Five Controversial Argumentative Views That Constitute a Proper Aim of Essay

Five Controversial Argumentative Views That Constitute a Proper Aim of Law - Essay Example Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.† Mills was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant and a very influential contributor to the ideas of his time in social theory, political theory, and political economy. His concept of liberty gave complete control and freedom to the individual and opposed unlimited state control. Mills’ theory excuses persons who are â€Å"incapable of self-government† from this principle, such as young children or those living in â€Å"backward states of society.† Mills also felt that despotism (tyranny) is an acceptable form of government for societies that are â€Å"backward,† as long as the absolute ruler has the best interests of the people at heart. However, the theory has complications as â€Å"harms† may include actions that are omitted as well as acts of commission. Failing to rescue a drowning child or failing to pay taxes, both are harmful omissions that may be regula ted by law. Mills did not think that offense constituted â€Å"harm†; however, an action could be curtailed if it violated the morals of a society. He also contended that free speech is a necessary condition for intellectual and social progress. He was famous for being one of the first supporters of rights for women. In his book â€Å"The Subjection of Women† he points out three major facets hindering women, society and gender construction, education, and marriage. His formation of the â€Å"greatest-happiness principle† is his most famous theory. It stipulated that a person must always act so as to produce the greatest happiness among feeling beings within reason. He also felt that intellectual and moral pleasures were more important than physical forms of pleasure. He believed in free markets and accepted intervention in the economy for tax on alcohol and supported legislation on animal welfare. John Austin was a noted British jurist and author of law and juri sprudence. He developed a theory called â€Å"legal positivism.† This basic theory of law states that there is no association between the validity of a law and ethics and morality. Therefore, by â€Å"legal positivism† the law is considered separate from moral and ethical values. It considers the law to be studied by lawmakers who are humans. It does not give any real basis for arguing against the validity of any law based on the content, no matter how horrible to the morality of any person. The argument is based solely on the nature of the law being a human institution. Gerald Dworkin is a professor of moral, political and legal philosophy. He is noted for his development and writings on â€Å"moral paternalism†, which refers to an attitude or policy based on the hierarchy of a families’ CEO or authority. His research includes ideas of the nature and justification of self-government or the right of self-government. His most recent book defends physician- assisted suicide. In it he argues that doctors who approve of stopping life support at the patient’s request, giving pain-relief medication that kills the patient, or who approves terminal sedation are inconsistent in condemning physician-assisted suicide. â€Å"Legal moralism† is a theory of jurisprudence which projects that laws may be used to prohibit or require a certain

Soft And Hard Human Resource Management

Soft And Hard Human Resource Management HRM is an essential and vital function for organizational success. Areas within HRM like Manpower planning, Job analysis, Selection and Recruitment, Compensation and Benefits, Performance evaluations, Contract negotiations and Labor legislations are parts of hard HRM whereas functions like Organizational development, conflict management, human resource education, leadership development, organizational culture, and relationship building are components of soft HRM. The hard HRM can be categorized as the basic functions and soft HRM as advanced functions. In todays knowledge economy, where human capital determines the growth and success of an organization, both hard and soft HRM are sig. Hard HRM:- a very instrumental, practical approach, people seen as a passive resources to be used, deployed and if necessary disposed of HR planning is seen as a factor of production incompatible with trade unions-may necessitate confrontation to implement concepts. Soft HRM: sometimes known as development humanism stresses human side entails trust, collaboration, skill development place for unions in this model where unions are marginalized and by passed on many issues or alternative forms of employee representation are initiated above all, about commitment and partnership. Hard HR Management Soft HR Management Treats employees simply as a resource of the business (like machinery buildings) Strong link with corporate business planning what resources do we need, how do we get them and how much will they cost Treats employees as the most important resource in the business and a source of competitive advantage Employees are treated as individuals and their needs are planned accordingly Focus of HRM: identify workforce needs of the business and recruit manage accordingly (hiring, moving and firing) Focus of HRM: concentrate on the needs of employees their roles, rewards, motivation etc. Key features Key features Short-term changes in employee numbers (recruitment, redundancy) Strategic focus on longer-term workforce planning Minimal communication, from the top down Strong and regular two-way communication Pay enough to recruit and retain enough staff (e.g. minimum wage) Competitive pay structure, with suitable performance-related rewards (e.g. profit share, share options) Little empowerment or delegation Employees are empowered and encouraged to seek delegation and take responsibility Appraisal systems focused on making judgments (good and bad) about staff Appraisal systems focused on identifying and addressing training and other employee development needs Taller organizational structures Flatter organizational structures Suits autocratic leadership style Suits democratic leadership style As analyzing this, the hard approach to HR might be expected to result in a more cost-effective workforce where decision-making is quicker and focused on senior managers. However, such an approach pays relatively little attention to the needs of employees and a business adopting a genuinely hard approach might expect to suffer from higher absenteeism and staff turnover and less successful recruitment but the soft approach will certainly appeal to the