs and practices that can leverage the companys people as a source of competitive advantage Firstly, knowledge management is essential for competitive advantage for helping HR to play an important role in developing company culture for organizational learning as a strategic partner. With knowledge management, business success is achieved in a culture of learning and workplace planning. The Research Quarterly found that the HR executives can leverage the company people through knowledge management, for competitive advantage in a challenging economy. HR executive and professionals has to acquire the knowledge and skills that are necessarily link HR to stakeholder value. And HR related policies, programs and rules can have a fundamental influence on workforce behavior that helping company to achieve the competitive advantages. To become the strategic partner, it requires HR executive to be involved in transferring knowledge. HR professionals must know how to optimize policies and practices, how to manage the learning that results from any change or execution process associated with new business structures. And HR executives need to have multiple channels to make sure the engagement of business strategies. HR executives must demonstrate business knowledge includes not only how it fulfills its mission, but also how it serves its customers and differentiates itself from its competitors. When HR professionals demonstrate their understanding of what is driving their business, they will add value by mobilizing the right workforce with the right skills to achieve the business goals of enterprise. Knowledge management requires knowledge managers. Key business resources like labor and capital have substantial organizational functions devoted to their management. Knowledge wont be well managed until some group within a  ®rm has clear responsibility for the job. Among the tasks  that such a group might perform are collecting and categorizing knowledge establishing a knowledge oriented technology infrastructure, and monitoring the use of knowledge. HR need to have clear strategies, outcomes, products , services and structures So the HR staff can achieve their goals and deliver the necessary outcomes. HR staff can do this to fulfilling for management roles Strategic HR role- aligns HR and business strategy and delivers the executive of strategy HR executives must be able to translate business needs in HR strategies to build up individual, team and organizational capabilities. HR strategy should be directly relevant to business requirement and delivering value that lead to an intense focus on structural realignment for HR teams. It requires HR to have competing perspectives, values and services. It also involved meeting stakeholder need for respect and ownership. HR executives need to widen the focus on learning new behaviours, changing attitudes and processes. Management of company infrastructure role- reengineers organization processes and builds an efficient infrastructure Management of employee contribution role- listening and responding the employees- employee commitment and capability is increased Transformation and change role- ensuing the organization has the capacity for change and delivers a renewed organization HRIS- HR information systems- technology is facilitating the transformation of HR function HRIS is designed to help provide information used in HR decision making such as administration, payroll, recruiting, training, and performance analysis. HRIS makes HR department working more effective to handle daily administrative tasks. Using the value-added approach to justify the HRIS expenditure links the system with the key business direction of the organization, and makes the critical of HR information to business success. The HRIS becomes not just a way to reduce administrative costs, but a key element of the business strategies. In additional to providing a framework of justifying HRIS expenditure as a strategic investment, the value-added approach emphasizes the role of HR as an active strategic partner in achieving the originations strategic business objectives Technology is facilitating the transformation of HR function. These technology solutions can cover multiple HR tasks, such as recruiting, benefits administration, and training administration. Applications and data a re usually shared in common across the company, with links to other systems in services centre operations, finance, and accounting as well as third-party systems for such tasks as payroll and benefits. Modern HRIS are comprehensive, accurate and accessible systems for recording employee and work data relevant to HRM, HR and organizational planning. HRIS helps the organization to improve strategic planning and program development and faster information processing times. By increasing administrative efficiency, technology allows HR to have fewer staff marking more value-added contributions to their organizations. The rapid evolution of electronic HR delivery systems is pushing more information in more usable formats to employees and managers who can use it directly for the benefit of their organizations. Fast and cheap access to accurate real time HR information Access and the ability to analyse, assess, interpret, manipulate, leverage and share the information effectively will be key to giving organizations a strategic edge. Successful data mining will be made possible by the use of date warehouses with their ability to consolidate internal and external information with powerful analytical tools Ubiquitous access to information to improve employee effectiveness and efficiency. This means working from anywhere and at anytime, the size, format, the footprint of technology deliverables will more from departmental desktop devices operating under the full control of the user organization to a mixture of hand-held, pocket-sized, integrated devices and wireless linkage that provide needed access on a real time basis to centralized processing and data storage capabilities. Instant access to all needed knowledge and to essential meaningful data will be a keystone for the successful enterprise. A variety of analytics and decision trees. Smart self-service. Customized content. HR executives must implement the new plans or programs. HR executive must have the skills to oversee the change in a way that ensures it success. Change was more successfully where HR professionals had been involved in developing the vision of the organisation, strategic planning, the change required and where the HR manage was well paid and reported directly to CEO. In previous times, change is constant. HR executives like scanning, scenario building and search conferences can help to predict the future and manage change. However, the most effective HR executives will not depend on formulas but will develop their strategic intelligence including foresight, partnering with people who complement their strengths, visioning with systems thinking, motivating and empowering their collaborators to realize their visions to create a winning future for their organizations. HR executives must have integration competence, the ability to integrative the three other competencies to increase the companys value. Although specialist knowledge is necessary, a generalist perspective must be taken in making decisions. This means that how HR all functions fit together to be effective and recognising that changes in any one part of HR package are likely to requires changes in other parts of the package. There are a few competencies the HR executives have to master to become a strategic partner. The integration competency is one of the most important that can integrate the other three competencies together to increase the organizations value. HR executives are playing the role as connecting hiring, training and worker evaluations via organizational competencies. From talent mapping and planning to performance evaluation, recruitment, retention and even benefits administration, todays human capital professionals are constantly seeking new ways to streamline, integrate and align human capital functions with broader corporate objectives The organization management has to realize that it is very important