None Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 20

None - Essay Example of the high demand for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus, the Apple Inc chief executive, Time Cook, and the management decided to delay the production of an extra-large iPad. It seems that the leadership did not want to overwork its supplier while they were still trying to meet the demand of their customer on another product. According to the Wall Street Journal unnamed source from one of Apple’s suppliers said that the 5.5- inch iPhone 6 plus output remains unsatisfactory. Splitting resources among the display makers would be challenging in producing a large screen iPad at the moment (Luk and Wakabayashi 1). Therefore, it is a significant understanding by the Apple management for allowing its suppliers to push the production of the large screen iPad. They were well aware of the challenge the company is facing in hiring enough factory employees who will assemble the new iPhone in some of its suppliers’ branches. In an organization, there are different individuals trying to accomplish as a specific goal, but working on different tasks. Therefore, organizational behavior is how these individuals or groups are working together within an organization. The idea is focusing on the best way to manage the workers, organization and processes. It is based on the idea of what are employees’ motivated by and why does it motivate them. Managers and supervisors can accomplish organizational goals by defining goals, motivating staff and monitoring performance (Schmermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn 63). With the information that a manager gathers in the organization, he or she is able to make a decision. Therefore, managerial control of the management over the organization is a very significant part of organizational behavior. It includes the decision process by the management of an organization in choosing a course of action to deal with an issue or opportunity. In this case, Apple Inc. Decided to delay the production of a large-screen iPad and instead produce iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus

Soda Tax Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Soda Tax - Essay Example In fact, a ten- year research carried on individuals with a regular intake of diet soda revealed a 70% (Picca 35) increase on their waistline in comparison to individuals with a zero tolerance to soda intake. I that believe soda tax serves an effective measure of saving the ignorant American population, who turn a blind eye to dire health complications for continuous soda intake. A tax charge on soft beverages will have a profound reduction of illnesses such as diabetes associated with unhealthy lifestyle. Aside from obesity, public health officials also highlight additional health benefits of a potential soda tax such as improved dental hygiene. In the last 50 years, soft drink consumption has increased by whooping 500% (Brill 46). Interestingly soft drinks like soda consist of massive calories but with zero nutritional value. Even with such scary statistics soft drinks consumption make up 7% percent of energy consumption in adults and with a larger percentage reported in children and adolescents (Brill 47). A tax charge on soda would result into a consumption reduction. Public health officials note that a consumer reduction in soda intake would reduce obesity cases nationwide, hence significant step towards the fight against diseases such as diabetes. The rising cost of soda, would reduce consumer intake, and consequently reduce weight gain of approximately 90 % of the American population (Picca 36). A research carried out by the National Health and Nutrition Examination survey in 2010 revealed that indeed states with higher taxes on soda recorded the lowest consumer consumption on soft drinks (Picca 37). Individuals in such states turned to healthy drinks such as milk and natural juice for calories consumption. Following the success of taxation on tobacco and tobacco products, that led to a signification reduction of health complication associated with regular nicotine intake (Picca 37). Taxation on soda would have the same implications on health

Unrealistic Optimism Gender and Culture Essay Example for Free

Unrealistic Optimism Gender and Culture Essay Several studies have been conducted to determine the influence that unrealistic optimism has over gender differences and culture. Unrealistic optimism is defined as the belief that positive (negative) events are more (less) likely to happen to one ’s self-versus others. Researchers have reported that both men and women from across cultures tend to be influenced by this bias. Nevertheless, they’ve found that Western cultures (such as Americans or Canadians) are identified by being independent and individualist, whereas Eastern cultures (such as Japanese) tend to focus on interdependence and collectivism. Given this basic traits, experimenters have discovered that Canadians tend to believe that positive events are more likely to happen to them, whereas Japanese tend to believe that they are more likely to experience negative events. In the other hand, both men and women have revealed to be unrealistically optimistic. However, men have reported higher levels of unrealistic bias compared to women around the world. Introduction Unrealistic optimism or optimistic bias is defined as the tendency for people to believe that they are more likely to experience positive events and less likely to experience negative events compared to others. (Weinsten, 1980). Taylor and Brown stated that almost 121 studies have demonstrated this phenomenon. Various findings have confirmed that American college students think that they were more likely than others to experience positive events such as getting a good job or forming a family. In opposition, most people think that they are less likely than others of experiencing negative events such as having a drinking problem or being fired from a job. The purpose of this essay is to determine the extent to which cultural and gender differences are influenced by unrealistic optimism. Unrealistic Optimism Unrealistic optimism could cause a negative effect over an individual’s life as it can distort their perception about reality. However, unrealistic optimism has also shown favorable effects over and individual’s well-being. This bias is significantly important because it can impact people’s intentions to engage in preventive behaviors. In addition, it can also affect the way in which people process information to update their beliefs. