The Awakening and A Doll House Comparison Essay Essay Example for Free

The Awakening and A Doll House Comparison Essay Essay Women roles have drastically changed since the late 18th and early 19th century. During this time, women did not have the freedom to voice their opinions and be themselves. Today women don’t even have to worry about the rules and limitations like the women had to in this era. Edna in â€Å"The Awakening† by Kate Chopin and Nora in â€Å"A Doll House† by Henrik Ibsen were analogous protagonists. The trials they faced were also very similar. Edna and Nora were both faced with the fact that they face a repressive husband whom they both find and exit strategy for. For Nora this involved abandoning her family and running away, while Edna takes the option that Nora could not do-committing suicide. These distinct texts both show how women were forced to act during their marriage and towards society during this time. â€Å"The Awakening† explores the controversial character, Edna Pontellier’s, desire to find and live fully within her true self. She upsets many nineteenth century expectations for women and their supposed roles. Rebelling against societal norms, Edna finally learns to think of herself as an independent woman. One of her most shocking actions was her denial of her role as a mother and wife. She leaves her husband, Leà ³nce and has an affair with Robert. Due to Roberts constant presence, Edna starts to experience a change within herself. She begins to develop a sense of herself as a whole person. She realizes that she is not satisfied to simply be a wife and a mother, and so she begins to stand up for herself to her husband. Leà ³nce to Edna: â€Å"I can’t permit you to stay out there all night. You must come in the house instantly.† Edna replies â€Å"Leà ³nce go to bed †¦ I mean to stay out here. I don’t wish to go in and I don’t intend to. Don’t speak to me like that again; ill shall not answer you.† (Chopin 25). Her willingness for independence and freedom leads to her disobeying her husband. She realizes that she cannot continue taking orders she does not please to follow which leads to the realization of her marriage making her wonder if she still wants to be with her husband. As Edna begins the process of identifying her true self, the self that exists apart from the identity she maintains as a wife and mother. Unexpectedly, Robert and Edna become extremely close with each other by summers end. Unwilling to further his relationship with a married woman, Robert leaves the country for Mexico. Furthermore, Leà ³nce truly believed he had no obligation to care for his children and that it was  Edna’s duty to do so. â€Å"If it was not a mother’s place to look after the children, whose on earth was it?† (Chopin 7). In society’s eyes, all a man needed to do was support their kids financially while the woman supported them in other ways. Chopin focuses on two other female characters in the story, Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz. These women are examples of how women should be in the nineteenth century. Adele was an example of a motherly woman.† She would gladly sacrifice anything to care for her children, husband, and household, while Edna would not. Edna finds both role models lacking and begins to see that the life of freedom and individuality that she wants goes against society. Not only did society have a specific look on how a women should be, but Leà ³nce as well, towards Edna. â€Å"’You are burnt beyond recognition,† he added, looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage.† This shows how Edna is not an acceptable color according to her husband’s wishes. Edna had specific guidelines to follow and getting a â€Å"tan† gave a different appearance, indicating that the Pontellier family wasn’t maintaining the purity of their blood. At the beginning of â€Å"A Doll House,† everything seems well. Nora and Torvald Helmer seem quite happy together. Torvald speaks to his wife in a rather demeaning way, but she doesnt really seem to mind. The Helmers are both excited because Torvald has gotten a new job as the manager of a bank and now money wont be a concern. Noras old school friend, Mrs. Christine Linde, arrives hoping that Torvald might be able to give her a job. Over the course of their conversation, Nora confesses to Christine that she has a secret. Nora refuses to tell Christine who she borrowed money from, but does explain why she had to borrow it. Early in the Helmers marriage, Torvald got sick and the doctor prescribed a trip south to warmer climates as the only way to save him. At the time, they didnt have the money for such a trip. To save Torvald‘s pride, Nora borrowed money without his knowledge and funded a year in Italy. In order to pay it off, shes been using money from the allowance Torvald gives her. Krogstad turns out to be whom she borrowed the money from. Krogstad is furious because Torvald is going to fire him. He threatens to expose Noras crime (forging her father’s signature after he was dead in order to get the loan) if he loses his job and so begins  blackmailing her. Nora begs Torvald to get Krogstad back, but refuses because he cant stand being around such awful people. Krogstad writes a letter to Torvald telling him the truth and leaves it in his mailbox. Nora distracts her husband from reading it. After the party they have, Torvald reads the letter. He tells Nora that she is a terrible person. He insists that Nora is not to be allowed near the children anymore, because she may corrupt them. Torvald is really happy and forgives Nora because of another letter Krogstad sends later. Nora, however, doesnt forgive Torvald. She tells him that she is leaving him, because theyve never had a real marriage. Shes never been more than a doll in his eyes. â€Å"NORA: I have other duties equally sacred. HELMER: You do not. What duties would they be? NORA: My duties to myself. HELMER: You are a wife and a mother before you are anything else† (Ibsen pg.1138). This reassures how the women are â€Å"chained† to what they should â€Å"be† and should â€Å"do.