First Generation

1. First Generation (1944-1959) Vacuum tube as a signal amplifier, it was a typical first-generation computer. Initially, vacuum tubes (vacuum-tube) are used as a component of the signal amplifier. Raw materials consist of glass, so much has disadvantages, such as: easily broken, and easy to distribute the heat. This heat needs to be neutralized by other components that serve as a coolant. And with the additional component, the computer finally appeared to be a big, heavy and expensive. In 1946, the world's first electronic computer the ENIAC sesai made. On the computer contained 18,800 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons.So large in size, to the point that requires a separate classroom. In the seems image ENIAC computer, this is the world’s first electronic computer that has a weight weighing 30 tons, length 30 M and 2. 4 M high and requires 174 kilowatts of electrical power. * Colossus was the first electronic computer of this era. It’s every aspect was kept secret by Bri tish Government. * This is the world’s first electronic computer that has a weight weighing 30 tons, length 30 M and 2. 4 M high and requires 174 kilowatts of electrical power. * In 1945, Von Neumann Architecture was introduced.Eckert and Mauchley began working on EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) but it never completed. Later Von Neumann developed his own EDVAC (IAS machine). * In 1946, the development of ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), which was started in 1943, was completed. * Some other computers of this generation are UNIVAC, MARK II, MARK III, Z2, Z4, SSEC (Selective Sequence Electronic calculator) and some IBM computers series such as IBM 604, IBM 650, IBM 701, IBM 702. * In 1954, first version of FORTRAN (Formula Translator) was published by IBM

Making Research Decisions Essay

Chapter 12 – Discussion Questions (Making Research Decisions) # 5 a Yes—Depends—No: One problem would be that â€Å"depends† is very vague and doesn’t give reasons as to why someone would pick â€Å"no† at some point and â€Å"yes† at another. A way to make this better would be to add a â€Å"please describe† line or change the wording all together. There is no way to express â€Å"don’t know† or â€Å"undecided†. b Excellent—Good—Fair—Poor: One problem with this would be that it may not have as valid a measure as say an 8 point scale, â€Å"as the number of scale points increases, the reliability of the measure increases. Second, in some studies, scales with 11 points may produce more valid results than 3-, 5-, or 7-point scales† (Cooper and Schindler, 2011). What may be â€Å"good† to someone may be â€Å"fair† to another. c Excellent—Good—Average—Fair—Poor: People may have trouble telling the difference between â€Å"good† and â€Å"average† because shouldn’t â€Å"average† already be â€Å"good†? d Strongly Approve—Approve—Uncertain—Disapprove— Strongly Disapprove: An issue with this would be that it is an unbalanced scale, â€Å"unequal number of favorable and unfavorable response choices† (Cooper and Schindler, 2011). Chapter 5 – Discussion Questions (Terms in Review) # 1- 3 1. a Purpose: This is one way that managers can study and chose information. This way evaluates the â€Å"explicit or hidden agenda of the information source† (Cooper and Schindler, 2011). b Scope: The scope applies to the content of the information and the extent to which it covers such as any kind of limitations or time period sensitive data. c Authority: This factor looks at the quality and level of the information, for example what the source credentials are and whether it is primary, secondary or tertiary. d Audience: This has to do with the type, any specific characteristics, of people or groups of people â€Å"for whom the source was created† (Cooper and Schindler, 2011). e Format: This has to do with the way the data is presented â€Å"and the degree of ease of locating specific information within the source† (Cooper and Schindler, 2011). 2. Define the distinctions between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in a secondary search. A primary source is one that uses a valid original work such as raw data and is the most valid type of data. Secondary sources interpret the data and research from a primary source, an example of this would be a textbook or news article. A tertiary source is one that presents and interprets data that has been found from secondary sources. 3. What problems of secondary data quality must researchers face? How can they deal with them? One of the biggest problems with secondary data is the fact that the information being citied is an interpretation of the original data. The best way to avoid a misinterpretation of the data is to look for the original or primary source that is referenced in the secondary source and directly quote or use the data from that. This will eliminate the chance of having misinterpreted data put into an important project and it will lend you an additional source. Researchers should evaluate and select information sources based on the 5 factors. Read the case study, State Farm: Dangerous Intersections. Answer discussion questions 1 through 5. 1. Identify the various constructs and concepts involved in the study. To answer this question we must define what a concept and construct is, â€Å"an image or idea specifically invented for a given research and/or theory-building purpose† (Cooper and Schindler, 2011). A concept is â€Å"a bundle of meanings or characteristics associated with certain events, objects, conditions, situations, or behaviors† (Cooper and Schindler, 2011). A construct of this study is that if State Farm gives money to the states of dangerous intersections to fix them this will decrease the amount of claims in that area due to the intersection becoming safer due to alternate construct. A concept would be that State Farm cares about their customers. Another construct would be that the amount of claims in a given intersection is due to poor construct. Another concept would be that State Farm wants to help states to improve their intersections. 2. What hypothesis might drive the research of one of the cities on the top 10 †¨dangerous intersection list? An example of a hypothesis that may influence the research of one of the top 10 dangerous intersection list would be â€Å"This intersection is one of the top ten most dangerous intersections in the United States† or â€Å"This intersection is where 50% of the states accident claims occur.† 3. Evaluate the methodology for State Farm’s research. I would say that State Farm’s methodology is concrete because it specifies exactly what the variables are and how the study is constructed. They also implemented a measurement system for classifying accidents. 4. If you were State Farm, how would you address the concerns of transportation engineers? I would provide suggestions of what the constructs of the safest intersections in a comparable size city are and help the engineers come up with a solid and safe plan to reconstruct the intersection. I would need to make sure the engineers understood the idea of future studies as well as how the grant could assist them. 5. If you were State Farm, would you use traffic volume counts as part of the †¨2003 study? What concerns, other than those expressed by Nepomuceno, do you have? My concerns would be out of date data. That data would be almost ten years old and may not be the most accurate at this point. I would want to complete more relevant data for say the last 5 years. I would think it as prudent to include traffic volume counts and compare them to different areas because if there is less traffic at a given site there is more then likely going to be fewer accidents. I would propose to use different studies that compare different volume counts in different geographic areas to make the statistics more complete.

