THINKING SKILLS AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

THINKING SKILLS AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT - Essay Example Finally, a conclusion shall synthesize the main points of the paper and demonstrate the continued use and viability of systematic management in post-modern management practices. Taylorism is a method of management which was formulated by Fredrick Winslow Taylor in 1911, as in the title of his monograph The Principles of Scientific Management, which aimed to enhance labor productivity and manufacturing efficiency (Zahir, Themistocleous, & Love, 2003). Taylor's background as an industrial engineer in the USA later earned him the title of the "Father of Scientific Management" (Schroeder, 2003). He analyzed worker's behaviors across industries he was involved in and determined that "One Best Way" could achieve a higher rate of production that was standardized and so cut costs to the company. He also develop a time and motion study wherein he broke down each job in a manufacturing process into its component elements and measured the duration of each component to a hundredth of a minute. This reduced the number of movements or actions that a worker needed to make in order to perform each component of the overall job. Each component could then be standardized acro ss all workers performing that job, reducing "wasted" action and increasing productivity and subsequently company profits.It was also found that the reduction in the number of actions needed to perform a total job would dramatically reduce worker fatigue (Schroeder, 2003). Taylor is noted for his study into the use of shovels, he observed that workers used the same type of shovel for a range of materials. Through systematic evaluation Taylor determined that 211/2 lb was an ideal load for a shovel, and then located or designed a variety of shovels for each type of material that could scoop that amount. Ultimately, Taylor sought to portray industrial management as an academic discipline, so that evidence-based research could be used to make informed decisions about the most effective and efficient way of maintaining a cooperative and innovate workforce that could achieve maximum productivity at minimal costs.In summary, Taylor's theory of scientific management consisted of four distin ct principles: 1. Instead of the "rule-of-thumb" of traditional work methods, tasks should be grounded in the scientific study of each task and its component parts. 2. Use systematic and standard methods to recruit, select, train, evaluate and develop each employee instead of workers continuing to train them in a passive and non-standardized manner. 3. Collaborate with workers so that systematic and standardized methods of completing a task are followed. 4. Delegate work amongst managers and workers in an equal manner to ensure that managers implement scientific management principles when planning work, and to ensure that workers actually follow-through on task procedures. In this way, Taylor approached management of work tasks as a scientific problem. After Taylor, the rapid progress of technological development paved the way for advances in statistical analyses of scientific problems. This progress led to the improvement of Taylor's systematic principles to provide more stringent quality control during the 1920s and 1930s (Miner, 2002). Quality

Language learning experiences of year 10 & 11 Dissertation

Language learning experiences of year 10 & 11 - Dissertation Example The research methodology explained various elements of the methodology and based on the selection of anti-positivism philosophy and inductive research approach; primary data were collected in the form of interviews being conducted on 20 students and one teacher of Manningtree High School, Colchester Road, Essex and observational study on 20 students of Colchester Academy School, Hawthorn Avenue, Essex. Findings suggested that majority of students understand the importance and significance of foreign languages but lack motivation. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the government and schools need to work in tandem in order to motivate students along with highlighting the benefits and advantages of foreign language learning within the secondary school setup. ... Sampling 24 3.7: Interview Questions 24 3.8 Observational Study 25 3.9: Ethical Considerations 25 3.10: Summary 25 Chapter 4.0 Findings and Analysis 26 4.1 Introduction 26 4.2 Interview Analysis 26 4.3: Interview Analysis of Teacher 39 4.4: Observational Study 40 4.4: Summary 41 Chapter 5 Conclusion and Recommendations 42 5.1 Introduction 42 5.2: Conclusion 42 5.3: Recommendations for Foreign Language Learning 44 5.4: Recommendations for Future Research 44 5.5: Summary 45 REFERENCES 46 APPENDIX 50 A. Interview Letter 50 B. Consent Form 51 C. Interview Transcript for Students 52 D. Interview Transcript for the Teacher 61 CHAPTER-1: INTRODUCTION 1.1: Introduction Language can be described as a systematic mean of communication and holds great importance at every level of personal and professional development. Every country has its native language that is spoken by the people living in it without any difficulty considering the fact that the culture and people around help in learning the native language from an early age. However, learning a foreign language is always a stringent task considering the difference in alphabets and phonetics. However, learning a foreign language is always an additional advantage as it offers understanding over a new culture and language. Language learning is a process that helps learners to learn about new things and cultures. Moreover, learning a foreign language offers great confidence and awareness that can be further used in future endeavors. The chapter offers an overview of the research topic that aims to explore the language learning experience of year ten and eleven. It can be said that learning does not

