Monday, September 30, 2019

Human Resource department of Thorpe Park Essay

Introduction: This report written on the 16th of October 2002 is to give a detailed report about the Human Resource department of a company. For this purpose, Thorpe Park has been selected as the study company. Task 1-Human Resource function: Introduction: ‘Human Resource means using people as an asset to achieve the company’s goals and objectives.’ The main concerns of the human resource department are: > Planning a successful campaign > Equal opportunities to all > The contract terms and conditions > Training and investing in training > Personal records and its protection > Grievance and disciplinary procedures > Management of the employees > Rewards for work > Welfare of the employees Findings: 1.1 The Human Resource department The human resources department at Thorpe Park has three different managers. Their structure and main functions are as follows: 1. Recruitment manager The recruitment manager at Thorpe Park is responsible for recruiting permanent and seasonal staff. The manager has to advertise the jobs on the local press and other appropriate places. The manager at Thorpe Park is also responsible for deciding work experience positions and other recruiting responsibilities. 2. Training manager The training manager at Thorpe Park is responsible for employees and their training. The major activities of the training manager at Thorpe Park are as follows: > Park structure – this is helpful for the staff as it gets them to know each other and their responsibilities. > Health and safety – to make sure that all employees know what to do and how to handle things in an emergency > Rules and regulations – all employees must know the company rules and regulations as it is required by law and helps the business achieve the objectives. > Role-play situation – helps employees to be able to do team work and support their team mates > Fire safety – show fire exits and fire extinguishers and where to meet and who to call if a fire alarm sounds > Emergency procedures – shows the employees what to do in case of emergency 3. Human resource manager H.R. manager at Thorpe Park is responsible for: > Employee relations – involves everything regarding relation and communication between the employees > Disciplinary procedures – if employees do not behave H.R. manager will provide them with a verbal warning and if repeated that will be followed by the written and then the final warning. > Contracts of employment – making sure all the employees are provided with this legal document > Pensions – paying pension to people that are entitle to it > Other sections this manager is responsible for are: administration, cast welfare, benefits incentives. The above stated managers are very essential to the management of Thorpe Park in the following ways: 1. Recruitment Recruitment responsibility at Thorpe Park is important because if there is not enough staff recruited then the business may have to some of its rides and that will lint to unhappy customers and less profit for the business. As we know staffs is the most expensive asset for all businesses, at Thorpe Park the recruitment managers have to make sure that the staff that they employ are well qualified and fit to the requirements that are necessary for the particular job. 2. Training Because of the nature of the business at Thorpe Park, training is a part and parcel of the new employed staff. The business has to make sure that the employees do know as to what they are doing and what are the necessary precautions to be taken while performing that job. Apart from this, they also have to take care of the health and safety of the people who come to enjoy there. The training manager therefore has to make sure that the money spent on the training of the staff is worth it. 3. Human resources Task 2 Introduction: Human resources planning used to be called manpower planning. However recently it has been defined as ‘the activity of management which is aimed at co-ordinating the requirements for the availability of different types of employees’. The reasons for human resource planning are as follows: * To encourage employers to develop clear links between their business plans and their HR plans so that they can integrate the two more effectively, for all concerned. * Organisations can control staff costs and numbers employed far more effectively. * Employers can build up a skill profile for each of their employees. This makes it easier to give them work where they are most value to the organisation. * It creates a profile of staff, which is necessary for the operation of an equal opportunities policy. The process of human resource planning: * Stocktaking: This could be job analysis or skills audit. That is like a survey of the skills of employees. Performance reviews as if a 6 months review which tells employees about the progress in their work area. * Forecasting supply: This is as if estimating how many employees to have in the future. Many organizations use a technique called labour turnover. There are three ways to calculate this 1. Annual labour turnover index, 2. Stability index 3. Bowey’s stability index. * Forecasting the demand for labour: This is usually determined by predicating factors like, demand for products, product diversification and capital investment plans. * Implementation and review: This is as if accessing the situation e.g. they have the new recruitment plan been successful. Findings: 2.1.1. Employment Trends: Employment trends depend on the supply and demand of labour. The supply of labour depends on statistics like the population of the country. The total population of the UK depends on factors such as birth and death rates and the ease of migration. In addition, the size of the working population affects employment trends. The size of the working population is contributed by the birth and death rates and the age structure. The supply of labour also depends on the working populations preferences for leisure. As people become wealthy, they prefer leisure for work. The demand for labour levels can change with differences in demand for goods and services. An example of this is the leisure and cleaning industry has gone up but the service and manufacturing demand has gone down. Here is an example of this in the economic market. In a boom we spend more on goods and services, although our interest is a lot lower and therefore demand increases and unemployment is low, but in an economic slump interest rates rise therefore people have less income to spend and wages go down. In addition, the cost of borrowing is higher this all contributes to demand falling and high unemployment. Total wage bills rise in a boom and fall in a slump. Another factor that affects employment trends is women’s participation rate in employment. The rise of the tertiary sector has meant a change in employment and employment patterns. The tertiary sector is now more important than the secondary sector which traditionally employed man in say manufacturing. These industries are now being replaced and their place has been taken by the service industries, for example banking, insurance and retailing. The service industries are now major employers of women. What are the employment trends at Thorpe Park? Most employees are recruited from the local area but also from colleges and universities around the country these are student placements and some seasonal; cast come from aboard. What have been the trends in the local area of Thorpe Park over the last 5 years in terms of employment trends? There has been low unemployment Thorpe Park has tackled this by increasing hourly rates. What factors will affect Thorpe Park in the future? Most probably, national trends an example of this there might be a recession and unemployment might increase. Statistics on employment trends external To Thorpe Park Length of service of employees: * Since 1986 the length of service of people at a particular place for 2 years – 20 years was 62%. This figure kept decreasing and in the year 2001 it reached to 56%. * On the other hand people working in a particular place for more than 20 years in 1986 was 9%. Surprisingly this figure increased to 11% in the year 2001. On observing the above stated figure it shows that the latest unemployment numbers for November 2002 to January 2003 continue to suggest that, having been rising for around a year, unemployment is now falling. The unemployment rate at 5.0 per cent is down 0.2 percentage points on the quarter. The latest figure for the level of unemployment is down 73,000 on the quarter to stand at 1.459 million Similarly, on observing the above figure it can be seen that the employment rate continues on an upward trend. Having been rising marginally over the past year, there are low signs that unemployment may be falling, though the decline in the numbers claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance appears to be levelling off. The rate of earnings growth remains subdued. Generally, data are consistent with the output growth shown in gross domestic product (GDP) data in 2002. Overall, the labour market remains largely flat. The rate of GDP growth picked up in the second quarter of 2002 after a weak first quarter, and this stronger growth appears to have continued into the third. The fourth quarter experienced slower growth but was still healthy. The number of people in employment continued to grow steadily throughout the period. Nevertheless, while employment continued to grow, through most of last year the rate of increase was no more than in line with population growth, leaving the trend in employment largely flat from May-July 2001 until recent months. However, the stronger GDP growth seen in the second and third quarters does now appear to be showing up in the employment data. Underlying this is the fact that the labour market tends to lag output: output slows or accelerates first; employment levels adjust later. The latest employment figures for November to January show the working-age employment rate up 0.1-percentage point on the quarter at 74.6 per cent. The 16 and over employment level is up 57 ,000 on the quarter (compared with a 271,000 increase on the year). As a result, the latest trend in the employment rate appears to be upward. 2.1.2 Skills shortages Skills shortage at Thorpe Park: * It seems to be that the entire United Kingdom has a shortage of specialist engineers. * This type of shortage has hit Thorpe Park very hard. * Electrical and mechanical engineers are in short supply and Thorpe Park is looking out by various means to find some. * Thorpe Park reckons that this problem could be resolved because large companies like the airlines make their employees redundant quickly. * Thorpe Park always keeps an eye on the national statistics at a monthly basis to see the latest local labour trends. * They cannot afford to miss out ant potential engineers because engineers are the heart and soul of the company. As they are the ones who form the rides and maintain them for our safety. * But they do find it difficult to recruit staff and at times they have to recruit unsuitable staff and train them. * The company gets highly affected by this, as it has to face many cost implications such as advertising and re-advertising of vacancies. * They then have to train them or send them on apprenticeships to become better and much efficient engineers. * At times they even have to increase their pays to attract them and retain them. 2.1.3 Statistics on Competition for employees external To Thorpe Park Unemployment rates for males and females in the UK Here are some statistics on the unemployment rate for females and males in the UK from the period of 1992 to 2001 A higher proportion of young people than older people are unemployed, and a higher proportion of men are employed than women. 16-17 year olds men who were economically active were 13% unemployed. If you look at a male and female unemployment graph, you can see that 16 – 17 year old males are more out of work than the males. Education has a big factor in this because most people of that age are in colleges. The unemployment rate is again lower for females in the 18-24-age bracket. Still the unemployment rate is lower for females than men in the 25-44-age bracket. Overall the graph shows a lower unemployment rate for females. This is probably due to most females still stay at home. So what would be the level of competition for various types of employment within Thorpe Park? Thorpe Park fined it easiest to fill rides, attractions and shop vacancies then they do catering. 2.1.4 availability of labour (internal and external to the business) What is the availability of labour externally to Thorpe Park? There are restrictions of skills and abilities. If there is a particular skill required for an occupation then the worker will be rewarded with high wages as, for example an engineer. Qualifications and training is required some occupations require people to have specific academic qualifications which can only be achieved over along period of time. The strength of trade unions to negotiate wage levels will depend upon their ability to recruit members. Some occupations are difficult to organize as, for instance, the catering industry. In this industry trade unions have little influence compared with those unions operating in the energy supply industry. Mobility of labour if the labour is immobile it means that in those occupations where there is a skill shortage workers are able to command high wages because the supply of labour is limited. Dirty or dangerous jobs – the supply of labour in some jobs is restricted because of the nature of the job; it might be dirty or dangerous such as coal mining. On the other hand some jobs have very good working conditions and attract labour which keep down wages. What is the availability of labour within the local area and also internally within Thorpe Park for various types of employment? The local area has a 0.6% unemployment level. The workforce is flexible – permanent and seasonal. The labour force by gender and age: Females: * There was a considerable rise in the number of women in the labour force over the last 30 years from 10 million in 1971 to 13.2 million in 2001 i.e. by nearly 24.2%. * Women in the age group of 16years to 24 years started concentrating more on education because of which females in this age group had a low labour force particularly between 1991 and 2001. * On the other hand, females in the age group of 25-44 years had a remarkable increased labour force between 1971 and 2001. However, later the figures remained more or less constant. * Females in the age group of 45-54 years had an increase in labour force between 1991 and 2001. * The females 55 years and over had the figures more or less constant throughout. Males: * The number of men in the labour force has increased much slowly from 16.0 million in 1971 to 16.3 million in 2001. * Men aged over 55 years formed only 13% of the male labour force in 2001 compared to 21% in 1971. * However, the labour force of males between the age group of 25-44 years has increased drastically. * Males in the age group of 45-54 years have increased their force in the labour market between 1991 and 2001. 2.2 Collect internal staffing information about Thorpe Park 2.2.1 Labour turnover The labour turnover is not available the end of November 2001 because the termination of seasonal contracts will be complete at this time. 2.2.2 Labour Turnover (wastage Rate) Dismissals 26/1000 correct at 31.08.01. 2.2.3 Sickness Rates For 2000 2394 seasonal sickness absence Months over 100 April, May, September, October Months over 150 June, July, August Days over 100 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday Days over 150 Sunday, Saturday 2.2.4 Accidents Rates Unfortunately Thorpe Park would not give us any statistics on accidents rates. 2.2.5 Age demographics The general age rates for various jobs are 89% are 16-24 years of age. 2.2.6 Skills acquired and skills needed The skills and training that are required are: Training: Induction training for all staff and departmental training. Skills: First Aiders only need specific skills. 2.2.7 Training undertaken and training required What is the rate of progression within Thorpe Park? From seasonal cast 14 have been made permanent. 2.2.8 Succession What does Thorpe Park hope to accomplish in the future?. They want to increase their sales through good guest care; this will need high-level training of staff to achieve this. Thorpe Park wants to change their profile of Park from thrill to family bias and they want a high level of guest satisfaction. 