Incventive plans and organisational objectives Essay

Incventive plans and organisational objectives - Essay Example Basing incentives on the traditional plans such as promotion may not necessarily result in meeting of the company’s objectives. The incentives can be either in the form of momentary or non-momentary rewards (Bohlander, 2010). Monetary rewards include salary increments and bonuses, while non-monetary include recognition and promotion. How incentives plans help or do not help in achieving the organizational objectives Research has shown that incentives based on performance results in immense success in, attainment of the company goals. Such an incentive plan harmonizes the company’s preferences with the individual employees’ preferences. In hiring new worker, this kind of plan can be particularly useful in screening out only the beast employees who are merited to do a certain job. It acts as a motivator pushing the worker to increase their job input. Another benefit accrued to performance-based incentives is that workers tend to give better results in situations wh ere their performance is assessed individually compared to team assessment (Bohlander 2010). Workers tend to be loyal to such companies and show a desire to work in such firms or longer period. A firm that uses performance based incentives attracts competent workers who are not afraid of being put under the spotlight. An incentive plan may fail to fulfill its intended objective if the employees are not made to understand the intention of the incentive. They should honestly communicate the objectives of the plan. This will integrate the employees in the plan, by making clear communication. The rewards obtained from its implementation should exceed the cost. The most effective incentive plan is self-sustaining. An incentive plan may fail depending on the type of incentive used. Not all incentives work for everyone. The management should settle for an incentive plan that favors the majority of the workers (Caruth & Handlogten 2001). Failure to sufficiently differentiate between high an d low performance may result in the incentive plan not achieving its purpose. For instance, if the incentive given to the higher performers has minimal difference to the one given to the average performer, the high performing workers may feel that the company does not recognize their effort. This would result in the workers being demoralized and demotivated: the opposite of what the company intended to achieve by coming up with the plan. The incentive should measure up to the effort the workers put in the job. The employees who show less effort should receive less reward compared to the higher performers. Another reason why an incentive plan may fail is if it is inflexible. For it to be fruitful, it should first be introduced on a trial bases targeting a small group. This is to ensure it is effective and correcting the flaws that it may have before it is implemented. The plan should be constantly modified to meet the needs that may arise (Caruth & Handlogten 2001). The timing may al so ensure the success or failure of the plan. For it to be successful, the timing of the issuing of the reward should be tied to the qualifying event. The basic salary should be harmonized with inflation as well as to the increase in responsibilities. The company should also identify the persons eligible for the incentive plan. This is because

Information Systems in Business Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Information Systems in Business - Coursework Example Other data such a s population and demographic data that is important for forecasting can be sourced from government institutions and agencies (Paul, 2001). (ii) Data warehousing for Wal- mart will enhance decision making in the company with regards to inventory management, price control and sales monitoring. The data warehouse will provide data on a real time basis that will effectively aide in quick decision making on supply chain management and customer relationship management (Paul, 2001). Data mining which involves extraction and acquisition of data from the relevant sources to be stored in the data warehouse enables the company; to have up to date and real time data from all its retail stores. This allows real time analysis of the data and facilitates decision making that is appropriate for each store based on the data available (Paul, 2001). (iii) ECM applications are basically provides formalized techniques by which an organization can store and its documents, contents records and other content that is related to business processes and transactions. It entails strategies, tools and methods that used throughout (John, 2013). Hierarchical model where data is structured in a hierarchical manner following a sort of sequence exhibiting a tree structure. There is a root that has branches emanating from it. Network data base model that exhibits a many to many relationship. Items in this model can connect to any item in the database creating a network. Most databases that are used on the Mini and Micro computers are normally based on either hierarchical or network database model. Relational database model has data organized in two dimensional tables with rows and columns populated with related data. Most of the Database software packages available on microcomputers (PCs) are of relational model (Graham & David, 2008). Other database structure models used include the multimedia database that

