Selection and Induction Essay Example for Free

Selection and Induction Essay Inadequate recruitment can lead to labour shortages, or problems in management decision making. Recruitment is however not just a simple selection process but also requires management decision making and extensive planning to employ the most suitable manpower. Competition among business organisations for recruiting the best potential has increased focus on innovation, and management decision making and the selectors aim to recruit only the best candidates who would suit the corporate culture, ethics and climate specific to the organisation. The process of recruitment does not however end with application and selection of the right people but involves maintaining and retaining the employees chosen. (State Government of Victoria State Services Authority, 2008) The housekeeping department is the most important department in hospitality world. Housekeeping is responsible for cleaning the hotel’s guestrooms and public areas. This department has the largest amount staff, and its operations are the most influential from both external and internal factors. Thus they have an ever chancing requirement for staff. RECRUITMENT French and Rees (2010) Defines recruitment as, â€Å"a process to discover the sources of man power to meet the requirements of the staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient workforce. † Edwin B. Flippo defined recruitment as â€Å"the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization. † In simple words recruitment can be defined as a ‘linking function’-joining together those with jobs to fill and those seeking jobs. The general purpose of recruitment is to provide a pool of potentially qualified job candidates. For a more detailed specification: (see Attachment 1) The process 1. A need is created through any number of factors within an establishment. From the change in seasonal occupancy, personal factors of staff or managerial requirements. As in the case of the ABS Hotel, a member of the housekeeping department has been granted a transfer due to personal issues. Now a position has been created that needs to be filled. The HOD of the department will now access the vacancy and if need be, he will file a request for the recruitment of a new staff member. (See Attachment 2) 2. The request will be filled and accessed by the Hotel’s Human resources Manager, and he will then have a meeting with the HOD from the Housekeeping department to discuss the need for a new staff member. If the HR manager finds the request valid he will then go about discussing the positions measurable standard with the HOD. This will result in the Job analysis of the required room attendant by which applicants will be measured. See Attachment 3) 3. The HR manager must then apply to the Hotels Chief Financial Officer if there are funds available for both the recruitment process and the annual salary of the new staff member. As is the case with the current position at the ABC Hotel, the annual salary can be paid as it would have been paid to the previous room attendant. 4. Once the CFO has validated the financial aspect of t he request, the HR manager and the HOD of the housekeeping department must apply to the General Manager for his approval of the recruitment. . If the GM denies their request, the process will stop. If the GM accepts the request the HOD’s part of recruitment has been completed, and the HR manager starts the formal process of recruitment. 6. The HR manager does research into the Labour market, Economy and the Expansion of the company. The Labour market’s geographical and demographical information will assist the HR manager in calculating the environment were the best suitable candidates can be found and through use of which measure can they best be reached. The studying of the economical present and future will assist the manager in accessing if it would be affordable to hire the new employee and what the market rate for the positions salary is. The growth of the company has the biggest impact on the recruitment process, for if the company has to decline or plans to â€Å"float† through the following year then the appointment of a new staff member will result in a profit expenditure, which renders the recruitment process a loss. As is the current state of the ABC Hotel the three factors are all positive and thus the HR manager will continue with the recruitment process. . The HR manager must utilise the company resources to decide whether to advertise the vacancy internally, externally and by which technique to best reach the required labour market. [ For an explanation of internal-, and external advertising, (see Attachment 1) ] 8. The HR manager must now utilise the information gathered from the previous two steps to thoroughly plan the advertisement. All relevant information regarding the position needs to be within the method of advertising and must create a positive image for the organisation. (see Attachment 4) 9. If the HR Manager has done his job correctly, persons will apply for the position. SELECTION The size of the labour market, the image of the company, the place of posting, the nature of job, the compensation package and a host of other factors influence the manner of aspirants are likely to respond to the recruiting efforts of the company. Through the process of recruitment the company tries to locate prospective employees and encourages