Compare and contrast Kennedy and Reagon's Inaugural Address Essay

Compare and contrast Kennedy and Reagon's Inaugural Address - Essay Example However, only Reagan, by far the better man manages to achieve this. John Kennedy became President as a youngish man. America was dawning in the 1960s and they were swept up with enthusiasm. He noted in his inaugural speech that there was great promise, but also great danger ahead: The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe-the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God. (110). He evokes God and purpose in his speech and it is powerful in its way. What is sad about his speech, however, is how his administration did not live up to the principles it espouses. Kennedy did very little as President. He spent much of his time leading an absolutely scandalous personal life, which surely proved a great distraction. He led America into the humiliating Bay of Pigs fiasco and nearly destroyed the world through Cuban Missile Crisis. He was not a man in touch with the people. He was a millionaire who was President as a kind of hobby. We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed. But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course-both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankinds final war. (110) In a sense this is similar to Reagan’s own political philosophy of building up America’s nuclear arsenal and defences. However, Reagan did this simultaneously while engaging in reasoned negotiations not brinksmanship. He knew what he was doing, while Kennedy was just playing at it. Flash forward

Induction in health and social care Essay Example for Free

Induction in health and social care Essay Explain why induction is important for practitioners, individual and settings. Induction process is very valuable and of great importance for any early year practitioner, individual or organization. In my opinion this is an ongoing process starting from the advertisement. a) For practitioners: The process of Induction is important for the Early birds in the nest so as to help them integrate into their roles in the organization quickly and effectively. They should be familiarized with the campus first. Like cafeteria, restrooms, classrooms, emergency exits etc. After that introduction with her new colleagues, rules and regulations, benefits and facilities that she will enjoy working here will follow next. Necessary trainings in safety and all her questions/ needs should be addressed. Induction is also very important for the new employees to let them know the organizational structure of the work place. The mission vision of the workplace is introduced and they are informed as to what quality drive is expected from them. They are given an opportunity to know where they stand in the crowd. The timetable of the CPDs and school extracurricular activities are handed out to them. They are given documents related to class they are going to start teaching. b) For individuals: Induction should not be limited to the new comer only rather it should be executed for the old employees as well. I would like to organize induction process at least twice a year. One before the new session starts in September, because they might need a lot of motivation and enthusiasm after spending 6-8 weeks holidays away from school. This can also be extended to 4-5 days. In this process we can review policies and procedure to refresh their minds and remind them of the goals they have to achieve throughout the year, in case of some policies being altered it’s a good time to share with them and get their opinion. Some new incentives can also be shared to boost up their energy and loyalty with the organization. This is a good time to introduce a new staff if there is any or if any staff member is promoted then he/she can be given induction about the new responsibilities attached  with the new position. c) For organizations: If the employees are properly inducted then they will work more efficiently and happily for the workplace. The progress of each child will be consistent and improved, as a result parents are happy and a reputation is built and demand of that work place will increase more in market. 1.3 Explain the link between induction process, qualifications and progression routes in the sector. Every workplace wants to ensure that they recruit new teachers that are most suitably skilled and qualified for their jobi This they do by a rigorous recruitment process. Then through a structured induction process the workplace prepares them for a new role and motivates them so that they give their best. This also helps the newbie to develop upon the knowledge and skills they already have. An effective induction helps the new staff to meet the core standards of the work place and provide a foundation for CPDs towards becoming a more effective teacher. The leader is responsible for selecting mentors for the induction process from the staff depending upon the requirements of the induction process. The mentors should have the skills, expertise and knowledge to coordinate the induction effectively. The  observations and notes taken from the induction process states where the new staff is standing and now what skills and abilities should be focused for further development. Thus the progression should continue to give the new staff a chance to enhance their qualifications and skill where they lack. 1.4 Analyze the role of the induction process in supporting others to understand the values, principles and agreed ways of working within a work setting The induction is a planned process which involves various members. The process of induction depends upon how clear and effective your induction policy is. The policy clearly states the role of each member involved in the induction process; and there is a checklist present for each phase. In this way let a newbie join at the beginning of the session or in the mid of the session every newbie is going to enjoy the induction process so that she understands all her duties and responsibilities adhered to the job. This newbie will learn all the tricks of the trade going on in the organization pretty well including the mission vision and what quality work is expected from her to derive learning and motivation from the students. It is not a one day process it depends the new recruit. If he/she is already an experience teacher then induction for a few weeks are enough but if it’s newly qualified teacher then induction can go as long as 1 term or may be more than that. However if the new teacher is not being monitored as it should be by the mentor or instead of mentoring the mentor has started dictating than induction process loses its effectiveness. It merely becomes a chit chat session If the induction is done effectively with the old staff members as well. One of the advantages of the process is that you get to know where your staff stands. The members of your staff are hard working but lacking in some skills or the other, there you can hold different workshops and training sessions by calling the expertise. Also during the session the mission vision, policies new or updated can be explained/refreshed so your team  members avoid mistakes and know what you expect from them during their tenure. In this way you can ensure quality education for your students by providing competent staff members. However this can turn the table over if the policy does not fully cover all areas of induction and that there is no checklist to keep track of the induction progress. 