Research Methadology

Research Topic Linking enhanced employee performance to the achievement of the company’s goals and objectives so as to generate increased productivity: The case of â€Å"SUBWAY†, Rathbone Place. Submitted by LOKEMAN HOSAIN MOLLAH ID – 0385VLVL0209 MBA-A Submitted to DR. BERNADETTE WARNER Submission date 26 august 2009 Acknowledgement First of all, I would like to take an opportunity to say thanks to Dr. Bernadette Warner who has vast knowledge about business strategy and international business, which is helpful to complete this proposal. Also I would like to say thanks to Mr Hmant Dixit, the operational director of â€Å"SONISH LTD† who helped me a lot to get information about subway and the employees of Subway in Rathbon Place, London. And I would like to give special thanks to Mr. Mamunur Roshed, area Manager,Sonish Ltd and Mr. Arifur Rahaman, Store Manager, Rathbonr Place for their cordial support. Table of contents Introduction Topic area Problem statement Background and purpose of the research Literature review Aims and Objectives of the research Research Questions Research Design and Methodology Sources and acquisition of data Data analysis Timetable About Subway Conclusion 1. Introduction In today’s business become more globalize, and competitive, for this reason it is very essential to find out a ways to make our organizational resources more creative and productive. In many organizations, the most important and exclusive resource is employee and as a result, a lot of time is spent on creating processes and conditions that drive and motivate our employees. And if we can motivate and encourage our employee then their performance will be good which is very important for an organization. Increasing employee performance can achieve maximum business performance, for this reason every individual employee has to work at their optimal level and be focused on the correct tasks. Effective Employee Performance Management (EPM) adoption empowers employees to take responsibility for their own productivity, and allows a business to fully align goals, activities and tasks to support the direction of the company. Employee Performance Management helps organizations improve both the processes and the productivity of managing a workforce. In most service organizations, attrition is critical to consistent performance and success. Employee Performance Management strategies can help your organization make dramatic business performance improvements and yield tremendous benefits beyond cost reductions. 2. Topic area The topic area is to cover the employee performance at Subway to achieve the company’s objectives and productivity This research will conduct correlate the gaps in individual performance and organizational productivity, with the environment that exists in Subway. 3. Problem statement To stay in a global market, organization need to have very high performing, productive, and motivated workforce ( Madhok & Phene , 2001 ) . However , the problem is that organization have not been able to effectively tap into and leverage the full potential of individuals, to enable them to operate at their peak / optimized level of performance. Consequently, most employees are under performing in organizations. The inability of an organization to use the full potential of an employee’s capacity has had a negative impact on the overall productivity and competitiveness organizations in a global market. (Check land, 1999). 4. Background and purpose of the research The purpose of this research is to determine how organization could become more productive, and thus competitive, by enabling their employees to raise their overall level of performance and productivity, and assist employees to operate at high level of capacity by adopting the best practices of top performing employees in the organization. Building on the work on Pratt and Foreman (2000), the author was interest in determining, in a systematic and holistic manner, the impact of any interrelated organizational factors or entities that had a positive or negative impact on individual performance. The present research initiated to address a key organizational issue and leveraged a number of fundamental questions – First, how can organization become capable of sustained high performance? Second, can organizations leverage the full potential of their employees? Third why do most employees in organizations work at 60% of the full capacity? Finally, why most employees about 90% of the total workforce, considered to be typical employees? (Boyett & Conn, 1995). We need a comprehensive approach to a style of management that enables every employee to aspire to excellence. Now only a few employees are excellent. Most employees are performing below their capacity and our piecemeal efforts to improve performance aren’t working. (Boyett & Conn, 1995) 5. Literature review In the literature review will provide a comprehensive review of the existing literature on individual performance, organizational productivity, and connection that may exist between these two. This overview will include a review and analysis of the seminal books and articles as well as many of the most current books and articles on the subject. In a general and broad sense, this review revealed that individual performance and organizational productivity can be affected by five key factors: leadership /management, the nature of the job itself, the environment of the job, personal drivers or factors and the individual’s emotional intelligence. When observed in isolation, each of these factors can have a positive or negative impact on individual performance. However, when combined and observed holistically it quickly becomes apparent to this that the leadership/ management factor can have a positive or negative impact on how the other four factors are shaped . The section that immediately follows will briefly introduce each of these five factors followed by a section that is devoted to exploring these five factors in greater detail. 