them to apply for vacancies at various levels. Recruiting, thus, provides a pool of applicants for selection. Selection is defined by French (2012, p. 76) as the process of picking individuals who have relevant qualifications to fill jobs in an organisation. The basic purpose is to choose the individual who can most successfully perform the job from the pool of qualified candidates. The purpose of selection is to pick up the most suitable candidate who would meet the requirements of the job in an organisation best, to find out which job applicant wil l be successful, if hired. To meet this goal, the company obtains and assesses information about the applicants in terms of age, qualifications, skills, experience, etc. the needs of the job are matched with the profile of candidates. The most suitable person is then picked up after eliminating the unsuitable applicants through successive stages of selection process. How well an employee is matched to a job is very important because it is directly affects the amount and quality of employee’s work. Any mismatch in this regard can cost an organisation a great deal of money, time and trouble, especially, in terms of training and operating costs. In course of time, the employee may find the job distasteful and leave in frustration. He may even circulate negative information about the company, causing incalculable harm to the company in the long run. Effective election, therefore, demands constant monitoring of the ‘fit’ between people the job. (French and Rees, 2012, p. 176) The Process 1. The Curriculum Vitae’ of applicants are received. 2. The applications will now be scrutinised according to the measurable standard. 3. A database is created wherein all the information of applicants are entered and stored. This database is a very essential and useful tool. It has all the information applicants included on their CV’s, this information can be used as a record of how applicants were chosen or declined. It holds the record to prove that the selection process was neither biased nor discriminative and has complied with both the Labour Relations and the Employment Equity Acts. It is also a useful reference base which can be used for future manpower forecasting or a base of possible employees for future positions. Thus saving on recruitment costs. 4. The applications are now sorted by the HR manager into three â€Å"piles†. Successful-, For Review- and Unsuccessful applicants. 5. The unsuccessful applicants must be sent a letter of their unsuccessful attempt. The letter will contain the reason the establishment declined their application and will wish them well for future applications. 6. From the Successful applicants a short list will now be drawn up, by both the HR Manager and the Housekeeping HOD, to show the best possible candidates for the position. This can sometimes be a difficult and time consuming process. To ease the process follow these guidelines. (see Attachment 5) 7. Once the best possible candidates have been chosen from the shortlist, they will be telephonically contacted and informed that they are a possible candidate for the position. During the phone call a short pre-interview will be conducted to confirm the critical information with the candidate and to inform them of their formal interview. 8. Application forms are sent via email or post to the candidates for them to formally apply for the position. These need to be sent back to the establishment as they will be used to gather information on candidates to better structure the interviews. 9. Using the candidates I. D. numbers a background check will be done on applicants for criminal record or blacklisting. According to JHON BOTHA, director of the Production Management Institute, this has become a necessary step due to the Labour laws in South Africa. Business Day October 11th, 2012. see Attachment 6 ] 10. The HR manager and HOD of the Housekeeping department must setup the formal interview structure and question the candidates. 11. After the interview the candidates will write a short aptitude test to see if their norms, values and attitudes align with the est ablishments. 12. The HR manager and The HOD will now decide on the best candidate for the position. If none of the candidates are suitable for the position, they may refer back to the candidates which didn’t make the short list or the applicants for review and repeat steps 8-11. If no candidate or applicant meets the requirements, then the recruitment and selection process must be reviewed and restarted. 13. If a candidate has been chosen for the position, they will be informed of their success telephonically and given further instructions regarding their first day of employment and induction. If the chosen candidate declines the offer then the HR manager must choose another and repeat step 12 and 13. 