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that optimistic bias appears to be motivated by threat. In other words, if a negative future event is perceived to be particularly serious, it’s more likely that the person will feel invulnerable toward that particular event. Western vs. Eastern Cultures The tendency of believing that one has better-than-average attributes has been researched and discussed lately. Researchers have found that people from Western cultures tend to be more unrealistically optimistic than people from Eastern cultures when comparing their chances of experiencing negative events to the average’s person. Markys and Kitayama stated that this bias influences every culture in a different way because they emphasize to tasks relevant to everyday life in different forms; independence and interdependence. Additionally, they stated that the cultures that have developed an independent construal of self are characterized by having an autonomous sense of self that’s different from others and the environment, whereas cultures that have fostered an interdependent construal of self are mutually reliant on each other and don’t attribute their individuality and uniqueness separately from the social world. Study #1 Cultural differences in unrealistic optimism and pessimism For this particular study participants form Japan and the United States responded to questions about negative health events that varied in event frequency and severity. The overall purpose of this study was to examine cultural differences in unrealistic optimism and pessimism through the direct versus the indirect method. The direct method involved a question in which participants compared themselves to the average group (e.g., â€Å"How likely are you to have a heart attack, relative to the average student of your age/sex?†). In the other hand, the indirect method involved a single question in which participants made absolute separate ratings for themselves (e.g., â€Å"How likely are you to have a heart attack?†). For the indirect method, the researchers predicted that participants across cultures would present different patterns. For instance, they expected that Japanese participants would report equal or higher risk estimates than for the average student for most events. In the other hand, they predicted that U.S participants would present higher risk estimates for themselves than for the average student for most events. In contrast, for the direct method investigators predicted that participants across cultures would report similar patterns of unrealistic optimism since cognitive biases such as egocentrism on direct comparisons will have a significant influence over respondents. After 127 students from the University of Iowa (United States) and 123 students from Kansai University (Japan) were tested through both the direct and the indirect methods, researchers acknowledged that in order to determine whether there are cross-cultural differences in unrealistic optimism they needed to take in consideration on whether direct or indirect comparisons were made. Considering the direct method, there was evidence that both Japanese and U.S. participants displayed high levels of unrealistic optimism about avoiding infrequent/negative events but, unrealistically pessimistic about avoiding frequent/negative events. However when measuring unrealistic optimism or pessimism through the indirect method the Japanese participants reported to have a tendency towards being less unrealistically optimistic than the U.S. participants. Contrarily, U.S participants showed that they tend to be more optimistic about themselves than for the average student for the majority of the events. Study#2 Does the West feel more vulnerable than the East?. At the same time, Steven J. Heine and Damn R. Lehman from the University of British Columbia compared the levels of unrealistic optimism between Canadians and Japanese through two different studies. The first study examined levels of unrealistic optimism exhibited by a sample typical of an independent construal of self (Canadians) and a sample typical of an interdependent construal of self (Japanese). Three different hypotheses were stated by the researchers. The first hypothesis anticipated that Canadians would show significantly more unrealistic optimism than Japanese; the second hypothesis drawn expected that constructs that have been shown to sustain the optimism bias, and availability of stereotypes, would be more pronounced in Canadians than in Japanese. And the last hypothesis predicted that Japanese’s optimism judgments will be less strongly related to threat whereas, Canadians unrealistic optimism would increase with perceived threat. For this particular study a total of 510 students who were taking different introductory psychology courses participated. Respondents were evenly separated between each of the Japanese and the Canadian samples. Moreover, in order to obtain membership in the westernized Canadian sample, respondents had to meet each of the following criteria: (a) the respondent had to be born in either Canada or the United States; (b) both of the respondents parents had to be born in Canada, the United States, or in a European country; (c) the respondent had to declare his or her ethnic descent to be that of a European culture; and (d) to keep the age range of the Canadian sample comparable to that of the Japanese sample, the respondent had to be between the ages of 18 and 25. All participants completed a questionnaire packet that included 15 future life events. Unrealistic optimism was measured for both negative and positive events through two methods: within-groups measure and between-groups measure. In the within-groups measure, participants had to respond questions about the chances they thought they had about experiencing a particular future event compared to other university students. In the other hand, through the between-groups measure the experimenters measured unrealistic optimism between groups. Participants received two different versions of the questionnaire. In the first version, beneath each future life event respondents were asked to estimate the absolute percentage chance that this event would happen to them. Contrarily, in the second version of the questionnaire, beneath each future life event, participants had to estimate the absolute percentage chance that a future event would happen to another same-sex student from their university. The assumptions made by Heine and Lehman about Study 1 were strongly supported since Japanese showed less unrealistic optimism than Canadians in all instances, regardless the methodology used. Surprisingly, experimenters found an in teresting pattern among participants’ estimates for themselves and others. Their findings suggested that Canadians tend to believe that positive events are more likely to occur to themselves in comparison to Japanese that reported to believe that positive events are less likely to happen to them than to others. Conversely, compared to Japanese, Canadians reported that the negative events were non significantly less likely to happen to themselves and significantly more likely to happen to others. Similarly, the main purpose for Study 2 was to examine only future life events. Researchers wanted to determine if Japanese would self-enhance more in cases in which their interdependence is threatened. Their findings were done through two subsets of future life events that we believed would be particularly threatening to people with independent and interdependent construals of self, respectively. Furthermore, Heine and Lehman anticipated that independent events would be perceived as more threatening than interdependent events for Canadians whereas interdependent ev ents would be perceived more threatening than independent events for Japanese. 