Reflective Account Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reflective Account - Essay Example This strategy is also developed based on the need of creating significant partnership between patients, health workers and stakeholders within the field of health (Health Works: A Review of the Scottish Government's Healthy Working Lives’ Strategy, 2010). In addition, the strategy satisfies the need of a clean health care environment and continuance of health care services. It also promotes excellence in clinical medicine and health care provision. This paper seeks to use Gibbs’ reflective model to consider Scottish Government’s Quality Strategy (2010), which will help me analyze in detail on my role in providing seamless care. The paper will focus on safe effective discharge planning in writing a reflective account and consider professional, legal and ethical issues, evidence-based care, multidisciplinary team working, decision making / prioritization, care planning, effective communication skills, and implications for future practice. Description This is a refl ection on my role as a health professional in charge of ensuring safe and effective discharge of patients from the hospital to their homes. This reflection is aligned with the policies established by the 2010 Quality Health Framework. The reflective framework used is the one advocated by Johns (2000); it is based on certain clues, such as description of the experience, reflection, factors that influenced my decision and other choices available that could influence my decision and lessons learnt from the experience. The role of discharge planning team involves coordinating transition of a patient from the Hospital to their homes. This is due to the fact that safe transition to their homes is an important process in the recovery of a patient. As a member of the discharge team, it is my responsibility to advise the patient on the importance of recovering in a rehabilitation facility or at home. For example, on a reflection of what happened in the past while I was on placement in Accide nt and Emergency Dept the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS). I was asked to recommend treatment for an old diabetic man who just finished his treatment at the hospital. As a member of the discharge team, I recommended that the patient looks for a home care so that he may effectively respond the treatment administered, this recommendation was however overruled by the family of the old man, in spite of the assertions by Geriatric professionals that the patient has the capability of a quick recovery if enrolled in a care home, as opposed to his house (Clare & Hofmeyer, 1996). Feelings On reflection, this was a very unpleasant experience that occurred in my life in my duties. It may have been both unprofessional and unethical to suggest to the old man that he attends a care home for his quick recovery, without prior consultations. It would have been prudent to have consultations made with other professionals and families members who were concerned with the health condition of the old man . This is because the process of recovery involves various stakeholders including; doctors, the patient her/himself, nurses, family members, social workers, and geriatric professionals. Through this experience, I realized the importance of communication in effective provision of medical and health care services (Riley,

Read the document I send you carefully Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Read the document I send you carefully - Essay Example With every market structure, however, comes advantages and disadvantages of adopting that particular choice. There are mainly four types of market structures with â€Å"perfect competition†on one extreme and â€Å"monopoly†on the other (Baumol, 1961, p.142. Furthermore, â€Å"monopolistic competition†and â€Å"oligopoly† are those salient structures that are counted asthe moderate ones. In this paper, we will be focusing primarily on the Perfect markets. It will incorporate an analysis ontheir relation to consumer demand and the comparison to any other market structure in the economy. PERFECT COMPETITION AND MARKET DEMAND Perfect Market: Perfect competition is â€Å"a very large number of firms producing a standardized product.† (McConnel&Brue, 2004) This means that a perfect market is that structure which entails numerous extents of â€Å"buyers and sellers† for selling the same kinds of product. Besides this, there are several other noticea ble characteristics of a perfect market that are being listed below: In competition oriented perfect market, there are groups of buyers and sellers who are involved. ... Lastly, there is perfect information about prices and technology among both the sellers and buyers. (Besanko&Brauetigam, 2010, p.330) The Perfect Market and the Demand Curve: The demand curve of a perfect market is perfectly elastic which means that it is a horizontal line. â€Å"The price elasticity of demand (PED) for a good is a measure of the degree of responsiveness of the quantity demanded to a change in the price, ceteris paribus.† (Quek, 2011, p.2). It happens so because of the fact that the presence of small firms in the market makes it difficult for them to influence the pricing fluctuations of the goods and services that they offer. This leads to an inflexible proposition of prices of products to the consumers and thus, a perfectly elastic demand curve is achieved in this context. The figure below illustrates the demand curve: Figure 1: Chart showing perfectly elastic demand in a perfect market (Source: Google Images) Quek propagates thatâ€Å"demand curve in a per fectly competitive firm is also its marginal revenue curve† (2011, p.2). â€Å"Marginal revenue†can be understood as the revenue received by selling one extra unit of production. The demand curve and marginal revenue curve are equivalent in a perfect market competition since the price of goods and services are preciselythe same. The demand curve is identical to the average revenue as well in a perfect market because each product is sold at the same price i.e. the average of the total production. An increase in the price of products in a perfect market leads to the quantity demanded of that product to rise to infinity while a decrease in price leads to the quantity demanded of the product to fall to zero. This is also

