Journal III Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Journal III - Research Paper Example In support of his emphasis on the imagination, Lefebvre elucidated why people relate serial killing to cannibalism, but did not refer to films depicting such themes. Hence, he wanted to establish facts out of the imagination, not through the actual thematic presentation but by way of the figure, which represents â€Å"the poetic and imaginary logic,† from where an individual draws his or her conception of the work (Lefebvre 43). The film Monster by Patty Jenkins relates to the reading since it is a story about a lesbian woman, who was compelled to become a prostitute to survive, and later on became a serial killer because of her uncontrollable hatred to men. Aileen, the prostitute turned serial killer, became a victim of her own memory and lived a life of misery because of her past – the terrible past that left her yearning for love – the love that she found in Selby. Aileen justified her wrongdoings by deeming them as acts of survival with her life already being torn apart. In the end, despite all the sacrifices, despite earning the money she needed for her and Selby to survive, Aileen was again left with no one by her side and was betrayed. Aileen was jailed and executed for being a serial killer, and now there was no point to life for her. In a major way, there is this connection between the serial killer in Monster and the serial killer that Lefebvre described in his written piece. The serial killer in Lefebvre’s description was motivated to kill for no reason, and Aileen killed some of her victims only because of anguish and despair and not because of hatred to the individual being victimized. Therefore, she had no substantial reason whatsoever to kill some of her victims. In another way, the film Party Monster by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato also forms a connection with Lefebvre’s idea of the modern day serial killer, which is to him the â€Å"locus memoriae of cannibalism† (58). Although there was no serial ki lling involved, the film showed how the imagination of Michael Alig brought him to the world of drug addiction and to committing a crime that ended his position as the leader of the fabulous and popular group party kids. Michael Alig was blinded by fame and was drowned by it. All he wanted was to be himself and to show what he could do, but he ended up struggling to prove something. Cannibalism or serial killing may not be the theme of the film but it leaves a message in regard to the significance of loving oneself and to staying away from things that could bring harm to oneself and to others. Drugs turned out to be the reason why the party kids were insanely partying, and drugs were also the cause of the lead character’s downfall. There may be no cannibalism or serial killing, but the act of drug addiction may be likened to the act of killing oneself slowly every single day for no justifiable reason. A person addicted to drugs is like feeding on his own meat, nourishing it w ith medicine that brings it to bereavement. The metaphor â€Å"queers that kill† was formed because of homosexuality. Homosexuality is viewed by some as a termite eating beneath the surface to inflict damage on the foundations of society. Some people deem homosexuals as a menace to society, which have to be killed, or be forced to live life the way it

New Testament Stories Essay Example for Free

New Testament Stories Essay In the New Testament it is stated that after the capturing of John, Jesus went to the Galilee. The story about John’s arrest is not stated until considerably later in connection with his death. He was arrested at the end of his report of John’s preaching it is only simply stated and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. How much time had elapsed between the temptation and the return to Galilee, and what Jesus had been doing in the meantime is not stated in the testament. However the Fourth Gospel, which ignores both the baptism and the temptation, says that on the day after John’s testimony to Jesus at the Jordan he repeated it in the hearing of two of his disciples (In 1:35-42), one of whom was Andrew of Bethsaida in Galilee, and that Andrew thereupon brought his brother Simon to Jesus, who named him forthwith The Rock.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After that, Jesus spent a few days in Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples and then returned to Jerusalem. But the entrance in Jerusalem was so silently the people believe that Jesus comes from the Golden Gate where it was believed the messiah would enter Jerusalem. After reaching there Jesus goes straight to the Temple, Herods Temple, and starts, without explanation, throwing over tables and driving the dove salesman and money changers from the courtyard of the Temple and stops people from bringing anything for sale through the Temple courts. The doves were used for sacrifices and the standard Greek or Roman money used by people had to be changed into special blessed Jewish or Tyrian money suitable for use.   Jesus tells everyone that Is it not written: My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. But you have made it a den of robbers. The incident with the money changers is in all the Gospels.