Gambino Cleaning Products Salesman System Specification Essay Example for Free

Gambino Cleaning Products Salesman System Specification Essay A new system of calculating and reporting on cleaning products salesmen is to be designed and implemented. Cleaning products salesmen commission is based on a set of data which is the monthly sales of cleaning products sold by the salesmen. Objectives The new system must: * Be automated as far as possible, needing no thorough knowledge of spreadsheets, databases or any other software in order to operate it. * Have fitted controls to ensure precision and completeness of data input. * Take into account commission payments from monthly sales. * Print commission reports for each of the salesmen, and a summary report showing total paid to each salesman and overall total. * Include an option to delete commission records previous to a given date so that the file does not increase for an indefinite period. The proposed new system can be shown in a level 0 data flow diagram as follows: A level 1 Data Flow Diagram of the proposed system is as follows: User functions 1. The Commissioning Salesman in the Sales Department will be responsible for entering all details of new cleaning products salesman and new products. 2. An Accounts clerk will have special responsibility for the commission system. 3. The Accounts clerk will enter each month the sales of each product, giving quantity sold and gross sales value (i.e. quantity X cover price). 4. Every 6 months, the Accounts clerk will produce the Commission reports for each cleaning products salesman. This will show the commission that has been earned in the previous 6 months. A payment is then recorded and a cheque issued to each cleaning products salesman to whom commission is due, together with the Commission statement showing sales details, and the statement from the Accounts system the total amount due. Database specification Menu structure The many functions of the Commission System will be accessed by means of a front-end menu, which will have the following structure. The data model There are three main entities in this system related in the entity relationship diagram shown below. Because a many-to-many relationship cannot be applied in a relational database, an additional entity named Salesman/Product is introduced. The ERD can now be drawn as follows: The database for Gambino cleaning products salesman system specification will have the following tables: tblSalesman (SalesmanID, Surname, FirstName) tblProduct (ProductID, ProductName, SalesTeam, Price) tblSalesman/Product (ProductID, SalesmanID, StandardCommission, BonusCommission) tblSales (SalesNumber, ProductID, Date, QuantitySold, GrossValue) Name Type Meaning Range Where Used tblSalesman Table Salesman Table tblProduct Table Product Table tblSalesman/Product Table Salesman/Product Table tblSales Table Sales Table SalesmanID Text (5) Unique ID Primary key in tblSalesman Foreign key in tblSalesman/Product Surname Text (20) Salesmans Surname tblSalesman Firstname Text (15) Salesmans first name tblSalesman ProductID Text (5) Unique product code Primary key in tblProduct Foreign key in tblSalesman/Product ProductName Text (40) Product title tblProduct SalesTeam Text (40) All salesman who sell a product tblProduct Price Currency Product price tblProduct StandardCommission Number Percentage commission on each product sold 1-10 tblSalesman/Products BonusCommission Number Bonus percentage commission on each products sold 11-20 tblSalesman/Products SalesNumber Number 1=Standard commission 2=Bonus Commission 1 or 2 tblSales QuantitySold Number Number of products sold tblSales GrossValue Currency Data Dictionary Input Specification Three input forms will be required. frmProducts This will be used to enter product details. frmSalesman This will be used to enter details of a salesman and all products on which they receive commission. The commission percentages for each product will be entered in a subform of the main form. Validation methods: The Product ID will be selected from a drop-down list of existing Product IDs. Once a Product ID is entered, the product name will be automatically displayed. frmTransaction This form will be used to enter transactions. Validation methods: Only valid dates will be accepted. The Product ID will be selected from a drop down list of existing Product IDs. Once a Product ID is entered, the product name will be automatically displayed. Selecting a radio button so that only a valid alternative can be selected will choose the transaction type. Process Specification Commission Calculations To calculate the commission for a given transaction, a query has to be performed to combine attributes from tblTransaction, tblProduct, tblProduct/Salesman and tblSalesman. The calculation of the commission is performed as follows: If TransactionType = 1 (i.e sales) ThenRate = StandardCommissionRate ElseRate = BonusCommissionRate endif Amount = Rate * GrossValue These processes will be carried out in qryCommission. This query will be the source of both the commission report and the summary report. Maintenance Each year, transactions prior to a given date will be removed from tblTransactions. This prevents the transaction file from becoming too large and slowing down the system. The maintenance will be carried out as follows: Run a Delete query to delete records from tblTransaction. Test Plan Tests will be carried out using valid and invalid data and data at the extremes of acceptable values.