Understanding And Coping With Client Resistances Social Work Essay

Understanding And Coping With Client Resistances Social Work Essay Professional social workers frequently encounter a thorny situation called client resistance. As resistance is inevitable in the intervention process and will very likely affect the intervention outcomes, study of client resistance is important to social workers and learning how to manage it will be pivotal to achieve expected goals and objectives. This paper will firstly narrate the writer ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s personal experience so as to put the issue of client resistance on the agenda and give a brief description of involuntary clients or client resistance, then present the writer ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s understanding of them in terms of their several distinctive features, and finally propose tentative strategies of coping with client resistance. Keywords: resistance; involuntary clients; intervention skills Introduction As potential social workers, we probably will be brought into contact with more and more  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½involuntary clients ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ in the future, like mentally illness patients, deviant behavior adolescents, violent parents, battered children, etc.. Some of them are  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½legally mandated to engage with service providers ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (Rooney,1992), while others are experiencing  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½social or non-legal pressures, for example, being coerced by family members to seek assistance for a particular behavior ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (Rooney,1992). These kinds of clients constitute a high proportion of whole clients and display more resistant behaviors than those voluntary ones. Often, they do not seek help willingly and may demonstrate resistant behaviors such as negative evasions, pretended obedience or undisguised hostilities, threats and attacks from the very beginning of the worker ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s intervention. Therefore, how to interact with and intervene in this type of clients has become a tremendous challenge in the field of social work practice and it is important for social workers to get a deeper understanding of involuntary clients. Case Example X once was a primary school teacher with a fine income, and her husband Y has been running a factory which creates a great deal of wealth to the whole family. Everything seemed perfect that the couple were devoted to each other and have a daughter C who was in her second year in a satisfactory university. Unfortunately, X was extensively burnt in an explosion accident three years ago. Since then, she lost self-confidence because of her disfigured face and refused to go out for the fears of being laughed at. The daughter Z tried to took her out for an airing and ease her anxieties and inferiority about the disfigurement but failed. Since a lot of people pointed at her on the street, X felt painful and tended to isolate herself. To make things worse, not too long after her accident, her husband Y began to make relationship with another woman and was spending a large sum of time and money on that woman. He went to his factory early and back home late every day and seldom had meals at home which was entirely different from what it was before. In addition to Y ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s indifference, Z was studying at a university so far from home that she was unable to accompany her mother all the time. Consequently, X always staied alone at home with the feeling of helpless and hopeless. Although sometimes Y would come back home and cook meals for A, he had nothing to talk with X. Actually, the daughter Z here is me. I was extremely anguished, seeing my originally harmonious family rapidly disappeared. I tried to cope with such a depressing family atmosphere, but found it difficult. However, when I look back and combine the past experiences with what I have learnt in MSW, I have been realized that there were such a lot of unwise actions had been taken to resolve my family problems. Examples are showed as follows: In that period of time, I tended to communicate with my mother more than with my father and owe this difference to gender similarity and the tragic suffering of my mother. I spent much time on comforting her just because she was the only victim as in my own perception. I constantly teaching my mother how to calm herself down and change her mindsets, so as to survive in a miserable feeling. Unexpectedly, when I suggested her talking more with my father, she just sneered, saying  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½he is so obstinate that nothing will change his mind ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. It could be inferred that she was still pessimistic and lacked motivation to make changes in spite of my consistent encouragement. On the other hand, the stereotypes that men are always mentally stronger than women made me totally forgot that my father was suffering pains and he needed care as well. Hardly had I decided to concern for and communicate with my father when I learnt that I should take him into consideration early. The most challenging thing was that he had been greatly reluctant to talk about either his former or current relationship with my mother especially the information about his extramarital love. He even did not admit any fault he had made. I have to acknowledge that I was livid when I found out that my father had been two-timing his wife and was highly emotional and illiberally prejudiced against as a result. Only now did I understand the reasons why I failed to assist my parents in settling their contradiction. My deficient consideration of my father ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s personality and the dignity as a man almost turned an equal dialogue into a thoughtless bickering. In fact, my father was def iant in the whole session because he was afraid that his authoritative status in the family would be ruined, however, I did not realize that kind of unwillingness at that time. No doubt, neither my mother nor my father is my client in the sense of professional, but if they are viewed as clients, it will be a classic case of client resistance. Definition of Client Resistance When doing the literature review, I found that the term involuntary is sometimes used interchangeably with resistant, however, the former refers to  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½the status of the client ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, while the latter refers to  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ behaviors or characteristics that hinder the therapeutic process ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (Chui Ho, 2006). Usually, involuntary clients show some resistant thoughts and behaviors. Freud (1914/1957) originally conceptualized resistance as  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½the client ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s effort to repress anxiety-provoking memories and insights in the unconscious during psychoanalytic free association ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (Freud, 1914/1957). According to the perspective of social interaction theory, resistance is  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½psychological forces aroused in the client that restrain acceptance of influence (acceptance of the counselors suggestion) and are generated by the way the suggestion is stated and by the characteristics of the counselor stating it ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (Strong Matross, 1973). Simply stated, resistance has been defined as  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½a process of avoiding or diminishing the self-disclosing communication requested by the interviewer because of its capacity to make the interviewee uncomfortable or anxious ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (Pope, 1979). Client resistance should not be regarded as  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½something that happens within the client, as a response to his or her inner workings, and must be overcome by the counselor ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (Cowan Presbury, 2000). Rather, resistance should be understood as  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½a phenomenon that emerges between client and therapist in the unfolding interaction between their differently organized subjective worlds ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (Cowan Presbury, 2000). In a word, resistance is treated as results from the communication pattern of the counselor and the client. In other words, resistance emerges when the intervention strategies are not gear to clients ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ willingness to accept the style in which the intervention is conducted. Typical Involuntary Clients This part is a personal understanding towards client resistance. Based on an examination of the case example and the literature review, I summarized three types of involuntary clients. 1. Clients Who Have Inadequate Strength or Ability Some clients do not have the ability to take care of themselves or seek help from others, such as the disabled, the battered children and the abandoned elderly. These clients are normally forced by others to consult an agency and a social worker. 2. Clients Who Have Insufficient Motivation The clients who fall into the difficult position for a long time may feel mentally exhausted and have no extra will to seek help. Take some battered women as an example, they tend to have a despairing view of the marriage because of the learned helplessness and may find it meaningless to join in the intervention tasks. Similar to those who have inadequate strength or ability, the majority of the insufficiently motivated clients are not willingly attended the intervention tasks. 3. Clients Who Lack Introspection Although some people know that they are mired in difficulties because of their misbehaviors, they have insufficient self-contemplation, and self-examination when faced with the problems they have, which, as a result, make the problems relapse again and again. This is also the reason why most drug or alcoholic abusers find it difficult to completely overcome their additions. Skills of Coping with Client Resistance For involuntary clients, it is a common phenomenon that they will be reluctant towards self-exposure and conservative to their own experience because they worry about that not doing so would threaten their self-concept. It is necessary for a social worker to learn how to alleviate clients ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ excessive anxiety. Social workers are expected to adjust their intervention methods and the styles to the need of clients. Since most involuntary clients pay much attention to self-protection, the workers should not only avoid requesting or anticipating their self-betrayal, but also refrain from any actions that attempting to tear down clients ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ mask. 1. To Find Out the Third Party In general, social workers are required to listen carefully to clients, thus provide clients more opportunities to express their feelings and perceptions and make them feel respected and admitted. However, things are different when confronting involuntary clients. Since it is an issue of power and control that the pouring-out people are usually vulnerable whereas the listening people always have the power to make evaluation and assessment, the involuntary clients tend to crave a sense of empower through the process of resistance and rebuttal. In involuntary cases, the third party is needed in the course of the entire conversation. If I intake a client like my mother, I should not unilaterally focus on counseling the client changing herself, but on concerning several means to bring the third party into the intervention so that establishing a  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½social work  ¿Ã‚ ½C client  ¿Ã‚ ½C the third party ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ triangular communication system. In short, the third party is ones who push clients to seek help or forced them to ask for counseling. 2. To Make the Intervention Process Clear Apart from understanding about the force that push clients into the intervention, the workers should also enquire about whether the clients have any other confusions. It aims at discovering the problems which clients want to improve. The worker as a listener should do something to give clients a feeling that they are under a clearly planned effective assistance. In addition, it is very important to make sure that clients know what will the worker do and will not do. For example, summarizing or reflecting clients ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ current situation or their main resentment can possibly promote their expectation to the counseling and enhance social workers ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ reliability as well. 3. To Alleviate Clients ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Anxieties about Changes Resistant clients may or may not recognize that they have a problem, and/or may not want to engage in a process of change (Rooney, 1992) so that they will take resistance as an means to protect themselves from the unknown (Yalom Molyn, 2005). They might be resistant towards the therapeutic process because it involves changing their current maladaptive behavior (Chui Ho, 2006). An available method to ease clients ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ anxiety about change is to make them feel more sense of control. The less the clients can control the process and results of intervention, the more they will view social workers as the representatives of those who force them to participate in the intervention. Consequently, the degree of resistance may increase dramatically. Such situation requires social workers to discuss with clients about the reasons why they are recommended to have the counseling. If a client is compelled to accept counseling, the social worker may point it out to the client that he could reject the counseling and bear the consequences of such rejection, thus restore their sense of control. Furthermore, as cultivating new behaviors is much easier than changing old ones, it might be more reasonable and effective that social works try to train the clients to foster some new patterns of communication and behavioral habits, rather than amend their previous habits, thus establish a harmonious relationship with clients. Some more complex intervention, such as teaching clients relaxation skills, or assisting them in analyzing the irrational thoughts, may have immediate utilities to the involuntary clients. Discussion The relationship between the social worker and the client is always living no matter what happened in the process of intervention. One of the major responsibilities for social workers is paying enough attention to the quality and the health of rapport-building process. To some extent, clients ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ changes or improvements come from an appropriate and valid interaction within a harmonious relationship. As potential social workers, in addition to understanding of various theories or therapies which provide different approaches to resolve client resistance, we should also learn to  ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½determine how best to address that relational dynamic in counseling ¿Ã‚ ½Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ (Joshua, 2008).

The Oppression of Miranda in The Tempest Essay -- Tempest essays

The Oppression of Miranda   in The Tempest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Miranda's schooling in The Tempest shows the audience the conflicting arrangement white women in the Shakespearean drama as well as Shakespearean times are forced to act within.   Paul Brown points out that "the discourse of sexuality†¦offers the crucial nexus for the various domains of colonialist discourse" (208) and the conduct in Prospero manipulates his followers' sexuality is the mainstay of his power.   The Miranda-Prospero relationship servers to represent a sort of patriarchy, which is unarguably the system many Renaissance women and women of Shakespeare's time found themselves in.   It is thus unsurprising that Prospero controls Miranda and her sexuality as well.   The system of patriarchy is demonstratd again and again throughout the play.   For example, we see that Prospero's wisdom, magic, and education of Miranda, as well as his civilizing of Caliban demonstrates a system of authoritative love. There is no question that Prospero loves and wishes to protect his daughter; for example, Prospero continuously reiterates how much he cares for Miranda.   However, at the same time, he exhibits enough power over her to be considered a patriarch.   Prospero's authority over Miranda is so great that she cannot do anything but follow her father's wishes; it almost appears as if she has no choice in the matter for she, like Ariel and Caliban, can also be subject to Prospero's magical control.   However, it appears that upon a closer study of this, we see that, patriarchalism makes specific, and often apparently contradictory demands of its "own" women, which can often cause confusion and problems for the woman involved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Miranda, as a character in Renaissanc... ...  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Prospero: Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thy father was Duke of Milan and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A prince of power.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Miranda: Sir, are not you my father?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Prospero: Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Was Duke of Milan, and his only heir   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And princess no worse issued. Works Cited Brown, Paul.   This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine: The Tempest and the  discourse of colonialism."   New York: Dollimore and Sinfield, 1985.   Kermode, Jack.   Political Shakespeaere: New Essays in Cultural Materialism.   Boston:  Manchester University Press, 1985. Lamming, George.   The Pleasures of Exile.   London: Allison and Busby, 1984. Mies, Maria.   Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale.   London: Zed Books,  1986. The Oppression of Miranda in The Tempest Essay -- Tempest essays The Oppression of Miranda   in The Tempest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Miranda's schooling in The Tempest shows the audience the conflicting arrangement white women in the Shakespearean drama as well as Shakespearean times are forced to act within.   Paul Brown points out that "the discourse of sexuality†¦offers the crucial nexus for the various domains of colonialist discourse" (208) and the conduct in Prospero manipulates his followers' sexuality is the mainstay of his power.   The Miranda-Prospero relationship servers to represent a sort of patriarchy, which is unarguably the system many Renaissance women and women of Shakespeare's time found themselves in.   It is thus unsurprising that Prospero controls Miranda and her sexuality as well.   The system of patriarchy is demonstratd again and again throughout the play.   For example, we see that Prospero's wisdom, magic, and education of Miranda, as well as his civilizing of Caliban demonstrates a system of authoritative love. There is no question that Prospero loves and wishes to protect his daughter; for example, Prospero continuously reiterates how much he cares for Miranda.   However, at the same time, he exhibits enough power over her to be considered a patriarch.   Prospero's authority over Miranda is so great that she cannot do anything but follow her father's wishes; it almost appears as if she has no choice in the matter for she, like Ariel and Caliban, can also be subject to Prospero's magical control.   However, it appears that upon a closer study of this, we see that, patriarchalism makes specific, and often apparently contradictory demands of its "own" women, which can often cause confusion and problems for the woman involved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Miranda, as a character in Renaissanc... ...  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Prospero: Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thy father was Duke of Milan and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A prince of power.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Miranda: Sir, are not you my father?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Prospero: Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Was Duke of Milan, and his only heir   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And princess no worse issued. Works Cited Brown, Paul.   This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine: The Tempest and the  discourse of colonialism."   New York: Dollimore and Sinfield, 1985.   Kermode, Jack.   Political Shakespeaere: New Essays in Cultural Materialism.   Boston:  Manchester University Press, 1985. Lamming, George.   The Pleasures of Exile.   London: Allison and Busby, 1984. Mies, Maria.   Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale.   London: Zed Books,  1986.

