Evaluate Porter's concept of the 'diamond' as a tool for analysing the Essay

Evaluate Porter's concept of the 'diamond' as a tool for analysing the competitive advantage of nations, assessing its the - Essay Example Nations have competed for resources or to establish their supremacy over others. Historical evidence for this can be traced to the age old rivalry of England and Scotland to the present day rivalry between USA and the Soviet Union in the cold war. However in the present context nations are fighting over the aspect of economic power which is the backbone for success to a nation. An economic might implies a strong nation with enough resources to sustain its population or to maintain a strong military power. The case of United States of America is a classic example in this regard. The nation has the unique status of being the sole economic and military superpower of the world. There have been numerous theories to suggest as to what may be the possible reasons for such supremacy. It has been widely stated that the prosperity of a nation is built and generated over a period of time rather than being acquired. Michel Porter (1990) also stated that the prosperity and success of a nation is not created by virtue of its physical resources which are a far critique from the laws of economics. Alternatively it has been argued that the competitive advantage and prosperity of a nation in the modern world depends on the ability of the nation to constantly develop and create new ideas which are distinct from the others (Porter, 1990, p.73). The case of Japan is a classic example in this regard, as it has emerged as one of the world’s mort prosperous and successful nations without having access to key resources. A deeper analysis into the success story of Japan reveals the innovativeness of its business organizations to deliver more value to the products. This value results in creating economic value and goodwill. Numerous examples of innovation can be traced to the nation including success story of organizations like Honda, Toyota and Sony which have created a competitive advantage and have carved a niche for themselves as well as the nation of their origin. Innovativen ess of the nation is also reflected from the fact that successful management techniques like Kaizen which have become the standards for present day business organizations (Ankli, n.d., p.233). The present study would analyse the competitive advantage of China in its pursuit of being and economic and military superpower. The choice of the nation assumes significance considering the fact that it is the fastest growing economy of the world. The growth of this nation has largely been attributed to the skill set of its large labour force which offers a supply of cheap labour. The nation has emerged as a hub for manufacturing with almost every major organization having its manufacturing facility in the nation. Another important aspect apart from the labour force is that of government policies. The liberalisation policy of the nation along with the unique application of the aspect of Special Economic Zones has transformed the nation into the fastest growing economy of the world having an a nnual GDP growth of approximately 8.7 percent as of 2009 which is being valued at approximately 4.814 trillion US dollars as of 2009 (US Department of State, 2010). The following sections would try to analyse the competitiveness of the nation on the basis of the Diamond model proposed by Porter as well as a comparative analysis with other

Why was America taken by surprise on 11 September 2001 Essay

Why was America taken by surprise on 11 September 2001 - Essay Example On the morning of September 11, 2001 four commercial planes were hijacked by terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda, an Islamic extremist group. The number of terrorists was expected to be around 19 that carried suicide attacks in three different places. The first two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the third destructed a part of the Pentagon while the fourth crashed in a field of Pennsylvania. This was a massive and atrocious attack on the land of America causing immense collateral damage.2 Who would have expected the day when America crippled into the depths of shock and horror with strong defensive shields mentioned above. A major chunk of the American economy flourishing in the WTC was deflated. The Pentagon that is the central decision making body of the country was so vulnerable and the trans-border security on the airports was so weak that no one could keep a check on any unusual activities. All of these loopholes resulted in the death of more than 3000 civilians3 on 9/11. When the episode of 9/11 is dug deep, one comes across a lot of questions. For instance, why did a non-state actor attack America? How did it get the capability to penetrate inside the country? Was there an insider involved? Does it prove the failure of President George W. Bush’s administration or was it another excuse to wage war like the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941? All of these questions have affected the lives of Americans itself. Right after the country was attacked, President George W. Bush declared war on terror and put forward a proposal of â€Å"either you are with us or them (terrorists)† before the world making states choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. President Bush invested heavily to wage the war against Osama Bin Laden, the culprit responsible for planning and executing the attacks. He started off with bombarding Afghanistan in 2001 which hasn’t stopped yet even after a decade. The attacks had