Parent and Child Relationships Essay Example for Free

Parent and Child Relationships Essay â€Å"I Am Sam† is a powerfully touching film that tells the story of a parent and child’s love for one another. It shows that love is pure, and that no matter how great the mind is, love is even greater. The film’s protagonist is Sam, a mentally-challenged adult with a mental age of 7. Sam has a daughter, Lucy, with a prostitute who left them. Sam works at the local Starbucks to support Lucy, and everything is going along well until Lucy turned 7, because she already surpassed her father’s mental abilities. This creates problems, because early on we see that Lucy is precocious and inquisitive, and she is no longer satisfied with her father’s nonsense answers to her questions. When she starts wanting to read more difficult books than what Sam reads to her, she fakes having difficulty reading so as not to offend her father and make him feel inferior. On Sam’s part, even when he sees that Lucy is already growing up, he tries his best to support her the best way he knows how. Lucy does not see this yet because she is still a child, but she understands that her father is different, but she loves him because he is a very loving father who takes her out to the park and to eat pancakes and generally takes good care of her. Later in the film she is embarrassed when her classmates tease her that her father is a retard that she denies him and tells them that she is adopted. The authorities take her away from Sam, and later on sent to a foster home. When the authorities take Lucy away from him, he does everything he could to get her back. He even gets the fearsome lawyer Rita to help his cause. Rita, a successful and stringent lawyer who values winning more than anything, decides to take Sam’s case just to prove that she is not as selfish as she looks. Through the course of helping Sam, she realizes that Sam is a good father, that Sam’s mental inadequacy has not hampered his ability to love and care for his daughter at all. That in fact, he is a better parent than she is. When at first she sought to win Sam’s case because she did not want to lose, eventually Rita sympathizes with Sam’s cause. Sam visits Lucy regularly, and Lucy realizes that she wants her father back, and that she is going to fight back just to be with him, even if she is smarter than him, even if the world laughs at her for having a retard for a father. At this moment, Lucy has matured, and although she is just 7, she has taken responsibility not only of her own actions, but also decided that she will take care of her father when he could no longer take care of her, that she needs to be smart and capable and strong for the both of them. She saw just how much her father loves her and how he does not give up on her even when she denied him. However, even with Rita’s help, Sam loses the custody battle at court. Sam breaks down as he is convinced that he cannot take care of his own daughter. All this time, he was doing everything he could, enlisting the help of his friends and employers and colleagues to prove that he has what it takes to raise his daughter, but he finally accepts the fact that he is mentally inadequate to give her needs. If he really loves his daughter, he would do what is best for her even if it means letting go of her so that she could be the best that she could be. And Sam does that. He accepts that he cannot take care of Lucy, but even when he concedes, he does not give up on being a father to her. He moves in to an apartment just to be nearer to Lucy, so that even if he cannot raise her at least he could be there for her whenever she needed him, and so that he could watch her grow up. Lucy is hurt that she cannot be with her father, but she takes matters on her own hands, Late at night she sneaks out of her foster home to be with her father. Her foster parents find her out, and she does not deny that she longs to be with her father, even if they think that they can be better parents than him. Eventually, the foster parents let her go back to Sam, for Sam to have custody of her. The film tells us that love is great driving force that cannot be measured by financial success, or by intellectual achievements. Society may look at Sam as a retarded, inadequate man, but he fought for his daughter against all odds, when Lucy’s own mother simply walked out and left them. Lucy was smarter than Sam, but she learned about love from her father because he showered her with it. That is why even when she was presented with a better future with a â€Å"better† set of parents, she still chooses to go back to Sam, because she knows that her father loves her and she loves him. At the end, the film teaches us what a parent can give best to his child, and what a child needs most from a parent – love. And that is something that cannot be bought or substituted with material things, because children will always know if their parents have shown them enough love.

