Construction management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Construction management - Essay Example 324). The Site Waste Management Plan regulations were introduced in the United Kingdom and particularly in England (legislation.gov.uk, 2008), due to the huge amounts of construction wastes that were abandoned at construction sites. According to the SWMP regulations, all construction projects in England with a value of  £300,000 must have a Site Waste Management Plan (Gov.uk, 9 January 2013). The regulations were passed in February 2008; however, they came into full force in April 2008. Therefore, â€Å"the regulations do not apply to any project planned before 6 April, if construction work commenced before 1 July 2008†¦apply to all projects with a value of  £300,000 or more,....additional...requirements for projects with a value of  £500,000 or more† (Hughes and Ferrett, 2011, p. 640). Through the Site Waste Management Plan regulations, a plan for managing the disposal of waste during the whole of a construction project is provided (Wrap, 2013). Using information based on the design of a building at the preconstruction stage, estimated quantities of waste that a site can produce are identified using the Site Waste Management Plan. Consequently, the best decisions on the most economical ways to manage construction waste are also identified. Therefore, the reason behind the introduction of the Site Waste Management Plan regulations 2008, â€Å"is to ensure that the element of waste generation is thought about right from the design and specification stage and facilitate the selection of the construction methods and materials that would effectively minimise waste generation† (Chartered Institute of Building , 2010, p. 199). Other objectives of the Site Waste Management plans 2008 are also to boost the amount of construction waste that is found, reused, and recycled, and improve the efficiency of construction materials. Prevention of illegal waste action is another objective of the

Without Her by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Without Her by Dante Gabriel Rossetti ‘Without Her’ Dante Gabriel Rossetti Formed in 1848, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood consisted of a group of young artists who wished to throw off the conventions of the art establishment and found a new movement that took its inspiration from the more ‘primitive‘ art of the medieval and early Renaissance period. Dante Gabriel Rossetti was one of the founding members of the group and acted as an energising force to the other artists. Rossetti himself, though, was never exclusively devoted to painting. Dividing his time between painting and poetry, he was in part responsible for the group’s use of literary subjects and symbols in their work as well as for the printing of the group‘s short-lived literary journal, The Germ. A significant number of his poems were written to supplement painted subjects and his philosophical ideas about painting were also argued in his poems. Following the death of his wife, Elizabeth Siddal, many of his poems were preoccupied with love and death. It is believed that h is marital infidelities, together with his experience of falling in love with the wife of his friend, William Morris, led to feelings of guilt and remorse and influenced the pessimistic tone of his later poems (Wilmer, 1991, 7-21). Walter Pater (1889, 230) comments upon the ‘definiteness of sensible imagery’ and the ‘minute and definite’ attention to visual detail in Rossetti’s work and it is certainly the case that the symbolism of ‘Without Her’ is grounded in particular physical objects which are described with a painterly eye and with the typical Pre-Raphaelite attention to the detail of nature. Yet Rossetti is also concerned with the sound and rhythms of poetry. He translated Italian verse into English and his sonnet sequence, The House of Life, shows that influence, particularly in his use of Petrarch‘s model of the sonnet cycle. The sonnet ‘Without Her’ is written in the Petrarchan form, its fourteen lines of iambic pentameter arranged as an octet followed by a sestet. The rhyme scheme, abbaabba cddccd also follows this convention. However, within this framework, Rossetti frequently subverts the form, especially in irregular patterns of rhyt hm and stress, in order to convey the pressure of emotion. This irregularity of rhythm is present in the opening line, which breaks in the middle and then runs on to the second line. Rossetti rejects the normal iambic rhythm, beginning the line with the stressed word ‘What’ and ending with two stressed words ‘blank grey’. The second line has a similar pattern, varied in the middle, but again beginning with a stressed word, ‘There’ and ending with the double stress of ‘moon’s face’. To add greater emphasis, he makes use of alliteration in the hard g of ‘glass’ and ‘grey’ in the fist line and the assonance of ‘pool’ and ‘moon’, ‘there’ and ‘where‘ in the second. Straddling these two lines, the alliteration of ‘blank‘ and ‘blind‘ also echoes the consonant ‘l’ from ‘glass’ and ‘pool‘. The diction of these lines is deceptively simple, made up as it is of single-syllable words. However, these images work in a symbolic way, repeating images such as the mirror, the pool and the moon that have occurred elsewhere in The House of Life (for example, in XLI, ’Through Death to Love’ and in the ’Willowwood’ sequence, XLIX-LII). His lost lover is linked with the moon a conventional symbol of femininity and the mirror that had previously reflected her presence is now empty. In the second pair of lines, Rossetti continues this pattern of irregular stresses. Just as the despair of the first lines is emphasised by the double stress of ‘blank grey’, so the third line contains the phrase ‘tossed empty space’. The ‘s’ sound in ‘dress’ in taken up by ‘tossed’, ‘space’, ‘whence’ and ‘passed’ and the absence of the moon is reiterated. In the second quatrain, Rossetti subverts the expectation that he will create pairs of lines that break in the middle of the first and run on to the end of the second; instead, three consecutive lines are broken in the middle and run on to the next. Only the final line of this quatrain is a completed. In this greater metric irregularity, Rossetti shows a greater emotional agitation, especially in the exclamation ’Tears, ah me!’, followed by the triple stress of ’love’s good grace’, with its alliterative ‘g’ sounds adding weight to the feeling. Again, he uses alliteration for emphasis, especially when referring to the bed from which she is absent as ‘her pillowed place’, which picks up the ‘p’ sound from ‘paths’ and ‘appointed’ in the previous line. Whilst the octet uses four concrete instances from the outward physical world to represent the absence of the beloved, the sestet turns inward to the heart of the poet. With the question ’What of the heart without her?’, the poem becomes self-reflexive in its tone and these six lines also begin to have a more regular metrical rhythm. The overriding image is of the ’wayfarer’ who is ’weary’ and ’labouring’. The emptiness of his existence is thus emphasised by a more settled rhythm, which represents the dull despair of a lonely journey through life. Particularly effective are the final four lines, in which the diction is dominated by words such as ’barren’, ’chill’, ’steep’, ’weary’, ’darkness’ and ’labouring’. The repetition of the pair of words ’the long’ in the penultimate line shows that the poet regards his life as a series of te dious repetitions without his love. Furthermore, this repetition is taken up in the final line with the alliterative phrase ’doubled darkness’, where the cloud and the wood become oppressive to the poet, feeling as he does that his life consists of ’labouring’ up a steep hill. Throughout the sonnet, the phrase ’without her’ has recurred six times and so the final images of ’doubled darkness’ takes up this sense that the poet feels grief as a kind of constant repetition of emptiness and darkness which is reflected in the repetitions that he sees in the natural world around him. In the use of such visual imagery, Rossetti has thus written a sonnet where his painterly eye complements his poet’s ear to create a fusion of the two art forms to which he devoted his life. BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary sources Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, 1928. The House of Life: A Sonnet-Sequence, Paul Franklin Baum, ed., Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, ‘Without Her’ (with textual notes) accessed at http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/26-1871.raw.html Secondary Sources Pater, Walter, 1889. ‘Dante Gabriel Rossetti’, in Appreciations, with an Essay on Style, accessed at  http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/pr99.p32.rad.html Wilmer, Clive, 1991 ‘Introduction’, in Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, Selected Poems and Translations, Manchester: Carcanet.

The Pros and Cons of Genetic Engineering :: essays research papers

The formal definition of genetic engineering given in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is â€Å"the directed alteration of genetic material by intervention in genetic processes†. Stated in another way, it is a scientific alteration of the structure of genetic material in a living organism. There are many different methods in genetic engineering, but the goal of all the methods is to manipulate the genetic material (DNA) of the cells in a living organism in order to either change it hereditary traits or to produce biological products. Genetic engineering techniques have been experimented with in many different areas including in bacteria, naturally produced drugs, plants, livestock, and laboratory animals. Much of the processes dealing with genetic engineering are still in the experimental stages. As a result of this, it is required that most genetically engineered products get approval from specific U.S. governmental agencies such as the FDA.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Genetic engineering has only become possible and more understandable very recently. Since scientists have been able to map out most of the gene locations in DNA, they have discovered ways to manipulate the genes. It is a very serious and controversial matter because it raises many ethical, legal, and moral issues, especially in dealing with genetic engineering in human beings. There are generally three methods used in the manipulation of human genes and they are cloning, somatic cell manipulation, and human germline manipulation. Very basically, cloning is creating exact copies of an organisms DNA and creating a new organism with this same DNA. The new organisms will be physically identical to the original organism. Somatic cell manipulation is simply injecting new genes into somatic cells in order to cure a disease such as hemophilia. Germline manipulation is altering the genes in sex cells that are passed onto offspring, so that the offspring will posses certain specific characteristics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the descriptions of these few processes, it can be seen why genetic engineering has become such a controversial issue. Genetic engineering deals with the very intricate, orderly, processes of human life. Genetics is so complex that it is extremely risky to be getting too far into the engineering without knowing the exact results of the actions. Unfortunately, experimentation is the only way to discover some of the outcomes. Some scientists argue that the medical benefits of genetic engineering could be so great, that the experimentation is worth it. There is the possibility that cures to life-threatening diseases could be found through genetic engineering in somatic cell manipulation, for example.

Bang & Olufsen

Bang & Olufsen How the tiny family-owned company Bang and Olufsen survives and prospers in spite of all the multi-nationals can do. Consumer electronics is dominated by multi-nationals who believe growth and acquisitions are the keys to survival in this price-point conscious industry. So how come in a remote country town in the north west of Denmark, an organisation with a mere 3000 employees is prospering and charging premium prices? B&0 is still in the hands of the families who started it back in 1925. Young Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen were both keen experimenters from boyhood with electricity and their first radios were built in the attic of the Olufsen house. Right from the start the company followed a philosophy of innovation. The company has always striven to set higher standards of performance than its competitors and, as a consequence found itself moving inevitably towards the upper-end of the market. Along the way styling became an important element of the B&O philosophy. A number of their products are in the permanent design collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The company uses freelance designers who are answerable to the product strategy department who are responsible for marketing planning and the technical feasibility of ideas. It took more than style, however, to give Bang & Olufsen its unique positioning in the marketplace. A long time ago it was realised that the key to survival lay in offering products which were not only different but had qualities which could not be found elsewhere. Back in 1938 they produced a radio with a preset programming function for 16 stations. In 1943 a B&O gramophone had an option for rogramming a 3 minute pause between tracks – time to allow you to bow to your new dancing partner! The first B&O TV receiver appeared in 1952. In 1951 they produced the world's first stereo cartridge. They invented the HX professional recording system which increases the headroom available for recording high frequency signals on all tape types. This system is now found in most good quality tape decks. In 1982 they int roduced the Beolink system which gives round the house sound and round the house remote-control. For all their small size Bang and Olufsen produce practically everything themselves. They even ake much of their own production equipment. Such are their capabilities that they supply injection moulding equipment to other manufacturers and have developed such diverse products as an insulin pen and extension units for telephone switching exchanges. Their entry into the telephone receiver business grew out of a contract to develop a new standard telephone for Danish Telecom. Since then they have sold over 200, 000 units of their elegant and distinctive handsets. The company regularly gets suggestions for new product categories. These are considered but unless there is scope for a distinctively B&0 concept, it will not proceed. Car audio is an example. Because the car stereo has to fit into a set size hole in a console, there is little or no scope to produce a distinctively different product that would fit into the B family of products. Today, B operate in more than 20 countries around the world. Their biggest single export market in terms of combined TV, video and hi-fi sales is the United Kingdom. As mentioned earlier, this equipment does not fit into an existing selling or price-point structure and would face an uphill struggle in the bazaar atmosphere of the typical electrical retailer. This led to the decision to carry out the entire marketing, distribution, and selling (retailing) operations in- house. The calm and luxurious atmosphere of a Bang and Olufsen showroom is highly conducive to the appreciation not only of the performance of the product but the elegant styling too. The arrangement leaves no place for opposition or competitors for, as B&0 will gladly tell you, there aren't any. At the same time, haggling over such mundane matters as discounts seems very much out of place in such surroundings. It’s a far cry from the rest of the industry where the sales staff can usually tell you very little but the price. The showroom decor is simple and subdued to highlight the discreet styling of the equipment. The staff are very much part of this presentation. Fast talking and pressure to buy have no place here. When people are spending the kind of money a B&O system costs (the 1owest priced sound system is listed at $8,000 and you can go over $30,000 with the greatest of ease) they want time to relax and consider their choice very carefully indeed. The staff are there as consultants and advisors. In fact, of course they are very effective sales people who really know their products and ow to present them. There are several six B&O showroom in Australia, all in major capital cities. Sales of audio and video products run 50/50 and in both categories the best sellers are the top models in the range. So who buys this expensive equipment? It is probably easier to say who does not. The true hi-fi buff who loves electronics and fiddling dials & buttons tends to treat B&O with the same disdain that a spor ts-car buff has for an automatic Mercedes family car. Your typical B&O owner is more interested in music and entertainment than electronics. While he r she appreciates the unique styling, sheer quality and performance of the equipment, it is the ability to deliver at the touch of a button or even a glass plate which probably counts for more. B&0 have recognised that the hi-fi industry has made its products so complex and intimidating to the average person that he only become frustrated and confused by all the conflicting advice he receives. Visiting the hi-fi specialist can be an unnerving experience which ends up giving the prospective buyer an inferiority complex. B&0's approach is to put all the complexity to one side. Technology is used to simplify. So, lthough B equipment has possibly the most sophisticated control systems of anyone in the industry, it is, paradoxically, probably the simplest of all to operate. Once you have a B unit in your home you become a prospect for upgra des and extensions. B were the first to bring round-the-house sound and later video which can be controlled from anywhere in the house. Called the Beolink, it first came out in l982 and it is only 10 years later that any other such systems are beginning to appear. Any B model can be extended to give quality hi-fi or video to any room in the house. It is not B po1icy to bring out new models each year. Rather they introduce them to meet market requirements and then upgrade them when and as required. Very often existing equipment can be brought up to the latest specifications. It is also policy that all parts are fully available for 8 years after a model goes out of production. B still regularly gets calls to service equipment over 20 years old. All parts are airfreighted from Denmark. B are too small to develop original products like the CD or even the VCR. Their role is to take such products and enhance them, make them easier to use, and package them very uniquely and attractively. A considerable proportion of B systems are sold with an older model taken as a trade-in. The quality of the products is such that they have a ready second-hand market and owner loyalty is the highest in the industry. An organisation pf just 3000 people in a very high cost country taking on the established giants of the electronics world sounds like an extreme case of wishful thinking. Band and Olufsen will tell that they think differently. They do. And it works. Do you know of any other business which has no direct competitors? Q: Identify, Understand Analyse competition and suggest appropriate competitive positioning strategies.