2.3 If you look at the length of service of the employees in the UK in 1986,91,96 and 2001 and you look at the dismissals, which Thorpe Park have, you will see that 26/1000 dismals in a year is 2.6% which is lower than the statistics of the length of service of people in employment. For the year 2001 the UK length of service in a year is 13%, which is a lot higher than Thorpe Parks 2.6% of people who leave after one year. The number of people in employment in Thorpe Park is 1000 ad for the year 2000 there were 2394 absences. In the UK the number of employment at about the end was little under 27500. So as you can see there is a very high number of absences at Thorpe Park. They need to improve on these figures I accept most of these absences are from people who are not really ill. It is probably young people from the age group 16 – 24 who have been out the night before and don’t want to come in. In this case Thorpe Park need to be harder on their disciplinary rules to cut ab sences figures. Thorpe Park does not have enough engineers. This is national problem; They could deal with this situation by having more apprenticeships in engineering. The local area around Thorpe Park, which is Staines, has a 0.6% unemployment level. This is good because nationally the unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds is very high. The 16 – 24 age group is the main age group for seasonal staff so nationally the unemployment rate for females aged 16-17 is 16.8% in 2000 and 18-24 is 8.2%. The male’s 16-17 year olds is 20% and the 18-24 year group is 11.8%. So you can see that the area of Staines has very low unemployment compared to the rest of the UK. By having low unemployment it is harder to recruit more staff. The staff they do recruit might not be the sort person they want but because of the low competition of applicants, they might have to train a person up to the necessary standard. 89% of Thorpe Parks employees are 16 – 24 year olds. Due to the rising interest of this age group going to school, college and university I think this has contributed to a decline in the number of people in employment at that age. Thorpe Park do seem to have a good number of employees at this age though . In 2000 nationally in the UK male 16 – 24 year olds there was only 2.7 million of them in employment with a decrease and the same with females with only 2.3 million in employment. So Thorpe Park is doing well to have 89% of 16 – 24 year olds working for them. 2.4 I recommend that Thorpe Park: * Have harder disciplinary rules to stop so much sickness through absences, the rule should be people who are sick can stay at home, but the people who are sick through hangovers must be told to come in or face harsh circumstances. * There should be more apprenticeships for electrical engineers this will help train people and eventually there will be more qualified electrical engineers working at the Park. * They need to increase their customer service training so customers can feel a good degree of guest care. * Finally if Thorpe Park want their Theme Park more family based, then I suggest a new ride for the family 2.5 2.5.1 Engineers electrical and mechanical engineers are in very short supply. Nationally this is the case. What needs to happen is more apprenticeships and training so we can breed more engineers. Also because of the external influence of terrorism on the airlines a lot of engineers are being made redundant or will be made redundant. This won’t help airlines but other companies will then be able to recruit more engineers. Competition for employees is very tight. The labour market remained robust in 2001 with ongoing employment growth. Traditionally the UK has always had high employment. Low unemployment is meaning that employees are increasing wages by over 4%. Currently unemployment is very low about 4.5% nationally that is about 4 people out of 100 is unemployed and the local unemployment is 0.4% which is 4 people out of 1000. Employment is at an all time of 73% and this is an all time high for women. So this makes it more difficult to recruit staff and employers will find it more expensive because of the amount of advertising and training. The Availability of labour can often cause problems; there are usually restrictions of skills and abilities. There might be a particular skill required for an occupation like an engineer. Qualifications and training is required for some jobs and some time gaining the qualification can take a long time to do. Trade unions need a high level of labour to negotiate wages with its members. Mobility of labour if the labour force is immobile then the labour force that is there can try and demand higher wages because the supply of labour is limited. Dirty or dangerous jobs can sometimes alter the supply of labour because of then nature of the job. On the other hand some jobs have very good working conditions and attract labour which keep down wages. 2.5.2 Thorpe Park has apprenticeships and external courses to train engineers. By doing this they will increase the number of engineers, which at the moment is in short, supply. Due to the low unemployment in the UK Thorpe Park have started to recruit people from abroad to increases their amount of staff, which they will need to do due the Park expanding in size. Thorpe Park is situated in Staines, which is the South East of England, which has the lowest unemployment in the UK. So Thorpe Park are finding tit hard to recruit in the local area that’s why they are expanding recruit aboard. Also I think that Thorpe Park are maybe hoping to bring a different culture to Thorpe Park like Disney World have in America there have kept there Theme Park American but adding some different cultures to the mix. Thorpe Park has offered training schemes through NVQ’S and apprenticeships and other external training courses. Due to the immobile labour of engineers, engineers at Thorpe Park can demand higher wages due to they are in demand and they are very important to the business. Also fixing Theme Park rides does have the possibility of being quite dangerous like possible the loss of a finger etc. On the other hand labour might be attracted to Thorpe Park due to the their good working conditions. They must have good working conditions due to their nature of the business and because the health and safety act states it should, so it is a legal requirement any way. 2.5.3 Over the past 50 years the UK has seen migration rocket. Thorpe Park is also trying to develop this by encouraging people to migrate and work at Thorpe Park. As people become wealthier they want more leisure time this relates to when youngsters go out the night before and then don’t come to work in the morning because perhaps they are too tired or probably got a hangover one of the two. Labour market trends show that most 16 -21 year olds that studied at school, college or university often get a weekend job or an evening job and student placements from say universities. This is who a lot of the seasonal Thorpe Park staff are usually. Due to the low unemployment Thorpe Park has increased its hourly wage. If you analysis national figures on the length of service of employees in the UK you will see that in 2001 people who have been in work for over a year 13% of them leave, compare this Thorpe Parks 2.6% dismals record and you will see that employees at Thorpe Park do tend to stay on for much longer. If you look at the number of people in the employment graph you will see that there is 27500 and Thorpe Park only have 1000 so I suggest that due to Thorpe Parks ambitions to expand the Park in size they will need to expand their employment figures in size. If you look at the unemployment rates nationally you will see that for females aged 16-17 is 16.8% in 2000 and 18-24 is 8.2%. The male’s 16-17 year olds is 20% and the 18-24 year group is 11.8%. All those percentages are lot a higher than the Staines local area unemployment rate which is 0.6%. This proves that there are less people to employ in Staines than the national average. In 2000 nationally in the UK male 16 – 24 ye ar olds there was only 2.7 million of them in employment with a decrease and the same with females with only 2.3 million in employment. So Thorpe Park is doing well to have 89% of 16 – 24 year olds working at Thorpe Park. Task 2- Conclusion I think Thorpe Park do have a successfully human resource plan in relation to the format given in my textbook. Why because the staffs is properly qualified to do the job allotted to them. Also Thorpe Park does use the process of human resources very effectively. Then do this by carry our the 4 main stages which are: Stock taking an example of this is job analysis Forecasting the supply of labour an example of this is annual labour turnover index Forecasting demand for employees Implementation and review Task 3: Recruitment and selection. One of the most important jobs for the human resources manager is recruiting and selecting new employees. Without the right employees, the organisation will be unable to operate efficiently, serve its customers properly, or make any profits. With the proper recruitment and selection techniques, organisations can make as sure as possible that they can achieve these objectives. In the recruitment and selection procedure generally the following procedures: > Giving a job description > Preparing an advertisement for the job > Application forms > Short listing candidates > Person specification > Psychometric/diagnostic tests > Interviews and cross checking the candidates > Offer and rejection of the candidates > Contract of employment > Staff handbook 3.1 > Person specification: A person specification sets out the qualities of an ideal candidate whereas a job description defines the duties and responsibilities of the job. The best-known method of drawing up person specifications is the ‘SEVEN POINT PLAN’ originally devised by Alec Rodger. Following is an example of the seven-point plan: Essentials Desirables How identified Physical (this includes grooming looks, voice tone etc) Attainments (this includes the educational qualifications and experience) General intelligence (the results from the IQ tests) Special aptitude (the special skills of the person) Interests (their hobbies and their social life) Disposition (the stability of the person) Circumstances (the personal life of the person) Rodger’s seven-point plan usually requires managers to distinguish between essential and desirable qualities under each of the seven headings. > Job description: Before an organisation goes in the recruitment process, it needs to examine the job description for the post. A job description lists the main tasks required in a job. In drawing up a job, description the personnel department has a number of alternatives. These are: 1. The line manager can draw up a description of what the job entails. 2. The existing jobholder can do it. 3. The human resource manager can interview the jobholder and the line manager to find out what the job involves. The aim of the exercise is to itemise all the tasks involved in a job and to try to allocate a proportion of the working week to each task. This is important for several reasons: 1. In carrying out appraisals of the employees. 2. When analysing the job for training needs the manager must be able to see what tasks a job involves so that they can determine what training may be required. 3. For pay determination. 4. In planning the size of the work force for the future, it will be necessary to know exactly what tasks each job involves in case the re-allocation of tasks between jobs is requires. Clearly, none of this is possible without good quality and detailed job descriptions. The main features of a job description are: a) The job title b) The location of the job c) A brief outline of what the organisation does d) The main purpose of the job e) A detailed list of the main tasks required in the job f) The standards that the job holder will be required to achieve g) Pay and other benefits h) Promotion prospects i) The person to whom the job holder reports j) The person who reports the job holder > Application form: This is a far more commonly used mode of selection. Consultants devote hours to designing new and better forms that will extract even more accurate information from people. A typical form will require details on addresses, next of kin, education, training, qualifications, work experience, non-work interests (hobbies and social life) and the name of referees from whom the organisation can collect personal recommendations. The personal staff will have identified specific requirements from the job and person specification. They can compare these with the information on the forms. They only need to shortlist the applicants who have met those requirements. The forms can act as a framework for the interviewer to use should the applicant be short-listed. The organisation can keep all the forms for the short listed candidates for the vacancy and draw on them again if another vacancy arises. The form from the successful applicant will become a very useful part of their initial personal records. > Prepared advertisement: Unless an organisation pays a recruitment consultancy or an executive search consultant to find potential recruits, it will have to design its own advertisements to attract people. Specialist consultancies have sophisticated advertising departments that place large and expensive adverts in quality press. Most businesses, however, will not have such facilities and they will have to draw up their own advertisements. Before writing the advertisement, the employer must determine exactly what is wanted from the job being advertised. When drafting the advertisement the key points to consider are: i. Describe the job that is being advertised ii. Describe the type of person that is required for the job but have to be careful because it is illegal to state the sex, ethnic origin of the person required. iii. The pay and the terms and conditions iv. Place of work v. Procedure as to how the candidate can apply for the job vi. Be honest about the job being advertised, it is no use to give an over attractive picture. vii. Find the right place to advertise the job. > Psychometric/diagnostic tests: Now days it is common for employers to expect job applicants to carry out tests to give a fuller picture of their ability to do the job applied for. These are usually referred to as aptitude tests. They are appropriate for manual work where there is some skill involved and in office work where applicants be required to take a short typing or word processing test. For professional posts, these tests are less usual because it is felt that the candidate’s qualifications, references and experience are sufficient evidence. Psychometric tests assess the intelligence and personality of applicants. They are much more sophisticated than aptitude tests and the employer must have properly trained staff to analyse the test results properly. Such tests are particularly valuable when assessing intelligence, interest in the job applied for, motivation and personality. The producers of such tests argue that they are completely unbiased and extremely accurate. They are supposed to be particula rly good at assessment of personality. > Interview format/techniques: This is the final stage of the recruitment and selection and is increasingly common these days. Interviews are arranged for almost every kind of job. The process of shifting through forms or letters and examination of references is now over and that only a few of the applicants for the job will be interviewed. This is because interviews take up the time of senior managers who have to carry them out and this will be costly for them. Interviewing is sometimes done in a poorly thought out and badly structured manner that gives the organisation a bad image. To avoid this situation only requires the observation of a few simple rules: 1. Plan the interview properly. 2. Decide if there is a need for any tests for the applicant. 3. As a rule, the ‘talking split’ in the job interview should be around 20% for the interviewer and 80% for the interviewee. 4. The interview should always begin with friendly questions to put the candidate at ease. 5. Finally, there should be a question asking the candidates if they have any questions. > Offer and rejection letters: These are the crucial moments in the life of a job applicant. His fate for the particular is decided in these letters. It is very easy for the interviewer to say yes but in order to send a rejection letter they have to be polite and gentle as it should not let down the applicants desire for another job. Usually it is common to wish good luck to a candidate for his future jobs in a rejection letter. > Contract of employment: Terms and conditions of employment which apply generally or to groups of employees need to be defined in the contract of employment as described below: 1. Individual contracts of employment must satisfy the provisions of contracts of employment legislation. They include a statement of capacity in which the person is employed and the name or job title of the individual to whom he or she is responsible. They also include details of pay, allowances, hours, holidays, leave and pension arrangements and refer to relevant company policies, procedures and rules. Increasing use is being made of fixed-term contracts. 