Against School essay

Rhetoric and Composition 1020 18 September 2012 Ask any student in public high school what they like and dislike about school. Odds are, they will say that what they enjoy most about school is the social interactions it allows them to take part in, and what they dislike about school is the classes. John Taylor Gatto, in â€Å"Against School: How Public Education Cripples our Kids, and Why,† discusses the reasons for such boredom in an in depth manner. Most of the time, nowadays, it is not the amount of work that they have developed a disliking for, it is the time that being in class wastes.Sitting in a class doing busy work is not something that interests people. The problem with schooling in this day in age, is that many of the students attending public schools are not being challenged and brought to their full potential. Teachers get bored of teaching and students get bored of doing work that is not going to benefit them in any way after they graduate high school. John Taylo r Gatto gives a brief summary of the history of schooling and a suggestion that, in order to better our children academically, teachers need to urge their students to take on the work that may seem more â€Å"grown up. Schooling first started taking off in the United States between 1905 and 1915. American adapted its idea of public schooling from the Prussians, much like other parts of its culture. John Taylor Gatto states that the three reasons schooling came about was â€Å"to make good people, to make good citizens, and to make each person his or her personal best. † In all reality, however, Gatto says that the worst thing taken from the Prussians was the schooling system. John Taylor Gatto brings about the question of â€Å"why is forced school necessary? The â€Å"six classes a day, five days a week, nine months out of the year. † He proves his point by saying that â€Å"two million homeschool students turned out just fine, along with many other names that Amer icans can recognize such as: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. † Gatto states that forced schooling only enforces a deadly routine. He also argues that while most people associate the term â€Å"success† with â€Å"schooling† there are many people who are just as successful as the next who have not had as much schooling as expected.He probes the questions: â€Å"why, then, do Americans confuse education with just such a system? What exactly is the purpose of our public schools? † John Taylor Gatto explains that we â€Å"so eagerly have adopted one of the very worst aspects of Prussian culture: an educational system deliberately designed to produce mediocre intellects, to hamstring the inner life, to deny students appreciable leadership skills, and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens—all in order to render the populace â€Å"manageable. † While schooling is provided to enhance the intellects, it really is only designed to create mediocre ones.Parents and students should not have to go through the schooling proccess if it is not going to push them to be their absolute best. Without the proper schooling, it is harder for anyone to begin a career. Gatto explains that teachers do not guide their students to reach their full potential, but rather just give them the information to reach it. Whether they choose to strive for excellence is their choice, but teachers in this century do not push them towards their goals. Ultimately, teachers need to care more about their students futures and academic success.Next, John Taylor Gatto introduces the logistics of public schooling and the actual purpose of forced schooling in six basic functions. These functions are â€Å"the adjustive or adaptive function† which establishes reactions to authority. Teachers have the ability to teach their children to do anything, whether that is to learn or to do reckless things. Children look up to the teachers because they know that they are superior to them, therefore they react and respond to everything they say and do. It is difficult for parents to send their children to school because they are putting their trust in adults they have never met.Within forced schooling, it is likely that students and teachers disagree, and even more likely that a parent will intervene when they do not feel as if the teacher is responding adequately to the students needs. The second function is the â€Å"integrating† function. The schooling system is the definition of conformity. Children come to school everyday at the same time and preform almost identical basic functions in each classroom. They are taught when to talk, when to learn, when to eat, when to socialize, and they all listen and do what they are told and what is normal for them.Students see how other people are acting to certain situations, and then mimic those actions to blend in with the rest of the school. The  "diagnostic and directive† function deals with social roles. During their schooling, children realize what role they play and where they fit in socially. Specifically, high school is the institution where students realize the kind of people they are and what groups they will belong to, what friends they will have, and what everyone else will think of them. The â€Å"differentiating† function sorts the students according to their role and they are only taught as far as they can be as a group and no further.Gatto states here that this undermines the purpose of pushing students to their personal best. The â€Å"selective† function is exactly what it sounds like – selection, like Darwinism. If a student falls short of academic expectations, they receive poor grades and other punishments. The purpose of school is to enrich the students minds, and if they cannot do what is expected of them, they do not receive the benefits of those who do. The final function is the â€Å"propaedeutic† function. This function states that ultimately some of the students who attend school for the full twelve years will cary out the roles of authority some day.Ultimately what John Taylor Gatto argues throughout this essay, is the idea that boredom derives from the source. If a student is bored, it is because he or she is not doing anything the excite themselves, and same goes for the teachers. He suggests that in order to improve the lives of both, teachers need to introduce harder materials to the students. Not only will it keep them occupied and far from boredom, it will encourage them to reach beyond what is easy. Work Cited Gatto, John Taylor. â€Å"Against School: How Public Education Cripples our Kids, and Why. † Harper’s Magazine. Sep. 2003: 33-38. Print.

Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 3

She's not looking so good,† Kestrel said, peering over Rowan's shoulder. Rowan said, â€Å"Oh,dear,† and sat down Great-aunt Opal was a mummy. Her skin was like leather: yellow-brown, hard, and smooth. Almost shiny. And the skin was all there was to her, just a leathery frame stretched over bones. She didn't have any hair. Her eye sockets were dark holes with dry tissue inside. Her nose was collapsed. â€Å"Poor auntie,† Rowan said. Her own brown eyes were wet. â€Å"We're going to look like that when we die,† Kestrel said musingly. Jade stamped her foot. â€Å"No, look,you guys! You're both missing it completely. Look atthat!† She swung a wild toe at the mummy's midsection. There, protruding from the blue-flowered housedress and the leathery skin, was a gigantic splinter of wood. It was almost as long as an arrow, thick at the base and tapered where it disappeared into Aunt Opal's chest. Flakes of white paint still clung to one side. Several other pickets were lying on the cellar floor. â€Å"Poor old thing,† Rowan said. â€Å"She must havebeen carrying them when she fell.† Jade looked at Kestrel. Kestrel looked back withexasperated golden eyes. There were few things they agreed on, but Rowan was one of them. â€Å"Rowan,† Kestrel said distinctly, â€Å"she wasstaked. â€Å" â€Å"Oh, no.† â€Å"Oh, yes,† Jade said. â€Å"Somebody killed her. And somebody who knew she was a vampire.† Rowan was shaking her head. â€Å"But who would know that?† â€Å"Well †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jade thought. â€Å"Another vampire.† â€Å"Or a vampirehunter,†Kestrel said. Rowan looked up, shocked. â€Å"Those aren't real.They're just stories to frighten kids-aren't they?† Kestrel shrugged, but her golden eyes were dark. Jade shifted uneasily. The freedom she'd felt on the road, the peace in the living room-and now this. Suddenly she felt empty and isolated. Rowan sat down on the stairs, looking too tired and preoccupied to push back the lock of hair plastered to her forehead. â€Å"Maybe I shouldn't havebrought you here,† she said softly. â€Å"Maybe it's worsehere.† She didn't say it, but Jade could sense her next thought. Maybe we should go back â€Å"Nothingcould be worse,† Jade said fiercely. â€Å"And I'd die before I'd go back.† She meant it. Back to waiting on every man in sight? Back to arranged marriages and endless restrictions? Back to all those disapproving faces, so quick to condemn anything different, anything that wasn't done the way it had been done four hundred years ago? â€Å"Wecan't go back,† she said. â€Å"No, we can't,† Kestrel said dryly. â€Å"Literally. Unless we want to end up like Great-aunt Opal. Or†she paused significantly-â€Å"like Great-uncle Hodge.† Rowan looked up. â€Å"Don't even say that!† Jade's stomach felt like a clenched fist. â€Å"They wouldn't, she said, shoving back at the memory that was trying to emerge. â€Å"Not to their own grandkids. Not to us.† â€Å"The point,† Kestrel said, â€Å"is that we can't go back,so we have to go forward. We've got to figure out what we're going to do here without Aunt Opal tohelp us–especially if there's a vampire hunter around. But first, what are we going to do withthat?† She nodded toward the body. Rowan just shook her head helplessly. She lookedaround the cellar as if she might find an answer in a comer. Her gaze fell on Jade. It stopped there, and Jade could see the sisterly radar system turn on. â€Å"Jade. What's that in your jacket?† Jade was too wrung-out to lie. She opened thejacket and showed Rowan the kittens. â€Å"I didn't know my suitcase would kill them.† Rowan looked too wrung-out to be angry. She glanced heavenward, sighing. Then, looking back atJade sharply: â€Å"But why were you bringing them downhere?† â€Å"I wasn't. I was just looking for a shovel. I was going to bury them in the backyard.† There was a pause. Jade looked at her sisters and they looked at each other. Then all three of them looked at the kittens. Then they looked at Great-aunt Opal. Mary-Lynnette was crying. It was a beautiful night, a perfect night. An inversion layer was keeping the air overhead still and warm, and the seeing was excellent. There was very little light pollution and no direct light. The Victorian farmhouse just below Mary-Lynnette's hill wasmostly dark. Mrs. Burdock was always very consider ate about that. Above, the Milky Way cut diagonally across the sky like a river. To the south, where Mary-Lynnette had just directed her telescope, was the constellation Sagittarius, which always looked. more like a teapot than like an archer to her. And just above the spout of the teapot was a faintly pink patch of what looked like steam. It wasn't steam. It was clouds of stars. A star factory called the Lagoon Nebula. The dust and gas of dead stars was being recycled into hot young stars, just being born. It was four thousand and five hundred light-years away. And she was looking at it, right this minute. A seventeen-year-old kid with a second-hand Newtonian reflector telescope was watching the light of stars being born. Sometimes she was filled with so much awe andand-and-and longing-that she thought she might break to pieces. Since there was nobody else around, she could let the tears roll down her cheeks without pretending it was an allergy. After a while she had to sit back and wipe her nose and eyes on the shoulder of her T-shirt. Oh, come on, give it a rest now, she told herself.You're crazy, you know. She wished she hadn't thought of Jeremy earlier. Because now, for some reason, she kept picturinghim the way he'd looked that night when he came to watch the eclipse with her. His level brown eyes had held a spark of excitement, as if he really cared about what he was seeing. As if, for that moment, anyway, he understood. I have been one acquainted with the night, amaudlin little voice inside her chanted romantically, trying to get her to cry again. Yeah, right, Mary-Lynnette told the voice cynically. She reached for the bag of Cheetos she kept under her lawn chair. It was impossible to feel romantic and overwhelmed by grandeur while eating Cheetos. Saturn next, she thought, and wiped sticky orangecrumbs off her fingers. It was a good night for Saturn because its rings were just passing through theiredgewise position. She had to hurry because the moon was rising at 11:16. But before she turned her telescope toward Saturn, she took one last look at the Lagoon. Actuallyjust to the east of the Lagoon, trying to make out the open cluster of fainter stars she knew was there. She couldn't see it. Her eyes just weren't good enough. If she had a bigger telescope-if she lived inChile where the air was dry-if she could get above the earth's atmosphere . . . then she might have a chance. But for now . . . she was limited by the human eye. Human pupils just didn't open farther than 9 millimeters. Nothing to be done about that. She was just centering Saturn in the field of viewwhen a light went on behind the farmhouse below. Not a little porch light. A barnyard vapor lamp. Itilluminated the back property of the house like a searchlight. Mary-Lynnette sat back, annoyed. It didn't reallymatter-she could see Saturn anyway, see the rings that tonight were just a delicate silver line cutting across the center of the planet. But it was strange.Mrs. Burdock never turned the back light on at night. The girls, Mary-Lynnette thought. The nieces. Theymust have gotten there and she must be giving them a tour. Absently she reached for her binoculars. Shewas curious. They were good binoculars, Celestron Ultimas,sleek and lightweight. She used them for looking at everything from deep sky objects to the craters on the moon. Right now, they magnified the back of Mrs. Burdock's house ten times. She didn't see Mrs. Burdock, though. She could seethe garden. She could see the shed and the fenced-in area where Mrs. Burdock kept her goats. And shecould see three girls, all well illuminated by the vapor lamp. One had brown hair, one had golden hair, and one had hair the color of Jupiter's rings. That silvery.Like starlight. They were carrying something wrapped in plastic between them. Black plastic. Hefty garbage bags, if Mary-Lynnette wasn't mistaken. Now, what on earth were they doing with that? Burying it. The short one with the silvery hair had a shovel. She was a good little digger, too. In a few minutesshe had rooted up most of Mrs. Burdock's irises. Then the medium-sized one with the golden hairtook a turn, and last of all the tall one with the brown hair. Then they picked up the garbage-bagged objecteven though it was probably over five feet long, it seemed very light-and put it in the hole they'd just made. They began to shovel dirt back into the hole. No, Mary-Lynnette told herself. No, don't be ridiculous. Don't be insane. There's some mundane, per fectly commonplace explanation for this. The problem was, she couldn't think of any. No, no, no. This is notRear Window,we are not in the Twilight Zone. They're just burying-something. Some sort of †¦ ordinary †¦ What else besides a dead body was five-feet-andsome-odd-inches long, rigid, and needed to be wrapped in garbage bags before burial? And, Mary-Lynnette thought, feeling a rush ofadrenaline that made her heart beat hard. And. And†¦ Where was Mrs. Burdock? The adrenaline was tingling painfully in herpalms and feet. It made her feel out of control, which she hated. Her hands were shaking so badly she had to lower the binoculars. Mrs. B.'s okay. She's all right. Things like thisdon'thappenin real life. What would Nancy Drew do? Suddenly, in the middle of her panic, MaryLynnette felt a tiny giggle try to escape like a burp. Nancy Drew, of course, would hike right down there and investigate. She'd eavesdrop on the girls from behind a bush and then dig up the garden once they went back inside the house. But things like that didn't happen. Mary-Lynnette couldn't even imagine trying to dig up a neighbor's garden in the dead of night. She would get caught and it would be a humiliating farce. Mrs. Burdock would walk out of the house alive and alarmed, and Mary-Lynnette would dieof embarrassment trying to explain. In a book that might be amusing. In real life-she didn't even want to think about it. One good thing, it made her realize how absurd her paranoia was. Deep down, she obviously knew Mrs. B. was just fine. Otherwise, she wouldn't besitting here; she'd be calling the police, like any sensi ble person. Somehow, though, she suddenly felt tired. Not up to more starwatching. She checked her watch by the ruby glow of a red-filtered flashlight. Almost eleven-well, it was all over in sixteen minutes anyway. When the moon rose it would bleach out the sky. But before she broke down her telescope for the trip back, she picked up the binoculars again. Just one last look. The garden was empty. A rectangle of fresh darksoil showed where it had been violated. Even as Mary-Lynnette watched, the vapor lamp went out. It wouldn't do any harm to go over there tomorrow, Mary-Lynnette thought. Actually, I was goingto, anyway. I should welcome those girls to the neighborhood. I should return those pruning shears Dad borrowed and the knife Mrs. B. gave me to get my gas cap off. And of course I'll see Mrs. B. there, and then I'll know everything's okay. Ash reached the top of the winding road andstopped to admire the blazing point of light in the south. You really could see more from these isolated country towns. From here Jupiter, the king of the planets, looked like a UFO. â€Å"Where have you been?† a voice nearby said. â€Å"I'vebeen waiting for you for hours.† Ash answered without turning around. â€Å"Wherehave I been? Where have you been? We were supposed to meet onthat hill, Quinn.† Hands in his pockets, he pointed with an elbow. â€Å"Wrong. It was this hill and I've been sitting righthere waiting for you the entire time. But forget it. Are they here or aren't they?† Ash turned and walked unhurriedly to the open convertible that was parked just beside the road, itslights off. He leaned one elbow on the door, looking down. â€Å"They're here. I told you they would be. It was the only place for them to go.† â€Å"All three of them?† â€Å"Of course, all three of them. My sisters always stick together.† Quinn's lip curled. â€Å"Lamia are so wonderfully family oriented.† â€Å"And made vampires are so wonderfully . . . short,† Ash said serenely, looking at the sky again. Quinn gave him a look like black ice. His e-mail, compact body was utterly still inside the car. â€Å"Well, now, I never got to finish growing, did I?† he saidvery softly. â€Å"One of your ancestors took care of that.† Ash boosted himself to sit on the hood of the car,long legs dangling. â€Å"I think I may stop aging this year myself,† he said blandly, still looking down the slope. â€Å"Eighteen's not such a bad age.† â€Å"Maybe not if you have a choice,† Quinn said, his voice still as soft as dead leaves falling. â€Å"Try beingeighteen for four centuries-with no end in sight.† Ash turned to smile at him again. â€Å"Sorry. On my family's behalf.† â€Å"And I'm sorry for your family. The Redferns have been having a little trouble lately, haven't they? Let's see if I've got it right. First your uncle Hodge breaks Night World law and is appropriately punished-â€Å" â€Å"My great-uncle by marriage,† Ash interrupted in polite tones, holding one finger up. â€Å"He was a Burdock, not a Redfern. And that was over ten years ago.† â€Å"And then your aunt Opal-â€Å" â€Å"Mygreat-auntOpal-â€Å" â€Å"Disappears completely. Breaks off all contact withthe Night World. Apparently because she prefers living in the middle of nowhere with humans.† Ash shrugged, eyes fixed on the southern horizon. â€Å"It must be good hunting in the middle of nowhere with humans. No competition. And no Night Worldenforcement-no Elders putting a limit on how many you can bag.† â€Å"And no supervision,† Quinn said sourly. â€Å"Itdoesn't matter so much thatshe's been living here, but she's obviously been encouraging your sisters to join her. You should have informed on them whenyou found out they were writing to each other secretly.† Ash shrugged, uncomfortable. â€Å"It wasn't againstthe law. I didn't know what they had in mind.† â€Å"It's not just them,† Quinn said in his disturbingly soft voice. â€Å"You know there are rumors about that cousin of yours-James Rasmussen. People are saying that he fell in love with a human girl. That she was dying and he decided to change her withoutpermission. . . .† Ash slid off the hood and straightened. â€Å"I never listen to rumors,† he said, briskly and untruthfully. â€Å"Besides, that's not the problem right now, is it?† â€Å"No. The problem is your sisters and the mess they're in. And whether you can really do what's necessary to dean it up.† â€Å"Don't worry, Quinn. I can handle it.† â€Å"ButI doworry, Ash. I don't know how I let you talk me into this.† â€Å"You didn't. You lost that game of poker.† â€Å"And you cheated.† Quinn was looking off into a middle distance, his dark eyes narrowed, his moutha straight line. â€Å"I still think we should tell the Elders ,† he said abruptly. â€Å"It's the only way to guarantee a really thorough investigation.† â€Å"I don't see why it needs to be so thorough.They've only been here a few hours.† â€Å"Your sisters have only been here a few hours.Your aunt has been here-how long? Ten years?† â€Å"What have you got against my aunt, Quinn?† â€Å"Her husband was a traitor. She's a traitor now for encouraging those girls to run away. And who knowswhat she's been doing here in the last ten years? Who knows how many humans she's told about the Night World?† Ash shrugged, examining his nails. â€Å"Maybe she hasn't told any.† â€Å"And maybe she's told the whole town.† â€Å"Quinn,† Ash said patiently, speaking as if to avery young child, â€Å"if my aunt has broken the laws of the Night World, she has to die. For the family honor. Any blotch on that reflects onme.† â€Å"That's one thing I can count on,† Quinn said halfunder his breath. ‘,'Your self-interest. You always look after Number One, don't you?† â€Å"Doesn't everybody?† â€Å"Not everybody is quite so blatant about it.† There was a pause, then Quinn said, â€Å"And what about your sisters?† â€Å"What about them?† â€Å"Can you kill them if it's necessary?† Ash didn't blink. â€Å"Of course. If it's necessary. For the family honor.† â€Å"If they've let something slip about the NightWorld-â€Å" â€Å"They're not stupid.† â€Å"They're innocent. They might get tricked. That'swhat happens when you live on an island completely isolated from normal humans. You never learn how cunning vermin can be.† â€Å"Well, we know how cunning they can be,† Ash said, smiling. â€Å"And what to do about them.† For the first time Quinn himself smiled, a charming, almost dreamy smile. â€Å"Yes, I know your views on that. All right. I'll leave you here to take care of it. I don't need to tell you to check out every human those girls have had contact with. Do a good job and maybe you can save your familyhonor.† â€Å"Not to mention the embarrassment of a public trial.† â€Å"I'll come back in a week. And if you haven't got things under control, I go to the Elders. I don't mean your Redfern family Elders, either. I'm taking it all the way up to the joint Council.† â€Å"Oh, fine,† Ash said. â€Å"You know, you really ought to get a hobby, Quinn. Go hunting yourself. You're too repressed.† -252Quinn ignored that and said shortly, â€Å"Do you know where to start?† â€Å"Sure. The girls are right †¦ down †¦ there.† Ashturned east. With one eye shut, he zeroed in with his finger on a patch of light in the valley below. â€Å"At Burdock Farm. I'll check things out in town, then I'll go look up the nearest vermin.†

