Arrested for Murder in Dublin Ireland Research Paper

Arrested for Murder in Dublin Ireland - Research Paper Example Murders in most countries attract different punishments and this is mostly influenced by the circumstance under which the murder was actually committed. Most regions use capital punishments for intentional murders even though current human rights bodies have advocated for the abolition of this punishment. The constitution of the republic of Ireland prohibits the death penalty and this has been in force since 2002 when constitutional amendments were undertaken. The legal processes involved in handling murder suspects in Dublin Ireland and the United States will be compared to highlight some of the legal differences that exist. Suspects have legal liberties and freedoms provided by the constitution of different countries including that of Dublin Ireland. As a murder suspect arrested in Dublin, Ireland, the legal procedure in the country exposes me to various processes which are considered under the due process law of the country. Due process rights are legal protections which are developed by law to protect suspects against unfair treatments and abuses during the arresting, interrogation and sentencing process. The due process rights differ depending on country in question and the process I will face in Ireland differs with that which I may be subjected to in the United States. Despite being accused of murder, the Dublin law demands that I be subjected to a fair process with fair treatment before being presented before a court of law. As an accused, the law does not require me to prove my innocence and may therefore maintain my silence during the initial phases of the trial (King, 2004). As an accused whose crime is still under investigation, the due process law in Dublin Ireland protects from self-incrimination and allows me the right to be represented by an attorney before the court of law. Before being arrested, the law enforcer has to read out the charges to me before I can be taken into police custody. The witnesses

Leadership styles, behaviors and relevant situational factors. Maple Assignment

Leadership styles, behaviors and relevant situational factors. Maple Leaf Food - Assignment Example Maple Leaf Foods (stock market symbol TSX:MFI) is one of Canada’s major food processing companies. As its chief executive officer, McCain holds the strings that control the subordinates. With the strings, Michael McCain can instruct the employees to give their best to produce high quality products to the company’s current and prospective clients. Michael McCain is new in the company. Formerly, Michael McCain was one of the owners of the very popular McCain food products company, which is located in the heart of Canada. Consequently, Michael McCain brings with him many years of experience as one of the managers of his former family-owned company. His former company is also engage in the food processing business. 2. Description of leader’s context (main constituents and the various situation forces at play) Michael McCain heads the company that sells food products to the Canadian public. The company’s original name is Canada Packers. It was Canada’s producer of the biggest volume of food products. The company’s major food product is grounded on hogs. The company ships hog-based products to the United Kingdom. The company also sells cheese products. The company ventures into hog and poultry based food business products. Robert Kelley (1988) 2insists that all corporations sometimes succeed or fail, compete or crumble, on the basis of how they are being management, in the case of McCain, the subordinates can sit back, relax, and enjoy the leadership of McCain as he steers the Maple Leaf Management outside the August 2008 food poisoning crisis smoothly and effortlessly. In 2008, the company ordered the recall of many of its tainted products. The tainted products came from one of its food processing plants. Consequently, Maple Leaf Management ordered the closure of its c ulprit plant. The closure was necessary to bring back the company’s tarnished image. With the announcement of the guilty plant facility, Maple Leaf Management sought to retrieve its former glory of being the producer of one of the most popular and high selling food processing plants in Canada. On that fateful August 24, 2008 date, Maple Leaf Management ordered the closure of its failed Toronto, Canada Plant. The spoiled Maple Leaf Management products cause the deaths of five individuals. In addition more than 24 individuals were treated for eating the spoiled food. Because of the spoiled food consequences, the Government of Canada issued warnings to the public to temporarily avoid buying some of the Maple Leaf Management products. The warning was in place until the cloud of spoilage hovering over the skies of Canada’s communities, is resolved. The Canadian government agency, Public Health Agency of Canada, emphasized that the bacteria, Listeria strain, was the culprit. Many of the customers of Maple Leaf Management either died or were hospitalized for food poisoning in August of 2008. In response to the August 2008 bacteria outbreak where four persons died and many others suffered from food poisoning, Maple Leaf Management ordered the recall of all its products. The move is a good marketing strategy. The marketing strategy was to prioritize the safety of its current and prospective clients, the food customers. The outbreak was called Listeriosis.