1.5 Analyze the role of induction in safeguarding individuals and others with a work setting One of the aims of the induction process is safeguarding individuals from any harm coming to them. If I were to head the process of induction in my setting then first and foremost I would make sure that I have all the policies updated and required for safeguarding, e.g. fire safety, health and safety, child protection policies etc. I would make sure that each member of my staff undergoes basic child protection and first aid training, to raise awareness that equips them to recognize and respond to child welfare concerns. This training would start soon after a staff is appointed. They would also be induced on how to deal with emergency situations such as fire. I would hold a fake fire alarm schedule so that the staff and the children know how to react in emergency situations. However, this might not be effective if a large number of staff is present as time can become an issue. But yes if the process is scheduled in batches then this can be overcome. Once it happened in a classroom a child who was usually active was feeling low and wanted to lie down from time to time. Had not my colleague taken child safety training she would have let him sleep but she quickly responded and dashed to the clinic by the time the child had collapsed in her arms. The Dr. called the parents and the child was taken in an emergency to a nearby hospital. The Doctors praised the teacher for timely help otherwise the child’s condition could have worsened. The parents later on admitted that the child had fever and that they gave him medicine which had a  sedative effect. In the end I would like to conclude that to make induction effective w.r.t. time, money and resources there should be an effective carefully planned induction policy and checklist. This policy should be revised from time to time and should also involve feedback from the staff in order to update and make the policy more effective. The team chosen should be carefully chosen according to their abilities. However If there is no check list or policies and procedures up to date or not in place or the mentor is not qualified and knowledgeable enough then the induction process will lose its spirit and it can go totally wrong leaving behind a mere chit chat session.

Strategic Changes That Reversed Sainsburys Fortunes Management Essay

Strategic Changes That Reversed Sainsburys Fortunes Management Essay In the last two decades of the twentieth century the UK supermarket chain, Sainsburys, suffered from an almost continuing decline in its corporate fortunes, which its management of the time seemed unable to stop. Not least important of these events was the loss of its competitive position within the UK supermarket sector. From a position of being the market leader by 1995 Sainsburys had relinquished this spot to its rival Tesco (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2005) and even this second position was lost to Asda, a brand that had been strengthened as a result of its takeover by the American giant Wal-Mart.(BBC News, 2006).As a result of the corporations problems, during the early part of this decade it began to look very likely that the Sainsburys brand would either disappear from the UK or be acquired by new owners as investors became increasingly disheartened with the business returns and performance. Justin King, the current CEO of Sainsburys, joined the business in March 2004 (Sainsburys 2005), at a time when, due to lack of competitiveness and poor performance in comparison with rivals, Sainsburys had become a constant target for potential takeover bids (Hutchings 2004). Contrary to expectations at the time of his appointment, during the course of the past five years King has been seen as responsible for the reversal of Sainsburys fortune, which can be evidenced by the fact that a 2007 takeover bid valued the business at  £10.6 billion, more than twice the  £5 billion bid considered three years earlier (Mail online 2009). It is the changes in Sainsburys fortunes that form the focus of this essay. The intention is to both analyse and evaluate the strategic choices the corporation has adopted under Kings leadership in order to improve its response to changes that occur within the industry and its marketplace. Strategic changes at Sainsburys post 2004 Research into corporate strategy, once concerned mainly with the internal operations of the business, has now been extended to include the impact of external forces and events (Johnson et al, 2005). Thus as Johnson, Scholes Whittington (2008) observe, it can be defined as an organisations abilities to renew and recreate its strategic capabilities to meet the needs of a changing environment. In this respect corporate strategy within supermarkets such as Sainsburys, was focused upon the creation of competitive advantage (Porter, 2004a), a position that was deemed as being achieved whenever it outperforms its competitors (Pettigrew, Thomas Whittington, 2002, p.55). However, as Grant (2004) and others have suggested, simply achieving competitive advantage is not sufficient. To sustain its success, a business has to continue to build upon its advantage to ensure is does not lose out to other competitors in the future, a situation which the management at Sainsburys had failed to address prior to 2004. On his appointment as CEO, King reviewed the current business strategy and introduced changes in several key areas as part of his three year programme aimed at turning the business around (Sainsburys 2005). The first task to be faced was to identify the core areas of potential business growth, which was deemed by King to be the UK market. This led to the sale of Sainsburys US supermarket chain and the use of the proceeds to acquire a number of Morrison stores that were sold as a part of regulatory conditions attached to its purchase of Safeway, as well as a planned expansion into the convenience store sector. As King said at the time, this was needed to strengthen our market position and deliver future growth (Food Drink Europe, 2004, para3). The second task was to decide where and how the business should refocus its drive for competitive advantage, which as Grant (2004) indicates, meant using either cost and/or differentiation as the main strategic drivers for success in terms of adding value for the customer and shareholder. It is clear from the latter part of this explanation that to create such an advantage it is important for the Sainsburys brand, to be seen as sufficiently different from those of its competitors so as to establish its own brand identification and customer loyalties (Porter, 2004b, p.9). In other words, as Tyreman (2009 para10) indicates within his study on marketing, the key and essential element of brand design and promotion is for the corporation to ensure that the chosen strategy of differentiation must be unique enough to enable it to stand out from its competitors. This is especially important in a case like Sainsburys