Attrition in Bpo

Abstract The broad objective of this research is to identify the root causes of attrition and retention in BPOs, analyzing the level of employee motivation, satisfaction and involvement, generate a model for maximizing sustenance of employees in the organization and come up with concrete recommendations, which will eventually be valuable to the organizations to retain their employees for a long term. 1. Objective It is clear from the review of BPO research that solutions are required to some specific problems of practical importance in the field of escalating attrition and retention in BPOs. The broad objective f this paper is to identify the root causes of attrition and retention in BPOs, analyzing the level of employee motivation, satisfaction and involvement, generate a model for maximizing sustenance of employees in the organization and come up with concrete recommendations, which will eventually be valuable to the organizations to retain their employees for a long term. The spec ific objectives of this paper are:  · To identify and rank the factors of attrition in BPOs based on accumulative literature review and secondary data.  · To develop a regression model for escalating the stay of employees in BPOs nd give recommendations for the same.  · To assess the existing level of employee motivation and validate the model by studying the impact of recommendations on a small patch. 2. Introduction The last decade saw an upheaval in the growth and development of the Indian economy, which was accompanied by the revolution in the technological front and a radical change in the way businesses were done. Instead of being the jack-ofall- trades, the smart organizations have now redefined the way of working and now aim at being the master of their core business. Outsourcing the non-core processes in order to concentrate on the ore ones is how the companies prefer to work now. BPO has become the obvious strategic choice of the phenomenal lifestyles seem to flash t he mind in a jiffy. That’s just the start. One reads it again, contemplates over it, dives into the unveiled afflictions, and gives it a second thought and companies looking at the visible profits of cost reduction while improving the quality of service, increasing shareholder value etc. With the whirlpool of opportunities the Indian Business Process Outsourcing sector seems to be on a happy ride. It has emerged rapidly, and its exports have grown from $565 million in 2000 to about $7. 3 illion in 2005. With the boat steaming ahead in the global markets, India has already become the most privileged destination. Hence such an eternal inventory of opportunities simply showcases a phenomenon, which is no less than the renaissance for our Indian markets. Attrition in BPOs has terrible effects on the organization. The high attrition costs increases the costs to the organization considerably. They have to combat the amount of disruption due to unplanned exits. The more the people l eave an organization, the more it is a drain on the company’s resources like recruitment expenses, training and orientation resources and the time.The high attrition rate also affects the productivity of the organization. Therefore, it is extremely important to curb attrition not only for an individual firm but also for the industry as a whole. Many researchers have worked enormously on the IT & BPO sector, citing its challenges, issues, and ATTRITION AND RETENTION OF EMPLOYEES IN BPO SECTOR Ankita Srivastava [email  protected] com SKS Group of Institution,Mathura Yogesh Tiwari [email  protected] com SKS Group of Institution,Mathura Hradesh Kumar hradesh. [email  protected] com SKS Group of Institution,Mathura Ankita Srivastava et al,Int. J. Comp. Tech.Appl,Vol 2 (6), 3056-3065 IJCTA | NOV-DEC 2011 Available [email  protected] ijcta. com 3056 ISSN:2229-6093 opportunities in and around employee performance, employee satisfaction, employee turnover etc. 3. Literature Re view Grossman and Helpman’s (2005: 135) statement, â€Å"We live in an age of outsourcing,† clearly designates that outsourcing has now become an acknowledged, accepted and established business strategy. One of the most familiar forms of outsourcing is business process outsourcing BPO, i. e. , transferring the operational ownership of one or more of the firm’s business processes to an external supplier that, in turn, administers the rocesses according to some predefined metrics (Ghosh and Scott, 2005; Stone, 2004). BPO or Business Process Outsourcing thus refers to the rearrangement of entire business functions to some other service providers, primarily in low cost locations. The service provider may be either selfowned or a third party. This relocation or transferring of business processes to an external provider is essentially to accomplish increased shareholder value. Some of the general services provided by the BPOs are Receivables and Payables, Inventory Ma nagement, Order Processing, Cash flow Analysis, Reconciliation, Data Entry, PayrollProcessing, QuickBooks Accounting, Financial Statement Preparation and Accounting Services. Some of the web based services include live online sales and order entry, E-commerce transaction support, Live online enquiry handling, Web Design/Development. Reduced international trade barriers and improved telecommunication and IT capability over the past decade has led to a situation where organizations across the world are increasingly interlinked with each other. This has resulted in intense global competition, challenging business managers across the world to find ways to reduce the cost of conducting business and accessing lobal resources in meeting the need of global markets. In such a context, the reorganization of business models to leverage benefits of outsourcing and focus on core competencies has become a key strategy pursued by large corporations across the world. BPO service-providers are expec ted to provide a wide spectrum of benefits to their customers, ranging from having greater expertise in the outsourced processes, lower costs achieved through economies of scale, scalability and the ability to absorb cyclicality of loads.  · Demand-Supply Equations According to market analysis firm Gartner, the global outsourcing market in 2000 was pproximately $119 bn and will touch $234 bn by the end of 2005. The market is expected to grow to about $310 bn by the end of 2008. Contribution from the North American continent stands at about 59% of the total market, with Europe contributing about 27% and Asia-Pac region (including Japan) contributing the remaining portion of the market. In terms of vertical contribution, the financial services industry contributes approximately 17% of the total market size, followed by the Telecom sector (16%), Consumer Goods and Services (15%), Manufacturing (9%) and the rest by the Information Technology sector. Global BPO Market by IndustryFigure : 1 The BPO market can be broadly broken down into three areas of functional operations: i. Business administration (falling under G&A expense costs) ii. Supply chain management (COGS), and iii. Sales, marketing and customer care (Selling and marketing costs) India has emerged as one of the bright stars in the global Business Process Outsourcing market and has maintained its global competitiveness by offering the best combination of cost, quality and scalability. The growth rates of the Indian BPO-ITES industry have been 59%, 45. 3% and 44. 4% in years 2002-03, 03-04 and 04- 05 with revenues of over $3. billion in FY 2003- 04 and expected to touch $5. 7 bn in FY 2004-05. Ankita Srivastava et al,Int. J. Comp. Tech. Appl,Vol 2 (6), 3056-3065 IJCTA | NOV-DEC 2011 Available [email  protected] ijcta. com 3057 ISSN:2229-6093  · BPO in India Currently the sector employs approximately 2,45,100 people and another 94,500 jobs are expected to be added in the current financial year. There a re over 400 ITES-BPO companies operating in the Indian market, including captive units (of both MNCs and Indian companies) and third-party services providers. In terms of markets, the US continues to be the main consumer of India’s ITES-BPO ervices (with a 66% share of the market), followed by Western Europe (including the UK), which accounted for 20% of export revenues. In terms of functional service offerings, Customer Care and Support services contributed approximately 34% of the industry’s revenues with the other leading service lines including Finance (with a contribution of 22%), Administration (13%) and Content Development (19%). The global financial services vertical remained the largest user of Indian ITESBPO services, followed by telecom, healthcare and airline segments. Captive units continued to dominate the ITESBPO industry, accounting for ver 65 percent of the value of the work off shored to India. 4. Research Methodology The methodology deployed for this survey consisted of primary research, with insights being captured through questionnaires and face -to- face discussions with senior management of participant organizations. Inputs from potential customers to this industry have also been collated, with respect to their key concerns while considering outsourcing to India. The analysis was further supplemented by PwC knowledge-bases and published data to validate trends and best practices, emerging from primary sources. Our analysis and findings are ased on consensus findings from the survey and are supported by quantitative and qualitative inputs from the respondents. The data presented in this report is based on information received from the respondents and has been collated to represent an industry trend. The general intent of this descriptive study was threefold. Therefore a systematic and organized methodology was obtained for the research study. A survey design was used to obtain the required information. The population for thi s study comprised of employees working in various BPOs in the National Capital Region. A sample size of 250 was chosen for this study. Simple andom sampling technique was used to gather data from the respondents, because of which respondents diverged from every age group, gender, organization, marital status etc. but were restricted only to low and middle level employees, where the attrition is highest. The questionnaire was intricately designed to tap the demographic variables including age, education, gender, marital status, and tenure of the respondents. It also gathered information about the factors responsible for attrition, the factors that can be employed to retain the employees in a BPO, their overall level of satisfaction, motivation, involvement and life nterest and work compatibility. Main data collection began in the month of July 2011. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17. 0 was religiously used for the statistical analyses.  · Primary Data An alysis A questionnaire was intricately designed to tap the factors responsible for attrition, the factors that are expected to be present in a specific job for retention. The instrument was divided into 4 parts. The first part gathered information about the personal profile of the respondents which included their age, gender, education, marital status, and tenure. Part II consisted of questions about their easons for change or probable change in their jobs. Part III aimed at knowing what according to the respondents is important for their sustenance in an organization. And last of all, Part IV was about their overall perception of the work which included their level of satisfaction, level of motivation, level of involvement and level of life interest and work compatibility.  · Secondary Data Analysis In order to gain a deeper understanding about the phenomenon of high attrition, and identification of the factors behind it, a lot of literature on BPO, particularly what got publishe d during 2004 and 2005 was studied in detail.Major causal factors for high attrition in Indian BPO industry identified in this study were based on qualitative research using secondary data. These were compared with causal factors for attrition identified through personal interview with a number of BPO employees in the Ankita Srivastava et al,Int. J. Comp. Tech. Appl,Vol 2 (6), 3056-3065 IJCTA | NOV-DEC 2011 Available [email  protected] ijcta. com 3058 ISSN:2229-6093 NCR. There was a close similarity between the two results, authenticating the qualitative research on causal agents for attrition identified in this study. The study ranked low perceived value and onotonous work as number one factor attrition. Rank two was shared by high salary expectation and unusual working hours. Next factor was disillusioned employees; rank four was shared by stress and burnout, pressure to perform on metrics, and lack of motivation. Finally rank five was jointly shared by lack of security and soci al interaction. Causal Agents / Factors Score (on 1) (Rank) Higher Salary Expectation 0. 7 (Rank-II) Lack of Security 0. 3 (Rank-V) Lack of Social Interaction 0. 3 (Rank-V) Monotonous Work 0. 8 (Rank-I) Unusual Working Hours 0. 7 (Rank-II) Pressure to perform on Metrics 0. 5 (Rank-IV) Low Perceived Value 0. (Rank-I) Disillusioned Employees 0. 6 (Rank-III) Stress and Burnout 0. 5 (Rank-IV) Lack of Motivation 0. 5 (Rank-IV) Table 1: Summary of ranks from secondary study 5. Growth of BPO industry  · Company Owned Units Pioneered BPO in India Company owned units such as American Express, General Electric (GE), Citibank, and AOL etc. triggered the trend of outsourcing back office operations and call centre services to India. Since then several banks, insurance companies, airlines and manufacturing companies have set up back office service centers in India.  · Venture Funded New Companies Over the last few years, a number of xperienced professionals have set up start-up operations in India. Generally such start-ups have been funded by venture capital funds.  · Leading IT Services Companies enter BPO Given the magnitude of such opportunity, natural synergies with the software services business and the ability to leverage their high-end physical infrastructure and management bandwidth, most large IT services companies have ventured into ITES. Consolidation of the market with the smaller players merging with each other/ larger companies for economies of scale  · Domain / Industry Specialized BPO’s Niche players in industry verticals or specific usiness processes have setup BPO businesses. Many of these players have had vast experience in the domestic market and are now offering offshore BPO services Generalized large BPO players are now focusing on â€Å"verticalizing† their competencies and structures Industry Structure MNC subsidiar ies Internatio nal BPO Companie s Diversifi ed IT Compan ies GE Convergys Daksh Infosys (Progeon) British Airways Sitel Brigade Wipro (Spectrami nd) eServe, HSBC, Scope, AmEx eFunds Talisma Tech Mahindra Hewlett Packard —- Hero HCL Table: 2 Ankita Srivastava et al,Int. J. Comp. Tech. Appl,Vol 2 (6), 3056-3065 IJCTA | NOV-DEC 2011Available [email  protected] ijcta. com 3059 ISSN:2229-6093  · Size and Growth of BPO in India Figure: 2 The growth in the BPO sector of India in 2004 was mainly due to the demands from the two segments – BFSI and telecommunications. There were low telecom costs for the leased lines and 400 companies were part of the BPO sector of India. The companies that were involved included third parties, Indian companies and MNC. Growth of BPO sector in India has been truly impressive in recent years, but things can get even better, according to market analysts. India stands out already as a market leader as far as BPOs are oncerned and so India also attracts huge foreign investments which are extremely essential since the Indian economy is expected to have an un precedented growth in the years to come. Growth of BPO Sector in India during the first half of 2007 was showing a moderate trend of growth which is registered at 14%. Five years ago, the growth in this sector was quite low due to less contracts but the situation is worse now. However, the growth of the BPO sector is expected to improve. The BPO and KPO sectors in India have been showing some positive signs with demands from western countries increasing manifold due to the vailability of cost-effective labour in India, which is highly skilled and also fluent in English. The BPOs in India are focused on increasing the growth through change in pricing techniques. Pricing in a BPO is supposed to be based on the value added to the business. So a remarkable change is in store as the BPOs in India work towards their full potential. Of course, the big boom in the BPO industry in 2003 had generated a lot of employment opportunities and continues even today. Nevertheless, Indian BPO sector i s facing competition from countries like Philippines, Mexico, Malaysia, China, and Canada. The xpected growth of this sector in 2003 was 25%. Nations like the United States and Europe are showing great interest in increasing their investments in the Indian BPO sector. India has an edge over other countries as we consider the following:  · Tech savvy professionals  · Cost effectiveness  · Superior competency  · Business risk mitigation  · 24 hour service  · Economy of scale The trends in growth of the BPO sector in India are as follows:  · 2003 – USD 2. 8 billion  · 2004 – USD 3. 9 billion  · 2005 – USD 5. 7 billion According to studies conducted by NASSCOM and leading business Intelligence Company, McKinsey & Co. he Indian IT/BPO segment is expected to employ over 1. 1 million Indians by the year 2008. Market research shows that in terms of job creation, the ITES-BPO industry is growing at over 50 percent. In the financial year 2003-2004, ITESB PO companies were the largest recruiters in the IT/ITES sector, adding a total of about 70,000 jobs. An estimated 70,000 new Jobs expected in 2005 in the field pf ITES. Plus there will be additional hiring to replace industry attrition that is around 25%. On the other hand BPO and outsourcing services would generate around 1, 25,000 new Jobs in 2005. McKinsey & Co. predicts global market or IT-enabled services to be over $140 billion by 2008. In that the opportunity for India will be around $ 17 Billion. Ankita Srivastava et al,Int. J. Comp. Tech. Appl,Vol 2 (6), 3056-3065 IJCTA | NOV-DEC 2011 Available [email  protected] ijcta. com 3060 ISSN:2229-6093 Figure: 3 Supplier-Side Assessment  · Domestic Indian BPO Industry has seen a spurt in the recent years growing at a 33 %CAGR.  · The Domestic Indian BPO industry grew from a USD 660 Million to a USD 1. 18 Billion industry.  · EBITA margins for domestic BPO stood at a double digit Percent figure  · Billing rates are less com pared to offshore segment – Most Indian BPOs (especially all centers) are engaged throughout the night hours (for offshore clients), leaving the facility empty for the day. 1. This enabled them to be leveraged during the day for domestic markets in India Demand Side Assessment  · Financial, banking, and telecom companies are leading the domestic BPO wave: 1. BFSI sector companies – UK’s largest banking firm 2. Telecom majors- almost all major mobile & landline telephony provider 6. Factors responsible for attrition and retention of employees in BPO Hackman & Oldham (1976) proposed the Job Characteristics Model, which is widely used as a framework to study how particular ob characteristics impact on job outcomes, including job satisfaction. The model states that there are five core job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback) which impact three critical psychological states (experienced meaningfulness, experience d responsibility for outcomes, and knowledge of the actual results), in turn influencing work outcomes (job satisfaction, absenteeism, work motivation, etc). The basic hypothesis of this research that employee motivation, employee satisfaction, employee involvement, and life interest and work compatibility lead to rolonged sustenance is an extension of this model with minor modifications in it. It is proposed that the Job Characteristics model is modified by redefining job dimensions as growth prospects, accountability, sense of accomplishment, self-esteem, job security, interpersonal relationships, working conditions, by extending organizational outcomes as satisfied, motivated, involved and retained employees. Figure 1 is the modified Hackman and Oldham’s Job Characteristics model which has been taken as the base to study the research questions pertaining to this research. The new model is also designed to be of use as a management tool and must herefore be simple and flexi ble enough to be of use to the management of an organization. Typical management questions would involve the likely motivational impact of job redesign, such as increasing employees’ level of control and responsibility over their work behaviour or introducing a scheme whereby employees participate in certain management decisions. The model should therefore allow managers to manipulate a host of job characteristics and investigate the likely effects upon the motivation, performance and sustenance of the workforce. This study aimed at exploring the dimensions of attrition and retention.Based on our ground work; initial survey and personal interviews held with the BPO employees, it was found that factors that contribute to attrition are quite different from the factors that contribute to retention. Ankita Srivastava et al,Int. J. Comp. Tech. Appl,Vol 2 (6), 3056-3065 IJCTA | NOV-DEC 2011 Available [email  protected] ijcta. com 3061 ISSN:2229-6093 Figure:4 Modified version of H ackman and Oldham’s Job Characteristics Model Based on the Hackman and Oldham’s Job Characteristics Model and the modifications made to it, a clearer and more lucid pictorial framework of the model is given in Figure 5 and 6. Figure 5 learly illustrates the basic constructs of the attrition model: personal characteristics, negative job characteristics (job dimensions), and the final resultant as attrition. Figure 6 illustrates constructs of retention model i. e. personal characteristics, intrinsic job dimensions and the resulting level of satisfaction, motivation and involvement (work outcomes) and the final result i. e. retained employees (organizational outcomes). Figure: 5 Basic models for attrition Figure 5 clearly suggests the personal characteristics as age, education, gender, marital status and tenure along with the negative characteristics of a BPO job i. . monotonous nature of job, lack of motivation, poor mentoring, power and politics, dissatisfaction with co lleagues, low career growth, lack of skill variety, irregular working hours, achievement not recognized etc. These two collectively result in the attrition of employees. The question is how much do these factors actually contribute to attrition. Similarly figure 6 describes the personal characteristics and core job dimensions which are intrinsic in nature and how do they contribute to retention of employees. Figure: 6 Basic model for retention of employee 7. Result and Analysis  · Regression Model for retentionThe dependent variable was sustenance in an organization, and the independent variables were personal characteristics viz. age, gender, education, marital status, and retention factors viz. motivation factors, extrinsic factors, involvement factors, and life interest and job compatibility factors. All these eight factors were put in the model as independent variables and willingness to continue in the organization was put as the dependent variable. Intrinsic motivation facto rs, employee involvement factors, age and education are the main determinants of retention. The value of multiple R is 0. 60 and the value of r square is 0. 6 in the equation. It states that 36% of the retention in a BPO is explained by these factors. An employee’s sustenance in an organization can be rightfully explained by these factors. Ankita Srivastava et al,Int. J. Comp. Tech. Appl,Vol 2 (6), 3056-3065 IJCTA | NOV-DEC 2011 Available [email  protected] ijcta. com 3062 ISSN:2229-6093 Equation: 1 Y= 1. 78 + 0. 47X 1 + 0. 15X 2 – 0. 13X 3 – 0. 11X 4 Where, Y = Stay in the organization X1 = Intrinsic Motivation Factors X2 = Involvement Factors X3 = Age X4 = Education After forming the regression model, value for each respondent’s willingness to stay in the organization was calculated.These predicted values were then compared to the actual values as given by the respondents. There was a strong correlation between the actual and predicted values. The cor relation came out to be 0. 659** which was significant at 0. 01 level. Thus, on the basis of the regression model it can be concluded that intrinsic motivation factors; and involvement factors are quite instrumental in retaining the employees in an organization and at the same time, age and education negatively contribute to the sustenance of the employees in the organization. Employee involvement is a proven tool to motivate and retain mployees and according to the result here, it can be constructive in the Indian BPOs too. In the West, there has been ongoing interest in getting workers more involved in various processes, such as decision-making and information sharing. Employee participation adds to employees’ growth needs and sense of achievement through a healthier deployment of their dexterity and potential. Employee participation in planning and decision making and in articulating new policies also acts an important tool to improve employee motivation. Finding ways to i ntrinsically motivate employees to improve effectiveness and performance can have ong lasting impact on their sustenance too. Based on the two dimensions i. e. motivation and involvement which, according to the regression model, significantly contribute to the sustenance of an employee in the organization, employees can be broadly classified into four broad categories. There are people who are woefully inadequate in both dimensions i. e. neither are they involved in the work, nor are they motivated to perform. We may call such people as ‘detached’ who leave the organization for no rhyme or reason, hence extremely difficult to be retained. Next comes the ‘disgruntled’ who get involved in the iven assignment but lack aspiring motivation. Such people are moderately to highly difficult to be retained as they lack in the basic intrinsic motivation. The other two segments comprise of ‘strugglers’ and ‘stars’ who are at the higher end of the motivation continuum. The former may be relatively lower in their involvement as compared with the latter. ‘Strugglers’ lack involvements but have a high degree of intrinsic motivation, because of which they struggle hard to work. It is moderately difficult to retain them. The ease and art lies in fulfilling their involvement needs by expanding their responsibilities, empowering them, aking them involved in decision making etc. ‘Stars’ are highly motivated and highly involved in the work, and thus they are the easiest to be retained. ‘Disgruntled’ and ‘strugglers’ are the focus segments, which a company would not want to lose. They need to be enhanced, protected, valued and retained by pulling away all the nonretentive forces and kicking the retentive forces into high gear. DISGRUNTLED Highly involved but demotivated employees Moderately to highly difficult to retain STARS Highly involved and highly motivated employees Easy to retain DETACHED Uninvolved and demotivated employees Highly Difficult to retainSTRUGGLERS Uninvolved but highly motivated employees Moderately difficult to retain LOW HIGH Table: 3 Intrinsic Motivations Involvement vis-a-vis Intrinsic Motivation: Effect on employee retention  · Model Validation For the final validation of the regression model, a small patch test was done on a sample of 50 employees in Intelnet Private Ltd. Few concrete recommendations were made to the process manager of this BPO and he was asked to stringently apply these recommendations. The employees chosen for this study were the ones who had said they would leave the organization if they were offered work with the same pay elsewhere.Data which was collected, after three months of implementation, was analyzed statistically. The response scores were put in the regression equation as derived from the fourth objective and the resultant willingness to stay in the organization was calculated. The comparison with the ir original scores clearly revealed that there was an escalation HIGH LOW Ankita Srivastava et al,Int. J. Comp. Tech. Appl,Vol 2 (6), 3056-3065 IJCTA | NOV-DEC 2011 Available [email  protected] ijcta. com 3063 ISSN:2229-6093 in the scores. Also, the predicted scores and the actual scores of the willingness to continue in the organization was put under correlation.Finally, employees were classified under four broad categories based on their level of involvement and motivation viz. detached, disgruntled, strugglers and stars. 8. Conclusion The regression model for the retention of employees in a BPO explains two important factors i. e. intrinsic motivation factors and involvement factors. This result is robustly analogous with all the prevalent and established theories of motivation viz. Herzberg’s theory, Maslow’s theory, Alderfer’s Theory, McClellend’s Theory. According to all these theories, the higher order needs revolve around self esteem, or selfact ualization in one way or the other.According to Maslow’s theory, the higher-level needs are selfesteem and self-actualization. Only when one need is satisfied, another higher-level need emerges and motivates the person to do something to satisfy it. A satisfied need is no longer a motivator. Only the next level of needs in the hierarchy will act as motivators. Once a level of needs has been satisfied they no longer act as motivators and the individual then directs attention towards the next level of needs in the hierarchy. Herzberg draws a parallel with Maslow’s theory but with a subtle difference. According to his theory, motivator factors are actors that are intrinsic to the job, such as the content of the work itself and the availability of opportunities for responsibility, advancement and recognition for achievement. The motivator factors, which Herzberg described as â€Å"complex factors leading to this sense of personal growth and selfactualization†, would then be able to act on that employee and increase job satisfaction and productivity. Thus, according to this theory, in order to motivate workers towards higher productivity, it is important to ensure that the motivators are utilized to arouse the instinct of the employees. Herzberg’s motivator and hygiene actors can be mapped onto Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with the motivator factors corresponding to the higher order needs of ego and self-actualization. Next, according to Alderfer’s ERG theory, growth needs involve the intrinsic desire for personal development and include the intrinsic element of Maslow’s esteem category as well as self-actualization needs. Finally according to McClellend’s theory, people with a high achievement need have a compelling drive to succeed. They strive for personal achievement rather than rewards and have a desire to do something better or more efficiently than it has een done before. They seek situations where they can attain personal responsibility for finding solutions to problems, where they can receive rapid feedback on their performance so they can tell easily whether they are improving or not, and where they can set moderately challenging goals. 9. Recommendations Organizations should have a proactive retention strategy which helps in reducing employee turnover. Retention plan strategies should be different for different level of employees, because their roles are different; their needs are different; what motivates them are different and what makes hem leave are also different. Based on the study it has been seen that dimensions of satisfaction and motivate are significantly different for employees on the basis of age, gender, marital status and education. Then, the regression model revealed that intrinsic motivation and involvement factors, as well as age and education level contribute to the sustenance of employees in the organization. Thus based on the findings, it can be said if the employees are motivated and involved in the work they can be retained. The ease of retention would depend on their degree of motivation and involvement. It is desirable to lan employee retention strategy by an organization, which should cover following aspects:  · Reciprocity is the key. Employees are investors in the company and expect a return on investment. The return can be in the form of recognition, empowerment and authority.  · Retention must be part of the organization’s DNA. Successful organizations have woven retention and engagement deeply into their structure.  · Loyalty is never given. Loyalty must be earned; even satisfied employees sometimes leave. Therefore, develop sense of loyalty among the employees.  · Organizations must be seen as employers of choice. One has to compete on ompensation and benefits, but win on culture, learning and development.  · Stars include more than just the top 10% – – or 1%! Stars are people at any level who sustain in the organization and bring value to it. Ankita Srivastava et al,Int. J. Comp. Tech. Appl,Vol 2 (6), 3056-3065 IJCTA | NOV-DEC 2011 Available [email  protected] ijcta. com 3064 ISSN:2229-6093  · Each generation of employees has different reasons for staying. For the first time in modern history, there are varied generations working side-by-side in most companies of this industry. Generational differences continue to pose new challenges to today’s employers.Thus, retaining them needs a generation-centric approach.  · Mentor widely and in both directions. Build learning relationships in all directions and hold all partners responsible for the success.  · Train intelligently. Provide on-going retention training in manageable bites – make it a continuous effort and find ways to size the retention plan to the specific demographics of the organization.  · Create a development culture. â€Å"Career development is the right thing for the organization (ide ntifying and developing future leaders), the right thing for the employee (creating a development environment), and a key retention omponent. †  · Recognize managers who keep employees. Meaningful recognition remains a potent energizer for employees and managers alike. 10. References 1. Vohra, Kushal, Systems Approach to Retention of Critical Employees. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn. com/abstract=662442 2. Tapper, David. â€Å"Worldwide and U. S. IT Outsourcing Services 2004–2008 Forecast: A Potential Perfect Storm. † Market Analysis (April 2004): IDC, Document 31089 . 3. Witt, L. A. , Martha C. Andrews, and Dawn S. Carlson. â€Å"When Conscientiousness Isn’t Enough: Emotional Exhaustion and Performance among Call Center Customer Service Representatives. †Journal of Management 30 (February 2004): 149–60. 4. Walletwatch. â€Å"Call Centre Attrition Puts HR Managers to Test. † (April 2003). www. samachar. com/biz/fullstory. ht ml; (Ac cessed on May 8, 2010). 5. Rediff. com â€Å"What Indian BPO Industry Needs. †(2005a). us. rediff. com/money/200 5/apr/23bpo. htm; (Accessed on May 1, 2010). ———. â€Å"1000 Jobs Offshored . 6. Ravichandaran, Ram. â€Å"BPO, ITES Sectors to Hot Up in 2005, Says NASSCOM Report. † Financial Express (March 9, 2005): 2 7. Ramchandran, Kumar and Sudhir Voleti. â€Å"Business Process Outsourcing (BPO): Emerging Scenario and Strategic Options for IT-enabled Services. Vikalpa 29 (January–March 2004): 49–62. 8. Prakash, S. and Chowdhury, R. (2004). â€Å"Managing attrition in BPO†, In search of Excellence, Cool Avenues, http://www. coolavenues. com/know/hr/s_1 .php. Last accessed on: February 06, 2010. 9. Pande, Bhanu â€Å"Sun, Survey Can’t Deter the Call of Duty. † Economic Times Online (July 29, 2005). (Accessed on May 8, 2010). 10. Neale, Helen. â€Å"Offshore BPO Delivery. † NelsonHall BPO and Outsourcing Sub scription Service: Nelson-Hall, 2004 . Ankita Srivastava et al,Int. J. Comp. Tech. Appl,Vol 2 (6), 3056-3065 IJCTA | NOV-DEC 2011 Available [email  protected] ijcta. com 3065 ISSN:2229-6093

