Building Deep Supplier Relationships

Toyota and Honda have been able to establish close cooperative relationships with suppliers by following six individual steps. Toyota and Honda understand how their suppliers work. They turn supplier rivalry into opportunity. The companies supervise their vendors to ensure their specific needs are met. Furthermore, they develop their suppliers technical capabilities by investing in the company, but making it back exponentially in the long run. Also, Toyota and Honda share information.However, they do this both intensively but selectively to maximize the benefits of sharing information, but keeping important information in house that they don’t want to leak. Finally, the two companies conduct joint improvement undertakings, which leads to common goals for both themselves and the suppliers. The U. S. â€Å"Big Three† automakers have not been similarly successful in building close relationships with suppliers as they have a much more adversarial relationship with their sup pliers compared to Toyota and Honda.The Big Three don’t develop a level of trust with their suppliers, which makes good relationships increasingly difficult. The Big Three are very confrontational, using technology to create bidding wars. One could say that the Big Three are â€Å"at war† with their suppliers. U. S. suppliers may still have concerns regarding some of the efforts of the Japanese manufactures. First of all, these suppliers still value the business of the Big Three, even if they are more hostile to deal with.Working with the Japanese could put the supplier’s other relationships in jeopardy. Also, the suppliers may not fully trust Honda and Toyota, which makes it difficult building closer relationships. The companies demand a lot from their suppliers. Their expectations are really high. Because of this, there is an expectation of the suppliers to perform at a very high level, one that may be hard to achieve on a consistent basis. One successful U. S . manufacturing firm has been Apple Inc.Apple has relationships with many different suppliers. These relationships are very secretive. Apple, like Honda and Toyota, demands a lot from its suppliers, and treats them well in return. Apple’s mandate for secrecy puts great pressure on its suppliers not to have any leaks in the company. Like Honda and Toyota, Apple uses rivalry as opportunity, shares information, and supervises their suppliers to make sure their products are being manufactured exactly to their specifications.