4. The unsuccessful candidates will receive a phone call informing them of their unsuccessful attempt but will assure them that they will be considered for future positions. INDUCTION Induction can be defined as the first step towards gaining an employees commitment, it is aimed at introducing the job and organization to the recruit and him or her to the organization. It involv es orientation and training of the employee in the organizational culture, and showing how he or she is interconnected to (and interdependent on) everyone else in the organization. See also orientation. (Target Selection 1986) The Induction process has several important objectives (Grobler et al. 2002) : †¢Acquainting new employees with job procedures. †¢Establishing relationships with co-workers. †¢Creating a sense of belonging among employees. †¢Acquainting new employees with the goals of the organisation. †¢Indicating to the employees the preferred means by which these goals should be achieved. †¢Identifying the basic responsibilities of the job. †¢Indicating the required behaviour patterns for effective job performance. (Grobler et al. 2002) The Process Day 1: Introduction to the establishment and work area Person Responsible: HR Manager †¢Mission, Vision, Objectives of work area †¢How the work area fits in to the wider establishment †¢All key operational and social areas to be visited. Introduction to other members of staff Person Responsible: HR Manager †¢Go through organisation chart †¢Discuss roles and responsibilities of staff in general terms. †¢May also want to extend time to allow visits to key contacts out with work area. Introduction to the other teams within the Work area Person Responsible – Line Manager †¢Purpose/Activities of the other teams/work areas †¢How the team fits in to the work area †¢How the work area fits into the University Day 2: Terms and Conditions Person Responsible – Line Manager †¢Ensure new start has viewed and understood information contained in the Information for New Employees this contains important information on terms and conditions. Performance Standards Person Responsible – Line Manager †¢Outline specifics of job role – (job description) †¢Define goals, objectives, and expectations †¢Review probation and performance and development review/ ADR/ appraisal process. Culture of the Work area Person Responsible – Line Manager/Nominee †¢Make new start aware of local arrangements regarding hours of work, holiday requests, sickness procedure, after hours working, dress code, lunch arrangements, etc. †¢Other University procedures e. g. internet and e-mail usage, transportation and parking, etc. Office Systems Person Responsible – Line Manager/Nominee †¢Review processes for using office equipment such as: computer, telephone, voicemail, fax, printer, photocopier, etc. †¢Review processes for using other university equipment/systems such as: libraries, laboratories, open access computers, etc. Review computer security, and software usage. †¢Consider environmental efficiencies (waste, recycling, energy) Health and Safety Person Responsible – Health ; Safety Co-ordinator/ Line Manager †¢Physical – fire exits, fire alarms, fire evacuation procedure, fire-training arrangements, manual handling, fir st-aid arrangements, VDU usage, and other arrangements as required. Day 3 and 4 Job Specific Training and Development -Person Responsible – Line Manager/Nominee †¢Role specific development needs should be reviewed and a suitable programme of training should be planned that aligns the individual’s skills to their core duties. Staff with line management responsibilities should be clear as to their duties and attend any relevant training. †¢Outline the use of annual performance and development reviews/ ADR as one method for determining on-going role specific development needs. †¢Introduce University wide training and development opportunities available to staff. †¢Review use of personal development planning tools (i. e. PDP) Week 1 4: The new employee should be partnered with a buddy / mentor and work with and alongside them to learn the operations, in’s-and-out’s and daily routines of the position. Week 5 – 6: The new employee should now be able to function independently, but will still require supervision. Week 7: Monitoring and Evaluation Person Responsible – Line Manager †¢It is important that the Induction programme is monitored and reviewed. †¢Throughout the period regular review meetings should be held and any adjustments made. †¢The new employee should be informally interviewed to access his progress and experience of the working environment. Week 8 12: Probation -Person Responsible – Line Manager For new staff the Probation Policy will apply, at the end of three months the new employee will now be a permanent employee. This will have ensured continued efficiency and productivity. CONCLUSION At the end of what could be a short or long process the ABC Hotel will now have the new room attendant which would have fit in perfectly into the organisation to ensure continued productivity and efficiency. If each of the steps of all three processes of Recruitment, Selection and Induction have been followed and done according to the Hotel’s policies and procedures and the standards set by management then the present and future manpower planning will be a success. An awareness of issues and concepts within this area is an important tool for all those involved with leading, managing and developing people – even if they are not human resource managers per se. A recognition of the importance of this aspect of people management is not new, and ‘success’ in this field has often been linked with the avoidance of critical failure factors including undesirable levels of staff turnover and claims of discrimination from unsuccessful job applicants. It has been argued here that it is also possible to identify aspects of recruitment and selection which link with critical success factors in the 21st century context, differentiating organisational performance and going some way to delivering employees who can act as ‘thinking performers’. It is proposed, for example, that a competencies approach focusing on abilities needed to perform a job well may be preferable to the use of a more traditional matching of job and person. (French 2010)

