Saturday, August 31, 2019
Political Aspects of Criminal Justice Essay
Introduction            A criminal justice system in any country is enshrined in the country’s executive branches. It is usually enshrined on the judiciary arm of the government and handles all criminal cases and decides who should be prosecuted. (Shaffer & Herington, p36-40) The criminal justice system is also entrusted with the structures that comprise the whole justice system. It comes up with the provisions that cater for emergence of new crimes. It also enforces the laws to make sure that everyone complies with them to maintain and enhance order in the society. The criminal justice system is comprised of all the justice systems right from the local to the national levels (Bonnie, p688).The degree of criminal offence determines the structure that should handle it. Minor crimes can be handled at the lowest level, for instance, by police who maintain order by arresting and assigning some punishments to the offenders and eventually releasing them. This system involves cooperation of the people at the grassroots level. (Alexander, p67-78)            Criminal justice system enhances internal protection of the citizens. Citizens are protected from the internal enemies who are out to cause harm to them. It also checks the excesses of the offenders and instills fear in them. This system has played an important role in tracking down criminals and ensuring that justice is done on the offenders. For instance, murderers, robbers, drug traffickers, rapists have been tracked down and put behind bars, thanks to the criminal justice system. This promotes security in the country and promotes the freedom of movement. People can move from one point to another without the fear of being held hostage, kidnapped, raped or killed. As a result people are free to pursue their common good and can even engage in money generating activities or other businesses that promote their livelihood. (Bonnie, p688)            Criminal justice system prevents war or clashes within a country. A sense of peace and harmony is maintained and hence they are able to maintain positive interactions. As a result, a cohesive society is created and everyone is able to pursue their businesses. (Neilstrong, p40-p40)            Criminal justice system has evolved over the years from a primitive era to an advanced era. The executive branch is divided into three stages at primary and secondary level. The three eras can be summarized as traditional (1776- 1899), transitional era which took place between (1900-1927) and finally nationalization era which fell between 1964 to present time. (Bonnie, p688) Traditional Era (1776-1899)            This is the earliest era of criminal justice system in America. It details the most primitive form of criminal justice system. During this time the justice system was devolved and people were in control of the most decisions affecting the country as well as the presidency (Shaffer & Herington, p36-40). During this time, the president was not in control of the country since decisions were made by the citizens. The community decided what problems was affecting them and prioritize them and finally came up with a modality on how to solve them. The decisions were not central, that is, left to the central government.            During this time, people were given proof on how their money was spent and therefore the executive would account for every single penny spent. The community based team which was in charge of solving problems being experienced in the community were prosecutors, police parole and probation officers, judges, church leaders, community residents and school leaders (Shaffer & Herington, p36-p40).These leaders were presenting the local community. All the decisions and plans were first handled by them before being handed over to the higher authority. It is worth noting that at this time the process of decision making was slow. This is because of the many levels that a court case had to go through before passing a judgment. The judgments passed were either very light or too harsh. For instance, slaves were beaten and tortured. Some even died in the process for committing very mild offences. There were no laws protecting them, and therefore they fell victims of abuses. If a slave was murdered by his master, no action was taken against him, he was not imprisoned. Unfortunately, it promoted a lot of evil against slaves who were blacks at this time. (Shaffer, p36-p40)            The justice system at that time did not cater for many crimes being committed. For instance, there were no legal systems put in place to punish government officials. There was detention without trial and in most cases some forms of dictatorship were evident (Alexander, p67-78). There were no rehabilitation centers for criminals and hence any criminal was either imprisoned and was not given a chance to reform and become a better person. The only advantage with this era was that it was not dominated by the presidency. People had a louder voice and were easily heard by the authority and therefore their needs were sorted out fast. The criminal justice system was felt even by those at very low levels. Transitional Era (1900-1927)            During this time, there were some changes being felt by the people. The devolution of the powers of the criminal justice system was not devolved like in the past. This era encouraged a more centralized form of government. The decisions began to be made at the top and gradually trickled down to the bottom. The criminal justice system stopped being too harsh on the citizens (Bonnie, p688). The citizens were beaten and locked up in the cells, and there were no developed mechanisms to investigate crime. Most serious crimes were left unattended and forensic laboratories were at the initial stages of development. During this time, however the taxpayers’ money was used to build better prison cells and therefore the torture chambers were done away with. It promoted fair trials and many people began to be prosecuted including the Whites. The cells promoted decency in handling human beings. (Neilstrong, p40-40)            The government began educating people about change and development. Proper government structures that deal with crime were set up. The people who handled criminal cases were more educated and understood the system better. There were open policies of discussion and leadership was promoted in all structures and systems of government. The leaders served as models to be copied by young citizens and therefore the justice system was streamlined. All the prosecutions were based on concrete evidence (Alexander, p67-78). The most evident thing about this era was that the criminal justice system was going through a process of change. People were hungry for better systems of government. They started to believe in the government since it was holding all the resources that they needed. They believed that only the government had the power to cater for all their needs. For the people to realize this change they had to give up some of their ambitions. Power without resources was nothing. Without the money and power structures, their money would always remain weak and they would not be able to guard themselves against enemies. The state was gradually being allowed to be in control. This is because all power was vested on it and they had higher control on everyone and every department. At this time prosecutors became generalists and started operating out of their decentralized offices. This way they were able to closely work with the police and the society on important issues that mattered most to the residents locally. (Shaffer, p36-40)            During this era, when people from all the corners of the country felt angry and isolated from the government as well as their representatives, then the better option was to move closer to the community whereby they felt that the community was responding well. However, the fear was that, the community could not give them much but only the state would. In America, some cities, for instance, New York began to experiment with the neighboring courts. The court did not only give out sanctions but also offer one stop shop for a number of services both social and economic. For example, drugs for treatment. This was aimed at coming up with solutions to solve the problems present at that time. There was proliferation of courts that dealt with drug cases in the whole country. This was a reflection of growth in appreciation and coming up with tailor made responses to answer to the concerns made locally. (Neilstrong, p40-p40)            At this level however, community policing was evident and people were responding well to the status of the government and cooperation was promoted in all areas. Nationalization Era (1964 to Present)            At this era all the decisions were made at the national level. The criminal justice system was centralized and all the decisions were made by top government officials. The presidency at this time assumed the role of Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces. The sitting president could not be prosecuted because he was the overall head. If charges were brought against them he gave a ‘no prosecution order’. This is called ‘nolle prosequi’. That is, he could not be prosecuted at any time. All the political decisions related to the criminal activities were handled by the state. The criminal justice system became more and more bureaucratic and lengthy. There was a backlog of cases since all the criminal cases were under one system. (Alexander, p67-78)            Nationalization era developed prisons and new ways of transforming the prisons was invested. Forensic laboratories were employed to investigate any type of criminal case. There were more developed and modern rehabilitation centers. Not any crime could land a person in prison. They came up with new techniques of measuring criminal cases. The people who were found to measure up to them were referred to rehabilitation centers to reform them. (Shaffer, p36-40)            The domination of the presidency and the desire to control the criminal justice system however promoted many evils in the state. For example many offences committed by the president have not been looked into due to his excessive powers. He is simply above the law. It also bred other evils such as assassination crimes. Most presidents have been known to assassinate their rivals if they pose a threat to their presidency. In essence, the presidency has abused the criminal justice system. All the powers have been taken away from the local government and it has rendered it a ‘toothless dog’ as far as criminal justice system is concerned. (Bonnie, p688)            From the nationalization era it is evident that the presidency has moved to dominate the criminal justice system on most of its issues. This can be explained from the excessive powers vested on the presidency. It practically controls all the other arms of the government, which means it is untouchable. (Neilstrong, p40-p40) The disadvantage with this situation is that it has on many occasions abused the powers and privileges vested on it. The presidency influences all the decisions made at the parliamentary level and influences the powers of the judiciary, and other organizations which oversee the work and activities of the government. For instance, organizations which are supposed to investigate the government’s unethical behavior. When investigations are made and concluded, they are never released. This is done to protect the image of the present government and the presidency. Offenders of such crimes are never made public. Despite the government having enough liabilities, it is always made to appear perfect and blameless. Nationalization era has bred very corrupt government officials. (Alexander, p67-78)            The US was not better in the earlier period. This is because; the state kind of government could not bring the resources closer to the people. They have very many states and a state government could not devolve the resources available equitably and equally. The federal government is therefore better and improved the economy as well as expanding the democratic space. The people now have more control of the local government and they can control the resources which have been placed at their disposal. For a country (nation) as big as US only a federal kind of government can work. A centralized state would encourage community policing which cannot be applied in the modern world. (Bonnie, p688) Conclusion            Despite the gains of a state government, I believe that for a growing state the federal kind of government is more desirable. This is because people can access resources faster and more easily. In addition, it is not cumbersome and neither is it bureaucratic and hence decisions are easily made faster and much more conveniently. Federal government is the way to go since it discourages crime at high levels of government as well as corruption. The citizens are more in touch with their leaders and they can easily express themselves. Works Cited. Alexander, S. Political Government: To What Extent Do Governments, Control Systems           of Government, Harvard Press, 2003 (P67-p78) 2nd Ed Bonnie, B. Community Criminal Justice: What Community Policing Teaches Harts       Mitch. D.C, Washington, 2004 (p 688) Vol I Neilstrong, B. Federalism and State Government: The Way to Go, Palgrave Publishers, United States of America, 2002 (p40-p40) Shaffer, S& Herington, C. Aspect of Good Governance, Harvard University Press, UK  2001 (p34-p40) Vol I 2nd Ed.