5. 1Management / Leadership Elements and impact Numerous studies have shown that management and leadership style, practices and approach can have an influence on individual performance and motivation. (Khaliq, 2001) Leader ship has been defined as, the ability to influence or inspire others to do something that needs to be done. It is instilling in each employee a sense of belonging and commitment towards the achievement of the goals and objectives of the organization and leaders are the catalysts that stimulate employees to develop their potential to the full. This section will provide Comprehensive review of the role, the significance, and the effect of management and / or leadership practices on individual performance, motivation and their overall development in organizations. A comprehensive review of the current literature includes recent books and articles that deal with this subject . Finally this review will include the various leadership and management styles approaches and characteristics that have a profound impact on individual motivation and performance. (Khaliq, 2001, p. 5) Khaliq (2001), compared the motivational and performance factors of the workforce in the United States to that of the Malay, Chinese and Indian workers employed by the Malaysian companies. He concluded many of the leadership approaches that dealt with the concepts of openness, direct confrontation nd / or challenging the process were in direct opposition to many of eastern cultures values and behaviours. In sense khaliq points out that many ethnic and cultural parameters may also have a significant effect on how individuals are motivated, committed and become productive in organizations. Motivation is closely related to leading nurturing a willingness to achieve the above mentioned vision and mission of the organization. Leaders can motivate their employees by creating an environment wh ere work is seen as enriching and fulfilling, thus encouraging employees to contribute ideas and effort in order to enhance productivity. Khaliq, 2000, p. 2. ) 5. 2 Job specific elements and impact The leadership / management factors and the kind of positive or negative effect it had on performance and organizational productivity. The section that follows will review the significance and impact of the job itself and the type of day to day tasks performed by the individuals on their performance, motivation and energy level and overall organizational productivity. The nature of the job, the daily tasks performed by an employee and the manner in which tasks assigned to the individual can also influence performance. , motivational level and organizational productivity Some jobs have lot of beginnings and endings during the day with the opportunity for employees to win or lose. ( positive or negative consequences ). But unfortunately the prevailing situation is that most jobs are just doing this hour what you did the last hour without any immediate consequence for performance . And few workers are running around complimenting other workers for the good they are doing. That leaves the managers as the only source of positive consequence (positive reinforcement) to employees for performing well any day. ( Fournies , 2000, p. 78) . The degree of motivational potential of any specific job, then, dramatically influenced by how a person views the job he or she is given, including how assignments are organized, structured and managed. Even a high pressure situation, IT professionals report that work is exciting when they are having fun doing it. In some sense, then, highly motivating work assignments should be similar the kind of activities people might chose to do for fun on their own. (Kartz, 1998, p. 1) 5. 3 Environmental elements and impact The stability or volatility of the work environment ( e. g the degree of office conflicts , power place ) can have a negative influence on the individuals anxiety level, performance and their overall motivation to perform well at work. We used to think we could separate the soft stuff from the hard stuff – the soft staffs was our commitment to the work force. The hard stuff – what really mattered. Now we know you can’t get the staff out the door unless your employees are 100 percent committed and free of home life distraction. And the way get them there is simple. You do every thing you can to help them those life issues, so work and family can coexist successfully. ( Mechelen , 1998 , p. 6) . 5. 4 Personal / internal Elements and impact Personal factors or elements are internal and often silent motivational variables that can drive human behavior to act in certain way. For example a cultural or religious motivator (e. . Work being equal) may cause an employee to give it their all, deliver more quality work relative to their peers, and become creative. As second example an employee who is seeking promotion is more likely to work an and communicate better, establish better relationship and work harder compared to another co worker who was just recently promoted. Weiss (1936) points out that individual are driven on the basis of five categories of human needs that he refers to as Murray’s categories. These categories were named after Henry A. Murray). Murray (1938 )named five specific categories of needs self fulfillment (achievement and endurance) , social needs ( affiliation and love) , ego needs ( exhibitionism and independence), safety needs ( avoidance of harm) , and power needs ( control). These needs indicate that many individuals are often motivated by strong desires and factors. Thus we trying to enhance or raise individual performance, manager’s needs to be sensitive to these human needs and understand that individuals are typically goal oriented and strive to concurrently satisfy many internal needs. There fore managers needs to search for internal drivers and try to ensure that they provide appropriate motivators and inceptives that will address these needs. (Murray , 1938) 5. 