Family Violence Essay

While it is difficult to create a concrete definition of family violence or blame anyone involved in it, no one will disagree with the fact that it can be disastrous for all members of any family. The inherent complexity of such situations makes it difficult to blame any single person of the family or to underpin a particular gender as the sole guilty behind such occurrence. Therefore this study briefly explores why this issue looks so complicated and whether such complication would help to solve the situation. According to Levesque et al. (2001), family violence involves family members’ acts of omission or commission that result in physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, or other forms of maltreatment, which eventually hampers healthy development of humans.   The above definition fairly indicates that there are many faces of family violence and it can be difficult for an outsider to identify if there is any violence ongoing in a family. However, American Academy of Family Physicians (2009), explains family violence as the â€Å"intentional intimidation or abuse of children, adults or elders by a family member, intimate partner or caretaker to gain power and control over the victim.† While the first definition mostly emphasizes on action, the second one stresses on intention. This adds to the complexity by highlighting the fact that family violence can take place even without the knowledge of most of the members in a family (Lau et al., 1999). For example, a father may find spanking as an effective tool to intimidate his daughter, and may intentionally does that off and on, which may not be considered as violence by her mother or other members of that family and thus such practice might continue to ruin the victim’s future. This is very much possible, since many acts are considered as â€Å"socially accepted violence†, such as spanking, and which are not considered as â€Å"abusive violence,† which according to the researchers an â€Å"act which has a high potential for injuring the person being hit† (Straus et al, 1980, pp. 21-22). The above state of affairs shows that there is much ambiguity in pinpointing family violence which in turn points at the fact that how difficult it could be to redress it or to eliminate its occurrence. This signifies the importance of spreading awareness about the damaging potential of family violence and promoting the adoption of behavioral processes that can effectively eliminate such occurrences in a family. For example, encouraging parents to abstain from using corporal punishment to their children could be a way to lessen the instances of child abuse – because the intention behind corporal punishment, i.e., to cause pain but not injury for purposes of coercion and control (Strauss et al., 1980) may be lost with raised temper and loss of control. In all, any injury has the potential to leave a scar on human mind and thus can considerably influence the actions of the victims, which may create further problems to the society. It is from this angle, the hidden niches of family violence need to be identified and redressed, and from that perspective, humans have to go through complex discussions and debates in way of finding its solution. It is not that family violence is a new phenomenon of the society, since instances of it are spread all over in the literature of all times, and earning several sobriquets in different periods, like â€Å"battered child syndrome† (Kempe et al., 1962), â€Å"granny bashing† (Burston, 1975) or â€Å"battered woman† (Walker, 1979). Therefore, it is the pressing lifestyle of modern times have given it some more dimensions and accordingly, the educated minds of modern times are trying to deeply investigate its root as well as its intrinsic effects on human mind. Consequently, the perception about family violence is also gradually changing, where the earlier concept of focusing on the violence on women, children as the potential victims is making way to a newer concept that includes all humans and considers any act detrimental to human development as family violence (Pleck, 1987). Conclusion The apparent complexity in defining or determining family is actually an outcome of the honest search of the researchers that has brought forth many hidden niches of family violence. This is the right process, because the more the mechanism of family becomes clear before all, the more humans will be able to eradicate it and move towards a prosperous and happy future. References American Academy of Family Physicians. (2009). Family and intimate partner violence and abuse. Retrieved July 19, 2009, from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/policies/f/familyandintimatepartner-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   violenceandabuse.html Burston, G. R. (1975). Granny battering. British Medical Journal, 3, 592. Kemple, C. H., Silverman, F. N., Steele, B. F., Droegemullar, W., and Silver, Hl. K.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (1962). The battered-child syndrome. Journal of the American Medical   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Association, 181, 105-112. Lau, J. T. F., Liu, J. L. Y., Tong, C. K., and Tan, P. M. E. H. (1999). Conceptualizations,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   reporting and under-reporting of child abuse in Hong Kong. Child Abuse &   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Neglect, 23, 1159-1174 Lavesque, D. A., Velicer, W.F., Castle, P. H., and Greene, R. N. (2008). Violence against   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   women. Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 158-164. Pleck, E. (1987). Domestic tyranny: The making of social policy against family violence from colonical times to the present. New York: Oxford University Press. Straus, M. A., Gelles, R.J., and Steinmetz, S.K. (1980). Behind closed doors:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Violence in American families. Doubleday, NewYork. Walker, L. E. (1979). The battered woman. New York: Harer Colophon Books.

Barbara Jordan: The First African-American Woman State Senator

Jordan campaigned for the Texas House of Representatives in 1962 and 1964. [1] Her persistence won her a seat in the Texas Senate in 1966, becoming the first African American state senator since 1883 and the first black woman to serve in that body. [1] Re-elected to a full term in the Texas Senate in 1968, she served until 1972. She was the first African-American female to serve as president pro tem. of the state senate and served one day, June 10, 1972, as acting governor of Texas.In 1972, she was elected to the United States House of Representatives, becoming the first black woman from a Southern state to serve in the House. She received extensive support from former President Lyndon Johnson, who helped her secure a position on the House Judiciary Committee. In 1974, she made an influential, televised speech before the House Judiciary Committee supporting the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.Jordan was mentioned as a possible running mate to Jimmy Carter in 1976,[1] and that year she became the first African-American woman to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. [1] Her speech in New York that summer was ranked 5th in â€Å"Top 100 American Speeches of the 20th century† list and was considered by many historians to have been the best convention keynote speech in modern history. Despite not being a candidate Jordan received one delegate vote (0. 03%) for president at the convention.Jordan retired from politics in 1979 and became an adjunct professor teaching ethics at the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She again was a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 1992. In 1995, Jordan chaired a Congressional commission that advocated increased restriction of immigration, called for all U. S. residents to carry a national identity card and increased penalties on employers that violated U. S. immigration regulations. [2][3] Then-President Clinton endorsed the Jordan Commission's proposals. 4] While she was Chair of the U. S. Commission on Immigration Reform she argued that â€Å"it is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest. † Her stance on immigration is cited by opponents of current US immigration policy who cite her willingness to penalize employers who violate US immigration regulations, to tighten border security, and to oppose amnesty or any other pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants[5] and to broaden the grounds for the deportation of legal immigrants. [6]

Social Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Social Performance - Essay Example People in the same set of business ventures rarely come together not for merriment and diversion but for scheme against the public (Paul and Elder, 2006). Briefly describe your company and then benchmark the codes of conduct used by similar companies in the industry. Critique the codes of conduct of at least three (3) similar companies in order to write codes for your company. Bp is a company that specializes in the installation of solar powered streetlights contracted in the lighting of streets due to the increased insecurity resulting from poor lighting in most areas. Valmont industries specializes in producing lighting materials and according to Mogens Bay, ethics is the driver of an organization. The company tries to embrace a family mode of operation in the industry where each one in the organization treats as an equal. Ethics is how you treat your fellow employees and not only making decisions ethically (Bay). Employees need to be treated with compassion but the compassion has to be limited to achieve the set goals, as some duties need an override of ethics for them to be achieved. Advanced lighting technologies observe the importance and significance of ethics within its corporate governance program. Rules regarding persons and peer responsibility embody the ethics code as well as their responsibilities to the company, stakeholders, and public. The company requires individuals to demonstrate honest at all times by avoiding personal or professional conflicts. Provision of accurate, complete, relevant, and timely information to the constituents (public, stakeholders) is a requirement. A company should preserve some information from the eyes of the public and competitors, as an insight to every happening in the company is critical to the growth and achievement of its set goals. The company requires all its employees to comply with rules and regulations of the land (federal, state, provincial, and local government). General Electronics embraces ethics

Returning to college Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Returning to college - Essay Example It is not going to be easy for me to prepare myself for the transition from a family person to a student. Though once I was a student, at that time, I never had any constraints for my studies. Well, I did not grow up with good study habits, I used to spend most of my free time playing video games, watching movies and listening to music and hardly doing my homework when I was a student. Since I got married now and have an infant daughter, my burdens have increased a lot. So the problem is how to prepare myself mentally for the transition from a house wife to a student without sacrificing the needs of my infant and husband. The very first step I am taking is to make sure that, my home is a good place to study. For any positive results to be attained in studying at home, the home environment should be made conducive for thinking. In order to make my home suitable for studies, I have to manage my daughter and husband judiciously. It is clear to me that, I can only concentrate on one thing at a time and for that purpose the home environment should be free from noise and distraction. The time management of my daughter is going to be a big issue in my pursuit of completing a college degree. She is in her early pre-teen period and hence it is compulsory for me to take care of her because of the presence of mother is essential for the child development at infancy period. So apart from my studies, I have to spend as much as time with her in order to satisfy her needs. It is difficult for me to convince her regarding the importance of my studies because of her small age. It is better for me to utilize more time for my studies while my daughter is sleeping. I can also ask my husband to take her to some parks or to entertain her in some ways when I am studying. The second challenge of course may arise from my husband. Like all other husbands, he also requires my company in order to maintain the