Analysis on Two ways of seeing a river by Mark twain

Now when I had mastered the language of this water and had come to know every trifling feature that bordered the great river as familiarly as I knew the letters of the alphabet, I had made a valuable acquisition. But I had lost something, too. I had lost something which could never be restored to me while I lived. All the grace, the beauty, the poetry had gone out of the majestic river! I still keep in mind a certain wonderful sunset which I witnessed when steamboating was new to me. A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood; in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold, through which a solitary log came floating, black and conspicuous; in one place a long, slanting mark lay sparkling upon the water; in another the surface was broken by boiling, tumbling rings, that were as many-tinted as an opal; where the ruddy flush was faintest, was a smooth spot that was covered with graceful circles and radiating lines, ever so delicately traced; the shore on our left was densely wooded, and the sombre shadow that fell from this forest was broken in one place by a long, ruffled trail that shone like silver; and high above the forest wall a clean-stemmed dead tree waved a single leafy bough that glowed like a flame in the unobstructed splendor that was flowing from the sun. There were graceful curves, reflected images, woody heights, soft distances; and over the whole scene, far and near, the dissolving lights drifted steadily, enriching it, every passing moment, with new marvels of coloring. 2 I stood like one bewitched. I drank it in, in a speechless rapture. The world was new to me, and I had never seen anything like this at home. But as I have said, a day came when I began to cease from noting the glories and the charms which the moon and the sun and the twilight wrought upon the river's face; another day came when I ceased altogether to note them. Then, if that sunset scene had been repeated, I should have looked upon it without rapture, and should have commented upon it, inwardly, in this fashion: â€Å"This sun means that we are going to have wind to-morrow; that floating log means that the river is rising, small thanks to it; that slanting mark on the water refers to a bluff reef which is going to kill somebody's steamboat one of these nights, if it keeps on stretching out like that; those tumbling ‘boils' show a dissolving bar and a changing channel there; the lines and circles in the slick water over yonder are a warning that that troublesome place is shoaling up dangerously; that silver streak in the shadow of the forest is the ‘break' from a new snag, and he has located himself in the very best place he could have found to fish for steamboats; that tall dead tree, with a single living branch, is not going to last long, and then how is a body ever going to get through this blind place at night without the fr iendly old landmark? † 3 No, the romance and the beauty were all gone from the river. All the value any feature of it had for me now was the amount of usefulness it could furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat. Since those days, I have pitied doctors from my heart. What does the lovely flush in a beauty's cheek mean to a doctor but a â€Å"break† that ripples above some deadly disease? Are not all her visible charms sown thick with what are to him the signs and symbols of hidden decay? Does he ever see her beauty at all, or doesn't he simply view her professionally, and comment upon her unwholesome condition all to himself? And doesn't he sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning his trade?

Forum posting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Forum posting - Essay Example In such a scenario, the Japanese may walk out of the negotiations because he feels the American counterpart has no manners. This might end up jeopardizing the negotiations, and this can greatly affect business and the relations between two businesses or companies. In order to avoid such cases, it is important for one to consider the choice of words when communicating with people from other cultures. Whereas some words may be in common use in some parts of the world, the same words may have a different meaning to other people. It is necessary for one to avoid using controversial words or phrases that may be misunderstood. Secondly, it is important for people to take time and familiarize themselves with the common linguistic limitations of people from other cultures. This can be achieved through experience by interacting with persons from this culture. Thirdly, the above situation can be avoided by giving more detail or explanation. For example, in the above scenario, the American needs to explain to his Japanese counterpart what he really means. This helps remove any doubts or suspicions on the side of the other

Pro Bono in the English Legal System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Pro Bono in the English Legal System - Essay Example For instance, in accordance with German law in case a litigant is unable to pay for juridical costs, he/she may appeal for free legal assistance. According to German law inability to represent the case in the court goes against public interests. In order to get free legal assistance a stated claim must be well grounded and perspective for win. Free legal aid in England and Wales is presented by a long set system. Lawyers representing clients without a fee are said to be working pro bono publico. According to Glossary of Labour and Legal Terminology Pro Bono Publico from Latin means for the public good 1. If to consider the term "pro bono" in an England and Wales context it should be pointed out that pro bono activity presuppose a level of organisational commitment beyond the incidental. In respect that we may define pro bono legal work as "legal advice or representation provided by layers on an organised basis to individuals and community groups who can not afford to pay for that advice or representation and where no public funding is available"2. It should be mentioned that pro bono legal work has a very significant purpose. We should clearly realize that pro bono is not just a kind of charity activities or some substitute for public funding. According to Attorney General,"pro bono is a complement to a publicly funded legal service. But there will always be an unmet legal need however generous a legal aid system is - and the demands for education, schools, hospitals, doctors, nacres, public services of all sorts means that legal aid can never be funded from bottomless purse". There is no doubt that pro bono work is a very important for every representative of legal profession, as together with practical skills it provides a lawyer with the ethos of pro bono culture. Now let us consider the biggest organisational units of pro bono legal work in England and Wales: Free Representation Unit - founded in the 70s of XX century by the initiative of a of Bar students for Legal Advice. Nowadays Free Representational Unit provides legal aid mostly in social security and employment cases by virtue of two full-time caseworkers staff and three part-time administrative staff. Bar Pro Bono Unit - founded in 1996 as a high profile Bar initiative headed by Lord Goldsmith. The unit "tends to represent in areas where there is no public funding such as employment, criminal injuries, planning inquires, defamation, inquest, immigration, and social security case"3. Solicitors Pro Bono Group (now renamed Law Works) - has been founded as an initiative of small number of City solicitors, which mostly depend for its funding on large City firms. This group has a number of projects such as Law Works and Law Works for Community Groups, Law Works Mediation, Law Works Web, and initiatives aimed at students. Kevin Martin, the president of Law Society, said: "Despite the headlines about fat cat lawyers, there are countless stories of solicitors doing voluntary work and giving free legal advice. We hope to raise the profile of pro bono work and dispel the myth that lawyers are only interested in making moneyIt is important to emphasise that pro bono work is in no way a substitute for a proper system of publicly funded legal services"4. Let us try to define what place pro bono legal work occupies in the legal system of England and Wales. The sine qua non of legal system's efficiency is an

Role of Business Ethics in Staff Motivation and Productivity Essay

Role of Business Ethics in Staff Motivation and Productivity - Essay Example It is of pragmatic that literature on business ethics provide adequate and specific information on the needs of leaders and managers as they are mainly responsible for ethics management in the work environment (Schwartz and Weber 2006). Ethics programs in organisations generally aim to integrate ethical guidelines into processes and procedures and establish the necessary values and behaviours for operations within the organisation. Business ethics in the workplace establishes and fosters a moral course particularly during unstable times (Kapstein 2004). Paying attention to ethics when an organisation is faced with changes allows managers and employees to have a moral guide for them to realise what is good or bad. This becomes specially critical in coping with conflicts, facing risks, and responding to ambiguous circumstances (Schwartz 2001). Continual support for ethics in the workplace enables leaders and members to become sensitive to how they ought to think and behave. Due to the emphasis on ethical principles in the conduct of activities and procedures, business ethics has been shown to produce favourable outcomes for the organisation. These include increased level of employee commitment, motivation, productivity, and performance (Ferrell 2004). Hence, the current study aims to examine the impact of business ethics in UK organisations especially on employees’ sense of productivity and motivation. 1.2 Background of the Organisation Wolseley UK, also formerly known as Wolseley Centers, is widely known as one of United Kingdom’s largest suppliers of building materials, with plumbing and building firms as their common trade customers, accounting for the largest share of their sales. It has been reported to distribute a substantial amount of materials to the international market and has continued to expand to 25 countries (Wolseley Annual Report 2009). Wolseley UK has set a number of policies with which the company aims to further enhance each of t heir business aspects. Quality policy remains to be an important objective through a reliable quality environment for both suppliers and customers, particularly by successfully meeting all contractual requirements. Health and safety concerns regarding their employees, customers, and the larger community have also become a top priority for Wolseley UK as the company intends to foster a healthy workplace wherein their employees’ attain a sense of well-being and comfort while their customers are assured of accident-free operations. Moreover, the company’s policies also highlight the importance of environmental care. Regarding their human resources, Wolseley UK aims to make the best use of every employee’s potential regardless of demographics, cultural, social, or economic differences, and attempts to provide opportunities for training and development. Finally, the company relies on a code of ethics that emphasizes the significance of fair competition, risk manageme nt, environmental protection, and interpersonal relationships with employees and customers (Wolseley 2010). 1.3 Research Aims and Objectives Owing to previous studies that have pointed out the favourable impact of business ethics on organisations, the current stud

