The performance management culture - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 16 Words: 4780 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Culture can be described as the sum total of an organisations ways of operating and working together. It is also the shared beliefs and the written and unwritten policies and procedures that determine the ways in which the organisation and its people behave and solve problems (Idea, 2006). Culture exerts its influence in many ways, for example, through the way that people relate to each other or their openness to new initiatives. Culture also has a powerful influence on the effectiveness of any performance management system that management wish to implement. Performance management is an outcome of effective management systems. This management technique is concerned with arranging the conditions of the workplace for individual, group, unit, division, regional, and corporate success. Performance management can be applied to various aspects of any organisation and can have an affect on all the various stakeholders within an organisation It requires that systems, proc esses and structures are arranged carefully according to the laws of behavior to support the necessary direction, skills, resources, and motivation people require to conduct their work successfully, whether at the executive level or less prominent roles, in all types of industries and across all kinds of business drivers of success. These can include mergers and acquisitions, managing culture changes within an organisation, strategic initiatives turned into solid implementations, ensuring safe practices while meeting objectives and reducing waste. It is a leading indicator of performance because it drives a system or organisation toward desired future goals and provides solid management and performer steps along the way through daily behavior patterns of every department and employee within the organisation. In the area of organisational development, (OD), performance can be thought of as actual results versus desired results. Martins (2007), explains a cycle of managing issues surr ounding performance in an organisation as follows: a performance problem is any gap between desired results and actual results. Performance improvement is any effort made at closing this gap actual results and desired results. Any discrepancy, where actual is less than desired, could constitute the performance improvement zone. This Performance management and improvement cycle continues when: Performance Planning is conducted in order to establish the goals and objectives of the organisation. Performance coaching takes place when a manager intervenes in order to provide feedback and suggest possible ways of adjusting performance and performance appraisal occurs when individual performance is formally documented and feedback is delivered to the employee. Some of the direct financial benefits of performance management often include an increase in sales, a reduction in overall operation costs and a potential decrease in any project overruns that may have occurred otherwise. Other major benefits for the organisation that employs detailed performance management practices include improving management control, the alignment of all aspects of the organisation with the goals set out by the Chief Executive Officer and a decrease in the length of time it can take to implement new strategic or operational changes through improved communications networks operating within the organisation (Austin, Brethower Dickinson, 2009). An integral component of adapting performance management practices within an orgainsation is to insure that these methods are successful in motivating the existing workforce in a number of areas. These areas include: improving employee engagement as they can now see how their contribution directly affect the organisations high level goals. Professional development systems can then be better aligned to achieving business level goals and transparency is created in the achievement of the organisations goals and high confidence is placed in bonus payment s chemes (Chauvel Despres, 2002). The role of the Individual Performance Management can only be successful if individual managers truly understand how to ensure the development of skills and provide sufficient training and coaching resources so that each employee or section can be fairly measured by the success of their direct reports, not by business results only. Employee Performance Management (EPM) is a future orientated system of strategic alignment and employee objective setting with regular reviews and reporting and is distinguished from employee appraisal, as the latter does not include a goal setting process and is an open-ended management process with no feedback against clearly defined strategic goals. Performance Management is often confused with performance appraisal, the latter only forming the final part of the performance management cycle. Performance appraisal contrasts with performance management as it is a backwards looking process of performance, measuring a spects and performance of the organisation that have taken place in the past (Danielle, Weise Buckley, 1998).Performance appraisal is also focused on past performances and has proven to be less effective than an appropriately implemented EPM approach (Jeroen Deanne, 2007). The principles that are central to performance management are derived from the science of behavior analysis, also known as the psychology of learning (Van Dyk Conradie, 2007). Learning is about gathering and understanding information about what has and has not worked and applying this to bring about positive change. Learning from your own activity or from that of others are both important. For learning to be useful there needs to be a willingness to be challenged about actions and achievements. For people to engage in the process of learning they need to understand the purpose of doing so. In a culture where openness about under-performance results in apportionment of blame, people will be reluctant to engag e. Where learning is seen as an opportunity for constructive dialogue that drives improvement, people will me more likely to invest time and effort in it. When things have gone well, success should be celebrated (PMMI Project, 2006). The term performance management is often thought to refer to structures and processes of Human Resources Management, for example compensation, appraisal, selection, retention and competencies (Baptiste, 2008).These are important elements of a well-designed workplace, but most often they are systems, processes, and procedures designed without knowledge of behavior. They often suppress or overlook the ways in which motivational factors can be built into the workplace to produce accelerating performance for the correct objectives, processed in the correct way and for appropriate reasons (Douglas Morris, 2006).If an organisation can employ a suitable performance management process it can help the organisation to get the best out of every department and emp loyee under its control. Weldy (2009) argues this is done by setting out clear steps on how to improve performance that are based on principles of individual learning. A critical component of successful performance management implementation is that performers gain excellence