Reading of the modernists involved such a process of disturbance Essay

‘Modernist writers disturbed their readers by adopting complex and difficult new forms and styles’. To what extent has your reading of the modernists involved such a process of disturbance? Modernist literature flaunts difficult, often aggressive or disruptive, forms and styles; it frequently challenges traditional ‘realistic’ style and is characterised by a rejection of 19th century traditions. Literary modernism focuses on breaking away from rules and conventions, searching for new perspectives and points of view, experimenting in form and style. It breaks up and disturbs the settled state of literature and emphasises a re-structuring of literature and the experience of reality it represents. Although art always attempts to ‘imitate’ or represent reality, what changed was the understanding of what constitutes reality, and how that reality could best be represented. Modernist literature is marked by a break with the sequential, developmental, cause-and-effect presentation of the ‘reality’ of realist fiction, towards a presentation of experience as layered, allusive, and discontinuous: using, to these ends, fragmentation and juxtaposition, motif, symbol, allusion. From time to time there occurs some revolution, or sudden mutation of form and content in literature. Then, some way of writing which has been practiced for a generation or more, is found by a few people to be out of date, and no longer to respond to contemporary modes of thought, feeling and speech†¦tradition has been flouted, and chaos has come.1 This process of disturbance can be seen in the experimentation in form in order to present differently the structure, the connections, and the experience of life. The tightening of form puts an emphasis on cohesion, interrelatedness and depth in the structure of the novel. This is accomplished in part through the use of various devices such as symbolism, narrative perspectives, shifts and overlays in time and place and perspective. Woolf uses these methods to explore what lies outside the specification of the real. Woolf draws on an interior and symbolic landscape: the world is moved ‘inside’, structured symbolically and metaphorically, as opposed to the realist representations of the exterior world as a physical and historical, site of experience. The painter Jacques Raverat wrote in a correspondence to Woolf: The problem with writing is that it is essentially linear; it is almost impossible, in a sequential narrative, to express the way one’s mind responds to an idea, a word or an experience, where, like a pebble being thrown in to a pond, splashes in the outer air are accompanied under the surface by waves that follow one another into dark and forgotten corners2 Woolf felt it was precisely the task of the writer to go beyond a linear representation of reality in order to show how people think and dream. Rather than take her characters from point A to point B, Woolf gives the impression of simultaneous connections: a form patterned like waves in a pond. She reveals what is important about her characters by exploring their minds and the thoughts of those surrounding them. Such explorations lead to complex connections between people, between past and present, and between interior and exterior experience. Woolf establishes these connections through metaphors and imagery, and structures the novel using alternating images of beauty and despair, exhilaration and melancholy. These juxtapositions suggest both the impulse towards life and the impulse towards death, which makes the process of reading disconcerting and recondite. Woolf dispensed with conventional beginnings and endings, and the traditional structure of events in time, for example, Mrs Dalloway tells about one day’s experiences for two characters whose lives are not connected with each other, except by the slightest coincidence at the end. Woolf uses perceived time interwoven with clock time to create a simultaneous experience of past and present. The scene is London after the war, but also Bourton thirty years ago. In this commingling of time, the past exists on its own and in its relations to the present. Time is moved into the interior as well: it becomes psychological time, time as an innerly experienced or symbolic time, or time as it accommodates a symbolic rather than a chronological reality. Examining the intersection of time and timelessness, Woolf creates a new and disturbing novelistic structure in Mrs. Dalloway wherein her prose has blurred the distinction between dream and reality, between the past and present. An authentic human being functions in this manner, simultaneously flowing from the conscious to the unconscious, from the fantastic to the real, and from memory to the moment. Throughout Mrs Dalloway the focus continually shifts from the external world to the characters consciousness and how they perceive it. This has the disquieting effect of back grounding observable reality so the details emerge more slowly than when they are presented by an omniscient narrator. However, the London setting is established immediately, the streets and landmarks are real, this verisimilitude of setting seems to give the characters a solidity which is juxtaposed with the fluidity of the depiction of the characters thought processes. Mrs Dalloway supposes that ‘somehow in the streets of London, on the ebb and flow of things, here, there, she survived’3 The fact that the narrative takes place on a specific date is disclosed more gradually than the setting is, for example, Clarissa thinks ‘For it was the middle of June. The war was over’4 and then the narrator tells us it is Wednesday on page fifteen. Later still Peter Walsh’s thoughts reveal that it is 19235. There are also references to Gold cup day at Ascot so by naming a specific year Woolf turns what could have been a fictional fact in to a real one. Woolf implies a concept of time as a series of life conjunctures rather than impersonal. These are established by the presence of sensory phenomena in different contexts such as the sound of Big Ben, the common perceptions among unrelated observers, for instance, the prime ministers car. Also, by convergences at occasions of group activities as in Clarissa’s party. Time seems relativistic in the sense it depends on systems of measurement. The clocks divide the day into quarter hours. The loud voice of Big Ben is associated with the masculine. It is described as ‘a young man, strong, indifferent, inconsiderate, were swinging dumb-bells this way and that’6. It marks the movements of the two doctors, Peter Walsh and Sir Richard as they move through their day, making pronouncements. St Margaret’s on the other hand is the feminine. It follows Big Ben’s booming ‘leaden circles’ with ‘ring after ring of sound’ that ‘glides into the heart’ like a hostess, ‘like Clarissa herself’7 thinks Peter Walsh as he hears St Margaret’s peeling sound. Furthermore, The clocks divide time into a pattern, Shredding and slicing, dividing and subdividing, the clocks of Harley Street nibbled at the June day, counselled submission, upheld authority, and pointed out in chorus the supreme advantages of a sense of proportion†¦8 The ringing of the clock bells radiates from the centre of the city. The sound creates a design in the texture of the narrative, slicing through the characters subjective experience of time and contrasting this with objective, exterior time. In To The Lighthouse many of the characters are preoccupied with time. Mr. Ramsay worries about how his philosophical work will stand the test of time, just as Lily expects her painting to be rolled up and forgotten. The very style of the novel brings time into question as Woolf infuses even a brief moment in an everyday event, such as reading a story to a child, with an infinitude of thought and memory 9 Meanwhile days, tides, and seasons keep up their rhythms regardless of human events, while historical time brings cataclysmic change in the form of war. In addition, time brings loss as well as renewal. Mrs. Ramsay dies, while the children she has left behind continue to grow. In To the Lighthouse Woolf depicts two contrasting kinds of time, the linear and regular plodding of clock or objective time, and the reiterative, non-linear time of human experience. Her depiction of subjective time, layered and complex was, critics have observed, not unlike that of the philosopher Henri Bergson, though there is no evidence of any direct influence. It is in the ‘Time Passes’ section of the novel that Woolf’s interest in the contrasting forms of temporality is most evident. The narrative style of this part is very unusual and is unlike that of Parts I and III. Its effort to narrate from what Woolf called an ‘eyeless’ point of view is strange, it is as if she is thinking of the philosophical problem, the problem with which Mr Ramsay grapples in the novel, of how to think of the world when there is no one there. This is translated into an artistic problem, of how to narrate the passage of time when there is no one there to witness it. The scale of events in ‘Time Passes’ is much grander than the scale in ‘The Window,’ thus throughout this section Woolf employs a different method and uses parenthetical asides to impart important news. Instead of focusing on the thoughts of her characters, she keeps a tight focus on the house itself. Dramatic events such as Mrs. Ramsay’s death could not have been confronted in the style of ‘The Window.’ as the subtle, everyday quality of the interactions between events and thoughts would have been disturbed by the introduction of the tumultuous news imparted here. The ‘airs’ in this section of the novel are like time’s fingers. The constant, regular beam of the Lighthouse is closely allied with time, too, like an all-seeing and immortal eye. Puffs of air ‘detached from the body of the wind’10 pull at the loose wallpaper and the things in the house, the light from the Lighthouse guiding them through the house. Natural time is seen as objective and inhuman, it is destructive and violent in the sense that it has no concern for human purposes. Woolf’s solution to this problem is to invent a poetic style that, ironically, relies heavily upon the devices of personification and animism. The shadows of the trees ‘made obeisance on the wall’, ‘loveliness and stillness clasped hands in the bedroom’, ‘light bent to its own image in adoration on the bedroom wall’ and ‘in the heat of the summer the wind sent its spies about the house again’11. It can be questioned whether these devices are successful. It is as if Woolf wishes to fill the emptiness of inhuman nature with primitive animistic entities and malign agencies. The solution can seem oddly childlike, personification and animism being, as Freud pointed out, typical of infantile thought12. The problem illustrates, perhaps, the difficulty of avoiding images of human agency even when they a re least necessary. In Mrs Dalloway during sections of ‘mind-time’, Woolf sets various time streams loose at once, either in the mind of one character, who retreats into internal soliloquy, collapsing past, present and future, or in the simultaneous perspectives given by several characters recording a single moment. The result of either technique is that plot time stands still.13 Time is not entirely subjective and elastic in this text, however. The novel does take place within a prescribed temporal context marked ominously by the booming of Big Ben: ‘First a warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable. The leaden circles dissolved in the air.’ Throughout the novel this chronology is inescapable, cutting through the characters thoughts of the past to bring them back to the present moment Auerbach points out that To the Lighthouse marks the end of the Western tradition of realism. He argues that the novel employs a new fashion of temporality. It is the gap between the brief span of time occupied by exterior events, about two days in ‘The Window’, and the rich, dreamlike realm of consciousness. The exterior events actually lost the hegemony over subjectivity14. The novel proves the insignificance of exterior events by holding to minor, unimpressive things like stockings, while keeping in minimum the descriptions of such great events as death and marriage. To the Lighthouse is thus a disturbing turning point in literature because it discarded any claim to the organic completeness of exterior events and the chronological order. To The lighthouse employs a non-linearity and thus counteracts narrative’s usual form of depicting events in a continuous succession. Synchronicity, evident in the coexistence of multiple perspectives at the same temporal moment, disturbs the narrative’s attempt to render the story world as events in succession. And elision, evident in the stories within the story whose endings are invariably left dangling and incomplete, dissolves the narrative’s attempt to achieve completion. Together, these discordant methods undermine the conventional unfolding of narrative. Woolf’s novel employs these techniques of disruption in order to portray narrative continuity as an inescapable yet unattainable illusion. Plot is generated by the inner lives of the characters. Psychological effects are achieved through the use of imagery, symbol, and metaphor. Character unfolds by means of the ebb and flow of personal impressions, feelings, and thoughts. Thus, the inner lives of human beings and the ordinary events in their lives are made to seem extraordinary. These complex and new methods that attempt to depict the chaotic interior life appear more jumbled and perplexing than the classical realist novel and so seem disturbing. However, Woolf is attempting to create a realistic account of the inner processes of the individuals mind and an expression of the continuous flow of sense perceptions, thoughts and feelings. Woolf also employs the symbolic apprehension and comprehension of reality as a structural approach to experience. It marked a turning away from writing by observation to transforming fact into a symbol of inner experience. In her diary Woolf wrote What interests me in the last stage was the freedom and boldness with which my imagination picked up, used and tossed aside all the images, symbols which I had prepared. I am sure this is the right way of using them-not in set pieces†¦but simply as images, never making them work out; only suggest 15 To The Lighthouse assumes a structure similar to that found in the fictional scene of the painting. In a letter Woolf acknowledges the structure and its unifying symbol as enacted at the end. ‘I meant nothing by The Lighthouse. One has to have a central line down the middle of the book to hold the design together.’16 In To The Lighthouse the Lighthouse has a prominent but fluid symbolic place in the novel. It does not seem to be the key to some hidden allegory since it does not stand for just one thing, each character that contemplates the Lighthouse gives it a special meaning, its significance in the novel evolves as the sum of different parts. For the teenaged James, the Lighthouse is a stark symbol of masculinity, a phallic symbol. For Mrs. Ramsay, the Lighthouse is a watching eye sweeping through her thoughts with a regular rhythm. To Woolf, the Lighthouse seems to serve as an anchor, a unifying image that ties together the layers of time and thought she explores. Like the clock striking the hours in Mrs. Dalloway, images of the Lighthouse act as the ‘bolts of iron’17 holding the different strands of the novel together. The focus of the planned excursion is not named until page eight and from then onwards the Lighthouse always appears with a capital letter. It is conventional to capitalize words referring to abstractions, particularly in philosophical writing. This feature has the effect of elevating the significance of the place, as if ‘Lighthouse’ were an abstract concept like ‘Truth’ or ‘Death.’ The Lighthouse makes its first appearance in the text in very lyrical terms. The domestic metaphors used to describe the scene, which are perhaps Mrs. Ramsay’s associations; the island is in a ‘plateful of blue water,’ and the dunes are arranged in ‘pleats’18. The first influence of the lighthouse is the description of James’s excitement ‘The wonder to which he had looked forward, for years and years’19 The lighthouse already seems to have gained a greater significance than its mere physical existence. It is an object of desire to James. However, his reaction to Mrs Ramsey’s promise shows that there is a separation between his dream of happiness (going to the lighthouse) and his dull, everyday experience of life. Prosaically, the lighthouse is a real thing, yet James has made it into an unattainable dream, which he does not expect to come true. James seems to be in a crisis because there is a prospect that his ideal world and real world will become the same and he will go to the lighthouse. Therefore, the wondrous aura of the lighthouse is attached to mundane things. James endows a picture of a refrigerator with a ‘heavenly bliss. It was filled with joy’20 this implies that fantasies bring relief from the dullness of everyday life, as long as there is the prospect that they will come true. However, James is one of ‘that great clan’21 who live for the future but if future ideals ‘cloud’ the view of reality then there is an implicit suggestion that achieving one’s desire presents a danger in that there would be nothing left to live for. Conversely, people must have some hope of achieving their ideal, or life would become futile. Woolf’s symbol of the lighthouse expresses this paradoxical idea in that it represents both an idealised fantasy while also being a real lighthouse. It becomes a trigger, provoking the reader to think about the human tendency to live for a future fantasy, together with all the paradoxical emotions Woolf conveys as associated with that tendency. James looked at the Lighthouse. He could see the white-washed rocks; the tower, stark and straight; he could see that it was barred with black and white; he could see windows in it; he could even see washing spread on the rocks to dry. So that was the Lighthouse, was it? No, the other was also the Lighthouse. For nothing was simply one thing. The other Lighthouse was true too22 James compares the real and the ideal and decides that the Lighthouse can be both. He provides a useful key for deciphering the symbol of the Lighthouse, ‘for nothing was simply one thing’23. The Lighthouse is the object of striving, some mystical, distant entity with an all-seeing eye. At the same time it is the embodiment of isolation and sadness, linked with James’s desolate image of himself and his father as lonely and apart from other people The fact that the Lighthouse is a frequent subject for artists adds to its symbolic import. The tightening of form puts an emphasis on cohesion, interrelatedness and depth in the structure, Woolf engages both the subject of art, Lily Briscoe’s painting, for example and the aim of philosophy, in Mr. Ramsay’s work. ‘The Lighthouse was then a silvery, misty-looking tower with a yellow eye, that opened suddenly, and softly in the evening.’24 Mrs. Ramsay incorporates the Lighthouse’s regularly appearing light into the pattern of her thoughts. She recognizes that she is doing this, that she is making the things she sees part of herself, as if the Lighthouse was an eye looking at her. The light strokes also serve to highlight certain cadences in her thought, heightening their meaning by repetition The parallels developing in this section between Lily’s actions and reflections and the impending trip to the Lighthouse suggest that Lily’s revelation, her moment of clarity and ‘stability,’ is her own version of the Lighthouse, the thing toward which she has been striving 25. Woolf builds upon the same metaphors and imagery through repetition and association to give them symbolic value of their own. There are repetitions of key images: water, waves, and sea; webs, ties, and threads; and trees through the novels. In Mrs Dalloway words are used in very certain terms in relation to life. They are used repeatedly throughout the rest of the novel, and built upon as metaphors until they stand alone to symbolize life. The sense of being absorbed in the process of action is inseparable from the fear of being excluded from it and from the dread that the process is going to be interrupted. The metaphor of the ‘interrupter’ and the solemn pause, indicating a fear of being interrupted, are developed throughout the novel. Clarissa’s sewing is depicted in a rhythmic wave of building, creating, and making. These images recur throughout the novel as they gain symbolic significance. Sewing is a metaphor often used to denote women’s creative capacity and symbolizes both artistry and the creation of life. The wave provides both a sense of calm and fulfillment, yet maintains a suspenseful pause before a crash or interruption Mrs. Dalloway has an unpleasant feeling she cannot place. After taking a moment to think, she realizes this feeling is attached to ‘something Peter had said, combined with her own depression’26. She realizes it is her parties. Her unpleasant feeling is attached to the criticism she receives from both Richard and Peter about her parties. Clarissa privately defends her parties. She sees them as an offering, a term she is able to recognize as vague and goes on to define. She is offering a connection. She gives meaning to life by feeling the existence of others and offering a way to bring them together, offering them a chance of connection. While sitting on the couch, Septimus notices a shadow on the wall. ‘Fear no more the heat o’ the sun.’ This phrase, which acts as a calming device, enters his head. Suddenly, he is not afraid. He sits up and takes an interest in what Lucrezia is doing. She is making a hat. More significantly, she is creating and building Rezia’s creation of the hat, like Clarissa’s sewing, symbolizes not only the creation of life, but also more specifically, the female ability to create life ‘But this hat now. And then (it was getting late) Sir William Bradshaw’27 Woolf uses this one symbolic line as a metaphor for the transition from life, represented in the making of the hat and death, suggested by Bradshaw, the symbol of the soul’s containment and the character who ultimately provides Septimus with the impetus to kill himself. Woolf uses a great deal of imagery; her similes often begin as a straightforward comparison, which is then elaborated. This moves the ideas away from the physical reality of the narrative and towards mental events, emotions and ideas providing a bridge between the plot and the interior consciousness of the characters. The reader is shown the dilemma of how to create a meaningful sequence and the impossibility of essentially finding an explicit formal system of how to represent objects and concepts, that are assumed to exist, and the relationships between them. The cumulative effect of such repeated notions and images is to establish a systematic network of social elements, such as, human time, space, shared symbols, personal relationships, so as to arrive at a vision of modern life on a national scale. This collective existence is apprehended internally, as its participants experience it. It is both the content and the form used to portray that content which makes reading a disturbing process. The question of the reality of experience itself; the critique of the traditional values of the culture; the loss of meaning and hope in the modern world and the exploration of how this loss may be faced are all themes within Woolf’s novels. Subject matter and writing style are the two features that characterise Modernism and this applies to Mrs Dalloway. The themes of Woolf’s novels express the angst of Modernism in a precise way and Mrs Dalloway exemplifies the conflict felt in the modern society that produces this angst. The conflict is played out between two forces, one that fragments and disperses social order and causes chaos, and a more stable impulse that looks for unity. Multiple voices, fragmented narrative and stream of consciousness are the stylistic devices of Woolf that convey the themes of conflict, despair and escape in the novel. Mrs Dalloway can be seen as an attempt to critique modern life, however, the novel can seem overwhelmed by the chaos of characters struggling to find meaning in life when death is such a large presence. Another aspect of this novel that’ is Modernist and can be seen to be disturbing is its withdrawal from the epic novel, the larger historical or temporal frame found in the 19th century novel. In Mrs Dalloway, there is no organising logic from which to draw a secure and comfortable resolution to life’s struggles. The action or plot is restricted to a single day, no large epic journey is possible and while the struggle for life is apparent, there is nothing of the 19th century moral structure to contain and manage the outcomes. Death and despair overwhelm life and its purposes, the narrowness of life is suffocating, and lives are fragmented, anxious, disconnected and misrecognised. To The Lighthouse also undermines what were the conventional expectations attached to novels. Woolf speculated that she might be writing something other than a novel. ‘I have an idea that I will invent a new name for my books to supplant ‘novel’†¦But what? Elegy?’28 Her work can be seen as more poetry than fiction as it occupies itself with abstract ideas and experimentation more than with plot and character development Woolf throws into disorder readers’ expectations of how life can be represented within a novel, and she achieves this through seeking a new mode of expression. It is not that she rejects reality, but rather that she sought to develop a higher type of realism, as if more complex forms would allow for the depiction of a more complex and vivid understanding of reality.    Bibliograph. Auerbach, Erich, Mimesis: the representation of reality in Western literature / by Erich Auerbach; translated from the German by Willard Trask. New York: Doubleday/Anchor Books, 1957. Bell, Q, Virginia Woolf: A Biography. London: Hogarth Press, 1972. Eliot, T.S, American Literature and American Language in Selected Essays. London: Faber, 1951. Fleishman, Avrom, Virginia Woolf: A Critical Reading. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975. Lee, Hermione, The Novels of Virginia Woolf. New York: Holmes and Meier Publishers, 1977. Naremore, James, The World Without A Self. London: Yale University Press, 1973. Schulze, Robin. G, Varieties of Mystical Experience in the Writings of Virginia Woolf in Twentieth Century Literature Vol.44. New York: Hofstra University, 1998. Woolf, Virginia. A writer’s diary: being extracts from the diary of Virginia Woolf edited by Leonard Woolf. London, Hogarth Press, 1953. Woolf. Virginia, Mrs Dalloway. London: Penguin, 1996. Woolf, Virginia, To The Lighthouse. London: Penguin, 1992. 1 Eliot, T.S, American Literature and American Language in Selected Essays. London: Faber, 1951.p. 73. 2 Lee, Hermione, The Novels of Virginia Woolf. New York: Holmes and Meier Publishers, 1977. p.106. 3 Woof, Virginia, Mrs Dalloway. London: Penguin, 1996. p.8. 4 Ibid. p.6. 5 Ibid. p.55. 6 Ibid. p.35. 7 Ibid. p.60. 8 Ibid. p.75. 9 Auerbach, Erich, Mimesis: the representation of reality in Western literature / by Erich Auerbach; translated from the German by Willard Trask. New York: Doubleday/Anchor Books, 1957. p.529. 10 Woolf, Virginia, To The Lighthouse. London: Penguin, 1992, p.190 11 Ibid. pp.137-139. 12 Schulze, Robin. G, Varieties of Mystical Experience in the Writings of Virginia Woolf in Twentieth Century Literature Vol.44. New York: Hofstra University, 1998. p.3 13 Naremore, James, The World Without A Self. London: Yale University Press, 1973. p.71. 14 Auerbach, Erich, Mimesis: the representation of reality in Western literature / by Erich Auerbach; translated from the German by Willard Trask. New York: Doubleday/Anchor Books, 1957. pp. 351-355 15 Woolf, Virginia. A writer’s diary: being extracts from the diary of Virginia Woolf edited by Leonard Woolf. London, Hogarth Press, 1953. p.169 16 Bell, Q, Virginia Woolf: A Biography. London: Hogarth Press, 1972. p.168. 17 Woolf, Virginia, To The Lighthouse. London: Penguin, 1992. p.5. 18 Ibid. p.23. 19 Ibid. p.7. 20 Ibid. p.7. 21 Ibid. p.7. 22 Ibid. pp.276-277. 23 Ibid. p.277. 24 Ibid. p. 107. 25 Ibid. 270. 26 Woolf. Virginia, Mrs Dalloway. London: Penguin, 1996. p.183. 27 Ibid. p. 178. 28 Woolf, Virginia. A writer’s diary: being extracts from the diary of Virginia Woolf edited by Leonard Woolf. London, Hogarth Press, 1953. p.78.

