Becoming a Guidance Counselor

Every classroom presents an exclusive community of learners that varies not only in abilities, but also in so many learning styles. In education it is my role as an educator to give children the tools with which to grow their own gardens of knowledge. To accomplish this goal, I will teach to the needs of each child so that all learners can feel capable and successful. I will present curriculum that involves the interests of the children and makes learning relevant to life, but also be able to make sure that I am able to achieve the goals of the district in a manner that learning is enjoyable.I will integrate themes, integrated units, projects, group work, individual work, and hands-on learning in order to make children active learners. This allows children to have amazing teach-able moments. Finally, I will tie learning into the world community to help children become caring and active members of society. All of these beliefs will allow me to become a successful Guidance counselor. B ecoming a guidance counselor allow me to have a more one on one relationship with students. In many cases you are able to teach children in small group setting teaching ideas that children are able to take for the rest of their lives.Having a guidance counselor that is able to advocate for the children is so important. Education has changed through the years in my option it has changed for the better. In the United States many children are able to attend Private, Charter, or Public schools. In the early 1840’s you were not able to attend any school unless you were able to pay for the education. It was in Horace Mann in Massachusetts and Henry Barnard in Connecticut where they saw a need for free education. They were able to show that there was a need for quality education in order to prevent crime in the community.It was then that at the end of the 19th century all American children were able to get free education. It was not until 1918 that all states passed a law requiring all students to go to at least elementary school. Private schools were then created by many Catholics because they disagreed with the beliefs of the public schools. With private, catholic, and charter it all raises an issue should all education be the same for everyone? If it was up to me I would have to say no. The logic is because I believe that teachers have the right to be able to decide the way that they would like to teach.As a teacher in a school I like to be able to share lessons with my colleagues but I want them to make the lesson their own. I think this is the same for schools; all schools should be able to have the same guidelines but be able to make it their own. In the 1990’s the public schools saw a signifying improvement among the graduation rates. In education I think it is so important that you are able to use each moment of the day as a teachable moment. This is not to say that everything in your day is going to be structured but you have to be able to use every moment as a teachable moment.An example of this is I had a child that every day would run through the cafeteria to get into the line to be first. After several warnings the child ran into a younger child carrying soup the soup then spilled all over the student and the other student that was running. It was then that I was able to use that time as a teach-able moment. I explained to the child that if they were to slow themselves down that this may not have happen. This is not to say that the child will never run again but they may slow down before going into the cafeteria.In the school that I teach in we would say that a â€Å"Windsor knight does what’s right even when nobody is looking†. This is part of character education to teach children that they have to follow the rules even if there is not a teacher around. â€Å"A teacher's personal philosophy of education is a critical element in his or her approach to guiding children along the path of enlightenment. â €“ Barbara Wilt† In Idealism believes in refined wisdom. It is based on the view that reality is a world within a person's mind. As a result the teaching method is to teach on past heroes.This is something that I think was taught when I was growing up but seems to be pushed out. Realism it is based on the view that reality is what we observe. This shows children the order of society and all information is factual for the children to observe it. The one that I feel is the majority to the technique that I am is Realism. I think that I am capable to have articulated the reality of how things are and that most of the times the children are able to observe how it may be. I think that with technology today this is an easy way to provide this.A wonderful example that we did was that we were able to experience the winter Olympics as a whole school watching what was happening while it was happening. I think that this is also a great example of how in some ways Montessori also runs. Montessori was a philosopher that I wish so many teachers where more like. She was someone that was able to observe the children by giving them an activity in the environment and then allowing them to have the freedom to explore it. I think that many teachers do give them the activity except then are not giving them the freedom to explore.As a child that attended Montessori school I can say that many of my most memorable moments in my education were at that school. It is not only something that I can remember but have taken into my everyday life. It has brought wonderful insight on me as a teacher today. When you think of a teacher you think about the story book character that may be at chalk board. That is not the case. As a teacher you are not only a teacher, mom, staff member, friend, janitor, shoe tier, the list goes on forever. What you are is someone that has to wear many hats all in one day of work.In education you are not able to just have that 9-5 job. You are always think ing about making sure your lesson are finished, or did you get enough snack for all the kids in the class. You are always thinking about how the children may come in the next day: did they sleeping well for the test, are they eating well, and when was the last time they had a bath. This is all something that colleges do not tell you about. Just because your contract may say 8-3 that is not what you work. Your hours go above and beyond that.Many times during the holidays we as teachers have heard that a family does not have a holiday meal so we all get together and take it to them. This is something that as teachers we feel that it is important for every child to have a wonderful holiday. You have to be willing to change your hat whenever it needs to be changed. While working in the school I have learned more then I think any schooling could have ever taught me. I think that Curriculum for every school is important but the most important is how it is taught.Ideal curriculum was broug ht that there is an â€Å"ideal child† in every child. In this curriculum it wanted children to be able to build self- confidence allowing him/her to set goals and be able to achieve them. Allowing them to be part of an environment that teaches confidence, and endurance success. In this ideal curriculum learning is fun. The teacher is able to make the environment fun but it is up to the students to make the activity fun. I think that this is so important. Many times teachers get caught up with the curriculum and forget that learning is fun.I think that when teachers remember that they have to be there just as long as the students that making them enjoy what is going on in the classroom not only is a positive for the student but for the teacher as well. One way to do this is through Character Education. In the school that I teach in we do Character Education every day. In the morning we have a pledge that is said every day and a character word of the month is added to that ple dge. At the end of the pledge we say â€Å"A Windsor knight knows what’s right even when know body is looking†.We are able to then follow this rule whenever someone may not be following it. On each Day 2 in the cycle a class then takes that character word of the month and comes up with a play or a skit for the school to see. This makes learning fun the children not only learn what the character word means but then it also gives them a learning experience. Many teachers may do role plays, or act out a book, make a movie, all done by the children with teacher assistance. In the teaching field you have to be able to change be able to teach on a variety of different stages.Instructional methods are used by teachers to create learning environments and to specify the nature of the activity in which the teacher and learner will be involved during the lesson. While particular methods are often connected with certain strategies, some methods may be found within a variety of str ategies. It is the role of the teacher then to make sure you are using the right teaching method for the classroom. I am a believer that you method may change year to year depending on your class. As a teacher you are going to have to be aware of whether you method is working or not.In education the only way that you are able to see if what you have taught is sinking into these little brains is using assessments. As a teacher that is doing them daily before the end of school right now I would state I strongly dislike them. In the scheme of things they really are the only true way to determine how your students are doing. This is a tool that you are able to provide the teachers to not only track how they are teaching but how the students are doing. This is not to say that it should be used to evaluate any teacher but it should be looked at if a whole class assessment is low.These assessments are really used to be able to provide the right intervention for students. It is always an ac complishment in AIS reading when you have a student who comes in below grade level and with this intervention they then leave at the end of the year above grade level. This is not only an accomplishment for the child but the teachers as well. On the flip side I understand that education is now filled with tests and these children are always taking test and we are expected to know more now than ever. I don’t think this all bad. I think that if are able to use these as an assessment tool for the children.In doing this it allows the children to receive AIS services, Special education services, and enrichment, all from an assessment. In New York State we have state test which allow the students to receive AIS intervention programs if they score a low number on the test. It is a great way to see if these children need a little extra help. In schools today it is a teacher job to explain the rules and roles of everyone in the school. In many schools today we try enforce that just li ke teachers, aids, nurses, bus drivers, that they as kids also have a job and that there’s may be the most important one of all.Their job is to learn. School is supposed to be a learning environment and sometimes family’s think of it more as a daycare. With this in mind the thoughts then pass on to the children. It is our job as educators to let the children know the correct way to act as a student. It is important that children take school seriously. It saddens me to hear in elementary school that a child did not come to school because they did not feel like getting up in the morning and the parent had to work third shift and was not there to wake them.This is part of society but we have to make sure that the children in the society realize that a good education is the best gift that society is able to give them. As an educator in an elementary school I come across many cases that the child may have several strikes against them. One example of this is a mentor student that I have right now. There are 5 children in the family the parents work different shifts they have been kicked out of the house due to not paying their rent and now are living in a camper in the back of the grandmother house.Four of the children come to school and the baby stays home with whoever is home so they do not have to pay child care. The middle brother has a hard time in school. He is always feeling like nobody likes him and cares for him so he acts out in class. I have sat down with him and talked to him several times and he has told me that the only one that cares for him is his other grandmother and he is not allowed to see her unless he is good. We have many cases just like these in our school and every case is different. In the classroom many times the children act out for attention.They do not care whether it is negative or positive attention they just want that one on one interaction. Many times due to outside circumstances the children become below level grade l evel in the school work. In these cases intervention is something that would have to take place. After an evaluation you would be able to determine how much intervention the child may need. In this case this child receives AIS math and Reading because he many times is out of the classroom because he is in the time-out room due to an outburst in the classroom.He is also provided with a mentor that makes up a schedule with the child. I am actually his mentor and we meet twice a week. During this time we have a nice lunch in my classroom and then do something fun go outside, play a game, watch some of a movie, or sometimes have special desert. This is something that is one on one with the child in a non-negative situation. I also talk to him during this time about what is happening at home and things that he could do to improve his school work. Many times during the year he will come to me for help get a project done that he knows he may not receive the help at home.He also receives in tervention from the social workers that come to the building they are able to do an assessment to tell whether he may need to be assessed further from an outside facility. All of these interventions are things that schools have to do to help these at risk students. I think that with the world as it is today children are dealing with things that they should not have to deal with at such an early age. We as educators have to be there to pick up many of the pieces. Times have changed and we are the ones that have to shape these children into whom they are and who they are going to be.In New York State the thought is that â€Å"The sooner problems are identified and intervention services begin, the sooner the children are on their way to academic success. † (NYSUT). It is so true once you are able to identify the problem then you are able to get the services that the child may need. In order to be able to identify you need to really understand that child, which sometimes takes ti me. In many jobs there may be a right way to do things and a wrong way but education is different. Teaching is something that not every person is cut out for. You really have to dig deep to see if you are cut out to be a teacher.I know that I am, I have worked in the school for 4 years and I could not have asked for a better job. It is a hard job and I work more the just what I am suppose to but that is because I want the best for the children in the school. I love to see their faces when they come in the morning smiling or if you have a sad face it is my job to figure what is wrong and try to make it right to have a better day. We are not just the teacher during the day we are the nurse, janitor, mother, father, therapist, shoe tier, and many more all these hats are done throughout the day.This is all while you are also teaching a lesson and making sure that 21 students are learning, safe, and attentive. There is no other job like this. There is also no other job as rewarding as be ing a teacher and watching you kindergarten class leave your room and then 12 years down the road watch the same children graduate and moving onto to college. I will leave you with a Chinese proverb â€Å"Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself. † This is what education is all about.Bibliography Gurian, M. (1996). The Wonders of Boys. New York New York: Penguin. Graesser, A. 2009). Journal of Educational Psychology. Journal of Educational Psychology . NYSUT. (2010, June 14). Retrieved 2010, from New York State NYSUT: http://nysut. org/ais/index. html Richard Ogusthorpe. (2009). On the Possible Forms a Relationship Might Take between the Moral Character of a Teacher and the Moral Development of a Student. Teachers College Record, 111(1), 1-26. Retrieved February 24, 2009, from Research Library database. Webb, L. D. , Metha, A. & Jordan K. F. (2010). Foundations of American Education (6th ed. ). Saddle River, NJ:   Pearson Education Inc

