Tips If Youre Applying Early Action Early Decision

For those of you applying to early admission to any of the schools on your college list, it’s crunch time. A few college students who recently went through the early admission application process have some advice for you. Take a breather, and see what they have to say: 1. Not feeling ready? It’s okay to re-evaluate applying early. Apjpaj,Harvard University ‘21 I tried to apply too early by participating in early decision. If you are feeling stressed out/not your best self/uncomfortable about applying early, I would recommend not doing it. I felt all these things, and had 0 success with my early decision ventures. Looking back, I should have realized that I was not increasing my chances of getting into my early schools because I was not adequately prepared. I was still fumbling in the last minute to finalize my college exams, not feeling good about myself as an applicant, and rushing last minute with essays. In the end, you have to look at it from the perspective from the college application reader. They are looking to pick up the outstanding and wow applicants with early decision, and probably wont take the effort to settle for any applicant less than perfect. Thus, this wow factor effect must be achieved by extensive preparation and thinking ahead if you are to successfully apply (and get accepted) early decision. Then, and only then, wil l have an edge on others applying to youre school. Unlock apjpaj’s full Harvard University to learn more about his application journey! 2. Wait to complete your regular decision applications. Bweintraub,Cornell University ‘21 I think it would have been great to have had more fun during the process – but my method, while risky, worked perfectly. If youre applying to a school ED, and know that youll hear back on or before December 15th, you can hold your regular decision applications until you hear back from your top choice. Make sure that the RD applications are completed, as thats the last thing youll want to do if youve just been rejected from your early decision school. But by delaying the submission of the regular applications, you can save the application fees and the hassle of having to withdraw all of your regular decision applications. Once again – this system will only work if youre able to complete your regular applications in a timely manner. Unlock Bryanweintraub’s Cornell University profile to view his successful application file! 3. Pacing and time management are key. Mouse43,Yale University ‘20 I would have solidified my Early Action plan and recorded my arts supplement earlier. I decided to apply to Yale and UMich early in late September. This gave me a little under a month to whip around eight essays into shape, which was a little overwhelming. I also recorded my arts supplement in mid-October while my application process was in full swing. Preparing an arts supplement on top of advanced coursework and writing college application essays was very difficult for me. It took approximately a month of practicing for three hours each day (on top of twelve prior years of violin instruction and practice) for me to reach a point when I felt confident enough to book a studio appointment and actually record my arts supplement. Do not do this. You will lose your mind. Please record your arts supplement and do all the necessary practice during the summer before your senior year. Interested in mouse43’s yale profile? Unlock to view her full Yale application. 4. You dont have to win awards. Emphasize your intellectual curiosity. Ronayw,Massachusetts Institute of Technology ‘20 A year ago, when I applied Early Action to MIT, I was really stressing out, so Id like to offer up advice on improving your chances at MIT. The admissions office looks for intellectual curiosity, collaborative spirit, and problem-solving abilities. Its okay if youre not an International Math Olympiad medalistIm not either, and neither are most people here. But MIT is seeking students who want to know why and wants to use that to make the world a better place. They want to see what steps youve made towards contributing to your own community. They want to see the cool projects youve done, not for a class or for an award, but because you truly wanted to make or study something that interested you. Plus, psst, another tipwhen I applied, for their essay asking about which academic program I was interested in, I wrote about the writing department, which was less common than say, computer science. Granted, I had lots of experience with it in high school and writing was/is truly something I love, so this was honest, but touching upon a unique subject certainly helped me get in. View RonayW’s successful MIT application file to learn more. ​Looking for more college application advice? Use ourAdvice Search Featureto get the answers you’re looking for. For further access, ourpremium subscriptionsoffer different levels of access to our searchable database of successful college applications and advice.

Prologue Essays - The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoners Tale, Ethics

Prologue Essays - The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoners Tale, Ethics Prologue The Pardoner explains to the audience his usual methods of preaching, as well as his regular themes. He takes pains to have an important sounding speech and a satisfactory performance, thus earning him admiration. In addition, he explains how he sells fake relics and makes a huge profit from doing so. His theme is always "The love of money is the root of all evil," and he preaches heavily against greed and gluttony. At the same time, he repeatedly willingly admits to going against his own preaching. Pardoner's Story Three immoral men are drinking in an inn when they are informed Death has taken one of their friends. They promptly, and drunkenly, swear oaths to avenge their former companion and slay Death. They head off, and not quite half a mile from where they started, they encounter a poor old man. The old man greets them, and is treated rudely. The three men, believing the old man is an accomplice of Death, demand of him death's location. The old man responds that if they are so eager to find Death they should look in a grove, under an oak tree. The men go, and upon arriving promptly forget about Death, as they find almost eight bushels of gold coins. They plan to remove the gold at night, and send the youngest to town to fetch bread and wine. After he leaves, the two remaining men hatch a plot to kill him when he returns, as they will then have a larger portion of the treasure. While in town the youngest decides to kill the other two, and buys poison for two of the three purchased wine bottles. He returns and is killed by the other two, after which they promptly die by drinking the poisoned wine. Epilogue The Pardoner attempts to sell his relics' and pardons, but when asked to come forth and unbuckle his purse, the Host calls his fraud and refuses. The Host claims the Pardoner is not a real man, and the Pardoner gets very angry. The tale ends with the Knight stepping forth and making peace between them. Themes - The love of money is the root of all evil - Elders should be respected - Oaths should not be taken in vain - Drink (alcohol) leads to bad judgment and death - Friends should be chosen carefully, and are close enough to stab you in the back

Gold Standard Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gold Standard - Research Paper Example This paper will discuss both advantages and disadvantages that could be incurred if the United States economy returns to the Gold Standard, by presenting a brief history on US economy’s use of the Gold Standard and the circumstances surrounding the standard’s dismissal. From early centuries, Gold has always been placed at an esteemed position due to its use and functionality. Among the various precious metals that are found here on earth, Gold is considered the most 'valuable' as it has many applications, from being used in Jewelry to being the main tool in International financial transactions. The major nations of the world including United States from the latter half of 19th century till 1920’s used Gold to pay for all the trade that was carried out between them. To standardize this form of gold transaction, a Gold standard was adopted. Under the Gold Standard, currencies of the countries, using gold for transaction, are tied to a specific amount of gold. So, w hen a country redeems or pays its money in the form of gold, it is said to be following or using the Gold Standard. This way, the government of the country which redeems gold and its counterparts who receive the gold will share a fixed-currency relationship. The advantage, the nations were able achieve due to the use of earlier introduced Gold Standard was the adjustment of their Balance of payments. That is, when a nation has a trade deficit while doing trade with a particular country, they could balance it by paying in gold, as currencies were convertible to gold. This advantage could also be garnered, if the Gold Standard is reintroduced again, particularly in relation to United States Economy. The pro-group for the introduction of Gold Standard state that if the standard is introduced in United States, preferably within next 5 years, it could solve number of fiscal and monetary problems that has been plaguing the US economy in the recent past. One of the main advantages that cou ld be incurred is stabilization of the US’ Dollar value, which in a way could restore the confidence among the â€Å"foreign investors in U.S. government bonds,† and importantly could also â€Å"discourage reckless federal spending.† (Dykewicz, 2011). That is, with the Dollar serving as the world's reserve currency, it enables other countries to use it for all types of trade and even stockpile it, thus providing the U.S. Federal Reserve to print as much Dollar as it needs to fiddle with its economy as it sees fit. The downside of such loose monetary policies includes higher inflation rates and a weaker Dollar, and so certain sections of experts advocate the return to the Gold Standard, with the hope that it could force the government to live within its means. (Jones and Walter, 2011). In a way, the return of Gold Standard could bring stability and strengthening of the US Dollar, thereby having many positive impacts on the economy. The positive impacts include so lutions to the current unemployment problem, because strengthened or expensive Dollar would lead to people using more labor, and importantly would lead to fiscal discipline. Thus, it is being pointed out that the current Fed’s policy of pouring trillions of Dollars into the economy to stimulate growth, will only lead to more inflation and weakening of Dollar, and so if the Gold Stand