† She tries to escape but he still tries to restrain the her from doing so. Like Leà ³nce Pontellier, Nora’s husband is also very direct when it comes to Nora knowing her place. These women were denied their basic right to take care of themselves and were forced to be housewives, as were all women of the 19th century. In conclusion, both Edna and Nora experience an awakening during their quest for freedom. Both wives felt trapped by their societal rules and regulations which didn’t allow them to be their true selves. Edna, fighting against the societal structures of motherhood forced her to be defined by her title as wife of Leà ³nce Pontellier and mother of Raoul and Etienne Pontellier, instead of being her own, self-defined individual, caused her to finally escape by committing suicide. Nora, on the other hand, rebelled against society’s norms and walked out leaving her husband and children. Although Edna and Nora had many similarities both of their awakenings led to two different resolutions.

The Seven Dimensional Model of Religion

The Seven Dimensional Model of Religion This essay examines Smarts seven dimensional model of religion against six main world religions. I shall then examine how other belief systems fit into the same model. I shall consider other models briefly attempting an analysis of whether Smarts model is successful. When I mention religion I mean the Christian religion; and not only the Christian religion but the Protestant religion; and not only the Protestant religion, but the Church of England. (Henry Fielding: TomJones) The first consideration when attempting the definition of religion is that a straight forward definition such as Fielding attempts in his classical work excludes the world view of religion. He speaks of Christianity excluding some traditions we will examine. Each religious tradition within itself embodies numerous belief systems. Many philosophers and theologians would insist that religion is not definable. Smart recognises that religion: is partly a matter of convention as to what is counted under the head of religion and what is not. (Ninian Smart: ThePhenomenon of Religion p10) In setting out his model Smart attempts to find one that is inclusivistic of global religion whilst confining the definition to that which can be classified as of religion. The seven dimensions are: InowExperiential; Doctrinal; Mythical; Ritualistic; Institutional and Ethic I now  propose to examine these key areas explaining briefly what Smart meant by them attempting to apply it to the six world traditions. Experiential Smart explains the experiential dimension as the emotions witnessed by the founder of the tradition and its followers. Rudolf Otto describes it as the numinous experience, that is, the feeling one experiences when the senses of man are aroused as a result of paranormal or special places. Examples of this are Moses and the Burning Bush; Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. The second aspect of the experiential is that of mysticism. This is an inner seeking of that which is unknowable. Examples of this would be the whirling dhervishes and the Hasidic tradition within Judaism. Doctrinal Smart explains this as the formulation of a system to encapsulate the tradition. For instance, Smart gives Aquinas philosophical explanation of creation an authoritative feel compared with the story of creation in Genesis. There is also the doctrine of theTrinity going some way to explain Jesus as God within Christianity. Within Buddhism, the Buddha explained himself the path to salvation whereas other traditions have left that to the succeeding institution to develop. Mythological Smart explains this as sacred history or sacred story rather than the term we are familiar with today. The great religions have stories to tell of their founders such as the Enlightenment of the Buddha or the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. There are also stories to explain difficult concepts for example evil. Many faiths strengthen these stories by writing them down as in the Torah or the Quran.Oral traditions also evolve such as the Catholic tradition of relying on various saints for help. Ritual Smart explained this as a method by which religion expresses itself. Humankind uses rituals worldwide as a form of communication, for example, the handshake. There is a binding together of people who recognise these rituals. Examples of these will be: the ancient Jewish tradition of ritual sacrifice in the Temple; Baptism withinChristianity. Ethical Religions usually follow a code ofethics they expect their followers to adopt. This concerns not only the individuals behaviour but also that of the society. Examples of this are: the ten commandments; the 613 commandments of Jewish Law; Vatican Edicts on birth control. Institutional Smart describes this as the tangible visual embodiment of religion that can be seen on two levels through groups of people as in the Church, or the Sangha. The second level is through the buildings