Performance Management as an Important Part of Organization Productivi Essay

Performance Management as an Important Part of Organization Productivity - Essay Example Therefore, the system of performance management generally involves evaluating and developing the skills, behaviours, and the performance of individual employees, generally for ensuring that the organization competes favourably in the market through its high performance. Performance management, therefore, can be used as a measuring and management instrument of employees in the organization. This process mostly benefits the big international companies, and those companies, whose workforce is greatly distributed. As a process, performance management comprises different types of activities aimed at achieving the objective of the general process. These include reward and remuneration for employees, coaching and mentoring of employees, team working, measuring, competencies, and competencies, and personal development plans, among others. Today, performance management is characterized by various changes, as the way it is approached today differs with how the process was approached in the past centuries. The changes in performance management today have contributed to its increased efficiency, and keep helping organizations to retain their high-performing employees. Performance management today is a holistic process, which embraces different processes, and th is is efficient in people management in companies (Kreitner 2008). Armstrong & Baron (2005) note that performance management is not a new process in organizations. This process has lasted for the past seventy years, since its inception in the 1940’s. Initially, managers of companies developed performance management during this period, in order to establish whether the different salaries and remuneration for the employees were justified or not. The difference between performance management of those days, and the performance management today is reflected in the complexity of the process.  Ã‚  

Vitamin D requirement in pregnancy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vitamin D requirement in pregnancy - Essay Example The researchers did not stipulate their research question but this can be inferred from the article’s title and the study’s objective. The following is the inferred research questions as developed from these perspectives. Vitamin D supplementation was the study’s treatment. Deficiency of the vitamin in women was first noted and then corrected. Supplementation with 50000 IU and 100000 IU of the vitamin for different groups then followed. Random selection was used to recruit the participants and to assign them into groups, for those who had sufficient levels of the vitamin > 20ng/ml. participants with lower levels were first treated for initial boost before the study’s treatment of 50000 IU or 100000 IU of vitamin D. data was then measured from cord blood. Even though 34 of the participates had, initially, a vitamin D level > 20 ng/ml, all of the women had levels less than 30ng/ml. Fetuses of women from all of the groups recorded significant levels of vitamin D, greater than 20 ng/ml. The study shows that 50000 IU of vitamin D per month, from the forth month of pregnant, is necessary for ensuring a threshold level of vitamin D among neonates. The authors conclude that treatment of less than 50000 IU per month is not sufficient to ensure the threshold of 20 ng/ml of vitamin D in