The fierce competetion between the conventional and islamic banks at Case Study

The fierce competetion between the conventional and islamic banks at the Kuwait finance bank in Bahrain - Case Study Example This has resulted in the process of tremendous competition in the marketplace. In an effort to sustain in the well connected and highly competitive global marketplace, companies around the world are significantly asking for large loan amounts in order to fuel their organizational growth needs. On the other hand, the consumers in an attempt to maintain a suitable lifestyle are focusing on the process of acquiring financial support for the purpose of acquiring homes, vehicles and other necessary products and services. This is triggering the need for financial support services from banking institutions around the world. However, the banks in an attempt to maintain profits are providing loans on competitive and attractive interest rates. However, talking on this note, it can be said that the effect of macroeconomic factors like slowdown of productivity in the developed countries, credit crunch and Euro Zone crisis are playing significant roles in the process of determining the rate of in terest on the financial loans in banking systems around the world. ... With the growth of business operation in the Middle Kingdom, a particular style of banking was introduced in an attempt to fund the large scale business operations of that time. During those early days of banking, the financial institutions used to charge riba. The riba in various Arabic and Middle East religions dialects is represented and meant as a bite to the pain inflicted upon the debtor (Ahmed 2011) . Riba in simple terms represents the interest rates on a loan (Bakar, â€Å"Riba and Islamic Banking And Finance†). However, with regards to the Islamic Law which is referred as Shari’aa, Muslims were not allowed to deal in riba and it was declared as a highly prohibited action, which will attract sin. As a result of this, when the Europeans of those times focused on developing the trade channels with the Ottoman Empire by doing business through the interest based loan and banking system, the local business community rejected the offers. This led to the formation of a culture among the Muslim community to avoid loans altogether. In the recent times, a lot of development has happened with regards to the initiative taken King Faisal of Saudi Arabia in 1974 to develop a banking system, which follows the Islamic law (Rahman 2010). The years after that followed a generation of a significant amount of interest for the purpose of building and developing a more sophisticated and modernized version of the pre-existing methods related to Islamic banking. It can be said also highlighted in these regards that the process of re-emergence of the Islamic banking system was to some extent fuelled by the desire of the Muslim communities to stay clear of any kind of financial

Federalism Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Federalism Paper - Essay Example People have different and varied opinions about federalism but for United States it completely make sense to be a federalist country. This is because US is spreaded over a large geographical area and it is near to impossible to run and control the whole country by just having one government. Federalism might look as an incomprehensible idealistic expression, but it has a substantial meaning. It basically reflects the choice of the people and gives them a say in deciding as how the state or even people living in the state should be governed. When votes are being casted, an individual say will only matter when there will be a small number of people casting votes for their state rather than a million people voting for the whole country. People take more interest in the local elections rather than the country election when they are living in a federalist country (Longley, 2013). When all the activities are being handled by the state, the accountability of the state government as well as the people living in that state increases. If someone is not working in the right manner or if they are not being ethical with their work, it is easier to figure out what is wrong and can be corrected there and then. Federalism also makes people more concerned about the state and the people living in the state which is considered to be the best part of it (Magazu, 2013). Different states have different laws which are to the convenience of the people living there. The law of education, health, marriage and divorce, drinking age limit and driving license are major laws which are made and implemented by the state government. The state government does not need permission from the central government to make changes in these laws when and where required hence giving people a more close say in running the place they live in. Secondly the issues that are related to the people directly are heard and solved more quickly and

European free trade zone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

European free trade zone - Essay Example The seven member countries of EFTA including Austria, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland were not willing to be the part of the European Economic Community at that time. Finland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein joined EFTA later. Under the EFTA treaty, the member countries made a partnership in order to form and manage a free trade zone, and they initially established such a region among themselves; the free trade area then eventually broadened to include the European Community. By the formation of a European free trade zone, the member countries aimed â€Å"increased productivity, a more efficient use of resources, the expansion of economic activity and full employment as well as promoting financial stability and improving living standards† (â€Å"European free trade area†). Gradually, some countries left the EFTA and presently the EFTA comprises Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. In 1992, EFTA made agreements with EEA (Euro pean Economic Area) to aid its members to join the European internal market freely. These agreements contained specific provision regarding the preservation of social policy, consumer rights, environment, and company law and statistics. In addition, the agreement also included various provisions for the mutual cooperation of EEA-EFTA Member States in various areas such as researches and development, information technology, education, industrial operations, tourism, multimedia sector and civil protection (â€Å"European free trade area†). As Ranchev and Georgi point out, in Southeast Europe, seven countries including Albania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Macedonia, and FR Yugoslavia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 27th June 2001 for the establishment of a free trade zone in that area (1-13). After the collapse of the Iron curtain, two free trade areas namely Baltic Free Trade Area (BAFTA) and Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) were for med so as to stabilize the countries under these areas for membership of the EU. However, the original members from both these areas left the agreements and joined EU after the enlargement of EU in 2004. CEFTA has spread its operations to Southern Europe by adding members from Western Balkans and Moldova regions. The EU not only operates as a free trade area but it engages in more widespread operations with its predecessor, the European Economic Community. The EU offers services to EFTA members by sharing its single market through European Economic Area and it maintains provisions for making free trade agreements with most other European countries. Presently Europe includes three multi-lateral free trade areas in addition to the European Union which maintains a single market and one former-FTA. Crises to European Free Trade Zone The European free trade area has faced a large number of crises from the beginning of its history. Although, the free trade zone implementation process for Southeast Europe has been well structured, many economists opine that this trade liberalization process may result in adverse economic impacts. Ranchev and Georgi strongly argue that the concept of free trade zone would raise potential threats to the sustainable economic growth of the

Yorkshire Dilect and Pronunciation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Yorkshire Dilect and Pronunciation - Case Study Example Ð  quÐ µstionnÐ °irÐ µ contÐ °ining itÐ µms which rÐ µflÐ µctÐ µd Ð ° numbÐ µr of sociÐ °l bond vÐ °riÐ °blÐ µs Ð °nd Ð ° mÐ µÃ °surÐ µ of frÐ µquÐ µncy of Yorkshire diÐ °lect wÐ °s Ð °dministÐ µrÐ µd to Ð ° sÐ °mplÐ µ of collÐ µgÐ µ studÐ µnts. ThÐ µ rÐ µsults indicÐ °tÐ µd thÐ °t nÐ µÃ °rly Ð °ll of thÐ µ sociÐ °l bond mÐ µÃ °surÐ µs wÐ µrÐ µ invÐ µrsÐ µly rÐ µlÐ °tÐ µd to thÐ µ frÐ µquÐ µncy of Yorkshire diÐ °lect. Ð  multivÐ °riÐ °tÐ µ modÐ µl thÐ °t usÐ µd thÐ µsÐ µ sociÐ °l bond mÐ µÃ °surÐ µs Ð µxplÐ °inÐ µd Ð °pproximÐ °tÐ µly onÐ µ-quÐ °rtÐ µr of thÐ µ vÐ °riÐ °ncÐ µ in thÐ µ frÐ µquÐ µncy of Yorkshire diÐ °lect for thÐ µ studÐ µnts in this sÐ °mplÐ µ. The term diÐ °lect refers to Ð ° specific vÐ °riety of Ð ° lÐ °nguÐ °ge, which differs systemÐ °ticÐ °lly from other vÐ °rieties in terms of pronunciÐ °tion, grÐ °mmÐ °r Ð °nd vocÐ °bulÐ °ry, but which is still generÐ °lly comprehensible to speÐ °kers of other diÐ °lects within thÐ °t lÐ °nguÐ °ge. Ð ccent refers simply to different pronunciÐ °tion pÐ °tterns Ð °nd, despite populÐ °r belief to the contrÐ °ry everybody speÐ °ks with Ð °n Ð °ccent. In other words, diÐ °lect is Ð °n umbrellÐ ° term for Ð ° vÐ °riety of linguistic feÐ °tures, one of which is Ð °ccent - the sound pÐ °tterns of Ð ° specific diÐ °lect. ... The chrcteristic fetures of the ccent of the region includeflt, uninflected mnner of speech, with less tonl vrition thn Stndrd English. The "u" sound is pronounced like the stndrd English "oo", so "luck" is pronounced (in IP) . The difference between the Yorkshire Pronuncition of "look" nd "luck" is difficult to her, the "look" vowel being slightly longer in durtion nd tending towrds the IP pronuncition. Shortening of "the" to "t", s in "I'm going down 't pub". Sometimes even the "t" is now omitted totlly, often it is pronounced s glottl stop. Mny dilect words, for exmple "owt" nd "nowt" (sometimes spelled s "ught" nd "nught") for "nything" or "nothing", "bevvy" for drink, "growler" for "pork pie", "lughole" for "er", "gip" for "vomit" funnily mkes the ugly Gipton estte in Leeds into "vomit-town"! etc. The word "us" is often used in plce of "me" or in the plce of "our" we should put us nmes on us property. Use of the singulr second-person pronoun "thou" nd "thee", lrgely in the southern prts of Yorkshire. These re often pronounced "thh" nd "thi". In ll cses of the pst tense of "to be" is "were": "I were wering t'red cot, but he were wering t'green one". The word "self" becomes "sen", prticulrly in North Yorkshire. E.g. "Yourself" becomes "Thy sen" In the South-Est of Yorkshire vowel shifts so "i" becomes "ee", nd "ee" becomes "i", so "Where hve you been lst night" becomes "wherst th bin lst neet". The letter "y" on the end of words is pronounced like the "i" in "city" or "pity" nd is thus shorter thn in Stndrd English "It's piti 't h didn't get sum sweets.". 1 In West Yorkshire, words like "blue" nd "you" hve n exggerted "euw" sound in "bleuw" nd "yeuw". This is best herd in the West Yorkshire

