Bipolar Disorder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Bipolar Disorder - Essay Example However, with new technology and research, there are many new opinions about the treatment of the disorder and the prognosis for those who are suffering. The purpose of this paper is to explore the prognosis for those with bipolar and how this links to research on causes and treatment. As shown below, it is evident that there are a huge number of treatment options for those with bipolar disorder and this means that the prognosis for many with the illness is positive and can be long-lasting. To understand the prognosis for people with bipolar disorder, it is interesting to consider what the disease is and how it affects those who have it. As outlined above, it is a rollercoaster of highs and lows which can be spaced far apart or can happen in a matter of hours or even minutes. In her book Bipolar Disorder, Judith Peacock states that people "who have bipolar disorder experience extreme changes in mood, energy and behaviour" and that sufferers "cannot control their mood changes" (Peacoc k, 2000, p6). This just shows that it is a difficult disease to deal with and that it cannot be controlled without help. It can obviously often be frightening for sufferers as their mood changes without them knowing why. However, it is important to note that help can be found from many different places. Peacock (2000) goes on to explain many of the treatment options for bipolar disorder. These can be based upon therapy or controlling the symptoms using drugs, both of which will be explored later. However, it is important to note the word control here. It is stated that bipolar disorder "cannot be cured, but the symptoms can be controlled. People with bipolar disorder can learn to manage their illness" (Peacock, 2000, p52). This is interesting because most people think that a good prognosis for a disease is one where it can be completely cured, but it is important to note that bipolar disorder is more complicated than some purely physical diseases. There are a number of different thi ngs to consider. In this case, it is important to note that it can be managed and that it is a learning process. In their book Bipolar Disorders: Clinical Course and Outcome, Joseph F. Goldberg and Martin Harrow explore in more detail the different types of treatment for bipolar and how this leads to a positive outcome. One of the most important drugs in treating patients with bipolar is lithium. In the book, physicians are described as regarding "lithium as the standard of care for the long-term management of bipolar disorders, expecting a marked improvement in up to 70% of cases" (Goldberg & Harrow, 1999, p3). Lithium is often used alongside therapy, which means that it can contribute to a good prognosis in much more than 70% of cases, but some people may need extra help. Evidently, a huge number of people can rely on lithium to control their symptoms. However, there are some people who cannot rely on lithium alone. Goldberg & Harrow (1999) also go onto explain that the prognosis for people with some types of bipolar might be even better than 70% and may not need controlling permanently. This can happen for women who experience bipolar disorder after they have given birth or during pregnancy. These types of cases can often lead to a huge improvement with short-term treatment. Also, the book notes that one study showed

Affect of Women in Advertisement Essay Example for Free

Affect of Women in Advertisement Essay Abstract Due to advertisement clutter in the 21st century customers are exposed to a variety of advertising appeals that aims to influence their attitudes towards a wide range of products and services. Many companies worldwide are using women as an object to attract and influence consumers’ attitudes towa rds the products they sell. Women appear in huge number of advertisement as a sexual object or as attractive decorative model standing nearby a product, even when the sexual image has little relevance to the advertised product. This article looks at Jordan ian male consumers’ attitude towards using women in advertisement. Results reveals four factors tend to influence consumer attitude towards using women in advertisement. Culture, control, and emotion were found to have a significant influence on consumer attitude towards using women in advertisement, while there was no significant influence for women appearance on consumer attitude towards using women in advertisement. In general Jordanian male consumers’ were opposed to exposing, exploiting and objectifying the woman and her body in advertisement. Introduction Research on advertisement featuring sex role focused on how content and imagery affect cognitive responses and attitude toward the advertisement, which in turn affect attitude toward the brand and purchase intention (Jaffe, 1994; Leigh and Whitney, 1987). Attitude toward advertising can be defined in general as learned tendencies to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner to advertising in general (Lutz, 1985; Mackenzie and Lutz, 1989). The link between attitudes, intentions and behavior has been explained primarily by Ajzen (1985, 1988), Ajzen and Fishbein (1980). This theory is based on the assumption that human beings usually behave in a sensible manners where they will take into account information available to them and consider the consequences of their actions. Thus people are expected to act in accordance with their intentions. The personal factor is the attitude toward the behavior, which is the individual‟s positive or negat ive evaluation of performing the behavior of interest. Whereas the social determinant of intention is the person‟s perception of social pressure to perform the behavior under consideration. People generally intend to perform a behavior when they evaluate it positively and belief that important others think they should perform it. Advertisements perceived as contentious will not be effective in capturing the attention of people or changing their attitudes towards the advertised products (Michell and Al-Mossawi, 1995). Based on that, it‟s very essential to choose the appropriate advertisement strategies employed in advertising which range from informational to emotional. Among those designed to stir emotions or rouse particular feelings, we can find fear, humor, warmth, novelty, contrast, animation, music, and sexual arousal. According to Reichert et. al. (2001) sex appeal advertising invokes any message, which, whether as brand information in advertising contexts or as persuasive appeals in marketing contexts, is associated with sexual information. It has long been an accepted belief that this form of advertising is very effective at attention-grabbing, considered by some commentators as a powerful step in reaching one‟s target market, especially in the current clutter of 21st century marketing and communications (Reichert Lambiase, 2003). Sexual economics theory (SET) is a stimulating theory about sexuality that combines the idea of gender differences in sexual attitudes with social exchange theory, which S precher, (1989) conceptualize as two or more parties that each give up something with the aim of getting back something of greater value. Much research suggests that sex as an end in itself is less valued by women than men (Baummeister et al., 2001). Ther efore, sexual economics theory posits that women possess substantially greater negotiating power than do men in the context of a sexual exchange. Based on this theory, the current study will focus on men and the way women are used to persuade them in adver tisement to influence their attitudes. Using women in advertisement as a sexual appeal has transferred women to a marketing instrument by many firms. Women are used as a material mostly in advertisements (Bayraktar, 2011). In many advertisements, the ideal woman is an object that exists to satisfy men‟s sexual desires. Many researchers have shown that women in advertisements are portrayed as sex objects (Baker, 2005). Advertisers feature provocative images of sexually attractive women in ads (Reichert, 2 002). Sexual appeals in advertisements consist of a variety of elements models. Courtney and Whipple (1983) describes sexuality in advertisements as sexuality in the form of nudity, sexual imagery, innuendo, and double entendre used as an ad object for dif ferent kinds of products. Reichert (2002) reveals that common forms of sexuality in ads includes nudity (dress), physical attractiveness, seductive behavior and interaction, innuendo, and other factors such as setting, context and camera effects. While Lambiase and Reichert (2003) propose that there are five types of sexual content in ads: Nudity, sexual behavior, physical attractiveness, sexual referents, and sexual embeds. Ramirez and Reichert (2000) propose that viewers consider physical characteristics the most sexual in ads and the sub-categories of these characteristics are clothing, attractiveness and body. Table 1 shows the categories of women appearance in advertisements and their meanings in USA. It‟s noteworthy to say that women misrepresentation in advertisement is a world wide phenomenon. In India, for example, Bag and Roy (2010) bring up various reasons behind unaccept ed representation of women in advertisement, such as poverty where still a number of women, particularly young girls with intolerable economic misery compelled to represent themselves in different forms of uncultured version for survival. To the contrary some rich womens do it as a hobby, just to get mental or psychological satisfaction through modeling, front page sensational attraction in different popular magazines. Globalization is another factor responsible for misrepresentation of women in advertisement. Being attracted to western culture, teenager girls have been adopting western style in their garments and manners and hence, they have been losing their own culture and tradition, social values and moral character. Consumerism, which tries hard to inc rease the consumption of people, is another cause of such unaccepted representation. Much consumption means much economic profit which a group of people highly want. Profit maximization has escalated the introduction of women in a number of advertisements of different companies in television, magazine, T.V., Cinema, Newspaper, Cartoons, painting and even in the Internet to attract customers from different age groups. The different types of women representation in advertisement are presented below. Representation through Television- There is a lot of representation of women in advertisement through T.V. which affect common people and children adversely. It is obvious that visual indecent representation of them has been perverting psychologically all youth. Representation through Newspaper- Newspaper is another source of representation in indecent manner. Readers from almost all age group are intensely influenced while observing and reading those undesirable advertisements. Representation through Magazine- Similar examples will be cited in several advertisements in several reputed magazines where the honor of women have not only been despoiled simultaneously people are being psychologically endangered. But interestingly, by virtue of human instinct, neither presenter nor consumer is realizing its adverse impact. Other forms of Representation- There are other forms of uncultured representation which we can find rarely but have both internal and external effects on common people. Despite fewer in number, such representations are noticed in different sorts of paintings, hoarding hanging or fixed in cities and towns, and even displayed in Internet. Painting of undesirable quality is often displayed in cinema hall for greater publicity. Similarly, a lot of painters draw naked or half naked figures, which may have inner good meaning, but it is a matter of question how many people are finding that inner good meaning and how many are taking those adversely. Research Problem and Significance Very few studies tries to explain the influence of using women in advertisement based on cultural factors. Researchers have either concentrated on or compared dissimilar cultures, such as the U.S and Japan or they have focused on similarities or differences on similar cultur es, such as Great Britain and Australia (Al-Olayan and Karande, 2000). Many researches explain ads by using Hofstede‟s cultural dimensions or Hall‟s high and low typology and other country specific variables. Culture dominates communications, such as langu age, traditions, beliefs and music (Al-Olayan, Karande, 2000). Therefore, the main motivation behind this article is to identify the influence of using women in advertisement on male consumers‟ attitude in Jordan. This study is conducted in a Muslim country where Shariah (Islamic Law) prohibit the use of sexual appearance or body in a way to attract or convince consumers with company products, brands or services. This study is significant for the reason that there is no any study has been done in this field regarding this issue. Another reason for doing this study is to increase our understanding of the Arab societies, and in this case Jordan. Research Objectives The objectives of this research are: 1) To identify the factors that may affect male Jordanian consumers‟ attitude towards using women in advertisement 2) To examine consumers overall attitude towards using sexy women in advertisement Theoretical Background Culture and Advertisement Marketers need to observe the cultural traits, environments, norms, beliefs, and values of a particular country or region to obtain an understanding of whether their future behaviors will be perceived as ethical (Haque et al., 2010). For example, companies advertising their products or services in different countries should be aware of a country‟s existing norms concerning role portrayals and the way these organizations affect these norms (Gilly, 1988). Clow and Baack (2009) maintained that culture, religion and value system determine the levels of nudity, sexual references, and gender specific issues that are permitted in a country. Several differences have also been recognized across countries for men and women appear in different settings and for different products. Women are more likely to be portrayed in domestic environment as sex objects, while men are more likely to be portrayed being occupied. In Sweden, for example advertisers show men and women in greater variety of nonworking roles than in the U.S.A and Germany and women in Asian countries are less likely to be shown as sex objects (Das, 2000). Since in many Middle Eastern countries, sex and gender issues are taboo subjects, sexual appeals are not used in advertising and even sexually related products are difficult to advertise (Bryant, 1998). Muslim nations tend to reject any kind of nudity and any reference to sexuality and other gender -related issues. Any hint of sexuality or display of the female body is strictly forbidden. In Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, women must be shown in family settings. They cannot be depicted as being carefree or desirable to the opposite sex. Marlin (2008) conduct a study on how culture affects advertisement, he used an advertisement showing a sexy picture for Paris Hilton, the famous model wearing a bikini and asked respondents to writ e their reactions. About 27% had positive reactions, 45% had negative reactions and 28% were indifferent. For this advertisement some respondents were confused whether it is an advertisement for a burger or for a car. The results show that different cultures imply different reactions, some of the comments the respondents wrote were: †¢ Unrealistic, bizarre (German respondent) †¢ It is not about the product, they are selling a lifestyle (Iranian respondent) †¢ Nice, interesting (French respondent) †¢ Too much naked skin (1 Ethiopian and 1 Swedish respondent) †¢ I am discussed, angry and feel fat (Swedish respondent) †¢ Too naked, too unrealistic (Moroccan respondent) †¢ Sexistic (Swedish respondent) †¢ Inappropriate, bad taste (French respondent) †¢ It is totally unnecessary for the object of advertising (Swedish respondent) Muslim countries are not the only ones with restrictive advertising for sex appeals. Many Christian countries such as Ireland, Spain, South Africa, Mexico and the Philippines have similar standards. 184 While in Canada, France, and Sweden, sexism should be avoided in any advertising directed toward children (Boddewyn, 1991). Based on that, understanding how religious beliefs influence the attitude towards the advertising is of great importance to international advertisers and advertising agency managers in their efforts to improve advertising effectiveness without offending or alienating their target audience. It‟s important to comprehend that Islamic social philosophy is based on the belief that all spheres of life: spiritual, social, political, and economic form an indivisible unity that must be thoroughly imbued with Islamic values. Advertisement and Women in the Muslim world The aim of this section is to give an in-depth understanding on the nature and position of women and advertisement in the Muslim world to help and benefit marketers and the advertising producers in the Muslim world to gain a profound understanding of Muslim values. As a starting point, it‟s important to note that the Holy Quran does not prohibit advertising (Al-Makaty et al., 1996). Some advertisements use religious terminology to reassure consumers of the Islamic integrity of products and services. For example, in a television advertisement, a Saudi Investment ba nk in Egypt had used religious terms to show that it had no unlawful transactions and that all of its financial products Shariah compliant. The use of selected Quranic injunctions and words can enhance the mood of the advertising communication to make it more appealing to Muslim consumers. Luqmani et al. (1989) provide an example of a manufactured water pump that uses a verse from the Quran in advertising. Although it is obviously welcome to keep in mind that the Islamic regulations related to business and marketing, appropriate implementation of precise Islamic terms is crucial. Contrary to this, a business may face unexpected troubles in gaining markets in Muslim populous areas if some how its advertisements create feelings that are inconsistent with religious sensitivities. In such a context, the most potential and contemporary issues in Islamic markets should be carefully introduced, developed, and offered through appropriate advertising and communication messages which meet the commitment of ethics as gu ided in the Islamic Shariah. For example, the Islamic system encourages moderation in living, while prodigality and waste are denounced. Costly promotional efforts and massive commercial advertisements by businesses are considered unnecessary. Producers of advertisements must make sure that their advertising campaign does not overstep any social or legal norms. Little attention has been paid on the exposure of advertisement in the Arab societies. Except from investigations in Saudi Arabian ads, there is only one study that has examined the cross-cultural differences in advertising content in other countries in the Middle East and only one study of the portrayal of Egyptian women in television commercials. Luqmani et al., (1987) study focused only on the influence of Islam on advertising content and regulation in Saudi Arabia while Michell and Al-Mossawi, (1999) study focused on message contentiousness among Gulf Co-operative Council countries, and showed that religious Muslims scored lower in terms of recall and were unfavorable towards contentious advertisements relative to lenient Muslims. The findings suggest that there is a difference in perceived controversial elements in advertisements between a devout and a lenient Muslim. These findings also highlight the importance of matching creative execution and message content to a society‟s socio-cultural environment. Michell and Al-Mossawi claim an offensive advertisement will not be effective in capturing an audience‟s attention or changing his/her attitudes. Both of these studies revealed the importance of understanding the Islamic religion in relation to effective advertising. In particular, Luqmani et al., assert that unconventional advertisements must obtain prior approval from religious authorities. While in Malaysia, Unilever‟s used an ad for Pond‟s skin lightening moisturizer showing a Malay college student using the product for a fairer complexion to attract a boy‟s attention. The ad is deemed offensive to the Muslim ethnic culture (Haque et al., 2010). In addition to the above mentioned facts, the women‟s status is debated among traditional Islamists, reformist Islamists and feminists, secular or Islamic. The traditional Islamists are clear about the male-female differences and insist on the distinct sex roles. They view women as emotional, sentimental and weak humans whose duty is in the household. The traditional Islamists take every verse in the Qur‟an as a source of protection of women and see women as minors that need to be protected by superior men. In return the woman will nurture the family and try to please her father, brother or son, or whoever may be the head of the household. The woman has a responsibility to maintain the honor, reputation and status of the family. Traditionally, a man‟s hon or depends on the extent on the virginity of his sisters, wife and daughters, and widows divorcees‟ sexual continent. 185 The Islamic reformists believe that the inferiority is only in relation to the woman‟s physical strength and weaker autonomy, thus she is capable of participating in all spheres or public and social life. Modern and liberal reformists are trying to accommodate the Islamic rules with the realities of modern times. The feminist view is a secular movement whose aim is to achieve equality for women. The roots of this movement consider the woman as totally subordinated to the man and that the veil is a symbol of this. Advertising in Jordan Jordan‟s media sector has seen significant privatization and liberalization efforts in recent years. Based on official rack rates, research firm Ipsos estimated that the advertisement sector spent some $303m towards publicity in Jordan‟s media, 80% of which was spent on newspapers, followed by TV, radio and magazines. In recent years, Jordan has also seen a spectacular rise in the number of blogs, websites and news portals as sources of news information. The increasing diversification of Jordan‟s media boosted advertising revenues and private initiatives. Recording growth of 30%, 2007 turned out to be yet another outstanding year for Jordan‟s advertising industry. Following nearly a decade of double-digit growth, the Jordanian advertising had some catching up to do with the rest of the region in terms of average expenditure per capita. Since 2000 total ad spend increased from $77m to $303m in 2008, an increase of 260%. The Jordanian telecoms sector was the biggest ad spender in 2008, accounting for around 20% of the market, followed by banking and finance sector (12%), services industry (11%), real estate (8%) and the automotive sector (5%). Research Design In order to measure Jordanian male consumers‟ attitude towards using women in advertisement , male respondents between 18-55 years were selected. The survey instrument included a list of 22 statements from which respondents were asked to indicate their level of personal acceptance on a five-point scale, where 1 means â€Å"Strongly Disagree† and 5 means â€Å"Strongly Agree†. Statements from 1 -17 was designed to measure factors affecting consumers attitude towards using women in advertisement. Most of the statements were adapted from earlier studies, for example (Al Makaty et al. 1996; Nordà ©n 2006; and Baker, C.N. 2005). While statement 18-22 were designed to measure consumers overall attitude towards advertisements. The statements were adapted from earlier studies as well such as (Usman, 2010; and Ashill, 2005). Respondents belonging to different demographic groups in terms of education level, marital status and profession were considered in the study. The sampling frame for the study was male consumers living in west of Amman. For respondents‟ selection, simple random sampling procedure was adopted. Questionnaires were filled by the respondents. The total number of respondents was 450. The responses received were 353 (80.5 per cent). Cronbach alpha reliability analysis was conducted for the items included in the study. The internal consistency Cronbach alpha value for reliability of the questionnaire was found to be 0.74. All items were well above the 0.70, which was the commonly accepted threshold (Nunnally 1978). Respondent Profile Respondents from different parts of west Amman were asked to fill in the questionnaire. Table 2 depicts a summation of the study‟s respondents‟ demographic information. As per research objectives all the respondents are male consumers. Of the 353 respondents, 79.0 per cent were less than 25 years of age. A larger number of respondents were unmarried (74.4 per cent) the maximum respondents fell into this age group, since youth is the target market and they are the ones who pay maximum attention to the advertisements. Out of the remaining sample, only 2.3 per cent were above 55 years of age. The remaining 29.5 per cent belonged to the age group of 26–55 years of age. The larger number of r espondents was unmarried (74.4 per cent), and this could be attributed to the young age of the respondent. In addition most of them 78.5 percent were with undergraduate education. The maximum respondents in the category „profession‟ belonged to the student group with a major share of 68.2 per cent and the remaining 31.8 per cent included businessmen, executives and others. The overall composition of respondents included in the study was young, unmarried and students.