Sepsis and Barbara

This portfolio will provide evidence of my experience in an acute care setting. I will provide an appendix giving a brief summary of a patient I cared for whilst undertaking a placement in an acute setting. This portfolio of evidence will be based on a patient diagnosed with sepsis secondary to her chest infection. I will discuss extensively the aetiology, pathophysiology and clinical features of a patient presenting with sepsis treated in an acute care setting.I will explore the role of the different healthcare professionals that were involved in the care of the patient describing how they contributed to her holistic care. I will incorporate evidence base supporting the approach used by the doctors, nurses and microbiologists in the diagnosing and caring for the patient. I will equally evaluate practice using findings from contemporary research policy and practice on the care of the adult with acute care needs.I will also discuss the value of our practice in accordance with professi onal, ethical and legal frameworks that ensure the privacy of the patient’s interest and well-being. Finally, I will conclude by summarising this portfolio of evidence in relation to acute care practices and focus on identifying my future learning needs in developing myself personally and my professional practice. It is indicated by Latto (2011) that a meeting between The American College of Chest Physicians and the Society of Critical Care Medicine in 1991 brought about the use of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) to define sepsis.SIRS being manifestation of two or more of certain medical signs including, a temperature of less than 36 degrees Celsius or greater than 38 degrees Celsius, a heart rate of over 90 beats per minute, respiratory rate of over 20 breaths per minute and white blood cells count of greater than 12000 or less than 4000. Further on to recognise sepsis, a patient has to have at least two signs of SIRS as well as a documented infection. Sepsis, as defined by Matot and Sprung, (2001) â€Å"is the systemic inflammatory response to infection. In addition to this definition, Herwald and Egesten (2011) indicate that sepsis could also be defined as the existence of bacteria or other micro-organisms in the blood, hypotension or shock. Rello, Diaz and Rodriguez (2009) emphasise that there is a difference between sepsis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) as sepsis is systemic inflammatory response to  infection  while systemic inflammatory response syndrome is a tool used to simplify the diagnosis of sepsis.Sepsis occurs as a result of the body fighting infection that has spread though the body via the blood stream as defined by Sepsis Alliance UK (2012). Barbara presented with low blood pressure, a high temperature, tachycardia and an increased respiratory rate. Patients who present with sepsis can progress to severe sepsis which is defined by Marini and Wheeler (2010) as â€Å"a syndrome caused by infection and defined by the presence of vital sign abnormalities and new organ system failure caused by the ensuing inflammation and coagulation. Associated with severe sepsis, there are three integrated responses as explained by Kleinpell, R. (2003) which are; activation of inflammation, activation of coagulation, and impairment of fibrinolysis. As the body detects infection, its natural response is inflammation. â€Å"Inflammation is a response of a tissue to injury, often injury caused by invading pathogens. It is characterized by increased blood flow to the tissue causing increased temperature, redness, swelling, and pain. † Kleinpell (2003).Ball (2011) in describing the process of inflammation in the body explains that inflammation occurs due to the white blood cells releasing pro-inflammatory mediators called cytokines these are proteins, peptides, or glycoproteins which include tumour necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1 and interleukin-6, the white blood cells also releases a platelet-activating factor which is a lipid mediator that is well-known for its ability to cause platelet formation. The work of these mediators is to repair damages caused and prevent further damages from occurring.Normally, the body’s response in order to prevent damage by the release of these pro-inflammatory mediators is to release anti-inflammatory mediators which are interleukin-4 and interleukin-10 these are also cytokines which are a type of protein. In severe sepsis, there are excessive pro-inflammatory mediators which are not regulated by the anti-inflammatory mediators which results in overwhelming inflammatory reactions causing impaired tissue function and organ damage. Due to the pro-inflammatory mediators being released and unregulated by anti-inflammatory mediators, coagulation is promoted which is the clotting of blood.This happens in the capillaries which obstructs the flow of blood into the tissues causing hypoxia which then leads to the dysfunction of orga ns. Hypoxia is defined by Wiebe and Machulla (1999)  as â€Å"reduction of oxygen supply to tissue below physiological levels. † The activation of coagulation then causes fibrinolysis to be activated. Fibrinolysis is the process of breaking down of blood clots as defined by Leslie, Johnson, and, Goodwin (2011). This happens because the levels of plasminogen rapidly reduce.Plasminogen is a protein that when activated by enzymes transforms into plasmin which promotes dissolving of blood clots. Though the plasminogen levels fall rapidly, the antiplasmin levels remain normal which causes an end result of a decrement in the fibronolytic response. â€Å"The imbalance between inflammation, coagulation, and fibrinolysis that occurs in severe sepsis results in systemic inflammation, widespread coagulopathy, and microvascular thrombosis, conditions that can lead to multiple organ dysfunction†Ã‚  Kleinpell (2003)   Severe sepsis if not properly treated can then lead to septic shock.Septic shock is defined as sepsis with hypotension which is unresponsive to fluid resuscitation as well as abnormal perfusion that may include lactic acidosis, oliguria or alteration in mental status, Sepsis Alliance UK. (2012). In relation to the care that Barbara received whilst being treated for sepsis, there were different health care professionals involved throughout her stay in the hospital. An inter-professional team worked together to ensure that she was given holistic care taking into consideration the social aspect of her life, her spiritual values, her emotional and mental state of mind and full physical care.On recording Barbara’s clinical observations, we passed on our results to the doctors as Barbara was scoring a mews of seven. Guidelines on the Modified Early Warning Signs chart advices that if a patients’ scores a MEWS of four or more, the patient must be referred for urgent medical review, NHS Outer North East London Community Services (2011) The doctors immediately ordered for blood cultures to be taken. The blood cultures were used to investigate the reason why Barbara had an increased temperature as an increased temperature is a sign of infection as described by Hegner, Acello and Caldwell (2009).The blood tests and cultures taken were also to test for the serum lactate level, white blood cell count, tests to check how the liver and kidneys were functioning. The doctors then prescribed fluids to help in increasing Barbara's blood pressure. Working collaboratively to enhance the care that Barbara received, the microbiologists were involved in the diagnosis and care she received through the involvement by the doctors requesting for blood samples to be taken and investigating the reason why Barbara had an elevated temperature.By collecting a sputum sample from Barbara, the microbiologists were also involved in looking for the medication sensitive to the bacteria causing Barbara’s chest infection. The microbiologis ts also took blood for arterial blood gases test. They were very efficient in delivering the results of the blood tests showing that Barbara had an increased white blood cell count. Her serum lactate levels were 3. 4mmols/l. An increased white blood cell count along with an elevated temperature proved to the doctors that Barbara had an infection.The doctors commenced Barbara on the sepsis six bundle. The sepsis six bundle is a guideline within the Surviving Sepsis Campaign which gives information on what should be done in the first 6hrs that sepsis is diagnosed in a patient in order to aid safe recovery. The nurses ensured that from the moment Barbara was admitted, it was a duty to monitor her clinical observations. With the use of the Modified Early Warning Signs (MEWS) chart, we recorded her observations which enabled us to monitor changes in her blood pressure, respiratory rate, temperature, heart rate and oxygen saturation.This was also a way for us to assess her consciousness l evel checking to see if she was alert, responsive to voice alone, responsive to pain alone or unconscious. This enabled us to check for signs of improvement in her health or for deterioration. Our duty as nurses was to provide 24hr care to Barbara. With a blood pressure of 85/42 mmHg we ensured that Barbara got enough fluids as were prescribed by the doctors. These fluids were given intravenously to increase Barbara’s blood pressure.In a patient with sepsis, due to vasodilation as an inflammatory response to the infection, arterial circulation is ineffective therefore; intravenous fluids are required as advised by Institute for Healthcare Improvement (2011) Apart from receiving care from the nurses, we referred Barbara to the occupational therapist. The role of an occupational therapist as defined by Institute For Career Research, (2007) is to help in the development, recovery and maintaining of daily living and work skills of people with conditions that are disabling mentall y, physically, emotionally and developmentally.Institute For Career Research (2007). They ensured that on returning home, patients will have everything needed to make them comfortable. If need be, they will get their houses modified with a stair lift, a ramp or any additional equipment needed for them to make living at home easier. In relation to Barbara, the occupational therapist focused on her personal care, they assessed how easy or difficult it was for her to wash and dress herself and if she could manage cooking her food in the kitchen.This enhanced collaborative working as this enabled the nurses to be aware of what steps needed to be taken to provide optimum care to Barbara. We were informed by the occupational therapist that she would need all care in the area of her personal hygiene and assistance in most areas of her activities of daily living. With the information derived from the occupational therapist, we were able to refer Barbara to the social services to ensure that when she was fit for discharge, extra measures were taken to provide her with care in her own home.Barbara also received care from the physiotherapist. The role of the physiotherapist is to work as part of the multidisciplinary team to assess the patient and then provide treatment. Treatment would include exercise, movement, hydrotherapy, electrotherapy, massages and manipulation. A physiotherapist is also involved in providing health education this is elaborated by NHS Scotland (2002). In relation to Barbara, after we had referred her to the physiotherapy, they ensured that she received physiotherapy for her chest which was a series of claps on her chest, back and under her arms.This was very helpful to Barbara as due to her chest infection, she had a lot of mucus in her breathing passages and with treatment from the physiotherapist; she managed to cough it up. This positively enhanced the care that Barbara received as through collaborative working, the physiotherapist encouraged the loosening of mucus from her breathing passages which enabled us as nurses to acquire a sputum sample to send to the microbiologist to test for what antibiotics were suitable to treat Barbara’s chest infection.In addition to having lung cancer, Barbara also had liver and bone metastasis. With her consent, we involved the Macmillan nurses in her care. They focused on the social, emotional and practical impact cancer had on Barbara. They also gave her information on different support groups which were accessible to her and meetings where she could share her experience and listen to others experiences. Involved in the care of Barbara was the church priest.As Barbara was too ill to attend the hospital Sunday services as were her wishes, we invited a priest who could give her communion, emotional and spiritual support through her stay in the hospital. Barbara had a reduced appetite so we commenced her on a food diary in which we recorded everything that Barbara ate and how much of it she ate. After three days of commencing Barbara on the food diary, we showed it to the dietician. Barbara was quite ill and did not have the strength to take part in most of her activities of daily living including feeding herself.The dietician came to the ward to review Barbara and then prescribed ensure drinks and little cups of procal shots. These are nutrient supplements which provide protein, fat and carbohydrate in the body. All healthcare professionals worked together to enhance the quality of care that Barbara received although because Barbara had been diagnosed with sepsis, the decision of the dietician to provide Barbara with medication to boost her nutrition arguably caused deterioration in Barbara’s health.Studies show that when treating a patient with sepsis, permissive underfeeding is required to ensure that recovery is enhanced as encouraging a lot of dietary intake would cause lipogenesis which would result to excess production of carbon dioxide and res piratory overload, hyperglycaemia and over usage of energy which would lead to stress for the patient. Vincent, Carlet and Opal (2002).In supporting the doctors’ decision to prescribe intravenous fluids for fluid resuscitation on Barbara, Evidence has shown from the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (2011) under the sepsis resuscitation bundle that patients who are suspected of being in septic shock should be commenced on fluid resuscitation immediately. Guidelines on the Surviving Sepsis Campaign states that, â€Å"In the event of hypotension and/or lactate ;gt; 4mmols/L (36 mg/dL) deliver an initial minimum of 20 ml/kg of crystalloid (or colloid equivalent). † As explained by Winters and Glatter (2009), serum lactate levels are used to identify patients who have sepsis.They explain that an elevated serum lactate level is a method of forewarning of an increased mortality in patients with sepsis or septic shock. This proves that ordering for blood tests to check the serum lact ate level of Barbara was a positive step in treating Barbara by identifying the diagnosis of Barbara’s condition. Current evidence from the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (2011) indicates that analysing serum lactate levels in septic patients is not conclusive as â€Å"a number of studies have suggested that elevated lactate levels may result from cellular metabolic failure in sepsis rather than from global hypo perfusion.Elevated lactate levels can also result from decreased clearance by the liver. Although blood lactate concentration may lack precision as a measure of tissue metabolic status, elevated levels in sepsis support aggressive resuscitation. † This gives reason to why the doctors ordered for blood tests to be taken so as to measure Barbara’s serum lactate level. Through continuous input of intravenous fluids, Barbara’s blood pressure increased to 99/55 and remained stable and she was now scoring a MEWS of 3 as her respiratory rate was still elevate d at 24 breaths per minute and a heart rate of 105 beats per minute.Barbara’s temperature was still a little bit elevated at 37. 4? C but not scoring on the MEWS chart. The MEWS chart played a very important role in helping us evaluate Barbara’s health status. Although different studies show that there are pros and cons of using the MEWS system to evaluate patients’ health status. Studies show that the modified early warning scoring systems in the accident and emergency department or an acute care setting can help healthcare professionals identify patients that are at risk of deterioration.Though, concerns have been raised questioning the sensitivity of this system as a risk assessment tool in comparison with the early modified warning score (EWS). Griffiths and Kidney (2011), in their survey assessing the use of MEWS in the UK’s acute care departments found out that over 90% of respondents in the survey supported the use of the Early Warning Score in hel ping identify deterioration or improvement in patients who are admitted to the acute care departments to the use of the Modified Early Warning Score.This is evidence that supports the practice of nurses in monitoring Barbara’s condition through the use of modified early warning score. On the other hand, another study shows that many issues arose in implementing the MEWS chart in recording patients’ observation. The problems encountered with the MEWS chart include complaints of font size, size of the boxes provided to write in and due to this, some staff members have been reluctant to engage with the process making it difficult to monitor deterioration in acutely ill patients.NICE (2011) I think that the MEWS chart was very effective in helping us monitor Barbara’s condition because we were able to use the information recorded on it as a means of communication with other healthcare professionals involved in her care. In caring for Barbara, we ensured that her con fidentiality was optimised. This is a professional requirement for every nurse by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008). Through the use of a model called ‘Situation – Background – Assessment – Recommendation’ (SBAR), we ensured that communication between all health care professionals were detailed and solely on a need to know basis.This model did not only protect the confidentiality of Barbara, it also encouraged assessment skills helping to provide all information to health care professionals in a manner that makes it difficult to omit any information. In communication with other bodies involved in Barbara’s care, SBAR stood as a guideline in divulging information. Stating the situation Barbara was in, giving background information only in relation to her present condition, providing results of assessments carried that would relate to their function in the care of Barbara and finally getting the recommendation from the other body.This wa y, disclosure of information is kept to a minimum. Confidentiality is a key concept in protecting people that are vulnerable. Apart from being an ethical requirement, confidentiality also is a legal requirement. The legal principle of confidentiality lies within the Data Protection Act (1998), which simplified by Mind (2005) states that â€Å"Confidence is breached by the unauthorised use or disclosure of confidential information. † This act emphasises the principles that define confidentiality one of which includes sensitive personal data.This has to do with matters relating to a persons’ ethnicity, religious and political beliefs, physical and mental health, sexual orientation as well as criminal offences. In relation to Barbara, whenever we received a phone call from people claiming to be family members, in order to protect Barbara’s confidentiality, we never disclosed results of tests or doctors’ orders. We always gained consent from Barbara before gi ving information out to other parties involved in her care.Timing when caring for critically ill patients is a valuable commodity which makes it important to be able to identify when a patient is in need of urgent medical attention. In the course of looking after Barbara through her admission in the hospital, I realised that prioritising care was the main issue surrounding her treatment. Observing my mentor who was in charge of Barbara’s care as well as nine other patients, using the ABC technique she was able to prioritise the care that Barbara received.Ensuring that she had open Airways, Breathing with addition of oxygen therapy, Circulation through constant monitoring of her blood pressure. Prioritising of care is a skill that is essential in a care setting because if it was decided that all patients would be cared for in respect of their bed position on the ward, that would have had a negative impact on Barbara because she would not have received the urgent attention that she needed which could lead to a tragedy.Through prioritising care, my mentor was able to organise herself in caring for the other patients she was in charge of placing Barbara on the top of her list because she was in constant need of urgent care as when it was time for her intravenous fluids to be commenced because she had organised her time accurately she was able to meet up with demands placed by Barbara’s condition as well as demands of her duty to the other patients.In conclusion, this portfolio of evidence has defined the different stages of sepsis. It has explored the causes, pathophysiology and clinical manifestations. Fluid resuscitation was highlighted as the most important step to take in recognising a patient with sepsis. I described the different roles of the healthcare professionals in relation to the care that Barbara received.Using information from the surviving sepsis campaign, I explained the guidelines used in the treatment of sepsis and related it to the steps taken by the doctor to treat Barbara. I identified the key strength of my mentor in working under pressure by prioritising care. This is an area that I will need to develop myself in the course of attending placement in the future. I will research on techniques of prioritising patient care and research on the process of triage in relation to a care setting.