Impact of Branding on Social Class

Impact of Branding on Social Class BRANDING AND ITS IMPACT ON MIDDLE CLASS Introduction 1.1 BRAND What is a brand? The Oxford American Dictionary (1980) contains the following definition: Brand (noun): a trade mark, goods of a particular make: a mark of identification made with a hot iron, the iron used for this: a piece of burning or charred wood, (verb): to mark with a hot iron, or to label with a trade mark. A short history of brand The word ‘brand’ comes from the Old Norse ‘brandr’, meaning to burn. In pre-historic times when the initial phases of trade was coming to existence, it was by burning that early man stamped ownership on his commodity, and with the development of advanced trade of goods; buyers would use such marks (brands) as a means of distinguishing between the goods being transacted. For example a farmer with a particularly good reputation for the quality of his animals would find his brand much sought after, while the brands of farmers with a lesser reputation were to be avoided or treated with caution. Thus the utility of brands as a guide to choice was established, a role that has remained unchanged to the present day. With rapid and gradual advancement in the acknowledgement of brand for particular goods and commodity, people started vying for goods with a good reputation i.e. brand. With the elapse of time goods and brands have changed but the basic concept remains unchanged and it is ultimately brand that persuades a buyer to go for that product. And with the advanced and developed market situation, brand has become an identity not only for the company it represents but also of its customers. Brand itself has developed into a niche and people vie for that segregated population associated to that brand. Brand today holds a very specific position and top brands have today become a sense of class amongst the top notch people. People associated to a brand don’t go for the product but rather to the brand itself. And brand has set a platform to the people specially the elite class people as a way of differentiating themselves from others. But today with the financial strength of the overall population brand has become a favorite among the middle class population as well. Middle class population that focused on reliable and durable products in the past have started becoming brand conscious and the major factor for this can be the realization in part of the companies in better understanding of the market scenario of the middle class population and diversifying itself in catering to that segment of people. And in parts of the customers they have started realizing in the concept of quality over quantity. Brand established companies nowadays have started manufacturing goods and services as per the demand of these middle class people with quality goods on reasonable prices. And this has played a major role in attracting more and more people into its circle. But a major hindrance for these products and services has become cheap imitation and delicacy. From the time of establishment of brand, imitation has been found along time, so it can be justified that the practice of unlawful imitation lurked close behind, a practice that remains common till this day, even in the presence of highly developed legal systems. 1.2 SOCIAL CLASS Social class refers to a group of people with similar levels of wealth, influence, and status. Sociologists typically use three methods to determine social class. Humans have evolved living in a closed community and have thus been categorized according to their surrounding and their social identity and circle. Social class is that segmentation which varies the people according to this social status and financial stronghold. Accordingly they can be differentiated as follows: Upper class people Upper-middle class people Middle-class people Lower-middle Class People Lower Class People This segmentation according to their financial situation has been the center of attraction for marketers around the globe. Marketers focus on individual segment of people according to the product and services they serve. Some serve the niche market while many serve other general segments. But with financial increment of other class especially of the middle class, more companies serving the top class have started putting their focus on middle class people. 1.3 Objectives: General Objectives To find the importance of brand amongst general public. To identify the market scenario of branded products. Specific Objectives To analyze the trend of brand influence among the middle class population. To study the stronghold of middle class people in the space of branded goods. 1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY Brand has come a long way with the advancement of market and the people associated to the market. Brand nowadays cannot sustain itself only by serving the elite class so the focus has been made relying on the trend and demand of the market, and accordingly their focus has been more directed towards middle class people and their demands. Another aspect of analyzing the situation can be the possibility of threat to the companies itself in trying to penetrate such a volatile segment that are still price conscious in some regards. And identifying the challenges for the brands itself and the consumers is also an important part of this study. 