WHY HAS PRISON EMERGED AS A PROMINENT FORM OF PUNISHMENT FOR MOST Essay

WHY HAS PRISON EMERGED AS A PROMINENT FORM OF PUNISHMENT FOR MOST CRIME AND WHAT ARE ITS FUNCTIONS IN RELATION TO WIDER SOCIETY - Essay Example In the last seven decades, a strong emphasis on rehabilitation, gave way to the focus of justice and fairness. In this case, sentences mainly reflect just deserts rather than utilitarian motive. There is also an emphasis on incarceration which reduces crime in the society. The crime control model has also become popular. Additionally, four major goals are emphasized in the modern prison and punishment sector which include retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, and rehabilitation. The three goals aim at protecting the general public (Smith, 2008, p. 6). Prisons are intended to serve four distinct functions: punishment, deterrence, ensuring public safety and security, and rehabilitation of a criminal offender (Flynn 1998). When a criminal is socially isolated and confined in prison, the intention is to remove this threat from society; a threat to the established social order in a region, thereby ensuring that his deviance can no longer disturb peaceful and compliant society members. Deterrence speaks to rehabilitation, changing an offender’s beliefs, values, perceptions and motivations to effectively restore his position in society and re-socialise him according to established societal norms related to morality and social harmony. The main goal of imprisonment is to give the offender adequate time to reflect on his criminal experiences and find, ultimately, repentance and remorse for these behaviours (Hanser 2012). The main function of prison is correction, ensuring that individuals who do not comply with established laws designed to uphold established social norms are punished according to their criminal deeds; hence through correction becoming more socially compliant. In essence, prisons serve as obedience education institutions. This has been the basic premise of utilising prisons to correct offenders throughout the modern era, suggesting that prisons could serve as centres of moral instruction to ensure that,

Employee Empowerment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Employee Empowerment - Essay Example This implies that lower level managers and supervisors are expected to implement decisions made by top-level managers, which increases rigidity. Employees of the company are expected to follow strictly their supervisors and managers decisions without question. According to the employees, delegating some decision-making powers to them would enable them act promptly to improve the efficiency and manufacturing processes of the company for better performance. However, due to the bureaucratic nature of the company, the managers and the supervisors deny the employees such powers. The overall effect has been that the employees of the company are demoralized resulting in high labor turnover and subsequently the poor performance of the company in terms of productivity. It is based on this situation that the employees of this organization have made an appeal that they be reasonably empowered. Current Literature about Employee Empowerment Employee empowerment is a subject of great concern to bu siness and human resource managers. Employee empowerment refers to the strategy or philosophy that involves allowing workers to make decisions that affect their work according to Linda (1997, p.202). Bowen and Lawler (1995, p.35) on the other hand define employee empowerment as the act of enhancing employees’ involvement in organizational processes and decision-making. It basically involves delegating some decision-making powers to employees on matters affecting their jobs so as to ensure that organizational goals are achieved. Some of the ways of empowering employees include: allowing employees to take part in the decision-making process, delegating powers to them and offering them leadership positions (Wooddell 2009, p.16). Employee empowerment can be used to improve productivity, performance, service quality, customer and employee satisfaction, and the efficiency of an organization. Demirci and Erbas (2010, p.143) argue that companies need to manage and improve their emplo yees’ performance. This is achievable through empowerment. Empowerment, according to Demirci can be formulated through by considering four main dimensions namely: knowledge, power, information, and rewards. Alternatively stated, empowerment is the product of the four elements, information, knowledge, power, and reward. The dimensions are derived by taking into consideration the power of empowerment in enhancing the efficacy of employees. Lack of any one of the four elements might lower the overall degree of empowerment according to Shulagna (2009, p.49). Organizations now widely appreciate the fact that bureaucratic leadership in which where decision-making is squarely placed on the hands of top-level managers hampers flexibility and timely execution of duties down the line. On the other hand, it has been established that placing all decision making responsibility on the hands of lower level employees is a recipe for chaos and purposeless conflict (Bowen and Lawler 1995, p.78 ). Taking note of these facts, it is crucial for organizations to ensure that employees are engaged in decision-making by being empowered. The organization needs to develop a culture where employees are given the right to participate in decision-making especially on issues touching on their work. This will help in improving the effectiveness of the organization. Bowen and Lawler (1995, p.80) note that employee empowerment is an extremely powerful tool that organizations in the modern business environment need to implement as a way of improving their performances. One of the main results of employee empowerment is job satisfaction according to Wooddell (2009, p.15). Studies have shown that employee empowerment has a direct relationship with job satisfaction. In this regard, empowerment increases the satisfaction

Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol (GCDPP)

Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol (GCDPP) 1.0 Introduction The construction industry is a large and complex industry comprising many types and sizes of organizations and a diverse range of professionals and other representative bodies. Consequently, the biggest problem is conflicts in the industry between both clients and contractors and the contractors and their sub contractors (Cooke and Williams, 2009). This most often is as a result of non-clarification of roles or breach of the contract procedures by one of the parties because of lack of communication and co-ordination. Poor productivity and quality within the industry have also been attributed to lack of advance management of the processes by both Latham (1994) and Egan (1998). Professional bodies have therefore introduced various plans of work as attempts to facilitates processes within the industry. In this report, the updated RIBA plan of work which was designed by British architects was employed to plan the execution of a project (CTG) from appraisal to completion. Alternative maps for the same project were produced using the Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol (GCDPP) which was developed in 1995 in other to identify the potential benefits and problems that might be encountered in the use of the process protocol. 2.0 Current plan of work 2.1 Context The Department of Business Innovation and Skills (DBIS) intends to construct a new project, Centre for Technology in Government (CTG), which is a 250,000 square feet facility built to house world class super computers and nuclear weapons design staff. The building site is located in Liverpool, UK and the allowed budget for the project is ÂÂ £50,000,000. The client had explicit goals and therefore appointed a cross-functional team from the start to translate the needs into a design brief. The cross-functional team, after the conceptual design stage, identified various functional and operational requirements (FORs) which were grouped by room type. These FORs became the basis for requests of proposals that resulted in design and build contract 2.2 Procurement method It is important to briefly explain the procurement method used to execute the CTG project because the procurement method and type of contract employed will have implications on the plan of work (Clamp et al, 2007 p 32). Single stage tender (assumption) design and build contract was used; the client, DBIS selected CTG to execute the project because of the business relationship they shared as well as the fact that, the constructor was needed at the design stage to give advice on the constructional method and buildability of the concepts. The client-led design ended at the conceptual stage (RIBA stage C) and the contractor was therefore provided with conceptual designs. 2.3 RIBA Plan of Work The Plan of Work (RIBA, 1997) was originally published in 1963 as a standard method of operation for the construction of buildings, and it has become widely accepted as the operational model throughout the building industry (Kagioglou et al, 1998). It was developed from the view point of the architect to provide a frame work for a standardised method of operation for the design, construction and management of buildings (Poon et al, 2003). This plan of work was developed to meet the needs of the traditional forms of contract and breaks down the entire construction into 5 key stages. There key stages are further broken down into 11 sub-processes as shown below 2.4 RIBA plan of work in GC Ltd There is, however, a slight variation to the work stages primarily because of the procurement method (Design and Build) used. This is because the cross functional team assembled by the client produces conceptual designs that were grouped into FORs which formed the basis of the request for proposals. Detailed designs (RIBA stage D) and technical designs stage (RIBA stage E) were produced by the contractor before tender action while production information stage (RIBA stage F) proceeded after mobilisation stage (RIBA stage J). Figure 2.1 shows the plan of work used in executing the project from the perspective of the constructors which is seen to differ slightly from the plan of work in appendix 1 Figure 2.1 Adoption of RIBA plan of work for Contractor Appendix 2 shows the detailed mapping of each of the above sub processes. 2.4.1 Preparation As a constructor, the first stage of involvement was to review the employers (Department for business innovation and skills) conceptual requirement that has already been identified with the cross-functional team. The constructor (GG ltd) receives the conceptual brief containing the FORs by room type and also confirming key requirements and constraints as well as the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations. The in-house quality management procedures that will be applied on the project is determined. These culminate into the contractors brief. Since GC ltd already has an in- house design team, they assist in the preparation of the contractors brief. The construction company at this stage appoints one of its in-house staff to act as the CDM co-ordinator. During the review, some questions may arise, especially concerning site conditions and operational hazards. It is the responsibility of the contractor to provide all such information to the design team and the CDM co-ordinator. The design team advises on the need for additional consultants for the project. Documents that will accompany the tender submission are identified and the pre-tender programme drawn up. This process in mapped out in detail in appendix 2. 2.4.2 Design development Once the conceptual designs are fully reviewed and understood by the contractor and his team, he authorizes the final layouts. The design team then develops the project brief into developed designs including, the structural elements, the services systems and the general architectural layout. The initial cost plan is updated and the CDM co-ordinator ensures that all health and safety regulation have been considered at this stage. 2.4.3 Technical design This is the last stage of design development before production information is prepared. The detailed designs are produced and all approvals obtained including that of building regulations. The health and safety file is updated by the CDM co-ordinator and the cost plans and cash flows also updated by the quantity surveyor. The stage D report will form the basis of the tender documents. This process in mapped out in detail in appendix 2. 