Instant Replay Would Ruin the World’s Most Popular Sport Essay Example for Free

Instant Replay Would Ruin the World’s Most Popular Sport Essay The quarterback gets the snap, lobs it to the corner of the end zone, the wide receiver jumps up†¦.. it’s a catch! But did he get his feet in? Let’s look at the replay. Over 25 years ago on March 11th, 1986, the National Football League (NFL) introduced â€Å"instant replay† into the sports world (Wired, 2009, p.1). This recording technology has slowly worked its way into professional basketball, tennis, baseball many other sports around the world. Soccer, often called Football outside of the United States, is one of the few sports that have resisted the temptation to introduce technology to the officiating of its games. Although the implementation may make the game more precise, this resistance has kept soccer â€Å"pure,† embracing its imperfections and old tradition. To put it in the most basic of terms, instant replay is â€Å"a recording of an action in a sports event that can be shown on television immediately after the original play happens† (Merriam-Webster, 2013, p.1). Instant replay may appear to be nothing but a tool to help officials make the right call, but with benefits comes consequences. One of the consequences of instant replay is an intense slowdown of the time it takes a sporting match to be completed. For example, in the NFL, a 2010 study breaking down a four-game playoff marathon (around 12 hours of broadcast time) resulted in fans watching on average for each of the four games: 67 mins of players standing around, 17 mins of instant replays, 11 mins of actual playing time, and 3 seconds of cheerleaders (The Wall Street Journal, 2010). When replays take up more time then the â€Å"live game,† our priorities, as players, announcers, and fans clearly need to be adjusted. Focusing on these replays often takes the attention away from what is currently going on in the game, which in my opinion takes away from the joy and passion that comes with sport. NFL football, although hugely popular, can’t compete with the fluidity and beauty of Soccer football. The word â€Å"beauty† is often thrown around loosely in describing soccer because of the games continuous ability to surprise. With soccer, the fans have two 45-minute halves sandwiching a 15-minute break. The clock never stops and in many respects, the players and ball never stops. This elegance of 11 players on each side keeping continuous play of one round ball for minutes on end, making passes and runs, and connecting 45-yard balls is where the â€Å"beauty† of the game is established. The simplicity of the game is what makes it so special. This simplicity can’t be compromised by technology, which in turn would cloud the games purity. â€Å"The beauty of sport is its humanity and the sense that it is peopled with people and not automatons.† (The New York Times, 1989, p.2). Berkow in his New York Times editorial puts this idea in the simplest of terms, stating that people play and officiate sports, and to take just a little part of that away is when sport loses its integrity. The technological advances in sport and society in the last 30 years have been unimaginable and the biggest challenge society has had is to know when to use these technologies. The first official rules of soccer were drawn-up by the English Football Association in 1863. Nothing much has changed since then. (Livestrong, 2010, p.3). There is a great source of pride and passion knowing that rules have been roughly the same since this time. The requirement of the players and referees to have the stamina to run for 45 uninterrupted minutes is truly demanding. It requires a dedication not only physical but spiritually, knowing the game has been virtually the same for over a 120 years. The biggest promoters of instant replay technology has been media companies in every sport that instant replays exist. But why? One of the key reasons is the opportunity to stop games and therefore play more commercials, which results in more profits for the networks. The New York Times commented in 2010 that its important to â€Å"never stop the game (of soccer), because that leads to television sticking its grubby commercials where they do not belong.† In fact, purists actually spit up at the thought of â€Å"The Beautiful Game† being interrupted by referees peering at replay video screens (NBC Sports, 2010, p.3). Also from a purely technical approach, there is absolutely no time periods long enough to review any calls. Referees often have 3-5 seconds to make a call. This constant demand to make a call and keep the game flowing is not only what makes soccer beautiful but is how the game needs to be officiated. â€Å"Test cricket, for instance, is made up of 540 separate moments of play balls each day; tennis is a series of points; rugby has regular breakdowns† (Sports Illustrated, 2010, p.1). Other sports have this segmented structured to them, which give them these constant opportunities to review or questions calls. All else aside, soccer can’t have instant replays implemented because that would mean the entire structure and rules would have to change along with them. Many soccer fanatics, particularly in the 2010 World Cup, which there were multiply questionable calls, are fed up with referees missing/making bad calls. Certainly, an argument can be made that instant replay may help change a bad officiating decision. But â€Å"indisputable visual evidence† to overturn a goal or call by a referee on the field could result in a 5 minute pause, which results in the referee returning to announce that there is no conclusive evidence, so the call on the field remains. How satisfying is that to any spectator or competitor? The â€Å"human error† element of game is sometimes an issue but also is a beautiful part of the game. If we had technology run every call, the element of surprise within the game would be lost. There is nothing better than teams fighting back from a few bad calls to come out on top; this ability of athletes to overcome obstacles (bad referees) makes watching soccer all the more worth it. Yet the controversy remains and the fans will continue to be mad at the referees. In the modern age technology is viewed as a solution to almost anything. If you have a hot room, buy an air conditioner to cool it down. But is soccer’s problem that black and white? Can we implement instant replay and we will fix the underlying issue? â€Å"The main difficulty underlying the use of technology to solve social problems is that these problems are fundamentally different from technical problems† (Society and Technological Change, 2014, pg. 31). Now many may argue that officiating mistakes aren’t a social problem, but something like soccer so ingrained into society and culture makes for a different situation. People world-wide have a loyalty and in their mind an obligation to the sport even though many never even step on a field. The implementation of instant replays could cause an absolute outcry world wide because we would be trying to â€Å"fix,† (missed/wrong calls) something that doesn’t need fixing to begin with. In many respects, Soccer is and has become a universal language. Spanning across the globe with over a thousand professional leagues, most ever country has at least one professional league for people to view. Other sports are also played worldwide but not nearly at the magnitude that soccer is at a professional level. Instant replay, if implemented in soccer, would completely change the playing field and spectator’s view of the game. Tarnishing the 100 years of soccer world-wide may cause a loss in the universal language that has been cherished and appreciated for so long. An even playing field for every professional team is just another beautiful part of the game that cannot be tampered with. Finally, I believe soccer allows fans and announcers to get lost in the game. Almost removing themselves from all external forces such as social media, texting, and technology in general and putting focus on the simple game of â€Å"football.† Other sports give you the ability to stay distanced from the game because the most critical points will always be showed over and over again between plays, sets, points. With no stops or ability to look away, real soccer fans stay true to their selves when their team is on because otherwise they may miss something spectacular. The absence of technology in soccer is just another reason why the game is so simple, yet so beautiful. So risking an occasional bad call to retain the fluidity of the sport is something I embrace. â€Å"If one picture is worth a thousand words, moving pictures can speak volumes.† (American Journal Sports Medicine, 2007, pg. 358). The real world has mistakes and the real world doesn’t stop for a 60-second commercial. I vote yes for the real world and all its warts, particularly when it results in allowing myself and the rest of the world to watch and play in the world’s most popular and beautiful game! Bibliography Berkow, Ira. SPORTS OF THE TIMES; Bloodless Instant Replays. The New York Times. The New York Times, 14 Nov. 1989. 26 Sept. 2013. . Biderman, David. 11 Minutes of Action. The Wall Street Journal 10 Jan. 2010: Print. FIFA Shows Its Still Leery of Instant Replay. Yahoo Sports. N.p., n.d. 26 Sept. 2013. . FIFA’s Plan To Quash Bad Call Controversy: Censor In-Stadium Replays. SportsGrid RSS. N.p., n.d. 26 Sept. 2013. . Instant Replay Controversy in Baseball Rears Its Ugly Head Again. Bob Long Sports. N.p., n.d. 26 Sept. 2013. . Instant Replay. Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. 26 Sept. 2013. . Length of a Regulation Soccer Game. LIVESTRONG.COM. N.p., n.d. 26 Sept. 2013. . March 11, 1986: NFL Adopts Instant Replay. Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, n.d. 26 Sept. 2013. . Off the Bench. Off the Bench. N.p., n.d. 26 Sept. 2013. . Soccer Could Use Instant Replay, but Not at Expense of the Sports Flow. Soccer Could Use Instant Replay, but Not at Expense of Flow. N.p., n.d. 26 Sept. 2013. . Soccer Resists Instant Replay Despite Criticism. Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 30 Nov. 2009. 26 Sept. 2013.. World Football. Bleacher Report. N.p., n.d. 26 Sept. 2013. .

