Community Development Essay - 4447 Words

ASSIGNMENT 1 UNIT 17: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WORK ASSIGNMENT TITLE: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – THEORY AND PRACTICE CATHERINE CARLIN Introduction: In this assignment I am going to explore the core theme of Community Development. In doing so, I will come to understand various theories and concepts, relevant legislation and policy, underpinning values, principles and ethics, and practice application with all regards to community development. In the first section of the assignment I will analyse the differences between Community, Community Work and Community Development and explain how Northern Ireland has become a more diverse community. Following this section I will analyse how worker/agency would go about analysing the strengths,†¦show more content†¦Community: For the last two hundred years, the word community has been defined by different people in different times, but still is a difficult term to comprehend properly and appropriately and sometimes people do not know how and when to use it. For example the phrase community can be used in the following ways: Blacks community, student community, world com munity, Christian community, Muslim community, Hindu community, and so on and so forth. According to Arthur Dunham (1958) community is a group of human beings, settled in fairly compact and contiguous geographical area and having specific elements of common life as shown by manners, customs, traditions and modes of speech. Arthur further stated that the term community implies a group of people living in a particular area (village or town) who share some common interests and functions. Hence the term community refers to a common life of some kind which is based on feelings of association with one another. Prof Abdul Hameed (1999) stated that the term community is ‘A place where people can get the things they need and want. Communities have places for all the things people do. They have places where people learn and pray. They can be village, towns or cities’. Maclver and Page (1948) defined community in the following words: ‘The members of any group, large or small, who live together inShow MoreRelatedSmile Foundation1561 Words   |  7 PagesSMILE FOUNDATION BY TEAM PRAYAS FORE School of Management Anil Kumar (9999927670) G. Rohit Kumar (9891391467) anilkumar@foreian.com rohitkumar@foreian.com Strategies for Smile Foundation to involve civil society in development process Development is a process that leads to a transformation from an undesirable state of affairs to a desirable state. NGO’s help to make this transformation. 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Principles of Marketing, Market, Geographic, Demographic, and Psychogr Assignment

Essays on Principles of Marketing, Market, Geographic, Demographic, and Psychographic Segmentation, Impact of Customer Behaviour on Sales Assignment The paper â€Å"Principles of Marketing, Market, Geographic, Demographic, and Psychographic Segmentation, Impact of   Customer Behaviour on Sales† is an impressive example of an assignment on marketing. Marketing can be defined as an organizational function and a set of processes for communicating, creating, implementing and delivering value to customers and for managing customer-business relationships in a way that will benefit both the organization, customers and the stakeholders involved. Such processes succeed in moving people closer to making a decision to purchase and facilitate a sale. In the long run, these processes will anticipate, identify and try to satisfy customer requirements successfully and profitably. This paper will hence handle three assignments in one; first, it will critically look at market segmentation and how it will actually promote sales for a company. The second part of the paper will look at the significance of customer behavior with regard to be tter sales achievement. This will, however, be a presentation. The third part will be a report on the promotional methods and the importance of good marketing strategies that can be adopted by a company like Natural Goodness plc. The report will advise the company on the way forward for achieving better sales through promotions and other marketing approaches.Market segmentationA market segment is an organization or subgroup of people who have the same characteristics and would in one way or another share the same market needs and requirements. Market segmentation is important when carrying out marketing in this sector. This is because it leads to an improved image of the organization or product. When marketing is done efficiently it leads to increased sales and more profits are reaped by the organization. It gives the business a competitive advantage over other businesses. When marketing is well carried out it means customers will be more satisfied with the services offered since th eir changing needs will be met. Marketing helps to change the attitudes to products and services being offered. Before starting up a business in this sector, preliminary research is always very important. This helps in knowing the size of the industry one wishes to join. Knowledge in the trends of growth is also important. There are issues that need to be considered as the target audience. The location will help in determining how the goods will be distributed. It is good to know the competitors in the market and how they carry out their businesses and the marketing of the housewares. The main requirements for a market segment would be; it must be accessible, identifiable, have unique needs, substantial and durable.Geographic segmentationThe geographic type of segmentation comprises geographic variables that include; the region with which the business would be placed, the size of the metropolitan area i.e. the population of the people. A health food market, for example, would be suc cessful in an area where the population density is so high. Another factor is also the population density which could either be urban, rural or both and its growth rate. Certain conditions such as the climatic conditions also fall under geographic segmentation because if the weather is so unfavorable, then most customers would not be comfortable.