Impact of Employee Remuneration on Productivity

Impact of Employee Remuneration on Productivity CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Introduction The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the need for and impact of employee remuneration on organizational productivity. The study will focus on relationship between motivational techniques and employee performance. To examine the relationship between the level of job satisfaction of employee performance. It will also investigate the relationship between remuneration and employee performance. And the evaluation and development of reward process, which in turn can lead to improved profitability in an organization. If it is accepted that organizations assets are its work force, it is imperative that they ensure that they are fully motivated. This is because if the workers perceive that they are poorly remunerated, their performance is likely to drop and this will have negative effects on the organization. It is important to note that there are several theories of motivation proposed by various researchers including Abraham Maslow, Alderfers ERG Theory, Herzbergs two-factor Theory, Equity Theory, Expectancy Theory, McClellands Theory, Goal Setting Theory, McGregors theory X and Y, Ouchis Theory Z etc. (Sarin, 2009; 237). These theories have led to the development of various tools of motivation used by organizations to stimulate the interest of their employees. This research will examine the some of these motivation theories and apply them to measure their actual effectiveness on employee performance as well as organizational productivity. Managing requires the creation and maintaining of an environment for the performance of individual working together in groups towards the accomplishment of a common objectives/ goals. A manager cannot do his job without knowing what his people want. To emphasize the importance of knowing and taking advantages of motivating factors particularly job satisfaction is the concern of the managers. Their job is not to attempt to manipulate people but rather to recognize the motivating factors in designing an environment for performance. The basic element of human behaviour is one kind of activity, physical or mental. We can look at human behaviour as a series of activities, the question that arises, include to what extent can the activities of human being be undertaken in any point in time that is people do things that lead them to accomplish something, but individual goals can be elusive, sometimes people know exactly why they do things. Management task is to get things done through other people due to global economic recession which is affecting Nigeria economy, employee are no longer safe due to unnecessary retrenchment, layoff , payoff compulsory leave etc, employee do not want to put in order to encourage active participation from employee for the attainment of organizational goal, there should be job satisfaction. The word Employee Remuneration to most people refers to money and usually money in addition to wages and salaries. However, job satisfaction according to Lawal (1992, pg56) is the favourableness with which employee view their work. Stephen P.etal (2009), define job satisfaction as a persons general attitude towards her job. It is obtained when there is a proffer fit between job characteristics and wants of employees, in fact Employee Remuneration is an organizational set up as an embodiment of many factors, Employee Remuneration has a cause effect phenomenon, one area that brings about job satisfaction is the motivation of the workers. The factors identified by management to be responsible for Employee Remuneration of workers on the jobs are:- Good Remuneration Job Enrichment Job Content Job Rotation Conducive job environment Positive Criticism Participating in all level of decision process Equity share in the organization. Recognition for contribution made in the organization. Since evaluation of management, professional managers and the writers on management have made a variety of assumptions about what would make the individual employee (that is the worker) to be satisfied, for example, the traditional theory of organization that a system of reward and punishment should be used to elicit the desire behaviour. This is implemented through compensation package based on productivity of an employee e.g. Taylor differentiate system based on the necessity not out of love of money. Therefore, this assumption naturally lead to the conclusion that was an important factor that satisfied the workers on the job. In late 80s, managers started to witness frequent encounter with workers who appeared to be suspicious of management and also are unimpressed by money, unconcerned about productivity and self-centred. Then recognition of for workers become a major challenge to management in view of the fact that a simple solution to the problem did not exist. From the above it therefore implies that for organization to increase employee performance, managers need to be much more sophisticated in understanding of employees behaviour in an organisation. The understanding will provide basic ingredient for the designing and incorporating. Employee remuneration strategies into the policy and objective of the organisation on the total neglect is capable of having a great adverse effect on the organisational objective specially on the long run. Employee resentment of the scientific management system led to the modification of job design and to maintain employee enthusiasm and productivity, job enrichment became HR managers approach to motivation. Employees desire jobs that are challenging, autonomous and will require their intellects. Job enrichment makes provision to fulfil this desire as it involves an increase in the level of responsibility for planning and co-coordinating tasks (Stevenson, 2002; 310 cited in Maxwell et al, 2008; 436). According to Kreitner and Kinicki (2001) cited also in Maxwell et al (2008; 436) the theory of job enrichment is a practical application of Herzbergs hygiene theory, which postulates that employees are motivated when there is an increase in job satisfaction (Maxwell et al, 2008; 436). 1.1 Background to the study In Nigeria, there is a complete dearth of studies that looked into this effective management tool in organisations. Therefore, this study will carry out primary research amongst employees in a Nigerian banking sector. It is important to find out whether labour performance can be improved through remuneration which can be in term of financial and non-financial remuneration/reward in the Nigerian working environment. Hence, the research into reward and motivation has become necessary in order to alert Nigerian employers on the need for adequate motivation, both financial and non-financial to ensure commensurate employee performance. Motivation commences with a need, vision, dream, or desire to achieve what seems impossible. Employers desire their employees to have a can-do attitude to everything. In their opinion, this attitude assures an increase in productivity (Maxwell et al, 2008; 432). In todays increasingly changing world, both employee and employers are trying to find ways to make jobs more meaningful and satisfying. One of the ways to do this is to redesign jobs to better meet new requirements. The re-engineering of jobs has been a significant labor market occurrence over the last 20 years. The design of jobs as it relates to employee participation, flexible working and employee/group independence has experienced extensive changes. These changes include the use of several recent HR practices e.g. employee involvement programs such as quality circles, more use of job rotation and flexibility, job enrichment, job enlargement, and more work-team self-management (Maxwell et al, 2008; 432-433). Redesigning ha s several characteristics of which job enrichment is one. The study of job redesign reveals how various classes of workers vary from one to another in form of what they need. According to Kreitner and Kinicki (2001) cited in Maxwell et al (2008; 433), job design or redesign is any set of activities involving the alteration of specific jobs or interdependent systems of jobs with the intent of improving the quality of employee job experience and their on-the-job productivity. Employee resentment of the scientific management system led to the modification of job design and to maintain employee enthusiasm and productivity, job enrichment became HR managers approach to motivation. Employees desire jobs that are challenging, autonomous and will require their intellects. Job enrichment makes provision to fulfil this desire as it involves an increase in the level of responsibility for planning and co-ordinating tasks (Stevenson, 2002; 310 cited in Maxwell et al, 2008; 436). According to Kreitner and Kinicki (2001) cited also in Maxwell et al (2008; 436) the theory of job enrichment is a practical application of Herzbergs hygiene theory, which postulates that employees are motivated when there is an increase in job satisfaction (Maxwell et al, 2008; 436). The purpose of this research is highlighting the impact of employee remuneration on organisational productivity. It is aimed at identifying those attitudes of the management of the company towards its employees that will enable the company to achieve its corporate goals. This study is necessary as lack of adequate information can hinder organisations from achieving set goals, which usually amongst many others is profit maximisation. 1.2 Aims and Objectives The main aim of this study is to know the importance of employees remuneration to the job satisfaction of the workforce, and theoretically it is to identify the various motivational incentive and summarise the various view of managers on the impact of these incentives on employee. Also this study aims to evaluate Access bank plc success vis-a-vis rewarding their staffs. Objectives The objective of this study is to examine, The Impact that Employee Remuneration has on organisational Productivity in the this, the researcher will attempt to examine the following:- To examine the relationship between motivational techniques and employee performance. To examine the relationship between level of job satisfaction of employee performance. To examine the relationship between employee remuneration and employee performance The evaluation and development of reward process. The link between employee remuneration and job satisfaction 1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Human being as individual has a unique characteristic which is distinct from others, therefore in an organisation that has over one thousand workers, it means there would be different kind of characteristics. Employee remuneration as a psychology concept calls for a thorough understanding of employees need which will enable the management to blend them with the corporate need in order to have an equitable mix that will enhance the realisation of the overall objectives of the overall objectives of the organisation and employee. On a closer look at most organisation, the essential intrinsic factors have not been properly addressed by contemporary organisation, no wonder we have high rate of incessant strike witnessed by these organisations over the year. The problem therefore is how to maintain an equitable compensation package of fulfilling the aspiration of both the employee and employers in such a way that an equilibrium social interaction will be maintained. It is therefore important for the organisation to realize the provision of intrinsic factor that satisfy the need urges, want and aspiration of workers would have a long run effect on the profitability base of the organisation which are fundamental criteria for the measurement of Employees Remuneration. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction In this chapter, the researcher proposes to critically consider a number of theories of motivation that are relevant to the study. In addition, the researcher will examine the impact of employee remuneration, and the relationship between job enrichment and employee performance. To examine the relationship between motivational techniques and employee performance. To examine the relationship between level of job satisfaction of employee performance. To examine the relationship between employee remuneration and employee performance The evaluation and development of reward process. The link between employee remuneration and job satisfaction 2.1 Motivation Theories Motivation deals with the factors that shape peoples behaviour. The three components of motivation identified by Arnold et al (1991) cited in Armstrong (2002; 56) are 1) direction 2) effort and 3) persistence. In a work environment, employees can self-motivate by seeking and engaging in activities that will lead them to achieve set goals (intrinsic motivation) or be motivated by management through various reward systems (extrinsic motivation) (Armstrong, 2002; 56). Earlier views on motivation, albeit not always perfect, have proved to be an important part of the foundation for evolutionary growth. Motivation is a blend of factors that drives peoples actions and it can be classified as individual, group and organizational motivation. The different theories of motivation, in their different ways facilitate our understanding of the complex process of motivation and the fact that there are no straightforward answers to motivating anybody (Armstrong, 2002; 57). Scientific management sees money as the primary human motivator, while the view of human relations is that social factors are the primary human motivator (Sarin, 2009; 237). Frederick Winslow Taylor, who is known as the father of scientific management, focused on applying the concepts of science to improve production by relying on the use of observation, measurement, analysis and improvement of work methods, and economic incentives. His study of work methods in great detail identified the best process for doing each job and laid emphasis on output. This theory was not particularly favoured with workers, who believed that it was not fair to increase output without a commensurate increase in reward (Stevenson, 2002; 21 cited in Maxwell et al; 2008; 433). The instrumentality theory of motivation derived its roots from the scientific management theory of Taylor and also emphasized the importance of money as the main reason people work. Hence, rewards or otherwise should be linked directl y to performance. However, this theory fails to take into consideration other human needs that could affect performance (Armstrong, 2002; 57). This omission gave rise to the needs theory, the basis of which is the belief that an unfulfilled need creates a sense of anxiety. Therefore, in order to create a sense of fulfilment, once a need is identified, a pattern of fulfilling it must be set out. However, not all needs are important at a given time in a persons life. Some needs are more urgent than others (Armstrong, 2002; 58). Abraham Maslows theory (1940) cited in Sarin (2009; 237) is said to have based his theory on Henry A. Murrays postulation that people seek to satisfy their various needs at the same time, rather than in a specific order. Murrays Manifest Needs however did not arrange the identified needs in any particular order of importance, unlike Maslows hierarchy of a set of five needs Physiological, Security, Social, Esteem and Self actualization each of which is related to the other and arranged in order of hierarchy. According to him, once a need is met, it does not motivate a persons behaviour again. However, it is possible to