The History Of Absenteeism Management Essay

The History Of Absenteeism Management Essay When employees intentionally make absence from work it is known as absenteeism. In todays working organisations everybody misses a day of work now and then. But when an employee misses too many days of work it can be a big problem for the organisation and this can cause serious problems when all other employees have to cover for the missing worker or in worse cases the work simply doesnt get done, which can cause low productivity or non availability of requested services, leading to bad impression on companys position and name. People often tend to have different perspectives or attach different meanings when viewing the topic of employee absenteeism. Absenteeism occurs when the employees of a company do not turn up to work due to any scheduled time off, any illness, any injury, or any other reason. If we look back the history, there is only a small written history of absenteeism in business literature, apparently because until the 20th century businesses had a clear rule, No work: no pay. Then labour unions forced the companies into agreements to allow employees to take time off from work for illness or vacations and the practice of offering paid sick days become widespread. These practices still vary among companies and union contracts and normally there is an average of four to ten sick days per year is standard. Companies have realized that human absence management policies are cost effective; even many companies were unwilling to off paid leave to their employees. In fact, there is an estimate in the current studies regarding absenteeism that those company who have effective employee absence strategies can reduce their overall payroll costs by atleast 10 percent. ABSENTEEISM COSTING THE BUSINESSES Most recent studies on absenteeism have claimed that missing employees cost companies millions of pounds in lost revenue each year. We know that absenteeism can be quite costly. It has been estimated that in the United States alone, absence causes a loss of 400 million workdays per years. Based on this estimates, several researchers have attached a dollar value to this of between $26 and $46 billion per year (Steers and Rhodes, 1978; Goodman and Atkin, 1984a). In Canada, this figure probably approaches $8 to $10 billion. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI, 1999) has carried out a survey and used its membership base to survey both private and public sector employers. This survey showed that the average number of working days lost per employee in the UK in 1998 was 8.5 days, which represented 3.7% of all working time available. Another important correlation showed that absence was positively associated with the size of the organisation, that is absence rates were higher in large organisations than in small organisations. In calculating time lost as a percentage of actual working time available, the survey was based on a 228 days working year. This figure is derived from taking out of 365 days, 104 days for weekends or rest-days, 8 public holidays and 25 days annual leave. For many organisations the figures of 228 would be reasonably proximate, but for others, a revised base would need to be used, for example within the education service. Table 1.1 Absence rates for manual and non-manual employees 1998 (1997 figures in brackets) Average Best performing quartile Employees Days lost % of working Days lost % of working time time Manual 9.4 (10.8) 4.1 (4.7) 5.5 2.4 Non-manual 7.6 (6.8) 3.3 (3.3) 3 1.4 All 8.5 (8.4) 3.7 (3.0) 4.1 1.8 Source: CBI, Focus on Absence, 1999. The other most recent survey on the common causes of absenteeism by BBC has revealed that within the UK 93% of workers cite cods and flu as their common reason for being away from their work. Recently BBC has reported that absenteeism is costing  £10.2bn a year and that is mainly through employees minor illness, stress and family responsibilities. A survey of more than 530 firms for the Confederation of British Industry estimated that 200m days were lost through sickness absence last year, an average of 8.5 days per worker. According to an annual survey report of CIPD in 2009, it is stated that the annual cost of absence, is highest in the following sectors of different organisations within UK: Average  £ per employee/year Public Sector  £784 Manufacturing and production employers  £754 Non-profit organisations  £698 Private services organisations  £666 However, the conclusions showed that there are only 41% of employers who are monitoring the cost of employee absence, a figure which has remained persistently low over the past few years.   Another company Hewitt Associates  which is based in  Lincolnshire,  Illinois  is a global  human resources  (HR)  outsourcing   and  consulting  firm which delivers a wide range of integrated services to help companies manage their total HR and employee costs and improve their workforces has confirmed that absenteeism is costing the organisations in UK more than  £1000 per employee almost every year. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS International comparison of absence rates is equally useful and informative. The title sick man of Europe was once given to Britain because of apparently poor industrial relations record. This title can be given to any other country now as absence rates in the UK are among the lowest of any EU member country. Table 1 illustrates this point: Country Short-term Absenteeism rate Long-term Absenteeism rate Denmark UK Austria Sweden Ireland Norway Netherlands France Germany Belgium Italy Portugal 3.5 3.6 4.1 4.4 4.5 5.0 5.5 5.6 5.6 5.8 6.9 8.0 9.1 5.5 12.7 3.0 10.4 13.3 11.1 6.5 6.6 5.5 11.2 Source: Adapted from CBI, Focus on Absence, 1989 THE MOST COMMON CAUSES OF ABSENCE There are two different classes of employees, manual and non-manual and the most common main causes of sickness absence for both of these classes have been identified as: Manual Non-Manual Minor illness (cold, flu, stomach upsets headaches) Minor illness (cold, flu, stomach upsets headaches) Back pain Stress Musculo-skeletal injuries Musculo-skeletal injuries Home/family responsibilities Back pain Stress Home/family responsibilities Recurring medical conditions Recurring medical conditions Injuries/accidents not related to work Other absences not related to ill-health The latest studies and surveys have revealed that an increase in stress related absence is continuing in number of employers these days. For both manual and non-manual workers, employers perceived that minor illness is the major cause of absence from the workplace. THEORIES RELEVANT TO ABSENTEEISM Over the past many years, there have been many studies and surveys conducted to discover what motivate people. The most recognised theories are Taylor (1856-1917), Mayo (1880-1949), Maslow (1908-1970), McGregor (1906-1964) and Herzberg (1923-2000). Because motivation is very much important not only at work but almost in all part of life too, there are so many new theories which are constantly being developed. MOTIVATION THEORY The word motivation is used to describe certain sorts of behaviour. The purpose of motivation theories is to predict behaviours. Motivation is not the behaviour itself, and it is not performance. Motivation concerns action and the internal and external forces which influence a persons choice of action (Mitchell 