Relationship between Employees, Employer and Representatives

Relationship between Employees, Employer and Representatives Introduction What is meant exactly by employee relations? What has changed since the Industrial Revolution? Salaman (2000) defines employee relations as a reflection of the development of more diverse employment patterns, the growth of high tech and commercial sectors, reduced levels of unionisation and use of management strategies aimed at individualising the employment relationship, in other terms it is the new management of all the variables which influence the work namely the management style, the level of employees motivation, the work environment, job satisfaction, the objectives of the company etc. We can differentiate three phases in the evolution of employee relations since the end of the Second World War, the third one being the partnership approach. Until 1979 (date of the election of the Conservative Party), work relations were based on collective bargaining and collective agreement aiming to determine and regulate, in varying degrees, the terms on which individuals will be employed (Flanders, 1968), with a strong voluntarism encouraged massively and informally. The trade unions (basically, it is an association of wage earners, totally independent of employers pressure, who struggle to improve work conditions) had a lot of power and everything was negotiated through deals. In fact, a Trade Union, through collective bargaining can force employers to deal with labour as a collective identity, rather than isolated individuals, and so, secure better the terms and condition of employment (Webb Webb, 1920). However, when the conservative party was elected in 1979, everything changed. The new government introduced a lot measures to limit the role of trade unions. In addition, it introduced an enterprise culture in which individuals and organisations, rather than government, were to be held responsible for economic performance. Thus, as well as rejecting the maintenance of full employment as a major policy objective, they in effect abandoned the commitment of their predecessors to voluntary collective bargaining as the most effective method of determining pay and conditions. Then, there was a total break with the old work patterns but an explanation of this will be the economical context. In fact, after the war, there was a period of reconstruction that engendered a lot of work; manufacturing was the backbone of the economy, it was a period of full employment. After that, there was a wave of privatisation, many companies became multinationals, and there was an internationalisation of business. The aim of the study will be to analyse and evaluate the new approach to the management of employee relations. Firstly, the author will define and explore what the partnership approach is. Then, the study will continue by examining the advantages and the disadvantages of this approach to each stakeholder (employees, employers and Trade Unions). Finally, an evaluation of the prospects for success of the partnership approach and an expression of a critical comparison with the previous ones will be highlighted. The Employment Relation (ER) Employment relationship is an economical exchange of labour capacity in return for the production of goods and services. It is very important to understand the implications of all the aspects of employment relations. High levels of collaboration between the workforce and management are likely to be consistent with greater reliability of production and quality of output, which in turn would bolster the organizations market position. Thus, employment relation is one of the most significant areas that need to be invested (Rollinson, 1993). Salaman (2000) defines employment relations as a reflection of the development of more diverse employment patterns, the growth of high tech and commercial sectors, reduced levels of unionisation and use of management strategies aimed at individualising the employment relationship, in other terms it is the new management of all the variables which influence the work namely the management style, the level of employees motivation, the work environment, job satisfaction, the objectives of the company etc. The state (all levels of government) plays a crucial role in employment relations, both directly and indirectly. The roles undertaken by governments may be categorised into five components including maintaining protective standards; establishing rules for the interaction between the parties; ensuring that the results of such interaction were consistent with the apparent needs of economy; providing services for labour and management such as advice, conciliation, arbitration and training; and as a major employer. The management of the ER system in Britain Britain is a country of Western Europe comprising England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Until July 2003, the British population is 60,094,648. At the height of its power in the 19th century it ruled an empire that spanned the globe (Stewart, 2005: 23-25). It is the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. The first half of the 20th century saw the Britains strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the Britain rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. It is also a leading trading power and financial centre, is one of the quartets of trillion dollar economies of Western Europe. The British industrial relations system has a long history and has undergone much change in recent years. There are three phases in the evolution of employee relations since the end of the World War II, the third one being the partnership approach. Until 1979 (date of the election of the Conservative Party), work relations were based on collective bargaining and collective agreement aiming to determine and regulate, in varying degrees, the terms on which individuals will be employed (Flanders, 1968), with a strong voluntarism encouraged massively and informally. The partnership approach What is it? The use of this term is a relatively recent political phenomenon. Some people affirm that it is just a term used by the Government to attract popular support because nobody can be against