So Much to Tell You – John Marsden

So Much to Tell You by John Marsden, explores the struggle that the protagonist, Marina, endures along her journey to mental wholeness. Marina’s soul has been shattered due to a traumatic event, and being witness to a large amount of violence and hatred in her family. So Much To Tell You is rich in techniques that are used effectively to convey the idea of Marina’s struggle, and journey towards mental wholeness. Marina’s difficulty in achieving psychological completion is shown through the major technique, structural contrast.We follow Marina’s personal journey and her healing throughout the novel, and we watch as she develops from an introverted, mistrustful person into someone who is able to appropriately communicate with other individuals. Marina uses a tone of self-loathing to show us that she views herself as a â€Å"nutcase†, psycho† and â€Å"the freak of Warrington† who suffers from â€Å"anorexia of speech†. Marina is se nt to Warrington Boarding School â€Å"to learn to speak again, because [her] mother can’t stand [her] silent presence at home†.At first Marina is isolated and detached from the rest of the school, shown through the retreat imagery of Marina as she â€Å"slinks along the walls and corridors†. As the novel progresses, Marina’s entries suggest that she is becoming more in touch with her peers, and â€Å"moving round the school more confidently†. Her visit to Mr Lindells house over the weekend is a very significant event in Marina’s transformation. Throughout the weekend she becomes more expressive, expressed through her tone of excitement in the phrase â€Å"it was good!And they’re so nice! Nice, nice, nice†! Here, the use of exclamation and the repetition of the word, ‘nice’ emphasise Marina’s positive involvement in life. This is contrasted with Marina being a passive spectator during school tennis, and life in general. Towards the end of the novel Marina chooses on her own accord to return to Warrington, and reaches out to Mr Lindell to help her, a drastic change from the beginning of the novel where she didn’t interact with anyone at all.In the early stages of the novel, the struggle and difficulty of repairing Marina’s psyche due to damage and conflict within her family, and Marina’s journey towards mental health, is conveyed through the composer’s effective manipulation of fragmentation imagery. Perhaps the most prominent examples of fragmentation imagery would be Ann Maltin’s â€Å"spangled star doona cover†. Ann tells Marina the â€Å"the stars do fit together, but it took [her] years to figure it out†. This is a metaphor for Marina’s damaged psyche, and it foreshadows her psychological wholeness.Her psyche will fit together again; she just has to give it time to heal. Marina also explains the she likes ‘the word †Å"coalesce†, though when [she] looks at it for a long time it seems strange and ugly†. This is how Marina views herself, a jumble of â€Å"strange and ugly† fragments that need to â€Å"coalesce† in order to become one healed psyche. She also writes about the way the pool is when there is nobody there â€Å"then the first girl jumps or dives in – and it all cracks†. This demonstrates how fragile Marina’s psyche is; it could shatter at any time. Ann Maltin also â€Å"had a ceramic piece†¦ on the cupboard beside her bed.It was a big bird, an eagle†. Whilst â€Å"vacuuming the dorm† Marina accidentally knocks the bird of its stand, and it promptly shatters on the floor. Even after Ann has glued it back together, she â€Å"can still see the cracks. [She] will always see them. This indicates that Marina will heal, but she will never be exactly the same person as she was before the incident, and she will always be scarred from the traumatic event. John Marsden has greatly emphasised the importance of Marina repairing her damaged psyche through the use of metaphors, foreshadowing, and fragmentation imagery.Symbolism and figurative devices are also used effectively by John Marsden to evoke the idea of Marina’s need for retreat or refuge from the difficulties of reality, prior to her significant journey to wholeness. For Marina, the chapel at her school symbolises a sanctuary. â€Å"Churches [are] safe places, where you [can] hide†, Marina sits by herself in her dark corner and writes in her journal, it is where she can think about her life, and her father. She feels protected in the chapel, and in the school generally too.This is shown through the use of similes in the phrase â€Å"in the hospital [she] felt exposed under the white light, here [she] feels like a black snail†. This contrasts between the white exposure of the hospital, and the black refuge of the school. Similes, ret reat imagery, and symbolisation are used dextrously throughout So Much To Tell You to demonstrate Marina’s difficult journey to wholeness. John Marsden dextrously uses effective techniques throughout So Much To Tell You to explore the concept of struggle and wholeness, demonstrated by the protagonist, Marina.We learn about Marina’s personal struggle to become whole again after the tragic events that have occurred prior to the beginning of the novel. We see this through the contrast of Marina’s character between the beginning of the novel and the end of the novel, the extensive use of fragmentation imagery, and the retreat imagery, that is used to convey Marina’s struggle. We trace her traumatic personal journey, difficulties and mental healing throughout the novel, on an emotional rollercoaster that is Marina’s life.

Cuban Missile Crisis Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography Assignment. Divine, Robert A. The Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Markus Weiner Publishing, 1988. This book written by Robert Divine is an historical overview of the most important events, causes, and the consequences after and during Cuban Missile Crisis revolution of 1962 This author provides a concise but not oversimplified review of the many complicated aspects of this affair; wich brought the world to the age of nuclear war.This book helps me to have a better point of view about all Cuban Missile Crisis revolution of 1962 including some Cuban points of view and also American points of view, wich are very important to have a better understanding of this big event. Garthoff, Raymond L. â€Å"Reflections on the Cuban Missile Crisis†. Washington D. C. : The Brookings , 1989. In this book Garthoff has revised earlier analysis to make the most accurate, eye-opening story yet of the 1962 crisis.This book focuses in the nature of the crisis, its consequence s and its lessons for the future, It provides a combination of memoir, historical analysis and political interpretation, and also it gives particular attention to the aftermath of the crisis. This helps me to solve how this war happened and how it affected the world. Laurence Chang, Peter Kornbluh. The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. New York: The New Press, 1992.In this book written by Chang and Kornbluh, are released documents reveal just how dangerously close the world came to nuclear destruction in 1962 and also provides me the official correspondence between John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro. It focuses on the political decisions between countries and how they controlled this crisis. This book would help to understand the political problems and the relationships between these countries. James G. Blight, Bruce J. Allyn and David A. Welch. Cuba in the brink.New york: Pantheon Books, 1993. This book is an analysis of Cuba, Its relations with the superpowers, and its role during the missile crisis is superb and unmatched in the existing scholarship on this topic This book helps me to know more about Cuba and to have more contexts in Cuba’s role in this crisis, also this book tells me about the political and social intentions of the U. S. A over Cuba. And how they found a solution to this problem. Topping, Seymour. On the Front Lines of the Cold War : An AmericanCorrespondent's Journal from the Chinese Civil War to the Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam. Los Angeles: LSU Press , 2010. This e-book was written trough several researches by Seymour, This book helps me to know more about this Big war and to have a background to see how this war is related to Cuban Missile Crisis, and how Cuba was involved in this huge problem. This book focuses on Cuban history and its relation with the world problems. I found it very interesting and useful because give me more information about Cuban history.

How Condensation and Evaporation Shape Our Weather

How Condensation and Evaporation Shape Our Weather Condensation and evaporation are two terms that appear early on and often when learning about weather processes. They are essential to understanding how water―which is always present (in some form) in the atmosphere―behaves. Condensation Definition Condensation is the process by which water residing in the air changes from  water vapor  (a gas) to liquid water. This happens when the water vapor is cooled to the dew point temperature, which leads to saturation. Anytime you have warm air rising up into the atmosphere, you can expect condensation to eventually occur. There are also many examples of condensation in our daily lives, such as the formation of water droplets on the outside of a cold drink. (When the cold drink is left sitting on a table, the moisture (water vapor) in the rooms air comes in contact with the cold bottle or glass, cools, and condenses on the drinks outside.) Condensation: a Warming Process Youll often hear condensation called a warming process, which can be confusing since condensation has to do with cooling. While condensation does cool the air inside of the air parcel, in order for that cooling to occur, that parcel must release heat into the surrounding environment. Thus, when speaking about the effect of condensation on the overall atmosphere, it warms it. Heres how it works:Remember from chemistry class that molecules in a gas are energetic and move very fast, while those in a liquid move slower. In order for condensation to happen, the water vapor molecules must release energy so that they can slow their movement. (This energy is hidden and is therefore called latent heat.) Thank Condensation for This Weather... A number of well-known weather phenomenon are caused by condensation, including: DewFogClouds Evaporation Definition The opposite of condensation is evaporation. Evaporation is the process of changing liquid water into water vapor (a gas). It transports water from the Earths surface to the atmosphere. (It should be noted that solids, like ice, can also evaporate or be transformed directly into a gas without first becoming a liquid. In meteorology, this is called  sublimation.) Evaporation: a Cooling Process For water molecules to go from a liquid to an energized gaseous state, they must first absorb heat energy. They do this by colliding with other water molecules. Evaporation is called a cooling process because it removes heat from the surrounding air. Evaporation in the atmosphere is a crucial step in the water cycle. Water on Earths surface will evaporate into the atmosphere as energy is absorbed by liquid water. Water molecules that exist in the liquid phase are free-flowing and in no particular fixed position. Once energy is added to water by heat from the sun, the bonds between the water molecules gain kinetic energy or energy in motion. They then  escape the surface of the liquid and become a gas (water vapor), which then rises  into the atmosphere. This process of water evaporating from the surface of the Earth happens continually and continually transports water vapor into the air.  The rate of evaporation depends on air temperature, wind speed, cloudiness. Thank Evaporation for This Weather... Evaporation is responsible for several weather phenomena, including: HumidityClouds