1987). Motivation encourages people happily to put more effort into doing something. Well-motivated employees will always feel fulfilled and happy in their respective workplace. Furthermore, the employees are to be expected to be more productive and generate work of a higher quality with lower rate of absenteeism. EXAMPLE A recent case study shows that Siemens, a well known company worldwide, believes that well motivated employees can add extra power into work in order to accomplish the necessary outcomes because they believe that their work is extraordinary. The motivated workforce is more confident to take pride in what they do and off course there is low rate of absenteeism because employees are happier to go to work. HERZBERGS TWO FACTOR THEORY Herzberg used the critical incidental method and his original study was chosen because of the growing importance in the business world and his study was consisted of interviews with 203 accountants and engineers  from different industries in the Pittsburgh area of America. The responses to these interviews were generally consistent and revealed that there were two different sets of factors affecting motivation and work. This led to the Two Factor Theory of motivation and job satisfaction. On the basis of his survey, Herzberg reported that employees tended to describe satisfying experiences in terms of factors that were intrinsic to the content of the job itself. These factors were called motivators and included such variables as: Achievement Recognition The work itself Responsibility Advancement and growth According to Herzberg theory these motivators who also can be known as satisfiers were associated with  long-term  positive effects in job performance while the hygiene factors (dissatisfiers) consistently produced only  short-term changes in job attitudes and performance, which quickly fell back to its previous level. In summary,  satisfiers describe a persons relationship with that she or he  does, many related to the tasks being performed.  On the other hand dissatisfiers have to do with a persons  relationship to the context or environment  in which she or he performs the job.  Ã‚  The satisfiers or motivators relate to what a person does while the dissatisfiers relate to the situation in which the person does what he or she does. So in summary according to Herzberg if the basic needs of an employee are being met at an organisation, the employee will always be willing to come to work and will be happy doing his job. Herzberg argued that extra compensation only work in the short term and other hygiene factors only avoid dissatisfaction and that satisfaction comes from intrinsic motivators. EXAMPLE Royal Bank of Scotland has implemented Herzberg Two Factor Theory and its working successfully at the bank. RBS has put the following few factors from Herzberg theory: The good work by employees  gets recognition The employees at RBS have a combined logic of success when the whole business does well They get extra responsibility and progress through regular performance reviews RBS rewards their employee when they do well in their work RBS also introduced flexible working for its all employees and these are adapted to suit the local needs of each RBS centre. Through its right to work flexibly theory RBS is continuously motivating its employee as if they are unable to come to the work on time due to an appointment, they always can come late and can cover their work through job sharing, home working or variable working hours. ATTRIBUTION THEORY Attribution theory suggests that we observe a persons behaviour and then try to establish whether internal or external forces caused it. If it is judged to be internal, it is seen as being under the persons control; if it is judged to be external, it is seen as a result of the situation. Attribution is said to be subjected to a number of considerations, because we judge actions in a context. For example, we judge how distinctive behaviour is and whether behaviour is unusual for a particular person. Attribution theory is very much relevant to absenteeism as for example the employee is absent from work and the circumstances are that his or her attendance record is exemplary, then the behaviour could be considered unusual and an external cause (that is, that the behaviour is outside the control of the individual) will be attributed. If the absenteeism fits in with the general pattern of behaviour, then an internal attribution will be attached (that is, it will be seen as being under the persons control). EQUITY THEORY The Adams Equity Theory is a simple theory which differentiates an employees inputs and the outputs. According to the theory, the judgment to this fair sense of balance serves to make sure that a strong and useful connection is achieved with the worker, with the overall result being satisfied and motivated workers. This theory states that optimistic outcomes and high levels of enthusiasm are likely only when employees recognize their behaviour to be fair. The thought behind Adams Equity Theory is to hit a strong balance here, with outputs on one side of the level and inputs on the other both weighing in a way that seems reasonably equal. If the balance is in favour of the employer then few employees may work to bring balance between inputs and outputs on their own, by asking for more reward or recognition. Others will be demotivated, and still others will look for substitute employment.   DOUGLAS MCGREGOR THEORY X THEORY Y According to Douglas McGregor there are two different views of human beings. He described under his Theory X, that workers come to work to do the work and raise no questions and receive their pay. While in his Theory Y he believed that workers are dedicated and want responsibility. McGregor strongly recommend that employers should treat all the workers as Theory Y because they will be more efficient. EXAMPLE Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) in UK has implemented McGregors Theory Y, as NDA wants its employees to be self-directed in their work and are always ready to accept high levels of responsibilities. NDA claims that with the help of this theory their employees absenteeism level is very low as everyone loves their work and they are more responsible to be at work on regular basis. ABSENTEEISM MEASUREMENT To measure worker absenteeism the most obvious way is to record how many days have employees not come in to work. The companies should have some sort of clock-in or accountability set-up making this step relatively simple. Once the numbers are available, surely it would be interesting to know how many of those workers were genuinely ill. Measuring absenteeism can serve as many as four purposes for organisations, which includes the following: Administering payroll and benefits programs Planning human resource requirements for production scheduling identifying absenteeism problems measuring and controlling personnel costs (Gandz and Mikalachki, 1979) Actual assessment and analyzing is a key aspect of managing absence effectively. Organisations must assess if they have complications with absenteeism, its extent and find out the best way to handle it. In the latest Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) absence survey, there were only a less than half of employers who monitor the cost of absence of their employee,  and there were just under  half of organisations who have set a target for reducing absenteeism and the only 38% of organisations benchmark themselves against other employers.   