Partnership (Knell, 1999). Some others, more optimistic, see in this term a new pluralist approach to industrial relations. This concept comes from the idea that enterprises should recognise the interests of each stakeholder, namely employees, employers and their representatives, in order to satisfy each party. The aim of this approach is to find a common interest of management and labour, through trust and mutual involvement, instilling a sense of belonging and involvement. The Involvement and Participation Association (IPA, 1992) identifies six key principles: A shared commitment to the success of enterprise, including support for flexibility and the replacement of adversarial relations. A recognition that interests of the partners may legitimately differ. Employment security, including measures to improve the employability of staff as well as limit the use of compulsory redundancy. A focus on the quality of working life. A commitment to transparency, including a real sharing of hard, unvarnished information, an openness to discussing plans for the future, genuine consultation and preparedness to listen to the business case for alternative strategies. Adding value the hallmark of an effective partnership is that it taps into sources of commitment and / or resources that were not accessed by previous arrangement. For the New Labour government, partnership at work becomes an important objective. B. Its dimensions 1. Who are the partners? The partnership is between individual employer and individual employee and their representatives but the latter partner is weak in the new work relation. The partnership approach is more focused on individual relationships than a collective one, like in the past. Indeed, New Labour insists on individual choice. For them, it is not an obligation to integrate a working union. It emphasises that individuals are the best judges of their own individual interests. That is to say that the individual has the choice of whether or not to join a trade union and whether or not to take part in the coverage by collective agreement. It might mean the new government is not really in favour of the trade unions. In fact, some people think that a trade union would be an enemy of the partnership approach in the sense that trade unions defend the workers interests and they always have a confrontational relationship with the employers. Then, how can a partnership be formed if one of the partners does not make an effort to find a common agreement? In this way, the trade unions role has to be redefined. They have to play a co-operative role with employers in order to find some common interests which satisfy both the employees and the employers. The psychological contract The psychological contract is the basis of a partnership approach. It is the link between employers and employees. It establishes the expectations, aspirations and understandings which they have of each other (Herriot, 1998). The author has noticed that the psychological contract has changed since the last few years because of the changes of the work environment (change in workforce structure, re-engineering, downsizing.). The old psychological contract was based on security and predictability, now it is more situational and short term and assumes that each party is much less dependent on the other for survival and growth. According to Hiltrop (1995), the new contract can be defined as follows: There is no job security, the employee will be employed as long as he/she adds value to the organisation, and is personally responsible for finding new ways to add value. In return, the employee has the right to demand interesting and important work, has the freedom and resources to perform it well, receives, pay that reflects his or her contributions and get experience and training needed to be employable here or elsewhere. The psychological contract has to be strong and truthful to allow a partnership relation The voluntary aspect of the partnership New Labour insists on the voluntary aspect of the new work relation. The partnership should be introduced through cultural changes which will lead to more positive relationships between employers and employees than the letter of the law can ever achieve. That is to say that the law itself can not resolve the problem of employee relations, some cultural changes have to emerge first. Employers and employees have to make some effort to improve the work relationship. The advantages and the disadvantages of the partnership approach: A. For the employees 1. Advantages With the partnership approach, employees benefit from a Family atmosphere with friendly policies. For example, they benefit from new working arrangements which allow a greater flexibility. There is a harmonisation of working conditions, policies and procedures for all employees under training. The partnership approach introduces a new pay structure: pay is monthly through credit transfer, and the traditional annual pay is replaced by an objective formula. Moreover, a reduction of the working week for manual and craft employees can be observed. 2. Disadvantages However, the partnership approach introduces the notion of the individual worker. In this way, trade unions are less useful in the employer/employee relationship and lose their power. Then, the employee is in a weaker position than his/her employer (a caution has to be noticed because, trade unions have a right to accompany their members during the disciplinary or grievance interview). B. For the employers 1. Advantages Firstly, the partnership gives a good reputation to the enterprise which applies it. Moreover, it allows a greater stability of employment because employer talks to employee and establishes some rights and some obligations that each party has to respect (limit the turnover, strikes and so on). The relationship between both is more respectful and equal. Furthermore, the partnership allows a greater openness over the enterprise. Through it, the employers know what is wrong with the employees and try to find how they can fix it. The work atmosphere is more friendly and truthful. The partnership approach is, as well, a need for a change in approach to the trade unions. To date, the relation between