Comparison Essay on Football and Basketball

Comparison Essay on Football and Basketball Comparison Essay on Football and Basketball Football and basketball are two of the most common sports that are played in many parts of the world. For an individual who is torn between selecting which of the two sports he should play, it can be very helpful to know the characteristics of the two sports and compare these qualities in order to select the one that interests a particular person the most. One of the most obvious differences between the two sports lies in the way they are played. While football is in most cases played outdoors in areas that may not necessarily have artificial lighting or controlled temperatures, basketball is mostly played in indoor fields that have both artificial lighting and temperature control. The size of the football field is also several times bigger than that of basketball. The other difference lies in the way the players interact with the ball. In football, the ball is played by fumbling, while in basketball, the ball is played by bouncing the ball up and down on the floor repeatedly in an action known as dribbling. In football, the main objective of the game is to capture the territory of the opposing team in ten yard segments, eventually driving the ball to the opposing team’s end zone. In basketball, the main aim is to throw the ball as many ways as possible into the opposing team’s basket, given that the more baskets a team makes, the higher the score. Another major difference is that physical contact between basketball players of opposing teams is highly discouraged and may actually result in a foul. This is especially the case when a player knocks another player of the opposing team to the floor. In football, contact is highly encouraged. Contact in football is referred to as a tackle. Another difference between the two sports is way players dress. While basketball players adorn vests as the uniform of the game, football players are usually dressed in long sleeved t-shirts and trousers. They also wear helmets to protect their heads during tough tackles. Another notable difference between the two sports is why a player may be suspended from the game. The most common reason behind players being ruled out of a basketball game is the fouls that they cause, but in football, injuries are the most common reasons that remove players from the game. The kind of scores in each of the games also differs greatly. In football, 3 is the least number of points that the opposing team can score at a single time, while in basketball, 3 is the most a player can score at a time. Finally, the origin of each of the games also differs. While football is thought to have originated in the early 1900s as a violent collegiate sport for men, bask etball is believed to have originated from a gymnastics practice for women. You can enjoy our professional essay service which can help with writing your comparison essay on Football and Basketball. Get 100% original custom compare and contrast essay written from scratch!

Types of Equality essays

Types of Equality essays Despite the guarantee in the Constitution that all men are equal, the meaning of equal and the ways to achieve equality are quite different. The greatest consensus and most clearly stated definition of equality comes from the Constitution and is the equality of opportunity. This would give everyone the same opportunities regardless of race, ethnic origin, religion, or sex. The second interpretation is the equality of starting conditions. This gives everyone, despite the terms of their discrimination, a chance to start out on the same level. This is often achieved by compensating the disadvantaged through federal programs such as Head Start. The third is equality among groups. Often there are large differences in wealth and advantage among groups and programs like affirmative action are designed to help people because of their membership to a certain group. The last is equality of results which guarantees minimum floor below which no one should be allowed to fall. To achieve equality, the concept of equality of opportunity must be fully embraced. Every business, school, and individual must look at people for what they have to offer instead of where they came from or whom they look like. At the same time, everyone must be given the opportunity to start at the same place. Federal programs, such as the previously mentioned Head Start, should be encouraged to do this. In order to succeed in the opportunities, a person must have the necessary skills that programs such as this can give them. Finally, communication about issues such as this should be encouraged. As long as people ignore the problems that effect disadvantaged people in society, they will continue. Schools, families, and society in general should be encouraged to address these issues in public and maybe a solution to absolute equality will finally be reached. ...