Story book review for project management class Essay

Story book review for project management class - Essay Example As Peter Guber and Peter Bart follow suit from the eureka of the initial view until the end of its manifestation on the middle night television, the motivation behind the story is the omnipresent shoot out including the confrontations and standoffs, dilemmas and entanglements as directors, producers, writers, agents and stars struggle to put forward their personal and conflicting agendas in the look for the Holy Grail (Peter and David 2010). From the rise and collapse of the studio organization to the appearance of the heroes as entrepreneurs to the active duty of the sovereign, draws on a dream of future and the repeated as well as unheeded lessons of the previous. Shout out pertinently shows Hollywood as a firm, which producer’s stories the same way Detroit assembles motor majorly with backstabbing. As revealed by Stephanidis (2013), the industry very interesting as pointed out by Peter Guber and Peter Bart is the fact that an individual will not be able to rebound from prof ession oblivion as well as the one who will rise to the levels of filmic magnificence with an unexpected blockbuster. The real mavericks are the few people who are one day denigrated for their courage and then valued for their excellent delusions of magnificence. This essay therefore, gives an overview of the project management with respect to the book. Shoot out correctly, and regrettably, reflects Hollywood’s present lackluster ability to dazzle a listener with a given degree of novelty. The book tries to trip the reader inner secret report but fails to elucidate upon the insightful and interesting. As pointed out by Tinnirello (2000), the shoot out makes reader unaware of the evil acts and risks in the film industry. Guber and Bart have been key components of the Hollywood Industry, and have not only observed the firm and its revolutions, but have affected and trained the power brokers of the years to come. From as early as their recognition, Guber and Bart pointed out tha t their story will be a casual, quasi confess about the business of Hollywood. They asserted that various west coast bigwigs exit running in the different direction when asked to transmit knowledge on the drafted page. Every chapter has a theatrical heading given firms focus. When Guber and Bart are explaining the Godfather in the section about writer; the Holy Grail, they focus on the way novelist Mario Puzo simply outlne the grand Corleone story and sold it to the Paramount picture to take care of his growing family while drafting the story version of the novel. Drawing on his knowledge as the director in charge of the production of film, Peter Bart insecurely sketches an edition of the legend of the Godfather instead of elucidating what happened behind the scenes. Through touching of activities without any accurate detail, nothing latest is disclosed about the Godfather. The whole book could be drafted about the Brando’s vocational inflexibility or lack of film experience by Pacino. It is evident that the authors have a huge deal of disrespect for agent’s actions of feeding off the talents and riches of their customers. A review of Holmes (2002) revealed that the most innate chapter of the story; the Zookeepers, upholds a wonderful

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

Homeland Security - Research Paper Example Homeland Security, a relatively new agency was created by George Bush after the terrorist attacks on America. President George Bush established the agency so that there would be no more terrorist attacks on America. It can be said that The US Department of Homeland Security came into being in the wake of the 9/11 terrorists to keep America safe from natural and man-made disasters. The aim of this department was to undertake counter-terrorism measures, and in the event of an attack coordinate rescue and recovery actions. The mission statement of this agency is to prevent terrorist attacks and to keep the damages to a minimum and recover from attacks when they do occur. To address these challenges states have to do two things: 1) secure their territory from attack and 2) try to end the threats at their source. The Homeland Security agency helps the states to do this and also analyzes how America and other countries work towards achieving these goals. It suggests measures that states ma y have to take, such as creating a national infrastructure that is resistant to physical damage and augmenting domestic security. The program also explores how best countries can fight global terrorism by increasing cooperation between countries that are facing a common threat. It carries out activities like coordination between intelligence agencies, domestic nuclear detection and protection of top-level government officials. The department is made up of agencies that take care of customs and border protection, immigration and citizenship services, quick response and recovery during emergency and research in science and technology. Today homeland security measures include a wide range of efforts to prevent terrorist attacks. There are specific policies such as random baggage searches at airports, and broader policies for intelligence-gathering and law enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security in US has an annual budget of more

Academic Monitoring Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Academic Monitoring - Essay Example There are certain essentials which must be present for the questioning to be effective. Firstly, the questions must be appropriate to the instructional and developmental level of the students. Secondly, the teacher needs to keep a keen eye on those students that are voluntarily participating in discussion and those who are not. The non volunteers need to be encouraged to participate. Thirdly, the teacher may ask students to give feedback to each other based on the submitted responses to certain questions, that is, they can be encouraged to comment or add to the responses of their classmates. The second strategy, monitoring seatwork is a systematic measure for interacting with students while they work. Instead of waiting for the student to ask for help the teacher can instantly intercept wrong concepts and understanding. In order to immediately correct misconceptions the teacher checks and discusses the work of each student individually. Monitoring seatwork aids in the elimination of disruptive behavior and improves on-task behavior of students. The third effective strategy involves ensuring that homework assignments are in sync with the content covered in the classroom. These assignments should be given frequently to extend the practice time that students have with the material. They should be suited to the developmental and ability level of the students. They should be clearly understood and should be quickly checked and returned to students with comments given to reinforce positive behavior. A fourth strategy includes having daily, weekly, monthly and term reviews as well as classroom testing. These tests must be administered regularly and frequently. They must be aligned to the instruction. They should be collected, graded, documented and immediately returned to students so that errors can be corrected before they become deep-seated. The first juncture in establishing an effective monitoring system

Macbeth and Free

Macbeth and Free Will Essay In Desiderius Erasmus’s Defense of Free Will, he refutes Martin Luther’s creed that God predestines everyone’s lives and instead asserts that man alone possesses the power to choose his own path to either salvation or damnation. The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, raises similar questions – did the protagonist, Macbeth, willingly choose to commit such atrocities as killing the king and his court to feed his own ambition, or did he merely play the role of a pawn, performing that which fate bade him do? Amid much controversy over this issue, evidence both in Erasmus’s critical essay and in the play itself affirms that Macbeth cognitively decides to act as he does in the play, confirming Erasmus’s perspective and suggesting that people have the ability to dictate their own fate through their thoughts, decisions, and actions. Through his interpretation of the Old and New Testaments in the Bible, Erasmus writes in favor of free will over predestination, a concept that, when applied to the character Macbeth, raises questions about the motives behind his detestable actions. In his essay, Erasmus explores the â€Å"power of the human† (46) to â€Å"turn away from what leads to eternal salvation† (46). According to this opinion, Macbeth makes a conscious choice to pursue a life of crime and sin, instead of simply following his fate. Macbeth’s plea that the â€Å"stars hide [their] fires† (1. 4. 57) so that â€Å"light [would not] see [his] black and deep desires† (1. 4. 58) indicates that Macbeth remains aware that his â€Å"wicked, rebellious will† (Erasmus, 48) lies within himself, and he fears the consequences of his sinful deeds. This very fear of punishment reflects the existence of free will in Macbeth as Erasmus inquires, â€Å"why [should God] curse me, when I sinned through necessity? † (47). Macbeth’s clear understanding of the evil that he plans to commit and his fear of divine punishment suggest that characters in Macbeth choose their actions as opposed to following their destiny. Macbeth’s evil actions, however, are not completely driven by an inherent evil nature; although he does have free will in the play, he becomes a slave to his ruthless ambition because of his own moral weakness. As Erasmus writes, â€Å"there are certain seeds of goodness planted in men’s minds† (50), although â€Å"the will is perhaps more inclined to evil than to good† (50). In other words, everyone possesses both good and bad within them, and it is up to the individual person to â€Å"[turn themselves] towards, or away from, faith† (48-9). Macbeth’s apparently latent moral code surfaces occasionally throughout the first act in his moments of wavering in his violent resolve; he tells Lady Macbeth that they â€Å"will proceed no further in this business† (1.7. 34) in one of the scenes preceding the murder. However, the manipulative Lady Macbeth must only mention that which Macbeth desires and question his masculinity to crush Macbeth’s good side and force it to submit to his evil ambition. The ease with which Lady Macbeth extinguishes Macbeth’s doubt of the evil plan highlights Macbeth’s weakness for his ambition. Macbeth becomes a slave not to the devil, but instead to the very evil that resides within himself. Neither heaven nor hell predetermines Macbeth’s actions in the play; it is in fact his inability to compromise his ruthless ambition that ultimately forces him into crime. He chooses to sin of his own accord, and therefore faces his final punishment that sets the world back in order at the end of the tragedy. Through their individual works, Shakespeare and Erasmus imply that humans have free will to determine their own actions, and only the strongest of heart will succeed in accomplishing the work of God.