5 Emotional intelligence elements and impact An individual emotional intelligence can contribute to how he or she performs at work, how the individuals relate to others and the overall productivity of the organization. ( Johnson & Indvik, 1999; mason , 1999;)A person with high emotional intelligence has the ability to understood and relate to people. In fact this skill is now considered to have greater impact on individual and group performance. That traditional measures of intelligence such as IQ. when emotional intelligence is present , there is a increased employee cooperation , increased motivation , increased productivity and increased profits . (Johnson & Indvik ,1999 , p. 1) . People wit well developed emotional skills are also more likely to be content and effective on their lives, mastering the habits of mind that foster their own productivity. People who cannot marshal some control over their emotional life fight inner battles that sabotage their ability for focused work and clear thought. (Goldman, 1994, p36) 6. Aims and Objectives of the research It is expected that this research will have a direct impact on the management community by defining methods of developing top performing employees . This work will address the significant issues of individual performance , organizational productivity , and the link between two. As a long term objective, this research will provides a number solid answer to age old problems of productivity and employee motivation, and establish a set of principles that will be applicable to most work groups in organizations. In the interim, this study intends to provide a report in the form of a process for improvement that can be applied in the field by management. Especially this study has some major benefits. First it will identify and document any common factors that have a positive impact on individual performance. Second, by identifying and documenting the common variables or factors that may exist among low performers in an organizations , it is expected that management can be assisted in identifying areas of deficiency and consequently develop employees to improve low performance, raise morale, and reduce the potential for burnout in their organizations. And also it is expected that the result of this research will be translated into a corporate training program that will enable a typical or average employee to raise his or her performance by adopting the best practices used by the top or star performers in the organization. Finally researcher expectation that the aforementioned concepts and findings will be applicable to the Subway. It is further expected that the findings of this research will be the subject of the future study. 7. Research Questions This study is to address a fundamental question: What are the common factors or best practices used by the top performing employees in organizations? Examples of these common factors were perceived employee- manager working relationships, Leadership or management, top individual motivators or de-motivators, environmental elements and any best known practices. For further clarification this fundamental question can be further broken down into a number of sub questions: Were the identified common factors between high performers the same factors that the low performers were deficient and lacking? From the perspective of individual motivational factors, what would be the management perspective compared to that of the employee perception? Finally are there any discrepancies or gaps between the manager and top performer perceptions or beliefs? 9. Research Design and Methodology Concepts of this research individual performance, organizational productivity and the connection between two. A major objective of this study to explore and discover the common factors that distinguish the top performers in an organization. These factors are: any key perceived employee manager working relationships, top three motivators or de- motivators, and any best practices. The identification of these factors is intended to generate one or more grounded theories to explain why only a small percentage of the employees in an organizations ( e. g. 5 % ) are considered to be more effective or productive performers. Relative to the peers in the same or similar work environment. The study is going to be on a qualitative research approach . It will use an iterative data gathering process, the use of inductive data analysis techniques, and a constant comparative and classification process of data to develop one or more grounded theories that could explain this phenomenon. The design of this research study is interpretive and systematic. It will attempt to uncover fundamental patterns and commonalities (e. g. employee manager working relationship) that exist in the research data. It will attempt to discover the common factors that characterize the top performers, both managers and employees, in organizations. As a systematic study it will compare and contrast the data. To achieve this data will be collected from the high, medium, low, performers. Using techniques: 1. through the use of an elaborate organizational survey. 2. A series of one to one interviews. 3. Personal observation. Each phase the data collection and analysis process will be built upon the learning obtained from the previous stages in an iterative process. To construct the organizational survey literature review and analysis process will undertaken. 