African Americans and Slavery Essay Example for Free

African Americans and Slavery Essay The American Revolution was a time of great turmoil for all men and women in the United States. Great debates came and went during this time; slavery and the freedom of black men being the main problems in these debates. Slaves were used for a great number of things during the American revolutionary period. The arrival of slavery to the American colonies began in the 1600s and started out in Virginia. As the years passed more and more African-Americans were brought into the colonies to be used as labor workers. The beginning amount of slaves continued to grow and by the beginning of the revolution there were about 273,000 slaves spread throughout the American states. With the coming of the revolution all African-Americans, slave or free, knew something was coming and each had a different response to these comings. There were differences in the responses of slaves and free men during the American Revolution. There were also consequences to their choices. â€Å"Gaining freedom in a land of captivity and wresting equality from a society whose founding documents guarantee it has been the consuming desire and everlasting hope that has kept harrowed bodies and weary souls going. † In the southern states African-American slaves were treated harsher than those in the north. The plantations down south required back –breaking hours of work in the sun that White Americans believed could only be done by those they had bought. There was a reason for them to be there and until they could no longer work they were to do all things imaginable for their owners, no questions asked. Some of these slaves thought it was easier to run away from their owners and that in doing so they would have a chance to fight for their country. Slaves could either flee to the north or they could flee to Spanish owned Florida. In cases where a master was called upon to fight, they would send a slave in their place and if they lived long enough to return home they earned freedom. Many of the slaves decided that if they had a chance to gain their freedom by joining the war effort then they would gladly take their masters place. They also believed that with the beginning to the revolutionary period would bring a new deed to the land and when it was over there would no longer be a need for slaves. The consequences for slaves in the south were innumerable. Like many slaves, they took this time to run from slave masters and plantations. If these southern slaves were caught, depending on the owner, the slave could suffer mild to severe consequences. Depending on the demeanor of the owner a slave could be punished in several different ways. Whipping, branding, slapping, being dunked underwater, and kicking were just some forms of punishment. The most severe punishments were to cut off a body part like an ear in the hopes that the slave would learn and never run again. There were also â€Å"nice† slave owners that chose not to punish their slaves. There justification for not punishing their slaves was so that they would continue to work and so that the owner could buy more slaves with the money that they continued to pool in from the work. Because of some owners that continuously harassed Washington, he stopped allowing slaves into his army. But General Washington, fearing rebellion, created an order that stated that all blacks were not allowed to fight. Later he partially reversed the order and allowed only free black men to fight with him. Some slaves believed that taking a chance to flee towards the north was a far-fetched idea. They were seeking freedom in the quickest possible way. Lord Dunmore sent out a proclamation that stated in exchange for freedom any black that came to him would fight against the patriots and become a loyalist. Dunmore’s promise of freedom fueled black slaves to escape and even some patriots fled to fight as a loyalist. After the war, true to his word, slaves gained their freedom. Some of these newly freed slaves went to Britain but many of them stayed in the Americas. On the other hand free men in the north believed the revolution would bring about change for the better. Their idea of the revolution was that they were being given the chance to gain independence from Great Britain and also for themselves. It was a defining moment in history that they were to be a part of. Fighting with white men gave these free black men a sense of honor and it also gave them a job where they could earn a little money to put towards getting homes and things of that nature. Men from the north gradually began to realize that they could fight with their brethren and bring independence to the land. General Washington passed an order stating that no black man was allowed into his army. This order came about because of general angst from some slave owners. These owners believed that there should not be any blacks fighting for the independence because they were only good for being slaves and they would never have say over anything. After some time Washington, fearing not having enough men to fight against the British, partially reversed this order to allow only free black men. Other than this there were not many consequences that are recorded for free black men. These free men not only fought for the independence of the nation but also for their independence and the independence of other black men and women. African-Americans from the north and south chose to join the continental army because they believed that they should help make the place the lived independent from a tyranny that had no say in the matters of a new country. They felt that this tyranny could take their rights and place them under unfair rule once again. Some of the freemen and slaves that had started out in the continental army decided to run to the British army but were not successful in their plights. Nash called the revolution the ‘greatest slave rebellion in American history’ because it was just that. The revolution opened up new grounds for slaves to rebel against owners because it was the most opportune time for them to do so. â€Å"If any group within America’s diversified people came close to answering John Adams’s plea that ‘we must all be soldiers,’ it was black Americans. No part of revolutionary society responded to the call for arms with anywhere near the enthusiasm of those who were black. Proportionate to their number, African American males and some females were more likely to join the fray than white Americans. † According to this excerpt from another one of Nash’s books, African-Americans were much more adept to answering the plea of John Adams. If there were more African-American fighters than white that meant that more black males were subject to put themselves in danger in order to gain freedom. They would rather have one day of freedom, not knowing if they would die in the next second, hour, or day, than be a slave for the rest of their lives. This is one of the reasons why Nash called the revolution the ‘greatest slave rebellion in American history’. â€Å"Desperate to fill the thinned ranks of its regiments, states offered freedom†¦ to serve during the continuance of the present war with Great Britain. Every black enlistee would be ‘immediately discharged from the service of his master or mistress, and be absolutely free, as if he had never been encumbered with any kind of servitude or slavery. † If states were desperate to have more men come into their ranks then there was nothing really stopping slaves from escaping their masters and coming to fight. They all wanted freedom from someone. Slaves wanted freedom from their bonds that were tied to the soil they worked and the Americans wanted freedom from Great Britain. Both groups had their reasons to fight and the only way slaves knew how to become free was to rebel and run to an army. This was a time for large rebellions on all fronts not just from the slaves. It was a rebellion against the British from the former colonists and a rebellion against the men and women that were taken from their homes to somehow create new ones. â€Å"It may have been, as Nash says ‘the greatest slave rebellion in American history,’ but for most of the rebels it ended like the others, in death. Slaves who supported the American side fared better, but not much better. Only with great reluctance did Washington allow some to join his army. Other Virginians had another wartime use for them. In 1780 the state legislature offered salves as a bounty for enlistment in the war against British tyranny. The revolution did see enactment of measures for gradual emancipation in the northern states, but the number who benefited was small. † My view on the American Revolution has changed somewhat because of how the African-Americans were treated during and after the period of war. The Americans act as though they had not been fighting alongside each other and because of this withhold distaste for the blacks. The completely disregard the idea that every man is created equal and has certain unalienable rights. They do not extend these ideas that were written down on the Declaration of Independence to the free black Americans. Men that had fought with and under Washington were not looked as the same because the color of their skin and were not given the same rights. Because of how they were treated I see the Revolution more as a war against Britain to save other whites from tyranny rather than to gain independence for all mankind. .of Revolution (Harvard University: 2006), 1. [ 2 ]. Taymor, . US History Documents. Last modified 2005. Accessed January 27, 2013. http://inside. sfuhs. org/dept/history/US_History_reader/Chapter2/Nashfighting. pdf. [ 3 ]. Taymor, . US History Documents. Last modified 2005. Accessed January 27, 2013. http://inside. sfuhs. org/dept/history/US_History_reader/Chapter2/Nashfighting. pdf. [ 4 ]. Edmund S. Morgan, review of The Unknown American Revolution:  .