To analyse particular arrangement of absenteeism and underlying the basis, employers should acquire and use data, for example, the management approach of an appropriate manager or an increase in workloads. This can also provide the evidence of how absenteeism impacts on the bottom line and why it value investing in an effective absenteeism management programme. MEASURE TIME LOST To evaluate absenteeism there are a number of different measures that can be used, each of which can gives information about the different aspects of absenteeism. Some of the factors are described as under: LOST TIME RATE Lost time rate measure  articulate the percentage of the total time available which has been lost due to absence: Total absence (hours or days) in the period  x 100   Possible total (hours or days) in the period   For instance, if the total absence of the employees in the period is 155 person-hours and the total time available is 1,950 person-hours, the lost time rate will be:   155 x 100 = 7.95%   1,950   This can also be calculated separately for the individual departments of different groups of employees to uncover particular absence problems within an organisation. FREQUENCY RATE The frequency rate method shows an average number of absences per employee, which is expressed as a percentage. This does not give any indication of the length or duration of each absence period, nor any indication of employees who take more than one spell of absence and it is calculated as under:   No of spells of absence in the period  x 100   No of employees   For example, if an organisation employed on average 110 workers in one month, and during this time there were a total of 24 spells of absence, the frequency rate will be:   24  x 100 = 21.82%   110   To find out the individual frequency rate, we have to count the number of workers who take at least one interval of absence in the period, rather than to total number of intervals of absence. BRADFORD FACTOR This method expresses the persistent short-term absence for individuals, by measuring the number of spells of absence, and is therefore a useful measure of the disruption caused by this type of absence. It is calculated using the formula:   S x S x D S = number of spells of absence in 52 weeks taken by an individual   D = number of days of absence in 52 weeks taken by that individual   For example:   10 one-day absences: 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000   1 ten-day absence: 1 x 1 x 10 = 10   5 two-day absences: 5 x 5 x 10 = 250   2 five-day absences: 2 x 2 x 10 = 40   The trigger points will differ between organisations. The underlying causes will need to be identified for all unauthorised absence. ABSENTEEISM CONTROL POLICIES The companies should have clear policies in place which support their business objectives and culture and this is the first step to managing absenteeism efficiently. Under the current legislation employers are required to provide their staff with knowledge on any terms and conditions relating to inadequacy for work due to the sickness or injury, including any arrangement for sick pay. Effective absenteeism policies must spell out clearly employees rights and responsibilities when taking time off from work due to sickness or any other reason. These policies should include: A clear idea of what absence is, how it can be defined and how it might be measured. An indication of the scope and scale of absence in the UK and elsewhere by sector, region and industry type An account of the likely causes of absence and how they relate to individuals, jobs, organisations and wider factors. Consideration of the legal environment within which absence must be managed. Examination of the equal opportunities implications of absence management, which particular regard to the Employment Relations Act 1999. Discussion of the ways in which work might be made more flexible to suit the needs of both the employer and the employee. Consideration of how a strategy for managing absence might be developed. Examination of the range of tactics that an employer might employ for the management of absence. HOW TO MANAGE ABSENTEEISM Before we discuss how to manage absenteeism we look the types of absenteeism. There are many other reasons why people take time off from work. These can be categorised as under: Non permitted absence or continuous lateness Long-term sickness absence Short-term sickness absence (uncertificated, self-certificated, or covered by a doctors fit note which replaced the sick note from April 2010) Other authorised absences:  for example,  annual leave; maternity, paternity, adoption, or parental leave; time off for public or trade union duties, or to care for dependents; compassionate leave; educational leave. Other than these above categories of absenteeism there are two main types of absenteeism, know as short term absenteeism and long term absenteeism. We discuss in detail how to manage these two main types of absenteeism: MANAGING SHORT-TERM ABSENCE Temporary absence is also known as absence interventions. The most effective interventions in managing short term absence include the followings: A proactive absence management policy Return-to-work interviews Disciplinary procedures for unacceptable absence levels Involving trained line managers in absence management Providing sickness absence information to line managers Restricting sick pay Involving occupational health professionals The most common method which is currently being adopted by many organisations is return-to-work interviews which can help identify short-term absence problems at an early stage. These return-to-work interviews provide an opportunity to managers to start a dialogue with staff over underlying issues, which might be causing the absence.   Tim Holden, the Managing Director of  FLUID, draws on more than 10 years experience as an award-winning recruiter and trainer. FLUID works with organisations to enhance their attractiveness to both current and future employees. Holden suggests that: The use of disciplinary procedures for unacceptable absence may be used to make it clear to employees that unjustified absence will not be tolerated and that absence policies will be enforced.   According to CIPDs recent survey it has been revealed that, only 12% of organisations use attendance incentives or bonuses as a tool of absence management according to our latest absence survey. MANAGING LONG-TERM ABSENCE The current studies and researches on long term absence have shown that absence of  eight days or more justify about one third  of total time lost through absence and absence of four weeks or more accounts for more than 15%. Consequently it is very vital that organisations have an approved strategy in place to help their employees to get back to work after a continuous period of sickness or injury-related absence. The knowledge of potential disability discrimination claims is also critical these days.   LINE MANAGERS ROLE To control and reduce the causes of absenteeism, line managers have a substantial role to play, either directly or indirectly. How managers behave is very important because it has a significant effect on employee health and comfort. Many recent researches show that line managers are the type of employees most likely to be reported as bullies within organisations. Management style within an organisation is also one of the top causes of stress at work.  