in their own performance. This is achieved by developing strong high performance habits that can be applied across similar or different areas for effective problem solving and work habits. Whether it is learning highly technical skills in a nuclear facility or learning the foundations of good corporate social responsibility in a sports orgainsation, the goal at the individual level is to do work that is of a high standard, is efficient and effective, and to establish a real sense of pride in the work that they do (Chauvel Despres, 2002). The conditions that surround behavior, that is what people say and do that are recognised or punished over time also help to support sustained patterns or diminish such pattern s of success. How well an organisation does in applying the elements of performance management is found in the success of its employees in serving stakeholder needs, meeting their targets, producing desired impact and creating a culture of respect and commitment, with a focus on active learning, inclusion, and creating a culture where the focus is aimed at building long lasting habits of success. Monitoring overall organisational performance allows for the effective delivery of strategic and operational goals. Previous research has shown a distinct correlation with using performance management programs or systems and improved organisational results (Kennerly Nelly, 2003; Swailes, 2004; McNamara Mong, 2005). Performance management refers to a term first introduced by Dr. Aubrey C. Daniels in the late 1970s to describe a method for managing behavior and results, the two critical elements of what is known as performance. Performance can be regarded as a combination of behavior and results, and should not be viewed as independent of either component. Neely (2005) describes performance management as the ongoing process of setting goals, self-assessment, manager assessment, peer-assessment, coaching, development planning, and evaluation. Performance management is a forward looking process, taking frequent measures as work occurs and responding to small steps forward. Business Performance management is a specified set of processes that help businesses discover efficient use of their business units, financial, human and material resources. This can be contrasted to operational performance management, which focuses on creating methodical and predictable ways to improve business results, or performance, across all aspects of an organisation. A critical element of this practice is integrated business planning, which refers to the technologies, applications and processes of connecting the planning function across the enterprise to improve organisational alignment and financial performance. Project Performance Management is a sub-discipline of project management that seeks to establish measurements of project performance, such as performance of project scope, performance according to a time schedule and even performance according to a project budget. It seeks to use such measurements to inform project stakeholders, lead the project team and improve project performance. A spin off of this process is Earned Value Management, which is a technique for measuring project progress in an objective manner. Mawhinney, Redmon Johnson (2001) suggest EVM has the ability to combine measurements of scope, schedule, and cost in a single integrated system. When properly applied, EVM provides an early warning of performance problems. All of these combined processes are often placed under one single practice called customer performance management. This refers to the practice of managing the effectiveness of all the business activities and processes relat ed to the handling of customer relationships and providing a common set of financial and customer focused goals and objectives. This includes all aspects of creating and maintaining a detailed source of customer related data. A key aspect of performance management is performance measurement. Whatever the process being driven with performance management, clear and concise measures are required in order to properly define the desired goals. Most performance management systems fail to achieve the desired goals of the process owner or project sponsor because goal measurement is ambiguous, not specific enough, poorly communicated or because results cannot be measured effectively. In the case of business, the typical approach is to create smart goals, those which are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. Performance measurement is a process whereby organisations establish the parameters within which systems and practices, investments, and acquisitions are reaching the results that are required by management (OCIO, 2007). There are many types of measurements. Educational institutions use exams that are graded to establish academic abilities of students; in sports, time is clocked in split seconds to verify the athletic abilities of athletes and in sports organisations, national and international results play a large role in how they are deemed to be performing their duties at the optimum level. Similarly in teams and other organisations, there are various tools and measurements to determine how they perform (Gamble, Strickland Thompson, 2007). The daunting task of measuring performance for organisations across industries and eras, declaring the top performers, and finding the common drivers of their success did not occur to anyone until Peters and Waterman began researching and writing the ground breaking performance measurement book, In search of excellence (1982). This book challenged industrial managers actions and attitudes, and inspir ed researchers and scholars to further pursue the theory of high performance, a key to any competitive business organisation. This task becomes more complex as corporations diversify into multiple industries. Research must take this into consideration when conducting a comparative analysis of companies within the traditional and non-traditional organisational environments such as sports organisations. The traditional control-oriented performance measurement system in the industrial era is losing its relevance in todays fast changing environment where organisations are re-shaped into flat multi-functional hierarchies. Performance measurement will get tougher with globalization and increasing complexity of organisations business models, teams roles and responsibilities. The diversity of organisations is now posing a huge problem for the ways in which performance measurement practices can be facilitated. A huge variety of organizations exist today. For example, there is government, educational, financial services, manufacturing, retail, non-profit and sports organisations. Then, there are sub-industries. In the financial services sector, there are the banks, insurance, mortgage lender and exchange organisations. And in each entity, they can further be broken down into deposit, loan, and credit card investment departments. In the deposit department, there may be savings, current and fixed accounts. This can continue to break down until there is an individual that performs a task that is unique. If the bank example has 10,000 staff, it is unfeasible to have 10,000 different performance measurements. It is becoming a great challenge for all large organisations to keep track of the