Analysing The Philippine Political Party System Politics Essay

Analysing The Philippine Political Party System Politics Essay First, there is a need to know the difference between strongly institutionalized party systems from weak ones. For a party system to be considered as strongly institutionalized, it must have two characteristics: (1) the stability in the policies and patterns of inter-party rivalry, and (2) the view of political actors on parties as legitimate and crucial parts of the democratic process. On the other hand, a weakly institutionalized party system has the following characteristics: (1) there is a high degree of instability in the policies and patterns of inter-party rivalry; (2) the birth and death rates of parties are high- there are a lot of new political parties entering the system and a lot of existing parties leaving the system; (3) high degree of electoral instability-the fate of the individual parties depend on the results of the election, and last; (4) the political actors view of parties as just spare at best and as a danger at worst (Allen Hicken). Analysis of the Philippine Party System For a party system to be considered as strongly institutionalized, the inter-party rivalry must be stable and the political actors must view political parties as legitimate and important. However, in the Philippine setting, these two characteristics seem to be missing. Stability of Interparty Rivalry Electoral Volatility A good indicator of the stability of interparty rivalry of party systems is the gauge of electoral volatility. Electoral volatility determines the level to which there is variation in aggregate party vote shares from one election period to another. When there is a low volatility score, it affirms that the same political parties receive constant degrees of support from one election period to another, therefore, the pattern of inter-party rivalry is considered as stable. A high volatility score indicates that there is instability in the preferences of voters from one election period to another and/or there is elite-driven changes made to the party system, such as the termination of existing parties, the birth of new parties, party coalitions, party factions, etc (Mainwaring and Zoco 2007). In spite of all these, electoral volatility is not a perfect gauge of the stability of interparty rivalry because finding party vote shares is tremendously complicated where there are many party coal itions or factions, or where a candidates party affiliation is difficult to determine. The latter remains a problem in the Philippine party system because some candidates often claim to be affiliated with several parties. That fact alone tells that party labels in the Philippines are so fluid that it becomes hard to measure the volatility of electoral results (Ufen 2008). It is also significant to consider that electoral volatility does not allow one to distinguish among the sources of instability-whether they are indecisive voters or temporary parties (Hicken and Kuhonta). Another problem with the Philippines is that it lacks the updated information needed to measure electoral volatility. During the 2001, 2004 and 2007 elections, the information needed regarding party vote shares was not yet released and there was even a scandal involving accurate vote counting during the 2004 elections. However, even though updated information are missing, Allen Hicken was still able to measure el ectoral volatility of the Philippines using only the vote shares information available and supplemented those information with available data from party seat shares. The only available data was from the elections during 1992, 1995 and 1998 elections. Table 1 Electoral Volatility Period Number of Elections Volatility of 1st 2nd elections Volatility of Last election Average Volatility Philippines 1992-1998 3 46.4 28.2 37.3 (Source: Hicken and Kuhonta) Electoral volatility is measured by taking the sum of the net change in the percentage of votes achieved or lost by each party from one election to the next and then dividing it by two. A score of 100 indicates that the political parties winning votes are utterly different from the one election to the other. A score of 0 indicates that the same political parties achieved exactly the same percentage of votes from two different elections. The higher the volatility score, the less stable the pattern of inter-party rivalry and vice versa (Allen Hicken). Because the Philippines electoral volatility score are quite high, it is clear that the inter-party rivalry in the Philippine party system is still not stable, contributing to the party system being weakly institutionalized. Voters still do not have loyalty to parties and parties have not yet established a certain support base that would vote for them each and every election. The absence of loyalty and continued support by voters indicate that they still do not see certain political parties as groups that would promote their welfare so they seek and try to vote for other parties every election. The instability of inter-party rivalry in the Philippines makes the party system weaker and political parties less reliable in consolidating the democracy of the country. Birth and Death Rates of Parties The rate of the birth and death of parties in the party system of a country is another factor in determining whether a party is strongly or weakly institutionalized. If there is a high birth and death rate in the party system, it means that the inter-party rivalry is not stable and there are a lot of parties entering and leaving the system. In the post-Martial law period up to 2007, because of the conversion of the Philippine party system from a two party system into a multi-party system, the birth and death rates became high. Stabilization around parties was not present. A large number of political parties continue to enter and leave the system every election, and these rates contribute as well to the electoral volatility of the party system (Allen Hicken). Table 2 Party Birth and Death Rates During House Elections (Seats) Birth Rate Death Rate Number of Parties 1987 NA NA 8 1992 0.43 0.50 7 1995 0.13 0 8 1998 0.50 0.50 8 2001 0.33 0.25 9 2004 0.73 0.11 30 2007 0.33 0.40 27Birth Rate Death Rate # of Parties(Source: Allen Hicken) The shift of the nature of the party system from a two-party into a multi-party system seems to have given the chance for other parties to evolve and get involved in the system, however, it seems that this change only brought unsteadiness to the birth and death rate of parties in the Philippines. Because of the multi-party system, parties can enter and leave the party system freely, although looking at it in different point, it may seem good for the inter-party rivalry basing on the fact that not only a few number of parties can compete and gain seats in the government, it is still not considered good for the institutionalization of the party system for it makes the party competition unstable. The high rate of the death and birth of parties only makes the Philippine party system weaker. View of Political Actors on Parties The perception of political actors on political parties is one of the most important factors for a party system to be considered as strongly institutionalized. If the major political actors doubt the legitimacy and importance