Experiment to determine the presence of a single nucleotide Lab Report

Experiment to determine the presence of a single nucleotide polymorphism in a gene - Lab Report Example Factors such as the recombination of genetics and the rate or mutation play a big role in determining the density of SNP (Kwak, J. 2007). The density of SNP could be predicted by the microsatellites presence. The microsatellites AT nucleotides are the potent SNP predictors of density with the repeated long tracts that can be found in areas of reduced SNP density and low content of GC nucleotides. SNP in a population is assigned the frequency of a minor allele (Shastry, B. 2002). This involves the less frequency of allele for SNP. In order to understand the occurrence of a single nucleotide polymorphism, an experiment was set to determine the presence of a single nucleotide polymorphism in a gene. The materials that were used in the experiment include: Sample 1, which was the Lambda DNA(ÃŽ »DNA) that was digested with Hindlll, Sample 2, which was a subjected DNA*PCR amplified for undigested WMIN gene, and sample 3, which was a subjected DNA * PCR amplified for the gene WMIN that was digested using Hindlll. The loading buffer was added to the provided samples. The contents of the loading buffer are a tracking dye, bromophenol blue, and glycerol that made possible for the samples to sink into the well of loading on the gel. During the experiment, the disposable gloves were worn to reduce the contamination of DNAase from the fingers. About 50 mL 0.8% w/v agarose gel was prepared. Gelred was added to agarose gel (Su MC, Y. 2008). The agarose gel was placed into the apparatus of electrophoresis, having the wells on the black end of the cathode. TBE running buffer was added to cover the gel to a level of 1-2 mm over the surface. About 4 µl quantity of samples having 100ng DNA was loaded from sample one to three inside the wells using P20 Gilson. The lid was put on, the power turned on and adjusted to about 100 v. The power was run for approximately 30 minutes up to when the blue tracker dye was about  ¾ of the gel. The power supply was turned off and the

The Business Case for Diversity Literature Review

The Business Case for Diversity - Literature review Example The different theories and approaches of diversity management have been developed to understand the concept of business diversity in a better manner. These theories and approaches have been widely appreciated and supported by academics, managers and diversity consultants. Business Diversity Defined The business case for diversity management can be better understood if it is divided in three sections (Nicholas, Sammartino & Lau, 2007): 1. The HRM Business Case for Diversity Management According to the HRM business case of diversity management, unmanaged diverse human resource only results in increasing the business costs by reducing the job satisfaction, increasing turnover and absenteeism rate and creating conflicts in team members. The sound management of diverse human resource results in creating a competitive edge for the organization. 2. The Knowledge Case for Diversity Management The knowledge case for diversity management basically takes in to account the system of information and knowledge flow. It finds ways and strategies to facilitate knowledge creation and transmission. 3. The International Business Case for Diversity Management This business case works to determine how to exploit cross cultural capabilities in favor of the organization and business success. This business case illustrates that effective management of diversity has the potential to result in positive international orientation of a firm by strengthening international networks and improving mutual business decision making. Initially the diversity management was regarded as a tool to legally safeguard an organization that it is complying with the legal requirements of equality and not discriminating against any class (Ongori & Evans, 2007). However the recent years have seen a change in the perception of diversity by managers and recruitment agencies. It has evolved to become a more proactive concept with significant bottom line advantages. Many corporation and organization are making a point to make sure that their workforce is well diversified to facilitate unique, innovative and creative ideas for problem solving which translate in better overall performance of the organization (Allen et al., 2004). A case study of Botswana emphasized the need of business diversity. The society of Botswana is multicultural with a large number of immigrants coming from all across the world. It means that the organizations operating in Botswana does not have choice but to be work force diversified. Their competitiveness, level of innovations, profits and business success are all dependent on how well it manages its diverse workforce both within and across the organizational boundaries (Barker and Hartel, 2004). The issue of business diversity is gaining more interest of the researchers and politics because of the slow shifting of trend of economies from manufacturing to services. There is a greater need in the services market to communicate and network with different organization and people which have further emphasized the need of today to manage business diversity well (Wentling and Palma-Rivas, 2000). Advantages of Business Case of Diversity The business case for diversity works to provide a competitive edge for any organization (Karsten, 2006). The question that might be raised now is

Healthcare services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Healthcare services - Essay Example One manifestation of these policies is the appointment of Patient Information Strategy Project Manager (PISPM) at the North Devon Primary Care Trust (PCT). North Devon PCT developed a strategy to involve the public and provide multiple services to enhance the understanding of patient needs within the PCT. They also aim to improve the knowledge based from the patients and general publics' opinion. PISPM post's performances have strengths and weaknesses but they also play an important role in leading this strategy. By improving North Devon Information Strategy, value will be added in developing a greater public involvement in North Devon PCT. Patient & Public Involvement Definition Patient & Public involvement and other allied terms are used to covey a variety of meanings. Public involvement refers to the involvement of individual patients, together with health professionals, in making decisions about their own health care (Florin & Dixon 2004). According to the Department of Health, patient and public involvement is not just about structures, it is a cultural change. It is about empowering patients and the public to have a role in health care society. ... Through these practices, the way to address the needs of the growing number of people with chronic conditions will now be appropriate and effective. Hennessy (2002) pointed out that involving individual encourages and empowers them. The sense of ownership improves health outcomes and patient experiences. On the other hand, the Trusts will also benefit from this involvement. It will provide a more responsive service, which meets the local needs. Involvement in NHS activities encourages staff to consider alternative ways of meeting the care needs and look at providing services from a different perspective which is that of the patients' perspective. Florin & Dixon (2004) indicated that involving the public may help ensure health policy decisions better reflect the values of the community. It will make services more responsive to the individuals and communities who uses them and that more responsive services will lead to improved health. Patient & Public Involvement Policies Policies to encourage public involvement in the NHS are not new. Previous governments have used various policies in an attempt to encourage democratic and informal decisions in the NHS. A review of policies from 1948 to 1997 showed that public involvement in the NHS decreased over this period (Harrison, Milewa and Dowswell 2002). In contrast, Klein & New (1996) reviewed the period from 1990 and concluded that there had been a moderate increase in democracy in the NHS. Since the Labor government came to power in 1997, a new raft of policies has been introduced with the stated aim of increased public or patient involvement. The NHS Plan, published in July 2000, aimed to give the

Dealing with Different Generations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dealing with Different Generations - Essay Example These two generations grew up in different social, political and technological times, which have shaped to a large extent the way they view the society, for instance generation X grew at the height of cold war, assassination of john F Kennedy, the AIDs pandemic among other events that were happening within that period. Generation Y grew in the era of increased technological advancements such as internet, mobile phones, Smart phones and laptops among other event. This paper will look at how a student from the X generation will handle a second career, a generation Y who is transitioning from a career as a paramedic. A Millennial student who is starting a bachelor of nursing career as an 18 year old and a student who has taken English as a second language entering an associate degree in nursing program. Generation X second career Generation X grew up in a time when the job security of their parents was not guaranteed, most of this generation’s parent were retrenched from their wo rk therefore this generation reduced the loyalty that their parents had towards their employees and instead they became more loyal to the teams they work with and their jobs (Wallace, Tolley-Stokes & Estep, 2011). In this generation, there is no career ladder and they change their jobs more easily depending on who gives them the best offer. When an individual from this generation decides to change a career, their characteristic as being very flexible in their careers helps them in addition to their education levels as this generation is perceived to be very educated as compared to the previous generations. Since individuals from this generation dislike institutions and rules, they are more likely to change their careers towards a work environment that does not have strict rules or bureaucracy. The kind of job environment that these individuals are likely to change to will be more likely where the employer communicates the intended objective or the goal that needs to be achieved then leave them to find and device their own ways of achieving the objective. Since this generation was not born in the era of technological advancements, they are not likely to change their career towards a more technology intensive career as they do not have enough skills in the field. Generational Y transitioning to paramedic Some of the characteristics that are inherent in members of this generation include that they are techno savvy, they like feeling appreciated, they are ambitious and are team players. In teaching student from this generation as they join a career in paramedic, a lot of mentoring should be involved since in they are new to the working environment, this is irrespective of whether the individuals are performing well in school or not. Personal attention when teaching these students will produce excellent results, as they are very responsive to the personal attention however since they work best as a team, a lot of training activities should involve team activities ( Erickson, 2008). This group of individual should be trained in a structured environment where the learning process is broken in to steps and technology intensive methods of learning should be emphasized. Millennial student as a BSN at 18 years Millenials at the age of