Communist China Essay Thesis Example For Students

Communist China Essay Thesis Communism in an Economically Developing ChinaThe future of communism in China is unknown, as the world economy becomes more international. Communism has been in China since 1949 and is still present in the countrys activities. Presently China is undergoing incredible economic growth and promises to be a dominant power early in the next century. Chinas social tradition has come under heavy pressure from forces of modernization generated in a large part by the sustained contact with the West that began in the middle of the nineteenth century. The Western incursion, not only refined China militarily but brought in its course new ideas- nationalism, science and technology, and innovations in politics, philosophy, and art. Chinese leaders have sought to preserve the nations cultural uniqueness by promoting specifically Chinese blends of tradition and modernity. China has undergone several major political transformations from a feudal-like system in early historical times, to a centralized bureaucratic empire that lasted through many unpredictable changes till 1911, to a republic with a communist form of government in the mainland since 1949. Economic geography and population pressure help account for the traditionally controlling role of the state in China. The constant indispensability for state interference, whether for great public works programs or simply to keep such a large society together, brought up an authoritarian political system. The family prevailed as the fundamental social, economic, and religious unit. Interdependence was very prominent in family relations while generation, age, sex and immediacy of kinship strictly governed relations within the family. Family rather than nation usually created the greatest allegiances with the result that nationalism as known to the West came late to the Chinese. In principle, the elite in the authoritarian political system achieved their positions through merit rather than birth or wealth. There was an examination system that provided a vehicle for recruiting talented citizens to serve the emperor, which was a valuable and unusual institution in a society characterized by personal connections. Democracy, individualism, and private property were kept carefully in check. Central state authority, however, rarely penetrated to the local level. Chinese leaders invented bureaucracy to keep the country unified and mastered the art of keeping government small. The Chinese search for a modern state began in the nineteenth century when two major sources of disorder overwhelmed the imperial institutions: domestic disintegration and foreign invasion. Between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Chinese population had doubled and redoubled. The problem of the population explosion created tremendous pressure on the limited farmland to provide sufficient food supply. For economic, religious, of ethnic reasons, peasant uprisings began to erupt. Moreover, beginning with the Opium War of 1832-1842, the imperial army suffered a series of defeats at the hands of the industrial powers of the West. The image of a shattering imperial dynasty directed rebellion and dissolution within China, exemplified by the Taiping Rebellion of 1851-1864 that nearly toppled the Qing dynasty. (Zheng, Party vs. State in Post-1949 China, 30) The reform measures in the first decade of this century were aimed at replacing dynastic rule with a new form of government. Amon g the most significant changes was the abolition of the civil service exam in 1905, which virtually cut off the connections among the emperor, the ruling ideology, and the official gentry. This time the imperial rulers hoped to save themselves by experimenting with some new institutional adaptations. A revolution was menacing; students who had returned from abroad came with ideas harmful to the imperial rule. Following the overthrow of the imperial regime in the Revolution of 1922, central authority dissipated and the country was divided among regional warlords. Reunification, begun by the Nationalist government under the Kuomintang (KMT); was interrupted by the Japanese invasion in the 1930s. The unparalleled institutional crisis hastened the Chinese search for alternative means of reorganizing China. Since the last dynasty, Qing, collapsed construction of a modern Chinese state had been the goal shared by many Chinese modernizers. For them, this magnificent goal meant that China c ould one-day stand in the world community on an equal footing with other member states. .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef , .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef .postImageUrl , .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef , .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef:hover , .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef:visited , .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef:active { border:0!important; } .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef:active , .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u88b8e0733d605377bf00a92e388d89ef:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Queen of Diamonds EssayWhile the first two decades of this century may have saw China in Chaos, this time period also produced a free intellectual environment. (Qtd. Imfeld, China as

Managing Change free essay sample