Character Analysis Of Shakespeares Plays English Literature Essay

Character Analysis Of Shakespeares Plays English Literature Essay It is common knowledge that Shakespeares characters are very complex. A great number of Shakespeares protagonists are situated at the intersection of public and private, namely public life and private life. This is a statement which applies to most of his historical or tragic characters, especially those who oscillate between being a king and being a father, a son, a husband, a man. His history plays portray antithetical characteristic features and the inner turmoil which takes place due to the tension, the conflict between public and private life. Generally speaking, this is only the ideal of a king, because in most cases there is a strong symbiosis between the public and the private lives of a man, which can only highlight the conflicts between the two dimensions. A king has to deal with state affairs, but once he is a husband and a father, he also has to take into account his family. Vice versa, once a married man becomes king, he has to learn how to make the difference between his private and his public life without letting them interfering. Nevertheless, this is not always valid in all Shakespeares plays. To begin with, In King Lear, for example, the action of the play lays mainly in the sphere of family and portraits the relationship between parents and children. The main character of the play is Lear, an old king who decides that it would be better if he resigned and divided his kingdom among his three daughters. He is guilty of not making the difference between his public and his private life. Moreover, Lear is not only a father; he is also a monarch, which means he has both a public and a private life. In his private life, he has the right to become old and ill but, as a king, oldness and sickness must not affect his public persona. It appears that his familys problems interfere with the kingdoms ones since they involve the heirs of the country. Not knowing his daughters triggers problems to the kingdom. At the beginning of the play, it is revealed that Lear values appearances above reality and he is unable to distinguish them thus, in his public life, he has to deal with the consequences of his mistakes from his private life. He expects to hear flattery from his daughters even if what they say is nothing but a lie. Furthermore, he still wants to be treated as a king but he does not want to take full responsibility regarding the kingdom. Probably this happens because he wants to spend more time in his private life than in the public one. At the opening of the play, Lear considers public self more important than the private self, trying to do what is best for his kingdom, but without disregarding his family. What he wants is a peaceful kingdom in which his three daughters reign without battles, helping each other. As the reader progresses throughout the play, he discovers that, until the end, the importance of the two selves becomes reversed. When Lear is finally rejoined with Cordelia in a moment of privacy, he has no interest in his public life. There is a striking change of priorities in Lears life, a major contrast in Lear at the beginning of the play and Lear portrayed before his death. Secondly, a similar situation can be encountered in Hamlet. The homonymous character has to learn how to balance his two personas: the public one, the one of being prince and the private one, being the son. This character deepens so much in his obsession, in his private life, that he forgets about his public one. To him, it does not matter that he is the prince of Denmark and the future king, all that he wants is to prove his uncles culpability. Being obsessed with discovering and then revealing the truth, Hamlet is no longer interested in the aspects which are threatening the country, being concerned only with the problems in his family: the death of his father, his mothers immediate marriage. His private life is totally overwhelmed with his decision to unmask the culprit in such a way that he no longer treasures what he loves. He rejects Ophelia and treats her as if she meant nothing to him, hurting her and he accuses his mother of not being loyal to his father. Hamlet exposes his true feelings through his soliloquies in which the reader can cast a glance in his soul and discover his private thoughts. Hamlet feels disappointed because so much he loved and cherished his father, that he is unable to accept the fact that his mother actually remarried. He is a man who does not avoid to confront his own imperfections and who refuses illusions and fake ideals. His inner thoughts are in contradiction with his public actions. He is thoughtful and philosophical, thinking about life, afterlife, about his suicide, but when he has to act, he does it impulsively, hurting and disturbing the ones surrounding him. His plan of unmasking his uncle is constructed in a clever and allusive way. What results is the fact that Claudius feels unconformable at the sight of Hamlets innuendos and exposes himself by leaving the room. Thirdly, the theme of public and private lives also appears in Richard II. The major character enjoys kingship without really involving himself in the states affairs. Although, at the beginning of the play, he may look like a devoted king, he start losing his kingship when he feels threatened by Henrys army, ending with giving away his crown before dying. Shakespeare wrote more other plays in which this situation is dramatized, most of them having a tragic end. The reader will find the conflict between public and private lives in plays such Othello, Troilus and Cressida, Macbeth or Julius Caesar. Finally, being both a king and a man is not quite a simple matter. One must understand that being the king means representing the desires and wishes of the entire realm, the entire people, their wishes being more important than the kings since the monarch is the embodiment of his subjects. A king has to understand that the peoples problems are more important than his and that he must place his public life above his private self, his political persona being superior to the private one. A king must fully understand his position in the state. Not observing this rule may cause chaos to the kingdom, may conduct to him losing his crown. Characters such as Lear, Richard II or Hamlet do not understand their position and this causes problems to the kingdom.