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Case Study Example Corporate accountants have always maintained a degree of confidentiality about companies’ finances. Confidentiality principle of accounting requires accountants not to disclose information acquired during their practise to third parties. It clearly stipulates that information acquired from professional or business relationship be kept confidential unless there is legal or professional right or duty to do so. Such information belongs to the company and should not be put into any personal use. Therefore, an accountant must take the necessary measures to mitigate any threats that might occur in the course of practising. However, each engagement and work assignment differs in threats it presents, which means that it is the work of an accountant to identify, evaluate, and deal with the threat to confidentiality. Professional competence and due care is another principle applicable to this scenario. Accounting profession keeps changing to incorporate new skills and information. It is the duty of an accountant to ensure that they keep themselves updated. They must maintain professional knowledge and skill to ensure that the clients receive competent services. Any developments in the profession or in the legal system must be included in the practise. An accountant who acts in due care is one who follows all the technical and professional standards in their practise. Objectivity is another principle applicable to the scenario that requires accountants to act independently. He should not allow undue influence from thirds parties. Corporate accountants should not allow bias in their work and should relinquish their personal interests to accommodate professional judgements. Additionally, a professional accountant must act with the highest level of integrity because of they are entrusted with preparing financial accounts of organisations. Although the principles of loyalty and confidentiality should

Staffing Plan for a Growing Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Staffing Plan for a Growing Business - Assignment Example The assembly-line employees have to take a practical test in order to prove their proficiency in their area of expertise whereas, any experienced lawyer can join the organization as contract administrator. The post will be part-time in nature because the company will not be able to afford a legal expert as a regular employee. The assembly line technicians will get paid on daily basis in order to keep the relevant costs lower in order to enhance the profitability of the company in the opening days. However, once the orders are secured, and the company will start supplying surveillance cameras to different states then, it will be in position to take traditional approach towards organizational structure and culture. In the meanwhile, it has to operate with a loosely coupled system because the future is uncertain to say the least. The volume of sales will cement the identity of the organization or it will destroy the company altogether. The post of control engineer will be permanent beca use his presence will be required at all times. The company will have to make a serious effort in order to provide the employees with healthy environment to work in, and if it cannot do so then, the workers will reserve the right to proceed with legal proceedings upon finding working conditions unsatisfactory. The company at the same time has to offer them minimum wages so that they cannot take the matter to the court as well (Fevre, Robinson, Lewis, & Jones, 2013). Larger percentage of the employees will be doing temporary work, and therefore, they will not have any right to claim healthcare benefits. However, the company has to maintain onsite emergency healthcare service in order to deal with unfortunate mishaps. The practice of staffing does not constitute a random process, but it is rather a sophisticated one indeed, because it has to establish job descriptions, job analyses, and payrolls as well. All of the abovementioned

Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321, 1987 U.S. Lexis 1056 (1987) Assignment

Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321, 1987 U.S. Lexis 1056 (1987) - Assignment Example He was informed that one of the equipment, a turntable, had been stolen in an armed robbery, so he seized it and got a search warrant to search the rest of the apartment. It was then discovered that some of the other stereo equipment had also been stolen in an armed robbery, for which the respondent was subsequently indicted. The main issue in this case is whether the initial entry into the respondent’s apartment, and the subsequent recording of the serial numbers on the stereo equipment constituted a violation of Fourth Amendment rights. This issue is a decision on whether the evidence had been seized illegally, and so should be suppressed. The issue is also, whether the exigent circumstances of the initial entry into the apartment allowed for the seizing of evidence related to a non-exigent matter; the stolen stereo equipment. Originally, the state trial court held that the evidence used in the case had been seized; therefore, they granted the respondent’s motion to suppress the said evidence. This decision was also upheld by the Court of Appeals of Arizona, who conceded that the initial entry to the respondent’s living quarters was justified by the exigent circumstances of the case. However, the subsequent obtaining of the serial numbers from the stereo equipment qualified as an additional search not covered by the initial exigent circumstances. The Arizona Supreme Court subsequently affirmed the decision. Going by a statement in Mincey v. Arizona, 437 U.S. 385 (1978) that a search not supported by a warrant must be strictly supported by the exigent circumstances following the search, the court decided to uphold the suppression of evidence. The Supreme Court reasoned that the police violated the respondent’s Fourth Amendment rights when they embarked on a search not justified by the first facts. The court also reasoned that the police’s actions were not justified by the plain view doctrine, since the officer who recorded the serial

Role of Emotional Intelligence Essay Example for Free

Role of Emotional Intelligence Essay Summary: This article discusses the correlation of a leaders Emotional Intelligence (â€Å"the ability to understand and manage moods and emotions in the self and others†) (George) and how it plays a role in how effective that manager is. The author first relates how emotions, moods and feelings play a part in how humans deal with each other on a day to day basis. Ms. George points out that positive moods and emotions can have a positive effect on how we deal with life, and on the flip side how negative moods and emotions can have the opposite effect in our social and work lives. She states that â€Å"Feelings are intimately connected to the human experience. Feelings are intricately bound up in the ways that people think, behave, and make decisions.† Many people with the inability to show emotion find life difficult as even the smallest decisions are hard to make with no gage of how others may react or â€Å"feel† about your choices. The article is not so much about how leaders behave but more so how effective that behavior is in understanding their own and others emotions and moods. The author states there are four different attributes of one’s emotional intelligence; the appraisal and expression of emotion; the use of emotion to enhance cognitive processes an decision making; knowledge about emotions; and the management of emotions. The article explores each of these attributes and how having these skills can be useful to a leader in dealing with their peers and subordinates. In all the article points to evidence that good leaders also have a higher emotional intelligence (whether they are born with it or whether they learn it). It does not state that EI is the only determining factor when comparing a good leader only that studies show that there is a correlation. Behavioral Issue: The behavioral issue is how one can use their knowledge of moods and emotions to shape the way they and others react to any given situation. Emotional intelligence in leaders can therefore bring forth the desired results of the organization that they work for. The four different attributes of EI can be used to utilize leaders and those that they lead.  Leaders with EI can use the attribute of appraisal and expression of emotion, which â€Å"ensures that people are able to effectively communicate with others to meet their needs and accomplish their goals or objectives.† A leader who uses the knowledge of emotion, will understand what determines what a person’s mood might be (such as knowing that delivering bad news will probably bring on a bad mood) and what the consequences of these moods might be (moods may linger for some time increasing negative attitudes and poor results of the sought after goal). A manager with good EI skills can help enhance â€Å"cognitive processes and decision making† skills of others. If a leader can predict or imagine what the reaction of someone else could be given two different actions will have the ability to make a decision as to which action to go with to bring out the desired result for his company. A leader who can manage his own feelings may well be able to manage or evoke desired emotions from others (getting his team motivated and excited about a new project) and this can be instrumental in meeting deadlines and the projected goals of his team. In short, emotional intelligence can be very useful to a manager who is trying to be an effective leader. Opinion: In my opinion I think the article touches on a very interesting subject. I believe the idea of emotional intelligence is integral to one being an effective manager. This article states many instances when the ability to determine and understand your own feelings, emotions and moods as well as that of others can in effect shape the mood and actions of others. â€Å"Truly effective leaders are also distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence, which includes self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill.† (Goleman, 2004) I have personally known managers who display good EI (one who seemed to know how to always motivate me to do the best job possible no matter how lowly the task) and those who are most definitely lacking in the same skills (one who would berate me in front of customers and co-workers). â€Å"Every businessperson knows a story about a highly intelligent, highly skilled executive who was promoted into a leadership position only to fail at the job. And they also know a story about someone with solid—but not extraordinary—intellectual abilities and technical skills who was promoted into a similar position and then soared†. (Goleman, 2004) I am finding that I am firm believer in the  use of EI tests prior to hiring is a solid business decision. That way, when social skills are needed for the open position, you are getting an employee that matches all of your needs not just the technical ones. Relevance to the Study of Organizational Behavior: All businesses or organizations need managers to help shape their employees attitudes and behavior to ensure their desired outcomes. Managers who possess emotional intelligence help to make this possible in the most effective way possible. This is relevant because it deals with employees and with that, employee emotions and how they will react to a manager with good emotional intelligence. Managers who can motivate, or actively manage the workforce by using EI whether natural or learned will ultimately make the company money. Although EI is not required for some types of jobs (jobs that require little to no human contact) there are still many jobs where a manager’s emotional intelligence can be utilized and can make a difference to the bottom line of the company, which is usually the desired outcome. References George, J. M. (n.d.). Emotions and Leadership: The Role of Emotional Intelligence. Goleman, D. (2004). What Makes a Leader? Retrieved from Harvard Business Review: http://hbr.org/2004/01/what-makes-a-leader