2. The basic information that should be included in a written contract of employment varies according to the level of job, but the following checklist sets out the typical headings: * Job title * Duties to be performed * The date when the employment starts * Hours of break including lunch break and overtime and shift arrangements * Holiday arrangements * Sickness leave * Length of notice due to and from employee * Grievance procedure * Disciplinary procedures * Work rules * Arrangements for terminating contract 3.2 As mentioned before Thorpe Park has seasonal staffs and permanent staffs. Therefore, for different staffs different procedures and documents are crucial. Lets have a look at these in detail: 1. Seasonal staffs: Thorpe Park has a seasonal staff of over 1000. Such a large number of seasonal staff is very difficult to select and handle. Therefore, in order to make the right decision in selecting the desired seasonal staff they would need to have a proper and well-prepared advertisement. After the advertisement, they would need to have an application form that is very essential because it helps to have a general/detailed outlook of the applicant. As Thorpe park has a large number of seasonal staff they need to have an interview checklist so that they can grade/rate the candidates on the basis of the same questions asked to everyone and that there is no kind of discrimination made during the interview. After all this a contract of employment is very essential for everyone who is employed as it proves that the person is legally employed and that he/she is aware of their duties etc. 2. Permanent staffs: As stated before Thorpe Park has permanent staff of nearly 350 members strong. Permanent staffs do have more authorities and responsibilities than the seasonal staffs. Therefore, the recruitment manager has to be even more careful in advertising and hiring these staffs. Therefore in the initial part a job description; person specification, prepared advertisement and an application form are very crucial and essential because they help in attracting the required candidate. After this, the interview and the psychometric/ diagnostic tests are essential because they help the recruitment manager to know the candidates more carefully. Finally the staff handbook and the contract of employment are helpful to the selected candidate in knowing something more about his job, benefits etc. 3.3 For seasonal staffs: > The advertisement for seasonal staffs is very good and impressive. It can really work towards attracting applicants. However, apart from stating the pay rate if they could also state the words â€Å"plus extra benefits† that could make the advertisement even more exciting. > The application form could also be improved. For instance, on page 2 the applicant is asked about the previous employment history. In this section is a question on the position of the applicant’s job but there is no question about the duties performed by the applicant in the previous job. > The questions asked in the interview checklist are good and can really make the candidate think before they can answer. However, as the number of applicants is going to be very large there would not be sufficient time to ask all the questions to all candidates. Therefore, it is recommended that there should be less questions but straight to the point. > The contract of employment does not state as to how the payments are going to be made – by cash, by cheque or it is going to be deposited into the respective account. For permanent staffs: > The advertisement for the permanent staff is very good and impressive as well. It can really work towards attracting applicants. Again, apart from stating the pay rate if they could also state the words â€Å"plus extra benefits† that could make the advertisement even more exciting. > On the application, form where it is asked to state the employment history there is very little or rather no place to state the responsibilities that the applicant had carried. This could be very crucial information for the company is selecting the desired candidate. 3.4 Analysis of the documents: > Job role: The job role prepared by the company is fantastic and much organised. They have the desired pre planned in their minds and are just waiting for its arrival. The desired qualification of the person is deeply planned and thought through. > Advertisement: The advertisement is good but not up to the mark. After having a look at the job role a person would expect an even impressive advertisement. Though the desired details are placed in the advert there are still a few things missing that make it more attractive as if the payroll could also include extra benefits and more facilities etc. > Application form: Again it is well organised and planned but the place for the crucial information is not provided for e.g. the employment history does not have any place for responsibilities held etc. Task 4 – Training and Development: Introduction: A general definition of training is: ‘the acquisition of a body of knowledge and skills which can be applied to a particular job’. Traditionally, young people left school and found a job that provided them with sufficient initial training to enable them to continue to do the same job indefinitely. Today there are very few ‘traditional’ apprenticeships and people can no longer assume that any job will be a job for life. Even people who do keep the same job for a long time are required to update their skills regularly, or face redundancy because their old skills are rapidly made useless by the advance of new technology. The significance of this is that training is much more central to peoples lives as an ongoing process rather than just something they do at the start of their careers. > Induction training: Induction is the process of introducing new employees to the organisation and its way of life and culture. A successful job applicant should be provided with induction training of some kind. As might be expected the larger, well-resourced organisations do this more thoroughly than poorly resourced, smaller organisations. Most of the induction programme will include: * A tour of the buildings to show the newcomer all the important areas – the sick room, the canteen, the pay office, toilets etc * An introduction to their new workplace – the specific office or factory areas or shop department – where they will be working * Some background details about the organisation – the easiest and best way to do this is to show them a video. > Mentoring: This a type of training where an experienced senior manager is allocated to a young employee in order to help them to structure their career development within the organisation. The mentor passes on the benefits of their experience, insight and wisdom. They will advice the young employee how to deal with a wide variety of managerial problems but they are not there to help them to improve specific skills. > Coaching: This is rather similar to mentoring but the key difference is that coaching involves helping the young employee to acquire high quality skills in a number of specific management areas. Such skills include communication with staff, budgeting, how to appraise staff and how to carry out disciplinary procedures. > Apprenticeships: The main principles of apprenticeships are: 1. Qualifications are workplace based, reflecting real workplace needs. 2. Workplace requirements are now a far bigger influence on what is taught in further education colleges. 3. The single European market means that these new qualifications will eventually become part of a common system of the Euro-qualifications. Apprenticeships usually include NVQ’s, GNVQ’s, Vocational A levels etc. Usually the company pays for such type of education for its budding employees. > In-house training: This is where the employers run courses inside their own organisation. Courses might be held in an ordinary office room or in a smart training centre owned by the organisation itself. The main benefits of using in-house courses are: 1. They are cheap – there is usually no need to employ outside trainers and lecturers. 2. Course content is tailor made for your organisation. 3. References and examples to highlight points can be related to your own organisation. 4. Everybody knows one another, so there is no time wasted in having to get to know other people. > External training: Sometimes it is necessary to send staff to do courses elsewhere. This may be with another employer, at a specialist-training centre, or at a factory of an equipment supplier. The benefits of using external courses are: 1. They bring together specialist trainers/tutors who would never be available to an ‘in-house’ course chiefly because of the high cost. 2. Course members get together from several organisations, and this enables them to learn more about each other and how their respective organisations operate. 3. Trainers place great value on the benefits of being away from the workplace – the course members are in a comfortable and peaceful environment away from any distractions. Findings: At Thorpe Park, there is a separate training sub-department within the Human Resource department. In fact, they also have a special training manager for this purpose. To begin with, let us have a look at the induction programme which is also known as ‘ice-breaker’. > Thorpe Park has two days of induction programme. The day one covers the introduction to the Tussads group, the park structure – the who’s who and where’s where, the parks health and safety issues, the uniforms and appearance of the staff, explanations of the rules and regulations, the role play situations, fire safety, emergency procedures and other general information about the park. > The day two covers the department specific training. This means that the staffs is taken to their respective departments and are given the general overall outlook of their duties and the department. After the induction, there is the personal development programme. This is not actually a training programme but is a process where the applicants are given an opportunity towards their plans in education and with the company. In this programme, the members of staff complete a PDP form, which will enable them to access their areas for improvement/development and look at ways to move forward. Other methods of training in Thorpe Park like the mentoring help the members of staff towards personal development. Besides these, Thorpe Park also offers apprenticeships like the NVQ’s for the members of staff. Across the park, they have people studying for NVQ’s in business administration, landscaping and engineering. Most of the trainings are provided to the permanent staff only. The external courses are used for legislation and development training only. Thorpe Park is known as investors in people. They have got this recognition not by spending money on the entertainment of people but by spending money on improving the quality of their staff by training them, sending them for apprenticeships and by helping them in their personal development. Training is important for the company to improve the competence of the cast and ensure the delivery of a high quality service. Recommendations: > Training is a very important part for a new candidate. Besides providing training to the permanent staff, if the company provides training to the seasonal staff as well then this may help to make the seasonal staff into permanent staff. Hence, the company will be able to save its money on advertising for the permanent staff. > If training sessions are provided to the seasonal staff, this may motivate them and the effect will show on the profit charts. Task 6 – Performance Management Introduction: Frederick W. Taylor: Frederick W. Taylor wanted to find out how people could work best, who was suited to what and to show them how to work more productively with less effort and danger. After all, he was working in a steel plant. Taylor set out four principles of scientific management. They were as follows: > Development of science to replace thumb methods > Scientific selection and progressive development of workmen > Bringing together of science and scientifically selected workmen through the inspiration of an individual > The dividing off of management away from the workers There are many managers today who would find nothing exceptional about Taylor’s words that also include a reference to leadership, something he sees as beyond scientific management. His results were incredible. Abraham Maslow: Until Abraham Maslow’s work, researches looked for what motivated people. Maslow’s answer is that it depends upon the situation of the individual. He therefore prepared a table of hierarchy. This hierarchy theory can be of help also in understanding cultural issues in motivation. Multi-nationals need to learn that what motivates someone in Bangkok may well be different from what motivates people in San Francisco. Douglas McGregor: According to McGregor, there are two alternative views of the nature of man: Theory X – Used to illustrate what he considered being the â€Å"traditional view of direction and control† 1. The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can 2. Because of the human characteristic of dislike of work, most people are coerced, controlled, directed, threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort towards the achievement of organisational objectives. 3. The average human being prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition, and wants security above all. He also felt that these assumptions were used in most industrial organisations, but that they were in adequate for the full utilisation of each worker’s potential. McGregor’s other view of the nature of man i.e. Theory Y contains assumptions, which he believes could lead to greater motivation and increased fulfilment of both individual needs and organisational goals. 1. The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest. 2. External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means for bringing about effort toward organisational objectives. 3. Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement. 4. The average human being learns under proper conditions, not only to accept but also to seek responsibility. 5. The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in the solution of organisational problems is widely, not narrowly distributed in the population. 6. Under the conditions of modern industrial lie, the intellectual potentialities of the average human being are only partially utilised. Frederick Herzberg: Frederick Herzberg distinguishes between hygiene factors – those that will not increase motivation as such but will certainly decrease it if standards are not right and motivating factors. Hygiene factors include working conditions, salary, job security and company policies. Get these wrong and motivation will decline but add to them over a certain standard and there will be no more effect on motivation. Herzberg says that motivation derives from people having a sense of achievement, recognition, responsibility and opportunities for personal growth. He criticises management for ignoring the motivational factors and trying to motivate through things like money and benefits – expensive and not successful. He is also famous for his acronym â€Å"KITA†, which has been potentially translated as a kick in the pants. He says that KITA does not produce motivation but only movement. Findings: 6.1.1 Performance reviews including appraisals: Thorpe Park carries out regular appraisals with its company staff. The company to usually carries this out so that the management can evaluate as to how effective the staff are in fulfilling the objectives of the company. 6.1.2 Self evaluation: Besides the appraisal system the staff, members also have the opportunity to see and say as to how they think they are progressing and what places they need improvement. They can also recommend the areas where they would need some training or extra guidance. 6.1.3 Peer evaluation: Peer evaluation is not a formal method of performance evaluation but it can really help in the improvement of the staff if their work mates tell them what is required and when. 6.2 The management at Thorpe Park believe that it is very essential to motivate its staff so that they have a high morale and that they completely enjoy the work that they do for the company. They recommend the staff the areas where they think they could improve and send them for training. They do so only for the deserving staff members so that they can make them feel that they are important for the company. This is a very effective way of motivating the staff. Besides these, they have other methods of motivating staff like bonus schemes and other incentive schemes. Throughout the year, the company runs competitions like â€Å"magic moments† and â€Å"magic minds† that help the staff for not only performing good in their work but also motivate them to use their brains to help the company improve and progress ahead. There are grand prises for people who give good ideas to the company to improve their outlook. Besides the financial incentives, the company also has many non financial methods of motivating the staff for e.g. giving the staff member a public acknowledgement, sending them for further education, praising them for the job well done etc. all these do play an important role in motivating the staff. The human resource department does all this because they believe that the staff are the backbone of the business and hence want to use them as an asset to obtain their goals and objectives. 6.3 On taking a closer look at the way the management at Thorpe Park functions it can be stated that they use a little of every motivational theory in trying to motivate their staff. The reason behind this could be that different things motivate different people.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Colour Blindness