Friday, August 30, 2019
Plant Based Diet Essay
When I was growing up I was taught how to hunt, fish and trap animals for food as well as being fed an omnivorous diet, but today I have found that I no longer need animals in my diet. The Vegetarian Times recently found that out of the 311 million people in the US, 7.3 million eat a vegetarian based diet and 22.8 million eat a vegetarian inclined diet. Over the past century people have begun looking into the health implications of plant based diets as a way of improving their health and increase their longevity. This research paper is intended to inform the reader of the nutrients required by a US adult, ages 18-35, and prove that a plant based diet meets those nutrient requirements. This journey began for myself over a year ago and while continue for decades to come while plant based diets began with the birth of mankind and will continue as long as we continue to live. Definitions associated with plant based diets Vegetarianism has been around since the beginning of mankind, however as society has progressed so have plant based diets. Today the term plant based diet can be confusing because of the varying levels of animal consumption in an individual’s diet. The first definitions that will be examined are plant based foods and an omnivorous diet. Plant based foods are those foods which consist of â€Å"†¦fruit[s] and vegetables, nuts, natural vegetable oils, and whole grains†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (â€Å"sharecare†) An omnivorous diet is one which is based on the consumption of both animal products (red meat, poultry, fish, etc.) and plant foods. Due to the fact that plant based diets have changed and now incorporate varying levels of animal consumption there is a need to define the levels so that confusion can be avoided. The four categories of plant based diets are ovo-lacto vegetarianism, pescetarianism, lacto vegetarianism and total-vegetarianism. Ovo-lacto vegetarianism is when an individual consumes primarily plant based foods while still consuming eggs and dairy products. (Null 4) Pescetarianism is a diet which abstains from consuming land animals and birds while still consuming seafood as a support to a primarily plant based diet. (â€Å"Pescetarian Life†) Lacto vegetarianism is a diet which contains dairy products like an ovo-lacto diet except eggs are no longer consumed. A total vegetarianism diet is a one which consists of only plant foods and abstains from any animal product such as, â€Å"meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, and honey.†(Null 4)The research presented in this will focus on a total-vegetarian diet because it allows for the least variables and is the diet which most studies use because of the limited variables. Nutrients required by the human body which are viewed by many as scarce in a plant based diet The human body is a complex system which requires the support of nutrients which are provided by the food individual’s consume and then absorb into their bodies. In order to look at the ability of a plant based diet to support an 18-35 year old person’s nutritional needs we will first examine those most basic nutrients required by a human. This section of the paper will look at the following nutrients; carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fiber, calcium, and vitamin B12. Carbohydrates The term carbohydrate refers to the naturally occurring molecules which consist of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. This molecule is used throughout the animal kingdom as the most abundant and â€Å"†¦least expensive source of energy.†(Guthrie 35) The idea of being an inexpensive source of energy refers to the fact that carbohydrates are easily broken down by the human digestive system which converts them into glucose. The belief that carbohydrates present the most abundant source of energy while still being nutritious can be misleading due to the two main types of carbohydrates, simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are present in most diets in the form of fructose (sweet sugars), sucrose (table sugar), maltose and lactose. (Driskell 29) These simple carbohydrates are easily broken down, converted into glucose for the body and easily flow into the blood stream. The downside to this form of carbohydrates is that they are most common in the form of refined sugars or refine d flours which retain very few vitamins after being processed. (â€Å"HealthStyle Fitness†) As the body uses this form of glucose a cycle begins which involves fluctuations of high and low blood sugar. This cycle works when blood sugar rises after the consumption of simple carbs and then as the blood sugar begins to drop the body demands more simple carbs to bring blood sugar levels back to up. The cycle that is formed essentially keeps the body from burning body fat because there is a continuous demand and consumption of simple carbohydrates. The second form of carbohydrates is that of complex carbohydrates which consist of polysaccharides, three or more monosaccharides. These complex carbs are found in the form of starch, fiber and glycogen (animal starch). Those complex carbohydrates consumed in the form of starch are found in plant foods like corn, wheat, potatoes, cereals, pastas, and beans. When they are broken down these carbs allow for the slow production and release of glucose into the blood stream and allowing for a consistent blood sugar level. (Guthrie 27) Dietary fiber is another form of complex carbs which are present in plant foods because fiber is â€Å"†¦the structural framework of plants.†(Driskell 29) The presence of dietary fiber allows for the slow breakdown of starches because the human body lacks the enzyme necessary to break down most forms of fiber. (Driskell 29) The last form of complex carbohydrates is glycogen which is found in animal muscles and livers. Simply put, simple carbohydrates are easily broken down and absorbed by the human body but poses few vitamins while complex carbohydrates are broken down slowly by the human body allowing for stable blood sugar levels. Proteins Another macronutrient group is that of proteins or on a more basic level, amino acids. When people take in proteins they are in fact consuming strings of amino acids which are broken down and then put together in varying structures to be used to â€Å"†¦construct tissue proteins, hormones, enzymes and other substances crucial to our existence.†(Kimball 49) The human body has the ability to produce most of the amino acids required for existence while some amino acids, called essential amino acids, cannot be produced in the quantity required for life support. Proteins are commonly viewed as complete proteins which supply all amino acids required by the human body, both essential and nonessential amino acids. The most common source of complete proteins is animal foods because animal muscle already possesses all amino acids required for tissue growth. (Guthrie 85) This perception of requiring complete proteins in order to consume the required amount of proteins is not the on ly way of reaching this daily goal. Fat One nutrient which accounts for nearly 41% of the American diet today is fat in either its natural or its altered state. (Guthrie 45) Throughout human history having excess fat was seen as a sign of wealth and power because those who could afford to be fat were those people who did not have to work for a living. Over the years this has become a social factor because fat has the attribute of altering food’s flavor and in a sense addicting people to it’s’ taste. However fat has two main factors in the human body other than making foods palatable and those factors are as stored energy and supporting healthy cell structures. The interesting fact that is misconstrued is that the essential fatty acids are everywhere in the news are not the main contributor to these factors, instead, â€Å"Highly unsaturated fatty acids are even more physiologically active in the body than essential fatty acids and†¦are needed for the formation of healthy cell membranes.†(C arlson 31) One of the reasons why the human body requires fat for the formation of cell membranes is because as people move they need their cells to move with them. If people had rigid cell membranes like plants we wouldn’t be able to breath much less walk down the street. In addition to aiding in cell membranes composition, fat is also used as energy reserves within the human body so that when food consumption does not meet energy requirements then the body can burn fat as a source of energy. (Guthrie 56) The reason why fat is used as a reserve for energy is because when one gram of fat is burned for energy it creates 9 calories of energy as opposed to carbohydrates and proteins which produces 4 calories per gram. Overall fat is a required part of the human diet because of its use in cell productions as well as a source of energy reserves for everyday life. Fiber Fiber has recently hit the news as a required part of the human diet not because it was recently discovered but because people have been consuming far too little. Dietary fiber can be described as the, â€Å"†¦portion of consumed plant material that is resistant to degradation by the enzymes of the small intestine.†(Carlson 51) The reason why consuming enough fiber is important is because when people eat complex carbs they are taking in fiber which allows for a consistent blood sugar level. However as carbohydrates are refined they are stripped of not only their vitamin content but also of their fiber content. When fibers are striped from carbohydrates it makes intestinal passage time faster and those vitamins and macronutrients present do not have enough time to be absorbed into the body. Another reason why rigid fibers are required in the human diet is to keep the intestines clear. As humans consume non-fibrous material it tends to collect along the sides of the intestinal tract and leave layers of buildup similar to plaque in arteries. The reason why fiber is needed is to keep food from building up because the buildup can limit the ability of the intestines to absorb those nutrients which are consumed. (Calloway 145) Fiber is one of the requirements which many people do not think about because they cannot simply eat a handful of fiber, instead people must make sure to incorporate it in their diets. Calcium Most of the American culture is told to drink milk so that they can consume the amount of calcium required for strong bones and healthy living. This urge to consume calcium is spurred by the thought that in order to maintain healthy bone structure people must consume enormous amounts of calcium. This concept may be true in those people still growing during their early years and for people over the age of 50 whose bones begin to release more and more calcium, however most college students do not require excessive amounts of calcium. Once people are around 18-20 their bones either cease to grow or slow down to the point of millimeters and then calcium is used in blood plasma as a key ingredient for clotting as well as a required element for muscle contraction. (Calloway 149) Another misconception is that calcium is released directly into the blood stream for use after digestion when in fact calcium used in the blood is taken from our bones and ingested calcium merely replaces the lost calcium. Nutrients required by the human body which are viewed by many as scarce in a plant based diet and where they can found in plant based foods The most common misconception that people have about plant based diets is that they will not consume enough nutrients required for their overall health. This misconception is false in all fields except vitamin B12. A plant based diet provides the human body with enough carbohydrates, proteins, fats, calcium, and fiber for a more than healthy lifestyle. The following section will provide the sources of nutrients described above for persons who consume a plant based diet. Carbohydrate The most important source of energy in a plant based diet is that of carbohydrates because all plant based foods present carbohydrates. The important factor which most persons living on a plant based diet acknowledge is that complex carbohydrates are the basis of all meals because of the longevity of the calories consumed. Instead of eating all fruits, which are mostly simple carbohydrates, total vegetarians eat other plant foods. These foods, which consist of fiber, increases the time complex carbs remain in the intestinal track and increase the time required for digestion. An example is the consumption of serving of black berries compared to a serving of oatmeal. The black berries will break down quickly and cause the person’s blood sugar to spike. The oatmeal on the other hand will remain in the person’s stomach for a greater period of time and also stay in the intestines for longer allowing for the same amount of calories consumed as in the black berries to be relea sed into the blood stream slowly. Protein The next major requirement of a plant based diet is protein or more specifically amino acids. One of the major misconceptions in America is that proteins only exist in animal foods because protein is used to grow muscle so therefore eating muscle provides the ingredients to support muscle. This is interesting because the largest land animals in the world are those which consume only plants and they maintain the greatest muscle mass known to man. Amino acids are present in all plants, however, not all amino acids are present at the same time meaning that plants do not contain complete proteins. However, â€Å"†¦when grains and beans are consumed together, their amino acid profiles complement each other and produce a mix that is ‘complete’ and therefore a good match to the body’s needs.†(Norris 15) This means that while plant based foods do not contain complete proteins in themselves they do create complete proteins when consumed with additional plant based foods. This concept is supported by developing nations where diets consist primarily of plant foods and yet these people consume enough proteins. (Guthrie 82) Most sources agree that when the proper amount of calories are consumed for an individual the person in question is also taking in enough protein because of the combination of amino acids throughout the plant world. Fats Fats are the second most over consumed major nutrient after proteins because in an omnivorous diet fat is in all animal products. Most fat that is consumed directly from animal products are â€Å"†¦invisible fat, including that marbled throughout meat fibers, in finely divided form either emulsified in egg yolk or homogenized in whole milk, or found as a constituent of whole-grain cereals and nuts.†(Guthrie 45) In addition to these direct animal fats there has been an increase in the amount of fats consumed in the form of vegetable oils, which are becoming a staple in today’s society thanks to fast food chains. This last fact points out that reducing the amount of fat in one’s diet cannot be isolated to the reduction of animal foods but is instead connected to a healthy diet in general where oils are reduced so that they do not dominate one’s fat intake. In addition to the oil concept, society has suggested that consuming only essential fatty acids i s required while research has found little evidence proving health benefits substantial enough to eliminate additional fats from one’s diet. (Norris 52) Fiber Fiber is one nutrient which is overly simple to find in plant based foods because the majority of fibers out there today are plant based. When people eat enough complex carbohydrates they are also consuming their required amount of fiber, â€Å"the typical American omnivorous diet contains only about 10-20 grams of fiber daily†¦most vegans consume 25-50 grams per day.†(Carlson 52). The only factor which people should look at when preparing their plant based meals is to not cook their foods to long because fiber can be broken down when enough heat is present for a long enough period of time. Calcium and Vitamin B12 Calcium and Vitamin B12 are two nutrients which require people to pay attention to the foods that they eat in order to meet dietary requirements. Those people who live on a plant based diet should make sure to incorporate dark greens in their diet because these are the main source of calcium which they should be eating. In fact, â€Å"†¦kale, collards, broccoli, and turnip greens†¦Ã¢â‚¬ can provide as much as 50%of our daily calcium requirements. (Norris 43) This means that by eating one serving of these vegetables someone has the ability to meet their calcium requirements because, â€Å"†¦even omnivores get as much as 40 percent of their calcium from plant foods.†(Nollin 42) On the other hand, vitamin B12 is more difficult to get by eating plant foods because the bacteria which produce it are found in animals and their feces. Therefore most total vegetarians take a supplement to ensure they are getting enough B12 if they don’t already consume fortifi ed plant foods like fortified soy milk or fortified cereals. Conclusion A vegetarian lifestyle has the ability to supply all required components of a nutritious diet required by an 18-35 year old American. The section on carbohydrates highlights the importance of a diet composed of complex carbohydrates and few simple carbohydrates primarily because of the complex carbs retention of vitamins. After reading the sections on protein the reader can now see how a plant based diet provides just as much protein as an omnivorous diet because of the compounding amino acids present in plant foods. Plant based diets also meet fat needs because of the fat content in nuts and vegetable oils. Therefore living on a plant based diet allows for nutritional needs of human beings to be met without including the consumption of animal products. Bibliography â€Å"Pescetarian Life.†Pescetarian Life. N.p., 2007. Web. 14 May 2012. . â€Å"What are the benefits of a vegetarian diet?.†sharecare. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2012. . Adams, Mike. â€Å"Red meat consumption doubles risk of colon cancer, says study; is it time to go vegetarian yet?.†NaturalNews. N.p., Calkins, Brian. â€Å"Simple Sugars vs. Complex Carbs.†HealthStyle Fitness. N.p., 2012. Web. 14 May 2012. Calloway, Doris, George Briggs, and Bogert L. . Nutrition and Physical Fitness . Eighth. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1966. Carlson, Peggy. The Complete Vegetarian:The essential guide to good health. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2009. Guthrie , Helen. Introductory Nutrition. Fourth. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby Company, 1979. Hu, Frank. â€Å"Plant-based foods and prevention of cardiovascular disease: an overview.†The American Journal of Clincal Nutrition. N.p., 09/2003. Web. 14 May 2012. Kimball, Chad. Vegetarian Sourcebook : Basic Consumer health Information About Vegetarian Diets, Lifestyle, and Philosophy. 1st Ed. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 2002. Norris, J., and V. Messina. Vegan for life: Everything you need to know to be healthy and fit on a plant-based diet. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2011. Null, Gary. The Vegetarian Handbook: Eating right for total health. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1987.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Study case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Study case - Essay Example There is the well-recognized need to retain Vladimir, to get him to co-operate with colleagues and dispense with non-performers. Viewed from this perspective, the suggestion to bring in new talent and to put the non-performers on notice is a good strategy to reduce the negative effects of intergroup conflict. In other words, we are creating a situational change by this strategy. To make this strategy work, it is appropriate to involve him in the selection and the induction process for the new recruits. This would increase the acquaintance potential of the team and provide a chance for better appreciation of the team’s shared goal. This would be an apt recognition of Vladimir’s talents, send the right message to others, besides thrusting additional responsibility on him. The suggestion to retain 6 top performers at the end of a defined period of training of the 5 new recruits serves the dual objectives of being fair but firm with the entire team – new as well as the existing. There will be natural attrition which is always a possibility even without this strategy. By declaring the notice period and the final intentions openly, a healthy competition is being created that would raise the co-operation and performance levels in the team, and will One possible risk in this strategy is that Vladimir might become more arrogant and consider himself indispensible. However, since the attempt is to put together a much superior team, the disparity between him and others will reduce; further, he is being made responsible for his team’s performance or failure. These changes will mellow his behavior. This aspect can also be further strengthened by periodic counseling process which is so essential in any conflict
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
South Koreas Economic Indicators and Recent Growth Rate Assignment
South Koreas Economic Indicators and Recent Growth Rate - Assignment Example The growth theory places emphasis on increasing government expenditure, net exports (exports-imports) and investments which are obtained from savings. South Korea’s GDP growth levels can be traced to its increase in export levels, investment levels, and government expenditure. Therefore, the growth theory matches quite well with the economic development and growth in South Korea and its contributing factors-investment, exports and government expenditure. Rapid growth levels coincide with extensive government interventions on the economy. Economic and political policies were geared towards a free capitalistic economy with little government interference except in adjusting externalities resulting from the market failure. The political structure was also adjusted in order to support a capitalistic economy. Investment in human capital refers to investing in nutrition and health, schools and higher education, investment in children, migration, fertility rates, infant mortality rates and maternal healthcare. For example, by analyzing the infant mortality rates or literacy levels of the population, there is a clear positive correlation between an increase in the levels of literacy and infant mortality and an increase in GDP. Investing in children is particularly crucial for long-term economic growth and development of any country. Investment in human capital plays an integral role in any country’s economic growth and development. From the data, it is easy to identify the correlation between GDP and initial human and physical capital. Therefore, countries with greater human capital have greater economic growth Ceteris Paribas. The high human and physical capital levels determine the productivity levels of South Korea.