Ethinicity And American Culture Essay Example for Free

Ethinicity And American Culture Essay The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1850 was signed between the American government and the interim government of the military occupied Mexico which resulted in the end of the Mexican-American War. This was intended to bring peace in the disputed territory and the end result was that Mexico ceded a large territory to the United States and its size was reduced by forty-five percent. The land Mexico ceded to the U. S. is now a number of states: Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and California. The military government in Mexico received fair compensation for the territory. The treaty of Guadalupe paved the way for the way for the immigration of Mexicans especially workers to the U. S. this was necessitated by the United States’ need for labor to develop the newly acquired territory. Immigration patterns have been determined by American manual labor needs. The Immigration Process The immigration of Mexicans to the U. S. began soon after the territory was surrendered, the U. S. government sought labor from Mexico to build the railroad which was to connect all the new territory to the other states. Between 1850 and 1880 the U. S. government brought in 55,000 migrant workers from Mexico into the former Mexican territories to work on the railroad. The government preferred Mexican laborers because they were not entitled to any constitutional protection and they could work for substandard wages in the harsh conditions. The process of immigration began to peak up speed in 1910 when the Mexican revolution took place. After the revolution, more then 50,000 Mexican workers immigrated to the U. S. in search of jobs which they felt were better than those available in their home country. Changes over Time Change in the immigration process began to take shape in 1929 when American citizens massively complained that the illegal workers were taking up their job. The government responded by launching major crackdown on immigrants who did not posses the relevant immigration documents. This resulted in the forceful deportation of over two million Mexican of which about one and a half million had been born in the U. S. this was harsh as those born in the U. S. were therefore citizens by birth. The U. S however found itself in a tight spot when it got in World War II in 1942 which elicited the need for Mexican workers. The U. S. acted quickly to remedy the situation by getting into an agreement with Mexican officials and this was known as the Bracero program. Under the program guest Mexican workers would be allowed to enter the U. S. and provide labor on a temporary basis though they would not be afforded the labor protections accorded to their U. S. counterparts. The program run through out the period of World War II and went on up to 1964 as major Corporations had pulled string to ensure that the laborers continued to work as they wanted to cash in on the cheap labor. Since 1964 there was what has been referred to as an unspoken agreement between the undocumented workers, Corporations and the government. The government has intentionally failed to implement border regulations after being lobbied by major corporations which benefit highly from the labor if the immigrants. Though the agreement has been said to benefit all the parties which is utterly false as the immigrant workers are subjected to poor living conditions, are paid substandard wages and do not enjoy the protection of labor unions or practices. In 1986 three million undocumented Mexican-American workers were granted amnesty by the Reagan administration and this consequently made them subject to human rights protections, (Borjas National Bureau of Economic Research, 2007). Effect on Chicano Movement The Chicano movement was vastly affected by the immigration of undocumented as they were not officially recognized by the U. S. government. This meant that they did not enjoy constitutional protection like other American citizen and the movement’s job was harder as attempts at demanding for rights resulted in deportation. Mexican workers therefore did not seek the help of the movement as they fear that its intervention would result of their deportation, (Rosales, 2000). Conclusion The immigration of Mexican to the U. S. began with the need by the U. S. government to have cheap labor for building of a railroad through the territory acquired from Mexico in 1850. The immigration pattern has however been tied only to the manual labor needs of the U. S. as the government allows entry of undocumented Mexican workers when they are in dire need of cheap manual labor like during World War II. The pattern is also evident from the push and pull debate that rages on the undocumented workers. Reference Borjas, G. J. National Bureau of Economic Research. (2007). Mexican Immigration to the United States. Chicago? : University of Chicago Press. Rosales, F. A. (2000). Testimonio: A Documentary History of the Mexican-American Struggle for Civil Rights. Houston: Arte Publico Press. ESSAY TWO Some historians describe the Civil Rights Movement as a two-phase process of a southern movement to guarantee basic human rights and a northern movement focused on economic and social inequalities. In an essay, which incorporates lecture, readings and class discussion analyze this process. Introduction The Civil Rights Movement sought reform in the way the American society treated African Americans and it sought to change the perception. The movement originated in the urban areas of the south after large numbers of African Americans migrated from the rural areas and this was after the abolishment of slavery. The American Civil Rights Movement faced a number of challenges in its quest for equal civil rights for African Americans and other minority groups. This came in the form of legislation which promoted the injustices committed against African Americans by white Americans. The movement was therefore forced to employ different strategies and tactics so as to have its voice and that of its people heard. The movement suffered major losses in the road to the eventual attainment of those rights. The Civil Rights Movement refers to a reform movement of African Americans which sought to attain equal civil rights under the law for all people. It sought to have the abolishment of both public and private acts of discrimination and segregation against African Americans. The movement is said to have originated in the southern urban areas when millions of African Americans migrated from rural areas to the urban centers of the south. The Civil Rights Movement employed various strategies which included: nonviolent strikes, civil disobedience, marches, boycotts, protests rallies and freedom rides. The movement therefore focused on disenfranchisement and the Jim Crow laws in the south. The Civil Rights Movement in the south can be said to have been the most intense as it was in the south that African Americans faced the greatest resistance to their attempts to struggle for equal rights. The south had become the most notorious when it came to the suppression of rights of African Americans. The laws in the south permitted or required four acts of discrimination against African Americans. They included voter suppression or disfranchisement, denial of economic opportunities, private acts and mass racial violence and racial segregation which was first upheld by the U. S. Supreme Court decision in 1896 in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. It was also in the south that most of the milestone events in the civil rights movement took place in the south which included the: Martin Luther king Jr. assassination, march on Selma, Alabama, Mississippi freedom summer and the Montgomery bus boycott. The south was also home of some of the most important literature to come out of the Civil Rights Movement like Dr. King’s Letter from Birmingham jail. It also home to important Civil Rights Movement landmarks like the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Site. The latter also house a museum which chronicles the American Civil Rights Movement. The challenges of the movement in south emanated from the legislature passing of the Jim Crow laws which legalized segregation in all public facilities. This law meant that African Americans and other non-white citizens were designated different facilities this includes: lavatories, buses, restaurants, housing establishments among others. These went on to be adopted by most local government across the country and this turned to be a major challenge to the Civil Rights Movement. It was the successes of the Civil Rights Movement in the south which made life better for African Americans all over the United States. The civil rights movement culminated in the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965 but of which were a clear symbol of the success of the Civil Rights Movement, (Williams Bond, 1988). Conclusion Despite the major challenges the American civil Rights Movement faced, it managed to succeed in its cause because of its strategies, sacrifices and it resilience. Some of the sacrifices the movement had to contend with included the loss of one of its leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who was assassinated. Though this was a major blow the movement managed to remain resilient and it was rewarded with the passing of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in 1964 and 1965 respectively. The fact that most of the Civil Rights Movement events took place in the south does not mean that the northern part of the country was not involved as activities like the march on Washington took place in the north. The march was the venue for famous â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech by Dr. Martin Luther King. The civil rights movement therefore came along way to achieve success. Reference Williams, J. , Bond, J. (INT) (1988). Eyes on the Prize: Americas Civil Rights Years, 1954- 1965. ISBN 0833514318, 9780833514318: Bt Bound

Issuing the Draft Essay Example for Free

Issuing the Draft Essay In response to the first argument in favor of volunteer enlistment, I would counter that the overall effect would continue to support the status quo in that privileged and wealthy Americans would not have an urgent need to enlist. Due to this economic division between classes, the lower class sector would continue to be the majority of soldiers because of a lack of better options in civilian society. In this general sense the moral of the ‘volunteer’ would not increase but would remain either indifferent or resentful. Making the draft mandatory could be seen as an equalizing force that supports the doctrine that ‘all men are created equal,’ whether or not that be the case. Response to second argument: Responding to the second argument against the draft due to the lack of funding by the part of the government, I would contend that the volunteering aspect would cut the overall size of the military because of the negative perspective that the government is mis-appropriating their funds. If this were the case, volunteers would feel no urgent necessity to enlist because they would feel their efforts would not be recognized or supported sufficiently enough to warrant such a life changing decision. Although I agree that volunteers who join causes they believe in will ultimately perform with more vigor, in this case the moral boost would be ever-vanishing.