The 3 Best Extracurricular Activities for Your College App

The 3 Best Extracurricular Activities for Your College App SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Extracurricular activities are an important part of your college application. The things that you choose to do outside of the classroom help college admission officers understand your personality in a way that your grades and test scores can’t show. With so many activities to choose from, how do you know which ones are going to make the biggest impact on your application? Do colleges prefer students with traditional activities like sports and student council, or are you better off if you have something unconventional on your activity list? If you're unsure about how to strategize a list of activities that will make an impact on your application, read on to see the three best extracurricular activities that will really get you noticed. What Are the BestExtracurricular Activities to Have on YourCollege Applications? Many students worry that they have to play a sport to get into a good college, or that there are some specific extracurricular activities that college admission advisors consider an automatic admissions ticket. If you have suspected that this kind of activity bias exists, I have good news: colleges do not really care which specific activities you choose to do. However,they are hoping to understand certain things about you through your activities. Your extracurricular activities show colleges aspects of your personality that your grades and test scores can’t. Though admissions officerscan also get to know about your â€Å"intangible† qualities through your essays and letters of recommendation, extracurriculars are important because they show that you walk the walk. Think you have leadership skills? Well, your extracurricularsare where you prove it. There are a few specific things that colleges are always hoping to see in their students’ activities. They include: Passion. Your activities are supposed to be a reflection of you and what you care about. Admissions officers can usually tell when you're just doing activities to pad out your resume. Colleges love students who are passionate because, more often than not, they are the ones who will stick with something through thick and thin and go on to change the world. You can show passion by focusing on a couple activities and dedicating a significant amount of time to them. Leadership. Leaders are the people who will be at the forefront of change and the first to take on new challenges. Since colleges are looking to educate and shape the leaders of tomorrow, they love to see students who are taking initiative to be leaders through their extracurricular activities. You can do this by leading a group or activity, being in charge of a project, or otherwise motivating or directing other students. Impact. How have you changed your activity for the better? Have you expanded membership or the amount of activities your extracurricular does? If you saw a problem, did you fix it? Once again, colleges are looking for the people who are going to change the world someday. In your activities, you can show them that you're the type of person who takes something and leaves it better than you found it. If you need some inspiration to help find a great extracurricular, we have a list of hundreds of activities that you can try. With commitment, over time you could show the above qualities in any of the activities on the list. But if you'd like more guidance, there is a surefire combination of activities you can pursue in high school that will show off a range of your best traits. In fact, as long as you have thesethree types of activities, you won’t have to worry nearly as much about what else you choose to do with your free time during high school! The Perfect Extracurricular Activity Combination For students who are unsure about what types of activities to pursue in high school, you can easily impress admissions officers by making sure that you have the following three kinds of activities on your list. They are: The Academic Activity The Community Service Activity The Personality Activity Colleges are out to find students whoare mature, have a good sense of direction and purpose, and have a strong sense of self. Students like this know what their passions are, are willing to put in the time and effort to make an impact in their chosen extracurriculars, and are more likely to be leaders. Though there are many valid combinations of extracurriculars out there and you will not be penalized if you do not follow the above structure, this combination of activities allows you to show off your personality and talents while also showing an awareness of and concern for the larger world. To show why this is the perfect combination, let's examine each activity in a bit more detail and discuss why it impresses admission officers. Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. The Academic Activity The first key type of extracurricular activity is the academic activity.This is an activitythat is somehow related to what you're hoping to study in college. What Are Some Examples? For example, if you want to get a degree in journalism, you could be working foryour school newspaper. A math major could participate in Math Bowl or some other competitive form of the subject. A future medical student may have volunteered at the local hospital. Why Should You Do It? There's no better way to provethat you're really interested in your chosen field of study than to show admissions officers that you live and breathe it already on a daily basis. Remember that old saying that work isn’t work as long as you’re doing what you love? By doing an extracurricular related to your studies, you're showing that you have real passion for the topic and know what you're getting yourself into. Why Do Colleges Love It? Colleges want to admitstudents who are hard-working, passionate, and who will potentially be innovators in that field in the future. This is a great way to show that your studies are also your passion. You aren’t just pursuing that engineering degree because it’s going to make you money someday; you’re pursuing it because if you didn’t you wouldn’t be the person that you need to be. Students who are actively and passionately involved in their studies through an extracurricular are much more likely to make a difference in the field and potentially change the world. The Community Service Activity This activity is an extracurricularthat allows you to volunteer your time to work with people or for a cause in your community. What Are Some Examples? There are hundreds of ways to do community service. It’s important to choose something that is related to a cause you actually care about and that you'll be able to commit to long enough to make an impact. Examples range from volunteering at a senior center, to tutoring students after school, to working in wildlife conservation. If you need more examples, check out our guide tothe nine best places to do community service. Why Should You Do It? There are a lot of benefits for high school students who are ready to put time and effort into community service. Service learning can be a great way to reinforce ideas that you've learned in the classroom. You can develop skills that will be necessary forcollege, such as critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Many students say that they experience personal development through community serviceand become more responsible andempathetic. Studies have also shown that people who volunteer reap health benefits because they feel better about themselves. See more about the benefits of community service for high school students here. Why Do Colleges Love It? Community service is a great extracurricular that can show that you're a concerned citizen and aspiring leader. Keep in mind that colleges are always looking for students who are going to be making a difference in the world. Community service shows that you have already taken the first step to do that. By showing that you cantake charge when you see an issue in your community and are willing to put in the time and effort needed to make a change, you're showing initiative, dedication, and perseverance. These are all traits that will help you be a successful student in college and an impactful human being well after you graduate. The Personality Activity This is an activity that showcases something special about youand your interests. What makes you tick? What's your secret passion? What Are Some Examples? Any activity that you do solely because you love it counts as a personality extracurricular. This is your chance to show colleges what you're passionate about. These activities may be surprising at first because they don't necessarily have anything to do with what you want to pursue academically or professionally. While an aspiring engineer may list her love of building robots as her personality activity, it's equally true that an aspiring astronomy major may have a passion for working backstage in theater productions. As long as it's an extracurricular you love doing, it can be used as a personality activity. Why Should You Do It? Personality activities are a chance for you to do something that's important to you and that you really love. There’s more to you than just what you intend to study. Everyone is moved by different things, and it’s important to pursue these passions. These activities are all about you and allow you to develop confidence and a sense of self that you might not get in the other activities. Why Do Colleges Love It? Colleges want to see the person behind the application, and this is where the personality activity comes in. Collegesare also concerned about creatingvibrant campus communities, and one way of doing this is admitting students with a lot of different interests who will be able to participate and contribute toareas beyond just what they're studying. They will appreciate that you have taken the time to develop these side passions and see you as a motivated and interesting person. The Bottom Line These three types of activities are a good place to start if you're stumped by how to make an impressive resume for college. But keep in mind that any combination of activities is just as valid - as long as you remember tomake a commitment, show leadership, and havean impact! What's Next? If you want a more basic grounding in what extracurriculars are, check out our explanation of why you need to have extracurricular activities. Need some more inspiration for activities? See our complete list of extracurricular activities. Got your activities under control, but worried about how the application works? See our guide to writing about extracurriculars on the Common App. Struggling to write about extracurriculars on your college application?Check out our in-depth guide to crafting a compelling narrative about your extracurriculars. Read it for free now:

Promoting products Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Promoting products - Essay Example These six promotional mix factors sometimes run independently yet concurrently, which is fine if that is the intention. In an ideal promotion marketing scenario, all six factors would operate together. Thus, critics admit that traditional ways to promote do not always work: innovation is needed. Consumers and people in general have never been able to discuss their own motivations, because they do not understand them. Nor do they think about them, which is why this part of the mind is referred to as the unconscious. But although consumers do not think about their motives, they do experience them and they do act on them. Advertisers, salespersons, and marketers need to understand motivation to be effective. They especially need to understand the motivation that relates to their (Brock et al 76). In this case, communications uses messages to change both behavior and attitudes, and messages are made up of symbols. Direct marketing is often considered the popular promotional tools aimed t o inform consumers about a product, its benefits and uniqueness. For instance, direct marketing through catalog mailings has long been a workhorse marketing method for department stores such as Montgomery Ward, Spiegel, and Sears. It was a good way to tap into the rural market; these people wanted goods but seldom made it to a city to shop at the big stores. With the advent of two cars in every garage, a general and steady rise in population, and migration to suburbia, many believed direct mail was dead. But we consumers and the postal service know differently (Brock et al 28). Television advertising rates increase steadily every year, along with more channels and more

Artificial neural network Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Artificial neural network - Research Paper Example In addition, they are very helpful for solving those problems which are difficult to resolve through customary techniques, as well as often a lot of them have been tackled through neural networks, for example analysis of seismic signals, forecasting grassland community or solar radiation, control of chaotic dynamical systems, data and air quality control and categorization of remotely sensed information (Benvenuto & Marani, 2000), (Giles, 1998) and (Laudon & Laudon, 1999). This paper outlines the application of neural network to solving environmental problems. One of the major environmental difficulties and challenges that require using well-organized software tools is the forecast issues. These forecasting issues include meteorological forecast, water, soil, air, flood prediction, pollution forecast and many more. In the past, numerous techniques based on the artificial intelligence have been designed and implemented by taking into account that they are able to present additional in formed techniques that utilize domain specific information as well as offer solutions faster than the customary techniques those are based on mathematical techniques (Oprea & Matei, 2010).

Acting and Performance in Films Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Acting and Performance in Films - Term Paper Example The profound performance by late Hollywood actor Heath Ledger puts life into the movie in a spectacular way that makes the actor and the movie both memorable to the audience. The social commentaries on the film contain few issues that are the key factors of controversy in this movie. The theme of romantic relationships between the two men is a primal point of focus in this film, which seems to rupture the conventional definition of relationship. The relationship that had sprouted long back between the two men could not come to its full bloom due to several social barriers. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) get married to, two women – Alma Beers (Michelle Williams) and Laureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway). The strain and ambiguity in relationship is clear from this action of the two men. Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are two farm associates, who are hired to take care of the thousands of grazing sheep, but these two men are extremely distinct by nature. Jack Twist is sparkling and emotional, while Ennis hardly talks, or frequently mumbles somewhat in a grumpy way. The ambience of a cold night, a little alcohol acts as the stimulant factors and they come across a sexual soiree that none of them ever expected. At a very young age, Ennis father had taught him about a firm example that tells the dire consequences that homosexuals face in the West. Therefore Ennis considers this incident as a one-time phenomenon. Jack is more certain about the feelings of this relationship and he is ready to explore them further. After their summer work comes to an end, they depart in their different ways and carry on their individual family lives. Ennis gets wedded and has two kids. Jack returns to the rodeo. After four years, they get back to each other, and are instantly set to revital ize their summer liaison. "Going fishing on Brokeback

Marketing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing - Case Study Example The climbs are segmented as ‘the express climb’, ‘the discovery climb’ and ‘the bridge climb’ (Bridgeclimb, n.d.). While doing so the company has also added many feathers to its cap. One such feat achieved by the company is to get its name enlisted in the Guinness book of world records for making most flags flown on the Sydney Bridge (Worldrecordsacademy, 2008). Market Market plays the most pivotal role for a company to successfully demeanor it business. Market consists of a cluster of users who exhibits some similar requirements and desires. In other words a market is set of possible buyers of a product and service (Allen, Macy & Hutchison, 2009, p.21). Therefore for a company to perform its operation effectively in the market place it needs to segment its intended market appropriately (Croft, 1994, p.1). In the context of Bridge climb Sydney their main market lies with the adventure tourism group. The market also lies with those persons who li ke elevation and high altitudes from the ground but not adventurous. The company also has its market scattered all over the world, as visitors from different part of the world arrives to experience it. Segmentation Market segmentation can be defined as the way by which the companies segments the market into various subgroups based on the similar characteristics of the consumer (Bose, 2004, p.513). There are many available alternatives for segmenting the market such as geographic segmentation, demographic segmentation and psychographic segmentation among many others. These day’s companies design their goods and services based on the needs of consumers. Therefore marketing segmentation and market targeting is considered as an essential and central element of marketing activities (Kamakura & Wedel, 2000, p.3). The concept of marketing segmentation helps in understanding the needs of consumers more effectively than its competitors. However on the other hand market targeting is ba sed upon the segmentation and its decision to cater to that segment (Clemente, 2002, p.253). Therefore in the context of the company, segmentation can be done on the basis of geography i.e. the location of the consumers. The geographical segmentation can be used for segmenting the tourist from different countries and accordingly offering products and prices for them. The customers which exhibit adventurous and exploration attitudes are one of the major segments of the company. Apart from that bases of segmentation the company can even undergo niche market segmentation strategy for segmenting the market. This will also reduce the number of competitors for the company. Now according to the services offered by the company the segmentation can be regular visitors, adventurous visitors. The company needs to target adventurous travelers who will surely avail the opportunities. For adventurous travelers the company can cater them by offering ‘discovery climb’ and ‘bridge climb’. These ultimate climbs will surely satisfy the needs of those customers. And for targeting the regular visitors the company can make use of ‘express climb’, which is also conducted in a short period. Therefore the market can be segmented into regular and adventurous visitors. Some of the strategies which can be undertaken by the company for targeting adventurous customer group are as follows:- Product Strategy: - A product strategy is a pivotal function of the company. It resides at the heart of a company’