Experiment Report Lab Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Experiment - Lab Report Example he most important factor affecting the availability of these nutrients is soil pH, a measure of the amount of hydronium ion (H+) that is present in solution. Pure water has a neutral pH of 7, lower values mean that the solution is acidic and soils with pH higher than 7 are alkaline. Different crops vary in their response to acid and alkaline soil conditions (Mathers, 2001). However, for most field crops, slightly acidic (pH = 5.6) to neutral soils are optimal for growth. Soil pH affects plant growth and productivity indirectly because, depending on the nutrient, availability is affected which can result in nutrient deficiency or nutrient toxicity. In higher pH or alkaline soils, result in deficiencies in the essential micronutrients iron, zinc, and manganese. Soil pH of less than 5.5 is already considered strongly acidic and will not support growth of economically important crops. Thus, the right soil pH is a requirement for maximum yield production. The development of acid soils has been due to high weathering brought about by warm temperatures and rainfall, and manmade events like the continuous use of nitrogen fertilizers and acid rain effects. At pH below 6 or under acidic soils, increased availability of micronutrients like iron, manganese, zinc , copper and aluminium result in toxicity symptoms (CSIRO Plant Industry, 2004); while decreased availability of phosphorus results in deficiency of this element . This is very true in humid countries where soil acidity is often associated with low crop productivity (Schroth, Lehman, & Barrios, 2003). The class was divided into eight groups. Each group was asked to bring soil samples from the area near their residence. In the laboratory, the pH and temperature of pure water was determined. After adding water to the soil and mixing the slurry, the pH and temperature of each sample were measured. Mean values of the soil pH of each group were determined, and the hydronium ion concentration was calculated using the

DQ5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

DQ5 - Essay Example If the data has some extreme values, then median becomes the most accurate measure of central tendency. However, one weakness of median is that it cannot be applied to raw-data and the data has to arranged in ascending or descending order. This indicates that this measure is time consuming and when data is very large it is very difficult to first arrange it in ascending order and then arrive at median. Mode is considered appropriate for nominal data and can be calculated very easily by observation. There are no calculations required when computing mode and hence it is very quick. The only disadvantage with mode is that it gives the least accurate answer and hence people do not use it despite it being the easiest measure of center or central tendency. Measures of dispersion describe the spread of data. Some of these measures include range, variance and standard deviation. It includes measures such as range, standard deviation and variance. The advantage of range is that it is very simple and tells you the spread of data. However, since it is dependent on just two values, the answer is not the fairest representation of the distribution. Another very important measure of dispersion is standard deviation. Since it includes all the values of the observation it is most likely to give a good and accurate answer. But, as the numbers are squared in computing standard deviation, the extreme values get more weightage and answer is distorted. Similarly, variance is another good measure as it includes all the values in a observation. The only weakness of variance is that it is very time consuming as each observation has to be squared. The number of observations that fall into a particular class is call the frequency or count of that class. Frequency distribution is a table that lists all class and their frequencies in a systemized manner. This table tells us at a glance that how many times a particular observation has been seen in our