The Challenge :: Education School Teaching Learning Essays

The Challenge The SCANS report challenged schools, parents, and businesses to help all students develop competencies in the basic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities required for work in the current and future workplace. It identified five broad categories of competencies that would lead to successful transition from school to work (SCANS 1991): - Resources-Identifies, organizes, plans, and allocates resources - Interpersonal-Works with others on teams, teaches others, serves clients, exercises leadership, negotiates, and works with diversity - Information-Acquires, organizes, interprets, evaluates, and communicates information - Systems-Understands complex interrelationships and can distinguish trends, predict impacts, as well as monitor and correct performance - Technology-Works with a variety of technologies and can choose appropriate tool for task The SCANS report recommended that these competencies be learned in context in the environment in which they will be applied. Thus, the need for collaboration between schools and employers became apparent, as did the need for educational reform. Guided by these factors, vocational-technical programs have been redesigned and efforts such as tech prep have been initiated to respond to the SCANS challenge. State and Local Efforts Since 1991, many educational efforts have been initiated to incorporate the SCANS skills in the vocational-technical curricula of both secondary and postsecondary institutions. The Division of Vocational Education in the Idaho Department of Education, for example, developed a curriculum framework for the state's vocational-technical programs to address the training needs of employers and students. This framework, developed by industry and education personnel, encompassed the goals outlined in the SCANS report (Idaho Department of Education 1994). Tech prep programs in many states have been developed around the SCANS competencies. The Texas Education Agency and the University of Texas at Austin developed a model that incorporates tech prep components and SCANS competencies into their health science technology education program (McCarty et al. 1994). As part of their tech prep project, 91 Indiana secondary and postsecondary educators developed 50 application-based lessons during the 1993-1994 school year. Modeled around the SCANS competencies, these lessons are designed to bridge the gap students encounter when moving from school to work, focusing on long- and short-term project topics such as "creating a videotape" (Indiana Region 10 Tech Prep Consortium 1994). Most tech prep efforts incorporate recommendations presented in the SCANS report. For example, tech prep in Ohio is characterized by six benchmarks that focus on SCANS competencies (Ohio Department of Education 1993): - Tech prep programs will demonstrate systemic change at both the secondary and