Ã‚  The role and responsibilities of the line manager in the management of absence should be clearly defined. However, these days the role of line managers is paramount. It is the line managers responsibility to manager his or her department or unit. Therefore it is his/her responsibility to see that these resources are used as effectively as possible. This means that levels of attendance should be good and absence kept to a minimum. The line managers should follow the companys approach to management style, organisation and allocation of work, as this will be a vital part of any strategy to control absence. In addition it is his/her responsibility to follow the company absence polices and procedures to staff. In any organisations the managers need good communications skills to encourage employees so that they can feel free to discuss any problems they may have at an early stage so that they can be given support or advice by the managers before matters escalate. According to all the recent studies and surveys it is stated that despite of all the importance of line manager/supervisor involvement, there are only 50% organisations are training their line managers to get the skills needed to do this effectively. The organisations should train their line managers to get the following skills to handle the absenteeism properly and they should have a good knowledge of: Their companys absence policies and procedures What is their role in the absence management programme How to act upon any advice given by the doctor to the employee. All the related legal and disciplinary aspects of absence including potential disability discrimination issues   How to maintain absence record-keeping and understanding facts and figures on absence The role of occupational health services The proactive measures to support staff health and wellbeing Operation (where applicable) of trigger points Development of return-to-work interview skills Development of counselling skills. In addition, the line manager will be one of the main influences on an individuals view of the company attitude to absence. It is therefore important that the actions and words of line manager support the companys position. It a difference attitude is being taken on the management of absence, whether more strictly or leniently, it will cause problems for the individual manager and for the organisation. Line managers must be able to rely on the support of senior management for decision they take in line with the companys policy, their responsibilities are as under: To effectively organize and allocate work; To use an appropriate management style; To ensure that all staff are adequately trained for their role; To communicate the absence policy and procedures to all subordinates; To apply policy and procedures in a consistent and fair manner; To deal with requests for prior approved absence; To keep accurate and up-to-date records of absences; To investigate reasons for unexplained absences; To carry out return to work interviews; To instigate disciplinary procedures, when required; To provide adequate feedback to senior management; To ensure adequate personal development and training to be able to meet these responsibilities effectively. To support staff health and wellbeing by taking proactive measures for occupational health involvement To be a part of the absence management programme By restricting sick pay To changes work patterns or environment To induct rehabilitation programme There are also four typical components in the recovery of absence and return-to-work process, which are discussed as under: An up-to-date contact with sick employees   The line manager should ensure that a regular contact is maintained using both sensitive and non-intrusive approaches with the employee. This approach must be agreed with the member of staff and management and, also where appropriate, with the union or employee representative. Workplace controls or adjustments   There can be some obstacles which may cause delay, interruption or difficulties to an employees return to work. A risk appraisal can analyse measures or adjustments to assist workers return and stay in work. For example: Allowing a steady or step-by-step return-to-work, for example,  promoting an employee from part-time job to full-time job over a period of weeks To change work arrangement or management style to reduce work pressure and to give the worker more control Modifying the employees working hours, for example allowing flexible working hours to accommodate his/her family demands Co-coordinating the employees mobility. The use of professional advice and treatment   These days there are many occupational health professionals in every country, they can be consulted because they can play a major role to evaluate the reason for absenteeism, and also can carry out employees health assessments, and can assist the managers in preparation for a return to work. Return-to-work planning The management should have a return to work plan agreed by the employee and the line manager, and any other staff which is likely to be affected and this plan needs to include: The goals of the plan, alternative working hours, or a alternative job role The time period of the plan Information about the new working arrangements The reviews that will need to be made to make sure the plan is put into practice The dates when the plan will be reviewed This can be helpful if the management appoint someone who can coordinate the return-to-work process. This also can include the colleagues of the absent worker who can inform him/her of the progress, so that everyone appreciate the situation, as well as easing the alterations back to work and maintaining working relationships. TACTICS FOR CONTROLLING ABSENTEEISM There are many tools that can be used as a part of a structured plan of absenteeism. We discuss some of the tools to control absenteeism. In practice, these tools will be used in isolation but more probably several will be used in combination. PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENING: All reasonable steps should be taken to ensure that the employed staff is likely to be good attenders. One of the best indicators of likely future attendance rates is past attendance rates as many employers believe that pre-employment screening is a vital tool in absence management. There are number of simple steps that an employer can take to reduce the risk of employing a poor attender: Ask for information about absence on the application. For example, How many days absence have you had over the last two years? Ask about absence on reference requests. Ensure that those invited for interview are made fully aware of the expectations of the job. This would include duties, hours of work, work environment, standards of performance and conduct. Avoid the temptation to oversell the job at interview as this will result in disappointment and disillusioned employees and they will be more likely to be absent. Use pre-employment medical examinations to identify any potential problems. Note that disablement is not a reason not to employ an applicant, and employers must take great care to observe the terms o

Modern Music :: essays research papers