What Techniques Does Auden Employ to Narrate Victorand?

In both ‘Victor' and ‘As I Walked Out One Evening', Auden utilise techniques such as the personfication of time to suggest to the reader that life is a journey and it waits for no one. The use of the first person singular in As Iwalked suggests that it is quite a personal experience, however, in Victor, third person is used to distance the narrator for tge events. W. H. Auden's ‘Victor' includes three different voice through out the poem, his dad, the narrator and Victor himself.Auden uses Victor's dad, who has direct speech during the opening stanzas, to imprint a controlled and biblical lifestyle with no feeling of love. This is further emphasises through the quoatation ‘Don't dishonour the family name'. It is then the narrator who tells the reader about Victor's growing up and his life before and after Anna. Auden does this by the use of the third person when refering to Victor, Anna and the other minor characters through out the play. It is then Victor tha t speaks when asking his father questions such as ‘†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦. ‘ The fact that Victor is asking questions to his afther suggests that he is still trying to please him, which further suggest that Victor is seeking for love in his father. The poem ‘As I Walked Out One Evening' consists of three separate speakers: the lovers, the clocks and the narrator. Each speaker represents a different measure and attitude towards time. The lover’s song paints time to be conquerable and ignorable – no more than a passing annoyance that they are outside of.The soliloquy of the clocks demonstrates time as a product of society, there to keep its subjects in line, and ultimately a ruling force. Finally, the narrator speaks of love as being outside of both of these things. Time is a constant flow than brings change and opportunity, and any claim to deny or control it is an illusion. To begin, the months in ‘Victor' parallel and dictate the events that s hape the poem. The poem begins in ‘frosty December', a vivid image symbolizing Victor's father and his lack of heart for his son.Victor initially meets Anna, the love of his life, in April, a time of rebirth for him. But because it was the first of April, it is Victor who is the fool as the narrative progresses. Victor eventually marries Anna in August symbolizing the warmth Victor feels for the first time in his life. Unfortunately by September, an indicator of the end of summer and the termination of warmth in Victor's life, he jumps to the conclusion that Anna has cheated on him despite the fact that no evidence exists to support his conclusion.Poetic devices add to the overall meaning and interpretation of the poem immensely. The â€Å"Time† spoken of seems to symbolically relate to death, which may, in turn, be a forewarning of Victor's future destructive streak. That leads to the â€Å"Ace of Spades reversed†   the very dagger which Victor slaughters Anna with. The ,coat of fur, Anna wears appears to symbolize her cold, bitter actions, which harm Victor just as Helen of Troy harmed citizens in her time. The simile â€Å"She gave him a kiss like a blow on the head† illustrates that Victor doesn't have the capacity to comprehend real affection.His lack of capacity and lack of warmth is what sparks his jumping to the conclusion that Anna has cheated on him. Meanwhile, Anna is referred to as Victor's Helen of Troy, an ironic allusion to the beautiful wife of Menelaus who began the Trojan War, suggesting that she is beautiful yet dangerous. When Victor persists in asking God questions, he does so at a variety of localities. The vast irony is that from the time he stood in the sunset to the time he came to the river, the locations of his pleas gradually fall from the greatest to the least powerful points.And by the end of the poem, the only thing poor Victor can relate to is the â€Å"woman of clay† ,   personification whi ch represents the only thing Victor can possibly relate to in life. Time is depicted as being something that lurks in the shadows â€Å"time watches from the shadows† and something that creeps up on you when you least expect, and even interrupts couples and lovers when they are at their most intimate  times â€Å"And coughs when they would kiss† this line also again, personifies time. Into many a green valley, Drifts the appalling snow† the first part of this quote represents the beginning of love, before time has interrupted. The word ‘green’ has connotations of summer or spring, the time of year when new things begin to come to life, just like when love begins to blossom. However over time the green valley is taken over by the ‘Appalling snow’ killing all the plants which have blossomed in the summer, time takes its toll on the valley. This is a metaphor for love, love starts of wonderfully, new and fresh.However as time drifts in an d begins to interrupt the love slowly begins to fade and change. The word ‘drifts’ again suggests that time sneaks up on unsuspecting people. In Conclusion, Auden uses techniques such as first person singular, the use of third person and the personification of time. Auden uses these techniques to suggest to the reader that time waits for no one and that it can interrupt at any time. This is further conveys by the quotation ‘and coughs when you kiss'

Essential Barcelona Tourist Information Assignment

Essential Barcelona Tourist Information - Assignment Example According to the research findings, Barcelona has got everything that makes a perfect holiday. Barcelona has a very pleasing and enjoyable weather throughout the year. But the most favorable weather of Barcelona is during the months of May till July making this time the most appealing time for a tour of the marvelous city. September is also very enjoyable but August is usually hot and moist. It is a month which is generally pleasing to those people who love to tan themselves by spending a splendid time on the beach. All those people who visit Barcelona in August are always advised to get hotel rooms with air conditioning systems. The pleasing weather of Barcelona is still maintained during the months of October and November but the temperature starts falling and the weather starts to get chillier. The sunshine cannot be observed everyday and people get prepared for a slight rainfall. The winter sets in at the end of November and from November till the end of February the temperature drops and the weather gets cold. It does not rain much in Barcelona during the winter so generally people get to see the sunny days. Numerous painters and artists have lived and worked in Barcelona at one time or the other and you can still perceive their affect distinctively all through the city. Two of the most famous are Miro and Picasso who have museums allocated to their most major works. This is just not it. Barcelona has also got many various museums and art galleries all throughout the city so you have got many artistic and cultural places to visit while you are in Barcelona. Barcelona had more than 55 museums and art galleries that are devoted on the topics such as sports, art, history, war, science, maritime and architecture. Few of the most famous museums and art galleries located in Barcelona for sightseeing are Maritime Museum, Barcelona Centre of Contemporary Culture, La Pedrera, The Dali Museum-In Figueres and Camp Nou.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT - Essay Example The recruitment process starts with the submission of resume regardless of the fact that the recruitment has started with walk in, employee referrals, advertising or others (Griffin & Moorhead, pp. 14-19, 2009). Shortlisted candidates get a chance to fill the application form, which then leads to a formal interview. Short listed applicants are called for a couple of more interviews (Fisher, Schoenfeldt & Shaw, pp. 301-305, 2005). The last interview, which is a group interview, then leads them to a management assessment centre. This is the point where the person has almost met all the requirements for passing the recruitment process. However, in order for finding out the right match in terms of job for the applicant, the individual has to go appear in several tests. They are Big Five personality tests, MBTI, IQ tests and others. Important here to note is that these are the requirements for new recruits, however, in case of recruitment for executive positions or rehiring, not all steps are followed (Mathis & Jackson, pp. 48-51, 2006). The legal requirements include the fact that the person should have a criminal history, must have the passport or identification of home country, work permit, proof of address, proof of date of birth, proof of educational achievement and certificates and others (Robbins & Judge, pp. 291-295, 2010). Programme for Training and Development Recruitment of the best available talent is never the guarantee of success. It was not only important to tell the employees what to do but at the same time, it is equally important to teach them how to do. Market leaders like Unilever spend more time in comparison to their competitors for training and developing their employees. Following is an example of professional training and development plan at Unilever (Fisher, Schoenfeldt & Shaw, pp. 301-305, 2005). Training and development at UniLever starts with needs assessment. Why training is important? What should be the contents of training? Who should be the target of training? What shall be the expectations in terms of benefits from the training? (Kleynhans, pp. 274-278, 2006) Questions similar to the above mentioned, remain the target of needs assessment. The second step is of instructional design where the focus remains on using the data gained in the first step and with the help of the same, complying, creating and deciding on the program content, exercises, activities, approaches and others (Cummings & Worley, pp. 68-69, 2008). Since this process requires a lot of investment in terms of time and energy, the third step is of validation where a small sample is tested. The fourth step is of the actual implementation of the program and at the fifth stage, the managers and heads of UniLever sit back to evaluate the success of the program (Bratton & Gold, pp. 510-512, 2001). Human Relations School and Motivation of Staff Experts such as ‘Hugo Munsterberg, Mary Parker Follet, Hawthorne Studies, Abraham Maslow, Douglas McGreg or’ (Hendry, pp. 84-86, 1995) and others remain as the founder of the human relations school of management. Most of these experts (Hendry, pp. 84-86, 1995) had disagreements with the ideas of Taylor and other advocates of