to have an integrated and consistent technology platform for HRM. The more integration between activities as diverse as recruitment, payroll and benefits management, training/development and performance measurement, the better HR executives can be at overall workforce planning and managing and motivating individual workers. As the result, the organization can be more effective These developments lead to an entirely new set of competencies for todays strategic Hr executive. The new strategic role of HR shows both opportunities and challenges. These include forming a series of partners with senior executives, line managers and external providers of HR services. As companies cope with the economy, HR can be instrumental in helping organizations leverage knowledge-based resources for business results. As highlighted in Creating People Advantage, critical HR challenges focus on three strategic categories, all related to knowledge management: 1) developing and retaining the best employees (talent, leadership development, work/life balance); 2) anticipating change (demographics, change, cultural transformation, globalization); and 3) enabling the organization (becoming a learning organization). (4) As indicated in a SHRM April 2009 poll of U.S.-based organizations and multinational companies, the primary focus of companies now is workforce planning. Although hiring expectations are low, talent management priorities remain high despite the economic downturn (see Figure 1 Competitive challenges influencing HRM The challenge of HR innovation Knowledge management It is no secret that knowledge is power. Knowledge management can create competitive advantage for a company and its customers. By sharing information and best practices, organizations create expanded opportunities for market share and financial growth. Furthermore, knowledge management provides a means for organizations to differentiate themselves from competitors. Second, KM can create a truly customer-focused culture. Appropriate organization resources can be directed toward solving customer problems or meeting customer needs quickly and effectively. Third, knowledge management can be a catalyst. Through tools, resources, and systems, it can help ignite creativity and innovation in the development of an organizations products and services. Fourth, KM can improve time to market. By leveraging best practices, learning and other time-savers to improve productivity, products can be introduced faster. Last, KM can expand a companys strategic options. By leveraging intellectual property in research and development efforts as well as overall market and business strategy, organizations can discover new ways to create value. Knowledge management can provide an organization with man benefits. Organizations can more effectively counter problems and threats and can respond more proactively to opportunities. In a knowledge based economy, managing knowledge along with other resources is a requirement, not an option. Knowledge workers Self-managing, automony, responsibility for continuing innovation Knowledge workers in todays workforce are individuals who are valued for their ability to interpret information within a specific subject area. They will often advance the overall understanding of that subject through focused analysis, design and/or development. They use research skills to define problems and to identify alternatives. Fueled by their expertise and insight, they work to solve those problems, in an effort to influence company decisions, priorities and strategies As the workers become more knowledge based, firms will need to implement strategic human resource practices in order to retain their tacit knowledge base either by retaining the tacit knowledge or by retaining the knowledge worker and thus retaining a critical competitive advantage. Performance of knowledge based industries depends on organizations attracting, holding, and motivating knowledge workers (Drucker, 2003). The transition to knowledge workers is having a significant impact on human resource practices. The knowledge workers must think like entrepreneurs, and the firms must think of the knowledge workers as entrepreneurial professionals as well as ensure a learning organization where tacit knowledge is actively diffused throughout the firm. This will allow the firm to better manage their knowledge resources through HR practices and help sustain their competitive advantage. High-performance work systems (HPWS)- combining people and technology- self-managing work teams Change in employees work roles and skill requirement The use of teams to perform work Changes in the nature of managerial work Changes in company structure Increased ability of HR information HRM practices in HPWS The challenge of sustainability The challenge of globalisation The challenge of attracting and retaining people NOKIA CASE:- Connecting People Exernal and internal people Nokia is the worlds leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile and fixed telecom networks including related customer services. Nokias corporate headquarters are in over 120 countries and employees are more than 47000 people worldwide. Human Resource Management plays an important role for Nokia to become the giant among the communication rivals, HRM in the new economy should to be human centric with a strong technology focus. Nokia use the SHRM to leverage on emerging technologies to better satisfy the wants and needs of the knowledge workers and in the process to build a competitive advantages. Nokia Australia is recognized as an employer of choice having been named National Best Employer in 2002 by Best Employer to Work for in Australia Awards sponsored by Hewitt, AGSM and John Fairfax. Nokia is one of only five companies to have consistently featured in the Best ployer category since the inception of these awards. Nokias HR policies have played a key role in helping the company to reach its 45 percent share of the global handset market and industry-leading profit margins of 20 to 25 percent, at a time of technological change and intense competition from Asian manufacturers. At Nokia values are the foundation and people the core. Nokia offer a workplace with a world of opportunities, engaging work, global culture and competitive rewards. The goal of Nokia HR is to create an environment in which all employees can fulfill their potential. It is crucial for the company to have the ability to adapt successfully to the high speed of change in the global market. The scale of Nokias business also means that Nokia employees can lead or participate in projects that have global impact, affecting the lives of millions of people and fulfilling Nokias mission: connecting people. Attracting, motivating and retaining people have become the main external influence on Nokias HR strategies. These four elements are: The first element of Nokia HR strategy is the Nokia way and values. Nokia is a networked organization with speed and flexibility decision making. Nokia provides individuals with a platform for personal growth in a challenge environment with a clear vision, goals and management principles. The Nokia Way brings talented people together who share the principles and success. Through the extensive employee engagement, Nokia have renewed their values that reflect their business and changing environment. Nokia is continuing engage all the stakeholders and employees to meet the needs of customers. And Nokias HR strategy includes the passion for innovation through new and improved ways and better understanding the world. Professional and personal growth (Challenge of Innovation) Nokia is focusing on professional and personal growth. Only with truly innovative ideas can make the company and its people to develop the industry and improve the products and services. Commitment to Self-developments People at Nokia is continuously looking for ways to improve their performance in order to stay at the forefront of technology and develop own competencies. Employees are encouraged to create their own development plan and take advantage of the variety of available learning solutions and methods. On the job learning is heavily encouraged. Nokia has the high-performance