An investor should be benefited from the construction project; the benefits include profits, business development, utilization of resources and jobs. The investors will be interested to invest in the project only when there are accurate forecasts that would provide long term benefits. The construction industry is highly uncertain, and there is a possibility of risk. As the risks influence the profits, it is important to anticipate the assumption of risks and be calculated into a feasibility analysis and this would avoid the risks for the benefit of the investor. Firmansyah, 2006). Construction industry has many problematic issues in the United Kingdom and majority of the problems have been the direct consequences of the decisions taken by the professionals of the construction industry, and the financial institutions. Project feasibility study enables optimization to provide the profits. The present study will suggest some changes to be adapted for the feasibility of the construction project. We will write a custom essay sample on Managing Change or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Problem statement Construction industry in the economic downturn has problems from the financial institutions and professionals. This constraint has reduced the profits and the constraints are largely associated with the decisions of the professionals. An effective planning requires the adoption of some changes that make the project feasible in order to get the profits. Zenith is a construction company is losing profits as the projects are not feasible due to the non-adoption of changes in decision making by the professionals and financial institutions. Present study The present study is a project feasibility study that analyses the problems associated with the construction industry and suggest the changes to be adopted by the management of the Zenith construction company for the project to be feasible. Problems and issues of the construction industry in UK House purchase credit facilities Owning a house is becoming increasingly difficult to various sectors in the society due to the lack of funds to invest on commercial development projects. Population size and demographics Population is increasing and also becoming older, and an important aspect is that there is no correlation between the population growth and the households. The growth of the households is disproportionate with the increasing population. Consequently there is also a significant change in the demographics. Density of the population United Kingdom has become one of the densely populated areas of Europe and this creates a lot of pressure that cannot be sustained. This pressure is mostly towards the countryside with limited natural resources. Brownfield development The Government has restricted the construction work on the green fields, and sixty percent of the construction work should be targeted on the brown fields. Environmental impact on buildings There are environmental concerns arising due to the unsustainability emanating from millions of buildings which are existing and the new building that are built every year. The activities of the construction industry such as demolition, maintenance, repair and conversion poses an immediate and long term problems to the environment. However, this has decreased relatively with reference to the construction industry. Brown field development The Government of UK introduced a planning policy that aims at increasing the use of Brown field sites for construction. This policy promotes greening and addresses the public fears on the spreading of the cities to the low density rural lands. There are certain empty lands left by the major manufacturing industries that incurred heavy losses and some areas of the city which require regeneration. The development of these areas may provide some solution at least to some extent to the demand for housing in the commercial market of UK. The target set out by the government to develop new houses was sixty percent by 2008, however, in the policy the term PPS3 means vacant lands and the lands which are in use and have potential for development. The percentage of the new homes built on the brown fields increased from 53 to 56 percent in ten years. If the refurbishments works included in the policy are considered there is an increase of 3 percent and it is not a difficult task to achieve. Some commentators argue that the target for brown field can be raised to 100 percent by taking up the development in north and mid lands. Another viable alternative includes the utilizing the existing lands and buildings, as the construction of new buildings is expensive. The forecast is that there may be a still more shortage of financial resources in future. Population density A high level of density placed a heavy pressure on the country side for its natural resources. Pressure has increased on utilization of the green belt and other open areas for housing to meet the demands in the commercial markets. There is a decrease in the percentage of green and pleasant land, as there is a 5 percent increase in the construction of home in the rural areas. (Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. 2000) The situation can be improved if the existing buildings are used in an efficient way. Feasibility study The feasibility studies for any project are aimed at knowing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the business environment. The study is also carried out for knowing about the required resources, and the possibility of success. Feasibility study assesses the cost of project and the value attained from those costs and a good feasibility study provides a historical background of the product, accounts, operations and management, financial data, legal requirements and tax structures. (Justis,et,al, 1979). Five common factors of feasibility study Technology and system feasibility The aim of carrying out the technological feasibility study is to find out the technological capabilities of the company in terms of hard ware, software, expertise, and personnel to handle the project up to its completion. Economic feasibility The effectiveness of the new system is evaluated with economic analysis, and the expected benefits and savings are compared with the costs. The cost factors include the development costs and the operating costs and the analysis of these factors determines the deliverable benefits from the system. The economic analysis also considers a time based study to know about the time required to get returns from the investment. Legal feasibility The data processing system should comply with the local data protection act. Operational feasibility Operation