either move up or down each of the levels depending on whether a need has been fulfilled or the realization of a need is being endangered (Sarin, 2009; 237). McClelland (1975) identified three needs achievement, affiliation and power that motivates managers. However, while agreeing with Maslow that motives are part of the personality, he is of the opinion that they are caused by environmental factors. The levels of these needs are dependent on different individuals. While some may have a higher need for achievement, others may desire affiliation or power (Armstrong, 2002; 58). Herzberg (1959) based his theory on two sets of factors extrinsic and intrinsic that were directly relating to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Extrinsic factors are referred to as hygiene or maintenance factors and they are linked to job environment, job context e.g. quality of supervision, work conditions, company policies, relationship with co-workers and level of compensation. Job dissatisfaction may occur where there are no extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors referred to as motivators or growth factors, on the other hand, relate to the job itself e.g. the complexity of work, level of importance with the organization as well as promotion opportunities. The resultant effect of intrinsic factors is a high level of job satisfaction, which according to Herzberg will prevent dissatisfaction and create a positive attitude to work (Di Cesare and Sadri, 2003; 36). Essentially, businesses should study the motivator factors and hygiene factors with a view to optimize motivation and productivity among employees (Maxwell et al, 2008; 436). Some managers hold the view that employee can be motivated to improve productivity by means of monetary incentives. The monetary scheme may be take a variety of different form example price rate, individual bonus, a team or group bonus scheme , a high pay rate system and profit sharing plan. All these have been packaged to motivate employees so as to improve on their performance. However, the general problem of monetary incentives is that they are effective in the short run but not necessary cost effective, on the other hand, money can motivate depending on the individuals need for money. Money is not an end itself but means of satisfying needs, employee remuneration proceeds high organisational productivity his for workers to be satisfied with their job, there is need to study the various motivation theories postulated by management experts. Motivation theories have series of theories, that is complementary to one another. The leading theory are listed below and summarised in table 19.1. the most significant ones are those concerned with expectancy, goal settings and equity, which are classified as process or cognitive theories. 2.2 Employee Compensation Dessler (2008) define employee compensation as all forms of pay going to employee and arising from their employment. He also stated that the compensation can be in two forms and they are direct financial payment and indirect financial payment. Direct financial payment can come in form of wages, salaries, incentives, commission and bonuses. While indirect can be in form financial benefit like employer-paid insurance and vacations. All these are strategy of remuneration, Baron A Armstrong M, give their own contribution towards the strategy of remuneration that the implication of human capital theory is that investment in people adds to their value to the firm. 2.2.1 Why should organisations compensate Employee? According to Stephen P. Robbins David A. Decenzo (2005, pg211) when an organisation design its overall compensation package, it has to look further than just an hourly wages or annual salary. It has to take into account another element, benefits. They even include that employee remuneration are non financial rewards designed to enrich employees live. This has grown a great importance in the life of an employee and a variety over the past years. Also stated that non financial reward should also put into consideration , if an employee invest their human capital into the firm they have to obtain a return not only in form of opportunity to grow and to achieve but also in terms of being valued to their employer. This authors opinion is different from other peoples opinion they include that organisation should have array of benefit such as paid time off from work, life and disability insurance, retirement programs and health insurance. While some of this benefit are been paid by both employee and employer, such benefits are retirement and health insurance. 2.3 Employee Remuneration The word Employee Remuneration to most people refer s to money and usually money is addition to wages and salaries. In fact employee in any organisation set up as an embodiment of many factors. Employee remuneration has caused effective phenomenon, one area that brings about employee remuneration is motivation of the workers In fact employee remuneration in any organisation set up embodiment of many factors. employee remuneration has caused effect phenomenon, one area that brings about employee remuneration is motivation of the workers. The organisations identified to be responsible for employee remuneration of workers are as follows: Job Enrichment Job Rotation Job Content Conducive Job Environment Equity Share in the organisation Participation in all level of decision process Positive criticism Recognition for contribution made in the organisation. Since evaluation of management professional managers and writers on management have made variety of assumption-about what would make the individual employees (workers) to be satisfied for example. The traditional (theory of organisation that a system reward and punishment should be used to elicit the desire behaviour, this is implemented through a compensation packages, based on productivity of employee example of Taylor differentiates payee system of based on the assumption that employee work out of necessity not out of love of money. Therefore this naturally led to the conclusion that money was an important factor that satisfied the workers on the job. In the late eightys (80) and ninetys (90) managers started to witness frequent encounter with workers who appeared to be suspicious of management in view of the fact that a simple solution to the problem of did not exist, in addition it may be noted that when considering some traits of workers. The understanding will provide the basic ingredient for designing and incorporating employee remunerations and strategies into the policy and objective of the organisation as it is total neglect is capable of having a great advance effect on the organisation objective especially in the long run. Reilly P. Williams T. (2006) Support that for employee remunerations to be effective HR needs the support of the top team. An unsympathetic CEO can be the a major block on getting people management issue properly on the agenda. Even when the HR director is low in the pecking order, well behind the chief financial officer information officer, the same result will occur. So HR director as a person needs to be respected by the board, executive etc. need to support and understand what HR is doing. This simply means another way for HR to motivate staff is to have a good relationship with senior management and with employees. 2.3.1 When should an employee is well remunerated? The characteristics of the job need of the individual, it is clear that there are numerous variable between people and their jobs that helps to determine their relationship. It must be noted that the concept of employee remuneration is psychological, it relates to these forces operating within individual employees. The underlying problem is therefore, that management should attempt to strike a balance so as to satisfy the interest of both the organisation and the workers. The reality of management observed that emphasis of high employee remuneration shifted away from the job itself to labour. In simplistic term, an employee organisation productivity can be define as being determined by the level and interaction between ability and motivation thus: Organisation productivity is contingent on a number of factors such as skill (liability appropriate for assigned job)motivation and role clarify (a clear understanding of assigned role). Another way that Reilly Williams T add their support to how HR activity can influence the way to manage their staff, it will be encouraging line managers to allow scope for employee involvement and space for employees to act in practical terms, that this might be supporting the consultation of staff if changes are afoot. Also it is the duty of HR to determine whether the employee is due to be reward, before the department can come to conclusion, such employee have to go through the performance appraisal process which contains three steps Define the job:- the means that the employee understand the nature of the job that he/ she has to do in the organisation and to do it to the organisation standards Appraising performance:- Dessler G defines this as comparing your subordinates actual performance as to the standard that have been set ; this usually involves some types of rating form. Feedback session:- here is the situation where two of you debate on employees performance and progress, an d make plan for any development. There various methods of appraisal methods such as graphic rating scale, Alternation ranking method, paired comparison method, forced distribution method etc. I will try and expansiate on two of this methods PAIRED COMPARISON METHOD:- this is a method whereby the two employee together in terms of quantity of work, quality of work , behaviour, how they react to work whenever they have been called, team work and so on. GRAPHIC RATING SCALE METHOD:- this method can be refer to as the simplest and what most organisation prefer to use for appraising staff performance. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK To provide the required theoretical background for the study attempt will made to review literature of motivation as a means of achieving employee remunerations. Reward Reward can be described as a way which one is been compensate what been done either good or bad, it can also be called benefit that is given to an employee or group of people in an organisation. This can be done directly or indirectly. It usually use to encourage people at work to be able to put more effort in work that need to be done. This usually done when an employee want to sign a contract with an organisation or company such employer needs to allow the employee to be fully aware what the package of the income will be per annum or hourly paid if such an employee is interest he or she is going to sign the contact form. There are two types of rewards, they are financial and non financial rewards. Financial Reward also can be refer to as an incentive which can be in form of financial reward given to an employees whose production exceed predetermined standard that is the production is beyond what the organisation expectation. This can also be in form of pay structure, incentives and benefits this three usually has it important role to play in implementing strategies in an organisation. firstly, For a high level of pay or benefits relative to that of competitors can ensure that the company attracts and retains high quality employees, but this might have a negative impact on the companys overall labour cost. Secondly, by tying pay to performance, the company can elicit specific activities and level of performance from employee. In a study of how compensation practices are tied to strategies, researchers examined 33high- tech and 72 traditional companies. They classified them by whether they were in growth stage. They found that high-tech companies in growth stage (greater than 20percent inflation- adjusted increases in annual sales) or a maturity stage. They found that high-tech companies in the growth stage used compensation systems that were highly geared towards incentive pay, with a lower percentage of total pay devoted to salary and benefits. On the other hand, compensation systems among mature companies (both high-tech and traditional)devoted a lower percentage of total pay to incentive and a high percentage to benefits. (Noe.et.al 2003; pg 69). Organisation believe that given an employee incentives after profit is another way of motivating an employee to put more effort to his /her work this reward can be inform of profit sharing, salary increase, Non- Financial reward 2.5 Job satisfaction you need to talk on job satisfaction Employee performance pg66 amstrong hand bk 2.6 What is Motivation Behind every behaviour there is motive, that is all behaviour is motivated, behaviour psychologist agree that what motivate individual is the satisfaction of their needs but do not develop generally acceptable clarification of needs, several theories of motivation of worker. These theories can be grouped into two major categories. The satisfaction or content theories The instrumentally theories The satisfaction or content theories assume that human beings have needs and its their desire to satisfy these needs that limitation to specific behaviours. The instrumentality or process theories are based on the assumptions of that the part which leads to a goal is influenced by the reception and values of members of the organisation. The theory of Maslow, Adeifer, Herzberg are example of theory of needs satisfaction theories. Vroom porter, Lawal and Jacque are example of instrumentality of theories. Lawal (1993), says Motivation is a persuasive function that come across all aspect of employees development, the need for motivation can be viewed from following perspectives. Qualified manpower must be attracted and maintain in organisation ton exercise Once employed workers must be motivated to exercise their time and energy in achieving the predetermined goals of the organisation. Human resources are most important factor of production in an organisation and must be maintained and developed. The reasons highlighted above suggest that the creation of conducive working environment employee remuneration are the requirement for achievement of organisation success. Hence it is necessary for manager to understand what motivate workers and how motivation influence organisation productivity. In brief, motivation is an inner state that energize activates or more directs or channel behaviour towards goals/objectives. Motivation therefore is a general term used to denotes relationship between needs and the fulfilment of needs. It is dynamic process that this five (5) parts. Deprivation, presence of need (NEEDS) Need crystal led as want (WANTS) Action, goal oriented behaviour (ACTIONS) Tension or drives to fulfil the need (DRIVES) Satisfaction of need that reduce the drive and thus create the need for re-evaluation. The above description of motivation process may not be enough to explain employees behaviour, some theories of some reckoned management writers may be needed for further clarification and explanation. Also there is two types of motivation Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation can be define as 2.8. MASLOW S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS According to Robert (1971), the best known theory of motivation was proposed by MASLOW, who hypothesized that work of every human being there exist an hierarchy of five (5) needs. According to Maslow, human beings have needs that can be arranged in hierarchy of needs, if these needs are satisfied human being will be motivated to perform however a satisfie