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS Has brand become so strong that it can easily influence the price sensitive population or is it the cheap imitation that has taken over their market? 1.6 RESEARCH STATEMENT The present middle class population feels more connected to the brand they are attached to than the traditional people/ family. With more and more brands being made available at reasonable price, this segment of population has become the magnetic pull for companies that carry its significant brand. So have the companies really succeeded in luring this class of people towards itself or is it just an unsung tale of what they are yet to achieve. 1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY Although this study has tried uncovering the areas related to brand and its impact on middle class population, total evaluation may be lagging, and the limitation for this has been mentioned below: As the cause of lack of adequate time and required information, some aspect of this study may do injustice to the overall scenario of the market. Limited number of people of this segment will be interviewed and the questionnaires filled accordingly. Some of the filled questionnaires may have doubtful results so proper information may be absent. 2. Literature Review Brand itself is not a product nor an identity put forward by an individual or a company, rather it is an instinctive feeling that individual carries about for a product or services. Trust and Gut feeling on any product is a brand. And this trust comes from meeting and beating customer’s expectation, which comes from brand values as: Price premium Customer preferences Replacement cost Stock Price and Future Earnings And the main purpose of branding is to get more people to buy more stuff for more years at a higher price. (Brand Gap: A VISUAL PRESENTATION BY MARTY NEUMEIER) And brands that catered to the top class people has successfully lured in more and more middle class population into its circle through this trust it has created amongst the total population. The penny pinching population that thrives on price subsidized products has started minimizing their quantitative expenses to focus more on brands they get attracted to. Different types of companies have different concepts of exactly what it means to be middle class. Using income level as the defining criterion for differentiation of class is reasonable. But simply judging a group by income is far from sufficient for marketers of consumer goods. Such marketers trying to reach the middle class have to know more than their salaries. They must know what makes middle class consumers tick. Income plays a powerful role in most purchasing decisions for any consumer segment, but other elements play a role that is sometimes greater than income. When products are relatively inexpensive, income has little influence on a consumer’s decision making process. Deciding to buy chocolate, for example, depends significantly more on consumers’ emotion and shopping experience—a store’s ambience, for example—than it does on how much money they make. /’Using income as the only indicator of spending habits allows much information to slip through the cracks. In addition, income is a difficult variable to act upon, in part because the data on income can be either unavailable or unreliable in most cases. Thus, companies must find meaningful alternatives to predict what consumers can afford and what they are willing to pay for certain goods and services. Zeithaml (1982, 1988) suggests in most purchasing decision customers objective is to Get the best for the money. This represents the combination of price and value orientation which is the most important consideration for most of the consumers. Crier and Ross (1997) maintains that the greater the perceived value, the greater that the customers will be interested in purchasing. They (Crier Ross) explained the term value orientation saying Consumer trends to select the lowest price alternatives when the options in the choice set are perceived to have the same level of benefit. Consumers are becoming more price conscious does not mean that they always go for the lowest price, rather they will seek for affordable price range among their acceptable quality range. Maccilil, (1987), in his study told about the total business and household consumer market that both classes consider price, quality, convenient location as the most powerful influential factors in selecting or buying consumer goods. In the same time Winklin and Duery (1987) conducted a similar study focusing on the two groups of consumers having high income and low income in USA proved the influential forces earlier described by Maccilil. In the theory of marketing and buyer behavior, the concept of social class is considered the basic determinant of consumption behavior. In fact, among behavioral scientists, there was a consensus that market behavior of individuals is closely related to their social class. In this context, social class was often considered more important than income in affecting buying behavior (Slocum and Mathews, 1970). Though these mentioned research pave a road map as to how brand influence the market of middle class people and how brand has come a long way from being a niche to being available for all in the developed nation; the basic format or the fundamentals remains the same even for developing nation like ours. And it can be concluded that of the all class of people, middle class population has become the center target for the companies to penetrate and establish itself. 