2.4.5 Tender action Once the detailed developments are obtained, the contractor with the CDM co-ordinator prepares the draft initial construction phase plan. The quantity surveyor advises on the preliminaries, the contingencies and the work sequences and proceeds to prepare the contract sum analysis. The CDM co-ordinator, the quantity surveyor and the other design team members contribute to the stage report prepared by the lead consultant. The report includes all the documents intended to be used for tendering. The contractor checks the report to ensure compliance and the tender documents are submitted. The submitted tender documents are evaluated by the employers agent and any queries responded to by the contractor and his team. Once the contract is awarded to the winning firm (GC Ltd), there is negotiation between the employers agent and the contractor before final adjustments are agreed. 2.4.6 Mobilization The employers agent confirms to the client that the contractor (GC ltd) has been duly selected. The contractor is then appointed and the tender documents become the contract documents with certified copies sent to the contractor. His insurances for the project are checked by the employers agent. The site is handed over the contractor and he proceeds to develop his initial construction phase plan with his team and the CDM co-ordinator. Statutory approvals and other detailed planning permission are also obtained. 2.4.7 Production Information The final proposals are translated into precise technical instruction for pricing and construction purposes, which is the preparation of detailed drawings, schedules and specifications. The health and safety file is finally updated by the CDM co-ordinator. The contractor, the design team the quantity surveyor and the CDM co-ordinator reviews all process to ensure compliance with brief and procedures. 2.4.8 Construction This is where actual construction of the CTG building takes place in accordance with contract agreements. Further information is supplied to the contractor as and when deemed necessary. At this stage the contractor, his team and sub contractors are typically involved. 2.4.9 Rectification period After construction to practical completion, final inspections are done and the project is handed over. The contract document allows the contractor to be paid half the amount in the final certificate with the other half released after a predetermined period (6 months), defects liability period. Within which all faults and problems are corrected by the contractor. 2.5 Appraisal of RIBA in CTG project The RIBA plan of work was one of the first expressions of building process by members of the building team (Poon et al, 2003) and has been tried, tested and accepted. It has been widely adopted as the basis of calculating consultants fees as well as gives a vivid description of work stages (Clamp et al, 2007). Adopting design and build as procurement route while employing the RIBA plan of work in the CTG project resulted in hybrid process which improves the plan of work especially in the area of flexibility and eliminates sequential flows which, Sheath et al (1996) argues that, have caused problems of fragmentation and poor co-ordination between project team members. CTG, as a project that will house the designing and testing of nuclear weapons, it requires the involvement of all major stakeholders, as such the client, DBIS assembled a cross-functional team including the contractor, in order to better identify his needs and requirements and identify any possible constraints on development and eventually produce a holistic brief. The adoption of the cross-functional team approach had the advantage of improving co-ordination and communication from the design stage throughout to the project (Kagioglou et al, 1998). It was also necessary to involve the constructors early in the design phase in order to eliminate any claims and counter claims for costs, quality and time between the various parties of the contract (Gunaskaran and Love, 1998). This will ensure buildability and reduce the incident of rework and waste in the design process and construction process. Having established the cross-functional team, weekly meetings were held to review all aspec ts of the design. Since it is a single stage tender, it became the responsibility of the contractor to produce the developed designs and technical designs prior to tender action. In order to facilitate the continuous review of the design by the cross-functional team, the contractor broke the technical design into mini phases as follows; all layouts and setting outs, pile caps and ground beams, structural steel work, substructure, super structure, detailed security services and services systems. There were series of reviews and the final review was during the tender action. Once the contract was signed and mobilisation got underway, the production information was produced concurrently. Construction commenced immediately mobilisation is complete. Daily visits by the cross functional team ensured co-ordination and team work all through the construction. RIBA plan of work guarantees flexibility in the basic outline, in that it can be modified to suit any form of procurement used by simply re-arranging the sub processes (Clamp et al, 2007). The RIBA plan of work, 2007 appears to be very elaborate an simple to understand and use because it maps out the main process at the higher level indicating the sub processes and the outputs at each stage. The details of the sub processes can also be mapped out indicating the activities involved and the parties responsible for those activities. Finally the adoption of the design and build and employing a cross-functional team ensures better understanding of requirements, better translation to drawings, more effective and efficient construction process devoid of any conflicts and unnecessary variations eventually leading to a satisfied client and a satisfied contractor. In every building contract there is some degree of risk (Clamp et al, 2007). Balance of speculative risk will lie almost wholly with the CTG contractor in this project with the client bearing the conceptual risk which involves matters that are key to operational efficiency such as scheme. All the major disadvantages that have been associated with RIBA; linear fashion (Jamieson, 1997; Cooper et al, 2004), lack co-ordination and communication (Sheath at al 1996, Kagioglou et al, 1998), buildability issues and biasness towards the architect (Poon et al, 2003) have been catered for by the adoption of the design and build