touchy-feely among it who like to see people being treated nicely. And it can also make a good business case for an approach which rewards employee performance and motivates staff more effectively. However, the danger of taking too soft an approach is that when all the employee benefits are added up, the cost of the workforce leaves a business at a competitive disadvantage. HMR and Personal/ IR Practices with Compared to 27 Dimensions of Storys Definitions Storys model gives a clear idea about the difference between personal and industrial human resource management, According to storys model of human resource management: Human Resource Management has to be implemented into the organization strategy and has to be considered in the higher level of the organization. Human Resource Management needs to be included to management functions and creates an impact on the organizations ability to achieve their goals. Human Resource Managements main key function is to encourage commitment from the employees in the organization but not complaints. Humans ability, capability and commitment is what differentiate each organization has. Points of difference between personnel and IR practices and HRM practices Dimensions Personnel/IR HRM Beliefs Assumptions Contract Careful delineation of written contracts Aim to go beyond contract Guide to management action Procedures Business need Behavior referent Norms Values Managerial task via a vise labor Monitoring Nurturing Strategic Aspect Key relations Labor management Customer Corporate plan Marginal to Central to Speed of decision Slow Fast Line Management Management role Transactional Transformational leadership Communication Indirect Direct Standardization High Low Key Levelers Selection Separate, marginal task Integrated, key task Pay Job evaluation Performance related Conditions Separately negotiated Harmonization Labor management Collective bargaining contracts Towards individual contracts Role of the Line Managers and employees in the organization. The areas where front line managers and employees make a significant difference to people management practices are: Performance Appraisal Training, coaching and guidance Involvement and communication Openness how easy is it for employees to discuss matters with their front line manager Work-life balance Recognition the extent to which employees feel their contribution is recognized. These are all areas where, although the process may be designed by HR, it cannot be delivered by HR. The front line manager role is crucial in a number of respects In enabling the HR policies and practices, or bringing them to life. in acting upon advice or guidance from HR in controlling the work flow by directing and guiding the work of others To do this successfully, this part of the front line managers role must be given at least as much recognition as other operational areas and they must be allocated time within their work schedule to carry out the people management side of the job. The qualities and skills needed from front line managers. The Bath research found that front line managers exercise a strong influence over the level of discretion that an individual has over how they do their job. Some managers can permit and encourage people to be responsible for their own jobs whereas others can stifle initiative through controlling or autocratic behavior. To encourage the kind of discretionary behavior from employees associated with higher performance, front line managers need to: Build a good working relationship with their staff. They need to lead, listen, ask, communicate, be fair, respond to suggestions and deal with problems. Help and support employees to take more responsibility for how they do their jobs by coaching and guidance. Build effective teams. Many of the qualities and skills which are associated with higher quality front line management are around the behaviors of front line managers. It is not enough to educate front line managers in the behaviors required; organizations must also ensure they are developing the environment and culture in which front line managers are actively encouraged and permitted to exhibit the behaviors above. The Bath research found that organizations which had a strong shared culture with guiding principles for behavior which were embedded into practice over time were more successful Attribution: http://www.citehr.com/15998-role-front-line-managers-hr.html#ixzz21Teh5Dml Section B There are potential benefits for both the individual and the organization from using a proper performance management A good performance management system works towards the improvement of the overall organizational performance by managing the performances of terms and individuals for ensuring the achievement of the overall organizational ambitions and goals. An effective performance management system can play a very crucial role in managing the performance in an organization by: Improved business profits The bottom line of an organization improves significantly by increasing employee productivity and quality of work. Increase employee responsibility Communicating realistic but challenging job expectations and making employee accountable for their decisions and actions result in noticeable improvements in employee tardiness, absences and organizational commitment. Equitable treatment of employees All employees are treated fairly by implementing standardized procedures that promote consistency throughout an organization. Enhanced quality of work life Employees experience greater job satisfaction because they become more successful As a HR manager, you need to manage different human resource practices in the workplace Yes I do agree with the statement. Approaching the nature of HRM from a slightly different perspective, (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004) have argued that what they term a strong HR system is more likely to have an impact. Where more high performance practices are in place, and all helping to elicit the same kind of attitudes and behavior from employees, the cumulative impact is likely to be greater. In this context, the specific sets of practices that might be associated with competence, motivation or contribution become rather less important. Another reason why specific bundles of practices might be less significant and difficult to link to performance is that some practices might contribute to several HR outcomes. For example, job design or goal setting might affect both motivation and opportunity to contribute. This leads to two possibilities. On the one hand it may be most appropriate to follow the Bowen and Ostroff line