SWOT Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

SWOT Analysis - Essay Example The strengths and weaknesses define the internal environment while the opportunities and threats represent the external environment to a business (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). Managers should analyze all their internal positive characteristics of their organization with an aim of exploiting them. These attributes represent the strengths of such an organization and the analysis helps in indentifying the extent to which these factors can be utilized. The strengths include the resources at the firm’s disposal that ensure all the business practices run smoothly (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). In addition, the positive characteristics are considered as strengths from their capability to sustain the organization’s competitive advantage and the positive aspects of the human resource. The managers should focus on these attributes in order to add value to the business operations. These organization’s strengths are within the management’s control. The weaknesses represent the factors that work toward minimizing the capacity to add value through an organization’s operations. Consequently, these factors reduce the expected value of an organizations operations and leads to a decrease in their competitive advantage in the markets. Such weaknesses include inability to utilize the existing resources maximally, poor quality services and poor positioning in the market. These factors are also within the management’s control (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). Opportunities are aspects of the external environment to an organization. They symbolize the incentives for the existence and the possible progress of business operations in the market. These incentives present an opening to advance business practices and improve the current benefits. They also offer a chance for growth and development of activities that add value to the organizations and its stakeholders (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). These opportunities also lead to

International Transport Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Transport Companies - Essay Example Transport is one of the primary requirements of the modern age since the ability to move from one point on the planet to another gives human beings the chance to engage in many activities that make our way of life possible. In fact, international trade, humanitarian assistance, global commerce and even the process of globalization itself could be completely stalled if the present means of international transport were not there. The IRU (2002) reports that: â€Å"Issues in transport directly concern the whole functioning of international trade system. In fact, any transport network failures may be assimilated to "blood clots" obstructing free movement of people, goods and services, and hindering sustainable development of world economy. (IRU, 2002, Pg. 1)† With the existence of international transport, international laws also prohibit the transport of certain goods from one nation to another and wherever there are laws to prohibit something there is money to be made in breaking the law. This means that there is a thriving underground network of transporters who knowingly or unknowingly are busy transporting humans, drugs, weapons, chemicals and even animals that have certain restrictions placed on them (Wikipedia, 2006). The transport of such goods creates several problems for international transport companies, therefore, the company themselves, as well as the governments they deal with, have to work towards minimizing the associated problems. Fundamentally, if an international transport company of repute plays by the book, then the company knows fully that engaging in the transport of illegal/unwanted goods will have negative effects on the operations of the company. For example, productivity would be hurt because the ratio of goods and services which are provided by the company might need more inputs from the labor and the management to prevent the presence of stowaways or smuggled goods.

Motivation Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Motivation Assignment - Essay Example Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation differs in different contexts. For instance, in the workplace, extrinsic motivation comes from either monthly or weekly salaries. On the other hand, the source of intrinsic motivation can be from the desire to build one’s skills. Schools have different ways of motivation (Sansone 27). These include good grades in the examinations and exemplary teaching methods from tutors. Back in our homes, nice comments from our parents are great sources of motivation. This gives someone a sense of belonging. Consumer motivation is an important aspect in any project or business venture. It is an essential tool because increases the number of consumers and profits. This means that managers have to be keen to know what fully satisfies their consumers. They should seek to know the sources of customer’s dissatisfaction (Sansone 54). To motivate customers, managers have to try to know the areas of improvement in the delivery of services. These may include the features absent in the offered services and the charges. Total consumers satisfaction promises positive impact to the growth of the ICON Health and Fitness. It is evident from the above discussion motivation is a great source of energy to succeed any

Inter-Cultural Teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Inter-Cultural Teams - Essay Example People who are assigned to inter-cultural teams often begin working closely with a group of new team members, and the welfare of the new group tends to displace the welfare of the individual as the team attempts to build cohesiveness and a sense of interdependence. (Wellins, 1990, 76) As with self-management, the use of teams in the workplace also may best be thought of as lying on a continuum. At one end, teams with a low degree of interdependence consist of employees who rarely see each other and perform their tasks without exchanging information or materials. At the other end of the continuum, teams with a high degree of task interdependence consist of employees who frequently interact and constantly exchange materials and information to complete their tasks.1 On a highly interdependent team, successful task accomplishment obviously depends greatly on the interaction of employees. Our definition of a inter-cultural teams, however, implies very little variation. Thus, we assume that resistance to inter-cultural teams is, essentially, resistance to interdependent teams. The resistance to inter-cultural teams can be due to a person's philosophy about teamwork rather than to his or her views on particular task characteristics (such as a task's degree of self-management). For example, when introduced to the idea of inter-cultural teams, an i... Thus, an employee's philosophy about working in a highly interdependent fashion, rather than in an independent manner, may be a key factor in determining that individual's support of, or resistance to, inter-cultural teams. (Adler, 1997, 117) Collectivism versus individualism When people value the welfare of the group more than the welfare of the individual, they are called "collectivists." Hofstede defines "collectivism" as a tight social framework in which a person's "identity is based in the social system" and his or her "belief is placed in group decisions" (1980b: 48). People from collectivistic cultures tend to put aside their own self-interests in deference to the interests of their group. For example, several studies have found that people in South Korea and Sweden (cultures that are highly collectivistic) disregard individual performance differences when determining employee rewards. Consistent with this, collectivists believe in cooperating rather than competing, following a group purpose rather than individual agendas, and promoting the welfare of the group over that of the individual members. In addition, people from collectivistic cultures fear being ostracized personally or bringing shame to their group for behavior not contributing to the welfare of the group. Conversely, people in "individualistic" cultures tend to put forth and promote their own welfare over the interests of their group or organization (Hofstede, 1980a). People in the United Kingdom (a highly individualistic culture) had higher incidences of social loafing than did the Chinese (a highly collectivistic culture) when working on an interdependent group task. People in the United Kingdom also prefer reward distributions that

Beach Bum Gym Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Beach Bum Gym - Thesis Example It will provide exclusive services to the customers by expert trainers. Furthermore, the cost of the services will also be attractive for customers. Beach Bum Gym will simply target the young and adult customer segment within the age group between 16 to 34 years. It is expected that the gym will gain significant profit and sales in due course of its operations. The management team of the business will consist of manager, instructors, security personnel and receptionists who will help to run and to manage the club operations effectively. It is expected that in order to open the business almost US$ 635,00 will be required as startup fund. The major competitive advantages of the gym will be its locational advantages, inexpensive membership fees and attractive workout atmosphere. Industry and Proposed Company Gym i.e. fitness and health industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. In recent years, this industry has displayed considerable progress in terms of re venue and memberships. According to the data of ‘International Heath, Racquet & Sportsclub Association’ the revenue of gym clubs in the US had increased by 5% to US$ 21.4 billion in the year 2011 than the previous year. The number of membership has also augmented by 2.4% to 51.4 million than 2010 (South University, 2011). As stated by IBIS World, the demand for gym, fitness and health clubs will increase on upcoming days and people are becoming more conscious with regard to maintaining healthy lifestyle and focusing more on staying fit (IBISWorld, 2012). Due to the obesity related influences in the US, fitness and weight loss has gained increased popularity. In the year 2009, the number of gym clubs was 26830 which had increased to 29960 in 2011 (South University, 2011). Considering the industry attractiveness, the business plan is proposed for developing a gym club named ‘Beach Bum Gym’. The club will be located on beach area of Hampton, US and will provid e workout and gym facilities to the people. Although the industry is lucrative but it is highly cyclical and competitive business and thus, Beach Bum Gym has to compete with other health and fitness clubs in the Hampton area. Products and Services Beach Bum Gym will have different products and services for people. The products of the gym would be divided into three categories i.e. nutrition products, fitness products, and gym accessories. The following table will describe the products that will be offered by the Beach Bum Gym for customers: Nutrition Products Body Fitness Products Gym Accessories Energy Drinks Treadmills Headphones Supplements Dumbbells Music Health Drinks Elliptical Clothing General Nutrition Stationary Bikes Fitness DVD Sport Drinks Rowing Machines Protein Weight Benches Barbells Source: (Gymlink Australia, 2011) Apart from several products, Beach Bum Gym will also provide numerous services to the customers. The services that will be provided by the Beach Bum Gym would be fitness classes, individual training and group workouts. Beach Bum Gym will provide different membership options for people on the basis of time and purchasing

Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits Essay Example for Free

Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits Essay As you may know there are two types of pension plans that are most commonly used: a defined contribution plan and a defined benefit plan. â€Å"A defined contribution plan sets forth a certain amount that the employer is to contribute to the plan each period (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). â€Å"A defined benefit plan specifies the amount of pension benefits to be paid out to plan recipients in the future. Companies that use this plan must make sufficient contributions to the funding agency in order to meet benefit requirements when they come due† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). The defined contribution plan makes no promises on what the ultimate benefits are to be paid. â€Å"The benefits received by the recipients are determined by the return earned on the invested pension funds during the investment period† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). When you account for this plan the risk for future benefit is the employee and the employer’s only cash outflow is the annual contribution to the pension plan fund. â€Å"The pension expense is equal to the amount of promised annual contribution†(Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). The financial statements should disclose the plan, what groups are covered, the basis for determining contributions, and any significant matters affecting comparability from period to period (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). Accounting for the defined benefit plan is more complex. â€Å"The pension benefits to be received in the future are affected by uncertain variables such as turnover, mortality, length of employee service, compensation levels, and earnings on the pension fund assets† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). The risks lie with the employers because they must make large enough contributions to meet what was promised and the amount of pension expense may not be equal to the cash contributed to the plan (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). Employers are also required to disclose the following information if they chose to use the defined benefit plan: â€Å"1. A description of the plan, including employee groups covered, type of benefit formula, funding policy, types of assets held, significant matters affecting comparability or information for all periods presented, 2. The amount of net periodic pension cost for the period showing separately the service cost component, the interest cost component, the actual return on assets for the period, and the net total of other components, 3.  A schedule reconciling the funded status of the plan with amounts reported in the employer’s statement of financial position† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). APB Opinion No. 8 states that there are some basic problems with the accounting for the defined benefit pension plan. The problems identified are: â€Å"1. Measuring the total amount of cost associated with a pension plan, 2. Allocating the total pension costs to the proper accounting periods, 3. Providing the cash to fund the pension plan, and 4.  Disclosing the significant aspects of the pension plan on the financial statements† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). SFAS No. 87 â€Å"Employers’ Accounting for Pensions† maintains that pension information should be prepared on the accrual basis and retained three fundamental aspects of past pension accounting: 1. delaying recognition of certain events, 2. Reporting net cost, and 3. offsetting assets and liabilities† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). The components of pension costs reflect different aspects of the benefits earned by employees and the method of financing those benefits by the employer. The following are required to be included in the net pension cost recognized by the employer sponsoring a defined benefits pension plan: 1. Service cost, 2. Interest cost, 3. Return on plan assets, 4. Amortization of unrecognized prior service cost, 5. Amortization of gains and losses, 6. Amortization of the unrecognized net obligation or unrecognized net asset at the date of the initial application of SFAS No. 7† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). There are other postretirement benefits that are addressed in SFAS No. 106 â€Å"Employers’ Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other than Pensions. † SFAS No. 106 deals with other postretirement benefits other than pensions which includes a variety: tuition assistance, day care, legal services, and housing subsidies, the most significant are retiree health care services, and life insurance. Although on the surface OPRBs are similar to defined benefit pension plans that have characteristics that necessitate different accounting considerations and that have been the source of considerable controversy: future cash outlays for OPRBs depend on the amount of serves that the employees will eventually receive, additional OPRBs cannot be accumulated by employees OPRB with each year of service, OPRBs do not vest† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). As noted the two most frequent pension plans are the defined contribution plan and the defined benefit plan. However, APB Opinion No. 8 has identified that there are some basic problems with the accounting for the defined benefit pension plan. There are also other postretirement benefits that include retiree healthcare benefits and life insurance.