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Interview conduction and job description Research Paper
Interview conduction and job description - Research Paper Example Potential candidate must be matched against the requirements of the job. This step leads to the third step which is recording and summarizing the information of each candidate. Once the information for each candidate has been recorded, appointments of date and time for interview should be scheduled. After these steps are done, relevant potential candidates are notified about the interview time, date and place. Questions which are to be asked should be as short as possible. The questions should be framed in such a manner that they have a good mix up of both close-ended as well as open-ended questions. The questions should be specific, free from bias and ambiguity. It is necessary to draw a line between those questions which should be asked and those which should be discussed about. While conducting interviews, it is advisable for interviewer to give time to the respondent to answer the questions and be a good listener. Interviewees are also supposed to be calm and confident during interview. It is not at all necessary to panic or getting worried. (Cuomo, n.d.) Most of the interviewers waste a lot of time in filing out the applications or resumes. In some cases, it takes thirty to sixty minutes to do so. Therefore, it is necessary to shorten the applications. In order to cope up with this issue, interviewers need to allow technology for speeding up the process. Applicants can be asked to fill out their information on company’s site. (BridgeWater State University, n.d.) At the beginning of the interview, both interviewee and interviewer should have little conversation so as to relax the environment from any stress and nervousness. It is necessary to ease up the atmosphere so that there is no reluctance and hesitation between the two parties. Some casual conversation is essential to relax both, the interviewer and the interviewee. Applicants should be asked only relevant questions and unnecessary conversation must be
Monday, August 26, 2019
Week14 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Week14 - Essay Example ernational Criminal Court (ICC), Human Right Watch, The White House, among other powerful human rights organizations as well as high profile celebrities such as Winfrey Oprah, Bill Gates and Justin Bieber coming on board (Goodman and Preston par 6). While everyone seems to be in agreement that Kony’s story is both horrific and tragic, a critical evaluation of the film’s oversimplified narrative coupled with the misinterpretation of facts reveals a false sense of what it takes to make a difference in a certainly complex situation. A conditional effectiveness of a social media campaign rests upon one fundamental principle: building a real-life/off-line political community capable and committed to a common cause. Contrary to the notion created on this particular case of the Invisible Children’s KONY2012 campaign, and elsewhere as was the case with the Arab spring, the reality is that Invisible Children worked for nearly a decade to build a willingly enthusiastic network of like-minded folks capable of driving across the United States to showcase its latest films to real people in schools and churches. Similarly, effectiveness and the subsequent success of human rights and democracy campaigners in the Arab worl d (Tunisia, Egypt and Libya among others) had long learned and been hardened by decades of training in human rights and civil disobedience experiences. The protests witnessed at the Tahrir Square in Cairo, for instance, gained root not due to the Tweeter or Facebook influence, but were driven by real grievances by real people with scars of years of outright humiliation (Kersten par 4-7). The Facebook Sharing and Tweeter re-tweeting of the KONY2012 was only a symbolic action done exclusively by non-activists with a minimal effect nearing zero. Simply put, war crimes cannot be fought at the comfort of somebody’s bedroom either sleeping or sited with IPads or IPhones as proof of his/her commitment to the liberal democratic values while real issues remain
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Critical Reflections Paper Examining Social Justice and Equality Essay
Critical Reflections Paper Examining Social Justice and Equality - Essay Example This system punishes the poor by keeping them continually dependent on the system and not encouraging them to become independent. According to Hick (2002), "Income security programs are at the center of the welfare state in Canada. These programs do much more than protect the poor from destitution; income security programs are used by all sectors of society" (pp. 1-2). In Roman times, according to Myers-Lipton (2006), "with the increase in poverty in the early republic, elite society began to argue that outdoor relief was financially inefficient at best and inhumane at worst, since poor people were shuffled around from community to community" (pp. 35). Instead of shuffling the poor around, some suggestions include making the poor an integrated part of the community, giving them work through a WPA-style program that would focus on giving the homeless jobs. This would be one way of promoting a healthier and happier community. It is in this paradigm that one realizes that something must be done to arrive at a more socially just society. ... The homeless themselves feel powerless and as though they do not have choices in life. It is in this paradigm that one realizes that something must be done to arrive at a more socially just society. This includes taxing the rich at 90% as used to be the case, and requiring less from those who cannot afford to pay. Most welfare systems nowadays depend on the dependency of the person receiving welfare in order to keep afloat as a program. When welfare programs stop preying on people, there will be more just societies. Until that day of welfare reform comes to all nations, one whose focus is achieving social justice for all cannot rest. After all, how can the economically well-off person sleep at night knowing there are others out in the world who have nothing or next to nothing The simple fact is that they cannot. Once people realize their greed and heartlessness is causing them lack of sleep, they will realize they have to get out in the world and give back. Charities and other goodwill foundations need to capitalize on the fact that there are many guilty people out there. People who feel guilty about having more should feel badly about the fact that society is unjust to the poor and this should serve as a motivator to help urge people to give more to charitable programs. 3. What is the relationship between social justice, equality and human rights Social justice is the assurance that everyone in a society is receiving fair treatment. Equality is the assurance that everyone is being treated with the same measure of justice as everyone else. Human rights are those inalienable rights guaranteed to persons of governments that are based upon the British system. The relation between these three
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Introduction to linguistics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Introduction to linguistics - Research Paper Example They may express identity as well as the refinement, power and solidarity of those in communication. These are concepts that most sociolinguists are in agreement with based on studies that have been conducted on diverse populations. Address terms have been found common in greeting and addressing of persons within a social structure. There is agreement that the address terms have a significant role. This write-up seeks to explore how address terms vary with the socio strata and its significance in routine communication. Kinship, age and sex have been isolated as key variables that set hierarchal relations between interacting parties (Salifu, 2010: Yen Tran, 2010). Kinship attributes privileges and rights to one set of men in comparison to others. Older persons are perceived to have higher status than younger persons. These hierarchal tendencies can be traced to social cultural institutions and practices that include linguistic forms and behaviour. There is, therefore, need to learn ac ceptable modes of address and to refer to diversity of relationships as part of socialization (Salifu, 2010). According to Salifu (2010), seniority commands prestige, respect and positive self-image, whereas state commands respect and deference. An older person or one of higher status is speech with reference to his qualification. Chakara (1982) suggested that tone and style of any conversation is marked by the summons, greetings and forms of address which act as social selectors and controllers of interactions. The choices of social deixis chosen by a speaker depict relationship.