employers and trade unions is based on confrontation. This new approach gives a secondary role to the trade unions and privileges the individual employer/employee relations, which is easier to manage. Moreover, employers try to improve work conditions, in return they profit from a greater activity because workers feel good in the company. In addition they can have greater performance appraisal and a new understanding of performance management through control and feed back. 2. Disadvantages This approach demands a lot of administration and is quite constraining for a company. To fire an employee who has a poor performance for example, the employer has to give a first warning and propose a disciplinary interview in order to detect what is wrong with this employee. If nothing has changed, the employee can receive another warning, the last one, before the dismissal (or other sanctions). Sometimes, procedures take too much time and engender an economical loss. Moreover, the enterprise can lose some power in relation to its employees. Previously, employers had the economic power over employees, now this power is more shared between both because their relationship is more interdependent. C. For the trade unions 1. Advantages There is a new stake in their role as representatives. They have to prove the value of the employers to the employees and the value of the employees to the employers. Moreover, the trade unions can profit from a partnership fund in order that employers and employee representatives work together to support innovative projects to develop the partnership approach in the workplace (Lord McIntosh Lord Hansard, May 1999). 2. Disadvantages The partnership approach has more disadvantages than advantages for the trade unions. Through it, trade unions lose some power. Firstly, their recognition is limited. According to the government, the trade union has a secondary role in the employer/employee relationship. Then, their role has to be redefined in a more consultative sense; it has to focus on the information, the communication, the representation and the partnership. Their contribution to the partnership is potentially useful but far from being essential. Thus, trade unions are worried about their traditional role which is to defend the workers interests. They think that in this new approach, employee representatives will become part of the management. Moreover, according to the IPA, the partnership needs a different channel than the union one, because this model is not adequate anymore. In fact, the union presence is weak or non-existent in the majority of companies in Britain, therefore, the partnership needs a new representative structure. Evaluation and criticism of the prospects for success of the partnership approach The employment relation through the partnership approach becomes fairer. For example, union co-operation in more flexible work patterns, teamworking, the introduction of annualised hours and the harmonisation of terms and conditions of employment are all greater assets of the partnership approach. Concerning job security, the partnership approach remains limited: The job security guarantees have been identified as the hallmark of partnership approach by many of its advocates, although, they have no featured in all such agreements. In most cases, they amount to relatively limited management commitments to avoid the use of compulsory redundancy as a means of labour shedding- a fairly familiar practice in organisations that can attract sufficient candidates for early retirement and voluntary redundancy with enhanced severance payments. Moreover in some partnership agreement, trade unions and employees are required to co-operate with measures with make the avoidance of compulsory redundancy easier, including the acceptance of the companys use of subcontracted, temporary or short-term contract staff ( Taibly Winchester, 2000 and Bach Sisson,2000). Moreover, the fundamental need for a successful approach requires some cultural changes; we have to break with the old practice (industrial/adversarial ones) because we cannot access a new form of management without this. Furthermore, the partnership approach appeared in a particular political context. In fact, it was the end of the Conservative government (characterised by a policy of deregulation) and the beginning of the Labour party which developed the important idea of commitment to the partnership in the workplace. But, its aim has to be analysed very carefully because we can notice that the government refused to take part in some social policy proposals developed by the European commission. This reaction is contrary to the apparent willingness of the government to introduce fairness in work and at work. However, some surveys show that employees feel better with the partnership agreement. We can notice that job satisfaction level is greater than before (Bach Sisson, 2000) but this result has to be taken with caution if we refer to the recent strike of the Post Offices which occurred last month. Then, the question is whether the partnership approach is successful? In the historical, political and economical context, the author thinks that partnership and the willingness of each stakeholder are present. The difficulty is just trying to apply it in the best way. Britain has made a lot of effort to improve work conditions. Compared to the past, this approach is the compromise between the two previous ones. Indeed, the first one (~1945-1979) was too dominated by the trade unions. The following one was too adversarial; the employees lost all their rights. Thus, this new approach tries to satisfy both parties. Conclusion The work is not finished. If the partnership approach succeeds in satisfying the stakeholders, it needs to be improved again. Britain needs to work on other more social law proposals and take part in the European ones. However, the employment relations are governed by the variation of the market as well; hence, it is very difficult to satisfy everybody. But, the important thing is to try to do the best. Moreover, there will always be some disagreements and unfairness in work and at work; we have to be patient because it takes time to change the mind of each person.