Why Do Most Teenagers Smoke Psychology Essay

Why Do Most Teenagers Smoke Psychology Essay Smoking is defined as the inhalation of the smoke of burning tobacco in cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. The smoke that inhaled contains about 4,000 chemicals, including cancer-causing nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, ammonia and hydrogen cyanide (Martin T, 2008). Smoking is also an addictive habit that can have long negative effects on health, including mental and physical health (Nyholm C, 2009). There are many negative effects cause by smoking such as lung diseases, heart diseases, stroke and increasing blood pressure (Iannelli V, 2004). Tar is the brown, tacky material that left behind at the end of the cigarette filter. It makes a smokers teeth and fingers brown and coats everything it touches with a brownish-yellow film. Tar in the cigarette smoke paralyzes the cilia in the lungs and leads to lung diseases. For examples, emphysema, bronchitis and lung cancer (Martin 2006). Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a type of gas which is colorless, neutral and tasteless. When the level of carbon monoxide in the blood increases, it will decrease the ability to carry oxygen. It is harmful to the body at any level and it can cause death while long-term exposure at lower levels can lead to heart disease (Aiers 2007). Nicotine is an active drug which is also a stimulant that activates the brains rewards system can be found in cigarette. Nicotine induces feelings of pleasure and increases mental awareness when it reaches the brain. Nicotine also constricts blood flow to the heart, thus increasing blood pressure and heart rate (Besinger 2003). Hydrogen cyanide, a colorless, poisonous gas, is one of the toxic present in cigarette smoke. Breathing in small amounts of hydrogen cyanide may cause a person headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, and vomiting while breathing in larger amounts may cause them gasping, irregular heartbeats, fainting, and rapid death (Martin 2008). There are many factors causing teenagers smoke such as peer pressure, the feel good syndrome, curiosity, and the power of role models. Usually teenagers start smoking when their best friend smokes, but this is not the only factor as parental smoking can make it seem normal to do, the media can also make it look more attractive, and sometimes teenagers have very easy access to tobacco products (Gorman 1996). Teenagers always look for approval and acceptance from their peers. Friends who smoke will always encourage them to smoke (Christensen SA, 2008). This become a strong force for teenagers start to smoke just to fit in with the crowd. Frequently they feel confident and pressured. Some teenagers believe that smoking makes them more popular, cool, attractive, sexy or strong. They just want to have a cool look when people around see them and did not think of the negative effects that will affect their health (Evans 2008). 2.2 Feel good syndrome Smoking is a way to avoid feeling unpleasant emotions such as sadness, distress, and worry. It can hide apprehensions, fears, and pain. This is accomplished moderately through the chemical effects of nicotine on the brain.  Nicotine is one of the main ingredients in cigarettes which are poison and as addictive as heroin and cocaine (Stevenson J, 2008).When smoking, the release of brain chemicals makes smokers feel like coping and dealing with life and stressful emotional situations. Nicotine in the cigarette will increase the level of good feeling (Dr. Annette 2009). 2.3 Curiosity Cigarettes are available everywhere and almost anybody can get them. Wanted to know how smoke a cigarette feels like is always stated as a reason for teenagers to try to smoke a cigarette. People always feel curios and wanted to try something new in their life at teen age. Because of the availability of getting a cigarette is easy and the curiosity of teenagers, therefore it increase the number of teenagers who smoke (Evans 2008). 2.4 The power of role models Teens are most influenced by other friends close in age or slightly older, including siblings. Many of them smoke because their parents are smokers (Christensen SA, 2008). Therefore, a person whose best friends or older siblings smoke is much more likely to try smoking. In some cases, this is because the person looks up to his friends or family members and wants to be like them. Some of them think that doing the same thing only they can join in with the people around them although they know is not good for health (Evans 2008). 2 2.5 Media Portrayals of smoking in the media are nearly all attractive. Many of the teenagers admire the actors will follow what the actors do by watching those movie or drama. They do not think of the negative effect of smoking on their health but just want to be like the actors. They also do not think carefully whether the action did in the drama or movie is good or bad but just do it. Besides that, smoking also appears in music videos. Cigars are mainly seen as a symbol that goes with living the high life (Harsanyi 2007). 2.6 Help losing weight For some, teenager thought smoking can help them to lose their weight. They will use being overweight as an excuse to smoke (Spitzer J, 2003). Instead of eating, many teenagers especially girls will choose to smoke a cigarette. This keeps their minds off from food. Some of the teenagers think that smoking can help them achieve the look they want. They learn about this weight control methods mostly from their friends, so they start skipping meals and use cigarettes to replace the meal. Smoking does kill craving for food, but it does not help to lose weight as many as they think (Hutton 1996). Methods to prevent smoking There are many methods to prevent teenagers smoke so that they will have a healthy life and prevent from getting some disease. Everyone should know the method and prevent the people around them smoke so that it would not affect their health. By prevent from smoking, people would have a longer lifespan and can live happily because of having a healthy life. 3.1 Governments role Country should make more efforts to prevent teenagers smoke. More information about the effect of smoking should show by public service announcements. For example, show some pictures that how the smokers lungs look like. The country should also enforce the rules so that teenagers could not smoke under age. Besides, the sale of cigarettes in the country also should decrease (Abel 2009).It is also necessary to have anti-smoking campaign especially for teenagers at school and public areas. Teen anti-smoking campaign will definitely be helpful. Professional doctors should be volunteers to talk about the negative effect of smoking during the anti-smoking campaign to the teenagers. Examples of the campaign are Taknak!!, Fight smoking and A Powerful Tool for Health Promotion (Siegel M, 1998). Those anti tobacco campaigns will motivate the youth to know the negative effects of smoking cigarettes on health, economy and mentality and benefits of quitting smoking. It may also motivate teenagers to stay away from smoking (Jacoby p.A19). In addition, anti smoking slogans are also used to influence those smokers to quit or prevent teenagers from smoking. There are many slogans use to prevent teenagers from smoking such as Too much smoke will leave you broke, If you cant stop smoking, cancer will, There are cooler ways to die than smoking and You smoke, you die early, you save the government money (Bose D, 2009). 3 3.2 Parents role Parents should give more information about the negative effect of smoking to their children since they are still young and small. Almost all the first time smoking happens before high school graduation. If teenager has not started smoking before he or she graduates, chances are he or she never will. That is good news because parents still have the time to influence their choices of not trying smoking (Witmer 2006). Parents also should set a good example to their children by not smoking. If parents smoke and do not want to influence their children, the only way to prevent their children from smoking is avoid smoking in front of them and do not smoke at the place where their children can see such as in the house or car (Mayo 2010). 3.4. Teachers role Teachers also play an important role in preventing teenagers smoke. As a teacher, the way to prevent student smoke at teen age are care teenagers more and give them more teaching on the effect of smoking. Besides, teacher also should observe the students and stop them from smoking if found out that they had started to smoke. More moral and religion teaching should be given to the students in the school so that students can prevent themselves from start smoking. The school should have more healthy activities so that student will have more time to participate in good activities (Carney S, 2007). 3.5 Develop self respect and confidence There are many reasons that why teenagers smoke and one of the reason is because of peer pressure. Most of them think that it is a way to look cool and be a part of the crowd. They have to instill enough self respect, esteem and confidence so that they do not feel the need for external approval. People around should help teenagers build up their friendships, shape a healthy body image and deal with stress, without thinking about tobacco use. By helping teenagers and let them have enough confidence to themselves, they would not think of changing themselves by smoking and thus, they can prevent from smoking (Worth 1999). Conclusion In conclusion, there are many factors causing teenagers smoke such as pressure, the feel good syndrome, curiosity, the power of role models, media effect and help losing weight. Having campaign, parents role, national efforts, teachers role and develop self respect and confidence are important in this case so that it can prevent teenagers to smoke. Smoking is not good for health and there are many negative effect of smoking. Therefore, teenager should avoid smoking and take care of their health. (1864words) 4