huge diversity of skilled professionals and ensure alignment to the organisations mission and values. The measurements of intangible and non-financial aspects of an orgainsation are another problematic issue that faces many organisations. Traditionally, accountants play a major role in measuring an organisations success. Unfortunately, annual reports do not allow managers to monitor the progress to build capabilities and acquire the intangible assets needed for future growth (Shepherd Gunter, 2006). Non-financial measurements will be required to link an organisations long term strategy with its short term actions. Unlike financial measurements which are straight-forward and certain, non-financial measurements will require more judgment and justification. Furthermore, unlike financial measurements which are governed by accounting standards and principles, non-financial measures will be more susceptible to misuse and manipulation, and will require honesty and transparency in order to be useful. Performance measurement is conceptually related to other evaluation processes. There is often a professional and conceptual divide between performance managers and evaluators, with evaluators criticizing some performance measurement approaches as being too simplistic ( Greene, 1999). In particular there is the problem of attribution which is usually not dealt with well in performance measurement systems. This relates to the previous discussion on intangible and non-financial measurement. Put in its simplest form, the mere measurement of changes in outcomes over a period of time does not establish attribution. Schaffer (2002) argues that even if an organisation takes action over the period of time in which measured outcomes improve this, will not say anything about whether such measured changes can be attributed to the actions of the organisation rather than to any other factor. The performance measurement movement can challenge evaluators over the fact that their designs often involve extensive and often costly studies which are not feasible in the vast majority of cases where performance needs to be measured quickly and cheaply for pragmatic management reasons. As with any other organisational change management program, implementing a performa nce measurement system will encounter resistance especially in large bureaucratic organisations. First of all, employees natural resistance to be measured will inevitably cause an obstacle. Self-serving managers who are experts in their field may have the freedom to choose and manipulate measures for their own benefit. Furthermore, in large global organizations, consistency in implementation across departments may be a problem if communication and coordination is not executed well (Fitzgerald Van Eijnatten, 2002). In addition, inexperienced managers may not know what they want to find out and collect data and statistics which may not be that useful. This will cause frustrations and unnecessary effort for staff at the working level to prepare additional data and reports which serve little value. Throughout the implementation of a Performance Management system, which may span from months to years, there is a need to constantly focus on the critical goals that can bring visible pro gress and enhancement. Otherwise, there is a tendency for busy employees to lose sight of the ultimate objective of performance measurement, and treat its implementation as a mere data collection exercise for management. Teams must create measures that support their mission, or they will not fully exploit their ability to perform the process faster and more responsive. In addition, to remain competitive and relevant, the measures need to be continually reviewed and revised as the environment and economy changes (Geary, Brache Jossey-Bass, 1995). Employee involvement is a critical component of any successful performance measurement system. A truly empowered team must play the lead role in designing its own measurement system as it will know best what sort of measurement it needs to align with the organisations own strategy (Greasley, Bryman, Dainty, Price, Soetanto King, 2005). This empowerment should not be limited to management level or the finance department, but be extended to every single individual in the organisation. Each individual or team must contribute and in return own the Performance Measurement system themselves. There is no value for measurements that cannot be put into a simple and clear report. Measurements must focus on the most critical items and not sacrifice quality for quantity. Too much measurement may mean that organisations end up spending too much time collecting data, monitoring their activities, and not enough time managing the project outcome. A well implemented Performance Measurement system should eventually be a tool that allows a consistent language to be used within the organisation. It should allow different individuals to trace their measurements to the management and organisations strategic vision and goals, and allow different departments to cross-reference their priorities and targets using the same language. Unlike performance appraisal and evaluation, measurement must be a forward looking process. A good Perf ormance Measurement system should also capture its relevance to the organisations vision, validate its strategies and chart new directions. It should not dwell in the past but focus on measurements that impact future deliverables. Enduring goals require more effort and many organizations prefer to focus on initiatives that promise short-term financial results even though other initiatives may have higher long-term payoffs (Fariborz, 2001). A possible reason is the increasing competitiveness and high staff turnover of many organisations. This builds a culture of short-term full time employment, where employees do not envision themselves staying on with an organisation long enough to see any long-term plans achieve there goals. One possible solution for such long-term goals which cannot be realised for many years, such as many initiates in sports organisations, is to identify meaningful output-oriented milestones that lead to achieving the long-term outcome. Performance measurement mu st not sacrifice one aspect of the orgainsation just to improve performance in another. The Performance Measurement system should cover a comprehensive range of measures and offer perspectives that provide an understanding of cause-effect relationship to rearrange resources or priorities effectively. This usually requires a balance of financial and non-financial measures. These measures agreed by the employer and employee, have to be ambitious and challenging, and at the same time, be realistic and attainable. Too little means employees fall into complacency and too much and they start to rebel or leave. This requires a careful balance and is the managers responsibility to make decisions where disagreements may arise (Booth, 2006). Before anything can be done, senior managers need to buy-in to the change management philosophy and adopt the performance-based management principles. There must be management endorsement at company wide level to ensure consistency with other existing initiatives such as cross-functional integration, customer-supplier partnership, continuous improvement, and team, rather than individual