Discussing the importance of partnerships in a child care setting

A practitioners job is not only to ensure the safety of the children and to plan structured day to day activities but also to ensure that various partnerships and created within the child care setting. â€Å"Professional relationships are absolutely vital to the smooth running of an early years setting.† Early Years Foundation Level 4, Unit 5 (Respecting each other) – Professional relationships page 69.Depending on the child care environment practitioners can work with one or two assistants depending on the age group and adult to child ratio. Maintaining a happy and trusted partnership within in a team in a classroom can then benefit ways the classroom run and undertake various tasks together.Knowing your teams strengths and having trust in each other not only encourages mirror behaviour with children in the child care setting but allows practitioners and assistants to develop further in current or new skills. â€Å"In order to build on your relationship with others it 's important that you respect and value your own strengths, skills and knowledge as well as recognising the contribution made by other.† Early Years Foundation Level 4 Unit 5 (Respecting each other) – Professional relationships page 69.For some children then partnership they create with a practitioner could be one of the main interactions they have with an adult through the day. i.e. focusing on child who spend alot of time with maids or nanny's.Having good partnerships with collegues allows a practitioner to establish a  good and effective working relationship to ensure that everyone works together as part of a team. This is to essentially benefit the children.As well as a good partnership with collegues adults need to interact well with children in the environment as well. Practitioners should involve children in decisions â€Å"Ask them what they would like to do, listen to their ideas and incorporate as many of these ideas as possible into your daily routine.â₠¬  Early Years Foundation Level 4 Unit 10 (Supporting every child) – Working together page 127. Incorporating a child's ideas help build a partnership, loyalty and trust between them and the practitioner. â€Å"By involving the children in all stages of planning you will ensure that they feel valued, that their opinions and ideas are relevant and, most importantly, you will ensure that the activities you provide are meaningful and interesting to the children.† Early Years Foundation Level 4 – Unit 10 (Supporting every child) – Working together page 127.A practitioner will try and create a secure attatchment between them and the children. Even with all the observation no-one will know a child better than their own parents. Creating a bond with parents is essential upon the first meeting. If a practitioner creates a relationship with a child's parents it can portray a sense of trust to the child. If parents have a positive attitude towards the practitioner , assistants and the child care setting this can only be a positive for the child to observe and therefore for the child to possibly mirror.A secure attatchment is essential in any child care setting however a practitioner needs to be able to reassure parents/carers that although their child may have a secure attatchment to a member in the class or have a key person. Their child will still always be encourages to socialise with friends, play independatly and generally become a member of the classroom as a whole. This is to ensure that parents dont start to panic that their child is becoming dependant on one key person.All children at any age specifically babies and early years children rely on the continuity of a special relationship between the practitioner and the child. They are the foundations of mental and physical development. Therefore practitioners should continuously ensure that every child feels loved, valued, cared for and thought about. â€Å"A part of the role of the e ffective practitioner is to bring together their commitments of respect and working with parents as partners, in order to reinforce positive relationships with all the children in their care.† Early Years Foundation Level 4 Unit 8 Key person ( Shared care) page 101.Working with a group of children and their parents it's important to acknowledge that every family is unique. This could depend on numerous things i.e culture, language barrier, nationality a child's upbringing and their personal environment.â€Å"Although practitioners may be experts in the field of children's learning and development they must remember that parents are experts on their own child.† (Unit 6, Repeating diversity, page 75)Effective communication is extremely essential in a child care setting with the children, the team of practitioners and also importantly the parents. Unfortunately there will be some things that parents miss out on when they entrust a practitioner to take care of their child. It's important to make them feel as involved in any activity or achievement their child may have been involved in.When language barriers occur or not being in contact with a parent. A practitioner needs to find another way of relaying information.Many child care settings use weekly communication books to pass on important information, or even if the child may have received a sticker to attach that in the communication book. According to the age of the child this could allow for the child to explain their personal achievement thus making it that more personal.Although communication diaries have advantages, it's important for a practitioner to keep balance with written communication and talking face to  face. Practitioners should try and retain any relationships they have with parents allowing them to feel a sense of comfort that you are flexible plus there as and when needed, for any type of discussion they may want to have, in case they have any questions or concerns. (REVISE)â₠¬ It is important for Early Years practitioners and parents to both realise the importance of learning from one another. Each holds vital information, knowledge and expertise which, if shared can contribute to and enhance a child's learning and development.† (Unit 6, learning together, page 82)Working with early years children a practitioner may not only work with assistants and parents / carers but practitioners may also work in partnership with other professionals.All children have various day to day home lives, it's paramount to try and adopt any routine to a child's (child) care setting where possible, creating this continuity will promote a child to feel safe, valued and secure.