feasibility determines the capability of the system to solve the problems. Schedule feasibility This measures how well reasonable the project time table is, and determines whether the deadlines are mandatory or desired. Adaptation With the problems and issues associated with the construction of households, it is proposed to alter or adjust the structure in an environment to suit the new conditions that includes alterations, extensions, improvement, and other works. The three main forms of adaptations include conversion, extension and refurbishment. In addition to this, alteration, conservation, modernization and maintenance also comprise adaptation. A lot of benefits are associated with the adaptation of the existing building instead of demolishing it and constructing a new building after clearing the site this is refurbishment. (Douglas,2002). Technical and operational feasibility A lot of factors favor refurbishment that include the †¢ social factors : that conserve energy and resources, and preserve the historic monuments that avoids a social resistance to this change economic factors: shorter construction periods, keeping the business running, condition of the building, constraints in planning, insufficient funds, necessity to upgrade the structure, high land values, uncertainties such as long term value, loss of investment and constraints in development. (Kwayke, 1994) Economic feasibility Cost control was a problem followed by a variation and pricing of tenders, however, control of the dust and noise occupied the top position of the problem issues. (Egbu,1996). For the feasibility study of a refurbishment work it is important to allot sufficient time in the early stages of the project, in such a way that the design, procurement, and construction can be based on the findings of the feasibility studies. Most of the studies suggest that there are more benefits associated with the adaptation. The benefits are increase in the speed of construction, and when the time for the feasibility study for refurbishment is considered, it is 50 percent less than the time required for a fresh new construction. Adaptation projects have fewer chances for delay particularly from weather. When the refurbishment work begins, there will be external envelopes and the roof covering, and with the case of new construction time is required for demolition, removal of the resulting waste, and for the delivery of the new materials. There will be least disruption in the buildings of the neighbors, and cost to refill is reduced. Delay due to the delivery of material would be very less as most of the required materials already exist. With a thorough feasibility study, it is possible to control the costs with an effective forecasting. The duration of the project will be less; consequently the borrowings and the loss of earnings will be less. There will no problem for the savings for the site security, and the other costs associated with the site establishment and running costs. Other important issue to be considered for the feasibility for refurbishment includes least impact on the environment. The movement of vehicles will be less, least amount of materials that go to the landfill, reduction in the use of new materials and the energy as well as costs associated with it. In addition to this there will be preservation of the heritage as some people argue that some of the architectural features are better than the new erections. Change programme of the company Taking the advantages of adaptation into consideration, the company can take adaptation either as refurbishment, conversion, or alteration in order to make the project feasible. Considering the requirements of the client The surveyor should be in a position to advise the client on the viable alternatives to the new construction, and be able to present them. The total costs for a building project will include the cost of the land, cost of acquiring and preparing the site, cost of demolition and physical preparation, cost of building, professional fees for the whole project, cost of disposal, and the cost of financing. (Ferry and Brandon, 1984). Defining the problem After the details of the problem are clarified, the scope of the decision can be defined. The decision maker should focus the attention on the major aspects of the decision. The decision should be based on the financial situation of the client and a considerable amount of time should be allotted to this activity. Setting the objectives After knowing about the requirements of the client, it is important to consider what is hoped to achieve the decision and the aims to work. The client decision making should be directed towards specific objectives to be achieved within the allotted time and cost parameters. Determining the options This is a creative process, and it is the process of generating the alternatives, that would satisfy the requirements of the client. The thoughts should be focused on producing viable and suitable options, and for this the client, and in the present study adaptation is the viable and suitable option. Deployment phase It is the responsibility of the surveyor to develop an appropriate strategy for deployment. Developing a contingency plan is also required. Control phase The control is exercised upon the feedback of the information from the actual performance when compared with the predetermined plan. (Watson,2009) Feed forward phase This phase involves the critical analysis of the entire decision making activity, and this phase actually involves taking the experience obtained from the previous projects. (Cook and Slack,1984). The key issues to be addressed for building adaptation Suitability of the building †¢ structure of the building †¢ condition of the building †¢ aesthetics †¢ Project brief †¢ sustainability †¢ legal issues †¢ change of use Conclusions Adaptation process can solve the problems and issues of household and commercial building of UK and it is also important to consider the environmental issues while taking a decision on the feasi bility of the construction work. When decision on construction is considered it is important to take decisions on costs and environmental issues. The due consideration should also be given to initial costs and future running costs. These factors should be incorporated into the decision making model. In the present study the project would be feasible when it is refurbished given the advantages associated with the adaptation rather than reconstruction. When all of the above facts are taken into consideration the project is feasible in deriving the profits and good will to the company for its sustainability. Decision making model [pic] References 1. Cook, S. and Slack, N. (1984) Making Management Decisions, Prentice-Hall International Inc, London, UK, ISBN 0-13-547837-5. 