2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The dependent and independent variables are as follows: Dependent variables Sales Volume Customer Loyalty Independent Variables Availability of products at affordable prices Financial Stronghold Environment Social Up gradation 3. Research Methodology 3.1 Research Design: This research can be categorized as descriptive and observational study. This can be explained on the fact that it is based on what the trend persists on the market place and also includes facts and findings based on survey being carried out. 3.2 Population/ Sampling: Provided the fact of more brand conscious population is on the rise, this report is based only on limited sampling given the limited time period and resources. Not much study has been conducted on this topic; hence it is limited to certain aspect and does not represent the total scenario of the market. 3.3 Nature of data The source of data is categorized on two fronts: Primary Source: Interview Questionnaire Secondary Source: E-Books and magazines 3.4 Data collection technique Interview: Interview is the best and the most effective method of collecting data, because you get a firsthand knowledge about the present market scenario and the impact of what you’re searching for your study. This helps the interviewers gets to observe the intended market and its population and extract the immediate knowledge of the market. Questionnaire: Questionnaire helps the researcher to find exactly what is to be found and analyzed. A perfectly shaped set of questions gives the intended findings. It also helps to get quick results on a limited time frame. 3.5 Expected Findings Through this research I expect to understand the real market scenario of the branded products and its impact on the middle class population; their reaction towards branded goods and services and their responsiveness towards the strategies played by the companies. References: http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/understanding-chinas-middle-class/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2921577/Middle-class-travellers-demanding-300MILLION-upgrades-holiday-homes-luxury-self-catering-trend-takes-hold.html The Oxford American Dictionary (1980) Zeithaml (1982, 1988) Crier and Ross (1997) Maccilil (1987) Winklin and Duery (1987) Slocum and Mathew (1970) Gantt chart / Work plan Budget S.N Particulars Budget Head Amount 1. Travelling expenses Travelling and expenses 700 2. Stationery Miscellaneous 500 3. Printing of questionnaires, proposal and final report Print and publishing 200 Total 1400 Questionnaire Describe what ‘brand’ means to you? †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. In which social class do you put yourself in? Upper Class Upper Middle Class Middle Class Lower Class Define your annual income in the scale (in thousand) If others specify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ What do you see in a product? Price Quality Brand All of the above Scale your reliance on brand? 1086420 Do you always purchase branded products? Yes No Why do you prefer branded products? To maintain social status Brand consciousness Peer pressure Quality What do you think influences people to buy a branded product? Quality Product Availability Competitive Price Good value and services Do you think branded products marketed for upper class people is as same as the products for the middle class people? Yes No Do you think brand has really attracted the middle class people of our market scenario? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree When it comes to consumable goods do you think brand for a product has a significance? Yes No Do you consider yourself a price sensitive costumer? Yes No Do you bargain when buying a branded product or do you settle at the set premium price? Yes No Do you actually prefer brand or does cheap imitation satisfy you? Brand Cheap imitation is preferable Brand helps middle class people to upgrade their social status? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree If you consider yourself a brand conscious person, has brand upgraded your status? Yes No Do you agree the price tag placed is justifiable for the branded products? Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Life is precious :: essays research papers fc