Gender Inequality In Developing Countries

Gender Inequality In Developing Countries Occupational gender segregation continued from era to era and is apparent in lands of the globe Grusky and England 2004; Moshe and Frank 1999; Preston 1999; Rosenfeld and Spenner 1992. Anker (1997) distinguished two main explanations for why occupational gender segregation should is a continuing concern: first, it is a major foundation of labor market inflexibility and economic incompetency. Second, it is detrimental to women in the sense that segregation brings about harmful views of both men and women as a result, affecting womens status, income, education, skills (Anker 1997). The important outcome related with occupational gender segregation is the segregation of the payment methods and the continual sex discrepancy in earnings with women on the inferior edge. The proportion of the gender wage gap is to 5 to 40 percent attached to workplace segregation is seemingly advanced than the amount by career break 15 percent and equivalent worth wage upgrading 5 percent (Hakim 1992; Preston 1999). There are two types of segregation: horizontal segregation, which occurs when there is a concentration of women and men in a determined à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ elds and occupations, and produces disparity in terms of career, pension and vertical segregation, which take place when there is a focus of women and men in determined degrees and levels of responsibility or positions, and produces disparity on salaries. 2.2 An Overview of Gender Inequality in Developing Countries The issue of gender inequality can be considered as a universal aspect of developing countries. Unlike women in developed countries who are, in relative terms, economically empowered and have a powerful voice that demands an audience and positive action, women in developing countries are generally silent and their voice has been stifled by economic and cultural factors. Economic and cultural factors, together with institutional factors state the gender-based division of labour, rights, responsibilities, opportunities, and access to and control over resources. Education, literacy, access to media, employment, decision making, among other things, are some of the areas of gender disparity. One of the areas of disparity between males and females is related to the difference in their employment status which is manifested by occupational segregation, gender-based wage gaps, and womens unequal representation in informal employment, unpaid work and higher unemployment rates (UNFPA, 2005). As women in developing countries have low status in the community, the activities they perform tend to be valued less; and womens low status is also perpetuated through the low value placed on their activities (March et al., 1999). In-depth analysis of DHS by Hindin (2005) showed that only 17% of women in Zimbabwe, 12% in Zambia and 4% in Malawi have higher status job than their partners. The respective percentages of women whose partners have higher status jobs are 52, 43 and 53. Women are also overrepresented in the informal sector. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 84% of womens non-agricultural employment is informal compared to 63% of mens. The figure is found to be 58% and 48% for women and men, respectively in Latin America (UNFPA, 2005). Studies generally show that women are more likely to be engaged in work which is for longer hours than men. For instance, in 18 of the 25 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, greater than 50% of women were employed and even in six of these countries the percentage of employed women was greater than 75% (Mukuria et al.,2005). However, as most of the employed women work in agricultural and other activities which are mostly considered to be having limited or no financial returns, their employment does not contribute much to their status in the workplace. Thus, women in those countries are dependent on their partners in most aspects of their life. In spite of its importance in enabling women to get access to information about personal health behaviours and practices, household, and community, the percentage of women exposed to different types of media is limited in most developing countries. Womens limited access to education, employment opportunity, and media, attached with cultural factors, reduces their decision making power in the society in general and in a household in particular. Regarding their participation in decision making at national level, though the number of women in national parliaments has been increasing, no country in the world has yet achieved gender parity. According to the millennium indicators data base of the United Nations, cited in the UNFPA (2005), the percentage of parliamentary seats held by women in 2005 was 16% at world level, 21% in developed countries, and 14% in developing countries. This low representation of women in national parliaments could be due, among others, to type of electoral systems in different countries, womens social and economic status, socio-cultural traditions and beliefs about womens place in the family and society, and womens double burden of work and family responsibilities (UNFPA, 2005). Women are underrepresented in the formal sector of employment. The survey conducted by the Central Statistical Authority (CSA, 2004) showed that women account for less than half (43%) of the total employees in the country. Considering the percentage of female employees from the total number of employees by employment type, the highest was in domestic activities (78%) and followed by unpaid activities (59.3%). In other types of formal employment (e.g. government, NGOs, private organizations), the percentage of female workers is less than 35. On the other hand, the survey showed overrepresentation of female workers in the informal sector. About 58% of working women work in the informal sector whereas the percentage of working men in the informal sector was 37.7 % (ibid).The breakdown of the federal government employees by occupational groups also indicated gender disparity. From federal government employees found in the clerical and fiscal type of jobs 71.3 % were female, while the percentage of females was slightly more than half (51%) in custodial and manual type of jobs. Women make up 25% and 18% of the administrative and professional and scientific job categories, respectively, indicating that upper and middle level positions are overwhelmingly dominated by men (Federal Civil Service Commission, 2005). This concentration of women in the informal sector and low level positions has implication on their earnings. In this regard, the survey showed four out of ten women civil servants earn Birr 300 a month compared to two out of ten for men (Federal Civil Service Commission, 2005).Ethiopian womens access to mass media is one of the lowest. In their DHS comparative report, Mukuria et al. (2005) show that, among 25 Sub-Saharan African countries,