Human Resource Management in UK Hotel Industry

Human Resource Management in UK Hotel Industry 1 Introduction Human Resource Management is a consistent and productive approach towards the management of employees who are ‘valued assets to the organization. And managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business. Hence linking the HRM more explicitly to the strategic goals to improve the business and foster innovation and flexibility, thus serves the overall purpose. Through best possible use and application of HR policies in the organization, commitment can be encouraged thus leading to better performance, improve staff attitude and lower labour turnover, this is the ideal aim of the human resource practices which has been argued to neglect the fact that HR specialists and line managers have a major impact on how these HR policies are implemented at the hotels and whether all the HR practices are universally applicable. Human resource management is the techniques businesses incorporate to maintain an effective workforce to meet operational requirements. It is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, administration, organization development, employee motivation, wellness, benefits, safety, communication, performance management, and training. Human resource practices implemented in an organisation are used for recruitment, selection; training and development, reward management, performance appraisal etc. Human Resource Management strategically manages people and work place environment and culture. Effective HRM practices enable employees to contribute effectively and productively towards the attainment of the organizations goals and objectives facilitates overall company mission. HRM practices are one of the channels of communication for an organization with its employees it consists of the actual programs, processes and techniques. It conveys as to what the organization desires as valuable and appropriate behaviors. The workers on reception of such a message build up their own distinct perceptions and through a self-assessment (evaluation) process subsequently shape their attitude and behavior. For instance, if an organization implemented a training program for their workers, it will develop workers knowledge, skills and capability, and thus cultivate better employee commitment due to contented experience with the organization; however, such correlation may at times be misleading or unpredictable i.e. even though some employees may think this training as useful and recognize the implementation of organizational HRM practices, but on the contrary, other workers may see the program as non-effective and view it as a trouble that hamper their regular work timeta ble, hence this may work in an unintended way by bringing down their satisfaction with the organization and negatively effect their commitment. This is the very reason why employees individual view plays as a vital intermediary in the association between organizational HRM practices and the real disclosure of employees outlook and behaviors. Therefore, from this point of view, one can argue that HRM practices in its dominating effect alter an employees affective commitment, by first impinging upon their perception of organizational HRM practices and consequently further alter or transform their emotional commitment towards the organization. Thats why, by the means of implementation of high-commitment HRM practices, i.e. intensive training and development, high level of compensation, promotion from within, socialization, etc. convince the employees that the organizations purpose is in conformity with their insight, and it impinges upon them to reciprocate with advanced commitment and stronger deference to devote and put in for the organization. Therefore this research will try to establish a correlation between HR practices and their effects on employee commitment. The HR practices that will be examined in the research will be Selection and Recruitment Process, Training and Development programs, Performance management, Reward management and industrial labour relations. These are some of the main HR practices followed by the hotels aiming for the more committed team. But the researcher is interested in knowing whether these HR practices really result in more committed employees. And if these HR practices really result in committed employees then is it universally applicable in all countries of the world or all types of industries. These are some of the questions that have encouraged the researcher in conducting this research. 1.1 Research Aim The aim of this dissertation is to examine the HR practices implemented in UK hotels and their impact on employee commitment. 1.2 Objective The objectives of this research were to:- Examine the current HR practices prevalent in UK hotels. Evaluating these current HR practices against the existing literature to find out whether they match or not. Evaluating the factors leading to employee commitment and how many factors come by conducting HR practices in the company. 2 Literature review 2.1 Philosophy of Human Resource Management Human Resource Management is shifting its traditional stance from personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are being increasingly outsourced. HRM is now focusing more and more towards adding quality and value to the strategic exploitation of employees and that employee development programs impact the business in tangible terms. This new approach towards revolution in HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements in tangible terms to gauge the effect of these practices. Some of the HRM practices studied in this project are selection, benefits, training, performance feedback, communication systems, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and employee participation. David E. Guest (1987) says that human resource management is the tool for attainment of the managerial objectives in the organizations that have accepted the need for the optimum utilization of human resource to achieve competitive advantage and stay viable in their businesses. The primary objective of HRM is amalgamation of companys mission and goal with the HR practices. David E. Guest argues that formulation of a comprehensive corporate strategy is a major factor that decides the continuing business success of any organization.For matured managers human resource planning is not just a fundamental component of strategic planning, but somewhat flows from it. This holds especially true in todays context where the accomplishment of the process of adjusting to change warrants an escalating level of individual and group participation, for the seamless integration of human resources into the strategic plans. HRM also focuses to attain employee commitment, this involves classification of the type of commitment required e.g. attitudinal, behavioral. Commitment of an employee can be at different levels it could be towards the organization, to his job, for individual career advancement and numerous such like things. Commitment in an employees context can be defined as approval of enterprise mission and goals, and could be reflected in behaviour adopted by him/her that furthers these goals. David further proposes that theoretically the combination of organizational commitment and job related behavioral commitment constitutes a high degree of employee satisfaction, motivates them for high performance, longer tenure with their organisations and prepares them to willingly accept changes. The third goal of strategic HRM is to exercise flexibility and adaptability, which basically translates into the ability to manage change and innovation and to react swiftly to transforming market demands and changes. Thus arises a need for a HRM policy which is favorable to change at all levels of the organization, an arrangement which is practical not bureaucratic, functional and adaptable, with an absence of rigid job divisions and with capable of functional flexibility i.e. flexible skills and motivation to move from one assignment to another. Promoting these is possible only according to David if the employees at all levels exhibit a high degree of organizational commitment, their trust towards the organizational policies and have high levels of intrinsic motivation. Attaining and maintaining total quality is the fourth goal of HRM. This highlights the importance of policies and practices to recruit, development and retention of skilled and flexible employees, and the formulation of established performance standards and performance procedures. This can be further subdivide into two broader goals i.e. building a integrated organizational culture and achieving and maintaining competitive advantage through the dynamic use of human resources. Guest (2002) has argued that the effect of human resource management practices on overall performance of a firm will depend upon response of the employees to the implemented HRM practices; therefore the impact will be more or less a translation of the perception of HRM practices by the employee. Wood (1999) and Guest (2002) have stressed upon the need to build a competent, committed and highly involved work force is the one required for best implementation of business strategy. Huselid (1995) discovered that the effectiveness of employees is directly related to the impact of HRM practices on behavior of the workforce. Patterson et al (1997) while arguing about the effect of human resource management practices on business performance have said that HR practices in selection and training influence performance by providing appropriate skills. HR practices have a potent impact on performance even if it just measured in terms of overall productivity. Huselid (1995) stressed that the adoption of best practices in selection will lead to inflow of best quality of skill set ultimately will result in adding to the value towards the skills inventory of the organization. He also highlighted the role of personnel training as an accompaniment of selection practices through which the organizational culture and employee behavior can be integrated with the organization goals to produce positive results. Cooke (2000) has included competence and effectiveness as the vital ingredients of performance apart from competitiveness and productivity. She further amplifies training as the tool to grow knowledge and skills and as way of improving individuals performance (efficiency and effectiveness). Singh (2004), whose interpretations are more pertinent in our cultural context, says that compensation is a mechanism that aligns the behavior of employees with the firms business strategy. William et al, have argued that Career planning is a tool that wo rks in sync with the strategy and future HR needs of the organisation and encourages employee to attain their individual goals for personal development. By encouraging employee involvement, the firm will profit from increase in efficiency of theemployee due to improved commitment of the employee. Financial participation schemes are more beneficial for the organizations than the associated cost (Summers Hyman, 2005). In high growth industry use of best HR practices result in a stronger association with firms productivity (Datta et al, 2003). Wright et al (2003) have said that if proper performance management system is in place and is complemented by a just compensation system that is linked with the performance management system an employee will exert unrestricted effort to improve his performance. Similarly to improve performance the need is to clearly define the jobs. â€Å"Job definition is combination of job description and job specification. It clearly outlines duties, responsibilities, working conditions and expected skills of an individual performing that job† (Qureshi, 2006). Ichniowski (1995) while studying productivity of steel workers have argued that harmonizing HR practice System positively effects employees performance.Sels,2006 Collins (2005) in a study of similar character targeting small business have also argued that efficient HR practices affect employee productivity to a great extent. Meyer and Allen (1997) indicated that HRM practices have been considered to be valuable and effective tools for elevating organizational commitment, especially affective commitment. However, there are some other perspectives also on this subject; De Coninsk and Stilwell (1996) argued that what directly influences employees affective commitment is not the actual practices itself, but the employee perceptions of fairness of practices that affects organizational commitment. Ogilvie (1986) found that, even with personal and work characteristics controlled, employees perceptions of two characteristics of HRM practices, namely, the accuracy of the merit rating system and the fairness of promotions, contributed to the prediction of commitment. Gaertner and Nollen (1989) also found that employees commitment was related to the perceived HRM practices, including internal promotion, training opportunities, and employment security. Ostroff and Bowen (2000) made use of â€Å"meso† theory t o explain that the implementation of HRM practices helped to amplify workers identification with their organization through employees psychological contracts. Therefore, just as what the above mentioned scholars stated, the HRM practices itself cannot have impact on employees commitment, it is after the implementation of the HRM practices that triggered employees own perceptions and then assess whether the practice is considered fair or favorable to them and consequently influence their attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, if the HRM practices that an organization implements permit the employees to acknowledge it as highly committed, consequently, this will lead to reinforced trust and concurrently generate higher emotional attachment with his/her serviced organization. Despite several experiential studies that have established a relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment, however, such a connection seems to be a little too straightforward (Paul Anantharaman, 2004; Ulrich, 1997; Wimalasiri, 1995). Ostroff and Bowen (2000) projected that it was the psychological bond of an individual that unified how an organizational HRM practice influenced employees mind-set and behavior. This also entails that HRM practices may conjointly manipulate employees organizational commitment obliquely, and must go through by means of individuals psychological alteration system. Guzzo and Noonan (1994) said that â€Å"An organizations HRM practices influenced employee commitment since they are communications from the employer to the employee. How employees interpreted and made sense of their organizational HRM practices affected their psychological contract with their employer and, ultimately, their commitment to that employer.† Zucker (1983) also suppose that the organization members attitudes and behaviors are subjective and are governed by organizations official communication of ‘common understandings. Term common understandings denoting what were considered the appropriate, essential and meaningful behaviors within an organization. Basically, the official organization communication of common understandings will direct its members to alter their own personal attitudes and behaviors so that they can match organizational expectations and requirements. 2.2 Human resources practices HRM propose that there is a universal ‘one best way to administer people. By assuming a best practice method it is argued that organizations will attain improved commitment from people leading to better organizational performance, top levels of service quality and eventually boost in efficiency and profitability, Usually couched in terms of ‘bundles, the HRM practices that are offered in support of a high commitment and performance model are generally fairly consistent. A range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational strategies aimed at securing high-quality service are:- 2.3 Recruitment and Selection One of the main and most basic HRM practice is of Recruiting and selecting staff with the correct attitudinal and behavioral characteristics. The process of selection is AIMED at picking out the most probable candidate from a bunch of applicants who best suites the needs of the organisation. According to Vlachos the person who is most suitable is chosen based on his educational and/or professional qualifications and the focus of the whole process is to decrease the cost for the organisation and employ such employees who have merit and talent and can maximize the profits. A variety of considerations in the selection process should be employed to assess the work values, interpersonal skills, personality and problem-solving capabilities of likely employees to evaluate their ‘service orientation. To maintain the high degree of competitive advantage an organisation requires capable and skillful personnel (Liao Chu 2006). Huselid (1995) has established that organisational productivi ty and high degree of performance is dependant upon the selection of the appropriate person, which is also a way to reduce employee turnover. Michie and Sheehan-Quinn (2001) recognized a positive link between hiring employees, and the creation of the appropriate culture for organisational growth. Cho, et al. (2006) established a positive and considerable connection between HRM practices adopted by a firm and the various recruitment selection techniques implemented like the recruitment resource, screening test, behavioural tests interviews i.e. structured and unstructured to improve the fiscal performance. Therefore, it made compulsory for the organisations to attract qualified candidates and recruit them for survival and growth. 2.4 Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal has attracted an immense degree of interest. Levin (1986) identified uses of performance appraisal, like potential analysis which assesses the performance of the employee in past, need for training, remuneration expectations- salary, employee merit appraisal, suggestion for and by the employee, employee career development etc. Thang (2004) in his study has shown as to effect of suitable HRM related decision on how well employees are performing their jobs. Performance appraisal is a constant procedure rather than a once a year fatigue. It is an official arrangement where periodical assessment of an individuals or teams performance for a particular task is carried out and a feedback is given on the same. Stone (2002) said that in order to survive in a highly competitive environment a firm must focus on improving its performance. In addition, in the fast changing surroundings, tighter finances, downsizing and demands for enhanced responsibility and accountability on the part of the employees and thus result in more emphasis on performance appraisal in order to enable the management to attain the organisational objectives. To achieve optimum performance requirements performance related rewards target those who meet the expectations of the organisation (Stone 2002, Cho, et al. 2006, Chand Katou 2007). Information in regard to employee salary, training needs, compensation, promotion as well as employee development, transfer and employee fe edback is provided by performance appraisal (Huber 1983). Appraisal systems have also moved away from conventional top down approaches to appraisal in more modern and pertinent terms such as customer evaluation, team-based performance, the appraisal of managers by subordinates and peer review. Generally, all of these performance appraisal methods should focus on the quality objectives of the organization and the behaviors of employees required for maintaining these. Performance appraisal has both administrative and individual development focus and organizations sincerity towards performance appraisal goes a long way in developing commitment and trust among people. Overall attitude towards HRM department is a significant predictor of organizational commitment. This aspect of HRM practice refers to how people see their HRM department, with respect, with disdain, with indifference and so on. It refers to the fact that the acceptance of various HRM practices depend largely on the overall image of the HR department. Hospitality industry needs to rely on the commitment of a well-trained, multi-skilled workforce in order to achieve a competitive position, especially in terms of providing high quality customer service. This suggests that hotels need to adopt HRM organisational practices that enhance the motivation of employees and improve organisational effectiveness. 