such as the mosque, the mandir, the cathedral. Also within this category can be places of religious significance such as Benares, the River Ganges and Jerusalem. Visual/Artistic These aspects of religion can be translated into works of art; architecture; music. This aids ritual or understanding sacred story for example hymns, rosary beads. In Smarts book Religious Experience and Mankind he argues that this model works as closely as possible to discovering the nature of religion. He struggles however in that other world philosophies such as Humanism and Communism closely follow the model. For the purpose of brevity, I shalloutline the model against communism to illustrate the comparisons. In the ritual dimension, communismhad set in place ceremonies performed in praise of the philosophy for examplethere were annual celebrations of the revolution. In the experiential dimensionKarl Marx was held as the prophet and founder of wisdom. His revelation of anew system created the wow factor. In the mythological dimension oraltraditions were developed of the revolution. Das Kapital became the sacredtext. In the doctrinal dimension, edicts were passed down explaining howpeople were now meant to work and live. In the ethical dimension moralbehaviour and the laws of society were adjusted to make credible the communisttradition. For instance, it was acceptable to murder if the criminal was apolitical agitator and the authorities executed. In the institutional dimensionthe communist party became the church and the mission was communism. In thematerial dimension places such as Lenins tomb became a shrine, a focal pointof worship. Yet, communism could never be considered a religion but more anideology. Yet it fits within the model quite confortably. The social dimension isquestionable. It also relates to politics and racism as an identity, a label,a badge of allegiance of a group. This is how Richard Gombrich terms modernworld religion. For him, the key to defining religion is what you do, notwhat you think. Hans Kung demonstrates thatreligion can be classified in terms of family. Indian religions tend to followa mystical route with a mystical leader; Chinese religion with a wise sage; andNear Eastern religion with a wise figure. It is not possible to put a narrowdefinition on the religion but I can accept that they belong together infacilitating humankind with its humanity. Bibliography Fielding Henry: Tom Jones Oxford World Classics Oxford 1998 Gombrich Richard: TherevadaBuddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benaresto Modern Colombo RoutledgeLondon 1988 Kung Hans: Tracing the Way:Spiritual Dimensions of the World Religions Continuum 2002 Otto Rudolf: Mysticism(East) RA Kessinger Publishing 2003 Open University: A5 Religion Block4 units 14-15 pp 36-38 Smart Ninian: The Phenomenon ofReligion London and Oxford 1978 p10 Smart Ninian: ReligiousExperience and Mankind Collins New York 1971

Continuing Professional Development To Maintain Knowledge And Understanding Nursing Essay

Continuing Professional Development To Maintain Knowledge And Understanding Nursing Essay In a changing world, competence becomes more than just a level of knowledge, skills and behaviours used to improve performance. In order to achieve continuous competence, learning and development must be continued. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is incredibly important in the health care system as rules, ideas and values are being assessed and broadened, therefore the professionals should maintain the knowledge and understanding of this, in order to continue competence. The Oxford Dictionary defines competence as the ability to do something successfully or efficiently. By my understanding, professional competency is a persons values, attitudes, habits, skills and practices that are based on a theory-guided, evidenced-based discipline. To be competent is to have understanding, confidence and a level of knowledge based within a competency standard. Competencies are not only defined by a persons ability to fulfil their duties as a care giver but to have a greater understanding of every aspect that makes a nurse. A competent nurse has healthy partnerships with both patients and colleagues by understanding what makes a safe practice, showing independence, efficient time management skills, demonstrating clinical skills, italicising resources available, understanding the broad health care system and showing work ethics. Competency standards are based on the boundaries of practice, the standards set by the nurse, using a holistic approach, expectations set by the nurse, the practice and the national standard and also the nurses consistency. Standards are used as framework for testing competency. The Australian Nursing and Midwife Council (ANMC) have a National Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse. Each of these standards complies with a level of competency. With the standards evolving with the change of community this shows why continuing professional development is important. The Australian Nursing and Midwife Council have decided these standards into domains. Professional practice, critical thinking and analysis, provision and coordination of care and collaborative and therapeutic practice. (ANMC, 2005) Professional practice is in relation to the professional, legal and ethical responsibilities. This includes basic knowledge of the legislation affecting nursing, health care and protecting individuals and group rights. (ANMC, 2005) This includes practicing in accordance with relevant