Colour blindness is a very well known deficiency that affects approximately 8% of the population worldwide (Fluck 2006). People who are colour blind are not technically blind, they have a decreased ability to identify colours and in the most extreme cases, not able to see colours at all. The technical term for being colour blind is achromatopsia which means the inability to see any colours at all. However, most people are only colour deficient and not fully color blind therefore they can be classified as monochromatic, which means the ability to see one colour, or dichromatic, the ability to see two colours.Colour blindness is a congenital and permanent mutation of the X chromosome, which is passed on to an offspring by the mother. The most typical case of this deficiency originates from a fault in the development of sets of retinal cones that perceive colour in light and transmit that information to the optic nerve. Men are more likely to have a form of colour blindness due to the f act that the only have a single X chromosome compared to women who have two. For a woman to become colour blind both of her X chromosomes must be mutated compared to only one for a man.At first glance one would think that being colour blind would have no evolutionary advantages at all, however, that is not the case. US Military studies have shown that soldiers who are colour blind are much better at distinguishing camouflage compared to soldiers without the deficiency (Boring 1945). Even with this skill, most people would consider being colour blind to be a disadvantage on everyday life. Boring, Edwin G. (ed. ) Psychology for the Armed Services Washington: The National Research Council – The Infantry Journal, 1945. http://www. straightdope. com/columns/read/3037/is-colorblindness-an-evolutionary-advantage