Executive Compensation in the US is out of control. Salaries for most Essay

Executive Compensation in the US is out of control. Salaries for most CEOs are way too high in comparison to front line wage ear - Essay Example Analysis and Evaluation of the issues Survey on the salaries of the CEOs have shown that the discrepancy in the salary have been growing very rapidly. During the 1980s the remuneration of the top executives was almost 42 times of that of the hourly workers’ pay. This had increased to 85 times by the next decade. With the inception of the new millennium the salary differential raised up to 531 times the salary of the junior most executive in the corporation. The Congress has passed a law in the post financial crisis period that made it mandatory for the CEOs and the top executives to disclose their salaries (Smith 1). The compensation that the CEOs were in different forms like salary, perks, bonus, pension accrued over the years and stock options. This compensation ratio of the CEO to the average workers varied across sector. It has been observed that the difference was greatest in the corporations that provided financial services, followed by the companies that produced consum er products. The ratio was comparatively less in the materials, technology and healthcare sector respectively. According to the eminent management thinker Peter Drucker, this ratio should range between 25:1 and 20:1. However the opinion that Drucker posited till as late as 2005, is not followed in the employment market in the United States or any of the multinational corporations that operate in different parts of the world. This kind of differences has led to a growth in the inequality in the distribution of income. While the growth of the wages of the top 1% of the executives have been 361 percent the wages of the employees that belong to the lower hierarchies have grown only by 34 percent over a period of almost three decades. This has a direct effect on the amount of revenue that the US government has collected from the top executives in form of taxes. As a result the income gap of the households has also increased (Mishel 4). Various issues relating to this have also come up in this regard. Only those households which had a top executive of a company as their family member had incomes that were extremely high. This was especially true for the executives who worked in the financial sector. Another surprising fact was that the rate is which the stock markets have grown over the years was less than that of the growth of the salaries of the CEOs. Research has shown that the stock options that the CEOs are offered account for this discrepancy in the wages. Warren Buffet is another supporter of this view. He insisted that the pay the top executives do not justify the work that they perform. He also feels that the CEOs have selfish intensions when they formulate policies in the organization rather than thinking about the benefit of the investors and the health of the company (Buffet 16). According to him a CEO can fulfill his selfish needs by paying fewer dividends to the shareholders and steering the retained funds into projects that may not turn out to be frui tful. Reactions I support the opinion expressed by the authors discussed above and the results of the various studied that have been conducted on this issue. The US financial crisis that had made a lot of families bankrupt was caused due to the extreme greed of the top executives. This greed had forced them to get into deals that were either very vulnerable or

Hyundai Auto company and GM Auto company Research Paper

Hyundai Auto company and GM Auto company - Research Paper Example With these, the company embarked on restructuring its brands in a manner that they were responsive to market needs yet still competitive. It has focused on restructuring its brands while still focusing on their core business: that is they have focused on strengthening the core businesses which are Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet, while reducing focus on other lesser brands which are not the core of the business (GM Company 2010 Annual Report, 2010; Norton, 2008). Hence, while focusing on high quality and exciting vehicles, they have also focused on affordability and fuel efficiency. The key focus is mainly providing high quality and affordable vehicles to the market (General Motors Corporation, 2008). Over the past decade, GM has weathered a dip its US market share, with the key reason for this for this being that most of the company’s vehicles did not seem to appeal to younger buyers, nor was it responding fast enough to the changing customer needs. In most parts of the market, the cars were mostly irrelevant (Szczesny, 2009). While sales for some of GM’s cars such as Buick, Cadillac, and Chevrolet were high, performance for other brands such as Hummer, Saturn and Saab were lagging behind. Furthermore, brands such as the Hummer did not fit the new GM business model of cost and fuel efficiency (GM Company 2010 Annual Report, 2010; Norton, 2008). In essence, GM reduced focus on non performing brands and increased its focus on the performing brands, while also shifting its focus to production of vehicles appealing to a younger demographic such as Grand Prix, G6, and Grand Am, as well as production of fuel efficient vehicles such as hybrid, electric and FLEX that respond to high fuel cost pressures and environment consciousness pressures (Norton, 2008). These changes have resulted to improved contribution margins in various new models as well as increased fuel efficiency where the cars use $6-$8 per gallon gasoline, 15%-55% fuel improvement than other vehicles. For instance, the Chevrolet Volt and Chevrolet Malibu have won car of the year awards in 2010 and 2008, while Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Malibu generated contribution margins of more than 30% and 50% respectively in 2008 (General Motors Corporation, 2008; GM Company 2010 Annual Report). These changes have positively impacted the GM’s brand value enhance its new business model (GM Company 2010 Annual Report). However, cutting the non performing brands also resulted to loss of jobs in the divisions that were cut. On the other hand, Hyundai motor company, one of the largest Korean automobile companies, has undergone changes in its brand strategy where it has mainly focused on fuel efficiency and fluidic sculpture in its products in response to changing competitive pressures in the market place (Cho, 2012). Years after Hyundai had launched its vehicles in the US market, it was still viewed as a â€Å"cheap car suitable for the lower class† customers. Over the pas t decade, Hyundai has undergone massive changes in its brands to appeal to a wider customer base in the US. They have over the past ten years not only focused on

Executive Compensation in the US is out of control. Salaries for most Essay

Executive Compensation in the US is out of control. Salaries for most CEOs are way too high in comparison to front line wage ear - Essay Example Analysis and Evaluation of the issues Survey on the salaries of the CEOs have shown that the discrepancy in the salary have been growing very rapidly. During the 1980s the remuneration of the top executives was almost 42 times of that of the hourly workers’ pay. This had increased to 85 times by the next decade. With the inception of the new millennium the salary differential raised up to 531 times the salary of the junior most executive in the corporation. The Congress has passed a law in the post financial crisis period that made it mandatory for the CEOs and the top executives to disclose their salaries (Smith 1). The compensation that the CEOs were in different forms like salary, perks, bonus, pension accrued over the years and stock options. This compensation ratio of the CEO to the average workers varied across sector. It has been observed that the difference was greatest in the corporations that provided financial services, followed by the companies that produced consum er products. The ratio was comparatively less in the materials, technology and healthcare sector respectively. According to the eminent management thinker Peter Drucker, this ratio should range between 25:1 and 20:1. However the opinion that Drucker posited till as late as 2005, is not followed in the employment market in the United States or any of the multinational corporations that operate in different parts of the world. This kind of differences has led to a growth in the inequality in the distribution of income. While the growth of the wages of the top 1% of the executives have been 361 percent the wages of the employees that belong to the lower hierarchies have grown only by 34 percent over a period of almost three decades. This has a direct effect on the amount of revenue that the US government has collected from the top executives in form of taxes. As a result the income gap of the households has also increased (Mishel 4). Various issues relating to this have also come up in this regard. Only those households which had a top executive of a company as their family member had incomes that were extremely high. This was especially true for the executives who worked in the financial sector. Another surprising fact was that the rate is which the stock markets have grown over the years was less than that of the growth of the salaries of the CEOs. Research has shown that the stock options that the CEOs are offered account for this discrepancy in the wages. Warren Buffet is another supporter of this view. He insisted that the pay the top executives do not justify the work that they perform. He also feels that the CEOs have selfish intensions when they formulate policies in the organization rather than thinking about the benefit of the investors and the health of the company (Buffet 16). According to him a CEO can fulfill his selfish needs by paying fewer dividends to the shareholders and steering the retained funds into projects that may not turn out to be frui tful. Reactions I support the opinion expressed by the authors discussed above and the results of the various studied that have been conducted on this issue. The US financial crisis that had made a lot of families bankrupt was caused due to the extreme greed of the top executives. This greed had forced them to get into deals that were either very vulnerable or

Broom Industry Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Broom Industry - Research Paper Example In the case of the broom-corn broom, it was pointed out that by 1996, there were only about 600 nationwide employees for the broom industry in the United States. Of the total imports in 1991, Mexico supplied 52% or roughly 11% of the total consumption. Panama supplied 14% of the total import or estimated 3% of the total US consumption, Honduras represented 10% of the total import or roughly 2% of total consumed. Hungary held 13% of the total import and represents about 3% of the total 1991 US consumption. In consideration of the presented data, there is a levelling and balancing of market share as an effect of the NAFTA. It is expected that lifting of tariffs allows exchange of goods and services that will give a chance for lower cost products to compete with higher costing product . Below summarises that effect of NAFTA on the broom-corn broom: Imports come from Mexico, Honduras, Panama, Colombia and Hungary. The total import in 1991 was about 20.1% of the apparent consumption, with US supplying about 79%. Import fell by roughly 19% by 1992 with US sourced at 81%. Import rose at 23% by 1993, decreasing US counterpart to 76%. By 1994, total consumption grew but import also grew at 29% while US suppliers were able to ship only about 70%. Likewise, the trend of continued import growth in 1995 had imports garner a total of 36% of the market share as compared to the US shipment of only about 63%. The effects of the The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that NAFTA had a comparatively small but positive effect on US exports to Mexico which ranges from 2.2 percent in 1994 to 11.3 percent in 2001 with a parallel result for US imports from Mexico that grew from 1.9 % in 1994 to 7.7% in 2001. In fact, considering these figures, the US gained more as the balance of trade in goods had been considerably small, of which decline were noted since 1993 attributed to the peso crash in late 1994, the associated Mexican recession in late 2000, and the prolonged US economic boom from 1990s through 2000 (CBO, 2002). Below are the indicative charts presented by CBO: U.S. Goods Trade with Mexico with and Without NAFTA (In billions of dollars) Source: Congressional Budget Office using data from the Bureau of the Census for actual values and projections from CBO's model for other values. Likewise, the trade balance is illustrated in the following table below: Effects of NAFTA on U.S. Goods Trade w