Organizational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7
Organizational Behavior - Essay Example In every year starting from 1970 and ending at 1979, the number of references remained 20. The number of references approximately doubled with the start of the year 1980 i.e. the number of references increased from 20 to 41. In the decade between 1980 and 1989, each year saw a total number of references of 41. The number of references did not increase from 41 until the start of the year 1990, when another 21 references were added to the total to make them 62. It is noteworthy that the addition in the number of references at the junction between the end of 1979 and the start of 1980 is exactly equal to the addition in the number of references at the interface between 1989 and 1990. Each transition was equal to the addition of 21 references to the total. Starting from the year 1990 till the year 1999, the number of references remained stable at 62. Right at the point of transition between 1999 and 2000, the number of references approximately showed a five-fold increase, thus becoming 3 00 in the year 2000 from only 62 in the year 1999. The number of references remained 300 in each year between 2000 and 2009. Overall, the increase of the number of references from 1960 to 2009 occurred in such a way that makes the pattern of stairs. Every decade from 1960 to 2009 represents one tread of the stair and every riser of this staircase is a point of transition between one decade and another. Overall, there has been an increase in the number of references from 1960 to 2009, with the number remaining constant for each decade between the two years. It is also noteworthy that the references increased by small numbers in the starting years, but suddenly shot up at the junction between the year 1999 and the year 2000. With the onset of the 21st century, there occurred an immense transition in the number of references. In just a matter of fifty years, the number of references that were non-existent in the year 1960 and remained so
Friday, August 23, 2019
Equality between sexual orientations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Equality between sexual orientations - Essay Example The Principle that all people are equal before the law is the corner stone of many societies. However, many do not follow this principle to the letter. For example, for a long time women were always regarded and given the second class status in the United States and until the 1920s, they were not entitled to vote during federal elections. Similarly, blacks in the United States had no guarantee to equal rights under the law until the passage of Civil Rights Act in 1964. The main provision of the Act stated that all persons within the Jurisdiction of USA have the same right in every state and territory. The Act gave everybody the right to enforce contracts, to sue, give evidence, and any other right that was enjoyed by the whites (David 44). The Act declared that no person in the United States shall be discriminated on the bases of race, color or nationality of Origin. According to the act, no individual shall be discriminated in or be denied the benefit of any program or activity receiving the Federal Financial assistance. This declaration of equal rights was extended to people with physical and mental impairment that substantially limits a significant life activity. This was through the enactment of people with disability Act in 1990 still in USA (Leslie 24). Nevertheless, as society tries to attain the principle of equality under the law, one significant group has been left out for a long time: lesbians and gay men. Individuals’, agencies and organizations in most places still discriminate against gay men and lesbian in housing, employment, access to public accommodations, and other fields of life on the bases of their sexuality. For instance, in many states of United State, landlords refuse to rent a house to same-sex couples simply because they are either gay or lesbians. Nevertheless, several countries including some states in the US have banned this form of discrimination that bases on sexual orientation and gender expression (David 56). Discrimination in housing, employment and access to public accommodation is seen as the three basic rights issue that concern them since they are so relevant to the daily life of every gay or lesbian. Gay and lesbian people also face discrimination from the straight people in areas such as a hate crime where crime is motivated by the virtual of the victim’s gender, race, national origin, sexual orientation or some other characteristics. Gay and lesbians further face discrimination on the issue of marriage. There has been controversy over the legality of the same sex marriage and the institution. In the developmental stages of the homosexual rights movement, few individuals would have predicted that marriage would become a significant objective of the movement. Nevertheless, there has been a lot of effort by the movement to give the gay men and lesbian the same rights associated with legal marriage that is currently available to straight people couples. The issues constitute the core of the discussion over the gay and lesbians’ rights today in many societies (John 250) The gay and lesbian rights movement that was introduced in the United States was a product of economic, social and political changes that took place in the United State in early 20th century. In the 1960s, there was the growth of Civil rights movement in the US. During this period, the first hint of the presence of
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Respect Toward Your Superiors Essay Example for Free
Respect Toward Your Superiors Essay He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded. Proverbs 13:12-14 NIV. There are only forty five instances of the word respect in the NIV bible. I try to live my life as though I were being watched by God Himself, because I believe that I am. I try, and hopefully achieve, to show respect to all people, NCOs and Officers, I even call civilians sir and maam. As a Christian I know that I am an example for God, and the only way some people will ever see God is through me; my actions and words. I know the power that God has in my life and how He would like for me to act by constantly talking to me. Some people call the voice of God their conscience, a feeling or a still, small voice that they should have listened to. My wife is a very spiritual person and hears the voice of God clearly, like a persons voice and not a still, small one. She often acts as my guide in matters that I am facing, and if I dont listen to her advice, it often ends badly. I say that to say that I once had a problem with respect and saw my superiors as only the people that they were and not the rank or position that they held. She warned me to start to treat my superiors with the respect that they get as a certain rank and not normal people; she would not have said if God had not had talked to her because she is a civilian and knows very little about the ways of the military. Respect by definition is the willingness to show consideration or appreciation. In terms of military respect, as in the LDRSHIP acronym, respect is to Treat people as they should be treated. And in the soldiers code, we swear an oath to treat others with dignity and respect while expecting others to do the same. With respect being defined so many ways, how is one to tell which to choose from? A seemingly obvious answer is the Armys way. But to those who serve a higher calling it would be Gods way, or even the non-believing military rationalists might word respect different. Though the grasp on the true definition for respect is put so many ways, it is a true attitude a person shows another in respect, regard, or preference to their grade, position, or stature. Though a person leads his/her life showing respect toward others, they may have a hard time getting the respect back from those that he/she has shown, and continues to show, the respect to. Respect should be a two-way street, in my opinion, to achieve maximum affect for all parties. Show those with the same respect that they show you is a common new military idea, to curse at if you were cursed at, to push if you were pushed. I feel that a person should get what they give; such as, if a person is constantly degrading people and belittling them, then they should not be surprised if they get the same treatment in return. On the same scale, if as a superior, you get upset with a soldier and start to disrespect them out of anger, then you should not expect to get respect in return. But my belief in Christ out rules the ways of normal behavior and thinking, I try to remain respectful even if I am being respected. Many people see it as a weakness, something to be ashamed about as a leader. I feel that it shows self control, a collectiveness that most people will neither possess nor will ever understand. A level-headedness, cool under fire sort of attitude. In this given situation, however, even if a certain person, i.e., NCO, a SSG to be exact, feels that they were disrespected because they were contacted by a certain Sgts spouse, then that SSG should have brought the issue up with that particular person in which contacted him or her. There is such a thing as free speech by the civilian sectors, not necessary in the military itself, but as a civilian they are entitled to the right of free speech. And if an alert roster is given out and the spouse has access to it, anyones individual phone number could be looked up and called. If this basic freedom were denied then we wouldnt enjoy and live in the democracy that we do today. Respect is something that everyone wants, not many have, and few want to give. Most people would appreciate just a little bit, and most should give just that. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, this does not happen. Perhaps this is because the concept of respect is not understood. What exactly is respect? To respect anything is to think it through positively and hold it in some high regard, but estimation gets us into trouble because while we sometimes win, we also sometimes lose. To respect something, on the other hand, is to accept it. The dictionary defines it yet another way as an act of giving particular attention or high or special regard. This does not explain what it is; it only outlines what it may consist of in regards to personal feelings. The word respect is very a very strong word in itself; it is a word that draws your attention from the start. But there is more to it than just being a word. There is the idea behind it, which is the beginning of many ideas and characteristics of a particular individual, group, or culture and the statement, theories, and sought understandings that forms a political, social, and economic program. By another definition, respect is to consider deserving of high or special regard. Society defines respect as the way one person or group of people treats another person or group of people and also the way they look upon those persons. We in the Army define respect as the common courtesy we give to our peers, subordinates and superiors and the way in which we carry out our orders and our duties on a daily basis within the United States Army. Respect is a common bond in todays Army because all of us are, or should be, well trained soldiers and it is a building block that our training is based upon. Respect is basically how we treat each other, the actions shown toward other people. Respect is the way in which you help others out whenever they need a hand. Respect is also the way you take the time to discipline and train your subordinates. And respect is the way you work harder than anyone and longer hours to do an excellent job for your career and your unit. These are all ways of showing respect- toward each other, our subordinates, our peers, our superiors, our unit and our country. This is the respect that we have been trained to give and which we show on a daily basis. For us serving in the military it also represents the sacrifices that we are giving for our fellow soldiers. The definition itself is all well and good, but what exactly is respect? What does it mean to me, a soldier in todays Army? Respect is something everyone is capable of achieving, but at the same time it is not just a right or privilege. It has to be earned. We as soldiers have been well trained and disciplined at respecting the ranks of superiors. But is respecting their rank or position enough? All soldiers within the Army must earn the respect of their fellow soldiers. To earn the respect of your fellow soldiers you must do many things. For your subordinates, you must be fair and just and take care of all problems that may arise. For your peers, you must be technically and tactically proficient and set the standard for both of them to follow. And for your superiors, you must accomplish the mission quickly, efficiently and sometimes even in the absence of orders. These are just small examples of the many, many things that can help you earn the respect of your fellow soldiers. The key to remember is that you must do something other than just sit around. You must earn respect and work hard to gain it. Your rank or position deserves the military honors that are presented with it, but no more. The rest is up to us as soldiers and individuals. Through our own actions we can earn the respect of fellow soldiers, and through the actions of our fellow soldiers, they will earn our respect and all that goes with it. In the Army we adhere to a standard called military bearing. Military bearing is a code of conduct in the U.S. Army, and when you come right down to it dignity is maintained in military relationships, reflective of an individuals pride in his military service and of the organization he represents. Military personnel should be courteous and controlled to show dignity as well as respect. Part of possessing dignity is to also have the ability to respect his juniors and seniors, and acknowledge the dignity of others. This sense of pride in military service is shown during work as well as when on liberty, carrying himself at all times with reverence and a proper sense of self-worth. By admiring his seniors, the individual can be guided in presenting good conduct, and can likewise demonstrate his pride and decorum to those who in turn look to him for guidance in presenting military bearing. Dignity and respect can be taught, and examples can be shown, but the willingness to present militar y bearing also comes from within, especially when showing courtesy and respect toward others. To respect others you first have to respect yourself, if you have no self esteem then you will have a hard time respecting yourself. In an Issue of Self-Respect Being a Christian has changed my perspective on the way people perceive themselves. Since becoming a Christian I have had a hard time understanding why or how a girl or guy could belittle herself by so freely giving her body to someone else. Growing up in Indiana, I witnessed this in many different ways. Whether it is a prostitute standing on the corner in the closest big city, or a good friend that sleeps around, the lack of respect these people have for themselves is very visible, and very sad. I am a very social person, and I would someday like to work as a minister of some sort, which is why I am taking the time now to try to understand the reasoning for their foolish and dangerous choices. Why do teenage boys and girls have such little respect for themselves? I am sure that each of these kids have her own theories and reasons for his or her actions. I believe the most obvious causes are; they were never taught that it was wrong, most guys treat girls with disrespect, and the fact that somebody wants them make them feel loved. Sadly enough, a girl having no respect for herself is not a new thing. Girls just arent taught that it is wrong to abuse their bodies or give away something that is supposed to be so sacred. It seems that some parents these days do not know how to handle their kids and are often too lenient with them. It also seems that role models in todays society advertise sex in subtle, yet noticeable ways. I think the media plays a huge role in the misleading of teenage minds. Entertainment, such as singers and actors are not even chosen based on talent anymore, they are hired based on the right look; it is all about sex appeal. Another obvious cause is, there are so many guys in todays society who were not raised to respect women. They think of women as sex objects, and unimportant people they can control. It is normal to be somewhat dependant on men, but women today seem to become totally reliant on men. In most cases that can be very unhealthy or dangerous. Men know these women need them, so they think they can get away with playing with their heads and their hearts. Women are under the false impression that if a man wants to sleep with her he must love her. When in reality, most