of political parties, then it means that there is a lack of institutionalization. The Filipino people or the public are part of the government and they are also considered as political actors. Their views on political parties are very important in determining whether democracy in the Philippines is working well. Conversely, there seems to be a detachment on the principle of real democracy and on the truth of Filipino democracy. For instance, a great number of Filipino people surveyed (around 55 percent) were reported to have been discontented with the way democracy works in the Philippines (Hicken 2009b). This discontentment is strongly interconnected with the doubt of the Filipino people on the genuineness of Philippine political parties. This survey was just a mong the ordinary Filipino citizens, that is why there is also a need to analyze the view of the major political actors themselves on the existing Philippine political parties. Major political actors like the military seems to have been dissatisfied with government a lot of times as well, since military interventions and rumored plans of coups have been present in the country for a couple of times, especially during the 1986 and the 2000 elections (Allen Hicken). Electoral volatility, birth and death rate of parties and the perception on political parties show how weakly connected are the parties to the different social interests/groups in the country. Filipino voters do not have specific parties in which they are loyal to, they do not vote candidates coming just from one political party, they often times vote candidates from different political parties and it is not even consistent with their votes in the previous elections. An instance would be during the 1992, 1998 and 2010 presidential elections, the presidents and the vice-presidents voted were from two different political parties. It is also very hard to identify one political party from another based on their party platforms and ideologies, this difficulty in distinguishing one party from another makes the strings connecting Philippine parties and societal interests and social groups very frail. The number of voters who can genuinely identify with any political party is very small. In one SWS 2006 survey, it has been reported that two-thirds of the people surveyed said that no party truly endorsed their welfare (SWS 2006, Allen Hicken). Nathan Gilbert Quimpo, a professor, summed up the state of Philippine political parties: Far from being stable, programmatic organizations, the countrys main political parties are nebulous entities that can be set up, merged with others, split, resurrected, regurgitated, reconstituted, renamed, repackaged, recycled or flushed down the toilet anytime (Quimpo 2005). What Quimpo wants to point out is that there is no certainty among political parties in the Philippines. They tend to be unsteady and impermanent, every election, parties tend to change, either through factions, coalitions or merges-even members of the parties tend to leave their respective parties once they feel that their own interests are not being pursued. In summary, through the different measures (electoral volatility, birth death rates, perception) used, one can conclude that Philippine political parties and the Philippine party system display a low level of institutionalization, or even, a very weak and fragile institutionalization. The pattern of inter-party rivalry stays fluid and political actors including voters even doubt if political parties are legitimate and necessary for the countrys democracy (Hicken). Analysis of the Thai Party System Political parties and the party system in Thailand, just like those in the Philippines, are also weakly institutionalized. The two characteristics needed for a party system to be considered strongly institutionalized seem to be missing as well in Thailands party system. Stability of Interparty Rivalry Electoral Volatility Having a weakly institutionalized party system, the electoral volatility of the Thai party system is one of the highest in Asia (Kuhonta 2009). However, it is still notable that the electoral volatility of the Thai party system is lesser than that of the Philippine party system (Average volatility of Philippine party system is 37.3, see Table 1 for more details). This means that the interparty rivalry in the Thai party system is more stable compared to that of the Philippines. However, the difference is not that big and, because of the lack of Philippine data, the period measured in the Philippines is only until 1998 while the period measured in Thailand is until 2005. Period Number of Elections Volatility of 1st 2nd elections Volatility of Last election Average Volatility Thailand 1992-2005 6 38.1 28.0 35.0 With the given electoral volatility, it is clear that just like the Filipino voters, Thai voters also lack the loyalty to parties. The numbers stated indicate that Thai voters do not have enough allegiance to a certain party that they tend to vote different parties every election. The commitment of the followers is unsteady and the parties havent established a well grounded support even with the support bases that they claim to have. Birth and Death Rates of Parties The history of Thailand will provide evidence that the parties in the Thai party system come and go like that in the Philippines. The birth and death rate of parties is also high, making the pattern of inter-party rivalry, all the more unstable. Parties in Thailand are especially susceptible to the influence and power of party factions. Party factions are also present in the Philippine party system, but not as much like in the Thai party system. The Thai party system has more factions, while the Philippine party system has a lot of varieties of identical parties being founded, identical meaning having the same ideologies and platforms. These party factions in Thailand, however, do not bring any excellence to the party system but it even makes the birth and death rates of parties become unsteady each and every election period. The factions made by parties themselves do not have sufficient interest to make the party system and the government work well, these factions merely see parties as just roads to their own drives and tours for self interests and political power. As an effect, parties in Thailand tend to just come and go every election (Kuhonta 2009). Although it is right to say that there are exceptions, like the Democrat Party which remains as the longest standing party in Thailand, we still cannot presuppose that the constancy of the lives of just a few parties make the inter-party rivalry more stable. The government of Thailand has done things to make up for the unstable inter-party rivalry of Thai politics parties. Constitutional amendments have been enacted, one of which is included in the 1997 Thai Constitution, it is considered as one of the strongest ways to minimize if not eliminate the practices of party switching. According to the 1997 Constitution, MPs who left their parties within 90 days of registration for a new election would not be able to run in that upcoming election. (Kuhonta 2009). The 1997 constitution seems to have strengthened the pa rty system minimizing the amount of party hopping and switching. However, the amendment only has a limited effect and what needs to