Exploring Free Will and Decision Making in Albert Camus The Guest Essa

Exploring Free Will and Decision Making in Albert Camus' short story "The Guest," In Albert Camus' short story "The Guest," Camus raises numerous philosophical questions. These are: does man have free will?, are an individual's decisions affected by what society demands, expects, neither, or both?, and finally, how does moral and social obligation affect decision making? Balducci brings the Arab to Daru's door, informing Daru that "I have an order to deliver the prisoner and I'm doing so," (90) thus freeing Balducci of the responsibility over wherever the Arab ultimately ended up. Balducci didn't want the responsibility of the Arab possibly escaping, and by doing only as was expressly required of him (delivering the Arab to Daru's door and giving the orders of the Arab's destination to Daru), he was also setting the story so that any decision Daru later took was an act of Daru's alone and was not directly dependent on any other decision another man had made prior. Balducci avoids the social obligation he's supposed to feel. He should follow through on the prisoner's handling, but he doesn't have to. Balducci knows this, and decides to avoid the effort and instead justifies his leaving the Arab there by simply following his orders and not reading between the lines of the order. Daru ended up accepting the Arab, both because the prisoner was delivered to him, and because he had a sense of responsibility to the French government (or society) to at least accept him, if not deliver him to the police in Tinguit (social obligation to not let him go free, justice must be served because if it wasn't, society would turn to chaos). Daru's orders were escort the Arab there for he was "expected at police headquarters" ... ...ome men think about decisions and some just react to their environment like a glorified plant? Do all men know they have free will and understand what that means? Daru gave a choice to the Arab, was that fair for the Arab (and society) or was it an egotistical action based on what Daru thought was right, fair or just? Why did the Arab's ultimate choice depress Daru, and why did neither Balducci or Daru want to be responsible for another man? In the end the Arab really is 'the dog' of society. No decision was ever his (from the perspective of the reader and Daru), but still, how do we know if Daru is different? By answering some philosophical questions through use of characters in a vacuum, Camus raises many more questions, which is the modus opernadi of the philosopher: not to find answers, but to ask questions that will eventually have the answers inherent in them.

Natural environment Essay

It has been long debated the importance of nature verses nurture. It is hard to prove one from the other since it is shown for them both to play major roles in the development of a child to an adult. I believe that my personality is a combination of both nature and nurture but I think that I am +more nurtured. There are so many behaviors that I have developed from the environment I grew up. I have learnt to respect all people from being influenced at school and by my parents. I have also been trained to be responsible of things such as doing my work. I learnt that if I am not responsible and don’t do my work, then I must pay bad consequences. I have also learnt from experiences that if I do what I am supposed to do, I may be rewarded for good things done. My environment has influenced me in many ways to act upon certain things automatically. Things like looking both ways before crossing the street, or other things that appear to be common sense are learnt from nurture. I have gone through many experiences in which I have learnt different lessons. These lessons have taught me how to act in my life. I know that I am very different person than my mom or my dad. I don’t have very much in common with either of them. Although we do share some of the same aspects, I feel that I am more different from them than alike. I have developed the majority of my social skills from my friends and not my parents. Most of my social life revolves around my friends, who have influenced me a lot of the decisions I make and in the way I act. I don’t socialize with my parents nearly as much as I do with my peers. I don’t think I know my parents well enough to say if I am like them when they are around their friends or not. The nature and nurture of a person can vary greatly. Sometimes there are certain things that are hard to decide whether they are inherited or learnt. I might share some qualities with my parents, but they could just be characteristics that I learnt in my life that my parents also learnt in their lives too and were not inherited. I believe that genes indicate the potential for one’s behavior and personality, and that the environment helps create the extent as to how that behavior is carried out.