and count the number of practices in place; on the other, it may b e sensible to explore whether specific practices are consistently associated with superior performance. There is an impact of globalization on issues such as human resource planning Yes I do agree with the statement. The interest in strategic human resource management (HRM) has spawned a number of empirical research studies that investigated the impact of HRM practices on organizational performance. However, very little attention has been paid to address the impact of HRM practices on operations management and to generalize the findings across countries and industries. Success of some business decisions. Globalization and The Changing Face of Human Resource Management The pressures on traditional IR models are not all due to globalization, as we shall see, but many of the changes taking place can be traced to globalization. It is not always easy to disentangle the causes and effects of globalization. However it would probably be true to say that globalization is represented by the opening up of markets due, in large measure to foreign direct investment consequent upon the lowering of investment barriers in practically all countries by the liberalization of trade and by the deregulation of financial markets in consequence of which governments increasingly have little control over the flow of capital across borders. All this implies the dominance of the market system, facilitated by the collapse of alternative economic systems. Introduction of new technology Pushing for a more deregulated and flexible labor market More emphasis on productivity and quality Greater employee involvement in the design and execution of work Shifting the focus of collective bargaining from the industry level to the enterprise level. Employers are of the view that issues relevant to the employment relationship such as work re-organization, flexible working hours and contractual arrangements, and pay for performance and skills, are increasingly workplace-related, and should therefore be addressed at the enterprise level. Downsizing the workforce. One important response has been the introduction of flexibility in the employment relationship to increase the capacity of enterprises to adapt rapidly to market changes. This has involved measures such as: flexible working hours, part-time work different types of employment contracts to the standard ones familiar to collective IR flexibility in functions, so that employees who are multi-skilled are not confined to the performance of only one task. They can cover up for absenteeism, and make some jobs redundant. Globalization has, through technology diffusion, substantially increased the introduction of new technology. This, as well as the need for flexible adaptation to market changes, has led to the re-organization of production systems and methods of work, such as the following: Reduction of narrow job classifications and demarcation lines between managers and workers, accompanied by skills enhancement needed to perform jobs with a broader range of tasks. The competition generated by globalization and rapid technological changes accompanied by shorter product life have, while destroying countless jobs in industrialized countries, created opportunities for multi-skilled and easily trainable workers, and for the most significant group of emerging employees the knowledge worker. Knowledge and skills have become the most important determinants of investment, employment opportunities, productivity and quality and of flexibility. Different national cultures and practices make an influence for making a culturally diverse workforce Difference national cultures and practices make an influence for making a culturally diverse workforce. The workforce of the twenty first century is increasingly diverse and multicultural. To effectively manage and lead in this environment, HR must be knowledgeable about cross cultural factors on both the domestic and global fronts in human resource management. By promoting education in cross cultural competencies throughout the organization HR can better serve the company to successfully achieve its mission and goals. As a concept and as a reality, culture is broad and multifaceted. On a daily basis culture influences who we are as individuals, families, communities, professions, industries, organizations and nations and how we interact with each other within and across regional and national borders. Defined as a set of values and beliefs with learned behaviors shared within a particular society, culture provides a sense of identity and belonging. From language, communication styles, history and religion to norms, values, symbolism and ways of being, culture is everywhere. In domestic and global workplace settings people in organizations reflect their respective cultures. As shifting demographics bring together people of many cultural backgrounds, human resource management must be thoughtfully examined and sometimes altered to support organizational goals. Special Expertise Panel members point out that for sustainability, organizational leaders must expand their perspectives from a local to a worldly view. HR professionals experienced in workplace diversity and cross cultural communication are well positioned to develop and implement culturally appropriate HRM strategies, policies and practices. While not exhaustive this Research Quarterly focuses on selected cross cultural factors in HRM in todays workplace and provides insights for HR to better serve the needs of the organization. Business Case for Cross Cultural HRM With the advent of globalization, research on cross cultural organizational behavior has become a pathway to understand the dynamics of multicultural domestic and international workplaces. In fact successful organizations of the 21st century require leaders who understand culturally diverse work environments and can work effectively with different cultures that have varying work ethics, norms and business protocols. Yet diverse cultures create HRM challenges. Gaining cross cultural competence takes time, education, experience, openness and sensitivity. When people lack intercultural skills miscommunications can damage business relationships deadlines can be missed projects may fail and talented people will go to the competition. Key HR responsibilities are to understand how cross cultural factors interact with HR, be the conduit for organizational learning for cross cultural intelligence and foster cross cultural communication throughout the organization. Cultural Value Dimensions Cross cultural intelligence is the ability