legislation and common law, Fulfilling the duty of care and working within an ethical nursing framework. (ANMC, 2005) Critical thinking and analysis relates to professional development and evidence and research for practice in the health care system. This includes reflection on practice, feelings, beliefs and the consequences of individuals and groups. (ANMC, 2005) Provision and coordination of care is exactly that, as well as the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of care. (ANMC, 2005) Collaborative and therapeutic practice is the establishing, sustaining and concluding professional relationships with individuals and groups. This also includes the nurses competencies within an interdisciplinary health care team. (ANMC, 2005) In achieving competence a health care professional must as comply with a code of Ethics. This code can be found on The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council website. This code relates to ethics and morality used in within the standards of health care. This Code outlines the nursing professions commitment to respect, promote, protect and uphold the fundamental rights of people who are both the recipients and providers of nursing and health care. (ANMC, 2005) The purpose of this code of ethics is for nurses in Australia to be able to identify the ethical standards and values in which have been incorporated within the nursing guidelines and standards of conduct. This code also helps guide ethical decision making and practice. There are eight key points within the code of ethics these are; 1. Nurses value quality nursing care for all people. 2. Nurses value respect and kindness for self and others. 3. Nurses value the diversity of people. 4. Nurses value access to quality nursing and health care for all people. 5. Nurses value informed decision making. 6. Nurses value a culture of safety in nursing and health care. 7. Nurses value ethical management of information. 8. Nurses value a socially, economically and ecologically sustainable environment promoting health and wellbeing. (ANMC, 2005) The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) revised the English language requirements in August 2010 which have been published on the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australias website. Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia are responsible for all Nursing applications in Australia, and have made Continuing Professional Development mandatory. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is essential for professionals to maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge and skills and develop their personal qualities required for the ever-changing field of health care. Continuing Professional Development is important for the enhancement of skills both professionally and personally. This is a career long process and it is essential as the resources grow so must the professionals knowledge. Continuing Professional Development is a design that helps promote self-learning and address any inadequacies associated with previous learning. (Justin Konkol, n.d) The purpose of Continuing Professional Development is extensive but some of the main reasons are to maintain knowledge and skills provide evidence of competency, maintain competency and adequacy. Although a boundary on how competency and Continuing Professional Development are reviewed could come down to an individuals value judgements or expert opinion, but who is to say who is rig ht and who is wrong? There is also an opportunity for independent assessment. In the past it has been a requirement of health care professionals to continue education; Continuing Professional Development is an improved replacement structure of continuation of education (CE). Competence and Continuing Professional Development are very closely linked, as you need to Continue Professional Development to continue competence. It is important that a health care professional is kept up to date in order to maintain competency. Continuing Professional Development is a key indicator of continuing competence within a practice. Competence is the ability to perform duties accurately, make correct judgments, and interact appropriately with patients and colleagues. Professional competence is characterized by good problem-solving and decision-making abilities, a strong knowledge base, and the ability to apply knowledge and experience to diverse patient care situations. (Health-Syst Pharm, 2001) CPD ensures that professions remain up to date in a changing world and that the reputation of the profession is enhanced, encouraging individuals to aspire to improve performance and ensure they are committed to learning and it is an integral part of their work. (Whittaker, 1992). This is a prime example of a professional expert explaining why continuing professional development is important. The world can not be stopped from changing, and our professionals must keep up with the standards in order to continue competency. Continuing Professional Development is broken up into five main principles. These include Reflecting on current skills and knowledge and identifying personal and organizational areas that may need improvement within a practice. Individually the professional should devise a personal plan for future strategies that will help in the identified learning and developmental needs. Broken down into five simple steps Continuing Professional Development is best achieved by: Step one: Identifying current competencies. Step two: Determine the desired and the current