Generational Gaps And Conflicts Essay -- Literary Analysis

In the short story Who’s Irish by Gish Jen and Everyday Use written by Alice Walker, both authors address generational conflicts between mothers and daughters, as well as struggles to coexist while living in very different cultural mindsets. The moral of both stories is that cross-cultural issues exist in every family tree and we often find comfort in unlikely places. While a mother may not agree with her daughter’s choices she never loses love, and while a daughter may not like decisions that are made by their mother she never loses respect. Both are stories about women going through struggle to integrate and adept into modern American life, two mothers struggle to understand their daughters and the lives they are immersed in. Gish Jen is trying to communicate a sense of loss a mother experiences because she does not understand her daughter and struggles to adapt in Who’s Irish. The authors point is that American life through the eyes of an elderly foreigner is hardly understandable, things like, the wife being the bread winner, career oriented women, marital problems, and gender specific roles that are too rigid. Through the grandmother's voice; the author develops these themes with humor and sympathy, written in broken English, the she intends for the reader to see how difficult the world is to express in a language that is foreign to you the reader, perhaps as a way to contrast how different her thinking is compared to the world she lives in, America. The author emphasizes the grandmothers love for both her daughter and granddaughter throughout, her love for her family never ends in spite of her confusion over their culture and the way they choose to live, constantly comparing the way situatio ns and people are to the wa... ...ish was more thoughtful and caring in trying to become accustomed to her daughters ways, whereas Mama in Everyday Use was more rigid, she preferred her lifestyle the way it was and she had no intention of changing, nor could she couldn’t understand why Dee would want anything more, as she and Maggie were happy where they were at. The irony of both stories isn’t hateful or bitter but a message of love and caring despite differences. In the end we are left wondering whether the results of the quandaries are right or wrong, and to question our own motives with our families, relationships, and lives. Works Cited Jen, Gish. "Who's Irish." 1999. Literature: Craft and Voice. Vol. 1. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 105-10. Print. Fiction. Walker, Alice. "Everyday Use." 1973. Literature: Craft and Voice. Vol. 1. Boston: McGraw- Hill, 2010. 608-13. Print. Fiction.

abraham lincoln :: essays research papers

Abraham Lincoln As the sixteenth American President, determined to end slavery, Abraham Lincoln finally put an end to his hard work by writing the Emancipation Proclamation. Abraham Lincoln had no intention on freeing slaves when he became president of the U.S.. Although Lincoln always believed slavery was wrong, he always believed in white supremacy. He said, â€Å"If slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong.† When the war started he thought of it only as a way of saving the union. Later, this opinion would change. There are many pressures faced while being the president. Lincoln faced many of these pressures. Pressure for abolition came into the country. This is how he came up with the idea for writing the emancipation proclamation. This made southern leaders reject Lincoln’s presidency. The pressures forced him to do what he did.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lincoln wrote the Emancipation because of the pressures he was facing. â€Å"On September 22, 1862, five days after Union forces won the battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation. It stated that if rebelling states did not return to the Union by January 1, 1863, he would declare their slaves to be â€Å"forever free.† The south rejected Lincoln’s policy, and so he issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.† This caused the southern leaders to turn against Lincoln completely. The emancipation proclamation finally came into effect. On this day Lincoln read his proclamation. This would change the world dramatically. â€Å"By the end of the war, more than 500,000 slaves had fled to freedom behind northern lines. Many of them joined the Union Army or Navy or worked for the armed forces as laborers. By allowing blacks to serve in the Army and Navy, the Emancipation Proclamation helped solve the North’s problem of declining enli stments. About 200, 000 black soldiers and sailors, many of them former slaves, served in the armed forces. Even when the proclamation came into effect it still did not free many slaves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Very few black men were freed from the emancipation, but it caused another huge point to come forth. It showed that the civil war was not being fought to save the union, but once and for all, put an end to slavery. Finally, the civil war ended with the north victorious. With all of the blacks joining the army and Navy, the Unions power was twice as strong, which helped the Union tremendously in winning the war.

