Company Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Company Law - Essay Example The House of Lords also held that once a company is incorporated, it acquires a legal status or personality that gives it the capacity to sue or be sued under its own name5. This implies that a company can file civil or legal proceedings against any person including the members who form it in its own name as noted by Talbot6. At the same time, the shareholders of the company can sue the company in its own name in case of breach. The House of Lords further noted that a legal entity in the form of a company exists perpetually; it is only when a company is liquidated or wound up that it stops to exist legally. This implies that the death of members of a company does not affect the existence of the company. Since the company is a separate entity, it will continue to operate even if all the members who formed it are dead7. This is attributable to the fact that the company will acquire other members such as through the issuance of shares or debentures to ensure its continuity8. The company can also employ workers in its own name to ensure its effective and efficient operation. Based on the precedence set by the House of Lords in Salomon v Salomon (1897) it is enshrined in English law that when an entity is incorporated, it is considered to be a separate legal personality. In this respect, the entity becomes separate from the individuals or organizations who take part in it. In other words, the owners and directors of the company or members of the company considered to be separate from the company. For a company that is limited by shares, the law assumes that it exists perpetually irrespective of the changes that may occur with respect to its constitution and membership. Furthermore, an incorporated entity can own any kind of property and hence has... This paper approves that the court further considered whether the subsidiaries were agents of the parent or not and analysed the situation from the corporate veil point. The Court of Appeal rejected the notion of treating the corporations as a single economic entity and held that the interest of justice did not feature as criteria for lifting the veil. The Court further held that that agency did not apply in the case much as sham and fraud did not apply in the same case. In making a ruling, the court noted that only three circumstances warranted the unveiling of a company; where a company is merely a facade, where a court is making interpretation of a statute, and when the subsidiary is an agent of the parent. This report makes a conclusion that a company is accorded equal treatment to that that may be given to any other independent individual. If for example, a sole trader incorporates his or her business and engages in contracts through the company as opposed to using his or her own name, then the company by law is not considered a trustee or agent of the sole proprietor. The existence of the new â€Å"person† that is the company survives its members, directors, shareholders, and employees for as long as it has not been liquidated or wound up. In as much as the Salomon case upholds the notion of separate legal personality, courts sometimes go to the extent of lifting the veil of corporation to establish the human faces behind the companies.

Two Gender System Essay Example for Free

Two Gender System Essay Setting out this boundary denies one the ability to express their sexuality freely: this may result in the discrimination and subordination of alternative forms of gender that society does not deem as â€Å"natural†. In other words, individuals who do not classify themselves as belonging to the main types of gender systems may be socially neglected and their sexuality, frowned upon. This essay will illustrate what society deems as â€Å"natural† and how the concept of gender and sexual diversity vary across cultures and historical periods. In addition, this paper will argue that the two-sex systems embedded in our society are not adequate to encompass the full spectrum of human sexuality. The â€Å"two-gender system† is defined as the classification of sex and gender into two biological categories of masculine and feminine: a social boundary used to prevent people from crossing or mixing gender roles, where the society divides people into male and female gender roles (Larkin, June. From lecture oct. 3, 2012). This binary system forces an individual to fit into one of the two categories of male or female. This bipolar categorizing of sexuality however does not and cannot encompass the full range of human sexuality. According to statistical analysis, it is said that out of 1,000 children born, seventeen children are intersexual (Fausto-Sterling, 2010, p. 14). The 1. 7 percent, though it is an estimate, is not a small number: theses intersexual individuals will feel out of place and/or easily uncomfortable in society that imposes a two-sex system. In addition, children born with both male and female anatomies as well as genitals are more likely to develop grave psychological frameworks when forced to obey the socially accepted two-gender system. The genital ambiguity in newborns is seen to be a medical emergency and in most cases, the newborns undergo surgery. Psychologist Dr. John Money further highlights this argument by claiming that gender identity can be changed and enforced upon up to eighteen months after a baby is born (Fausto-Sterling, 2010, p. 15). In the case of John/Joan however, the sex reassignment was unsuccessful. The doctors performed the procedure on John, who then was surgically turned into â€Å"Joan†. The case, although codified as John/Joan, was actually about an adult male named David Reimer. David eventually turned to masculinising medication, rejected his female assignment, and committed suicide (Fausto-Sterling, 2010, p. 15). As one can learn from David Reimer’s case, children born with genital ambiguities are faced with confusion and psychological stress as they grow up. The two-gender system leaves no room for such people to freely express themselves and their sexuality. The patients in this case, upon being obliged to follow the decisions made by the physicians, are then expected to act â€Å"natural† in the gender that was chosen for them. It is clear that the gender system embedded in society is not holistic enough for all humanity to truly express their full spectrum of sexuality. To avoid such conflicts and controversy, society should implement a wider, holistic perspective on gender and sexuality so various forms of intersexuality can be recognized and accepted as a both natural and normal way of life. Science, taking a biological approach to the topic of gender, inserts that gender and sexuality is strictly determined by the innate biological organs that one is born with. Ajnesh Prasad, in an attempt to supplement this argument, claims that â€Å"sexual difference is commonly experienced as part of ontology rather than epistemology, as part of nature instead of culture† (Prasad, 2005, p. 80). Other scholars however, argue for both a cultural and a historical perspective in explaining this gender ambiguity. The cultural view is related to the historical perspective in that while colonizers took over these already domesticated societies, they enforced strict cultural gender roles and sexual relations in order to reflect what they deemed was natural. For example, when the English settlers invaded North America, they took it as one of their primary goals to colonize the way these indigenous people dealt with sexual relations and gender: â€Å"the western imperialism†¦governance of sexual relations was central in classifying the colonizer and the colonized into spheres of distinct human kinds while policing the domestic recesses of imperial rule† (Prasad, 2005, p. 81). The gender role that was enforced was one of heterosexuality: the argument that men should act masculine and females, feminine. Previously existing practices that did not reflect this Westernized notion of heterosexuality was heavily frowned upon and neglected. This ultimately led to the subordination of other such frameworks pertaining to gender and/or sexual relations. Historical events thus as evidence from the colonization of indigenous people, renders concrete that gender is not a concept that is biologically determined, but one that implemented and reinforced through culture. Moreover, the native settlers rarely linked, â€Å"biological† sex, gender, and sexual activity together. These Native cultures were not divided up between heterosexuals and homosexuals as contemporary â€Å"Western† societies were, and in their culture, cross-working and cross-dressing men and women belonged to the other gender or to a third gender that either combined male and female features: â€Å"Encounters [were made] with male and female ‘berdache’ [meaning prostitute]. These berdache were cross dressing, cross-working people who constituted a third gender of fourth gender in some of these indigenous cultures† (Kinsman, 1996, p. 92). There were not just two gender groups, but three or four gender groups for â€Å"biological† females, and these alternate-gendered people were seen as combining the spirits of the other two genders (Kinsman, 1996, p. 93). Furthermore, the societal notion of what composes a widely accepted gender and sexual relation is extensively dependent on the culture and the fabrication of historical intervention. In conclusion, the two-gender system advocates the individuals in society to be defined as either male or female and sets limitations for individuals who do not fit into specific categories imposed on them. As a result, intersexuals or individuals born with genital ambiguity face discrimination and is forced to accept what is widely accepted as â€Å"natural† gender in society. Moreover, taking a scientific approach to gender, many argue that sexuality is determined by nature, what genitalia one is born with, but taking on a historical and cultural view, the issue bag to differ. As seen from the indigenous people and the way how two-spirited gender roles work in their society illustrates that the concept of gender is not singular and is determined by culture and society one is exposed in. The two-sex system enclosed in society is not adequate to encompass various forms of sexuality, so rather than confining one’s view to society’s ways, we should raise awareness for wider perspective on gender and sexuality to allow various forms of sexuality can be recognized.

Supremacy of European Union Law Over National Law: The Factotame Case E

The establishment of the European Union gave birth to various institutions, which bring order and reform to member states. One of these institutions which is extremely important the European Court of Justice as it interprets the laws of the European Union and makes sure that all the laws are applied in the same with in all of the European Union countries. Aside from interpreting laws it also settles legal disputes between the European Union government and the various institutions in the European Union. The jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice encompasses: solving disputes from country to country and within an institution, individuals, companies or organization, if the European institution threatens rights. One such case, which was brought forth by an individual to the court, is the Factotame case. Before we embark upon why the Factotame case was brought fort to the court it is extremely important for us to know about the composition of the European Court of Justice. The court is made up of twenty-seven judges, one from each member state. There are eight â€Å"advocates – general† whose job is to present opinions on cases, which are brought before the Court. The appointment of judge and advocate general is determined by each member state of the European Union and they are appointed for a six-year renewable term. Due to the large number of cases brought forth to the European Court of Justice, in an effort to better serve the constituents the General Court decides over certain cases. The General Court decides over cases that encompass private individuals, companies and organizations. The court has a President, which is elected by all the judges for a renewable term of three – years. The primary j... ...ate of discrimination of any sort and it will not tolerate any acts that are passed any government, which promotes discrimination of any sort. Works Cited "Clients." Thomas Cooper:Factortame The Background. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . The Common Fisheries Policy. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . "Court of Justice of the European Union." EUROPA -. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . "European Court of Justice." European Court of Justice. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . Ian Bache, Stephen George & Simon Bulmer, Politics in the European Union, Oxford University Press, 2011.