buy custom Illegal Drugs essay

buy custom Illegal Drugs essay Most serious terrorist crimes are funded by illegal drugs like marijuana. However, its prohibition does not reduce this risk. In fact, prohibition acts as a catalyst to the growth of these cartels. This is because the cartels are not afraid of the war on marijuana. The prohibition leads to better prices and elimination of the smaller and inefficient cartels. The U.S interdiction efforts are therefore laughable since the prohibition only led to elimination of the obligation to pay tax. To the cartels, the only thr4eta to their business is guidance and counseling efforts aimed at dissuading people from taking marijuana. This can also be affirmed by the fact that lifting of alcohol ban in 1933 led to reduced murders and robberies. This implies that legalization of marijuana can lead to reduced crime incidences associated with it. Lifting of the ban on marijuana would give the cartel owners a legal way of solving business disagreements hence reducing murder and violent crimes. In the pre sent scenario, marijuana traders do not have a legal mechanism for settling their disputes and hence crime and murder remains their only alternatives. Prohibition of marijuana can only serve to increase corruption since police are tempted to take bribes in order to allow the trade to go on. Moreover, illegalization of the drug only serves to increase its price. This makes its users to commit more crimes in order to obtain the drug (Swlearning.com) According to a report from white house office of drug control policy, anti-marijuana efforts have not had any significant results on the reduction of the drug in the streets. Therefore, children are continually exposed to marijuana. Moreover, the dealers show off to children making the children to have the urge to get rich quickly. The children affected hence chose marijuana trade as opposed to legitimate jobs or even continuing with their education. Decriminalization of the drug would eliminate the drug traffickers who act as role models to young children. Lack of regulation in marijuana trade has resulted to many unregulated marijuana cartels .the cartels lure children into the trade. A study conducted in 2006 by national drug use and health (NSDUH) indicated that over 800000 adolescents are involved in the trade. The survey also indicated thatthe prevalence of a student having been given or offered marijuana at school ranges from 15.5- 38.7 percent. In 2005, the governments spent around 7 billion dollars to arrest and prosecute individuals for marijuana offences. However, the efforts did not bear fruits as studies show that more than 80 percent of high school students find obtain marijuana easily (Studyworld.com). Prohibition of marijuana does not work. Although a lot of money is spent in this effort, marijuana only becomes more available, less expensive and more potent. Studies have indicated that 81 percent of people aged 45 years in the US have used marijuana. Prohibition efforts have failed to reduce its consumption, violent crimes associated with its consumption and its distribution in the streets. The efforts have also not reduced its availability to its potential users nor has it reduced the profits obtained by the underground cartels through its trade. The current policy of prohibition only serves to marginalize and stigmatize marijuana users. This in turn inhibits their efforts to be productive or become gainfully employed. The policy also prohibits such people from seeking treatment against marijuana abuse for fear of being arrested. The users therefore continue suffering in darkness until they die out of its abuse (Frank 456). The government should not have a right to regulate what people do in private. People should be free to do what they want with their lives even if it is taking recreational drugs as long as this causes no harm to others. The government has no right to prevent or impose punishment on marijuana consumers since drug use is a victimless crime. Otherwise the government should also forbid overreacting since it causes more deaths than marijuana use annually. People who support the ban on the use of marijuana cite the public opinion. The current marijuana prohibition was imposed due to strong public support for political measures against irresponsible use of marijuana which presented unacceptable levels of harm to the users. The burden was eventually being transferred to the society. The public also sees marijuana use as a vice .it is a sign of weakness. The community therefore argues that it has a right to protect itself from the harm tthat can be caused by ma4rijuana users. Hence, the society sees continued prohibition as the only way to guard itself from the threat posed by the users. Gallup conducted a research in 2009 that indicated that 54 percent of the US population was against legalization of marijuana. Similar results were obtained in Australia where 79 percent of the population was found to be against its legalization (James 42). Organizations have also argued that marijuana should continue being prohibited since it poses health risks to the users. The government purports that marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol by up to six times. Marijuana has also been found to be more powerful than ever before. In the year 2000 the number of cases that were in need of emergency treatment for use of marijuana was more than six times higher than that of 1990 despite the fact that the number of users had not increased significantly. In 1999, 2500000 Americans were enrolled for drug abuse treatment against marijuana. Furthermore, marijuana also exposes its users to the threat of cancer. Marijuana has been found to contain 400 harmful chemicals including those found in cigars. Marijuanas short term effects are equally harmful. It results to loss of memory, low perception, the users find it hard to think and make decisions. Marijuana use also leads to loss of memory strength, increase in heart rate and anxiety. It is for t his reason that organizations have advocated for its continued prohibition (Hanford 16). It is true that the usage of marijuana poses a lot of threat both to the users and the society. It is a great health risk. The individuals who consume marijuana cannot be allowed to harm themselves or the members of the society. However, this cannot be done through prohibiting its use. Prohibiting its use only serves to0 complicate the problem. Besides, marijuana has some medicinal value. Therefore, the solution lies in legalizing its use and coming up with necessary legislations to control its usage. This will enable research on the drug to go on and hence ensure the users of its quality. Furthermore, legalizing it will enable it to be used in hospitals .this will be a great stride towards alleviating some of the problems faced by certain kinds of patients as explained above. Buy custom Illegal Drugs essay

Absolute Moral Rules - 1954 Words | Bartleby

padding-top-2"> Absolute Moral Rules One may believe that an absolute rule against killing humans is essential because killing is always evil and inhumane. Others believe that there are great exceptions to killing humans, such as self-defense, that need to be taken into account when making an absolute rule about killing humans. If someone tries to kill your family member or tries to kill you, should you stand there and die because you do not want to violate the absolute rule, even if your reason behind breaking the rule brings about more happiness and outweighs the consequences of breaking the rule? Immanuel Kant believes that good will, what he sees to be the ultimate intrinsic good, along with following the categorical imperative determine whether show more content Kant argues that the right action is one that follows the categorical imperative, in this case, abiding by the moral rule not to kill anyone. Kant believes that no matter the circumstance, if humans violate the categorical imperative, and there are bad consequences, they are responsible for these consequences. If humans act under the categorical imperative and there are still bad consequences, they are not responsible because they abide by their duty- to follow the exceptionless moral rule. The only way to violate the moral rule is if the individual breaking the rule creates a new maxim, in which, for instance, it is always permissible to kill under self-defense. The issue with this new absolute rule is that by saying humans can kill in self-defense are the intentions of the humans good-willed or are their intentions faulty? Also, is killing under self-defense really going to bring about a new universal maxim in which everyone can kill under self-defen se, no matter the circumstance? It would be impossible to create this self-defense universal maim because creating this new maxim would just bring about new exceptions within that rule. Utilitarians, on the other hand, go against Kant’s idea that there should be absolute moral rules. They believe that moral rules should be followed if the consequence for one’s action brings about the most happiness and the least amount of pain. In Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill The War Of The World War I - 1593 Words | Bartleby padding-top-2"> An advocate can be defined as a person who pleads on another’s behalf. Advocates are important in today 's society as they provide representation for the disadvantaged and foster a sense of hope for change in the world. During his life Wilfred Owen, the famous war poet, lived under many titles: he was a son, a brother, a student, a teacher, a fighter, an inpatient, a war poet and most importantly, an advocate. This essay addresses his most eminent poems, contrasting the ways in which war was promoted versus the true reality of war, as well as the ways in which Owen gave a voice to the men dying in futile war. Volunteer recruitment and conscription for World War 1 began in 1914 and continued until 1918, when World War 1 came to an end. Historically, war was portrayed as being heroic, and in some senses, adventurous. Boys as young as 16 falsified their age in order to fight, 18 year old men joined with parental permission, and 21 year old men joined on their own terms. Word of mouth, pressure from society, as well as Australian war promotion slogans such as â€Å"Boys, come over here, you’re wanted!† and "Get into khaki, we’re doing our bit!† acted as bait to lure young men into battle. The naive, selfless nature of these young fighters was constantly taken advantage of. They were not told about the trenches, the lack of food, the bone chilling cold, the shrapnel, the shell-shock or the dull ache of missing loved ones that would be ever-present in their chests. Owen, like many

Issues in Management Accounting - AC313 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Issues in Management Accounting - AC313 - Essay Example There was enormous resistance to change and tighten the cost control from the engineering side in all meetings as they feared that the cost control was merely to strengthen the accounting regime in the company. In 1980, Volvo representatives visited Renault plant to see their practices as their practices were taken as industry’s benchmarks. Volvo was facing very high costs in the initial stages of product development. Renault had competence in cost control and thus was taken as benchmark for the cost control drive by Volvo. There was a rapid change in the business environment that required Volvo’s management to implement cost management and control system. The business environment forced Volvo to be pro-active in their costing and to make their systems online to as to increase their efficiency in the intra-departmental and cross-functional accounting and costing. For cost effectiveness in the future, Volvo realized that they needed their cost control activities to be redirected to product development rather than manufacturing and production. This would reduce their costs in the initial stages of product development. The company used to be cost and budget driven whereas the need of the hour was to be customer oriented and delivering value to customers at minimum cost. Modular design and common parts were few major changes that Volvo introduced in their products. Process orientation was another major change that was being implemented in the industry. Instead of being function-oriented, organizations were moving towards process orientation. Redundant activities needed to be identified so that the processes could be streamlined and made more effective and cost efficient. Cost targets had become more critical and important. Timely formulation of realistic cost targets saved them huge investments which were not feasible and/or not affordable for their business. Calculations needed to be done in

Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Human Rights - Essay Example Previously and even now in many places, people are not aware of their rights and are not even aware of what their country’s constitution has promised them or the benefits that have already been highlighted for them. Many people take life and the treatment they receive in its stride and just hope that one day things will look up for them. Many people today are victims of biasness, prejudice, unfair and unequal treatment due to several reasons. Surprisingly, while we perceive the world to be a progressive place and a tolerant environment for diversity, there are very visible signs of an abuse of human rights in some of the most progressive and successful nations of the world (Buchanan, pg. 80-82, 2005). The problem or the issue that prevails is that no one seems to be standing up for such clear biasness and mistreatment in society. Today’s world does not show the determination, bravery, and diligence of people such as Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, and many other peop le who have taken a stand for an issue of human rights (Donelly, pg. 25, 2003). While the issues relating to human rights are numerous and biasness may exist based upon gender, age, ethnicity, skin color, religion, nationality, social status, sexual orientation, beliefs, values, lifestyle, and many other categories, the people of the 21st century do not seem to be taking a very active stand against such mistreatment and intolerance expressed towards individuals in different positions all over the world. The belief that all human beings are equal and should be given equal treatment is no more prevalent. In fact, inequality is promoted and exposed openly on various occasions. Attitudes of ethnocentrism and self centeredness show that people are apathetic towards what state other human beings around the globe are in. Their main concern is being the best for themselves and for their own good and are not even minutely concerned about how people are being treated around the world. The onl y time they will show a slight bit of concern, is when one of their basic human rights is denied to them. Many humans across the globe are denied the right to freedom, equal opportunities, food, shelter, education, and a proper place in society. They may also be denied the right to express their opinion, travel the world, or practice their own religion. However, many people think that human rights are a relative term and vary with the perception of an individual. While some people may perceive something as a basic right, other people may perceive it as a luxury. The dilemma today is how to bridge the gap between these two divergent ways of life and to enable all people in the world to be treated equally (Rieser & Mason, pg. 75-80, 1992). The aim of this paper is to discuss the issue of human rights that prevails around equality and diversity. The saying that â€Å"beauty lies in differences† is very true in every regard as if everyone was the same, then the world would be a v ery boring place. Beauty is discovered through different colors, genders, personalities, ethnicities, languages, lifestyles, and any other differences which may set someone apart from another person. If everyone was the same, beauty could not be found as there would be no basis for someone to be better at something than the other or someone possessing a certain skill or feature that would set them apart from others. To be beautiful is to be different and according to the Human Rights law of many progressive countries, everyone has a right to be who they are and deserve just as much as any other person as long as they are not harming any other individual unfairly to attain that benefit (Donelly, pg. 15-16, 2003). Underdeveloped countries such as countries in Africa and Asia have no particular

The Issue of Marital Rape Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Issue of Marital Rape - Research Paper Example Norms of the current age are based on equality and respect of each other while maintaining the status of equal partners. In legal and social parlance, it was believed that marriage was an institution in which sex between the partners is always legal irrespective of the fact that the woman is ready for it or not. The man was allowed to use her lady and she was bound by his commands. There was no concept of sexual assault and rape in a marital relationship even a century ago. It is pertinent to note here that a law is an off shot of aspirations of the society in which its citizens decide that how they would view a balanced society and on which ground they would like to judge the other and to be judged. Historically, law –just like other segments of the society- was reluctant to admit any interpretation of forced sex in a marital relationship as a rape. Marriage was considered as a license for a man to have sexual relations with his wife even against her wish. But gradually, now society and the law have evolved otherwise. Marriage is a knot between a man and woman, where both agree to live together for love and continuation of their family through their children. Marriage may be defined as â€Å"An agreement made in due course of law where a man and woman reciprocally decide to live with each other during their joint lives, in the union which ought to exist between husband and wife†1. Marriage is the relationship where cohabitation is not only for the purpose of sexual pleasure only but also for sharing love and grief, hot and cold, and to work for the comfort of life together. The institution of marriage is the oldest and the only permanent institution of any society. It was there when no other institution was there and till today, all the society posses it in one way or the other.  

Motives for European expansion in Africa in the 19th Century Essay

Motives for European expansion in Africa in the 19th Century - Essay Example The reliance of these nations on raw materials for industries damaged the balance of trade forcing the countries to seek other sources of raw materials and cheap labor. Competition from newly industrialized nations such as Germany forced other European countries to seek expansion into Africa. Europe started by establishing trading relations with African leaders and encouraged the rulers to trade exclusively with them and not any other nation. At first, the European traders had no interest expanding into the interior of Africa. The partnership was such that the African rulers had assured them of a constant supply of slaves from the interior. However, the rapid expansion of industries in Europe made the colonialists look for more supply of raw materials and cheap slave labor from Africa. The European industries and economy depended particularly on West Africa for development. The palm oil developed from Africa was in high demand as an industrial oil in Europe. There was greed among the Europeans for greater profits and economic growth. The greed meant intensifying and increasing industrial production that meant expanding deeper and deeper into Africa. European conquest of Africa was majorly driven by economic motives and the desire to increase economic growth back in Europe. The Europeans realized that by conquering Africa, they could secure a very cheap supply of raw materials hence success and overall economic prosperity at home. The economic conditions in Europe in the 19th century fueled the scramble for Africa.

Operation management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Operation management - Essay Example conomic crunch has made customers to shrink their budgets thereby preferring airlines that charge relatively less than others one of them being Southwest Airlines. This airline is an example to many the world over due to its consistent profitability streak since its establishment. Southwest Airlines is one of the most profitable and respected airlines in the world. It is a no-frills airline having been established in 1971 as a low cost choice for Americans. It has its base in Dallas, Texas and it serves more than 85 million passengers annually (Southwest 2011). Its net income is well over 100 million dollars a year which it uses for expansion and other strategies. During its establishment the airline had only 3 aircrafts but it currently has a fleet of over 500. All these aircrafts are from Boeing and they help the airline to traverse the US skies while serving more than 70 cities (Southwest 2011). Due to its point-to-point strategy it records one of the highest numbers of flights at 3,100 per day. For it to support these services it has employed 35,000 people many of whom are able to multitask in various departments which makes them some of the most highly paid in the American airline industry. Considering the huge customer base and the demand for its servic es, the airline has done pretty well as it currently stands to be the best in customer service in the US airline market. The company management has for decades managed to stick to the low cost initiative by minimising operational costs and improving on efficiency. Unlike its rivals Regional Airlines and AMR, it has all along charged low fares and offered simplicity in its service range. The above information is summed up by the airline’s mission statement which partly states; The Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly who is also the President is following his predecessors by ensuring that customers receive the best service and utmost attention from the company staff. This has been possible throughout the years

The Issue of Marital Rape Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Issue of Marital Rape - Research Paper Example Norms of the current age are based on equality and respect of each other while maintaining the status of equal partners. In legal and social parlance, it was believed that marriage was an institution in which sex between the partners is always legal irrespective of the fact that the woman is ready for it or not. The man was allowed to use her lady and she was bound by his commands. There was no concept of sexual assault and rape in a marital relationship even a century ago. It is pertinent to note here that a law is an off shot of aspirations of the society in which its citizens decide that how they would view a balanced society and on which ground they would like to judge the other and to be judged. Historically, law –just like other segments of the society- was reluctant to admit any interpretation of forced sex in a marital relationship as a rape. Marriage was considered as a license for a man to have sexual relations with his wife even against her wish. But gradually, now society and the law have evolved otherwise. Marriage is a knot between a man and woman, where both agree to live together for love and continuation of their family through their children. Marriage may be defined as â€Å"An agreement made in due course of law where a man and woman reciprocally decide to live with each other during their joint lives, in the union which ought to exist between husband and wife†1. Marriage is the relationship where cohabitation is not only for the purpose of sexual pleasure only but also for sharing love and grief, hot and cold, and to work for the comfort of life together. The institution of marriage is the oldest and the only permanent institution of any society. It was there when no other institution was there and till today, all the society posses it in one way or the other.  