which is competing for market share within a UK supermarket and grocery sect or, which is considered by many people to have reached a position of saturation over a decade ago (Q Finance,n.d.para15). In terms of cost, both Tesco and Asda had overtaken Sainsburys in the sector as a result of their low-price strategy. In addition, their quality of service and differentiation was perceived by the customer to be superior to the Sainsburys brand, which meant that Sainsburys new management team needed to develop a strategy that would address both of these issues. In relation to low-cost the business and marketing strategy was changed to concentrate more upon reducing prices. In addition to this impacting upon recognised brand goods, this led to a change of direction, which included the expansion and promotion of its low-price own brand alternatives within its stores, an area where competitors had built a significant advantage. To ensure that this approach did not have an adverse effect upon the financial performance of the business and the value being added for shareholders, this also meant that the business had to introduce a cost reduction and efficiency programme across the supply chain (Porter, 2004a). Improvements were therefore made to the supply chain processes, which included the introduction of new technology aimed at increasing cost efficiency, such as the implementation of IT knowledge and data management systems (Mari, 2009). As an integral aspect of this process the relationship with suppliers, and their influence upon the supply chain, particularly product design, cost and distribution were also re-evaluated in an effort to lower costs and improve delivery to the customer, for example with the adoption of a system geared towards the JIT inventory model (Just in Time). The effect of these changes was to aid the lowering of in-store prices whilst at the same time continuing to retain and grow business value. However, on their own these changes would not provide the change in fortunes required by the business unless they were accompanied by a process that would improve the relationship and brand image that it was promoting and marketing to both existing and potential customers (Wilson Gilligan, 2005). In terms of quality of service, this also meant that the business would require the commitment of its employees. As Sainsburys had learnt, through loss of market share, the relationship that a business builds and develops with its potential customer is essential to the long term success of the business and its ability to expand its share of the market(Lancaster Massingham,2001).As Kotler ( n.d. P.159) observes, the organisation that develops and implements the best tools to enable it to forecast where customers are moving, and to be in front of them, will be the one that gains the competitive advantage from these processes. Having failed to maintain its advantage in this respect, it was apparent that the existing approach to customer relationships at Sainsburys was another area of corporate strategy that King needed to address. Three main strategic changes were made within the business with regard to its relationship with customers. The first of these was to improve the communication process that existed between the business and its potential customer base, so that it could gain the required feedback that would help the business to understand the changing demands and needs of the customer (Lancaster and Massingham, 2001). This was achieved through a programme that included additional market research, which included in-store and external surveys and questionnaires. In addition, the management team was encouraged to spend more time in the corporations stores, talking to customers as well as employees in order to gain a better insight into how the business service and quality was perceived (Blackhurst, 2005). Secondly, driven by the results of this feedback, the business improved its employee training processes, particularly in the area of service quality, with the focus being on improving the customer shoppin g experience within their stores. One crucial element of strategy aimed at improving the customer shopping experience is reliant upon the management of the human resource function (Grant, 2005). In simple terms Human Resource Management (HRM) is defined as a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organisations most valued assets-the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives(Armstrong, 2006.p.2.). It is the considered opinion of most academics that the type of relationship that business management has with its employees will have an important effect upon the success of its aims and objectives (Grant, 2005). Therefore, in keeping with other competitors within its own and other retail sectors, Sainsburys has had to review its HR policies and processes as part of the strategic changes required following the appointment of King in 2004. This review included both the internal aspect of human resources as well as the benefits and disadvantages the se will have upon the external business environment. One option that was immediately chosen was to increase the number of employees by 3,000; most were engaged in customer facing positions (Sainsburys, 2005). In addition the internal HR processes were changed. As Armstrong (2006) observes, there is generally considered to be two alterative options to HRM in business. These are the hard approach, which considers the management of employees should focus solely upon the effect that the individual or group of employees have in terms of assisting in the achievement of corporate goals, in other words what value the employee adds to the business. Alternatively, there is the soft approach, which is based upon employee involvement and motivation (Armstrong, 2006). With this approach the business seeks to understand and address the needs of the employee as well, primarily because it is considered that this will improve motivation and, as a result, increase quality and productivity. In Sainsburys it had already become apparent by 2004 that its major competitors, Tesco and Asda, had embarked upon a process of employee involvement which, using an appropriate approach to leadership and team building, was enabling these businesses to improve the success of their respective businesses in the area of human relationship management (Pettigrew et al. 2002). As Armstrong (2006) indicates the chances of successful adoption of a corporate strategy are much improved if the business has developed a relationship with the workforce that encourages involvement and participation at all stages of its development and implementation. It is not surprising therefore, that King and his management team decided the corporation needed to introduce a more robust HR regime and system; one that paid more attention to the importance of employee involvement and satisfaction within the decision making process of the business. Taking into account that it is the business front line employees who have the closest contact with the customer they therefore designed a strategic change that was designed around the soft approach. This change was achieved to a large extent by copying their competitors systems. In other words, they made management more accessible