215 introductory psychology students were taken in consideration for Study 2, including Japanese and Canadian students divided evenly within samples. All respondents completed a questionnaire which contained 10 questions about negative independent future events and 10 questions about interdependent future life events. These events were selected based on reasoning that independent events will threaten the individual; whereas interdependent events will threaten the individual’s relations with close others such as co-workers, friends or family members. The researchers’ findings revealed that comparing across cultures, Japanese perceived interdependent events to be more threatening than Canadians. Control and stereotype ratings were also examined in terms in how these independent and interdependent events would be rated. With respect to control, Canadians found that both independent and especially, independent events are more controllable. However, Japanese reported that in terdependent events are more controllable than independent events. Taken together both the controllability and severity findings, ratings suggest that negative future events were perceived differently by both cultures. As a result, Canadians and Japanese showed unrealistic optimism for both independent and interdependent events. In brief, Canadians were more unrealistically optimistic than Japanese for both independent and, especially, interdependent events whereas Japanese actually showed significant unrealistic pessimism for both types of events. Similarly, recent findings have shown several differences in the way in which genders (feminine and masculine) are influenced by unrealistic optimism. Most predictions suggest that men would show greater levels of unrealistic optimism than women. In fact, as women have a more interdependent self-construal of the self and men possess a more independent construal of the self, unrealistic optimism should be stronger and more resistant for men than for women. Furthermore, gender research has shown that men an d women have different expectations of marital quality; specifically different definitions of what constitutes a happy marriage Study #3 Gender differences in unrealistic optimism Two different studies held by Ying-Ching Lin and Priya Raghubir examined gender differences in optimistic bias, and their beliefs about marriage using a Taiwanese population. Study 1 tested the strength of the optimistic bias for men compared to women with respect to their expectations for a happy marriage or divorce. They hypothesised men to report higher levels of unrealistic optimism than women. In the other hand, Study 2 examined the bias’s resilience among men and women, and expected men’s beliefs to be less likely to be influenced by base rates compared to women. 309 students from a Taiwanese university were part of the study in which they had to respond to different questions regarding a target person (self, same-sex best friend, average undergraduate, and average person) and their likelihood of getting divorced or having a happy marriage. Half of the participants answered questions regarding the likelihood of having a happy marriage and the other half answered q uestions regarding the likelihood of getting divorced. Finally, they were asked to estimate the likelihood of an event occurring in the future from 0% to 100% for each of the four target persons. The results of this study suggested that Taiwanese men and Taiwanese women are unrealistically optimistic with respect to their relationships, and that men think that positive events, such as a happy marriage, are more likely to happen to them compared to an average person than women do. Similarly, they believe that negative events, such as divorce, are less likely to happen to them than to another person compared to women. 188 students participated in Study 2. They were divided into two groups assigned randomly to one of the two event conditions: happy marriage or divorce and were asked to estimate their own likelihood for that particular event. Subsequently, all participants were given base rate information for the event to which they were assigned (divorce = 25%, happy marriage = 60%). These base rates were based on an official publication of the Government Statistical Reports: Monthly Bulletin of Statistics. After being exposed to base rate information, all respondents were asked to estimate the likelihood of the event occurring to them, and to estimate the likelihood of the event occurring to someone else. The findings for this study reported, that both men and women show high levels of unrealistic optimism regarding a happy marriage and a divorce. Compared to men, women with a positive prior were influenced by the base rate information regarding a happy marriage. However, neither women nor men updated their estimates about their own divorce. In the other hand, men’s answers with a negative prior got influenced by the provided base rates at the beginning of the study whereas women’s answers were only influenced when talking about a happy marriage, but not about divorce. In general terms, both studies showed that both men and women tend to be influenced by optimistic bias about their expectations of their marriage. However, men showed greater levels of unrealistic optimism than women did. Regarding base rate information, women were more realistic in their estimates about a happy marriage compared to their estimates of getting divorced. Finally, only men with a negative initial prior were influenced by base rates whereas men with a positive initial prior do not updated their self- estimates. Gender vs. Culture The data used in both studies was collected using a Taiwanese sample (collectivist culture). However, the experimenters found that this bias is a universal phenomenon that occurs to both individualist and collectivist cultures. Moreover, recent work has reported that the bias is lower for participants who belong to collectivist cultures such as Japanese compared to individualist cultures such as Canadians. Because marriage is considered a relational aspect, consistent with a collectivist attribute, the population under this domain should show unrealistic levels of optimism. Conclusion Unrealistic optimism is a universal phenomenon that affects both gender and cultural differences around the world. Recent findings have demonstrated that both men and women across cultures (Eastern vs. Western) tend to be unrealistically optimistic about avoiding frequent/negative events, and unrealistically pessimistic about avoiding infrequent/negative events. However, the extent to which men vs. women and Eastern vs. Western cultures are affected by the bias varies among them. Being the West an independent and individualist culture, they report a higher tendency to be unrealistically optimistic. In contrast, being the East an interdependent and collectivist culture they present lower levels of unrealistic bias. At the same time, men and women have reported to be biased to some extent. Men have reported higher levels of unrealistic optimism, whereas women have shown to be less likely influenced by this threat. Now the question is: have you ever felt influenced by unrealistic bias?