Operation management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Operation management - Essay Example conomic crunch has made customers to shrink their budgets thereby preferring airlines that charge relatively less than others one of them being Southwest Airlines. This airline is an example to many the world over due to its consistent profitability streak since its establishment. Southwest Airlines is one of the most profitable and respected airlines in the world. It is a no-frills airline having been established in 1971 as a low cost choice for Americans. It has its base in Dallas, Texas and it serves more than 85 million passengers annually (Southwest 2011). Its net income is well over 100 million dollars a year which it uses for expansion and other strategies. During its establishment the airline had only 3 aircrafts but it currently has a fleet of over 500. All these aircrafts are from Boeing and they help the airline to traverse the US skies while serving more than 70 cities (Southwest 2011). Due to its point-to-point strategy it records one of the highest numbers of flights at 3,100 per day. For it to support these services it has employed 35,000 people many of whom are able to multitask in various departments which makes them some of the most highly paid in the American airline industry. Considering the huge customer base and the demand for its servic es, the airline has done pretty well as it currently stands to be the best in customer service in the US airline market. The company management has for decades managed to stick to the low cost initiative by minimising operational costs and improving on efficiency. Unlike its rivals Regional Airlines and AMR, it has all along charged low fares and offered simplicity in its service range. The above information is summed up by the airline’s mission statement which partly states; The Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly who is also the President is following his predecessors by ensuring that customers receive the best service and utmost attention from the company staff. This has been possible throughout the years

Ernest Hemingway Essay Example for Free

Ernest Hemingway Essay Ernest Hemingway is a writer known for his characterizations of men and women. His men tend to be very macho and involved in using women for their own personal gain. His women tend to be somewhat naive and overwhelmed with the idea of being with men. As with many of Hemingway’s female characters, Liz in â€Å"Up in Michigan† has mistakenly taken infatuation for love. Liz is actually somewhat obsessed with Jim right from the beginning. Hemingway writes, â€Å"She liked it about how his teeth were when he smiled,†¦that his hair was black on his arms and how white they were above the tanned line when he washed up in the washbasin outside the house. Liking that made her feel funny. † Clearly, sentences like this demonstrate the girlish nature of Liz. She notices all the little things that women notice in infatuation with men. There is no mention of his character, of what kind of man he is, only of his physical characteristics. She feels â€Å"funny† inside thinking about his white skin where it disappears into his clothes. This is the equivalent of the pounding heartbeat of infatuation. In fact, â€Å"All the time Liz was thinking about Jim Gilmore. He didn’t seem to notice her much† (Hemingway 82). Clearly, the feelings are one-sided here. It is impossible for Liz to love him if he takes no notice of her. Real love is about reciprocity. As the story goes on, Jim goes away on a hunting trip. â€Å"She couldn’t sleep well from thinking about him but she discovered it was fun to think about him too† (Hemingway 82). She is thinking about him in the ways of a girl, fascinated with every move he makes. She knows nothing of substance about him. Clearly, he is not thinking of her at all. She even goes so far as to think that â€Å"everything would be all right when he came home† (Hemingway 83). Again, she is pinning her entire identity on this one man who doesn’t even give her the time of day. She has no understanding of real love and is actually setting herself up for someone like Jim to use her by being so needy. She has fallen into the female trap of believing in that fairy tale, romantic love that doesn’t exist in reality. She believes he will notice her and realize they were meant to be together. When Jim returns from hunting, he sits and drinks with the boys. Liz tells the reader that â€Å"She didn’t want to go to bed yet because she knew Jim would be coming out and she wanted to see him as he went out so she could take the way he looked up to bed with her† (Hemingway 84). Again, as a little girl, she wants to take his image to bed and fantasize about it. She needs one last glimpse of him to make her feel complete. Jim does come out and immediately makes advances toward her in his drunken state. She is scared but feels as though he is finally noticing her. She doesn’t want to ruin her chance. As he seduces her, there are phrases like, â€Å"it was cold but Liz was hot all over from being with Jim. † She tells him no but doesn’t really mean it, and he basically takes advantage of her. Afterwards, she is â€Å"cold and miserable† and tells the reader that â€Å"everything felt gone† (Hemingway 85). The story ends with her covering Jim and kissing his cheek as well as trying to talk to him, but realizing on the dock that â€Å"a cold mist is coming† (Hemingway 85). On the dock, with the â€Å"cold mist coming† (Hemingway 85), Liz has realized that like the barges that disappear earlier in the story, her idea of infatuation is gone. She understands that Jim was simply fulfilling his own physical need and that he has no feelings for her. She understands a basic truth that many men see love and sex completely differently than women do. She has, in effect, grown up. The cold mist coming is the way her life will change now that the illusion of romantic, fairy tale love is gone. Jim has not noticed her, and she has paid an extremely high price for misunderstanding his intentions. She will either learn to value herself more and not be â€Å"available† for every man she likes or she will attach herself to another man like Jim who will take advantage of her and treat her badly, but this time she will be realistic in the fact that that is what he will do. She will not wait for the happy ending anymore. Her illusions about infatuation (love) have been shattered, and in a world such as this, she may never learn what real love, mutual trust and respect, is.