Impact of Employee Remuneration on Productivity Impact of Employee Remuneration on Productivity CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Introduction The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the need for and impact of employee remuneration on organizational productivity. The study will focus on relationship between motivational techniques and employee performance. To examine the relationship between the level of job satisfaction of employee performance. It will also investigate the relationship between remuneration and employee performance. And the evaluation and development of reward process, which in turn can lead to improved profitability in an organization. If it is accepted that organizations assets are its work force, it is imperative that they ensure that they are fully motivated. This is because if the workers perceive that they are poorly remunerated, their performance is likely to drop and this will have negative effects on the organization. It is important to note that there are several theories of motivation proposed by various researchers including Abraham Maslow, Alderfers ERG Theory, Herzbergs two-factor Theory, Equity Theory, Expectancy Theory, McClellands Theory, Goal Setting Theory, McGregors theory X and Y, Ouchis Theory Z etc. (Sarin, 2009; 237). These theories have led to the development of various tools of motivation used by organizations to stimulate the interest of their employees. This research will examine the some of these motivation theories and apply them to measure their actual effectiveness on employee performance as well as organizational productivity. Managing requires the creation and maintaining of an environment for the performance of individual working together in groups towards the accomplishment of a common objectives/ goals. A manager cannot do his job without knowing what his people want. To emphasize the importance of knowing and taking advantages of motivating factors particularly job satisfaction is the concern of the managers. Their job is not to attempt to manipulate people but rather to recognize the motivating factors in designing an environment for performance. The basic element of human behaviour is one kind of activity, physical or mental. We can look at human behaviour as a series of activities, the question that arises, include to what extent can the activities of human being be undertaken in any point in time that is people do things that lead them to accomplish something, but individual goals can be elusive, sometimes people know exactly why they do things. Management task is to get things done through other people due to global economic recession which is affecting Nigeria economy, employee are no longer safe due to unnecessary retrenchment, layoff , payoff compulsory leave etc, employee do not want to put in order to encourage active participation from employee for the attainment of organizational goal, there should be job satisfaction. The word Employee Remuneration to most people refers to money and usually money in addition to wages and salaries. However, job satisfaction according to Lawal (1992, pg56) is the favourableness with which employee view their work. Stephen P.etal (2009), define job satisfaction as a persons general attitude towards her job. It is obtained when there is a proffer fit between job characteristics and wants of employees, in fact Employee Remuneration is an organizational set up as an embodiment of many factors, Employee Remuneration has a cause effect phenomenon, one area that brings about job satisfaction is the motivation of the workers. The factors identified by management to be responsible for Employee Remuneration of workers on the jobs are:- Good Remuneration Job Enrichment Job Content Job Rotation Conducive job environment Positive Criticism Participating in all level of decision process Equity share in the organization. Recognition for contribution made in the organization. Since evaluation of management, professional managers and the writers on management have made a variety of assumptions about what would make the individual employee (that is the worker) to be satisfied, for example, the traditional theory of organization that a system of reward and punishment should be used to elicit the desire behaviour. This is implemented through compensation package based on productivity of an employee e.g. Taylor differentiate system based on the necessity not out of love of money. Therefore, this assumption naturally lead to the conclusion that was an important factor that satisfied the workers on the job. In late 80s, managers started to witness frequent encounter with workers who appeared to be suspicious of management and also are unimpressed by money, unconcerned about productivity and self-centred. Then recognition of for workers become a major challenge to management in view of the fact that a simple solution to the problem did not exist. From the above it therefore implies that for organization to increase employee performance, managers need to be much more sophisticated in understanding of employees behaviour in an organisation. The understanding will provide basic ingredient for the designing and incorporating. Employee remuneration strategies into the policy and objective of the organisation on the total neglect is capable of having a great adverse effect on the organisational objective specially on the long run. Employee resentment of the scientific management system led to the modification of job design and to maintain employee enthusiasm and productivity, job enrichment became HR managers approach to motivation. Employees desire jobs that are challenging, autonomous and will require their intellects. Job enrichment makes provision to fulfil this desire as it involves an increase in the level of responsibility for planning and co-coordinating tasks (Stevenson, 2002; 310 cited in Maxwell et al, 2008; 436). According to Kreitner and Kinicki (2001) cited also in Maxwell et al (2008; 436) the theory of job enrichment is a practical application of Herzbergs hygiene theory, which postulates that employees are motivated when there is an increase in job satisfaction (Maxwell et al, 2008; 436). 1.1 Background to the study In Nigeria, there is a complete dearth of studies that looked into this effective management tool in organisations. Therefore, this study will carry out primary research amongst employees in a Nigerian banking sector. It is important to find out whether labour performance can be improved through remuneration which can be in term of financial and non-financial remuneration/reward in the Nigerian working environment. Hence, the research into reward and motivation has become necessary in order to alert Nigerian employers on the need for adequate motivation, both financial and non-financial to ensure commensurate employee performance. Motivation commences with a need, vision, dream, or desire to achieve what seems impossible. Employers desire their employees to have a can-do attitude to everything. In their opinion, this attitude assures an increase in productivity (Maxwell et al, 2008; 432). In todays increasingly changing world, both employee and employers are trying to find ways to make jobs more meaningful and satisfying. One of the ways to do this is to redesign jobs to better meet new requirements. The re-engineering of jobs has been a significant labor market occurrence over the last 20 years. The design of jobs as it relates to employee participation, flexible working and employee/group independence has experienced extensive changes. These changes include the use of several recent HR practices e.g. employee involvement programs such as quality circles, more use of job rotation and flexibility, job enrichment, job enlargement, and more work-team self-management (Maxwell et al, 2008; 432-433). Redesigning ha s several characteristics of which job enrichment is one. The study of job redesign reveals how various classes of workers vary from one to another in form of what they need. According to Kreitner and Kinicki (2001) cited in Maxwell et al (2008; 433), job design or redesign is any set of activities involving the alteration of specific jobs or interdependent systems of jobs with the intent of improving the quality of employee job experience and their on-the-job productivity. Employee resentment of the scientific management system led to the modification of job design and to maintain employee enthusiasm and productivity, job enrichment became HR managers approach to motivation. Employees desire jobs that are challenging, autonomous and will require their intellects. Job enrichment makes provision to fulfil this desire as it involves an increase in the level of responsibility for planning and co-ordinating tasks (Stevenson, 2002; 310 cited in Maxwell et al, 2008; 436). According to Kreitner and Kinicki (2001) cited also in Maxwell et al (2008; 436) the theory of job enrichment is a practical application of Herzbergs hygiene theory, which postulates that employees are motivated when there is an increase in job satisfaction (Maxwell et al, 2008; 436). The purpose of this research is highlighting the impact of employee remuneration on organisational productivity. It is aimed at identifying those attitudes of the management of the company towards its employees that will enable the company to achieve its corporate goals. This study is necessary as lack of adequate information can hinder organisations from achieving set goals, which usually amongst many others is profit maximisation. 1.2 Aims and Objectives The main aim of this study is to know the importance of employees remuneration to the job satisfaction of the workforce, and theoretically it is to identify the various motivational incentive and summarise the various view of managers on the impact of these incentives on employee. Also this study aims to evaluate Access bank plc success vis-a-vis rewarding their staffs. Objectives The objective of this study is to examine, The Impact that Employee Remuneration has on organisational Productivity in the this, the researcher will attempt to examine the following:- To examine the relationship between motivational techniques and employee performance. To examine the relationship between level of job satisfaction of employee performance. To examine the relationship between employee remuneration and employee performance The evaluation and development of reward process. The link between employee remuneration and job satisfaction 1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Human being as individual has a unique characteristic which is distinct from others, therefore in an organisation that has over one thousand workers, it means there would be different kind of characteristics. Employee remuneration as a psychology concept calls for a thorough understanding of employees need which will enable the management to blend them with the corporate need in order to have an equitable mix that will enhance the realisation of the overall objectives of the overall objectives of the organisation and employee. On a closer look at most organisation, the essential intrinsic factors have not been properly addressed by contemporary organisation, no wonder we have high rate of incessant strike witnessed by these organisations over the year. The problem therefore is how to maintain an equitable compensation package of fulfilling the aspiration of both the employee and employers in such a way that an equilibrium social interaction will be maintained. It is therefore important for the organisation to realize the provision of intrinsic factor that satisfy the need urges, want and aspiration of workers would have a long run effect on the profitability base of the organisation which are fundamental criteria for the measurement of Employees Remuneration. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction In this chapter, the researcher proposes to critically consider a number of theories of motivation that are relevant to the study. In addition, the researcher will examine the impact of employee remuneration, and the relationship between job enrichment and employee performance. To examine the relationship between motivational techniques and employee performance. To examine the relationship between level of job satisfaction of employee performance. To examine the relationship between employee remuneration and employee performance The evaluation and development of reward process. The link between employee remuneration and job satisfaction 2.1 Motivation Theories Motivation deals with the factors that shape peoples behaviour. The three components of motivation identified by Arnold et al (1991) cited in Armstrong (2002; 56) are 1) direction 2) effort and 3) persistence. In a work environment, employees can self-motivate by seeking and engaging in activities that will lead them to achieve set goals (intrinsic motivation) or be motivated by management through various reward systems (extrinsic motivation) (Armstrong, 2002; 56). Earlier views on motivation, albeit not always perfect, have proved to be an important part of the foundation for evolutionary growth. Motivation is a blend of factors that drives peoples actions and it can be classified as individual, group and organizational motivation. The different theories of motivation, in their different ways facilitate our understanding of the complex process of motivation and the fact that there are no straightforward answers to motivating anybody (Armstrong, 2002; 57). Scientific management sees money as the primary human motivator, while the view of human relations is that social factors are the primary human motivator (Sarin, 2009; 237). Frederick Winslow Taylor, who is known as the father of scientific management, focused on applying the concepts of science to improve production by relying on the use of observation, measurement, analysis and improvement of work methods, and economic incentives. His study of work methods in great detail identified the best process for doing each job and laid emphasis on output. This theory was not particularly favoured with workers, who believed that it was not fair to increase output without a commensurate increase in reward (Stevenson, 2002; 21 cited in Maxwell et al; 2008; 433). The instrumentality theory of motivation derived its roots from the scientific management theory of Taylor and also emphasized the importance of money as the main reason people work. Hence, rewards or otherwise should be linked directl y to performance. However, this theory fails to take into consideration other human needs that could affect performance (Armstrong, 2002; 57). This omission gave rise to the needs theory, the basis of which is the belief that an unfulfilled need creates a sense of anxiety. Therefore, in order to create a sense of fulfilment, once a need is identified, a pattern of fulfilling it must be set out. However, not all needs are important at a given time in a persons life. Some needs are more urgent than others (Armstrong, 2002; 58). Abraham Maslows theory (1940) cited in Sarin (2009; 237) is said to have based his theory on Henry A. Murrays postulation that people seek to satisfy their various needs at the same time, rather than in a specific order. Murrays Manifest Needs however did not arrange the identified needs in any particular order of importance, unlike Maslows hierarchy of a set of five needs Physiological, Security, Social, Esteem and Self actualization each of which is related to the other and arranged in order of hierarchy. According to him, once a need is met, it does not motivate a persons behaviour again. However, it is possible to