to the employee, involved them to a greater extent in business decisions, through a process of individual store and regional meetings and encouraged the employee to submit innovative and new ideas to their management team at all levels (Sainsburys, 2005). Finally, Sainsburys made significant changes to its approach in relation to the marketing and promotion of the brand. As Lancaster Massingham (2001) rightly observe, when any change in strategy is introduced it is important to communicate that message to the existing and potential customer. Therefore a new style of campaign has been developed by the corporation over the past four years that has concentrated upon delivering a message that focuses upon the low-price and customer service quality of the business offerings and shopping experience. This focused upon two main areas of the new strategy. The first, using a low-price approach, which concentrated on the promotion of its value brand and Meal for  £5, emphasised its commitment to a low-cost approach. The second, using celebrities such as Jamie Oliver to provide advice to customers about meals, using the companys products and portraying the friendliness of its employees, sought to reaffirm and build the business relationship wi th the customer. It is through the introduction of all of these strategic changes, culminating with the development of a promotional campaign, which includes the use of household celebrities that Sainsburys has sought to reposition the brand and increase its competitive advantage over other market players. The intention of this new approach has therefore been to improve its brand image, incorporating its new low-price focus with an improved range and choice of products and services. The objective being to change the customers previously held perception of the business. Impact of the Strategic changes Having analysed and discussed the various improvements that have been introduced at Sainsburys since King became CEO, the question that remains is to assess how positive the impact of these strategic changes has proven for the business and in this respect an evaluation of subsequent results produces mixed results. As will be discovered from the following comments, not all of these are positive. In relation to the change in Sainsburys market share within the supermarket sector, although there has been some improvement in this area resulting from the changes made to the corporate strategy, it still remains in third position (figure 1). This is in spite of the fact that in the past two years Sainsburys has improved its market share of the industry by almost 1% (BBC News 2006). Figure .Market Share Comparison Source: BBC News (2008) What is equally apparent from the decade comparison is that, when judged against its two main competitors, even taking into account recent improvements, it is noticeable that Sainsburys has still lost significant ground, in the case of Tesco by over 12%. It therefore follows that, in order to narrow the gap still further, and indeed to re-secure its position as the second biggest competitor in the sector, Sainsburys will have to continue to develop its strategy in a manner that provides it with a level of competitive advantage that remains superior to that of its rivals. Another aspect to consider in evaluating the success of strategic changes made from 2004 onwards, is the extent to which the strategic changes have delivered on expectations and predictions made at the commencement of the term of the new management team. In part it is these predictions that were responsible for the failure of the takeover bids being made for the business at that time, as investors considered that, if delivered, the return on their investment was likely to be improved. In the CEOs report within the 2005 financial statement, King suggested that the business had embarked upon a three-year programme designed to grow sales by  £2.5 billion by the end of 2007/08 and return Sainsburys to sustainable growth in both sales and profitability.(Sainsburys,2005).The subsequent financial results (figure 2) show that, this has been achieved, if one views this improvement from the 2005 results and, furthermore, that the improvement has been continued in subsequent years and, up to the year end for 2009 at least, seems to be defying the impact of the recent economic and financial crisis. Figure . Sainsburys Turnover 2001-2009 Source: Sainsburys (2005 and 2009) This potential improvement can be measured in another way, namely the performance of the share price for the same period of time. Figure .Sainsburys-10 Year Share Price Source: http://markets.ft.com/ft/markets/interactiveChart.asp It is confirmed from this comparison that, from its lowly position when King was appointed, Sainsburys share performance improved dramatically until around the end of 2007, when a new bidder for the business was rumoured to be occurring (Peston,2007). At that stage its performance almost matched those of Tesco and Morrisons. However, since the 2007 bid was aborted the adverse share performance between Sainsburys and the others has widened considerably, meaning that shareholders value is now a little more than 15% better than it was five years ago. Future Focus and Strategies Since 2004 Sainsburys has adapted and embraced change to secure its survival and prosperity. In todays challenging trading conditions it continues to focus on capitalising on these changes by identifying consumer trends and forecasting where such trends are leading, always with the end goal of securing trading success (Wilson Gilligan, 2005). In this current economic crisis Sainsburys has shown it has managed not only to ride out the recession but to emerge from it a winner with like for like sales in the quarter to January 2010 increasing by 4.2% .Analysts in 2010 are now saying that Sainsburys strong performance shows just how far the supermarket chain has come since March 2004 under King and acknowledge that his strategic changes have broadened the brand appeal of Sainsburys and turned its future around (Hall, 2010). With its future plans to focus on estate development and to step up its on-line resources in both food and non food, the support of its suppliers will be crucial to sustain Sainsburys future growth. To this end in March 2010 a Sainsburys Trade Briefing will be held to give all suppliers the opportunity to ascertain how they can work in tandem with the retailer in the testing year ahead to everyones mutual benefit. Conclusion In conclusion therefore, whilst it would be correct to say that the strategic changes made following the appointment of King have, to some extent led to a reversal of its former fortunes, certainly in respect of the comparison of its own revenue streams, in other areas the improvements have not been as beneficial as investors and the management anticipated. Gains in market share sufficient for the business to recover second position have changed little between 2005 and 2008, which means that the brand image and its promotional message needs to be improved to encourage more customers to choose Sainsburys in preference to other competitors. Similarly the share performance indicates that the business has still not totally convinced the markets that it can sustain its recovery.