networking :: essays research papers

Computer Network Modifications. Regional Offices. Existing Bus Topology (hubs) should be replaced with star topology using switches. In star topology, all devices are connected to a common central location, typically a hub or a switch, in this case we will be using switches. (See diagram 1) when a node sends data to the central location, the central device retransmits the information and sends it to the destination. Because all cabling is connected to the central device , if one link fails, only that portion of the network will fail. The rest of the network will not be affected. However, if the central devise fails the entire network will fail. A star topology can have a maximum of 1024 nodes on a LAN and is commonly used for 10BaseT. (IEEE 802.3) and 100BaseTX (IEEE 802.3u) Ethernet. The advantages of using a Star Topology include reliability and ease of maintenance and installation. Monitoring and troubleshooting can be maintained at the central device, providing easier maintenance. A Star topology allows for greater reliability because each node is connected to the central devise by a segment. If one segment breaks, only that node loses access to the network so the rest of the network is not affected. Because each node is connected to the central device, star topologies also allow for an easy network layout, providing the network administrator easier installation over the other topologies. The disadvantage of this topology is cost. With each devise being connected to the central location, more cabling is required than with other topologies. In addition there is a cost of the central device. This is a LAN topology in which endpoints on a network are connected to a common central switch by point to point links. A ring topology that is organised as a star implements a unidirectional closed loop star, instead of point to point links. (Diagram 1: Star Toplogy) Star topology is the most widely used models in networking and are extremely stable By using Assymetric switches (10/100) over the existing CAT 5 UTP cabling. CAT 5 UTP can accommodate up to 100MB/S Switches have many benefits. A LAN switch allows many users to communicate in parallel through the use of virtual circuits and dedicated network segments in a collision free environment. This maximises the bandwidth availability on the shared medium. Also, moving to a switched LAN environment is very cost effective because you can reuse the existing hardware and cabling. The power of the switch combined with the software to configure LAN’s gives network administrators’ greater flexibility in managing the network.