Employee Motivation Levels in Hospitality Industry

Employee Motivation Levels in Hospitality Industry INTRODUCTION The most important intangible product in service industry is the employee itself. Losses caused due to replacing them adds up to the economic s. One of the important tools of employee management ‘Motivation has been missing out of ‘TO DO list from the organisation directors. They seems to believe that since there are less jobs outside available due to recession in todays job market, employee would not leave and we are in favour to keep them. Fewer turnovers experienced from employee side but what about the productivity of employee. Can that be tackled by forcing the employee to do whatever as the contract always says, ‘duties could vary according to business requirements, or disciplinary follow? Organizations become better places to work through improving leadership skills and corporate culture change. Businesses working on a network of hierarchies imagine a business like a triple-decker bus, the directors of the business are on the top deck, the managers are on the middle deck and the employees are on the lower deck. As the bus runs on its normal day to day business, down the normal streets picking up normal day to day people. What is happening is that the bus should be stopping at various bus stops in order to recruit new employees and managers, so that they can come on the bus and of course obviously let the team members off the bus if they decide to leave. The directors would begin to become conscious that the number of employees leaving the bus is increasing and they are not really quite sure why? So they decide what they should do is to commission an employee survey. Now the cost of the employee turnover is obviously something that is an issue or can be an issue for va rious businesses. All organizations heavily invest in the human resource department. The cost of interviewing, hiring, training, developing, maintaining and retaining employees are very high. Therefore, managers at all costs must minimize employees dissatisfaction and take every step possible to reduce it. Although, there is no standard framework for understanding the employees turnover process as whole, a wide range of factors have been found useful in interpreting employee turnover (Kevin, 2004). Therefore, there is need to develop a fuller understanding of the employee turnover, more especially, the sources. What determines employee turnover, affects and strategies that managers can put in place to minimize turnover. During this weakened economic condition and heightening competition, organizations must continue to develop tangible products and provide services which are based on strategies created by employees. These employees are extremely crucial to the organization since their value to the orga nization is essentially intangible and not easily replicated. Therefore, senior managers must recognize that employees are major contributors to the efficient achievement of the organizations success (Abbasi, 2000). Managers should control employee turnover for the benefit of the organizations success. AIM Critically analyse employee motivation level in hospitality industry with a particular focus on operations management. OBJECTIVE 1. To investigate the need of motivation in hospitality industry 2. To examine the damage caused with de-motivation 3. To critically access alternatives in reducing employee turnover 4. To provide strategic evaluation for motivating operations management whilst smooth running of the business RATIONALE Several businesses now days are easily slipping into administration; it is not only several job loses but also a huge loss of efforts made by operating team to bring the business to a certain stage to employ that many employees. Truly speaking, businesses are not built solely to provide jobs and the best comfortable environment for people within the community. They are out there to make money and progress which could be any industry. The purpose of this dissertation is to focus on hospitality industry, where we need to find the root of employee turnover. It is easy for a staff at lower level to move in and out of an organisation in relation to the operating management team. What causes that to happen at first place? Do line managers not see the importance of increasing motivation during difficult times? Are management in need of motivation themselves? Are they much more worried about there own survival? So if the upper management team is satisfied, they would certainly be in a positi on to furnish their head of departments easily. Global economic condition is struggling and has to face continues challenges with competitions growing. It cannot be right for a profit organisation to just vanish with small bumps of recession. Of course, both employee and business are affected with these downfalls. A need has aroused to look into this matter because as its a fact that turnover has always been one of the high business expenses, thus at the time of recession as the economic conditions are not stable, businesses should do something to beat this cost in hand. Motivation is the cure that spurns employees eagerness to work without pressure. To say that nobody can motivate a team employee at work is like saying there are no influential leaders, there are no effective managers, there are no motivational speakers, the psychologists in sports management teams are useless and that motivation is not achievable. Motivation has been used by effective managers to prompt ordinary people to achieve uncommon results in all fields of endeavours. LITERATURE REVIEW Vast amount of literature is available in how to motivate your employee, and it would be applicable in the real world around. Simple definition of Motivation by Lindner, J. R. (1998) can be as â€Å"the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals.† Understanding what motivated employees and how they were motivated was the focus of many researchers following the publication of the Hawthorne Study results (Terpstra, 1979). Five major approaches that have led to the understanding of motivation are Maslows need-hierarchy theory, Herzbergs two- factor theory, Vrooms expectancy theory, Adams equity theory, and Skinners reinforcement theory. According to Maslow, employees have five levels of needs (Maslow, 1943): physiological, safety, social, ego, and self- actualizing. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. Herzbergs work categorized motivation into two factors: motivators and hygienes (Herzberg, Mausner, Snyderman, 1959). Motivator or intrinsic factors, such as achievement and recognition, produce job satisfaction. Hygiene or extrinsic factors, such as pay and job security, produce job dissatisfaction. Vrooms theory is based on the belief that employee effort will lead to performance and performance will lead to rewards (Vroom, 1964). Rewards may be either positive or negative. The more positive the reward the more likely the employee will be highly motivated. Conversely, the more negative the reward the less likely the employee will be motivated. Adams theory states that employees strive for equity between themselves and other workers. Equ ity is achieved when the ratio of employee outcomes over inputs is equal to other employee outcomes over inputs (Adams, 1965). Skinners theory simply states those employees behaviours that lead to positive outcomes will be repeated and behaviours that lead to negative outcomes will not be repeated (Skinner, 1953). Managers should positively reinforce employee behaviours that lead to positive outcomes. Managers should negatively reinforce employee behaviour that leads to negative outcomes. Motivation defined by some of the authors is the psychological process that gives behaviour purpose and direction (Kreitner, 1995); a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific, unmet needs (Buford, Bedeian, Lindner, 1995); an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994); and the will to achieve (Bedeian, 1993); and also more. Employee turnover is the rotation of workers around the labour market; between firms, jobs and occupations; and between the states of employment and unemployment (Abassi et al. 2000). Whereas the term â€Å"turnover† defined by (Price (1977) as: the ratio of the number of organizational members who have left during the period being considered divided by the average number of people in that organization during the period. Frequently, managers refer to turnover as the entire process associated with filling a vacancy: Each time a position is vacated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, a new employee must be hired and trained. This replacement cycle is known as turnover (Woods, 1995). This term is also often utilized in efforts to measure relationships of employees in an organization as they leave, regardless of reason. â€Å"Unfolding model† of voluntary turnover represents a divergence from traditional thinking (Hom and (Griffeth, 1995) by focusing more on the decisiona l aspect of employee turnover, in other words, showing instances of voluntary turnover as decisions to quit. Indeed, the model is based on a theory of decision making, image theory (Beach, 1990). The image theory describes the process of how individuals process information during decision making. The underlying premise of the model is that people leave organizations after they have analyzed the reasons for quitting. (Beach, 1990) argues that individuals seldom have the cognitive resources to systematically evaluate all incoming information, so individuals instead, simply and quickly compare incoming information to more heuristic type of decision making alternatives or a more rule of thumb type of decision making. Most researchers (Bluedorn, 1982; Kalliath and Beck, 2001; Kramer, 1995; Peters., 1981; Saks, 1996) have attempted to answer the question of what determines peoples intention to quit by investigating possible antecedents of employees intentions to quit. To date, there has been little consistency in findings, which is partly due to the diversity of employees included by the researchers and the lack of consistency in their findings. Therefore, there are several reasons why people quit from one organization to another or why people leave organization. The experience of job related stress (job stress), the range factors that lead to job related stress (Stressors), lack of commitment in the organization; and job dissatisfaction results in employees deciding to quit (Firth et al. 2004). This evidently indicates that these are individual decisions that cause employees to quit their jobs. They are other factors like personal agency refers to concepts such as a sense of powerlessness, locus o f control and personal control. Locus control refers to the extent to which people believe that the external factors such as chance and other powerful people are in control of the events which influence their lives Firth et al. (2004). (Manu (2004) argue that employees quit from organization due economic reasons. Using economic model they showed that people quit from organization due to economic reasons and these can be used to predict the labour turnover in the market. Good local labour market conditions improve organizational stability (Schervish, 1983). Large organizations can provide employees with better chances for progression and higher wages and hence ensure loyalty towards the organization (Idson and Feaster 1990). Trevor (2001) argues that local unemployment rates interact with job satisfaction to predict turnover in the market. Role stressors also lead to employees turnover. Role ambiguity refers to the difference between what people expect of us on the job and what we fe el we should do. This uncertainty is usually caused due to inadequate and blurred communication, As a result, it causes uncertainty about what our role should be. It can be a result of misunderstanding what is expected, how to meet the expectations, or the employee thinking the job should be different (Kahn et al. Muchinsky, 1990). Insufficient information on how to perform the job adequately, unclear expectations of peers and supervisors, ambiguity of performance evaluation methods, extensive job pressures, and lack of consensus on job functions or duties may cause employees to feel less involved and less satisfied with their jobs and careers, less committed to their organizations, and eventually display a propensity to leave the organization. If roles of employees are not clearly spelled out by management and supervisors, it would accelerate the degree of employees quitting their jobs due to lack of role clarity. And that is what happens at the lower level of the Bus organisation. Voluntarily vs. involuntary turnover There are some factors that are, in part, beyond the control of management, such as the unforeseen event of death of an employee or incapacity of a member of staff. Other factors have been classed as involuntary turnover in the past such as the need to provide care for children or aged relatives. Today such factors should not be seen as involuntary turnover as both government regulation and company policies create the chance for such staff to come back to work, or to continue to work on a more flexible basis (Simon, 2007). Organizational factors Organizational instability is one of the leading factors of a high degree of employee turnover. Indications are that employees are more likely to stay when there is a predictable work environment and vice versa (Zuber, 2001). Moreover, In organizations where there was a high level of inefficiency there was also a high level of staff turnover (Alexander 1994). Therefore, in situations where organizations are not stable employees tend to quit and look for stable organizations because stable organizations enable the employees to predict their career advancement. The imposition of a quantitative approach to managing the employees led to disenchantment of staff and hence it leads to labour turnover. Therefore senior management should not use quantitative approach in managing its employees. Adopting a cost oriented approach to employment costs increases labour turnover (Simon, 2007). All these approaches should be avoided if managers want to minimize employee turnover an increase organizational competitiveness in this environment of economic downturn. Employees have a strong need to be informed. Organization with strong communication systems enjoyed lower turnover of staff (Labov, 1997). Employees feel comfortable to stay longer, in positions where they are involved in some level of the decision-making process. That is employees should fully understand about issues that affect their working atmosphere (Magner, 1996). But in the absence of sharing information, employee empowerment the chances of continuity of employees are minimal. (Costly, 1987) points out that a high labour turnover may mean poor personnel policies, poor recruitment policies, poor supervisory practices, poor grievance procedures, or lack of motivation. All these factors contribute to high employee turnover in the sense that there is no proper management practices and policies on personnel matter s hence employees are not recruited scientifically, promotions of employees are not based on spelled out policies, no grievance procedures are in place and thus employees decides to quit. (Griffeth, 2000) noted that pay and pay-related variables have a modest effect on turnover. Their analysis also included studies that examined the relationship between pay, a persons performance and turnover. They concluded that when high performers are insufficiently rewarded, they quit. If jobs provide adequate financial incentives the more likely employees remain with organization and vice versa. There are also other factors which make employees to quit from organizations and these are poor hiring practices, managerial style and lack of recognition, lack of competitive compensation system in the organization (Abassi, 2000). Effects of employee turnover Employee turnover could be very expensive from the organizations point of view, and affects could be more during the hard-hitting period of recession. There are mainly two factors that effect employee turnover. Voluntary quits which represents a mass departure of human capital investment from organizations and the following replacement process entails manifold costs to the organizations (Fair, 1992). The replacement costs would include, search of the external labour market for a possible substitute, selection between competing substitutes, induction of the chosen substitute, and formal and informal training of the substitute until he or she attains performance levels equivalent to the individual who quit (John, 2000). In addition to these replacement costs, output would be affected to some extend or output would be maintained at the cost of overtime payment. The reason so much attention has been paid to the issue of turnover is because turnover has very significant effects on organiz ations (DeMicco and Giridharan, 1987; Dyke and Strick, 1990; Cantrell and Saranakhsh, 1991; Denvir and Mcmahon, 1992).Many researchers argue that high turnover rates might have negative effects on the profitability of organizations if not managed properly. Moreover, turnover can play a key role in de-motivating employees, resulting in low productivity, inefficient output and therefore loss. Turnover has many hidden or invisible costs (Philips, 1990) and these invisible costs are result of incoming employees, co-workers closely associated with incoming employees, co-workers closely associated with departing employees and position being filled while vacant. And all these affect the profitability of the organization. On the other hand turnover also affects customer service and satisfaction (Kemal, 2002).Catherine (2002) argue that turnover include other costs, such as lost productivity, lost sales, and managements time, estimate the turnover costs of an hourly employee to be US $3,000 to $10,000 each. This clearly demonstrates that turnover affects the profitability of the organization and if its not managed properly it would have the negative effect on the profit. Research estimates indicate that hiring and training a replacement worker for a lost employee costs approximately 50 percent of the workers annual salary (Johnson, 2000) but the costs do not break off there. Eac h time an employee leaves the firm, we presume that productivity drops due to the learning curve involved in understanding the job and the organization. Furthermore, the loss of intellectual capital adds to this cost, since not only do organizations lose the human capital and relational capital of the departing employee, but also competitors are potentially gaining these assets (Meaghan, 2002). Therefore, if employee turnover is not managed properly it would affect the organization adversely in terms of personnel costs and in the long run it would affect its liquidity position. However, voluntary turnover incurs significant cost, both in terms of direct costs (replacement, recruitment and selection, temporary staff, management time), and also and perhaps more significantly in terms of indirect costs (morale, pressure on remaining staff, costs of learning, product/service quality, and the loss of social capital (Dess, 2001). Cost of turnover One simple method to calculate the turnover rate of any business is to divide the number of employees who have left the organization within a year, by the total number of employees who work for that company in the same year. Lets say there were 100 employees at the beginning of the year, and 100 employees at the end of the year, and at the end of the year, 84 of those employees were the same ones as were there the previous year. You might say that the turnover rate was 16%. = 16% But suppose one of those 16 who left was actually replaced three times. The employee quit in January, the replacement quit in April, and another person was hired who lasted only until November. Then you might want to count every time an employee left the company and another one was hired in this case youd get 18%. Another complication: suppose the work force is 100 at the beginning and 90 at the end of the year. Perhaps 16 people have left, but only 6 have been hired during the year, while 2 more were hired and retired within the same year. You might define turnover as 18/100 or as 18/90, or as 18/95, since 95 is the average of 90 and 100. Instead of 95, you might want to do a fancier average, where you actually add up the number of employees on each day of the year, and divide the total by 365. Strategies to minimize employee turnover Strategies on how to minimize employee turnover, confronted with problems of employee turnover, management has several policy options like changing (or improving existing) policies towards recruitment, selection, induction, training, job design and wage payment. Policy choice, however, must be appropriate to the precise diagnosis of the problem. Employee turnover attributable to poor selection procedures, for example, is unlikely to improve were the policy modification to focus exclusively on the induction process. Equally, employee turnover attributable to wage rates which produce earnings that are not competitive with other firms