2.5 Reward Management Huselid (1995) asserts that compensation and employee merit are directly related and finally contribute towards the firm outcomes. Compensation by its definition means all payments in terms of money and all commodities provided in kind i.e. instead of financial to recompense employees. The reward system was organized to attract and motivate so as to keep employees. More so, employee influence was tailored on controlled authority and decision making. The expectancy theory (Vroom 1964) suggests that rewards, that can be comprehended as a form of direct and indirect recompense packages, have the ability to manipulate employee work enthusiasm. Thang (2004) suggests that to achieve concerted efforts from the employees to fulfill the organisational goals compensation and reward can be used as powerful tools. On the same lines, Wan (2008) argued that compensation should be measured depending on employees performance not on the basis of position or seniority in the organization.Pay practic e is one of the tools of human resources management practices which manage wage, salary, pay and benefits etc. for the employees. Reward management has got an important role in HRM. A high level of pay and remuneration in comparison to that of rivals ensures the attraction and retention of high-quality employee, however this may impact negatively on the companys overall labor expenditures. Also by connecting pay with performance, the company can educe desired standards of performance as well as specific task orientation from employee (Noe et al., 2006). Generally, pay practice is very significant for the organizations and firms which can attract employees to apply for the job as recruitment. Attractive pay practices play a major role in attracting talent and are very helpful during the recruitment process. Similarly for the employees this means that they are required to show a continuously high level of commitment and performance in order to keep their jobs. Pay packages also have a degree of connection with the job satisfaction of an employee. Ting (1997) asserts that the job satisfaction can be gauged by the pay structure. He further explains two different type of effect of pay practices on job satisfaction; first is the satisfaction with pay itself and second is the satisfaction with financial prospects in the future. There is a venerable interest of these two things which are correlated with job satisfaction. Thus, it is pertinent to understand the relationship between job satisfaction and pay practices which eventually materializes in terms of higher productivity. Efficiency wage theories also suggest that paying higher wages can often result in increased efficiency. There are three main channels that are addressed in these theories that improve productivity, as described by Katz, 1987. Firstly it means that the harder the employees of an organization work higher will be the punishment for someone who is caught shirking and higher w ill be the probability of losing job of the employee getting caught. Thus higher wages means an increased effort on part of the employee due to the enhanced probability of losing job in a high performance environment. In other words, wage and pay practice are directly responsible for employees productivity and turnover. Secondly, a higher wage translates directly into workers loyalty towards organization thus improving employees efforts. Also it is a pertinent deduction that higher wage structure plays considerable amount of restraint on the employees to turnover their jobs. Thirdly, in more tangible terms higher wages are responsible for reducing firm employee turnover and recruitment costs. 2.6 Training and Development ‘Training and development (TD) is a very important tool of HRM (Vlachos 2008). According to Li, et al. 2008 Training is the set of activities which prepare the employees to attain needed skill sets and to deliver more efficiently in their current jobs. In the environment of todays business an employee is needed to cope with various pressures and are required to keep their skills and knowledge current to stay competitive. Tai (2006) asserts that more adaptability, ability, flexibility, motivation, maintenance of skills and efficiency are greatly enhanced by proper training and development of employees. According to Vlachos training and firms performance are indirectly related. In most of the manufacturing industry, the prevailing training programs are mostly unstructured on the job is the most preferred mode. Bartel (1994) in her study found a positive and significant relation between training and labour productivity. Guidetti and Mazzanti (2007) found that high performance and training activities are positively associated. It is also affected by labour flexibility in various directions. Apospori, et al. (2008) in their study of southern European countries have discovered the impact of training on firms performance. Equipping of service level staff enables them towards ‘service orientation. Training is the planned effort that facilitates the acquisition of job related knowledge, updating of skill sets, and impacts the behavior of an employee. In the implementation of HRM tools training is an important factor responsible for productivity. Higher productivity observed in firms is a direct outcome of training programs. â€Å"High-Involvementpractices such as autonomy, team collaboration, and training are helpful in reducing employee turnover and enhance productivity. Untrained workers tend to change job more often. An increase in high-performance work practices converts into decrease in turnover† (Bradley, Petrescu Simmons, 2004). Training programs are particularly helpful when an employer is experiencing a high degree of employee turnover more so during the times of economic uncertainty. Even during the times when the business is flourishing an organization should proactively earmark their investment for on the job training and other training programs balancing the cost of training with the perceived benefits of productivity. On the other hand, a trained worker has got the required skills and knowledge and can be a candidate for job turnover. Therefore, job satisfaction is crucial factor to retain the employee from shifting his jobs. Bradley, Petrescu and Simmons (2004) explained that job satisfaction can be effectively imoproved by creating on-going learning as well as training in workplace; moreover their study indicates that training increases satisfaction levels of an employee which in turn enhances employee motivation and commitment. Therefore it is argued that acquisition or knowledge or training has a positive impact on job satisfaction. 2.7 Traditional and Recent HR Practices in Hospitality Industry Keep and Mayhew (1999) in their study regarding the personnel problems in the tourism and hospitality industry some of them areas follow: low pay, no fixed hours and shift. Poor career growth, seasonal employment; informal recruitment methods; lack of good HR practice; high attrition rate and retaining employees. Riley et al. (2000) to recognize the reality of traditional and poor HR practices, he said that determining factor for HR policies and practices in tourism and hospitality industry is the key economics. Riley et al. says that it carries a very important meaning in tourism and hospitality industry, as in this service sector there is every thing which is intangible. According to (ILO, 2001: 6).Employers and the organizational representatives consider employee turnover in the industry as not the major issue according to them it is the part of working they have not realized that what are its causes and reasons, retaining staff is costlier than hiring new for them. When the organizations will realize that poor HR practices like low pay benefits, lack career opportunities, work life imbalance are the main reason employee turnover. That day the organizations will be successful in real terms. The inability of the businesses and the industry to recognize the most glaring issues can be attributed to the hostility and opposition from employers associations in the industry such as British Hospitality Association (BHA), to governmental initiative such as the minimum wage and working time directive. BHA is still apprehensive of these initiatives despite support from other quarters who favor these initiatives (Lucas, 2004). It is to a great extend clear from the above researches which supports the fact that tourism and hospitality industry is a poor employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), Kelliher and Johnson (1997) have clearly said that â€Å"the dominant paradigm has tended to stress the negative aspects of working in the hospitality sector†. It is not surprising to see a long history that supports the fact that hospitality remains a poorly employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001) did an analysis of a designer restaurant. These types of ventures were supposed to be implementing sophisticated HRM approaches as they aimed at building competitive advantage. Although the restaurant had adopted a more modern and sophisticated approach towards, training and development and focused on an innovative strategy ‘there was little real evidence that human resources were seen as a source of competitive advantage (p. 434). Instead, the HRM approaches adopted by the restaurant were much more reflective of immediate environmental constraints, such as the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. In short, any number of reasons for poor HR practices in the tourism and hospitality industry. Economic determinism, the predominance of SMEs, a low-skills base, employer antipathy to a more progressive approach to HRM, labour market characteristics, organizations ensuring best fit HRM practices to support a high volume, low-cost strategy; all are plausible reasons for a view of HRM which is not necessarily premised on high-skills, high-wages and a high-quality route to competitive advantage. That said, it would be equally wrong to paint a wholly pessimistic picture. Hoque (2000). On his work of good practice in the hotel sector, says that the hotels have started taking the issues seriously and have come up with good HR practices for the employee commitment. He further says that argues that arguments which give a picture of the industry as backward and un strategic is now outdated, hotels have started taking it seriously as there main aim is customer satisfaction which is possible only through strong employee commitment. In fact, he says that the management has become very serious regarding the practices and polices of HR .The hotels have started experimenting with innovation approaches, quality enhancement of HRM polices and practices. The hotels industry has started paying well, have revised appraisal system, proper training programs for employees skills development, schemes for proper balance between work and life, special advantages to women, job rotation, employee empowerment, performance based pay, teamwork etc. the implementation of all th ese polices and practices helps in gaining employee commitment and customer satisfaction. The focus of hospitality Human Resource Management in UK Hotel Industry Human Resource Management in UK Hotel Industry 1 Introduction Human Resource Management is a consistent and productive approach towards the management of employees who are ‘valued assets to the organization. And managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business. Hence linking the HRM more explicitly to the strategic goals to improve the business and foster innovation and flexibility, thus serves the overall purpose. Through best possible use and application of HR policies in the organization, commitment can be encouraged thus leading to better performance, improve staff attitude and lower labour turnover, this is the ideal aim of the human resource practices which has been argued to neglect the fact that HR specialists and line managers have a major impact on how these HR policies are implemented at the hotels and whether all the HR practices are universally applicable. Human resource management is the techniques businesses incorporate to maintain an effective workforce to meet operational requirements. It is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, administration, organization development, employee motivation, wellness, benefits, safety, communication, performance management, and training. Human resource practices implemented in an organisation are used for recruitment, selection; training and development, reward management, performance appraisal etc. Human Resource Management strategically manages people and work place environment and culture. Effective HRM practices enable employees to contribute effectively and productively towards the attainment of the organizations goals and objectives facilitates overall company mission. HRM practices are one of the channels of communication for an organization with its employees it consists of the actual programs, processes and techniques. It conveys as to what the organization desires as valuable and appropriate behaviors. The workers on reception of such a message build up their own distinct perceptions and through a self-assessment (evaluation) process subsequently shape their attitude and behavior. For instance, if an organization implemented a training program for their workers, it will develop workers knowledge, skills and capability, and thus cultivate better employee commitment due to contented experience with the organization; however, such correlation may at times be misleading or unpredictable i.e. even though some employees may think this training as useful and recognize the implementation of organizational HRM practices, but on the contrary, other workers may see the program as non-effective and view it as a trouble that hamper their regular work timeta ble, hence this may work in an unintended way by bringing down their satisfaction with the organization and negatively effect their commitment. This is the very reason why employees individual view plays as a vital intermediary in the association between organizational HRM practices and the real disclosure of employees outlook and behaviors. Therefore, from this point of view, one can argue that HRM practices in its dominating effect alter an employees affective commitment, by first impinging upon their perception of organizational HRM practices and consequently further alter or transform their emotional commitment towards the organization. Thats why, by the means of implementation of high-commitment HRM practices, i.e. intensive training and development, high level of compensation, promotion from within, socialization, etc. convince the employees that the organizations purpose is in conformity with their insight, and it impinges upon them to reciprocate with advanced commitment and stronger deference to devote and put in for the organization. Therefore this research will try to establish a correlation between HR practices and their effects on employee commitment. The HR practices that will be examined in the research will be Selection and Recruitment Process, Training and Development programs, Performance management, Reward management and industrial labour relations. These are some of the main HR practices followed by the hotels aiming for the more committed team. But the researcher is interested in knowing whether these HR practices really result in more committed employees. And if these HR practices really result in committed employees then is it universally applicable in all countries of the world or all types of industries. These are some of the questions that have encouraged the researcher in conducting this research. 1.1 Research Aim The aim of this dissertation is to examine the HR practices implemented in UK hotels and their impact on employee commitment. 1.2 Objective The objectives of this research were to:- Examine the current HR practices prevalent in UK hotels. Evaluating these current HR practices against the existing literature to find out whether they match or not. Evaluating the factors leading to employee commitment and how many factors come by conducting HR practices in the company. 2 Literature review 2.1 Philosophy of Human Resource Management Human Resource Management is shifting its traditional stance from personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are being increasingly outsourced. HRM is now focusing more and more towards adding quality and value to the strategic exploitation of employees and that employee development programs impact the business in tangible terms. This new approach towards revolution in HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements in tangible terms to gauge the effect of these practices. Some of the HRM practices studied in this project are selection, benefits, training, performance feedback, communication systems, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and employee participation. David E. Guest (1987) says that human resource management is the tool for attainment of the managerial objectives in the organizations that have accepted the need for the optimum utilization of human resource to achieve competitive advantage and stay viable in their businesses. The primary objective of HRM is amalgamation of companys mission and goal with the HR practices. David E. Guest argues that formulation of a comprehensive corporate strategy is a major factor that decides the continuing business success of any organization.For matured managers human resource planning is not just a fundamental component of strategic planning, but somewhat flows from it. This holds especially true in todays context where the accomplishment of the process of adjusting to change warrants an escalating level of individual and group participation, for the seamless integration of human resources into the strategic plans. HRM also focuses to attain employee commitment, this involves classification of the type of commitment required e.g. attitudinal, behavioral. Commitment of an employee can be at different levels it could be towards the organization, to his job, for individual career advancement and numerous such like things. Commitment in an employees context can be defined as approval of enterprise mission and goals, and could be reflected in behaviour adopted by him/her that furthers these goals. David further proposes that theoretically the combination of organizational commitment and job related behavioral commitment constitutes a high degree of employee satisfaction, motivates them for high performance, longer tenure with their organisations and prepares them to willingly accept changes. The third goal of strategic HRM is to exercise flexibility and adaptability, which basically translates into the ability to manage change and innovation and to react swiftly to transforming market demands and changes. Thus arises a need for a HRM policy which is favorable to change at all levels of the organization, an arrangement which is practical not bureaucratic, functional and adaptable, with an absence of rigid job divisions and with capable of functional flexibility i.e. flexible skills and motivation to move from one assignment to another. Promoting these is possible only according to David if the employees at all levels exhibit a high degree of organizational commitment, their trust towards the organizational policies and have high levels of intrinsic motivation. Attaining and maintaining total quality is the fourth goal of HRM. This highlights the importance of policies and practices to recruit, development and retention of skilled and flexible employees, and the formulation of established performance standards and performance procedures. This can be further subdivide into two broader goals i.e. building a integrated organizational culture and achieving and maintaining competitive advantage through the dynamic use of human resources. Guest (2002) has argued that the effect of human resource management practices on overall performance of a firm will depend upon response of the employees to the implemented HRM practices; therefore the impact will be more or less a translation of the perception of HRM practices by the employee. Wood (1999) and Guest (2002) have stressed upon the need to build a competent, committed and highly involved work force is the one required for best implementation of business strategy. Huselid (1995) discovered that the effectiveness of employees is directly related to the impact of HRM practices on behavior of the workforce. Patterson et al (1997) while arguing about the effect of human resource management practices on business performance have said that HR practices in selection and training influence performance by providing appropriate skills. HR practices have a potent impact on performance even if it just measured in terms of overall productivity. Huselid (1995) stressed that the adoption of best practices in selection will lead to inflow of best quality of skill set ultimately will result in adding to the value towards the skills inventory of the organization. He also highlighted the role of personnel training as an accompaniment of selection practices through which the organizational culture and employee behavior can be integrated with the organization goals to produce positive results. Cooke (2000) has included competence and effectiveness as the vital ingredients of performance apart from competitiveness and productivity. She further amplifies training as the tool to grow knowledge and skills and as way of improving individuals performance (efficiency and effectiveness). Singh (2004), whose interpretations are more pertinent in our cultural context, says that compensation is a mechanism that aligns the behavior of employees