Life Is Precious   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It has been argued that it should be made legal for patients to have doctor-assisted suicide, or mercy-killing, which is the term used to describe ending life through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medication, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose (DHS-Internet). By approximately a two-to-one ratio, most adults in the US agree that it should be this way. â€Å"When read a brief description of the Oregon proposition, allowing physician-assisted suicide for patients who are thought to have less than six months to live, a 61% to 34% majority said that they would favor such a law in their state†(Harris # 2). However, I myself feel, that it shouldn’t be approved for several reasons: this matter does not belong upon human beings to decide; physicians and family members, rather than patients are likely to be the real decision makers; terminally ill patients are not sufficiently conscious to make end-of-life decisions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First of all, no one should have the right to decide about ending lives, even if it is his/her own. For the breath of life was given without being requested, therefore no one has the power to decide upon when it should end or be taken away from a person. Indeed, most Americans feel that it is fine for terminally ill patients to take away their own lives. However, if the suicide is successfully done, who will be able to say that person would not have recovered if they had waited patiently? We have all heard some cases about people who were dying and for some reason, a miracle happened which made them react and live again. I myself have a similar experience in my family. About five years ago, my brother was under no condition to live, due to a serious chronic kidney complication. He got to the point to where the doctors asked for the family’s consent to turn the machines off because there was no more chance of survival. For many diverse reasons we chose to wa it upon time to see what would happen. Not very long after that, the one who was supposed to be already dead miraculously reacted and started to live again. This shows that many times though doctors seem to know the best escape, time and patience proves them otherwise. According to Stephen R. Katz M.D., the term doctor-assisted suicide may sound reassuring, almost comforting, and maybe even a peaceful alternative to a sometimes agonizing death, but the true meaning is that it is nothing but the act of taking of a life by another human (Doctor Inform-internet).

The Insane Mind of Edgar Allan Poe Probes Essay example -- American Li

The Insane Mind of Edgar Allan Poe Probes As a short-story writer, Poe was a fascinating man of imagination. In theme, Poe places the human mind under investigation and probes insanity beneath the surface of normal existence. He was the first author in American literature to make the neurotic, the heroic figure, the protagonist, in his stories. Poe's most enduring tales are those of horror, the horror coming, from the working of an irrational or criminal mind, driven to evil or insanity by a perverse irrational force which, to Poe, is an elementary impulse in man. Typically, The Cask of Amontillado, The Black Cat, and The Tell Tale Heart are three criminal stories of this kind. In these tales, Poe takes readers in the murky territories of the strange world of insanity. And now, let's see what the features and familiarities of these half-mad, evil, and dark criminal minds. To start with, like many Poe's stories, the main characters in these three stories are all driven by their emotions, and mostly, hatred against their antagonists. For example, in The Cask of Amontillado...

Free Essays - An Analysis of Catch 22 :: Catch-22

An Analysis of Catch 22      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Catch 22, by Joseph Heller, is a critique of the society that we live in. Whoever is proud of what we have advanced to, and is unwilling to look at it in a negative light, would find this book very subversive. It threatens and criticizes the way of living of most who pride themselves in living a modern life. Heller shows through the ridiculousness of war how misguided much of modern society has become, in spite of all our so called civilized advancement. Some will find this interesting, thought provoking and enjoy this book. Others will take it as a direct threat and insult to all the work they have done.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the very beginning, Heller shows some of the most popular ideas and values of the day in a negative, questioning light. In particular, he shows the negative consequences of conformity and highlights individuality as a way to survive.   He wants us to recognize how one is controlled and stifled by society.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The leading character in this novel, addressing what has gone wrong with society, is Yossarian. He is the only one who recognizes the full craziness of what everyone is living for: wealth, false happiness, society's approval, etc. He is one of the few who tries to fight the power and elitism that have become so sought after in America. Throughout the novel, he tries to find a way to live a fuller life as a real human individual. He looks to many of the other characters in the book for help but only finds unsatisfactory answers.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Each of the characters in Yossarian's life at the base shows the reader one more example of how bad society has become. Clavinger tries to live life by reasoning. He looks for a reason in everything. In constantly looking for a reason why, he never enjoys life to it fullest. As further proof that this life leads nowhere, he is shot down and killed, certainly not an event with a rational explanation. Major Major is the person who obeys everyone, always trying to be perfect. He does everything that anyone asks of him, but takes it to an extreme. By being so naively obedient, instead of being helped by his comrades, he is shunned.