Goverment Review

Goverment Review Questions: 1. A constitution is a document that creates the legal Framework for a government. 2. After the independence of Mexico Texas was politically a part of Mexico 3. Although many delegates to the 1875 convention were business professionals, farmers interest had an overwhelming influence. 4. Name the Texas constitution that allowed Blacks in Texas the right to vote – Radical Reconstruction 5. The constitution of the Republic of Texas was influenced by The U. S. Constitution 6. African Americans earned the right to vote in Texas with ratification of the 1869 constitution 7.Texas joined the Confederacy in 1861 8. The Republic of Texas was created in 1836 9. Under the Republic of Texas, slavery was legalized 10. The Constitution of Coahuila y Tejas was written under rule by the Mexican constitution of 1824 11. In order to legally secede from the United States, Texas would need 12. The Texas constitution differs from the U. S. Constitution in length and proc ess in choosing judges 13. In Texas, schools are governed at the municipal level. 14. Voting rights in Texas were originally limited by the use of Poll taxes 15.The Texas constitution has been amended 400 times, compared to 27 times for the U. S. Constitution. 16. Poll taxes, used in Texas until 1966, limited the voting rights of minorities 17. Elections of Texas governors and of board and commission members are staggered, leading to the 18. The Texas constitution can be described as being very detailed 19. Amendments to the Texas constitution with only a limited, local impact are voted on by all Texas citizens 20. The 1974 attempt to reform the Texas constitution was largely impeded by those wishing to gain independence 21.The traditionalistic and individualistic political subculture supported Conservative establishment. 22. The main lobbying opponent of the trial lawyers lobby has been the Texas Medical Association 23. Public interest groups are most likely to use funding pathway . 24. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has tended to use the courts pathway. 25. The Religious Right has come to direct the Republican Party and its political agenda in Texas in the last two decades. 26. Texas elected no governor to statewide office between 1874 and 1961. 27.According to one scholar, bifactionalism in Texas resulted in increased influence for interest groups 28. Define realignment. A major shift in political party support or identification that usually occurs around a critical election. 29. In 2002, the districts drawn by the Legislative Redistricting Board helped draw new districts that favored republicans 30. 45th governor of State of Texas Ann Richards 31. Methods that were used to limit voting rights for minorities in Texas Poll Taxes 32. The function of political action committees is to raise money 33.A campaign finance disclosure law passed in Texas in 1973 mandates limits on campaign 34. General Law Cities in Texas have fewer tha n Residents 35. The type of city government most based on the separation-of-powers principle is the mayor- council government 36. The operation of local governments in Texas is dictated by the legislature and the state constitution 37. General-law cities have fewer than 5,000 citizens and lack the power of legislation 38. The strong mayor form of municipal government in Texas more closely resembles Houston than city government. 9. The strong mayor form of government, though common elsewhere in the U. S. , is only found in what major city in Texas? Houston 40. The city commission form of municipal government reflects its origins in its Fragmented executive 41. Municipal elections in Texas are overwhelmingly nonpartisan 42. City governments rely on regressive taxes for funding. 43. Cities often finance projects through the use of voter-approved sales tax increase 44. What are General Obligation bonds? Government bonds used to finance construction projects.The bonds, which required vot er approval, are repaid with taxes revenues. 45. Judicial activities in counties are carried out primarily by the county courts- at- law 46. In smaller counties, the primary law enforcement duties are carried out by the sheriff 47. The county official responsible for receiving and disbursing county funds is the county treasurer 48. The primary source of funding for councils of government in Texas is Regressive taxes 49. Define Spoke Annexation- the ability cities to expand their boundaries 50. Texas cities can annex an area up to 10% of their territory in a given year.