Music has been around for thousands and thousands of years. The caveman had originally started some type of sounds in which branched off into the music that we listen to today. This prehistoric music was started by the cavemen in order for them to express themselves, and the others who listened were affected in the same way that people are affected by music today. For example, if someone is upset they will listen to something that will get them into a better mood, perhaps something mellow or soft. If they are happy, they will listen to something that is more energetic, and so on. After I interviewed four people--friends and family--I found out what type of music they listened to when they are upset, angry, or calm. Music touches people’s souls, and gets the best or worst out of them. My friend Kyle said, â€Å"When I am in a bad mood I listen to basically rap because it gets me hyped up to where I want to dance. Rap lets me get into a better mood where I can forget the problem or what I was mad at before.† He continues, â€Å"No other music affects me as much as rap does because rappers put everything they have into their songs, but that is only my opinion.† Kyle has listened to rap since he was 13, and he actually got me interested into it. I never liked rap until I started to hang out with him, and I am now starting to enjoy it because of its’ diversity that is involved in making the music. Each rapper has their own version of the world, and they express it through their music. -2- Not all rap music is good according to a Texas widow, who filed a lawsuit against Tupac Shakur. Her husband, a Texas state trooper, was allegedly shot to death by a man who stole a car. In the man’s car a Tupac tape was found in the cassette player, and Tupac’s music was allegedly to blame (Damean). Some people tend to take music too seriously, and end up making mistakes, and they have to suffer the consequences like that Texas man. Those people, who take the music too seriously, are not stable, and the music brings out the worst of them. On the other hand, people like Kyle have no problem with some of the lyrics that some rappers incorporate into their music, and end living happily with society.

Bless Me Ultima :: essays research papers

Talfud once said that, “Men see in their dreams only that what is suggested by their own thought.'; In Bless Me Ultima, the passage after Narciso’s death is crucial in understanding that Antonio processes his conflicts in his dreams. This passage is key for the understanding that Antonio’s dreams are his way of processing his conflict between the Catholic God and the Golden Carp. With the processing of Antonio’s conflicts, Anaya uses extremely vivid imagery to help us understand the meaning of this passage This Passage is key in realizing Antonio resolves his conflicts between the Catholic God and the Golden Carp. The Catholic God refuses to let Antonio in to heaven during his dream because he worships the golden carp before God. God deems that “I can have [one] who has golden idols before [me]'; (165) thereby forbidding Antonio from heaven because he had an idol, the golden carp, before God. God does not forgive Antonio because he is a “not a God of forgiveness'; but when he does offer forgiveness God claims that Antonio must ask for Tenorio’s forgiveness also. “No! No! I cried, it is Narciso that you must forgive,';(65) Antonio refuses the idea that he, Narciso and Tenorio could all be in heaven together. While Narciso was protecting Ultima from Tenorio, Tenorio claimed that she had put a curse on Tenorio’s three daughters who were each slowly dying. After Antonio yells at God and the Virgin for wanting him to ask for forgiveness for Tenorio, too, God de cides to burn the entire village for their sins. The Golden Carp comes after the fires of the Catholic God and swallows the remains of the citizens of the burnt valley up and then changes them into new perfect beings. The dream after Narciso’s murder helps Antonio settle the conflict between the Catholic God and the Golden Carp, Anaya also uses extremely vivid imagery to show that dreams help Antonio settle his conflicts. Anaya uses extremely vivid imagery to show us that Antonio’s way of dealing with his conflicts is through his dreams were he settles the conflict between the Catholic God and the Golden Crap. “I held my bloodied hands out to touch [my brother’s foreheads],'; Antonio tries to save his brothers from hell because they had sinned at Rosies the “house of sinful women.'; With the words “Bloodied Hands,'; Anaya shows that Antonio is trying to sort out the conflict of Narciso’s death, while Narciso was trying to warn Ultima about Tenorio.

The Environmental impact of tourism is always harmful – Discuss

As demands for tourism and recreation increases for example due to an aging but active population , new interest in nations heritage and people seeking quiet environments so too will their impact on other socio economic structures in society, tourist environments and wildlife habitats. In Bali, Kenya and the lake District much of the early development was uncontrolled and badly planned. Development was driven by the momentum for growth and the developers desires for fast profits, without any thought being given to the future. These areas which are shaped by the forces of nature are now under threat, if not in the process of being physically damaged and destroyed. In Kenya tourism is mainly Safari and Beach orientated. The wildlife related tourism brought an increased amount of visitors into Kenya through the 1990s, boosting the LEDCs economy. However many of the areas that are most valuable to the tourist trade are the wildlife filled parks that have been inhabited by people like the Masai for hundreds of years. Tourism has been environmentally harmful here where the sheer number of visitors and amount of Safari traffic is seriously damaging the vegetation cover and the vehicles are causing soil erosion. Also the increase in tourism has meant an increase in the long haul travel which is now seriously contributing to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Problems created are going to be more severe in the ELDW than in the EMDW . Many of the tourist souvenirs are made by the locals are made of ebony and the trees are cut down faster than replaced. However tourism has not always been harmful to the environment and can benefit an area where the marine life has been re appraised and is beginning to be viewed as valuable. Like the marine park at Watamu off the coast of Milindi which was set up to preserve the coral reefs and to provide an additional visitor attraction. Not only has tourism brought environmental impacts that are harmful to Kenya, it has brought economic impacts that are harmful. At least 40% of tourist revenue is leaked outside to airlines and travel companies. You can read also Waves The result of beach tourism has caused a rapid increase of land prices along the coast, well beyond the purchasing power of local African farmers. The improvements in infrastructure has also contributed to land price inflation and encouraged further speculative hotel buildings on what was good agricultural land. I don't agree though that the impact is always harmful as the locals have benefited from these improvements in infrastructure. Furthermore tourism had overtaken coffee on Kenya's major export earner: it equalled 43% of export earning in 1990. Additionally tourism was an employer