Importance of Grades

Importance of Grades Grading and reporting are relatively recent phenomena in education. In fact, prior to 1850, grading and reporting were virtually unknown in schools in the United States. The teacher reported student’s learning progress orally to parents, usually during visits to students' homes. As the number of students increased in the late 1800s, schools began to group students in grade levels according to their age, and new ideas about curriculum and teaching methods were tried. One of these new ideas was the use of formal progress evaluations of students' work, in which teachers wrote down the skills each student had mastered and those on which additional work was needed. This was done primarily for the students' benefit, since they were not permitted to move on to the next level until they demonstrated their mastery of the current one. It was also the earliest example of a narrative report card. In essence, grading is an exercise in professional judgment on the part of teachers. It involves the collection and evaluation of evidence on students' achievement or performance over a specified period of time, such as nine weeks, an academic semester, or entire school year. Through this process, various types of descriptive information and measures of student’s performance are converted into grades or marks that summarize students' accomplishments. Although some educators distinguish between grades and marks, most consider these terms synonymous. Both imply a set of symbols, words, or numbers that are used to designate different levels of achievement or performance. They might be letter grades such as A, B, C, D, and F; Descriptive words such as Exemplary, Satisfactory, and Needs Improvement; or numerals such as 4, 3, 2, and 1. Reporting is the process by which these judgments are communicated to parents, students, or others. However, grades do not come easy to some students. College is really a student’s last chance to get good grades and the noteworthy chance for a person to prove himself to the world. Having said that, grades are very important because they determine the length of time you spend getting your degree, the kind of job you receive, and the livelihood of your future. Continuing to get good grades is a sure way of getting your degree in a timely the working world. Maintaining a 3. 0 GPA is characteristic in being considered for the top jobs in today’ s world. Many companies are only looking for the top scholars in their academic field. You will be compensated for the amount of knowledge that you have. Good grades act as the prerequisites of your future. Therefore, it is up to you to expand with hard work, discipline, and the ability to excel. Excellence is the key to success in the 21st Century. Despite such difficulties in understanding the exact meanings of grades and the GPA, they remain important social metrics and sometimes yield heated discussions over issues such as grade inflation. Although grade inflation has many different meanings, it usually is defined by an increase in the absolute number of As and Bs over some period of years. The tacit assumption here seems to be that any continuing increase in the overall percentage of â€Å"good grades† or in the overall GPA implies a corresponding decline in academic standards. Although historically there have been periods in which the number of good grades decreased significantly. Social concerns usually only accompany the grade inflation pattern. As discussed in essay â€Å"A’s for Everyone. † By Alicia C. Shepard, James Mooney stated â€Å"Certainly there are students who are victims of grade inflation in secondary school,† said Mooney. â€Å"They come to college, and the grading system is much more rigorous. That's one of the most difficult things to convey to the students. If you're getting a B, you're doing well in a course. † When college instructors are asked about the reasons for their emphasis on grades, they report that student behaviors – such as arguing over the scoring of a single question – make it necessary for them to maintain strict and well-defined grading standards in their classrooms. What seems missing in this context is a clear recognition by both the instructor and the student that grades are best construed as a type of communication. When grades are thought about in this way, they can be used to improve learning. Only when grades are integrated into a coherent teaching and learning strategy do they serve the purpose of providing useful and {text:bookmark-start} meaningful {text:bookmark-end} feedback not only to the larger culture but to the individual student as well. Few issues have created more controversy among educators than those associated with grading and reporting student learning. Despite the many debates and multitudes of studies, however, prescriptions for best practice remain elusive. Although teachers generally try to develop grading policies that are honest and fair, strong evidence shows that their practices vary widely, even among those who teach at the same grade level within the same school. Letter grades, for example, offer parents and others a brief description of student’s achievement and the adequacy of their performance. But using letter grades requires the abstraction of a great deal of information into a single symbol. In addition, the cut-offs between grades are always arbitrary and difficult to justify. Letter grades also lack the richness of other, more detailed reporting methods such as narratives or standards-based reports. Parents often are left wondering if their child's achievement is comparable with that of other children or in line with the teacher's expectations. Nowadays Parents are more concerned with the grades as mentioned by Alicia Shepard in the essay, â€Å"There's a term for the legions of parents like me. The parents who make sure to get the teacher's e-mail and home phone number on Back to School Night. The kind who e-mail teachers when their child fails a quiz. The kind who apply the same determination to making sure their child excels academically that they apply to the professional world. We are called â€Å"helicopter parents† because we hover over everything our kids do like Secret Service agents guarding the president. †Most students view high grades as positive recognition of their success, and some work hard to avoid the consequences of low grades. Although educators would undoubtedly prefer that motivation to learn be entirely intrinsic, the existence of grades and other reporting methods are important factors in determining how much effort students put forth. No single grading method adequately serves all purposes, schools must first identify their primary purpose for grading, and then select or develop the most appropriate approach. This process involves the difficult task of seeking consensus among diverse groups of stakeholders. The issues of grading and reporting on student learning continue to challenge educators. However, more is known at the beginning of the twenty-first century than ever before about the complexities involved and how certain practices can influence teaching and learning. To develop grading and reporting practices that provides quality information about student learning requires clear thinking, careful planning, excellent communication skills, and an overriding concern for the well-being of students. Combining these skills with current knowledge on effective practice will surely result in more efficient and more effective grading and reporting practices. Shepard, Alicia. â€Å"A’s for Everyone. † The Contemporary Reader. 9th ed. Ed. Gary Gosggarian. New York: Pearson, 2008. 417-422.

votingwhy should we essays

votingwhy should we essays Why should Americans exercise their right to vote? Why should we vote? Is it really worth our time? The answer is YES. People say that one vote wont change the outcome, but take a look at Florida! Right now, the election of our president is in the people of Floridas hands. [Your] one vote is very important. Many people take voting for granted. You see? By voting, here in Oklahoma, we are really choosing eight representatives to go to the electoral colleges in December. Those same eight people are also the people from our beloved state that are in the House of Representatives. In December, they [the representatives you chose] will vote for a president. Their votes are called electoral votes. They are based on the popular votes. When you go to the poles to vote for a president, and the ballots are totaled up those are called the popular votes. My personal opinion is that the popular votes should determine the winner. Right now, just because a candidate has more popular votes doesnt necessarily mean that they have more electoral votes. The number of electoral votes each state has is determined by that states population. The larger the population, the more electoral votes. In the election that is taking place right now, Al Gore is winning in electoral votes, but, over half of the states voted for George Bush. How is that possible you ask? Because Gore took most of the larger populated states. Now, say you lived in California. That state has 54 electoral votes. What if only half the population of registered voters actually went to vote? Lets say the majority of them voted for Bush, but he only won by one vote. That states electoral votes would be Bushs, and in conclusion, Bush would be president. So, think about this again, does your vote really ...

The Mysterious Moon of Makemake

The Mysterious Moon of Makemake As weve explored in other stories, the outer solar system is really the new frontier of space exploration. This region, also called​  the Kuiper Belt, is populated with many icy, distant and small worlds that were once completely unknown to us. Pluto is the largest among them known (so far), and was visited in 2015 by the New Horizons mission.   The Hubble Space Telescope has the visual acuity to make out tiny worlds in the Kuiper Belt. For example, it resolved the moons of Pluto, which are very small. In its exploration of the Kuiper Belt, HST spotted a moon orbiting a world smaller than Pluto called Makemake. Makemake was discovered in 2005 via ground-based observations and is one of five known dwarf planets in the solar system. Its name comes from the natives of Easter Island, who saw Makemake as the creator of humanity and a god of fertility. Makemake was discovered shortly after Easter, and so the discoverers wanted to use a name in keeping with the word. The moon of Makemake is called MK 2, and it covers a pretty wide orbit around its parent body. Hubble spotted this little moon as it was about 13,000 miles away from Makemake. The world Makemake itself is only about 1434 kilometers (870 miles) wide and was discovered in 2005 via ground-based observations, and then further observed with HST. MK2 is perhaps only 161 kilometers (100 miles) across, so finding this tiny little world around a small dwarf planet was quite an accomplishment. What Does Makemakes Moon Tell us? When Hubble and other telescopes discover worlds in the distant solar system, they deliver a treasure trove of data to planetary scientists. At Makemake, for example, they can measure the length of the moons orbit. That allows researchers to calculate MK 2s orbit. As they find more moons around Kuiper Belt objects, planetary scientists can make some assumptions about the likelihood of other worlds having satellites of their own. In addition, as scientists study MK 2 in greater detail, they can figure out more about its density. That is, they can determine whether its made of rock or a rock-ice mix, or is an all-ice body. In addition, the shape of MK 2s orbit will tell them something about where this moon came from, that is, was it captured by Makemake, or did it form in place? Its history is likely very ancient, dating back to the origin of the solar system. Whatever we learn about this moon will also tell us something about conditions in the early epochs of solar system history, whe n worlds were forming and migrating.    Whats It Like on This Distant Moon? We dont really know all the details of this very distant moon, yet. It will take years of observations to nail down its atmospheric and surface compositions. Although planetary scientists dont have an actual picture of the surface of MK 2, they know enough to present us with an artists concept of what it might look like. It appears to have a very dark surface, likely due to discoloration by ultraviolet from the Sun and loss of bright, icy material to space. That little factoid comes NOT from a direct observation, but from an interesting side-effect of observing Makemake itself. Planetary scientists studied Makemake in infrared light and kept seeing a few areas that seemed warmer than they should be. It turns out what they may have been seeing as dark warmer patches were likely the dark-colored moon itself.   The realm of the outer solar system and the worlds it contains have a lot of hidden information about what conditions were like when the planets and moons were forming. Thats because this region of space is a veritable deep-freeze. It preserves ancient ices in much the same state they were when they formed during the birth of the Sun and planets.   Yet, that doesnt mean things dont change out there. On the contrary; there is plenty of change in the Kuiper Belt. On some worlds, such as Pluto, there ARE processes that heat and change the surface. That means that worlds DO change in ways that scientists are just beginning to understand. No longer does the term frozen wasteland mean that the region is dead. It simply means that temperatures and pressures out in the Kuiper Belt result in very different-looking and behaving worlds. Studying the Kuiper Belt is an ongoing process. There are many, many worlds out there to find- and eventually explore. Hubble Space Telescope, as well as several ground-based observatories are the front line of Kuiper Belt studies. Eventually, the James Webb Space Telescope will be set to work observing this region too, helping astronomers locate and chart the many bodies that still live out in the solar systems deep freeze.

The Experts Scientific Definition of Dinosaurs

The Experts' Scientific Definition of Dinosaurs One of the problems with explaining the scientific definition of the word dinosaur is that biologists and paleontologists tend to use much drier, more precise language than your average dinosaur enthusiast on the street (or in an elementary school). So while most people intuitively describe dinosaurs as big, scaly, dangerous lizards that went extinct millions of years ago, experts take a much narrower view. In evolutionary terms, dinosaurs were the land-dwelling descendants of the archosaurs, egg-laying reptiles that survived the Permian-Triassic extinction event 250 million years ago. Technically, dinosaurs can be distinguished from the other animals descended from archosaurs (pterosaurs and crocodiles) by a handful of anatomical quirks. Chief among these is posture: Dinosaurs had either an upright, bipedal gait (like that of modern birds), or if they were quadrupeds, they had a stiff, straight-legged style of walking on all fours  (unlike modern lizards, turtles, and crocodiles, whose limbs splay beneath them when they walk). Beyond that, the anatomical features that distinguish dinosaurs from other vertebrate animals become rather arcane; try on  an elongate deltopectoral crest on the humerus for size (i.e., a spot where muscles connect into the upper arm bone). In 2011, Sterling Nesbitt of the American Museum of Natural History attempted to tie together all of the subtle anatomical quirks that make dinosaurs dinosaurs. Among these are a radius (lower arm bone) at least 80% smaller than the humerus (upper arm bone); an asymmetrical fourth trochanter on the femur (leg bone); and a large, concave surface separating the proximal articular surfaces of the ischium, aka the pelvis. With terms like these, you can see why the big, scary, and extinct is more appealing to the general public. The First True Dinosaurs Nowhere was the line dividing dinosaurs and non-dinosaurs more tenuous than during the middle to late Triassic period, when various populations of archosaurs had just started to branch off into dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and crocodiles. Imagine an ecosystem filled with slender, two-legged dinosaurs, equally slender, two-legged crocodiles (yes, the first ancestral crocs were bipedal, and often vegetarian), and plain-vanilla archosaurs that looked for all the world like their more-evolved cousins. For this reason, even paleontologists have a hard time definitively classifying Triassic reptiles like Marasuchus and Procompsognathus; at this fine level of evolutionary detail, its virtually impossible to pick out the first true dinosaur (though a good case can be made for the South American Eoraptor). Saurischian and Ornithischian Dinosaurs For the sake of convenience, the dinosaur family is divided into two main groups. To vastly simplify the story, starting about 230 million years ago a subgroup of archosaurs split off into two types of dinosaurs, distinguished by the structure of their hip bones. Saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaurs went on to include predators like Tyrannosaurus rex and huge sauropods like Apatosaurus, while ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaurs consisted of a diverse assortment of other plant-eaters,  including  hadrosaurs, ornithopods, and stegosaurs. (Confusingly, we now know that birds descended from lizard-hipped, rather than bird-hipped, dinosaurs.) Learn more about  how dinosaurs are classified. You may have noticed that the definition of dinosaurs provided at the start of  this article  refers only to land-dwelling reptiles, which technically excludes marine reptiles like Kronosaurus and flying reptiles like Pterodactylus from the dinosaur umbrella (the first is  technically  a pliosaur, the second a pterosaur). Also occasionally mistaken for true dinosaurs are the large therapsids and pelycosaurs of the Permian period, such as Dimetrodon and Moschops. While some of these ancient reptiles would have given  your average Deinonychus a run for its money, rest assured they werent allowed to wear dinosaur name tags during the school dances of the Jurassic period.