either move up or down each of the levels depending on whether a need has been fulfilled or the realization of a need is being endangered (Sarin, 2009; 237). McClelland (1975) identified three needs achievement, affiliation and power that motivates managers. However, while agreeing with Maslow that motives are part of the personality, he is of the opinion that they are caused by environmental factors. The levels of these needs are dependent on different individuals. While some may have a higher need for achievement, others may desire affiliation or power (Armstrong, 2002; 58). Herzberg (1959) based his theory on two sets of factors extrinsic and intrinsic that were directly relating to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Extrinsic factors are referred to as hygiene or maintenance factors and they are linked to job environment, job context e.g. quality of supervision, work conditions, company policies, relationship with co-workers and level of compensation. Job dissatisfaction may occur where there are no extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors referred to as motivators or growth factors, on the other hand, relate to the job itself e.g. the complexity of work, level of importance with the organization as well as promotion opportunities. The resultant effect of intrinsic factors is a high level of job satisfaction, which according to Herzberg will prevent dissatisfaction and create a positive attitude to work (Di Cesare and Sadri, 2003; 36). Essentially, businesses should study the motivator factors and hygiene factors with a view to optimize motivation and productivity among employees (Maxwell et al, 2008; 436). Some managers hold the view that employee can be motivated to improve productivity by means of monetary incentives. The monetary scheme may be take a variety of different form example price rate, individual bonus, a team or group bonus scheme , a high pay rate system and profit sharing plan. All these have been packaged to motivate employees so as to improve on their performance. However, the general problem of monetary incentives is that they are effective in the short run but not necessary cost effective, on the other hand, money can motivate depending on the individuals need for money. Money is not an end itself but means of satisfying needs, employee remuneration proceeds high organisational productivity his for workers to be satisfied with their job, there is need to study the various motivation theories postulated by management experts. Motivation theories have series of theories, that is complementary to one another. The leading theory are listed below and summarised in table 19.1. the most significant ones are those concerned with expectancy, goal settings and equity, which are classified as process or cognitive theories. 2.2 Employee Compensation Dessler (2008) define employee compensation as all forms of pay going to employee and arising from their employment. He also stated that the compensation can be in two forms and they are direct financial payment and indirect financial payment. Direct financial payment can come in form of wages, salaries, incentives, commission and bonuses. While indirect can be in form financial benefit like employer-paid insurance and vacations. All these are strategy of remuneration, Baron A Armstrong M, give their own contribution towards the strategy of remuneration that the implication of human capital theory is that investment in people adds to their value to the firm. 2.2.1 Why should organisations compensate Employee? According to Stephen P. Robbins David A. Decenzo (2005, pg211) when an organisation design its overall compensation package, it has to look further than just an hourly wages or annual salary. It has to take into account another element, benefits. They even include that employee remuneration are non financial rewards designed to enrich employees live. This has grown a great importance in the life of an employee and a variety over the past years. Also stated that non financial reward should also put into consideration , if an employee invest their human capital into the firm they have to obtain a return not only in form of opportunity to grow and to achieve but also in terms of being valued to their employer. This authors opinion is different from other peoples opinion they include that organisation should have array of benefit such as paid time off from work, life and disability insurance, retirement programs and health insurance. While some of this benefit are been paid by both employee and employer, such benefits are retirement and health insurance. 2.3 Employee Remuneration The word Employee Remuneration to most people refer s to money and usually money is addition to wages and salaries. In fact employee in any organisation set up as an embodiment of many factors. Employee remuneration has caused effective phenomenon, one area that brings about employee remuneration is motivation of the workers In fact employee remuneration in any organisation set up embodiment of many factors. employee remuneration has caused effect phenomenon, one area that brings about employee remuneration is motivation of the workers. The organisations identified to be responsible for employee remuneration of workers are as follows: Job Enrichment Job Rotation Job Content Conducive Job Environment Equity Share in the organisation Participation in all level of decision process Positive criticism Recognition for contribution made in the organisation. Since evaluation of management professional managers and writers on management have made variety of assumption-about what would make the individual employees (workers) to be satisfied for example. The traditional (theory of organisation that a system reward and punishment should be used to elicit the desire behaviour, this is implemented through a compensation packages, based on productivity of employee example of Taylor differentiates payee system of based on the assumption that employee work out of necessity not out of love of money. Therefore this naturally led to the conclusion that money was an important factor that satisfied the workers on the job. In the late eightys (80) and ninetys (90) managers started to witness frequent encounter with workers who appeared to be suspicious of management in view of the fact that a simple solution to the problem of did not exist, in addition it may be noted that when considering some traits of workers. The understanding will provide the basic ingredient for designing and incorporating employee remunerations and strategies into the policy and objective of the organisation as it is total neglect is capable of having a great advance effect on the organisation objective especially in the long run. Reilly P. Williams T. (2006) Support that for employee remunerations to be effective HR needs the support of the top team. An unsympathetic CEO can be the a major block on getting people management issue properly on the agenda. Even when the HR director is low in the pecking order, well behind the chief financial officer information officer, the same result will occur. So HR director as a person needs to be respected by the board, executive etc. need to support and understand what HR is doing. This simply means another way for HR to motivate staff is to have a good relationship with senior management and with employees. 2.3.1 When should an employee is well remunerated? The characteristics of the job need of the individual, it is clear that there are numerous variable between people and their jobs that helps to determine their relationship. It must be noted that the concept of employee remuneration is psychological, it relates to these forces operating within individual employees. The underlying problem is therefore, that management should attempt to strike a balance so as to satisfy the interest of both the organisation and the workers. The reality of management observed that emphasis of high employee remuneration shifted away from the job itself to labour. In simplistic term, an employee organisation productivity can be define as being determined by the level and interaction between ability and motivation thus: Organisation productivity is contingent on a number of factors such as skill (liability appropriate for assigned job)motivation and role clarify (a clear understanding of assigned role). Another way that Reilly Williams T add their support to how HR activity can influence the way to manage their staff, it will be encouraging line managers to allow scope for employee involvement and space for employees to act in practical terms, that this might be supporting the consultation of staff if changes are afoot. Also it is the duty of HR to determine whether the employee is due to be reward, before the department can come to conclusion, such employee have to go through the performance appraisal process which contains three steps Define the job:- the means that the employee understand the nature of the job that he/ she has to do in the organisation and to do it to the organisation standards Appraising performance:- Dessler G defines this as comparing your subordinates actual performance as to the standard that have been set ; this usually involves some types of rating form. Feedback session:- here is the situation where two of you debate on employees performance and progress, an d make plan for any development. There various methods of appraisal methods such as graphic rating scale, Alternation ranking method, paired comparison method, forced distribution method etc. I will try and expansiate on two of this methods PAIRED COMPARISON METHOD:- this is a method whereby the two employee together in terms of quantity of work, quality of work , behaviour, how they react to work whenever they have been called, team work and so on. GRAPHIC RATING SCALE METHOD:- this method can be refer to as the simplest and what most organisation prefer to use for appraising staff performance. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK To provide the required theoretical background for the study attempt will made to review literature of motivation as a means of achieving employee remunerations. Reward Reward can be described as a way which one is been compensate what been done either good or bad, it can also be called benefit that is given to an employee or group of people in an organisation. This can be done directly or indirectly. It usually use to encourage people at work to be able to put more effort in work that need to be done. This usually done when an employee want to sign a contract with an organisation or company such employer needs to allow the employee to be fully aware what the package of the income will be per annum or hourly paid if such an employee is interest he or she is going to sign the contact form. There are two types of rewards, they are financial and non financial rewards. Financial Reward also can be refer to as an incentive which can be in form of financial reward given to an employees whose production exceed predetermined standard that is the production is beyond what the organisation expectation. This can also be in form of pay structure, incentives and benefits this three usually has it important role to play in implementing strategies in an organisation. firstly, For a high level of pay or benefits relative to that of competitors can ensure that the company attracts and retains high quality employees, but this might have a negative impact on the companys overall labour cost. Secondly, by tying pay to performance, the company can elicit specific activities and level of performance from employee. In a study of how compensation practices are tied to strategies, researchers examined 33high- tech and 72 traditional companies. They classified them by whether they were in growth stage. They found that high-tech companies in growth stage (greater than 20percent inflation- adjusted increases in annual sales) or a maturity stage. They found that high-tech companies in the growth stage used compensation systems that were highly geared towards incentive pay, with a lower percentage of total pay devoted to salary and benefits. On the other hand, compensation systems among mature companies (both high-tech and traditional)devoted a lower percentage of total pay to incentive and a high percentage to benefits. (Noe.et.al 2003; pg 69). Organisation believe that given an employee incentives after profit is another way of motivating an employee to put more effort to his /her work this reward can be inform of profit sharing, salary increase, Non- Financial reward 2.5 Job satisfaction you need to talk on job satisfaction Employee performance pg66 amstrong hand bk 2.6 What is Motivation Behind every behaviour there is motive, that is all behaviour is motivated, behaviour psychologist agree that what motivate individual is the satisfaction of their needs but do not develop generally acceptable clarification of needs, several theories of motivation of worker. These theories can be grouped into two major categories. The satisfaction or content theories The instrumentally theories The satisfaction or content theories assume that human beings have needs and its their desire to satisfy these needs that limitation to specific behaviours. The instrumentality or process theories are based on the assumptions of that the part which leads to a goal is influenced by the reception and values of members of the organisation. The theory of Maslow, Adeifer, Herzberg are example of theory of needs satisfaction theories. Vroom porter, Lawal and Jacque are example of instrumentality of theories. Lawal (1993), says Motivation is a persuasive function that come across all aspect of employees development, the need for motivation can be viewed from following perspectives. Qualified manpower must be attracted and maintain in organisation ton exercise Once employed workers must be motivated to exercise their time and energy in achieving the predetermined goals of the organisation. Human resources are most important factor of production in an organisation and must be maintained and developed. The reasons highlighted above suggest that the creation of conducive working environment employee remuneration are the requirement for achievement of organisation success. Hence it is necessary for manager to understand what motivate workers and how motivation influence organisation productivity. In brief, motivation is an inner state that energize activates or more directs or channel behaviour towards goals/objectives. Motivation therefore is a general term used to denotes relationship between needs and the fulfilment of needs. It is dynamic process that this five (5) parts. Deprivation, presence of need (NEEDS) Need crystal led as want (WANTS) Action, goal oriented behaviour (ACTIONS) Tension or drives to fulfil the need (DRIVES) Satisfaction of need that reduce the drive and thus create the need for re-evaluation. The above description of motivation process may not be enough to explain employees behaviour, some theories of some reckoned management writers may be needed for further clarification and explanation. Also there is two types of motivation Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation can be define as 2.8. MASLOW S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS According to Robert (1971), the best known theory of motivation was proposed by MASLOW, who hypothesized that work of every human being there exist an hierarchy of five (5) needs. According to Maslow, human beings have needs that can be arranged in hierarchy of needs, if these needs are satisfied human being will be motivated to perform however a satisfie