Supermarket the urban trend Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Supermarket the urban trend - Essay Example But, as this report will illustrate, such 'choice' has in the long run, come at a price. Supermarkets today, are proving to be a disaster rather than a boon for the society. The modus operandi of the supermarkets both in procuring and selling goods has had a telling effect on all sections of the society. "Supermarkets wield immense power over the way we grow, buy and eat our food. They are shaping our environment, our health and the way we interact socially. These changes have gone unchallenged because consumers have been sucked into superstore lifestyles, persuaded that the opportunity to select from six different brands of cut-price oven chips at three in the morning represents choice and value" In the essay, we initially assess the extent to which the supermarket industry controls the economy and also analyze the amount of power that supermarkets wield over the government or other smaller players like grocery stores etc. The essay critically analyses the present consumer trends as well as their current mindset. It is also important to determine their main influencing factors that ultimately work in favor of the supermarkets. Finally, the essay discusses the core issue of how a supermarket adopts different strategies in order to woo customers in addition to discussing the various ways in which the consumers are heavily dependent on the consumers for most of their daily needs. Overview of the Supermarket Industry A supermarket is a self-service grocery outlet that sells food, beverages and other goods. They are located on urban high streets or in shopping malls, covering an area of around 4,000-25,000 square ft. According to the M+M Planet Retail (2001), over the last 10-15 years, many have developed branches in out-of-town or edge-of-town locations. According to the IGD in 2001, the major supermarket constitute around 60% of the total market, retailers around 20%, while other smaller vendors and shops fill up the gap which is a mere 13%, In addition to the Co-operatives & hard discounters shares of 5% & 2% respectively. Market analysts, Taylor Nelson Sofres, who calculated the market share after studying shopping habits in 15,000 households, puts the figure at 75% for UK's major supermarket chains. The supermarkets have also set their foot in the convenience sector, which is valued at around 21bn by the Fortune Magazine (2003). This is part of a strategy of the supermarkets, which aims the so-called 'cash-rich, time-poor' consumers who are on the rise. The Competition Commission report on Supermarkets has made a clear distinction between the two sectors giving the green light to potential takeovers. For example, as cited by just-food.com & Grocertoday.com (2001), Supermarket giant Tesco has acquired hundreds of stores after it took over the reins of TNS and Administore (cited by Reuters, 2001). The simple message sent out here is that the market is not a place for weaklings. Overview of Consumer trends "Trend cycles seem to be emerging more rapidly as a result of technology, accelerated social diffusion, instantaneous

Fair trade has more benefits for suppliers than free trade. To what Essay

Fair trade has more benefits for suppliers than free trade. To what extent do you agree with this statement - Essay Example The supporters of fair trade are of the opinion that the various problems related to the imbalances in the society and the environmental problems arise as a result of free market trade. This essay tries to analyse the phenomenon of fair trade from the point of view of the suppliers. The various economic theories have been explored in this context. Before proceeding with any elaboration of the various nuances of fair trade, it is essential o define the various aspects of fair trade. Fair trade is a movement which is aimed at promoting the labour standards as well as the environmental standards. It also includes setting a definite standard for the policy objectives which are aimed at the improvement of the societal welfare. Fair Trade is to be distinguished from free trade since free trade is that which depends on the market forces of demand and supply solely and would mean the removal of the different types of qualitative and quantitative barriers like tariffs and quotas. On the other hand Fair Trade would involve the promotion of the trade in the developing economies or the sectors which otherwise may not be able to compete with the international competitors. Exports being the focus of it from developing to developed countries. FINE proposed the most crafted definition of free trade in the year 2001. The fair Trade labelled p roducts must be in line with the standards practised by the Fair Trade Organizations. The FLO or the Fair Trade labelling Organizations International is the responsible authority for regulating the certification standards as well as labelling of the products and stipulate the minimum criteria for each product to be labelled and sold as fair Trade (Mohan, 2010, pp. 17-24). A number of criteria are present that distinguish the fair trade products from that of the other products in the market. First of all the producers are paid a minimum price by the traders. This ensures

Compare and Contrast Popular Culture LIterature Term Paper

Compare and Contrast Popular Culture LIterature - Term Paper Example Does one transcend the mind in that fraction of a second when the decision is made? Perhaps yes! In that eventuality, the decision is bound to be faultless. The source of that decision is made in the brilliant flash of inner light. Gladwell writes, â€Å"The first task of Blink is to convince you of a simple fact: decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately† (p.14). The word ‘very quickly’ has the element of divine aura about it, and does not contain the element of haste. The level of spiritual progression of those who are brilliant decision makers is far more than those who are consistently inept. The process of the best decisions is to be experienced by the decision maker and it cannot be explained in words. As with his writing technique, Gladwell supports his each contention with allegories and real-life case studies. He gives the example of a psychologist, a tennis coach and the art wizards who recognize t he fake at a glance. He also admits about the failures of â€Å"blink†. Like an ardent supporter of Popular Culture the author argues â€Å"We live in a world that assumes that the quality of a decision is directly related to the time and effort that went into making it† (p.13). ... 2. Outliers: The Story of Success Though the ardent worshippers of Popular Culture are aware of the importance of chance and circumstances in the life of an individual, they finally vote for an individual who succeeds in life in terms of monetary accomplishments. The society salutes the achiever. Big ideas are hidden in the ordinary life of an individual and what is required is to locate and present them before the public well in time. An individual has to notice the talent within him first, before it is being noticed by others. With the spread of Popular Culture, the importance of behavioral science has increased and Malcolm Gladwell is on the right spot to cash this opportunity. 1990s has been the ideal period for experimentation with his new style in literature. About the book â€Å"Outliers: The Story of Success† Malcolm Gladwell (2011) writes â€Å"This is a book about outliers, about men and women who do things that are out of the ordinary. Over the course of the chapte rs ahead, I’m going to introduce to you to one kind of outlier after another: to geniuses, business tycoons, rock stars, and software programmers† (p.17). He sums up his argument thus: â€Å"Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities-- and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them† (p.267). If one understands this principle in its correct spirit, many of the problems in life will be no more problems, they will be the milestones in the path of success. Success stories are like the champagne to the combustible younger generation who are the admirers of the Popular Culture. Gladwell provides a new perspective about the