work systems (HPWS). First, Employees reward and compensations at Nokia is related to the companys performance.Nokia provides employees with market competitive rewards through a flexible global structure, which can address diverse and changing business and employment environments, as well as specific individual preferences. Nokia rewards employees for good performance, competence development, and for overall company success. This creates a positive and encouraging environment with opportunities for employees to optimize their potential and be rewarded fairly. Higher performance and contribution will lead to higher rewards. The Nokia global market competitive rewards structure addresses the need for flexibility, personalization, empowerment and commitment. Second, Nokia has the coaching and management training system. Coaching is regarded as a vital part of continuous learning. Highly skilled colleagues at Nokia provide employees with rich sources of experience and knowledge. Receiving coaching and partic ipating in different teams will fuel employees ´ development as well as give them the opportunity, every day, to share ideas and goals with innovators and industry leaders. Employees have access to a wide variety of training activities. Through global network of Learning Centers, Nokia HR aim to offer a consistent standard of training and development to all employees. The Learning Market Place Intranet contains information on all Nokia ´s learning solutions including e-learning as well as classroom training. Management Training Nokia place particular focus on developing managers in management and leadership skills. It is one of the key areas in competence development. There is a full range of training available from new managers ´ programs to senior programs for our more experienced people. Internal Job Market (Changes in the place of work) All employees at Nokia are invited to look at the job opportunities available inside Nokia. All vacancies, with the exception of very senior positions, are advertised internally. Employees are encouraged to improve their competencies through changing their positions. Internal job opportunities, the possibility to register to our internal candidate pool and other services for job-seeking inside the company are available through the Internal Job Market Intranet. The aim is to give Nokia people the opportunity to manage their own careers. Performance Management Nokia has created a successful performance management system across the whole company called Investing In People (IIP). This system is closely aligned to the company strategy and planning processes and involves biannual formalized discussions between employees and their managers. Employees are encouraged to be active and to own their IIP. In this way, employees always understand what is expected from them, how their individual achievements support the Nokia overall strategy, and how they are rewarded. Work-life balance The well-being of our employees is important and also fundamental to the Nokia Way. We as an employer recognize the importance of the balance between work content and personal interests and needs, as well as the impact of that balance on employee well-b

Honda’s Operational Activities

Honda’s Operational Activities THE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT IDENTIFY AND EXPLAIN THE ROLE PLAYED BY EFFECTIVE OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT WITHIN HONDA. DISCUSS HOW HONDAS OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES HAVE CHANGED IN RECENT TIMES. Operations management is the business function that performs some tasks like-: It makes plans to run any organization It organizes, coordinates, need to produce a company goods. It controls the resources that are essential to make better services. ROLE PLAYED BY EFFECTIVE OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT:- Its include changes input to outputs. It means transform of worker manager and raw material into finished products. In 1980s Company won world race championship Formula1 from its cutting edge low pollution and low fuel consumption engine. In 1989 companys founder Soichiro Honda choose into Detroits symbolic Automotive Industry Hall Of Fame. Moreover Japanese invented a new formula name Right-first-time means that it is better way to focus on how to build quality rather than test in quality. This step is followed by Honda and as well as other companies also. ACTIVITES CHANGED IN RECENT TIMES:- Nobuhiko Kawamotos implemented an amendment with in Honda. Before his amendment company was using collective decision making process which means that all the companies executives sit into Board room and thinks about problems. But Nobuhiko Kawamoto found that team work was not sufficient for achieving market share. He offered all executives for their private offices if anyone wanted. Honda implemented the large mass lot production and small lot production. In former thousand of products made in a row or series in the western automobile industry each can make only a one automobile model. But in later small production assembly line can handle many of the vehicles. Objective is to focus on greater product variety. Honda combines both of these planning for achieving the goals. One more approach to production planning is to implement a push and pull system. In push system stratergy was made several month in advance. Similarly pull system was used for every day production. It helps to solve coming difficulties. For example if there are any problem with paint shop component maker are alerted and they try to solve the problems. More outcomes are there on combination of these two systems. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF HONDA:- BUSINESS STRATEGY: Hondas research and development system plays a vital role in its business strategy. While making their products Honda takes care about some factors-: Economical-: product should be more economical. So that everyone can purchased their products. Environmental-: Honda takes care about this factor also. So, company focus on engine of their products. It should be economically friendly. Stability-: Honda takes care about manufacturing of stable products. Quality -: Honda takes care to put best quality into their designs. ENTERPRISE STRATEGY: EVALUATE HOW SUCCESSFUL ARE HONDA OPERATIONS OBJECTIVES IN MEATING THE ORGANISATIONAL OBJECTIVES. IDENTIFY SOME OF KEY ISSUES FOR HONDAS OPERATION IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Honda is pushing the autonomy of their sale operation and their future plans in all the areas. They works under the instruction and this helps all companies members to reduce the chances of risk. Honda main objective is follow rules and regulation and maintain good Pellucidity. This is the way or stratergy to make customer satisfy. Honda spread his business in world market. Honda have its 134 production units in 28 countries and its 31 R D spread in 15 countries. Honda company have big worker organization with 167000 employees satisfying 24 millions customers in this global world. For better operation in Honda these are divided into 6 bureaucratic domain. KEY ISSUES: Honda motor co. establish in 1948.honda the first Japanese company to start its manufacture its product in Japan. Now Honda being world famous company and has to face some challenges for keep its position in world market. There are some issues which Honda could face in next 5 years. UNFAMILIAR ISSUES: suddenly elaboration in arrogation and climate changes can occur. Sometime manager are not prepared for facing these type of difficulties. So, all the worker and executives are ready to face these issues. Control assortment-: Honda is the biggest company in world market. So it will take great care about manage diversity among staff (races and ages). This is a big key issue that can arise in coming future. SUPERVISING CURRENCY CATASTROPHE: This means honda should take care about currency crisis. So executives focus on the exchange rates in the market. if this issue occur then management should try to solve it. IMPROVE FUEL ECONOMY: This is the important factor so, Honda reserve the proper stock of fuel. So enhance fuel austerity is the major factor for Honda.