4. Finally to generate the grounded theories, the results of the organizational survey, and analysis of the one to one and group interviews. At each stage data will be collected, compared, contrasted, classified and any commonalities that existed will documented. (Glaser & Strauss, 1999) 10. Sources and acquisition of data To begin with, organization Subway, Researcher has been working there since four years as a senior sales assistant. And have a good cooperation with the management and the employee who are willing to anticipate with the interviews. Primary data will be gathered by conducting one to one interviews with key managers or individuals. Before executing such research activities it is ensured that research will be carried out with the permission of the senior management to interview the respective senior members of such organization. More concerns will be shown to select the appropriate senior members for such interviews. Finally, secondary data the possible available reviews, books, articles, suggestions, journals, electronic based information such as internet will be taken in to account for obtaining relevant information for the research, however strong weight will be given to acquire data from reliable source to make sure research content solid track of information. 1. Data analysis The theory construction will be based upon the literature review process, the survey results and feedback received from one to one make to the organization survey. as pointed earlier the desired out come of this study will to develop one or more grounded theories that could explain the top performing ( or low performing ) employee in o rganizations. To achieve this- First, theories will be developed based on the data collected, analyzed and the common pattern identified. The data will take from the literature review process, a comprehensive organizational survey, one to one interviews and observation. And each phase findings will be classified into specific categories: management / leadership, job, environment of the job, individual motivators and emotional intelligence. Second all identifiable performance factors will categorized according to the five major factors identified during the literature review. A matrix consisting of number of variable performance factors and the frequency of each result will construct. Further a set of definitions for each term or variable used in the study will formulate. 12. Timetable ACTIVITIESWEEKS1234567891011121Initializing Appointments 2Literature review 3Follow Up Meetings & Obtaining Information 4Obtaining Historical information 5Critical analysis 6Deriving a Conclusion 7Developing a Draft 8Editing & preparing final Draft 9Final Report Ready 13. About Subway Fred DeLuca founded the SUBWAY ® chain in Connecticut, USA, in 1965. The company has since grown into a multi-billion pound business, with more than 25,000 outlets in over 80 countries. In a world full of â€Å"Super Size It† messages that prompt people to eat too much and eat high fat items, SUBWAY ® bucks the trend with a healthy message – 7 subs with under 6 grams of fat – as a major part of their advertising strategy. 14. Conclusion Optimizing individual performance, raising the bar of organizational productivity, and being able to accomplish organizational objectives. A growing body research indicates that a productive, efficient and healthy learning organization is a necessary and key ingredient for global competition . The present study will be explored, analyzed and documented how an organization could become more productive and competitive by enabling its employees to raise their overall level of work performance. The results of this effort will indented to assist employees to operate at a higher level of their capacity by enabling them to leverage many of the common factors or best practices used by the top performing employees in their organizations. These factors include: perceive good employee manager working relationship, top individual motivating, and any other best practices. This study attempted the best way managers and employees can partner to nature a work environment where they can grow, develop, and maximize their full potential. This study has benefits. It identifies and documents the most common factors that have positive or negative impact on employee performance and productivity. It attempts to capture the attributes and practices of high performing employees in an organization and perform this analysis on low and medium performers as well. In conclusion, this study provided evidence that organizational productivity, effectiveness and creativity flow from flow naturally from individual productivity, effectiveness and creativity. (Loehr , 2001) Reference Loehr , J . (2001 , January ) , The making of a corporate athlete , Harvard Business Review , 79 , Issue 1 , 120 , 9p , 1 . Glaser , B . & Strauss , A . (1999) , The discovery of grounded theory : Strategies for Qualitative research , Chicago ; Aldline . Madhok , A . & Phene , A . 2001) , The Co evolution Advantage : Strategic management theory and the electic paradigm , International Journal of the Economics of Business , 8 , No, 2, 243 – 256. Boyett , J . H . & Conn , H . P . (1995) , Maximum performance management : how to manage and compensate people to meet world competition, Glenbridge Publishing : Lakewood , Colorado. Checkland , P . (1999) , Systems thinking , systems practice . john Wiley & Sons , Ltd : New York , NY. Pratt , M . G & Foreman , P . O . (20 00) , Classifying managerial response to multiple organizational identities . The Academy of management Review . MississippiState. Khaliq , A . (2001) , Corporate leadership and workplace motivation in Malaysia. International Journal of Commerce & Management . 11 . 1, 82 (Fournies , 2000) . Fournies , F . F . (2000) , Coaching for improvement work performance , McGraw-Hill: New York , NY . Katz , R . ( 1998) , Motivation leads to innovation – IT professionals who are excited about their jobs will be more creative and productive , Information Week , September , 14 , 1998 , n. 700, 294 (1). Mechelen , R. V. 1998, spring) , Work/life programs as management programs , The public manager : The new bureaucrat , 27 , n 1 , 31 (4) . Murray , H . A , (1938) , Exploration in personality : A clinical an expremental study of fifty men of college age , oxford University Press : New York . Johnson , P . R . & Invik , J . (1999) , Organizational benefits of having emotionally intelligent managers and employee , Journal of Workplace Learning , 1999 , 11 , issue 3 , 84 , 5p Goldman , D . (1994) , Emotional Intelligence : Why it can matter more than IQ , Bantam Books : New York , NY . www. subway. com