Relationship Between Entrepreneur Human Capital and HR

Relationship Between Entrepreneur Human Capital and HR 1. Introduction 1.2 The research topic In modern economies the majority of firms are small firms, and these firms make a considerable contribution to the development of the socio-economic and political infrastructure (Matlay, 2002). Unfortunately, small firms also have a high failure rate. Fifty to eighty percent fail during the first five years of existence (Baumback, 1988). One of the main reasons for this high failure rate appears to be a lack of emphasis on the management of human resources in small firms (McEvoy, 1984). A range of studies indicate that effective management of human resources is one of the most critical challenges small firms face (e.g., Mazzarol, 2003; Deshpande and Golhar, 1994; Marlow and Patton, 1993; Hornsby and Kuratko, 1990). Especially as it relates to the management of HR issues. Managerial incompetence in handling HR issues is a major source of small firm failure (Dun and Bradstreet, 2001; Baron, 2003; Hornsby and Kuratko, 2003), and the way entrepreneurs handle HR issues in an early stage severely impacts downstream success of business (Cardon and Stevens, 2004). However, Cardon and Stevens (2004) did a literature review on HRM in small and emerging firms and concluded that despite the importance of HR issues to small and emerging firms our understanding about these issues is limited. While we have begun to understand when small firms experience varying levels of HR issues (e.g., Kotter and Sathe, 1978; Rutherford et al, 2003), and what these issues are (e.g., Horsnby and Kuratko, 2003), literature lacks much of the theory necessary to understand the role the entrepreneur plays with regard to HR issues in small firms. Given that entrepreneurs play a dominant role in determining how human resources are managed in small firms (Matlay, 2002; Klaas and Klimchak, 2006), it is likely that certain personal characteristics of entrepreneurs play a more significant role in determining HR issues in small firms. Surprisingly, this relationship has received very little attention in literature. This research study will address this gap in literature by focusing on the relationship between human capital characteristics of the entrepreneur and HR issues in small firms. Particularly, the relationship between prior education and experience of the entrepreneur and HR issues in small firms. Education and experience are generally regarded as key factors influencing small firm survival and development (Storey, 1994), and a range of studies show they are positively related to small firm performance (e.g., XXX). Given that HR issues are the main cause of small firm failure (Dun and Bradstreet, 2001; Baron, 2003; Hornsby and Kuratko, 2003), and that they have a strong negative effect on small firm performance (Cardon and Stevens, 2004), this could imply that somehow education and experience are related to HR issues in small firms. Since we do not know if that is the case, this research study will make a first attempt at getting a better understanding about this relationship. 1.3 The research objective According to Saunders et al. (2003, p.96-98) a research study can be done either to explore, describe or explain a particular phenomenon. They argue that exploratory research is done to seek new insight into a phenomenon, to ask questions and to approach a phenomenon in a new way, that descriptive research is done to get an accurate description of events, situations or persons, and that explanatory research is done to explain the cause and effect relationship between given variables. Malhotra (1996, p.99) argues that in some cases more than one research type (exploratory, descriptive or explanatory) is used in a single study to achieve the objectives. This research study will be of an exploratory nature, as there have been few (if any) attempts in literature at getting a better understanding about the relationship between human capital of the entrepreneur and HR issues in small firms. The objective of this research study is to more precisely define the variables that are in play in this relationship, by making a very first attempt at developing a conceptual framework linking human capital characteristics (education and experience) of the entrepreneur to HR issues in small firms. 1.4 Contribution to the literature The contribution of this research study to the literature is threefold. First, by focusing on HRM in small firms, this research study focuses on a neglected group of firms and responds to several appeals for more research at the intersection of the human resource management and entrepreneurship fields (e.g., Barret and Mayson, 2006; Baron, 2003; Katz et al, 2000; Heneman and Tansky, 2000). Second, by looking at the role human capital of the entrepreneur plays in determining HR issues in small firms, this research study offers a new and different perspective on HR issues in small firms. Last, by making a very first attempt at developing a conceptual framework linking human capital of the entrepreneur to HR issues in small firms, this research study provides a foundation and stimulus for future research into the links between human capital of the entrepreneur and HR issues in small firms. 1.5 Key concepts Bygrave and Hofer (1991, p. 15) argue that â€Å"good science has to begin with good definitions†, and Marlow (2006) states that â€Å"if basic concepts are not clarified or defined, then it becomes extremely difficult to develop coherent and comparable research endeavors that build understanding of a particular field of study†. Therefore key concepts will briefly be explained and defined in order to make sure that the reader fully understands the topics under investigation in this research study. Small firms Storey (1994, p.8) states: â€Å"there is no single, uniformly acceptable, definition of a small firm†, and defining the small firm seems to be complex and somewhat problematic (Wilkinson, 1999). First, there is the issue of size. There is no consensus as to what is actually meant by â€Å"small† with regard to the number of employees in this category. In literature the number of employees in firms classified as small range anywhere from 1 to 500 employees depending upon the study. The same problem exists with various statistical agencies across the world. CBS (Dutch statistics) defines firms having less than 100 employees as small, whereas in the European union Eurostat uses a threshold of 250 employees, and the Small Business Administration in the United States even defines firms with having less than 500 employees as small (Flanagan and Deshpande, 1996). Second, there is also the issue of heterogeneity. Wilkinson (1999) argues that the danger of defining small firms lies in the assumption that there is a homogenous small firm sector and that all small firms within it have similar characteristics. He argues that while size may be a factor, it alone is not sufficient to explain patterns of employment relations, because a variety of influences (both internal and external) explain behavior (Wilkinson, 1999). This is in line with the view of Hornsby and Kuratko (2006). They argue that it is not a case of small versus large firms, as there are small established firms, small start-up firms, and small high growth firms, and these firms vary in ownership based on family ownership, ownership by founder, and some type of privately held stock ownership. Cardon and Stevens (2004) argue that co-joining small firms all into one overall category is problematic as the management needs of established and emerging firms, or firms with 1, 10, 50, 250, a nd 500 employees are significantly different from each other. This makes summarizing and providing generalizations of research findings in literature on small firms somewhat problematic. However, despite the fact that there is no uniformity of approach to defining the small firm, for this research study a practical definition of a small firm is needed. Therefore a small firm is defined as: â€Å"a privately held firm with fewer than 100 employees in which the entrepreneur is responsible for the day-to-day management and decision making in the firm†. Entrepreneur There is an ongoing debate in literature about the differences and similarities between owner-managers and entrepreneurs. According to Carland et al. (1984) the critical factor that distinguishes entrepreneurs from owner-managers is innovation. They argue that entrepreneurs are characterized by a preference for creating activity, manifested by some innovative combination of resources for profit, and that owner-managers establish and manage a business for the principal purpose of furthering personal goals. In line with this Freel and Robson (2004) state that entrepreneurs initiate change with the aim of challenging the status quo whilst maximizing profit and generating new employment, and that owner-managers focus on firm durability and sustainability, limiting operational reach of the firm, either because of market constraints or by personal choice (Freel and Robson, 2004 as cited in Marlow, 2006). However, this research study will make no distinction between an â€Å"owner-manager† or an â€Å"entrepreneur†. The most important characteristic for this research study is the dominant role the individual plays in the firm, and not whether the individual is engaged in innovative activities or not. Given that both terms represent an individual generally solely responsible for the day-to-day management and decision making in the firm (Cooper et al, 1994), this research study will treat them the same, but uses the term ‘entrepreneur to address this individual. This research study defines the entrepreneur as: â€Å"an individual who independently owns a small firm and is responsible for the day-to-day management and decision making in the firm†. Human capital Human capital can be explained as the skills and knowledge gained by a worker through education and experience. Human capital theory (Becker, 1964) is based on the idea that people acquire individual resources to increase or enhance their productivity, and that these acquisitions are related to prior education or training, as well as prior work experiences (Brush and Manolova, 2004). In this research study the focus is on human capital of the entrepreneur and how it influences the day-to-day management and decision making in the firm. Education In this research study education is defined as: â€Å"formal college education, together with received specialized training†. Training is defined as: â€Å"†¦the process by which managers acquire the knowledge and skills related to their work requirements by formal, structured or guided means† (Deloitte, Haskins, and Sells, 1989, p.3). Experience According to Lee and Tsang (2001) experience consists of three main components; entrepreneurial, industrial and managerial. Entrepreneurial experience refers to â€Å"the number of previous new venture involvements and the level of the management role played in such ventures† (Stuart and Abetti, 1990, p. 151 as cited in Lee and Tsang, 2001). Industrial experience refers to experience in the industry the firm is in, and managerial experience is the total experience in management regardless of the industry (Lee and Tsang, 2001). However, for this research study experience will not be divided into three components. In this research study experience is defined as: â€Å"accumulated knowledge of practical matters in the past† (Wikipedia). Human resource management (HRM) Storey (2001) states there is considerable confusion among researchers whether HRM â€Å"†¦is a generic term, simply denoting any approach to employment management†¦(or) as one specific and arguably minority form of approach to employment management† (Storey, 2001 as cited in Marlow, 2006). This confusion becomes clear from the many explanations and definitions of HRM in literature. For example, Bratton and Gold define HRM as â€Å"the part of the management process that specializes in the management of people in work organizations. HRM emphasizes that employees are critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, that human resources practices need to be integrated with the corporate strategy, and that human resource specialists help organizational controllers to meet both efficiency and equity objectives† (Bratton and Gold, 1999). Armstrong defines HRM as â€Å" the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organizations most valued as sets the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business† (Armstrong, 2006). Boselie states HRM â€Å"involves management decisions related to policies and practices which together shape the employment relationship and are aimed at achieving individual, organizational, and societal goals† (Boselie, 2002). And last, Schermerhorn (2001) defines HRM as â€Å"the process of attracting, developing, and maintaining a talented and energetic workforce to support organizational mission, objectives, and strategies†. In this research study HRM is considered a generic term, simply denoting any approach to the management of employees, and therefore a practical definition of human resource management is needed. Schermerhorns definition of HRM is the most practical, and fits best with the informal, flexible, and ad hoc approaches associated with HRM in small firms. Therefore HRM is defined as: â€Å"the process of attracting, developing, and maintaining a talented and energetic workforce to support organizational mission, objectives, and strategies† (Schermerhorn, 2001, p2400). HRM activities and HRM issues Rutherford et al. ( 2003) argue that in literature the distinction between HRM issues and activities is not always clear. Therefore it is important to define what is meant by HRM issues and what is meant by HRM activities. Rutherford et al. (2003) define HRM issues as â€Å"people-related issues or concerns perceived by the entrepreneur or managers in the firm† and HRM activities as â€Å"specific human resource management practices used by the firm†. They explain the difference by saying: â€Å"HRM activities are (formal) practices that are put in place to deal with HRM issues† (Rutherford et al, 2003). Guest et al. (2004) make a further distinction within HRM activities between HR practices and HR techniques. They argue that for every HR practice (e.g., â€Å"recruitment†), there are several different techniques (e.g., â€Å"newspaper ads†, â€Å"online ads†, â€Å"head hunters† etc.), or for example (e.g., â€Å"selection†), and (e.g., â€Å"interviews†, â€Å"assessment centers† etc.). This research study follows the definitions of HRM activities and issues by Rutherford et al. (2003), and acknowledges the distinction within HRM activities between HR practices and HR techniques as described by Guest et al. (2004). 1.5 Main research question and sub questions In order to be able to complete the research objective as stated in paragraph 1.3, the main research question and several sub questions have been formulated. The main research question states: How is human capital of the entrepreneur related to HR issues in small firms? In order to be able to answer the main research question, several sub questions have been formulated: How do HR practices and techniques differ between entrepreneurs with varying levels of human capital? How do HR issues differ between entrepreneurs with varying levels of human capital? How does the perceived importance of HRM and HRM issues differ between entrepreneurs with varying levels of human capital? 