All Quiet on the Western Front - A Book Review Essay -- All Quiet West

All Quiet on the Western Front - A Book Review Professor’s Comments: This is a good example of a book review typically required in history classes. It is unbiased and thoughtful. The Student explains the book and the time in which it was written in great detail, without retelling the entire story†¦ a pitfall that many first time reviewers may experience. All Quiet on the Western Front is the story of Paul Baumer’s service as a soldier in the German army during World War I. Paul and his classmates enlist together, share experiences together, grow together, share disillusionment over the loss of their youth, and the friends even experience the horrors of death-- together. Though the book is a novel, it gives the reader insights into the realities of war. In this genre, the author is free to develop the characters in a way that brings the reader into the life of Paul Baumer and his comrades. The novel frees the author from recounting only cold, sterile facts. This approach allows the reader to experience what might have been only irrelevant facts if presented in a textbook. This book is written from a perspective foreign to most Americans. Historically, American students are taught from a single perspective, that being the American perspective. This approach to history (the single perspective) dehumanizes the enemy and glorifies the Americans. We tend to forget that those on the opposing side are also human. The author's main theme centers not only on the loss of innocence experienced by Paul and his comrades, but the loss of an entire generation to the war. Paul may be a German, but he may just as easily be French, English, or American. The soldiers of all nations watched their co... ...e preceding reasons, all college students should read the book. The book will captivate the educated mind, and most importantly, will cause that mind to think and to question why things happen as they do. Remarque also tried to teach his audience. Written within a decade of the end of the war, the book calls on those who forfeited their youth to the war not to allow time to hide what had happened. Time may heal all wounds, but the cause of those wounds must not be forgotten, nor allowed to repeat itself. The author is; however, pragmatic enough to realize that all will not learn the lesson; nevertheless, those who are willing to learn it will discover that the story has been told before, and without their intervention, it is doomed to be told again. Works Cited Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. New York: Ballantine Books, 1984. All Quiet on the Western Front - A Book Review Essay -- All Quiet West All Quiet on the Western Front - A Book Review Professor’s Comments: This is a good example of a book review typically required in history classes. It is unbiased and thoughtful. The Student explains the book and the time in which it was written in great detail, without retelling the entire story†¦ a pitfall that many first time reviewers may experience. All Quiet on the Western Front is the story of Paul Baumer’s service as a soldier in the German army during World War I. Paul and his classmates enlist together, share experiences together, grow together, share disillusionment over the loss of their youth, and the friends even experience the horrors of death-- together. Though the book is a novel, it gives the reader insights into the realities of war. In this genre, the author is free to develop the characters in a way that brings the reader into the life of Paul Baumer and his comrades. The novel frees the author from recounting only cold, sterile facts. This approach allows the reader to experience what might have been only irrelevant facts if presented in a textbook. This book is written from a perspective foreign to most Americans. Historically, American students are taught from a single perspective, that being the American perspective. This approach to history (the single perspective) dehumanizes the enemy and glorifies the Americans. We tend to forget that those on the opposing side are also human. The author's main theme centers not only on the loss of innocence experienced by Paul and his comrades, but the loss of an entire generation to the war. Paul may be a German, but he may just as easily be French, English, or American. The soldiers of all nations watched their co... ...e preceding reasons, all college students should read the book. The book will captivate the educated mind, and most importantly, will cause that mind to think and to question why things happen as they do. Remarque also tried to teach his audience. Written within a decade of the end of the war, the book calls on those who forfeited their youth to the war not to allow time to hide what had happened. Time may heal all wounds, but the cause of those wounds must not be forgotten, nor allowed to repeat itself. The author is; however, pragmatic enough to realize that all will not learn the lesson; nevertheless, those who are willing to learn it will discover that the story has been told before, and without their intervention, it is doomed to be told again. Works Cited Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. New York: Ballantine Books, 1984.