men are really out to satisfy themselves. They will tell a girl whatever she wants to hear, until she falls into the trap and gives herself to him. Then he dumps her. You would think the girl would learn after being dumped, but she doesnt, she just looks to be loved by someone else. In most cases it becomes a habit and can be tough to break. Teenage girls in the world today have very little respect for themselves because they really dont know any better. They are just following the pattern that women have been following for generations. In societys eyes as well as their own they are not wrong. My desire for them is that they will be taught that they are very special and they deserve so much more than they think. I pray everyday that they will realize God loves them more than anyone ever could. They have so much to offer, if they just believe in and respect themselves. There are the beginnings of respect, starting in the classrooms of America. How does respect for your superiors begin? Many people have ideas on how to reclaim the virtue and morality that made America a great nation. However, the only sure way that everyone can achieve this goal is if parents start teaching and demonstrating respect to their kids. The dictionary defines respect as- to have regard for the quality of a person or to refrain from obtruding upon or interfering with. The problem with society today is that there is a complete lack of respect. The lack of respect is evident everywhere, people have no respect for the law, they have no respect for their peers, and they definitely do not have any respect for themselves. What parents need to do is from an early age teach their kids to respect everyone, from the person sitting next to them in school to their coworkers in the future. People do not understand how much better the nation would be if the respect was there. Even if some parents do not teach their kids this valuable trait, if enough people are taught to respect others it will catch on. In most cases, if someone shows respect to someone else, that person is more likely to respect them back; causing a chain reaction. Right now, not enough parents are teaching their kids respect and this causes violence, crimes, and can even lead to drug use. It is easy to see how these problems can be easily solved or would be nonexistent if their was respect. Violence would not be a problem, because no one would fight if they had respect for the other person. The next problem is crime. Nobody is going to steal or vandalize someones property if they respect them. One other problem is drug use, this would not be a problem is people respected themselves enough to not harm their bodies with drugs. They also would not sell drugs because selling something to someone that will harm them is not showing respect to that person. It is extremely easy to sit back and say that parents should teach respect, but it is not as easy to actually teach it. For there is really no way to teach a child to respect others. Parents can tell their children to respect others all they want, but the only way a child will actually learn respect is from observing their parents as well as others showing respect. This is why teaching respect is so difficult, even if a child sees his parents respecting others it may not be enough, the child must see other people respecting others. They must also feel that other people respect them, because if they do not get respect they will not respect anyone. This is why it is so important for everyone to show respect to everyone else, not only will kids see it, but the more respect that is shown to others the more respect that is received. For these reasons respect is the chief ingredient in reestablishing the morality and virtue that made America a great nation.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Analysis of Competition in the Technology Market
Analysis of Competition in the Technology Market EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Dells competitive advantage is their direct customer sales and customer support; this has made the company one of the leading suppliers of computer systems. Dell has a better understanding of its customers computer needs through continuous online and telephone interaction. This constant interaction drives individual and enterprise productivity. Future growth rates for the computer industry are expected to be less than previous years however, Dell can still be profitable. One of the main problems that Dell faces is the struggling United States economy which Dell has no control over. This is compounded by a saturated PC market with lower profit margins from industry price wars. Dell must focus on being a market taker, instead of trying to be a market maker. Dell needs to capitalize on their ability to enter and dominate new markets, as it did in the low-end server and workstation markets. The company must pursue an international expansion of their middle and high-end server products. T hrough the acquisition of a company like EMC Corporation Dell can pursue the external data storage market. Dell has already captured a large share of the United States market and must increase its server, storage, and service segment overseas to gain more international market share, particularly in China and Latin America. The only viable strategy in order to achieve Michael Dells goal to double Dell Computers current revenue to $60 billion by 2007 is to work on methods to improve sales in the stated new areas. A combination of service, storage and server product growth across newly established international markets is vital to achieve Dells ambitious goal. The United States economy is in a recession, but there are numerous opportunities for growth outside its borders. INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT In the early 2000s, the electronic computer industry was struggling amidst a weak economic climate that presented challenges in business and consumer markets alike. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, after a sharp increase from $56.9 billion in 1998 to $64.7 billion in 1999, electronic computer shipment values fell in 2000 to $62.9 billion. As the economy took a turn for the worse, shipment values plunged to $55.8 billion in 2001. This affected virtually every product segment within the industry, including servers and workstations. Along with values, actual unit shipments also declined, falling from 27.2 million in 2000 to 22.7 million in 2001 (XXX). In the early 2000s there were numerous factors that slowed the purchase of new computers. On September 11, 2001 the terrorist attacks crippled consumer confidence. There was also a rise in the unemployment rates and the possibility of war with Iraq. All these factors made customers content with keeping their existing computers. These s ame conditions caused a slowdown of technology spending in the corporate world too. The wave of year 2000 related new equipment purchases that took place at the end of the 1990s, as well as the availability of quality used equipment from bankrupt Internet companies in the early 2000s, also had a negative impact on the corporate market for new electronic computers. Global competition among computer makers has favored, low-cost producers, and many of these are United States firms. The four largest United States computer makers, Dell, Compaq, Hewlett- Packard, and IBM controlled approximately 40 percent of world computer shipments. In late 2000, Dell proved itself as a potent competitor by taking the title of world market leader away from Compaq. In 2002 Hewlett-Packard had acquired Compaq, in an effort to challenge Dells position. In 2005 the industry reported 2,278 companies manufacturing electronic computers, employing 90,762 people who generated some $196,557.41 million in revenue. Average sales totaled $116.4 million per company. Electronic computers represented 59.7 percent of the market, while digital personal computers garnered 23.5 percent of the market (Electronic Computers, 2007). LEADING COMPANIES DELL Dell designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells and supports information technology systems and services. The company sells its products directly to large corporate, government, healthcare, and education customers as well as small to medium businesses and individual consumers. Dell offers its products in six categories: desktop computer systems, mobility products, software and peripherals, servers and networking products and storage products. The desktop computer systems offer three product lines: Optiplex, Dimension and XPS. The company also offers Precision work stations (Galenet, 2008). The Optiplex product line is primarily for business, government, and institutional customers and the Dimension product line is for small businesses and home users. The XPS product line is for the gaming and entertainment needs of the customers. For the users that run sophisticated applications like three-dimensional computer-aided design, digital content creation, geographic information systems, computer animation, software development and financial analysis the company offers the Precision workstation. The mobility products division provides MP3 players, handhelds (Dell Axim) and three lines of notebooks (Dell XPS, Latitude and Inspiron). The XPS product line for notebooks targets customers in the gaming or entertainment segment. The Latitude product line focuses on business, government, and institutional customers, while the Inspiron product line is targeted at small businesses. Dell is a leading player in the United States and worldwide for notebook computer shipments (Company Spotlight, 2008). The software and peripheral products of Dell includes printers and displays, software, notebook accessorie s, networking and wireless products, digital cameras, power adapters, scanners and other products. The company offers variety of third party software products such as operating systems, business and office applications, anti-virus and related security software and entertainment software. The companys power edge line of server focuses on enterprise customers and small organizations. Dell is the market leader in the United States in shipments of x86 servers. Computers and servers on small to medium networks can be connected using Dells PowerConnect switches. Dell doesnt just provide products, they also offer infrastructure consulting services, deployment services, asset recovery and recycling services, training services, enterprise support services, client support services and managed lifecycle services. Through Dell Financial Services (DFS) the company can provide United States businesses financing alternatives and asset management services. HEWLETT-PACKARD Hewlett-Packard (HP) offers a complete product portfolio spanning across personal computing, imaging and printing related products and services, and technology solutions. The company operates through seven business segments: enterprise storage and servers, HP services, software, the personal systems group, the imaging and printing group, HP Financial services and corporate investments. The enterprise storage and servers, HP services and software segment are aggregated under the technology solutions group. Hewlett-Packard is headquartered in Palo Alto, California and the company operates in over 170 countries around the world. The United States is the largest geographical market, 33.4 percent of the total revenue during 2007 (Smith, 2008). Enterprise storage and servers provide storage and server products to both small and medium sized businesses. Industry standard servers include entry-level and mid-range ProLiant servers, which operate primarily on the Windows, Linux and Novell operating systems, and Intel Corporation (Intel) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) processors. The companys product lines span across pedestal-tower servers, density optimized rack servers and HPs BladeSystem family of blade servers. The technology solutions group includes enterprise storage and servers, HP services and HP software. Technology solutions group provide servers, storage, software and information technology services for enterprise and mid-market business customers to manage their current IT environments. Business critical systems include Itanium-based Integrity servers running on the HPUX, Windows, Linux and OpenVMS operating systems including the high-end Superdome servers and fault-tolerant Integrity NonStop servers. Business critical systems also include the Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC)-based servers with the HP 9000 line running on the HP-UX operating system, HP AlphaServers running on both Tru64 UNIX and Open Virtual Memory System, and MIPs-based NonStop servers. The company has planned to phase out its Alpha server product line in recent times (PCs Industry Profile, 2008). Hewlett-Packards services include technology services, consulting and integration, and outsourcing services. It serves industries such as communications, media and entertainment, manufacturing and distribution, financial services and the public sector, and government and education services. The technology services ranges from standalone product support to high availability services for multi-vendor environments and business continuity and recovery services. The consulting and integration segment provided consulting and integration services to implement technology and industry-specific solutions for customers. Outsourcing services provides IT management and outsourcing to support infrastructure, applications, business processes, end user workplace, print environment, and business continuity and recovery requirements. HP Software provides management software solutions including support, that allow enterprise customers to manage their IT infrastructure, operations, applications, IT services and business processes under the brand, HP OpenView. It also delivers comprehensive, carrier-grade software platforms for developing and deploying next generation voice, data and converged services to network and service providers under the HP OpenCall brand. Hewlett Packard acquired Mercury Interactive Corporation, Bristol Technologies, SPI Dynamics and Opsware in fiscal 2007, which added transaction monitoring, applications security testing and data center automation capabilities to its portfolio. Personal systems group (PSG) is one of the leading providers of personal computers (PCs) in the world based both on volume and annual revenue. Its product line includes commercial PCs, consumer PCs, workstations, handheld computing devices, digital entertainment systems, calculators and other related accessories, and software and services. Workstations are individual computing products designed for users demanding enhanced performance such as computer animation, engineering design and other programs requiring high-resolution graphics. HP provides workstations that run on UNIX, Windows and Linux-based operating systems. Hewlett-Packard is the leading imaging and printing systems provider in the world. The segments portfolio of offerings includes consumer and commercial printer hardware, printing supplies, printing media and scanning devices. The HP Financial services provide financial service to small and medium size businesses. It also offers leasing, financing, utility programs and asset recovery services, financial asset management services for large global and enterprise customers. This group provides innovative and customized services to counter technology obsolescence. ACER Acer functions in the manufacture and sale of IT products, and provision of computer software and maintenance services. The company operates in Taiwan, Europe, Asia, and North America. The company operates through a single business segment and sells Acer branded desktop personal computers (PCs), notebook PCs, and other related information technology (IT) products and services. Acers IT product range includes computer system (desktops, notebooks, handhelds, and tablets), servers and storage products, monitors (cathode ray tube and liquid crystal display), peripherals, projectors, internet appliances and personal multimedia, and digital still cameras (DSC). Acer provides a commercial and consumer series desktop. The commercial series desktops include Veriton and AcerPower brands and the consumer series include the Aspire brand. The company provides four series of notebooks: Aspire series, TravelMate series, Tablet PC series, and Ferrari series. The Tablet series is Acers latest high-mobility solution, which easily converts between notebook and slate modes. Acers servers and storage products are sold under the brand name Altos and Acer. Acers services are based on the MegaMicro business model, which is defined by the company as a mega infrastructure that supports micro services. The services offered include e-Enabling Services Business, enabling Information Platform Services, and Enterprise e-Caring Services. The companys e-Enabling offerings combine Acers IT products