Motivation-Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg Two Factor

I intend to explore Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg two factory theories and indentify the key differences that exist between them, and explain how they can be applied by managers to motivate staff. Both are examples of content theories, a content theory is one where â€Å"we can attribute a similar set of needs to all individuals† ( Fincham and Rhodes, 2005, pg 193) Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is essentially based on a pyramid depicting the different types of needs that one has. At the bottom of the hierarchy are the physiological needs, these are the subsistence needs that one needs to survive such as food, warmth clothing and shelter.The next stage up from there is the security needs, this is concerned with the need that humans have of feeling safe and away from danger. Progressing from there is the social needs, this focuses on the needs of â€Å"giving and receiving affliativeness, belonging and love† (Fincham and Rhodes, 2005, pg 195). Above that y ou have the self-esteem needs which are meeting the needs that one has for â€Å"achievement, independence and freedom†( Fincham and Rhodes, 2005, pg 195). Finally at the top are self-actualisation needs, which relates to the need of one being able to fulfil his or her full potential.If all prior needs before this stage are satisfied this can prove to be an influential source of our motivation as made evident by â€Å"Maslow contends that if we have met the other four basic needs, the need for self-actualization is ‘potent' enough to serve as our primary motivator for all behavior†. ( Oleson, 2004). The theory therefore suggests that we are first motivated by our basic needs, once this is achieved, our behaviour is focused on satisfying our safety needs, once this is achieved we look to fulfil our esteem needs, and so on and so forth.Showing that once one level is achieved, it will have little influence in motivating us, but rather it would be the above stage in the pyramid. Therefore indicating it would not be sufficient for managers just to pay employees to motivate them, as employees who have satisfied their physiological needs, they would be seeking to achieve their safety needs, from there they would be looking to satisfy social needs and so on, implying that employees would be continuously looking to fulfil more and more of their needs, â€Å"this means that employers can never do too much. Employers should strive to create opportunities for employees to satisfy as many of the needs from the pyramid as possible. For example for employees to satisfy their social needs, employers may wish to introduce more frequent group projects, or organise sports activities. To cater for the esteem needs managers may consider delegating authority to them, as this would reflect that they have faith in the competency of the worker, alternatively managers can provide the employee with the opportunity to develop their skills or qualification via trainin g at the expense of the firm, this would make the employee feel valued.Managers can use Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, to indentify which needs believe they are satisfying and this would help managers to determine which needs are yet to be satisfied, and these unfulfilled needs will become the motivator. I will now begin to discuss Herzberg’s two factor theory which was developed through interviewing 200 accountants and engineers. The theory implies that â€Å"that humans have two different sets of needs and that the different elements of the work situation satisfies or dissatisfies these needs†. ( Anderson, Gudmundson, Lundberg, 2008).The first element is referred to as the hygiene factors and relate to the â€Å"working conditions, salary, job security, company policy, supervisors and interpersonal relations† ( Fincham and Rhodes, 2005). Herzberg claimed if these factors were absent it would lead to dissatisfaction, but the mere existence of such conditio ns would not lead to increased motivation. Whereas the most intrinsic aspects of work that led to recognition, achievement and advancement were discovered to be the sources of employee satisfaction, and as such were referred to as motivators.This indicates that satisfaction and dissatisfaction arises through two different aspects of the job, one mainly concerning the work conditions, and the other the actual job itself. The theory differs to that of Maslow’s as it does not recognise pay as being a motivator but rather a hygiene factor. This means that managers who are to implement the teachings under this model should not use high salaries as a means of them trying to stimulate motivation, but should rather improve the intrinsic aspects of the job in order to enable an individual to satisfy needs of achievement, recognition etc.However, I mentioned before that the theory was established through the responses of accountants and engineers, both are well renowned and well paid m iddle class posts, meaning that under Maslow’s hierarchy of needs their basic are already likely to be fulfilled hence there is no real surprise why this did not appear as a motivator, and therefore does not contradict Maslow’s theory but rather reinforces it. A ifferent outcome may have occurred if Herzberg used professions that are not so well paid to the extent where it would be difficult for one to satisfy basic needs, such as workers in less economically developed countries that are subject to exploitation. Social needs which appear in the middle of Maslow’s hierarchy are only referred to as hygiene factors, therefore highlighting a difference of opinion between the two theories.This would be reflected in the actions taken by managers to motivate employees. Managers who are to follow the two factor theory may try and ensure that the employees are exposed to an environment where workers can socialise, as failing to do this would lead to dissatisfaction.Where as in the case for Maslow’s hierarchy of needs managers would perceive the fulfilment of social needs to act as a motivator, and therefore they may put a greater emphasis on trying to achieve this through frequent group projects, outings, and sports activities, when compared to Herzberg’s theory. What Herzberg has referred to as motivators do coincide with the self-esteem needs under Maslow, considering that they are both satisfied by common conditions such as achievement and recognition.As a result of these findings from both theories, there seems to be fairly strong evidence to suggest that employees gain a greater a deal of satisfaction from the intrinsic aspects of the job, as this is what ultimately leads to feelings of achievement, which seems to be a source through which employees gain motivation from both theories, therefore, suggesting that an effective tactic that managers can use to incite motivation within employees is to change the nature of their roles so as to incorporate opportunities where they can gain senses of achievement.This can perhaps be achieved by challenging employees, recognising their good work via reward such as promotion. Having analysed both theories, I have discovered that there are both similarities and differences between them. For example both theories assume that individuals have the same set of needs, and they also recognise that if the higher level psychological needs are satisfied such as achievement, recognition, employees would become motivated. However, where the two theories differ are with the issue of hygiene and motivators.Maslow’s hierarchy effectively perceives all levels of the pyramid as the sources of motivation if they are yet to be fulfilled, whereas Herzberg made the distinction between sources of dissatisfaction and motivation. This theory may make managers reconsider their subordinate’s job structure particularly when their ambition is to motivate staff. Under Herzberg work co nditions would not constitute as a motivator this is contrary to Maslow’s hierarchy which recognises that pay and the need to feel safe do act as sources motivation.This shows how the behaviour of managers may be different when following either of the theories. Inciting motivation from employees requires constant effort, Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs stresses that once a level is achieved the influence of that level on our motivation diminished, and if we focus on the two factor theory we would also come to realise that for employees to become motivated i. e. through satisfying senses of advancement, recognition etc, managers would therefore have to continuously seek ways of adapting the intrinsic aspects of the job to cater for such needs to be fulfilled.References Anderson T. D, Gudmundson A, Lundberg C. (2009). ‘Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of work motivation tested empirically on seasonal workers in hospitality and tourism’ Tourism Management. Volume 30 Issue 6, pages 890-899. Fincham, R. and Rhodes, P. (2005). Principles of Organizational Behaviour. New York: Oxford University Press Oleson, M. (2004). ‘Exploring the relationship between money attitudes and Maslow's hierarchy of needs’ International Journal Of consumer studies, Volume 28, pages 83-92.