Vincent Van Gogh’s artwork ‘Starry Night’ Essay

Vincent Van Gogh’s artwork ‘starry night’ is a classic example of the post impressionism movement. Post-impressionist were artist who rebelled against the limitations of impressionism. They developed person styles that focus on emotional, structural, symbolic and spiritual elements they felt were missing from impressionism. ‘Starry Night’ was created in 1889, earlier that year Van Gogh decided to enter the asylum at Saint-Rà ©my. ‘Starry night’ was inspired by the view from his window in the asylum. The painting was done on canvas with oil paints. The height of the paint 73.70cm & the height being 92.10cm. Van Gogh’s night sky is brimming with energy and it contrasts with the silent village below. The town he depicts in Starry Night is somewhat from his imagination. Though parts of it related to the view of the village, such as the church. Van Gogh includes a cypress tree in the left foreground which gives off an eerie mood. The colours are deep and rich the lines are spiral and curved, the painting is top heavy and the stroke thick and rugged. The sky is organic, it spirals and the colours are deep and rich. The town below is barely noticeable in comparison to the sky which draws all your attention. The Cyprus is gloomy and coarse. It’s spikiness and darkness makes a negative space. â€Å"Throughout his career, Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890) attempted the paradoxical task of representing night by light. His procedure followed the trend set by the Impressionists of â€Å"translating† visual light effects with various color combinations. At the same time, this concern was grafted onto Van Gogh’s desire to interweave the visual and the metaphorical in order to produce fresh and deeply original works of art.† –MoMa (museum of modern art.) Van Gogh briefly yet fulsomely explores his special relationship with the darkness. His colours provide and tendency but also an urgency. The clashing of all the colours is exaggerated and visually dramatic. The dominance of the yellow in contrast to the blues; all of the colours complement each other. There are rich blues that sink into greens then into yellows. It looks chaotic, but it’s really very orderly. The landscape is bright, but used to capture the night time. We can tell by the yellow lights in the windows–little splashes of light that bring a vast balance to the bright stars in the sky. This painting is all about balance and harmony. The fact that Van Gogh had painted this from his mental image may have contributed to this piece having such a strong sense of mental dislocation and emotional intensity. One almost feels as if he was hardly  able to contain his feelings and that all his angst and passion seem to just splatter all over the canvas. That it was actually the emotions that were moving the brush rather than his hand. Vincent creat es a perfect balance with line, the contrast between the spiralled night sky and the rough parallel curved Cyprus creates a lovely abstract image. The space and perspective created using line to emphasize the focal points of the painting. The large cypress tree in the foreground should dominate the painting, but we’re drawn to the other elements–the moon, the stars, and the swirling sky because of the definition in their lines. It establishes perspective. It’s definitely in the foreground. The village is in the middle ground, the mountains and sky are background. It’s an amazingly calculated setting. The wavy, turbulent night sky almost mimics the sweeping hillside; makes for a very spiritual feel that carries through the painting. Compared to the human side of the painting (the town) which is very geometric and structural. Which makes you wonder, which part is chaos and which part is formulated? I feel that the town relates to Van Gogh’s life. It’s pretty quiet, everyone’s lights are out while they’re asleep totally unaware of the intense night sky that’s full of life, it makes me feel like he was trying to inform viewers of the ignorance of individuals. I think the village accurately represents a world, all of the people so unaware of raging passions that are going on around them. However to understand starry night to full extent, we must look at the big picture. Vincent Van Gogh was one of the great postimpressionist artists. Postimpressionism was basically a rebellion against impressionism, which believed that art should reflect reality with natural colour and lighting. Postimpressionists believed that art is not meant to imitate form, but to create form. These artists took some inspiration in the world and then painted their world according to their own perceptions. As Van Gogh himself said, â€Å"We may succeed in creating a more exciting and comforting nature than we can discern with a single glimpse of reality.† They had no fixed style – their personal styles reflect on personalities, emotions and soul. Many critics say his bush strokes, odd shapes and painting style were ‘loony’. I don’t think so, tormented and troubled? Maybe yes. But crazy? No! I think Van Gogh executed this painting beautifully, and he knew exactly what he was doing. My interpretation of this artwork is probably different to many, as every  individual has a different one. Everybody seems to be using different codes to decipher this piece. Truth being, no one can really know what Van Gogh’s own interpretations of ‘Starry Night’. For me, I’ve always thought Van Gogh was this tragic, anger-fuelled artist, who wished to do the best for humanity he was capable of. This painting spoke to me of belief and love of gods wonderful creations yet also the unmistakeable feeling of loneliness as if no one really saw things like he did.