procurement system as well as the introduction of the cross functional team (including the contractor) at the very beginning of the CTG project. However there are still a number of issues that remains unresolved and primary among them is the absence of a mechanism to transfer all the knowledge that will be shared by the entire CTG project team to similar projects in the future because both success and failure can offer important lessons for the future (Kagioglou et al, 2000). Finally, throughout the entire project, subcontractor and suppliers are only involved from the mobilisation stage (RIBA J) 3.0 The Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol 3.1 Background The Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol (GDCPP) was funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) under the Innovative Manufacturing Initiate (IMI) and undertook by the University of Salford with a leading number of industrial partners, including clients, architects, contractors, subcontractors, consultants, suppliers and IT specialists during 1995-98 (Lee et al, 2000). The main aim of this project was to develop a Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol for the construction industry by considering the lessons learnt through a number of decades in manufacturing New Product Development (NPD). This was achieved by comprehensive reviews of the construction and manufacturing industries, interactive workshops with the project industrial partners, case studies in the manufacturing and construction industry and other research and data collection tools and techniques (Aouad et al, 1999). There are eight key principles involved in process protocol for process as follows which are originated from manufacturing process. Whole Project view, a consistent Process, Progressive Design Fixity, Co ordination, Stakeholder Involvement team work, Feedback, Process Flexibility, Customisable Process. (www.processprotocol.com). The model identifies the various activities involved in the complete execution of the project as well as the responsible parties produced on a horizontal- X and vertical Y axis respectively resulting in a form of a responsibility matrix. The parties responsible for activity within each phase can be a single person, a firm or a complex network of people (depending on the size of the project) who have been grouped in to activity zones. Consequently, eight (8) activity zones have been identified by the model and are listed below Development Management Project Management Resource Management Design Management Production Management Facilities Management Health Safety, Statutory legal Management Process Management Change Management The design and construction process (X- axis) have been broken down into 10 distinct phases. These 10 phases are grouped into 4 broad stages: Pre-Project, Pre-Construction, Construction and Post-Construction. (www.processprotocol.com). These 4 stages are briefly explained below 3.2 Pre-Project Stage The Pre-Project Phases (0-3) relate to the strategic business considerations of any potential project which aims to address a clients need. Throughout the Pre-Project Phases the clients need is progressively defined and assessed with the aim of: Determining the need for a construction project solution, and Securing outline financial authority to proceed to the Pre-Construction Phases (Cooper et al, 2005 p 76) These phases have been mapped out in detail in appendix 4 Phase zero: Demonstrating the Need Phase one: Conception of Need Phase two: Outline Feasibility Phase three: Substantive Feasibility Study Outline Financial Authority 3.3 Pre-Construction Stage At this stage (4-6), the defined clients need is developed into an appropriate design solution through a logical sequence, with the aim of delivering approved production information (Cooper et al, 2005 p78) These phases are listed below have been mapped out in detail in appendix 4 Phase four: Outline Conceptual Design Phase five: Full Conceptual Design Phase six: Coordinated design, Procurement Full Financial Authority 3.4 Construction Stage The Construction Phases (7-8) is solely concerned with the production of the project solution. It is here that the full benefits of the co-ordination and communication earlier in the Process may be fully realised. Potentially, any changes in the clients requirements will be minimal, as the increased cost of change as the design progresses should be fully understood by the time on-site construction work begins (Cooper et al, 2005 p78). The phases involved are listed below. Refer to appendix 4 for detailed maps Phase seven: Production Information Phase eight: Construction 3.5 Post-Construction Stage Upon completion of the Construction Phase, the Process Protocol continues into the Post-Construction phases which aim to continually monitor and manage the maintenance needs of the constructed facility (Cooper et al, 2005 p 80). This is the last phase of the model Phase 9: Operation Maintenance 3.6 Gates There are gates (soft and hard) in between the phases mentioned above. Soft gates are review points during the process which require a decision to be made, but does not require the temporary overhaul of the whole project until a decision to proceed is made. They enable concurrency while hard gates are review points during the process which may require the temporary overhaul of the project until a decision to proceed is made. (www.processprotocol.com). 3.7 Applying the GDCPP to the CTG project The backgrounds of the construction parties are very variant and they therefore have varying skills, it is therefore critical that parties understand and appreciate the interdependence and responsibilities of one another (Poon et al, 2003). However contract-led restrictions of previous models have prevented the involvement of the various parties in the early stages of the project life (Cooper et al, 2005). The GDCPP aims to improve co-ordination of the entire design and construction process (Lee et al, 2000) and try to address the key areas of the process that have been identified for improvement. The first benefit of adopting the GDCPP in the CTG project in that, it extends the recognized construction industrys involvement beyond completion (cooper et al, 2005) and therefore covers the entire lifespan of the project as can be seen in appendices 3 and 4. This will increase the commitments of all parties to the contract