be done is to let democracy and the party system take their course in strengthening the government (Kuhonta 2009). View of Political Actors on Parties Electoral volatility can already indicate how loyal Thai voters are to their supported parties, however, the calculated electoral volatility of Thai political parties would already state that parties do not have constant support bases and that those voters do not have constancy when it comes to their votes. Like political actors in the Philippines, it is also evident that political actors in Thailand do not have the best perception on their political parties. The mere fact that voters switch their support from one party to another, every election, means that the parties have not yet cultivated their own mass support bases. The absence of loyalty to particular parties leads to a conclusion that Thai voters are dissatisfied with their political parties. Moreover, the lack of ideology and programmatic platforms and goals also makes it harder for parties to maintain their own support bases. The divided constituency returns supply adequate proofs that parties in Thailand lack their social bases, since this implies that voters do not have loyalty to a certain party. From the year 1986 to the year 1996, it has been recorded that more than 50 percent of constituencies had divided votes. This is with the exception of the two dominant parties that time, which are the Democrat Party and the Thai Rak Thai. Parties do not have connections with social groups like labor unions, womens groups, ethnic communities or other groups who make up most of the voting population. This shallow nature of party roots in society mirrors only the superficial aspect of party organizations (Kuhonta 2009). This is one of the problems of Thai political parties-they do not represent social interests which lead social groups to not extend votes and support to any particular party. Political actors themselves do not think of parties as representatives of their interests and as supporters of their welfare, that is why their perception of parties is not good most of the time. Like in the Philippines, one major political actor that could be considered as an excellent aspect contributing to the view of political actors on parties is the military. The weak connection of the political parties to social groups made them vulnerable to military counteraction. Military often times involved themselves in politics and when they oppose the governance or the reign of one political party, they would counterattack the government through coups. The military is very influential and often times, when they are dissatisfied with the system, they resort to using their power to overthrow a regime. However, Thailand has gone through more coups than the Philippines. Thailand has experienced 18 coups since the concept of party politics began in the year 1932 (Kuhonta 2009).

Massage Therapy :: Essays Papers

Massage Therapy What’s the easiest and quickest way to take a mini-vacation, and feel totally rejuvenated, renewed and rewarded? Do you want a well paying job that can give this feeling to you and your clients? If so I have the perfect job for you. But before I start to tell you about it you have to have an open mind and realize this job does take some work. I’m going to tell you some of the things you might have to do, the reasons its a growing industry, places you can get this job, the wages, the amount of education you need and where to get it, the curriculum of the schools, some of the skills you need, and how to start preparing for this job now. Of course, you want to know the career I’m talking about! It’s massage therapy! I know, I know, your probably thinking so I rub someone’s back big whoop! But there’s more to massage therapy than that. There are many different things that a massage therapist must do. First off they have to find somewhere to work and get clients, but that’s the obvious. There are also things they have to do after this, other than just massage. In an interview with Stephanie Melroy, who owns and runs The Massage Studio in Holdrege, she said to me, â€Å"A lot of high school girls are really interested in massage therapy but most of them don’t realize all the work and education that it requires. The classes that you take aren’t the easiest either. You have to take a lot of anatomy and physiology, know every bone, muscle, and nerve and they work.† You’ll to prepare the client before the massage, which might include: applying heat, alcohol, lubricants, salt, or other rubbing compounds. Of course the massage therapist will massage the client using kneading, rubbing, and/or stroking movements. You also need to know different types of diseases and skin irritation s because if they have a certain kind of disease you can’t treat them. But there are also many types of massage or therapy that they might do. This includes Hydrotherapy, Swedish massage, Sports massage, Shiatsu, Trager, Hellerwork, Polarity, Reflexology, Acupressure, Rolfing, and many more. Other than a manual massage they might also use mechanical or electrical machines as well. Massage Therapy :: Essays Papers Massage Therapy What’s the easiest and quickest way to take a mini-vacation, and feel totally rejuvenated, renewed and rewarded? Do you want a well paying job that can give this feeling to you and your clients? If so I have the perfect job for you. But before I start to tell you about it you have to have an open mind and realize this job does take some work. I’m going to tell you some of the things you might have to do, the reasons its a growing industry, places you can get this job, the wages, the amount of education you need and where to get it, the curriculum of the schools, some of the skills you need, and how to start preparing for this job now. Of course, you want to know the career I’m talking about! It’s massage therapy! I know, I know, your probably thinking so I rub someone’s back big whoop! But there’s more to massage therapy than that. There are many different things that a massage therapist must do. First off they have to find somewhere to work and get clients, but that’s the obvious. There are also things they have to do after this, other than just massage. In an interview with Stephanie Melroy, who owns and runs The Massage Studio in Holdrege, she said to me, â€Å"A lot of high school girls are really interested in massage therapy but most of them don’t realize all the work and education that it requires. The classes that you take aren’t the easiest either. You have to take a lot of anatomy and physiology, know every bone, muscle, and nerve and they work.† You’ll to prepare the client before the massage, which might include: applying heat, alcohol, lubricants, salt, or other rubbing compounds. Of course the massage therapist will massage the client using kneading, rubbing, and/or stroking movements. You also need to know different types of diseases and skin irritation s because if they have a certain kind of disease you can’t treat them. But there are also many types of massage or therapy that they might do. This includes Hydrotherapy, Swedish massage, Sports massage, Shiatsu, Trager, Hellerwork, Polarity, Reflexology, Acupressure, Rolfing, and many more. Other than a manual massage they might also use mechanical or electrical machines as well.