and services, and are delivered through the companys infrastructure. (Acer.com, 2008) APPLE Apple is one of the major providers of personal computers, portable digital music players, and mobile communication devices. Apple designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers and related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions. The company also designs, develops, and markets a line of portable digital music players along with related accessories and services including the online distribution of third-party music, audio books, music videos, short films, and television shows. The company sells its products worldwide through online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, and third-party wholesalers and resellers. Acer is managed on a basis of geographic segments. The company operates through four operating segments: the Americas, Europe, Japan, and retail. The Americas segment includes both North and South America. The Europe segment includes European countries as well as the Middle East and Africa. Each reportable geographic operating segment provides the same kind of hardware and software products and services. The retail segment currently operates Apple-owned retail stores in the United States, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The company has 174 retail stores in the United States and 23 stores in Canada, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Apples Desktops product line includes iMac, eMac, Mac mini, Power Mac, Mac Pro, and Xserve. Portables include MacBook, iBook, MacBook Pro, and PowerBook. iPod products include iTunes Store and iPod services, and the companys own and third party iPod accessories. Other music related products and services include hardware accessories of the company and third parties, wireless connectivity and networking solutions. Software services comprise Apple branded operating system and application software, third party software, AppleCare, and Internet services. COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT The threat of new entrants into PC market is moderate, a compromise between high brand recognition in the market and strong market growth. The new web enabled mobile phones and games consoles fill the needs of some buyers as well as PCs making the threat of substitutes moderate. Rivalry within the market is moderate, as large competitors are faced with relatively high exit barriers, but still enjoying strong growth that leaves plenty of expansion room for all players. There is product differentiation within the market in terms of technical specification, styling, and support services offered, leading to decrease buyer power. However, there is little differentiation in the underlying architecture, with even Apple recently moving to the use of Intels x86 processors. This pushes the market towards commodification and strengthens buyer power. Buyer power can also be increased if more technology savvy people build their own computer. This requires special knowledge and is only a valid alt ernative to a small portion of the customer base. Buyer power overall remains moderate. Supplier power is low because PC manufactures do not incur a significant cost when switching suppliers. However, Intel has strong supplier power due to its brand recognition of its products and use in the vast majority of PCs on the markets. Microsoft also has strong supplier power as a result of their dominance in the operating systems market. The overall supplier power is strong. The threat of substitutes within the PC market is moderate, with much of the functionality of modern PCs being unavailable through alternative means. However, one of the largest threats to the consumer PC market lies within the sphere of gaming, especially with respect to the next generation games consoles, whose increased specifications are attracting gamers away from the PC format. Mobile phones and similar hand-held devices with email and web browser capability can also replace much of the communication role of PCs. The major PC manufacturers are relatively large companies. Some are strongly focused on the PC market (e.g. Lenovo), others have broadly diversified businesses (e.g. Sony), and so that on average the importance of the PC market to its players is moderate. COMPANY SWOT DELL Strengths Despite losing market share to Hewlett-Packard Company in the recent past, Dell continues to remain a strong player in the computer hardware segment. In the computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing industry in the United States, Dell was in the second place behind the Hewlett-Packard Company. In the computer and computer peripheral equipment and software wholesalers industry in the United States, Dell was in the first place with a market share of 6.5 percent. Dell is also one of the leading players in the global servers segment. The company has a strong market position in the storage segment owing to its partnership with EMC. The companys Asia Pacific-Japan segment has reported strong performance in recent three years. The revenue of this segment increased from $5,465 million in fiscal 2005 to $7,358 million in fiscal 2007, an increase of 34.6 percent over 2005. All product categories in this region experienced revenue growth during fiscal 2007 and fiscal 2006. The company has a wide product portfolio, comprising desktops, notebooks, servers, storage products, networking, printers, ink and toner, televisions, software and accessories. Dell has formed partnerships to strengthen its presence in areas where it is weak. A wide portfolio of products has helped the company provide bundled offerings to customers. Weaknesses Dell has weak internal controls. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) started an investigation into the accounting and financial reporting matters at Dell, in August 2005. In 2006 The company announced that its Audit Committees investigation had identified a number of accounting errors, evidence of misconduct, and deficiencies in the financial control environment. The company has had to recall several products in the recent past owing to quality issues. In August 2006, the company announced the recall of 4.1 million notebook batteries owing to fire risk. These Dell branded batteries were based on cells of Sony. The company also recalled several other products in previous years owing to quality problems, including AC Adapters and printers. Opportunities Dell has acquired new companies in 2007 and also plans to go in for acquisitions in the future. In July 2007, Dell entered into an agreement to acquire privately-held SilverBack Technologies, a service delivery platform provider for remote monitoring and management of information technology infrastructure such as servers, storage, networks, desktops and notebooks. In the following month, Dell entered into an agreement to acquire ZING Systems, a private consumer technology and services company that focuses on always-connected audio and entertainment devices. This acquisition enables Dell to use ZINGs capabilities to continue improving the entertainment experiences it provides its customers. In November 2007, the company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire EqualLogic, (Dell.com, 2008) a provider of high-performance iSCSI storage area network (SAN) solutions optimized for virtualization. The global Personal Computer (PC) market generated total revenues of $163.8 billion in 2006, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3 percent for the period spanning from 2002 to 2006. Desktop sales proved the most lucrative for the global PC market in 2006, generating total revenues of $123.1 billion, equivalent to 66.9 percent of the markets overall value. In comparison, sales of Laptops generated revenues of $60.9 billion in 2006, accounting for 33.1 percent of the markets aggregate revenues. The company is entering into new retail agreements to enable consumers to have greater access to Dell products. In September 2007, the company partnered with Gome, Chinas largest consumer electronics retailer to reach millions of in-store computer buyers and to sell the companys latest products through it. In October 2007, Staples and Dell signed an agreement which allows customers to have the option to buy at 1,400 Staples stores for a wide collection of Dell notebook and desktop computers, monitors, printers, ink and toner (Dell.com, 2007). Threats The electronics manufacturing industry is struggling to compete with the black market, parallel import, and smuggled goods. Some countries like China represented an overwhelming 81 percent of the total value of seized goods in 2006. With an increase in the number of counterfeit products being manufactured in China, the company faces serious threats in most of its market segments. These products, although of poorer quality in most cases, are considerably cheaper and may affect the revenue of the company in the long run. Dells failure to comply with new environmental legislation could result in significant penalties and liabilities. Restriction of Hazardous Substances (ROHS) Directive, effective as of July 2006, imposes restrictions on the use of six hazardous materials. Although the company uses a number of third party manufacturers, it will continue to bear responsibility for compliance with the ROHS directive. The European Union has also enacted the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive which makes producers of electrical goods, including computers and printers, financially responsible for specified collection, recycling, treatment, and disposal of past and future covered products. The United States and Eurozone are two important markets for Dell. The recent turmoil in financial markets, the very weak housing market indicators and consumer sentiments, the growth projection for the United States and the United Kingdome has slowed. Economic slowdown in the United States and Eurozone could lead to less IT spending, which in turn would adversely affect demand for the companys products. HEWLETT-PACKARD Strengths Hewlett-Packard has a strong market position in most of its product segments. The company has a leading market position in the global PC market in terms of shipments. Hewlett-Packard seized market leadership from Dell in the global PC market in 2006 and managed to sustain it in 2007 with 19 percent market share. The company is the second largest entity in the servers market behind International Business Machines (IBM), with its server range extending from low-end systems to high-end systems. In particular, the company is the market leader in x86 Blade and UNIX based servers. Hewlett-Packard has a leading market position in printers. Hewlett-Packard has reported strong financials in recent years. The company has reduced its long-term debt over the last few years from $6,494 million in 2003 to $4,997 million in 2007. Hewlett-Packards long-term debt ratio stood at 0.1 for the fiscal year ended October 2007. The strong financial position provides the company the flexibility of expanding its geographical coverage and product portfolio through organic and inorganic initiatives. Hewlett-Packard also has high brand equity. The company is one of the leading brands in the technology sector along with Microsoft, IBM and Intel. Hewlett-Packard markets several products such as personal computers, inkjet printers and digital cameras to consumers. A strong brand image plays a critical role in consumer markets. Weaknesses Hewlett-Packard has weak internal controls. The company is being investigated by a number of agencies for employing questionable methods to identify the board member, who was leaking confidential information to the media (Los Angeles Times, 2006). The company is accused of using private agencies, which used illegal methods such as imitation to obtain the phone records of its board members and select journalists. Hewlett-Packard lacks in-house management consulting division. Instead the company has formed partnerships with the likes of Accenture and Capgemini to provide management consulting services to its customers. Increasing number of IT services companies are establishing management consulting divisions in order to provide a more comprehensive and integrated range of services. The research and development expenditure of Hewlett-Packard has remained flat in recent years. The company invested $3,643 million in research and development in each year of 2006 and 2007 compared with $3,492 million in 2005. Research and development as a percentage of revenues declined over the last three years from 4 percent in 2005 and 3.9 percent in 2006 to 3.5 percent in 2007 (HP.com, 2007). Opportunities Hewlett-Packard has undertaken an ambitious revamp of its IT operations, which it hopes will not only improve its effectiveness but also serve as a showcase for its technological capabilities. Hewlett-Packard has taken up five classes of IT initiatives: portfolio management, IT workforce effectiveness, world-class IT, enterprise data warehouse and global data centers. The portfolio management initiatives of the company include reducing active projects from 1,200 to 500 and reducing the number of applications. For improving IT workforce, the company is reducing its IT core sites from 100 to 29 among other initiatives. The company is focused on extending its leadership in imaging and printing. HP acquired Snapfish, online photo service, to dominate the sharing and printing of digital images over the internet. Hewlett-Packard is expanding Snapfish in Europe and Asia. Threats Hewlett-Packard faces intense competition in all its business segments in terms of price, quality, brand, technology, reputation, distribution, range of products etc. The company faces stiff competition in the PC market. The company has become the market leader in the PC segment in the third and fourth quarter of 2006, sending Dell to the number two position. Acers acquisition of Gateways has made it the third largest PCs supplier in the world. In some regions, the company faces competition from local companies and from generically-branded or white box manufacturers. In the printer supplies segment, Hewlett-Packard competes with re-manufacturers including private label brand stores such as Office Max, supply stores such as Cartridge world, internet vendors and original equipment manufacturers such as Lexmark. The European markets and the United States economy are forecast to decline in coming years. The unemployment rate in the United Kingdom is also forecast to grow in 2008. Risi ng interest rates and increasing unemployment would negatively affect the consumer spending in the United Kingdom. ACER Strengths Acer has robust market position in the global PC and notebook markets. In 2008, the company was ranked as the third largest player in the global PC market with a market share of 12.8 percent. Acer was ranked the second largest in the global notebook market with a share of 19.6 percent. The company was ranked the third largest player in the United States PC market and notebook market. In September 2008, the company completed acquisition E-Ten Information Systems (Acer-group.com, 2008). The acquisition helped the company to strengthen its position in handheld devices, including smartphones and GPS devices. Acer also purchased Packard Bell in 2008. In 2007 the company purchased one of the largest PC companies in the United States, Gateway. The successful mergers of Gateway and Packard Bell helped the company to strengthen its presence in the United States and enabled deeper penetration into the European and Asian markets. These acquisitions helped the company in generating increasing re venues from non-Taiwan markets. Weaknesses Acer is significantly dependent on Europe for its revenues. In FY2008 and FY2007, the company generated around 51 percent of its total revenues from Europe. Europe is experiencing a slowdown in the recent periods. The United Kingdom economy is forecast to be weak in the coming years. The companys high dependence on Europe makes its operations vulnerable to fluctuations in Europe economy. Opportunities The smartphone market is expected to grow in the coming years. It is anticipated that the smartphone market will grow by 15 percent every year for the next three to five years. The value of the global smartphone market is also expected to be more than $95 billion, representing 47 percent of the total handset market value in 2013. Acer is well-positioned in this segment. The growing smartphone market will provides the company an opportunity to increase its revenues in the coming years. Despite the slowdown in the overall PC market, the netbooks/mini-notebooks sales are forecast to grow in near term. The netbook market experienced a robust growth in 2008 and is forecast to grow about 68.5 percent in shipments. Acer offers netbooks under its four brands: Acer, Gateway, Packard Bell and eMachines. Acer has upgraded its products in the recent times. In September 2008, Acer along with its partners introduced Acer-Hitachi SMS 100, a storage product designed for the needs of small and medium sized businesses. The product offers enterprise class features and does not require specific storage experience to be installed and can be connected to any server through an ethernet network. Acer also launched the Aspire M7200 desktop PC targeting multimedia home-users looking for a powerful multi-tasking system, with plenty of expansion and customization capabilities Threats Acer competes with several large branded as well as smaller branded and generic companies. The company faces severe competition from branded competitors such as Apple, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard. The note book segment has also attracted competition from nontraditional players. Intense competition in the PC segment may erode the companys margins and reduce its market share. Acer has been part of several patent law suits in the recent periods. In 2007, HP filed a suit against Acer alleging that Acer and its United States subsidiary have knowingly infringed on five HP patents related to PCs. This has raised HPs recent patent claims against Acer to 10. However in 2008, Acer settled all ongoing patent litigations with HP. Acer operates in various countries worldwide, and is exposed to risk from changes in foreign currency rates. The company derived about 95.3 percent of sales from customers outside Taiwan in FY2008. The consolidated companies record transactions in their respective func tional currencies, which generally are the local currency of the primary economic environment in which these entities operate. APPLE Strengths Apple enjoys a high level of brand awareness and brand recognition for its products throughout the markets in which it operates. Apple leverages its brand image to differentiate its product offering and drive sales. The companys strong brand enables it t