2. Douglas, J. 2002) Building Adaptation, Butterworth Heineman, Oxford, ISBN 0-7506-5085-0. 3. Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. (2000) Countryside Survey — Accounting for Nature: Assessing Habitats in the UK Countryside [online], Retrieved from : http://www. defra. gov. uk/wildlife-countryside/cs2000/02/01. htm Accessed February 2007. 4. Egbu, C. (1996) Characteristics and Difficulties Associated with Refurbishment. Constructio n Papers No. 66, CIOB, Ascot. 5. Ferry, D. J. and Brandon, P. S. (1984) Cost Planning of Buildings, BSP Professional Books, London, UK, ISBN 0-632-02403-8 . Firmansyah . A,B et. al(2006) Risk analysis in feasibility study of building construction project: case study -Pt. Perusahaan Gas Negara Indonesia. The Tenth East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction August 3-5, 2006, Bangkok, Thailand Retrieved from http://eprints. qut. edu. au/6551/1/Trigunarsyah_EASEC_10_5. pdf 7. Department for Environment and Rural Affairs. (2000) Countryside Survey — Accounting for Nature: Assessing Habitats in the UK Countryside [online], Retrieved from : http://www. efra. gov. uk/wildlife-countryside/cs2000/02/01. htm Accessed February 2007. 8. Justis, R. T. Kreigsmann, B. (1979). The feasibility study as a tool for venture analysis. Business Journal 9. National Statistics Online. (2005) Population — UK Population Grows to 59. 6 million [online], Retrieved fro m : http://www. statistics. gov. uk/cci/nugget. asp? id=760 Accessed February 2007. 10. Paul Watson (2009) The key issues when choosing adaptation of an existing building over new build Journal of Building Appraisal (2009) 4, 215–223

The Concept of Flexibility

Introduction Pilbeam and Corbridge defined flexibility as the ability of an organisation to adapt the necessary people’s inputs in terms of composition, size, cost and responsiveness in order to effectively meet organisational goals and objectives (Pilbeam Corbridge, 2010). Examples of scholars who have written about the concept of flexibility are Taylor and Atkinson (Cheng Jarvis, 1996).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept of Flexibility specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are various types of flexibility and they include financial, numerical, functional, temporal and locational flexibilities. These work to ensure that organisations are not understaffed or overstaffed (CIPD, 2012). Financial flexibility has to do with the ability of an organisation to deploy financial resources only where necessary and avoiding unnecessary costs in organisational processes. Functional flexibility is the alloc ation of organisational functions to specific individuals. It also has to do with the ability of an organisation to have a workforce which can perform various tasks at any given time. Numerical flexibility has to do with the staffing of organisations depending on how much work is available at any given time (Acas, 2012). Temporal flexibility is the engagement of workers on temporary basis, otherwise known as contractual employment while locational flexibility is the ability of an organisation to facilitate its employees to work from their homes so as to cut on key infrastructural costs such as office space and transport (CIPD, 2013). The driving interest of the topic of flexibility in the UK is the need to liberalize the labour market. In 2003, the UK government introduced the right to work in a flexible manner especially for care givers and employees with children aged six years and below. In 2009, the right was extended to include parents with children of up to sixteen years. Howe ver, the right was enjoyed by those employees who had been in employment for at least 26 weeks (Flexibility, 2012). Currently, over 90% of all employees in the UK have access to at least one form of flexible employment with part time employment leading with 72% of all employees followed by flexible time at 50% while job sharing comes third at 45%. Some 37% of all employees work in compressed weeks while 24% work at home (Hooker, Neathey, Casebourne Munro, 2007). According to Atkinson’s model, flexibility has the advantage of reducing employee turnover and saving on the costs of recruitment. It also reduces cases of absenteeism as well as improves customer service because employees work as per the given timelines (Vallespir, 2010).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Discussion Atkisons, while working at the Institute of Manpower Studies became well known for his flexible model otherwise knwon as the ‘flexible firm’. Since 1980s, the flexible firm model has gained popularity especially for its intention and ability to restructure the labour sector across the world and especially in the United Kingdom. This followed the financial cricis of 1980s which hardly hit many firms. The firms thus opted to apply the ideas of Atkisons so as to survive (Murray, Poole, Jones, 2006). The core principle of the model is the segmentation of employees into permanent or ‘core’ and part time or ‘periperal’ employees. The ‘core’ employees work on full time basis while the part time employees work on contract basis. The overall objective of Atkisons model was the improvement of the quality of work and services offered by various firms. In determining the ‘core’ employees, a