Boundaries of Destiny, Fate, Free Will and Free Choice in Oedipus the K

Boundaries of Fate and Free Will in Oedipus the King    The ancient Greeks firmly believed that the universe was guided strictly by order and fate. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles has examined the relationship between free will and fate, suggesting that free will paradoxically exists inside the boundaries of fate. It may be concluded, however, that man has free will and is ultimately held responsible for his own actions.    Oedipus' destruction was brought about by a combination of fate and free will. He was a victim of fate for it was foretold at his birth that he would marry his mother and murder his father. This prophecy, as warned by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi was unconditional and inevitably would come to pass, no matter what he may have done to avoid it. His past actions were determined by fate, but what he did in Thebes, he did so of his own will.    Oedipus took many actions leading to his own downfall. Oedipus for one could have waited for the plague to end, but out of compassion for his suffering people, he had Creon go to Delphi. Another action that hastened his downfal... ...sunderstanding the Oedipus Rex." Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Michael J. O'Brien.   New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1968.   17-29.    Knox, Bernard M. W.   The Heroic Temper: Studies in Sophoclean Tragedy. Berkeley: U of California Press, 1964.    Segal, Charles. Oedipus Tyrannus: Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993.    Sophocles.   "Oedipus Rex."   An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed.Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al.   New York: Longman, 1997.   

Fdi in Lithuania

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) occurs when a firm invests its resources in business activities outside its country (Hill, 2002, pp. 8). This essay will critically evaluate the impact of inward FDI in an emerging economy of Lithuania. First it will be looked at the impact of FDI on technological development and its importance for a country, particularly in Lithuania. Further discussion will be carried to effects on competition and its development, some negative side effects will be mentioned. Later it will be looked at what effect FDI has on Lithuanian national sovereignty and autonomy. Finally conclusions will be provided. Technological diffusion plays central role in the process of economic development (Borensztein, 1995). Emerging economies domestic growth rates are highly dependent on the growth rates of the rest of the world. Therefore, economic growth rates of emerging economies such as Lithuania depends on the extent of a â€Å"catch-up† process in level of technology by adopting and implementing it from leading countries such as for example United States. The main reason is that developing countries lack their own resources in developing own indigenous product and process technology. Such countries must rely on FDI by advanced industrialized nations and multinational corporations (MNCs) for much of technology required to stimulate economic growth. Findlay (1978) claims that FDI increases the rate of technical progress in the host country. Lets look at the example of Mazeikiu Nafta – the largest oil refinery complex in the Baltic region. Lithuania was not able to keep up with technological advances, therefore from early 1980 it had to trust on FDI from other countries. Back then with help of Soviet Union it was one of most modern oil refineries. Later on after the collision of Soviet Union Lithuania was unable to keep up with technological changes so it started inviting foreign investors. One of them was US based MNC Williams International, which promised reconstructing the refinery. However due to legal reasons acquisition was stopped and new investor from Russia came. Yukos promised to modernize and bring Mazeikiu Nafta’s production to western markets. One of the biggest project’s with Yukos was the completion of Bugtine Terminal for crude oil export and import. One of other positive contributions of FDI to a host economy is the upply of capital, management techniques and skills. MNCs have world vide access to individuals with more advanced skills and knowledge. Local employees can easily transfer knowledge and skills from more advanced companies to local firms or even set their own firms. New organizational practices and management techniques are also brought to country with FDI. Local firms copy them in no time. This happened in Lithuania. Latvian company â€Å"Double-Coffee† opened their restaurant in Lithuania, because there was a good market opportunity as there were no other coffee shops. Pretty soon there were other local coffee restaurants and coffee shops that opened for instance â€Å"Coffee Inn†. This was a clear result of knowledge transfer by FDI. FDI by Latvian company had an effect on competition and economic growth of the industry. Adequate level of competition leads to efficient functioning of a market. With different coffee shop brands in Lithuania consumer choice has increased, therefore prices have been driven down this way the economic welfare of consumers was increased. Increased competition tend to stimulate capital investments by firms in plants, equipment, and R&D as they struggle to gain an edge over their rivals (Hill, 2002, p217). FDI in coffee shop industry had a positive impact on service quality, because here export was not an option so it had to be produced where it is delivered. Despite all the positive effects FDI had some negative ones too. In grocery store market some foreign MNCs came into the country which have greater economic power than some local ones. Swedish â€Å"Rimi Baltic† was one of the first big MNCs to come into this sector, then â€Å"IKI† followed. They have â€Å"crowded out† local grocery store â€Å"Lenstata†. â€Å"Lenstata† was unable to reach maturity for full competitiveness against foreign competition, the maturig process also didn’t take that long so that the discounted preset social costs could outweigh the social benefits. Other small town local shops were also crowded out because they simply couldn’t offer same variety of goods. Crowding out in this sector in Lithuania can impose a long-term cost on its economy it if holds back the development capabilities or retards the growth of local innovative base. FDI in Lithuania has some negative impacts on national sovereignty and autonomy. FDI from Yukos, â€Å"Rimi Baltic† or other MNCs can cause some loss of economic independence. Key decisions that may affect economy are now made by MNCs controlling such important sectors as for example oil refinery or grocery store industry. The concern is that the governments has no real influence over this. For such as small economy a Lithuania’s this is a threat, because foreign MNCs have no real commitment to the country, however very real impact on its economy. To conclude, this essay has looked at what impact does FDI have on Lithuanian emerging economy. Using various sources evidence was provided to support statement that technological development has an effect on countries overall development. The case of â€Å"Mazeikiu nafta† was mentioned, evidence on what impact foreign MNCs on company’s technological development have was provided. Further discussion was brought to economic impact, example of what positive impact did FDI from Latvian MNC have on Lithuanian coffee market was given. Negative impacts on the economy of Lithuania were also mentioned and the example of grocery stores was provided. References: Borensztein, E. & De Gregorio, J. Lee, J-W. , (1998). â€Å"How Does Foreign Direct Investment Affect Economic Growth? † Journal of International Economics, vol. 45(1), pages 115-135 Coffee Inn, (http://coffee-inn. lt/blog/apie) [Accessed: 05/12/2009] Double Coffee , (http://www. doublecoffee. lv/eng/company/history/) [Accessed: 05/12/2009] Hill, Charles W. L. (2009) International Business: Competing in the G lobal Marketplace, 7/E, McGraw-Hill Irwin. Lideika, Petrauskas and Valiunas, Doing business in Lithuania (http://www. lexmundi. com/images/lexmundi/PDF/guide_lithuania. pdf) [Accessed: 30/11/2009] Mazeikiu nafta AB annual report, (http://www. orlenlietuva. lt/repository/pdf/reports/Annual99. pdf) [Accessed: 07/12/2009] Mazeikiu Nafta (http://www. randburg. com/li/maznafta. html) [Accessed: 07/12/2009] New Nations, (http://www. newnations. com/Archive/2002/November/lt. html) [Accessed: 07/12/2009] OECD, Reviews of Foreign Direct Investment, Volume 13, Lithuania RIMI Lietuva, (http://www. rimi. lt/apie-rimi/rimi-lietuva/rimi-istorija/199) [Accessed: 05/12/2009] UAB â€Å"IKI† (http://www. iki. lt/lt. php/apie/dabar) [Accessed: 05/12/2009] World Investment Report (1999), UNCTAD.