MacBeth is Responsible for His Downfall Essay -- Macbeth essays

MacBeth is Responsible for His Downfall    There were many wrongs committed in "MacBeth." But who should bear the major responsibility for these actions? The witches' prophesising? Lady MacBeth's scheming and persuasion? Or should MacBeth himself be held responsible? No doubt the witches and lady MacBeth influenced MacBeth in the course of action he took in his rise to power, but ultimately he must bear the major responsibility for his fate.    The witches played an undoubtedly large role in MacBeth, being the instigators of the entire plot. In act one scene three, the witches say: `all hail, MacBeth! Hail to thee, thane of cawdor! ... All hail, MacBeth, that shalt be king hereafter!' (Line 47-50) these prophecies throw into his mind the possibility of further advancement to the highest level of the nobility. If the witches had not told MacBeth of their prophesies, there is little chance he would have thought about them himself, and even less chance he would have murdered king Duncan.    In act three scene five, the witches are talking to hectate, the...

Grinding to a Halt :: American Government Politics Elections Essays

Grinding to a Halt What's the U.S. all about? When asked that question almost everyone I know would reply: "Well, the U.S. represents democracy, capitalism, freedom, etc." The first thing I noticed is that everyone seems to mention democracy first. If you quiz a random American on this, that's probably what they'll think of too. It's also a point of view that might be the source of resentment for many Americans who are unhappy with our government right now. Why would that be? Because the U.S. is actually not a pure democracy, as I'm sure you already knew, but a republic. This means the government is set up in such a way that the people as a whole elect their leaders, those who they think would best represent them, and then those leaders handle the big issues, such as foreign policy, legislation, or legal interpretation. In principle this is a good system, since it would be virtually impossible for everyone in the U.S. to vote on every issue facing our nation. With this vision our forefathers cre ated a strong governmental system, one they hoped would withstand the tests of time. And it has. Until now. Many Americans feel the modern American government is bloated, deceptive and overly convoluted beast that isn't living up to its founding principles. This has become quite apparent in the 2000 Presidential election in which a process that should last little more than a day, the counting of ballots, has lasted more than two weeks. The foremost problem that this election demonstrates very clearly is a lack of any real political direction. Neither candidate, or party for that matter, can presently demonstrate substantial division on major subjects. While the parties generally tend one way or the other on issues, there are no longer strong and fast party-wide philosophies that one can count on. When our Government was first created there were major divisions between the parties of the time. Even up until around WWII both parties had strong separate characters that helped voters in choosing the right person to represent them. Over the last fifty years, however, the parties have started to grow together, neither side feeling safe as the representation of a political or philosophical extreme. Now this move towards mediocrity has finally culminated in one of the closest races for the presidency in U.

The Communist Manifesto Essay -- Reaction Paper

The Communist Manifesto   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The communist Manifesto is the author’s way of interpreting the goals of Communism, as well as the theory underlying this movement. Two major points of the manifesto explain how class relationships are defined by an era’s means of production. Also, the manifesto incorporates how class struggles, or exploitation of one class by another, are motivating force behind all historical developments. If those two points are not followed then a revolution occurs and a new class emerges as the ruling one. This outcome represents the ‘march of history’ which is driven by economic variables. The Manifesto argues that this development is inevitable, and the capitalism is inherently unstable. Elimination of social classes cannot come about through reforms or changes in g...

Communication Barriers

Eliminating Barriers to Cross-Cultural Communication through Curricular Interventions By David Dankwa-Apawu (Lecturer) Ghana Institute of Journalism P. O. Box GP 667 Accra, Ghana +233208704133 +233302228336 [email  protected] co. uk 1 ABSTRACT With the world fast becoming a global village, communicating across cultures has become an inevitable reality. On one hand, cross-cultural communication or intercultural communication presents a fine opportunity to foster global peace and prosperity as we mine the potential value of cultural diversity. Also read: Explain the Importance of Ensuring That Communication Equipment is Correctly Set UpOn the other hand, it can present unpleasant consequences if not well managed. The latter seems more prevalent in our world today as a result of the barriers cultural diversity imposes on intercultural communication. Intercultural or cross-cultural communication barriers such as anxiety, uncertainty, stereotyping, and ethnocentrism are caused by inadequate cultural knowledge and the lack of intercultural communicative skills. Eliminating these barriers will require adequate training in intercultural communication and exposure to cultures outside ours.The school provides the best motivation, structures, and resources for training or socializing our younger generation therefore this paper proposes a number of curricular interventions the school can implement to equip learners to overcome intercultural communication barriers. These interventions include the adoption of multicultural education i n our schools, the introduction of literature and cultural studies as subjects, the use of communicative language teaching approach in teaching language, and the use of the new media in the classroom.The justification (for these interventions) presented in this paper is drawn mainly from published accounts and exploratory ethnographic studies. INTRODUCTION Intercultural communication or cross-cultural communication is a relatively new field of study, yet it has generated a lot of interest. Research in this area has been diverse yet interdisciplinary, making it possible to link intercultural communication to a broad spectrum of disciplines such business, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, and psychology. Studies in intercultural 2 ommunication gained prominence after efforts by anthropologists and linguists like Hall and Lado to link language, culture, and communication (Kramsch, 2001). Initial research in the area focused on developing guidelines or principles for training people who were engaged in multinational businesses, international diplomacy, and missionary activities (Kramsch, 2001). Today, however, many new grounds, in terms of research approaches, have been broken, and more and more theories have been developed to deepen our understanding of intergroup communication.For instance, through various studies it has been possible to distinguish between intercultural and cross-cultural communication, with the former focussing on face-to-face communication between people of different national cultures while the latter involves the comparison