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Recruitment And Selection Policies For Companies Management Essay
Recruitment And Selection Policies For Companies Management Essay In order to compete successfully in a global market, more companies are beginning to focus on the role of human resources, most importantly on recruitment and selection as a critical part of their core competence and a source of competitive advantage. A good recruitment is very essential for an effective human resource management. According to Sparrow and Hiltrop (1994), the effectiveness of many other human resource activities, such as selection and training, depends largely on the quality of new employees attracted through the recruitment process. Also, Sparrow (2006) pointed out that the challenges for HR business partners in handling recruitment for an international organisation vary in each country, but a common need is the question of how to ensure rigour and consistency across operations in very different cultures, business markets and labour markets. 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Hiring competent individuals has always been and will always be of paramount importance to business organisations, which is highly dependent on the recruitment and selection, which aims to attract and retain high-quality individuals in order to achieve continued success within the organisations. The importance of recruitment and selection should never be ignored. One of the earliest management writers, Taylor F.W (1911) complained about the typical way individuals were selected based on who you knew or who was first in the queue. Taylor introduced the idea that people should be selected for their skills and abilities, which should be tested before the selection decision. Due to the increase in internalisation, HR departments of multinational companies have put so much importance on the recruitment and selection of their staff, primarily because recruitment and selection is involved in making future predictions about future behaviour, so that decisions can be made about who will be most suitable for a particular job. 1.2 AIMS/OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY I aim to analyse the recruitment and selection policies of Ernst Young (EY) and KPMG in their different subsidiaries which are Nigeria and Sierra Leone, and to build the concepts on human resource management literature, which will help me to analyse what these companies did well? What these companies did badly? How these companies can be improved? What lessons we can learn from these companies? Would the recruitment and selection methods change overtime for Ernst Young Nigeria and KPMG Sierra Leone in the likely future?. 1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The importance of this study/paper is to explain and persuade my readers on the importance of an effective recruitment and selection policies from my analysis of Ernst Young Nigeria and KPMG Sierra Leone. 1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY According to Lee (1989) research is a systematic quest for undiscovered knowledge. The result of the pursuit of this knowledge is known as research. I would be carrying out a case study on Ernst Young and KPMG in their foreign subsidiaries; which are Nigeria and Sierra Leone and to carry out an analysis on the recruitment and selection policies used. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW There are many previous studies and literature concerning recruitment and selection, this review will aim to expand on these and use the concepts of human resource management literature to offer a diverse understanding. Recruitment is defined as searching for and obtaining potential job candidates in sufficient numbers and quality so that the organisation can select the most appropriate people to fill its job needs. Selection is the process of gathering information for the purposes of evaluating and deciding who should be employed in particular jobs. With that said, every organisation has to recruit workers, select them, pay them, and also motivate them and in the long run eventually arrange for their retirement or departure. However, things are done differently in different countries; not only do they have different cultures (the foreign subsidiaries am analysing are Nigeria and Sierra Leone which are Wes-African countries), they also operate with different educated and skilled workforces, and in different economic situations, with different labour laws, government support or control and so on. Recruitment and selection vary across different countries, in HRM there are the concepts of international and comparative human resource management, and there is a distinction between Comparative HRM and International HRM which was made clear by Boxall (1995). Comparative human resource management explores the extent to which HRM differs between different countries or between different areas within a country or different regions of the world (Brewster and Larsen, 2000). Comparative human resource management is telling us that employment systems differ noticeably between countries and that managing human resources has to vary from country to country. 2.1 INTERNATIONAL HRM In international HRM, which is the basis of this paper, primarily because it seeks to understand the approaches used in the management of employees by multinational companies in their subsidiaries. For these international organisations, human resource management is a key to success. International HRM examines the way organisations manage their human resources across these different national contexts. According to Brewster and Lee (2006), international organisations have employees who work across national borders. In international HRM, there are staffing issues that internationalizing companies encounter that are either not present in a domestic environment, or are complicated by the international context in which these human resource activities take place and how subsidiaries respond. There are four (4) main approaches in which multinational companies deal with the management of employees in their foreign subsidiaries, these approaches were developed in the international business strategy literature which focused on human resource management and was carried out by Perlmutter (1969) and Heenan Perlmutter (1979) these approaches are; Ethnocentric, Polycentric, Regiocentric and Geocentric approaches. In the Ethnocentric Approach; in this approach the strategic decisions are made at headquarters, few foreign subsidiaries have any autonomy. Key positions at the foreign operations are held by headquarters management personnel, this type of approach is common at the early stages of internationalisation because of the need to maintain good communication, co-ordination, and control links with corporate headquarters, subsidiaries are usually managed by expatriates from the parent country (PCNs). A common disadvantage to this approach is that the workers of the host country nationals (HCNs) feel inferior or cheated to the workers of the parent country nationals (PCNs) when salaries, compensation packages, company bonuses are compared. In the Polycentric Approach; in this approach the multinational company treats each subsidiary as a distinct national entity with some decision-making autonomy. Subsidiaries are usually managed by local nationals (HCNs) who are rarely promoted to positions at headquarters. Likewise parent country nationals (PCNs) are rarely transferred to foreign subsidiary operation. In this approach, there is continuity to the management of foreign subsidiaries, which avoids the turnover of key managers that, by its very nature results from an ethnocentric approach. However, the major difficulty with this approach is that of bridging the gap between the host country national (HCN) subsidiary managers and parent country national (PCN) managers at corporate headquarters. This approach will be further analysed in chapter 3. In the Regiocentric Approach; this approach is a reflection of the geographic strategy and structure of the multinational. Personnel may move outside their countries but generally only within a particular geographic region (e.g. Europe or Asia Pacific). In this approach, regional managers may not be promoted to headquarters position but enjoy a degree of regional autonomy in decision-making. In the Geocentric Approach; the multinational companies takes a worldwide stance in respect of its operations, it recognises that each part makes a unique contribution with its overall competence. It is usually accompanied by a worldwide integrated business, and nationality is ignored in favour of ability. Here, parent country nationals (PCNs), host country nationals (HCNs) and third country nationals (TCNs) can be found in key positions anywhere of the multinational, including those at the senior management level at headquarters, subsidiaries and on the board of directors. A common disadvantage to this approach is that it can be expensive to implement because it leads to an increase in training of workers and also the issue of relocation costs. The above literature illustrates the four (4) different approaches used by multinationals in the management of their employees in foreign subsidiaries, some authors believe the polycentric approach to be very global, in that, subsidiary managers are responsible for their own strategy and co-ordination is needed across multiple dimensions. However, there are critics such as Mayrhofer and Brewster (1996) who argue that the vast majority of firms are ethnocentric. These four (4) approaches provide an understanding of international human resource management (IHRM) within an organisation. 2.2 COMPARATIVE HRM There are also two (2) approaches to research and thinking in the field of HRM; due to the issue regarding whether HR practices can be transferred, these approaches are; the Universalist and the Contextual or in the terms of this chapter, the comparative (Brewster, 1999). These two (2) approaches are also reflected in the debate between the two (2) schools of thought that contest the notion of convergence. Some researchers argue that even when there are differences, they are reducing as the notion of globalisation becomes more established and societies are moving towards each other in the way they do things, also including the way they manage their human resources. Other researchers argue that there is little evidence of such a moving together and that, in fact, societies remain steadfastly different and even unique. The Universalist approach is very dominant in the USA but is widely used elsewhere. The main aim of the Universalist approach is to improve organisational performance and to achieve organisational goals in HRM, and in particular strategic human resource management (SHRM). The major problem with this approach, is that it operates only at the level of organisation, ignoring policy at the national or international level and because is dominant in the USA it therefore, pertains more to the USA and in reality, it fails to provide insights to different countries in their practice of HRM. In contrast, the Contextual approach or comparative searches for an overall understanding of what is contextually unique and why. It is more focused on understanding what is different between and within HRM in various contexts and what led to those differences. Most researchers working in this paradigm believe that it is the explanation that matters, any link to firm performance is secondary. Contextualist researchers study the importance of such factors as culture, ownership structures, labour market and so on which are the aspects of the subject rather than external influences upon it. At this point, is important to know that neither approach is right nor wrong, both approaches, and the others that exist in other parts of the world, have a contribution to make. However, in practice there are often debates between the different approaches used to understand the nature of human resource management. 2.3 DUNNING ECLECTIC THEORY From the concept of international HRM literature, we understand the four (4) approaches in which multinational companies manage their employees in foreign subsidiaries, however, to understand why these multinational companies decided to set up in foreign subsidiaries, can be better understood with the Dunnings Eclectic theory (Dunning, 1992) which usually involves an arising need to establish a corporate culture in their subsidiaries and also most importantly, to transfer knowledge from the parent country national (PCNs) to the host country national (HCNs) and third country national (TCNs) which involves the need for expatriates (number of people who are sent by multinational companies on foreign assignments on a short or long period of time). The Dunnings Eclectic theory explains the roles of expatriates, which are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To secure transfer of technology positions, as companies send the expatriates abroad in order to transfer their technology to the foreign subsidiary i.e. in countries where qualified people are not available, companies send the parent country nationals (PCNs) to fill out the positions. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To secure the headquarter control, where the multinational companies can exercise this control by using the parent country nationals (PCNs) in their foreign subsidiaries. In such situations firms try to incorporate the headquarters culture into the foreign operations, which in some cases may create cultural problems. Especially when multinationals tend to demand administrative and financial control in their foreign operations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ It leads to an opportunity for international experience or management development, several firms find international experience highly important before promoting their employees. Foreign transfers are here important in order to learn foreign cultures and environments. In such situations qualified host country nationals (HCNs) are available but managers are still transferred to foreign subsidiaries to acquire knowledge and skills. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To help in organizational development, this could be called the Geocentric approach. This role is performed only by the best people at the best places without nationality barriers. Transfers can take place from headquarters to subsidiaries, from subsidiaries to headquarters, or from subsidiaries to subsidiaries. Nationality of employees does not matter in this situation, as the objective of this staffing strategy is to get to know about different cultures, create international networks, decentralization, and interaction between managers of different nationalities. In general, this strategy is mostly followed by larger global companies. However, multinational companies are increasingly adopting a strong global mindset and reducing the number of expatriates that are usually sent on foreign operations, which is usually costly for the multinational companies. Interestingly, multinational companies are beginning to recruit and select more of the local talents in their foreign subsidiaries and also ensuring that the top management in their foreign subsidiaries understand the headquarters desires and corporate vision and making sure it conforms in line with the headquarters. CHAPTER 3 ANALYTICAL THEORY In order to ensure successful business management, leading companies and organizations are implementing new policies, standards, procedures, ensuring space for new organisational cultures, business models, new projects and products. Yet, managing human resources is more challenging than we may even expect or even imagine and also, most importantly recruiting and selecting the right quantity and quality of staff into an organisation. The following analysis shall focus on the recruitment and selection of Ernst Young and KPMG in their foreign subsidiaries which are Nigeria and Sierra Leone. 