World Economies Top 10 Exporters and Importers in the World

World Economies Top 10 Exporters and Importers in the World Introduction As the world globalizes and liberalization of free trade advocated for, countries are looking for what they can produce cheaply and best in order to reduce the cost of production involved lessening the strain to world’s resources which are at an alarming declining rate. Any country in the world has got the resources it is well endowed with and the resources it is poorly endowed with.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on World Economies: Top 10 Exporters and Importers in the World specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Thus, with trade liberalization specialization has been boosted as countries can produce their specialty cheaply, trade with others, and still have the purchasing power of what cannot be cheaply produced within their own countries. To succeed in this, the country needs to evaluate its critical success factors to enable it succeed. To enable trade all over the world there has been an establishme nt of an international body which looks into trade matters, the World Trade Organization. WTO was created in the year 1995 though it has been working since 1945 under the GATT guidelines. Contribution of UAE in International Market with Respect to Goods and Services According to a WTO report, the United Arab Emirate success in trade (both locally and at internationally) has mainly been supported by its liberal and multifaceted economy which is characterized by low trade barriers. â€Å"The economy has been growing steadily at around 6% per year in the last 10 years and slightly higher at 9% in the period between 2003- 2005† (WTO Press Release Par. 2). The country fares well in the international trade with its exports spread across the whole world. According to the statistics of 2004, the European commission was the lead market for the country’s exports while Asia was the main source of its imports (see table 3 in appendices). This might have led to its’ success as the raw materials are sourced from around the continent giving the country an upper hand in cutting down the cost of production involved. The European Commission is the major market for the United Arab Emirates as table 4 in appendices indicates. The country is a major exporter of oil products (Moore 2008). The country is also a lead exporter of merchandise trade as shown in table 1. The country lies at position 19 as of 2007 statistics. Despite the country success it has been faced by trade barriers within, which makes it difficult to conduct business within the country due to their restrictive polices, weak institutions, and lack of competition (WTO press release 2006).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Top Ten Exporters and Importers in World Merchandise Trade The critical success factors of the world top ten exporters and importers lies on the efforts thes e countries have been making to open up of their economies coupled with different economic strategies and initiatives being initiated by these countries. For the top ten exporters and importers of merchandise trade our focus shall be centrally on China due to its emergence as a world economic leader in the near future. As we have seen, China is the leading exporter of merchandise trade while the United States is the lead importer of merchandise in the world as per the statistics. China’s success factors have simply been based on the fact that the country has a huge market due to its large population size and economy is growing holistically across all sectors. For example in the year 2008, China surpassed the United States of America as the world leader in the production of electronics such as the laptops and mobile phones. With its growing population, the country has grown to become the second largest car market in the world and could surpass United States of America by the e nd of the year 2010 if the expected sales are achieved as predicted. The country’s middle class population is estimated to be around half a billion and if the middle class continues to grow in this country you can expect the market share of China in the world’s market to increase. Another critical success factor has been that China operates the third busiest port after Hong Kong and Singapore thus with the capability of the Shanghai’s port becoming the largest shipping port in the near future, the prospects of China are still bright as ever. As the above figure shows, the country has the largest world GDP share after the United States of America and with its growing population of more than 1.3 billion people China will continue to be a big market destination. China has got the highest literacy levels among the developing countries and this has been a success factor as it shows that the country has the capability of providing quality labor at low costs, which is difficult to be marched by other big economies such as the United States of America. The entry of China into the WTO has also been a major boost in enabling the country open its local markets for international investors. The country has been offering international investors a comfortable environment in which they can conduct trade by offering tax incentives, for example sometimes she offers tax waivers to foreign investors depending on the location of their investment projects (Cohen 2010.) In some places within the country, there exist free trade zones as the country increases its efforts to attract foreign investment in these areas. Despite the country’s success, many companies in China do not practice due diligence as most do not keep proper inventory of their records.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on World Economies: Top 10 Exporters and Importers in the World specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Many companie s keep different records depending on the use for example you will find companies keeping books for government inspectors, investors, and for their own all with different entries but referring to the same accounts. The banking system is also suffering from in active loans for example statistics show that in the year 2008, bad debts were to the extent of more than 50 billons American US dollars (Kang, Kim, Sun, Jones Zangh 2010). Among the European Union members, Germany lies second in exporting and third at importing in the merchandise trade and it is the leading in Europe and her critical success factors have been attributed to the fact that just as the other countries, Germany has embraced an open economic system. As observed by Hamilton Quinlan (2008) evidence shows that, â€Å"The German economy is the world’s fifth largest, measured by purchasing power parity, and of the five is the most tightly tied to the global economy – more than the U.S., China, India or J apan. Germany is also the world’s #1 exporter of goods and the #3 exporter of services. Germany accounts for only 1.5% of the world’s population yet in recent years it has actually boosted its share of global markets.†(p. 2). The growth has been achieved despite pressure from other emerging economies like China and India who boasts a high population in their countries compared to Germany. The Top Ten Exporters and Importers of Commercial Services The critical success factors on the top ten importers rely on country policies and our focus here shall be on the United States of America for its role as the global leader for a very long period. The United States of America is the global leader at both importing and exporting of commercial services as from 2009 statistics shown in table 2. European Union countries comprising of the UK, Germany, France and Spain among others contribute to more than 25% of the market share with China having a fair share of 3.8%. As noted by Gutierrez (2007) before the economic crisis in the year 2008, there was evidence that the US economy had grown at a rate of â€Å"3.3% in 2006 and the country’s exports had grown to 13% in 2005 and imports by 10% over the same period† (p.5). The factors which have made the US a major success in the world of exports has been its’ huge growth as well as the trade promotion authority which has enhanced free trade agreements between the country and other countries. With the highest percentage of consumers being outside the United States of America, the World Trade Organization plays a key role and the Doha talks if succeeds will enhance an increase in US exports to other countries around the world.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Gutierrez (2007) experts argue that â€Å"American competitiveness in the global market is due in large part to an economy and culture that welcome and encourage innovation and flexible open markets† (32). The other leading EU countries include the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Ireland with China and Japan coming there in between. Fastest Growing Traders Among the fastest growing traders in the world are China, India, Brazil and lately Qatar, though its economy size is small compared to the others. These countries emergence as fast traders has been attributed to their rising populations due to their large size thus giving them a chance for a large internal market and room for external market demands depending on their needs. That’s why in the recent past, less developed countries have been relying on India, China and Brazil to help them convince the developed to reduce barriers and tariffs in trade so as to ensure even the poor and the Less Developed Countries benefit from liberalization of trade (Wood 2010). These growing economies are expected to have an influence in the world of trade as we have seen in the case where Brazil has grown to the extent that it has of late disagreed with the UN on imposing economic sanctions on Iran over its role in nuclear weapons. Brazil has refused to impose sanctions on the country and it has grown into a position where it can sanction the United States of America after directions from the WTO for breaking the WTO guidelines (Dade 2010). Both India and China have the majority population at 37% expected to drop to 34% by 2040 and their share of the GDP expected to grow to 40 % (Srinivasan 2010). India success has mainly based on its growing population and the liberalization of trade, which provides a large market pool for the Indian goods and services. The free trade policies have enabled the country export and import its goods and services at cheap costs and with its latest inve stments in infrastructure, the country will continue to grow. Qatar has been another country from Asia which has been growing rapidly. As pointed out by Omran (2010), evidence shows that it has the â€Å"highest per capita income in the world and enjoys one of the fastest growing GDPs, reaching 13.3% real GDP, and valued in 2008 at over US$80 billion† (Par 1). he country’s economy has been expanding in every sector. The country has been expanding its investment for infrastructures and expansion of the economy in almost every sector. The liberalization of trade has also enhanced rapid and expanding trade in this country. With new oil fields being discovered daily and the petroleum products supply declining, Qatar will continue to grow rapidly. Conclusion As the world globalizes and it develops to a global village, interactions will increase and the country’s dependency on one another will continue to increase. From the study we can conclude that the United States of America remains a global leader in world trade though the role of emerging economies such as China and India cannot be underestimated. Countries that supply the world with oil products will continue to expand faster than other economies due to the latest importance of oil products in the world. Reference List Cohen, J. C. 2010. Hearing on Evaluating China’s Past and Future Role in the World Trade Organization Web. Available from: http://ecattrade.com/uploads/content/45D2497564D74299B3EF0F50A8A25D7A.pdf . Dade, C. 2010. Brazil Confirms It Will Impose Trade Sanctions against U.S Web. digitaljournal.com/article/288782 . Gutierrez, C.M. 2007. The 2007 National Export Strategy: Administration’s Trade Promotion Agenda Web. Available from: http://trade.gov/media/Publications/pdf/nes2007FINAL.pdf . Hamilton, D. S; Quinlan, P.J. 2008. Germany and Globalization Web. Available from: http://transatlantic.sais-jhu.edu/bin/u/k/GermanyandGlobalization-eng.pdf . International Trad e Statistics, 2010. World Trade Developments in 2009 Web. Available from: wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/its2010_e/its10_world_trade_dev_e.htm . Kang, S; Kim, S.H. S; Sun, F; Jones, P; Zangh, D. 2010. China Acquisition Opportunities 2010 Morgen Web. Available from: morgenevan.com/pages/reports/China2010.pdf . Moan, G. 2010. ME traders Qatar Expo 2010 Web. Available from: http://tradeshow.tradekey.com/view-6408/me-traders-qatar-expo-2010.htm . Moore, M. 2008. The US-UAE Trade and Investment Relationship Web. Available from: usuaebusiness.org/view/resources/uploaded/USUAEWhitepaper.pdf. Srinivasan, T.N. 2010. Economic Reforms, External Opening and Growth: China and India Web. Available from: apeaweb.org/confer/hk07/papers/srinivasan.pdf . Wood, C. 2010. What’s needed for the Doha Round to Move Ahead? Web. Available from: http://shopfloor.org/tag/wto. World Trade Organization Press Release, 2006. Trade Policy Review: United Arab Emirates (UAE) Web. Available from: wto.org/englis h/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp263_e.htm .