The City Of Timbuktu Environmental Sciences Essay

The City Of Timbuktu Environmental Sciences Essay The city of  Timbuktu  is located in the African nation of  Mali, near the Niger River. It is small trading town in central Mali and the Tombaugh Cato its official name. It was one of the richest commercial cities in Africa and a center of Islamic learning in the third and sixteenth centuries. It is population 20.483 inhabitants. This name comes from the language spoken by the Tuareg nomads who life in it. It was well known to Arabs and other traders when it served as a hub of culture and commerce during the 14th and 15th centuries Timbuktu  is also home to several famous mosques, including Sankore, Djingareyber, and Sidi Yahya, all of which are made from the distinctive mud which characterizes buildings in  Timbuktu. Due to  desertification  and related issues,  Timbuktu  is a very difficult city to live in it. [1] The objective of this research is to review the literature as it pertains to desertification, to define the current status of desertification, to document that designed to reverse the negative effects of desertification, and to analyze effect of desertification as well as their consequences. Review of Desertification [2] Desertification  is a type of  land degradation  in which a relatively  dry  land region becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife. Desertification is known as Desert encroachment. Any drought on agricultural land or cultivable, and converted into barren land and is caused by long drought on the one hand, and human activity on the other. And desertification phenomenon is also known as: turning wide range of fertile areas and high production to poor areas of vegetable and animal for many reasons. Desertification has four types in term of dangerous the United Nations designated it. First, very severe desertification: a shift of land to a non-productive state completely. This can be reclaimed by expensive costs and only limited spaces and in many cases, the agricultural reform process becomes totally unproductive. There are many examples such as Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Somalia. Second, Desertification: when spreading of unwanted plants, and there is a decline of good vegetable production up to 50%, like land in the east and north-west of the delta in Egypt. Third, Moderate desertification: where good vegetable production declines. It causes salinization of the soil, which reduces production by 10-15%, and up to 25% such as Egypt. Fourth, slight desertification: when damage occurs or destruction very simple in vegetation and soil which can be negligible as in Saharan desert of the Arabian island. Desertification has a many reasons where causes or factors are divided into two categories: natural and human. Natural factors: climate, drought, quicksand, the high soil salinity and soil creep. Human factors: such as over grazing, poor irrigation methods, deforestation, creeping urbanization and pollution. We can overcome desertification in many ways, such as: sand dune stabilization, increase the area of agricultural land, the enactment of laws that prevent harvesting, water pollution prevention and the introduction of new crops more suited to the environmental conditions. Desertification in Timbuktu [3] Where it came from the sand on the vegetation that surrounded the city, the river and bridge branch with a length of about 7 km which connects the city by the main reaches of the River Niger that facilitates the transfer of goods to the city by river navigation. Although the exploitation of the financial governments reputation historic wide of the city in bringing Western tourists, ((the share of infrastructure projects is negligible)), which impact on tourism in the city itself, this as well as the resulting manifestations of poverty and misery, despite this bleak picture but Timbuktu seem always tall and a source of pride and pleasure if we look at the reality of cultural, as it is one of the few regions in the world that has maintained the kind of cultural Alkuzmosa, where managed city smelting several cultures in one pot, to make them their culture which rarely found elsewhere. The rolled on the Timbuktu region several crises of drought between the years 1970 1997, because of desertification which overgrazing was the most important causes of it. Where the regions population depends on livestock grazing in large numbers may increase the need for per household because it is the main source of livelihood. Also because of negligence or lack of awareness of the importance of other fileds such as agriculture and others. In addition to other influences such as global warming and the burning of fossil fuels which was and still have devastating effects on the environment of the region. Programs designed to reverse the negative effects of Desertification in Timbuktu These are a few of the relevant measures. Investment program and rural areas in northern Mali[4] The program aims to reduce rural poverty in the regions of Timbuktu and Gao restoring social networks and creating the conditions necessary to support economic activity. It operates the hydro-agricultural potential of the Niger River. The interventions under the program are concentrated in 14 municipalities along the Niger River and five common pastoral concern devices and small farmers, pastoralists, rural women, youth and marginalized social groups. The program aims to: Strengthen the capacity of local organizations and institutions to express their collective needs and to create and manage their investments. Develop the potential of agro-pastoral zone in a sustainable manner. Improve access to basic services through the development of community health centers. Contribute to the development of national policies to fight against rural poverty. Promote policy dialogue to promote the interests of local rural communities. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification [5] [6]   In those countries experiencing serious drought and / or desertification, particularly in Africa, the Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programs that include long-term strategies supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements. This Convention is the only agreement that has been drawn from the direct recommendation of the Conference Agenda 21, adopted in Paris on 17 June 1994 and entered into force in December 1996. The agreement is the first and only carry an international, legally binding and to put to address the problem of desertification. The Convention on the principles of partnership, participation and decentralization the backbone of good governance, sustainable development and the Convention has now 194 countries member making them bear recipe World to help in promoting the Convention announced in 2006 the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, but discussions broke on the effectiveness of the International Year on a practical level. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations[7] Desertification like illness Earth which seriously affects vegetation of land cultivated with crops, as well as pasture and forest areas.  Also have negative effects on the phenomenon of biodiversity and soil fertility and the hydrological cycle of water resources and crop yields, in addition to the production of livestock. t should be noted that the Food and Agriculture Organization supports and supports a number of countries in the world in the implementation of its country programs to combat desertification, and those countries are: Mali, Senegal, Turkey, Chile, Cuba, Yemen, Lebanon, and Cambodia. As the organization pays special attention to dry areas and through its Special Programme for Food Security. In Africa, seeking Food and Agriculture Organization to strengthen its cooperation with UNESCO and the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel region, in response to desertification in the Sahel and West Africa, has coordinated an initiative of the United Nations on the Horn of Africa, which includes the countries most affected by desertification. Effects of Desertification on the Mosques of Timbuktu [8] There are three great mosques, Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia, recall Timbuktus golden age. Although these monuments are continuously restored, current desertification enhances desert encroachment and sand storms: the site is under threat. The satellite image shows the landscape surrounding Timbuktu, composed mainly of sand and desert. The temperature increased by 1.4 °C in that area and the impact of the drought was remarkable between 1901 and 1996. Research has shown that in the future region will face a decline in average rainfall, and an increase in the temperature and that will surely enhance the encroachment of the desert and sand blown damage in Timbuktu. Consequences of Desertification for Timbuktu Desertification has huge economic consequences the World Bank estimates that at the global level, the annual income foregone in the areas affected by desertification amounts to US$ 42 billion each year, while the annual cost of fighting land degradation would cost only US$ 2.4 billion a year. In all, more than 110 countries have dry lands that are potentially threatened by desertification. [9]Africa, Asia and Latin America are the most threatened by desertification. There are several things to do to reverse the negative consequences of desertification[10] Restore and fertilize the land: A simple and cheap way to fertilize the land is to prepare compost that will become humus and will regenerate the soil with organic matter. Reforestation: trees play several roles: they help fix the soil, act as wind breakers, enhance soil fertility, and help absorb water during heavy rainfall. Develop sustainable agricultural practices. Traditional lifestyles: as practiced in many arid zones offer examples of harmonious living with the environment. Combat the effects of the wind: By constructing barriers and stabilising sand dunes with local plant species. Developing education and training: It is important that every individual has access to information and understands the action proposals communicated by the media and literature. Reading and writing skills provide people the opportunity to become better informed and help them understand and organize projects that combat desertification. Education therefore enables them to share knowledge and better manage the available resources. Mandating environmental priority. Relieving pressure on forest. Investing more external aid in rural. Strengthening institutions.

justifying war Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When a person sees all the grisly images of war on the television set they cannot help but think, â€Å"This has got to stop†. But what reasons can this person justify their decision on? There are many people in the world who can only argue their opinion through what they see on TV, which of course is not what war is. In William Earle’s essay â€Å"In Defense of War† and Trudy Govier’s â€Å"Nuclear Illusion and Individual Obligations† we respectively see a pro-war and an anti-war opinion. We must differentiate between the two because Earle’s essay talks about war in generalities but Govier focuses on the nuclear aspect of war. As with most essays discussing similar topics they have their similarities and differences and that will be a big part of discussion here. Subjects referring to the morality and justification as war and exactly what we can use to justify it are some of the few things that will be mentioned. These wi ll also be discussed in ethical terms and what part of ethics they fall into. Along with this will be an analysis of why each essay falls into its given category. The strengths of each essay will be mentioned as well as the weaknesses and a comparison as to which is the stronger essay and which is the weaker essay will be provided. The most important part, however, is the basic understanding of the message that the author is trying to get across. These main points will be highlighted throughout the paper when discussing the essay in question along with the provided evidence that accompanies the argument. Finally, a personal take on the subject from me will be provided just to clarify any discrepancies about what is written. I am writing this (aside from the fact it is a major assignment) in hopes that the reader will take these questions seriously and be able to look at both sides of the debate rationally and without fallacy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It only seems appropriate to start this out with Williams Earle’s essay, â€Å"In Defense of War†. I stand beside him when he provides his opinion because I share the same attitude on this subject. In a nutshell, Earle provides a provocative look at the opposition’s view towards war which is the anti-war opinion. It appears that Earle is not like most writers trying to defend his own argument with his own ideas but what he does is position his argument that war is necessary by ... ...essary and does not try to force the idea. He simply wanted to avoid the confusion that often assembles with the media and let the reader make their own free choice. Govier on the other hand did not put up as strong of an argument nor did she explore the opposition. She offered her own ideas to support her own ideas, not being able to provide enough evidence to disregard the opposition as Earle was able to. In this sense we can see how much stronger his essay was.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the end we have to make a choice. We can either be for or against but all in all it is not up to the general public to make the decision. It was much easier to write on Earle’s essay because it was more distinct than and not quite as ambiguous as Govier’s. It makes perfect sense to me that honor and pride do outweigh the problems with warfare. It seems quite efficient that all three ethical concerns can be drawn into each essay with one being the superior. I also may have been biased in writing this essay because of my standpoint so it is important to take that into account. In conclusion, I do not change my view on the topic but do hope we can solve our conflicts with minimal bloodshed.

Essays --

A school uniform is an identifying, standardized outfit or style of dress worn specifically for an educational institution, they dictate the schools â€Å"dress code†. Generally, uniforms when used enhances uniformity among the students, irrespective of their financial status, race, and color or fashion preference; it improves the learning environment, and instils discipline; reduces security threats and thus enhances safety. Over the years, the educational system has been marred with gang related violence, bullying, safety issues, indecent dressing, and lack of discipline. The implementation of mandatory school uniform policy has a positive result via the reduction in gang problems, enhancement of school security, improved attendance and increased academic achievement. All these positive outcome definitely create a positive influence on the educational process. School uniform prepares the students for school in a much simpler and faster way. Time is not wasted in the morning in choosing and matching what to wear, thus students will get to school on time. This boosts attendance and gives students more time for studying. For example, at a school near Boston a high school senior remarks that â€Å"for some people it takes hours to get dressed. If we had a uniform it would take three minutes† [1]. The stress of matching and choosing clothes, very common with female students is eliminated and students arrive in school clear headed and prepared for the day’s educational task ahead in school. Uniforms are cost effective and they save parents several dollars that will be spent on buying casual clothes for their children. They will have to spend less when they have to buy uniform because the quantity of clothes purcha... ...trip or excursion, uniform helps in identifying them as an organized group and this in effect limits the incidence of student’s straying away or incidence of missing person. In his 1996 State of the Union Address, former president of the United States, Bill Clinton challenged schools â€Å"to teach character education, good values and good citizenship. And if it means that teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms. As long as a school uniform policy is in place, students will go to school in an atmosphere devoid of fear and violence. Discipline will be maintained and students will make improvement in their academics a major priority and not bother about being judged about what they wear or their fashion sense.