with the firms business strategy. William et al, have argued that Career planning is a tool that wo rks in sync with the strategy and future HR needs of the organisation and encourages employee to attain their individual goals for personal development. By encouraging employee involvement, the firm will profit from increase in efficiency of theemployee due to improved commitment of the employee. Financial participation schemes are more beneficial for the organizations than the associated cost (Summers Hyman, 2005). In high growth industry use of best HR practices result in a stronger association with firms productivity (Datta et al, 2003). Wright et al (2003) have said that if proper performance management system is in place and is complemented by a just compensation system that is linked with the performance management system an employee will exert unrestricted effort to improve his performance. Similarly to improve performance the need is to clearly define the jobs. â€Å"Job definition is combination of job description and job specification. It clearly outlines duties, responsibilities, working conditions and expected skills of an individual performing that job† (Qureshi, 2006). Ichniowski (1995) while studying productivity of steel workers have argued that harmonizing HR practice System positively effects employees performance.Sels,2006 Collins (2005) in a study of similar character targeting small business have also argued that efficient HR practices affect employee productivity to a great extent. Meyer and Allen (1997) indicated that HRM practices have been considered to be valuable and effective tools for elevating organizational commitment, especially affective commitment. However, there are some other perspectives also on this subject; De Coninsk and Stilwell (1996) argued that what directly influences employees affective commitment is not the actual practices itself, but the employee perceptions of fairness of practices that affects organizational commitment. Ogilvie (1986) found that, even with personal and work characteristics controlled, employees perceptions of two characteristics of HRM practices, namely, the accuracy of the merit rating system and the fairness of promotions, contributed to the prediction of commitment. Gaertner and Nollen (1989) also found that employees commitment was related to the perceived HRM practices, including internal promotion, training opportunities, and employment security. Ostroff and Bowen (2000) made use of â€Å"meso† theory t o explain that the implementation of HRM practices helped to amplify workers identification with their organization through employees psychological contracts. Therefore, just as what the above mentioned scholars stated, the HRM practices itself cannot have impact on employees commitment, it is after the implementation of the HRM practices that triggered employees own perceptions and then assess whether the practice is considered fair or favorable to them and consequently influence their attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, if the HRM practices that an organization implements permit the employees to acknowledge it as highly committed, consequently, this will lead to reinforced trust and concurrently generate higher emotional attachment with his/her serviced organization. Despite several experiential studies that have established a relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment, however, such a connection seems to be a little too straightforward (Paul Anantharaman, 2004; Ulrich, 1997; Wimalasiri, 1995). Ostroff and Bowen (2000) projected that it was the psychological bond of an individual that unified how an organizational HRM practice influenced employees mind-set and behavior. This also entails that HRM practices may conjointly manipulate employees organizational commitment obliquely, and must go through by means of individuals psychological alteration system. Guzzo and Noonan (1994) said that â€Å"An organizations HRM practices influenced employee commitment since they are communications from the employer to the employee. How employees interpreted and made sense of their organizational HRM practices affected their psychological contract with their employer and, ultimately, their commitment to that employer.† Zucker (1983) also suppose that the organization members attitudes and behaviors are subjective and are governed by organizations official communication of ‘common understandings. Term common understandings denoting what were considered the appropriate, essential and meaningful behaviors within an organization. Basically, the official organization communication of common understandings will direct its members to alter their own personal attitudes and behaviors so that they can match organizational expectations and requirements. 2.2 Human resources practices HRM propose that there is a universal ‘one best way to administer people. By assuming a best practice method it is argued that organizations will attain improved commitment from people leading to better organizational performance, top levels of service quality and eventually boost in efficiency and profitability, Usually couched in terms of ‘bundles, the HRM practices that are offered in support of a high commitment and performance model are generally fairly consistent. A range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational strategies aimed at securing high-quality service are:- 2.3 Recruitment and Selection One of the main and most basic HRM practice is of Recruiting and selecting staff with the correct attitudinal and behavioral characteristics. The process of selection is AIMED at picking out the most probable candidate from a bunch of applicants who best suites the needs of the organisation. According to Vlachos the person who is most suitable is chosen based on his educational and/or professional qualifications and the focus of the whole process is to decrease the cost for the organisation and employ such employees who have merit and talent and can maximize the profits. A variety of considerations in the selection process should be employed to assess the work values, interpersonal skills, personality and problem-solving capabilities of likely employees to evaluate their ‘service orientation. To maintain the high degree of competitive advantage an organisation requires capable and skillful personnel (Liao Chu 2006). Huselid (1995) has established that organisational productivi ty and high degree of performance is dependant upon the selection of the appropriate person, which is also a way to reduce employee turnover. Michie and Sheehan-Quinn (2001) recognized a positive link between hiring employees, and the creation of the appropriate culture for organisational growth. Cho, et al. (2006) established a positive and considerable connection between HRM practices adopted by a firm and the various recruitment selection techniques implemented like the recruitment resource, screening test, behavioural tests interviews i.e. structured and unstructured to improve the fiscal performance. Therefore, it made compulsory for the organisations to attract qualified candidates and recruit them for survival and growth. 2.4 Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal has attracted an immense degree of interest. Levin (1986) identified uses of performance appraisal, like potential analysis which assesses the performance of the employee in past, need for training, remuneration expectations- salary, employee merit appraisal, suggestion for and by the employee, employee career development etc. Thang (2004) in his study has shown as to effect of suitable HRM related decision on how well employees are performing their jobs. Performance appraisal is a constant procedure rather than a once a year fatigue. It is an official arrangement where periodical assessment of an individuals or teams performance for a particular task is carried out and a feedback is given on the same. Stone (2002) said that in order to survive in a highly competitive environment a firm must focus on improving its performance. In addition, in the fast changing surroundings, tighter finances, downsizing and demands for enhanced responsibility and accountability on the part of the employees and thus result in more emphasis on performance appraisal in order to enable the management to attain the organisational objectives. To achieve optimum performance requirements performance related rewards target those who meet the expectations of the organisation (Stone 2002, Cho, et al. 2006, Chand Katou 2007). Information in regard to employee salary, training needs, compensation, promotion as well as employee development, transfer and employee fe edback is provided by performance appraisal (Huber 1983). Appraisal systems have also moved away from conventional top down approaches to appraisal in more modern and pertinent terms such as customer evaluation, team-based performance, the appraisal of managers by subordinates and peer review. Generally, all of these performance appraisal methods should focus on the quality objectives of the organization and the behaviors of employees required for maintaining these. Performance appraisal has both administrative and individual development focus and organizations sincerity towards performance appraisal goes a long way in developing commitment and trust among people. Overall attitude towards HRM department is a significant predictor of organizational commitment. This aspect of HRM practice refers to how people see their HRM department, with respect, with disdain, with indifference and so on. It refers to the fact that the acceptance of various HRM practices depend largely on the overall image of the HR department. Hospitality industry needs to rely on the commitment of a well-trained, multi-skilled workforce in order to achieve a competitive position, especially in terms of providing high quality customer service. This suggests that hotels need to adopt HRM organisational practices that enhance the motivation of employees and improve organisational effectiveness. 2.5 Reward Management Huselid (1995) asserts that compensation and employee merit are directly related and finally contribute towards the firm outcomes. Compensation by its definition means all payments in terms of money and all commodities provided in kind i.e. instead of financial to recompense employees. The reward system was organized to attract and motivate so as to keep employees. More so, employee influence was tailored on controlled authority and decision making. The expectancy theory (Vroom 1964) suggests that rewards, that can be comprehended as a form of direct and indirect recompense packages, have the ability to manipulate employee work enthusiasm. Thang (2004) suggests that to achieve concerted efforts from the employees to fulfill the organisational goals compensation and reward can be used as powerful tools. On the same lines, Wan (2008) argued that compensation should be measured depending on employees performance not on the basis of position or seniority in the organization.Pay practic e is one of the tools of human resources management practices which manage wage, salary, pay and benefits etc. for the employees. Reward management has got an important role in HRM. A high level of pay and remuneration in comparison to that of rivals ensures the attraction and retention of high-quality employee, however this may impact negatively on the companys overall labor expenditures. Also by connecting pay with performance, the company can educe desired standards of performance as well as specific task orientation from employee (Noe et al., 2006). Generally, pay practice is very significant for the organizations and firms which can attract employees to apply for the job as recruitment. Attractive pay practices play a major role in attracting talent and are very helpful during the recruitment process. Similarly for the employees this means that they are required to show a continuously high level of commitment and performance in order to keep their jobs. Pay packages also have a degree of connection with the job satisfaction of an employee. Ting (1997) asserts that the job satisfaction can be gauged by the pay structure. He further explains two different type of effect of pay practices on job satisfaction; first is the satisfaction with pay itself and second is the satisfaction with financial prospects in the future. There is a venerable interest of these two things which are correlated with job satisfaction. Thus, it is pertinent to understand the relationship between job satisfaction and pay practices which eventually materializes in terms of higher productivity. Efficiency wage theories also suggest that paying higher wages can often result in increased efficiency. There are three main channels that are addressed in these theories that improve productivity, as described by Katz, 1987. Firstly it means that the harder the employees of an organization work higher will be the punishment for someone who is caught shirking and higher w ill be the probability of losing job of the employee getting caught. Thus higher wages means an increased effort on part of the employee due to the enhanced probability of losing job in a high performance environment. In other words, wage and pay practice are directly responsible for employees productivity and turnover. Secondly, a higher wage translates directly into workers loyalty towards organization thus improving employees efforts. Also it is a pertinent deduction that higher wage structure plays considerable amount of restraint on the employees to turnover their jobs. Thirdly, in more tangible terms higher wages are responsible for reducing firm employee turnover and recruitment costs. 2.6 Training and Development ‘Training and development (TD) is a very important tool of HRM (Vlachos 2008). According to Li, et al. 2008 Training is the set of activities which prepare the employees to attain needed skill sets and to deliver more efficiently in their current jobs. In the environment of todays business an employee is needed to cope with various pressures and are required to keep their skills and knowledge current to stay competitive. Tai (2006) asserts that more adaptability, ability, flexibility, motivation, maintenance of skills and efficiency are greatly enhanced by proper training and development of employees. According to Vlachos training and firms performance are indirectly related. In most of the manufacturing industry, the prevailing training programs are mostly unstructured on the job is the most preferred mode. Bartel (1994) in her study found a positive and significant relation between training and labour productivity. Guidetti and Mazzanti (2007) found that high performance and training activities are positively associated. It is also affected by labour flexibility in various directions. Apospori, et al. (2008) in their study of southern European countries have discovered the impact of training on firms performance. Equipping of service level staff enables them towards ‘service orientation. Training is the planned effort that facilitates the acquisition of job related knowledge, updating of skill sets, and impacts the behavior of an employee. In the implementation of HRM tools training is an important factor responsible for productivity. Higher productivity observed in firms is a direct outcome of training programs. â€Å"High-Involvementpractices such as autonomy, team collaboration, and training are helpful in reducing employee turnover and enhance productivity. Untrained workers tend to change job more often. An increase in high-performance work practices converts into decrease in turnover† (Bradley, Petrescu Simmons, 2004). Training programs are particularly helpful when an employer is experiencing a high degree of employee turnover more so during the times of economic uncertainty. Even during the times when the business is flourishing an organization should proactively earmark their investment for on the job training and other training programs balancing the cost of training with the perceived benefits of productivity. On the other hand, a trained worker has got the required skills and knowledge and can be a candidate for job turnover. Therefore, job satisfaction is crucial factor to retain the employee from shifting his jobs. Bradley, Petrescu and Simmons (2004) explained that job satisfaction can be effectively imoproved by creating on-going learning as well as training in workplace; moreover their study indicates that training increases satisfaction levels of an employee which in turn enhances employee motivation and commitment. Therefore it is argued that acquisition or knowledge or training has a positive impact on job satisfaction. 2.7 Traditional and Recent HR Practices in Hospitality Industry Keep and Mayhew (1999) in their study regarding the personnel problems in the tourism and hospitality industry some of them areas follow: low pay, no fixed hours and shift. Poor career growth, seasonal employment; informal recruitment methods; lack of good HR practice; high attrition rate and retaining employees. Riley et al. (2000) to recognize the reality of traditional and poor HR practices, he said that determining factor for HR policies and practices in tourism and hospitality industry is the key economics. Riley et al. says that it carries a very important meaning in tourism and hospitality industry, as in this service sector there is every thing which is intangible. According to (ILO, 2001: 6).Employers and the organizational representatives consider employee turnover in the industry as not the major issue according to them it is the part of working they have not realized that what are its causes and reasons, retaining staff is costlier than hiring new for them. When the organizations will realize that poor HR practices like low pay benefits, lack career opportunities, work life imbalance are the main reason employee turnover. That day the organizations will be successful in real terms. The inability of the businesses and the industry to recognize the most glaring issues can be attributed to the hostility and opposition from employers associations in the industry such as British Hospitality Association (BHA), to governmental initiative such as the minimum wage and working time directive. BHA is still apprehensive of these initiatives despite support from other quarters who favor these initiatives (Lucas, 2004). It is to a great extend clear from the above researches which supports the fact that tourism and hospitality industry is a poor employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), Kelliher and Johnson (1997) have clearly said that â€Å"the dominant paradigm has tended to stress the negative aspects of working in the hospitality sector†. It is not surprising to see a long history that supports the fact that hospitality remains a poorly employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001) did an analysis of a designer restaurant. These types of ventures were supposed to be implementing sophisticated HRM approaches as they aimed at building competitive advantage. Although the restaurant had adopted a more modern and sophisticated approach towards, training and development and focused on an innovative strategy ‘there was little real evidence that human resources were seen as a source of competitive advantage (p. 434). Instead, the HRM approaches adopted by the restaurant were much more reflective of immediate environmental constraints, such as the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. In short, any number of reasons for poor HR practices in the tourism and hospitality industry. Economic determinism, the predominance of SMEs, a low-skills base, employer antipathy to a more progressive approach to HRM, labour market characteristics, organizations ensuring best fit HRM practices to support a high volume, low-cost strategy; all are plausible reasons for a view of HRM which is not necessarily premised on high-skills, high-wages and a high-quality route to competitive advantage. That said, it would be equally wrong to paint a wholly pessimistic picture. Hoque (2000). On his work of good practice in the hotel sector, says that the hotels have started taking the issues seriously and have come up with good HR practices for the employee commitment. He further says that argues that arguments which give a picture of the industry as backward and un strategic is now outdated, hotels have started taking it seriously as there main aim is customer satisfaction which is possible only through strong employee commitment. In fact, he says that the management has become very serious regarding the practices and polices of HR .The hotels have started experimenting with innovation approaches, quality enhancement of HRM polices and practices. The hotels industry has started paying well, have revised appraisal system, proper training programs for employees skills development, schemes for proper balance between work and life, special advantages to women, job rotation, employee empowerment, performance based pay, teamwork etc. the implementation of all th ese polices and practices helps in gaining employee commitment and customer satisfaction. The focus of hospitality