Proposal for redesigning the selection and assessment process for Graduate Recvruitment The WritePass Journal

Proposal for redesigning the selection and assessment process for Graduate Recvruitment Introduction Proposal for redesigning the selection and assessment process for Graduate Recvruitment ). In other words, companies need to know they are looking for. Studies conducted in Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) have indicated a low refusal rate and a higher retention rate (Stewart Knowles, 2000). Perhaps then there is something to be learned about their recruitment strategies and process, as further research has shown that through assessment centre type approaches to recruitment, applicants are likely to form a negative opinion of the company if the assessment procedure is not effectively run with the correct feedback and information given to the candidates (Griffiths, 2011). There is clearly something to be learned therefore from the processes used by SME’s. In the SME research, a proposed application procedure was used that consisted of three sections. The first was assessing the company and the needs thereof, whilst the second was rating skills desired in potential candidates on a numerical scale determining importance with the final section using assessment criteria to determine if a particular candidate possessed the skills in relation to the second sections criteria. There is some debate around the importance of references at this stage of the selection process, however studies reveal that the vast majority of larger companies used these in the initial phase of recruitment to gain information about the personal qualities and honesty of the individual. Of the SME’s surveyed in the research, only about half made use of ability, literacy, personality or numeracy tests in the initial assessment. Interpersonal qualities, teamwork and leadership abilities were also considered. The highly technical nature of the field of data-communication makes general intelligence assessment desirable and the product-moment correlation between the Raven’s Matrices and the CPAB indicate that this is a generally effective measure of assessment. Whilst research has shown that generally leadership ability is not a highly ranked skill in terms of desirability amongst the SME’s, therefore the lower product-moment correlation may not be of overt significance. However, with that being said, if this is a personal preference of the company that their graduates possess higher leadership ability, this should be represented in the product-moment correlation. The success of an applicant in these tests is a separate indicator to the application forms, references and initial screening mentioned above.   With the data provided by HAL, there was a clear agreement between the outcomes of the second phase of interviews and the outcomes of the objective testing criteria. High Refusal and Turnover Rates There is some indication through research that the refusal and retention rate of a company may be directly related to the assessment and recruitment procedure itself. As the initial assessments and interview processes if conducted poorly can lead to a negative opinion of the recruiting company which in turn can lead to a higher refusal rate. Whilst the initial interviews and screening process see a large number of applicants, if it impossible to tell who the final graduates will be and therefore careful consideration of giving the correct impression needs to be made. There is likelihood that if a graduate is not impressed with HAL, they will not take the position being offered. Almost 40% of applicants surveyed felt that the application and assessment procedures did not allow them to showcase their particular skills, nor did it demonstrate any relationship with the job position applied for. Limited or no feedback given during or after the assessment also contributed to the formation of this opinion. The development of a favorable opinion was also significantly affected by the participation in the process by senior levels of management (Griffiths, 2011). It is clear from the research that making a good first impression on the applicants is important in order to reduce the refusal rate. In addition to amending the initial application process, or possibly outsourcing it to a recruitment company, there needs to be a strong involvement by the company creating a link between the job applied for and the application procedure/criteria. Areas of possible improvement to this extent definitely include the second phase of the process i.e. the first interviews. More time should be put aside for the preparation and execution of these interviews to allow for maximum graduate assessment exercise. In making the first phase of assessment i.e. the initial application more thorough, the interviewers will be able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates beforehand a nd prepare accordingly to illicit the required information through preparation. It is also worth noting that this second phase of the recruitment process may also be handled by a graduate recruitment company who will then interview potential candidates on behalf of HAL to provide a shorter list of potential candidates for interview therefore resolving the time and budget concerns surrounding the recruitment process in the initial phases. There is a clear discrepancy between the various product-measure correlation data variables and it is likely that this has something to do with the refusal rate and ultimately the turnover of the staff. Importantly, there is no clear correlation between the proficiency levels demonstrated by candidates in the objective assessment tests and the salaries offered to those candidates in their first year. Whilst the personnel director does give weight to the overall opinion of the selection panel in deciding on the salary to be offered to particular candidates, it is clear that not enough weight is given to the outcomes of these general intelligence rating tests. Although not necessarily conclusive, when working in a highly technical environment, these technical or intelligence related skills may rank more highly than interpersonal skills or leadership abilities and this should be factored in accordingly. Likewise, for candidates interviewing for a managerial position that is not heavily dependent on technical or intellectual ability, more weight should be given to the outcome of the leadership assessment, as well as interpersonal and management related skills. It is clear from the data provided that there is no such correlation as the product-measure value is unusually low between the outcome of this test and the salary offered in year A and year B. Whilst it is fairly evident that the success or failure of the training provided to the incoming graduates may heavily depend on the recruitment process itself determining the potential caliber of successful applicants which will directly influence the outcome of these training programs. There is however another indication on the given data that may suggest a possible reason for the less than satisfactory outcome of these training courses and this is that perhaps these are not the correct training courses for the graduates to be undertaking. There is a clear correlation on the data between the psychometric tests, however this does not translate into success in the training courses. Arguably, the analytical skills required for the technicalities of data communication hardware and software are transferrable skills and this should translate well through vocational training courses. If not, there are conceivably two possible reasons why namely, the graduates employed are not being proper ly assessed in terms of determining their transferable skill set or the vocational training is not appropriate for the employers and employees needs. By reassessment of the kinds of training provided, it may be possible to improve the outcome of these training courses, as well as streamlining the training to cut back training expenses. There may exist alternative solutions to the current training modules. High turnover rates with staff is a complicated issue to address, however if one assesses the data given that two thirds of the staff leaving HAL were due to dissatisfaction or better opportunities elsewhere. This is not difficult to conceive when looking to other data such as the stagnant promotion channels and salary advancement. In order to improve retention rates, HAL will need to improve their strategies for salary increase and promotion. Although promotion is difficult to predict, because often it requires staff changes, salary increase strategies can be planned well in advance and factored into the budgeting. Although there is a general policy of even distribution, to offer a higher salary to a graduate without increase potential may well dampen the motivation of those employees leading to higher turnover rates. Recommendations Complete Overhaul of the Initial Application Procedure and Criteria Due to the concern over the budget of graduate recruitment process to the company, it may be the best option to outsource the initial phase of recruitment to a graduate recruitment company. Considering the amount of work that is necessary to determine the objectives of the company and design a recruitment strategy in accordance thereof and then later the time that will be needed to effectively assess the candidates in line with those objectives, it may be simpler and more cost effective to outsource this part of the recruitment process. Fortunately, the number of graduates required begins with a very large pool of applicants and the impersonal nature of the first phase of assessment can be conducted by a third party without experiencing any potential backlash. Thereafter, HAL will be given a smaller pool of candidates to assess which they can do more effectively as they will have time and budget unspent from having outsourced this initial phase. Key involvement by senior employees and an overall assessment taking into account the different requirements of the jobs specified will ensure that there is a good overall assessment of candidates. Reassessment of Weighting of Specific Criteria in Various Employment Roles HAL needs to determine the various important criteria for the various roles available in the company, as with different roles, there are different personal requirements and when dealing with interpersonal dependant roles such as management and a diametrically opposed technical role, one cannot weight skills of equal value to either. Therefore in more technical positions, psychometric testing and technical skills assessment will carry more weight, whereas in a management or sales position these will be of less significance, yielding to interpersonal and sales ability. Correlation Between Skills and Reward As a product of the reassessment of the criteria for employment roles, so surely there must be a correlation between these skills and the salary offered to the graduates. This will assist in lowering the refusal rate of the graduates offered positions as the graduates will be compensated according to individual skill and not according to an overall general criterion that may not be relevant. In addition, there must be careful considerations of budgetary requirements in so deciding, as in order to reduce turnover there must be the opportunity for salary increase. Reassessment of Vocational Training Whilst it is not clear what the cause of failure of the candidates in the training courses is, it is clear that there is the possibility of inappropriate training being given that is not necessarily relevant to the needs of the employees. It is necessary to determine the cause of the failure of candidates in these training courses and to develop a strategy to minimize the cost and maximize the output of these candidates. There is the possibility however that in employing a higher level of candidate made possible through reevaluation of the recruitment process that this problem may resolve itself, however this is unlikely. Time Frame Time Period Action Required Key Players 5 – 10 Days Meet with Recruitment Agency to discuss the objectives and assessment criteria for the role.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Director of Personnel HAL  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recruitment Agency 90 Days Phase 1: Recruitment Period – where the positions are advertised and applications are received.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recruitment Agency  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Graduate Applicants 10 – 15 Days Assessment Period for Phase 1 – Making a selection of 600 – 700 applicants out of the entire application bundle received.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recruitment Agency 15 – 20 Days Phase 2: Initial Interviews with potential candidates to assess their suitability for the roles and to determine the skill sets.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recruitment Agency  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Graduate Applicants 2 – 5 Days Assessment of the outcomes of the interviews with HAL and handing over of the applicable information and desirable candidates  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recruitment Agency  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HAL 20 – 30 Days Phase 3: Invitation to visit HAL offices, including a tour of the facilities, psychometric testing, skills analysis, leadership abilities and second round of interviewing  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HAL  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Graduate Applicants 10 Days Assessment Period for Phase 3 – weighting of various criteria by the selection panel and short listing of desirable candidates according to rating criteria  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HAL Selection Panel 5 Days Personnel director consulting the selection panel and finance department  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HAL Personnel Director 5 Days Issuing of letters of appointment and rejection to all participants in Phase 3  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HAL Personnel Director Deadline for acceptance or decline of offer  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Graduate Applicants Bibliography Jim Stewart Vanessa Knowles, (2000),’Graduate recruitment and selection practices in small businesses’, Career Development International, 5(1) pp. 21 – 38 Neal Schmidt (2012) The Oxford Handbook of Personnel Assessment and Selection Oxford: Oxford University Press Nicola Griffiths (2011) ‘Assessment Centres for Graduate Recruitment: The Graduate Experience’ [online] [cited 25 May 2012] Accessed on berkshire.co.uk/content/berkshire/assessment-centres-for-graduate-recruitment.pdf Tony Keenan (1995), ‘Graduate Recruitment in Britain: A Survey of Selection Methods Used by Organization’ Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16(4) Teresa Dahlberg, Tiffany Barnes, Audrey Rorrer Eve Powell, (), ‘Improving Retention and Graduate Recruitment through Immersive Research Experiences for Undergraduates’ [online] [cited 25 May 2012] Accessed on http://laurencairco.com/papers/sigcse.pdf High Fliers (2012) ‘The Graduate Market in 2012: Annual review of graduate vacancies starting salaries at Britain’s leading employers’ [online] [cited 25 May 2012] Accessed on highfliers.co.uk/download/GMReport12.pdf