Research project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 2

Research project - Essay Example The research can be carried out based on a survey on the loyal customers as well as the managers of the restaurant. Hence, the participation of the customers is an important factor for the research that is to be conducted. As the demand for fast food is increasing, the business of Pizza Express restaurant is expanding and therefore the researcher has chosen this as the topic of discussion. The research is to be conducted in a mixed method approach using both qualitative as well as the quantitative methodology by conducting a survey and an interview to the customers and the managers of Pizza Express restaurant. Since the customer satisfaction level can only be measured based on the responses of the customers about the services offered by the employees hence this quantitative approach comprising of questionnaires is the best methodology to be followed. The overall analysis regarding the performance of the company is carried out based on the responses of the customers and the managers that would satisfactorily answer the research question. The restaurant aims at providing quality food to its customers and expanding its business all over the world so as to raise its customer base. The company introduced pizza in the UK for the first time in 1956 as it is considered as one of the best loved brands of UK (Johnson, et al., 2000). The restaurant is suitable for all types of events that are starting from a business lunch to a night out with friends. The company is known to serve the authentic Italian pizzas to the customers of different origin. The restaurant is known to offer a free customer Wi-Fi service in order to facilitate the payment App (Ehsan, 2012). The customers are expected to order pizza online and the restaurant is highly efficient in delivering quality products and quick services. The new app launched by the Pizza Express restaurant enables the customers to pay their bills online and also provide feedback for the pizzas that are

English Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English - Research Paper Example However, once fans found out that Tim Burton would be in charge of the project, many fears and doubts were alleviated. Indeed, nobody left the theater feeling disappointed. Janet Maslin, a writer with The New York Times, states that, â€Å"[...] An ornate visual fantasy of Mr. Burton’s can be expected to make its own rules, and Sleepy Hollow does that with macabre gusto.† Maslin continues her article with much praise for the â€Å"grimly voluptuous† Sleepy Hollow. Burton made his name in the film industry by never holding back when trying to display or explain something. If the scene called for horror, he would deliver horror, and then some. While the fans of Burton are used to his macabre style, many were still shocked, though pleasingly so, with how far he took the graphics in Sleepy Hollow. As Tim Burton has a very distinctive style with his filming, people expected quite a bit out of Sleepy Hollow. While most directors either get away or not with how they film something, a specific outcome is expected from Tim Burton. Kamal Larsuel-Ulbricht, for one, was not disappointed. In her review (1999), she expresses a certain fondness for the result of Sleepy Hollow, saying, â€Å"This was not Disney’s ‘Sleepy Hollow’. [Tim Burton] is sometimes a bit too weird for those who don’t quite understand his style [but for those who do], people can appreciate this take on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.† So it would seem, those that can really take away something from the film would be those that are already familiar with Tim Burton’s unique style of directing. Justin Felix (1999) considers Sleepy Hollow to count â€Å"among [Tim Burton’s] better movies,† further stating that, â€Å"With the recent disappointments in theatrically released horror movies, we needed a film like this.† Felix takes his review a little bit further by commenting on the aspects that

Class. Race, Gender, Sexuality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Class. Race, Gender, Sexuality - Essay Example On the other hand, race and gender influence social position of women and men, their educational and work opportunities (Foley 70). Race and gender have a great impact on social inequalities and rights, freedoms and life challenges. Through a complex interaction of identification processes, symbol systems, and social institutions, gender differences are produced--typically in the form of a dichotomy that not only opposes masculinity to femininity but also translates these oppositional differences into gender hierarchy, the privileging of traits and activities defined as masculine over those defined as feminine. Thus, although it is important to recognize the cultural variation in how gender differences are formed and expressed, it is also important to stress the political nature of gender as a system of difference construction and hierarchical dichotomy production that is constitutive of almost all contemporary societies. From the point of views of the ethnographer, the categories of class, race, gender and sexuality can be separable because they determine different social processes which can be considered in isolation. For instance, it is possible speak about race or sexual prejudices, stereotypes and inequalities. In education, race and class prejudice can affect groups' achievement and those who are minority students (Foley 72). Classes exist in a given society to the extent that there are significant links between these three levels of social life: if economically determined posi ¬tions correlate significantly with people's lived experience and consciousness, and if both of these have a significant bearing on how they behave as consumers, workers or citizens - on how they live, the organizations they join, the parties they