Social Psychology: Concepts and Research

Social Psychology: Concepts and Research Sophia Ashraf Social Psychology Assignment At times people and groups resort to negative, cruel and even murderous behaviour. Drawing upon contemporary or historical examples analyse whether this behaviour is influenced more by social pressure/structure or by something more personally sinister or selfish. Social psychologists have devoted extensive interest in studying the attitudes, feelings and behaviours of human beings. They have come up with numerous explanations for both helpful and aggressive human behaviours. Philosophers explain these differences in terms of human nature. For instance, Rousseau believes humans are innately peaceful creatures. Therefore, anti-social behaviours are a consequence of wider societal and structural factors. In contrast, Thomas Hobbes believes humans are born evil and are predisposed to criminality. Overall, history is filled with numerous examples of altruistic behaviours. One such example is of Oskar Schindler, who risked his life and saved over 4,000 Jews during the Holocaust. Equally, history has also witnessed inhumane atrocities which include the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam in the 1960’s and the Rwanda and Bosnia genocides of the 1990’s (Hogg Cooper, 2007; Hogg Vaughan, 2014). Social psychologists have offered numerous explanations that influence the behaviours, attitudes and perceptions of people, in performing horrendous crimes against humanity. These include: social pressures like conformity and obedience, and also individual personality traits such as possessing an evil, sadistic and psychopathic character. In this essay, I will use examples of historical and contemporary atrocities, social psychological studies and theoretical concepts to explain the reasons behind why certain individuals and groups commit negative, cruel and murderous behaviours. In doing so, I will analyse whether this behaviour is influenced more by social pressure/structure or by something more personally sinister or selfish (ibid). Social psychologists identify obedience as a major social influence on human behaviour. This is because it involves obeying the orders of other living beings. Psychologists have found obedience to have both a positive and negative impact on human behaviour. For example, it prevents chaos in everyday life as people are socialised to obey laws such as traffic lights, and do so even without the presence of an authority figure. Alternatively, obedience has also proven destructive as many people have blindly obeyed the orders of an authority figure without thinking of the consequences of their actions. Social psychologist Stanley Milgram (1963, 1974) was highly interested in the effects of obedience on human behaviour, and in particular whether an individual would follow the commands of an authority figure if it involved harming another living being (Aronson et al, 2013; Hogg Vaughan, 2014). In 1963, Milgram carried out a famous ground-breaking experiment on obedience to authority at Yale University. He recruited around forty participants from the community via an advertisement, to participate in a study that tested the effects of punishment on learning. The experiment consisted of three roles which include an experimenter who was a man dressed in a white lab coat, a teacher whose role was always played by the participants, and a learner named Mr Wallace who was actually a confederate of the researcher. All participants were provided with a shock generating machine which had thirty levers in total and ranged from 15 to 450 volts. Participants were also given a sample shock of 45 volts before the experiment commenced. As part of the study, Mr Wallace had to learn a set of pair associates, whereas the teacher was required to administer electric shocks progressively to the learner each time they gave an incorrect answer (ibid). During the experiment, the learner made some correct and incorrect responses. Whenever the learner received a shock for an incorrect response, he would cry and scream in pain and often demanded to be released from the experiment. Consequently, this made participants feel agitated and want to withdraw from the research. In response, the experimenter would reply with a series of direct coercive statements such as ‘the experiment requires that you continue’, and ‘you have no other choice, you must go on’. (Hogg Vaughan, 2014: 242). Milgram’s initial assumption was that his participants would refuse to follow orders that involved harming another individual. However, he was extremely shocked when his results revealed that 65% of his participants continued administering electric shocks till the very end. This study illustrates the devastating impact of obedience, a social pressure which induces ordinary people to perform damaging acts against innocent vict ims (Hogg Vaughan, 2014; Helm Morelli, 1979). Milgram’s experiment has received considerable support from numerous researchers such as Hofling et al, 1966 who found that nurses also obeyed doctor’s orders to administer what they knew were harmfully incorrect doses of drugs to their patients. Milgram’s study has also received substantial criticism for its ethical concerns. Firstly unknown to the participants, the learner was actually a confederate who did not receive any electric shocks throughout the study. Secondly, Milgram’s participants were not provided with a fully informed consent and right to withdraw. This is because the experimenter verbally prodded them to continue during the experiment. His participants were also deceived about the true aims of the study, as Milgram was actually investigating the effects of obedience to authority on human behaviour. Milgram’s findings also lack generalisation to the wider population. This is because the study involved male participants and was conduc ted in a laboratory setting which does not reflect real life situations (ibid). Many historical and contemporary crimes have been committed in the name of obedience to authority. These include historic atrocities witnessed during World War II and the Nazi era, and also contemporary atrocities such as those which have been witnessed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. In all of these horrific events, the perpetrators have claimed to be following orders. For instance, the Nazi official Adolf Eichmann who was held responsible for the death of six million Jews claimed he was following and implementing Hitler’s orders. Eichmann’s trial was covered by the journalist Hannah Arendt (1963) in her book ‘Eichmann in Jerusalem: A report on the banality of evil’. Like Milgram, Arendt was also interested in what made Eichmann and other war criminals commit such devastating crimes against humanity (Aronson et al, 2013; Hogg Vaughan, 2014). Within her book, Arendt reveals a shocking finding and asserts that ‘these ‘monsters’ may not have been monsters at all. They were often mild-mannered, softly spoken, courteous people who repeatedly and politely explained that they did what they did not because they hated Jews (or Muslims etc.) but because- they were simply obeying orders’ (Hogg Vaughan, 2014: 240). Here, Arendt illustrates the importance of structural explanations, in particular obedience which a form of social influence that predisposes war time criminals to commit negative, cruel and murderous behaviours. Nevertheless, this structural explanation has been criticised for ignoring the very fact that an individual’s pathological personality and a group’s cultural norms, may also make them more vulnerable to anti-social and murderous behaviours (Aronson et al, 2013; Hogg Vaughan, 2014). To explain a perpetrators negative human behaviour, Milgram makes reference to the terms the agentic state which denotes absolute obedience. He claims that within the agentic state people see themselves as mere instruments obeying the commands of an authority figure. As a result, individuals experience a diffusion of responsibility for their actions. This is because they transfer personal responsibility onto the authority figure. For this reason, Milgram believes that the agentic state can be used to explain the behaviour of perpetrators, who claim they are not liable for their actions as they were simply following orders. Moreover, even the threat of punishment for disobedience can force many people and groups to perform criminal behaviours against their own wish. However, it must be noted that not everyone obeys the commands of an authority figure, and many people do display resistance to commands that go against their own beliefs (ibid). Social psychologists have also identified conformity as another major social influence on human behaviour. It is defined as a process in which the individual changes their attitudes and behaviours in accordance with the group’s views. Psychologists have identified two types of conformity. These are informational and normative social influence. Firstly, informational influence is a type of conformity where the individual relies on information, knowledge and opinions of others as evidence about reality. Secondly, normative social influence is a type of conformity which is heavily based on others expectations. Here, the individual conforms because they feel a need to gain acceptance and social approval from their group. They also want to avoid feeling socially ostracised. In support of conformity pressures Mark Twain asserts, ‘we are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going and then go with the drove’ (cited in Kassin et al, 2008: 221). This quote shows how suggestible and compliant people can be as a result of numerous group pressures (Aronson et al, 2013; Kassin et al, 2008). The famous psychologist Philip Zimbardo was highly interested in understanding the downside of conformity, and coined the concept ‘The Lucifer Effect’ to describe how good people turn evil. In 1971, he conducted a famous study named the Stanford Prison Experiment, where paid volunteers were randomly assigned to the role of either a prisoner or a guard. The prisoners were arrested from their house, and were taken to a prison which consisted of bare necessities. Their possessions were removed from them and they were provided with a uniform and a unique ID number. Alternatively, the guards were also given a uniform to wear, along with items such as clubs and whistles which were symbolic of their authority. All prisoners were required to follow a set of fixed rules; otherwise they risked receiving severe punishment (Baron and Branscombe, 2012: Meyers, 2008; Zimbardo, 2007). Within the experiment, Zimbardo played the role of a prison warden who was interested in observing the reactions of his participants. He also wanted to know whether his participants would conform to the norms and requirements of their roles and whether they would behave like genuine prisoners and guards. Zimbardo found that the prisoners were rebellious at first but, then later became passive whereas, the guards grew more and more brutal and sadistic in their character. This was seen in the manner in which they harassed and dehumanised prisoners. Zimbardo found that these changes in behaviour were so disturbing that it became necessary to end the study after six days, when initial plans called for it to last two weeks. According to the individualistic explanation of crime and deviance, such inhumane behaviours may be attributed to individual factors such as a genetic predisposition to criminality (ibid). In opposition to the individualistic explanation, Zimbardo (2007) adopts a structural perspective to explain his findings. He argues that a person inclination to conform to the norms of their social roles such as that of a soldier or prison guard can have harmful consequences, as they may make decent people perform indecent behaviours against members of their own species. A real life parallel to the Stanford Prison experiment is the disturbing events of the Abu Ghraib prison which started in Iraq in 2003. In this horrific event, American soldiers physically abused Iraqi prisoners as they perceived them to be less than human. According to the individualistic explanation, these horrific atrocities are attributed to individual deficiencies and limitations. For instance, people who are labelled psychopaths, sadists, and evil creatures are more vulnerable to behave inhumanely with innocent people than psychologically normal people (Aronson et al, 2013: Baron and Branscombe, 2012; Keller, 2006). In relation to the Nazi Holocaust, the historian Daniel Goldhagen argues that ‘many German citizens were willing anti-Semitic participants in the Holocaust, not mere ordinary people forced to follow orders’ (Kassin et al, 2008: 243). Therefore, it may well be argued that the Germans had a character defect and were prejudiced and pathologically frustrated individuals. These factors influenced them to behave with cruelty towards others. On the other hand, developmental psychologists argue that anti-social and aggressive personality disorders can also predispose individuals to resort to criminal behaviours. For example, Adorno et al, 1950 adopts a psychodynamic framework and argues that early childhood rearing practices that are harsh and authoritarian produce individuals who are obsessed by authority and are more likely to be hostile and aggressive towards other people. This provides support for the claim that personality factors cause individuals to behave in a negative and cruel manner towards others (Aronson et al, 2013; Hogg Cooper, 2007; Kassin et al, 2008). In conclusion, social influence has proved to be a fundamental area of inquiry for social psychologists who attempt to explain the numerous influences on human behaviour. Psychologists argue that people and groups are subject to powerful and complex social pressures. These may originate from people, groups and institutions. Social psychologists explain violent and anti-social human behaviours as being either attributed to the individual, situation or system. Social psychologists have identified conformity and obedience to play an important role in influencing human behaviour. They have also identified individual factors such as a genetic predisposition to crime and also personality attributes such as a possessing a selfish, sinister and authoritarian personality to predispose people to behave criminally. There are also other factors that may shape. These include prejudice, discrimination and a radical ideology which may predispose people and groups to behave inhumanely with others. O verall, research on crime and deviance have revealed that it is highly complex to determine whether negative, cruel and murderous human behaviours are due to social/structural pressures or individual factors or a combination of both. Sexual Offences Act 2003: An Analysis Sexual Offences Act 2003: An Analysis The questions as posed raises a number of issues concerning the interplay between child and youth sexuality and the criminal law that is not readily resolved. The question shall be addressed using the following analytical approach that is intended to be considered progressively, commencing with the identification of the specific provisions of the Sexual Offences Act that demand the greatest scrutiny in when considering the interests of children. The analysis then explores the implications of the key terms employed in the question and how each may be interpreted in light of the Sexual Offences Act provisions; ‘children, ‘protection, ‘sexual abuse, ‘legitimate sexual behaviour, and ‘mistake are highlighted. The expression ‘over-criminalise is afforded a distinct consideration in view of the breadth of the potential sexual acts that might be prosecuted pursuant to the Act, coupled with the potential reach of both police and prosecutorial discretion in these proceedings. The analysis includes the review and inclusion of relevant academic commentaries that consider the issues noted above; the paper concludes with the assertion that while the Sexual Offences Act is an imperfect mechanism upon which to construct a protective scheme for children who are exploited or otherwise the victim of nonconsensual sexual activity, the current statute represents a legislative scheme that is clearly rooted in the public interest and one that addresses a number of important societal issues. The Sexual Offences Act, 2003 The Act provides for the regulation of a broad range of defined types of sexual misconduct. Commencing with s. 5 (Rape of a child), the enumerated Child Sex Offences provisions that are set out at sections 9 through 19 define the age limits applicable to establishing proof of the various enumerated offences. Section 10 (Inciting a child to sexual activity) is an example of the age definition employed in all of the Child Sex Offences: A person aged 18 or over (A) commits an offence if he intentionally causes or incites another person (B) to engage in an activity the activity is sexual, and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Either: (i) B is under 16 and A does not reasonably believe that B is 16   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  or over, or (ii) B is under 13 Various acts of sexual touching are criminalised: the offence of ‘Grooming (s.15) is noteworthy in that the proof of the offence does not require proof of any physical contact directed by the perpetrator to the child victim to establish criminal liability for a sexual offence. The ‘grooming provisions are primarily directed to Internet based contacts (such as by way of Internet chat rooms) or mobile telephone media, such as text messaging between adults and children as defined. Commentators have suggested ‘à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦that applying the ‘grooming clause in practice is highly problematic given the difficulty of demonstrating ‘sexual intent towards a childà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(previous case law) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦illustrates the extent to which some sex offenders are prepared to go to secure a child for sexual activity and the overt manner in which ‘grooming occurred. The penalty provisions of the Act generally invite one of two types of dispositions. For the more serious offences such as rape, the maximum penalty is 14 years in prison; for the lesser offences the maximum penalty is a 5 year term. Subject to the definitions contained in each section, most offences are also capable of prosecution by summary means and a corresponding maximum penalty of 6 months in prison, or fine in the alternative. These provisions are considered in the context of the suggested ‘over-criminalisation, below. Key words As noted in the introduction, five words and phrases extracted from the question are employed to advance the present analysis. ‘Children It is submitted that while the definition of ‘child may be variable and highly dependent upon the context of any particular sexual circumstance, the age parameters set out in the Act are generally appropriate for the following reasons. While a child aged 13 or under may have the physical maturity and the emotional desire to engage in sexual activity (this varies significantly from person to person), there is strong academic support for the proposition that a young person of this age will generally lack the appreciation of the consequences of sexual activity, coupled with a lack of emotional maturity to necessarily deal with the activity in a safe and socially acceptable manner. Further when children are provided with the opportunity to use the Internet to make contact with virtual strangers, one comprehensive study revealed that over 60 percent of a sampling of London children aged 10 to 13 had limited understanding of the extent to which others could potentially harm them if they were not discreet concerning their personal identifiers or if they agreed to meet someone they did not personally know. In many respects the statutory definition may be regarded as a societal approximation. For any critic of the Act who believes that the age bar is set to high, particularly with regard to the 13 to 16 year old age range that involves the additional consideration of the concept of honest and reasonable mistake as to age, there are significant segments of modern UK society that define a child not simply by their biological age but in terms of their status as members of the family household, or as unmarried persons. Without stereotyping a particular group, the conservative elements of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faiths all hold strong cultural / religious views that would place the definition of a child above age 13, or above age 16 where the mistake defences are invoked. An anomaly in the legislation is the disparity between the general age of majority laws in the UK and the sexual offence age provisions in some circumstances, a person can have consensual sexual intercourse at age 16 but be prohibited from voting, consuming alcohol, or entering into most kinds of contracts. The justification for this anomaly is beyond the scope of this paper; it is acknowledged that a greater measure of uniformity of age limits promotes consistency and social utility. However, it is also to be noted that the provisions are in general accord with the corresponding European Union conventions. ‘Protection It is submitted that one may properly be uneasy when significant consideration is given to concepts of protection when the conduct, such as sexual activity, is generally discovered after the fact. The protection afforded the public is that of the combined effects of publicity concerning the provisions and deterrence associated with the criminal process. ‘Sexual abuse The Act has properly defined a broad range of sexual touching and physical contact as potentially constituting sexual abuse. The definition must be broad to encompass the psychological and emotional harm that can (but not always does) stem from any kind of assaultive behaviour, no matter how seemingly minor. Further, the risk of long term damage in such occurrences is well documented; ‘à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦More convincing evidence of the dangers of adult-child sexual activity comes from studies of cycles of sexual abuse The evidence is much stronger here-penetrative sexual acts by certain sorts of adults are virtually universal in paedophiles‘ childhood. Cramer reviewed numerous academic studies in this respect and concluded that ‘à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is not surprising that no measurable harm comes to some teenagers who knowingly consent to an involvement with adults just a few years older than themselves. In some communities with different laws, they might be old enough to be free to engage in sexual relations. ..However, this does not mean that all adult-young person sexual relations are invariably non-damaging-or that it is possible to predict ‘harmless‘ ones with any confidence. The question as posed carries the implicit suggestion that sexual activity involving a ‘consenting child (consent as defined in the Act) is not a risk to the child. Cramer properly identifies the fact that harm is a considerable variable for the reasons noted above. Further, all considerations of what is abusive behaviour deserving of societal sanction and what is acceptable will engage a number of different perspectives. As mentioned with respect to the definition of a child, the cultural and moral position of the child and their family may be a significant factor in how the activity is characterised. Biological, emotional and psychological considerations are also at stake. Given the passage of the Act by the UK Parliament, there must be some measure of societal acceptance of the statutory regime as one that properly reflects UK societal concerns regarding this activity. ‘Over-criminalise This term must be approached from two perspectives. The first is the effect of the statutory penalty sections. These provisions on their face provide significant latitude for a sentencing judge to fashion a disposition that meets the demands of each case. One would expect the cardinal sentencing rule of ‘worst offence, worst offender to draw the sentences approaching what is unquestionably a significant penalty of 14 years for rape; rape is equally a horrible offence. It is also clear that the mitigating factors of a positive relationship between the offender and child, relative age disparity, and similar issues must mitigate in the favour of the offender. The concern expressed for over-criminalisation is addressed at least in part through the power to deal with the extremely minor transgressions of this nature by way of the conditional caution provisions, or by virtue of the general powers of discretion vested in the Crown Prosecution Service. There are elements of UK society who may legitimately feel that public legislation that mandates certain proceedings or dispositions is far preferable a public interest safety mechanism than a discretion vested in the prosecution that is essentially unreviewable. Conditional cautions have attracted a mixed review in the UK press and legal commentaries; they are perceived in some quarters as a system soft on crime. However, the conditional caution mechanisms address precisely the issue posited in the present question while the Act may provide significant sentences in the proper case, like all other UK statutes, its effect is ameliorated by the discretionary caution. The distinctiveness of the administrative structure of the conditional caution has been furthered through the development of the Gravity Factor Matrix, an assessment tool developed by the Home Office to assist police services and prosecutors in the determination of which types of occurrences should be subject to a conditional caution. Police forces throughout the UK have now incorporated the matrix into their internal policy and procedures. The general considerations of both aggravating and mitigating circumstances are set out in detail; the Home Office issued a similarly comprehensive guideline concerning warnings for young offenders in May 2006. The use of the caution process enjoys a widespread acceptance with prosecutors, with 24 per cent of all UK criminal offences charged resulting in this disposition; 17per cent more conditional cautions were issued in 2005 over the previous year. Given this trend, concerns regarding the risk of over-criminalised youth sex activity are misplaced, provided the prosecutorial discretion remains active in the consideration of sexual offences. ‘Legitimate sexual behaviour The question is one that is loaded with the assumption that ‘children (depending upon the age definition) will innocently engage or perhaps experiment with sexual activity. In a hypothetical occurrence between a 14 year old boy and a 13 year old girl, where consent in the practical sense is alleged, it is difficult to imagine a reasonable person characterising the interaction as ‘sexual abuse† (subject to the cultural and religious observations noted above). The Act is clearly aimed at circumstances of the prescribed age difference creating a practical presumption of inequality, or the obvious circumstances of harm that are consistent with abuse. ‘Mistake It is contended that there is nothing within the framework of the Sexual Offences Act, 2003 that creates a potential deviation form the now well developed legal principles in support of the defence of mistake. Due statutory deference is paid to the fact that sexual offence circumstances are often emotionally charged, carrying the potential to affect recollection and perception,. For these reasons reasonable mistake of fact as to age must remain an available defence; wilful blindness and recklessness are relegated (as they should be) to the category of mitigation, if any. It seems doubtful given all of the factors noted above that the UK courts would embrace the de facto reverse onus now imposed upon an accused in these circumstances by the Supreme Court of Canada. The availability of mistake in the statutory regime is consistent with the European Convention provisions regarding the assurance of a fair trial. Conclusion The present question does not recognise the strengths of the Sexual Offences Act as they pertain to children who are victims of sexual assault. The act strikes an appropriate balance between individual rights and societal protection.