especially the contactor and the sub contractors as they continue to bear some contractual risks within the project even after practical completion. Moreover, risk and value management starts right at the beginning of the project and runs through all the phases as can be seen in appendix 3 and in more detail in appendix 4. This has been absent from the RIBA plan of work. Since the client, the cross-functional team, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers are involved at an early stage, there will therefore be a complete identification of all possible risks and hence an early adoption of strategies to mitigate them. With a project of CTGs nature, variation of requirements at any stage will have serious cost implications on the project, as such the introduction of phase reviews (as can be seen on appendix 3) which aim at reviewing work in each phase and approving progress to the next stage while employing the hard or soft gates is an added advantage. This will assure high quality of work performance (Kagioglou et al, 1998). The backbone of the successful execution of the CTG project will be a good relationship between parties (Jamieson, 1997; Cooper et al, 2005). More often than not, problems have ranged from litigation, lack of trust, lack of communication and lack of knowledge sharing between parties as they have perhaps never worked together probably will never do again (Lee et al, 2000). Therefore the involvement of all stakeholders and using strategic partnering arrangements will allow involvement of all parties from the requirements capture phase as shown on appendix 3 and this fosters a te am environment and encourages appropriate and timely communication and decision making (Lee et al 2000) and because stakeholders are identified, their responsibilities will be explicitly identified. Feedback is an important concept which aims to regulate and improve performance (Poon et al, 2003). The inclusion of the legacy archive with the process protocol is an added advantage. It gives the players within the industry an opportunity to draw from the success or failures of past projects upon which the current or future projects. Furthermore, the adoption of standardised deliverables assist in smooth project delivery as every team knows what is to be produced and at what stage. This is the only way continuous improvement can be sustained. However, the first problem that will come to the mind of members of the construction industry is the extent of involvement of IT in the process. Poon et al (2003) argue that, apart from describing the activities in the map, it is also necessary to use multiple computing skills, which include electronic data interchange, artificial intelligence, integrated databases, inter/intranet application and document management systems in order to analyse activities. The whole set of activities might seem cumbersome and too complicated for non-computer literate users. The roles of the process management and change management activity zones seem to lean much toward the activities and roles of the project manager within the context of construction. Therefore, there could be conflict of responsibilities within these activity zones as they operate within the project. This is the case because of the fundamental difference between construction and manufacturing in relation to the product, the processes and the tracking of changes that occur. Though the process protocol is generic and has the advantage of flexibility, it is quite difficult to fit the protocol into an ongoing project because it has its own definitions and terminologies which could possibly result in confusion if blended with the terminology of the one going project. 4. 0 Production activities An activity is a well defined task in a project which usually requires a certain amount of time to complete and absorbs a portion of the projects financial budget (Waller, 2002). In the CTG project, there are many production activities, however, casting the foundation have been chosen for appraisal 4.1 Casting the foundation A cross functional process map shown in appendix 5 is used to depict how a typical foundation slab within the CTG project is cast indicating the processes cutting across several functions. According to the transformation theory, the emphasis is on the translation of the concrete into the foundation and slab (Koskela, 2000). However, in order to ensure the foundation is cast according to the drawings, checking/inspection is done intermittently as can be seen on the map, this brings us to the flow model: there are waiting, inspection and moving together with the transformations (Koskela, 2000). This is so because, once the formwork in place and the foundation is cast, it has to be inspected. As depicted on the map there are such inspections which involve, waiting and moving as the entire foundation is cast. The effect of these is the eventual extension to the time required to execute the particular operation. There are some non value-adding activities that are important, an example being the time allowed for the concrete to harden before the forms are struck and preparation of the excavated surfaces after excavation. There are other non-value adding activities that need to eliminate an example being the time spent in undertaking all these inspections. In order to improve the efficiency of this process, focus should be on the elimination to the non-value adding processes. 5.0 Conclusion The RIBA plan of work still has its advantage of simplicity and adaptability to various procurement methods. However the GDCPP proves to be more holistic in its approach towards customer satisfaction. The GDCPP is easily adopted in the CTG project primarily because of the size and complexity of the project. The cost that may be incurred through implementation of the protocol will be offset in the communication, co-ordination and team work which will eventually be created. This may however not be the case in relatively smaller projects. The introduction and sustenance of the protocol will fail due to poor process change within companies and will even fail more should managements try to adopt shortcuts by expecting individual workers to execute new working practices without training. Effective implementation and adoption of the protocol requires continuous training and education. This training needs to start from management level down to the last worker.