Saturday, September 28, 2019

A memo discussing an issue at work from the perspective of an employee Assignment

A memo discussing an issue at work from the perspective of an employee - Assignment Example The title of â€Å"Operations Manager† seemed to assure me that by joining this company, I would make a nice addition to my existing experience of management, that would be both beneficial for me in my professional career, as well as for the company I join. I thought that being a Senior Operations Manager, I assumed a responsibility to identify the loopholes in the current framework and culture of this company, and devise and implement ways through which they could be precluded. In order to materialize my plans, I first studied the culture of this company, and identified the stakeholders in addition to studying the contract, bill of quantities and all other documents. I also had discussions with employees from various departments in order to study issues that they had that had a significant role in hindering the progress of work. One thing that I particularly found out as a result of this survey and study was that this company lacks flow of communication between individual fun ctional departments. The lack of communication gives rise to lack of awareness. This in turn, causes disparity in the knowledge about status of work between different departments that are fundamentally involved in the operations. The disparity of knowledge results in lack of preparation for the on-going works in the departments. For example, last Monday, I expected the Administration Department to have set a car ready for me and the Consultant so that we could visit the site and I could get the approval of withheld payment against Non Conformance Reports (NCRs). I had indicated the Administration Department about the same one day in advance through a notification memo. However, when the time came, there was no car, and the Administration Manager said that he expected the NCR visit to be due on the following Monday. I had to face embarrassment in front of the Consultant and also, the payments that could have been released last Monday might take another month to be considered for rele ase now. Also, I often experience great difficulty in drawing cash from the Finance Department, as they tend to do a lot of paper work before considering the release of payment, and even after that, feel reluctant to give me the cash. This causes delay in the flow of operations and as a result, progress of the work lags behind schedule. This fundamentally happened so because no one in the company assumes the ultimate responsibility to keep the departments notified. Even if some one takes the charge, the departments would not listen because they would not acknowledge the superiority of any one department over others. In my view, the Senior Operations Manager should have extreme power and rights over other departments because he assumes a central role in the flow of work. But it seems like the functional organization structure is too strong in this company and the functional departments would not listen to my instructions or notifications unless you declare the superiority of Operatio ns Department. Therefore, I request you to arrange a meeting in which you openly declare that all departments are to abide by the instructions of the Senior Operations Manager. The way things are running presently does not let me exercise my abilities as a manager. As a result of which, both the company and I are suffering. Memo 2 To: The Employee From: The Manager Date: 26 January 2011 Subject: Re (Notification of a problem) I am

Friday, September 27, 2019

Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words - 2

Business Plan - Essay Example this business plan is the depiction of the strategy and vision of the business and shall form the guide to the development and growth of the business to achieve global success (Nikolai, 2014, 51). The aims of the company include achieving sustainable profitability and meeting customer needs fully to ensure a high satisfaction rate that can only be ensured through coherence in different company elements including marketing, operations, planning, and sales, among others. The coherence in these business elements is to be achieved through the use of the business plan. T.S. Akuma Handcrafted Jewelry store focuses on youth as the primary target market through sales to older community members and the young one sis also a possibility especially for referrals and customized products. The choice of the target market was necessitated by the high preferences for specialty jewelry and customized ones. Offering different color combinations and choices of varied styles to meet their personality and dressing type will form the main service offered by the company to ensure the clients are satisfied with their purchases and that the jewelry bought fit well with their needs and will be very willing to refer others augmenting word of mouth advertising (Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006, 347). Industry trends favor the establishment of the business owing to the increased preference for jewelry by both the young and the older members of the community. The jewelry stocked at T.S. Akuma Handcrafted Jewelry is affordable yet trendy and are in a position to be worn with official and non-official attire allowing the customers to wear the jewelry on all occasions. These characteristics ensure the success of the business owing to the complementary industry trends. Several objectives are to be achieved with the establishment of T.S. Akuma Handcrafted Jewelry and will be anchored on the successful implementation of the strategies and visions in the business plan. The objectives include: Having

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Management in Information technology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management in Information technology - Assignment Example Everyone from eager-to-fit-in tweens to educated business people to intrigued grandparents has joined the phenomenon, and unsurprisingly many teenagers have also caught Facebook fever.† (Facebook Addiction) The people in Saudi Arabia are very hard-working but they have been distracted by Facebook, their valuable time is being squandered browsing through Facebook. This is hampering their growth and this is also hampering the overall growth of the country. The younger generation is completely hooked on to Facebook and they use slang language which is again bad for them. Using slang language is affecting their language skills and making them incompetent. Facebook has had its share of problems; thieves use Facebook to know when certain people are going on vacation so that they can rob their house. Credit card numbers have been stolen using Facebook; a woman in Australia was murdered when she went and met her friend who she had met through Facebook. All these instances show that people in Saudi Arabia are losing their privacy and are openly flirting with danger. â€Å"Facebook and its co-founder Mark Zuckerberg are being sued for more than $1billion over a page that was on the social networking site that called for violence against Jews.† (Facebook Sued) This is just one of many evidences which clearly show that this social networking website can cause religious havoc and this is why the people in Saudi Arabia should never get carried away with what they see on this website. It has already caused political havoc in the middle-east which has led to several economical problems; it has also led to vandalism. The same may happen all over again and it is high time to stop this from happening. Saudi Arabia is a very conservative country; the majority of people residing in the country are Muslims. Islam is openly discussed on the website and people with very little or absolutely no knowledge about Islam have been spreading propaganda which could again

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Managing Communications Knowledge and Information Assignment

Managing Communications Knowledge and Information - Assignment Example For better understanding and incorporation of decisions within the business, an organisation named Coral-Electronics has been established. For building a successful retail business, many things are needed to be analysed with the aim of having a better understanding about market conditions as well as making effective decisions. In this competitive business world, market condition is changing in a continuous manner and accordingly, a change in market condition will have a huge difference for the business to operate. Therefore, it can be ascertained that as an electronic retail organisation, the company has to incorporate and regularly update its information and knowledge for serial improvement in decision strategy of the business. On the other hand, Coral-Electronics is needed to have an understanding about its market competitors and market conditions (Stucki, 2009). In this respect, market information is crucial for the company, as it has to competing with other existing companies in the field of electronic market. Consequently, Coral-Electronics is needed to obtain adequate information and knowledge about its competitors and market trends, Coral-Electronics would able to ensure effective decisions for the development as well as growth of the company. In addition, Coral-Electronics always needed to have effective information about the customers and market trends. The company with the assistance these information and knowledge will be facilitated with the opportunity of performing operations in a profitable manner.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Chick-Fil-A Marketing Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chick-Fil-A Marketing Report - Essay Example For instance, the restaurant’s hours of operation plan exclude Sundays. Aside from simply â€Å"doing business†, the company also does a lot of charity work through nonprofit organizations. Simply put, the Cathy family behind the business â€Å"puts [their] money where [their] faith is† and this certainly has a colossal effect on how business plans are made and their Some of Chick Fil-A’s most recent marketing plans include expansion to other regions – mainly the northeastern part – of the U.S. in order to furtheritsdevelopment in the market and to guarantee that the company stays a strong competitor among other chicken restaurants. Quite possibly the most interesting marketing plan that Chick Fil-A has introduced is Cow Appreciation Day, during which customers can arrive dressed like cows to receive free meals. Management: One of the greatest strengths of Chick-Fil-A’s management is that it carefully screens its new hires to ensure that these individuals are loyal to the brand and that they share the same beliefs as the Chick-Fil-A concept. Employees and managers alike have a reputation for being upbeat and extremely sensitive to the needs of guests, as evidenced by the 2nd mile initiative, which places extreme emphasis on â€Å"going the extra mile† for the guests. Weaknesses: Corporate office and policies can intrude into employees’ personal lives. Due to the strict nature of Chick-Fil-A’s hiring process, high quality potential candidates are often scared away from applying at Chick-Fil-A.Chick-Fil-A also steers clear of discounting and limited-time offers, which could be forgoing a significant amount of additional revenues. Marketing: Chick-Fil-A brands itself as a wholesome entity with Christian and family values, and has been very successful in that respect. Fewer than 5% of owner/operators leave the