Bureaucracy & Democracy

Democracy is a term with several meanings and this has led to a genuine misconception as to its real meaning. To some, bureaucracy is red tape, to others it is officialdom and to some it is an organizational form (Cole p25). Observation and studies on bureaucracy have been done by many academicians among them Max Weber (1864-1920). Weber wanted to find out why people in many organizations obeyed those in authority over them. Weber observed that people obeyed legitimate authority and he identified three types of legitimate authority as traditional authority, charismatic authority and rational-legal authority.It is the rational-legal form of authority that exists in most organizations today and this is the form to which Weber ascribed the term ‘bureaucracy’. Weber outlined the main features of bureaucracy as a continuous organization of functions bound by rules, specified spheres of competence, a hierarchical arrangement of offices, appointments to offices made on grounds of technical competence, the separation of officials from the ownership of the organization, official positions exist on their own right and finally rules, decisions and actions are formulated and recorded in writing (Cole p 26).Weber felt that bureaucracy was indispensable for large organizations and there is no doubt that this form organization has been adopted in one way or another virtually in all forms of enterprises the world over. Government bureaucracy: â€Å"If men were angels, no government would be necessary† James Madison and for governments bureaucracy is form of governance that is practicable.However this form of governance has critics and the views of Amy are that bureaucracy is a governance structure that is often perceived negatively by a number of people but he says that most criticisms of government bureaucracy are based more on myths than reality (Amy 2007 p1-8). Amy’s observation is that people normally associate bureaucracy to massive waste, ineff iciency, poor service, ever-growing organizations, mindless rules and realms of useless forms. For these people there is nothing good about bureaucracy as those working in such systems are considered to be lazy, hostile, overpaid, imperious and inflexible.In his arguments, Amy dismisses what he terms the four myths about bureaucracy; 1. Myth no 1: Bureaucracies are immensely wasteful. Tax payers wrongly or rightly believe that much of the tax increases are a result of wastefulness arising from bureaucracies. Government agencies are considered not only wasteful but enormously wasteful. A survey carried out revealed that Americans believe that 48 cents of every tax dollar going to bureaucracies such the Social Security Administration are wasted (Amy 2007).Amy says that investigations by the Government Accounting Office and various blue-ribbon commissions have found that waste amounts to a small fraction of that figure. 2. Myth no 2: Business is always better than bureaucracy. As per A my, there have been many empirical studies examining government bureaucracies versus business in many areas, including refuse collection, electrical utilities, public transportation, water supply systems and hospital administration. The findings have been mixed.Some studies of electric utilities have found that publicly owned ones were more efficient and charged lower prices than privately owned utilities. Several other studies found the opposite while many others found no significant difference. 3. Myth no 3: We want the government to act like a business. The main concern of the government is quality of the service not its costs unlike the business who are obsessed with the bottom-line and hence looking for the cheapest way to make a product or deliver as service.For example it will be imprudent to spend the least amount of resources in the air traffic control system or to look for the cheapest workforce to take charge of security at the airports. 4. Myth no 4: Bureaucracy is major cause of government growth. Conservatives argue that government bureaucracies have an inherent tendency to expand. However figures show that federal agencies have not been growing at an alarming rate. For example in 1970, about 2997000 civilians worked for the federal government at that time.By 2007 that figure had actually gone down to 2695000. An article in published by the Suburban Emergence Management Project (2006 home page) states that the Hurricane Katrina response by the federal, state and local governments in August-September 2005 caused some people to lose faith in the bureaucratic approach used by traditional government hierarchies to organize the provision of services to users who desperately needed them. For example, at the local level, New Orleans Mayor told the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security that he could not commandeer the dozens available school buses to evacuate people because the school boards owned buses, he had no authority over the boards and there was no agreement for the use of the buses. At the state level, the Governor delayed use of military forces to begin reconstitution of the stricken localities until she could validate her authority to rule the troops by disallowing federal National Guards in her state.At the federal level, the President, the Homeland Security Secretary and Federal Emergency Management Agency director could provide services to users of New Orleans during Katrina only at the discretion of the governor of Louisiana. Conclusion: There are areas where government bureaucracy is more effective while in other cases it is counterproductive as evidenced during the Hurricane Katrina crisis. Works cited Amy, D. J. (2007). ‘The case of Democracy, The government is Good We the People; An unapologetic Defense of vital institution’.Available at accessed on April 2, 2009. Pages 1-8 Cole, G. (2004). Management Theory and Practice, 6th Edition published, by Thomson Learning 2004. 25-28. Suburban Emergenc y Management Project (2006), ‘Government Bureaucracy and Two Newer Cultural Approaches to Provide Services Delivery to the Citizenry during Disasters’, Biot Report #411: November 07, 2006. Available at < http://www. semp. us/public/biot_reder. php? BiotID=411 > accessed on April 3, 2009.