to switch ethnic or national contexts and quickly learn new patterns of social interaction with appropriate behavioral responses. This competence is essential to work effectively in multicultural environments. Thus linking future career paths and global business success with cultural competence is important for HR to emphasize, with the goal that managers are motivated to acquire new behaviors and skills and understand the benefits of learning from different cultures. Task 02 Section A- Case Study Explain the Audit Firms model of flexibility. The concept of a flexible firm recognizes that organizations will requires enhanced flexibility to meet ever evolving market and competitive pressures. The flexible firm model suggests that we can design our workforces to proactively meet our business needs through flexible staffing arrangements. In other words it is a concept of simply integrating flexible conditions into the administration an organizations functional operations, in order o meet the demands of a highly competitive market and attain its strategic aims and goals. Flexibility is a calculated risk utilized by organization to survive and gain strategic competitive advantage. Therefor this case study, shows how they has developed and implemented flexible work practices improve its services and meet the changing needs of its staff. According to the contracts help the Audit commission to cope with all of its changing needs. They also help it to be flexible. There are three main types of flexibility they practice. Numerical Flexibility Functional Flexibility Place- of- work flexibility The Audit Commission is constantly face with peaks and troughs in the workload that cannot be met simply by having its employees on full time contracts. There are situations where they need either more staff or fewer staff. By increasing or reduce staff in their situation the Audit Commission has developed numerical flexibility. The Audit Commission has also developed flexibility through developing the skills of its employees to deal with a wider variety of work. This means that when the nature and type of work changes, employees are comfortable undertaking different tasks. This is known as functional flexibility. Homeworking is an example of place-of-work flexibility. The Audit Commission uses this way to respond to the challenges within their business environment. This method of working has helped it to meet more closely the needs of its staff. As part of its flexible working arrangements, homeworking has helped to transform the ways in which many people work and improve their work-life-balance. Briefly explain the need for flexibility. According to this firm do you believe that they are implementing the correct types of flexibility? Explain your answer. Employers have always wanted workers to be as flexible as possible. In the past this has mean paying overtime for extra hours worked, or higher rates for shift work. Faced with competition, businesses attempt to use their existing employees more effectively. Sometimes this could benefit employee. Working flexible hours could mean an employee may take time off for personal reasons and still work their required number of hours a week. The need for flexibility is increasing due to demographic and social changes the number of people in the paid work force with caring responsibilities is set to increase. In turn this will increase the demand for flexibility in the workplace. Moreover, increasing competition has placed emphasis on quality, innovation and reducing the unit cost of production: job design and the organization of work must both mobilize employees energies for quality innovation and reliable productivity. In addition to this Technological change, particularly in the automation and computerization of work process and information flows, has eroded traditional demarcation boundaries between jobs: job design and the organization of work must fit the new technology in order to secure its benefits for efficiency. Increasing market uncertainty means that organizations need to be more adaptable to changes in demand: able to vary the size and deployment of their workforces to meet demand as effectively and efficien tly as possible. Yes I do believe that they are practicing the correct types of flexibility. The benefits they are getting form those types are more and it will lead to build effective flexible working system. Flexibility is not about integration of the different spheres of life to reduce conflict or to harmonizing paid work with other parts of life; rather flexibility is about how self-managing employees constitute synthesis of work life and home life as distinct parts of one and the same life. If Audit Commission is very much concerned about their flexibility in the work place those types they are currently practicing is totally suitable. By regular homeworking helps an organization to develop family-friendly policies that improve the work-life balance of its staff. For the organization, homeworking assists in recruiting individuals who are attracted to this style of working and this enables the Audit Commission to retain a diverse workforce. Evaluate the advantages and dis advantages of flexible working practices from both of the employee and employer perspective relate with this firm. For Employee Advantages It reduces the transport cost for the employee and by reducing the transportation it is good for environment. Regular homeworking helps an organization to develop family-friendly policies that improve the work-life balance of its staff especially in Audit Commission. Employers have great freedom to organize their work to finish on time. By implementing flexible working system employers can improve morale and reducing absence and lateness. A better work/life balance being able to meet both work and personal commitments Increased sense of control leading to increased sense of well-being With the greater job satisfaction employees can make better working environment with a happier person all around. Being able to remain in the workforce longer with greater loyalty, trust and respect towards employers Disadvantages Lower salary if you work fewer hours. Possible sense of isolation from colleagues. Loneliness. Need for a dedicated work space. Difficulty in judging performance. Need to be self-disciplined and highly organized. Possible obstacle to promotion. A sense that you have been forced into it by circumstances not of your choosing. For Employer Advantages Happy and satisfied employees, who have a greater sense of trust and loyalty, create many business benefits: Attracting skilled and motivated