Training and Development Issues in Multinational Companies

Training and Development Issues in Multinational Companies 1. Introduction Nowadays Multinational corporations are more and more widespread, but a problem that they still dont have accomplished is how to retain successful employees, and most importantly how to train their employees in order to make them an efficient and successful resource of their enterprises. Some researchers estimated that around 30% of all expatriates sent to undertake overseas assignments return home prematurely (Kim Slocum, 2008; Mendenhall, Dunbar, Oddou, 1987). Failed adjustment of expatriates leads to high amount of economic and social costs for multinationals corporations. Expatriate failure is argued to be the inability of the expatriate to undertake effectively the international assignment, with the consequence of being fired or recalled to home (Tung (1982), therefore it is crucial to identify the ways to reduce and eliminate such failures. Although estimations of the costs of expatriate failure tend to vary in regards to each different country and are not based on a fixed set of criteria, they certainly cannot be neglected by multinationals (Gregersen Black, 1990). This essay aims to explore the strategic issues around training and development that are faced by Multinational corporations. In particular, a definition of what is International training and development will be given, then its importance in MNCs outlined, and the most advocated training programs explained, finally the essay concludes saying that trainees should also take in consideration expatriates spouse and children as the family support is fundamental for an expatriate to perform effectively. 2. What is International training and development? One of the most significant topics of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) is International training and development and its benefits are well recognized in the literature. (Dowling and Welch, 2004; Kamoche, 1996; Mendenhall et al., 1987; Tung, 1982). Kamoche (1996) says: The human resource refers to the accumulated stock of knowledge, skills and abilities that individuals possess, which the firm has built up over time into an identifiable expertise (p. 216). In the management literature, the two words International training and management development are always related to each other. Training has the scope to enhance work behaviour and skills, and development has the scope to gain better abilities for future work (Dowling et al., 1999). The word development in the human resource management area it involves career and abilities development, human resource and management development. Career and abilities development are related to International training and job rotation. Management development aims to identify, forecast and promote International managers. Inside Human resource development is incorporated career and abilities development and management development. Dowling and Welch (2004) argue that the issue for multinationals is how to retain and leverage their employees in order to have at disposal highly trained, internationally oriented human resources to support their strategic responses and concur to their key competencies. Multinationals are increasing their usage of training to improve and assist expatriates activities. 3. The importance of training and development in MNCs Nowadays, a successful international manager has to detain a set of specific abilities in regards to the context, such as managing responsibility skills, cultural adaptability, ability to generate subordinates, ability to demonstrate and to exhibit (Baumgarten, 1992). These skills are regarded as fundamental international ability and characteristics which can be generated with an effective international training and development program. International training is the type of training specifically set for who has been allocated an international assignment. In the international literature the group of international training that has received more attention is Pre-departure training for expatriates, as overseas failure (i.e. the return of an expatriate employee before the completion of the assigned assignment) is most of the time caused by failure to provide adequate international training for expatriates and their spouses. In order to measure the effectiveness of employees expatriation, the expatriate failure rate is a good indicator. One of the reason MNCs have to avoid expatriation failure is certainly because their cost are really high, involving direct (salary, training, travel and relocation costs) and indirect expenditure. The average direct cost per failure to the parent company goes from US$ 55.000 to US$ 80.000, depending to the assignments destination (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1986). Whereas indirect costs can be considerable and difficult to quantify, including the damage of the relationships with host countrys government, other organizations and with customers, losing market share and companys reputation, therefore also missing future business opportunities. Some research conducted among Americans multinationals has revealed a high rate of expatriate failure and therefore it remains a recurring problem (Brewster, 1988). Table 1 shows this phenomenon (Shen and Edwards, 2004). The global environment is becoming more and more complex and in continuous change, for this reason it requires flexibility. Therefore organizations have to devise strategic responses with the help of suitably trained and internationally oriented employees. Researches find that there is positive correlation between the rigor of the selection and training process and its expatriate success rate (Tung, 1981). This means that if a company uses a more rigorous training program then it will significantly benefit and improve the performances of the expatriate in the overseas environment, therefore decreasing the failure rate (Mendenhall et al., 1987). Cultural training aims to enables personnel to adjust themselves in the foreign culture and then work more effectively in the new environment (Earley, 1987). Table 2 shows (in descending order of importance) some reasons of expatriate failure in US and Japanese MNCs (Tung, 1982). Table 2. SOURCE: Tung, 1982. From the table its important to note that the more important cause of expatriate failure is not expatriates absence of adequate technical skills, but the inability of expatriates and their spouse to adapt themselves in the new overseas environment and culture. The aims of international management development is to identify, promote and use international managers, and it is forecasted to have a important role in MNCs because it is fundamentally needed in order to develop a cross-national corporate culture and to integrate international operations. Bartlett and Ghoshal (2000), argue that multinational corporations can develop their network by creating a group of international managers from different countries. 4. International training and development programs In Multinational corporations there are mainly two different groups of international trainings. They are divided in: Pre-departure training for expatriates: before an expatriates departure for the international assignment, there will be a preparatory training course, this has the scope to ensure that the expatriate has the right capacity and knowledge to accomplish his assignment in a successful way. Post-arrival training for expatriates: Once the expatriate is arrived in his destination to fulfil his international assignment, he will be provided with on-site training, in order to familiarize with the new working environment. Training for nationals of the host-country (HCNs) and nationals of third-country (TCNs): multinationals will provide training in order to teach them their corporate culture and strategy. 4.1 Pre-departure training Most of the literature is concentrated on expatriate pre-departure training programs and their scope is to provide and develop host-countrys cultural awareness to expatriates. Once expatriates have been selected by the multinational for an overseas task, pre-departure training is the next indispensable step to be taken in order to ensure the successful and effective performance of expatriates assignment in the host-country (Dowling, Engler, Festing, 2008). Pre-departure training programs to be effective have to include different components: cultural awareness training, preliminary visits, language instruction and assistance with practical assistance (Mendenhall Oddou, 1986). 4.1.1 Cultural awareness programs Is generally known that expatriates have to feel comfortable and adapted in the host-country in order to perform effectively their task, therefore is fundamental to provide them with a well-designed cultural awareness training program. Receiving this kind of training expatriates will understand and appreciate host-countrys different culture and can behave accordingly or develop appropriate coping patterns. Without any understanding of host-countrys different culture, expatriates are likely to feel disoriented and face difficult behavioural problems during their time abroad. Therefore, cultural awareness training is considered the most common and important part of pre-departure training. Cultural awareness training programs is formed by different components which may vary according to country of destination, duration of the assignment, purpose of the expatriation, and the provider of such programs (Dowling, Engler, Festing, 2008). 4.1.2 Preliminary visits One method for orientating the expatriates is to send them in the host-country for a short trip. If the trip overseas is well planned can provide a useful preview to expatriates and their spouse about the international assignments destination, and allow them to assess their suitability for the new environment. This kind of trip is needed also to introduce expatriates to the new business context in the host-country and provide them with more information before their departure. Preliminary visit to the host-country can assist in the initial adjustment process when used as part of a pre-departure training program (Dowling, Engler, Festing, 2008). Even if the useful adoption of preliminary visits is well known, some European multinationals do not provide it. The 1997 European study reported what one firm admitted: We do not provide pre-assignments visits where conditions are so poor that nobody would want to go. 4.1.3 Language training Language training is an important component of a pre-departure training program. However its importance is always put after that of cultural awareness training. It is generally worldwide accepted that English is the common language of the business world. The ORC Worldwide 2002 survey discovered that the adoption of language training for expatriates and their spouse, as part of the pre-departure training program is increased. In fact, results say that 59% of the sample firms provided language training before the departure of expatriates, and 74% provided language training once expatriates arrived on the assignments destination. The ability to speak the foreign countrys language is essential to perform better and improve negotiating ability; indeed Tung (1997) discovered from a survey of 400 expatriates that language competence is a critical part of the assignments performance. Language skills are not important only for task performance but also for cultural adjustment. One reason for multinational not providing language training may be the difficulty and long time required to learn even a base level of a foreign language. A solution to this problem for multinationals is to hire a large language competent staff from which they can choose the potential expatriates to send abroad, but multinationals have also to keep an up-to-date information on all employees, and make frequent tests to verify if those language skills have been maintained (Marschan, Welch, 1997). 4.1.4 Practical assistance Providing practical assistance is another component of a pre-departure training program. Practical assistance aims to help expatriates and their family to adapt themselves to the new foreign environment. Many multinationals are paying specialized assistants in order to help expatriates and their family, providing practical assistance in finding a suitable accommodation or school for their children. 4.2 Post-arrival training Some recent research studies and innovative multinational companies practices suggest that there are three main emerging topic that managers working in multinational corporations have to be aware: In-Country, Real-Time Training, Global Mindset Training; and Self Internet-Based Training. 4.2.1 In-Country, Real-Time Training The majority of multinational corporations think that pre-departure cross-cultural training alone can already give expatriate the necessary skills and knowledge to perform well in the overseas environment. But researchers in this area have analyzed the expatriation process from different perspectives and discovered that multinationals thinking is erroneous, and argued that is important to continue the cross-cultural training program in the early stages of the international assignment (Gudykunst, Guzley, Hammer, 1996; Mendenhall, 1999). Living in a totally new environment facing different culture is a complex task and pre-departure training can provide expatriate with skills and knowledge only to survive, not to excel and overcome problematic situations where expatriates dont know what they should do, because pre-departure training methods cannot cover all the specific cross-cultural situations that expatriates encounter during the international assignment. Therefore once arrived in the foreign country is important to provide expatriates with further education and training in order to make them able to process accurately the new environment around them and to undertake wise moves. In-country training suits these specific needs. Global Mindset Training Nowadays it is very important that managers especially for U.S and European firms to develop global mindset in order to help their own companies to operate in the global context even when they have tasks only at local level. Hence increasing number of companies is educating their managers about global business issues. Multinationals have several ways to do this, for instance they can utilize their internal returning managers or expatriates in terms of their overseas marÂÂ ­ket knowledge, intercultural skills, foreign language ability, and so on. Some Multinational corporations organize seminars both on formal way and on informal way and ask repatriates to share their overseas experiences relocating managers and their families to some specific regions. Then companies could also adopt the method of field experience that puts employees in contact with subcultures, in particular with poor people, within their own country during short and compressed time periods. During this time they should learn how to walk in the moccasins of the members of the subculture. This kind of experience provides them a powerful tool to broaden their horizons, to reduce subjective barriers and prejudices, and increase their interpersonal skills. All these activities enhance those competencies to develop a global leader ship and business knowledge. Self Internet-based training Companies also provide CD-ROM edutainment software to support employees and children in activities of large range in order to help expatriates to increase their productivity overseas. It is designed as self training program. For instance you can find software CD-ROM that can give you a country specific interactive guide for business travelers and ordinary dealings with different cultures under the supervision of some trainers through internet connection. Often these software are tailored with different feature to different employees family members. 5. Trainees: Who should be trained? The support of the expatriates family is of critical importance for any international assignment to be successfully completed. From this point of view, is clear that multinationals have to train all family members of the expatriate in order to receive a high and effective performance of the assignment. According to a survey conducted by Organizational Resource Counsellors (ORC), 47% of multinationals offer training program to the entire family of the expatriate, 33% offer to their employee and spouse, and 20% offer training only to the expatriate employee. Different researchers have analysed this phenomenon and argue that the most important and common reasons for which expatriate cannot perform effectively their international assignment is the inability of their spouses to settle well and live in the host culture (Black, Gregersen, Mendenhall, 1992; Adler, 1997; Kohls, 1994). While expatriate are sustained by the workplace with familiar routines and job tasks, the situation of his or her family members is quite different. The spouse is left alone and has to face difficult challenges in a new international environment such as how to deal with relocation logistics, to establish the household, to settle the children at school, to negotiate with the local services, and to become part of a social network. Obviously the level of difficulty depends on spouses level of confidence and skills. According to findings of a research made by Bennett Associates and Price Waterhouse, most of the times all expatriates are married and the accompanying spouse is female, and they have to face the dual-career dilemma situation at the time of the international relocation. When the accompanying partner is in front of this situation, she or he may feel ambivalent about the move and worried about how to find employment once arrived abroad. So all training programs should take in c onsideration these issues and help the spouse in order to have a positive growth and development during the time abroad. Therefore is very important that the spouse feel that he or she is also an active part in the international assignment (Lublin, 1999). Training programs should also include young family members, supporting them to adapt in the new environment. All these programs should be tailored according to different needs of children, and they are particularly useful in case of strong difference between childrens culture and host-country ones. In most major business centres there are international schools that help expatriate community, trying to facilitate their transition from their own countrys environment to the new foreign countrys environment. In other cases, when is not possible to find this kind of international schools, children have to put more efforts in facing new education system, social norms, and the challenges posed by a new language. 6. Conclusions One of the most important issues of International Human Resource Management is International training and development and this is well known by all researchers. From the literature and study done in this field, researchers argue that most MNCs do not provide sufficient or adequate International training for expatriates and their families. It is argued that Multinationals have reported high percentage of expatriate failure and consequently they do not have many effective international managers in the international arena. Researchers said that the components of each different international training has to be decided in regards to the country of destination, the type of task, the duration of assignment and the purpose of expatriation. Pre-departure training and post-arrival training are the most supported in the literature. Therefore, MNCs should provide effective International training and development to expatriates and their family, Host-country nationals and Third-country nationals, in order to gain better economic performance and to be successful in such a competitive environment.

The Great Depression :: essays research papers

Introduction It should be noted that all of the cures have been tried and while we seem to be free of Depressions, it's not clear that business cycles have been eliminated. Causes The Stock Market Crash The Stock Market Crash in October of 1929 is often cited as the beginning of the Great Depression, but did it actually cause it? The answer is no. First, the stock price for a particular company merely reflects current information about the future income stream of that company. Thus, it is a change in available information that changes the stock price. When the Fed began to raise interest rates in early 1929, this began the tumble. However, a stock market crash could cause people to increase their liquidity preference which might lead them to hoard money. In the August 1990 issue of The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Christine D. Romer writes that "the negative effect of stock market variability is more than strong enough to account for the entire decline in real consumer spending on durables that occurred in late 1929 and 1930." Hoarding Money People hoard money because they have a liquidity preference. I.e., people want to have their assets in a readily convertible form, such as money. There are several misconceptions about hoarding money. First hoarding is not the same thing as saving. If I put my money into a savings account, that money is lent out to someone else who then spends it. Second, hoarding, by itself, cannot cause a recession or depression. As long as prices and wages drop instantly to reflect the lower amount of money in the economy, then hoarding causes no problems. Indeed, hoarding can even be seen as beneficial to those who don't hoard, since their money will be able to buy more goods as a result of the lower prices. If a country has a gold standard, then hoarding money can make the money supply drop dramatically since a gold standard makes the quantity of money difficult for the government to control. The Gold Standard At the time of the Great Depression,America had a 100% gold standard for its money. This meant that all cash was backed by a government promise to redeem it in a specific amount of gold (at the time, one ounce of gold was redeemable for twenty dollars). Because the amount of money circulating in the economy is wholly dependent on the amount of gold available, the money supply is very rigid.