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Outline the history of excavation and interpretation at great Essay

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Although the long term effect of electronic and social me dia has not been thoroughly vetted, it seems as if the misuse of this resource can leave us with undesirable results. Electronic and social media has positive functionality in our everyday life. It can enable a person to research a wide range of topics including, searching medical diagnoses or treatments on sites like WebMD for injuries or illnesses, collecting material for school projects, or it can reconnect you with old friends through Facebook and Twitter. Although communication through Facebook and Twitter can be entertaining and fun, it consumes untold hours each month. Surprising, most users are unaware of this fact. A study in August of 2011 showed that Facebook usage alone accounted for nearly eight hours of online time per person. Twitter did not register quite as high on the scale of online time usage, but it is believed to be because Twitter, like most other websites, does not track the time spent using mobile phones. So, â€Å"these numbers only track visits to Twitter.com, and do not take into account mobile usage,† (Konrardy). That means that the total time spent on these websites is actually much higher. If one takes into account how much time one observes people on cell phones checking their social media, the total time wasted on these sites would be much higher. Not only are people spending an exorbitant amount of time on social networking sites, they are also developing a tendency to be more comfortable having serious conversations through social media or some other form of non-personal communication. This is especially prevalent amongst children ages thirteen to eighteen, â€Å"young Facebook users are relying less on interpersonal communication skills and more on technology to communicate for them,† (Konrardy). This can be a huge detriment to their development of interpersonal skills. If children do not learn how to communicate effectively at a young age, it can hinder them in the future whether in job interviews or when dealing with personal conflict in relationships. Communication is necessary to live peaceably in our society. If children are taught that Facebook and other social networking sites are acceptable forms of serious conversation, they will be less likely to succeed in their personal and public lives. Susan Tardanico said in an article that, â€Å"†¦these generations – which will comprise more than 50% of the workforce by 2020 – would prefer to use instant messaging or other social media than stop by an office and talk with someone,† (Tardanico 1). This change in communication styles has made it difficult for employers to build trust and employee loyalty which then, in turn, can negatively impact productivity. Cell phones and social networking sites cannot offer true communication because â€Å"A whopping 93% [of communication] is based on nonverbal body language,† (Tardanico 1). This makes it extremely difficult for an individual to discern what another person might be meaning through words alone. In October of 2011 Sharon Seline was texting her daughter, who was off at college, asking how her life was going at school. Her daughter continually responded with positive responses, smiley faces, and hearts. This made Seline believe her daughter was quite happy and having a wonderful time at college. In reality, she never left her dorm room and showed tales tell signs of depression, a fact that did not come across in her texts and social networking posts. Later in the same night while she was ‘talking’ with her mother, she tried to commit suicide. Because the daughter’s non-verbal communication was absent from their conversations, her mother was unable to decipher the seriousness of the situation. She had to take her daughter’s written word as fact because she was, unable to â€Å"hear [her] tone of voice or look into [her] eyes†¦ [and] know when â€Å"I’m fine† doesn’t mean [she’s] fine at all†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Tardanico 1). If Seline would have been able to see her daughter’s body language, she would have easily recognized, through non-verbal communication that she was not okay and needed help. In this case, face-to-face communication might have been able to keep a young lady from attempting suicide. There is also a direct correlation between the usage of Facebook and other social media sites to a person’s shyness. A study showed that those who have a tendency to be shy, generally have less ‘friends’ but spend more time on these sites. â€Å"†¦although shy individuals do not have as many contacts on their Facebook profiles, they still regard this tool as an appealing method of communication and spend more time on Facebook than do nonshy individuals,† (Liebert 339). Although it may be appealing to those who have a hard time meeting others, what it really does is immobilize them from entering into meaning relationships with others. It reinforces their shyness and perpetuates their lack of social ability in the ‘real’ world. They use it as a means of communication, so they do not have to go out into the world to overcome their shyness. It is easy to see that this study’s, â€Å"†¦findings might be explained by the anonymity afforded by online communication, specifically, the removal of many of the verbal and nonverbal cues associated with face-to-face interactions,† (Liebert 339). Again, this ability to hide in an online community does nothing to help an individual overcome their shyness. In fact this behavior hurts them by creating a false connection and an altered reality by inhibiting them from actual interpersonal relationships’. Without practice, a shy individual will have limited exposure to verbal and nonverbal cues that could in turn negatively impact them in job interviews or other â€Å"real† life situations. Unadulterated social networking has also been observed to negatively impact college student’s grades. Megan Puglisi says that, â€Å"According to Northern Michigan University, college students who used Facebook while studying, even just having it in the background, earned grades 20 percent lower on average than non-users in 2010,† (Puglisi). The impact of lower grades in college could adversely affect ones future life and well-being. For example, if a student can achieve a 20 percent improvement in their GPA simply by removing the constant interruption of social media sites from their environment, this could result in not only better grades, but scholarship opportunities. This in turn could improve that student’s financial burden. If, however, ones grades drop by 20 percent, because of the constant interruption from social media sites, at the extreme end of the spectrum, one could get kicked out of college which would hinder one’s ability to acquire future employment. So sacrificing a little time on Facebook could greatly affect ones present and future life. Puglisi also found that college students’ tendencies to use social media reduced their relationship with their professors. In her article, she quoted Dr. Kelley Crowley, a professor who â€Å"teaches public relations writing and principles of advertising at West Virginia University,† (Puglisi). According to Crowley, students should be pursuing real relationships. She believes that, â€Å"‘Avoiding personal interactions harms the competency of young professionals (Its difficult for students) to speak to respected professionals during interviews because they lack the necessary nonverbal behaviors, like eye contact,’† (Puglisi). Again, this directly relates to how social media can adversely affect college age students when applying to the work force. By not developing proper communication skills necessary for success, these students are affecting their life in a negative way. Puglisi is also a strong advocate for writing correctly on social networking sites. She believes making poor grammatical mistakes can make one look bad. She believes if one proof reads what one says before one posts it, one can â€Å"prevent looking like a fool in front of professors, friends and future colleagues,† (Puglisi). Employers now search out a person’s social media site to see what type of individual they really are. If one used poor grammar and made careless mistakes, the company would be much less likely to hire them. The many articles and researched opinions on this matter coincide with everyday observable behaviors. On any given day, one can walk down the street and see someone on their phone, texting, on Facebook, or looking at different internet sites. People are simply occupied with their electronic devices rather than with the world around them. This lack of interaction with the outside world can cause chronic electronic users to make stupid and sometimes irreparable mistakes. The other day my friend was riding his bike to class. A girl distracted while looking at her phone, walked out in front of him. He had to swerve out of the way so he would not hit her. He ended up crashing his bike, and spraining his ankle; a relatively small injury compared to what could have happened. In this instance, if the girl would not have been checking her phone, she would not have stepped out in front of him, and he would not have been injured. Another more personal incident occurred while I was driving my parent’s car. I only had my permit and my brother and I were heading to my swim practice when I w ent to turn left at a green light. A young lady was texting on her cell phone and went through her red light and nearly hit us. That young lady was tremendously lucky because had she hit us, I would have, in all likely hood, been killed. Two seconds separated me from life and death. This distraction of electronic media can sometimes have very tragic results. In 2012, a Philadelphia man was walking while using his cell phone. Because he was distracted, he fell onto a set of train tracks. Luckily, no train was coming and he was able to recover and get himself out before being crushed. In this case, distracted walking almost cost a man his life. More and more reports of injuries due to distracted walkers are being reported. A study showed that, â€Å"[All]though overall traffic deaths were lower in 2012 than the year before, pedestrian fatalities rose by 4.2 percent and injuries by 19 percent,† (Lowy). This shows a direct correlation between the use of social media and pedestrian deaths. This is no surprise to researchers, â€Å"‘I see students as soon as they break from a class, they have their cellphones out and theyre texting to one another. Theyre walking through the door and bumping into one another, said Jack Nasar, an Ohio State University professor and expert on environmental psychology,† (Lowy). This distraction can easily turn into something much bigger and cause serious injuries. â€Å"A study Nasar conducted at intersections on campus found that people talking on cellphones were significantly more likely to walk in front of cars than pedestrians not using phones†¦ reports of injuries to distracted walkers treated at hospital emergency rooms have more than quadrupled in the past seven years† (Lowry). These studies and reports show how social media and networking sites can greatly harm an individual when undivided attention is not given to the task at hand. Social media has also completely changed the way we read and process information. Nicholas Carr in is article, â€Å"Is Google Making Us Stupid† talks about how the internet has made it more difficult for people to stay focused. â€Å"The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing,† (Carr). This can greatly affect your studying and work ability. By having this inability to be focused, you may have trouble gathering information you may need for a class or work project. This can negatively affect your performance and cause you to do poorer than you originally would. Carr also states that, â€Å"Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.† (Carr). Again, this inability to make connections and interpret the written text can make us less marketable, which in turn damages our quality of life. Carr, when researching his article, came across a five-year long research program. The scientists studied the behaviors of visitors to two different research sites, both offering any different forms of written information. In the study, â€Å"They found that people using the sites exhibited â€Å"a form of skimming activity,† hopping from one source to another†¦ They typically read no more than one or two pages of an article or book before they would â€Å"bounce† out to another site,† (Carr). This type of skimming and non-ability to analyze written word has become a great drawback of social media. Social media and networking sites have had a great impact on our society. It has given us the ability to access any information we want, whenever we want. But this gift has taken us to a level we could never have imagined , and it has not always been in a good way. Through continually having access to social media, we have created many dangerous side effects. By not being able to read one’s body language, we can have a difficult time discerning what they really mean. By hiding behind a computer screen, we can lose many of the abilities to communicate effectively. By constantly having our faces glued to our cell phones, we can cause bodily harm to ourselves and to others. All of these negative ramifications can greatly hinder our capacity to find a decent job, do well in school, and communicate in an effective manner. If people do not become conscience of our misuse of this great resource, we may see even worse side effects than we have already encountered. Works Cited Cane, Kevin. The Negative Effects of Facebook on Communication. Social Media Today RSS. Social Media Today, 29 June 2012. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. . Carr, Nicholas. â€Å"Is Google Making Us Stupid?† The Atlantic July-Aug. 2008. Web, 16 Nov. 2012. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/. Konrardy, Nate. Face-to-Facebook Communication. The Northern Iowan. The Northern Iowan, 3 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2012. . Lowry, Joan. Distracted Walking: Smartphone-wielding Pedestrians Stumble into Danger. The Christian Science Monitor, 30 July 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. Orr, Robert R. et al. The Influence Of Shyness On The Use Of Facebook In An Undergraduate Sample. Cyberpsychology Behavior 12.3 (2009): 337-340. Puglisi, Megan. Social Networking Hurts the Communication Skills of College Students. The Daily Athenaeum. The DA Online, 13 Oct. 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. . Takeuchi, Lori. MindShift. MindShift RSS. Mind Shift, 29 Feb. 2012. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. .