Training Series Part 6 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Training Series Part 6 - Assignment Example â€Å"a criminal offense on the Web, a criminal offense regarding the Internet, a violation of law on the Internet, an illegality committed with regard to the Internet, breach of law on the Internet, computer crime, contravention through the Web, corruption regarding Internet, criminal activity on the Internet, disrupting operations through malevolent programs on the Internet, electric crime, Internet crime, sale of contraband on the Internet, stalking victims on the Internet, theft of identify on the Internet† Cybercrimes have now become extremely important to be dealt with. These are growing phenomenon in the current age. A hacker is a person who is able to deflect the online security system of a particular online database and then explore the limits of this database. Once a hacker is able to hack into someone’s account, then that particular act in itself amounts to hacking. Tom is a business developer with Apple Inc. He has been associated with this company for a long time. He has the relevant information which is confidential in nature. Don is a hacker who is into major form of hacking into different accounts. He indulges magnificently into this form of stealing and is a master of snatching confidential information. One day, Tom had installed all the financial and banking details of Apple Inc. onto his own laptop for a convenient way of working and signing deals with other companies. Don hacks into Tom’s laptop using the wifi and goes through all the details of Apple Inc. in detail. He then comes to know that he can sue this information for his own benefit. He steals the secretive information and online documents from Tom’s laptop and sells it to other rival companies such as Samsung Inc. which is a huge rival of Apple Inc. Samsung Inc. uses this information for its own benefit and trades this information for a financial gain for Don. Don becomes extremely rich and has bought a new house which is questioned by the

Default and Dispute Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Default and Dispute - Research Paper Example Acquisition planning and cost containment strategies of government are two important aspects of the study. Finally, the study will try to recommend some useful strategies to increase the efficiency of procurement process of government.     Termination for default can be described as practice of contractual right of prime contractor or the government to terminate the agreement or contract partially or as a whole for the reason of contractor’s failure to perform contractual obligations (in actual or anticipatory). Termination for default causes the loss for an underperforming contractor in the following way. 1- The contractor will not be able to get reimbursement for undelivered work and they need to repay for any further advancement required in the undelivered product, 2- The contractor is liable to the prime contractor to pay the extra cost incurred due to terminated contract. Termination of default is a harsh monetary penalty in real practice. Every contractor needs to ta ke possible steps to avoid such predicament (James, 1963). Bases for a Termination for Default The Federal Acquisition Regulation has described various bases for termination for default. The bases can be summarized in the following manner. 1- Contractor fails to perform or deliver the work within given time frame, 2- contractor fails to show acceptable performance to accomplish the work. As a result of poor performance the contractor fails to progress in the work, 3- a government can show debarment notice to contractor, 4- a government can repudiate the contract anticipating future loss that would be caused by poor performance of the contractor. 4- Contractor fails to perform any of the contractual provisions. Example Termination for Default is categorized as government specific technical term contracting term described in 49.4 of the FAR. When a supplier fails to supply product within the predetermined time frame the government can terminate a contract for default. Suppose a suppli er did a contractual agreement with the government to supply 60 units of the product after 1 month but managed to deliver only 40 units within given time frame. The government has the right to perform the termination of default due to the failure of the contractor. Termination for Default versus Termination for Convenience Consequences In case of termination for default, the prime contractor is not liable for the cost incurred on undelivered work and contractor is liable to pay advance payments made by a government. The government has the right to claim manufacturing materials and completed supplies after termination of a contract. Contracting officer shall acquire finished material under the default clause on behalf of a government. Government is liable to pay contract price of finished supplies to a contractor. The payment amount is decided by contracting officer after adjustment with a contractor (Acquisition, n.d.). In the termination for convenience, the government may terminat e the contract in whole or in part at any time by giving minimum thirty days notice to the contractor. The contractor will be paid due to payment for completed work by the prime contractor.

Take your own moral values on abortion (pro-life) and compare them to Assignment

Take your own moral values on abortion (pro-life) and compare them to the social work ethics and core values - Assignment Example It is interesting in this situation to look at a person’s own biases and prejudices while dealing with this issue. Since every person is situated in a society and can be looked at as a product of the history of that society, it is safe to assume that prejudices would be a part of every person. There needs to thus, be a conscious effort to rid oneself of the prejudices that are a part of one’s mind. It is here that one sees the importance of a code of ethics as laid down by the National Association of Social Workers. This paper shall look at the articles of this code and how it helps one to rid oneself of many a prejudice and work towards a more harmonious society. The code of ethics according to the NASW demands that people who are social workers accept the cultural changes that are a part of today’s society and learn to live in harmony without intentionally or otherwise, causing any damage to the sentiments of others. It is in this context that the issue of abortion becomes a huge issue that becomes difficult for people to grapple with. Any stand that is taken at present seems to be in violation of the beliefs of certain groups, as far as abortion is concerned. This is however, applicable only for those groups that advocate a complete ban on abortion or complete freedom. As in most issues of a multicultural society, the middle path would be the intelligent route to take in this matter. This is especially so since it tends to divide people into watertight compartments even at a political level where it becomes a major issue in pre-electoral times. This lack of discrimination is exhorted to be practiced as can be seen in this part of th e code of ethics- â€Å"Social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,

Petroleum paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Petroleum paper - Essay Example It is believed that the heat converted the remains of the animals and sea-plants trapped on the seabed to petroleum. When refined, petroleum separates into various fractions of useful hydrocarbons. Thus, petroleum is not beneficial in the raw form. The economic resource category of the petroleum is the land. The common petroleum products and derivatives, which average American family uses and interacts with include shoe polish, nail polish, lipstick, toothpaste, antiseptics, shampoos, mineral spirits, dyes, insecticides, and crayons. The products and derivatives satisfy the needs of the American families in many ways. Toothpaste is a petroleum derivative, and every American uses the product on a daily basis. Americans use the toothpaste to clean their teeth. In effect, the toothpaste protects the teeth against cavities, yellowing, as well as accumulation of tartar. It removes the bacteria that tend to grow on teeth and cause gum disease and cavities. Shoe polish comprises of turpentine, naphtha, and dyes. The product is used to polish, as well as shine leather shoes. Shoe polish protects, maintains, restores, and improves the appearance of the footwear. Every American use shoe polish daily. Nail polish contains petroleum constituents such as adhesive polymers, plasticizers, and pigments. People use the polish to decorate their nails. The nail polish is a key product in the cosmetic industry, and average American uses it. The scientific name for clove is Cinnamomum verum. The product has antiseptic, as well as analgesic effects. Clove cleans open wounds and surfaces of objects such as toilets. Thus, the Americans use clove as a therapeutic agent against deadly microorganisms. The main uses of shampoo entail removal of dirt, oils, dandruff, skin particles, and contaminants that accumulate in the hair. In effect, shampoo protects the hair and makes it manageable. The product is useful in the cosmetic and beauty industry. Mineral spirit is a