Pride and Prejudice Essay: The Character of Elizabeth -- Pride and Pre

The Character of Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice       In her novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen portrays Elizabeth Bennet as "strong and intelligent, yet bewitching in a completely feminine way". Elizabeth's possession of these attributes: strength of character and moral integrity, great intelligence, and an attractive personality, make her an admirable person. Yet Elizabeth has faults, which makes her more human. Austen's portrayal of Elizabeth is realistic and masterful, often juxtaposing her with characters lacking her attributes to heighten our appreciation of her. The claim that Elizabeth is strong is indisputable. The strength of her personal integrity is highly evident in her refusal of Darcy's first marriage proposal. At the time, she believed Darcy to be arrogant and selfish, based on Wickham's account of Darcy's disgraceful behaviour towards him. She was also furious with him for ruining Jane's chance of happiness (through marrying Bingley). Yet, it would have been prudent for her, a girl with only  £1,000 and 4% interest annually from it, to marry Darcy, whose estate is worth  £10,000 a year. She never wavers, though -- "her intentions did not vary for an instant". The strength of her convictions and loyalty towards her sister made her reject his offer, and with it, probably all possibility of her every marrying "well" and securing a comfortable future. Also, she was not intimidated by Darcy's wealth and high social status, daring to tell him exactly what she thought of him and to risk his anger by offending him -- "You could not hav e made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it." It is very clear that Elizabeth's principles are uncompromisable. Elizabeth ... ...on & Company, 1966. 374-388. Litz, A. Walton, Jane Austen: A Study of Her Artistic Development. Oxford University Press, 1965, p. 198. Moler, Kenneth. Pride and Prejudice: A Study in Artistic Economy. Boston, MA: Twayne Publishers, 1989. Mullane, Janet & Wilson, Robert Thomas, Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1988, Vol. 19, pp. 2, 4-8, 14, 17, 32, 42, 55-6, 58, and 66-7. "A Review of 'Pride and Prejudice,'" Critical Review, Vol. 3, No. 3, March, 1813, pp. 318-24. Southam, B.C., (ed.), Jane Austen: The Critical Heritage. Landon, NY: Routledge & Kegan Paul - Barres & Nobel Inc., 1968. Weldon, Fay. Readings on Jane Austen Taplinger Publishing Co. Inc, 1984 in. Ed. Wright, Andrew H. "Feeling and Complexity in Pride and Prejudice." Ed. Donald Gray. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1966. 410-420.   

Why Math is a Requirement for My Lifelong Career goal

Life constantly presents new problems. The more sophisticated our society becomes, the more complex the problems become. We as individuals are constantly solving problems. For example when we consider ways to save money, reduce our expenses, budget our money or even save for a vacation, we are always dealing with numbers. Throughout this personnel reflection you will see why math is so important in my life long career goal, which is my BBA in Business management in the medical field. First and foremost my job will entail being a supervisor/manager of a nursing staff whether it be Registered nurses (RN’s) or Licensed Practical nurses (LPN’s). This is ultimately what I want to do. This job includes schedules for the nurses, patients, scheduling tests for the patients. I will also need to know the international metric system along with dosage calculations, one must know three important pieces of information, the desired dose, the dosage strength and the medications’ unit of measure (Survey of Math p 609). I will also use mathematics in my career by doing schedules, coordinating the staff on different shifts, making sure the staff is not working over 8-9 hours unless it is necessary, also making sure the staff doesn’t overlap one another’s schedule and handling the payroll. It is very important for people that work in the medical field to know what their doing when it comes to measurements of medication particularly, any miscalculation’s due to a staff members error can lead to 1) losing your job, 2) losing your license, and or prison time if it is fatal. One example of a similar incident that was not to long ago, and is still in the hands of the courts involved Michael Jackson and Dr. Conrad Murray. Reports stated that Michael Jackson died from a propofol overdose; propofol is a drug that reduces anxiety and tension, and promotes relaxation consciousness. Dr. Conrad Murray is being charged with involuntary manslaughter for giving Michael Jackson multiple medications intravenously; which is a needle directly into the vein. Reports have stated that Dr.  Murray gave Michael Jackson valium which is a sedative, along with numerous amounts of pain medication and anti-depressant medications throughout a 10 hour period. These multiple medications were found in Michael Jackson’s toxicology report. They state that Michael Jackson had enough medication in his body to sedate a large animal (KTLA. com info). Another similar incident was that of a oncologist that wrote orders for a new salvage regimen that employed higher doses of chemotherapy than usual. The patient developed acute renal failure and required weeks of dialysis, but ultimately recovered, and the tumor responded. The physician later discovered that he had mistakenly ordered four times the recommended amount of the nephrotoxic drug in the treatment regimen. The physician decided not to tell the patient, 6 months later the tumor progressed and the patient obtained a second opinion. The patient learned of the error the first physician made and sued the doctor settling for $75,000 dollars (PubMed Central). The patient survived and the tumor was taken care of, but as you can see mistakes are made like this every day, sometimes people don’t get another chance. Most of the time, the mistakes are made mathematically. The medical field is very crucial when it comes to mathematics. You must be on top of things, re-read your care plan every time you need to administer medications. A care plan can vary from patient to patient, but for the most part it included numerous activities, such as administering medications, careful documentation of dosages and avoiding interactions. Starting, maintaining, and discontinuing intravenous lines for fluid, medication, blood, and blood products. Administering therapies and treatment, observing the patient and recording those observations; and consulting with the physician or supervisor on duty (â€Å"Summary report for 29 – 111. 00 – Registered nurses,† 2010, Tasks). In this line of work documentation of everything that happens with the patient is very important. In conclusion, my math 103, survey of mathematics taught me a lot. I learned how to subtract, add, multiply, and divide w negative and positive numbers. This was one of my greatest challenges. Reducing fractions, radicals, algebra, solving an equation, percentage formula’s, application of percents, the american system of measurement, the scientific system, set theories, and more. I learned a great deal and will be able to take this with me in the future for my career goal. In all honesty, I’ve never been all the great in the math field, after taking this course, along with taking advantage if the tutors Bryant & Stratton offers, I feel very pleased with myself and what I’ve learned. It was a very positive fortification and I will take this with me, where ever I go.

Bartelby & story

The narrator tries all the way through the story to truly empathize with Bartleby, but he never digs too deep because he is concerned about saving himself. He thinks that doing good deeds for Bartleby will look good for him as well. The narrator, however, sticks with Bartleby longer than most of us would.Bartleby is frustratingly honest about life. He is throroughly unexcited about life in general, and the narrator is maybe a little afraid that he is too much like Bartleby. However, he is an eminently â€Å"safe† man who has made peace with the modern world by working for rich clients but has no inner passion.2. Turkey, Nippers and Ginger Nut are oddly named characters. Turkey and Nippers are named for the volatility of their character and are in themselves caricatures. Turkey gets drunk in the afternoon and becomes enraged at the slightest thing thereafter; in other words, he acts like a real turkey. Nippers is irritable and angry in the morning when he might â€Å"nip† someone. As the day goes on, he is able to get some work done. The two of them together do the work of one man. Ginger Nut is so named because he brings the office Ginger Nut cakes.Their nicknames tell the reader that they are unreliable in assessing Bartleby, since someone could assume by their actions that they are crazy too. These characters also serve to show what the boss already puts up with. 3. Bartleby might want his story told in order to emphasize the futility of the world. He loses two jobs due to some sort of administrative change, and the world does not provide an environment for him that he can become excited about. The tone of his last statement, â€Å"Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity!† is a final sigh in the life of someone who has given up completely. Bartleby has not helped anyone, including himself. He may want to warn us of the emptiness of striving to make a living and the bleakness of the business world. He may also want to show us in a more realistic way wh at becomes of the nonconformist in society. It is wonderful for all of us to think about not being â€Å"part of the crowd,† but the reality is very different. Not being one of the crowd makes for a long and lonely existence. Works Cited Melville, Herman, Bartle

Mw Petroleum

Discounted Cash Flow Valuation of Aggregate Reserves Discounted Cash Flow Valuation – Proved Developed Reserves Discounted Cash Flow Valuation – Proved Undeveloped Reserves Discounted Cash Flow Valuation – Probable Reserves Discounted Cash Flow Valuation – Possible Reserves Question 3 To value MW Petroleum we would consider the assets in place and the option bearing assets discretely. The assets in place consist of the proved developed reserves since they are already producing a determinable quantity of oil and natural gas, as well as the non-producing assets as if developed immediately (valued as the NPV of free cash flows). The expenditures associated with the proved developed reserves are also known with some certainty since they consist primarily of maintenance and replacement costs that follow experience based norms. The NPV is subject to commodity price risk due to volatility in oil and gas prices, as well as uncertainty regarding the discount rate. The options consist of the delay in developing proved undeveloped, probable and possible reserves. In the case of these assets, significant development costs must be incurred to monetize the reserves. In the case of the probable and possible reserves, the estimated cash flows are already risk weighted to account for the uncertainty in producible reserves. The options on these reserves are timing options. By incorporating volatility in commodity prices over time, Apache can value the ability to postpone capital expenditures to develop the reserves until volatility in commodity prices returns to historical levels. It is important that Apache have some level of certainty regarding minimum likely commodity prices over time since these are long-lived projects. These options yield a higher value than the DCF valuation (of the aggregate cash flows). Since we are considering these reserves as potential projects in years five through seven, we use the Black-Scholes model to value the options. The option values are inclusive of the project, i. e. not just the option alone. Question 4: The assets underlying the options are quite risky as demonstrated by the rising volatility presented in the case. Since Apache was primarily concerned with the oil assets, we used the highest recent oil price volatility of 50%. Since volatility is such a driver of option value, we also performed a sensitivity analysis to evaluate how the projects plus options would be valued at different revenue levels as well as with differing volatility. Question 5 Based on the value of all the call options derived in question 4, if the sale goes through then Apache Corporation would not exercise any of the options early. In doing so, they would incur significant financial hardship while bearing the risk of highly volatile underlying assets. Given the potential financial strain of this acquisition, as incorporated by the cost of capital, Apache would benefit from observing prices develop over time. Our answer is based on the volatility which is assumed at 50%. Based on the sensitivity analysis it does not appear Apache would attempt to develop the possible reserves within the 5-7 year timeframe.