The Importance Of Recruitment And Selection Business Essay

The Importance Of Recruitment And Selection Business Essay The following chapter critically reviews relevant literature on the nature of recruitment and selection. This is based on the understanding that there is a key difference between recruitment and selection. The key differences highlighted in the literature are therefore discussed firstly. Reasons why organisations recruit staff are then considered, focusing on why the banking sector has a particular interest. Factors impacting on recruitment and selection are analysed. Recruitment and selection methods are then evaluated. At the end of this chapter, a brief conclusion of the above is concluding whether there are any best practices available for organisations to ensure a good recruitment and selection process. Differences between recruitment and selection In the literature differences between recruitment and selection are identified, though they are the components of one system. For example Taylor (2008) highlights that recruitment is used to attract well qualified applicants. Similarly Pilbeam and Corbridge (2002) state recruitment aims to attract suitably qualified candidates for particular positions. It is the phase directly before selection. Moreover Stredwick (2006) describes recruitment policy as an organisations performance manner, including rules and regulations to be followed. On the contrary, Taylor (2008) indicates that in selection, employer picks out the best and rejects the others from recruitment pool, also known as negative activity. Similarly Edenborough (2005) states selection as a combination of different processes which lead towards the choices of suitable candidates over others. From the above, it can be synthesised that recruitment is basically an attraction of the candidates for the available post, however in selection employer chooses the best available candidate for the post. Nature of recruitment In nature of recruitment, the reasons why organisations recruit staff are discussed. Firstly, an organisation recruits because of an increase in the business volume, which requires more skilful staff to meet the needs and demands of customer. According to the Heraty et al. (1997), that organisations are altered their structures that are built on functions and jobs, to empower individuals with diverse backgrounds, are replacing conventional specialised workers. Secondly, an organisation recruits because it needs a replacement for a leaver or entirely new vacancy occours. Sometimes recruitment is just because of the short of knowledge and pair of hands in an organisation. The empty space is necessary to be filled and it is purely a functional matter. Thirdly, staff turnover is the reason of recruitment in an organisation. Employee turnover is the rate at which an employer gains and loses employees. In other words, it means that how long employees be likely to stay in the organisation. Employee turnover is calculated for individual companies and for their industry as a whole. If an organisation acheives high turnover relative to its competitors, shows that its employees have a shorter average tenure than other organisations. The productivity of an organisation suffers, if there is high turnover because of high number of begainer employees. If the resourcing process of an organisation is not validate to employee right people for the right posts then there is a tendency of people leaving the organisation more often than competitors. It puts very bad impact on business operations because the number of important positions are oftenly empty which delays the completion of operations as well as the new employee takes some time to adjust and thus creates some more problems for organisation. Also organisation invests a huge amount of cost in recrutment process and because of the wrong resourcing policy or wrong selection tool organisation losse it all. It creates the unconsistancy amongst the staff and customers behaviour as well and ultimately effects profit of the organisation. Nothing can be more frustrating to a small business owner or manager than the constant aggravation of employee turnover. High or low employee turnover can be detrimental for organisations. Employee turnover can vary as a result of the industry and location of organisation. For instance, the food service industry typically experiences turnover of 100-300%. The stress of employee turnover is much greater on smaller businesses than larger corporations. There is a valid formula designed for calculation of employee turnover used by many banks all over the world. Total employee turnover cost = Costs of hiring new employees + Costs of training new employees Factors impacting on recruitment and selection There are some following factors impacting on the recruitment selection for an organisations decision making. Economic: The salary packages offered by the organisations to its employees are sometimes resulting in the staff expectations, which create difficulties for organisations. Sometimes the location of an organisation is also contributes to the difficulties in attracting skilled and experience applicants. Conversely, Gribben (1999), state that organisations are cutting back on recruitment despite growing confidence of economy. Demographic: Demographic factors are the most important factors affecting on the recruitment. These factors state (Linda, 2001) that in future the number of older people is increasing and younger people is decreasing. If so, there will be shortage of young skilled workers in future and organisations have to recruit multi-skilled employees and work hard to retain their employees. Social: Linda (2001), states that the appropriate candidate availability can be influenced because of the social blend of the labour group, which probably limit the types of skills required. Various government regulations prohibiting discrimination in hiring and employment have direct impact on recruitment practices. Also, trade unions play important role in recruitment. This restricts management freedom to select those individuals who it believes would be the best performers. However, the recruiters need to be able to understand the process, skills and able to take a systematic approach for the successful process. Recruitment methods The business scenario and job vacancy shows how the employer performs the whole recruitment process, from submitting a recruitment request, to advertising the vacancy and selecting personnel, to closing the recruitment cycle.  It consists of three business participants; the candidate, the employer and the external service provider. The candidate is the internal or external  person who is actively or passively looking for a new position.  The employer takes both the role of the hiring manager and the recruiter. The hiring manager is the one who has an open position to fill. The recruiter is an HR department employee who helps the hiring manager to  find suitable candidates and select and employ the right persons. The employer submits a recruitment request for the positions to be filled. For this recruitment request the employer looks the available talents and then  specifies the recruitment plan, for example which target group should be given first choice, where to advertise , and so on. The most appropriate candidates receive an offer from employer and if the candidates accept the offer, the employer closes the recruitment cycle and prepares for their hiring. There are mainly two types of recruitment methods which a manager can recruit; internal and external recruitment. Internal recruitments: Before going for external resources i.e. advertising, agencies or consultants, it is important to review of an internal recruitment for candidates are made. Internal recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from within its existing workforce. Most of the private sector employers, as a matter of course, attempt