Dispersion and Its Types in Fiber Optics

Dispersion: The speed of light is slower in various materials than it is in a vacuum or outer space. When the light passes into a material at an angle, the light beam is bent or refracted according to Snell’s Law and the index of refraction of the material. But also, the speed of light through a material varies slightly with the wavelength or frequency of the light. Thus, each wavelength is refracted at a slightly different angle when passing through a material at an angle. This spreading out of beam of light is called dispersion. Types of Dispersions and ways to reduce: Chromatic Dispersion: Chromatic dispersion results from the spectral width of the emitter. It is a term used to describe the spreading of a light pulse as it travels down a fiber when light pulses launched close together(high data rates) spread too much and result in errors and a loss of information. The spectral width determines the number of different wavelengths that are emitted from LED or laser. One way to reduce chromatic dispersion is to narrow the spectral width of the transmitter. Chromatic dispersion can be compensated for with the use of dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF). Laser has a more narrow spectral width than LEDs. A monochromatic laser emits only one wavelength and therefore, does not contribute to chromatic dispersion. Modal Dispersion: Modal dispersion deals with the path (mode) of each light ray. Most transmitters emit many different modes. Lower order modes travel a shorter distance. Some of these light rays will travel parallel to the center of the fiber while repeatedly bounce off the cladding/core boundary to high order modes their way the waveguide. The modes that enter at sharp angles are called high-order mode, which having direction towards cladding. These modes take longer path to travel through the fiber than the low-order modes and therefore it cusses of modal dispersion. One way to reduce modal dispersion is to use graded-index fiber. The graded-index fiber’s cladding is doped so that the refractive index gradually decreases over many layers. Graded Index Fiber has a different core structure from single mode and multimode step index fibers. In Graded index fiber the value of the refractive index changes from the centre of the core. With a graded-index fiber, the light follows a more curved path. The high-order modes spend most of the time traveling in the lower-index cladding layers near the outside of the fiber. These lower index core layers allow the light to travel faster than in the higher index center layers. Modal dispersion can be completely eliminated by using a single-mode fiber. Single mode fiber transmits only one mode of light so there is no spearding of the signal due to modal dispersion. Material Dispersion: Material dispersion is the phenomenon whereby material causes a bundle of light to spread out as it propagates. We know that a laser pulse contains a continuum of wavelengths in a small range. The index of refraction of a material is dependent on the wavelength, so each frequency component actually travels at a slightly different speed. Material dispersion contributes to group delay, along with waveguide delay distortion, differential mode delay and multimode group delay spread.

Cultural Oppression Essay

Both African Americans and Asian Americans have suffered racial discrimination, slavery, persecution, difficulty in receiving citizenship even though their children were born in the United States and challenges in demonstrating their cultural identity. They experienced difficulty in classifying themselves as purely American because of their outward appearance. Moreover, they always tend to feel insulted that white Americans will always judge them by stereotypes, not by what they really are. African Americans have suffered dual consciousness in the United States, always struggling to receive social and economic equality, both as a Negro and an American. Although political equality has been granted to African Americans, they still suffered inequality in terms of achieving social and economic wealth. The effects of cultural oppression on African Americans have put them at high probability of suffering continued hindrances to achieve societal empowerment and affirmation. However, the richness of African cultures that place importance on collective lifestyle has helped African Americans to be accepted in the United States. Asian Americans were pressured to learn how they could assimilate themselves into different cultural society in the country. The cultural oppression suffered by Asian Americans has helped them to establish their own community in order for them to become self-sufficient. The impact of the Eastern philosophies, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, on Asian culture has helped families to become paternally oriented and hierarchical. The notable reason why some Asians have the tendency to avoid debate and discussion or to appear indecisive is because of these philosophies that teach them principles of harmony, balance and peace. This Asian culture has provided them to act in a positive way and to learn the importance of having self-knowledge about how others behave towards them. Reference Information on Specific Cultural Groups. Retrieved April 17, 2009, from http://education. byu. edu/diversity/culture. html.