of face-to-face communication across cultures (Gudykunst and Mody, 2001). But these two areas are two sides of a coin, and sometimes the terms are used interchangeably (Kramsch, 2001).More than the pioneering work of early researchers, global dynamics have remarkably made the field of cross-cultural or intercultural communication attractive. Today there is rapid internationalization of every institution and system in our world: school, religion, business, governance, and so on. This rapid globalisation, being fuelled by unprecedented technological advancement in transport and telecommunication, means people of different cultural backgrounds are increasingly getting close to one another to maximise the value cultural diversity offers.But as we get face-to-face with people of different cultural backgrounds the challenge of dealing with our cultural differences and harnessing the potential benefits of cultural diversity becomes enormous. Cultural differences have significant impact on our intercultural communication. They are the source of misunderstanding, misinterpretation, 3 anxiety, and uncertainty, which ultimately result in miscommunication (Stephan and Stephan, 2002:127; Gudykunst, 2002; Gudykunst and Lee, 2002).Studies in intercultural or cross-cultural communication are helping shape many facets of our human interaction by drawing attention to the characteristics of verbal and nonverbal be haviour across cultures, the impact of culture in constructing meaning, the structure and communicative goals of discourses, and factors that influence our ability, or otherwise, to interact and interpret discourse (Kramsch, 2001). Theories and empirical studies in intercultural communication have had serious implications for social action and social change (Rogers and Hart, 2002:14).It is the purpose of this paper to justify the inclusion of activities that promote intercultural training in school curriculums. This paper proposes a number of activities or interventions the school can implement to help learners deal with the barriers inherent in intercultural communication, and eventually equip them to be effective communicators. The justification presented in this paper is drawn mainly from published accounts and exploratory ethnographic studies.KEY CONCEPTS Culture, Communication, and Intercultural Communication In studying intercultural communication many researchers have attempt ed to conceptualise culture and communication from various perspectives in order to appreciate their interrelationship. Generally, culture is conceptualised as a shared way of life collectively developed and shared by a group of people and transmitted from generation to generation (Tubbs 4 and Moss, 1994).Culture embodies many complex elements such as beliefs, values, language, political systems, and tools which together give a group its code or characteristics (Griffin, 2000; Tubbs and Moss, 1994). This code is not imposed by one individual or an external body. Rather, it is â€Å"socially constructed† (by members that make up the group) and â€Å"historically transmitted† (Philipsen, 1992, cited in Griffin, 2000:390). More significantly, culture is owned by a group of people who by consensus accept and share a common code, verbal or nonverbal, reflective of specific values, beliefs, customs, and so on (Barnet and Lee, 2002).Goodenough (1964) views culture not in term s of things or behaviour but in terms of a picture of things a people form in their minds, and their models for perceiving, relating, and interpreting things and behaviour (cited in Barnet and Lee, 2002:276). The convergence one could draw from all these definitions is the fact that each group is bound by a certain unique way of doing things and interpreting things or behaviour. Communication, though variously defined, generally describes a process by which information is exchanged among two or more people in a given context.Ultimately, this process of exchanging information is bound by a purpose: that is, to reduce uncertainty and develop a common understanding among the interactants (Barnett and Lee, 2002). Intercultural communication is thus â€Å"the exchange of information between well-defined groups of people with significantly different cultures† (Barnett and Lee, 2002:277). The process is quite complex in the sense that this exchange of information takes place in a co ntext which is a fusion of significantly different systems. The process also requires conscious attempts by each party at reducing â€Å"uncertainty about the future behaviour of the other party through an increase in understanding of the other group† (Barnett and Lee, 2002:277; Gudykunst, 2002). Clearly, cultural variability (the extent to which cultures differ) is key to any conceptualization of intercultural communication. Various studies have examined cultural variability at the level of power distribution (or power distance), uncertainty avoidance, gender roles, face negotiation, individualism-collectivism, and others (Gudykunst and Lee, 2002; Griffin, 2000).One popular conclusion is that cultural variability is the main predictor of how successful one can be in any intercultural communication encounter. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Gudykunst’s Anxiety and Uncertainty Management Model Gudykunst and associates developed the anxiety and uncertainty management theory to exp lain what happens when we communicate with people of different cultural backgrounds. The theory suggests that when interlocutors of different cultural backgrounds clash in face-to-face interactions, they are confronted with uncertainty (which Gudykunst describes as cognitive) and anxiety (affective) (Griffin, 2000:396).The uncertainty describes our inability to explain actions and reactions of the â€Å"strangers† we communicate with. It demonstrates how unsure we are about the interpretations we impute on the behaviour of the people we communicate with (Griffin, 2000). Anxiety, on the other hand, portrays our feeling of uneasiness and apprehension about what might happen in the intercultural communication encounter. The extent to which we are influenced by anxiety and uncertainty would determine how effective we would be in our intercultural communication (Gudykunst, 2000). 6Although anxiety and uncertainty exert some influence on intra-group communication, their impact is p rofound in intercultural communication. Anxiety and uncertainty filter the mutual understanding that must exist to make any communication encounter successful. But anxiety and uncertainty are not entirely negative. Rather they compel us to approach our communication with a level of â€Å"mindfulness†, a deliberate thought over the communication process. In our state of uncertainty and uneasiness, we constantly become conscious of our choices and in the long run manage the communication situations to minimise misunderstanding.In intercultural communication anxiety and uncertainty are heighten by cultural variability. If the differences between cultures are profound, anxiety and uncertainty would increase when members of the different cultural groups engage in intercultural communication. In a schematic representation Gudykunst demonstrates the underlying causes of uncertainty and anxiety as motivational, knowledge and skill factors. For this paper these factors offer relevant support for the need to incorporate various interventions into our school curriculum to train learners in intercultural communication.The skill factors include our ability to empathise, tolerate ambiguities, adapt