accountability. Lyons (2006) claims the focus should be on strategy and vision, and not day-to-day operational controls. Managers should dictate strategic goals, ensure that each team understands how its job fits into the strategy, and provide training so that the team can devise its own measures. He goes on to claim that ownership and accountability for performance remains with the teams, and managers should allow the teams to decide which measures will best help them perform their jobs. Managers should not make the mistake of thinking that they know what is best for the team. If they do, they have crossed the line, returned back to the command-and-control (Moffat, 2000) ways, and render their empowered teams powerless. An integral part of many performance management systems is to set various targets. Performance targeting has an important pla ce in the organizational managers toolkit. There is no reason to doubt that, when used properly, targeting can make a positive contribution to organizational performance. However, the assumption that organizations will indeed make proper use of performance targets is not always well founded. Designers of performance targeting schemes if they wish to add value to their organisations performance must bear in mind the limitations of performance targeting, and the potential of targeting schemes to cause significant and unintended perverse outcomes. Experience has shown that when targeting schemes are not carefully designed and implemented, they risk causing more harm than good (Hood, 2003). This has proven to be one of the major pitfalls when establishing performance targets. In sports organisations and many other public sector entities performance pitfalls can be viewed as of critical importance due to the special conditions related to oversight and accountability in the public as oppo sed to the private sector (Schacter, 2002). Performance targets are created in order to place attention on particular processes and outcomes relating to a given organisation and also to align the behaviour and actions of individuals to the overall goals and objectives of the organisation, along with the expectations of stakeholders. However, as is the case with virtually every scheme designed to influence human behavior, performance targeting systems are subject to the law of unintended consequences. In many cases, unintended behaviors induced by performance targets are perverse, leaving organizations and their stakeholders worse off than before the introduction of targets (Van de Walle Roberts, 2008). The most prominent example of this occurs when individuals become solely focused on thee targets that are set out for them and place less emphasis on producing quality products, services and benefits to the consumer which is ultimately the main objective of most organisations. As a result, if targets are not properly monitored and used in the most appropriate ways, they can often cause individuals to lose sight of the organisations main goals and objectives, and therefore prove to be immensely counter-productive. Performance management is most commonly applied in the traditional business setting, but can also provide significant benefit to many other institutions such as schools, churches, community meetings, health setting, governmental agencies, political settings and sports organisations (Diaz-Martin, Iglesias, Vazquez Ruiz, 2000). These principles are needed whenever organisations interact with their environments to produce desired effects. Performance management has a wide variety of applications such as employee performance, software performance and business or corporate performance (Bourne, Franco Wilkes, 2003). Performance management in sport in Ireland, and indeed in many other nations, is a relatively new phenomenon. Little research has been c arried out into examining how sporting institutions and organisations view the issue of performance management and if they use models such as The Performance Prism, Balanced Scorecard or EFQM model (Wongrassamee, Simmons and Gardinerin, 2003) in order to assist them in achieving their strategic goals and manage performance effectively. These models have been proven to be successful in the traditional business environment and given that many sporting entities have much in common with the business industry, it is imperative for research to be carried out to critically examine this issue in greater detail. Public and voluntary sports agencies share much common ground with traditional business organisations. They have members and stakeholders much like traditional businesses have customers and clients. Many belong to the world of non-profit organisations, that is organisations whose main goal is not financial returns, rather the performance of their mission (Chappelet and Bayle, 2005 ). This is why the issue of performance management is such a crucial area for such entities, perhaps even more so than organisations operating within a traditional business environment. Chappelet and Bayle (2005) comment that sport is playing an increasingly important role in a rapidly changing economic, political, cultural and social world. A new context for all levels of sport is developing around the globe, providing an extraordinary opportunity to discover and take advantage of elite level sports experience in amateur and professional contexts. One of the greatest challenges for organisations involved in the management of elite level sport is to ensure that their current and future managers have the necessary skills to lead their organisations in the twenty-first century (Chappelet and Bayle, 2005). Managers within these organisations must familiarise themselves with performance management techniques and adapt them to this unique sector of the management world. Many commen tators (Mahony and Howard, 2001; Miller, 1997) on sport as a business suggest that the managers involved in the sport industry are limited by their ability to transfer knowledge of conceptual business practices to the sports business environment. However, Chelladurai (2005) insists that sport organisations, are in desperate need of managers from within their own ranks that have the capabilities of managing the performance of their organisation and steering their strategic goals. It is for this reason that further research must be carried out in this field to extend our knowledge and understanding of performance management by organisations integral to development of sport on the Island of Ireland and across the globe. The dynamics of sport on the Island of Ireland are quite different to many other nations of similar size and demographics. One sports organisation in particular, the GAA, dominates the sporting landscape and has done for many years. The GAA is a unique organisation w hen compared with other National Governing Bodies on the Island of Ireland. The organisation has a large membership base and has generated an outstanding public image by employing various corporate social responsibility schemes that contribute to communities around the country. It remains a robust and thriving organisation, constantly preparing itself for the challenges ahead, and developing new initiatives on an annual basis in order to further develop the participation levels of its sports in Ireland. Other sports such as soccer, swimming, boxing, athletics