John Miltons Paradise Lost as Christian Epic Essay example -- Milton

Paradise Lost as Christian Epic John Milton's great epic poem, Paradise Lost, was written between the 1640's and 1665 in England, at a time of rapid change in the western world. Milton, a Puritan, clung to traditional Christian beliefs throughout his epic, but he also combined signs of the changing modern era with ancient epic style to craft a masterpiece. He chose as the subject of his great work the fall of man, from Genesis, which was a very popular story to discuss and retell at the time. His whole life had led up to the completion of this greatest work; he put over twenty years of time and almost as many years of study and travel to build a timeless classic. The success of his poem lies in the fact that he skillfully combined classic epic tradition with strongly held Puritan Christian beliefs. In Paradise Lost, Milton uses many conventions of the classic epic, including an invocation of the Muse, love, wa, a solitary voyage, heroism, the supernatural and mythical allusion. Milton writes, "Sing, Heavenly Muse, that on the secret top of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire that shepard who first taught the chosen seed in the beginning how the heavens and earth rose out of Chaos." Here he invokes the traditional muse of the epic, yet in the same sentence he identifies the muse as a Christian being and asks him to sing of Christian tales. A central theme of Paradise Lost is that of the deep and true love between Adam and Eve. This follows both traditonal Christianity and conventional epic style. Adam and Eve are created and placed on earth as "our first two parents, yet the only two of mankind, in the happy garden placed, reaping immortal fruits of joy and love, uninterrupted joy, unrivaled love, in blissful solitude."(... ...le in one sentence. Thus, he successfully completes the tapestry which he has created, weaving the Bible and the genre of the epic closely together to create a work of art. Throughout Paradise Lost, Milton uses various tools of the epic to convey a traditional and very popular Biblical story. He adds his own touches to make it more of an epic and to set forth new insights into God's ways and the temptations we all face. Through his uses of love, war, heroism, and allusion, Milton crafted an epic; through his references to the Bible and his selection of Christ as the hero, he set forth a beautifully religious Renaissance work. He masterfully combined these two techniques to create a beautiful story capable of withstanding the test of time and touching its readers for centuries. Works Cited Scott Elledge, ed., Paradise Lost, second edn. (NY: Norton, 1993).

Arvind Pandey Caught in Business Web Essay

Arvind Pandey is a project manager at Al Saba Construction Company in Muscat. It s a flourishing company with several construction projects in Muscat and abroad. It is known for completing projects on time and with high quantity construction. The company’s Chairman is a rich and a highly educated Omani. A German engineer is Arvind’s Vice – President for urban and foreign construction projects. Three months ago, Al Saba had submitted a tender for a major construction project in Kuwait. Its quotation was for $ 25 million. In Kuwait the project was sponsored and announced by a US – based construction company called Fuma. According to Al Saba, their bid of $ 25 million was modest but had included a high margin of profit. On 25 April, Arvind was asked to go to Kuwait to find out from the Fuma project manager the status of their construction proposal. Arvind was delighted to know that Fuma had decided to give his company, (Al Saba) the construction project work. The project meant a lot of effort and money in planning the proposed construction in Kuwait. But before Arvind could tank the Fuma project manager, he was told that their bird should be raised to $ 28 million. Arvind was surprised. He tried to convince the Fuma project manager that his (Arvind company had the bast reputation for doing construction work in a cost effective way. However, he could always raise the bid by $ 3 million. But he wanted to know why he was required to do so. The Fuma manager’s reply was, â€Å"That’s the way we do our business in this part of the world, $ 1 million will go to our Managing Director in the US, I shall get $ 1 million, you, Mr. Pandey, will get $ 1 million in a specified account in Swiss Bank. Arvind asked, â€Å"But why me?† â€Å"So that you never talk about it to any one.† The Fuma Project Manager said. Arvind promised never to leak it out to any one else. And he tried to bargain to raise the bid by $ 2 million. For Arvind was familiar with the practice of â€Å"pay – offs† involved in any such thing. He thought it was against his loyalty to his company and his personal ethics. Arvind promised the Fuma project manager that the bid would be raised to $ 28 million and fresh papers would be put in. He did not want to lose the job. He came back to Muscat and kept trying to figure out how he should place the whole thing before his German Vice President. He obviously was at a loss. Questions: 1.Analyse the reasons for Arvind Pandey’s dilemma. 2.Does Arvind Pandey really face a dilemma? 3.In your view what should Arvind Pandey do? Should he disclose it to his German Vice President? CASE IV Company Accepting a Contract A computer company was negotiating a very large order with a large size corporation. They had a very good track record with this client. In this corporation, five different departments had pooled their requirements and budgets. A committee was formed which had representation from all the departments. The corporation wanted the equipment on a long lease and not outright purchase. Further, they wanted the entire hardware and software form one supplier. This meant that there should be bought – out items from many suppliers since no one supplier could meet all the requirements of supply from its range of products. The corporation provided an exhaustive list of very difficult terms and conditions and pressurized the vendors to accept.The computer company who was finally awarded the contract had agreed to overall terms that were fine as far as their own products were concerned but had also accepted the same terms for the brought – out items. In this case, the bought – out items were to be imported through a letter of credit. The percentage of the bought – out items versus their own manufacture was also very high. One of the terms accepted was that the â€Å"system† would be accepted over a period of 10 days after all the hardware had been linked up and software loaded. The computer company started facing trouble immediately on supply. There were over 100 computers over a distance connected with one another with software on it. For the acceptance tests, it had been agreed that the computer company would demonstrate as a pre-requisite the features they had claimed during technical discussions. Now, as you are aware, if a Hero Honda motorcycle claims 80 km to a litre of petrol, it is under ideal test conditions and if a motorcycle from the showroom were to be tried for this test before being accepted, it would never pass the test. In corporation’s case, due to internal politics, the  corporation persons from one department – who insisted on going exactly by the contract – did not sign acceptance since the â€Å"system† could not meet the ideal test conditions. Further, in a classic case of, â€Å"for want of a horse – shoe, payment for the horse was held up†, the computer company tried to get the system accepted and payment released. The system was so large that at any point of time over a period of 10 days something small or the other always gave problems. But the corporation took the stand that as far as they were concerned the contracts clearly were concerned the contract clearly mentioned that the â€Å"system† had to be tested as a whole and not module by module. Questions: 1.Comment on the terms and conditions placed by the corporation. 2.What factors influenced the computer company’s decision to accept the contract? 3.Was it a win – win agreement? Discuss?