communication, and gather appropriate information. Knowledge of more than one perspective, similarities and differences, alternative interpretations are some of the knowledge factors relevant for effective intercultural communication. The motivational factors are needs, attraction, social bonds and openness to information. Clearly, all these factors are not divorced from the traditional aims of education for which schools are established. Fundamentally society has vested in the school the responsibility of 7 quipping the young generation with skills, knowledge, and the right motivation for dealing with personal and societal challenges (Sadker and Sadker, 2003: 140; Ornstein, 1995). It is therefore not out of place if the school realigns its curriculum to accommodate interv entions that would train young people in intercultural communication, a growing challenge in this globalised world. Through curricular interventions proposed in this paper learners would acquire the requisite skills, knowledge, and motivation to manage their intercultural communication in more effective ways. Training in ntercultural, among other things, exposes learners to barriers such as anxiety, uncertainty, stereotypes, and ethnocentrism inherent in intercultural communication and equips learners with skills such as mindfulness necessary for managing intercultural communication. This theory strongly support the need for training in intercultural communication and in my view the school has the space, time, orientation, and resources to offer such training. Communicative Competence Hymes (1972) developed the theory of communicative competence to establish a link between language and culture (Richards and Rogers, 1986:69).This theory asserts that both linguistic knowledge and soci ocultural or contextual knowledge are prerequisites for any effective intercultural communication (Richards and Rogers, 1986:69). Communicative competence highlights the view that language and culture are inseparable. Therefore linguistic competence should go along with a commensurate cultural competence, that is, one described as communicatively competent must have both linguistic and cultural competence.Linguistic competence is demonstrated in the grammatical knowledge one possesses, such as knowledge of words, phrases, and sentences and rules governing their combination in discourse. Cultural competence, on the other hand, focuses on the cultural propriety of linguistic choices in a real 8 communication encounter. Different social situations require different routines that are culturally defined. The competent communicator chooses the appropriate linguistic forms that meet the cultural expectation of the context in which the communication takes place.In some contexts in Ghana, fo r instance, â€Å"Please† is a polite marker not just for requests but all forms of speech acts or discourse, especially with adults. Therefore, it is not uncommon to hear expressions like â€Å"Please, Good morning,† â€Å"Yes, Please,† and â€Å"Please, my name is Kofi†. The speaker with communicative competence would have to vary his routines to meet the differences in cultural expectations. If the same communicator meets a native British the above use of â€Å"Please† would be avoided.The theory of communicative competence lends enough credence to the call for training in intercultural communication in our schools through direct and indirect curricular interventions. Traditionally, our school system has focused on training learners to acquire grammatical knowledge. This paper calls for a commensurate training in contextual competence. Such competence will include knowledge of the different expectations different cultural contexts impose on diff erent communication situations. This knowledge is vital in reducing anxiety and uncertainty which are inherent barriers in intercultural communication.Recent studies in intercultural communication strongly support the need for intercultural training of employees, both domestic and international, in areas of cultural diversity and intercultural communication (Albert, 1994). The position of this paper is that the school (from the basic to the tertiary levels) is a better placed to offer this training. 9 BARRIERS TO INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION Misunderstanding is the ultimate barrier to communication (Griffin, 2000:394). Communication is said to have taken place when interlocutors have been able to reach some common interpretation of their intentions.Even in intra-group communication it is almost impossible to reach absolute understanding. This makes inter-group or inter-cultural communication even more challenging. The existence of cultural variability is in itself a barrier to interc ultural communication. When cultures are widely apart or different, it means the level of cultural variability is high, resulting in high levels of anxiety and uncertainty, which ultimately bring tension and misunderstanding into the intercultural communication situation. To illustrate: I gave a gift to a colleague who came from a different cultural background.My expectation was an extended response of appreciation from him. My disappointment was with the left hand with which he took the gift and the brief appreciation he expressed. He didn’t like, or he didn’t value it. I was worried he would not be nice towards me again. All these interpretations I made reflected my uncertainty about his actions and my anxiety reflected my worry and apprehensions about what might happened. My cultural context reflects a high context type in which more attention is given to interpreting non-verbal behaviours.By sharp contrast my colleague belonged to a low cultural context which stres ses direct and explicit communication, that is, verbal messages are vital in a communication process. 10 Mistranslation Barriers to verbal communication include cultural mistranslation (Tubbs and Moss, 1994). This is common in second and foreign language context. Scholars are divided over how such mistranslation should be perceived (Kachru, 1990). While some have described mistranslation in derogatory terms like â€Å"interference† and â€Å"sub-standard forms†, others have perceived them as innovations which reflect cultural dynamics.But the reality is that in intercultural communication mistranslation undermines understanding. Literal translation such as â€Å"I am going to come† instead of â€Å"I shall return† can be sources of misunderstanding. Expressions such as â€Å"I am going to greet the king† or â€Å"to the white house† or â€Å"to the end room† (meaning â€Å"I am going to the toilet†) are cultural innovations tha t can be sources of misunderstanding in inter cultural communication. Norms and Roles Norms are culturally defined rules for determining acceptable and appropriate behaviour (Tubbs and Moss, 1994).They include those that govern social situations and conversational routines such as greetings, making requests, and expressing various emotions. In intercultural communication interlocutors may be tempted to transfer their cultural norms to contexts that are not appropriate (Richards and Sukwiwat, 1983). Roles are also sources of cultural variability. Roles are sets of norms applicable to specific groups of people in society. In a particular culture, different roles are assigned to men and women, children and parents/guardians, usbands and wives, and so on. In some Ghanaian contexts women are expected to kneel while talking to men; subjects cannot talk directly to a chief except through linguists. Violations of these roles may pose serious threats to intercultural communication. 