in the local labour market is unlikely to decrease were the policy adjustment merely to enhance the organizations provision of on-the job training opportunities. Given that there is increase in direct and indirect costs of labour turnover, therefore, management are frequently exhorted to identify the reasons why people leave organizations so that appropria te action is taken by the management. Hence, accurate analysis of the cause of turnover is vital to implement the necessary strategy. Extensive research has shown that the following categories of human capital management factors provides a core set of measures that senior management can use to increase the effectiveness of their investment in people and improve overall corporate performance of business: Employee engagement, the organizations capacity to engage, retain, and optimize the value of its employees hinges on how well jobs are designed, how employees time is used, and the commitment and support that is shown to employees by the management would motivate employees to stay in organizations. Knowledge accessibility, the extent of the organizations collaboration and its capacity for making knowledge and ideas widely available to employees, would motivate employees to stay in the organization. Sharing of information should be made at all levels of management. This accessibility of information would lead to strong performance from the employees and creating strong corporate culture (Meaghan, 2002). Therefore; in formation accessibility would make employees feel that they are appreciated for their effort and chances of leaving the organization are minimal. Workforce optimization, the organizations success in optimizing the performance of the employees by establishing essential processes for getting work done, providing good working conditions, establishing accountability and making good hiring choices would retain employees in their organization. The importance of gaining better understanding of the factors related to recruitment, motivation and retention of employees is further underscored by rising personnel costs and high rates of employee turnover (Badawy, 1988; Basta and Johnson, 1989; Garden, 1989; Parden, 1981; Sherman, 1986). With increased competitiveness during recession, managers in many organizations are experiencing greater pressure from top management to improve recruitment, selection, training, and retention of good employees and in the long run would encourage employees to st ay in organizations. Job involvement describes an individuals ego involvement with work and indicates the extent to which an individual identifies psychologically with his/her job (Kanungo, 1982). Involvement in terms of internalizing values about the goodness or the importance of work motivated employees not to quit their jobs and these involvements are related to task characteristics. Workers who have a greater variety of tasks tend to stay with the job. Task characteristics have been found to be potential determinants of turnover among employees (Couger, 1988; Couger and Kawasaki, 1980; Garden, 1989; Goldstein and Rockart, 1984). These include the five core job characteristics identified by (Hackman and Oldham (1975, 1980): skill variety, which refers to the opportunity to utilize a variety of valued skills and talents on the job; task identity, or the extent to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work that is, doing a job from beginning to end, with visible results; task significance, which reflects the extent to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of other people, whether within or outside the organization; job autonomy, or the extent to which the job provides freedom, independence, and discretion in scheduling work and determining procedures that the job provides; and job feedback, which refers to the extent to which the job provides information about the effectiveness of ones performance (Tor, 1997). Involvement would influence job satisfaction and increase organizational commitment of the employees. Employees who are more involved in their jobs are more satisfied with their jobs and more committed to their organization (Blau and Boal, 1989; Brooke and Price, 1989; Brooke et al., 1988; Kanungo, 1982). Job involvement has also been found to be negatively related to turnover intentions (Blat and Boal, 1989). Job satisfaction, career satisfaction, and organizational commitment reflect a positive attitude towards the organization, thus having a direct influence on employee turnover intentions. Job satisfaction, job involvement and organizational commitment are considered to be related but distinguishable attitudes (Brooke and Price, 1989). Satisfaction represents an effective response to specific aspects of the job or career and denotes the pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from an appraisal of ones job or career (Locke, 1976; Porter, 1974; Williams and Hazer, 1986).Organizational commitment is an effective response to the whole organization and the degree of attachme nt or loyalty employees feel towards the organization. Job involvement represents the extent to which employees are absorbed in or preoccupied with their jobs and the extent to which an individual identifies with his/her job (Brooke, 1988).The degree of commitment and loyalty can be achieved if management they enrich the jobs, empower and compensate employees properly. Empowerment of employees could help to enhance the continuity of employees in organizations. Empowered employees where managers supervise more people than in a traditional hierarchy and delegate more decisions to their subordinates (Malone, 1997). Managers act like coaches and help employees solve problems. Employees, he concludes, have increased responsibility. Superiors empowering subordinates by delegating responsibilities to them leads to subordinates who are more satisfied with their leaders and consider them to be fair and in turn to perform up to the superiors expectations (Keller and Dansereau, 1995). All thes e factors ensure employees commitment towards the organization and chances of quitting are minimal. Strategic guidelines for motivating staff whilst smooth running of the business When the economy is on a slippery slope and when spirits are down, how do managers pick themselves and others up, so that they can meet the ongoing challenges? Hotels still have to operate, and services still need to be provided by employees who are working harder than ever before just so that their organization can survive. Therefore companies need to have some strategic policies to deal with employee motivation during hard times. Lend a listening ear Now, more than ever before, the manager needs to listen to what employees are saying, not only to what may seem to be the surface issues, but also to the underlying issues. Roxanne Emmerich, President of The Emmerich Group, stated in an article for the Indiana Bankers Association that, â€Å"Guilt, fear, paranoia—as well as a few other destructive emotions—can freeze peoples performance during tough times. The natural response is for a leader to click his or her heels with the hopes of ending up in Kansas. Denial is the natural response when things get tough, but many leaders never move beyond that. The thought of talking about feelings openly sends shivers down the spines of many managers, and ignoring these emotions only causes greater challenges.† In the November 7, 2008, issue of The Wall Street Journal, Jim Harter co-author of â€Å"72; The Elements of Great Managing† and a researcher with Gallup, stated in an interview about motivation that, â€Å"O rganizations have to put more attention into it. They have to communicate more.† Hence if we wish to motivate the staff during tough times, managers need to communicate more, not less. Be an advocate rather than an adversary Brian Mclvor, author of â€Å"Career Detection: Funding and Managing Your Career† stated in an interview published in the The Irish Times, on February 9, 2009, â€Å"You need to be honest and realistic with people organizations are changing all bets are off.† However, while discussions with employees may have to be framed against that background, news doesnt have to be all gloom and doom. Managers need to be advocates for their organizations and realistic about opportunities within the organization. The manager should be an advocate for the future rather than an adversary against the future, which can be an un-stabilizing influence in the organization. Emmerich states, â€Å"Lead your people to the understanding that even during the darkest of times, many do well, and you intend to be one of those. Your team needs to shift out of their doomsday story and into one of possibilities. When people say We cant because, the broken record response needs to be, Well, how CAN we ?â€Å" Therefore, be an advocate for the vision rather than an adversary against the vision. Look for the silver lining In the February 27, 2009 issue of Business Week, there is an interesting article by Patricia OConnell. The article discusses a first look at a recent Accenture survey that reveals that women and men feel they have more to offer their employers. OConnell states, â€Å"Managers looking for an edge amid a dismal economy, likely hiring freezes, and even staff cuts may have a hidden resource—their own underutilized staff. According to a winter 2008 Accenture survey, 46 percent of women and 49 percent of men worldwide believe they are insufficiently challenged in their jobs.† This affords unique opportunities to organizations that will reap possible benefits for employees as well as employers. This may be a time to review the opportunities and challenges of an organization and how the skill sets of individual employees may be used to enrich jobs and the workplace. Armelle Carminati, Managing Director of Human Capital and Diversity at Accenture, stated, â€Å"Companies should shy away from the one size- fits-all approach with workers The art of tailoring a career offering is the new space where employers have to go and will be the key to both employees and employers success.† As time gets tighter and the work force slimmer, this presents a unique opportunity for employers and employees to sit down as a team and evaluate the possibilities for the future. It is amazing the skill sets and aptitudes that may be uncovered when people are challenged to rise to the occasion. When things go downhill, up-skill â€Å"Up-skill† is a term used in The Irish Times article cited earlier that basically encourages coordinated training during tight economic times. For companies to survive and for employees to retain their jobs, it Employee Motivation Levels in Hospitality Industry Employee Motivation Levels in Hospitality Industry INTRODUCTION The most important intangible product in service industry is the employee itself. Losses caused due to replacing them adds up to the economic s. One of the important tools of employee management ‘Motivation has been missing out of ‘TO DO list from the organisation directors. They seems to believe that since there are less jobs outside available due to recession in todays job market, employee would not leave and we are in favour to keep them. Fewer turnovers experienced from employee side but what about the productivity of employee. Can that be tackled by forcing the employee to do whatever as the contract always says, ‘duties could vary according to business requirements, or disciplinary follow? Organizations become better places to work through improving leadership skills and corporate culture change. Businesses working on a network of hierarchies imagine a business like a triple-decker bus, the directors of the business are on the top deck, the managers are on the middle deck and the employees are on the lower deck. As the bus runs on its normal day to day business, down the normal streets picking up normal day to day people. What is happening is that the bus should be stopping at various bus stops in order to recruit new employees and managers, so that they can come on the bus and of course obviously let the team members off the bus if they decide to leave. The directors would begin to become conscious that the number of employees leaving the bus is increasing and they are not really quite sure why? So they decide what they should do is to commission an employee survey. Now the cost of the employee turnover is obviously something that is an issue or can be an issue for va rious businesses. All organizations heavily invest in the human resource department. The cost of interviewing, hiring, training, developing, maintaining and retaining employees are very high. Therefore, managers at all costs must minimize employees dissatisfaction and take every step possible to reduce it. Although, there is no standard framework for understanding the employees turnover process as whole, a wide range of factors have been found useful in interpreting employee turnover (Kevin, 2004). Therefore, there is need to develop a fuller understanding of the employee turnover, more especially, the sources. What determines employee turnover, affects and strategies that managers can put in place to minimize turnover. During this weakened economic condition and heightening competition, organizations must continue to develop tangible products and provide services which are based on strategies created by employees. These employees are extremely crucial to the organization since their value to the orga nization is essentially intangible and not easily replicated. Therefore, senior managers must recognize that employees are major contributors to the efficient achievement of the organizations success (Abbasi, 2000). Managers should control employee turnover for the benefit of the organizations success. AIM Critically analyse employee motivation level in hospitality industry with a particular focus on operations management. OBJECTIVE 1. To investigate the need of motivation in hospitality industry 2. To examine the damage caused with de-motivation 3. To critically access alternatives in reducing employee turnover 4. To provide strategic evaluation for motivating operations management whilst smooth running of the business RATIONALE Several businesses now days are easily slipping into administration; it is not only several job loses but also a huge loss of efforts made by operating team to bring the business to a certain stage to employ that many employees. Truly speaking, businesses are not built solely to provide jobs and the best comfortable environment for people within the community. They are out there to make money and progress which could be any industry. The purpose of this dissertation is to focus on hospitality industry, where we need to find the root of employee turnover. It is easy for a staff at lower level to move in and out of an organisation in relation to the operating management team. What causes that to happen at first place? Do line managers not see the importance of increasing motivation during difficult times? Are management in need of motivation themselves? Are they much more worried about there own survival? So if the upper management team is satisfied, they would certainly be in a positi on to furnish their head of departments easily. Global economic condition is struggling and has to face continues challenges with competitions growing. It cannot be right for a profit organisation to just vanish with small bumps of recession. Of course, both employee and business are affected with these downfalls. A need has aroused to look into this matter because as its a fact that turnover has always been one of the high business expenses, thus at the time of recession as the economic conditions are not stable, businesses should do something to beat this cost in hand. Motivation is the cure that spurns employees eagerness to work without pressure. To say that nobody can motivate a team employee at work is like saying there are no influential leaders, there are no effective managers, there are no motivational speakers, the psychologists in sports management teams are useless and that motivation is not achievable. Motivation has been used by effective managers to prompt ordinary people to achieve uncommon results in all fields of endeavours. LITERATURE REVIEW Vast amount of literature is available in how to motivate your employee, and it would be applicable in the real world around. Simple definition of Motivation by Lindner, J. R. (1998) can be as â€Å"the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals.† Understanding what motivated employees and how they were motivated was the focus of many researchers following the publication of the Hawthorne Study results (Terpstra, 1979). Five major approaches that have led to the understanding of motivation are Maslows need-hierarchy theory, Herzbergs two- factor theory, Vrooms expectancy theory, Adams equity theory, and Skinners reinforcement theory. According to Maslow, employees have five levels of needs (Maslow, 1943): physiological, safety, social, ego, and self- actualizing. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. Herzbergs work categorized motivation into two factors: motivators and hygienes (Herzberg, Mausner, Snyderman, 1959). Motivator or intrinsic factors, such as achievement and recognition, produce job satisfaction. Hygiene or extrinsic factors, such as pay and job security, produce job dissatisfaction. Vrooms theory is based on the belief that employee effort will lead to performance and performance will lead to rewards (Vroom, 1964). Rewards may be either positive or negative. The more positive the reward the more likely the employee will be highly motivated. Conversely, the more negative the reward the less likely the employee will be motivated. Adams theory states that employees strive for equity between themselves and other workers. Equ ity is achieved when the ratio of employee outcomes over inputs is equal to other employee outcomes over inputs (Adams, 1965). Skinners theory simply states those employees behaviours that lead to positive outcomes will be repeated and behaviours that lead to negative outcomes will not be repeated (Skinner, 1953). Managers should positively reinforce employee behaviours that lead to positive outcomes. Managers should negatively reinforce employee behaviour that leads to negative outcomes. Motivation defined by some of the authors is the psychological process that gives behaviour purpose and direction (Kreitner, 1995); a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific, unmet needs (Buford, Bedeian, Lindner, 1995); an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994); and the will to achieve (Bedeian, 1993); and also more. Employee turnover is the rotation of workers around the labour market; between firms, jobs and occupations; and between the states of employment and unemployment (Abassi et al. 2000). Whereas the term â€Å"turnover† defined by (Price (1977) as: the ratio of the number of organizational members who have left during the period being considered divided by the average number of people in that organization during the period. Frequently, managers refer to turnover as the entire process associated with filling a vacancy: Each time a position is vacated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, a new employee must be hired and trained. This replacement cycle is known as turnover (Woods, 1995). This term is also often utilized in efforts to measure relationships of employees in an organization as they leave, regardless of reason. â€Å"Unfolding model† of voluntary turnover represents a divergence from traditional thinking (Hom and (Griffeth, 1995) by focusing more on the decisiona l aspect of employee turnover, in other words, showing instances of voluntary turnover as decisions to quit. Indeed, the model is based on a theory of decision making, image theory (Beach, 1990). The image theory describes the process of how individuals process information during decision making. The underlying premise of the model is that people leave organizations after they have analyzed the reasons for quitting. (Beach, 1990) argues that individuals seldom have the cognitive resources to systematically evaluate all incoming information, so individuals instead, simply and quickly compare incoming information to more heuristic type of decision making alternatives or a more rule of thumb type of decision making. Most researchers (Bluedorn, 1982; Kalliath and Beck, 2001; Kramer, 1995; Peters., 1981; Saks, 1996) have attempted to answer the question of what determines peoples intention to quit by investigating possible antecedents of employees intentions to quit. To date, there has been little consistency in findings, which is partly due to the diversity of employees included by the researchers and the lack of consistency in their findings. Therefore, there are several reasons why people quit from one organization to another or why people leave organization. The experience of job related stress (job stress), the range factors that lead to job related stress (Stressors), lack of commitment in the organization; and job dissatisfaction results in employees deciding to quit (Firth et al. 2004). This evidently indicates that these are individual decisions that cause employees to quit their jobs. They are other factors like personal agency