Wal-Mart Effects the Economy

Jim Lee Eng 101: Reames December 2, 2010 Wal-Mart Greatly Impacts the U. S. Economy Is Wal-Mart ruining the local businesses in America? Most professional business men can agree that Wal-Mart affects the United States economy in many different ways. Wal-Mart is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large, discount department stores. It is the world's largest public corporation by revenue according to the 2008 Fortune Global 500. However this corporation has contraverisal issues about how they do their sales and the long term affects they put in the economy.Professionals will agree that Wal-Mart has hurt many community businesses as Wal-Mart open in areas around them. There have been common statistics for when a Wal-Mart opens and the affect they have. This paper focuses on the affect Wal-Mart has in rural areas and the views of professionals intake on this topic. Also this paper will feature how Wal-Mart will affect our feature. The target audience for this paper is peo ple who are interested in the learning of the affects of large corporations vs small businesses.When analyzing the affects of Wal-Mart many researchers will agree with the fact that small businesses lose revenue when big corporation buy for low and sell also low to beat the competition. Stone (1997) states that â€Å"Studies in Iowa have shown that some small towns lose up to 47 percent of their retail trade after 10 years of Wal-Mart stores nearby† (Pg. 2). That is a big statistic to take in as the community will suffer from a high loss of the money for the community.Also the small business helps keep the economy in flow and when small businesses start to fail, people start losing jobs and people will move out of communities which hurts the communities. Stone (1997) comments that â€Å"It is believed that this decline in sales happened because Wal-Mart placed its own stores too close together, causing a predatory effect† (Pg. 6). This statement is true because Wal-Mar t uses the predatory effect to drive competitors out of business. The predatory effect is the practice of selling products and services at a very low price intending to drive competitors out of business.That is how Wal-Mart has been dominant because of their ability to sell prices so low to attract consumers to continue to shop at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart can do this because by attracting consumers to buy certain products at a lower price that other products are raised in value and consumers will shop throughout the store. The key is to get consumers to come to your business and Wal-Mart has almost perfected that. Overall Stone would agree with the idea of Wal-Mart is ruining the local businesses around America as Wal-Mart has become a fully national chain.Understanding this topic would be important because it can tell what we will see in the future of the economy. Many would agree with Stone like Goetz and Swaminathan with the fact Wal-Mart has effects in local communities. Goetz and Swa minathan (2004) states that â€Å"We offer three possible explanations for this finding, including that Wal-Mart stores destroy civic capacity in the communities in which they locate by driving out local entrepreneurs and community leaders† (Pg. 2). This statement connects with Stone as well as my point of view of this topic.Wal-Mart has downgrade the middle class economy with their style of retail sales and buying cheap products over seas. Goetz and Swaminathan (2004) quotes that â€Å"Local leaders and academic researchers are increasingly interested in the community-level effects of â€Å"big box† retailers and discount department stores† (Pg. 3). This has potential to have a positive outcome because America will realize that Wal-Mart has affected the United States so greatly that the government needs to step in and control how Wal-Mart conducts business.Wal-Mart has received considerable and mostly negative recent public media and Congressional attention, in addition to spawning a number of hostile web-sites as Goetz and Swaminathan (2004) reports (Pg. 3). It is good that people are realizing this and speaking out about this effect on our economy. This will get this phenomenon brought up to the government level and will be talked about to high levels of authority. Goetz and Swaminathan are professionals that agree with my idea of local businesses being destroyed by Wal-Mart.Common views of professionals will agree that our economy is partly affected by the Wal-Mart effect. Neumark, Zhang, and Ciccarella (2005) will agree with Stone, Goetz, and Swaminathan by saying that â€Å"We estimate the effects of Wal-Mart stores on county-level employment and earnings, accounting for endogeneity of the location and timing of Wal-Mart openings that most likely biases the evidence against finding adverse effects of Wal-Mart stores† (Pg. 1). This is another common aspect of all these professionals with the idea that there is a negative effect behind the openings of Wal-Mart.All of the effects found are common as they reduce local businesses around new Wal-Marts. Neumark, Zhang, and Ciccarella (2005) quotes â€Å" Yet two of the most commonly-heard criticisms are that Wal-Mart eliminates more jobs than it creates for a community and that Wal-Mart’s wage levels pull down standards for all workers—not simply creating low-wage jobs, but driving down wages† (Pg. 1). Not only is the Wal-Mart effect destroying the local businesses, Wal-Mart does not help create more jobs for the jobs it loses in the community.Also Wal-Mart does not pay its workers a good wage. That can greatly affect a community because the citizens within that community will not have money to buy products, keeping the flow of the economy going. Neumark, Zhang, and Ciccarella (2005) also agrees on my idea of the topic of Wal-Mart by stating â€Å"There is also an academic literature on the impact of Wal-Mart stores, focusing on the effect s of Wal-Mart openings on local employment, retail prices and sales, poverty rates, and the concentration of the retailing industry, as well as the impact on existing businesses† (Pg. ). They are basically stating that Wal-Mart impacts many aspects of the economy because of how Wal-Mart conducts business. Also that the impacts are not in positive ways in which they should be when new competition arises. The fact that Wal-Mart beats out its competitors really easy is a scary weapon that Wal-Mart can abuse. In which they have abuse their power to buy bulk supplies by demanding the prices of whom they buy from instead of negoicating. Neumark, Zhang, and Ciccarella can all agree that Wal-Mart is ruining the local businesses in America.Furthermore into this topic, most professionals will all conform that Wal-Mart affects the economy in more negative ways then positive. Arindraji, William, and Barry (2007) states that â€Å"estimates that exploit the spatial diffusion of Wal-Mart s tores find that a single Wal-Mart store opening reduces the average retail earnings in a county by 0. 5 – 0. 9 percent† (Pg. 4). This is not good for any economy that when a new business is open that the average retail earning is lowered instead of increased. This just means that when Wal-Mart opens it loses more of its competitor retailers then what Wal-Mart gains.Ten new Wal-Mart stores in a state are found to reduce the average hourly wage of retail workers by around 2 percent as purpose by Arindraji, William, and Barry (Pg. 4). Wal-Mart should be able to pay their workers better if they are finacnically doing well as they are ranked number one in the Fortune 500 list. They are the number one ranked corporation and they do not pay their employers above the average. Wal-Mart has been making money other then the products and services they provide. As Wal-Mart can see that they can pay their workers the minimum wage and get away with it, while making billions of dollars world wide.Arindraji, William, and Barry will confirm that Wal-Mart has been greatly impacting the economies in the where abouts they consult business. Wal-Mart has been overly competitive with the prices they put on the products and drive competition out of business. In the Lansing State Journal, Domsic reports that â€Å"The recent closings of three locally owned grocery stores reflect a traditional grocery sector struggling to compete with big-box stores and the growing number of pharmacies, convenience stores and other shops that have added more food to their lineups. The big box stores they are talking about are Wal-Mart, Meijers, and Kroger. Those stores have been competing with each other to cut prices really low, beating out the other local businesses. Competition is good but what happens when there is no competition? Then those who have beat out the other competition will have a garentee chance to always survive in the economy and basically take all the consumers in the a rea. Domsic also comments â€Å"bigger players have beefed up their food lines or cut prices as they vie for Lansing-area shoppers. The bigger players are the Wal-Mart, Meijer, and Kroger and they are competing fiercely for consumers. Even though competition is good, it is bad when some of the competition disappears from the market. Although there are many cons of Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart has many benefits as they provide low costs of products they sell. Irwin (2007) reports that â€Å"Wal-Mart’s food prices are estimated to be 8% to 27% lower than large supermarket chains for an identical market basket across different U. S. metro areas† (Pg. 1). This is a benefit for the lower and middle class to try and save money in these rough times in the United States.That is why consumers are attracted to shop at Wal-Mart because you can save money and be able to buy other things. Irwin expresses this benefit as â€Å"This has generated tremendous savings for Wal-Mart consumers by offering lower priced goods in the community, and generating competition among retailers† (Pg. 1). Wal-Mart creates unbelievable savings for its consumers therefore keeps the competition alive for Wal-Mart's competitors. Also that competition is very good for the economy in the United States. Those are some ways that Wal-Mart impacts the business industry in positive ways.Those are not just the ways that Wal-Mart has benefited America. Wal-Mart has helped personal income and employment. Riper (2008) quotes â€Å"The study shows that between 1985 and 2003, personal income, overall employment and retail employment grew faster in counties with a Wal-Mart than in those without one. † This means that the more Wal-Mart is built around the United States and other countries that it will benefit income of people and help raise employment in the area. That is a good because then people would have more money to help keep that economic flow in communities going.Also the rise in emp loyment will improve the surrounding unemployment of the location Wal-Mart is around. Nearly 90% of the U. S. population lives within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart store, and two-thirds of all retailers are located within five miles of one as Riper reports. That means a vast majority of America is surrounded by a Wal-Mart close by. This is good for Wal-Mart as they can be easily located and can be accessible to almost anyone. Wal-Mart is everywhere and that is a huge benefit Wal-Mart has over its competitors.Wal-Mart has brought up some good positive impacts as there are aproximatly 3,600 Wal-Marts in the United States. One of the impacts is the amount of jobs each Wal-Mart creates as Wal-Mart's site cites â€Å"Approximately 350 new positions will be needed at the store (a majority of those positions will be full time). An additional 100 construction jobs will be created. † That means there are 1. 26 million jobs in America that are in the Wal-Mart industry. Also that 360,000 const ruction jobs was created for the building of Wal-Mart.As long as Wal-Mart is doing well with profits, they will continue to expand new Wal-Marts. This will mean more jobs in America. Another good impact Wal-Mart has is how they provide savings to consumers as the Wal-Mart site reports â€Å"Studies have shown that Walmart stores save the average household $3,406. 00 a year. Customers can purchase over 300 generic pharmaceutical drugs for just $4. 00 or less. † The amount you save at Wal-Mart builds up as you can see. That helps citizens save money if there income is sufficiently low or on certain budgets.Not only do Wal-Mart provide savings for its consumers and employment, Wal-Mart has been involved in the environment by stating that â€Å"Wal-mart is leading a global sustainability effort to reduce energy consumption through a variety of initiatives that will also be used at this store. The store will purchase a number of grocery and garden products locally to save energy costs and support the local economy. † That helps Wal-Mart with its community respect to be involve and not just a average corporation that does not care about the itself.Also this tells that Wal-Mart cares about the environment and not just making profits. Overall, Wal-Mart is a benefit to the American economy. Wal-Mart has not been selfish at all in communities like Landover Hills. Wal-Mart has started up a program to help local businesses. Mui reports that â€Å"Wal-Mart said it would offer free advertising to local stores and seminars on how to do business and even compete with Wal-Mart. † This is something that is rarely done in the business world. A competitor helping another competitor out.This would help competition around the area and benefit the local stores into competing with Wal-Mart. Many people think having Wal-Mart around is a benefit. Mui quotes â€Å"Other store owners credit Wal-Mart for boosting their sales, through both its proximity and community outreach programs. † Local businessmen are claiming that having a Wal-Mart around is a benefit. Somehow Wal-Mart has continue to benefit some people while some others do not believe so. Wal-Mart has brought up many views on how they affect the competition and how the employment is affect in several different ways.My opinion on Wal-Mart is that Wal-Mart is destroying the American middle class slowly every year. Wal-Mart closes individual business owners and reduces competition in which an economy like America, competition keeps the economy in steady flow. Also that they are like a monopoly to me. Wal-Mart is not just a discount retail store. They provide all sorts of different services like eye examinations, haircuts, predacures, and they can provide and activate cell phones on the Wal-Mart plan. Wal-Mart is exploring all markets and providing them into their own stores.That is not a good impact because Wal-Mart already dominates in the retail store and driving other retail sto res and local businesses out of work, so providing these services just keeps Wal-Mart in benefits from those services. I believe that the government needs to take a bigger stand on what Wal-Mart can do because Wal-Mart has been changing so rapidly and dominating any corporation out there, that the government should regulate how they buy supplies. Wal-Mart buys most of their products for their shelves from China for low prices.Thus, making a lot of job losses in America. How can an American corporation do this to America? Wal-Mart also does not have health benefits for its workers and Wal-Mart pays low wages for its workers. That does not help out the working class of the United States. Our economy is not doing so well right now as we are in debt from war. Wal-Mart should help stable the economy since they done some damage to the United States in ways the Founder of Wal-Mart should have knowledge about and try to find new ways to conduct business.