The Importance Of Recruiting Proper Employees Tourism Essay

The Importance Of Recruiting Proper Employees Tourism Essay 1. Introduction: In todays competitive hotel and resort industry in china, the delivery of consistent quality service is imperative to success. As we all know, the hotel service starts with employees. They represent the human side of the brand; they are also the personality and face of a hotel. It is often these employees who create the most compelling points of differentiation between one hotel and another. Every hotel want to recruit the proper and excellent employee, so the hotel management must anticipate changes in the hospitability industry environment to ensure that people who are recruited have the unique skills, know-how, values required by the hotels strategic business objectives and proper for the position. Efforts to recruit proper employees have evolved to meet the growing demands of the industry and expectations of guests. We can also find that many hotel companies have begun treating employee recruitment with the same level of importance they would a consumer branding campaign, portray ing emotion-based messages to potential employees the way an image marketing campaign might be used to generate interest among potential guests. Instead of the traditional recruitment effort, hotels and resorts are using different kinds of ways to recruit proper employees, such as colorful full-page ads in lifestyle magazines, witty dialogue in radio advertising and dramatic visuals on outdoor billboards to attract the best of the best. This is no doubt a large investment, but when a hotel is looking to find the highest quality people to bring their brand to life and deliver its promise on a daily basis, the investment is nothing short of critical. It is evident that if the quality of services rendered is ensured, the benefits that the hotel enterprises reap will be substantial, first and foremost, in terms of customer satisfaction and consequently in terms of an increase in customers, financial gains, prestige and reputation. 2. Importance of recruiting proper employees More and more hotels attach importance to recruit proper employees, because that recruitment is a form of economic competition, one hotel competes with each other to identify, attract and employee qualified human resources. investment in HR practices impacts on the processes of creating customer value; through the attraction, selection and retention of high quality employees, providing appropriate skills.( AgustÄ ±Ã‚ ´n Quintana-De ´niz, 2007)It means that recruitment is a key marketing tool for hotel seeking competitive edge.The way in which the recruitment process is handled affects the hotels image as an employer, in turn, its ability to attract qualified people, so the HR department in hotel must ensure that applicants do not receive misleading or inaccurate information. Failure in this task can create unrealistic expectations among candidates. In turn, this may produce job dissatisfaction, lower commitment and high turnover. Recruitment begins identifying HR requirements and ends with receiving applications. It involves determining where qualified applicants can be found and choosing a specific means of attracting potential employees to the hotel, it immediately precedes the selection process and involves attracting qualified and interested candidates from either inside or outside who have the capacity to generate a sustainable competitive advantage for the hotel and to be effective, recruitment must satisfy the needs of the candidate as well as the needs of the hotel. You have to tell candidates what you have to offer as well as finding out what they can offer you The point here, however, is that recruitment and selection practices should reflect actual expected occupational standards and overall management philosophies. It also indicates the current use of recruitment practices in Chinese hotels. More use of appropriate applicant testing schemes, site tours and probationary periods may yield considerable benefits to potential employers. Innovativ e sources and recruitment practices will ensure value-added recruits who are already oriented to the demands and opportunities of a career within the hotel industry. 3. Recruiting problems in Chinese hotel It is a common knowledge that hospitality front-line employees frequently encounter demanding and difficult customers. Although it is not a pleasant experience, Hospitality service agents are often required to be polite and smile in front of the customers. (Hyun Jeong Kim, 2008) As a long time in China, many people consider that hospitality work is perceived as a servile, it means that in peoples eyes hospitality work is dirty, low skilled, low paid and therefore as capable of attracting only the young, women or the marginal in society , but now many people change their attitude among the hospitality work, especially the staff where work in some international 5-star hotel particularly may carry with it a high status, because the 5-star hotel need high-quality staff that willing to help people and project genuine smiles, they also should have professional hospitality skill and good communication skill. The fact is that more and more 5-star hotels need high-quality employees to join them, but the proper employees are very limited. If a hotel can not recruit proper employees for different department, it will impact the quality of services and r aising the turnover rate, because the employee who is not proper for their job will be stress at work. In general, work-related stress has been shown to result in declines in the quality of employee job performance (Gilboa et al., 2008) that is costly for organizations because it contributes to expensive voluntary turnover, (Villanueva and Djurkovic, 2009). Recent research has found that employee stress in the hospitality industry is important because it can result in work- ers becoming exhausted and cynical (Kim, 2008) which can have negative effects on service delivery. It is no doubt that is not good for hotel operating and competing with other hotels. 4. Preparing for recruiting proper employees If a hotel wants to recruit proper employee, they must do some good preparing for recruitment. The development of a proactive strategy and approach needs to be supported and backed by the organizations key decision makers and should be highlighted in company documents such as the mission statement or company values declaration.(Stefan Groschl,2007) Strategic recruitment does this by linking recruiting activities to the organizations business objectives and culture. Proper planning also helps hotel operators draft strategies to cope with the ever-changing HR demand, to improve training and to enhance the quality of human resources (Noe, 2008) Before the recruitment, HR department must communicate with line managers carefully and clearly, because line managers play an important part in recruitment process, the line managers know their departments very clearly and roundly, they can identify recruitment need, so they should help HR ensure what kinds of staffs are proper. After that deter mining number and type of jobs to be filled and match HR supply with job opening. The job analysis is also very important part; the HR people must analyze the attractive and unattractive features of the job first, the HR also should collect job information include job description (such as job title, duties and circumstances responsibilities, relationships, know-how, accountability, authority, special) and job specification(such as experience, qualifications, skills, abilities knowledge, personal qualities, special requirements) .More clearly and carefully prepare for recruiting , more effectively the recruitment results will appear. Preparing also can help HR determine which recruitment method they will choose. 5. Choosing a right recruitment method for hotel After preparing for recruitment, HR must choose a recruitment method. Regardless of whether recruitment is done internally or externally, effective planning and strategizing are essential to the success of the process. The hotel needs to know that it has the right employees with the right skills in the right places at the right time. 5.1 Internal recruitment If a hotel decides to hire permanent employees, the first critical question it needs to address is whether to recruit internally or externally. Recruiting from the current employee pool can benefit the hotel in a numbers of ways. The hotel already has performance dada on employees. The qualifications of internal candidates are already well known to the employer. The chance has been afforded to observe the applicants working performance, skills and capabilities, ability to get along with others and fit with the hotel. In addition, employees feel that the hotel is trying to provide them with promotional and development opportunities in reward for their performance and loyalty. Nevertheless, managements perceptions of an employee are likely to be more accurate, thus providing a better prediction of success than information gained about external candidates. Human resources department constitute an enormous investment for most hotels and it makes economic sense to try to improve the retur n on this investment by making full use of the abilities of existing employees. Finally, current employees know the hotel, its culture, politics and customers and have already established relationships with partners and thus require less orientation and training. Consequently, they need far less formal or informal socialization time than those hired form the outside. Internal recruitment is often much faster and far less expensive than going outside of the hotel for applicants Although internal recruiting has advantages, this approach also has some disadvantages. Internal recruitment can become very political and competitive, particularly when coworkers apply for the same position. Dysfunctional conflict may result and collegiality and interpersonal relationships can be strained, they may be promoted beyond their level of competence. In addition that, those employees not selected for the position can suffer from diminished morale and performance, particularly when they feel equally or better qualified than the candidate selected. The hotel can become inbred through excessive internal recruitment. Continuing to promote from within can encourage maintaining the status quo. A hotel need to improve organizational processes should usually recruit from outside. Finally, excessive internal recruitment can cause inefficiency by creating multiple vacancies. As this promotion chain continues down the hierarchy, an initial vacancy could spur promotions for a large nu mber of people. Nearly all employees require a certain period of time to learn a new job. Even when an employee has worked in the hotel for several years, a new position requires adjusting to new responsibilities and redefining interpersonal relationships with coworkers. Internal recruiting can exacerbate this effect by creating a large number of employees having new positions. Until these employees gain the level of competence that their predecessors had and sufficiently redefine their working relationships, inefficiency will result. In this method of internal recruiting, supervisors could choose an individual whose work capabilities are well known to them. The other way most commonly used approach to internal recruitment is job posting. Internal recruitment not only has its advantages but also disadvantages. It is probably best utilized when the hotel pursues a strategy related to stability, faces few major threats from its external environment, and is concerned with maintaining the status quo relative to its operating system. When time or money is limited, internal recruitment can be beneficial, as well. 5.2 External recruitment A hotels human resources department can use various approaches to locate and attract external candidates, often looking to more than one source. To choose an approach, the HR manager must know which recruitment channel is likely to be most successful in targeting a particular labor group. An electrician, a computer specialist and a general manager will each have their own preferred recruitment channels. Not surprisingly, the advantages of external recruitment are consistent with the disadvantages of internal recruitment. External recruitment facilitates change and tends to be more useful for hotels with volatile external environments. External recruitment can allow expanding its knowledge base beyond that of its existing employees and bringing in new ideas and viewpoints; external recruits are not bound by existing ways of thinking or doing things. Outside employees are not members of existing cliques. They can bring a fresh approach to problems that have plagued the hotel. At the senior level, candidates are often recruited for their history of bringing about high-level change in other hotels. External recruiting, however, can be expensive and time-consuming. Employees from outside the hotels will often need a longer socialization period to know the hotels cultures, services, coworkers and customers, they adjustment and orientation takes longer. External recruits are also unknown entities in that hotel has no experience working with them. Although an applicant may have outstanding skills, training or experience in and may have past success in another hotel, those factors do not guarantee similar success with a new hotel or an ability to fit with a new hotels culture. Finally, external recruiting can have detrimental effects on the morale of those employees who have applied for the job internally, but have not been selected. A variety of methods can be used to recruit candidates externally, such as employee referrals, applicant-initiated recruitment, help-wanted advertisements, public employment agencies, private employment agencies, executive search firms, campus recruitin g and online recruiting. Furthermore, Web-based recruiting is not limited to external applicants but can also be used to attract current employees. For instance, job openings can be posted on an organizations intranet in order to announce opportunities for current employees to move into an e-service position.( Karen,2008)The choice of an external recruitment method depends on the circumstances surrounding the recruitment situation. 6. Interviewing Choosing a right recruiting method is not enough to recruit proper employees for a hotel; it also needs a comprehensive and impersonal interviewing. It is no doubt that interviewing is a vital selection tool to ensure the candidate whether is proper for the position. Interviewers should include HR professionals, the manager of viable candidates and upper-level manager. Interviewing applicants involves making subjective assessments of each applicants qualifications for a job. It is easy to find that more and more group interviewing are used now, group interviewing allows different interviewers to contrast and compare their interpretations of the same interview information. Consequently, this type interviewing often helps overcome many of errors that individual interviewers might make, it also can save time for the hotel and applicant, but they often involve creating a less personal atmosphere for applicants. Sometimes group interviewing may make it more difficult for interviewers to g et a sense of the applicants interpersonal style. In more recent years, however, a growing interest among strategy researchers has emphasized the importance of behavioral explanations to strategy development. ( Baker M. Ayoun, 2008)If you work in a five-star hotel, good behavior is very important for your career. The hotel management also pays more attention to that, so in recent years, behavioral interviewing has become increasingly popular, which involve determining whether an applicants anticipated behavior in a variety of situations scenarios posed in interview question with experienced applicants as well as with those who have limited professional hospitality working experience, because that interviewers will ask some situations that the candidates will face on their jobs in the future. Thus, new templates of organizing for the hotel industry seemed to evolve over time.(Pà ¤iviKarhunen,2008)Before the behavioral interviewing, the interviewers must determine the most important behavioral characteristics required for given a job , it is very important for choosing proper employees form the candidates, because these can be identified by examining the key traits displayed by high performing incumbents. The hotel management can use this interviewing to looks for the candidates problem-solving ability, interpersonal communication style, decision making ability and problem analysis ability. If interviews are structured, the interviewers should pay attention that all candidates are asked the same questions and are given the same chance to respond and explain their views, it becomes easier to compare applicant responses to identical questions. If interviews are unstructured, the questions can be flexible. The hotel can choose the style of interviews depends on what kinds of people you will recruit, if you interview a job that require creativity ability, such as marketing job, the interviewers may choose less structured or unstructured interviews. On the other hand, attitude, self-efficacy and subjective norm were related to behavioral intention of adopting IT (Terry Lam, 2007 ) It is meaningful for asking candidates to describe their behaviors or actions they have taken in specific situations, it can help HR and line managers to estimate and ensure whether he or she is proper employee for this department in hotel. It also can assist the hotel in determining the fit between the applicants and hotels culture and processes. The interviewers should also pay attention that Candidates are just as interested in making the right decision as the client; they want as much information as possible, they want to feel welcomed when they interview, and they want to know they will be properly supported if they accept the position(Karen K. Kirby,2008) 7. Testing If a hotel wants to ensure whether the employee is proper for his position, testing is very important part .The needs of the hotel and job structure include specific responsibilities, interpersonal relationships with others and so forth will determine whether any or all of the following should be assessed: technical skills, interpersonal skills, personality traits, problem-solving abilities or any other job-related performance indicators. The key variable that should influence testing is job requirements. Any testing that is not specifically job-related could be legally challenged, particularly if adverse impact can be shown. The timing of testing can depend on hotels, traditionally, testing has been conducted after the interviewing and screening process due to the expense of testing and time required scoring and evaluating test results. However, some hotels are now testing earlier in the selection process because costs involved with interviewing often exceed the costs of testing. Clearly, it makes sense for an employer to use more cost-effective screening earlier in the selection process. Perhaps the most useful types of tests are work sample and trainability. Work sample is similar as on-job testing, it involve giving the applicant a representative sample of work that would be part of the job and asking the individual to complete it. These tests are useful when the management needs employees who will be able to perform job responsibilities from the first day of employment. Trainability tests measure an applicants aptitude and ability to understand critical components of the job that the company may be willing to teach once the employee is hired. They are useful when the management needs some familiarity with the nature of the work but seeks to train the new employee in the hotels way to do right things. 8. Summary After the explain in this article, you can find out how important to recruit the proper employees for 5-star hotels, only have the high-quality staff, the assessment and expectations of hotel will keep on the high level and compete with other hotels. So before the recruitment, HR people should communicate with line managers comprehensively to identify recruitment needs. HR also need do some other preparing such as job description and job specification. After preparing for recruiting well, HR should choose the recruitment method depends on the situation, no matter choosing internal recruitment or external recruitment, the HR needs to ensure that it has the right employees with the right skills in the right places at the right time. If hotel wants to recruit proper employees, only well preparing and choosing right recruitment method is not enough, it also need a comprehensive interviewing and testing. Management should pay attention to using behavioral interviewing, because those inter viewers will ask some situations that the candidates will face on their jobs in the future, the interviewers will determine whether the candidates have the most important behavioral characteristics required for given a job. Management also can use some testing to identify whether the applicant is proper for the position. 9. Conclusion As the hotel industry is labor intensive, its products and services rely to a great degree on people, which amount to a huge proportion of overall costs. (Lin Lin, Jeou-ShyanHorng, Yi-ChenChen, Chang-YenTsai, 2010) It is also widely accepted that the quality of services offered by Hotel personnel and the resulting customer satisfaction are key to the survival and success of Hotel units. In addition, it is very important that the assessment and expectations of hotel directors regarding the quality of services extended to their customers as well as the hotel personnel available be considered and understood in order to ensure that these expectations are met at the desired level. Especially in China, hospitality industry is developing faster and faster, more and more foreigners come to china to visit or have a business trip, so Chinese hospitality industry need lots of high-quality staffs, but in fact, the hospitality professionals are very limited, so hotel management should pay attenti on to recruit proper employees that with the right skills in the right places at the right time, so HR should do some well preparing for recruitment and choose the right recruitment method. While HR and management are interviewing and testing, they should focuses on candidates behavioral interviewing to identify whether they have the most important behavioral characteristics required for given a job. All in all, hotel should try their best to ensure the employees they recruit are proper for their job, and work as the professionals. Therefore, enhancing the quality of employees is a must in the hospitality industry (Collins, 2007)