Comparative Analysis of Australian Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islanders, and the First Nations of Canada :: Equality Health Human Development Essays

Comparative Analysis of Australian Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islanders, and the First Nations of Canada INTRODUCTION Equality in health implies that ideally everyone should have a fair opportunity to attain his or her full health potential and, more reasonably, that no one should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential. Based on this definition, the aim of policy for equity and health is not to eliminate all health differences so that everyone has the same level and quality of health, but rather to reduce or eliminate those which result from factors which are considered to be avoidable and unfair. To appreciate the importance of striving for equity in relation to health, it is necessary to be aware of just how extensive are the differences in health found in the world today. In every part of the region, and in every type of political and social system, differences in health have been noted between different social groups and between different geographical areas in the same country (Whitehead 2000). There is consistent evidence that inequalities in health result in disadvantaged groups having poorer survival chances, suffering a heavier burden of illness, and sharing a similar pattern of low quality of life The poor health of the Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders is well known. Since the 1970s, mortality rates have been declining, but life expectancy has not changed and the gap between the Aboriginal population and the total Australian population has widened. This pattern contrasts with that of the Indigenous population of Canada where marked improvements in health have occurred. From that standpoint, this paper will discuss the important issues of health care inequalities that exist with the Aboriginals in Australia and compare them to those which subsist in the First Nations of Canada. POPULATION OF AUSTRALIA Australians have among the highest life expectancy in the world and most have ready access to comprehensive health care of high quality. In the 1995 National Health Survey, 83% of Australians aged 15 or over reported their overall health as excellent, very good or good (ABS 1997). The average life expectancy in 2000 was high for both men and women being 76 years and 82 years respectively. In terms of disability-adjusted life expectancy (DALE), Australia ranks in 2nd place after 191 countries (WHO 2000). In 1998, males at birth could expect to live for 63.3 years without experiencing major disability and women could live for 57.