and basketball have grown in popularity since the middle of the previous century but are still not attracting similar participation and interest levels as those of the GAA. Fahey, Layte and Gannon (2004) conducted research into participation levels for various sports on the Island of Ireland. The study was commissioned by the Irish Sports Council and undertaken by The Economic and Social Research Institute as part of a comprehe nsive programme of research designed to increase understanding of the shape and dynamics of sport in Ireland. The report, based on a national sample of over 3,000 adults interviewed in 2003, showed that participation in physical activity in Ireland is in line with international levels, with 40% of adults participating to a level recommended by the World Health Organisation. The study found that recreational walking is by far the most popular form of physical activity among Irish adults, with about 60 per cent of responders using this form of exercise on a regular basis. Apart from walking, the most popular sports that people took part in were GAA games, golf, soccer and swimming for men, and swimming and aerobics for women (Fahey, Layte Gannon, 2004). The most common reasons that responders gave for lack of participation in sport had to do with the lack of interest, willingness or time to take part. Interestingly, the lack of sports facilities or other impediments arising on the su pply side of the sports system in Ireland was not given as a major feature in their stated reasons for not participating. The provision of sports facilities serves a purpose in raising standards in sport but is unlikely to raise public participation in sport to any great degree. This is an issue that many sports organisations in Ireland seem to overlook. The 2012 Games will be considered a home Olympics for the Irish team and as a result, it will create an opportunity for Irelands athletes to excel at their respective sports. If Irelands athletes perform well at these Games it could have a lasting legacy on sporting landscape in Ireland. This in turn could facilitate national, community and individual benefits on social, economic (Haskell, 1996) and (physical and psychological) health dimensions. The performance management systems in place will be a significant factor in achieving success, and it is critical that research is carried out in order to investigate if the performance management systems in place are the most effective and efficient. In 2005, it was estimated that the value of the social aspects of sport in Ireland was euro;1.4 billion (ESRI, 2005). This figure was deemed to be a significant amount in the dynamic economic environment of modern Ireland and sport in Ireland was also deemed to be a major contributor to social capital within the country. As sport in Ireland is of a major economic, political and social significance, it is imperative that performance management practices are utilised within organisations who have a part to play in the development, delivery and structuring of the sporting landscape in Ireland. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The performance management culture" essay for you Create order

What Constitutes Evidence For Physicians - 1630 Words

What constitutes evidence for nurses? What constitutes evidence for patients? What constitutes evidence for physicians? How are they the same or different? T he movement toward evidenced based healthcare has necessitated change in practice approaches and a broader understanding of what constitutes evidence for physicians, nurses, allied health professionals and consumers. There is a significant amount of literature published regarding this practice change in all clinical areas. Not all literature is supportive of the use of evidence based medicine The original conceptualization of evidence based medicine was the integration of clinical experience with conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current research. However, there are differences in opinion regarding the value of evidence based medicine. An article written by Hermann W. 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Industrial Systems Labor Relationship

Question: Discuss about the case study Industrial Systems for Labor Relationship. Answer: The Industrial Systems Approach to Labor Relationship In our case study of McDonalds, the treatment about young teenager employees suffering in the hands of their supervisors for undue or slight mistakes on their part. We have tried to consider how the Systems Approach of Human Resources formulated by Dunlop in his industrial labor treatment context. It might help resolve the issues faced by young employees of McDonalds Squamish outlets. Firstly, we delve deep into the cause of the issue. The Environmental factors can be further classified as financial constraints which can be used to justify the other factors at play reasonably here(Setlow, Lawson and Woods 1998). McDonalds employees at higher levels of hierarchy formulate economic policies which regulate the supervisors behavior towards the overall workforce regarding payment. The directors are highly responsible and bound by the companys policy for gross payment and financial restriction meted out to the employees in general. The students working with the McDonalds outlet were profoundly influenced by the socio-economic conditions of their parents working with the local industries were organized unionized culture are omnipresent motivated them to reach out to the union. Squamish as a city consists of a population mainly working with the local saw and pulp industries with a history of organized industrial unions(Brown 2015). The availability of technology to active ly solve day to day demands of the McDonalds outlet issues played a vital role the conflict. The young teenager student employees demanded better treatment at work. But their demands for better treatment at workplace were not paid attention to. The supervisor turned down their request for proper dignity while working at the outlet. All these reasons were jointly responsible for the teenage employees to contact the central McDonalds Union to mitigate the root causes faced by them. References Brown, W. (2015). Trade unions at the workplace.Industrial Relations Journal, 46(1), pp.7-11. Setlow, V., Lawson, C. and Woods, N. (1998).Gender Differences in Susceptibility to Environmental Factors. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Margaret Atwood Essay Example