Super size me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Super size me - Essay Example Over a 30-day period, Spurlock further stops any and all exercise routines to further reflect the impact of McDonalds foods on human physiology. Outside of the physical effects, the film illustrates how the media impacts consumers to reflect what Spurlock believes is an unacceptable method of coercing Americans to indulge in fast food. Throughout the course of the film, Spurlock examines several decades worth of television commercials released by McDonalds since the 1970s, in order to depict how the media is able to coerce both children and adults into eating at the fast food chain. These commercials depict playful animated characters, who dance and sing with the prospect of being taken to McDonalds to indulge in greasy food (Sowers, 2006). From a psychological perspective, Spurlock comes to realize that McDonalds is using visual imagery, in the pursuit of stimulating a pleasurable connection between the fast food company and its menu items. Further, in the film, the well-known character, Ronald McDonald, is shown as a leader to children, engaging in pleasurable activities such as community basketball and various sporting events. This tends to indicate, to a less-sophisticated person in terms of identifying media influences, that McDonalds is a community-minded organization and that implicit trust should be given to the chain because of their charming spokesperson. Outside of the visual imagery, Spurlock further points out non-print media attempts to build a stronger loyalty to McDonalds with the insertion of signs and banners, all over the United States (and released by McDonalds), which promote the need to super size meals. Supersizing involves increasing the food portions by a significant margin, thus increasing the fat and caloric value of the food. Though Spurlock is somewhat biased in his approach to the film, he maintains a

Systems and operations management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Systems and operations management - Essay Example It has made the work at ease in various departments but at the same time requires appropriate skill development. Role of information systems in careers in finance, accounting, HR, operations management and marketing and how the careers in information systems have been affected by new technologies and by outsourcing The various departments within the organization have in built information system for its various functions. The operation management nowadays in organizations has automated warehouses, supply chain activities, use of RFID technology, and automated inventory control. To perform such activities which are completely based on information technology proper knowledge of such software’s is required. The information system has helped in managing several tasks but has increased the level of competence that the employees should possess related to the information technology. Even in the HR departments, payroll, compensation and reward policy, managing the entire employee base is done through such systems. This has helped the administration to reduce the paperwork but at the same time it is essential for the management to impart sufficient training to the employees (Doyle, 2000, pp.156-157).The finance department nowadays in every organization has in built software for performing various activities of maintaining financial records, and producing various financial reports for the company in coordination with various other departments within the organization. The marketing department even uses the CRM software’s for effective handling of its customer’s base and even uses some integrated software’s for their product design, promotion and forecasting the market demand. The role of information systems is very high in all of the areas in the organization, which has made an increase in technical competence to sustain careers in every department. The use of ERP (enterprise resource planning)

Oce 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Oce 2 - Essay Example The Alaska Shell drilling project and the Keystone XL project worth $7 billion does not portray President Obama and his party as very environmentally friendly people in the mainstream media. The Democratic Party is looking forward to change this Image completely through various projects that are about to unfold, with environmental safety as their key concentration. Let us analyze about two such projects. Greenhouse Gas Standards for existing power plants and refineries Nearly 2.4 billion metric tons of Carbon dioxide is emitted into the US sky through the 500 power plants and the oil refineries present here. This constitutes to nearly 40% of the total Carbon dioxide emission in the country (Biello). The new rules will force the refineries and the power plants to avoid using fossil-fuel for energy and look for other alternative means like natural gas. The practical applicability of the plan is still under question. EPA is seeking the co-operation of the state governments to upgrade th e age old techniques used in the power plants and refineries. Though there is much opposition for the move from the Congress, the President had already waived a green flag for EPA to formulate the rule within the next couple of months approximately. Forcing down Carbon dioxide emission means using natural gas as alternative which is way expensive than the current methods. This will result in increased electricity and gasoline bills for the consumer. But, the government is announcing various subsidies for the power plants and oil refineries to keep the prices in check. New Source Performance Standards have framed new rules for using several items in steam generating units like its generators. It closely monitors the emissions of PM, SO2 and NOX from these equipments and orders for an upgrade if they are beyond the permitted level. Various measures like the Acid Rain program and Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants programs will be used to monitor the power plants. Petrole um refineries will be scrutinized under the Catalytic Reforming and Catalytic cracking of Sulphur plants program. President Obama's various measures to make the US environment a cleaner and greener one have resulted in complete failure in the past. The Solyndra project which received nearly $535 million aid from the US government proved to be a failure, which came as a death blow to President Obama's solar electricity dream. Similarly, the A123 system which was encouraged to create hybrid electric cars which do not pollute the environment also became a massive failure. Though the intention of these projects was good, inefficient administration and lack of advanced technologies paved way for their failure. President Obama is quite concerned about not making the same mistake again. EPA held 5 listening and discussion sessions with participants from electric power industry, petroleum refineries, environmental organizations, state and tribal representatives as well as coalition group me mbers to finalize the measures on the actions. The concerns about various parties and the difficulties in implementing the new rules were discussed in detail way back in 2011. EPA had been working on an error proof plan since then. It is only a matter of days before the new green house gas emission standards will roll out. Why is it important to control Green house gas emissions? The sun emits energy which the earth absorbs and re-emits back into the atmosphere. The over emission of green house gases