Civic Duties of Teenagers

Quinn Bailey 3/4/2013 Civic Duties of Teenagers Introduction Civic duty is the obligation to each of us to leave our community in a better condition than we found it. Every person in our country has rights, and with those rights come responsibilities. That is what civic duty is, your rights and responsibilities that help contribute to society. Every single day we perform these tasks to help better our country as a whole. Teenagers have a huge role in this circle, whether they believe it or not. The civic duties that teenagers perform are a crucial part of our society, because they are the ones who grow up to be the next generation.Rights of a Teenager As a teenager, you are entitled to your rights. It’s easy to think that teens have no power over anything, even their own lives. However, teenagers have more rights than you might think. Many of a teenager's rights stem from having the ability to make a wise decision without parental consent. Every single day, teenagers everywher e are blindly fulfilling their civic duties. When a teenager goes to school, they pledge allegiance to the flag. They are basically making a pledge to the United States of America stating that they will fulfill their civic duties.I like to think of this as ‘signing a contract’, and most of them do it without even knowing it. Some of a teen’s rights are lawful rights, meaning they are permitted by law. One lawful right is going to school. Children have the right to a free public education beginning at age six. Teens sixteen and older have the right to decide if they want to attend school or not. In most states, a parent is required to sign agreeing with this decision. Another lawful right teenagers have is being able to have a job. Some states allow you to begin working as early as age fourteen.Another lawful right that teenagers have is the right to feel safe. A teen has the right to feel safe from all emotional and physical harm. If a teenager does not feel safe , they have the legal right to be taken out of the situation and placed in a safer one. Teenagers also have unwritten rights, or norms. These rights aren’t lawful, meaning they are a choice. One unwritten right is the right to drive. In most states, when you turn fourteen you can obtain an instructional permit if you pass a written test. With this permit, you learn to drive with a licensed adult in the car.Then, when you turn sixteen you can get a drivers license if you pass a driving test. Responsibilities of a Teenager From the point of view of a teenager, â€Å"Every generation has a role they need to play in society, and whether they think so or not, teens have one too† (Simpson, Nealle). Eventually, the teenagers are going to turn into adults. As you progress through your teen years, you gain more rights. This teaches you to make good decisions, many times without parental consent. â€Å"I don’t think teenagers should be expected to do more things,† said Nealle. They already have enough on their plates. † In America, teenagers are very well off. In many other parts of the world, teenagers have few rights compared to Americans. â€Å"In some countries, girls get married as early as fourteen†¦ †she stated. â€Å"And the worst part is that they don’t even get to choose who they marry! † From the point of view of a middle aged person, â€Å"Teenagers should share their burden of society duties† (Simpson, Jud). Every teenger should contribute so that a successful society can exist. â€Å"When you’re a teenager you kinda just shuffle your way through life,† said Jud. It’s a great time to make mistakes, but it’s also essential to learn from those mistakes. † Jud says that when he was a kid, rules were much more strict, and they were disciplined harder and more often. â€Å"Teens aren’t taught to be as respectful now a days,† he said. From the point of view of a senior, â€Å"Teenagers serve as better role models to other teenagers than adults† (Bailey). â€Å"If kids see another kid doing it, they think it’s cool, so they try it. Rarely do teens listen to adults about what’s in and what isn’t,† explains Bailey. In America, a decent percent of teenagers often volunteer in their community, but Bailey has a different pinion. â€Å"I think teenagers should volunteer more often,† he said. The definition of civic duty is literally ‘the activities that one does to serve their community. ’ â€Å"Teens don’t often think about how big their role is in society†¦ † said Bailey. â€Å"When I was younger, I was in all sorts community projects. † Bailey would like to see more teens signing up to volunteer, but he is very strong about his opinion that it should be a choice. He thinks adults should steer teenagers in the right direction, and then let them make the decisions.Being a teenager is a good time to learn how to make responsible decisions. â€Å"It should be voluntary,† says Bailey. â€Å"You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. † My Civic Duties I find myself very lucky to live in the United States of America. Sadly, in many other countries teenagers like me are much less fortunate and have fewer rights. What is even more sad to me is that many teenagers take for granted the rights they inherit as U. S. citizens. One example is that some teens actually take up the opportunity to drop out of high school whenever they get the chance.It upsets me that they don’t continue with their education and become a better educated citizen, especially considering it is free. As an American, I share the right of free speech with all other citizens. I also reserve the right to drive. As of age fourteen, I am legally able to drive after going through proper instruction. I also have the right to own an imals. I am very lucky to be able to say that I have the right to an education. In some other countries, like Mexico, they do not have free public education. I think this is partly what makes America so successful.In Alaska, when I turn fourteen I have the right to employment. I believe that this is a nice aspect of our society in America, because it teaches teenagers like me to learn how to work with others and manage expenses. In turn, they can grow up to be responsible with money. They will also grow up to be cooperative when working with a group of people. As a citizen, I also have the right to travel abroad with a U. S. Passport. Another right I have is the right to exercise my religion. I am able to live freely and express my religion without consequence.Where there are rights, there are responsibilities. I feel like many teenagers my age think that they get all of these rights without having any responsibilities. One example is cleaning up after themselves. Many teens expect things to be clean for them, yet they never clean up after themselves. I often see teenagers littering, whether it be leaving plastic bottles on the side of the road, or simply just leaving wads of gum under the table. One of my responsibilities is to attend school. Not only must I attend school, I must also complete all of my work in order to learn and be a successful student.I have the responsibility to stay informed about things like current events and politics on local, state, national and worldwide levels. Being successful with my education will lead to my becoming a literate and productive citizen. I have the responsibility to learn how to drive, and how to drive responsibly. The government promises me protection, and in turn I must abide by the laws and be a good citizen no matter where I am. When traveling abroad, I have the responsibility to be a good ambassador for the United States. Even though I have the right to exercise my religion, that does not mean I can disrespect other people’s religions.I have the responsibility to respect all other religions, and in turn other people should also respect my religious views. Conclusion In conclusion, I believe that teenagers have a consequential role in our society. It is of utmost importance for us as teenagers, the next generation, to recognize that although we are given a host of very enjoyable and enticing rights, we must uphold the responsibilities that couple these rights. If we fail to meet our responsibilities, the results could be disastrous, and we will create an undesirable, unsafe, unstable and unhealthy society for us and future generations to live in.