Margaret Atwood Paper What do you find interesting about the ways in which Margaret Atwood presents relationships between men and women? In The Handmaids Tale, Atwood continually streeses the importance of intimacy, tenderness and love, in its many guises. Considering Atwood is a feminist writer who creates a patriarchal dystopia, one might expect the book to have a rather an aggressive attitude towards men, but In The handmaids Tale Margaret Atwood explores the interaction between men and women, paticularly within heterosexual relationships. The most significant relationship within Offreds life is undoubtedly that with Luke, the central protagonists lover, husband and father to her child. Through the use of flashback, Atwood creates a picture of domestic happiness and the reader is led to believe that the two were very happy together. As the novel progresses, Atwood juxtaposes the present of the novel, a dystopian vision of a modern tyranny and the past, Offreds life in contemporary society. It is her role as mother and wife that offred remembers fondly, evoking mmories of her life with Luke and the loving memories they shared. We will write a custom essay sample on Margaret Atwood specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Margaret Atwood specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Margaret Atwood specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The contrast clearly emphasises both the loving domesticity in which Luke and offred lived and the loneliness of Life in Gilead where relationships are not permitted for handmaids. During the flashbacks to the past Offred evokes memories of incidents which suggest that Offred and Luke did not have an entirely equal relationship It is the relationship between offred and the commander which is explored in the most depth, as the reader is given access to lots of the dialogue between the two. It is ironic that considering the status of each of the two, we see that Offred is able o gain a lot of the power within the relationship, she even goes as far to reprimand him for trying to touch her during the ceremony and then says herself, we were on quite different terms by now. However, throughout the novel Offreds attitude towards the commander fluctuates, she thinks of him as both a peron for whom she can have affectionate feelings and a figure of authority, of whom she must be wary. The turbulent nature of their realtionship reflects the constant power battle which Atwood suggests is inherrent in heterosexual relationships within sexist cultures. This issue is explicitely raised by Moira when she tells Offred that sex is only an equal even Stephen act within homosexual relationships, this may well be a reference and avocation of the infamous feminist slogan, the personal is political. Offreds relationship with the Commander is contrasted with her relationship with Nick, who is a less powerful figure. Ofrfred develops very strong feelings for nick, at points in the novel it appears that their relationship only consists of sex. In the novel sex is equated with both freedom and power, ffred certainly derives a greater sense of self and strength and from her relationship with Nick. Even in Gilead, where life is regimented and circumscibed, Offred and Nick still find each other and risk their lives to see each other. One of thre sub themes of the novel is that no matter how hard one tries to control or restrict human relationships, people will reach out for each other, just as the women in the Red centre touched fingers. Amongst the terror, brutality and oppression which constitutes the Gileadean regime, Offreds moments of happiness, illustrated all the more poignantly by her haunting first person narrative are those with Nick. He is associated with domestic and homely situations, sitting in his bedroom or washing the car, he and Offreds hunger for each other lies testimony to the power and importance of loving heterosexual relationships. Thus Atwood illustrtes the difficulties, but affirms the power and potential happiness of relationships beween men and women. I think she suggests that political contexts permeate individual relationships, and thus there is hope for even better relations between men and women in a more equal relationship. What do you find interesting about Margaret Atwoods presentation of Gilead the society in which the novel is set? In Gilead, Margaret Atwood creates a futuristic dystopia, characterised by brutality, terror and repression. It is a hierarchical and patriarchal society based on the Old testament story of Jacob, and the quote from Genesis is the opening of the book. Gilead is a fundamental Christian state, in which a ruling elite took power via a coup detat following a terrorist massacre of a democratic government. Gileadian life is supposedly biblically based, however the reader quickly becomes aware that the bible is misquoted and manipulated, Blessed are the silent. Selective use is made of Christian values, FAITH as printed on the cushion is cherished, but HOPE and CHARITY are incongruent with Gileadian ethics and so are ignored. It is not only biblical quotes that are perverted, Gilead is full of familiar slogans, From each according to her ability, to each according to his needs. This is particularly ironic, as Gilead advocates hierarchical, patriarchal structures and the phrase is originally a surmise of Marxism, the two being entirely theoretically opposed. Many societies have manipulated religion to influence people, and Gilead ensures success by prohibiting reading and controlling the media an uneducated population being easier to control. The repetitive nature of the slogans, and the new vocabulary prayvaganza is reminiscent of modern marketing campaigns, the manipulation of profound sentiments as a use of rhetoric conveys a criticism of contemporary marketing and consumerism. This can be seen as a specific critique of American marketing which is often viewed as paicularly ruthless, especially in contrast to Canada, which is where Atwood is from. The reader is told that the regime has not spread as far as Canada, which is significant considering that Canada is a more liberal country. This may be a wider critique of American life suggesting America is full of extremes, which as Gilead proves, can be a very dangerous thing, this provides the undertones of Canadian American dialogue within the novel.

Current Economic Analysis of Virgin Atlantic Essay Example

Current Economic Analysis of Virgin Atlantic Essay Similarly, the economic issues in the industry are also mostly concerned with deregulation. The evolution of industry structure plays an important role in determining the robustness and stability of lower airfares in unregulated markets (2000). Deregulation also keeps airline fares so low as compared to that of other countries. The reason for this is because despite the failure of most entrants since deregulation, investors continue to create new airlines. There is substantial evidence that entry, particularly by low-cost, low-fare airlines, has a substantial effect in constraining fare levels in markets served by the new carriers (2000). The second reason is that some in the industry have argued that financially marginal carriers may act in ways that depress prices below competitive levels, inducing contagion in financial distress (2000). In addition, some industry participants have argued that financially distressed carriers have cut prices in an effort to raise short-term cash, depressing market prices below efficient levels and threatening the financial security of healthy carriers. Another economic concern is the fact that the airline economy of the US is in a huge upset after the September 11 attack. Some of the companies declared bankruptcy while others are still struggling to survive (2003). The contribution of the airline sector to the local and world economy is also another economic issue that should be noted. In UK, one of its contributions to the economy is its role in increasing jobs, whereas it was reported that aviation directly provided 180,000 jobs in the UK in 1998 0. 8% of total employment. 0% of these jobs were in Greater London, where the industry accounted for 2. 