A Psychoanalytic Reading of Hedda Gabler :: Hedda Gabler Essays

A Psychoanalytic Reading of Hedda Gabler Attempting a psychoanalytic reading of a given text is a bit like attempting to understand a city by examining its sewer system: helpful, yet limited. There are several reasons for using psychoanalysis as a critical literary theory; the critic might be interested in gleaning some sort of subconscious authorial intent, approaching the text as a "cathartic documentation" (my own term) of the author's psyche; the method might be useful in judging whether characters are well-rendered, whether they are truly three-dimensional and, therefore, worth our while as readers (thus satisfying the pleasure principle); finally, in a larger sense, the psychoanalytic approach can be employed to actually tell us something about our own humanity, by examining the relative continuity (or lack thereof) of basic Freudian theories exemplified in written works over the course of centuries. If we are indeed scouring the text for what I call "cathartic documentation," we must, at the outset, look at the period in which the work was written. Pre-Freudian works, that is to say those poems, plays, short stories, and novels written before the late 19th century, are the major candidates for success with this approach. However, 20th century works, beginning with the modernist authors, pose a problem. How are we to be sure that the writer is not consciously playing with Freud's theories, perhaps even deliberately expanding and distorting them for additional effect? Herein lies the problem with Hedda Gabler: The play was written at roughly the same time that Freud was just beginning to publish his theories. The question is "who influenced whom?" Obviously Freud was taken with Ibsen's realizations of certain fundamental ideas which were to be the foundation of his (Freud's) work: repression, neurosis, paranoia, Oedipal complex, phallic symbols, and so on; all of these factors are present in Hedda Gabler. The question remains, however, whether Ibsen had caught wind of Freud's work and decided to utilize it in the play. Perhaps I am wrong, but having read A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People, both earlier works by some ten years, Hedda Gabler seems to embody Freudian concepts to so much farther an extent that the possibility of a conscious effort to create Freudian neurotic types and set them loose on one another does not seem altogether outside the realm of possibility. Whether consciously or unconsciously, however, Ibsen has created extremely well-developed characters.