Monday, September 23, 2019

Peepepep Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Peepepep - Term Paper Example There is an increased awareness on the need to control greenhouse gas emissions in order to curtail dramatic changes in climate through implementation of climatic treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol in which the most significant feature is the commitment by developed nations to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (Malin). Several petroleum industries have adopted various strategies to control emissions and thus contribute to a cleaner environment. While some companies such as BP Amoco have extended support to the climatic treaty, others like ExxonMobil have criticized the treaty stating that the present emission rate is not that bad and adopting strategies to reduce emissions will only have a negative impact on the economy (Van den Hove, Le Menestrel and De Bettignies). The major change occurring in global climatic conditions, commonly referred to a global warming, is attributed to the increase in the mean global temperature and the rise in the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. The Petroleum industry is regarded as a major contributor of greenhouse gases which could occur in any of the following three ways. A majority of greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide, occurs via the combustion of fuels in transportation, furnaces and boilers. Emission of large amounts of methane occurs during the production and refining of crude oil as well as during transportation. Large quantities of carbon dioxide are also released during the production stage. Carbon dioxide is also released during the production of plastics, rubber, petroleum-based solvents, lubricants and waxes using petroleum derived-feedstock’s (Bluestein and Rackley). Thus the petroleum industry contributed doubly towards greenhous e gas emissions and hence is accountable for the emissions resulting from their own production and indirectly for the emissions released by the use of its products. In response to the need to control

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Audustine's Confessions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Audustine's Confessions - Essay Example The traditional understanding of free-will asserts that Adam and Eve were born of Godly nature, but because of illicit impulses or greed were torn away from this goodness and thrown into sin. The resultant occurrence is that all of humanity is then born into sin and requires God’s grace for their freedom. Furthermore, Augustine makes the point that original sin is not only embodied in wayward reason and impulses, but in the very physicality of man. This is, after Adam and Eve committed their act of original sin they had to wear clothing, because their actual pure physicality was an extension of the sin. This concept indicates that man is a physical extension of the depravity of existence. That even as depraved reasoning is an essential characteristic of humanity leading them towards sin, and even as Augustine allows for the concept of the freedom of the will, man is ultimately damned because his physicality is even embedded as a sinful act. This essay considers Augustines conc ept of original sin, arguing that his philosophical construct is misguided as it gives too much credence to deterministic thinking, ignores that wrongdoing is often the result of external circumstances, and doesnt acknowledge the amount of altruism that exists in the world. If all actions are predestined, as Augustine believes they are, then the idea of free will seems impossible, and ascribing responsibility to persons who cannot make their own choices seems wrong. However, to some extent it seems that Augustine’s philosophy demonstrates a hard to define confluence between pre-destination and free-will that have led some scholars to argue that there are actually two different Augustinian philosophies, themselves mutually contradictory (Rist 1972). Adequate research into Augustine demonstrates that these concepts are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as Augustine’s understanding reveals subtle characterizations that bind their philosophic elements in hybrid

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Everybodys Guilty Essay Example for Free

Everybodys Guilty Essay In â€Å" Everybody’s Guilty – The Ecological Dilemma, â€Å" author and professor of Human Ecology at University of California, Santa Barbara, Garrett Hardin, explains the current issue with invisible reverberations. Hardin calls attention to the readers about how innocent actions by individuals can inflict on the environment. â€Å" We all acquiesce in the system of arrangements and practices that has created our ecological crisis† (Hardin, 40). In order to approve of our actions, individuals tend to hide from reality behind symbols and/or words. Incorporating rhetoric into our everyday lives does this. Garrett Hardin begins his argument by explaining the naming process that may have unintended consequences and then finishes with potentially solutions to this ecological crisis. For example, using the word â€Å"healthy† attracts an audience that is ultimately looking to eat correctly. Without looking at the ingredients, people believe the false advertisement and buy the food that says â€Å"healthy† on the box rather than what is actually good for them. By doing this, consumers are using an unethical form of persuasion while not being aware of the consequences or changes this action may have on people. Hardin wants the readers to view our world not as a society, but â€Å"as an ecological system† (Hardin, 40). Instead of acting as a whole, people need to understand that as individuals, everyone needs to play their part to improve the world we live on. Hardin suggests, â€Å"we [as individuals] can never do merely one thing† (Hardin, 41). The choices that are made everyday can have an impact on something a lot larger than what was intended. In the article, â€Å"Everybody’s Guilty†, Hardin uses the example of damming the Nile at Aswan. By building this dam, workers not only secured a water source for electricity and irrigation, which was their only intention, but they also caused deep distress to Egypt. This proves Hardin’s argument. Although the thought of a dependable water source is efficient, many times the consequences are overseen. Egypt now is suffering from periodic floods, which is slowly eliminating the nutrients within the water. To bring this example into an easier perspective, lets look at what average people do everyday such as pumping gas. Individuals unconsciously pump their gas with the only intention to be able to get from one place to another. Everyone knows the amount of consequences that may arise from this certain action, but no one really pays attention. The amount of pollution that is created from pumping gas is at alarming rates and is slowly taking a toll on the atmosphere. Transportation is the largest single source of air pollution in the United States. This includes air pollution emitted during vehicle operation, refueling, and manufacturing. These simple actions cause over a third of the contaminated chemicals in the air, and all people are worried about is if they will make it to work on time. With both the amount of cars on the road, and the escalating population rates, Hardin is trying to persuade readers that people need to take action and by persuading the audience, Hardin is engaging in a form of rhetoric. â€Å"Pollution will not be controlled unless population is controlled† (Hardin, 44). â€Å"Even what we call ‘success’ may prove to be a bitter failure. Increasing the size of the population is generally held to be a good thing, but an even larger proportion of the world’s people is becoming convinced that the world is already overpopulated† (Hardin, 42). Increasing the population not only limits resources, it also increases the amount of misunderstanding to people â€Å"never do[ing] one thing†, which can potentially lead to a larger ecological crisis. There are many problems when it comes to population. Technology is expensive and with population growing, the price of natural resources is increasing as well. There are solutions to this issue though, but cannot be implemented right away. Hardin looks â€Å"toward voluntarism and persuasion to help create a climate of opinion that can some day support stronger measures† (Hardin, 45). By â€Å"doing the right thing†, Hardin rhetorically persuades the readers to engage in thoughtful actions that decreases the population. The first step to this solution is to create a 100% effective birth control. Society knows that contraception is not completely effective, but because of this, Hardin suggests we create a system for acceptability towards abortions if necessary. If birth control fails, abortions should be included as a â€Å"back up plan† with the cost of being preferably free. The problem with this proposal is that abortions are frowned upon in other countries. To avoid the abortion issue, young girls need to be taught to become independent and goal oriented instead of becoming a teenage mother. Now-a-days girls are so interested in creating their own little families and having children that they tend to forget the hardships of having child. We need to educate all of society so as to reduce this social pressure, and consequently reduce the number of semi-reluctant mothers, who are probably not the best ones to raise children anyway† (Hardin, 46). Having a child when the woman is a child herself is not healthy, but is a prime example to Hardin’s argument. By creating children for the wrong reasons relates to creating an invisible reverberations. At the time it sounds great to have a child, but the aftermath consequences do not balance out. As a society, individuals need to create a culture of acceptability to smaller families. The world is slowly becoming more accustomed to this new culture, but still needs improvement. Garrett Hardin wants to leave his readers with a prolonged thought to help the world. He enriches his readers with evidence that support his idea of having an ecological crisis. Hardin explains that everyone is at fault when it comes to harming the world, but there are ways to solve this conflict and that is population control. Although the solution may not be easy, Hardin wants people to understand the consequences of their actions, because until then, the ecological crisis is going to continue to increase.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Impact of Negative Externalities in Economics