support, and so on. On the other hand, gender and sexuality can also be considered in isolation in such cases as discrimination and sexual harassment. Foley (1990) underlines that: "they [men] gained their gender status through winning a male's attention and loyalty and through domesticating a sexually restless, domineering male" (69). Women becomes a suffer group because they often come to be stereotyped as victims. By bridging the personal and the political, gender also provides an alternative basis for action; helping to build up networks that cross other boundaries, whose actions have become increasingly significant. These categories are not fixed changing over time. During the XX century, different theories were developed in order to describe and interpret the ideas of race and sexuality. For instance, Foley (1990) speaks about such thing as 'bonded sexuality' typical for mexian communities. "This idea of a "bonded sexuality" legitimates pre-marital sex in a traditional cultural setting. This exchange relationship between males and females was not necessarily egalitarian, however. Each sex made rather different concessions for the advantages gained" (70). There is a shift in attitudes towards greater acceptance of gender and sexual equality, despite abundant evidence of continuing prejudice, inertia and discrimination. Till the beginning of the XX century, women sexuality was also ways denied. Recent years the understanding of race has been changed, because as a

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

Manegenment - Essay Example As the manager she was supposed to handle all managerial functions including inventory. She compounded the problem by paying her assistant more money than any of the other employees at the store. Ruth did not have the foresight to realize that the move could cause morale problems among the staff of the store. Ken Hoffman seemed very disappointed at a lot of decisions that Ruth was making. His perception was that Ruth’s poor performance as a manager was reflecting badly on him because he was the person that appointed her for the job. Ken made some mistakes along the way and he violated various empowerment guidelines. One of the empowerment guidelines that Ken violated was self-determination or choice. Ruth arranged on her own a TV slot where she could showcase the store and its products. Her initiative seemed like a great move for the store. Ken reprimanded Ruth and told her that she made a bad decision by taking that initiative since she was supposed to clear with the corporate office any TV appearances. The second empowerment guideline that was violated by Ken was trust. When Ruth followed company policy and disallowed a customer to make a purchase above $1,000 Ken insulted Ruth which made no sense since she was following company policy as indicated by Ken in earlier incidents. The decision about determining the best portfolio and investment recommendations for the company should not be made by me alone due to the fact that my knowledge and skills are limited to bonds. There is a team in place that can help me determine the best course of action in the selection process of equity investments. The knowledge this group possesses is imperative towards the success of the project. The reason that this decision is harder than it seems is because in the past these four employees have had problems working together and agreeing on decisions. As the person responsible for the report it is my duty to provide the leadership necessary to make this work. One of the

Biology Aids Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Biology Aids - Essay Example The two major cell types in blood are white blood cells and red blood cells. Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cells which functions as the principal means to deliver oxygen from the lungs to body tissues through blood. Adult humans have roughly 2-3 1013 red blood cells at any given time (women have about 4 million to 5 million erythrocytes per cubic millimeter (microliter) of blood and men about 5 million to 6 million. On the other hand, white blood cells are components of the blood. They are manufactured in the bone marrow and are instrumental in depending the body against infectious diseases and foreign substances. White blood cells are part of the immune system. In a normal adult, There are normally between 4x109 and 11x109 white blood cells in a litre of healthy adult blood - about 7,000 to 25,000 white blood cells per drop. B-cells circulate throughout the body with antibody molecules on their surfaces. When they pick up the signal of a particular antigen, they multiply and transform into plasma cells, which are essentially minifactories with one purpose: to churn out the precise antibodies that hook onto the antigens of the interloper. T-cells, on the other hand, migrate to the thymus. ... T-cells, on the other hand, migrate to the thymus. There, with the aid of various thymic hormones, immature T-cells grow, learn to recognize and attack antigens, and develop a range of specialized activities. The thymus is the master gland of cell-mediated immunity, a veritable training school for different classes of T-cells. There are three types of T-cells: T-helper cells which orchestrate the actions of other immune cells; killer T-cells which liquidate invading microbes, viruses or cancer cells; and suppressor cells which maintains properly balanced immune responses. 4. What does MHC stand for What is it Why is it important in the context of disease-causing agents MHC stand for major histocompatibility complex which is a group of genes that code for certain proteins that are found in the surface of cells and help the immune system recognize foreign substances. MHC is an essential component of the immune response as they allow the T-cells of the immune system to recognized body cells which are invaded by infectious substances. The MHC molecules do this by presenting fragments of proteins belonging to the invader on the cell's surface. The T cell recognizes the foreign peptide attached to the MHC molecule and binds to it, stimulating the T cell to either destroy or cure the infected cell. In uninfected healthy cells the MHC molecule presents peptides from its own cell, to which T cells do not normally react. 5. Compare and contrast viruses and bacteria. Both virus and bacteria both has the capacity to bring diseases. Also, both organisms contain DNA and enzymes. Amidst these similarities, a virus is smaller