The Emergence of a Hookup Culture in Contemporary American Culture Essay

The Emergence of a Hookup Culture in Contemporary American Culture - Essay Example One of the factors that could have contributed to the growth of the women’s liberation movement is the loss of traditional gender roles in modern American society. While previously women were confined to their homes, they were now gaining recognition in their greater roles for the development of the society, and for the first time their functions were not limited to traditional homemaker and child-rearing roles. There were more women seen in public doing things that were expected to be done by men, such as getting a college degree, working in an office, or under public service. These women were able to achieve something, which also gave them the mindset that they can do anything that a man can do, aside from the traditional gender roles that were assigned to them. Having an advanced education opened up not just the avenues for other career opportunities, but this also changed how many women view relationships, including sex. This shift from being an at-home person to being see n in public did not only give additional career choices for women, but also additional freedom in relationships, whether sexual or romantic in nature. Starting from the 1960’s when the concept of dating was starting to lose its hold on college culture, the idea that having non-committal sex with others becomes a much more lucrative choice for most people, especially women since there is no hassle of having to choose between getting tied down to a relationship or having to bear children over expanding careers (Bogle 2007: 779). This way of thinking has made most women liberal in terms of their sexual freedom, and it is assumed that the engagement to such behaviors was not only rebellious in nature, but also helped in spreading the culture of casual sexual encounters since there were many people who were much more open-minded about it (Shukusky and Wade 2012: 495). Despite the fact that there has been an increase in the number of women engaging in casual sexual encounters, ther e has been an observed trend in the slow progress of moving from

Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 35

Business - Essay Example The success of Apple Inc. is characterized by innovativeness, acquisitions, and product diversification. Apple Inc. is a company that has grown to a multinational with a great reputation across the world. In its path, innovation strategies, product diversification, and acquisitions have contributed greatly to its success. Apple Inc stands on the philosophy of â€Å"think different† which means the company is focused on innovation (Apple Inc, 2014). Apple has been consistent in the development of its products; they have embraced changes in several occasions hence developing products that have hit the market by storm. Another strategy the company has adopted is diversification. When the company was started, its sole mandate was to develop and sell personal computers. However, over time the company has diversified shifting from this role to that of developing and selling consumer electronics such as mobile gadgets, televisions, and iPods among others. The strategy utilized by Apple Inc is the differentiation strategy. Apple Inc. has developed various mechanisms to have a superior brand that differentiates itself from the competitors. The company’s innovativeness, leadership, and ability to embrace diversification of products characterize these strategies. In the electronic industry, Apple Inc. has created a respectable brand that people have confidence with. It has attracted technology enthusiasts and those in need of certain aspects in electronics. Creating an impressive brand promotes customers’ loyalty and presents psychological benefits to them. By remaining innovative and establishing new products that are unique from those of the competitors, the company is able to foster customer retention and hence brand loyalty. Various information systems are likely to give the company a competitive advantage over the rest. Such include the ability to use the social media platforms to market and create product awareness.

International Alliance Case-Writing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Alliance Case-Writing - Assignment Example Alliances can be ‘equity alliances’ or ‘non equity alliances; specifically, joint ventures may involve a hierarchical control from a parent entity (Hennart J., 1988). Prior experience and robust infrastructure are considered during alliance partner selection. Success of a corporate alliance is measured in terms of the value addition imparted due to the combined activities of the parties involved. This is achieved through a well defined ‘Alliance Strategy’ which involves a proper design, appropriate monitoring, governance and performance management processes. I would like to elaborate on the ‘KLM and Northwest Alliance’, which was the first integrated airline alliance in history. The association between the two airlines began in 1991 with joint ‘code – sharing’ and went on to form a major ‘Trans-Atlantic Joint Venture’. A peculiar characteristic of this joint venture was the absence of a new legal entity. KL M and Northwest entered into an ‘Open Sky agreement’ and ‘Anti-trust immunity’ in 1993 and thus formed a globally renowned unit. As is true with most alliances, this contract was designed specifically to support and strengthen the competitive advantages of the partners (Liana M., Nicoleta B and Dana P., 2009). KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, incorporated in 1919, was based out of Amsterdam. KLM was a regional leader but wanted to expand its network to many cities in the US. A company cannot be solely viewed as an individual unit; rather, it is subject to interactions with various other bodies, constantly striving to foster good inter-organizational ties and relations. Around the late 1980s, due to liberalization and de-regulation of markets, free competition prevailed in the European airline industry. KLM realized the need to collaborate and co-operate with airlines based out of other countries, in order to maximize their global connectivity. KLM invested in a de tailed process of partner selection and finally zeroed in on Northwest Airlines due to its international reputation, vast experience with passenger as well as cargo transport and its dominance in the US market. A strong proposal was made to develop collaboration between an American and a European carrier to achieve competitive costs, expansion of their network and greater revenue. Northwest Airlines began its operations in 1926 and was a medium-sized airline carrier, focussing more on flights in the United States to Asia, but rarely to the European regions. Despite their stronghold in the US regions, Northwest had, by then, earned poor points for service quality and did not have the funds or infrastructure to individually scale up on mega proportions. Northwest realized the need to explore wider opportunities in Amsterdam, the European sector and expand their operations accordingly. Contrary to KLM, Northwest did not go through a very fine partner selection process and chose KLM as its alliance partner owing to their pre-existing ownership in Northwest. It is acknowledged that the main theoretical motivations for the formation of joint ventures include reduction in transaction costs, strategic competitive positioning or market power and a quest for organizational learning and knowledge development (Gulati, 1998). It is on a similar model that the two airlines, KLM and Northwest, came into an alliance in a bid to enhance

Response to McCloskey's Article On Being an Atheist Essay

Response to McCloskey's Article On Being an Atheist - Essay Example In this paper, a response is given to McCloskey by basin g the arguments to what has been covered in the philosophy of religion unit.   McCloskey, in his article â€Å"On being an Atheist† presents a very strong counter argument against theist arguments about existence of a supreme perfect being referred to as God. According to him, theists hold on to arguments about existence of God as the fundamental proofs of his existence. The arguments do not certainly infer to proof of God’s existence nor do they provide a proof of why we exist. He actually claims that theists are sucked into the realms of religion not because of the basic proofs that exist but due to mere arguments. According to McCloskey’s line of argument, it is possible to argue that God certainly does not exist. The world is so imperfect to be the engineering work of a perfect being. In fact, we can only conclude that God, if he ever exists, is an evil God since there is more pain and suffering in th e world than joy and happiness. Where is God when all the evil happens? Where was he not to control Hitler? Arguably, God may not exist if we take this line of thought. I have always observed the unjustified pain and suffering that happen to the per se â€Å"wrong people.† Young babies who are flawless in the eyes of Supreme Being â€Å"God† should certainly not suffer at least because they are innocent. Why can’t God bring us closer to him by good deeds and not through pain and suffering as claimed by theists? Things would seem more rational. On the other hand, existence would cease to make any meaning if God did not exist. What if God made the universe the way it is with an ultimate purpose? To me it seems more logical than to claim his nonexistence McCloskey presents a very strong yet questionable argument about cosmology. According to him, it is possible to have a cause without cause. He infers that it is possible to have the world, as we know it without a c ausative agent. The mere existence of the universe is not a justified reason enough to posit that there exists a cause behind creation. I quite agree with his argument since the existence of the universe is not a foolproof evidence of existence of a supreme being. However, I tend to agree more with the theists, not because there is foolproof evidence but because both atheists like McCloskey and the scientific giants have not yet provided exact proof of cause. I would rather live believing that there was God and die to find there was none, than to live as if he never existed and died to find that he actually existed. According to Evans line of thought about â€Å"cause for cause,† existence of the universe would be both irrational and absurd if there were no cause for the entire perfectly tuned universe as it represents itself to humankind. Craig also shares the same arguments on his article â€Å"The Absurdity of Life without God† (Craig, 2008). All religious beliefs e xperience an appreciable form of connection with a supreme being. Surprisingly, virtually all religious ideologies about supremacy of the creator share the same basics. Christians experience faith, miracles, healing, pain, and suffering among other connective experiences with God. McCloskey may have a point in his argument but his argument is somewhat one sided. I might ask McCloskey one simple yet fundamental question what determines the discourse on the universe? Is it a collective contribution of every human

Principles of Finance 1 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Principles of Finance 1 - Term Paper Example The risk and return of the proposed investment project requires a study of the project’s cash flows. To analyze the profitability of the investment project, one method that may be done is to make use of the net present value (NPV) method. NPV is the difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows. A positive NPV means that the project is acceptable while a negative NPV means that the project is not profitable. Once a decision has been reached to undergo the project, the next step is to determine the sources of financing and establish the appropriate financing mix. Here lies the decision on whether to use debt or equity to maximize the value of the investment. Also, the source of financing should match the nature of the asset being financed. If a decision is made to finance the project through debt, it must also be determined whether it will be a long-term debt or a short-term debt. Long-term debt can be a term loan with a bank or a b ond issuance. A bond is like a loan because it is also a debt instrument. It is issued for a period of more than a year with the purpose of raising capital for borrowing. Its difference from a term loan is that it is generally offered to the public rather than to a single lender or a small group of lenders.

Response to McCloskey's Article On Being an Atheist Essay

Response to McCloskey's Article On Being an Atheist - Essay Example In this paper, a response is given to McCloskey by basin g the arguments to what has been covered in the philosophy of religion unit.   McCloskey, in his article â€Å"On being an Atheist† presents a very strong counter argument against theist arguments about existence of a supreme perfect being referred to as God. According to him, theists hold on to arguments about existence of God as the fundamental proofs of his existence. The arguments do not certainly infer to proof of God’s existence nor do they provide a proof of why we exist. He actually claims that theists are sucked into the realms of religion not because of the basic proofs that exist but due to mere arguments. According to McCloskey’s line of argument, it is possible to argue that God certainly does not exist. The world is so imperfect to be the engineering work of a perfect being. In fact, we can only conclude that God, if he ever exists, is an evil God since there is more pain and suffering in th e world than joy and happiness. Where is God when all the evil happens? Where was he not to control Hitler? Arguably, God may not exist if we take this line of thought. I have always observed the unjustified pain and suffering that happen to the per se â€Å"wrong people.† Young babies who are flawless in the eyes of Supreme Being â€Å"God† should certainly not suffer at least because they are innocent. Why can’t God bring us closer to him by good deeds and not through pain and suffering as claimed by theists? Things would seem more rational. On the other hand, existence would cease to make any meaning if God did not exist. What if God made the universe the way it is with an ultimate purpose? To me it seems more logical than to claim his nonexistence McCloskey presents a very strong yet questionable argument about cosmology. According to him, it is possible to have a cause without cause. He infers that it is possible to have the world, as we know it without a c ausative agent. The mere existence of the universe is not a justified reason enough to posit that there exists a cause behind creation. I quite agree with his argument since the existence of the universe is not a foolproof evidence of existence of a supreme being. However, I tend to agree more with the theists, not because there is foolproof evidence but because both atheists like McCloskey and the scientific giants have not yet provided exact proof of cause. I would rather live believing that there was God and die to find there was none, than to live as if he never existed and died to find that he actually existed. According to Evans line of thought about â€Å"cause for cause,† existence of the universe would be both irrational and absurd if there were no cause for the entire perfectly tuned universe as it represents itself to humankind. Craig also shares the same arguments on his article â€Å"The Absurdity of Life without God† (Craig, 2008). All religious beliefs e xperience an appreciable form of connection with a supreme being. Surprisingly, virtually all religious ideologies about supremacy of the creator share the same basics. Christians experience faith, miracles, healing, pain, and suffering among other connective experiences with God. McCloskey may have a point in his argument but his argument is somewhat one sided. I might ask McCloskey one simple yet fundamental question what determines the discourse on the universe? Is it a collective contribution of every human