Morals of Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat (Favourite) :: Ode to the Death of a Favorite Cat Essays

Morals of Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat (Favourite) It is very difficult to understand what a writer mean when they write a poem, because you have to get in to a frame of mind that you think the writer was in when they composed the poem. In the Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes, Thomas Gray uses a cat and fish to teach a moral. In the Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes the setting was set in the first stanza. The poem gave you an idea that it took place in a very nice house that had a large china vase, that held water, also it give the allusion that in this vase were flowers and fish. It describes beautiful blue tinted flowers in bloom and the fish as angel like Beta fish, which had a coat of amour made in gold with the hint of royal purple. When Gray went into describing a fluffy black and white tabby cat with deep green eyes. The cat's name is Selima and she is perched at the top of the vase watching the fish glide through the water. Selima was planning to eat the fish as soon as she could catch them. So she slowly reached with her paw to nab one of the fishes, her first attempt fails so she thinks again of how she can reach them. Eventually she falls in and tries to get out eight times while crying for help from a forgiving soul. No one seems to hear her and she drowns in the water where the fish swam. Thomas Gray asks two questions " What female heart can gold despise? What cat's averse to fish?" (lines 23 and 24) the meaning of those questions are that some gold is not meant for women and these fishes were not meant to be eaten by Selima. Also the "female" could reflect the cat since cats are generalized has feminine and "gold" referring to the fish. Gray also states "Malignant fate sat by, and smil'd" (line 28) which leads me to believe that fate was laughing at the cat and not helping it cause fate knew what was going to happen. In line twenty-nine "The slipp'ry verge her feet beguil'd" is an illusion to that the cat thinks it has balance and yet she does not cause she falls into the fish bowl.

Office Management Essay

According to Npower (Business Case Studies) Often these decisions are administrative in nature and can be implemented quickly and tend to carry a little risk and are smaller scale, but are never the less important choices that people have to make to fulfil their role. Strategic Decision Implementing that laptops are to be used by partners while out of the office would be a strategic decision. There are lots of problems with the partners being out of the office and with the use of laptops as communication tools this will provide a direct link between the office staff and the partners. I believe that this is a strategic decision as with the right planning and overseeing the development this could really be a step forward for Classic Interiors because work can be exchanged between partners and the office and messages can be passed on effectively meaning that there won’t be a build-up of work or office staff with no work and communication between everyone will be made a lot easier. Operational Decision Stipulating a lunch time for each staff member would be an organisational decision. The current system for lunch time is not convenient as the employees get to decide when they go as long as one of them is in the office. I believe this is an operational decision because if affects the day to day running of the organisation. If the administrators were set a lunch hour each they would have to stick to it and get used to working alongside the time set. Role of Office Manager Operational Planning Process As the office manager my role in establishing a new routine for lunch hour would be to organise a meeting to communicate the proposed changes with administrators and gain their views. Then I would create a plan to put forward to the administrators and partners. When a decision has been reached and the new plan is put into action I would have to oversee the progress of the plan gathering feedback at every opportunity. Issues There is increased frustration between partners and administrators due to the partners carrying out task they believe the administrators could be doing which would free up more time for the partners. The solution to this would be to for all administrators to be trained how to use the specialist interior design software, this would enable them to alleviate the work load from the partners and feel more involved in the design side of their work. This would likely be time consuming to train the administrators but the overall outcome would be beneficial to the company. The relationship between partners and the administrators is suffering due to the partners being out of the office as communication is often via short telephone messages and emails which has led to information being mis-communicated. The solution would be to introduce the use of PDA’s (Personal digital Assistants) for partners to be able to communicate with administrators. This would enable the administrators to contact the partners if a problem arises while carrying out work so that no mistakes are made and also they would be able to check their diaries to make appointments without the chance of double booking. Instant messaging could also help with communication as they are received instantly and can be replied to in seconds. Financial Planning and Budgetary Control Financial Planning According to Jim Priebe (ehow) A financial plan is like a blue print. It is a description of what you want to achieve and the tools you need to achieve it. Financial planning is the process of asking questions to ensure that you manage your risk against unexpected events. Managers need to be able to exercise control over the organisation that they manage to make sure that financial plans are being achieved both for the long term and the short term. Benefits of financial planning are: 1 Reducing the risk of a financial crisis. 2 Allows you to understand how each financial decision made affects other areas of finance. Barriers of financial planning are: 1 It can be time consuming 2 Can be costly as will involve accountants. Budgetary Control Budgetary control is precise control of an organisations operations through establishment of standards and targets concerning income and expenditure. Continuous monitoring is required to be effective. Benefits of budgetary control are: 1 Coordinates activities across departments. 