Administrative Management Critical Analysis

Adam Bartoshesky November 17, 2012 MAN 3025 Writing Assignment #4 Critical Analysis The University of North Florida’s Academic Integrity Code gives students and faculty members in-depth descriptions of what exactly the code is, the ways in which the code can be broken, and the actions and consequences which result from breaking it. The code’s purpose is, â€Å"to protect the integrity of the teaching and learning process† (â€Å"Academic integrity code,†). This document lacks a persuasive tone and thus is essentially free from any biases.It uses strong language and concision in order to outline what students and faculty members should do in an instance of academic dishonesty. The code’s unbiased nature and clarity combine to make it a reliable document that can be referred to by both UNF students and faculty members in order to maintain foster learning. UNF’s Academic Integrity Code’s strengths are its detail and clarity, its openness, and its good intentions. It is impossible for the document to better explain the overall process of cheating, how it is handled, and the appeal process.Another strong point of the code is that it gives the student’s teacher freedom in how they want to handle the situation. There are five different forms of apprehension listed in the code that the teacher can choose from which range in seriousness. The teacher can do anything from lower the student’s grade for the single exercise they broke the academic code on, to giving the student an unforgivable ‘F’ for the course. It is evident that a third strength of the document is that its sole purpose is to create a better teaching and learning environment.UNF has not established this code in order to reprimand students, but rather to enhance their education by clearly stating what they should avoid while enrolled at UNF. Although the Academic Integrity Code has many strengths, it also has weakness. The main weak ness that I located in the code is that the overall process of reprimanding and appealing academic dishonesty can be time consuming. There are numerous steps that each have an allotted amount of days to be completed. Also read: Advantages and Disadvantages of Administrative ManagementThese steps include the student appealing the teacher’s initial actions, and then waiting for a new faculty member to review it and come to a new conclusion; in which case the student can appeal it once more. This process can continue up the UNF administration hierarchy until the case finally reaches the UNF President. The president has the final say in the matter. If each step is taken and the maximum amount of days to complete each step is used, the case can be under review for 205 days. That is an absurd amount of time to decide the outcome of a student’s academic misconduct.By the time it is settled, the student could have already finished one semester and been well on his or her way to completing another. At this point, I think it is unfair to give the student a consequence like being expelled from the school because they have already dedicated much of their time to another semester’s course load. After examining and evaluating The University of North Florida’s Academic Integrity Code, I have concluded that its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses. I could only find one weakness in the document whereas I was able to locate many strengths.Also, after further review, even though the process of appealing can take up to 205 days; it is unlikely that this will occur. I concur that this code is a very effective source without any significant biases, and should be referred to frequently by all UNF students and faculty members in order to maintain an effective learning environment. Works Cited Education, (n. d. ). Academic integrity code and academic misconduct policies. Retrieved from The University of North Florida website: http://www. unf. edu/uploadedFiles/aa/enrollment/onestop/registrar/MisconductPolicy. pdf