Unit 11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Unit 11 - Essay Example From this strategy, empowerment of menial groups is enabled. Empowerment develops the confidence and approaches for social chance. However, the reading share the assumption that working together is required regardless of the strategies implemented. The solutions provided in the readings are accurate and reliable. For instance, there is the assertion that individual and group activism is mandatory towards achieving social change (Lecture notes par 1). From this argument, one may point out that activism acts as the voice of the oppressed. Any form of activism is important in creating awareness and sensitivity towards equality. Consequently, acts of activism may influence changes in policies, laws and daily lives. However, a change in the daily life would be more important. If the perception of the society towards equality is changed, it would be easier to implement other changes in policies and laws. Policies and laws may change the behavior of people but it may not change the negativity in people’s perception of minority

Roman changes and continuities Essay Example for Free

Roman changes and continuities Essay Roman civilization had some continuities and changes of their political and cultural systems, during the decline of the classical era. An example of continuity would be that the Western European church still used Latin as the language of the church. However the religion was changed during the reign of Emperor Constantine. Rome started out as most class systems with an upper, middle, and lower classes. After a period of great peace and prosperity known as the â€Å"pax Romana† is when the Roman Empire started to decline, because the wealthy were becoming more and more wealthy and the middle and lower classes were becoming poorer and poorer. The lack of money circulated caused the majority of Roman citizens who were poor to become depressed and careless. This carelessness from the citizens caused them to stop participating in serving the country and doing Civil services as well as stopping them from being creative with arts and science. The Roman government was an absolute monarchy in which the Emperor was worshiped as a god. Before the decline there was no official religion that everyone had to believe in, the government had religious tolerance as long as the people believed the Emperor was a god. However during the reign of Emperor Constantine he declared Christianity the official religion of Rome. Although even before Constantine declared Christianity the official religion some people already practiced it. The polytheistic religion that many Roman’s believed in did not give hope to the people for something better after they died. Christianity did if the followers lived by the simple moral ethics by working hard and doing good deeds. Another change that Christianity brought was about having sexual relationships with others, and that you should only have relations with your spouse. Also Christianity made them believe that everyone was equal and so slavery almost disappeared in Western Europe. However Latin was, and still is, the main language of the Western European churches. Also because architecture was considered as art, the architectural styles of the Roman civilization are still used today. The myths of the polytheistic religion that Rome once had were inspiration for many renaissance artists such as Michaelangelo Buonorroti and Sandro Botticelli. As you can see the Roman Empires decline brought about some changes and continuities. The changes either helped or hurt Rome and some of the continuities are still used today.