Anarchy State and Utopia Essay Example for Free

Anarchy State and Utopia Essay Distributive Justice Robert Nozick From Anarchy, State, and Utopia, 149-182, with omissions. Copyright @ 1974 by Basic Books, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Basic Books, a subsidiary of Perseus Books Group, LLC. The minimal state is the most extensive state that can be justified. Any state more extensive violates peoples rights. Yet many persons have put forth reasons purporting to justify a more extensive state. It is impossible within the compass of this book to examine all the reasons that have been put forth. Therefore, I shall focus upon those generally acknowledged to be most weighty and influential, to see precisely wherein they fail. In this chapter we consider the claim that a more extensive state is justified, because necessary (or the best instrument) to achieve distributive justice; in the next chapter we shall take up diverse other claims. The term distributive justice is not a neutral one. Hearing the term distribution, most people presume that some thing or mechanism uses some principle or criterion to give out a supply of things. Into this process of distributing shares some error may have crept. So it is an open question, at least, whether redistribution should take place; whether we should do again what has already been done once, though poorly. However, we are not in the position of children who have been given portions of pie by someone who now makes last minute adjustments to rectify careless cutting. There is no central distribution, no person or group entitled to control all the resources, jointly deciding how they are to be doled out. What each person gets, he gets from others who give to him in exchange for something, or as a gift. In a free society, diverse persons control different resources, and new holdings arise out of the voluntary exchanges and actions of persons. There is no more a distributing or distribution of shares than there is a distributing of mates in a society in which persons choose whom they shall marry. The total result is the product of many individual decisions which the different individuals involved are entitled to make. Some uses of the term distribution, it is true, do not imply a previous distributing appropriately judged by some criterion (for example, probability distribution); nevertheless, despite the title of this chapter, it would be best to use a terminology that clearly is neutral. We shall speak of peoples holdings; a principle of justice in holdings describes (part of) what justice tells us (requires) about holdings. I shall state first what I take to be the correct view about justice in holdings, and then turn to the discussion of alternate views. Section 1 The Entitlement Theory The subject of justice in holdings consists of three major topics. The first is the original acquisition of holdings, the appropriation of unheld things. This includes the issues of how unheld things may come to be held, the process, or processes, by which unheld things may come to be held, the things that may come to be held by these processes, the extent of what comes to be held by a particular process, and so on. We shall refer to the complicated truth about this topic, which we shall not formulate here, as the principle of justice in acquisition. The second topic concerns the transfer of holdings from one person to another. By what processes may a person transfer holdings to another? How may a person acquire a holding from another who holds it? Under this topic come general descriptions of voluntary exchange, and gift and (on the other hand) fraud, as well as reference to particular conventional details fixed upon in a given society. The complicated truth about this subject (with placeholders for conventional details) we shall call the principle of justice in transfer. And we shall suppose it also includes principles governing how a person may divest himself of a holding, passing it into an unheld state. ) If the world were wholly just, the following inductive definition would exhaustively cover the subject of justice in holdings. 1. A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the principle of justice in acquisition is entitled to that holding. 2. A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the principle of justice in transfer, from someone else entitled to the holding, is entitled to the holding. . No one is entitled to a holding except by (repeated) applications of 1 and 2. The complete principle of distributive justice would say simply that a distribution is just if everyone is entitled to the holdings they possess under the distribution. A distribution is just if it arises from another just distribution by legitimate means. The legitimate means of moving from one distribution to another are specified by the principle of justice in transfer. The legitimate first moves are specified by the principle of justice in acquisition. Whatever arises from a just situation by just steps is itself just. The means of change specified by the principle of justice in transfer preserve justice. As correct rules of inference are truth-preserving, and any conclusion deduced via repeated application of such rules from only true premisses is itself true, so the means of transition from one situation to another specified by the principle of justice in transfer are justice-preserving, and any situation actually arising from repeated transitions in accordance with the principle from a just situation is itself just. The parallel between justice-preserving transformations and truth-preserving transformations illuminates where it fails as well as where it holds. That a conclusion could have been deduced by truth-preserving means from premisses that are true suffices to show its truth. That from a just situation a situation could have arisen via justice-preserving means does not suffice to show its justice. The fact that a thiefs victims voluntarily could have presented him with gifts does not entitle the thief to his ill-gotten gains. Justice in holdings is historical; it depends upon what actually has happened. We shall return to this point later. Not all actual situations are generated in accordance with the two principles of justice in holdings: the principle of justice in acquisition and the principle of justice in transfer. Some people steal from others, or defraud them, or enslave them, seizing their product and preventing them from living as they choose, or forcibly exclude others from competing in exchanges. None of these are permissible modes of transition from one situation to another. And some persons acquire holdings by means not sanctioned by the principle of justice in acquisition. The existence of past injustice (previous violations of the first two principles of justice in holdings) raises the third major topic under justice in holdings: the rectification of injustice in holdings. If past injustice has shaped present holdings in various ways, some identifiable and some not, what now, if anything, ought to be done to rectify these injustices? What obligations do the performers of injustice have toward those whose position is worse than it would have been had the injustice not been done? Or, than it would have been had compensation been paid promptly? How, if at all, do things change if the beneficiaries and those made worse off are not the direct parties in the act of injustice, but, for example, their descendants? Is an injustice done to someone whose holding was itself based upon an unrectified injustice? How far back must one go in wiping clean the historical slate of injustices? What may victims of injustice permissibly do in order to rectify the injustices being done to them, including the many injustices done by persons acting through their government? I do not know of a thorough or theoretically sophisticated treatment of such issues. Idealizing greatly, let us suppose theoretical investigation will produce a principle of rectification. This principle uses historical information about previous situations and injustices done in them (as defined by the first two principles of justice and rights against interference), and information about the actual course of events that flowed from these injustices, until the present, and it yields a description (or descriptions) of holdings in the society. The principle of rectification presumably will make use of its best estimate of subjunctive information about what would have occurred (or a probability distribution over what might have occurred, using the expected value) if the injustice had not taken place. If the actual description of holdings turns out not to be one of the descriptions yielded by the principle, then one of the descriptions yielded must be realized. The general outlines of the theory of justice in holdings are that the holdings of a person are just if he is entitled to them by the principles of justice in acquisition and transfer, or by the principle of rectification of injustice (as specified by the first two principles). If each persons holdings are just, then the total set (distribution) of holdings is just. To turn these general outlines into a specific theory we would have to specify the details of each of the three principles of justice in holdings: the principle of acquisition of holdings, the principle of transfer of holdings, and the principle of rectification of violations of the first two principles. I shall not attempt that task here (Lockes principle of justice in acquisition is discussed below. ) . How Liberty Upsets Patterns It is not clear how those holding alternative conceptions of distributive justice can reject the entitlement conception of justice in holdings. For suppose a distribution favored by one of these non-entitlement conceptions is realized.

The Role of Perception Essay Example for Free

The Role of Perception Essay What is perception? How can a persons perception of others impact an organizations behavior? What are the positive and negative effects of using perceptive shortcuts when judging others? How are decisions in real world organizations actually made? How can our perceptions shape ethical or moral decisions? These are the questions that will be attempted to be answered in this essay. According to Robbins, S. (2005) Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. The role of perception in the decision-making process goes beyond the five senses (1) sight, (2) hearing, (3) smell, (4) taste, and (5) touch. The representation of perception in decision-making is based on a persons internal understanding and personal analysis of environmental observations combined with past experiences. Consequently, perception varies from one individual to the next. There are many factors that can influence or shape a persons perception during the decision-making process. Robbins, S. (2005) identifies three types of factors that influence perception:1.Factors in the Perceiver: Personal Characteristics†¢Attitudes: feelings, beliefs or behavioral tendencies towards specific people, ideas, objects etc. †¢Personality: individual behaviors, temperament, emotions or state of mind. †¢Motives: reasoning toward problem-solving or achieving a goal†¢Interests: selective concentration on personal likes or dislikes†¢Experience: knowledge gained from past involvements or exposure. †¢Expectations: what is hoped to be achieved. 2.Factors in the Target: Observed Characteristics†¢Novelty: uniqueness. †¢Motion†¢Sounds†¢Size†¢Background†¢Proximity†¢Similarity3.Factors in the Situation:†¢Time†¢Work setting†¢Social settingHow can a persons perception of others impact an organizations behavior? To find the answer to such a  question one must first understand organizational behavior. According to Robbins, S. (2005) organizational behavior (OB) is defined as a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organizations effectiveness. Organizations are run by human beings, not machines. For that reason, a persons perception can have either a positive or negative impact on an organizations behavior depending on the factors that influence his or her perceptions. Ones perception of other individuals within an organization can influence the level of commitment as well as cooperation of employees within an organization. Take family-owned and operated (managed) businesses for instance. According to Barnett, T. and Kellermanns, F. (2006) Securing the commitment and cooperation of nonfamily [sic] employees is likely to be more difficult if they do not perceive that decision outcomes, decision processes, and decision makers are fair or just. Non-family employees perceptions of the fairness of human resource (HR) practices in such areas as: positions of authority, wages, promotions, discipline and so on within family-owned businesses may vary depending on the existent of family influence within the organization. Barnett, T. and Kellermanns, F. (2006) identifies non-family perceptions of HR practices at three different levels of family influence as:1.Low levels of family influence tend to have little impact on the fairness of HR practices. 2.Moderate levels of family influence tend to have positive effects on the fairness of HR practices. 3.High levels of family influence tend to have negative effects on the fairness of HR decision processes and outcomes. Clearly, a persons perception of others can impact an organizations behavior in many different ways because the overall organizational behavior is not just based on one persons perspective but rather a collective perspective of all the employees within the organization. However, it is  possible for a single person or a small group of people to affect an organizations behavior i.e. the CEO, family members etc. depending on their level of influence or control over the organization. What are the positive and negative effects of using perceptive shortcuts when judging others? Perceptive shortcuts can affect the quality of a persons decision-making and performance. According to Robbins, S. (2005) some of the most frequently used shortcuts include:†¢Selective perception: selective interpretation based on ones expectations. †¢Halo Effect: bias opinion based on first impression or single attribute. †¢Contrast effects: assessment of persons qualities based on others with similar qualities. †¢Projection: Attributing ones own characteristics to other people. †¢Stereotyping: preconceived notion about an individual based ones perception of the group to which that person belongs. †¢Self-fulfilling prophecy: A situation in which one person inaccurately perceives a second person and the resulting expectations cause the second person to behave in ways consistent with the original perception. Positive effects of using perceptive shortcuts when judging others:†¢Simplify the amount of information being received. †¢Having express knowledge of individual characteristics allows interviews to go quickly. †¢Grouping people based on similar characteristics can help interviewers to extract applicants with specialized skills quickly. †¢It is easier to judge an applicant positively if the interviewer perceives that they are alike. Negative effects of using perceptive shortcuts when judging others:†¢Unwarranted conclusions from vague information. †¢Having limited knowledge of individual characteristics can lead to hiring a person not suited for a particular position. †¢Grouping people based on similar characteristics can lead to distort perceptions of applicants. †¢When interviewers perceive applicants to be like themselves their ability to respond to the applicants differences becomes distorted. These lists could go on and on, but notice that: in theory, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Decisions made in real world organizations are not quite so cut and dry. How are decisions in real world organizations actually made? In real world organizations decisions depend great deal on the accuracy of managerial perceptions. However, due to the aspect of human nature (shortcut perceptions), the accuracy of managerial perceptions may vary. This often causes some managers to have inaccurate or unrealistic perceptions of an organization. In one case study on the accuracy of managers perceptions Mezias, J. and Starbuck, W. (2003) evaluated 70 different managers and found that:About 35% of the managers had very accurate perceptions, with errors below 11%. About 35% of the managers greatly underestimated sales, with errors ranging from −75% to almost −100%. About 24% of the managers overestimated sales to extreme degrees, with errors ranging from 200% to 4800%. Overall, about two-thirds of the managers expressed unrealistic notions of their business units sizes in monetary terms. Noticeably, several managers did have accurate organizational perceptions. However, the percent of managers with inaccurate perceptions was much higher. One would not have to speculate which managers used shortcut perceptions. Unfortunately, shortcuts cause a continual bias for error. Organizations concerned with production growth, sales growth, manufacturing concentration and so forth need to follow a more rational decision-making process in order to maximize performance. The rational decision-making process depicts how decisions should be made. Robbins, S. (2005) lists the six steps in the rational decision-making process as:1.Define the problem: compile information regarding the problem. 2.Identify the decision criteria: identify all the relevant criteria that will be important in solving the problem. 3.Allocate weights to the criteria: rank criteria in order from most important to least important. 4.Develop the alternatives: list all the viable alternatives while being aware of all the possible consequences of each alternative. In addition to the rational decision-making process5.Evaluate the alternatives: analyze and evaluate each alternative in reference to the solution to the problem and rank in order of viability to possible consequences. 6.Select the best alternative: the alternative with the highest rating for success and lowest rating for adverse consequences. How can our perceptions shape ethical or moral decisions? First, one must look at the criteria for ethical or moral decision-making before determining how a persons perceptions shape ethical or moral decisions. Robbins, S. (2005) lists three different criteria that can be use in making ethical decisions as:1.Utilitarian: liberal ethical element i.e. the greatest good for the greatest number2.Rights: legal or moral entitlement i.e. protecting the basic rights of individuals3.Justice: being just or fair element i.e. equitable distribution of benefits and costsEach criterion has benefits as well as drawbacks. For example:†¢Utilitarianism: promotes efficiency and production of the organization, but can result in a lack of regard for the  rights of individual workers, generally minorities. †¢Rights: protects the rights of individual workers, but can result in a decline in the efficiency and productivity of the organization†¢Justice: promotes equitable distribution of benefits and costs, but can result in more uncertainty in the effects on efficiency and profits. Observably, these examples of the criteria for ethical or moral decision-making clearly identify the dilemmas of managerial decision-making. Consequently, one might be more inclined to see how managers perceptions of organizational values may sometimes merge with their personal values to form individual business ethical judgments. According to Hunt and Vitell, (1986):This ethical judgment is assumed to be influenced by deontological evaluations (doing what one believes to be right regardless of its consequences), teleological evaluations (assessing ones action in light of its consequences in the tradition of utilitarianism), or a balance of these two perspectives suggested in the theoretical framework posited by past researchers and practitioners. In conclusion: Perception is the process by which an individual obtains, interprets, selects, and classifies sensory information. Perception in decision-making is based on a persons internal understanding of reality rather than reality itself. Therefore, a persons perception of other individuals within an organization can influence the level of commitment as well as cooperation of employees within an organization. Perceptive shortcuts are a combination of various mental shortcuts used to save time in the decision-making process. Perceptive shortcuts can have both positive and negative affects in the quality of a persons decision-making and performance. Decisions in real world organizations are made by using a combination of perceptive shortcuts and the rational decision-making process. Ethical or moral decisions are shaped by a persons perception of the balance between organizational values and his or her personal value system. Based on these findings, one can conclude that successful people do try to make rational and logical decisions. However, due to internal and external factors of perception not all decisions are rational and logical.  The reality of it all is that people are people, and to err is human. References Barnett, T. and Kellermanns, F. (2006). Are We Family and Are We Treated as Family? Nonfamily Employees Perceptions of Justice in the Family Firm. Entrepreneurship: Theory Practice; Vol. 30 Issue 6, p837-854, 18p, 1 diagram. Retrieved November 8, 2007, from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?vid=15hid=101sid=8db3f227-5161-4202-a37e-220847ed375d%40sessionmgr107Fritzsche, D. and Oz, E. (2007). Personal Values Influence on the Ethical Dimension of Decision Making. Journal of Business Ethics. Vol. 75 Issue 4, p335-343, 9p. Retrieved November 9, 2007, from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?vid=3hid=9sid=179955d8-0df8-48d7-ad28-786c88c92be7%40sessionmgr8Mezias, J. and Starbuck, W. (2003). Studying the Accuracy of Managers Perceptions: A Research Odyssey. British Journal of management. Vol. 14 Issue 1, p3-17, 15p, 5 charts, 5 graphs. Retrieved November 7, 2007, from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/detail?vi d=11hid=101sid=8db3f227-5161-4202-a37e-220847ed375d%40sessionmgr107Robbins, S. (2005). Organizational behavior (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Introduction To The Death Penalty Philosophy Essay