Environmental Problems in El Salvador

With a total land mass of just 8,124 square miles, El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America. Like many of its’ neighboring countries, it possesses very few natural resources. Since the nation’s economy is based predominantly on agriculture, it’s no surprise that its’ citizens often experience â€Å"resource roller coasters†. In addition, its’ long history of inappropriate land tenure and ownership practices date all the way back to colonialism. Even more strikingly, â€Å"sixty percent of El Salvador’s population is expected to live in the capital by 2010. As a result, El Salvador has to deal with continuing environmental problems. The fact that the nation lies along the Pacific Ring of fire doesn’t help either, which subjects the country to frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. The environmental problems that El Salvador continually struggles with are deforestation, soil erosion, water pollution, contaminat ion and lack of bio-diversity. El Salvador is the second most deforested country in Latin American after Haiti. In fact, nearly eighty five percent of its forest has disappeared since the 1960's.Today, less than 6,000 hectares are now considered to be primary forest. Deforestation in El Salvador occurs as a result of timber exploitation for fuel. The nation’s high population relies heavily on the collection of fuel wood and subsistence hunting and agriculture. Since the end of the 1990's, the country’s deforestation rate has increased by eighteen percent. The environmental, social and economic effects of deforestation have been nothing short of devastating. To date, more than fifty percent of El Salvador isn’t even suitable for food cultivation.In addition, much of the country suffers from severe soil erosion. The massive deforestation that the nation has experienced has dislodged the top soil and has even changed the climate according to environmental experts. What used to be a heavily wooded region is now more like a desert. Deforestation is so severe in El Salvador that it has forced people into the capital city of San Salvador, where overcrowding has caused problems such as smog. â€Å"At least 11,000 Salvadoran children die every year because of respiratory ailments believed related to air pollution, according to one study. Although the El Salvadoran government has attempted to respond to the problem of deforestation, they have not been particularly successful. They have created deforestation laws, but due to lack of funds and management, the laws often go unenforced. In addition, soil erosion and infertility are quite prevalent in El Salvador. These problems stem mostly from poor agricultural practices. Farmers typically use a â€Å"slash and burn† farming method, which consists of cutting and burning down forests in order to use the areas for agriculture. This method destroys all vegetation and leaves the surrounding soil vu lnerable to extreme erosion.Unfortunately, since it is becoming more and more difficult to find land that is suitable for cultivation, farmers have no choice but to do this. Farming is their livelihood and quite frankly they will do anything to survive. What’s even more disheartening is the fact that the land that is suitable for cultivation has already been bought to use for construction of maquilas. In some cases, soil erosion has even buried communities in landslides and floods have submerged large areas of flat land. The soil is also unable to retain humidity causing drought conditions in the dry season.Most agricultural soil has even been acidified due to the irrational use of inorganic fertilizers, pesticides, and other forms of pollution. Luckily, the government has responded to this problem and is encouraging farmers to take advantage of improved agricultural technologies. These technologies include planting deep rooted grasses and trees on hillsides to control soil e rosion. However, farmers should not expect much financial assistance to take advantage of these new technologies because the El Salvadoran government simply does not have much to give.Thirdly, water pollution is another environmental problem that plague El Salvador. Despite receiving six feet of rainfall each year, most of the nation’s water is highly contaminated. In fact, thousands are killed each year due to water contamination, many of whom are children. At the same time, most of the citizens of the nation cannot afford bottled water. After the twelve year civil war destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure, poor areas became even poorer. Homes and water sources had been destroyed by militia during the war. After returning home, some citizens chose to hand dig wells in order to obtain drinking water.However, many others went to their nearest stream, river or pond to collect water. These unsafe and contaminated water sources caused many people to become ill wit h intestinal diseases. According to Ricardo Navarro, El Salvador’s government has failed to protect its’ most precious resource: â€Å"Farmers have cut down forests that used to store rain water. Ranchers have allowed their livestock to pollute rivers. Communities have put latrines too close to shallow wells. † Others, such as Marisol Prima Ponza, who runs a government dispensary that tracks the health of 375 children in several communities, believe that things are improving. There have been fewer cases of diarrhea,† she says. â€Å"For example, from January to August of this year I have only recorded 17 cases. † Ponza also added that these improvements are due to several projects that have been implemented to improve water conditions. El Salvador’s government can not claim that they have played a large role in any improvements though. In fact, sixty three percent of water improvement programs were financed through international loans and gra nts, twenty one percent through self-financing by ANDA and only sixteen percent with actual government resources.Many citizens and international groups alike have been putting pressure on the government to improve water conditions as well. In fact, March 22 is declared as World Water Day when thousands of people protest in the streets of San Salvador. They typically protest the four main components of the country’s water crisis: high cost of water, unjust distribution of water, contaminated water and environmental destruction. Despite some improvements, poor water sanitation continues to remain one of the main environmental problems of El Salvador. Another environmental problem that El Salvador must deal with on a daily basis is contamination.The nation’s soil is constantly being contaminated from the disposal of toxic wastes. Each day, El Salvador produces over two thousand metric tons of garbage. Over half of the garbage that is produced is disposed of illegally in o pen air dumps. In actuality, only two legal garbage dumps exist for the entire country to share. The whole country, especially the Greater San Salvador area contaminates a great deal of its garbage by â€Å"mixing organic with inorganic garbage, biodegradable or reusable materials with non-biodegradable or toxic waste. By doing this, many recycling opportunities are completely lost and the cost of recovering the recyclable materials would simply not be worth it. Unfortunately, the nation’s restrictions on any kind of waste disposal are quite lax and they do not provide people with the resources for proper disposal anyway. In addition, nearly half of the nation’s garbage is toxic waste which is harmful to human and environmental health. Factories and hospitals alike simply dump their garbage into nearby rivers and lakes which contaminates the water.Unfortunately, the response from the municipal government in San Salvador barely makes a dent in the problem. Nonetheless, if its model extended throughout the nation and made its way into the platforms of public officials as well as environmental organizations, then positive change would probably occur. For a country whose environment is badly deteriorating, this is a life or death situation and must be properly addressed. Garbage collectors themselves can be seen handling garbage with their bare hands on any given day, which subjects them to many types of infections.According to the garbage collectors themselves, there isn’t a very good communication flow between them and the environmental sanitation office. Many of the people that work at the mayor’s office are not even aware of a pilot project to separate garbage. In addition, the equipment that would be needed for the project would not even be affordable due to San Salvador’s poor economic conditions. Unfortunately, the mayor’s good intentions are simply not helpful without the proper funding and effort. Lastly, another environmental issue that affects El Salvador is the loss of bio-diversity.It’s not that the nation naturally lacks bio-diversity, but rather the result of many years of environmental abuse. In particular, the nation’s wildlife and native plant life are suffering due to soil degradation, poor water quality and subsistence hunting. Despite these problems, more than 508 species of birds, 121 mammals, 130 reptiles and amphibians, and over 2000 plant species were recorded in the nation in 1998. Even though these numbers have probably decreased since then due to the government’s lack of emphasis on natural resources training, they are still not devastating by any means.In fact, El Salvador encompasses over seven percent over the world’s total biodiversity. However, these plants and animal species are not going to save themselves. If the nation’s other environmental issues are not addressed then the distinction of some of these plants and animals is inev itable. The environmental problems in El Salvador are an important issue to the state because they all lead to others problems.For example, contamination has led to water pollution which has led to illness and people’s livelihoods depend on whether they are healthy enough to work. As mentioned several of times, the state has definitely not done enough to ddress the environmental problems in which they are suffering from. Even when they do address the problems and create plans to fix them, they usually lack the money to carry the plans through. Any money that they do have to fix the problem is typically obtained through international grant and loan programs, like the United Nations. Some improvements have been made in El Salvador, such as the integration of legal garbage dumps, but since only two exist, the improvements have not been immense. The environmental problems have weakened the economy and in turn, the weakened economy is what is preventing the problems from being fix ed.It’s not that the elected officials of El Salvador do not have goals and visions for their state, but it’s that they can’t carry them through economically. Perhaps educating the citizens of El Salvador about how to care for the environment and farm correctly is one of the first steps. International groups also need to continue to put pressure on the state through protests, such as they did on World Water Day and their funding needs to continue. By improving their environmental problems, El Salvador has the ability to prosper more than anyone has ever even imagined.