11 Belief s and Values Beliefs and values impede understanding in intercultural communication. Some interlocutors will not be forthright with information on personal ambition, finances, and career plans because of their beliefs, especially beliefs that assert strong influence of the supernatural on man.Beliefs in witchcraft, for instance, would scare people from giving out personal information to strangers. On the other hand, people would usually readily communicate their values and feelings, especially when such values are being disrespected. Stereotyping Stereotypes are our value judgements about people (Pang, 2001:114). They are born out of our inadequate information about people, making us make unintelligent choices in our intercultural communication. Cultural stereotypes, like any other type of stereotypes, hinder understanding because they exaggerate or overgeneralize what we perceive about people (Tubbs and Moss, 1994).Overgeneralised thoughts result in misinterpretation of actions, th us heightening anxiety, which is a threat to understanding. Almost everyone imposes one stereotype or the other on individuals or groups of people. Stereotypes can be favourable or unfavourable to a group (Pang, 2001). Some stereotypes include perceiving some groups as quick tempered, dishonest, smart, and liars. Generally, stereotypes are born out of our fear of the group we stereotype or the lack of knowledge of the group, or misconceptions, or high levels of cultural variability (Pang, 2001).The media is unfortunately perceived as a strong promoter of stereotypes (Tubbs and Moss, 1994; Pang, 2001). This is because the media is a major source of information about foreigners or strangers. As we watch movies or international news we form exaggerated opinions about the 12 groups represented. Usually the amount of information we gather is limited thus leading us to form such inadequate conclusions. Dispelling stereotypes seems almost impossible, and in intercultural communication the challenge to dispel stereotypes is even more profound.However, since stereotypes are born out of inadequate cultural information or experience of other cultures, cultural awareness and intercultural training can be helpful in dealing with cultural stereotypes. Ethnocentrism Our own cultural experience inadvertently causes us to feel that culture is innate. Hence we are forced to feel or think that our group’s way of life is the standard against which all other groups’ culture should be assessed. Therefore any contrary code or behaviour is considered improper or irresponsible or politically motivated (Hall, 1976, cited in Tubbs and Moss, 1994:443).This tendency to judge the code of other cultures by using our culture as the standard is described as ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism creeps into intercultural communication to filter understanding by heightening anxiety, which, as shown, is a threat to understanding (Stephan and Stephan, 1992). The higher the level of ethnocent rism, the higher the level of anxiety. Cross-cultural awareness is can go a long way to reduce ethnocentrism and, invariably, anxiety and enhance our capacity to handle intercultural communication in effective ways.CURRICULA INTERVENTIONS Curriculum refers to the totality of the experience the school offers learners. It includes both planned and unplanned activities, the physical and socio-cultural environment which impact directly or indirectly on the learner. This paper proposes that the school, through its curriculum, make conscious efforts at promoting intercultural training. Below are the interventions proposed: 13 Multicultural Education With the world shrinking into a global village, nations, businesses, schools, organizations, and our societies at large are becoming culturally diverse (Spring, 2002).On daily basis we are compelled by globalization to interact or relate with people of different cultural origin. To deal with the challenges of cultural diversity there is the ne ed for our schools to adopt the multicultural educational approach. Multicultural education is not just accommodation different cultures in a school setting. Rather multicultural education aims at providing an enabling school environment which equips learners to function in other culture without losing ties with their original culture (Spring, 2002).A multicultural school environment brings together learners of different cultural background for the purpose of equipping them with skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will make them functional both to themselves and to the larger society. Such settings are better posed to respond more effectively to children of different cultural backgrounds and exploit those differences as foundations on which new learning can be built (Tozer, Violas, and Senese 2001). Multicultural education directly or indirectly equips learners to be able to manage the uncertainty and anxiety that usually characterise intercultural communication.Gudykunst’s axiom 37 asserts that when we share a common objective with strangers our anxiety levels decrease and we are able to build the needed confidence in predicting their behaviour. At the very superficial level, just putting together people of different cultural origin under the common goal of schooling or education would help reduce misunderstanding that usually comes from uncertainty and anxiety (Griffin, 200:401) 14 A multicultural curriculum offers an excellent educational environment for learners to learn more about people of other cultures, thus reducing stereotypes and ethnocentric tendencies.Stereotypes results from limited experience or information about other cultures. If learners get to experience other learners of different cultural backgrounds they learn more about their cultures. In Ghana, until recently, secondary schools and colleges were characterised by students of different cultural backgrounds. This provided real opportunities for students to appreciate the cultural diversity of the country. Though each school was culturally diverse there existed a strong common bound in each school, especially during inter collegiate competitions.Here diversity well managed brings unity. This situation is unfortunately being replaced by I proposed that when community schools, which are generally culturally homogenous. community schools are established educational systems should promote diversity in the positing of students to school and colleges. Cultural Studies Not long ago, cultural studies was a subject in basic schools in Ghana and learners were exposed to the diverse cultural groups in the country. Beneficiaries of this curriculum acquired basic knowledge of the different cultural groups.They had the opportunity to acquire, among other things, knowledge of conventional routine differences, differences in political institutions and values. A unique feature of the cultural studies curriculum was the approach. Teachers were encouraged to use resource person s in their communities. These were indigenes of the cultures being represented or taught. Again, role plays, field trips and audio visual materials were included in the teaching methods of the subject.Cultural studies provided a platform for learners to juxtapose their culture with others in order to appreciate the diversity and its prospects, especially in this age of globalisation. 