Analysis of Recruitment in the NHS

Analysis of Recruitment in the NHS CIPD Management Report Utilising E Recruitment Executive Summary This Management report will look at the Recruitment Processes with an NHS Acute Trust and identify if E recruitment can help with the difficulties experienced in the Trust. Alongside a literature review of Recruitment difficulties, Employer Branding, Traditional recruitment and E recruitment, the author has conducted a benchmarking exercise in order to establish best practice in recruitment in local NHS organisations, A Process Mapping exercise to identify current practice and identify any difficulties or hold ups in the current process and a Managers questionnaire to allow the author to identify current perceptions of the recruitment service in the organisation alongside what expectations are. Appendices. Satisfaction Survey Survey results 1.0 Introduction The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was established in April 2002 and manages hospitals in Oldham, Rochdale, Bury and North Manchester. Serving a population of approximately 800,000, the Trust is one of the largest in the country and had an operating expenditure of over  £425 million in 2006/07. It runs services across five hospital sites: Fairfield General Hospital, Bury; North Manchester General Hospital; The Royal Oldham Hospital; Rochdale Infirmary and Birch Hill Hospital, Rochdale and employs a staff of approximately 10,000. The Trust has four divisions identified as Surgery, Medicine, Women and Childrens, and Diagnostics and Clinical Support. It also has directorates providing support to clinical services including Human Resources, Facilities, Planning, Finance, Information and Management Technology, Modernisation and Performance, Governance and Research and Development. The local economy in which the Trust is situated is strong, with a great deal of competition from local organisations for staff. There is little competition within the NHS for staff, as Pennine is ‘the only Trust in town, in each of the 4 areas. Transport links to the Trust are generally good, although access to some peripheral sites is difficult, and car parking can be a problem, especially at the Royal Oldham site. The Trust is concerned, as many Trusts in the Greater Manchester area are, that many of its nurses will retire within the next five years and it is trying to develop a programme to get people to stay on after the normal retirement age. It also attempts to recruit as many student nurses as possible, but positions for newly qualified staff have been reduced in the last few years due to reconfiguration of services and redeployment to avoid redundancy. The Trust has a lower proportion of nursing staff from ethnic backgrounds than the local population, when comparing the 2001 Census with its workforce data; but the percentage of staff as a whole from ethnic backgrounds is higher, due to the numbers of medical staff from ethnic minorities within the Trust. The Trust works hard to recruit staff from ethnic minorities/deprived backgrounds. It has an Equality and Diversity Team who work to promote diversity within the Trust, supporting proactive recruitment where there is a concentration of individuals from ethnic or disadvantaged backgrounds. There is a central HR function, with designated HR Managers for each division. Restructuring of this model has taken place in recent years. Recruitment is managed from the North Manchester General Hospital site and provides a central function. With a workforce of over 10,000 people, the average monthly cost of recruitment at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is xxxxxx. Added to this is the length of time it takes to place a new employee in post, which is on average 60 days. This estimate is from measured from the advertised positions closing date to offering that position. Recruitment is currently a major issue in the Trust with days lost in the recruitment process costing money and reducing morale and effectiveness. At present the department is receiving a lot of pressure from the rest of the Trust and the reputation of the department is poor. This management report is being undertaken to identify recommendations that will allow the recruitment process to become more efficient and identify whether utilisation of e recruitment is a viable proposal in the Trust and whether its implementation will increase efficiency and save resources. All employers face the challenge of employing the right staff for their organisation and this often falls under a human resource arena. The recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals has been identified as a key challenge facing the NHS (NHS Plan 2002). High on the agenda at local, regional and national levels is the development of strategies and initiatives to attract suitable people to work in the professions, in order to ensure that services are responsive to patient needs. 2.0 Literature Review Recruitment is an extensive subject with many aspects making up the area. A study by Ullman (1966) cited in Breaugh Starke (2000) was one of the first to examine recruitment sources. Finding that new employees who were recruited by means of informal sources (i.e., employee referrals, direct applications) had a lower turnover rate than individuals recruited via formal sources (i.e., newspaper advertisements and employment agencies). Barber (1998) has since concluded that past research has not made a strong case for the importance of source differences. The author is interested in research into the prevalence of the sources used in traditional recruitment, which appears to be research that has not been undertaken significantly. Torrington, Hall and Taylor (2005) identified that employers in the UK recruit over 3 million people each year, in a costly and time consuming exercise to add suitable staff to their organisation. They identify a need to ‘sell jobs to potential employees in order to ensure they can generate an adequate pool of applicants. Organisations are now facing a greater challenge recruiting rather than selecting. (Ployhart 2005) Other researchers having also identified the difficulties organisations have in attracting candidates, identifying selection will only be effective and financially defensible if a sufficient amount of applicants apply to the organisation. (Taylor and Collins, 2000) However according to Barber (1998), It is important that employers do not consider the recruitment process to be completed at this point, It continues during the short listing and interviewing stages and is only deemed as complete when an offer is made. For the purposes of this literature review the author will review thoughts and research on the initial stages of recruitment, that being the attraction of employees and advertisement of vacancies in order to recruit to the organisation, this will allow the author to include the areas of employer branding and e-recruitment in the review. 2.1 Recruitment Difficulties The Audit Commission (2002) has identified that the UK labour market is highly competitive at present with the rate of unemployment at a historically low level. Employers are openly competing harder to attract and retain staff. This is made more difficult, with reports across the country, of recruitment and retention problems affecting local public services, the NHS being no exception. There have been serious concerns about shortages in staff numbers, and fewer young people being attracted to work for the public sector, meaning there is a potential ‘demographic time bomb. It has been identified that 27 per cent of the public sector workforce are now aged 50 or over. (Gulland (2001), Audit Commission (2002)) Recruitment is also expensive, in a recent survey; CIPD (2007) identified the average cost of recruiting a member of staff is  £4,333; however this increases significantly to  £7750 when organisations are also calculating the associated labour turnover. They identified that eighty four percent of organisations have reported difficulties in filling vacancies in 2006, a rise of 2 percent on the previous year. The key challenges faced by organisations in regard to recruitment have been identified from the survey as; attracting and recruiting key staff to the organisation, reducing recruitment costs, enabling the achievement of the organisations strategic goals and addressing skills shortages. CIPD strongly believes that: ‘effective recruitment is central and crucial to the successful day-to-day functioning of any organisation. stating that ‘successful recruitment depends upon finding people with the necessary skills, expertise and qualifications to deliver organisational objectives and the ability to make a positive contribution to the values and aims of the organisation. The Audit Commissions report (2002) also identified there are concerns about ‘skill shortages, not only in terms of ‘basic skill levels in the workforce, but also in key leadership, management and specialist skills that are required. Previous research from the Audit Commission (2001) has showed that, on average, a new employee will perform at only 60 per cent of their productive potential when they are first appointed, only reaching 100 per cent after being in a post for a year. This makes recruitment in these areas and adequate delivery of services even harder to manage. In their extensive report on public service recruitment, the Audit Commission identifies the way the employers can maximise their recruitment practices. They advised: Informed, quick and professional responses to job advertisement enquiries are essential for maximising applications; routine monitoring of recruitment will ensure that recruitment initiatives are driven by the bigger picture rather than just the latest concern; success in addressing diversity issues are to be achieved through efficient, effective targeted recruitment campaigns based on knowledge of the target community; and any initiative to attract a specific group of staff will benefit from being profession-led and in partnership with HR. Audit Commission (2002) Effective recruitment practices and policies are recognised as making a significant contribution to an organisations success, according to Plumbley (1990). He states it is not simply about placing suitable candidates into jobs, but also about building an adept and flexible workforce in order to meet the organisations changing and demanding needs. The first stage of recruitment and selection is to be able to attract an adequate number of appropriate candidates. Prospective employees do not select the organisation they wish to work for on the foundation of job and organisational characteristics such as location, and organisational structure alone. 2.2 Employee Brand The increased competitiveness in the recruitment market has led to organisations spending more time, effort and resources on developing their recruitment brand and expanding the range of advertising methods used, to try and attract quality applicants from as broad and diverse a pool possible. Almost seven in ten organisations describe themselves as having an employer brand according to CIPD (2007), and studies have shown that an organisations reputation and identity is vital in the fight to attract suitable talented applicants into organisations. (Lievens Highhouse, 2003; Cable Turban, 2001). Identifying that in order for the corporate brand to be more successful at attracting suitable candidates there is an importance in promoting and monitoring that brand. (Slaughter, Zickar, Highhouse, Mohr, 2004) Fombrun, (1996) agrees with this stating the reputation of an organisation has been acknowledged as one of the key factors that can affect the probability of potential applicants choosing to apply to work for it. In the same way, organisation reputation has been found to be an important influence on applicants decisions of whether they fit with an organisation and want to join it (Rynes et al., 1991). This researcher has also showed that applicants utilised information on how informative and the ‘recruiter friendliness as an indicator of how an organisation treated its employees. Fombrun (1996) expands this argument to identify that reputation is of particular concern to applicants seeking employment in knowledge-based institutions, such as universities and hospitals, because of the intangibility of the services these organisations provide. Whilst Turban et al. (1998) also found that applicants perceptions of the specific attributes of a post were influenced by their evaluation of the organisation, even if they had been interviewed and were successful. The importance in private/commercial organisations reputation in relation to the recruitment and retention of staff has been well documented in literature, for example: (Turban, 2001) and Cable and Graham (2000), Gray and Ballmer 1998)), there has however been comparatively little consideration on the impact of reputation for public sector organisations. Most people in the course of their life have a need to use the services the NHS provide, some more than others and health is an important issue, not only on a personal level, also in the political arena. The NHS is the UKs largest employer, so many of the UK population are at present working in it, with a great number more many having done so at some point in their lives. In brief, the NHS has a wide range of different stakeholders, who may feel they have a vested interest in the quality; provision of services and ultimately, the reputation. People have varied, and very personal experiences of the NHS and this could mean image and reputation are therefore difficult to manage. The Audit Commission study (2002) study showed that public sector staff thinks that ‘their image in the eyes of the public would discourage potential recruits from entering the NHS. The study analysed a wide sample of the UKs national press to see if the evidence supported this observation. Analysis of the results showed that plenty of stories are told and coverage given to the NHS is extensive. They concur that the picture of public sector work presented to the reading public is often bleak. Of the former public sector workers surveyed, 68 per cent thought that the image of their former profession would discourage people from entering that job. Only 9 per cent thought the opposite and stated that the image would instead encourage people to enter. The NHS is such a well-known organisation that carries out specific roles in society, that when considering a career in the NHS people often have an idea regarding an occupation they would like to pursue. The GTI (2006) conducted a survey to establish the major determinants that influence applicants in their choice of employer. The results show that for 22% of student nurses and doctors, the reputation of a prospective employer (often influenced by media coverage) is a key factor in determining their aspirations. They identify that ‘word of mouth can be damaging to an employers reputation. If employers get things wrong, it can really affect the way they are viewed by potential employees as over half of the survey respondents have shared their bad experiences with their peers. So for some people the images and reputation of the NHS may be crucial to their decision of whether to work for it. 2.3 Traditional Recruitment Methods Traditional recruitment methods are the way in the past, that an organisation announced a job opportunity to the marketplace, through a classified advertisement, a job fair, an external recruiter, or other media. Any candidate who happened to see the announcement would submit his or her CV, ring the company for an application form or submit a letter of interest. Lievens and Harris (2003) have stated that in the past, job searching was a more time-consuming activity. They identified ‘A candidate who wished to apply for a job would need to first locate a suitable job opportunity, which often involved searching through a newspaper or contacting acquaintances. After locating potentially suitable openings, the candidate would typically have to prepare a cover letter, produce a copy of his or her resume, and mail the package with the appropriate postage. Arboledas, Ferrero and Vidal (2001), presented some examples of recruitment methods that organisations have traditionally used. These were identified as newspaper advertisement, faxed/mailed resumes, recruitment agencies or the use of headhunters. Galanaki (2002) similarly identified all these methods and also defines them as ‘traditional recruitment methods. This idea of traditional methods can also be found quoted in numerous HR texts, which have sections dedicated to recruitment and try to identify best recruitment practices. The authors of such texts include Cole (2004), Rayner and Adam Smith, Armstrong (2007) and Mullins (2005). These texts give a useful overview of the concepts of recruitment but again the best practice and evidence of what is most effective is not present. An IDS study in 2006 reported that to maximise their chances of appointing the best candidate, many organisations have utilised a combination of online and traditional approaches. In 2004 Softworld HR and Payroll identified in a study, that 24% of respondents envisaged e-recruitment entirely replacing all traditional methods of advertising in the future, however 76% of the practitioners surveyed, see it as an additional tool to allow the widest possible range of applicants to be accessed. Traditional methods also identify the use of recruitment agencies in the way of recruiting staff. According to an IES study (2005), recruitment agencies remain confident that the growth in e-recruitment technology will not eliminate their role in the process, as many organisations lack the time and expertise to carry out these tasks. Many organisations, especially smaller ones may also lack the technology to carry out their own recruitment online. They state with the low unemployment rate that currently exists, the task of finding quality candidates will remain challenging and this may prompt organisations to continue to use agencies, in particular, for specialised, senior or difficult to fill positions A Demos report (2007) however has identified difficulties in the recruitment business. They point out that the ‘landscape has changed remarkably over the past decade. And identify the recruitment industry has been growing rapidly, and the talent war has led to an increase in outsourcing and much greater efforts being made to reach candidates through on and offline advertising. They identify that recruiters have had to embrace technology, or be left behind. In the 2007 CIPD recruitment and retention survey, it was identified for the first time in the UK; corporate websites have broken even with local newspapers advertisements as the most common method of recruiting candidates. 