employees Particularly those who wouldnt normally apply. For example mature aged workers those who have Auditing experience, those with family/care responsibilities and those seeking greater balance between work and personal interests. Keeping skilled and motivated employees Effective flexibility can reduce unwanted staff losses by up to 25%. A huge cost saving in terms of retaining knowledge, maintaining Agent relationships and in re-training, creating awareness and administration costs. Motivating and energizing staff Resulting in increased productivity and greater profits, as employees focus more on business success, are more flexible to meet its needs and driven to work harder specially service organization like Audit commission. Increasing employee satisfaction creating a happier workplace, with greater teamwork, collaboration and sharing of knowledge. Lower staff absences employees are less stressed about meeting their job and outside/family commitments and have a greater sense of well-being, reducing unplanned absences. Increasing skills and creativity of your managers Managers are challenged to look outside the square, develop leadership skills and manage a more diverse workforce Improving customer service and retention More committed employees, greater employee retention and a better match between peaks and troughs in workflows and staffing will allow you to more closely meet customers needs Becoming an Employer of Choice which expands the pool of talented workers that an advertisement will attract. Disadvantages Finding qualified employees who want to be part of a flexible workforce can be challenging, because people generally prefer jobs that provide a reliable and predictable income stream. It can be difficult to retain employees in a flexible workforce. Thats because during times when business is slow and members of a flexible workforce arent working, theyre likely to spend their time looking for other work. If Audit Commission is opened in non-working working hours as a result it will lead to increase the unwanted costs like electricity and heating and so on. Section B Essay Equal opportunities with in the workplace The term equal opportunities is a broadly used phrase which promotes the idea that everyone within an organization should have an equal chance to apply and be selected for posts, to be trained or promoted and to have their employment terminated equally. Providing equal opportunity and treating employers without prejudice is vital to achieve organizational objectives. Over the past 30 years, the workplace has changed dramatically. Women have become more empowered giving them the opportunity to seek career progression which had previously been denied to them. Disabled people who can work are being helped back to work and offered the same opportunities as able-bodied people and economic globalization of business has meant that managers must be aware of cultural and race issues. There should be no discrimination on the grounds of gender, homosexuality, age, racial origin, religious affiliation, disability or marital status. Employers can only discriminate on the grounds of ability, poten tial and all employment decisions taken on an individuals ability to do a particular job. There are two main forms of discrimination. First of all direct discrimination involves treating an individual within the workforce less favorably than others on sexual, marital, racial or disabled grounds. It occurs when interested group is treated less favorably than another. (Except for exempted cases) For example, Management decision is not to select or promote a woman because she is pregnant or because of her nationality. One act of discrimination is sufficient and must be directed at an individual for action to be taken. Second type of discrimination is indirect discrimination. Indirect discrimination describes a term or condition applicable to both sexes but where one sex has considerably less of an ability to comply with it than the other. It occurs when, an employer applies a provision, criterion practice to men and women equally, but it has the effect of putting one sex at a particular disadvantage without justification. For example, change the shift patterns to include an early morning to start, as a woman is more likely to be responsible for childcare or a condition that a candidate for a job must be of a minimum certain height. It is unlawful to discriminate in employment on the grounds of color, race, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, marital status, and disability for all staff, regardless of their hours, or patterns of work. Within the work environment the majority of discrimination claims Centre around the recruitment and selection process. Several pieces of employment legislation exist in order to provide a framework for implementing equal opportunities within the workplace. The main legislation is Equal Pay Act, Sex Discrimination Act, Race Relations Act, Human Rights Act, Race Relations, Employment Equality in Religion or Belief and Gender Recognition Act. In developed countries there are migrants and even students who work for lesser wages than the minimum wages. The wages that they are paid is less than the national wages that is allowed by the government and not only the payment is less but there could be situations where they work for longer hours than they can in a weeks time. In countri es such as Sri Lanka there are many places and organizations where framework is not followed and are broken with many discrimination such as sex, pay and also race but due to the fear of the influence and also the fact that they need the money to work the employees do not take necessary actions. Organizations consist of many individuals working together to achieve organizational success. These individuals collectively bring different attitudes, perceptions and learning experiences to the workplace, as well as ethnic, gender and personality differences. When the Equal Opportunities Commission was set up, it was to tackle the issue of Gender Discrimination predominantly and to offer women the same working rights as their male complements. However, in modern day society, equal opportunities has been broadened and backed up by law to provide the same level of protection to other minority groups in the workforce. Mainly there are three types of discrimination. First type of discrimination is age discrimination. Age discrimination involves treating employee less favorably because of his age. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act only forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older. It does not protect workers under the age of 40, although some states do have l aws that protect younger workers from age discrimination. It is not illegal for an employer or other covered entity to favor an older worker over a younger one even if both workers are age 40 or older (The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, 2006). Second type of discrimination is sex discrimination. Sex