Ethics and Human Resources

Why is it important for companies to conduct Ethics Training? Conduct Ethics Training is important for companies because it not only involves doing what is right and proper, but it is also good for business. Ethical conduct is the basis for long-term success in any organization. Here are some of the many advantages to ethical conduct at work: * Ethical conduct promotes a strong public image for the organization. People respect an organization that makes ethical choices. Customers like doing business with an organization they can trust. * Ethical conduct makes the best use of resources. Money, time, and effort are put into productive activities rather than diverted for questionable purposes or personal gain. * Ethical conduct on the part of all employees also helps maintain quality and productivity. When employees follow ethical standards, they do not cut corners or short-change the company or its customers. * Ethical conduct assists the organization to comply with laws and regulations. What is ethical is also legal. * Ethical conduct ensures good and proper relationships with customers and vendors. * Ethical conduct boosts morale and promotes teamwork. When employees can trust one another and management, they can work together more harmoniously and effectively. Week two: What are the most critical steps to successful implement high-performance work systems? First, work flows are organized around key business processes, and people are often grouped into teams to carry out those processes. Second, high performance work systems include a number of human resource policies and practices: staffing, training, performance management, compensation, etc. , that are intended to enhance employee skills, knowledge, motivation, and flexibility. These practices take different forms, but are based on the belief that people are a critical competitive asset of the organization. Third, most high performance work systems rely on new approaches to leading employees. Often this means fewer levels of management and new roles for managers. Managers become facilitators and integrators and share responsibility for decision making and results with their employees. Discussion Board: * Discuss how would you go about diagnosing poor performance problems If I find the problem, I can work in the solution. To figure out what's causing the performance issue, you have to get to the root of the problem. In my opinion, performances depend of the ability and the motivation of the employee. Someone with 100% motivation and 75% ability can often achieve above-average performance. If an employee is not making enough effort is necessary increase pressure to see if performance increase. If the problem is the ability; for example over -difficult tasks, increase the pressure can aggravate the problem. The ability can be lower when the employee was promoted to a position that is to demanding for him or maybe they no longer have the motivation to realize a good performance. * Suggest ways in which the motivating value of merit raises may be increased. Ethics and Human Resources Policy In the consulting industry, ethics play a very important role. Ethics are the baseline for every business decision that is made. For this reason, all employees of the AJ Consulting firm are required to adhere to our strict ethics policy. AJ Consulting’s ethics policy is based on three areas. These areas are as follows. People AJ Consulting’s employees are the most important asset that we have. All employees will be treated with the highest respect and trust. Management is expected to lead by example and set the tone for our ethics program.They are expected to act and behave in the highest ethical manner. Through these actions they will enforce ethical decision making and guide subordinates through the development process. Open and honest communication is key to providing an environment that supports the development of people and business. All managers have an open door policy for employees to voice any concerns regarding violations of company policy. The Employee s are the eyes and ears of AJ Consulting and should be comfortable bringing any violations to the attention of management without fear of retaliation.All reported concerns of unethical behavior will be addressed and investigated in a timely manner, and the findings of the investigation will be shared company wide. The report of findings will be nonspecific to protect the privacy of our employees. We are an equal opportunity employer and take a zero tolerance stance against retaliation and discrimination. This includes all behaviors that are deemed harassing, abusive (both verbal and physical), and offensive. AJ Consulting is dedicated to providing an environment where every employee can unlock and reach their potential.All opportunities for advancement and self-improvement will be offered to all qualified personnel equally, thus allowing the employees of AJ Consulting to reach their full potential. Allowing employees to reach their full potential directly contributes to the success of our business. Employees should contact their manager or human resources if they feel that they have been harassed or discriminated against. Place (community) AJ Consulting is dedicated to improving the community in which we operate.To fulfill our obligation to improve our community, and to better understand our nonprofit customers, all employees will be required to volunteer eight hours per calendar year. Volunteer time can be during business hours and regular wages will be paid by AJ Consulting for this time. We will build trust in the community through our actions and credibility. To gain the public’s trust we will follow through on our commitments and operate with honesty and integrity. Under no circumstances will an employee of AJ Consulting act unethically or immorally without disciplinary action.If questions arise when considering a certain action or business deal consider the following questions. Will this action be perceived favorably by the public? Can AJ Consulti ng fulfill this commitment? Will this action help build trust within the community? Is this action legal? If you cannot answer yes to these questions, seek guidance from management. Profit AJ Consulting is not in business to make a profit. We make a profit to stay in business. A portion of our profits will be reinvested into our people and our community, thus reinforcing our commitment to the community and our people.No business should be done and profit made thereof, by violating our code of ethics or our high standards of integrity and honesty. Any violation or possible violations should be reported to a member of management. Ethics in Business Dealings While we strive to be competitive in the market; we will offer our services based on quality and ethical business decisions. AJ Consulting will not coordinate any of business decisions with our competitors to create an unfair and unethical advantage in the marketplace.We will also not accept gratuities or gifts from our customers o r competitors to gain an advantage. All of our services will be competitively priced based on company guidelines and not outside influences. AJ Consulting will conduct its business in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, and company policies. To ensure that employees are familiar with and understand these laws and regulations; employees will be required to attend regular update meetings on a quarterly basis. It is every employee’s obligation to see that we are in compliance with governing law and regulations.Managers should be made aware of any violations or possible violations of laws, regulations, or company policies. Managers are then in turn, responsible for investigating any concerns brought to their attention in a timely manner. If the suggested violations are substantiated the manger is then required to take the appropriate steps to correct the violation. Gifts While negotiating a contract with a potential customer, no gifts or gratuities shall be given or received. Business dinners are permissible as long as they do not present the appearance of favoritism or any attempt to influence business decisions.We need to reinforce our reputation as a fair and ethical business and the appearance of favoritism can severely tarnish our reputation. Under no circumstances may an employee of AJ Consulting solicit gifts from their customers. After a contract is awarded, small gifts may be given or received if they are unsolicited and are of menial value. If you have any questions regarding whether or not a gift is appropriate contact a member of the management team to verify if accepting the gift violates company policy.Confidential Customer Information Our customer’s confidentiality is of the upmost importance to AJ Consulting. In order to build a trusting relationship; employees of AJ consulting will under no circumstances, use any information about our customers for the purpose of personal or financial gain. To avoid a conflict of intere st, no employee with a vested interest shall make recommendations or consult the organization in which they have stake in. Nor shall any employee divulge any sensitive or confidential information to anyone outside of the company.Our customer’s sensitive information shall be kept secure, and be used for the sole purpose of making recommendations for process improvement. We shall also ensure recommendations do not include our customer’s sensitive information to minimize the risk of leaking such information to the public. Ethics Training Program Within the first 90 days of employment, all new hires will attend an initial ethics training. This training will be facilitated by the Human Resources Department with the support of the employee’s first line supervisor.During the initial training the President and Chief Operating Officer of AJ Consulting will discuss the importance of ethics in the consulting industry. The human resources department will inform the new hire of the policies and procedures of AJ Consulting’s ethics program. Included in this training will be an overview of the laws and regulations that govern the consulting industry, AJ Consulting’s position on ethics, proper use and disposal of sensitive information, how to file an ethics complaint, resources available for ethics questions, and the disciplinary consequences of ethics violations.After the initial ethics training employees will be given and annual refresher training. The annual refresher training will cover all ethics violations or potential violations and how they affected the company and its reputation. Role playing will be used to evaluate how well employees understand the ethics program and how they use this knowledge in real life situations. The training will also update the employee on new rules and regulations governing the consulting industry. It will also review the disciplinary actions that may result from ethics violations.The violation reporting procedures and resources for ethics questions will be updated and passed on during the annual refresher training. Reporting Suspected Ethics Violations AJ Consulting takes the issue of ethics very seriously. That is why it is the responsibility of every employee of AJ Consulting to report all actual and suspected ethics violations in a timely manner. The likelihood of diverting a crisis is dramatically increased if we can respond to potential violations quickly. We have developed a quick and anonymous way for our employees to report ethics violations.If you wish to report an ethics violation anonymously we have set up an ethics hotline. The number for the ethics hotline is (800)ajethics. This hotline will direct you to our ethics officer during business hours. If you are calling outside regular business hours you will be directed to their voicemail. We have also setup an email account for those personnel who prefer to report ethics violations this way. The email address is [email  protected]consulting. com. You will receive a response within 48 hours of submitting a violation.The third way of reporting is by contacting any member of management or any member of the ethics compliance committee. Remember when reporting a violation, supply us with as detailed information as you can. This information should include dates, times, names, and companies. While all of this information is not required to file a complaint, it will help us investigate the issue. We do understand that ethics can be confusing, so if you have any questions about ethics or how ethics is applied in a given situation please reach out to our ethics officer who is also our human resources manager.If they cannot provide you with an answer they will research the situation and respond as quickly as possible. Monitoring the Ethics Program AJ Consulting is dedicated to providing the most efficient and stable work environment possible. Since a solid ethics program is the basis for our core values it i s very important for us to monitor and evaluate how effective this program is. Monitoring and auditing our ethics program allows us to become proactive in preventing ethical and illegal misconduct whereby the public’s trust and the company’s reputation may be damaged beyond repair.To fulfill this requirement AJ Consulting has implemented a compliance committee. The committee will consist of the president, chairman of the board of directors, human resources manager, and the accounting manager. They will be in charge of evaluating all aspects of this program. Quarterly first line supervisors will observe 10% of their employees. During the observation the supervisor should note any behaviors or decisions that could be seen as unethical. The observation should be documented and turned into the human resources department.Semiannually they will review all financial documents to ensure they are complete and accurate. They will look for any anomalies in the financial documents and investigate any discrepancies. The compliance committee will also verify that all financial reports are filed on time and give an accurate view of our company. Under no circumstance is it permissible to file reports that are misleading or false. Annually the committee will send out a workplace survey to gain the employee’s perspective.These surveys will be anonymous in order to allow employees to question or comment on any decision making or instances that they feel may be unethical. No place on this survey shall it ask for any information that may identify the person filling out the survey. This will allow honest and open feedback without the fear of retaliation. The compliance committee will review the annual training attendance, roll playing, supervisor observations, financial reports, and employee surveys and compile a state of ethics report that will be kept on record.This will allow AJ Consulting to look for trends in our ethical behavior and ensure that we are on the path to success and allow us to reevaluate and adjust our program as necessary. Biannually AJ Consulting will contract an outside agency to audit and evaluate our ethics program. They will look at our financial records, ethics reports, and reported violations to provide an unbiased assessment of our ethics program. AJ Consulting will use our internal audits and external audits to improve the ethics program and align our values, mission statement, and direction with ethics.Summary While every manager is responsible for the day to day ethics at AJ Consulting, every employee is responsible for doing business in an ethical manner every time. Under no circumstance is it permissible to conduct yourself in an unethical manner. We have assembled an ethics compliance committee that consists of the president, chairman of the board of directors, accounting manager, and human resources manager. The human resources manager is also the ethics officer for AJ Consulting. If you have any questio ns about ethics please contact one of these members.