2 Provides a record of organisational activities. Barriers of budgetary control are: 1 Budgets can demotivate staff. 2 May cause competition for resources. Effective Delegation Delegation is the distribution of tasks by the office manager. Giving responsibilities to employees to carry out the work but the work will remain liable to the office manager. When delegation is carried out properly very good results and high productivity can be achieved. The Process of Delegation Delegation can be very difficult. The process of delegation is: 1 Define the task 2 Select the Individual 3 Explain what must be achieved (clear instructions) 4 Discuss requirement to completion 5 Agree a deadline 6 Be there for support 7 Always give feedback Benefits Time management would be a benefit of delegation as this would allow partners to delegate work so that they have a more manageable work load. Delegating tasks will motivate staff and increase productivity. Barriers Forcing someone to do a task that they don’t want to or are not capable of would be a barrier, this can be seen in the case study when Izzy asked one of the administrators to just follow what had been done before. This lead to the administrator getting upset and Izzy feeling unable to approach anyone else. This could have been avoided by management setting out a procedure for staff to follow and allocating the task to someone suitable. Confusion about who is ultimately responsible for tasks is a barrier to effective delegation, this can be seen in the case study as partners are frustrated because they believe that administration is responsible for some of their tasks. This can be corrected by training administrators to make the delegation process easier. Leadership Models I think Tomi uses democratic leadership. As Tomi involves the staff in the decision making process of meeting times and encouraged staff to offer their opinions which made the administrators feel like what they said mattered. I believe Izzi uses Autocratic Leadership. When Izzi was in charge she would decide the times of meetings even when it was inconvenient to the others meaning work started to suffer which she then thought they could not manage and devised a new procedure which is hopeless but Izzi cannot see this. Staff find it difficult to communicate with her. Autocratic Leadership works where there is no need for input on the decisions and Democratic leadership works when a leader seeks help and guidance from staff to make decisions. Democratic leadership The impact of this leadership style is that it gives staff a voice and they are able to communicate better with management. Democratic leadership style encourages better cooperation and motivates staff because they feel well informed in everything that affects their work. Autocratic Leadership The impact of this leadership style is that it fails to motivate staff and they feel forced to do things managements way although It is not always the best way and staff become stressed being pushed. Autocratic leadership style encourages no communication between staff and management as management make all the decisions based on what they feel is best for the organisation. References Hamel, G. (2008) ‘What is strategic Decision Making’ http://smallbusiness. chron. com/strategic-decision-making-23782. html Npower. ‘Developing people through decision making’ http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/npower/developing-people-through-decision-making/tactical-decisions. html Priebe, J. ‘What is the purpose of Financial Planning’ http://www. ehow. com/info_7755005_purpose-financial-plan. html

Future stage Essay

Choose the stage that has been the biggest challenge for you, thus far. Explain what you have learned about a â€Å"future stage.† How will this information benefit you as you reach that stage? Choose at least three specific goals you have set for yourself as you continue through your lifespan and how you will achieve those goals. How has this course helped you determine those goals? I would have to say Stage 6 universal ethical principle orientation adopt an internal moral code base on universal values that takes precedence over social rules and laws. I have learned that even if you need something don’t steal it. Stealing is the most worst thing you could ever think of. This has reach me not to steal even though I don’t but I will never steal. My three goals is to have money to get what I want not to steal, earn things, and reach to get what and the things I would like to have in life. Choose the stage that has been the biggest challenge for you, thus far. Explain what you have learned about a â€Å"future stage.† How will this information benefit you as you reach that stage? Choose at least three specific goals you have set for yourself as you continue through your lifespan and how you will achieve those goals. How has this course helped you determine those goals? I would have to say Stage 6 universal ethical principle orientation adopt an internal moral code base on universal values that takes precedence over social rules and laws. I have learned that even if you need something don’t steal it. Stealing is the most worst thing you could ever think of. This has reach me not to steal even though I don’t but I will never steal. My three goals is to have money to get w Choose the stage that has been the biggest challenge for you, thus far. Explain what you have learned about a â€Å"future stage.† How will this information benefit you as you reach that stage? Choose at least three specific goals you have set for yourself as you continue through your lifespan and how you will achieve those goals. How has this course helped you determine those goals? I would have to say Stage 6 universal ethical principle orientation adopt an internal moral code base on universal values that takes precedence over social rules and laws. I have learned that even if you need something don’t steal it. Stealing is the most worst thing you could ever think of. This has reach me not to steal even though I don’t but I will never steal. My three goals is to have money to get what I want not to steal, earn things, and reach to get what and the things I would like to have in life. hat I want  not to steal, earn things, and reach to get what and the things I would like to have in life.