Nursing mentors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Nursing mentors - Essay Example Therefore, sign off-mentors must undertake preparation program to meet the requirements to determine whether students the competencies required by NMC during sign-off. The nursing and midwifery professions involve handling patients in delicate situations. Thus, it is essential to have professionals with competence and efficiency in handling patients through the required abilities and skills. During the practice, students are expected to gain competencies through the NMC programs or standards. The program ensures they deliver the required services effectively and competently in their nursing profession without the necessity of direct supervision. Nonetheless, it is the role of the sign off mentors to ensure that students ascribe to these competencies. Mentors are provided with necessary support and framework to ensure that they efficiently assess students in order to ascertain their knowledge and skills. The students often undertake NMC approved programs to ensure that they are regist ered as qualified professionals. These processes determine that only qualified and competent nurses whoa are fit for practices are introduced into the professional field. The main aim of these competence testing and practices are to ensure that the public is protected from unnecessary damage orchestrated by incompetent nurses without sufficient competencies for practice (Burton and Ormrod, 2011, p.78). The NMC has also given the mandate to sign-off mentors to ensure that students being released for professional practice are competently assessed. For competent assessment, mentors are required to be part of the inter-professional learning and working. This enables them to undertake an effective confirmation of the students’ achievement of proficiency The students on their last placement require the sign-off mentors for their accountability towards supporting and determining the pre-registration of the nursing students. It is because of this that the sign-off mentors are require d to achieve certain criteria and must demonstrate the competence. The role of the sign-off mentors is also complimented by that of the student mentors in the NMC program. This body is responsible for not only confirming but also helping the students gain a breadth of experience in the process of demonstrating competence as either midwife or a nurse. According to the NMC, there are certain progression points where a student may not undertake but only the most qualified students. Therefore, they need to assess and confirmed if students have undoubtedly achieved the expected outcomes or met the competency level of the previous program is quite vital in the practice. Effective implementation can only be achieved if the mentors keep adequate and relevant records that appropriately help as supporting documents for them to identify whether or not a student has obtained adequate competence or proficiency. The some records should help towards promoting the students to the next program. Reco rds for guidance and regular feedback must be adhered to in order to support and justify the decisions in determination of proficiency or competence (Burton and Ormrod, 2011, p.105). Signing-off mentors often assist in investigating the health of the nurses or the midwives during the pre-registration process. This ensures that the health of these health providers do not interfere with the health of patients to be served by the same people. Nonetheless, the process sometimes also includes determining the

Rhetorical Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rhetorical Strategies - Essay Example These error patterns are â€Å"deal breakers† – I cannot see them in your work if you want to pass the course because they demonstrate to me your inability to control your own sentences, a core skill you need to have mastered upon entering English 101A. As I’ve suggested in the past, you should be working with a tutor regularly, and you should consider (re)taking English 846 (which focuses on sentence building and communicative fluency in your writing) before attempting a course at this level again, alright? I can’t pass this work, nor do I expect to be able to pass you in the course at this point given what I’m seeing here. You may rewrite if you wish. You’ll have two weeks to submit a revision via email. Assignment & Proofreading 1/4 Thesis 2/4 Focus & Clarity 2/4 Development & Support 3/4 Language & Mechanics 1/4 Late (2 pts = -10%) -/20 Total 9/20 ________________________________ 20 = 100% A 15 = 75% C 19 = 95% A 14 = 70% C- 18 = 90% A- 1 3 = 65% D 17 = 85% B 12 = 60% D- 16 = 80% B- 11 = 55% F *Please see the Grading Rubric Explanation found within the course for a detailed description of the numbers and criteria on the grading grid each of the component marks above corresponds to. *If this essay is marked as a late submission, either because it missed its deadline or was not in an acceptable form at the time of submission, it is ineligible for the rewrite option and this grade will stand as the final mark for the essay. This policy is laid out clearly in the Course Syllabus. Please apply these grading marks and comments to your next essay work instead. Difficulties of Crossing the Line Award-winning journalist Ruben Martinez effectively demonstrates the difficulties of crossing the boundary between Mexico and America in â€Å"The Crossing†, a selection in Reading America. Martinez’ mother is from El Salvador and married to a Mexican American. His parents merge with American culture yet maintain their M exican heritage with frequent family visits to relatives in Mexico. Martinez claims both his Mexican and American backgrounds, and recalls early visits to Mexico in his story. His memories of leaping back and forth between the two counties comprise the foundation of his childhood. Through his recollections, Martinez highlights the importance of the border line as a boundary full of historical and economic heritage. Many people want to cross from Mexico to America, and the line acts like a sieve—catching some people, but letting others through. Many unpredictable events, like death, can occur to people crossing the boundary, and people’s reasons for wanting to make the journey are countless. The author recounts the story of Victor, an illegal immigrant who has diabetes. Victor is attempting to cross the border line from Mexico to America to find his sister. He hopes for a good life, and believes America can offer better treatments for his medical condition than what Mex ico can offer. The author’s memories convey the truths about crossing the border, and the difficulties of passing through it. Martinez creates pathos by telling about his experiences and those of others he met while traveling across the border. He considers himself an American today because the expansion of