2.4 E-recruitment E-Recruitment is identified as ‘the use of Internet technology to make the job of recruiting staff more efficient and effective, when used together with traditional recruitment methods; the benefits derived from e-recruitment can be considerable. (E-recruitment Best Practice Guide 2007) Internet usage in recent years has seen the recruitment process transformed. Online recruitment, internet recruitment, web-based recruiting and e-recruitment are terms used to describe the use of the internet to recruit potential employees, and mediums to conduct other elements of the recruitment process. We will use the terms interchangeably in this report. According to Schreyer McCarter (1998) e-recruitment refers to â€Å"The recruitment process, including placing job advertisements, receiving resumes, and building human resource database with candidates and incumbents E-Recruitment is establishing itself as a significant part of the recruitment strategy in a range of organisations across the UK and the world. This is in addition to becoming a progressively more accepted method for job seekers in searching and applying for jobs. The traditional method of recruitment has been transformed by the appearance of the Internet. In the past few years, the Internet has dramatically changed the face of HR recruitment and the ways organisations think about the recruiting function. There is predicted to be a continued dramatic growth in recruiting and hiring via this medium in future years. (CIPD 2007) A survey by the public appointment service in Ireland in 2006, relating to e-recruitment in Irish organisations, has also identified a high level of current or intended future use of e recruitment, this being identified as an area forming an important part of the Irish recruitment strategy. It would seem that e-recruitment has been implemented in many organisations from small companies to large organisations. These organisations are already using e recruitment to advertise jobs and accept CVs on the Internet, and also to communicate with the applicants by e-mail. In the CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey it was identified that eighty-four percent of respondents have made greater use of e-mail applications in the last three years. Over seven in ten organisations also said they are actively advertising jobs on their corporate websites and using online recruitment applications. Lievens and Harris (2003) have identified the following methods of using the Internet to attract candidates, acknowledging that approaches are continually changing. †¢ Company websites Advertising posts and providing information to candidates through the company website. The facility to apply online is often also provided. †¢ Job Boards Commercial general purpose recruitment portals, (e.g. Yahoo!, Monster.com) and specific industry job boards. †¢ Online Searching Recruiters searching online sources such as company websites and professional chat sites to identify candidates who may not be actively looking for a position. †¢ Relationship recruiting Using the internet to build and maintain long term relationships with passive candidates, through using internet tools to learn more about web visitors interests and experience and to e-mail regular updates about careers and their fields of interest. Kerrin and Keetley (2005) have suggested that the reasons for many organisations to introduce e recruitment have been recruitment cost reduction, speedier processes, access to a wider pool of applicants and better employer branding. In the CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover survey 2006,  it was identified that the key drivers for e-recruitment were; reducing recruitment costs (cited by 71%), broadening the selection pool (60%) and increasing the speed of time to hire (47%). It was also noted that : ‘over a third of respondents believed it brought greater flexibility and ease for candidates, and over a quarter believed it strengthened the employer brand. This has been further supported by the IRS Employment review (2007). Reduction in costs E-Recruitment has allowed employers to make reductions in advertising costs and remove their dependency on recruitment agencies. Technology in online recruitment is not expensive and the hours saved in the pre-selection process gives HR staff more time. Administration can be significantly reduced in most organisations. This can prove to be extremely important when recruiting involves high numbers of staff or when receiving high numbers of applications. (DTI 2006, Guertal et al 2007). The IRS 2007 study identified 7 out of 10 organisations say administration is easier to perform when utilising online recruitment services and 8 out 10 identified the e- recruitment process as being substantially cheaper. Cappeli (2001) calculated that ‘it costs only about one-twentieth as much to hire someone online as to hire that same person through †¦ other traditional methods. This can again, be achieved through significantly reducing advertising costs and by reducing recruitment related administration according to Elkington (2005) An IDS HR Study in April 2006 identified how the Internet now plays a significant role in recruitment activities of employers. The report examined the use of corporate and third party recruitment websites and identified they are being used to reduce advertising costs and tap into a more diverse candidate base. They also identified that technology is streamlining the application process with the encouragement of online applications, linking into sophisticated application tracking systems and allowing organisations to measure the success of attraction methods. IDS state that over 70% of adults utilise the Internet, and employers are using this medium to attract and recruit much more frequently. They identify significant cost savings for employers and reduced time taken to fill vacancies, but are keen to point out the wariness of employees in missing out on potential candidates and feel that traditional recruitment media is set to retain and important role, particularly when recruiting locally or hard to fill jobs. This supports reservations held by IRS (2007) who identified that e recruitment was considered unsuitable for certain kinds of vacancies. Grout and Parrin, authors of the book, ‘recruiting excellence agree with the assessment by IDS. In an article for HR Director (2006), they identify that online recruitment can improve efficiency by the reduction in man hours involved in the process, and help employers reach a wider and larger audience of jobseekers. They also recognise that it can be a valuable part of a recruitment process, in addition to traditional press advertising and the use of agencies (DTI, 2005). Kerrin and Keetley (2005) however, have stated, that the full cost savings are often only realised if the whole recruitment process is carried out online, a view supported by a number of authors. (Demos 2007, IRS 2007) Reducing time-to-hire With e-recruitment the time taken to recruit can be reduced by as much as 75% and allow the recruitment of the most appropriate employees more quickly into the organisation. Time is also saved by spending a reduced amount of time tracking, communicating with and screening the applicants. Online recruitment also allows organisations to the share best practice and improves the consistency of recruitment processes across the organisation. The Public Appointments Service survey showed that a reduction in administrative workload (cited by 49% of respondents), and reduced timescales for hiring (cited by 40% of respondents), were key drivers in the decision to implementing e recruitment. Hogg (2000) stresses a shorter recruitment cycle can be gained by the speed at which several steps of the recruitment process are carried out online. Elkington (2005) supports this and has identified that the immediate posting of jobs online and the effortlessness of completing online application forms and e-mailing CVs to an organisation has made these steps much faster. Moving further into the recruitment process, the short-listing process can be accelerated by routinely aligning applications dependent on prearranged criteria (CIPD 2005). Applications can be progressed within minutes rather than weeks, saving both recruiters and job applicants time. Widening Talent Pool Internet tools that enable employers/recruiters to reach a wider pool of potential applicants and to fill positions faster with less cost to the organisation are obviously advantageous in such a competitive environment. Online advertising opens up a wider candidate pool, by providing 24/7 access to job seekers, at local, national and international locations, thus providing a better chance of finding the right candidate (CIPD 2005a). As job seekers become increasingly more web literate and the growth of broadband makes web surfing easier and cheaper (IRS 2005), the potential for e-recruitment to attract wider candidate pools is increasing. Enhancing Employer brand Increased numbers of candidates are expecting to apply directly online and they routinely make judgements about employers based on their recruitment process. To combat this employers are adopting increasingly dynamic e-recruitment solutions to allow them to distinguish themselves from others and to professionally manage the recruitment process. (Willock, 2005; Paton 2006). E-Recruitment enables an organisation to raise its profile to potential applicants and promote itself as innovative and forward looking, allow visitors to the website to leave with a positive experience. Kerrin and Kettley (2003) in their report ‘e-recruitment is it delivering identified a key factor for organisations in their adoption of e-recruitment, is the desire to increase their profile as an employer of choice amongst potential candidates and to promote their image as a progressive organisation. This is supported by 7 out of 10 organisations also agreeing that the use of online recruitment was more likely to improve reputation (IRS 2007) E-Recruitment can help to build the image of a brand. Barrow (2005) recommends that organisations build their brand identity very carefully however; warning of a need to ensure substance is beneath the clever name, logo or design, as employees once appointed will see through the facade. This is further supported by Gray and Balmers (1998) term, ‘routine interactions. They state that outsiders have a place in shaping image and reputation when they interact with organisations; communications are likely to be received with scepticism when they do not match personal experience. CIPD (2005) also demonstrated that more detailed information can be provided on the organisations website than in a newspaper advertisements and in recruitment agency literature, reinforcing the employer brand, improving the corporate image and profile whilst also giving an indication of the organisations culture The use of the Internet allows organisations to pass far more information in a much more dynamic and consistent fashion to candidates than was the case in the past (Lievens and Harris 2003). Applicants therefore have much more information at their disposal before they even decide to apply for a job than in the past. In addition, candidates can easily and quickly search for independent information about organisations from various sources, such as internet search engines and libraries. Therefore, unlike in the past, a candidate may have applied for a job based on practically no information; todays candidate may have reviewed a substantial amount of information about the organisation before choosing to apply. Disadvantages of e-recruitment The CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey revealed some concerns that e-recruitment could increase the number of unsuitable applicants and that it could act as a barrier to recruiting older workers. A factor which seems to be discouraging some employers from making more use of online recruitment systems, is a concern, over the level of internet access and levels of accomplishment with technology, of their target audiences. While usage of the Internet does vary by social group there is evidence to suggest that recruiting online results in at least as diverse an applicant group as those recruited through traditional methods (McManus M.A., Ferguson M.W. 2003). Searle (2003) would dispute this however stating that participation in online recruitment is skewed towards ‘white males from higher socio-economic groups. A further concern in relation to access is the suitability of online recruitment methods for candidates with disabilitie Analysis of Recruitment in the NHS Analysis of Recruitment in the NHS CIPD Management Report Utilising E Recruitment Executive Summary This Management report will look at the Recruitment Processes with an NHS Acute Trust and identify if E recruitment can help with the difficulties experienced in the Trust. Alongside a literature review of Recruitment difficulties, Employer Branding, Traditional recruitment and E recruitment, the author has conducted a benchmarking exercise in order to establish best practice in recruitment in local NHS organisations, A Process Mapping exercise to identify current practice and identify any difficulties or hold ups in the current process and a Managers questionnaire to allow the author to identify current perceptions of the recruitment service in the organisation alongside what expectations are. Appendices. Satisfaction Survey Survey results 1.0 Introduction The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was established in April 2002 and manages hospitals in Oldham, Rochdale, Bury and North Manchester. Serving a population of approximately 800,000, the Trust is one of the largest in the country and had an operating expenditure of over  £425 million in 2006/07. It runs services across five hospital sites: Fairfield General Hospital, Bury; North Manchester General Hospital; The Royal Oldham Hospital; Rochdale Infirmary and Birch Hill Hospital, Rochdale and employs a staff of approximately 10,000. The Trust has four divisions identified as Surgery, Medicine, Women and Childrens, and Diagnostics and Clinical Support. It also has directorates providing support to clinical services including Human Resources, Facilities, Planning, Finance, Information and Management Technology, Modernisation and Performance, Governance and Research and Development. The local economy in which the Trust is situated is strong, with a great deal of competition from local organisations for staff. There is little competition within the NHS for staff, as Pennine is ‘the only Trust in town, in each of the 4 areas. Transport links to the Trust are generally good, although access to some peripheral sites is difficult, and car parking can be a problem, especially at the Royal Oldham site. The Trust is concerned, as many Trusts in the Greater Manchester area are, that many of its nurses will retire within the next five years and it is trying to develop a programme to get people to stay on after the normal retirement age. It also attempts to recruit as many student nurses as possible, but positions for newly qualified staff have been reduced in the last few years due to reconfiguration of services and redeployment to avoid redundancy. The Trust has a lower proportion of nursing staff from ethnic backgrounds than the local population, when comparing the 2001 Census with its workforce data; but the percentage of staff as a whole from ethnic backgrounds is higher, due to the numbers of medical staff from ethnic minorities within the Trust. The Trust works hard to recruit staff from ethnic minorities/deprived backgrounds. It has an Equality and Diversity Team who work to promote diversity within the Trust, supporting proactive recruitment where there is a concentration of individuals from ethnic or disadvantaged backgrounds. There is a central HR function, with designated HR Managers for each division. Restructuring of this model has taken place in recent years. Recruitment is managed from the North Manchester General Hospital site and provides a central function. With a workforce of over 10,000 people, the average monthly cost of recruitment at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is xxxxxx. Added to this is the length of time it takes to place a new employee in post, which is on average 60 days. This estimate is from measured from the advertised positions closing date to offering that position. Recruitment is currently a major issue in the Trust with days lost in the recruitment process costing money and reducing morale and effectiveness. At present the department is receiving a lot of pressure from the rest of the Trust and the reputation of the department is poor. This management report is being undertaken to identify recommendations that will allow the recruitment process to become more efficient and identify whether utilisation of e recruitment is a viable proposal in the Trust and whether its implementation will increase efficiency and save resources. All employers face the challenge of employing the right staff for their organisation and this often falls under a human resource arena. The recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals has been identified as a key challenge facing the NHS (NHS Plan 2002). High on the agenda at local, regional and national levels is the development of strategies and initiatives to attract suitable people to work in the professions, in order to ensure that services are responsive to patient needs. 2.0 Literature Review Recruitment is an extensive subject with many aspects making up the area. A study by Ullman (1966) cited in Breaugh Starke (2000) was one of the first to examine recruitment sources. Finding that new employees who were recruited by means of informal sources (i.e., employee referrals, direct applications) had a lower turnover rate than individuals recruited via formal sources (i.e., newspaper advertisements and employment agencies). Barber (1998) has since concluded that past research has not made a strong case for the importance of source differences. The author is interested in research into the prevalence of the sources used in traditional recruitment, which appears to be research that has not been undertaken significantly. Torrington, Hall and Taylor (2005) identified that employers in the UK recruit over 3 million people each year, in a costly and time consuming exercise to add suitable staff to their organisation. They identify a need to ‘sell jobs to potential employees in order to ensure they can generate an adequate pool of applicants. Organisations are now facing a greater challenge recruiting rather than selecting. (Ployhart 2005) Other researchers having also identified the difficulties organisations have in attracting candidates, identifying selection will only be effective and financially defensible if a sufficient amount of applicants apply to the organisation. (Taylor and Collins, 2000) However according to Barber (1998), It is important that employers do not consider the recruitment process to be completed at this point, It continues during the short listing and interviewing stages and is only deemed as complete when an offer is made. For the purposes of this literature review the author will review thoughts and research on the initial stages of recruitment, that being the attraction of employees and advertisement of vacancies in order to recruit to the organisation, this will allow the author to include the areas of employer branding and e-recruitment in the review. 2.1 Recruitment Difficulties The Audit Commission (2002) has identified that the UK labour market is highly competitive at present with the rate of unemployment at a historically low level. Employers are openly competing harder to attract and retain staff. This is made more difficult, with reports across the country, of recruitment and retention problems affecting local public services, the NHS being no exception. There have been serious concerns about shortages in staff numbers, and fewer young people being attracted to work for the public sector, meaning there is a potential ‘demographic time bomb. It has been identified that 27 per cent of the public sector workforce are now aged 50 or over. (Gulland (2001), Audit Commission (2002)) Recruitment is also expensive, in a recent survey; CIPD (2007) identified the average cost of recruiting a member of staff is  £4,333; however this increases significantly to  £7750 when organisations are also calculating the associated labour turnover. They identified that eighty four percent of organisations have reported difficulties in filling vacancies in 2006, a rise of 2 percent on the previous year. The key challenges faced by organisations in regard to recruitment have been identified from the survey as; attracting and recruiting key staff to the organisation, reducing recruitment costs, enabling the achievement of the organisations strategic goals and addressing skills shortages. CIPD strongly believes that: ‘effective recruitment is central and crucial to the successful day-to-day functioning of any organisation. stating that ‘successful recruitment depends upon finding people with the necessary skills, expertise and qualifications to deliver organisational objectives and the ability to make a positive contribution to the values and aims of the organisation. The Audit Commissions report (2002) also identified there are concerns about ‘skill shortages, not only in terms of ‘basic skill levels in the workforce, but also in key leadership, management and specialist skills that are required. Previous research from the Audit Commission (2001) has showed that, on average, a new employee will perform at only 60 per cent of their productive potential when they are first appointed, only reaching 100 per cent after being in a post for a year. This makes recruitment in these areas and adequate delivery of services even harder to manage. In their extensive report on public service recruitment, the Audit Commission identifies the way the employers can maximise their recruitment practices. They advised: Informed, quick and professional responses to job advertisement enquiries are essential for maximising applications; routine monitoring of recruitment will ensure that recruitment initiatives are driven by the bigger picture rather than just the latest concern; success in addressing diversity issues are to be achieved through efficient, effective targeted recruitment campaigns based on knowledge of the target community; and any initiative to attract a specific group of staff will benefit from being profession-led and in partnership with HR. Audit Commission (2002) Effective recruitment practices and policies are recognised as making a significant contribution to an organisations success, according to Plumbley (1990). He states it is not simply about placing suitable candidates into jobs, but also about building an adept and flexible workforce in order to meet the organisations changing and demanding needs. The first stage of recruitment and selection is to be able to attract an adequate number of appropriate candidates. Prospective employees do not select the organisation they wish to work for on the foundation of job and organisational characteristics such as location, and organisational structure alone. 