Procrastination: Should I Do it now, or wait till later? :: essays research papers

Should I do it now or wait till later?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every person has their own style or way they accomplish doing work. Many feel the need to begin working on an assignment right when they get it. While others procrastinate and do not complete the assignment until right before it is due. There are many different attitudes that one may have when dealing with work. Everyone accomplishes work in their own way. Many feel the need to do their work right away, while some procrastinate to finish their work   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While looking at the way a person completes their work, there is the issue of revision. Some may believe that if one does their work right away, there is a higher quality of revision, resulting in higher quality work. This may be thought true because it gives the person more time to look over their work and revise it. Also, it allows one extra time to get help with the structure of their paper, project, presentation, etc. Even though all these points may be seemingly true, many people wait until the last minute to complete their work. Procrastination is seen most when revising work. People often miss mistakes that they might have seen if they had not procrastinated. When cutting the time, people often rush and make many mistakes that they would not have if they had the proper time. While revising, they still have fresh in their mind what the project or paper should look like, and see it how they think it should be. This in turn, makes them miss mistakes they might have seen if they had the appropriate amount of time to properly revise. Many argue the issue of the quality of work when comparing those who do things right away and those who procrastinate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another issue with doing your work right away versus procrastinating is the availability of needed resources. When beginning your work right away, you have time to schedule out where and when you need to go to get the appropriate resources. The worker has time to plan out when to go when things are open, order any supplies needed, or schedule any interviews. Beginning your work right away allows the worker to get all the necessary resources, in order to produce the best work that he or she can. Procrastinating shortens the amount of time that one can get their necessary resources. If the worker waits till the last minute, they might not be aware of all the parts needed for their assignment.

Various law :: essays research papers

Charta Magna: agreement between king John and his barons laying down mutual rights and obligations as well as the position of the lower nobility and the church. (1215) Habeas Corpus: is an important remedy against unlawful commitment. (1679) Bill of rights: protects statements in either house of parliament granting parliament itself the power to fine or imprison those who abuse this privilege. It also prohibited the king to levy taxes or keep an army without permission of parliament. (1689) Act of settlement: Secured the succession of the throne after the death of William III who was king of England but who didn’t have any children. It gave the throne to Princess Sofia of Hannover and her heirs, being Protestants.(1700) Charles-Luis de Montesquieu : â€Å"De l’espiritu des lois† (1748) Jean-Jaques Rouseau is the author of: â€Å"discours sur l' origine el les fondaments de l' inegalite parmi les homes†(1754) â€Å"contrat social ou principes du droit† (1762) Independence of USA (1776) French Revolution (1784) Types of laws Statute laws: An act of the legislature of a state or country, declaring, commanding, or prohibiting something; a positive law; the written will of the legislature expressed with all the requisite forms of legislation; -- used in distinction from common law. Statute is commonly applied to the acts of a legislative body consisting of representatives. In monarchies, legislature laws of the sovereign are called edicts, decrees, ordinances, rescripts, etc. In works on international law and in the Roman law, the term is used as embracing all laws imposed by competent authority. Statutes in this sense are divided into statutes real, statutes personal, and statutes mixed; statutes real applying to immovables; statutes personal to movables; and statutes mixed to both classes of property. Statute book: a record of laws or legislative acts. Federal Laws: Rules that are applied on a federal level International Laws: A set of rules generally regarded and accepted as binding in relations between states and nations. Also called law of nations. These are the rules regulating the mutual intercourse of nations. International law is mainly the product of the conditions from time to time of international intercourse, being drawn from diplomatic discussion, textbooks, proof of usage, and from recitals in treaties. It is called public when treating of the relations of sovereign powers, and private when of the relations of persons of different nationalities. International law is now, by the better opinion, part of the common law of the land. By-laws: A local or subordinate law; a private law or regulation made by a corporation for its own government.

U.S. Attacked :: essays research papers

America was attacked Tuesday September 11th, 2001. How could we be attacked we are the strongest countries in the world? We have one of the world's strongest economies in the world. We have a massive army with equipment to destroy a whole country. Why would someone do this? Who would do this? Who ever did this doesn't value life. They actually made four of our own planes filled with fuel into bomb. They crashed into three buildings. Attacking a military base is bad enough, but to attack innocent people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think that this could have been prevented. We should have been expecting this. We bombed other countries before killing innocent people. Our atom bomb did not distinguish between military, and civilian personal. We, America, did this to end the war to ensure our freedom. I think we could have been prepared a lot more than we were.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Should we seek justice or revenge? Justice would be to kill who ever did this so anything like this can never happen again. Revenge would be to kill who ever did this and who ever harbors the terrorist. I think that we should seek justice so this can never happen again to us or anyone else. We have to be careful though because this could be the start to world war3. This time if a war breaks out life with have a lesser value than it ever did. There are so many nuclear and biological weapons that nobody life would be safe from side effects. Many more people are going to die in the process of seeking justice. Talk of sending ground troops I think would be one of the worst things that could be done. The only people that win from a war are the people that make military equipment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I don't want a war to start because I know people that are in the are and the

The Struggle for Power in “The Yellow Wallpaper, ” “Daddy, ” and “Editha”