GM Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

GM Strategy - Essay Example The emergency of the low cost Japanese made cars compounded the difficult situation of competition which was already taking a toll on General Motors. Various global changes also took place in the motor industry such as new technological innovations, new marketing strategies that specifically focused on meeting the interests of the customers among other factors. In response, GM invested heavily in its endeavour to keep pace with these global changes. However, the major setback that hampered its efforts was the aspect of bureaucracy resulting from hundreds of divisions within the company which made it difficult to have focused, well coordinated operation systems. During its heydays, GM used to pay very high benefit packages since it was very profitable especially during the mid 1970s when it dominated the US markets. However, due to changing global trends especially the emergency and ultimate dominance of other rival competitors such as Toyota and Nissan, GM has lost some of its competitive advantages to these rivals. Compared to Toyota, GM pays as much as $35 for pension benefits whilst Toyota pays around $11, which gives it a cost advantage of about $1500 a car contrary to GM’s position. GM has to charge less premium than its strongest competitors hence it sells its vehicles at a loss. GM is now in a predicament of continuing paying high benefits to its workers against the backdrop of losses owing to the union laws that are a bit stringent such that it cannot abruptly cut these benefits to meet the global trends nor simply layoff some of the workers. It seems GM’s revenues are higher than those of Toyota but at the end of the day Toyota has higher earnings as a result of the fact that GM spends more money on operating costs and other expenses. GM makes more cars than it can profitably sell which means that it would end up selling at a loss. In fact it is no longer getting profits from its

Financial Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Management - Term Paper Example income statement (Profit & Loss Account), statement of financial position (Balance Sheet) and a statement of changes in financial position (Cash Flow Statement), it is called Accounting Ratio. Accounting Ratios are very powerful analytical tools for measuring performance of a business enterprise. The basic objectives of Ratio Analysis are: To provide a deeper analysis of the liquidity, solvency, profitability and activity levels of a business enterprise. To know about the potential areas that could be improved with more effort in the desired direction. To provide information for making inter-firm comparison and intra-firm comparison by comparing firm’s performance with best in the industry figures. The advantages of using Ratio Analysis are: These ratios help the management to analyze past performance and also to make future projections. Interested stakeholders as shareholders, investors, creditors and governments and independent analysts can evaluate certain aspects of a busi ness with the help of ratio Analysis. Accounting ratios provide an easy way to compare current performance with previous periods. These Ratios correctly elucidate the strengths and weaknesses of a firm’s operations and provide a clear insight about the financial health of a firm. Current Ratio The purpose of this ratio is to shed further light on the short-term solvency of the company and, more specifically, on its ability to pay the debts as they fall due, by calculating the relation between current assets and current liabilities. A widely used rule of the thumb is that a current ratio of 2:1 is an ‘ideal’ ratio. However, such a generalization is not always true. The standard ratio will vary from industry to industry and within the same industry from season to season, depending upon the rate at which current assets are converted into cash and how quickly current liabilities must be paid. The ratio cannot be accepted as adequate without considering the compositio n of its current assets and their liquidity. A high current ratio will not be a measure of solvency of business if the current assets are made up mainly of obsolete stock or debtors outstanding for a long time. The current ratio of PepsiCo is 1.44 (PepsiCo Inc., 2010) while that of Coca Cola is 1.13 (Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., 2010). Though the current ratios of both the companies fall short of the ‘ideal’ standard but considering the fact that both are multinational beverages giants in their own right it must be said that PepsiCo scores over Coca-Cola in this regard as it is in a better position to honor its current liabilities as and when they fall due. Profitability Indicator Ratios Profitability ratios measure a concern’s degree of success in earning a return on sales or on investment. The rate of return on capital employed, often described as the primary ratio, relates the income earned from the company’s activities to the resources employed by the c ompany. The ratio indicates the efficiency with which the capital employed in the business is being utilized, and by comparison with other businesses it may provide a means of evaluating whether the management has the ability of to earn a reasonable income for the company with the resources at their disposal. There are a number of ways of computing rate of return on capital employed depending upon the definition of ‘capital employed’. The term ‘capital employed’ is used, in accountancy to signify three different financial totals: (i)

Factors to be considered when planning to fill a vacancy and carry out an interview Essay Example for Free