in both the formal and informal sector. In Bali the environmental impact of tourism has nearly always been harmful. The number of tourists visiting Bali was fairly low until the late sixties when the numbers dramatically increased. This was due to the governments five year plan to encourage tourism to the area. The growth in tourism caused harmful environmental impacts . Raw sewage was dumped into the sea as the infrastructure cannot cope with tourists. This damages the reefs. The wake from motor boats also destroys the coral as does the actions of those trying to collect it to sell to tourists. Once damaged there is nothing stop the waves hitting the beach directly, resulting in beach erosion that threatens coconut plantations, farmland and land on which hotels are built. Tourism in Bali has led to threat of extinction of numerous breeds of turtle whose eggs are now collected as a delicacy from tourists and the bodies of which as stuffed or made into trinkets. On the other hand this led to the environmental benefit of the convention on international trade in endangered species forcing the Indonesian government to tighten their controls on the treatment of animals. As the number of tourists increases so does infrastructure of roads , electricity mains, water, airports and car parks being created. Though its association with pollution has been a problem. The main beach in Bali Kuta has been spoiled. There is severe beach erosion of up to 2cm a year and the combat the litter problem people are employed to bury the rubbish each morning. Tourism also brought violent crime which was unknown to Bali before 1979, drug dealing , prostitution and theft increased. However in Bali a marine park of Bunaken off N Sula west was set up because of tourism. As the potential impact of tourism on the natural environment was recognised, suitable conservation projects were set up. Even though the environmental impact of tourism was harmful, I brought many economic benefits. Many new jobs were created especially in hotels, travel agencies and the craft and entertainment industries e. g. 7000 applicants for 400 jobs at the new Bali-Hyat hotel. There is a revival of some traditional arts and crafts aimed at the tourist market wood carvers, jewellery making, weaving, Batik. Also Balinese dancers now come to the larger hotels to perform for guests when originally the tourists would have had to go into the villages to see them. Again there have been economic costs where many of the economic benefits have not been evenly spread. Resorts in the South have benefited whilst those in the North east have not. This has lead to conflict between the two areas over the distribution of tourist receipts. At village level much of the money from tourism in being spent on schools, cultural improvements, temple maintenance. However increasingly the money is being spent on imported goods, which don't benefit the island economy. Land prices have increased between 1969 and 1970 by 40% in tourist areas this was 120%. In resort areas previously agricultural land use was for growing food for the islanders was sold off to resorts offering to pay hundreds of times the price it would fetch on agricultural land. To prevent the impact of tourism from being harmful again measures were taken by locals. Boards were put up on gates and walls warning tourists that certain ceremonies were private. Trees were planted and flowers. A restaurant association was established and elected its own leader. This was followed by the art shop, guest houses and bus drivers and dancer troupes. A map of the village was published by the organisation with full explanation of how to behave in the village an example of greater control by indigenous population. In the Lake District which is an MEDW, I don't agree the environmental impact is almost always harmful. The lake district is one of the UKs national parks which has two purposes to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the lake district, was well to promote opportunities for understanding and enjoyment of special qualities of the national park and a duty to foster the economic and social well being of local communities within the park. These aims inevitably create conflicts of interest either between local people and visitors because users and uses cannot easily be easily restricted to certain areas of zoning. Footpath erosion is a widespread environmental impact and clear sign of visitor pressure. It is caused by people not sticking to the footpath because they don't want to or it is flooded or poor management. The other causes of footpath erosion climate due to heavy rain, strong winds and frost. The type of vegetation as mat grass, bents and fesules resist trampling best, the aspect, erosion is more likely to happen on slopes less than 18 and the pressure of use. However it is not always harmful as management strategies have been introduced which direct visitors along alternative routes: repair and maintain through drainage by placing small drainage channels along the path side so that rainwater is channelled away more quickly. They can construct the path using techniques such as pitching which is sinking stones into the path so that only the tops show to give a hard surface. Also matting can be used stabilizing the path over boggy ground. Furthermore the path can be repaired using methods such as levelling off the scar and the banks on its sides. Re seeding the grass with mat grass and fescues which better resist the effects of trampling. In the lake district the environmental impact is not always harmful as LDNPA ensures tourism is sustained and managed. To prevent congestion on the roads and air pollution. Roads are closed to traffic in tourist season and weekends. Tourists encouraged to ‘walk in and walk out' i. e. not using cars. Also to preserve the environment and to make the environmental impact less harmful they have a concentration of high visitor densities with a small number of honey pots with high carrying capacity such as Windermere. At the other extreme there are natural lakes on which no use of the water surface is allowed e. g. wast water. These are managed at low carrying capacities to give low density, quiet, leisure experiences. In such areas negative planning controls are used to restrict accessibility and hence control numbers of visitors. E. g. not upgrading the narrow winding roads over the passes from honey pots and not providing more parking spacing. The make the environmental impact less harmful. On top of this again to make the impact of tourism less harmful the LSNPA is the Development control or planning authority for the whole lake district. It must approve all new buildings/ changes to buildings or land use. Tries to protects the area from development out of character with the landscape . It does not stop all developments and must allow change to develop in response to peoples needs as long as the doesn't damage the qualities and character of the national park. Overall it would seem that in that tourism in the LEDW has had an adverse impact on the environment, degrading the resources on which it depends. The damage was from the overuse and misuse of resources together with poor management and planning. However in the MEDW in the lake district they have been able to sustain the environment and tourism by balancing the economic growth with conservation of the environment.