John D. Rockefeller: Turning Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Into Success :: Biography Biographies Essays

John D. Rockefeller: Turning Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Into Success John D. Rockefeller, the Standard Oil magnate who, by the time of his death in 1937, was probably worth close to a billion dollars, is perhaps one of the best historical examples of an obsessive-compulsive. An obsessive-compulsive is one who is driven to an act or acts, generally being asocial. By his own fixations and by nature of his peculiar psyche he must balance these actions with others more socially acceptable. There are abundant examples of Rockefeller's deeds fitting these clinical characteristics, and John D. Rockefeller is today generally regarded as an obsessive-compulsive. The roots of this disorder are traceable back to his childhood. While much of Rockefeller's business history remains a mystery today, it is apparent that much of his success is attributable to his obsessive-compulsive disorder. Franz Alexander and Louis B. Shapiro's description of the obsessive- compulsive disorder from their book Neuroses, Behavior Disorders, and Perversions0 is a frequently used summary of the commonly agreed-upon characteristics. It states: "Full blown cases of obsessive-compulsive states present a dynamic equilibrium in which obsessive preoccupation with ego-alien fantasies... are precariously balanced by rituals representing an exaggeration of social standards, such as cleanliness, punctuality, consideration for others. The dynamic formula is similar to bookkeeping in which on the one side of ledger are the asocial tendencies which the patient tries to balance precisely on the other side with moralistic and social attitudes... Every asocial move must be undone by an opposing one..." The term "ego-alien" refers to thoughts, emotions or material which are consciously detestable to the patient (though not he may not necessarily be conscious of the reason). This summary is important, and we will return to it later. Rockefeller was born in 1839 and raised in a troubled, then broken, home. His father, who sold quack "quick-heal" ailment medicines, was often away for months at a time. Rockefeller was raised essentially by his mother. Eventually his father consummated a bigamous marriage with a teenage Canadian and left Rockefeller and his mother and siblings. At an early age, it became apparent that young John was not quite like the other children. For instance, he adamantly refused to play with other children unless he could choose the game. In almost every description of him as a child, he is often described as "thinking". He married Laura Celestia Spelman, a girl who was strikingly similar to his mother, which is never a good sign; and when he decided to go into business, he borrowed $1000 from his father- at ten percent interest.

Importance of Small and Mediun Entreptises in a Developing Economy

ID NUMBER: 11060659 COURSE: MANAGEMENT OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES (SMEs) LECTURER: MR. ADAMS FADIR-RAHMAN DATE: 21-4-2010 QUESTION: TO WHAT EXTENT DO CAN IT BE SAID THAT GHANA CANNOT DEVELOP WITHOUT THE ACTIVITIES OF SMEs OPERATORS Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are companies whose headcount or turnover falls below certain limits. And the limit depends on the country in which the company is operating. SMEs contribute immensely to the economic development of a country . And it can be said that a developing country like Ghana cannot develop without the contribution of SMEs due to the following reasons: Firstly, SMEs contribute significantly to the provision of productive employment opportunities for rural and urban growing labor force in Ghana. The provision of employment opportunities increases the generation of income by the people . And when most of the people in the country are employed, it leads to the reduction of poverty. Secondly, they help to absorb productive resources at all levels of the economy and add to the flexible economic system in which small and large firms are interlinked. Such linkages are very crucial for the attraction of foreign investment. This is because the investing transnational corporations look for sound domestic suppliers for their supply chain. Thirdly, SMEs provide substitution for imported goods which create competition and leads to production of quality goods at affordable prices. This is to say that the substitutes of imported goods produced in Ghana by SMEs helps to create competition between the SMEs and the foreign producers. And this forces them to produce quality goods at affordable prices since there is competition. Furthermore, SMEs help in the provision of capital to individuals, other businesses and even the government. When the SMEs generate their income, they deposited them in the various commercial banks in Ghana. It is from these funds that the banks advance loans to their needy customers. And these funds are sometimes loaned to the government to finance its developmental projects. Also, the income generated by the SMEs is subject to tax. Thus their returns are taxed for the development of the nation. These taxes, when collected, are used for the construction of roads, schools, hospitals and other social amenities. More so, SMES help to produce and enhance the movement of goods outside the country. They also help to the country to export its raw materials or natural resources to foreign countries for foreign exchange. And it also paves the way for some local goods to be marketed outside the country. And this help to increase the gross domestic product (GDP) and per capital income of the country. Lastly, Most of the current larger enterprises have their origin in small and medium enterprises. This is to say that most of the large scale enterprises in Ghana were SMEs before their current state. SMEs are different from large scale enterprises in three main aspects; uncertainty, innovation and evolution. Therefore we can say that SMEs are the starting point of development in the Ghanaian economy towards industrialization. In a nutshell, judging from above, we can see that there is no way that Ghana can develop without the operations of SMEs. So what is required is for the government of Ghana to pursue the precise policy and regulatory reforms to turn SMEs into an effective instrument for the enhancement of economic growth. REFERENCE: SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTREPRISES,JONATHAN BLAY ,1993,CANADA IMPORTANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTREPRISES IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,BASHIR AHMED FIDA,PAKISTAN,2008. WWW. THEFREELIBRARY. COM