Introduction To The Death Penalty Philosophy Essay First of all, I would like to define the death penalty. Death penalty is when someone is put to death using different types of methods, for a serious crime such as murder, rape and drug dealing. It is also known as capital punishment, which comes from the Latin word capital meaning regarding the head. So therefore the most common way of capital punishment is hanging or decapitating. Although many countries refrain from using capital punishment, many countries still practice it. Countries like USA, Saudi Arabia, China, etc. still use capital punishment. In my opinion, I personally agree with capital punishment as it creates a sense of fear in the minds of the criminals, so he/she will think twice before committing a crime. It also makes the family of the victim get justice and they will be satisfied with the decision. If the prisoner is let go of, then he/she will commit the crime again without fearing for his/her death. Justice requires punishing the guilty even if only some can be p unished and sparing the innocent, even if all are not spared.  Ã‚  Morally, justice must always be preferred to equality.  Ã‚  Justice cannot ever permit sparing some guilty person, or punishing some innocent ones, for the sake of equality-because others have been spared or punished.  Ã‚  In practice, penalties could never be applied if we insisted that they can be inflicted on only  a guilty person unless we are able to make sure that they are equally applied to all other guilty persons.  Ã‚  Anyone familiar with the law enforcement knows that punishments can be inflicted only on an unavoidable shudder selection of the guilty  (Bedau, H., 1977). Irwin Isenberg (1977) said,  when you kill a man with premeditation, you do something different than stealing from him.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I favor the death penalty as a matter of justice and human dignity even apart from deterrence.  Ã‚  The penalty must be appropriate to the seriousness of the crime (p. 135). (http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/ornellaspaper.htm) Capital punishment varies from country to country, place to place. Some places it is just fast beheading or hanging, while in other places, it is full of torture and slow death. In religion, me being a Muslim, has to follow the Islamic Shariaa, which includes capital punishment and it is the choice of the victims family to give capital punishment to the criminal or not. But only for very serious crimes such as rape and murder. As stated in the Quran: If anyone kills a person- unless it be (a punishment) for murder or for spreading mischief in the land- it would be as if he/she has killed all of mankind. And if anyone saves a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind (Quran 5:32). Also, the death penalty could eradicate the problem of overflowing prisons. If they keep prisoners for life in their prisons, that would mean providing space for them to stay, food, shelter, clothing, etc. which would waste a lot of resources and prison space. The prisoners with life sentences could still kill other prisoners or guards while in prison and could even escape and go on a killing rampage throughout the place. And it is more than fair because the victim was an innocent human being and had his/her life taken away without having to have his/her last wish or write his/her will and was killed without any reason. So therefore, why should the criminal let to live after he/she has taken the life of an innocent human being? And not giving a death sentence to the criminal who has killed/raped another innocent human being will not be fair as this will show empathy towards the criminal which is wrong. It also prevents other inmates in prison serving life sentences from killing more people while in prison, because if there is no death penalty, then they would keep killing without having anything to lose. Also the crime rate will swell, as the criminal will not fear death penalty as there is no death penalty and they could go about killing people without having to fear th e capital punishment. On the other hand, Capital punishment means that they could be taking some innocent persons life without much evidence. For example, a person who is accused of doing a major crime, but has not really done it and cannot prove himself will be put to death for his crime. So it takes the lives of innocent people in rare cases and in old ages. But due to the technological advances, DNA testing and other ways of getting evidence can make certain that the accused is the real criminal. People also say that the death penalty is a barbaric act, but the criminal committing the crime does not think about barbaric acts while committing the crime. But keeping a person in prison could be more torturous and painful and it would be better for the prisoner to die rather than live in the prison, so then keeping the criminal in prison would be a much more severe punishment than the death penalty. Also people who have given up on life and wanting to suicide, can go on a killing ram page and then get sentenced for capital punishment, which is what they want. So it would be better if they kept them in prison to not fulfill their desire. Other countries which do not use the death penalty would have better likeness of the countries which do not use the death penalty. I would personally agree with the death penalty as it gives a sigh of relief to the victims family and would deter future major crimes. This is the most debatable topic in the criminal justice system. There are many advantages and disadvantages to the death penalty, but if people see the advantages and disadvantages correctly and have empathy for the victims then, they will support capital punishment more. So therefore regarding my previous arguments, having the death penalty is a better option of serving justice in the criminal justice system, as it will help curb future criminals.

History of Beer :: Expository Essays Research Papers

History of Beer Between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago, some humans discontinued their nomadic hunting and gathering and settled down to farm. Grain was the first domesticated crop that started that farming process. The oldest proven records of brewing are about 6,000 years old and refer to the Sumerians. Sumeria lay between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers including Southern Mesopotamia. It is said that the Sumerians discovered the fermentation process by chance. No one knows today exactly how this occurred, but it could be that a piece of bread or grain became wet and a short time later, it began to ferment The Sumerians were able to repeat this process and are assumed to be he first civilized culture to brew beer. They had discovered a "divine drink" which certainly was a gift from the gods. The word beer comes from the Latin word bibere, meaning "to drink", and the Spanish word cerveza originates from the Greek goddess of agriculture, Ceres. A vitamin-rich porridge, used daily, beer is reported to have increased health and longevity and reduced disease and malnutrition. The self-medicating properties of alcohol-rich beer also eased the tensions and stresses of daily living in a hostile world. The use of yeast was not yet known at that time. The success of the fermentation process was left to chance, as the brewers unknowingly relied on yeast particles in the air. Considerable scientific research took place in breweries in the 19th century. A famous work from 1876 by Louis Pasteur was Studies Concerning Beer where he revealed his knowledge of micro-organisms. By establishing that yeast is a living microorganism, Pasteur opened the gates for accurately controlling the conversion of sugar to alcohol.

Reception Theory and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) :: Liaisons Dangereuses Dangerous Liaisons

Reception Theory and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) Of all the literary critical theories yet discussed, I find reception theory by far the most intelligent and rewarding. After all, where does literature become literature, where does it "happen" so to speak, if not in the mind of the reader? Without the reader, literature is inky blobs on paper. This correlates to Berkeley's solipsistic analogy of a tree falling in the woods. Without a listener does it make a sound? Well, technically, it emanates vibrations, but only an ear will interpret those vibrations as sound. Thus with literature. The mind of the reader, operating on the text with it's various literary and extra-textual codes, makes it literature. In the case of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, reception theory is not only helpful, it is positively essential to any sort of literary discussion of the novel. Considerations of authorial intent are clearly to no avail, in that, due to the epistolary format, no such intent can be gleaned from the text. Try as we might to construct some sort of original meaning in the mind of the author, we find at last that the meanings we come up with have been supplied by ourselves. Laclos is like the hand of the puppeteer: we never see it, although we know that it is controlling the whole show. All we see are the ornate, 18th century marionettes as they dance through each dastardly deception, each "dangerous liaison." Even more maddening than trying to find authorial intent in the pages of Les Liaisons Dangereuses is the (one would think) comparatively simple task of ascertaining the moods and motivations of the characters themselves. Since we know that the majority of the characters are moderate to full-blown liars, writing one thing to one person and quite another to another, who do we believe? When seeming to bear one's soul is just one more weapon in the arsenal, how are we supposed to determine when actual soul-bearing is taking place? Here, again, reception theory comes to our rescue. By looking at our own literary and non-literary conventions, we begin to feel more confident about the proposition that Valmont really is in love with the Presidente and that the Marquise really is in love with Valmont. After all, that's what makes it good, isn't it? Without having love rear it's ugly head at some point, the book would be a monotone, an unrewarding and depressing look at people at once glamourous and depraved.