buy custom An International Business essay

buy custom An International Business essay In the digital era, each individual in the world is connected to another person by using several communication technologies like mobile phones and the internet. This situation suggests that telecommunication empowers the way people communicate and helps business to run their daily activities. The variety of communication devices also enables people to experience different way of communication such as voice communication by using telephone, mobile phones, handy talky etc; data communication by typing in instant messaging, SMS (Short Message Service), or sending facsimile; and video communication through video streaming and video conference. In addition, the popular BlackBerry smart phones represent this breakthrough as they let users to experience many types of communication. Interestingly, BlackBerry smart phones also represent the globalization and the international business as the products and the accessories are manufactured in different countries. Research in Motion (RIM), the BlackBerrys brand owner, is a Canadian company that manufactures BlackBerry phones in Mexico or Hungary, outsources the accessories from Chinese manufacturers that employ low-wage labors from India and other Asian countries, and sells to the consumers all over the world while outstripping the market share of a Finnish company, Nokia. The case of mobile phones industry also happens in other industries and it provides us the lesson that to sustain in international marketplace, a company should keeps pace with competitors. In the following discussion, we will elaborate how a company can compete in the international business by advancing not only the product features and specifications but also paying attention to non-technical issues such as languages, cultural factors, and business ethics. Under such circumstances, we need to understand how the international business works in order to keep updated the recent business practice. Learning Curves The interesting point of the international business is we can learn several methods of business practices from other countries. In Japan, for example, there is a management system, called Just-In-Time, which helps a manufacturer to reduce the costs of production by managing the upply chain effectively. This method is field-proven to support Japanese automobile manufacturers to gain the competitive advantage in the automobile industry in North America and in Europe. Immediately, American automobile manufacturers respond to the challenges by implementing another method of supply chain management. Meanwhile, Volvo, a Swedish automobile manufacturer, chooses to implement the JIT system in their manufacturing facilities. The question is then what make the JIT system is so powerful? Basically, Just-in-Time (JIT) concept refers to the Japanese management philosophy that has been practiced in the countrys manufacturing companies since early 1970s. The famous implementation of Just-in-Time (JIT) is in Toyota manufacturing plants when the person in charge for managing the supply chain, Taiichi Ohno, also recognized as the father of JIT, develops and refines the the concept in order to meet costumers demands with minimum delay (The Institute for Manufacturing, 2008). Therefore, the implementation of JIT will improve several key success factors in manufacturing such as speeding up the time-to-market of products, costs reduction, and manageability of current resources and plan for future needs. Business Etiquette and Cultural Differences Another reason to master the international business is to obtain literacy. Understanding the background of partners and competitors from different countries and companies can help us to earn their respect and confidence as well as give us a competitive edge in dealing with them. Dealing a business with Chinese companies is different from Japanese or Swedish, for instance. Although globalization makes many Chinese businesses to align with western conventional methods, Chinese business etiquettes and cultures are still very dominant in their homeland. Thus, building a business in China will require a certain amount of understanding toward their unique culture and business etiquettes within it. In addition, Chinese business deals usually start from referrals as the business relationship generally starts from the basis of someone's recommendation. Thus, understanding this nature, a businessperson should respect the value of good reputation whilee making deals with Chinese businessperson. Other risks in conducting international expansion are culture and language. According to various studies, culture is often an underestimated factor in managing corporate businesses. These studies also reveal that those companies that are unsuccessful to take culture as an important business consideration often find themselves in a disappointing circumstance (Kwintessential, 2011). Today, however, realizing the global environment we are living in, companies are becoming increasingly cultural sensitive. There are various examples of corporations that hired people from various backgrounds and discover a synergy within their cooperation. Ethical Issues in International Business Another important aspect in international business is ethics. Business ethics refers to various moral and ethical problems that can arise in business activities. A study focuses on how each individual involved within trade activities are burdened with special duties and obligations that must be performed. It emphasizes the importance of ethical guidelines in making business decisions. The importance of ethical guidelines has been increasingly popular because of several reasons. First, there is s growing public awareness that societies have the right to expect business to function within ethical boundaries. Conclusion This paper only elaborates three aspects of international business: learning curves, business etiquette and cultural differences, and ethical issues. From these three aspects alone, we already learn that international business greatly influences us in how we take advantages of the diverse marketplaces all over the world. In addition, we also learn that cultural factors have significant influences in the successful relationship with foreign partners. The case of Mattel that subcontracts the manufacturing of toys in China and then are forced to recall their Cars toys due to they contain impermissible lead is one example of the impact of cultural factors. It happens because the subcontractor is found to subcontract to other companies due to the relationship of the companies owners. Buy custom An International Business essay