Education: Grammar School and Government Essay

In this essay I am going to look at the changes to education legislation from 1944 to the present day. I will look at how these changes have reflected government educational policies and to what effect. Firstly I will look at the ‘Butler Act’, war time 1944. The education act 1944 was called the ‘Butler Act’ after the conservative politician, R.A.Butler. The 1944 ‘Butler Act’ was undoubtedly a significant milestone in terms of the history of education Britain. It became increasingly clear that education was of vital importance to the nation and to the individual. It planned to remove the inequalities which remained in the system. The proportion of ‘free places’ at grammar schools in England and Wales increased from almost a third to almost half between 1913 and 1937. However when poorer children were offered free places parents often had to turn them down, owing to the extra costs involved. The ‘Butler Act’ 1944 provide d free education for all pupils. By 1946 the School Milk act was introduced. Previous investigations completed by John Boyd Orr revealed there was a link between low- income and malnutrition and under – achievement in schools. Ellen Wilkinson minister of education, (the first woman in British history to hold the post), was a long campaigner against poverty and in 1946 managed to persuade parliament to pass the school milk act. This act ordered the issue of one –third of a pint of milk free to all pupils. Local Education Authorities (LEAs), were required to submit proposals to the new department of education for reorganising secondary schools in the area, LEAs were required to assist children’s special needs. Most of the LEAs aimed to establish the three main ‘streams’ or categories at school this was known as the tripartite system. The three categories were grammar , secondary modern and technical , the children would be allocated on the basis of an examination at the age of 11, known as the ’11 plus’. The 11 plus had the intention to provide an equal opportunity for children of all backgrounds and walks of life. The implementation of this break by the ‘Butler Act’ seemed to offer an ideal opportunity to implement ‘streaming’ since all children would be changing school any way. Was the ’11 plus’ a good idea or would it begin to emerge as a large historical accident? Many people related more to the wider education system rather than the academic selection. The proportions of school children  gaining a place at a grammar school varied by location and gender, and due to the continuance of single sex schooling there were fewer places for girls than boys. Many critics claimed that there was a strong class bias in the exam. It seemed that children on the borderline of passing were more likely to get grammar school places if they came from middleclass families. It would appear that the ’11 plus’ was a system based on unfairness. For example, questions about the role of household servants or classical composers were easier for middle class children to answer but far less familiar to those from less wealthy and less educated backgrounds. The ’11 plus’ also led to divisions in schools (streaming), in the country (social class distinctions) and also led to irreconcilable political attitudes, (labour vs. conservatives) with the conservatives in favour of this selection and labour against it. In the 1950s, all the opposition against the 11 plus exam and the selection process had led to the idea of the modern comprehensive system. This idea was cherished by labour and rejected by the conservatives. In 1964 the labour government was elected, Harold Wilson is the new prime minister. Going into 1965 the circular 10/65 has stated for everyone to prepare for the introduction of the comprehensive schools. This was recognised as a fairer system better for working class people. Wilson was very anxious to increase opportunity within society, this meant change and expansion to the education system. For the first time ever a British government spent more time on education than on defence. This led to the significant increase in the number of university places. Wilson’s record on secondary education was disappointing. Whilst the proportion of children attending comprehensive schools rose to 30% during this period, his government failed to establish a fully comprehensive system. The selection system survived. Wilson lost power in June 1970 when Ted Heaths Tories won the general election with a majority of 30. Circular 10/ 70, newly elected government withdrew 10/65. Circular 10/70 was an attempt by Margaret Thatcher new secretary for education, to reverse the effects of circular 10/65. The first circular recommended to LEAs to begin the process of conversion to full comprehensive systems. This is ironic as it was in line with labour governments’ wishes on the transition  to a national comprehensive system. However the second circular said that no funding would be given for new non- comprehensive schools. LEAs were given more power to decide the future of secondary education in the area, under their authority independently of central government. It is believed that Thatcher was trying to reinstate grammar schooling. It was left to the LEAs individually whether or not they would go comprehensive. Heath needed to make cuts in public expenditure, Margaret Thatcher offered amongst other things to abolish the universal provision of free school milk. This was achieved in the 1971 education milk act. It led to the jibe ‘Thatcher, Thatcher milk snatcher’. In 1972 the school leaving age raised to 16 in response to rising youth unemployment. Was the government really concerned about giving people a better education or was it just a simple matter of keeping children in school longer to boost unemployment levels in order to make them look better?. This was not a popular decision. During 1973 the LEAs continued to submit plans which were presented as individual school plans which Thatcher accepted. There were now more children in comprehensive schools than selective one. Primary schools remained stable. Now I come to the ‘education reform act’ 1988. Conservative government