1% of all jobs (2002). This has increased over the years as attested by DfT. It reported that the aviation industry now directly supports around 200,000 jobs, and indirectly up to three times as many (2006). The airlines industry also greatly contribute to the GDP of the UK economy as the (2002) reported that the â€Å"total value-added (i. e. the value of its output less the cost of inputs bought in from other industries) by the UK aviation industry in 1998 was estimated to be ? 10. 2 billion in 1998 prices, quivalent to 1. 4% of GDP†. It contributes specifically by region, as it makes a direct contribution as a source of output and productivity growth in its own right (2002). The Oxford Economic Forecasting (2002) also argued that good air transport links are important to encouraging inward investment into the UK and to encouraging firms already located here to base new projects in this country. Furthermore, because it is part of the transport infrastructure, it helps make business transactions faster, creates more options, and provides a boost to the tourism of the country. We will write a custom essay sample on Current Economic Analysis of Virgin Atlantic specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Current Economic Analysis of Virgin Atlantic specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Current Economic Analysis of Virgin Atlantic specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer As transportation infrastructure theory posits, improved transport systems can boost productivity growth across the rest of the economy. The economic prosperity that UK currently experience also have some implications on the airlines industry. According to (2003), â€Å"Economic prosperity brings with it greater demand for travel. As people get wealthier, they can afford to travel further and more often†. Currently, half the population of the UK now flies at least once a year, and freight traffic at UK airports has doubled since 1990 (2003). It has been forecasted that air travel in the UK will continue to increase over the years, but (2003) warns that this is somewhat uncertain as they may be negative factors that the industry may encounter along the way. For instance, DfT forecasted that market for air travel might mature more rapidly than expected, causing the rate of growth to slow more quickly than forecast. Furthermore, other economic concerns of the industry include the possible increase of flying costs, for instance, due to rising oil prices or due to the costs of tackling global warming. CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES OF VIRGIN ATALANTIC AIRWAYS: Technological factors include head to head competition in the technological innovations in the industry. Traveling in air is a dangerous task that’s why aircraft engineers have been researching ways to improve security in airlines. Technological advances have resulted in automated cockpit procedures to make up for the human errors that usually occur (2000). Sixty eight percent of crashes are attributed to human error. This may include error during aircraft design, manufacturing, maintenance, or installation. Security breaches that result in terrorist activities can also be attributed to human error. This is the reason why technological innovations in safety are important in the airlines industry. Other technological factors include Customer Relation Management in the Internet. Online solutions alternative to dial-up are also technological factors that may determine competitiveness as an alternative mean can basically cut the cost of the company. According to (2004), a remote access solution could provide significant cost savings by allowing the engineers, who were responsible for maintaining the aircraft, to access essential information on the companys systems from wherever they were in the world, using remote web access. Fault and service assurance solutions are also technologies that airline companies mostly invest. This type of technology provides the network management team of an airline a real-time, consolidated view of the network to help ensure the availability of network-based products and services (2002). Another technological concern in airline services today is the integration of electronic flight bag solutions or EFB. EFB is an electronic display system intended primarily for cockpit/flight deck or cabin use (2003). One of its advantages is that it can display a variety of aviation data or perform basic calculations (e. . , performance data, fuel calculations, etc. ) (Aircraft Electronic Association, 2003). EFB is categorized into two classes: Class 1 and Class 2. A Class 1 EFB can be used on the ground and during flight as a source of supplemental information, while a Class 2 EFB can display flight critical pre-composed information such as charts or approach plates for navigation (2003). CURRENT SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: Attention. For airlines, the two most important issues are: the reason for travel (business or leisure); and the class of preferred travel (first, business, or economy). The Frequent Flyer survey in 1997 both business and leisure consumers listed the following ten factors driving overall airline satisfaction: on time performance (22 percent), schedule/flight accommodation (15 percent), airport check-in (15 percent), seating comfort (12 percent), gate location (9 percent), aircraft interior (7 percent), flight attendants (6 percent), food service (5 percent), post-flight service (5 percent), and frequent flyer programs (4 percent) (1998). Today, consumers are more demanding especially in terms of service quality. Fortunately, the airline industry can be considered as the pioneer of customer relationship management as they are the first sector to introduce the frequent-flyers program to increase the loyalty of customers (2002). However, the airlines of today cannot keep up with the pace of CRM. A survey of 17 major airlines around the world reveals that even the most sophisticated among them have only a basic understanding of who their most valuable customers are, or could be, which factors affect the behavior of customers, and which CRM levers are most effective in ensuring loyalty (2002). They stated that most airlines lack the systems and process to implement CRM. (2002) Stressed based on their research, that data aren’t consistently or accurately collected in any of the mediums that airports use. Furthermore, another problem for airlines is that they rarely know how much their customers spend with their competitors. (2002) Stated that building customer database is the key to CRM and should be the easiest part for airlines given that they have loyalty programs. Currently, most airlines still are building or thinking of building data warehouses to store variously sourced databases (2002). Finally, another social factor to be considered is the fact that airlines are still exposed to terrorist attacks. This has a tremendous impact on airline security and economy. This is why two of the utmost concerns of the UK Department for Transport are safety and security (2003). Fortunately, the UK airlines industry has a good record in safety, with accident rates kept low despite the rapid rise in traffic levels over the past two decades. The industry continues to follow a high standard of safety, for instance, regular