to fill vacancies internally before they consider looking for people outside the organization (Newell 2005; CIPD 2007). According to Fuller and Huber (1998), internal recruitment consists of four methods i.e. promotions from within, lateral transfers, job rotation and rehiring former employees. Similarly, in internal recruitment promotion and transfer of existing personnel or through referrals, by current staff members, of friends and family members. Where internal recruitment is the chosen method, job openings can be advertised by job posting, which is a strategy of placing notices on manual and electronic bulletin boards, in company newsletters and through office memoranda. Referrals are usually word-of-mouth advertisements that are a low-cost-per-hire way of recruiting. In each of these methods the current or former staff of the organisations is made aware of the opportunities available to develop their career wi th some new role. Pros: The vacancies can be advertised using notice boards, newsletters, intranet system etc which is very much cost effective and a big advantage for the employers to retain their experienced employees by providing them these career developing opportunities. Other advantages according to Taylor (2008), includes that the employers dont have to spend huge investment on staff training, the time taken to fill the vacancy is usually much quicker and also enhancing motivation commitment among existing staff. In other words when the existing employees know that they get promotion by doing excelent work or completing the task well and less time than others, which give them motivation to do satisfactory work for organisation, if they need promotion. Cons: Internal recruitment is like an old way that tends to carry out the tasks and work in existing ways of thinking. There are also some strong arguments put forward by some researchers writers against the internal recruitment. Heneman (2000) states that traditional approach of internal recruitment starts with the assumption that the individual from the organisation can be promoted upwards and is capable of fulfilling the required persons post. The managers hence are more attentive to analyse the work of the available working staff suitable for the vacancy and employees start competing each other for the promotion. Because of the internal competition between employees for promotion there are some problems i.e. employees attitude, which can be harmful for the organisations atmosphere and goals. This type of recruitment is useful for smaller organisations but not for bigger ones or MNCs. Because small firms have very limited resources regarding to thier finances so firms hesitate to spend a big amount of finance on external recruitment and traning of employees, even at the cost of putting inappropriate or less experianced person for vacant place. New experience is also need of a time for any organisation in t odays competitive world. Similarly Hirish (2000) highlights that sometimes the promoted person is less capable of handling all the situations required by the post i.e. rehabilitate the failed internal candidates so as to avoid the bad performances, unnecessary resignations and collapse in office relationship. In other words the promoted person usually dont have interpersonal qualities to motivate theose employees who are having some problems as well as keep an eye on their needs thoughts or not a perfect choice for the required post. Internal recruitment does not always produce the number or quality of personnel needed i.e. the organisation needs to recruit from external sources, either by encouraging walk-in applicants; advertising vacancies in newspapers, magazines and journals, and the visual and/or audio media; using employment agencies to head hunt; advertising on-line via the Internet; or through job fairs and the use of college recruitment. External recruitments: External recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from any suitable applicant outside the business. It is the process of attracting and selecting employees from outside the organization. It depends entirely on the numbers and level of the vacancies. Process of identifying and hiring best qualified candidates, from outside of an organisation, for a job vacancy, in a most timely and cost effective manner. There are numerous different approaches used to attract the external employees, in which some of them are more conservative than the others. According to Taylor (2008) banks use following methods of advertisement of the job posts for external employees; printed media, external agencies, education liaison and other methods i.e. personal reccomendations, telephonic interviews, internet etc When managers deciding, which method to use for recruitment, they also have to consider other methods benefits back draws. Recruiters always think about every option available for t hem and then deciding the best one for organisation. The line managers of any organisation is the most responsible person regarding to recruitment and selection because they are solely responsible for decision making at the initial stages of process, whether or not the applicant fulfil the requirement for the required post (Heraty Morley, 1998).   There are some different ways or methods through which line managers and HR department work combinely to recruit employees. Print Media In print media national newspapers, local newspapers, trade professional journals and magazines are suitable for attracting the candidates. Advertisements are the most common form of external recruitment. They can be found in many places (local and national newspapers, notice boards, recruitment fairs) and McKenna Beech (2002) emphasies that this should include some important information relating to the available vacancy (job title, pay package, location, job description, how to apply-either by CV or application form). Because by doing this, only those candidates will apply for the job who are capable of fulfilling the requirements of the organisation and resisting those who are not appropriate. Where a business chooses to advertise will depend on the cost of advertising and the coverage needed (i.e. how far away people will consider applying for the job. The choice of publication depend upon target audiance and Paddison (1990), explains that by doing appropriate advertisement an o rganisation can also acheive the diversity objectives as well. External Agencies In external agencies, job centres are the most important recruitment methods. Job centres are paid for by the government and are responsible for helping the unemployed find jobs or get training. They also provide a service for businesses needing to advertise a vacancy and are generally free to use. This is a good for business because by doing this organisation attracts a big pool of applicants, who fulfil all the requirements of vacant post and organisation has a good choice to pick a right and suitable person. It is also a cost effective way of sourcing candiadtes for interview. Public service agencies enjoy greater exposure to scrutiny than most private sector organisations; therefore, openness and transparency in recruitment and selection practices are crucial. The discussion that follows will identify some of the options available for attracting applicants to the public service job market and discuss strategies for managing the process. The external service provider is an external agent who supports the overall recruitment strategies, the use of various media channels,  the assessments of candidates and pre- employment checks. Another way of recruitment is Recruitment agency. These agencies provides employers with details of suitable candidates for a vacancy and can sometimes be referred to as head-hunters. They work for a fee and often specialise in particular employment areas e.g. nursing, financial services, teacher recruitment. When organisation wishes to fill a vacancy of senior