15 Cultural knowledge reduces â€Å"cultural shock† which sometimes leads to negative attitude towards a new culture (DeVito, 2002). Gudykunst’s axiom 41 supports the view that an increase in our knowledge of strangers’ language and culture will produce an increase in our ability to manage our anxiety and an increase in our ability to accurately predict their behaviour (Griffin, 2000:400).Certainly there are enough reasons for the inclusion of cultural studies in our school curriculum. The Study of Literature Literature as a discipline provides an ideal opportunity to integrate cult ural content into the school curriculum (Pang, 2001:224). While providing delight and enjoyment, literature sharpens our imaginations and offers us a vicarious experience in the world we live in (Huck, Helper, Hickman, and Kiefer, 2001:8). Literature offers us the fastest, cheapest, but the most thrilling cruise around the world. The experience we enjoy in literatures is timeless as we read from across the globe.We can also travel as far back as the era of Beowulf, Sophocles, Chaucer, and Shakespeare or fly into the year 2044 in Welwyn Wilton Katz’s Time Ghost. In all these experiences literature offers a unique approach to learning about the culture of people in different parts of the world, how their culture existed, how it is evolving, and how it may change with time. Texts which portray authentic intercultural interactions provide readers with the motivation, knowledge, and skills to overcome anxiety, uncertainty, and other barriers of intercultural communication.The Comp rehensiveness of literature experience provides meaningful ways of reducing stereotyping and ethnocentric tendencies. 16 Language Teaching and Learning Traditional language curriculums focus on grammatical competence while communicative competence suffers neglect. Products of such curriculums usually display high competence in linguistic knowledge but lack requisite skills in handling authentic communication (Dzamishie, 1997; Richards and Rogers, 1986; Richards and Sukwiwat, 1983). What they lack is a basic understanding of the socio-cultural function of language.In second and foreign language learning contexts the challenge has always been which model learners should be exposed to and which language culture should be emphasised. Of course it makes sense to adopt the target or native speaker model, with all the cultural attachments, as medium of instruction. But such a choice without recourse to the changing communication needs of learners will not be appropriate. To address the dil emma of which model to use, Norrish (1978) calls for a liberalisation of views on non standard language varieties. The English language, for instance, has metamorphosed into several Englishes.Therefore, â€Å"to teach only one form of English would seem to be asking for a conflict between the different Englishes in use. † (Norrish 1978:35). The most meaningful approach then is to â€Å"consider the different uses of English in a particular country† (Norrish, 1978:35). The question should be: Which models will serve the communication needs of learners? If learners need English to communicate with native speakers, then the native model should be taught. Similarly, if learners would largely communicate in a typical Ghanaian context, for instance, then the Ghanaian model, with its cultural innovations, should be the model.In so far as it is possible, more than one model should be taught. This is the poly-model Norrish proposes. The poly-model exposes 17 learners to the cul ture behind language. It emphasises socio-cultural or contextual awareness in communication especially between inter-groups. Concerning approach, the communicative language teaching model is popular today (Richards and Rogers, 1986; Dzameshie 1997). This approach focuses on communicative competence. Its curriculum is experience-based and learner-centred (Richards and Rogers, 1986).The content generally includes â€Å"well-selected experiences† that reflect the real life or authentic communication needs of learners (Richard and Rogers, 1986). The value of this approach in intercultural communication is the experience the language curriculum offers. Communicative language teaching addresses learners’ language needs, equipping them to communicate effectively in a world of cultural diversity. The New Media in the classroom The digital age is not only making it easier and faster for us to get closer to each other, it is also making it possible for us to see and know what ot hers are doing.The new media in the classroom provides learners with a window through which they can see people of other cultures. Through virtual tours to places of different cultural backgrounds, documentaries, interviews, and social sites, learners bridge the gap of knowledge they know about people on the other side of their culture. The prospects are tremendous but the challenges are enormous. The digital divide is still too wide for us to be able to explore other cultures. In many developing countries access to the new media is still a luxury. 18IMPLICATIONS The inclusion of intercultural training in our school curriculum is worthwhile for our schools, and the world of work, which are fast becoming culturally diverse. Unfortunately many students, teachers, and school authorities are being frustrated by the diversity invading the school. Training learners and educators to deal with the barriers diversity creates in their intercultural relationships will transform our schools int o peaceful and conducive learning and working environments while preparing learners to face the communication realities in the world outside the school.Intercultural training will certainly link the school with industry or the world of work. If the school provides adequate intercultural training through various curricular activities, it will reduce the cultural shock learners are bound to face after school. Although many disciplines are craving for attention and inclusion in our school curriculum and curriculum developers are overwhelmed by what should be where at what time and with what resource, the best decision lies in counting the cost, weighing the options available and taking bold political and socio-economic steps.Implementing these curricula interventions would involve the realignment of the school curriculum, bearing in mind various needs and interests. In this case there should be a clear policy framework that will guide design, implantation, and evaluation of the new cur riculum being proposed. Again, there would be the need to adequately resources our schools to accommodate the changes proposed. CONCLUSION This paper has proposed that the school curriculum provide space for activities that will train learners to overcome barriers inherent in intercultural communication.There could be many other interventions, but what this paper seeks to suggest is that interventions through the school 19 curriculum should be the first option. Neither educational level nor geographical boundaries are specified in this paper. This is born out of the belief that intercultural relation or communication is real and knows no limits. This paper has provided justification for the inclusion in our school curriculum training in intercultural communication. The next challenge that should attract the attention of researchers is how to design, implement, and evaluate the propose curricula change.REFERENCES Albert, R. D. (1994). Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Training in Multinational Organizations. In Wiseman, R. L. and Shuter, R. (eds. ) Communicating in Multinational Organizations. 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