In a World of Pay: Human Resource Management Essay

Pay rates have always been an important issue when it comes to hiring workersespecially when dealing with professionals whose talent and experience are highly soughtin the job market. In our case study, we will be discussing the difficulties and challenges of hiring expatriates which in this case will be revolving around pay. The case is about theproblems that arose at a German software Company (Typware) when the managementdecided to hire Anne Prevost whom they consider to be an ‘intelligent careful strategist.’Anne is generally agreed to be the perfect match for the job but the rate which Anna isrequesting for the job is causing controversy at Typware because some other workerssuch as Jurgen Mehr (Head of Typware European Marketing) feel threatened by theamount the new hire will be receiving. Case DescriptionThis case illustrates a german software company’s inability to effectively compile afair compensation package for the hire of an american ex-pat. Renate Schmidt, the headof human resources at typware, is faced with a dilemma of how much to offer AnnePrevost. Thomas Gutschein, the CEO of typware, has made it clear that Anne is a neces-sary strategic acquisition. Many managers, including the European head of marketingJurgen Mehr, have expressed discomfort and/or threatened by the high salary proposedfor Prevost. Schmidt has no reference in determining a fair ex-pat package as this is therst time in Typware’s history that they hire an outsider to work at HQ. Schmidt facesproblematic issues, one being that Typware does not use a uniform pay scale and overthe past decade many executives have received up to 30 percent extra salary based ongeographical circumstances. Having researched the employee salary les and not ndingany help from them, Schmidt calls in a favor from Rainer Barth. Barth, her contact at aconsulting rm, helps her compile a list of questions that need to be asked in order to geta more accurate idea of how Prevost’s salary will be determined. Finally, the last issueneeded to be stressed is that Prevost has another offer on the table and Typware needsto act fast if they are to successfully lock in this asset. Case Study: In a World of Pay2Section 2Problem Statement:Stafng and Job Analysis:Typware’s recruitment and selection process does not have a clear  job assessmentsystem evidenced through the hiring efforts of Anne Prevost. HR Activity in Theory:Stafng and Job Analysis:†A World of Pay,† the article discussing Typware’s employment methods, focusedtoo much on Prevost’s strengths as a candidate. Though she may have been a great as-set to the company she previously worked for, the duties she would have if she chose togo with Typware were not clearly specied. When hiring, the characteristics of a vacancyneed to be dened in order to recruit a suitable employee. Typeware’s assessment sys-tem focused m ore on keeping Prevost away from the competitors rather than paying at-tention to the job analysis. Obtaining more organizational effectiveness within the company, with regard tostafng and assessment systems requires recruiting and selecting more strongly basedon job analysis rather than the general qualications of an applicant alone. A clear jobanalysis addresses the job description and recruitment methods of a hiring company, re-sulting in a more structured approach to hiring international employees. First, Typware must clarify its job descriptions to improve human resource planningwithin the company. By facilitating more detailed job analyses, the efciency of ndingpotential candidates for vacant posts will be raised substantially. Wages and salary ad-ministration can be restructured because payment can be more strongly based on thefulllment of employee duties rather than trying to compete with wages on the interna-tional job market. The fact that Renate Schmidt needed to call Prevost a second time foranother line of questioning indicates the poor job description and HR information, be-cause such questions could have been known prior to the rst interview with proper jobanalysis. Once the job analysis is claried, the recruitment process can be broadened. Bybroadening the methods by which recruits are sought, applicants can be more readilyfound, no longer leaving Typware with the tough choice of whether to hire just one indi-vidual or not. Typware will likely have several candidates to ll the vacancy, leaving inter-national applicants with less room for bargaining their salary and compensations. Case Study: In a World of Pay3Two methods with which Typware can expand its recruitment sources are via theinternet and through employment agencies. Recruiting electronically would grant Typwarea large source for nding more talented recruits that meet the job specications. Typwarecould place the vacancy on its own website, granting public access to anyone who is in-terested in the company. This method leaves Typware free to give a clear job descriptionso that there is a larger chance to nd suitable applicants for the post. If electronic va-cancies fail to bring the desired results, Typware can recruit through employment agen-cies. A private employment agency would be responsible for lling higher posts, like theone Prevost applied for. The employment agency would look for people who may still becurrently employed and help to maintain condentiality between the employer and thecandidate. Typware’s receiving of applicants internationally brings on the added challenge oftrying to formulate a standard for hiring internationally; for example, Schmidt received in-formation indicating that four other multinational companies in Germany did not have setpolicies or standards yet. Due to the lack of an international hiring structure, the efciencyof the recruitment and selection for those other companies was greatly hindered sincecompensations and salaries became all the more difcult to balance. In the best interestof Typware and surrounding companies, Typware should formulate an