post or a highly specialist person required then the organisations have very small choices because of huge expected qualification. For this purpose, managers use Executive search agencies. These agencies charge very high cost for their services. External agencies are very benificial and cost effective way of recruitment for organisations especially for the banks but it is very lengthy and time taking process, which can take more time than usual. And sometimes by resourcing through agencies, organisations are not able to find such a candidate who is perfect for the vacancy. Education liaison Another form of recruitment which is available for employee recruitment is widely used known as education liaison. In this method, managers recruiting people directly from the educational institutions. The most attractive recruitment is of graduate recruitment. The Careers advisers in schools and colleges, and university appointment boards, may be able to provide suitable candidates. According to McKenna Beech (2002), some of the organisations traditionally taken the employees from education institutions have operated many processes to recruit the young people, who are in their final-year or just completed their studies. Many organisations also recruit young educated employees through open days, recruitment fairs, careers fairs and careers conventions. This type of resourcing is normally prove to be very benificial for banks/organisations because they attract those candidates who are familiar with the new ways and techniques of business field and also enthusiastic to develop their carrers. Other Methods There are some others methods too available to mangers for resourcing. One of them isPersonal recommendation. It is often referred to as word of mouth and can be a recommendation from a colleague at work. A full assessment of the candidate is still needed however but potentially it saves on advertising cost. The current employees who is already working for the firm recommends someone they know. This takes place at all levels of business. A director may recommend that a friend should be appointed to the board of directors. In such kind of recruitment diversity of the organisation effected because the candidate reffered through word of mouth is very similar to the employee who reffered him/her, which can be a negative impact on the culture of the organisation. In most of the cases the first major contact between a candidate and an employer is CV or application form. But some organisations use an alternative in the shape of telephone hotline. The organisations publicise their contact numbers for the candidates to discuss the vacancies availability and requirements. This method is normally used for quick response. According to the McKenna Beech (2002), the use of Internet is as a means of recruitment has been mounting now a day. Applicants all over the world use internet to gain the information about the companies, their vacancies and processes of application. This method provide candidates a system of self screening through which they can find out that whether they are suitable for the required position. For instance, Cisco System and Dell are the big examples of recruiting employees exclusively on internet. Some other recruitment methods are television, radio, cinemas, government training schemes, waiting lists, trade union referral suppliers etc Pros: There is a larger pool of skilled people from which the organisation chooses the best suitable for their vacancy. The new employees bring in new ideas for the development of an organisation. Sometimes the new employee has a wider range of experience which is quite worthwhile for any organisation. Cons: Sometimes few methods are ruled out in external recruitment because of the time constraint. The methods of recruitment in such a haste are very few i.e. employment agencies, job centres, personal contacts and local newspaper advertisement. And because of less time to spend on the process, probably the method chosen by the recruiters is not the best suited for the post. Another main issue in external recruitment is the huge volume of applications received by recruiters and the ability to deal with applications screening them effectively e.g. advertisement in newspaper for senior accounts manager or opening a new branch etc Selection methods Recruitment proceeds selection of the candidate. It is considered to be a very crucial stage in which candidates matched to the requirements of the job are selected. There are number of methods and techniques for doing this process i.e. face-to-face interviews, self-test questionnaires, biodata, assessment centres, selection tests etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ This is the stage where successful candidates get an offer of employment. It is often thought that the selection process is very simple in which wanted against offered is matched and then selecting the best fit for it. Overall, it all boils down to choosing the right candidate for the right position and at the right time. Organisations would not want it the other way around. Employee selection applying these high-tech solutions reduces the cost and time spent in recruiting and selecting qualified candidates. According to the Pilbeam Cobridge (2002), there are some different ways of employee selection used by organisations i.e. interview, psychometric testing, work sampling, assessment centres, biodata, graphology and online questionnaire. There is the explanation of some of the selection methods use by the organisations. Interviews The most popular selection technique is the interview either by face-to-face or in front of the interview panel. According to Lewis (1985), although the validity of interview is considered very low but it is still popular for selection. Interview provides the basis of two way exchange of information which is very useful to determine that the candidate is an appropriate person for the organisation and its culture. Shackleton and Newell (1991), highlights the point that every organisation use a interview sample at least once in the selection process. There are mainly two types of interview, structured and unstructured. According to McDaniel et al. (1994), structured interviews are more valid for selection purpose than unstructured one. This can be useful for two way exchange of ideas and information. It helps to improve the quality of decision but (Heffcutt and Arthur, 1994) it is not improving the validity. In unstructured or triditional interviews candidates asked different type of q uestions from which interviewer gets information about applicant in an unsystematic manner and draw the conclusion in his mind whether or not offer the job to applicant. Which may lead the poor selection. There are some very common problems with unstructured interview explains below. The first and the foremost problem is the undue influence or bais behaviour of the interviewer. Interviewer sometimes given the positive or negative response to candidate from his CV/application form or on the basis of similar qualities, background, career, personality or attitude, in other way decision is just on the basis of personal likeness or dislikeness. Sometimes the interviewer is not a fully trained person for conduct an interview and lead to a wrong decision of selection of employee. Poor questioning is also a big problem of these interviews because interviewer ask questions designed for the initial impression of candidates and make a decision way to early about applicants. These problems play a big part while selection process. If the organisation not overcome these problems before the interview process then it lead towards discrimination with applicants or the wrong selection of an employee. Work-based Test When an organisation want to access the abilities and altitude of applicants competence, a work-based test can be used. In this test candidates have to come with the different and