refers to concepts such as a sense of powerlessness, locus o f control and personal control. Locus control refers to the extent to which people believe that the external factors such as chance and other powerful people are in control of the events which influence their lives Firth et al. (2004). (Manu (2004) argue that employees quit from organization due economic reasons. Using economic model they showed that people quit from organization due to economic reasons and these can be used to predict the labour turnover in the market. Good local labour market conditions improve organizational stability (Schervish, 1983). Large organizations can provide employees with better chances for progression and higher wages and hence ensure loyalty towards the organization (Idson and Feaster 1990). Trevor (2001) argues that local unemployment rates interact with job satisfaction to predict turnover in the market. Role stressors also lead to employees turnover. Role ambiguity refers to the difference between what people expect of us on the job and what we fe el we should do. This uncertainty is usually caused due to inadequate and blurred communication, As a result, it causes uncertainty about what our role should be. It can be a result of misunderstanding what is expected, how to meet the expectations, or the employee thinking the job should be different (Kahn et al. Muchinsky, 1990). Insufficient information on how to perform the job adequately, unclear expectations of peers and supervisors, ambiguity of performance evaluation methods, extensive job pressures, and lack of consensus on job functions or duties may cause employees to feel less involved and less satisfied with their jobs and careers, less committed to their organizations, and eventually display a propensity to leave the organization. If roles of employees are not clearly spelled out by management and supervisors, it would accelerate the degree of employees quitting their jobs due to lack of role clarity. And that is what happens at the lower level of the Bus organisation. Voluntarily vs. involuntary turnover There are some factors that are, in part, beyond the control of management, such as the unforeseen event of death of an employee or incapacity of a member of staff. Other factors have been classed as involuntary turnover in the past such as the need to provide care for children or aged relatives. Today such factors should not be seen as involuntary turnover as both government regulation and company policies create the chance for such staff to come back to work, or to continue to work on a more flexible basis (Simon, 2007). Organizational factors Organizational instability is one of the leading factors of a high degree of employee turnover. Indications are that employees are more likely to stay when there is a predictable work environment and vice versa (Zuber, 2001). Moreover, In organizations where there was a high level of inefficiency there was also a high level of staff turnover (Alexander 1994). Therefore, in situations where organizations are not stable employees tend to quit and look for stable organizations because stable organizations enable the employees to predict their career advancement. The imposition of a quantitative approach to managing the employees led to disenchantment of staff and hence it leads to labour turnover. Therefore senior management should not use quantitative approach in managing its employees. Adopting a cost oriented approach to employment costs increases labour turnover (Simon, 2007). All these approaches should be avoided if managers want to minimize employee turnover an increase organizational competitiveness in this environment of economic downturn. Employees have a strong need to be informed. Organization with strong communication systems enjoyed lower turnover of staff (Labov, 1997). Employees feel comfortable to stay longer, in positions where they are involved in some level of the decision-making process. That is employees should fully understand about issues that affect their working atmosphere (Magner, 1996). But in the absence of sharing information, employee empowerment the chances of continuity of employees are minimal. (Costly, 1987) points out that a high labour turnover may mean poor personnel policies, poor recruitment policies, poor supervisory practices, poor grievance procedures, or lack of motivation. All these factors contribute to high employee turnover in the sense that there is no proper management practices and policies on personnel matter s hence employees are not recruited scientifically, promotions of employees are not based on spelled out policies, no grievance procedures are in place and thus employees decides to quit. (Griffeth, 2000) noted that pay and pay-related variables have a modest effect on turnover. Their analysis also included studies that examined the relationship between pay, a persons performance and turnover. They concluded that when high performers are insufficiently rewarded, they quit. If jobs provide adequate financial incentives the more likely employees remain with organization and vice versa. There are also other factors which make employees to quit from organizations and these are poor hiring practices, managerial style and lack of recognition, lack of competitive compensation system in the organization (Abassi, 2000). Effects of employee turnover Employee turnover could be very expensive from the organizations point of view, and affects could be more during the hard-hitting period of recession. There are mainly two factors that effect employee turnover. Voluntary quits which represents a mass departure of human capital investment from organizations and the following replacement process entails manifold costs to the organizations (Fair, 1992). The replacement costs would include, search of the external labour market for a possible substitute, selection between competing substitutes, induction of the chosen substitute, and formal and informal training of the substitute until he or she attains performance levels equivalent to the individual who quit (John, 2000). In addition to these replacement costs, output would be affected to some extend or output would be maintained at the cost of overtime payment. The reason so much attention has been paid to the issue of turnover is because turnover has very significant effects on organiz ations (DeMicco and Giridharan, 1987; Dyke and Strick, 1990; Cantrell and Saranakhsh, 1991; Denvir and Mcmahon, 1992).Many researchers argue that high turnover rates might have negative effects on the profitability of organizations if not managed properly. Moreover, turnover can play a key role in de-motivating employees, resulting in low productivity, inefficient output and therefore loss. Turnover has many hidden or invisible costs (Philips, 1990) and these invisible costs are result of incoming employees, co-workers closely associated with incoming employees, co-workers closely associated with departing employees and position being filled while vacant. And all these affect the profitability of the organization. On the other hand turnover also affects customer service and satisfaction (Kemal, 2002).Catherine (2002) argue that turnover include other costs, such as lost productivity, lost sales, and managements time, estimate the turnover costs of an hourly employee to be US $3,000 to $10,000 each. This clearly demonstrates that turnover affects the profitability of the organization and if its not managed properly it would have the negative effect on the profit. Research estimates indicate that hiring and training a replacement worker for a lost employee costs approximately 50 percent of the workers annual salary (Johnson, 2000) but the costs do not break off there. Eac h time an employee leaves the firm, we presume that productivity drops due to the learning curve involved in understanding the job and the organization. Furthermore, the loss of intellectual capital adds to this cost, since not only do organizations lose the human capital and relational capital of the departing employee, but also competitors are potentially gaining these assets (Meaghan, 2002). Therefore, if employee turnover is not managed properly it would affect the organization adversely in terms of personnel costs and in the long run it would affect its liquidity position. However, voluntary turnover incurs significant cost, both in terms of direct costs (replacement, recruitment and selection, temporary staff, management time), and also and perhaps more significantly in terms of indirect costs (morale, pressure on remaining staff, costs of learning, product/service quality, and the loss of social capital (Dess, 2001). Cost of turnover One simple method to calculate the turnover rate of any business is to divide the number of employees who have left the organization within a year, by the total number of employees who work for that company in the same year. Lets say there were 100 employees at the beginning of the year, and 100 employees at the end of the year, and at the end of the year, 84 of those employees were the same ones as were there the previous year. You might say that the turnover rate was 16%. = 16% But suppose one of those 16 who left was actually replaced three times. The employee quit in January, the replacement quit in April, and another person was hired who lasted only until November. Then you might want to count every time an employee left the company and another one was hired in this case youd get 18%. Another complication: suppose the work force is 100 at the beginning and 90 at the end of the year. Perhaps 16 people have left, but only 6 have been hired during the year, while 2 more were hired and retired within the same year. You might define turnover as 18/100 or as 18/90, or as 18/95, since 95 is the average of 90 and 100. Instead of 95, you might want to do a fancier average, where you actually add up the number of employees on each day of the year, and divide the total by 365. Strategies to minimize employee turnover Strategies on how to minimize employee turnover, confronted with problems of employee turnover, management has several policy options like changing (or improving existing) policies towards recruitment, selection, induction, training, job design and wage payment. Policy choice, however, must be appropriate to the precise diagnosis of the problem. Employee turnover attributable to poor selection procedures, for example, is unlikely to improve were the policy modification to focus exclusively on the induction process. Equally, employee turnover attributable to wage rates which produce earnings that are not competitive with other firms in the local labour market is unlikely to decrease were the policy adjustment merely to enhance the organizations provision of on-the job training opportunities. Given that there is increase in direct and indirect costs of labour turnover, therefore, management are frequently exhorted to identify the reasons why people leave organizations so that appropria te action is taken by the management. Hence, accurate analysis of the cause of turnover is vital to implement the necessary strategy. Extensive research has shown that the following categories of human capital management factors provides a core set of measures that senior management can use to increase the effectiveness of their investment in people and improve overall corporate performance of business: Employee engagement, the organizations capacity to engage, retain, and optimize the value of its employees hinges on how well jobs are designed, how employees time is used, and the commitment and support that is shown to employees by the management would motivate employees to stay in organizations. Knowledge accessibility, the extent of the organizations collaboration and its capacity for making knowledge and ideas widely available to employees, would motivate employees to stay in the organization. Sharing of information should be made at all levels of management. This accessibility of information would lead to strong performance from the employees and creating strong corporate culture (Meaghan, 2002). Therefore; in formation accessibility would make employees feel that they are appreciated for their effort and chances of leaving the organization are minimal. Workforce optimization, the organizations success in optimizing the performance of the employees by establishing essential processes for getting work done, providing good working conditions, establishing accountability and making good hiring choices would retain employees in their organization. The importance of gaining better understanding of the factors related to recruitment, motivation and retention of employees is further underscored by rising personnel costs and high rates of employee turnover (Badawy, 1988; Basta and Johnson, 1989; Garden, 1989; Parden, 1981; Sherman, 1986). With increased competitiveness during recession, managers in many organizations are experiencing greater pressure from top management to improve recruitment, selection, training, and retention of good employees and in the long run would encourage employees to st ay in organizations. Job involvement describes an individuals ego involvement with work and indicates the extent to which an individual identifies psychologically with his/her job (Kanungo, 1982). Involvement in terms of internalizing values about the goodness or the importance of work motivated employees not to quit their jobs and these involvements are related to task characteristics. Workers who have a greater variety of tasks tend to stay with the job. Task characteristics have been found to be potential determinants of turnover among employees (Couger, 1988; Couger and Kawasaki, 1980; Garden, 1989; Goldstein and Rockart, 1984). These include the five core job characteristics identified by (Hackman and Oldham (1975, 1980): skill variety, which refers to the opportunity to utilize a variety of valued skills and talents on the job; task identity, or the extent to which a job requires completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work that is, doing a job from beginning to end, with visible results; task significance, which reflects the extent to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives or work of other people, whether within or outside the organization; job autonomy, or the extent to which the job provides freedom, independence, and discretion in scheduling work and determining procedures that the job provides; and job feedback, which refers to the extent to which the job provides information about the effectiveness of ones performance (Tor, 1997). Involvement would influence job satisfaction and increase organizational commitment of the employees. Employees who are more involved in their jobs are more satisfied with their jobs and more committed to their organization (Blau and Boal, 1989; Brooke and Price, 1989; Brooke et al., 1988; Kanungo, 1982). Job involvement has also been found to be negatively related to turnover intentions (Blat and Boal, 1989). Job satisfaction, career satisfaction, and organizational commitment reflect a positive attitude towards the organization, thus having a direct influence on employee turnover intentions. Job satisfaction, job involvement and organizational commitment are considered to be related but distinguishable attitudes (Brooke and Price, 1989). Satisfaction represents an effective response to specific aspects of the job or career and denotes the pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from an appraisal of ones job or career (Locke, 1976; Porter, 1974; Williams and Hazer, 1986).Organizational commitment is an effective response to the whole organization and the degree of attachme nt or loyalty employees feel towards the organization. Job involvement represents the extent to which employees are absorbed in or preoccupied with their jobs and the extent to which an individual identifies with his/her job (Brooke, 1988).The degree of commitment and loyalty can be achieved if management they enrich the jobs, empower and compensate employees properly. Empowerment of employees could help to enhance the continuity of employees in organizations. Empowered employees where managers supervise more people than in a traditional hierarchy and delegate more decisions to their subordinates (Malone, 1997). Managers act like coaches and help employees solve problems. Employees, he concludes, have increased responsibility. Superiors empowering subordinates by delegating responsibilities to them leads to subordinates who are more satisfied with their leaders and consider them to be fair and in turn to perform up to the superiors expectations (Keller and Dansereau, 1995). All thes e factors ensure employees commitment towards the organization and chances of quitting are minimal. Strategic guidelines for motivating staff whilst smooth running of the business When the economy is on a slippery slope and when spirits are down, how do managers pick themselves and others up, so that they can meet the ongoing challenges? Hotels still have to operate, and services still need to be provided by employees who are working harder than ever before just so that their organization can survive. Therefore companies need to have some strategic policies to deal with employee motivation during hard times. Lend a listening ear Now, more than ever before, the manager needs to listen to what employees are saying, not only to what may seem to be the surface issues, but also to the underlying issues. Roxanne Emmerich, President of The Emmerich Group, stated in an article for the Indiana Bankers Association that, â€Å"Guilt, fear, paranoia—as well as a few other destructive emotions—can freeze peoples performance during tough times. The natural response is for a leader to click his or her heels with the hopes of ending up in Kansas. Denial is the natural response when things get tough, but many leaders never move beyond that. The thought of talking about feelings openly sends shivers down the spines of many managers, and ignoring these emotions only causes greater challenges.† In the November 7, 2008, issue of The Wall Street Journal, Jim Harter co-author of â€Å"72; The Elements of Great Managing† and a researcher with Gallup, stated in an interview about motivation that, â€Å"O rganizations have to put more attention into it. They have to communicate more.† Hence if we wish to motivate the staff during tough times, managers need to communicate more, not less. Be an advocate rather than an adversary Brian Mclvor, author of â€Å"Career Detection: Funding and Managing Your Career† stated in an interview published in the The Irish Times, on February 9, 2009, â€Å"You need to be honest and realistic with people organizations are changing all bets are off.† However, while discussions with employees may have to be framed against that background, news doesnt have to be all gloom and doom. Managers need to be advocates for their organizations and realistic about opportunities within the organization. The manager should be an advocate for the future rather than an adversary against the future, which can be an un-stabilizing influence in the organization. Emmerich states, â€Å"Lead your people to the understanding that even during the darkest of times, many do well, and you intend to be one of those. Your team needs to shift out of their doomsday story and into one of possibilities. When people say We cant because, the broken record response needs to be, Well, how CAN we ?â€Å" Therefore, be an advocate for the vision rather than an adversary against the vision. Look for the silver lining In the February 27, 2009 issue of Business Week, there is an interesting article by Patricia OConnell. The article discusses a first look at a recent Accenture survey that reveals that women and men feel they have more to offer their employers. OConnell states, â€Å"Managers looking for an edge amid a dismal economy, likely hiring freezes, and even staff cuts may have a hidden resource—their own underutilized staff. According to a winter 2008 Accenture survey, 46 percent of women and 49 percent of men worldwide believe they are insufficiently challenged in their jobs.† This affords unique opportunities to organizations that will reap possible benefits for employees as well as employers. This may be a time to review the opportunities and challenges of an organization and how the skill sets of individual employees may be used to enrich jobs and the workplace. Armelle Carminati, Managing Director of Human Capital and Diversity at Accenture, stated, â€Å"Companies should shy away from the one size- fits-all approach with workers The art of tailoring a career offering is the new space where employers have to go and will be the key to both employees and employers success.† As time gets tighter and the work force slimmer, this presents a unique opportunity for employers and employees to sit down as a team and evaluate the possibilities for the future. It is amazing the skill sets and aptitudes that may be uncovered when people are challenged to rise to the occasion. When things go downhill, up-skill â€Å"Up-skill† is a term used in The Irish Times article cited earlier that basically encourages coordinated training during tight economic times. For companies to survive and for employees to retain their jobs, it