We Must Support Our Troops in Iraq Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive W

We Must Support Our Troops in Iraq Most Americans haven't really changed all that much over the past three years. Going to class, work or keeping up with our own personal lives is what mostly preoccupies our daily existence. The majority of us simply don't have time to contemplate the actions currently being taken on the other side of the world. That's not to say that we haven't been inundated with news, pictures and videos of the bloodshed in Iraq. We know what goes on, but as most of us aren't directly involved in the war, our reactions to the news of the violence have, over time, become indifferent. While the news of free, democratic elections lift our hopes, daily reports of the cost, in lives and dollars, restore our pessimism. The constant shifts in outlook have created near-apathy among Americans. Most are tired of the prolonged war, and are seeking a just solution. The death toll is now at roughly 2,200, and total casualties are estimated to be well over 16,000. Many politicians have tried to capitalize on the war in Iraq in an effort to change our opinion. I don't ...

Constructivism Learning Theory Essay

Constructivism learning theory is a philosophy which enhances students’ logical and conceptual growth. The underlying concept within the constructivism learning theory is the role which experiences-or connections with the adjoining atmosphere-play in student education. The constructivism learning theory argues that people produce knowledge and form meaning based upon their experiences. Two of the key concepts within the constructivism learning theory which create the construction of an individual’s new knowledge are accommodation and assimilation. Assimilating causes an individual to incorporate new experiences into the old experiences. This causes the individual to develop new outlooks, rethink what were once misunderstandings, and evaluate what is important, ultimately altering their perceptions. Accommodation, on the other hand, is reframing the world and new experiences into the mental capacity already present. Individuals conceive a particular fashion in which the world operates. When things do not operate within that context, they must accommodate and reframing the expectations with the outcomes. Bruner’s Theory on Constructivism Bruner’s theory on constructivism encompasses the idea of learning as an active process wherein those learning are able to form new ideas based on what their current knowledge is as well as their past knowledge. A cognitive structure is defined as the mental processes which offer the learner the ability to organize experiences and derive meaning from them. These cognitive structures allow the learner to push past the given information in constructing their new concepts. The learner, often a child, will take pieces of their past knowledge and experiences and organize them to make sense of what they know, then base further concepts and solve additional problems based upon a combination of what they already processed and what they think should be processed next. The teacher resources used should be focused on that of encouragement, aiding and allowing the student to uncover the main principles on their own. Communication between the learner and teacher is the key concept. Socratic learning is suggested as the best method of communication in this theoretical framework, as it allows the  teacher to actively note any study skills the learner verbalizes, their progression, their frustrations, and form a rubric of their current learning state based on the dialogue. Seeing as this theory takes known information and expounds upon it, any teacher lesson plans, teacher worksheets, or resources should in fact be constantly building the learner’s knowledge in a spiral manner. The four major principles of Bruner’s theory on constructivism encompass 1) a predilection toward learning. The second, how a grouping of knowledge is able to be constructed to best be understood by the learner. The third is effective manners for the teacher to present said material to the learner, with the fourth and final aspect being the progression of rewards as well as punishments. Piaget’s Theory of Constructivism Jean Piaget was a philosopher from Switzerland. He was also a natural scientist that was famous for the work that he did studying cognitive development and learning theories encompassed in his view of â€Å"genetic epistemology†. At the young age of eleven he attended high school at Switzerland Latin wherein one of his short pieces was the start of his scientific career. Piaget’s theory of constructivism impacts learning curriculum because teachers have to make a curriculum plan which enhances their students’ logical and conceptual growth. Teacher must put emphasis on the significant role that experiences-or connections with the adjoining atmosphere-play in student education. For example, teachers must bear in mind the role those fundamental concepts, such as the permanence of objects, plays when it comes to establishing cognitive structures. Piaget’s theory of constructivism argues that people produce knowledge and form meaning based upon their experience s. Piaget’s theory covered learning theories, teaching methods, and education reform. Two of the key components which create the construction of an individual’s new knowledge are accommodation and assimilation. Assimilating causes an individual to incorporate new experiences into the old experiences. This causes the individual to develop new outlooks, rethink what were once misunderstandings, and evaluate what is important, ultimately altering their perceptions. Accommodation, on the other hand, is reframing the world and new experiences into the mental  capacity already present. Individuals conceive a particular fashion in which the world operates. When things do not operate within that context, they must accommodate and reframing the expectations with the outcomes. Vygotsky’s Theory on Constructivism Lev S. Vygotsky believed that culture is the principal determinant of cognitive progress. In Vgostsky’s theory on constructivism, knowledge leads to further cognitive development. The societal configuration of intelligence states that the individual growth could not be comprehended without indication to the societal and cultural context where the aforementioned evolution is entrenched mind development is continuous. Vygotsky focuses on the actual mechanism of the development. He excludes discernible stages of development as theories and assumptions. Vygotsky’s theory on constructivism does not adhere to the idea that a single abstract principle is able to explain cognitive development. As a substitute to Piaget’s constructivism, he argues that knowledge is internalization of social activity. Mediation refers to people intentionally interject items between their environment and themselves, so that they are able to modify it and gain specific benefits. Mediation is the key propoent of Vygotsky’s theory of constructivism. His theory offers a harmonizing viewpoint to the behaviorist view. Vygotsky’s theory of constructivism supports that the use of mediators helps the human to alter their environment, and this is her way of interacting with the nature. Vygotsky’s theory of constructivism also supports that the use of activity mediators provides a way in which people are able to interact with the nature. Mediation is also defined as the use of certain tools within socially organized activity. There were two phenomena which encompasses the mediated relationship of individuals to their environment. These are 1) Humans use language and physical signs to change social relations into psychological functions between their minds and their environment. The second thing was that higher intellectual progression will actually use symbolic mediation. Apart from learning theories, Piaget’s theory of constructivism addresses how learning actually occurs, not focusing on what influences learning. The role  of teachers is very important. Instead of giving a lecture the teachers in this theory function as facilitators whose role is to aid the student when it comes to their own understanding. This takes away focus from the teacher and lecture and puts it upon the student and their learning. The resources and lesson plans that must be initiated for this learning theory take a very different approach toward traditional learning as well. Instead of telling, the teacher must begin asking. Instead of answering questions that only align with their curriculum, the facilitator in this case must make it so that the student comes to the conclusions on their own instead of being told. Also, teachers are continually in conversation with the students, creating the learning experience that is open to new directions depending upon the needs of the student as the learning progresses. Teachers following Piaget’s theory of constructivism must challenge the student by making them effective critical thinkers and not being merely a â€Å"teacher† but also a mentor, a consultant, and a coach. Some strategies for teacher include having students working together and aiding to answer one another’s questions. Another strategy includes designating one student as the â€Å"expert† on a subject and having them teach the class. Finally, allowing students to work in groups or pairs and research controversial topics which they must then present to the class. Jonassen (1994) proposed that there are eight characteristics that differentiate constructivist learning environments: 1. Constructivist learning environments provide multiple representations of reality. 2. Multiple representations avoid oversimplification and represent the complexity of the real world. 3. Constructivist learning environments emphasize knowledge construction inserted of knowledge reproduction. 4. Constructivist learning environments emphasize authentic tasks in a meaningful context rather than abstract instruction out of context. 5. Constructivist learning environments provide learning environments such as real-world settings or case-based learning instead of predetermined sequences of instruction. 6. Constructivist learning environments encourage thoughtful reflection on experience. 7. Constructivist learning environments†enable context- and content- dependent knowledge construction.† 8. Constructivist learning environments support  Ã¢â‚¬Å"collaborative construction of knowledge through social negotiation, not competition among learners for recognition.† Jonassen’s eight characteristics would be supported by both social and cognitive constructivists. There is, however, a difference in the emphasis these two strands on constructivism place on each of those characteristics.