Motivation and Employees Essay

Motivation is the word derived from the word ’motive’ which means needs, desires, wants or drives within the individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. In the work goal context the psychological factors stimulating the people’s behaviour can be – * desire for money * success * recognition * job-satisfaction * team work, etc| One of the most important functions of management is to create willingness amongst the employees to perform in the best of their abilities. Therefore the role of a leader is to arouse interest in performance of employees in their jobs. The process of motivation consists of three stages:- 1. A felt need or drive 2. A stimulus in which needs have to be aroused 3. When needs are satisfied, the satisfaction or accomplishment of goals. Therefore, we can say that motivation is a psychological phenomenon which means needs and wants of the individuals have to be tackled by framing an incentive plan. THEORIES OF MOTIVATION MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS Abraham Maslow is well renowned for proposing the Hierarchy of Needs Theory in 1943. This theory is a classical depiction of human motivation. This theory is based on the assumption that there is a hierarchy of five needs within each individual. The urgency of these needs varies. These five needs are as follows- 1. Physiological needs- These are the basic needs of air, water, food, clothing and shelter. In other words, physiological needs are the needs for basic amenities of life. 2. Safety needs- Safety needs include physical, environmental and emotional safety and protection. For instance- Job security, financial security, protection from animals, family security, health security, etc. 3. Social needs- Social needs include the need for love, affection, care, belongingness, and friendship. 4. Esteem needs- Esteem needs are of two types: internal esteem needs (self- respect, confidence, competence, achievement and freedom) and external esteem needs (recognition, power, status, attention and admiration). 5. Self-actualization need- This include the urge to become what you are capable of becoming / what you have the potential to become. It includes the need for growth and self-contentment. It also includes desire for gaining more knowledge, social- service, creativity and being aesthetic. The self- actualization needs are never fully satiable. As an individual grows psychologically, opportunities keep cropping up to continue growing. According to Maslow, individuals are motivated by unsatisfied needs. As each of these needs is significantly satisfied, it drives and forces the next need to emerge. Maslow grouped the five needs into two categories – Higher-order needs and Lower-order needs. The physiological and the safety needs constituted the lower-order needs. These lower-order needs are mainly satisfied externally. The social, esteem, and self-actualization needs constituted the higher-order needs. These higher-order needs are generally satisfied internally, i.e., within an individual. Thus, we can conclude that during boom period, the employees lower-order needs are significantly met. Implications of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory for Managers | As far as the physiological needs are concerned, the managers should give employees appropriate salaries to purchase the basic necessities of life. Breaks and eating opportunities should be given to employees. | | As far as the safety needs are concerned, the managers should provide the employees job security, safe and hygienic work environment, and retirement benefits so as to retain them.| | As far as social needs are concerned, the management should encourage teamwork and organize social events.| | As far as esteem needs are concerned, the managers can appreciate and reward employees on accomplishing and exceeding their targets. The management can give the deserved employee higher job rank / position in the organization.| | As far as self-actualization needs are concerned, the managers can give the employees challenging jobs in which the employees’ skills and competencies are fully utilized. Moreover, growth opportunities can be given to them so that they can reach the peak.| The managers must identify the need level at which the employee is existing and then those needs can be utilized as push for motivation. Limitations of Maslow’s Theory * It is essential to note that not all employees are governed by same set of needs. Different individuals may be driven by different needs at same point of time. It is always the most powerful unsatisfied need that motivates an individual. * The theory is not empirically supported. * The theory is not applicable in case of starving artist as even if the artist’s basic needs are not satisfied, he will still strive for recognition and achievement. HERZBERG’S 2 FACTOR THEORY In 1959, Frederick Herzberg, a behavioural scientist proposed a two-factor theory or the motivator-hygiene theory. According to Herzberg, there are some job factors that result in satisfaction while there are other job factors that prevent dissatisfaction. According to Herzberg, the opposite of â€Å"Satisfaction† is â€Å"No satisfaction† and the opposite of â€Å"Dissatisfaction† is â€Å"No Dissatisfaction†. Herzberg classified these job factors into two categories- a. Hygiene factors- Hygiene factors are those job factors which are essential for existence of motivation at workplace. These do not lead to positive satisfaction for long-term. But if these factors are absent / if these factors are non-existant at workplace, then they lead to dissatisfaction. In other words, hygiene factors are those factors which when adequate / reasonable in a job, pacify the employees and do not make them dissatisfied. These factors are extrinsic to work. Hygiene factors are also called as dissatisfiers or maintenance factors as they are required to avoid dissatisfaction. These factors describe the job environment / scenario. The hygiene factors symbolized the physiological needs which the individuals wanted and expected to be fulfilled. Hygiene factors include: * Pay- The pay or salary structure should be appropriate and reasonable. It must be equal and competitive to those in the same industry in the same domain. * Company Policies and administrative policies- The company policies should not be too rigid. They should be fair and clear. It should include flexible working hours, dress code, breaks, vacation, etc. * Fringe benefits- The employees should be offered health care plans (mediclaim), benefits for the family members, employee help programmes, etc. * Physical Working conditions- The working conditions should be safe, clean and hygienic. The work equipments should be updated and well-maintained. * Status- The employees’ status within the organization should be familiar and retained. * Interpersonal relations-The relationship of the employees with his peers, superiors and subordinates should be appropriate and acceptable. There should be no conflict or humiliation element present. * Job Security- The organization must provide job security to the employees. b. Motivational factors- According to Herzberg, the hygiene factors cannot be regarded as motivators. The motivational factors yield positive satisfaction. These factors are inherent to work. These factors motivate the employees for a superior performance. These factors are called satisfiers. These are factors involved in performing the job. Employees find these factors intrinsically rewarding. The motivators symbolized the psychological needs that were perceived as an additional benefit. Motivational factors include: * Recognition- The employees should be praised and recognized for their accomplishments by the managers. * Sense of achievement- The employees must have a sense of achievement. This depends on the job. There must be a fruit of some sort in the job. * Growth and promotional opportunities- There must be growth and advancement opportunities in an organization to motivate the employees to perform well. * Responsibility- The employees must hold themselves responsible for the work. The managers should give them ownership of the work. They should minimize control but retain accountability. * Meaningfulness of the work- The work itself should be meaningful, interesting and challenging for the employee to perform and to get motivated. | | Limitations of Two-Factor Theory The two factor theory is not free from limitations: 1. The two-factor theory overlooks situational variables. 2. Herzberg assumed a correlation between satisfaction and productivity. But the research conducted by Herzberg stressed upon satisfaction and ignored productivity. 3. The theory’s reliability is uncertain. Analysis has to be made by the raters. The raters may spoil the findings by analyzing same response in different manner. 4. No comprehensive measure of satisfaction was used. An employee may find his job acceptable despite the fact that he may hate/object part of his job. 5. The two factor theory is not free from bias as it is based on the natural reaction of employees when they are enquired the sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction at work. They will blame dissatisfaction on the external factors such as salary structure, company policies and peer relationship. Also, the employees will give credit to themselves for the satisfaction factor at work. 6. The theory ignores blue-collar workers. Despite these limitat ions, Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory is acceptable broadly. Implications of Two-Factor Theory | The Two-Factor theory implies that the managers must stress upon guaranteeing the adequacy of the hygiene factors to avoid employee dissatisfaction. Also, the managers must make sure that the work is stimulating and rewarding so that the employees are motivated to work and perform harder and better. This theory emphasize upon job-enrichment so as to motivate the employees. The job must utilize the employee’s skills and competencies to the maximum. Focusing on the motivational factors can improve work-quality.| McGREGOR’S THEORY X & Y In 1960, Douglas McGregor formulated Theory X and Theory Y suggesting two aspects of human behaviour at work, or in other words, two different views of individuals (employees): one of which is negative, called as Theory X and the other is positive, so called as Theory Y. According to McGregor, the perception of managers on the nature of individuals is based on various assumptions.Assumptions of Theory X * An average employee intrinsically does not like work and tries to escape it whenever possible. * Since the employee does not want to work, he must be persuaded, compelled, or warned with punishment so as to achieve organizational goals. A close supervision is required on part of managers. The managers adopt a more dictatorial style. * Many employees rank job security on top, and they have little or no aspiration/ ambition. * Employees generally dislike responsibilities. * Employees resist change. * An average employee needs formal direction.| Assumptions of Theory Y * Employees can perceive their job as relaxing and normal. They exercise their physical and mental efforts in an inherent manner in their jobs. * Employees may not require only threat, external control and coercion to work, but they can use self-direction and self-control if they are dedicated and sincere to achieve the organizational objectives. * If the job is rewarding and satisfying, then it will result in employees’ loyalty and commitment to organization. * An average employee can learn to admit and recognize the responsibility. In fact, he can even learn to obtain responsibility. * The employees have skills and capabilities. Their logical capabilities should be fully utilized. In other words, the creativity, resourcefulness and innovative potentiality of the employees can be utilized to solve organizational problems. Thus, we can say that Theory X presents a pessimistic view of employees’ nature and behaviour at work, while Theory Y presents an optimistic view of the employees’ nature and behaviour at work. If correlate it with Maslow’s theory, we can say that Theory X is based on the assumption that the employees emphasize on the physiological needs and the safety needs; while Theory X is based on the assumption that the social needs, esteem needs and the self-actualization needs dominate the employees. McGregor views Theory Y to be more valid and reasonable than Theory X. Thus, he encouraged cordial team relations, responsible and stimulating jobs, and participation of all in decision-making process. Implications of Theory X and Theory Y | Quite a few organizations use Theory X today. Theory X encourages use of tight control and supervision. It implies that employees are reluctant to organizational changes. Thus, it does not encourage innovation.| | Many organizations are using Theory Y techniques. Theory Y implies that the managers should create and encourage a work environment which provides opportunities to employees to take initiative and self-direction. Employees should be given opportunities to contribute to organizational well-being. Theory Y encourages decentralization of authority, teamwork and participative decision making in an organization. Theory Y searches and discovers the ways in which an employee can make significant contributions in an organization. It harmonizes and matches employees’ needs and aspirations with organizational needs and aspirations.