are in place. The educational reform act is widely regarded as the most important single p iece of education legislation since the ‘ Butler’ education  act1944. This act introduced the National Curriculum. The National Curriculum believed everybody should have a knowledge of everything. Power was given to schools letting them spend the money how they like. Schools were ‘bribed’ as they were offered  £30,000 to opt out of the LEA. Thus Thatcher’s, intention was to weaken the power of the LEAs, giving more power to schools allowing them to spend the money how they liked. If more schools were to opt out poorer areas would not benefit, for example in well off middleclass areas people have more money and schools could raise more money through donations and school fairs act. Schools would become selfish only looking after their own needs. Head teachers were given more power and had to manage rather than ‘teach’. Schools were potentially paying more attention to material objects and resources rather than concentrating on teaching. On the plus side, schools could look for better and cheaper deals allowing them to spread the cost of their money effectively. City technical colleges were  also introduced providing specialist education by selection, opening up more doors. In 1992 The Education Act introduced the OFSTED, inspection system value for money. This was seen as a great idea by many as it made sure all schools were up to a certain standard. During 1997, the new labour government was elected (Tony Blair). The labour government’s intention was to devote attention to a higher standard of schooling, and to also make change to the national curriculum. This labour government would be a new ‘modern’ labour party as the labour government no longer stands for its traditional values. The new ‘modern’ labour government would; * Encourage private initiative funding, allowing private companies to build new schools. * Promote specialist educational academies in sport, sciences, languages and technology. There would be no money to build new schools. Schools would ask companies for computer deals whereas labours traditional view would have expected the state to pay. Therefore labour no longer stands for its traditional values. Schools were also encouraged to maximise the effect of their resources. This did not benefit poorer areas. Schools were taught to budget in order to allow a more effective financial control. In 2006 the Education and Inspection bill was introduced. This passed in March 2006, within the face of some opposition from within the labour party. Some of the main changes of the Education and Inspection bill were as follows; * Foundation (trust) schools * School admissions * Staged introduction of changes to the curriculum and entitlements including new diplomas to replace A-levels to be emplacement by 2013 * School travel * School food Also it was suggested that the school leaving age should be raised to 18 by 2013. This was propaganda as again was the government really concerned about a great education for children or was it just the case of making unemployment figures look better? The labour government believe education is much bigger than what goes on in school; trigger points for this were the  sad case of Victoria Climbie and the Soham murders. CRB checks were introduced to protect children, as there was poor communication between the police and schools. In 2003 the introduction of ‘Every Child Matters ‘was introduced. Every Child Matters is one of the most important policies to have intuitive and develop a programme in relation to children and the children services of the last decade. Its main aims were for every child, whatever their background or circumstances to have the support they need, * Be healthy * Stay safe * Enjoy and achieve * Make a positive contribution * Achieve economic well-being The Every Child Matters act had been title of three government papers, and in 2004 lead to the Children Act. Which took the Every Child Matters act further and the government started to get more involved with the parents suggesting what their child should and shouldn’t eat and encouraged more physical activity, Education was now not only stopped at children parents were now being educated on the well-being of their child. Sure start programmes were opened giving support to families. In 2008 the DCSF (Department for Children, Schools and Families was replaced by the Department for Education after the change in government following the general election 2010. The Department has also come under criticism during the 2010 General Election, after it was revealed that the Department’s offices had a refit which included a â€Å"contemplation room† 0ther features include a grand glass and steel staircase and imported Italian designer furniture. The total cost of the refit was estimated to be three million pounds, at a time when the department needed to make two billion pounds of savings. With the election in May 2010, there has been some confusion. The election of the coalition conservative/ liberal some changes were made immediately as previous government plans were put on hold or reversed. The new government believe that the previous government was taking the power from parents , not only did this cost a lot of money it was controlling society tainting and shaping it , taking the role from a parent. The new  government now does not want to get involved in how a child should be brought up; it is a parent’s job. The government should go no further than education. The new government would now scrap the building schools for the future scheme, the last government over spent and money needs to be saved. A new secretary of state for education, Michael Gove MP believes the education system is a mess. Too many people are going to universities costing the government too much money. I am now coming to the end of my essay; the new government is still making changes to the education system and believes that the lab our party had let standards slip. The new government believes in traditional standards and is now scraping GCSEs in favors of a tougher exam. Overall I believe the secondary education will always be un- stable as new and traditional standards will come in and out of place. Many lessons have been learned and hopefully a better and fairer system will eventually come in place; however is this possible as labour and conservatives differ so much? The education system has come far since 1944 and the importance of the ‘Butler’ act still plays a part in the heart of the education system and many people should think of this as one of the biggest milestones in history.