The Tempest Passage Analysis Essays

The Tempest Passage Analysis Essays The Tempest Passage Analysis Essay The Tempest Passage Analysis Essay Essay Topic: The Tempest In William Shakespeares The Tempest, one of the most intriguing characters that Shakespeare creates is that of Prospero. Prosperos character is significant as he adds a mysterious aspect to The Tempest because Prospero, himself, is also very hidden and secretive. The passage from Act 1, Scene 2, lines 271 to 286 provides the reader with an example of how Prospero can be very manipulative and deceitful. One of the first assumptions that the reader can make is that it is throughout this particular speech that Prospero is employing his manipulative skills in order to convince Ariel that it is only because of Prosperos powers that Ariel is now free from being trapped within the cloven pine, within which rift/ Imprisoned [Ariel] didst painfully remain. (1:2:279-280) Through Prosperos speech, it becomes evident that Prospero is attempting to emphasize the emptiness and torturous isolation that Ariel had to endure and might have continued to endure was it not for the help of Prospero. It is interesting to point out, however, that Prospero seems to over-emphasize the issue which is obviously suggested through his language. For example, Prospero exclaims to Ariel such phrases as left thee there, where thou didst vent thy groans,(1:2:282) Imprisoned thou didst painfully remain/ A dozen years; within which space she died, (1:2:280-281) and Then was this island- / Save for the son that she did litter here. (1:2:283-284) Through particular words such as left, groans, space, the reader sees how Prospero uses his art of persuasion in order to make Ariel believe that the life that he now possesses is of much more value than the empty, painful and isolated life that he once lived. Although it is evident that Prospero attempts to portray himself as a noble, good-natured man, this point may be argued. In fact, Prospero calls Ariel my slave (1:2:272) which leaves the reader to question why Prospero simply did not grant Ariel his freedom initially if he was so kind and noble. I n comparison, the relationship between Prospero and Ariel can be seen as symbolic of the relationship that existed between the European settlers and the original inhabitants of the land of which they exploited. In both cases, Prospero and the European settlers use the excuse that they are actually helping the inhabitants as justification for their acts. In addition to the unveiling of Prosperos manipulative character, it also becomes evident that Prospero places a great value on honor. Interestingly, however, Prospero associates honor with physical appearance. This is clearly shown when Prospero calls Caliban [a] freckled whelp, hag-born not honored with/ A human shape. (1:2:285-286) In effect, Prospero is illustrated as being a superficial man who looks down upon those who do not fit the standards created by society. Thus, the main significance of the passage is that it allows the reader to truly understand Prosperos two-dimensional character. Although it is portrayed that he is a good man for helping Ariel, it is also seen that he uses that compassionate act in order to manipulate Ariel in being his slave. In addition, the reader acknowledges that honor is of importance to Prospero, yet he associates honor with superficial ideals. In effect, the false impression that Prospero attempts to portray becomes just one of the many illusions that exist on Prosperos island.

Get Your Resume In The Door in 8 Seconds or Less

Get Your Resume In The Door in 8 Seconds or Less With the hours we spend on our resumes and cover letter- the editing down, the asking friends to proofread, the tailoring to every job opportunity- we’d like to think that employers spend at least a few minutes taking in all our attention to detail. But they don’t. Since employers are often fighting time constraints,  they usually  spend about 8 seconds  scanning your resume for relevant info. Here’s how to make the most of all 8 seconds!Make the First Half CountI’ve never been one for resume objectives, but if I’m setting 8 seconds worth of priorities, I’m going to make sure I stand out from the other 299 people applying for this same job! The big 3: Skills, Experience, and Value. The top of your resume should reflect the qualifications that only you can offer- delete anything that could apply to anyone who has ever held a job.Use Keywords that MatterBefore you even get those 8 seconds, chances are a data-mining program has already scr eened you for an HR manager to review. Make sure you prime the hiring manager to like you by front-loading your resume with the most impressive accomplishments, specific technical skills, and other eye-catching (but accurate) terms. They should also pick up on what the job posting was specifically looking for.Lead With the Best InformationFor each position, there will be the achievements you accomplished and the responsibilities you completed. Which one do you think is more compelling to a hiring manager?Use bullets for your results and a paragraph format for roles and responsibilities so that what you achieved stands out more than just what you did. Use the active voice and avoid weak-sounding words that underplay your contribution.Don’t Make the Reader SquintYour resume font size should NEVER be smaller than 11- it’s impossible onscreen and the time it takes your hiring manager to reach for their reading glasses is precious! Use bold typeface to accent crucial inform ation, leave a healthy amount of white-space, and guide your reader through your resume with indentations and formatting that tells them clearly what information is grouped together.Make sure those 8 seconds are worth it- no typos, no sluggish passive voice, and definitely no exaggerations!

A Votre Sante Teaching Note Essay Example for Free

A Votre Sante Teaching Note Essay ? Additionally, the case questions require both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the business issues faced by AVS. AVS has been used in a graduate-level managerial accounting class for MBAs, and would be most appropriate for an advanced undergraduate or a graduate-level accounting or MBA course. The detail in the case is rich enough to support a variety of analyses. Alternative uses could be to have the student construct a cost of goods manufactured statement or a traditional financial statement, both of which reinforce the differences between product and period costs. Additionally, alternative decision analysis questions could be developed using the variable and fixed cost structures described in the case. Case question number two is only one example of a potential decision analysis question. The contribution margin income statement (Teaching Note Exhibit 1) is fairly straightforward, with the following concepts or calculations causing the most difficulty: The inclusion of liquor taxes and sales commissions in variable costs: These are both period expenses, but are clearly based upon the number of bottles sold, and therefore are included in the variable costs. Where to include the wine master expense: Since the wine master is paid according to number of blends, not number of bottles, this expense is listed as a fixed cost. Arguably, it could be listed as a variable cost, given that the cost will be based on the number of wines produced. As part of the discussion we will examine the rationale behind listing wine master as a fixed or a variable expense. Barrel expense: The case states that the barrels produce the equivalent of 40 cases of wine. A case of wine is post-fermentation/bottling and therefore after the 10% loss has occurred. The barrels contain the wine at the start of the process. Therefore, there have to be enough barrels to hold all the wine at the beginning of the process, not at the end. This factor results in 63 (62.5) barrels being required for the harvest2. Teaching Note Exhibit 1: Contribution Margin Income Statement Part b asks, â€Å"What is the maximum amount that AVS would pay to buy an additional pound of Chardonnay grapes?† There are three parts to calculating this answer: the benefit from the additional Chardonnay wine to be sold, the relevant costs related to producing this wine and the opportunity cost of not producing as much Blanc de Blanc wine. Teaching Note: Exhibit 2 displays the calculations relevant to this decision. Chardonnay regular wine requires a 2 to 1 mixture of Chardonnay and generic white grapes. Therefore, the 18,000 pounds of Chardonnay grapes will be combined with 9,000 pounds of generic white grapes. The 27,000 pounds of grapes will result in an additional 9,000 bottles of new Chardonnay regular wine being produced. However, it will also result in a 3,000-bottle decrease in the amount of Blanc de Blanc wine produced, since some generic grapes will now be used for the Chardonnay-regular wine. Recall that only Chardonnay wine is processed in barrels. A Votre Sante Teaching Note. (2016, May 31).

How To Build An Effective Team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

How To Build An Effective Team - Essay Example Development of the employer-employee affiliation is significant to both parties for quite a few motives (McShane & Glinow, 2004, Pp 415-417). 2. Secondly, employees might discover that improved moral performance on their part in fact fallout in advanced reimbursement. For example, many organizations are concerned in connection with marketing, which is the procedure of generating and upholding lasting dealings with customers. Connections marketing, which can help an organization add to its income, necessitate the collaboration of employees. Employees that execute their jobs carefully and industriously are often pleased with elevated pays. 3. Thirdly, even if there is no substance increase, morally suitable behavior provides wisdom of complacency. So, it is beneficial for each organization to uphold elevated principled values and thus promote confidence among an organization and its employees. Organizational Behavior organizations or companies have been illustrated as groups of people who work mutually dependent headed for various reasons. This description evidently specifies that organizations are not structures or parts of any mechanism. Organizations are, certainly, people who work together to achieve communal purposes. The learning of organizational Behavior (OB) and its associated topics assist us to comprehend what people believe, sense and do in managerial surroundings. There are quantities of behavioral regulations that supply to OB: psychology, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and political science. There are a lot of disputes and chances today for managers to use OB perceptions. One of the mainly significant and multi-ethnic confronts facing organizations at present is developing a new team. Organizations are becoming more diverse in provisions of gender, race, and ethnicity. Keeping in consideration the ideas of OB permits organization to make possib le the needs of developing a new team. Characteristics For Building A New Team 1. Supervisors, managers and association personnel members generally discover ways to progress business consequences and productivity. Many view team-support as the most excellent plan for linking all employees in generating trade accomplishment. No matter what one calls its team-support development attempt: incessant development, totality of quality, bend over manufacturing or self-aimed at work teams one is determined to get better consequences for its customers. 2. Considering diverse kinds of people and probable behaviors to contract with them permits a manager to choose the management style and techniques most suitable to their circumstances to build an effective team. 3. Research on performance of employees in an association could assist in choosing and guiding founded on there experienced prospective to execute the job. 4. Employees performance aids in make a decision of wages rates, founding presentation standards, work scheduling, allocation of work according to persons capability and locating to-do list when building a team.