logical ideas as a solution of a problem presented infront of the. They required to undertake some typical tasks associated with the job, which shows the quality of their work and on these basis applicants are assessed. For example applicants could be given with the series of theoretical situations and want them to respond at the mean time. This is very similar to the situational interview. Another example is the individual performance of an applicant in a group work, where two or more applicants discuss a specific assignment and then their performance in the discussion is accessed. Work-based tests are very valuable because these tests provides the actual competence and ability of an applicant. In Pakistan, the useage of work-based test is quite low for selection of an employee but it is extensively used ( Lockyer, 1996) in United Kingdom. Biodata When candidates apply for the job, normally they fill an application form or submit a CV or both. From these application forms and CVs managers find a key biographical information about the candidates i.e. age, education, interests, personal history and employment history. In selection particular things of a candidates biographical profile receives higher score then others because these features are most appropriate and required ones for the vacancy. Shackleton and Newell (1991), indicate that only 20% of the organisations used biodata as a selection tool to some extent and only 4% for all vacancies, which is increasing now a day but still very hard (Wilkinson, 1997) to find any evidence of a broader spread of biodata. Sometimes employers have difficulty in choosing the right person for the vacant post in their organisation. Employee selection promises to be a difficult task especially if the current recruitment systems fall below industry standards and fail to meet the companys recr uitment objective. One specific aspect in employee selection is data inquiry. HR system users usually require a list of all the possible candidates for a position in ranking order. Ranking employee selection is achieved using software solutions that efficiently go through application data by matching candidate resumes and other pertinent application documents with the job requirement. An automated system generally ensures an accurate and fast result for various types of employee selection inquiry. According to the Brown and Campion (1994), there are some advantages and usefulness of biodata as a selection tool. It is very useful to screen the large number of applications in response of an advertisement. It is very systematic approach which helps to improve the selection decisions. If referances considered as a selection tool then it is very useful as it provides honesty and moral integrity of applicant which is vital consideration. The big disadvantage of biographical test is the la rge amount of time required for this exercise. Another potential draw back is biasism against certain groups or communities. Another draw back is of referances as a selection device because applicant nominates refrees and the choosen persons are very unlikely to provide any negative assesment. According to Hunter Hunter (1984), generally the strength and consistency of referances are pretty poor but still remains accepted in UK. Employment References This is the third of three selection techniques know as classic trio and the other two are interviews and application forms explained above. Normally organisations asked to shortlist candidates to provide them at least two referances which considered to be an important contribution to selection. This is one of the last tools used for selection of a candidate. Referances are taken for two major purposes, one is to provide confirmation that the information provided by applicant is right and the other is persons character referance. According to the IRS (2002a), approximately 70% of the referances are taken following the decision of selection has been made. Conclusions/summary This review of the literature highlights a range of issues and perspectives for the approach to recruitment and selection of employees which has implications for the Pakistani banking sector. There is not a specific perfect recruitment and selection process available for banks for resourcing of employees. It depends upon the size and culture of the bank that what kind of resourcing policy performs. There are several good ways identified for resourcing of employees. For example the best methods of recruitment in small banks is internal recruitment i.e. promotion of an employee and for big organisation it is it is external recruitment i.e print media, as it has less problems to deal with. And for Selection, interviews are the most common and widely tool used by banks. There are some important findings/issues highlighted from the above literature review. The specific areas through primary research are followings. Rational for the type of recruitment resourcing policies used. The role of stakeholders (HR managers line managers) in recruitment and selection. Identification of key issues experianced. The next chapter outlines and explains the research design adopted to investigate these implications from the perspectives of HR managers with responsibility for recruitment and selection.

The Standard for Insanity :: Barker Regeneration Essays

"The Standard for Insanity" Since Pat Barker's Regeneration is set in a mental hospital, it seems fitting that questions about mental disease and the definition of sanity should be raised. At the very start of the book, Rivers and Bryce are discussing the case of Siegfreid Sassoon, a dissenting officer of the British army. As they discuss his diagnosis of "neurasthenia," Barker is laying the groundwork for one of Regeneration's many themes: no one is completely qualified to judge the sane from the insane, for insanity finds its way into us all. The ambiguity surrounding the definition and treatment of neurasthenia offers just a glimpse into the ever-changing and highly subjective world of mental evaluation. The history of neurasthenia traces back before World War I to a scientist by the name of George A. Beard. Beard coined the actual term "neurasthenia" which means nerve weakness (Marlowe). Neurasthenia was attributed rather vaguely to the stress of everyday life, or, for soldiers, the stress of the trenches. Many also felt it was a disease primarily of the upper class, which means it would apply more often to officers in the army than regular men. Andrew Scott Myrtle, who wrote on the validity of neurasthenia, believed like many medical professionals of the era that "it is not the machine workers, the factory workers, who suffer but 'the inventors of the machines'" (Gijswijt-Hofstra 145). Not only did neurasthenia come from the many stresses of daily life, but it also had a myriad of symptoms. Every article on neurasthenia offered a different set of acceptable symptoms, the most common being sleeplessness, headaches, and fatigue (Marlowe). Cures for neurasthenia were as varied as its symptoms. When working with one patient, Beard "promptly zapped the young doctor with a 'faradic current' from 'head to toe'" (Martensen 1243). Electric shock was still being used during World War I, as evidenced by doctors like Lewis Yealland, but other cures such as bed rest, sea-salts, and expensive cruises were also circulating (Gijswijt-Hofstra 145). The sense of ambiguity that surrounded neurasthenia had a large effect on society's views of neurasthenic patients. Although World War I was one of the first instances where people recognized that mental disorder or disease might be responsible for actions that were otherwise characterized as cowardly, there remained a strong sense that diseases like neurasthenia were ultimately the result of a weak will. Robert Martensen describes neurasthenia as giving people a "socially legitimate explanation of their inability to perform their expected roles" (1243).