Jorge Amados Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon essays

Jorge Amados Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon essays Jorge Amadoi ¿Ã‚ ½s i ¿Ã‚ ½Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamoni ¿Ã‚ ½ is a tale of different stories in the township if Ilhi ¿Ã‚ ½us, which is a province of the larger city of Bahai, situated in the northern Brazil. This is not a long novel, as epics go; but it is easy to place the details of the narrative: the political infighting, legal wrangles, unrequited love, romantic conquests, and the progress of women within the microcosm that was Ilhi ¿Ã‚ ½us in the early part of the twentieth century, against the back drop of the coming of capitalism and profiteering. This is also a microsm of the struggle of Latin America against the burgeoning hegemonies of the developed Western Hemisphere. (1) Despite the name of the novel, it is not only about Gabrielai ¿Ã‚ ½if indeed she is the heroine (for this novel has plenty of heroes and heroines).This essay will be written to describe the geographicali ¿Ã‚ ½cultural, political and economici ¿Ã‚ ½aspects that the novel. Ilhi ¿Ã‚ ½us is a microcosm for the third world development in Brazil, and, indeed, the rest of Latin America. The forces of capitalism take root. The drive to profits above all displaces and dispossesses people. Ilhi ¿Ã‚ ½us is not a big town. It is a mere province of one of the lesser known, but nonetheless growing cities of northern Brazili ¿Ã‚ ½Bahia. While the Ilhi ¿Ã‚ ½ans see Bahia as the center of their culture, the rest of the world might be more inclined to remember the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo. But Bahia does provide the backdrop against which Ilhi ¿Ã‚ ½ians measure their progress. Ilhi ¿Ã‚ ½us was created by the removal of the virginal, Amazonian rainforests in order to make way for cacao plantations to meet the growing demand for chocolate in developed parts of the world. The quest for cacao and land that cultivated it and the greed for the revenue it might generate, much like the frontiersman during the long-defunct California Gold Rush, gave rise to i ¿Ã‚ ½Colonels.i ¿Ã‚ ½ These were so...

Henry VIII Essays - Annulment, House Of Tudor, Free Essays

Henry VIII Essays - Annulment, House Of Tudor, Free Essays Henry VIII subject = History title = Henry VIII papers = On June 28, 1941 Henry the VIII of England was born. This young man will form his own church. He will succeed to the throne in 1509. He will also marry six women! Something good will happen when he is king, he will unite England and Wales and will also do some bad things like executing people who would not follow his rules. In 1539, the Act of Supremacy declared Henry to be the head of the Church of England. King Henry the VIII of England had a good side and a bad side. Though popular with the people of England and also very talented he had many bad times and many good times for himself. Henry was not only selfish but, also handsome and had a hearty personality, he was also a gifted scholar, linguist, composer, and a musician. He was talented at many sports and was also good with the ladies. Henry was the second son and the third child of his father. Henry the VIII died in 1509, the only reason Henry would become king is because of his brothers, Arthur, death in April of 1502. Soon after that, Henry would marry his first wife, his brother (Arthur's) widow, Catherine of Aragon. Many wifes would follow after her. During most of his early reign, Henry relied on Thomas Cardinal Wosley to do much of the political and religious activities. Henry soon got tired of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, so he decides that he doesn't want to be married to her anymore, so he tells Thomas Wosley to talk to the pope so he can divorce Catherine. But, Cardinal Wosley wasn't able to convince the pope, so in 1529 Henry took Wosley's authority away from him. Henry then appointed Sir Thomas More. Henry then got that divorce through Thomas Cramner, that he wanted with Catherine of Aragon and then married Anne Boleyn. Cramner now the Arch Bishop of Canterbury, made Henry's marriage with Catherine void and his marriage with Anne valid. This made the Pope furious. So in 1534, King Henry had the parliament pass a law saying that the king, not the pope, would from now on be the supreme head of the Church of England. Since Henry was now in charge of the Church , he was going to make some changes. He had all the bibles translated into English. He then had all the people take an oath for this law. But Sir Thomas More and, then Cardinal, John Fisher wouldn't accept the religious supremacy of the English monarch, so they were then executed. These changes gradually led to the formation of the Church of England. In 1536, Henry accused his second wife, Anne Boleyn of adultery, so Henry then executed her. A few days after that, he married a young woman by the name of Jane Seymour. Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife, was the mother of Henry's only legitimate son, Jane Seymour died after bearing this certain child. Edward the VI was Henry's only legitimate son. A couple of years after Jane Seymour had died, Henry decided to marry once again. He married a german princess by the name of Anne of Cleaves. In 1540, Henry was told that Anne of Cleaves was a beautiful and pretty young woman. So then, when Henry finally saw her he thought she was really ugly. So he then divorced Anne of Cleaves and then beheaded Thomas Cromwell for having tricked him. Being unloyal to God as much as Henry possibly could, he made the decision to marry his fifth wife by the name of Catherine Howard. Catherine Howard was then summarily executed in 1542 for being unchaste prior to marriage with Henry the VIII and for committing adultery. Henry had only one more wife to go, in 1543 Henry married his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr. Catherine then survived Henry and then lived on to marry fourth husband. In 1536, during Henry the VIII's reign, England and Wales were finally united as one country. During the 1280's, after Edward the I had conquered Wales, the Welsh people had revolted several times against the English people, due to Edward's conquer. But, the Welsh people finally accepted the idea of

United Parcel Service Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

United Parcel Service Inc - Essay Example That is through effectiveness and efficiency in combining the flow of products, funds, and information. In the course of achieving these goals, the strategy of the company aims at sustaining core competencies in pursuit of sustainability. That is through utilization of technology to generate new services while studying the behaviour of the consumers to anticipate their needs and expectations. Besides, UPS’s strategy focuses on attracting talented employees to facilitate the development of competencies through the integration of funds, products, and information. Moreover, UPS focuses on practising innovation to facilitate the realization of growth, as well as the creation of an environment, which enables employees to operate effectively and efficiently. That is in accordance with the demands and expectations of the consumers. Similarly, the strategy of the company incorporates increased investment in the core aspects of worldwide distribution, as well as logistics. Operations S trategy Cost - Low-Cost Operations UPS focuses on the achievement or realization of the lowest total overall costs in comparison to other competitors within the industry. One of the aspects of the low-cost operations is the tendency of the company to integrate technology for automation and enhancement of efficiency in addressing the demands and expectations of the target customers. This capability is essential to improving the image and reputation of the firm in its attempts towards becoming a global leader in the industry of operation.

Collaboration, Freight & Inventory Strategies -312 Forum 4 Assignment

Collaboration, Freight & Inventory Strategies -312 Forum 4 - Assignment Example The classes are determined in accordance to the individual characteristics of the freight. However, the four characteristics that are considered to decide the product class are density and value, stow-ability, handling, and liability (Tompkins, 2004). Rates and ratings are two different terms used in the freight classification which is used to assign a class to every product. Ratings are given to the products according to their class. The products that fulfill all the four characteristics have high ratings while the products that don’t have low ratings (Wood, 1995). The high class products have high ratings in the shipment and their shipping costs are determined by the ratings. Rates of the products are also in accordance to the classifications. These are the cost rates which are set by the carrier and are negotiable. They are the cost of the freight shipping determined by the class of the products (Coyle,