American Literature 9 March 2013 The Struggle for Power in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† â€Å"Daddy,† and â€Å"Editha† Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s piece, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† (written in 1890, published in 1892), is a semi-autobiographical piece that, although believed to be a result of her severe postpartum depression, illustrates the difficulties faced by women during the Women’s Movement. These difficulties are further illustrated by the similarly semi-autobiographical poem, based on Plath’s father and husband, â€Å"Daddy† by Sylvia Plath (written in 1962, published in 1965).These gender roles are then reversed in â€Å"Editha,† (written in 1898, published in 1905) which has been said to be William Dean Howells’s response to the Spanish-American War. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, â€Å"Daddy† by Sylvia Plath and â€Å"Editha† by William Dean Howells all ill ustrate the conflict in gender roles during the Women’s Movement in 19th and 20th Centuries. From the beginning, the narrator in Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† allows men, especially her husband, John, to be superior to her.As a physician, he orders her to stay in bed and discontinue anything stimulating, such as being imaginative or writing. Though she feels better when she writes, and feels it may be beneficial, she does not speak against John but writes in private: â€Å"Personally I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do? † By asking the end question, she essentially states that she is not her husband’s equal and has no choice but to listen, and is accepting of this.She even follows John’s orders even when he is not present to enforce them: â€Å"John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad. So I will let it alone and talk about the house. † This reaction can be compared to what many people experience today with doctors. Although people usually know what will make themselves feel better, they will most often follow the advice of a doctor instead, simply because physicians are figures of authority. The narrator knows that writing and socializing would help and clearly wants to recover rom her illness, but she allows her husband and brother, who is also a respected physician, to control her treatment. The woman's description of the wallpaper is symbolic of the evolution of her illness. The wallpaper, upon first introduction and description, fully illustrates how the woman regards her illness: â€Å"It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide-plunge off at outrageous angles, des troy themselves in unheard of contradictions. As Paula A. Triechler states in her paper, â€Å"Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper,’† â€Å"Like all good metaphors, the yellow wallpaper is variously interpreted by readers to represent (among other things) the â€Å"pattern† which underlies sexual inequality, the external manifestation of neurasthenia, the narrator's unconscious, the narrator's situation within patriarchy† (3). This portrays not only how the woman feels about herself and her illness, but also the effect of her husband’s orders.The â€Å"lame uncertain curves† are likely a reference to her husband’s treatment orders, and â€Å"suicide† could very well be the result if followed. The â€Å"unheard of contradictions† express the faultiness of John's methods. At one point she describes his contradictions: â€Å"he says no one but myself can help me out of it, that I m ust use my will and self-control and not let any silly fancies run away with me,† yet, he does not allow her to do as she wills. She describes writing as a relief, but because John has instructed her to stop writing, she lets her imagination run with the lines of the wallpaper.The more she allows her mind to wander, the more confident she becomes, which is reflective in her description of the woman in the wallpaper. The initial description of this woman is of her â€Å"stooping down and creeping about. † The woman in the wallpaper is a direct reflection of the narrator’s confidence and feelings of inferiority, and the change they undergo. Initially, the woman in the wall symbolizes the narrator’s fear of presenting herself and her opinions, and being her husband’s equal. She begins to display a building confidence in herself, and an almost amused view of John's orders.When John tells her that she seems to be doing well, in spite of the wallpaper, sh e has to stop herself from openly laughing. It is at this point, where she is building confidence in herself, that she begins to see the woman in the wallpaper more clearly. She states, â€Å"I think that woman gets out in the daytime! And I’ll tell you why — privately — I've seen her! † symbolizing her confidence beginning to emerge. Finally, she allows herself to be fully confident; she allows her mind to fully explore the wallpaper. The lines, â€Å"then I peeled off all the paper I could reach standing on the floor.It sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it,† symbolizes the destruction of that which limits her. One may argue that she has had a psychotic break, but the intention of these lines is to show the narrator gaining confidence. As Gilman says herself in an article submitted to the October 1913 issue of The Forerunner regarding her treatment: â€Å"then, using the remnants of intelligence that remained [†¦] I cast the noted specialist's advice to the winds and went to work again—work [†¦] in which is joy and growth and service, without which one is a pauper and a parasite–ultimately recovering some measure of power. This is the same message as the last lines of the story; â€Å"I've got out at last,† she says to John, â€Å"in spite of you and Jane. And I've pushed off most of the paper so you can't put me back† meaning she can no longer be told what she must do and she is now in control, creeping over the fainted John. Similarly, Sylvia Plath illustrates the path she took to break free, from the memory of her father, in her poem â€Å"Daddy. † Plat compares the confinement her father’s memory has created to a shoe, that for thirty years, she was trapped in, too scared to â€Å"dare to breathe or Achoo. Throughout the poem, Plath uses similes and metaphors to give a dramatic view on the relationship between herself and her father. Plath aligns gypsies and Jewish people with the female figure, and she aligns German Nazis with both male figures, she employs these comparisons to draw women as victims and men as persecutors. Plath continues this description of confinement by saying she is a Jew in â€Å"Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen. † She continually describes her father as black, and even tells her father: You stand at the blackboard, daddy, In the picture I have of you,A cleft in your chin instead of your foot But no less a devil for that, no not Any less the black man who Bit my pretty red heart in two. She resents her father for abandoning her, yet she still feels bound to his memory, so much so that after burying him at the age of ten, she attempted suicide at twenty trying to â€Å"get back, back, back† to him (â€Å"Daddy† 59). Plath further illustrate this confinement to his memory by explain she married a man who, essentially, was her father but after 7, metaphorically, killed her husband thus freeing her of t he memories of her father. As Guinevara A.Nance and Judith P. Jones explain in â€Å"On ‘Daddy,’† Plath accomplishes, through the use of relative chronological sequencing of childhood memories, and on through the attempted suicide â€Å"to the point at thirty when the woman tries to extricate herself from her image of daddy, is a dramatization of the process of psychic purgation in the speaker† (par. 3). While â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† and â€Å"Daddy† are stories illustrating women breaking free, â€Å"Editha,† by William Dean Howells, is a story of a woman who desires to overpower her betrothed and by doing so pushes him into war.Editha wants a hero in William Dean Howells’s â€Å"Editha† and will not stop short of persuading her betrothed to go off to war to achieve this dream. In this short story gender differences are at play, but in reverse: Editha feels a patriotic duty to her country even if that means going off to war, while George sees war as absurd. In addition, as Philip Furia from the University of Minnesota states in â€Å"Editha†: The Feminine View, Editha’s idealistic mind set is tainted by her â€Å"unconscious desire to disarm her lover† (279).This unconscious desire is illustrated by her excitement in regards to the war, the possibility of George being maimed and her belief that he will be perfect if he enlists. Upon hearing of the war declaration Editha immediately thinks of George and how glorious it would be if he were a war hero. She feels it is a man’s patriotic duty to serve his country, in war; however, she hardly perceives the sacrifice of enlisting, in most cases that sacrifice being the enlisted’s life. Editha is focused on a picture of perfection and how she will appear to others as the woman betrothed to a heroic solider.She believes he would be perfect and worthy of her love if he enlists. George’s feelings about war are qui et opposite and he voices this when he asks â€Å"is it glorious to break the peace of the world? † (â€Å"Editha† par. 9). He clearly finds war to be unnecessary but this belief vanishes after he goes drinking with friends. He then returns to Editha’s house, drunk, to boast about enlisting and his title of Captain. Editha is delighted with his enlistment, even after George tells her of his father, who lost an arm in the Civil War.This story, instead of scaring her as George intends, thrills Editha; she becomes fascination with the idea of George needing her two arms, which would give her superiority (Furia 280). Editha’s preoccupation with overpowering George is evident in her reaction to him, drunkenly, recounting enlisting after which he kisses her in a manner very â€Å"unlike him, that made her feel as if she had lost her old lover and found a stranger in his place,† she finds that â€Å"within her wilfulness she [has] been frightened by a se nse of subtler force in him [sic]† (â€Å"Editha† para. 4). After George has announced his enlistment, Editha is delighted with his near-perfection, but this near-perfection is lost when George’s name is on the list of those killed. She reels not only from grief but from disbelief because her idealistic picture did not include this and, for that reason, she cannot grasp how it could possibly be. Editha goes to visit Mrs. Gearson, as George had asked before deploying, it is then that Editha cries; however, Editha cries with relief because she feels in Mrs.Gearson’s accusation, that girls and women â€Å"think [the soldiers will] come marching back, somehow, just as gay as they went, or if it's an empty sleeve, or even an empty pantaloon, it's all the more glory, and they're so much the prouder of them, poor things! † she has been understood (â€Å"Editha† par. 118). These three pieces delve into the theme of gender inequality which, during the time these pieces were written, was being questioned and changed through the Women’s Movement.These pieces provide three different views of gender conflict: wife versus the superior husband in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† daughter versus father and later wife versus husband in â€Å"Daddy,† and man versus the woman who desires superiority in â€Å"Editha. † Works Cited â€Å"Daddy by Sylvia Plath. † Internal. org Poets. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 Mar. 2013. â€Å"Editha. † William Dean Howells's Short Story. Readbookonline. net, n. d. Web. 2 Mar. 2013. Furia, Philip. â€Å"‘Editha’: The Feminine View. † American Literary Realism, 1870-1910 12. 2 (1979): 278-282. JSTOR. Web. 2 Mar. 2013. Gilman, Charlotte P. Gilman, Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper. † The Department of History. The College of Staten Island/CUNY, 08 June 1999. Web. 01 Feb. 2013. Nance, Guinevara A. , and Judith P. Jones. â€Å"On ‘Daddy’† Modern American Poetry. University of Illinois English Department, n. d. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. † Electronic Text Center. University of Virginia Library, n. d. Web. 01 Feb. 2013. Treichler, Paula A. â€Å"Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’†Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature. 3. 1/2 (1984): 61-77. JSTOR. Web. 01 Feb. 2013.