levels of performance. Step three: Identify the learning and development needs. Step four: Plan and action, in other words, fill the gaps. Step five: Evaluate and demonstrate. There are many barriers that stop professionals from carrying out Continuation Professional Development. Time, cost, and access are the most frequent of these barriers. Finding time between work life and home life is confronting enough, let alone balancing another aspect of furthering education. Professionals with poor time-management skills will find time as the biggest barrier. The cost of perusing Continuing Professional Development can be a costly one not only for an individual but also an organisation. For smaller profit organisations they may not have the funds to support an individual professional to further their education and therefore the cost falls back onto the individual. Also people from smaller districts may not have the facilities or the facilitators required to fulfil this continuation of learning forcing them to travel a distance which again brings in factors such as time and costs. There are also personal factors that become barriers such as differences in career stage, preferred learning style and individual ambition. For a professional that is high up in the heath care hierarchy they may feel that there is nothing left for them to expand on and dont see the reasoning behind them further their education. Also every individual has a different way they prefer to learn. Unfortunately when in a learning setting not all of these approaches can be facilitated for. For someone who is comfortable in their current position, participating in Continuing Professional Development may not be ideal for them, where as for a professional that is highly ambitious participating in Continuing Professional Development is absolutely ideal for them. Barriers for Continuing Professional Development come down to the professional individual and their drive and desire to continue their learning. As Continuing Professional Development is very much a self-learning process, there is a dist inct difference in those who are competent and participate in Continuing their Professional Development and those whose competency slips when furthering their education is not perused. In conclusion, in order to achieve continuous competence professionals need to engage in Continuing Professional Development. This is crucial for a successful heath care system and a successful practice. As research continues to grow so must the professionals knowledge, values, attitudes and behaviours. Rules and ideas continue to change and evolve and as a health care professional continuing professional development help the professional to evolve with them. The world will always continue to expand, change and evolve around us and our health care professionals must expand, change and evolve with it.

Upton Sinclairs The Jungle - Chicago Will Be Ours Essay -- Upton Sin

The Jungle - Chicago Will Be Ours "Their home! Their home! They had lost it! Grief, despair, rage, overwhelmed him - what was any imagination of the thing to this heart-breaking, crush reality of it ... Only think what he had suffered for that house - what miseries they had all suffered for that house - the price they had paid for it!" "The Jungle", by Upton Sinclair, gives a heart breaking portrayal of the hardships faced by the countless poverty stricken laborers in the slaughter houses of Chicago. As in the quote above, a struggling family underwent months of back breaking labor only to loose their house at the drop of a hat. It was a desperate and unmerciful time when an accidentally fractured ankle cost a man his job and his family food and shelter. In the early 1900's, strikes, riots, labor unions, and new political parties arose across the country. The government, with its laissez-faire attitude, allowed business to consolidate into trusts, and with lack of competition, into powerful monopolies. These multi-million dollar monopolies were able to exploit every opportunity to make greater fortunes regardless of human consequences. Sinclair illustrates the harsh conditions in Packingtown through a Lithuanian immigrant family and their struggles to survive. Ona, a young and frail woman, and Jurgis, a hardworking and strong man and the husband of Ona, come to America with some of their family to find work and to make a new and better life for themselves. With everyone finding employment right away, the family begins their lives in America with optimism, enthusiasm, and ignorance. Taking a huge risk, they purchase a small rickety house. Slowly, they awaken to the harsh realities of their surroundings. There's the mortg... ...workingman is common ownership and democratic management of production. Schliemann, a socialist, explains that "anyone would be able to support himself by an hour's work a day." Sinclair goes even further by referring to socialism as the "new religion of humanity" to oppose the "jungle" in which the workingman slaves. Finally, Sinclair tries to convert his readers to socialism and reject capitalism by using numbers. At the end of the novel, he shows the increasing popularity of socialism as the number of votes increase. In Chicago, the number of votes for socialism started at next to nothing and, by the end of the book, there were nearly fifty thousand votes. Leaving the reader with a sense of optimism that socialism may one day triumph, Sinclair ends the novel with hope for the workingman as he zealously writes, "Chicago will be ours! Chicago will be ours!"