Effectiveness Of Employee Empowerment

Effectiveness Of Employee Empowerment Introduction: In such a competitive environment, the organizations have to continuously provide quality products, better services and need to bring innovation to stay in the business and generate profits. To conduct such activities, efficient and empowered employees are essential (Bowen and Lawer, 1992; Fulford and Enz, 1995; Bowen and Lawler, 1995). In the past, the authority was not delegated to the employees and it centered on the managers who were responsible for making all the decisions in the interest of the organizations. This had limited the creativity to show up since the employees were not able to express or share their ideas. Empowerment in the recent years has been considered as the most important factor that contributes to the success of the organization. The creative energy and potentials of employees benefits the shareholders, suppliers and customers as well (Gandz 1990; Appelbaum, HÃ ©bert, Leroux, 1999). Empowerment means delegation of decision making authority when there is a need to take action which is important for both the managers and employees. Following are the main reasons for practicing empowerment in the organization: It provides fast solutions to business problems It provides growth opportunities for employees It helps in lowering organizational cost Employees benefit from empowerment because they have more responsibility in their jobs. Employee empowerment increases the level of employee involvement and therefore creates a deeper sense of satisfaction and higher levels of motivation. The style of management is changing as the managers are now being considered as the coach, advisors or facilitators. The decision making has been shifted down to the lowest level of the organization. According to Rob and Margret brown, empowerment isnt just a matter of delegating job authority to the job-holders. It means that everyone can take action to enhance his or her work, either in personal or organizational terms. Instead of the traditional bureaucracy, with its emphasis on control, standardization and obedience, Brown-blessed empowerment can only thrive in the liberated surround of innovation, flexibility, commitment, zero defects and continuous improvement. Effectiveness of Employee Empowerment: Employee Empowerment can only be effective when management clearly defines the achievable goals and accountability standards. The management should provide employees with the resources such as time, money, training and relevant and factual information which is supported by the upper and lower management. The benefits of empowerment can be substantial for the organization but it doesnt come without costs. If this approach is not properly implemented, it can cause many problems such as bad decisions taken by the employees who are not well-trained, conflict arising between team members reducing the team innovativeness and performance of the employees (Henderson and Lee; Davenport ) and high training costs to successfully operate in the empowered environment. There are also numerous benefits that are associated with empowerment such as enhanced creativity resulting in increased performance, making cross functional teams of diverse work group for sharing and developing innovative ideas and increased customer service quality by letting them solving the customer problems on their own without waiting for the managerial approval (Shrednick et al., [26]). Hence we can assume that empowerment is a skill and can be learned. Effective management teams must have a firm grasp on the latest business techniques as well as an understanding of the importance of human potential and high self-esteem. Empowerment is a total commitment to doing business in a productive and positive manner. The famous researcher John R. Drew proposed Seven Steps to Empowerment. According to him empowerment can be achieved by creating champions, involving people in planning the change, creating team leaders, educating the workforce, changing the support system, practicing consensus decision making and involving people in strategic and tactical planning. A lot of research has been conducted on empowerment in the last decade to fully understand its impact on the performance of employees and how it effects the organization as a whole. An organization must understand its compatibility with the organization system since its effect varies from organization to organization. The approach is dependent on the organizational structure, its system, its culture, skilled workforce and the attitude of top management toward the change. Before the organizations move to the empowerment approach, they must critically analyze what empowerment basically is and how its different from the traditional approach. Empowerment encourages information sharing with front-line workers, rewards based on organizational performance, employee training, and employee involvement in management decision making (Bowen and Lawler). Most of the researches indicate that the empowerment must be nurtured and supported by the other factors which trigger its effect and produces positive results for the organization such as Autonomy, creativity, level of communication between managers and employees, competency and high self-esteem. Theories and practices of empowerment: There has been a lack of theoretical and empirical work being done on practices of empowerment. The term empowerment being used in the business organizations is not clearly defined since it is difficult to understand what the writer is referring to when he uses the term empowerment. Broadly there are two main approaches that are widely used to understand the concept. Following Conger and Kanungo(1988) and Thomas and Velthouse (1990), spreitzer (1992) refers to these as a psychological and relational perspectives. Psychological perspective on employee empowerment: The first approach to study empowerment focuses on the concept that empowerment depends on the perception of employees. If they believe that they are empowered, then they will tend to work with more autonomy ( Spreitzer 1992). Conger and Kanungo(1988), and Thomas and Velthouse(1990) and spreitzer (1992) imply that an employee is psychologically empowered when (a) he/she finds meaning in his/her role involvement (b) feels efficacious with his/her ability and capacity to perform (c ) has a sense of determination to achieve a desired outcome with his/her role and (d) believes that he/she has control over desired outcomes meaning they have an impact on the large environment. The relational perspective of empowerment: The second approach focuses on the concept that how sharing of power is affected by the organizational structures and its cultures. It deals with the organizational structure and culture that it should be designed in such a way that creates an environment to facilitate the empowerment of its members (Bowen and Lawler 1992, Byham and Cox 1998, Jaffe and Scott 1991). Apart from these approaches, different theories on empowerment were presented by different theorists having opposite view points. Some theorists argue that there should be a relatively uniform understanding of empowerment and they were in the favor of implementing standardized programs (Rumelt 1974; Denhardt 1984; Wallace 1992; Balk, 1996). On the contrary, other theorists were of the view that empowerment is individually, contextually and variably defined (Zimmerman 1995; Quinn and Spreitzer 1997; Foster-Fishman et al. 1998). These researchers think that there exists a wide range of empowerment varying from person to person even in the same work setting, although both the viewpoints were in favor of empowerment. Each viewpoint is based on the same assumption that employees value empowerment and by exercising empowerment, they can give better outcomes, increased efficiency and performance, increased job satisfaction, and consistent ethical behavior. Objectives and significance of study: A lot of conceptual research has been done on empowerment but there is a need of studying the effect of these 5 factors and get a more generalizable result. The main purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between these variables (i.e. Autonomy, creativity, level of communication between managers and employees, competency and high self-esteem) and empowerment of front-line employees of Mobilink Company in Islamabad. We will then further investigate the impact of empowerment on employee performance. Although these relationships have been explored in the Western environment, we will be investigating these relationships in the Asian environment to explore if the results differ in any way or the hypothesis we have created shows the positive results. Following are the main objectives of this research: To understand the core concepts of Empowerment and performance To identify the variables and investigate the relationship between these variables and employee empowerment To explore the overall impact of empowerment on the performance of Mobilink employees. Problem statement The problem statement of our research paper is to study the impact of empowerment being nurtured by the other factors such as Autonomy, creativity, level of communication between managers and employees, competency and high self-esteem on the performance of Mobilink employees. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Sanjay Menon and Clarkson (2001) have tried to explain the psychological approach to employee empowerment in this article. It was developed based on the principal that the psychological experience underlies feelings of empowerment. This article extends existing perspectives of empowerment by integrating the empowering effect of valued goals, such as those provided by transformational leadership. In addition to the two traditional facets of perceptions of control over the work environment and the perception of self efficacy or competence, internalization of goals was also identified as a major component of psychological experience of empowerment. They have also mentioned the implications of defining empowerment as a psychological state and the need of multiple measures of empowerment. They also recognize empowerment as one of the most important strategic tool to motivate employee if the organization are concerned with growth of their employees. (Employee Empowerment: An Integrative Ps ychological Approach) John Peter, Patricia Byrnes, Do-Lim Choi, Frank Fagan and Randy Miller (2002) have discussed that the empowerment of public employees is an important mediating step in improving public organizational outcomes, yet such a relationship depends on an assumption that employees value what is offered as empowerment. The empowerment is multidimensional. Survey was carried out to know the opinion of employees regarding empowerment. Employees or Street-Level Bureaucrats were in favor of empowerment because they believe that their skills will improve, they will be able to perform job effectively, they can save a lot of time and they will be able to improve their decision making skills. Empowerment programs consider what each individual employee values. (Dimensions and Patterns in Employee Empowerment: Assessing What Matters to Street-Level Bureaucrats by John Peter, Patricia Byrnes, Do-Lim Choi, Frank Fagan and Randy Miller published in 2002) Logan and Daniel C. Ganster (2007) report the result of randomized field experiment that tested the effects of an empowerment intervention among unit managers of large trucking company in this article. The intervention has designed to increase participants beliefs in their personal control and self-efficacy with regard to key aspects of their jobs. Individuals who managed geographically dispersed profit centers were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (N=38) or a no-treatment control group (N=30).the intervention significantly increased perceptions of maintenance control and impact at four months after the intervention, but only for managers who felt that their supervisors were supportive. The intervention also improved archival measures of unit performance and affected work attitudes (depending upon the level of perceived supervisory support). The data point out the key role that perceived supervisor social support plays when implementing such organizational change int erventions.(The Effects Of Empowerment On Attitudes And Performance: The Role of Social Support and Empowerment Beliefs) Butts, Mike (2004) argues in this article that most of the employees feel frustrated and completely ineffective because of lack of employee empowerment. According to the author, most of the time your manager asks you to do a certain project with full responsibility and when the time comes to implement your strategic plans and action plan, your manager doesnt support you and your higher-ups dont give you authority to bring some positive changes or to make some effective decisions. At the end, when the project fails, they ask you that why your performance has not improved. So in simple words, you cannot give someone the responsibility for a job without giving them the means and authority to bring about needed changes. (Command performance: empowerment is the catalyst for positive corporate changes By Butts, Mike Publication: Prosales Date: Wednesday, December 1 2004) Gaynor Borade (2008) discusses about the importance of employee empowerment and how it can be implemented in an organization. Employee empowerment can be attempted via dedicated virtual courses, special employee empowerment workshops by management gurus, dedicated books and articles and even software packages. It can only work if the management team believes in it. The implementation of employee empowerment involves managers willing to give up control in certain areas of work production. The writer argues that the traditional bureaucracy and the age old emphasis on control and standardization are now things of the past. The new vistas involve innovation, flexibility and commitment and consistent improvement. (Employee Empowerment by Gaynor Borade Published: 2/23/2008) Cheryl (2007) enlightens its readers with his view that the most important asset that any company will ever have is its employees. Employees are the backbone of the organizational hierarchy, allowing the employees to accomplish organizational goals by giving them some decision-making ability is the way to enhance the growth and performance of todays organizations. Empowerment is a process that is adapted through a course of time and gradually, almost effortlessly, comes together. So in this article, the writer explains that how managers assure the employees that empowerment is not only in their own best interest but also for the organization as a whole. (Employee Empowerment: Organizations Must Take Active Roles by Cheryl, published Sep 26, 2007) Susan M. Heathfield basically tries to pinpoint the fact that if employee empowerment is such a powerful tool into accomplishing word, better work more efficiency then why does it fail. It then takes a look at 5 reasons why employee empowerment fails such as managers pay lip service to empowerment but do not really believe in its power, they fail to provide easy access to the information and training to the staff to make decisions, they fail to establish boundaries for empowerment, have defined the decision making authority and boundaries with staff but then micromanage the work of employees and lastly the managers fail to appraise or appreciate the employees for their hard work.(Five More Reasons Employee Empowerment Fails by Susan M. Heathfield) Robert Bacal (2004) basically answers to a question of a manager who is finding it hard to implement empowerment as the employees themselves are hesitant to take an initiative and in the answer to the query tells the manager that empowerment just does not mean treating the employee like a guest as the employees tend to get used to the traditional hierarchy of the firm and thus resist the opportunity(empowerment) and in order to empower employees in the real sense steps such as clearly defining what empowerment criteria you have set what you actually mean by it and clarifying the goals of the firm , effective routing of information in the firm, clear process for input of decision making, management consistency i.e. not necessarily blindly following each decision but over-ruling it with tactics so that the spirit of empowerment is not hurt and skill development that is providing the necessary tools to extract ones ability to benefit from it, and a stable and respectful workplace histor y which will give confidence to employees to work with confidence and no hesitance otherwise a bad track record will just suppress the ability to participate freely. (Empowering Employees Can Yield Unexpected Conflict and Resistance! By Robert Bacal published in 2004) Peter Grazier (1998) discusses the benefits associated with the employee empowerment in his article that how it helps a company to reduce its expenses or costs occurring due to Absenteeism and turnover. The author further describes that due to employee empowerment, Absenteeism and turnover goes down, safety assurance and employee performance gets better and the company obtains other associated benefits as well. (Quantifying the Soft Costs of Empowering Employees by Peter Grazier Originally published in EI Network on April 1, 1998) Susan M. Heathfield has defined employee empowerment in her article as the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behaves, take action, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways. She has also discussed the main problem regarding employee empowerment that most organizations experience. They think that the manager bestows empowerment on the people who report to him rather than thinking that each employee should work in empowered ways. Lastly, the author argues that the organizations should create such environment that helps boost the ability of employees to act in empowered ways. (Employee empowerment by Susan M. Heathfield) Theoretical framewor And hypothesis The theme of this research is to shed the light on the empowerment as a core concept and a major factor in this study and to investigate the impact of some antecedent factors including (autonomy, creativity, level of communication between managers and employees, competency and self esteem) on the degree of employee empowerment and then to research the impact of empowerment on employee performance as illustrated in the following framework. Identification of variables: Dependant variable: Performance of employees Independent variables: Employee empowerment Autonomy Creativity Level of communication between managers and employees Self esteem Competency Network of Associations Positive relationship between autonomy and employee empowerment Positive relationship between employee empowerment and performance Positive relationship between creativity and employee empowerment. Positive relationship between self esteem and employee empowerment Positive relationship between understanding between managers and employees and employee empowerment Positive relationship between competency of employees and employee empowerment. Justification of relationships: Employees having more autonomy are more empowered to make decisions. This shows that relationship between autonomy and empowerment is positive. There is a positive relation between employee empowerment and performance. With the increase in empowerment, performance of employees will increase. Creativity and empowerment has also a positive relation. If employees are more creative, they will do their work with more freedom and bring innovation to the work. Positive relation exists between self esteem and empowerment of employees. If employees are having a high level of self confidence, they will definitely make right decisions. If there is a good understanding between managers and employees, employees will feel more comfortable in doing work with them and it will effect the performance of employees in a positive way. If employees are more competent or capable enough, they will exercise empowerment and will show high level of performance. After developing a theoretical framework of above mentioned variables, we will develop hypothesis of each variable. We will then test these hypotheses to check whether these factors are the primary ones that influence employee empowerment and ultimately this leads to increased performance of employees. Autonomy Autonomy is defined as the state of independence one has to take decisions without the consent of others. Autonomy can play a major role to increase the job satisfaction of employees and they show more involvement