Child Abuse and Neglect Essay -- Violence Against Children

There are many things in our society today that unfortunately go overlooked. One such thing that is overlooked is the number of children who are being abused. Unfortunately these children are going through life not knowing whether or not their parents will loose their temper and perhaps kill them. There are many types of child abuse, such as physical, sexual, and emotional. Physical abuse is physical injury as a result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, shaking, throwing, stabbing, choking, hitting, burning, or otherwise harming a child. Such injury is considered abuse regardless of whether the caretaker intended to hurt the child. Sexual abuse includes activities by a parent or caretaker such as fondling a child's genitals, penetration, incest, rape, sodomy, indecent exposure, and exploitation through prostitution or the production of pornographic materials. Emotional abuse is a pattern of behavior that impairs a child's emotional development or sense of self-worth. This may in clude constant criticism, threats, or rejection, as well as withholding love, support, or guidance. Emotional abuse is often difficult to prove and, therefore, Child Protection Services may not be able to intervene without evidence of harm to the child. Emotional abuse is almost always present when other forms are identified. Child abuse is a growing problem that has many causes and effects, but there are ways that we as a society can decrease the occurrence of this horrible event. Child abus...

Workforce Diversity and the impact SHRM has towards Competitive Advantage

Workforce Diversity covers a wide variety of differences, which include race, gender, age, culture, nationality, religion, sexuality, interests, needs and desires (Hartel & Fujimoto, 2000). In order to explain workforce diversity in depth, this essay will utilise Race/Ethnicity as the key diversity characteristic, discussing the various theories and practices used in Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) to develop and manage diversity. In order to achieve increased organisational performance, a strategic plan must be implemented to position people throughout the organisation; and to manage these diverse cultures and ethnic backgrounds, and nurture their creativity and innovation, diverse recruitment and training is undertaken. Through the use of the diverse labour pool available when recruiting, an organisation can benefit from the different skills and knowledge obtained by the diverse employees. Secondly, their creativity, innovation network range, uniqueness and rarity, serve as a means of giving the organisation unique resources and processes that competitors are unable to produce or replicate, resulting in the organisation benefiting from a human capital based competitive advantage. This essay discusses workforce diversity, competitive advantage, diversity orientation, diversity openness, and effects of diversity on team and individual performance, and diversity management. Due to the effects globalisation has on the organisations today, organisations must diversify the methods in which they manage their human resources and establish a competitive advantage to compete in the current global market. By defining the presence of differences among members of social units (Jackson et al. , 1995, as cited in D’Netto & Sohal, 1999), different types of diversity can be identified and the groups can be categorised in order to manage them effective and efficiently. According to H?rtel and Fujimoto (2000), Workforce diversity is categorised into two dimensions: Observable differences and Underlying differences. Firstly, observable differences take into account the diverse characteristics such as race, gender, age, verbal/non-verbal behaviours. Secondly, underlying difference encapsulates less observable differences such as values/beliefs, sexual orientation, skills/knowledge, and religion. These two dimensions contribute to the influence of the process and outcomes of many organisations. As suggested by Ayoko and H?rtel, impact of diversity of workgroups has been a focus for most studies on diversity; however, in diversity studies from Cox and Blake (1991) and Jackson (1992), cultural heterogeneity differences in race, ethnicity and national origin have been the focal point. Experiences of lower cohesion and social integration (Hambrick, 1994), more conflict, higher turnover, less trust, less job satisfaction, more stress, more absenteeism, and more communication difficulties ( Alder, 1991; O’Reilly et al. 1992; Zenger and Lawrence, 1989) are shown as the key comparisons in the research between diverse workgroups and homogeneous groups. Diversity has both positive effects such as increasing opportunity for creativity and negative effects such as increasing the likelihood of dissatisfaction and failure to identify with one’s workgroup (Milliken and Martin, 1996). Richard Florida (2004, 2005; Lee et al. 2004) argues that diversity influences economic comp etitiveness directly by fostering creativity and innovation, which are elements for promoting rarity and unique ideas and concepts, giving an organisation an advantage in its market. Organisations that acknowledge workforce diversity and its different viewpoints, and facilitate unique and creative approaches to problem solving, increase creativity and innovation within the company, leading to increased organisation performance and competitive advantage. By utilising the diversity and realising its potential, organisations are able to attract and retain the best talent available, reduce costs due to lower turnover and fewer lawsuits; enhanced market understanding and market ability; greater creativity and innovations; better problem solving; greater organisational flexibility, better decision making, and better overall performance (Cox, 1993; Cox and Blake, 1991; Cox, 1991; Robinson and Dechant, 1997; Carlozzi, 1999; Griscombe and Mattis, 2002; McAllister, 1997; Watson et al. 1993). Allan et al. (2007) suggests the negative effects of diversity to organisational performance such as lower employee satisfaction and higher turnover (O’Reilly et al. , 1989), creating a sense of detachment (Tsui et al. , 1992), lower cohesiveness, and difficulties in communications, and intergroup conflict and tension (Richard et al. , 2003; Cox, 1993). These effects of poor diverse planning and management would have severe and damaging results for the organisation. The use of Strategic Human Resource Management and Diversity Management are used to manage the broad definition of diversity, inclusive of everyone and values the differences that each individual brings to the organisation. The need for a broader definition is recognised by Loden (1993), realising that theories only based on affirmative action and equal employment opportunity tend to focus only on women and minorities which result in organisation efforts that are sectioned with the outcome of other groups feeling disenfranchised. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) uses people as one of its components to gain competitive advantage. To be able to retain this advantage, the resources must remain scarce and hard to duplicate, have the inability to be directly substituted, and enable companies to pursue opportunities (Barney, 1991; Boyd & Wright, 1992). The key to a competitive advantage is how well the human resources work within the company (Pfeffer, 1994), leading to the creation of value, hard to imitate, and is rare which in turn increases sustainability of the competitive advantage. As the global market and its demographic characteristics of its customers change, so must an organisation’s to retain a competitive edge in the market (Cox, 1994). As communities become more multicultural, organisations must change their human resource structure so that it is aligned with the customer’s needs, as the organisation span widens globally, employees are then needed to understand the customer’s references and requirements (Cox & Blake, 1991). In order to maximise diverse employees, Diversity-oriented Human Resource Management (HRM) is utilised and is achieved through the implementation of HRM policies. By strategically focusing on processes such as employee attraction and recruitment, retainment, training and development, and organisational alignment (Denton, 1992; H?rtel & Fujimoto, 2010; Rosen & Lovelace, 1991), diverse employees can be promoted to assist an organisation to manage the challenges the come with today’s diverse marketplace. Problems arise for HRM when implementing diversity initiatives, such as convincing top management that the initiatives will benefit the organisation. Management can see the diverse initiatives as being too expensive, production may be reduced and disruption the workplace (D’Netto & Sohal, 1999). On the other hand, diverse-oriented organisations not only accept diversity, they also recognise it as an integral part of the organisation (Richard & Johnson, 2001). The key aspects of diversity orientation: work design, staffing, training, and compensation are all embedded with the foundation of diversity, thus being valued as the core part of the organisation. It is through the bundling of the HRM policies and practices that direct the organisation towards diversity and diversity management. The organisation activities of training and development, work design, staffing, and compensation programs need to all supporting and reinforcing diversity for the constitution of diversity orientation to be successful. Coinciding with the organisational activities suggested previously, procedural fairness must be undertaken so that both majority and minority groups do not experience a sense of feeling left out. Diversity orientation is a rewarding tool when striving for competitive advantage; however, diversity orientation is not universal. The effectiveness of diversity orientation involves a substantial commitment of resources and a willingness to experience inefficiencies for a time, although through persistence, this tolerance for inefficiency may be of great benefit for organisations desiring innovation, high-commitment work environments, and the ability to face dynamic environments. To be able to effectively manage diversity, the implementation of SHRM policies and procedures regarding recruitment and training must first be undertaken. Problems need to be identified so that the correct policies and procedures can be put into place. D’Netto and Sohal (1999) suggest several â€Å"best practices† be used to improve workforce diversity management during recruiting and selection; job descriptions and selection progress that cover job relevant duties, qualifications, and experience and comply with anti-discrimination legislation. Successful organisations can benefit from orkforce diversity by creating an organisation environment which attracts people from diverse labour markets. A competitive edge is promoted by selecting the right people for the correct task regardless of race (Cornelius, 1999). Through recruitment, human capital is used as a driver for competitive advantage by selecting diverse individuals with specific, unique, and rare skills, increa ses the efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation, exploiting market opportunities, and neutralise potential threats (Barney, 1991; Ulrich & Lake, 1991). Human capital that is not readily available in the labour market and not easily duplicated by other organisations provides a potential source of competitive advantage (Snell, Youndt & Wright, 1996). Management needs to proactively communicate the organisation’s commitment and reasons for valuing diversity, invest in training, socialisation, and other efforts to manage conflicts effectively (Richard et al. , 2002). Once the right people have been employed it is then up to Human Resource management to implement diversity orientated training, helping to retain the diverse workforce and to focus on the organisation as a whole, creating an environment where clear, unambiguous policies and procedures are initiated. Training can create an awareness of certain traps and provide strategies for addressing any underlying issues (Barry & Bateman, 1996). A well implemented training program will provide employees with a better understanding of each other’s race, culture, gender, religion, and sexual preferences. It will help those who are not from diverse backgrounds identify the strengths and opportunities that are supplied by the minority groups. Communication problems can be addressed through proper diverse training, helping employees