firm is usually guided by the skills possessed by people. In essense, ‘core’ employees have rare skills and that is why t hey are engaged on a permanent basis. This is not to say or imply that the ‘periperal’ employees must be in possession of poor skills but what it means is that the ‘core’ employees have to posses the ability to multitask. For example, a person who is trained as an accountant can also posses skills in strategic management, which can be beneficial to the organization. This employee is better retained by an organization because he or she is an important resouce to it. Organizations also foucs on training and retraining of the ‘core’ employees from time to time so as to enable them to multitask. On the other hand, it is not a must for ‘periperal’ employees to posses more than one skill because they are hired for a specific period of time to undertake specific tasks. When the tasks are not there, there is no need of having the persons on the pay list because such an act would mean that the organization woud be incurring unnecessary expe diture, which would otherwise been used in other useful and profitable activities. Periperal workers are more sucseptible to layoffs especially during financial crisis. A succesful flexible firm usually has work flexibility and employment flexibility. Work flexibility includes things like establishment of work teams or groups, schedulling of work and how work load is balanced within an organization. Employment flexibility has to do with engaging employees either on permanent or temporary basis or as per necessity. For companies to effectively implement the Atiksons’ model, there is need for collaboration between the companies’s CEOs and the personnel departments, which essencially deals with human resource management. There is the need for the two to jointly develop an organizational startegy, especialy with regard to staffing. Communication between the two is therefore a very key ingridient for the succes of the model because industries keep on changing and thus the n eed to be always strategic.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept of Flexibility specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The need to embrace the flexible firm model is also based on the changing nature of the world especially with regard to information and communication technology which has made it much easier to work at home or any other place of the worker’s convinience. Many firms across the United Kingom and the European Union have embraced technology as a means of cutting expenses on office space, furniture, transport and other physical infrastructure. Arguably, there has been a radical depature from focusing on the hardware aspects of work to focusing on the software aspects of work. What this means is that organizations are able to engage people who are able to work from their home, provided they are able to understand their roles and how to discharge those roles in an efficient and effective manner . There has also been the expansion of the education sector, which has seen many academic institutions introduce online academic programs such as degree and masters progrms (VanNostrand Brekke, 1997). Students are enrolled for certain programs after which they are send the course materials online to study at their home and only go to the institutions for exams. Some institutions even go to the extend of offering the exams online. A good example of an institution which has been practicing this mode of study is the Liverpool University which offers masters programs through an online platform. This has enabled many learners to access education and also enabled the institution to cut on the costs of hiring lectureres and for building classes and purchasing other learning infrastructure (Kanigel, 1997). Flexibility in the United Kingdom is a topic of major interest both to the employers and employees. As mentioned in the introduction, the concept has been instituionalized since 2003 whe n the government through legislation gave employees with children aged six years and below the right to work flexiblby (Study mode, 2013). According to a survey conducted by third work-life balance employer, majority (92%) of UK employers said they were willing to grand their employees an opportunity to work flexibly (Brown Remenyi, 2004). However, about 27% of the interviewed employees said they had to approach their employers to request to work in a flexible manner despite the legislation requring all employees with children aged up to sixteen years the right to work flexibly. This is an indication that the employers largely accepted the idea only because of the legisaltion (Department for Work and Pensions, 2009).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The survey further revealed that females were more likely to request to work flexibly than their male counterparts. Majority (68%) of those who made such requests had been in the employment for at least six months while 21 % who made such requests had been in the employment for less than six months. The survey revealed lack of awareness about the legislations giving employees the right to work flexibly (Department for Work and Pensions, 2009). This is due to the high number of employees (19%) who applied to work flexibly without them qualifying for the same. In order to increase the levels of awareness, the Britain government has established programs and plans to encourage employers to adopt more family friendly work arragments so as to allow as many employees as possible get access to flexible working. An example of such programs is the Building Britain recovery of 2009 (Department for Work and Pensions, 2009). Recently in the UK, there have been calls for employers to ensure that their employees are at liberty to choose what time to work and at which location (House of Commons business committee, 2007). This has been necessitated by the dynamism of the workforce, where you find people having more than one skill or competency and are able to do more than one job at any given