inspections and maintenance of aircrafts. Safety in the UK airlines industry also improved as a proactive measure on terrorist attacks. For instance, the list of prohibited items in the aircraft cabin has been extended, carrying out secondary searches of passengers and their cabin baggage at the departure gate, requiring UK airlines to fit special intrusion-resistant flight deck doors, and establishing a capability to put covert armed police on UK aircraft where necessary (2003). Service quality is another social concern in the UK airline industry. According to (2003), standards of service are a legitimate element of competition between operators. Airline consumers are now a dynamic part of the industry as they are more empowered than ever, expecting high levels of personal attention and customer service, and more confident in making complaints (2003). CURRENT ENVIRONMENT OF VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS: In the local environment, local elections to be held on May this year could made Tony Blair’s concentration in national issues such as health and education shift into local issues such as crime, anti-social behavior and environment (). As a result, transport industries including aviation should consider this early the type of their fuels and fix emission loopholes. They must research oil suppliers that sell environment-conscious fuels and test its efficiency and compatibility with aircraft engines including preparation to possible fluctuations in present fuel costs. In fuel-related issue, the European Union resorted legal action against member countries like France, Germany and Italy of protecting their utility firms against foreign competition (). As a result, prices of fuels failed to obtain efficiencies of competitive industry making oil prices for the transport sector more costly. Local aviation firms should consider this EU action significant disincentive to their cost-effective strategies because UK, unlike the mentioned countries, fosters foreign imports making oil prices for the industry cheaper. If these countries are able to liberalize the energy sector, possible cost strategy is necessary to retain the prior upper hand. Research suggests that rural, metropolitan and London population employed, unemployed or economically inactive dispose most of their weekly budget to transportation along with food and recreation (). Since socio-cultural segment affects economic and political/ legal segments (2003), aviation industry could less be influenced by the latter outcomes despite of their ambiguity (will Blair retain position or will EU countries accept the directive) because consumers are willing to pay with little regard to price, instead, value of service. As a result, it is more strategic to focus on operations than financial structures. Another finding show that 58% of the household population has computers while 49% of which has internet connection with metropolitan areas like London posted the highest incidence (). This information is relevant to most huge firms like Virgin Atlantic Airways who heavily relies in e-business with its interactive website wherein customers can obtain flight schedules and book a flight with their fingertips. The firm through other forms of media can address the other half of the population without computers. In addition, it can also verify through additional scanning the prevalence of Internet cafe in rural areas where household ownership is relatively low.

documentary Super-Size Me

Oppinion paper on the film/ documentary Super-Size Me The movie "Supersize Me" portrayed some astonishing results on the individual performing his "experiment." It gave some definite ideas as to why the United States is currently the "fattest" country in the world. However, when one takes into account this mans dietary habits and exercise habits before beginning the experiment, and realizes that all this fattening food and lack of exercise was completely out of character for him, it seems obvious that he would gain an astonishing amount of weight.The drastic change of diet and exercise (from an almost vegan diet and strict workout routine to no work out routine and all high fat, high calorie foods) was a shock to his metabolism, his brain, his kidneys, his liver, his stomach, and I am sure a variety of other bodily organs that one couldn't even begin to imagine. One could liken it to a person who leads a very healthy active life and who has never taken an alcoholic drink in their lifetimes.Franà §ais : Un MacDonald's, un KFC et un Pizz a Hut...When someone of this caliber is persuaded to drink they immediately feel the worst effects of the alcohol, and if drinking in excess this one time may even experience alcohol poisoning. As with suddenly changing your diet to nothing but McDonald's food, the person would have to tolerance to this type of thing, and would be more at risk of getting sick and possibly even developing dependence then someone who had been eating over a lifetime.Another striking notion of this movie to me was the idea of suing a fast-food company because the food has made people sick. Fast food is not like cigarettes in the aspect that the public was unaware of the dangers from the beginning. Fast food restaurants have never claimed that their food was healthy, nor have they denied...

Outback Steak house Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Outback Steak house - Essay Example An effective employee selection method helps achieve a competitive advantage for organizations in terms of accepting only those applicants that are deemed fit, qualified and competent to perform identified responsibilities. As indicated, Outback Steakhouse further assess successful applicants though a series of tests that gauge their cognitive ability, personality and judgement (Author, date, p. 234). These tests are known as psychological testing instruments which are designed to effectively â€Å"predict job skills acquisition and job performance† (Schieltz, 2011, p. par. 5). According to Schieltz (2011), â€Å"the idea of competitive advantage essentially underlies the use of psychological tests to select employees. To achieve a competitive advantage in the marketplace, organizations and businesses need qualified employees with personalities, skills and talents that best fit the organization and its culture. To hire these types of individuals, a company must have a set o f procedures at its disposal that can accurately identify the characteristics of an individual who can ultimately contribute to the success of the organization† (Schieltz, 2011, p. par. 3). As rationalized, organizations who have successfully selected the right human resources who are perfectly fit for the responsibilities, perform better and deliver accurate results which increase the competitive advantage of the organization. The importance of fit to Outback Steakhouse is crucial since they structurally sift the potentially good applicants from a number of recruits and get the best among the screened applicants depending on the Dimensions of Performance, the responsibilities and the organization’s culture. Only those applicants who perfectly fit the qualifications with the standards are accepted to ensure that low employee turnover would be achieved. A perfect fit would ensure that human resources are utilized to the fullest