understand that minority groups are handled differently according to their skills and knowledge as opposed to the employment due to their minority status. The benefit of diversity-orientated training is that it reduces the amount of bias from both employees and management, allowing the diverse groups to be accepted for the skills and knowledge they offer, which in turn, leads to a more productive, innovative, and creative organisation and promotes cohesion and cooperation between colleagues (H?rtel & Fujimoto, 2010), resulting in human resources and practices that are of a competitive nature. The first two theories Social Identity and Similarity Attraction both dentify the negative effects that diversity can have on an organisation and how it can also affect the competitive advantage, in the form of human resource. Firstly, Festinger’s (1954) studies of Social Identity theory focus on the development of social identity which results in the comparison of individuals towards other group members. The outcome of these comparisons can result in the individual with either a positive or negative self-image (Richard & Johnson, 2001), an d desire to be part of the group or wanting to leave a group. Social Identity theory suggests that being part of a group creates a feeling of collective representation of self-identity and behaviour. According to Tajfel (1982), â€Å"the psychological process associated with this theory generates distinct group behaviour, such as, solidarity within a group, conformity to group norms, and discrimination against out groups†. The second theory of Similarity Attraction (Byrne, 1971) is reliant upon demographic characteristics such as race. Similarities are perceived by individuals and compared to other members of a group, fostering trust, mutual cooperation and interaction. These effects lead to sub groups which, in turn, lead to less effective team function as a whole. Finally, theory that describes the positive attributes to diversity is the Information Processing and Decision Making Theories (Gruenfeld et al. , 1996), suggesting that decision making and exchanging of information are improved within groups that are more diverse. Benefits arising from diversity are their ability to use a greater variety of resources, allowing the use of more diverse networks. The key to dealing with all of these theories of diversity are correct usage of Diversity Management, allowing management to identify the characteristics of each and deal with them accordingly, in doing so conflict, absenteeism, and discrimination are reduced, allowing for cohesion, creativity and innovation to be produced. Competitive advantage, organisation effectiveness, increased productivity and coherent organisational environment are all outcomes that can be acquired through the correct implementation of Diversity Management. These can be achieved through the building of specific skills, creating of policies and drafting practices (D’Netto & Sohal, 1999), which in turn, get the best results from every employee. The management of diversity can be identified as the leveraging and use of cultural differences in people’s skills, ideas nd creativity to contribute to a common goal in such a way that an organisation can achieve an advantage above that of the organisations competition (Deversky, 1994; Fernandez, 1993; Morrison, 1992). The management of diverse groups is becoming increasingly difficult. Globalisation is a large contributor to workforce diversity, increased migration as a result of the opening of foreign borders, especially from different countries where people were originally migration from, resulting in a wider span of people with diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds populating the country. In order to achieve competitive advantage through the use of diversity and SHRM, ethnic diverse individuals/employees must be strategically managed so that their diverse attributes can be utilised within the organisation, leading to organisation performance and efficiency. Diversity Management focuses on the inclusion of the full span of diverse employees, allowing them to perform to their full potential, ensuring that their wellbeing, both individually and in the organisation remain positive. Introducing training, development, and affective leadership are concepts that help develop diverse employees. According to H?rtel and Fujimoto (2010), it is reported that employees working in a diversity managed organisation have an improved work-life and higher cohesion among employees. Diversity Management has many positive effects which include understanding that minority viewpoints foster quality of thought, performance, and decision making (Nemeth, 1992), and that groups made up of larger diverse backgrounds and characteristics produce a wider variety of ideas, solutions, and alternatives than those groups with similar demographic characteristics (Bantel & Jackson, 1989; Jackson, 1992). Once these viewpoints are identified and understood, procedures and practices can be implemented to embed their skills and knowledge resulting in better organisational performance. Task conflict, when using diverse groups to problem solve complex, non-routine tasks, results in disagreements amongst members about task, including viewpoints ideas and opinions, utilising their skills, knowledge, abilities, and perspectives, leading to more complete analysis of the issues and improved decision-making and performance (Jehn, 1995; Pelled, 1996). In conclusion to the discussion of the previous associative approaches to managing diversity, the essay found limitations as a result of the quantity of differences that incorporate diversity, it would be limited to arguing the characteristic of Race/Ethnicity and the effects that workforce diversity has on its contribution to competitive advantage. The review concluded that the need for a contingency approach is needed to manage diversity effectively, as problems are constantly arising due to the ever changing demographical characteristics of today’s global market. Individuals from diverse cultures are migrating to areas in which they previously were not. This results in the need for continuously updated training and recruitment with placement of diverse individuals into positions to effectively communicate and network with global customers.