Case on TQM Essay

ABSTRACT: Using case study methodology, the authors asked quality managers about their company’s experience with ISO 9000:1994 and total quality management (TQM) implementation. The results show that initially the standard could help some companies reorganize their procedures and define responsibilities and duties. However, managers’ perspectives on its possible effect on company performance are not positive. Only product quality improves after implementation. On the contrary, TQM has improved many aspects of performance, the most influential aspects being those â€Å"soft† dimensions of leadership and human resource management. These aspects were not included in ISO 9000:1994. After analyzing ISO 9000 as a first step toward the TQM implementation, as much of the literature advises, the authors’ findings suggest that managers consider it to be a disturbing element when implemented jointly with TQM. Their study points out that, in practice, there are two parallel quality systems in a company. To get better results, it is important to adapt ISO requirements to facilitate TQM implementation; otherwise, the only advantage of the registration is the â€Å"permission† to selling the market. INTRODUCTION: Over the last decade, ISO 9000 certification has been the subject of many articles. The phenomenon of its quick development led to a belief that it was a great advantage for a company to attain registration. In keeping with this, many researchers tried to identify the impact of ISO 9000 certification on companies’ results and management. An important group of researchers has not found any strong positive relationship between certification and results. However, there is another group of articles that points out an influence of registration on product quality. Apart from any influence derived from implementation, some authors advocated that certification could be a good first step toward a total quality management (TQM) system, raising awareness of quality among workers and a good climate in which to implement it. Regarding this point, implementation of the standard was advised with the aim of implementing TQM in order to obtain maximum benefits from the registration (Brecka, 1994; Meegan and Taylor 1997; Huarng, Horng, and Chen 1999; Hughes, Williams, and Ryall 2000; Sun 2000; Gotzamani and Tsiotras 2002). The question is: Do companies really implement ISO certification with this aim? Is the accepted wisdom that ISO certification could â€Å"help† companies attain a TQM system true? Which aspects of ISO do that? The purpose of this research is to empirically evaluate the real contribution of ISO 9000 toward TQM implementation. METHODOLOGY: Case study methodology is best when the objective is to build theory in preliminary phases of a research study or to add new perspectives to previous research (Yin 1994). Part of this research can be considered as preliminary, because there is still little evidence on how the ISO 9000 and TQM act jointly in management. The objective of the case study is not the statistical generalization, but the analytical one. This methodology tries to generalize from case to theory; it does not attempt to extrapolate facts from sample to population. Relating to the number of cases, the lower number will allow the researcher to obtain more information (Voss, Tsikriktsis, and Frohlich 2002). However, a multiple case study increases reliability and external validity. †¢ Predict similar results (literal replication) †¢ Get different results due to predictable reasons The authors chose a multiple case study instead of a single one to increase external validity and reliability. Fourteen companies among the biggest manufacturing companies in Spain were selected for the study. The cases were selected with the condition of being certified at least by the ISO 9000:1994. Three of them were applying TQM and two were recently certified by the new version of ISO 9000:2000. The case study protocol included two questionnaires in order to apply triangulation. One of them was used in the interview with the quality manager. The other questionnaire was to be completed by other managers not associated with the quality area. The authors took into consideration other documents supplied by the company and direct observation through plant visits. Table 1 shows the companies participating in the study and their characteristics. Later in this article, the authors assign a number for each company in order to safeguard confidentiality of responses. The criteria used to select companies were mainly: †¢ Homogeneity of external factors: The authors focused on manufacturing companies since ISO 9000 was initially designed for industrial companies. RESULTS: Effects of TQM on Company Performance: First the authors classified companies according to the degree of implementation of a total quality system. They identified three companies with high levels and experience in TQM the remaining companies had a low degree of TQM implementation. This classification was based on information about TQM dimensions such as customer orientation, work teams for continual improvement, consciousness about quality, quality planning, and so on. Managers of the three TQM companies were asked about the perceived performance improvements as a result of TQM implementation. The three managers agreed that TQM implementation had benefited the company in many ways. Then the authors asked them to position the improvements in a set of performance measurements, explaining why the TQM system had improved every measure. Measurements were obtained from a literature review that relates quality management and performance. The richness of the case study is that the manager is able to explain at the moment of completing the questionnaire the â€Å"why† of each rate and to add evidence to the question. Table 2 shows the results along with some notes from managers. The last column shows the value of the influence on each measure based on the majority of responses (1-2=low, 3=medium, 4-5=high). In the cases where companies’ responses are very different (one of each) there is not enough evidence to affirm that TQM influences that point. According to these managers’ perceptions, TQM influences product quality, customer service, fast response, competitiveness, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and motivation, rate of defects, and stock price. Regarding the customers’ claims, it is important to note that two managers indicated that this point had not improved because customers today are more demanding than before. A similar explanation is valid for warranty costs. One company also pointed out that these costs often come from a wrong use of the product and not from its quality. Exports and innovations were not tested because of the particular characteristics of the companies interviewed Financial measures were difficult to mark. Managers agreed that they would need more information to position themselves, although they perceived that the market in general values the fact that the company has implemented a TQM system and consequently, the stock price rises. After completing the questionnaire, managers were asked to indicate the elements of TQM that are â€Å"more responsible† for company improvements. Following are their responses †¢ Company 1: â€Å"The most important aspect is that everybody in the company, including the cleaning service, the doorman, and the accountant, is conscious and worried about quality. Before, the only people interested in quality were the quality department staff.† †¢ Company 4: â€Å"Personnel motivation and participation. If you get this, then the complete system works.† †¢ Company 12: â€Å"First, the general belief of the importance of quality. Second, the decision to be real leaders. Managers and staff move together towards the same aim.â⠂¬  Effects of ISO 9000 on Company Performance: Quality managers were also asked about the influence that ISO 9000:1994 registration has had on the same aspects of company results that were considered for TQM. They were asked to give a score from 1 to 5 (1=no influence, 5=very strong influence). The global influence that ISO 9000:1994 has had over each variable, evaluated according to the majority of responses, is presented in the final column of Table 3. As can be seen, the only aspect that clearly improved from the date of certification was product quality. One manager said this was because they had to create procedures and reduce variability in the production process because of ISO implementation. All of them agreed that the product was the same as before certification. The only difference was that after ISO implementation it was more controlled. The defect rate had consequently decreased as well. The effect on both customer satisfaction and competitiveness was medium. It is worth explaining that when the quality manager considered that certification could improved these variables, he always explained that â€Å"customer satisfaction† was derived from the accomplishment of a previous requirement from him: to attain certification. Some other managers pointed out that this satisfaction could be due to improvement in claims management. When ISO 9000 was first created, being a certified company was a competitive advantage. Today this advantage has disappeared and it has become a requirement to compete in the market. The effect on customer service was also medium. In this sense, ISO 9000 certification has been useful to organize the claims management system. Each claim must be registered and evaluated. There must exist a procedure to solve claims. Regarding the employees, the ISO 9000 system improved their productivity and their interest in quality problems. Improvement in productivity is again explained by better procedures and work instructions. However, many managers have confessed that employee satisfaction worsened because of the bureaucracy of the system. The documentation needed to sustain the system increased their workload. The remaining variables are not considered to have any impact on results. Note that the financial measures were not influenced by the implementation of the standard. When managers were asked about the main advantages and disadvantages of certification, they agreed that certification is helpful to organize the production system through procedures and work instructions. The paperwork generated was identified as the most negative consequence. After asking if certification was profitable, the majority answered that â€Å"it had to be,† pointing out that nowadays it is a basic requirement. â€Å"If we did not have it, we couldn’t sell,† they affirmed. ISO 9000 and TQM: If data on the companies that had implemented TQM are analyzed, it can be seen that certification had less impact on nearly all results. The first company shows higher marks in some variables. This company was the only one that started the quality journey by implementing ISO 9000 first and then TQM. It would explain the fact that the ISO standard could help managers organize the production process when quality management was at an initial stage. In fact, the manager of this company stated that formalization was useful for learning and for having criteria for future comparisons. The other two managers of companies applying TQM did not find any impact, although they suggested that the certification could help in some cases when companies had problems regarding process management. Finally, as an interesting note, one of the managers was worried about the new version of the standard, ISO 9000:2000. As explained before, managers try to establish minimal requirements in the quality manual to avoid what they believe as disturbances in their normal work. In his opinion, the new version represents a higher level of a quality system, is more demanding, and tries to incorporate some points more in line with the TQM system. It would mean that the auditor should have access to new fields in his or her company, and they would have to allow him or her to interrupt many aspects of the process. It could mean that the company worked less well than before. CONCLUSION: The authors asked quality managers of 14 companies about their experience with both ISO 9000:1994 implementation and TQM. Only three of the 14 companies had implemented TQM. Those companies have had improvements in performance as a result. These were mainly in product quality, customer and employee satisfaction, and competitiveness. When asked about the most important dimensions of TQM for getting these better results, managers agreed on leadership and employee participation. Regarding ISO 9000, the results show that the only clear improvement is in product quality. Managers agree that certification was useful in the initial stages of quality system implementation, mainly because they improved their production process through the development of work procedures, creating an atmosphere in which quality played an important role and defining responsibilities and duties. Initially, ISO 9000 certification was a competitive tool because it was still a novelty. However, today, certification is no longer a competitive advantage, but a prerequisite to play in the market. The authors have detected that companies that are applying TQM have fewer improvements in performance when ISO 9000 was implemented than the others. One of them presents slightly higher values, and, by coincidence, it is the only one that was ISO 9000 registered before implementing TQM. This could give the impression that the standard could be a good first step toward TQM implementation n. However, a more in-depth interview with managers changed the authors’ point of view. The managers point out that the ISO standard can be an obstacle when implemented jointly with a TQM system, interfering in the normal operation of the business and allowing the auditor to â€Å"inspect† too many aspects of the quality system and slowing it down. The solution to this problem provided by some of the Spanish managers interviewed was to completely separate implementation of a TQM system from the ISO 9000 system. Within other business culture contexts, the solution could well be different. Those companies that decided to apply the ISO regulation more strictly introduced all those aspects related to GCT in the manual. Then, the auditor will have a more important role and his or her understanding of what TQM is will be more important in these cases. Therefore, the effect of ISO 9001:2000 on company results will also depend on two factors: 1) the managers’ fulfilment of norms, and 2) the auditors’ understanding of TQM. Differences among countries due to different management cultures will then be a cause of differences in ISO 9001 effects and an interesting topic of analysis. The new version of the standard is closer to a TQM system. In particular, it tries to improve human resource management, customer focus, and leadership. According to managers, and supported by the conclusions of previous authors, the â€Å"soft† variables of TQM are responsible for the improvement in results derived from TQM implementation. It is an opportunity for companies to achieve better performance by applying the new version adequately. This new standard could also be a good first step toward a TQM system. Further research in this sense would be interesting to help managers attain more benefits from certification.