| MOTIVATION INCENTIVES – INCENTIVES TO MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES Incentive is an act or promise for greater action. It is also called as a stimulus to greater action. Incentives are something which are given in addition to wagers. It means additional remuneration or benefit to an employee in recognition of achievement or better work. Incentives provide a spur or zeal in the employees for better performance. It is a natural thing that nobody acts without a purpose behind. Therefore, a hope for a reward is a powerful incentive to motivate employees. Besides monetary incentive, there are some other stimuli which can drive a person to better. This will include job satisfaction, job security, job promotion, and pride for accomplishment. Therefore, incentives really can sometimes work to accomplish the goals of a concern. The need of incentives can be many:- 1. To increase productivity, 2. To drive or arouse a stimulus work, 3. To enhance commitment in work performance, 4. To psychologically satisfy a person which leads to job satisfaction, 5. To shape the behavior or outlook of subordinate towards work, 6. To inculcate zeal and enthusiasm towards work, 7. To get the maximum of their capabilities so that they are exploited and utilized maximally. Therefore, management has to offer the following two categories of incentives to motivate employees:- 1. Monetary incentives- Those incentives which satisfy the subordinates by providing them rewards in terms of rupees. Money has been recognized as a chief source of satisfying the needs of people. Money is also helpful to satisfy the social needs by possessing various material items. Therefore, money not only satisfies psychological needs but also the security and social needs. Therefore, in many factories, various wage plans and bonus schemes are introduced to motivate and stimulate the people to work. 2. Non-monetary incentives- Besides the monetary incentives, there are certain non-financial incentives which can satisfy the ego and self- actualization needs of employees. The incentives which cannot be measured in terms of money are under the category of â€Å"Non- monetary incentivesâ⠂¬ . Whenever a manager has to satisfy the psychological needs of the subordinates, he makes use of non-financial incentives. Non- financial incentives can be of the following types:- a. Security of service- Job security is an incentive which provides great motivation to employees. If his job is secured, he will put maximum efforts to achieve the objectives of the enterprise. This also helps since he is very far off from mental tension and he can give his best to the enterprise. b. Praise or recognition- The praise or recognition is another non- financial incentive which satisfies the ego needs of the employees. Sometimes praise becomes more effective than any other incentive. The employees will respond more to praise and try to give the best of their abilities to a concern. c. Suggestion scheme- The organization should look forward to taking suggestions and inviting suggestion schemes from the subordinates. This inculcates a spirit of participation in the employees. This can be done by publishing various articles written by employees to improve the work environment which can be published in various magazines of the company. This also is helpful to motivate the employees to feel important and they can also be in search for innovative methods which can be applied for better work methods. This ultimately helps in growing a concern and adapting new methods of operations. d. Job enrichment- Job enrichment is another non- monetary incentive in which the job of a worker can be enriched. This can be done by increasing his responsibilities, giving him an important designation, increasing the content and nature of the work. This way efficient worker can get challenging jobs in which they can prove their worth. This also helps in the greatest motivation of the efficient employees. e. Promotion opportunities- Promotion is an effective tool to increase the spirit to work in a concern. If the employees are provided opportunities for the advancement and growth , they feel satisfied and contented and they become more committed to the organization. The above non- financial tools can be framed effectively by giving due concentration to the role of employees. A combination of financial and non- financial incentives help together in bringing motivation and zeal to work in a concern. Positive IncentivesPositive incentives are those incentives which provide a positive assurance for fulfilling the needs and wants. Positive incentives generally have an optimistic attitude behind and they are generally given to satisfy the psychological requirements of employees. For example-promotion, praise, recognition, perks and allowances, etc. It is positive by nature.Negative IncentivesNegative incentives are those whose purpose is to correct the mistakes or defaults of employees. The purpose is to rectify mistakes in order to get effective results. Negative incentive is generally resorted to when positive incentive does not works and a psychological set back has to be given to employees. It is negative by nature. For example- demotion, transfer , fines, penalties.| THE IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATION Motivation is a very important for an organization because of the following benefits it provides:- 1. Puts human resources into action Every concern requires physical, financial and human resources to accomplish the goals. It is through motivation that the human resources can be utilized by making full use of it. This can be done by building willingness in employees to work. This will help the enterprise in securing best possible utilization of resources. 2. Improves level of efficiency of employees The level of a subordinate or a employee does not only depend upon his qualifications and abilities. For getting best of his work performance, the gap between ability and willingness has to be filled which helps in improving the level of performance of subordinates. This will result into- a. Increase in productivity, b. Reducing cost of operations, and c. Improving overall efficiency. 3. Leads to achievement of organizational goals The goals of an enterprise can be achieved only when the following factors take place :- d. There is best possible utilization of resources, e. There is a co-operative work environment, f. The employees are goal-directed and they act in a purposive manner, g. Goals can be achieved if co-ordination and co-operation takes place simultaneously which can be effectively done through motivation. 4. Builds friendly relationship Motivation is an important factor which brings employees satisfaction. This can be done by keeping into mind and framing an incentive plan for the benefit of the employees. This could initiate the following things: h. Monetary and non-monetary incentives, i. Promotion opportunities for employees, j. Disincentives for inefficient employees. In order to build a cordial, friendly atmosphere in a concern, the above steps should be taken by a manager. This would help in: a. Effective co-operation which brings stability, b. Industrial dispute and unrest in employees will reduce, c. The employees will be adaptable to the changes and there will be no resistance to the change, d. This will help in providing a smooth and sound concern in which individual interests will coincide with the organizational interests, e. This will result in profit maximization through increased productivity. 1. Leads to stability of work force Stability of workforce is very important from the point of view of reputation and goodwill of a concern. The employees can remain loyal to the enterprise only when they have a feeling of participation in the management. The skills and efficiency of employees will always be of advantage to employees as well as employees. This will lead to a good public image in the market which will attract competent and qualified people into a concern. As it is said, â€Å"Old is gold† which suffices with the role of motivation here, the older the people, more the experience and their adjustment into a concern which can be of benefit to the enterprise. From the above discussion, we can say that motivation is an internal feeling which can be understood only by manager since he is in close contact with the employees. Needs, wants and desires are inter-related and they are the driving force to act. These needs can be understood by the manager and he can frame motivation plans accordingly. We can say that motivation therefore is a continuous process since motivation process is based on needs which are unlimited. The process has to be continued throughout. We can summarize by saying that motivation is important both to an individual and a business. Motivation is important to an individual as: 1. Motivation will help him achieve his personal goals. 2. If an individual is motivated, he will have job satisfaction. 3. Motivation will help in self-development of individual. 4. An individual would always gain by working with a dynamic team. Similarly, motivation is important to a business as: 1. The more motivated the employees are, the more empowered the team is. 2. The more is the team work and individual employee contribution, more profitable and successful is the business. 3. During period of amendments, there will be more adaptability and creativity. 4. Motivation will lead to an optimistic and challenging attitude at work place. Staff Motivation – Motivation Tips for Employees Employees are the building blocks of an organization. Organizational success depends on the collective efforts of the employees. The employees will collectively contribute to organizational growth when they are motivated. Below mentioned are some tips for motivating the staff / employees in an organization: Evaluate yourself- In order to motivate, encourage and control your staff’s behaviour, it is essential to understand, encourage and control your own behaviour as a manager. Work upon utilizing your strengths and opportunities to neutralize and lower the negative impact of your weaknesses and organizational threats. The manager should adopt the approach â€Å"You’re OK – I’m OK†. Be familiar with your staff- The manager should be well acquainted with his staff. The more and the better he knows his staff, the simpler it is to get them involved in the job as well as in achieving the team and organizational goals. This will also invite staff’s commitment and loyalty. A cordial superior-subordinate relationship is a key factor in job-satisfaction. Provide the employees certain benefits- Give your staff some financial and other benefits. Give them bonuses, pay them for overtime, and give them health and family insurance benefits. Make sure they get breaks from work. Let them enjoy vacations and holidays. Participate in new employees induction programme- Induction proceeds with recruitment advertising. At this point of time, the potential entrants start creating their own impressions and desires about the job and the organization. The manner in which the selection is conducted and the consequent recruitment process will either build or damage the impression about the job and organization. Thus, the manager must have a say in framing the advertisement and also in the selection and recruitment process. After the decision about the candidate is made, the manager must take personal interest in the selected joinee’s joining date, the family relocation issues, cost of removal, etc. Being observed by the new recruit and your entire team / staff to be involved completely, will ensure a persuasive entry in the organization. Provide feedback to the staff constantly- The staff members are keen to know how they are performing. Try giving a regular and constructive feedback to your staff. This will be more acceptable by the staff. Do not base the feedback on assumptions, but on facts and personal observations. Do not indulge in favouritism or comparing the employee with some one else. Sit with your staff on daily or weekly basis and make sure that feedback happens. This will help in boosting employee’s morale and will thus motivate the staff. Acknowledge your staff on their achievements- A pat on the back, some words of praise, and giving a note of credit to the employee / staff member at personal level with some form of broad publicity can motivate the staff a lot. Make it a point to mention the staff’s outstanding achievements in official newsletters or organization’s journal. Not only acknowledge the employee with highest contribution, but also acknowledge the employee who meets and over exceeds the targets. Ensure effective time management- Having control over time ensures that things are done in right manner. Motivate your staff to have â€Å"closed† times, i.e., few hours when there are no interruptions for the staff in performing their job role so that they can concentrate on the job, and â€Å"open† times when the staff freely communicate and interact. Plan one to one sessions of interaction with your staff where they can ask their queries and also can get your attention and, thereby, they will not feel neglected. This all will work in long run to motivate the staff. Have stress management techniques in your organization- Create an environment in which you and your staff can work within optimum pressure levels. Ensure an optimistic attitude towards stress in the workplace. Have training sessions on stress management, and ensure a follow-up with group meetings on the manner stress can be lowered at work. Give your staff autonomy in work. Identify the stress symptoms in employees and try to deal with them. Smile often- Smiling can have a tremendous effect on boosting the morale of the staff. A smiling superior creates an optimistic and motivating work environment. Smiling is an essential component of the body language of confidence, acceptance and boldness. Smile consistently, naturally and often, to demonstrate that you feel good and positive about the staff who works for you. It encourages new ideas and feedback from the staff. The staff does not feel hesitant and threatened to discuss their views this way. Listen effectively- Listening attentively is a form of recognizing and appreciating the person who is talking. Reciprocal / Mutual listening develops cordial and healthy personal relationships on which the employee / staff development rests. If the managers do not listen attentively to the subordinates, the morale of the subordinates lowers down and they do not feel like sharing their ideas or giving their views. Effective listening by the manager boosts up the employees’ morale and thus motivates them. Ensure effective communication- In order to motivate your staff, indulge in effective communication such as avoid using anger expressions, utilize questioning techniques to know staff’s mindset and analysis rather than ordering the staff what to do, base your judgements on facts and not on assumptions, use relaxed and steady tone of voice, listen effectively and be positive and helpful in your responses. Share your views with the staff. Develop and encourage creativity- The staff should be encouraged to develop the creativity skills so as to solve organizational problems. Give them time and resources for developing creativity. Let them hold constant brainstorming sessions. Invite ideas and suggestions from the staff. They may turn out to be very productive. Don’t be rigid. Be flexible- Introduce flexibility in work. Allow for flexible working hours if possible. Let the employees work at home occasionally if need arises. Do not be rigid in accepting ideas from your staff. Stimulate flexible attitudes in the employees who are accountable to you by asking what changes they would like to bring about if given a chance. Adopt job enrichment- Job enrichment implies giving room for a better quality of working life. It means facilitating people to achieve self-development, fame and success through a more challenging and interesting job which provides more promotional and advancement opportunities. Give employees more freedom in job, involve them in decision-making process, show them loyalty and celebrate their achievements Respect your team- Respect not only the employees’ rights to share and express their views, and to be themselves, but their time too. This will ensure that the employees respect you and your time. Make the staff feel that they are respected not just as employees / workers but as individuals too.