Factors to be considered when planning to fill a vacancy and carry out an interview Essay The purpose of recruitment is too attract the best candidates for the job, and to then pick the most suitable. To make sure that the best person is picked Human resources will have to make sure that they are clear about * What the job entails * What qualities are required to do the job? * What rewards are needed to retain and motivate employees. If the wrong person is recruited and then finds the job too boring or difficult, then the business will not get the best out of its Human resources Department. It will also mean additional costs for the organisation because if the employee leaves because they are unsuitable they would have wasted money on training and will have advertise for their replacement. When filling a vacancy a number of things have to be considered. Before even thinking about filling the job vacancy the organisation needs to carry out a job analysis. The job analysis is a study of what the job entails. It contains skills, training and tasks that are needed to carry out the job. The reason why the organisation needs to recruit to fill the vacancy is a very important aspect to consider, because the person in the job before may have been unhappy. To prevent this from happening again managers can set up exit interviews with the previous employee to see if they are able to improve the job. Are records of Past Employees available? Records of past employees would also be a good thing for any organisation to have because then the business may be able to hire someone who has worked for them before this would save induction and training costs. Whether or not the organisation recruits internally or externally is an important factor to consider. If the organisation recruits internally * Savings can be made, and individuals with inside knowledge of how the business operates will need less time for induction and shorter periods of training. * The organisation is unlikely to be disrupted by someone who is used to working there. * Internal promotion acts will act as a motivator to other members of staff within the organisation. * From the organisations point of view, they will be able to asses the strengths and weaknesses of an insider, however there is always a risk attached to hiring an outsider who may only prove to be good on paper. The disadvantages to recruiting internally are that * You will have to replace the person who has been promoted. * An insider may be less likely to make criticisms of the business to get the organisation working in a more effective way. * Promotion of one person is an organisation may upset another. Has the appropriate Recruitment documentation been drawn up? Recruitment documentation is another important aspect this includes the job description, person specification, advertisements and interview sheets. Job Description Purpose The job description needs to include the job title, responsibilities and a simple description of the role and duties of the employee within the organisation. To make sure that the job description is up-to-date a job analysis should be carried out. The Job Description has a number of uses * It tells the candidates for a job what is expected of them. * It helps personnel officers to compare the job description with the candidate. * The Job Description can be used as a gauge to see whether or not the employee is doing the job properly, by comparing their activities with the job description. * Arguments about what the employee has to do can be settled by looking at the job description. The job description is a means of communication between the organisation and candidate to maximise relevance of potential applicants. Person Specification The purpose of a person specification is to outline the type of applicant the business is looking for. The person specification also gives potential applicants the chance to match themselves against the specification. The organisation needs to know the type of person they are looking for this can be set out in the person specification. The person specification sets out the mental and physical attributes, which will be needed for the job. A person specification is used so the prospective candidates know what qualities they should have and what is expected from them. It can also be called upon in an interview situation where the employer can match the candidate to the person specification and the position. Advertisement Job advertisements are an important aspect to the recruitment process. An organisation is able to advertise job vacancies to a selected audience through their job advertisements. Advertisements must reach the people who have the qualities needed to fill the vacancy. The nature of the advert will depend on * The target audience managers, supervisors, retail assistants etc. * Where the advert will be placed on a notice board in a local or national newspaper, etc. A good job advertisement will provide prospective candidates with information and will also discourage people who are not qualified for the vacancy. The way in which the vacancy is advertised will be different is the job is being advertised internally or externally. If the job is being advertised internally it will be most likely to be advertised on the staff notice board or in the jobs bulletin, however if the job is being advertised externally it is more likely to be advertised in a newspaper. Interview Assessment Form In an interview assessment form the areas for evaluation are usually * Physical appearance and deportment Does the candidate have the right image suited to the advertised post? * Attainments What experience and qualifications that they have meet the needs of the post. * General Intelligence * Special Aptitudes What skills does the candidate have which relates to the job for example foreign languages or knowledge in the latest software package. * Personality/disposition Another factor of recruitment, which needs to be considered, is the legislation, which affects it. If the organisation does not comply with the set legislation then the individual responsible will be taken to court or the industrial tribunal. To avoid legal action an organisation will make sure that the recruitment criteria are made clear and that any terms of employment are made obvious to the candidate. The organisation needs to make sure that its company policy and practice comply with the relevant legislation. A number of the laws affecting the recruitment process are * Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1958 This deals with an obligation on firms of more than twenty employees to employ disabled people up to at least three per cent of the workforce. * Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and 84 This deals with the prohibition placed upon job advertisers to discriminate against women in advertising or conditions of service. * Race Relations Act 1980 and 1982 This is the outlawing of discrimination against employees because of their race, colour or ethnic origin. After the vacancy has been filled, the Human Resources department needs to be sure that they leave enough time for vetting and background checks if the job requires this for example any jobs involving children. If this is not dealt with effectively the organisation will be in the position of having an empty vacancy until they are completed.