Performance Management System Essay -- Managing business Essays

Performance Management System Introduction This report is an attempt to analyse the existing Performance Management System for Large Financial Service Organisation (LFSO) and from this information, recommend, and implement an appropriate new performance management system. LFSO is an organisation, which traditionally has a paternalistic culture with low levels of unionisation. LFSO current Performance Management system was implemented two years ago changing the nature of the previous incremental salary scales described as Prerogatives by Lupton and Bowey and led to the abolition of the annual cost of living increment. This change by LFSO was an attempt to achieve a strategic, integrative and flexible approach to pay, in order to address its organisational objectives. Therefore it  ¡Ã‚ ¥reflected on a pluralist approach with the use of job evaluated grade structures regarding financial rewards and benefits ¡Ã‚ ¦. (Heery, 1996) despite the fact that with most paternalistic culture have a Unitarist approach to Performance Management systems. Initial research conducted by the organisation indicated that objectives are not always established and reviews were spasmodic. There was a high degree of resentment between the different members of staff leading to unhealthy competitiveness and unwillingness to support others. (Kerr, 1995) describe this behaviour as  ¡Ã‚ ¥esprit de corps ¡Ã‚ ¦. This resulted in an increase in general grievances. The BFU have been aware of this anxiety and have started a strong recruitment drive amongst employees but no figures on existing membership were available. ¡Ã‚ ¦ In general, both employees and management did not fully understand the scheme at its inception and saw it simply as a cost cutting exercise. The reward levels introduced were seen to be too small to act as a  ¡Ã‚ ¥motivator ¡Ã‚ ¦. There was also debate about the role of the annual appraisal interview as there was no consensus view on the purpose of these, which were regarded as an  ¡Ã‚ ¥inconvenience ¡Ã‚ ¦. Now two years into the scheme, LSFO is facing the threat of a  ¡Ã‚ ¥Bargaining Unit ¡Ã‚ ¦ or possible Unionisation. Alongside high levels of dissatisfaction from employees and some line managers who have also expressed serious concerns about their role in the process. The system itself is under severe criticism with large numbers of appeals although only a very few of these have been upheld. ... ...ments around these decisions. The manager will have in place a formal quality monitoring procedure and adherence to this will form part of the team and individual reward and appraisal procedure. As the BFU has started to implement a strong recruitment drive amongst LFSO employees, the management/ and HR Manager should consider meeting with the union to obtain its views on a partnership agreement with the organisation. This approach would recognise the possible impact BFU may have on the new system and would demonstrate a gesture of  ¡Ã‚ ¥goodwill ¡Ã‚ ¦ by the management team. It would also address the collective representation can help achieve important business objectives, including good communication. In conclusion it must be emphasised that an effective Performance Management system ensures that both Managers and employees understand each other ¡Ã‚ ¦s expectations, and how these are incorporated into the Corporate Strategy and how these impact upon their own context  ¡V their roles, behaviours, relationships and interactions, rewards and futures. Bibliography Books Beardwell, I. And Holden, L. (2001) Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Approach 3rd Ed. Prentice Hall Performance Management System Essay -- Managing business Essays Performance Management System Introduction This report is an attempt to analyse the existing Performance Management System for Large Financial Service Organisation (LFSO) and from this information, recommend, and implement an appropriate new performance management system. LFSO is an organisation, which traditionally has a paternalistic culture with low levels of unionisation. LFSO current Performance Management system was implemented two years ago changing the nature of the previous incremental salary scales described as Prerogatives by Lupton and Bowey and led to the abolition of the annual cost of living increment. This change by LFSO was an attempt to achieve a strategic, integrative and flexible approach to pay, in order to address its organisational objectives. Therefore it  ¡Ã‚ ¥reflected on a pluralist approach with the use of job evaluated grade structures regarding financial rewards and benefits ¡Ã‚ ¦. (Heery, 1996) despite the fact that with most paternalistic culture have a Unitarist approach to Performance Management systems. Initial research conducted by the organisation indicated that objectives are not always established and reviews were spasmodic. There was a high degree of resentment between the different members of staff leading to unhealthy competitiveness and unwillingness to support others. (Kerr, 1995) describe this behaviour as  ¡Ã‚ ¥esprit de corps ¡Ã‚ ¦. This resulted in an increase in general grievances. The BFU have been aware of this anxiety and have started a strong recruitment drive amongst employees but no figures on existing membership were available. ¡Ã‚ ¦ In general, both employees and management did not fully understand the scheme at its inception and saw it simply as a cost cutting exercise. The reward levels introduced were