White Lie Is It Possible to Justify Lies

White Lie Is It Possible to Justify Lies Is it possible to imagine our everyday life without lies? Can people stop telling lies and be able to tell only the truth like it happened with the characters of the movie The Invention of Lying? In fact, such reality when people is hard to imagine because the vast majority of modern people are so absorbed in lying, and the idea that white lies may save the world and deprive many people of suffering and disappointments seems to the only rational one.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on White Lie: Is It Possible to Justify Lies? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The cases on lying and liars’ destinies may be observed in many literary works. Such authors like Shakespeare, Wilde, or Crawford introduced captivating and educative stories which show how one or several lies both white and not may influence current state of affairs and even human lives. When I observe the events in different literary works, I believe that sometimes white lies are necessary, but unfortunately, people cannot be sure about proper interpretation of situation and the decision to lie or not to lie, this is why it is impossible to interpret while lies as something pure justified or unacceptable, and people have to be very careful both with the truth and lies, especially white lies. When people lie, they think that they improve the situation, decrease the level of suffering and disappointments, or just get a chance to avoid punishment or discontent. They lie in order to be saved, to be understood, and to be supported. It is hard to comprehend why people lie and what may happen if these lies do not happen. In fact, the style of life where all people tell the truth only (The Invention of Lying) is also hard to imagine because constant truth deprive the world of some kind of mystery, intrigue, and desire. This is why it is useless to believe that absence of lies may lead to positive outcomes because such reality may have its ow n disadvantages. I think it is better to take some neutral position and lie only in case to please a person or save him/her against negative outcomes. In this case, when lie is for safe, it may be justified. However, more about justification of lies have to be evaluated by means of examples. Some people use the term â€Å"white lie† as something that may be justified and comprehended by the others. As for me, I believe that some cases just require such while lies in order not to worsen the situation. However, it is still very important to define what may be regarded as white lies and what can never be taken as such. For example, if a husband invites his wife to a theater in order to meet her demand and support her interests even if he cannot stand this type of art, he lies to her about his desire to bear a company with pleasure. And this kind of life may be regarded as a white one because no one will suffer seriously from this idea, and only satisfaction and pleasure of a per son will be the result. This white lie is a good example.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More A person does not make harm, break someone’s dreams, or offend somebody. However, if we remember the situations which described by Crawford in his Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell, when a person cannot even believe in his own lies and realize what happens to him because of governmental lies and empty hopes (Crawford 602), or the situation in Shakespeare’s Othello, when Iago lied about his desire to serve (Shakespeare and Somogyi 4) to be promoted, be noticed, and be recognized as a worthwhile part of the society. In Wilde’s work, the characters are always eager to tell and know the truth, however, the idea that the main character Dorian lies to everyone: to people who love him, to people he communicates with, and even to himself. The reality was rather pa radoxical, and â€Å"the way of paradoxes is the way of truth† (Wilde and Mighall 40). Finally, those lies people tell to each other are not as great and serious as the ones said by the government. Lies in politics are very frequent, and people cannot even recognize when a politician tells the truth and why he/she lies. There is no white lie in politics because national security and war on terrorism play an important role in society. And one white lie may influence considerably the results, this is why the political arena has to be purified of lies though now it seems to be impossible. Our life is impossible without lies; almost each conscious person lies under some conditions. There may be no reasons for lying because it is something that is inherent to people. There is some kind of necessity of lying because it fulfils this world and make this life complete. May it happen that white lie differ from ordinary lie? It may but still the essence of any lie is still about hiding the truth that is usually important for people. Crawford, John. â€Å"The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell.† In Missy James and Alan P. Merickel Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Professional Technical, 2004, 600-604. Shakespeare, William and Somogyi, Nick. Othello: The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice. London: Nick Hern Books Limited, 2002. The Invention of Lying. Dir. Ricky Gervais and Mathew Robinson. Perfs. Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, and Jonah Hill. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2009.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on White Lie: Is It Possible to Justify Lies? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Wilde, Oscar, and Mighall, Robert. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Penguin Classics, 2003.