Data Protection and Cyber-Security 2013 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Data Protection and Cyber-Security 2013 - Essay Example What has made this a possibility is the improvement in the communication technologies and mediums. The social media has been the best hit. Over the past, the social media has realized great developments which have made it easier to communicate and build a network of people from all over the world. Because of this, just as Bishop J. implies on increasing online communities, millions of people who were once not interested in social network development have now diverted to the same and joined the booming social platforms.1 These developments have seen emergence of many social media platforms and chat rooms that people are now free to join for a chance to connect with both known and unknown people from every location of the world, thanks to the internet. Social chat-rooms like twitter and Facebook are just but examples of the freely available social platforms. The development in the social media has come at a price that the society has dearly paid in the past years. The adoption of digit al communication done through the social platforms has, over the past, paved way for many instances of the violation of many UK laws that govern the privacy of information and human rights. There have been several instances where people have used the various social platforms to pass messages that either violates human rights or laws governing the country. Twitter, a prominent social media website, has been used by various people to relay criminal tweets which have affected the public by a great deal. The government has been trying to control the information passed through the social media. As outlined by Bishop, various laws and regulations have been made to prevent people from posting offensive messages that might have adverse effects on the public.2 Contrary to what should happen, people who post criminal and offensive messages on these social platforms have, in the past, made away with the offenses. For instance, law enforcers now say that offensive comments that are posted on tw itter and Facebook rarely lead to charges unless they also include eminent threats and/or even lead to harassment campaigns. This and many past events has seen the government unable to curtail the harms caused by various social media offensive messages hence clearly showing that the law is unclear and ineffective in addressing the social media offenses. This has come along with mixed reactions from people who are now left with question that tends to explain whether the social media is really effective in controlling the digital content. The numbers of offensive messages which are posted on twitter and Facebook among others have been on the rise lately. Estimates now show that millions of messages are sent within a single day. The most surprising part is that this is a statistic for only twitter with other social websites not considered. A large number of the messages which are sent daily are offensive and pose threats to the public. What has made this a significant threat is that th e messages, which are initially only meant for a particular person or group, may eventually end up reaching millions of people worldwide. According to the U.K director of public prosecutions (DPP) Keir Starmer QC., many people who post criminal messages online may go uncharged. This he says happens since the

A Historiographical Examination on Ernst Junger's Ideas Essay

A Historiographical Examination on Ernst Junger's Ideas - Essay Example During and after the war, he wrote and edited many books and right-wing journals. These included Storm of Steel (1920), Die totale Mobilmachung-1930 (The Total Mobilization), Der Arbeiter-1932 (The Worker), On Marble Cliffs-1947, On Pain, Der Vormarsch amongst others. Through his real life and writing, he has influenced German literature and modern studies of WWII. The backbone of his writings, ideas and ideologies are greatly influenced by his military career and experiences in WWII. His writings give a peek into his thoughts and ideologies, and these have been reviewed by many writers and critics who in the end judge him variously as a militarist, a nationalist, or as a fascist. And others say he is among the greatest writers of modern Germany and a personification of the conservative revolutionary movement. Nevin asserts that Junger is one of the most controversial 21st Century writers in Europe with a remarkable writing career spanning five periods of the history of modern Germany1. In his book, Ernest Junger and Germany: Into the Abyss, Nevin avers that Ernst Junger was ‘politically incorrect writer par- excellence’. He treats him not as the ‘national institution’ the public and press viewed him, but as a contradictory figure whose actions include his parable attacking despotism in 1939 and refusing to join the Nazi party when he was assumed to be a fascist. These confirm Junger’s contradictory and controversial nature2. Though a brilliant writer, Ernst Junger is dismissed as militarist and nationalist, a trait clearly witnessed in his Die totale Mobilmachung-1930 (The Total Mobilization) and Der Arbeiter-1932 (The Worker). In the two books, Junger paints a dictatorial state coordinated along military lines embodied by the star worker3.