in their work, thus creating a competitive edge for the firm. In our study we will focus at the autonomy of each individual within an organization and how it will lead to empowerment being exercised by the employees and to what extent it is effective in increasing their performance. White (1986) found that certain strategies that require high levels of control produce better results with low rather than with high autonomy. So, along with affecting people at their jobs, autonomy is also related to many variables crucial to organizational effectiveness (Brock 2003). Empowerment and autonomy are not interchangeable but rather autonomy enhances the degree of empowerment among employees. It helps in lowering the turnover rate and level of absenteeism in an organization and promotes quality work. Hypothesis: H 1: The higher the level of autonomy given to service employees, the higher the level of empowerment they would exercise. Creativity As defined by the Webster dictionary Creativity is marked by the ability or power to create to bring into existence, to invest with a new form, to produce through imaginative skill, to make or bring into existence something new. It can also be defined as the ability to use different modes of thought to generate new and dynamic ideas and solutions (Carnevale, Gainer, and Meltzer). Creative thinking involves imagining familiar things in a new light, digging below the surface to find previously undetected patterns, and finding connections among unrelated phenomena (Roger von Oech). Creativity and employee empowerment have complementary relationship. Employees should be empowered to take decisions and this leads to the opportunity of being creative. Creativity facilitates the employees to show the expressions of commitment, courage, to take decisions, more involvement in their jobs, risk taking and using their imagination for the success of the organization. Innovative employees show more productivity as compare to those who are happy in doing their boring routine work because creative people are curious, self confident, optimistic, flexible, visionary and have a good sense of humor . Creativity and empowerment are believed to result from comparable organizational factors. For example, creativity is enhanced by freedom of information and relaxation of conditioned thinking. Empowerment results from open communication and network building, access to decision making and control of resources are empowering. Providing resources and support and encouraging the solution of unstructured problems enhance creativity. Low levels of supervision, participation in goal setting, and the establishment of challenging work goals foster creativity, while participation, expanded awareness, and being attuned to organizational goals empower individuals. Hypothesis: H 2: The higher the level of creativity shown by the employees, the higher the level of empowerment they will exercise. Level of Communication between managers and employees There is an often saying that The only thing constant in the World is Change. With the advancement in technology and rapidly changing environment, the methods of communication are also changing and the organizations are expecting more productivity from its employees due to increased efficiency and effectiveness of communication process within the firm. There is a definite relationship of communication between managers and employees with empowerment. More authority the manager gives to its employees, the higher the level of performance will be shown by them. Open communication between managers and employees is essential and must be practiced in the organizations since it reduces stress and removes ambiguity. Open communication flatten your organization, reduces the hierarchal levels and decentralizes the authority which creates more empowered environment. Hence Empowerment in business means knowing how to humanize the work environment so management and employees work together to enhance productivity and achieve greater personal and professional success. HYPOTHESIS: H 3: The higher the level of communication between managers and employees, the higher the level of empowerment they would exercise. Self esteem Self esteem is defined as the opinion you have about your self or how much confident you are about yourself. Some employees may have low self esteem and some may have high self esteem. Employees with high self esteem tend to show more positive response towards their work and environment and this confidence motivates them to takes decisions on their own. Since they believe in their self, this results in more productivity or output. This effects the organization as whole and leads to success. Negative thoughts about one self can be demotivating and one can easily give up or loose hope. They start depending on others and are not able to decide on their own. In a CNN interview, Robert Wagner on Larry King 2002 was asked the following question: What is the most important thing for a person starting out on the road to success? I would tell them the most important thing is to work on your self esteem, thats the best advice I can give An empowered company begins with self-empowerment. Owners and managers cannot empower others to perform their best until they are empowered themselves. Empowered management begins by hiring leaders who possess healthy self-esteem, superior people skills, and the willingness to share expertise to bring out the best in employees. Promoting and maintaining consistently high self-esteem in managers and employees is a vital ingredient to a highly empowered workforce. High self-esteem within the company is achieved by encouraging creativity, individuality, problem solving, and an open and honest exchange of ideas among all the employees in a non-threatening environment. The opposite of an empowered workforce is one composed of negativity, low morale, and a distrust of management. An unempowered workforce is an unproductive workforce. Managers and workers have the basic need to feel they are contributing and making a difference. Employees who consistently feel enthusiastic about what they are doing, do a good job. In our study, we will be looking at the relationship of self-esteem and empowerment and how it promotes an employee to work in a decentralized organization causing employees to be empowered in many ways. Hypothesis: H 4: The high level of self esteem in employees, the higher the level of empowerment they will practice. Competency Competency means an individuals conviction or confidence in his or her ability or effectiveness in accomplishing the performance requirements of a task. To delegate the employees, the managers must provide them with the necessary knowledge, enhance their skills and try to make them feel competent. A Competent person seeks opportunities to increase personal contribution and level of responsibility; Supports and respects the individuality of others and recognizes the benefits of diversity of ideas and approaches; Delegates and empowers others to increase contribution and level of responsibility; Facilitates team goal setting and problem solving; Recognizes differences between individuals, cultures and teams and provides developmental feedback in accordance with performance management principles; Identifies competencies required and suitable resources for specific tasks; Displays personal interest in the well-being of colleagues; Able to manage own time as well as time of colleagues and other stakeholders; and Manages conflict through a participatory approach. In the different researches and studies of employee empowerment, such as one carried out by Erickson et al, revealed that employee empowerment is said to occur when the management and employers pursue goals of both personal as well as professional growth for their employees. For example the senior managers and leaders within the organizations can assist their employees in enhancing their capabilities, in turn enhancing their potential to fully utilize their capabilities. Hypothesis: H 5: The level of Empowerment will be high for those employees who have the capability or the necessary skill or knowledge to take decisions. Now that we had clarified how each of the previous variables (Autonomy, Creativity , Level of Communication between managers and employees, self-esteem and competency) affects and contributes to the adaptation of an empowerment culture, the following section is dedicated to verifying the relation between employee empowerment and the job performance concepts. Performance Simple, some people say. Performance is getting the job done. Producing the result that you aimed at, nothing else matters. There are no prizes for coming second. [reference] Performance is basically the level of output shown by an employee. The level of performance (high or low) varies from person to person. Some employees may produce good results and some may show poor performance. Managers consistently check the performance of employees to ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. There is a deep connection between employee performance and employee empowerment which is based on two things. The first main thing is the goal setting. If the employee understands his job or work well and know how it will effect the organization, he will take those decisions that will benefit the company for long-term. Second, empowerment implies accountability, along with the freedom to make decisions. It helps to create that accountability for results and the outcomes of decisions the employee makes through ongoing communication, and of course, the performance review process. Intellectual capital of a staff can be distinctive competence of a company. Firms that motivate their employees to make creative decisions and being open to experience (always ready to take risks) are more likely to achieve success. The most efficient and effective way to increase the performance of employees is to empower them as it gives authority to workers to make prospective decisions. This delegation of authority increases job satisfaction and sense of responsibility (Marshall, Talbott Bukovinsky 2006) Empowerment is the most important practice which has a greater effect on the performance of employees in an organization. Progressive Productive firms are profitable, effective, adaptive and proactive towards changing environment