seen to be too small to act as a  ¡Ã‚ ¥motivator ¡Ã‚ ¦. There was also debate about the role of the annual appraisal interview as there was no consensus view on the purpose of these, which were regarded as an  ¡Ã‚ ¥inconvenience ¡Ã‚ ¦. Now two years into the scheme, LSFO is facing the threat of a  ¡Ã‚ ¥Bargaining Unit ¡Ã‚ ¦ or possible Unionisation. Alongside high levels of dissatisfaction from employees and some line managers who have also expressed serious concerns about their role in the process. The system itself is under severe criticism with large numbers of appeals although only a very few of these have been upheld. ... ...ments around these decisions. The manager will have in place a formal quality monitoring procedure and adherence to this will form part of the team and individual reward and appraisal procedure. As the BFU has started to implement a strong recruitment drive amongst LFSO employees, the management/ and HR Manager should consider meeting with the union to obtain its views on a partnership agreement with the organisation. This approach would recognise the possible impact BFU may have on the new system and would demonstrate a gesture of  ¡Ã‚ ¥goodwill ¡Ã‚ ¦ by the management team. It would also address the collective representation can help achieve important business objectives, including good communication. In conclusion it must be emphasised that an effective Performance Management system ensures that both Managers and employees understand each other ¡Ã‚ ¦s expectations, and how these are incorporated into the Corporate Strategy and how these impact upon their own context  ¡V their roles, behaviours, relationships and interactions, rewards and futures. Bibliography Books Beardwell, I. And Holden, L. (2001) Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Approach 3rd Ed. Prentice Hall

Au Bon Pain Case Study Essay

Business Strategy: Au Bon Pain (ABP) is an upscale French Bakery chain restaurant that competes with other fast food restaurants. They would like to go from a â€Å"Cycle of Failure† to differentiating themselves from their competitors by improving their customer experience. Alignment: Au Bon Pain wanted to differentiate themselves from other fast food chains by increasing the customer experience so that there would be more repeat customers and a consistent income stream. This meant improving relationships with customers which would increase if they had positive experiences and name recognition by staff. ABP had to decrease turnover of staff and increase autonomy at local stores to create the experience that they wanted for their customers. They did this by creating the Partner/Manager Program, which created Partner Managers at stores who were more autonomous in the day-to-day decision-making, and in turn, shared in profits. The program meant that Partner Managers now shared in 35% of the profits, Assistants shared in 15% of the profits, which was a significant increase in the reward/compensation structure at the company. By changing the reward structure, PM and Assistant Managers took on more responsibility for their individual store which changed their role to include things like ordering, staffing, and store aesthetics. During the trial of the Partner/Manager program, the two stores that volunteered to participate both had managers from different backgrounds who were very driven, independent, and creative. ABP central management hoped that a program like the Partner/Manager Program would help them to recruit more staff that espoused these characteristics, which they viewed as vital to their success and growth. Application: ABP changed the reward structure to increase productivity. This is consistent with the Expectancy Theory in which employees figure in Expectancy (the belief that effort will lead to results, in this case increased compensation), Instrumentality (the belief that a desired outcome will come from performance, in this case increased store profits will lead to increased personal compensation), and valence (the outcome, in this case  increased compensation). The effort of the PM and Assistant Managers increased because their expectation of compensation was directly related to the profits of the store, which meant that the desired outcome of the company and employees were aligned and profits increased. The profit-sharing compensation method used by ABP is similar to the method that Whole Foods uses. The difference is that ABP only involves the Partner/Manager and Assistant Manager in profit sharing while Whole Foods shares profits with all employees through their â€Å"Gainsharing† Program. While at ABP the Partner/Manager Program increases the dedication, productivity, and hopefully decreases turnover of those involved in profit-sharing, it does not do anything for the hourly employees who have a high turnover rate and are the ones that actually have the direct customer interaction at the registers, cleaning the stores, and making the food. This could lead to problems for ABP since the hourly employees are directly related to the consumer experience that the ABP is trying to improve, and this program does not address them. Exhibit: Roles: With the introduction of the Partner-Manager Program, Au Bon Pain looked to transform the roles of District Manager, create a Partner Manager and Assistant Manager who shared in the profits, and increase autonomy in each store. In the old system, the District Managers micromanaged their stores, but in the new system they were given more stores and had to focus on the big.