Impact of Negative Externalities in Economics Externalities are outsider impacts emerging from generation and utilization of products and administrations for which no proper remuneration is paid. Externalities happen outside of the business sector i.e. they influence individuals not straightforwardly included in the creation and/or utilization of a merchandises or administration. They are otherwise called overflow impacts. Economical movements makes overflow profits and overflow costs – with negative externalities. A negative externality happens when an individual or firm settling on a choice does not need to pay the full cost of the choice. In the event that a product has a negative externality, then the expense to society is more prominent than the expense customer is paying for it. Since purchasers settle on a choice focused around where their peripheral expense squares with their minimal profit, and since they dont consider the expense of the negative externality, negative externalities bring about business sector inefficiencies unless legitimate move is made. Negative externalities emerge when the private expenses of products are lower than the social expenses (private expense + external espenses) prompting a lower value level (as just private expenses are perceived by the business sector) and in this way to overproduction of a terrible which prompts wastefulness and diminishment out in the open welfare (does damage to society or lessens the general great to society of having autos). Pollution illustrates negative externalities clearly. Case in point, a steel creating firm may pump contaminations into the air. While the firm need to pay for power, materials, and so forth, the people living around the processing plant will pay for the contamination since it will make them have higher medicinal costs, poorer personal satisfaction, diminished aesthetic request of the air, and so on. Hence the creation of steel by the firm has an adverse expense to the individuals encompassing the manufacturing plant -a cost that the steel firm doesnt need to pay (Economics.fundamentalfinance.com, 2014) Sources equipped to economically shorten their negative externalities would definitely decrease, offering their licenses to less adaptable polluters (Blinder 1987) Some more noticeable examples from externalities include: Smokers overlook the destructive effect of harmful detached smoking on non-smokers Air contamination from street utilize and movement blockage and the effect of street exhaust on lungs Outside expenses of scratching the seabed for supplies of rock The outside expense of nourishment waste The outside expenses of cleaning up from litter and the dropping of mulling over gum The outside expenses of the miles that nourishment goes from maker to the last purchaser The externalities joined to the oil sands extend in the Canadian wild Ronald Coase points out solution to negative externalities as; Under immaculate rivalry, once government has appointed unmistakably characterized property rights in challenged capitals and till transactions expenses are insignificant, private gatherings that produce or are influenced by externalities will arrange deliberate proclamations that prompt the socially ideal asset distribution and yield blend paying little mind to how the property rights are allocated. (Coase, 1960) For instance, if the steel factory possesses the rights, then the people that live around the plant will be ready to pay the steel process not to deliver -up to the cost that they are acquiring from health services, diminished aesthetic request of the air, and so on. This sum that they are eager to pay turns into an opportunity cost for the steel factory in the event that they deliver. In this manner they will slice creation to the ideal level. Then again, if the individuals possess the air, then the steel factory would need to pay them that same sum for the right to deliver. Accordingly the negative externality is specifically added to the steel plants minimal expense. An alternate approach to take care of the negative externality issue is to just expense the maker the measure of the negative externality. This adds to the makers peripheral cost and will make them lessen yield. (Economics.fundamentalfinance.com, 2014). Externalities are likely the contention for government intercession that economists generally regard. Externalities are often used to advocate the legislatures responsibility for with positive externalities and disallowance of items with negative externalities. Monetarily talking, notwithstanding, this is pointless excess. In the event that free enterprise that is, no legislature intercession gives excessively little training, the clear result is some type of subsidy to educating, not government generation of instruction. Additionally, if free enterprise gives an excessive amount of cocaine, a measured reaction is to expense it, not boycott it totally. (Caplan, 2014) Taxation Also government can decrement externalities would be to increase the private expenses of the products to meet the social expenses so that the new market balance is at the point where social expenses approaches social profits (socially ideal point). This is possible by the administration taxation on products with externalities which will aid reducing adverse effects of products, scarcity of goods and will increase government revenue too. Yet it will draw some negative actions too such as, impact and product causing externalities measurement would be difficult, in case of inelastic demand hefty taxes won’t change demand, evasion can occur more (e.g. dumping trash illegally) and in some cases inequality can also be the resultant. Forcing laws and regulations- This is the place for administration forces law to totally deny purchasers captivating transactions with negative externalities. As an illustration, few years prior numerous nations banned use of supplies discharging CFC gas which diminished the outflow of greenhouse gasses bringing about no externality circumstance. Tradable recompenses- This is the place the legislature forces a limit up to which a certain transaction can result in negative externalities. As case, government awards authorization for a firm to take part in exercises which can result in air contamination however it is dependent upon 15% of aggregate contamination level. This will restrict the contamination level of the economy. Rather than rectifying negative externalities positive externalities are supported by government gifts/subsidies, charge reliefs for positive externalities inventors and procurement from government costs, for example, barrier costs and wellbeing costs. To study negative externalities, agriculture market of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis – soil bacteria) cotton is analyzed. China has been reported as most exhaustive pesticide using country in the globe. The countrys ranchers apply more synthetic pesticides on their products than makers in practically any nation in the world (Huang et al., 2000a). Their yearly application has expanded lately, climbing from 211,000 metric tons (mt) of dynamic fixings in 1985 to 340,000 mt in 1996. While pesticides have assumed a part in expanding Chinas farming yield, their utilization has made numerous negative externalities. The utilization, abuse and exploitation of pesticides in China have prompted poisonings of ranchers, corruption of area and water, and expanded levels of risky chemicals in Chinas sustenance supply (MOA, 1983; Peng, 1998; Lei et al., 1998; Huang et al., 2000c). In addition, the rate of increment of pesticides rose quicker than different inputs, prompting an ascent in it does impart of aggregate expenses. It was assessed that by late 1990s Chinas agriculturists will buy and apply almost US$ 5 billion of pesticides for every year, making China one of the biggest pesticide clients. Cotton makers are among the biggest pesticide clients in China regarding both total and for every hectare use. For every hectare pesticide expense arrived at US$ 101 in 1995 for cotton, much higher than that for rice, wheat or maize. Only tomato and cucumber producers apply all the more on a for every hectare premise. The terrible measure of pesticides utilized within rice generation in China is more prominent than the sum utilized for cotton generation simply because five times more land is planted to rice than to cotton and its production expends approximately US$ 500 million per annum. Pesticide use has a few potential downsides. For instance, the application of pesticides may represent a genuine peril to the agro-biological system. Pingali et al. (1994) has created confirmation of the antagonistic impact that pesticide use has on human wellbeing. Their results showed that the wellbeing and different expenses could surpass the private expenses of buying the item. Truth be told, pe sticide use in cultivating in China have even been interfaced to genuine diseases and demise. Crosswise over China, poisonings of agriculturists and their workers have brought about 45,000 instances of genuine disease and more than 500 passing every year from 1987 to 1996 (Huang et al., 2000c). Liu et al. (1995) directed study in China of pesticide residuals in nourishment in 1992. The study focused on the nourishment security impacts of ranch level utilization of chlorinated hydrocarbons (CH pesticides), the group of pesticides that incorporates DDT. The most tireless of pesticides, officials banned the utilization of CH pesticides in 1983. Despite the fact that the utilization of CH pesticides have dropped forcefully since the mid-1980s, the study exposed planters still were utilizing them as a part of the early 1990s and Chinas nourishment stock uncovered hints of pollution. Other late studies have confirmed the finding that pesticide tainting in Chinas nourishment markets is sti ll an issue for vegetables, tree grown foods, and sustenance grains. Perceiving the presence of negative externalities, Chinas pioneers started various steps to control probably the most hurtful parts of pesticide utilization. Chinas plant reproducers have effectively created a huge number of mixed bags with host-plant imperviousness to creepy crawlies and sicknesses. Just about all recently discharged assortments in China in the previous 20 years have large amounts of host-plant safety. At any rate in the instance of rice, the utilization of these mixtures has prompted decreases in pesticides. Biotechnology seems to offer a item that can drastically lessen pesticide—Bt also other GE crop mixed bags. Indeed with generally constrained speculations of government cash in exploration, augmentation and seed generation, Bt cotton assortments are spreading quickly. These mixed bags were created and advanced by a few remote and household organizations and examination foundations. Ranchers have embraced them in light of the fact that they decreased the expenses of generation without lessening aggregate incomes and on the grounds that they lessen their introduction to hazardous chemical To encounter problems with pesticides, china has contributed majorly to genetically engineered crops. Chinas farming examination framework has endeavored to enhance assortments of numerous harvests utilizing biotechnology and has moved a percentage of the new transgenic mixed bags into business use by ranchers (Huang et al., 2001). Grain, cotton and tobacco rearing projects have most nearly composed their biotechnology and ordinary examination programs. Lately, specialists have controlled a greater amount of their work towards enhancing vegetables and oil seeds employing biotechnology. Researchers have made most prominent progress in utilizing biotechnology to enhance insecticides safety of products, albeit respectable work is likewise being carried out to enhance malady safety. Interestingly, this concentrate on insect resistance and sickness safety is particular to Chinas biotechnology program. The countrys open overwhelmed examination framework has given Chinas analysts a solid mo tivation to create Genetically Modified edits that expand yields and anticipate bother flare-ups. In China, more than 90% of field trials target insects and ailment safety. Conversely, in industrialized nations, where a great part of the plant biotechnology is secretly finance, 45% of field trials are for herbicide tolerance and enhancing item quality; just 19% are for pest resistance. The advancement of bug safe harvest assortments containing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) quality has been a positive case of the application of farming biotechnology. This gene produces protein that is poisonous to some insects and can make crops pink bollworm resistant, tobacco budworm, armyworms and leaf worm resistant. China gives an interesting chance to contemplating the long haul profits of Bt innovation. Early studies demonstrated that Bt assortments expanded yield harvests and decreased insect poison utilization. Cotton gets most transgenic attention in China and in 2000, 400,000–500,000 ha Bt cotton was planted. It has been accounted for that the bugs of cotton like tobacco budworms and the American bollworm, started to develop safety in under 40 eras. In China bollworms imitate, as a rule, four times each year. Given that Bt mixtures have now been planted for more than 10 years in a few territories, it is an appropriates time to assess the long haul profits (and expens es, if any) of Bt cotton. An investigation of these issues likewise may give understanding into the long haul viability of Bt innovation in creating nations as a rule. It was demonstrated that bollworm populaces in China have advanced in a manner in which Bt cotton may have the capacity to be utilized on a long haul premise. Based on a dataset based on data gathered amid more than 10 years of checking in trial cotton fields in provincial regions of northern China, their exploration found that the quantity of bollworms fell fundamentally with time. Numerous territorial populaces given way as Bt mixed bags extended. It shows up that the Bt poisons not just smothered the bug populaces in the fields with Bt mixtures, additionally populaces on other crops which serve as hosts for bollworms. They finished up that following 10 years of utilization of Bt cotton mixtures, safety of bollworms to the Bt poison had not yet developed. Work regarding Bt cotton use in China summarizes that Bt cotton has massive significance over non-Bt one as it uses less insecticides to control bollworms. This is because non-Bt cotton could not grow resistance against pest and were infected times more than Bt one. To it, it also decreases cost on pesticides and increases cotton yeild. Hence it is experimentally proved is clear that Bt cotton lessens pesticide use, in any event in the short run. Anyhow the effect of lessening pesticide use on human wellbeing and natures turf depends to some degree on which pesticides were lessened because of the appropriation of Bt cotton. On the off chance that the diminishment s the manifestation of generally sheltered pesticides likes the manufactured pyrethroids or malathion, we would not expect much effect on human wellbeing. On the off chance that the decrease occurs as more risky pesticides, for example, any of the CH pesticides or organophosphate parathion, we would expect that poisonings of ranchers would decay and that the effect on natures domain to be more noteworthy in light of the fact that a significant number of the chemicals are relentless in the earth. The findings propose that the administration may need to contribute the cash important to spread Bt to other cotton locales and to different harvests. The paramount proviso is that legislature interests in regulation of biotech will must be expanded to guarantee that broad utilization of Bt does not prompt the quick improvement of bollworms that are impervious to crops. The second ramifications of these findings are that the government plant assurance framework is not meeting the objective of lessening pesticide utilization. Plant insurance individuals regularly propose that agriculturists not utilize Bt cotton or at most suggest more pesticide applications than the seed organizations. The administration needs to separate Integrated Pest Management exercises and staff of the plant assurance framework from the pesticide deals exercises. The legislature additionally must give the augmentation administration impetuses to push IPM and other non-pesticide-related manifestations of bug con trol. One alternative would be to considerably in pleat the compensations of the IPM staff to adjust for the loss of pay from pesticide deals and give them with rewards for lessening chemical exploitation. Government ought to minimize pesticides use for crops as they happen to play critical role in human health. Accountability of products in form of taxes, surveys on its environmental and public impact needs to be calculated every time in order to minimize negative externalities because soon or later it will be significant mark on state’s economy. References: Blinder, Alan.Hard Heads, Soft Hearts: Tough-Minded Economics for a Just Society.New York: Addison-Wesley, 1987. Bryan Caplan. Externalities.The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.2008. Library of Economics and Liberty. Retrieved August 27, 2014 Huang, J.K., Hu, R.F., Zhang, L.X., Rozelle, S., 2000a. The Economy of Agricultural RD Investment in China. Agricultural ST Press, Beijing Huang, J.K., Qiao, F.B., Zhang, L.X., Rozelle, S., 2000c. Farm pesticide, rice production, and human health. EEPSEA Working Paper, Singapore. Huang, J.K., Wang, Q.F., Zhang, Y.D., 2001. Agricultural biotechnology development and Research capacity. Working Paper, Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. Haung, J., Hu, R., Pray, C., Qiao, F., Rozelle, S. (2003). Biotechnology as an alternative to chemical pesticides: a case study of Bt cotton in China.Agricultural Economics,29. Lei, H., Dai, L.C., Liu, L., Gu, W., Xu, Y.D., 1998. The relationship between poison and à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡esh blood protein Peng, Y., 1998. Eight poisoning cases made by chlorothalonil.Occup Med. 25 (1), 31. Pingali, P.L., Marquez, C.B., Palis, F.G., 1994. Pesticides and Philippine rice farmer health: a medical and economic analysis