The Rodney King Beating Essay -- essays research papers

The Rodney King Beating On March 3, 1991, Los Angeles police officers attempted to stop a white sedan traveling at a high rate of speed through Lake View Terrace, a residential neighborhood in northern Los Angeles. After a short pursuit, King was ordered out of his vehicle at gunpoint. King refused to comply and became belligerent and uncooperative. The use of open-hand controls, pepper spray and tasers were ineffective, as King continued to assault officers while resisting arrest. More LAPD officers arrived and King was finally subdued with the use of nightsticks. Investigation later revealed King was under the influence of a combination of PCP and cocaine. This incident would have produced nothing more than another report for resisting arrest had a bystander, George Holliday, not videotaped the altercation. Holliday then released the footage to the media. LAPD Officers Lawrence Powell, Stacey Koon, Timothy Wind and Theodore Brisino were indicted and charged with assaulting King. Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg ordered a change of venue to suburban Simi Valley, which is a predominantly white suburb of Los Angeles. All officers were subsequently acquitted by a jury comprised of 10 whites, one Hispanic and one Asian, and the African American community responded in a manner far worse than the Watts Riots of 1965. ?While the King beating was tragic, it was just the trigger that released the rage of a community in economic strife and a police department in serious dec...

Quirino Grandstand Hostage Drama Essay

I. INTRODUCTION Although the history of kidnapping and hostage-taking is a very long one, it is only relatively recently that there has been a systematic attempt to understand the effects, both long-term and short-term, on individuals and their families. This is an important issue for clinical and academic reasons. The advice of mental health professionals is sought with increasing frequency with regard to the strategic management of hostage incidents and the clinical management of those who have been abducted. There is evidence to suggest that how best to help those who have been taken hostage is a sensitive and complex matter, and those who deal with such individuals should be as well informed as possible since such events can have long-term adverse consequences, particularly on young children. The Manila hostage crisis, officially known as the Rizal Park hostage-taking incident occurred when a dismissed Philippine National Police officer took over a tourist bus in Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines on August 23, 2010. Disgruntled former senior inspector Rolando Mendoza of the Manila Police District (MPD) hijacked a tourist bus carrying 25 people (20 tourists and a tour guide from Hong Kong, and four Filipinos) in an attempt to get his job back. He said that he had been summarily and unfairly dismissed, and that all he wanted was a fair hearing and the opportunity to defend himself. Negotiations broke down dramatically about ten hours into the stand-off, when the police arrested Mendoza’s brother and thus incited him to open fire. As the shooting began, the bus driver managed to escape, and was shown on television saying â€Å"Everyone is dead† before being whisked away by policemen. Mendoza and eight of the hostages were killed and a number of others injured. The MPD’s failed rescue attempt and gun-battle with the hijacker, which took around 90 minutes, were watched by millions on live television and the internet. The Philippine and Hong Kong governments conducted separate investigations into the incident. Both inquiries judged that the victims had been unlawfully killed, and identified the Philippine officials’ poor handling of the incident as the cause of the eight hostages’ deaths. The assault mounted by the MPD, and the resulting shoot-out, have been widely criticized by pundits as â€Å"bungled† and â€Å"incompetent†, and the Hong Kong Government has issued a â€Å"black† travel alert for the Philippines as a result of the affair. II. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY It was August 23, 2010 when the whole world alarmed in one of the most tragic hostage taking happened in Quirino Grandstand Manila, Philippines. Many people were sad and shocked to what happened in the said event. At about 9:30 in the morning, dismissed commission police officer Rolando Mendoza took hostage 25 tourists from Hongkong and some Filipino staff who were in a bus to leave Fort Santiago for Manila’s Rizal Park. The ensuing hostage lasted 11 hours and ended with nine individuals, including the hostage taker, dead.1 and the other hostages were injured. According to the report Mendoza is a hard-working and kind. He received lots of award for being brave and loyal to his profession. Mendoza said he was summarily dismissed without the opportunity to properly defend himself, and that all he wanted was a fair hearing.2 and to get his job back. He did this way just to get attention the government official. As we all know Media is the most likely source of information for most people. In this kind of situation it is very dangerous job for the media because he has to put himself in a place that should be right.3 but in what happened in the Quirino Grandstand Hostage taking crisis it seem that many media people were blamed because they reported beyond the limit. We are in the fact that a media person serve as access of information of issues that are of public concern even if they are at risk. There were many media lapses in that incident. Towards the evening of the hostage taking, many media networks were covering the hostage taking crisis live. Among none of them did it seem to have occurred to that irresponsible coverage of the event could cost lives.4 Some of them during the hostage event reported the unconfirmed information, they revealed the police and troops movement and many more lapses that caused the anger of Mendoza. III. BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS (HOSTAGE TAKER AND CAPTIVE/S) IV. MOTIVES IN THE INCIDENT Taking hostages has a long history as a method, with variable effectiveness, of securing concessions from individuals, organisations and governments. More recently, it has become a popular tactic among terrorist organisations. Although the resilience of individuals should never be underestimated, there is evidence that being taken hostage can have enduring effects, particularly on children. Individuals vary in how they cope with such an experience, both during and subsequent to it. The literature demonstrates that the research base is limited, and many important questions remain to be answered. Hostage-taking is an area of clinical and scientific interest. Apart from the need to establish the most effective post-incident interventions for individual hostages and their families, there are opportunities to develop further insights into the dynamics and effects of unequal power relationships. V. PROBLEMS The ideal equipment of a SWAT team more or less are as follows: communication apparatus, armor vest, helmets, gas mask, pistols, assault rifles for close quarter battle, handcuffs, synchronized watches, binoculars, telescopes, night vision goggles, battering rams, ladders, ropes, stun grenades, teargas, smoke grenades, stick lights, flashlights, spotlights, telescopic gun sights, hydraulic jacks, bolt cutters, glass shutter explosives, fire extinguisher, fireman’s ax, chain saw, SWAT van, gloves, carpentry tools, acetylene torch and rain gears. There was lack of equipment on the part of Manila SWAT to handle the situation. Although they had their basic weapons such as their armor vest (the effectiveness are already in deep question), their rifles, pistols and Kevlar helmets but still by standards, these are not adequate to address the hostage crisis situation. It is very evident that they were not even carrying with them flashlights but all of the time they were reporting and complaining that the interior of the bus was dark. The lack of equipment already put the breaching operation into a compromise. The element of surprise was gone that resulted into a stall that lasted for sometime thereby endangering lives. The doubt regarding the effectiveness of their armor vest contributed to the apprehension of the SWAT members to rush inside the bus during the assault. The Manila SWAT was not only ill-equipped but they were not trained in different kinds of situations. In fact they had to rehearse on the very day of the hostage situation. The trainings of the Manila SWAT as provided by the Manila Police District are not updated and simulated operations were conducted, if ever conducted, was a long time ago. They don’t even know the serial numbers of their guns at an instant query. They train on their own personal account. Skill acquired through trainings diminishes after some time and needs to be constantly updated. VI. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE CRISIS MANAGEMENT TEAM VII. CONCLUSIONS The reasons presented for the decriminalization are obviously overwhelming. In a nutshell, by all standards, Gen. Magtibay was an incompetent commander, organizer and manager. To top this off, he was also grossly and recklessly insubordinate at a most crucial moment. One is tempted to put the whole blame on the hostage debacle upon him, if not for the equally incomprehensible lapses and indecisions committed by both his superiors and men all throughout the hostage crisis, specifically on strategy, intelligence, coordination, and deployment. But it is without question that he carries the biggest accountability for the disastrous and murderous outcome of the hostage crisis. As such, it stands to reason for the Senate and the House of Representatives to give decriminalization of libel a chance. Honestly, as an individual I got pissed off because those people tasked to handle the situation didn’t do it by the book. First and foremost to be considered is the safety of the hostages which as viewed was never the order of priority of those people expected to save same. In all hostage-taking drama that I’ve known, neutralizing the hostage-taker is no. 1 in the agenda, which if initially done could have prevented the carnage. I just hope this won’t happen again, but if it does- just neutralize the hostage-taker once and the drama will end! It’s such a shameful and horrific event that the only positive thing we get out of the experience is to learn something from it. From that Learn we have to our mistakes. . VIII. RECOMMENDATION The investigation report also recommended administrative or criminal charges for 15 individuals and organizations, including Manila mayor Alfredo Lim, Vice-Mayor Isko Moreno, ombudsmen Merceditas Gutierrez and Emilio Gonzales III, government undersecretary Rico J. Puno, retired Philippine National Police chief director general Jesus Verzosa, National Capital Region Police Office director Leocadio Santiago Jr., Manila Police District chief superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay, MPD hostage negotiator Orlando Yebra, SWAT commander Santiago Pascual, journalists Erwin Tulfo and Mike Rogas, and three broadcasting networks. The IIRC recommended that an administrative case be filed against negotiator police Superintendent Orland Yebra and that possible criminal liability should be determined, but the Palace only recommended neglect of duty without any recommendation on possible criminal case. The IIRC also recommended that Chief Inspector Santiago Pascual be held liable for gross incompetence and possible criminal action, but the Palace affirmed the gross incompetence case without recommendation for possible criminal liability. The filing of administrative and criminal cases against Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, but Malacanang said that Lim should be held liable for simple neglect of duty and misconduct. Charges be filed against several personalities but the recommendation was revised when it reached Malacaà ±ang. IX. REFERENCES 1.First Report of the INCIDENT INVESTIGATION and REVIEW COMMITTEE on the August, 23, 2010 Rizal Park Hostage-taking Incident: SEQUENCE OF EVENTS, EVALUATION and RECOMMENDATIONS, Incident Investigation and Review Committee, September 16, 2010, pp. 9–10, 16, 22, 24. 2.†Hong Kong criticizes handling of Manila hostage crisis†. Reuters. August 23, 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/08/23/us-philippines-hostage-hongkong-idUSTRE67M35B20100823. Retrieved July 14, 2011. 3.Mair, John; Blanchard, Ben (August 24, 2010). â€Å"Philippines defends handling of bus hostage crisis†. International Business Times. 4.http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/45880/20100824/philippines-defends-handling-