international hiringmethod, which they can implement in almost any international applicant situation. Analysis & Implementation:Stafng and Job Analysis:If Typware were to implement the proposed stafng changes with regard to stafngand job analysis, there would be some added costs such as getting a web designer, orpaying for a headhunter. However, the added benets greatly outweigh the cost. The hu-man resources activities to be implemented include ensuring clear job descriptions, di-versifying recruitment methods, and formulating an international hiring structure. Schmidt’s task as the head of human resources for Typware is to ensure a  clear jobanalysis within the company at all times. Assuming she has a team reporting to her, shemust stress to its members the importance of a detailed job analysis. She should reviewsome of the job analyses from her team to ensure that the description is clear cut. In do-ing so, Schmidt produces more effective negotiations and interviews with potential em-ployees. The recruitment methods can be diversied in various ways. Two methods whichseem to most closely t Typware’s vacancy predicament are electronic recruiting and us-Case Study: In a World of Pay4ing private employment agencies. Recruiting electronically requires some technologicalexpertise, but considering Typware is a software company, that should not be an issue. Typware can utilize its own employees for web design by placing the job and the job de-scription on the company website. The benet of placing the job advertisement on thecompany website is that the applicants who visit the website are more likely to knowsomething about the company. Also, the applicants they would receive are more likely tobe closer in accuracy to the advertised post, because since it is the company website,Typware can feel free to make a detailed job description. Then, looking into private em-ployment agencies would fall into the department of Schmidt and her team. They wouldneed to nd a highly spoken private employment agency so as to ensure that they receivereturns on their nancial investment. Beyond that, after the team has contacted theagency, the responsibililty of nding a suitable candidate for Typware is left to the agency. Formulating an international hiring structure has quite a few complexities. Appli-cants such as Anne Prevost would most likely look into the potential extra costs of taxrates, ination, benets, and oating currencies. Accommodations such as schooling fortheir children, health care, social security, housing, and culture shock also need to be ac-counted for. To meet all these needs in salary and benets would mean a salary that is nolonger within equal range of their peers. Renate Schmidt can discuss ncancial optionswith a local private school, so that Typware’s international employees will not need somany added benets. Health care and housing can also be worked out in a similar fash-ion, thus helping to further reduce  costs. The costs really start to add up when there is noplan worked out at all beforehand. In the best interest of the company, Typware shouldorganize at least a minimal structure for hiring international employees to aid in more ef-fective stafng through exemplar y job analysis. Case Study: In a World of Pay5Section 3Problem Statement:Diversity of Workforce and Employee Rights:The lack of a diversity policy and the absence of concern for employee rightscauses dissatisfaction within the workforce. HR Activity in Theory:Diversity of Workforce and Employee Rights:In In a World of Pay the characters are faced with many common dilemmas thatcause problems or at the very least delays for processing new or existing candidates. Wewill be explaining, then applying diversity in the workforce and employee rights in rele-vance to the issues at hand. Equal employment compliance refers to the laws and regulations of a country inwhich a company operates. It is important for companies to identify with the well knownEEO or Equal Employment Opportunity movement started in the US. This is relevant be-cause of the ways countries and companies are evermore intertwined, creating a vastblend of cultures, setting the grounds for discrimination. Equal employment compliancehelps to avoid discriminatory scenarios. Diversity is one of the components of that policyand stipulates that an employee’s salary and benets are not to be determined or effectedby his/her race, national or ethic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, mari-tal status, family status or disability. Typware’s CEO seems to have little or no concern forequality amongst his employees, which causes great concerns. Equality in the workplace promotes a company culture that cares for its people. Itcreates an atmosphere where people want to work, there is courtesy and respect, peopleare listened to and trust and integrity are main aspects in which your staff relates to eachother. Furthermore everyone benets when the workplace is fair and equitable, and peo-ple feel valued. Analysis & Implementation:Diversity of Workforce and Employee Rights:In a  World of Pay a lack of Equal Employment Compliance compromises policiesfor hiring foreigners and integrating them into the headquarters. This stirs up inner ofcedisputes between Jurgen Mehr, Typware’s European head of marketing, and RenateSchmidt, head of human resources. It is of utter most importance that Typware quicklyCase Study: In a World of Pay6revises it’s internal policies to match those set forth by the countries in which they oper-ate, primarily Germany. In the case they are looking to draw up a proposal for one candidate. Thus a minorinfringement, if at all, on their local policy. Typware is based in Germany where the lawsare generally more favorable for the employee, meaning that once Anne Prevost is hiredlocally she will be entitled to a variety of benets and advantages non-existent in standardUS contracts. This a point to be noted when her arrangement is drafted. Typware wouldnot be disputing any of the existing