Reflection Writing of The Drover’s Wife by Henry Lawson Essay

I’ve never been reading a tremendous story such â€Å"The Drover’s Wife† before. â€Å"The Drover’s wife† was written by Henry Lawson is a short story about a woman who live in a bush with her four children and a dog, Aligance, while her husband didn’t at home because of driving. The story wants to mention on the woman who was a good mother and also a strong lady. In a dangerous event, there was a snake in her house. In order to protect her children she kept reminding herself all night to guard her children who were sleeping on the table in the kitchen; finally, the drover’s wife and her dog killed the snake and burnt it. Actually, I do love two characters among all characters represented in the story. The first is drover’s wife; throughout the short story I get a very good characterization of the woman. As a girl-wife she had hated the lonely life in the outback, but as time pass by, she used to it. Her struggle has been many. When the drought forced her husband to go droving, she had been left alone with her children and the problems in a pity bush. However, she was a strong and brave lady; in fact, she had solved the entire difficult situation without her husband’s assistance. She plays an important role in the family which she had to stay and take care of the children alone. Another she was defended mother and a good wife. In a long night, she kept her eye opening to ensure that the snake wouldn’t bit any of her children. Staying and taking care of the children alone; she neither complained about her living condition nor her husband absence. She didn’t care about herself when she fought the flood that devastated the dam; she still thought of her husband’s feeling after realizing this disaster. Specially, this character has given me an idea that women should not always rely on men; women are not as weak as what other people said. Women have strength to protect themselves as well as their beloved persons. Not only drover’s wife but also her biggest son Tommy was bravery. He helped his mom a lot; even he was a small one, his behavior is such an adult. Maybe he think that beside his father , he was the only one man to protect the member from any danger. This smart boy also remind his mother to wake him up if the snake came back again. Moreover, â€Å"The Drover’s Wife† has remarkably little action such as â€Å"Near midnight, the children are all asleep and the drover’s wife sit there still, sewing and reading by turns. From time to time she glances round the floor and well-plate, and, whenever she hears a noise, she reached for the stick. The thunderstorm comes on, and the wind, rushing through the cracks in the slab wall, threatens to blow out her candle. She places it on a sheltered part of the dresser and fixes up a newspaper to protect it. At every flash of lightning, the cracks between the slabs gleam like polished silver. The thunder rolls, and the rain comes down in torrents.† in this plot the author want to express the activities of being a mother who always care and worried about her children. Not all people do such that thing beside mother. In case she ensures that her children are safely, she can do anything without caring much own self. Another action â€Å"She lays her ha nd on the dog’s head, and all the fierce, angry light dies out of his yellow eyes. The younger children are quieted, and presently go to sleep. The dirty-legged boy stands for a moment in his shirt, watching the fire. Presently he looks up at her, sees the tears in her eyes, and, throwing his arms around her neck exclaims: â€Å"Mother, I won’t never go drovin’ blarst me if I do!† And she hugs him to her worn-out breast and kisses him; and they sit thus together while the sickly daylight breaks over the bush.†. This plot shows that if Tommy were a husband ,or when he grow up, he would not be away from home do such his father . He’s recognized what was the difficulty which a wife and children forced to bed situation. About drover’s wife, she loves her children above all, but she has no time to show it. The children have a very harsh impression of her. Still, in the last sentence we see proof of her love for them. What I have learnt from this story has been many. First, I understudied that on be haft of a good mother it is not easy. Sometime they act as ignorant but their mind obsessed all the time on children; however, they did not complained any words. Beside this, I caught a lot on the behaviour of the drover’s wife; we will not always get what we want, but we should learn to satisfy what we have. There are many problems and obstacles that we have to face, and all those make us become stronger and stronger, and give as such an important experience for our future steps. After reading this story, I strongly recommend it to other people who want to learn and experience more about life. Also lecturer should have risen this story to discuss much more and deeply on it, because student may benefit a lot from this story.