1.6 Conceptual model Although this is an exploratory research study, some variables have been identified in literature that could play a significant role in explaining the relationship between human capital of the entrepreneur and HR issues in small firms. These variables are shown in this preliminary conceptual model This research study builds upon ‘upper echelon theory and ‘human capital theory to explore the relationship between human capital characteristics of the entrepreneur and HRM issues in small firms. Upper echelon theory (Hambrick and Mayson, 1984) states that everything that goes on in a firm is a reflection of its top managers. It found that the nature of managerial processes and organizational outcomes are partially predicted by managerial background characteristics of its top managers. While originally applied to large firms, this theory seems to be even more applicable to small firms, given that small firms are generally build around the entrepreneur who is often primarily responsible for management and decision-making in small firms (Cooper et al, 1994). Therefore the entrepreneur can be seen as the upper echelon in small firms. Human capital theory (Becker, 1964) states that people acquire individual resources to increase or enhance their productivity, and that these acquisitions are related to prior education or training, as well as prior work experiences (Brush and Manolova, 2004). Cooper et al. (1994) argue that education is presumably related to knowledge, skills, problem-solving ability, discipline, motivation, and self-confidence, and it enables owner-managers to cope with problems and thereby be more successful. In line with this Lee and Tsang (2001) argue that in general education has a positive effect on the growth of the firm, because education equips an individual with the analytical and technical skills essential to managing a business. Furthermore, according to Cooper et al. (1994) owner-managers who have started or managed a firm prior to launching the current firm would perform better. They argue that prior experience would better prepare them for the wide variety of problems confronting new firms. Within small firms human capital theory is concerned with the knowledge and capabilities of entrepreneurs acquired through education and experience, which influences the way these firms are managed. With regard to HRM in small firm, prior studies indicat e that human capital characteristics impact the nature of HR practices and techniques in small firms (e.g., Mazzarol, 2003; Maes et al, 2004; De Winne and Sels, 2006). Link A B The presumed direct link between human capital and HRM issues is based on findings by Tocher and Rutherford (2009). They found that entrepreneurs with more human capital (higher educated and experienced) were more likely to perceive HRM issues as their firms most critical concern. Whether these firms actually experienced HRM issues or that it was only the perception of the entrepreneur remains unclear. However, given that results in this research study come from the individual lived experiences of entrepreneurs, their perception of HRM issues in their firm must be regarded as ‘the truth, and therefore a direct link might exist. Link A B C Based on the link A B, it might be the case that entrepreneurs perceive that they have a lot of HRM issues, and that as a result they implement more HRM practices and techniques (reactive). Link A C B There is evidence that human capital characteristics of the entrepreneur impacts the nature of HR policy and practice within small firms (Mazzarol, 2003; Maes et al, 2004; De Winne and Sels, 2006). It might also be expected that human capital equips entrepreneurs with knowledge about a range of HRM practices and techniques, which they will put in place in order to avoid or overcome HRM issues. It is expected that more use of HRM practices and techniques leads to less HRM issues. Link A D C B It is expected that more human capital makes entrepreneurs more aware of the value and importance of HRM and HRM issues to small firms. If entrepreneurs acknowledge the importance of both HRM and HRM issues to their firm, it is expected that they will put more emphasis on HRM and implement a range of HRM practices and techniques pro-active rather than reactive in order to avoid HRM issues. This is expected to lead to less HRM issues. 1.7 Methodology This exploratory research study uses a two-tailed multiple case study method design. Cases were divided into two groups of extremes. One group with two cases of highly educated and experienced entrepreneurs, and one group with two cases of low educated entrepreneurs with limited or no experience. This two-tailed multiple-case study method makes it possible to use direct replication of findings within the two groups, and also to find possible contrasting situations between the two groups. For this research study interviews are chosen to acquire case study evidence, following the general interview approach by Patton (2002). In this approach topics and issues to be covered are specified in advance in an outline form, and the interviewer decides the sequence and wording of questions in the course of the interview. For this research study I have taken several steps before I started doing case studies in order to be well prepared. The steps taken were: Extensive literature review on the topics under investigation Two interviews with entrepreneurship experts to get a better understanding about the research topics from a practitioner point of view The design of a case study protocol Conducting a pilot case study A total of four entrepreneurs (two in each group of extremes) actively involved in running their business were selected via non-probability sampling using the REACH database. The entrepreneurs were first contacted via a generic email, and later after being selected by telephone to make the appointment. The interviews were held face-to-face at the offices of the entrepreneurs, at convenient times, in silent and comfortable rooms. The interviews were tape recorded. In order to be able to triangulate data, I also interviewed an expert on human resource management and human resource issues in small firms. The interview was held in exactly the same way as with the entrepreneurs. 1.8 Thesis outline In order to be able to answer the main research question, the sub questions, and to meet the objective of this research study, this research study will first look at relevant literature and theories in chapter two. In chapter three the methodology used in this research study will be presented and explained. Chapter four shows the results and within case analyses of the four case studies and of the interview with the expert. In chapter five these results will be analyzed using cross case analyses. And finally chapter 6 will contain the conclusion, limitations, and implications of this research study 2. literature review There is an abundance of literature on HRM in general. Therefore it would be impossible to do a complete literature review on HRM within the time constraints given for this research study. Since the real issue discussed in this research study is the relationship between human capital of the entrepreneur and HR issues in small firms, only prior research that is relevant from this standpoint will be discussed. It must be noted that due to definitional problems in literature on both small firms and HRM, providing generalizations of research findings is somewhat problematic. However, given that all researchers in the field are confronted with these definitional problems, I follow the approach of DAmboise and Muldowney (1988). They reviewed all studies and papers in which the author â€Å"claimed† to be writing about small firms or any variation thereof (e.g., entrepreneurial firm, SME). In this review of the literature, I do the same. 2.1 HRM in small firms While there is an abundance of literature on HRM, the majority is based on HRM in large firms (Wilkinson, 1999). Heneman et al. (2000) reviewed over 400 articles on HRM and found that between 1984 and 1999 only129 empirical studies focused specifically on HRM in smaller firms. Only 17 of these studies applied quantitative methods to analyze results. According to them â€Å"the literature appears to be rich in prescriptions, limited in sound descriptive surveys, and sparse in analytical research†. Similarly, Hornsby and Kuratko (2003) found that â€Å"in spite of the considerable volume and diversity of HRM research, relatively little is understood regarding the HRM-related needs, practices, behaviors, and outcomes of smaller ventures†. More recently, DeKok and Den Hartog (2006) stated that even though research on HRM in small firms has increased lately, the majority of researchers still tends to ignore small firms. Heneman et al. (2000) argue that â€Å"the deficiency of research regarding HRM in small firms is problematic for theory, research, and practice†. When looking at literature on HRM in small firms, it seems that for long it has polarized into the ‘small is beautiful or ‘bleak house perspective (Wilkinson, 1999). According to Wilkinson (1999) the ‘small is beautiful scenario facilitates close and harmonious working relationships with good communication, greater flexibility, and low levels of conflict, and in the ‘bleak house scenario firms are dictatorially run with employees suffering from poor working conditions (Wilkinson, 1999). However, according to Ram (1991, as cited in Wilkinson, 1999) â€Å"workplace relations in SMEs may be ‘complex, informal and contradictory rather than simply either harmonious or autocratic†. Indeed, by now we know that â€Å"small firms are complex, varied, and influenced by a range of factors† (Loan-Clarke et al. 1999; Carrol et al. 1999; Wagar, 1998; Mazzarol, 2003, as cited in Kotey and Sheridan, 2004). A number of studies indicate that small firms are characterized by informal, flexible and ad hoc approaches to HRM. Barret et al. (2007) explain this by saying: â€Å"the practices used to recruit, select, manage and appraise employees performance are not written down (for example, a list of skills and qualifications for each job), regularly applied (for example, yearly performance reviews) or guaranteed they take place (for example, employer sponsored training)†. For example, Hornsby and Kuratko (1990) studied 247 smaller firms in order to establish the progress in developing HRM practices and policies in small firms. They found that firms with less than 50 employees had very little formal HRM practices in place, and similar HRM practices were found in firms with 50 to 100 employees and firms with 100 to 150 employees. A little over a decade later Hornsby and Kuratko (2003) did a replication and an extension of their 1990 study and found evidence that suggests that human reso urce management practices in small firms in all three size categories has generally stagnated and even regressed in some areas over the decade. Similarly, Kotey and Slade (2005) conducted a survey of 371 small growing firms in Australia in order to establish the rate of adoption of formal HRM practices with increasing firm size. Their results showed that micro and small firms are indeed characterized by informal HRM practices, but the adoption of formal HRM practices increased with firm size with a move toward formal practices early in the growth process. In contrast, there are also studies showing there is a greater level of sophistication of HRM practices in small firms than would be expected. However, it must be noted that these results are often derived from case studies with very small samples. For example, De Kok and Uhlaner (2001) studied 16 firms with between 10 and 41 employees and found that some of these firms used HRM practices that were more formal than expected. In line with this Duberley and Walley (1995) did a comparative case-study with sixteen organizations in the United Kingdom to study the extent to which HRM has been adopted in small firms. Although the majority of the studied firms (13) did not adopt a strategic approach towards HRM with an integrated set of policies related to corporate strategy, they found that three of the firms did indeed approximate quite closely to the model of strategic HRM. Barret et al. (2007) state that while an informal and ad hoc approach to HRM may work for some small firms, in periods of growth the sustainability of that approach can be problematic. In line with this Arthur (1995) states that if growth is to be sustained, formal HRM practices and policies are necessary to cope with the increasing complexity as a result of greater number of employees. A study by Kotey and Slade (2005) on the rate of adoption of formal human resource management practices in 371 small growing firms in Australia indicated a move toward hierarchical structures, an increase in documentation, and more administrative processes as the firm grew. Similar results were found by Barret and Mayson (2007) when they conducted a survey of 600 small Australian firms. Their analysis showed that growth-oriented small firms were more likely to use formal HRM practices than non-growth small firms. Roberts, Sawbridge, and Bamber (1992, as cited in Wilkinson, 1999) explain this by saying : â€Å"when a firm employs more than 20 staff, the limits of informality become apparent: informal networks of recruitment dry up; informal styles of management communication are stretched; and ad hoc responses to personnel issues create problems†. In line with this Jennings and Beaver (1997, as cited in Bartram, 2005) state that when the entrepreneur becomes over-extended because the firm has grown above a certain size, the management of human resources needs to be professionalized and delegated. However, there are also researchers like Wilkinson (1999) and Welbourne and Cyr (1999) who state that putting an emphasis on formal rules and procedures in small firms is outdated, because entrepreneurs operate in an environment where they have to make rapid decisions in order to be able to respond to market changes. They argue that ‘bureaucratic HRM may reduce flexibility and increase firm inertia. Similarly, Hill and Stewart (1999, as cited in De Kok, 2003) argue that small firms should be more flexible and informal to be able to cope with higher levels of environmental uncertainty. 2.2 HRM activities in small firms According to Barret and Mayson (2007) the most commonly found HRM activities in small firms reflect operational needs and pragmatic concerns. For example, record keeping, staffing activities (recruitment and selection), and to a lesser extent motivation and retention activities (compensation and reward practices). Cassel et al. (2002) conducted an empirical study on HRM activities in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and found that there is a considerable diversity amongst SMEs in relation to their use of HR practices and techniques. They stated it appeared that â€Å"key managers within SMEs, rather than taking a coherent, strategy based approach to the implementation of HRM, are taking a more ‘pick and mix contingency approach†. â€Å"Which practices are chosen, and the extent to which they are used and formalized is based on a number of characteristics about the SME and the current business climate within which they find themselves† (Cassel et. Al, 200 2). Although there is no generally excepted list of HR practices and techniques used by smaller firms, attempts have been made to identify practices and techniques commonly used in smaller firms. For example, McEvoy (1984) studied small business personnel practices in 84 small businesses with 25 to 250 employees located near a Midwest metropolitan area. A thirty-six item questionnaire was administered and filled in by an interviewer interviewing the person responsible for HRM in the firm. The questions focused on the usage of HRM practices like HRM structures, policy and planning, staffing, performance evaluation, employee motivation, job satisfaction and turnover, and compensation and unionization. Important findings relevant for this research study are that when firms reached an average of 73 employees the management of human resources shifted from one person (often the entrepreneur) to a newly formed separate personnel department. About 80% of the firms sampled used written personnel