German legal framework as a result of hiring AnnePrevost. Although this is the surface case, the underlying problem is a lack of equal em-ployment policy structure. On a note, the institutions governing equal employment op-portunities in Germany are ranging from legislative and administrative institutions tocourts and tribunals to workers’ and employers’ organizations such as the Biebestrat. In the case Renate Schmidt discovers that female and minority employees madeless then their white male counterparts. This is not only demoralizing and damaging tothe spirit of the workforce but it also conicts with the legislatures of the country. In notcomplying with the country’s equal employment compliance laws, Typware could ndthemselves involved in serious legal action against them. Renate Schmidt needs to takea rm ground in her talks with the CEO and explain the importance of implementing astrict pay grade system. As shown by current trends, the company need to re-structure their policies tomatch that demanded by the country. The implementation of such a pay grade systemwould benet them in various ways. One way is that it would bring them up to code onequality and employee rights. Another is it would prevent outburst like the one Renateexperienced with the German CIO who found out  his Japanese counterpart was paiddouble his salary. Typware needs to adopt new policies and treat all their employees with equality andshow a concern for their rights. In doing so, they gain a competitive advantage on theirglobal market and can continue to grow. While engaged with other HR activities they canformulate templates to process and recruit the right people for their organization. This willfacilitate their ability to correctly asses talents and consequently provide fair salary andbenets packages in line with market practices. However, if they fail to established a uni-formed pay scale and comply with the laws of the country they will suffer irreparable in-ternal damages that will lead the inevitable downfall of Typeware. Case Study: In a World of Pay7Section 4Problem Statement:Compensation and benets:†¦it appears that typware’s inability to update its compensation and benet systemhas resulted in a chaotic situation as evident by the issues arising from the hire of AnnePrevost. Compensation and benets:The use of benets by employers can be categorized into two main aspects whichcan be either as an inspirational tool to motivate employees to be more active in carryingout their tasks or it can be a form of compensation for a job well done. Benets can bedescribed as a payment made in recognition of a workers commitment to an organization. In relation to the case study, one of the major HR issues that faced Renate Schmidt wasbased on the fact that the company does not have a stipulated benet program. This isbecause the employee benet program would have provided a guideline for Renate todraft up benets for the proposed new hire; Anna Prevost. The irrational nature of Typware’s pay system has resulted in benet disparities anda difcult salary system. Such disparity like female and minority employees of Typwarereceiving less pay when compared to their white male counterparts is obviously one ofthe main reasons Jurgen Mehr is not taking the hiring of Anna Prevost lightly. This is be-cause he feared that  if a female employee will start with a salary close to his, she mightearn more than he does in the future. In his words â€Å"This isn’t fair, and it’s humiliating.†Jurgen Mehr is not just troubled because she is a new hire but it is a ‘she’ and also a for-eigner, which also brings us back to EEO. Nowadays, organizations tend to be institutionalizing benets such as savings planand pension because these are part of employment package that attracts employees andhelps the organizations to retain the good employees. However, Typware seems not tohave paid attention to these issues, because their benet system has not been updatesfor sometime. The importance of benets program to employees has become very signi-cant these days because when employees do not feel an appreciation for their commit-ment to an organization, there is a high possibility that they will withdraw that commit-ment and in some cases might leave the organization. This is based on a simple logic that†when you appreciate things that people do, it motivates them to keep on doing so.† Ineffect, benets have become part of organizational practices because it plays a signi-Case Study: In a World of Pay8cant role in helping employers retain good employees and encourages performance im-provement. Performance management:Theories and performance appraisal systems have developed as means to meas-ure employee’s performance at the work place, but none have been able to provide anaccurate assessment of employee’s performance. However, the importance of appraisalsystem can not be overlooked because they have proved to be good in detecting em-ployee’s strengths and weakness. Performance management can be dened a â€Å"meansthrough which managers ensure that employees’ activities and outputs are congruentwith the organizations goals.†1 One of the main purposes of performance management isto develop employees’ who are effective at their jobs. This is because when employees’are not performing as well as they should, performance management seeks to improvetheir performance. It appears that since Typware launched its aggressive campaign in the internationalmarket in 1996, little or no steps have been taken to promote employee development. Lots of emphasis has been paid to issues surrounding pay, with little or no steps towardsperformance management which is signicant for awarding of benets. In addition, Re-nate’s statement ‘it will make others who have been with us for a long time feel that wedon’t care about them’ is a clear indication that the organization lacks important HR activ-ity. Such HR activity includes human resource development and performance manage-ment. Also important when considering the performance management, is the link be-tween performance management and the organizations strategies and goals. This is be-cause nowadays systems such as the performance planning and evaluation system areconstantly being used to bridge the link between performance management and organi-zations strategies. Performance management and evaluation (PPE) system can be de-ned as â€Å"any system that seeks to tie the formal performance appraisal process to com-pany’s strategies by specifying at the beginning of the evaluation period the types andlevel of performance that must be accomplished in order to achieve the strategy.