time (Bureau of business practice, 1998). This has been seen as a complete departure or the need to depart from the classical scientific management theory by Frederick Winslow Taylor (Spender Kijine, 1996). Taylor argued that for organisations to achieve efficiency and increase their productivity, they had to analyse jobs and employ people who were able to do those jobs (FAO Corporate Document Respiratory, 1997). He came up with four principles of scientific management which include scientific selection and training of employees as opposed to the idea of selecting and leaving them to train themselves; the replacement of the traditional â€Å"rule- of-thumb† methods of work with a scientific analysis, formulation and interpretation of jobs or tasks; close supervision and monitoring of workers who were given clear instructions regarding their tasks and duties to perform and division of work among the managers and the employees with the managers being tasked with scientific planning of tasks as the workers executed those tasks (Taylor, 2008 ). Through flexibility, organisations are able to increase their productivity and improve the recruitment and retention of a workforce which is diverse. Atkinson argued that through flexibility, the employers are able to brand themselves as best employers due to the high motivation among the peripheral employees (Browne, 2006). However, flexibility leads to increased workload among the employees, leading to fatigue. It also kills career growth and development. Since employees work on temporary basis, they are isolated from each other and this kills the intrinsic value of work (Gleason, 2006). On the part of the employers, fl exibility has the problem of posing as a threat to human resource development, which is one of the key ingredients of successful organisations. The employers are also unable to benefit from the multiplicity of talents and skills which are present in the contemporary workforce because the employees are engaged to do a specific task and they can only do another task under a new contract (Taylor, 2005). An example of an organisation which has practiced flexibility in its operations is the Border Force Agency, which uses teams of competent professionals on contract basis. The teams are only deployed when there is need to deploy them (Lizabeth McCabe, 2005). Through this, the organisation manages to save a lot of financial resources which were otherwise supposed to pay the teams if they were to work on permanent basis. Another example is the Citi bank, which during the Olympic Games allowed 30, 000 of its employees to work at home. This saw the bank save 30% in travel costs and effectiv ely solved the transport problem experienced during the Olympic Games. Conclusion Flexibility is a strategy employed by contemporary organisations to ensure attainment of their objectives using the minimum human resources. It is based on the philosophy that the engagement of employees on permanent basis only helps organisations to waste fiscal resources in paying permanent employees. It can be contrasted with the Taylor’s approach, which agitates for scientific management of employees. Currently in the UK, over 90% of all employees have access to at least one form of flexible employment, with part time employment taking the lion’s share at 72% of all employees working flexibly. Legislations have been passed to give employees the right to work on part time basis in order to create a work life balance and also to get opportunities to further their studies. However, it leads to isolation of employees. Reference List Acas 2012, Training and Business Solutions. Web. Brown, A. Remenyi, D. 2004, 3rd European Conference on Research Methodology for Business and Management Studies, Polity, Malden, MA. Browne, K. 2006, Introducing sociology: for AS level, Polity, Malden, MA. Bureau of business practice 1998, managing a flexible workforce. Bureau of Business Practice, Waterford, CT. Cheng, T. Jarvis, P. 1996, Just-in-time manufacturing : an introduction, Chapman and Hall, London. CIPD 2012, Championing better work and working lives. Web. CIPD 2013, Flexible working. Web. Department for Work and Pensions 2009, Building Britain’s Recovery. Achieving Full Employment volume 22. FAO Corporate Document Respiratory 1997, Management of Agricultural Research: A Training Manual. Module 3: Organisational Principles and Design. Web. Flexibility 2012, Case studies of Smart and Flexible Working. Web. Gleason, S. 2006, The shadow workforce: perspectives on contingent work in the United States, Japan, and Europe, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalam azoo, Mich. Hooker, H., Neathey, F., Casebourne, J. Munro, M. 2007, The Third Work Life Balance Employee Survey, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Research series No. 58. House of Commons business committee 2007, Workforce planning, The Stationery Office, London. Kanigel, R. 1997, ‘Taylor-made’, ‘19th-century efficiency expert Frederick Taylor’, Volume 37 i3 p18(1). Lizabeth, M. McCabe, K. P. 2005, Not just getting by: the new era of flexible workforce development, Lexington Books, Lanham. Murray, P., Poole, D. Jones, G. 2006, Contemporary issues in Management and Organisational Behaviour, Cengage Learning, Farmington Hills, MI. Pilbeam Corbridge 2010, People resourcing and talent planning: HRM in practice, 4th edn, Financial Times, Prentice Hall. Spender J. C. Kijine, H. 1996, Scientific Management (Taylorism). Web. Study mode 2013, Atkinson Flexible Firm Essays and Term Papers. Web. Taylor, S. 2005, People resourcing, Chartered Inst. of Personnel and Development, London. Taylor, F. D. 2008, The Principles of Scientific Management.: Digireads.com Publishing, Philadelphia, PA. Vallespir, B. 2010, Advances in production management systems new challenges, new approaches; IFIP WG 5.7 international conference; revised selected papers, Springer, New York, NY. VanNostrand, S. Brekke, M. 1997, Temporary sanity: managing today’s flexible workforce, SOCAA Pub, Westminster, CO. This essay on The Concept of Flexibility was written and submitted by user K1nsey to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Chapels and Chaplains