3.1 ERNST YOUNG IN FOREIGN SUBSIDIARY- NIGERIA Ernst Young (EY) Quality In Everything We do is ranked as one of the largest professional services in the world and one of the big four (4) auditors. Ernst Young which was founded in 1989 due to a global merger between Ernst Whinney and Arthur Young, however, its individual components can be traced back to 1849. Its global headquarters is located in London, United Kingdom in the region of Europe, furthermore, Ernst Young is a global industry which offers these professional services; audit, tax, financial advisory and consultancy to their clients. Ernst Young (EY) Nigeria was set up in the year 1991, and has been in Nigeria for twenty-one (21) years. Ernst Young is one of the largest firms of chartered accountants and business advisers in Nigeria. Their clients include many multinational companies from all sectors of business. The firm also serves an impressive array of middle market and privately held companies, this structure allows Ernst Young Nigeria to be very responsive to both established businesses and emerging and developing businesses. Ernst Young Nigeria provides four (4) principal services to their clients; Advisory, Audit, Tax and Transaction services. As at time of writing this paper, Ernst Young Nigeria has a staff of 260 people including sixteen (16) partners, these partners are both Nigerians and Expatriates, the firm is administered by the Partners who occupy key positions in the firm and are responsible for making decisions on the strategic direction of the firm. The objective of the recruitment and selection policies of Ernst Young Nigeria is: To recruit and select people according to merit (quality of being particularly good or worthy) so as to ensure efficiency and effectiveness and also that the right people (in terms of qualification and experience) occupy the right positions at Ernst Young Nigeria. This objective has helped Ernst Young Nigeria recruit and select the best type of applicants into their organisation. The reasons for recruiting at Ernst Young Nigeria is either to fill a vacancy i.e. replace a member of staff who has resigned or to bring in a new member of staff to ease the workload in the team. There are various factors which usually affect the design and implementation of recruitment and selection policies of any organisation. As expected the problems encountered during the design and implementation of the recruitment and selection policies of Ernst Young Nigeria is not for public knowledge. However, I am very certain Ernst Young Nigeria faced some challenges in the design and implementation of their recruitment and selection policies at the initial stage such as total lack of knowledge of the labour market and also an important issue of corruption which seems to be crippling the Nigerian economy. 3.2 RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION POLICIES OF ERNST YOUNG IN NIGERIA This is carried out differently depending on the category of staff required, which are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Professionals These categories of staff are recruited either into the Audit, Advisory or Tax Departments. The three (3) different departments have different skill requirements. Application letters and CVs are lodged by applicants and are reviewed based on the different qualifications required by each department. The minimum qualification for this category is a first degree in any field, also, professional qualifications such as ACCA, CIMA or a Masters degree is usually an added advantage. After the recruitment process is carried out, the selection is carried out which is in form of an interview, an interview is conducted by either a Business Unit leader or Manager and the HR Head of Ernst Young Nigeria, to find out more about the individual and their experience, the chosen applicants are assessed during the interview to know if they have excellent communications skills. Depending on the position being interviewed for, applicants may be asked to answer a written test. If the candidate is found sui table, a second interview is arranged with the prospective Partner during which a discussion on the salary and terms of conditions of service for the position are also discussed. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Trainees Prospective Trainee Accountants send their applications and CVs throughout the year to the company. These application letters are reviewed by members of the Human Resource department and applicants are short-listed if they meet Ernst Young (Nigeria) requirements which are as follows: i. Applicants must be aged a maximum of 25 if they are yet to start the professional examinations. ii. Applicants should preferably be graduates with good degrees; non-graduates are considered if they have started the professional exams already with good results. Applications are short-listed based on the above-mentioned criteria. Short-listed applicants are invited for a two (2) hour psychometric test. Those applicants who pass the test, are then selected and invited for an interview, this interview is conducted by a minimum of two (2) people including the HR Head and an Audit Manager. Applicants are expected to portray a commitment to the professional course they are pursuing with the intention of qualifying within the shortest possible time. This interview assesses the candidates communication skills, intelligence, and confidence. The interviewers must also be convinced that the candidate has the personality to fit into the Ernst Young Nigerias structure. Thereafter, a training program is run for Trainee Accountants by three (3) Audit professionals to get them familiarized with Ernst Young Audit methodology. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Interns As part of Ernst Young Nigerias co-operate responsibilities, they offer internships/placement for graduates from recognized universities and polytechnics within Nigeria. This program should be over within three (3) months. To be eligible for the Internship Program, candidates must be in their third (3) year and possess a good predicated grade in their undergraduate degree with plans to pursue a career in audit, tax or advisory services. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Administrators à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Secretaries For the administrative staff and secretaries at Ernst Young Nigeria, an informal method of recruitment is usually used through the form of personal recommendation, often referred to as word of mouth. Those applicants who are suitable are then interviewed by the HR head, which is a very common form of selection. Thereafter, an appointment letter is sent to the suitable candidate detailing the terms and conditions of service and the salary attached to the position. The employee is required to return a signed copy of this agreement on commencement of work. 3.3 RESULTS FROM ANALYSIS From the overall framework, structure and organisation of Ernst Young Nigeria, I would say the management and staffing of employees in this subsidiary is using the Geocentric approach due to the fact that key positions at the subsidiary (EY Nigeria) are occupied by nationals of the host country (HCNs) and nationals of the Parent country (PCNs) who are all highly competent employees. The Regiocentric approach is also used by Ernst Young Nigeria reasons being that some staff are transferred within the same geographic region; some of the staff at Ernst Young Nigeria are from other African countries specifically from Ghana, South Africa all within the same geographic region. Ernst Young Nigeria commonly uses the internet method of recruitment; this method ensures a large pool of applicants, from which the best applicants are selected from. However, I disagree with this method of recruitment for a country like Nigeria, because Nigeria does not yet have a truly web coverage, therefore, people dont usually have access to the internet to apply for these jobs, and sometimes come across these jobs after the closing dates. For the recruitment of the Trainee Accountants into Ernst Young Nigeria, one of the criteria is that applicants should be a maximum of 25years; I frown upon this criterion because it is indirect age discrimination and should not be practiced, this cannot be present in Ernst Youngs headquarters due to the government legislation which frowns against any form of age discrimination. 3.4 KPMG IN FOREIGN SUBSIDIARY- SIERRA LEONE KPMG (cutting through complexity) is ranked as one of the largest professional services in the world and one of the big four (4) auditors. KPMG is a merger of Peat Marwick International and Klynveld Main Goerdeler this merger was established in 1987, in consonance with a decision of the international council to have all affiliate firms adapt the name to underscore the advisory functions of this world-wide firm. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen; Netherland in the region of Europe, KPMG is a global industry which offers these professional services; audit, tax and advisory. Its advisory services are further divided into three service groups- Management Consulting, Risk Consulting, and Transaction Restructuring. KPMG Sierra Leone was established in the 1930s by Edward Casselton Elliot but was not known as KPMG. It was called Peat Marwick Casselton Elliot and CO and has been in Sierra Leone for about 80 years. KPMG is the largest firm of chartered accountants and business advisers in Sierra Leone. Their clients include many multinational companies from all sectors of business. The firm also serves an impressive array of middle market and privately held companies, this structure allows KPMG Sierra Leone to be very responsive to both established businesses and emerging and developing businesses. KPMG Sierra Leone provides three (3) principal services to their clients; Audit, Taxation and Advisory services. As at time of writing this paper, KPMG Sierra Leone has a staff of 120 people including three (3) partners namely; Vidal T.O. Decker (Senior Managing Partner), Claudius Williams-Tucker (Tax Peoples partner) and Derrick Kawaley (Audit partner) all nationals of Sierra Leone, the firm is admin istered by the Partners who occupy key positions in the firm and are responsible for making decisions on the strategic direction of the firm. The objective of the recruitment and selection policies of KPMG Sierra Leone is: To recruit and select people according to set competencies, competencies are defined as a combination of behaviours, knowledge, skills and personality attributes. This objective has helped KPMG Sierra Leone recruit and select the best type of applicants into their organisation. The reason for recruiting at KPMG Sierra Leone is either to fill a vacancy i.e. replace a member of staff who has resigned or to bring in a new member of staff to ease the workload in the team. There are various factors which usually affect the design and implementation of recruitment and selection policies of any organisation. As expected the problems encountered during the design and implementation of the recruitment and selection policies of KPMG Sierra Leone is not for public knowledge. However, I am very certain KPMG Sierra Leone faced some challenges in the design and implementation of their recruitment and selection policies at the initial stage such as total lack of knowledge of the labour market. 3.5 RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION POLICIES OF KPMG IN SIERRA LEONE This is carried out differently depending on the category of staff required, which are: Professionals These categories of staff are recruited either into the Audit, Advisory or Tax Departments. The three (3) different departments have different skill requirements. Application letters and CVs are lodged by applicants and are reviewed based on the different qualifications required by each department. The minimum qualification for this category is a first degree in any field, also, professional qualifications such as ACCA, CIMA or a Masters degree is usually an added advantage. After the recruitment process is carried out, the selection is carried out which is in form of an interview, an interview is conducted by either a Business Unit leader or Manager and the HR Head of KPMG Sierra Leone, to find out more about the individual and their experience, roles in KPMG have required competencies based on personal and technical skills. These are assessed during the interview together with communications skills. Depending on the position being interviewed for, applicants may be asked to answer a written test. If the candidate is found suitable, a second interview is arranged with the prospective Partner during which a discussion on the salary and terms of conditions of service for the position are also discussed. Trainees Prospective Trainee Accountants send their applications and CVs throughout the year to the firm. These application letters are reviewed by members of the Human Resource department and applicants are short-listed if they meet KPMG Sierra Leone requirements which are as follows: Applicants must be aged a maximum of 27 if they are yet to start the professional examinations. Applicants should preferably be graduates with good degrees; non-graduates are considered if they have started the professional exams already with good results. Applications are short-listed based on the above-mentioned criteria. Short-listed applicants are invited for a three (3) hour psychometric test. Those applicants who pass the test, are then selected and invited for an interview, this interview is conducted by a minimum of two (2) people including the HR Head and an Audit Manager. Applicants are expected to portray a commitment to the professional course they are pursuing with the intention of qualifying within the shortest possible time. This interview assesses the candidates communication skills, intelligence, and confidence. The interviewers must also be convinced that the candidate has the personality to fit into the KPMG Sierra Leone structure. Thereafter, a training program is run for Trainee Accountants by three (3) Audit professionals to get them familiarized with KPMG Audit methodology. Interns As part of KPMG Sierra Leones co-operate responsibilities, they offer internships/placement for graduates from recognized universities and polytechnics. This program should be over within three (3) months. To be eligible for the Internship Program, candidates must be in their third (3) year and possess a good predicated grade in their undergraduate degree with plans to pursue a career in audit, tax or advisory services. Administrators Secretaries For the administrative staff and secretaries at KPMG Sierra Leone, an informal method of recruitment is usually used through the form of personal recommendation, often referred to as word of mouth. Those applicants who are suitable are then interviewed by the HR head and the partner, which is a very common form of selection. Thereafter, an appointment letter is sent to the suitable candidate detailing the terms and conditions of service and the salary attached to the position. The employee is required to return a signed copy of this agreement on commencement of work. 3.6 RESULTS FROM ANALYSIS From the overall framework, structure and organisation of KPMG Sierra Leone I would say the management and staffing of employees in this subsidiary is using the Polycentric approach, due to the fact that top management staff consists of host country nationals (HCNs) who are nationals of Sierra Leone and who are recruited and selected to manage the subsidiary, as at time of writing this paper, there are no expatriates working at KPMG Sierra Leone, the company is administered by the partners (nationals of Sierra Leone) who are responsible for strategic decisions of KPMG Sierra Leone, which implies that the top management at KPMG Sierra Leone i.e. partners understands the desires and corporate vision of KPMG headquarters. The Regiocentric approach is also used by KPMG Sierra Leone, because some staff are transferred within the same geographic region, som
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