†2Case Study: In a World of Pay91Ibid p 3302Ibid p 332Section 5Reactions:1. What did the student think at the on set of the case?The case prompted some interesting issues in the global work place. It alsoshows how sometimes those in charge are not always fully capable, and muststrongly rely on their employees. The case also illustrates how a globally competitive company can go foronly a short time without identifying with the local legislation before it catches upto them and causes serious problems within the organization. This case reects on how organizations deal with HR issues such as paywith regards to hiring new employees. The organization has repeatedly violatedsome of its compensation and benet program by offering expatriates abroad extrabenets. This in turn resulted in a chaotic situation at the headquarters with em-ployees storming the ofce of Head of Human Resources to demand for equalbenet. 2. How did they feel about the key characters in the case?The CEO, Thomas, seems to fail to address the core issues, especially inregards to  formulating a more stable pay structure. The problems from the paystructure trickle down and cause a chain effect of problems within the company, aswas shown through the complaint of managers, and the efforts of trying to hireAnne Prevost. Furthermore, Anne Prevost is not the key to solving Typware’s problems asthought by the CEO. She is a valuable asset only if the core issues are correctionswiftly and re-structuring of the company occurs. Renate Schmidt showed some good reasoning in a tight situation. She wasable to sort out the larger issues within the company and had a well structured ap-proach to issues. She usually dened the issue, and tried to nd some precedenceon it rst. Then she would go through contacts to see who could help her achieveher set goals. The animosity we feel from Jurgen’s reaction to an American is a clear re-ection of how employees will treat each other when the work atmosphere is notfair and equitable. Case Study: In a World of Pay10Renate who is the head of human resources is faced with the challenge ofincorporating the demands of Anna Prevost (potential new hire) into the organiza-tion’s ineffective HR policy. The HR policy is ineffective because they lacked a sta-ble salary system. 3. What is the student’s opinion about the relevancy/application of HR activity In aWorld of Pay?Given the fact that the organization lacked an effective HR activity such aspay, it has resulted in a difcult situation with regards to drafting up an organiza-tional benet program for the proposed new hire (Anna Prevost). Such programswould have provided a guideline and minimized the amount of work to be done byRenate for the hiring of Anna Prevost. In a World of Pay showed how important HR activities are in preventing suchissues from arising. Had Typware more strongly followed set HR activities, thenthey could have minimized the amount of work involved to  rectify the larger issuesat hand. However, Typware did not follow HR activities closely enough and theirfailure to do so led to numerous problems within the company. Case Study: In a World of Pay11

Mosaics and Islam Culture

The Mosaics' Importance to the Islam People Islamic mosaics have had, and still have a great part in Islamic culture. Traditional mosaics had many uses in the Islamic World. They were very detailed in their patterns and designs, and had great religious meaning to the Muslim people. Mosaics had different uses in the Islamic World, as they do still in modern life. Normally, mosaics were used for decoration of mosques. They were sometimes used also for pottery. The great Mosque of Damascus has amazing mosaics decorating it and adding even more splendor and beauty to its design.The patterns and designs on mosaics are important and of great significance. The designs often had floral images and were very geometrical. Grids were put down on hard backings to make sure of exact measurements. Beads and tiles were used; calligraphy was often seen as well on mosaics. Mosaics can have great meaning to Muslims. The Great Mosque of Damascus has a mosaic on its walls that shows a paradise. Nature an d scenery is often displayed on mosaics; these scenes show meaningful places. Humans and animals were banned from being displayed on mosaics and abstract colors were shown often.Sayings, meaningful words, and verses from the Qu’ran, the sacred book of the Muslims, were often seen. Mosaics are a great part of Islamic culture because of its many uses, detailed designs and its great meaning to the Muslim people. My mosaic fits into and connects to Islamic art and culture because it is detailed, has meaningful words and is very geometrical. Beads were used to create my mosaic. The beads are in precise locations and the Arabic words are exact. The colors correspond with Islamic art as well.The Arabic words on either side of my template mean â€Å"Arabic Language† and are completely legible. These words represent the importance of Muslims learning Arabic. My mosaic is in the shape of an octagon, and is symmetrical, as are most Islamic mosaics. A large grid was put down on a hard foam core backing to help make the shapes more accurate. My mosaic connects to Islamic culture and traditional mosaics because of the detailed design fitting in with Islamic designs. It has words that mean something to Muslim people, and is exact and geometrical.