Chapels and Chaplains Chapels and Chaplains Chapels and Chaplains By Maeve Maddox Because I think of chapel as word with distinctly Christian connotations, I was startled to hear a radio spot announcement for a â€Å"Jewish Funeral Chapel.† Naturally I headed straight for the OED. Chapel has an interesting history and several meanings, including one that can mean â€Å"any place set aside for private worship or meditation.† Chapel derives from Latin cappella, â€Å"little cloak† and took on its religious significance from a saint’s relic: the cloak of Saint Martin of Tours (316-397). Born in Hungary, Martin was conscripted into the Roman army and deployed to Gaul (now France), On his way to Amiens on a cold day, Martin came upon an nearly naked beggar. Impulsively, he whipped off his military cloak, sliced it in two with his sword, and gave half to the beggar. From a big cloak, it had become a little cloak. Martin went on to become Bishop of Tours and a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. The Merovingian kings of FranceClovis, Dagobert, Pepin and that lotpreserved what they believed to be Saint Martin’s capella. They kept it in a reliquary in a royal oratory near Tours. It was considered to be so holy that oaths were sworn on it. Sometimes it was carried into battle by the king. On those occasions, small temporary structures were built to house it; people took to calling these shelters capella, because of the little cloak that lay within. The priest who travelled with the army to look after the relic was called a cappellanu. Eventually, any priest who traveled with the military to attend to their spiritual needs was called by that name, which has evolved into the English word chaplain. A chapel can refer to a free-standing structure or a room in a house, embassy, college, school, prison, funeral home, or any other institution. It can be a place of worship for any religious group. In the 18th century, chapel referred to the meeting houses of sectarians outside the established church, such as Roman Catholics and Methodists. In Silas Marner by George Eliot, the title character belongs to a chapel in an industrial city. Chapel can also mean a religious service. For example, â€Å"All students are required to attend chapel in the auditorium on Thursdays.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Redundant Phrases to AvoidIn Search of a 4-Dot EllipsisContinue and "Continue on"

Motivation at the workplace Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Motivation at the workplace - Assignment Example Motivation is more of psychological processes that lead to arousal, persistence and direction of one’s behavior. Intrinsic motivation is driven by enjoyment or interest in task itself and it exists within individual and not on any external pleasure (Alexander et al, 2000, p. 54). Extrinsic motivation is driven by activity performance that is focused on attaining an outcome, it rises from outside the person, and some of the forms of extrinsic motivations include threat of punishment, coercion, money and grades (Jelencic, 2011, p. 3). Competition is also a form of extrinsic motivation. In the workplace, work of manager entails getting work done by employees, for this to be achieved; managers have a role to motivate employees. Motivation entails both theory and practice and its one of the difficult subjects that touches various disciplines. In the workplace, motivation is approached by businesses in different ways as managers try their best to motivate employees to work hard, how ever, the fact is that no one can make one work where that person has no desire to work (Podroff, 2005, p. 40). Effective motivation requires the managers to shift workers mindset and understanding of employees creating the appropriate set of circumstances in the workplace. Podroff (2005, p. 40) has argued that motivation is not and cannot be coerced. Importance of workplace motivation According to Jex and Britt (2008, p. 234), motivation is central in determining intensity, duration, and direction of work-related behavior among employees, behavior here refers to activities that employees engage in at workplace. Intensity of motivation determines the energy and vigor that employees put in directing their work-related goals. In organizational psychology, common motivation dependent variables include employees’ choice, effort, and at times persistence. Motivation influences the performance and well-being of employees. Kondalkar (p.246) added that motivation reduces employeesâ⠂¬â„¢ turnover, enhances their ability to accept organizational change, and improves the image of the organization. Ways of enhancing workplace motivation Bruce (2006, p. 7) suggested various ways of motivating staff, one of them is to know their need for motivation, once the manager is able to answer the question, he/she is well placed in engaging the employees at work more effectively and influence their workplace behavior so that they can act more enthusiastically focusing on achieving the organizational goals. Managers must also recognize employees’ real motivation without relying on myths like financial incentives as the only motivator; this requires mangers to evaluate the factors that drive their employees’ motivation. Managers need to inspire employees to what is meaningful and important, for instance, they can inspire the staff to think like business entrepreneurs, to take risks and unleash their synergistic and limitless potential. Effective communication is also essential in enabling staff realize the reasons for doing what managers desire to be done, employees may not necessarily be motivated by managers reasons and objectives, they would wish to know what is in the objectives for themselves, managers therefore must communicate to them so as to evaluate their purposes and causes and connect them to organizational activities and goals. Latham (2007, p. 4) argued that motiv