Weight Loss with the Atkins Advantage Bar :: Health Nutrition Diet Exercise Essays

Weight Loss with the Atkins Advantage Bar   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The low carbohydrate Atkins Diet is the latest craze in the weight loss world. The high fat and protein content of the diet is successful at reducing weight because carbohydrates produce an elevated insulin response which in turn increases hunger and the craving for more carbohydrates. Thus, the level of insulin increase from the intake of an Atkins Advantage Bar is almost equal with the insulin levels after the intake of chicken. Meanwhile, the Zone Diet’s Balance Bar, which contains 40% carbohydrates, causes insulin levels to increase above that of chicken and the Atkins Advantage Bar.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In order to lose weight in a short amount of time one should snack on the Atkins Advantage Bar. According to a study done by Steven R. Hertzler and Yeonsoo Kim, Ph.D.s of Nutrition, data showed that insulin levels remained at a constant 100 for those who consumed only chicken at a meal. Those who consumed an Atkins Advantage Bar insulin levels peaked at 200 after one half hour then slowly declined back down to a steady rate with the chicken level. If one were to eat chicken all day they would lose weight but it would not be in a very healthy way. Chicken is all protein and one needs some carbohydrates and fat to remain healthy. Variety is a must have in diets and chicken and only chicken is not good. The high in fat and protein Atkins Advantage Bar comes pretty close to this but still remains healthy because they have a few but not many carbohydrates. This bar goes along with the diet in that high fat and protein help one to lose weight at a constant rate with only a sparingly amount of carbohydrates. A slight increase of insulin levels within the first half hour of intake and then a steady decrease makes the Atkins Advantage Bar closest to chicken in insulin levels.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Meanwhile, the Zone Diet's Balance Bar is just as healthy but does not produce the weight loss results as rapidly due to the increase in carbohydrates. Hertzler and Yeonsoo's study of the effects of eating a balance bar as a meal showed that insulin levels rose to about 350 points after one half hour. This number is much higher than the 200 point peak of insulin levels with the intake of the Atkins Advantage Bar. This number soars above the 100 point consistency that chicken

Describe the characteristics valued

Even today security Is a big Issue to us and still likely to continue this way, but progresses are happening all the time. Employers will assume that you would know about these important areas. But they wont always expect you to know everything, but it is important that you have some knowledge about the main issues. If you are interested in a certain area, you will need to do as much research as you can! Also you will need to develop your skills and knowledge in that certain area. Working procedures It's very good to have some knowledge of typical practices In the IT Industry.This Is cause of the legislation that Is Included In IT at the moment. Things Like data protection and copyright laws are a part of this. Employers have to make sure they are not breaking any laws, this means they will need their employees to always be aware of what they are doing and the responsibilities they have in these areas. Health and safety knowledge Employers will expect you to have some knowledge In th e health and safety area. This Is essential as the employers will expect you to be aware of the risks and the responsibilities you have. For example you might get eye strain from looking at the imputer screen for a long time.How to stop this from happening is to adjust the monitor at eye level and put it somewhere so there is no reflections coming of the monitor. General Skills Interpersonal Skills In your job, it is most likely that you will be communicating and working with other people. So this will mean that you will need to have good communication skills. This is what most employers look for. Both IT professionals and IT users may be limited to their knowledge of technical areas in IT. Numeric Skills What kind of job role you have will depend on the level of numeric skills you need. These days, nearly every Job role requires basic innumeracy skills.You will need to be able to carry out day to day mathematical calculations like working out percentages and basic sums. Other areas of IT like programming will require a higher form of mathematical ability. Creativity The type of job you do will depend on how creative you are. For example the employees that work in web design and desktop publishing will be known to be creative in that area as they can come up with lots of unique Ideas to make the web For example you can Just be creative by coming up with ideas for new products or even improving old products or services.Organization skills It is very helpful if you are an organized person. This is because you will need to be able to do work tasks efficiently. For example the Job that you have been set to do will mean that you need to have the right equipment and information for the Job. This could be going from having something to write with and remembering client's names or businesses that you might have to visit. Also to look professional it's very good to be organized. Most employers don't like it if you come in and say ‘l forgot it' or ‘l left it t home' as its very UN-organized and makes you look unprofessional.Attitudes preferred Determined Your Job can sometimes become very hard and might stress you out a lot but there is always a way to overcome this problem and that is to be determined. A lot of employees who tend to give up easily on work will never impress their employers because it shows them being very UN-professional. But the other employees who have determination to get things done and who want to succeed will look much more professional and will impress their employers. IndependentThe first Job you have in IT probably will be with other people instead of you being by yourself. But this doesn't mean you can't be independent. Your employer will be expected for you to develop your own ability to work by yourself and to use your own initiative than waiting for other people to give you instructions on what to do. Integrity Your employer will want someone who they can trust. So being honest to everyone and not going m aking up things is important. Your employer will also expect you to work as you normally would if not better for when your supervisor isn't there.Also there could be expensive equipment which means you have to make sure you look after it. Leadership Throughout your Job role and the time you have worked in the business, your employer will always look out for any leadership skills you have in you. For example if you have good leadership skills then you can work well with others and help to inspire and encourage them to get on with work and push through it, or even help them! Good leaders are good when it comes down to organizing and planning things and are not afraid to take control of it all.