Durkheimian Theories Applied to Buffalo Creek Essay -- essays research

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This essay will describe Emile Durkheimà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s concepts of social integration and social/moral regulation and will explain how Durkheim connects them to suicide. It will then utilize those concepts to analyze the social effects of the Buffalo Creek flood, as described in the book à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Everything In Its Pathà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, by Kai T. Erikson, showing other consequences besides higher suicide rates. Durkheimà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s concept of social integration refers to social groups with well-defined values, traditions, norms, and goals. These groups will differ in the degree to which individuals are part of the collective body, also to the extent to which the group is emphasized over the individual, and lastly the level to which the group is unified versus fragmented. Durkheim believed that two types of suicide, Egoistic and Altruistic, could stem from social integration. Egoistic suicide resulted from too little social integration. Those people who were not sufficiently bound to a social group would be left with little or no social support in times of crisis. This caused them to commit suicide more often. An example Durkheim discovered was that of unmarried people, especially males, who, with less to connect them to stable social groups, committed suicide at higher rates than married people. Altruistic suicide is a result of too much integration. It occurs at the opposite end of the social integration scale as egoistic suicide. Self sacrifice appears to be the driving force, where people are so involved with a social group that they lose sight of themselves and become more willing to take one for the team, even if this causes them to die. The most common cases of altruistic suicide occur to soldiers during times of war. Religious cults have also been a major source of altruistic suicide. In Durkheimà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s concept of social/moral regulation, society imposes limits on humans to regulate their passions, desires, expectations, ambitions and roles. When these limits or social regulations break down, the controlling authority the society once had no longer functions and people are left on their own to make their own plans. In societies that have low levels of social regulations, a state of Anomie, or normlessness, can occur and affect the whole society or just some of its groups. Anomic suicide was more prevalent in this type of society. Anomic suicide basically involve... ...e old communities threw all kinds of different people together. At the risk of sounding superior, I feel we are living amidst people with lower moral values than us.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (208) In conclusion, the flood at Buffalo Creek destroyed the inhabitantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s very social fabric. This in itself is not unique, but what was unique about Buffalo Creek is that there was no post disaster euphoria, where people who have survived the disaster are uplifted by the fact that the community is still present and viable. That was not the case in Buffalo Creek, mostly in part due to HUDà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s internal policies but also due to the very devastation caused by the flood. The other thing that was unique about Buffalo Creek was that ninety-three percent of the survivors had diagnosable emotional disorders eighteen months after the disaster. Usually survivors of disasters are able to get over it and move on, but the survivors of the Buffalo Creek disaster were not able to do this because of their total loss of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Gemeinschaftà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? or sense of community. Sources: Erikson, Kai T. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Everything In Its Pathà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Touchstone 1976 I1, http://durkheim.itgo.com/suicide.html, Dunman, L. Joe à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Emile Durkheim Archiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, 1999

Interstate Hydraulic Manufacturing Co. Essay

Interstate Hydraulic Manufacturing Co. is an established, family-owned manufacturer of hydraulic devices used in automobile suspensions and forklift trucks. From the factory in Muncie, Indiana, products are shipped to customers worldwide. All data processing is performed by a minicomputer, which handles payroll, billing, accounts receivable, inventory, and cost accounting. Workers clock on and off the job using time clocks, and they report job progress by filling out a forms packet that accompanies each job lot. Data from the time cards and forms packets is keyed into the computer by data entry operators in the manufacturing division, who use terminals. Ben Lambert is in charge of customer service, handling complaints, conducting plant tours, and providing information to the plant manager on product performance. One day Lambert is sitting at his desk, handling the backlog of correspondence he has accumulated. He picks up his office recorder and dictates the following letter: Ms. Ellie Nostrom Purchasing Director McCullin Enterprises Thank you very much for being so understanding last week when you called to inquire about your order. As I explained, we have a large number of jobs in process at any one time, and many more waiting in line. It is simply impossible to locate where one is without spending considerable time looking through our records. I’m sure you can understand. I later learned that your order was held up due to lack of materials. We have been having difficulty obtaining the nylon bushing that attaches the actuating arm to the housing. We have had only one supplier that could meet our high quality standards, and we have recently learned that its factory has been on strike for almost half a year. We finally located another supplier in California and placed an order with it. But when the bushings arrived, the receiving report was misfiled, and we didn’l know that they were here. The receiving report, which is normally sent to our accounting department, was sent to purchasing by mistake. After your call, I talked with the supervisor of receiving, and he said he remembered seeing the shipment. We finally located it in inventory and have issued a production order. The job is presently in process and should be completed either by the end of next week or early the following week. Again, thank you for calling attention to your order. Our customers are our most valuable asset, and we appreciate your business. You have our pledge that we will continue to be responsive to your needs and supply you with the same high level of service that has been our trademark. Please do not hesitate to call on me at any time.