Thursday, September 19, 2019

dyslexia Essays -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cau yon reab mwat I aw mriting? If yon caunot reab it waybe is is decanse this is hom a persou with byslexia wight reab somethiug. A person with dyslexia has a very difficult lifestyle to live. To understand dyslexia you must be aware of the causes, effects strategies, and teaching methods for coping with the disease. â€Å"Dyslexia means having difficulty with words in reading, spelling and writing – in spite of having normal intelligence and ability† (Make the Connection).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scientists have been interested in dyslexia for a long time. For instance a scientist by the name of A. Kussmaul started researching this disorder in 1881. He came up with a theory of a certain inability as â€Å"word blindness† (history of dyslexia). The word dyslexia was first mentioned in 1887 by a professor by the name of R. Berlin. Scientists to this day are still unsure on what causes dyslexia, although they have a good idea of some of the factors that could have something to do with dyslexia. The only sure thing scientists do know about dyslexia is that there is no cure. Some causes of dyslexia are thought to be genetic factors, emotional problems, and defects of the nervous system. Even though these are thought to play a role in dyslexia, many experts are not convinced that these factors are causes of dyslexia (Make the connection). Dyslexia can occur at any level of intellectual ability. It is not the result of poor motivation, emotional disturbanc e, sensory impairment or lack of opportunities, but it may occur alongside any of these (Information on Dyslexia).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Identifying a child with dyslexia often takes a lot of time and tests. Many cases can often not be identified until the child is ten years of age. The reason for this is because a ten year old with dyslexia would only be able to read a few words or maybe a small sentence. Some studies have shown that monitoring responses of infant sounds could determine whether or not a person is going to develop dyslexia or not. Researchers have precisely picked 92% of dyslexics out of 186 children who were monitored 36 hours after their birth. After these conclusions were made, every two years until the child reached the age of eight, the children underwent a series of IQ and comprehension tests. This method, however, is not completely accurate. Five out of... ...ings, dyslexics are very bright. Many very intelligent and successful people suffered from dyslexia to some degree such as Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison (Famous People with the Gift of Dyslexia). Dyslexics just take a different approach to learning than others. With proper detection and treatment of dyslexia it is possible to overcome with help from proven methods of treatment. Work Cited Make the Connection, http://www.dyslexiaa2z.com/ October 26, 2004 Certificate in Teaching of Children with Dyslexia, http://www.dyslexia-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  teacher.com/index.htm Nov. 1, 2004 Facts on Dyslexia, http://www.alphabetmats.com/facts.html November 8, 2004 Famous People with the Gift of Dyslexia, http://www.dyslexia.com/qafame.htm   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  November 8, 2004 History of Dyslexia, http://www.clubi.ie/dyslexia/history.html October 27, 2004 Information on Dyslexia, http://www.dyslexia-inst.org.uk/ October 27, 2004 SIRS Publishing, Inc., SIRS Researcher. 4 Nov. 2000.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dyslexia, Behavioral Problems: A Fatty Acid Link? Treating Dyslexia in Children, http://www.familiesonline.co.uk/article/static/67 October 27, 2004

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

An Analysis of Mending Wall Essay -- Mending Wall Essays

An Analysis of Mending Wall Robert Frost once said that "Mending Wall" was a poem that was spoiled by being applied. What did he mean by "applied"? Any poem is damaged by being misunderstood, but that's the risk all poems run. What Frost objects to, I think, is a reduction and distortion of the poem through practical use. When President John F. Kennedy inspected the Berlin Wall he quoted the poem's first line: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall." His audience knew what he meant and how the quotation applied. And on the other side of that particular wall, we can find another example of how the poem has been used. Returning from a visit to Russia late in his life, Frost said, "The Russians reprinted 'Mending Wall' over there, and left that first line off." He added wryly, "I don't see how they got the poem started." What the Russians needed, and so took, was the poem's other detachable statement: "Good fences make good neighbors." They applied what they wanted. "I could've done better for them, probably ," Frost said, "for the generality, by saying: Something there is that doesn't love a wall, Something there is that does. "Why didn't I say that?" Frost asked rhetorically. "I didn't mean that. I meant to leave that until later in the poem. I left it there." "Mending Wall" famously contains these two apparently conflicting statements. One begins the poem, the other ends it, and both are repeated twice. Which are we supposed to believe? What does Frost mean? "The secret of what it means I keep," he said. Of course he was being cagey, but not without reason. At a reading given at the Library of Congress in 1962 Frost told this anecdote: In England, two or three years ago, Graham Greene said to me... ...ating a similar moment each time it is encountered. Works Cited and Consulted Barry, Elaine. Robert Frost. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. 1973. Robert Frost. â€Å"Mending Wall.† Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. p106-107. Gerber, Philip L. Robert Frost. Ed. Kenneth Eble. Boston: Twayne Publishers. 1982. 124-125 Lentricchia, Frank. Robert Frost: Modern Poetics and the Landscape of Self. Durham: Duke University Press. 1975. 103-107. Zverev, A. A Lover's Quarrel with the World: Robert Frost. 20th Century American Literature: A Soviet View. Translated by Ronald Vroon. Progress Publishers. 1976. 241-260. Rpt. in World Literature Criticism. Vol. 2. Ed. James P. Draper. Detroit: Gale Research Inc. 1992. 1298-1299.