Compensation Management Essay

Compensation Management is an integral part of the management of he organization. Compensation is a systematic approach to providing monetary value to employees in exchange for work performed. It may achieve several purposes assisting in recruitment, job performance, and job satisfaction. It is the remuneration received by an employee in return for his/her contribution to the organization. It is an organized practice that involves balancing the work-employee relation by providing monetary and non-monetary benefits to employees. It is a tool used by management for a variety of purposes to further the existence and growth of the company. It may be attuned according to economic scenario, the business needs, goals, and available resources. Compensation Management contributes to the overall success of the organization in several ways. To be effective, the managers must appreciate the value of competitive pay, their human resources, and have an investment view of payroll costs. We want to maintain pay levels that attract and retain quality employees while recognizing the need to manage payroll costs. The increasing competitiveness of the labour market and turnover of employees had resulted in nightmare in compensation planning. Apart from this, the growing demands of the employees and competitive salaries offered by multinational companies had almost resulted in a compensation war in certain industries. Therefore, the human resources managers and tax experts have to evolve proper compensation planning for High end and qualified employees. The components of compensation have to be devised in such a way that, it focuses on the growing demands of employees while retaining the competitiveness and profitability of the company. Compensation management, also known as wage and salary administration, remuneration management, or reward management, is concerned with designing and implementing total compensation package. The traditional concept of wage and salary administration emphasised on only determination of wage and salary structures in organisational settings. Pay is a difficult topic of conversation in most organizations. In fact, the topic is altogether taboo in many workplaces. It simply isn’t discussed unless absolutely necessary. And, when it is necessary, such as when a pay raise (or lack of one) must be xplained to an employee, many managers find themselves at a loss for words. As the dreaded date of such a discussion approaches, managers may begin checking their sick time banks to see if they can disappear for a day or two. While it may be a touchy subject, pay is a critical factor in the work lives of employees. Jobs are accepted or rejected based in part on starting salary and the opportun ity for future increases in pay. Employees compare their pay to that of others in the same line of work. They constantly compare their pay level to their level of contribution, trying to determine whether the ratio of give and receive is a fair one. While it may not be a frequent topic of open discussion, employees think about pay often. Components of compensation:- Basic wages/Salaries:- These refer to the cash component of the wage structure based on which other elements of compensation may be structured. It is normally a fixed amount which is subject to changes based on annual increments or subject to periodical pay hikes. Wages represent hourly rates of pay, and salary refers to the monthly rate of pay, irrespective of the number of hours put in by the employee. Wages and salaries are subject to the annual increments. They differ from employee to employee, and depend upon the nature of job, seniority, and merit. Dearness allowance:- The payment of dearness allowance facilitates employees and workers to face the price increase or inflation of prices of goods and services consumed by him. The onslaught of price increase has a major bearing on the living conditions of the labour. The increasing prices reduce the compensation to nothing and the money’s worth is coming down based on the level of inflation. The payment of dearness allowance, which may be a fixed percentage on the basic wage, enables the employees to face the increasing rices. Incentives:- Incentives are paid in addition to wages and salaries and are also called ‘payments by results’. Incentives depend upon productivity, sales, profit, or cost reduction efforts. There are: (a) Individual incentive schemes, and (b) Group incentive programmes. Individual incentives are applicable to specific employee performance. Where a given task demands group efforts for completion, incentives are paid to the group as a whole. The amount is later divided among group members on an equitable basis. Bonus:- The bonus can be paid in different ways. It can be fixed percentage on the basic wage paid annually or in proportion to the profitability. The Government also prescribes a minimum statutory bonus for all employees and workers. There is also a bonus plan which compensates the Managers and employees based on the sales revenue or Profit margin achieved. Bonus plans can also be based on piece wages but depends upon the productivity of labour. Non-monetary benefits:- These benefits give psychological satisfaction to employees even when financial benefit is not available. Such benefits are: (a) Recognition of merit through certificate, etc. (b) Offering challenging job responsibilities, (c) Promoting growth prospects, (d) Comfortable working conditions, (e) Competent supervision, and (f) Job sharing and flexi-time. Commissions:- Commission to Managers and employees may be based on the sales revenue or profits of the company. It is always a fixed percentage on the target achieved. For taxation purposes, commission is again a taxable component of compensation. The payment of commission as a component of commission is practised heavily on target based sales. Depending upon the targets achieved, companies may pay a commission on a monthly or periodical basis. Mixed plans:- Companies may also pay employees and others a combination of pay as well as commissions. This plan is called combination or mixed plan. Apart from the salaries paid, the employees may be eligible for a fixed percentage of commission upon achievement of fixed target of sales or profits or Performance objectives. Nowadays, most of the corporate sector is following this practice. This is also termed as variable component of compensation. Piece rate wages:- Piece rate wages are prevalent in the manufacturing wages. The laborers are paid wages for each of the Quantity produced by them. The gross earnings of the labour would be equivalent to number of goods produced by them. Piece rate wages improves productivity and is an absolute measurement of productivity to wage structure. The fairness of compensation is totally based on the productivity and not by other qualitative factors. Fringe benefits:- Fringe benefits may be defined as wide range of benefits and services that employees receive as an integral part of their total compensation package. They are based on critical job factors and performance. Fringe benefits constitute indirect compensation as they are usually extended as a condition of employment and not directly related to performance of concerned employee. Fringe benefits are supplements to regular wages received by the workers at a cost of employers. They include benefits such as paid vacation, pension, health and insurance plans, etc. Such benefits are computable in terms of money and the amount of benefit is generally not predetermined. The purpose of fringe benefits is to retain efficient and capable people in the organisation over a long period. They foster loyalty and acts as a security base for the employees. Profit Sharing: – Profit-sharing is regarded as a steppingstone to industrial democracy. Profit-sharing is an agreement by which employees receive a share, fixed in advance of the profits. Profit-sharing usually involves the determination of an organisation’s profit at the end of the fiscal year and the distribution of a percentage of the profits to the workers qualified to share in the earnings. The percentage to be shared by the workers is often predetermined at the beginning of the work period and IS often communicated to the workers so that they have some knowledge of their potential gains. To enable the workers to participate in profit-sharing, they are required to work for certain number of years and develop some seniority. The theory behind profit-sharing is that management feels its workers will fulfill their responsibilities more diligently if they realise that their efforts may result in higher profits, which will be returned to the workers through profit-sharing. Approaches of compensation management There are 3P approach of developing a compensation policy centered on the fundamentals of paying for Position, Person and Performance. Drawing from external market information and internal policies, this program helps establish guidelines for an equitable grading structure, determine capability requirements and creation of short and long-term incentive plans. The 3P approach to compensation management supports a company’s strategy, mission and objectives. It is highly proactive and fully integrated into a company’s management practices and business strategy. The 3P system ensures that human resources management plays a central role in management decision making and the achievement of business goals. Paying for position Paying for person Paying for performance Because it is so important to employees, the issue of pay deserves to be clearly addressed. In spite of their hesitance, managers are capable of dealing with this sometimes difficult issue in a professional and effective manner. By keeping the following basic points about pay in mind, they can address virtually any pay-related topic with their employees in a professional and productive manner. Specificity is Key Pay is a topic with many different shades and a variety of implications. Whenever approaching the subject, it is important to work out the details beforehand so that specifics can be clearly communicated. For the manager, this means that the increase amount is nailed down before discussing a promotion with an employee. No chance of misunderstanding or false expectations can be permitted. Far too often, managers are apt to discuss generalities. â€Å"It will mean a good increase. † What exactly does that mean in terms of the employee’s monthly budget? If care is not taken here, good news can become the source of conflict and resentment. By the same token, if asked for a raise, the manager should request that the employee suggest a specific number that he believes reflects his value. Once the employee provides that number, the manager can do his homework and decide what, if anything can be done. The employee can then be given a definitive response. Pay is Relative What one employee considers a fantastic increase maybe an insult to another? Each individual has a unique set of creativity and competencies. Pay should be based on the performance, position and the competencies/skills the person is having. Pay is Not Created Equal Various forms of pay have different purposes. The two most common forms of direct cash compensation in most companies are base pay and bonus. Base pay is the annual salary or hourly wage paid to an employee given the job he holds, While bonus is typically (or at least should be) rewarded based on the achievement of a goal of the organization. Discussions about bonus payments should be as specific as possible. This is the opportunity to point out particular accomplishments that contributed to overall team or company success. Even if the bonus is paid to all employees based on a simple overall company profit target, the manager should use the opportunity to point out specifically how individual employees helped achieve that target. Distributing bonus checks presents a unique motivational opportunity for a manager. Handing money to an employee while discussing actions and behaviors he would like to see repeated, creates a powerful link between performance and reward. Discussions about base pay increases can be a bit different. Most companies claim to link their annual base pay increases to performance. In reality, however, base pay decisions take into account a variety of factors, including the relative pay of others in the same job, the company’s increase budget, market practices and where the individual falls within his pay range. Even when performance is a factor, the manager is faced with the difficult task of evaluating an entire year’s worth of activity and then categorizing it according to the percentage increase options allowed by the budget. It becomes very difficult to pinpoint specific employee actions or accomplishments as the reason for the increase. For these reasons, it’s appropriate for the discussion about base pay increases to be more general and balanced. Both strengths and weaknesses of the employee should be addressed. The actual increase is then based on an overall assessment, as opposed to a link with one or two specific outcomes. Any other factors that impact the increase percent, such as budget or pay range should be openly discussed as well. Development of a Compensation Philosophy All organizations pay according to some underlying philosophy about jobs and the people who do them. This philosophy may not be in writing, but it certainly exists. Pay maybe treated in a formal and structured manner at one company. At another, any appearance of structure is intentionally avoided so that decisions can be made arbitrarily. Either way, the approach taken reflects a fundamental belief about people, motivation and management. Before an organization actually develops a compensation plan, there are several questions that need to be answered. Taking the time to consider and answer these questions will make the both the process of developing and administering a compensation plan much easier and will result in the development of a compensation plan that more closely matches the organization’s goals and objectives. Managers often want to view each individual as a separate case. It is important to understand, however, that employees operate within a compensation system. A manager is wise to take the time to learn as much as possible about his company’s compensation system.