2.2 Employee Brand The increased competitiveness in the recruitment market has led to organisations spending more time, effort and resources on developing their recruitment brand and expanding the range of advertising methods used, to try and attract quality applicants from as broad and diverse a pool possible. Almost seven in ten organisations describe themselves as having an employer brand according to CIPD (2007), and studies have shown that an organisations reputation and identity is vital in the fight to attract suitable talented applicants into organisations. (Lievens Highhouse, 2003; Cable Turban, 2001). Identifying that in order for the corporate brand to be more successful at attracting suitable candidates there is an importance in promoting and monitoring that brand. (Slaughter, Zickar, Highhouse, Mohr, 2004) Fombrun, (1996) agrees with this stating the reputation of an organisation has been acknowledged as one of the key factors that can affect the probability of potential applicants choosing to apply to work for it. In the same way, organisation reputation has been found to be an important influence on applicants decisions of whether they fit with an organisation and want to join it (Rynes et al., 1991). This researcher has also showed that applicants utilised information on how informative and the ‘recruiter friendliness as an indicator of how an organisation treated its employees. Fombrun (1996) expands this argument to identify that reputation is of particular concern to applicants seeking employment in knowledge-based institutions, such as universities and hospitals, because of the intangibility of the services these organisations provide. Whilst Turban et al. (1998) also found that applicants perceptions of the specific attributes of a post were influenced by their evaluation of the organisation, even if they had been interviewed and were successful. The importance in private/commercial organisations reputation in relation to the recruitment and retention of staff has been well documented in literature, for example: (Turban, 2001) and Cable and Graham (2000), Gray and Ballmer 1998)), there has however been comparatively little consideration on the impact of reputation for public sector organisations. Most people in the course of their life have a need to use the services the NHS provide, some more than others and health is an important issue, not only on a personal level, also in the political arena. The NHS is the UKs largest employer, so many of the UK population are at present working in it, with a great number more many having done so at some point in their lives. In brief, the NHS has a wide range of different stakeholders, who may feel they have a vested interest in the quality; provision of services and ultimately, the reputation. People have varied, and very personal experiences of the NHS and this could mean image and reputation are therefore difficult to manage. The Audit Commission study (2002) study showed that public sector staff thinks that ‘their image in the eyes of the public would discourage potential recruits from entering the NHS. The study analysed a wide sample of the UKs national press to see if the evidence supported this observation. Analysis of the results showed that plenty of stories are told and coverage given to the NHS is extensive. They concur that the picture of public sector work presented to the reading public is often bleak. Of the former public sector workers surveyed, 68 per cent thought that the image of their former profession would discourage people from entering that job. Only 9 per cent thought the opposite and stated that the image would instead encourage people to enter. The NHS is such a well-known organisation that carries out specific roles in society, that when considering a career in the NHS people often have an idea regarding an occupation they would like to pursue. The GTI (2006) conducted a survey to establish the major determinants that influence applicants in their choice of employer. The results show that for 22% of student nurses and doctors, the reputation of a prospective employer (often influenced by media coverage) is a key factor in determining their aspirations. They identify that ‘word of mouth can be damaging to an employers reputation. If employers get things wrong, it can really affect the way they are viewed by potential employees as over half of the survey respondents have shared their bad experiences with their peers. So for some people the images and reputation of the NHS may be crucial to their decision of whether to work for it. 2.3 Traditional Recruitment Methods Traditional recruitment methods are the way in the past, that an organisation announced a job opportunity to the marketplace, through a classified advertisement, a job fair, an external recruiter, or other media. Any candidate who happened to see the announcement would submit his or her CV, ring the company for an application form or submit a letter of interest. Lievens and Harris (2003) have stated that in the past, job searching was a more time-consuming activity. They identified ‘A candidate who wished to apply for a job would need to first locate a suitable job opportunity, which often involved searching through a newspaper or contacting acquaintances. After locating potentially suitable openings, the candidate would typically have to prepare a cover letter, produce a copy of his or her resume, and mail the package with the appropriate postage. Arboledas, Ferrero and Vidal (2001), presented some examples of recruitment methods that organisations have traditionally used. These were identified as newspaper advertisement, faxed/mailed resumes, recruitment agencies or the use of headhunters. Galanaki (2002) similarly identified all these methods and also defines them as ‘traditional recruitment methods. This idea of traditional methods can also be found quoted in numerous HR texts, which have sections dedicated to recruitment and try to identify best recruitment practices. The authors of such texts include Cole (2004), Rayner and Adam Smith, Armstrong (2007) and Mullins (2005). These texts give a useful overview of the concepts of recruitment but again the best practice and evidence of what is most effective is not present. An IDS study in 2006 reported that to maximise their chances of appointing the best candidate, many organisations have utilised a combination of online and traditional approaches. In 2004 Softworld HR and Payroll identified in a study, that 24% of respondents envisaged e-recruitment entirely replacing all traditional methods of advertising in the future, however 76% of the practitioners surveyed, see it as an additional tool to allow the widest possible range of applicants to be accessed. Traditional methods also identify the use of recruitment agencies in the way of recruiting staff. According to an IES study (2005), recruitment agencies remain confident that the growth in e-recruitment technology will not eliminate their role in the process, as many organisations lack the time and expertise to carry out these tasks. Many organisations, especially smaller ones may also lack the technology to carry out their own recruitment online. They state with the low unemployment rate that currently exists, the task of finding quality candidates will remain challenging and this may prompt organisations to continue to use agencies, in particular, for specialised, senior or difficult to fill positions A Demos report (2007) however has identified difficulties in the recruitment business. They point out that the ‘landscape has changed remarkably over the past decade. And identify the recruitment industry has been growing rapidly, and the talent war has led to an increase in outsourcing and much greater efforts being made to reach candidates through on and offline advertising. They identify that recruiters have had to embrace technology, or be left behind. In the 2007 CIPD recruitment and retention survey, it was identified for the first time in the UK; corporate websites have broken even with local newspapers advertisements as the most common method of recruiting candidates. 2.4 E-recruitment E-Recruitment is identified as ‘the use of Internet technology to make the job of recruiting staff more efficient and effective, when used together with traditional recruitment methods; the benefits derived from e-recruitment can be considerable. (E-recruitment Best Practice Guide 2007) Internet usage in recent years has seen the recruitment process transformed. Online recruitment, internet recruitment, web-based recruiting and e-recruitment are terms used to describe the use of the internet to recruit potential employees, and mediums to conduct other elements of the recruitment process. We will use the terms interchangeably in this report. According to Schreyer McCarter (1998) e-recruitment refers to â€Å"The recruitment process, including placing job advertisements, receiving resumes, and building human resource database with candidates and incumbents E-Recruitment is establishing itself as a significant part of the recruitment strategy in a range of organisations across the UK and the world. This is in addition to becoming a progressively more accepted method for job seekers in searching and applying for jobs. The traditional method of recruitment has been transformed by the appearance of the Internet. In the past few years, the Internet has dramatically changed the face of HR recruitment and the ways organisations think about the recruiting function. There is predicted to be a continued dramatic growth in recruiting and hiring via this medium in future years. (CIPD 2007) A survey by the public appointment service in Ireland in 2006, relating to e-recruitment in Irish organisations, has also identified a high level of current or intended future use of e recruitment, this being identified as an area forming an important part of the Irish recruitment strategy. It would seem that e-recruitment has been implemented in many organisations from small companies to large organisations. These organisations are already using e recruitment to advertise jobs and accept CVs on the Internet, and also to communicate with the applicants by e-mail. In the CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey it was identified that eighty-four percent of respondents have made greater use of e-mail applications in the last three years. Over seven in ten organisations also said they are actively advertising jobs on their corporate websites and using online recruitment applications. Lievens and Harris (2003) have identified the following methods of using the Internet to attract candidates, acknowledging that approaches are continually changing. †¢ Company websites Advertising posts and providing information to candidates through the company website. The facility to apply online is often also provided. †¢ Job Boards Commercial general purpose recruitment portals, (e.g. Yahoo!, Monster.com) and specific industry job boards. †¢ Online Searching Recruiters searching online sources such as company websites and professional chat sites to identify candidates who may not be actively looking for a position. †¢ Relationship recruiting Using the internet to build and maintain long term relationships with passive candidates, through using internet tools to learn more about web visitors interests and experience and to e-mail regular updates about careers and their fields of interest. Kerrin and Keetley (2005) have suggested that the reasons for many organisations to introduce e recruitment have been recruitment cost reduction, speedier processes, access to a wider pool of applicants and better employer branding. In the CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover survey 2006,  it was identified that the key drivers for e-recruitment were; reducing recruitment costs (cited by 71%), broadening the selection pool (60%) and increasing the speed of time to hire (47%). It was also noted that : ‘over a third of respondents believed it brought greater flexibility and ease for candidates, and over a quarter believed it strengthened the employer brand. This has been further supported by the IRS Employment review (2007). Reduction in costs E-Recruitment has allowed employers to make reductions in advertising costs and remove their dependency on recruitment agencies. Technology in online recruitment is not expensive and the hours saved in the pre-selection process gives HR staff more time. Administration can be significantly reduced in most organisations. This can prove to be extremely important when recruiting involves high numbers of staff or when receiving high numbers of applications. (DTI 2006, Guertal et al 2007). The IRS 2007 study identified 7 out of 10 organisations say administration is easier to perform when utilising online recruitment services and 8 out 10 identified the e- recruitment process as being substantially cheaper. Cappeli (2001) calculated that ‘it costs only about one-twentieth as much to hire someone online as to hire that same person through †¦ other traditional methods. This can again, be achieved through significantly reducing advertising costs and by reducing recruitment related administration according to Elkington (2005) An IDS HR Study in April 2006 identified how the Internet now plays a significant role in recruitment activities of employers. The report examined the use of corporate and third party recruitment websites and identified they are being used to reduce advertising costs and tap into a more diverse candidate base. They also identified that technology is streamlining the application process with the encouragement of online applications, linking into sophisticated application tracking systems and allowing organisations to measure the success of attraction methods. IDS state that over 70% of adults utilise the Internet, and employers are using this medium to attract and recruit much more frequently. They identify significant cost savings for employers and reduced time taken to fill vacancies, but are keen to point out the wariness of employees in missing out on potential candidates and feel that traditional recruitment media is set to retain and important role, particularly when recruiting locally or hard to fill jobs. This supports reservations held by IRS (2007) who identified that e recruitment was considered unsuitable for certain kinds of vacancies. Grout and Parrin, authors of the book, ‘recruiting excellence agree with the assessment by IDS. In an article for HR Director (2006), they identify that online recruitment can improve efficiency by the reduction in man hours involved in the process, and help employers reach a wider and larger audience of jobseekers. They also recognise that it can be a valuable part of a recruitment process, in addition to traditional press advertising and the use of agencies (DTI, 2005). Kerrin and Keetley (2005) however, have stated, that the full cost savings are often only realised if the whole recruitment process is carried out online, a view supported by a number of authors. (Demos 2007, IRS 2007) Reducing time-to-hire With e-recruitment the time taken to recruit can be reduced by as much as 75% and allow the recruitment of the most appropriate employees more quickly into the organisation. Time is also saved by spending a reduced amount of time tracking, communicating with and screening the applicants. Online recruitment also allows organisations to the share best practice and improves the consistency of recruitment processes across the organisation. The Public Appointments Service survey showed that a reduction in administrative workload (cited by 49% of respondents), and reduced timescales for hiring (cited by 40% of respondents), were key drivers in the decision to implementing e recruitment. Hogg (2000) stresses a shorter recruitment cycle can be gained by the speed at which several steps of the recruitment process are carried out online. Elkington (2005) supports this and has identified that the immediate posting of jobs online and the effortlessness of completing online application forms and e-mailing CVs to an organisation has made these steps much faster. Moving further into the recruitment process, the short-listing process can be accelerated by routinely aligning applications dependent on prearranged criteria (CIPD 2005). Applications can be progressed within minutes rather than weeks, saving both recruiters and job applicants time. Widening Talent Pool Internet tools that enable employers/recruiters to reach a wider pool of potential applicants and to fill positions faster with less cost to the organisation are obviously advantageous in such a competitive environment. Online advertising opens up a wider candidate pool, by providing 24/7 access to job seekers, at local, national and international locations, thus providing a better chance of finding the right candidate (CIPD 2005a). As job seekers become increasingly more web literate and the growth of broadband makes web surfing easier and cheaper (IRS 2005), the potential for e-recruitment to attract wider candidate pools is increasing. Enhancing Employer brand Increased numbers of candidates are expecting to apply directly online and they routinely make judgements about employers based on their recruitment process. To combat this employers are adopting increasingly dynamic e-recruitment solutions to allow them to distinguish themselves from others and to professionally manage the recruitment process. (Willock, 2005; Paton 2006). E-Recruitment enables an organisation to raise its profile to potential applicants and promote itself as innovative and forward looking, allow visitors to the website to leave with a positive experience. Kerrin and Kettley (2003) in their report ‘e-recruitment is it delivering identified a key factor for organisations in their adoption of e-recruitment, is the desire to increase their profile as an employer of choice amongst potential candidates and to promote their image as a progressive organisation. This is supported by 7 out of 10 organisations also agreeing that the use of online recruitment was more likely to improve reputation (IRS 2007) E-Recruitment can help to build the image of a brand. Barrow (2005) recommends that organisations build their brand identity very carefully however; warning of a need to ensure substance is beneath the clever name, logo or design, as employees once appointed will see through the facade. This is further supported by Gray and Balmers (1998) term, ‘routine interactions. They state that outsiders have a place in shaping image and reputation when they interact with organisations; communications are likely to be received with scepticism when they do not match personal experience. CIPD (2005) also demonstrated that more detailed information can be provided on the organisations website than in a newspaper advertisements and in recruitment agency literature, reinforcing the employer brand, improving the corporate image and profile whilst also giving an indication of the organisations culture The use of the Internet allows organisations to pass far more information in a much more dynamic and consistent fashion to candidates than was the case in the past (Lievens and Harris 2003). Applicants therefore have much more information at their disposal before they even decide to apply for a job than in the past. In addition, candidates can easily and quickly search for independent information about organisations from various sources, such as internet search engines and libraries. Therefore, unlike in the past, a candidate may have applied for a job based on practically no information; todays candidate may have reviewed a substantial amount of information about the organisation before choosing to apply. Disadvantages of e-recruitment The CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey revealed some concerns that e-recruitment could increase the number of unsuitable applicants and that it could act as a barrier to recruiting older workers. A factor which seems to be discouraging some employers from making more use of online recruitment systems, is a concern, over the level of internet access and levels of accomplishment with technology, of their target audiences. While usage of the Internet does vary by social group there is evidence to suggest that recruiting online results in at least as diverse an applicant group as those recruited through traditional methods (McManus M.A., Ferguson M.W. 2003). Searle (2003) would dispute this however stating that participation in online recruitment is skewed towards ‘white males from higher socio-economic groups. A further concern in relation to access is the suitability of online recruitment methods for candidates with disabilitie