European Model Of Corporate Governance

European Model Of Corporate Governance Corporate governance comes into play in cases where the management of the organization has to be carried out by a manager or a group of managers who are not the owners of the organization. In essence, corporate governance is implemented by a business financers in order to monitor and regulate the organizations utilization of their investments (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). In this case, the individuals hired to manage the business are paid employees and are responsible for the effective execution of the organizations processes. As a result of this arrangement, it is only natural for a separation to exist between the ownership of the organization and the management of the organization (Brickley, Coles Jarrell, 1997). While this may appear to be a simple concept, modern day business models have allowed corporate governance models to develop rapidly over the last few years and this has led to the development of differing corporate governance models. The implementation of these cor porate governance models generally varies in accordance with the region in which the organization is functioning and the nature of business of the organization. This paper will attempt to compare and contrast the Anglo-American model and the European Model of Corporate Governance. The paper will attempt to perform this comparison in order to ascertain which of the two models more accurately reflect emerging corporate trends. Furthermore, the discussion will make international comparisons based on a variety of different economies. Before moving on with the discussion, it is essential to come to terms with the role of the board of directors of the organization. The board of directors play a pivotal role in corporate governance models. This is because of the fact that they serve as the bridge between the stakeholders of the organization and the management team responsible for the organizations processes (Brickley, Coles Jarrell, 1997). The sensitivity of the role of the board of directors can be judged through the fact that an extensive degree of research has been performed on the functions and composition of the board of directors. Regardless of the corporate culture in the organization, the board of directors remains present as a critical connection between the organizations human capital and the organizations stakeholders. Another reason because of which the board of directors are given extensive relevance is the fact that almost all corporate governance models look towards the board of directors when it com es to the implementation of the corporate governance models (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). The characteristics of the board of directors tend to vary with regard to the size of the organization, the region/regions in which the organization is functioning, the existence of the company as a listed or unlisted company and the industry/industries in which the organization is operating. A practical example of the implementation of the European model of corporate governance and the Anglo-American model of corporate governance can be observed in the case of the US and Europe respectively (Brickley, Coles Jarrell, 1997). In Europe, a small number of investors are capable of making pivotal investment decisions and these decisions are generally aligned with the interests of the selected investors responsible for the decisions. In comparison, the system generally followed and proffered in the US calls for the inclusion of multiple opinions and perspectives (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). The corporate strategy that is developed and eventually implemented is not finalized until all the investors are and shareholders are in unanimous agreement. Managements role In the case of the Anglo-American countries, it is often considered that the Anglo-American system of corporate governance gives unquestioning support to the management (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). This creates a scenario in which the management appears to have a role that is limited to the short run and does not encompass the long run. It can therefore be surmised that the management, in the case of the Anglo-American system of corporate governance, frequently communicates with the stakeholders. As a result, managers in the Anglo-American system of corporate governance try to implement strategies that will show outcomes within the span of a year or two (Brickley, Coles Jarrell, 1997). In comparison, when the management implements the European model of corporate governance, decisions are taken with outcomes expected around five years. In such cases, the shareholders generally hold more decision making authority than that which is given to the managers. Furthermore, controllin g and holding structures are significantly common in organizations making use of the European model of corporate governance. In such cases, the European model of corporate governance is also often referred to as the concentrated shareholder model because of the extensive authority that it gives to the shareholders. This concentration of ownership can often lead to the development of complications in cases where financial resources have to play their part (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). The number of equity suppliers is generally deficient in the European model of corporate governance because of the concentration of ownership. Another characteristic of the European model of corporate governance that merits highlighting at this point is that which pertains to the role of the capital market. The capital market holds importance for corporate governance on account of the fact that the developments in the capital market have a direct influence on the corporate controls of the organization (Brickley, Coles Jarrell, 1997). While the Anglo-American model of corporate governance relies heavily on the capital market and seeks to takeover threats in the capital market, the European model of corporate governance gives primary relevance to the stakeholders. Internal Differences Labour motivation is a critically important factor when it comes to the organizations performance. Since labour in the European model of corporate governance is always a part of the decision making process, it is generally more motivated than the labour force in the Anglo-American model of corporate governance. Since the labour is relatively highly motivated, they choose to contribute to the organizations development aggressively (Brickley, Coles Jarrell, 1997). This active participation on the labours part tends to place a limitation on the degree to which the supervisory board can exercise authority (Hanson Song, 2000). Influences of the labours active participation can generally be seen in the development of the organizations human resource management policies. The realist theory of codetermination understands co-determination as labour representation. Labour as the most important stakeholder group besides the shareholders should be represented and have a right to participate in the decision making on the level of the second board, i.e. the advisory board in the two-tier-board system (Hanson Song, 2000). Co-determination as representation does not aim at consent about all matters of corporate governance. It is rather geared towards the right to participate and to be included and heard in corporate governance for the sake of workers recognition as well as for the sake of other stakeholders of the firm because workers participation in decision-making enhances the quality of board decisions. If the shareholders prevent the shirking of the employees of the firm according to the theory of the firm introduced by Alchian and Demsetz (1996), codetermination by labour results analogously in the prevention of shirking by shareholders and managers th at causes damage to labour as shirking by employees causes damage to the shareholders. If the shareholders and/or managers do not perform optimally labour will prevent them from shirking, from not making their contractual contributions to the firm. Industrial relations are traditionally better in continental Europe than in the USA which leads to higher work place satisfaction and higher identification with the firm (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). These, in turn, cause higher productivity rates. In the last two decades since 1988, the process of the globalization of capital markets seemed to support the shareholder principle, not the participation principle. In the context of globalization As globalization continues to influence the development of the global economy, corporate governance also becomes subjected to standardization based on the successful implementation of strategies by management teams around the world (Hanson Song, 2000). The case of General Motors and Ford presents an excellent example in this regard. General Motors and Ford have produced in Germany in huge production sites for over seventy years and did not find it unprofitable to adjust to codetermination legislation which is about 35 years old in 2008. In the European institutional setting, there is a greater complexity on the second board level that causes certain additional costs. There is, however, also the gain of additional information about the firm and of greater labour alignment with the aims of the firm as a result of labour representation in corporate governance on the level of the second board level. The participation or co-determination principle can increase corporate performance if it is understood as a principle of representation and not as a consensus principle and if it is instituted together with the control principle of hostile takeovers (Hanson Song, 2000). Codetermination as representation of the employees on the board increases the learning capacity of the organization and also fulfils a pacification function in conflict situations within the enterprise as long as the majority vote of the shareholders or owners is safeguarded. The synthesis between the Anglo-American principle of the capital market as the market for corporate control and the German principle of co-determination as employee representation in corporate governance on the second board level is possible, even under conditions of globalization (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). The point to which the two systems of corporate governance, the USA and the Continental European, converge to is the strengthening of capital market control of management in Europe and the strengthening of labour repr esentation in corporate governance in the USA. The purpose of the firm Another difference between the Anglo-American and the Continental European theories of corporate governance concerns the idea of the purpose of the firm (Lipton Lorsch, 1992). The purpose of an institutional part or subsystem of a society is the major resource from which ethical analysis and decision-making draws from since the purpose of action is the most important and defining feature of an action. The purpose of any human action is the major criterion for the ethical assessment of an action or institution (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). The reason is that the purpose or aim of an action or institution is the central cause of an action or institution and, therefore, the central criterion for its success and value in economic, cultural and ethical respect. Ethics gives the conditions under which value creation must take place as constraining and as enabling conditions (Hanson Song, 2000). Value creation can take place under the neglect of the personal right of the person or of human dignity if the market conditions cause such groups of individuals to have a weak competitive position. If there is an over-supply of labour its competitive position is weak. The law might have to protect human dignity against exploitation and abuse when competition in the market does not preserve the human rights of the market participants (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). Situations of prisoners dilemma in which it is advantageous for the individual to behave opportunistically require the affirmation of ethical and legal rules independent of the utility calculus of the acting individual. Loyalty to contracts e.g. is a principle that cannot be derived from individual utility maximization for each act but must be asserted by the individual on its own meri t for ethical reasons (Thompson Wright, 1995). It can only be justified by rule utilitarianism for the general rule and not by act utilitarianism for each single act. This implies that one has the duty to be loyal to a contract even if a more advantageous contract is available instead. The non-conditional hyper-norm of the economy must be distinguished from the second order positive norms of the institutional setting of business. Some of these positive norms are sometimes suggested to be ethical or normal rules of the first order although they are in fact norms or virtues of economic organization that imply some degree of freedom of specification although their organization touches on ethical virtues, or norms of the second order. The European model of the firm emphasizes that the firm is a multi-purpose institution in which shareholder value plays the central but not the only role (Becht RÃ ¶ell, 1999). The Anglo-American model of the firm emphasizes shareholder value as the onl y or last purpose of the firm to which the other (stakeholder) purposes are instrumental or, at least, functional. At this point, the development will go in the direction of the European model since it is more inclusive and interprets the stakeholders to be of more then instrumental value to the firm. The recent global recession has led to the development of a scenario in which it has become imperative for organizations to exercise corporate governance. It therefore comes as no surprise that the last few years have seen a significant increase in the volume of literature on corporate governance. Furthermore, the increasing trends in globalization and the rapid developments in international businesses have placed organizations in a position where it has become crucial for them to revisit their corporate governance methodologies (Becht RÃ ¶ell, 1999). These recent changes in corporate governance, and the processes of globalization that have induced them, are obviously of historic proportion, radically altering as they have economic, political and social structures. The stakes in these reforms are high and they may be literally life and death for the most vulnerable organizations. Conclusion In the literature of corporate governance, there has been an on-going debate about whether financial or banking models are more effective. As noted above, it is currently being argued that the key to effectiveness does not depend upon whether a country adopts one or the other model, but whether it has a well-functioning legal system which allows for the timely enforcement of contracts. If this position is correct, then the ability of developing countries to enforce a model of corporate governance may be ultimately tied to larger questions of democratic political reform a prospect which many critics feel is being undermined by the very forces of globalization promoting an Anglo American model of governance. An important question that the experience of developing countries raises but one which it was not possible to systematically investigate in this issue is whether individual countries acting alone will be able to effectively enforce an Anglo-American model of governance in a globa l economy. The above discussion attempted to present an in depth insight into the differences between the Anglo-American model of corporate governance and the European model of corporate governance. The discussion made it clear that the fundamental distinction between the two models lies in the fact that they are present in differing business contexts (Warner, Watts Wruck, 1988). These contexts are dictated by the shareholder identity, shareholder concentration, stock liquidity and interlocking ownership. It can be observed here that there is a difference between the two approaches in how they address the two issues of ownership and control. The strengthening of labour representation in the American firm can improve the firms ability to discover chances and weaknesses within the organization and to use this knowledge for increased performance. The strengthening of the market for corporate control through a more active capital market in Europe will improve the performance of management. Furthermore, globalization will move corporate governance in the direction of such a synthesis. It is likely that this model will radiate to the global market. The question of whether economies will converge towards a common corporate Anglo-American governance system, or sustain the present diversity of institutions is one of the key issues facing countries in Europe, the Asia Pacific and throughout the rest of the world (Malette Hogler, 1995). Lower economic growth and higher unemployment in Europe compared to the Anglo-American countries since the mid-1990s, undermined some of the confidence in Europes social model (though by 2005 Germany had returned to its former position as the worlds largest exporter). Despite the pressures towards adopting Anglo-Saxon modes of corporate governance, the divergences in both the policy and practice of corporate governance in Europe have thus far resisted any move towards European standards. However with greater market integration and the developing influence of Anglo-American institutional investors, it is possible the market will play a greater role. Yet debates on company law harmonization in the Eur opean Union have been held up by countries not wishing to see elements of their own systems of corporate governance disappear in the process. One explanation for this impasse is the institutional complementarily thesis which justifies the continuing diversity of systems, rejecting the one-best-way strategy adopted by the convergence thesis. Instead a plurality of models is assumed, each corresponding to local circumstances, supported by a cluster of social norms and regulation, enabling balanced economic development. It can also be argued that the Anglo-American models can serve as an effective method for breaking unhealthy state business relationships and imposing more discipline on domestic corporations (Yermack, 1996). The diversity of corporate models is valuable and is rooted in societal characteristics that together shape the competitiveness of the different models. Though shareholder value may be gaining ground due to the influence of Anglo-Saxon institutional investors, a stakeholder approach is closer to the reality of European social democracies, and the outcome of the confrontation between the two competing philosophies is highly uncertain. It is unlikely that imported Anglo-Saxon capital market related features of corporate governance will work well with Continental labor-related aspects of corporate governance as represented in supervisory boards. It is likely any such European compromise would be more unstable than existing systems. The attractiveness of the Anglo-American finance and governance institutions permeated with inequality and subject to recurrent severe market cycles and financial crisis is open to question as a model for universal applicability. Indeed the damaging consequen ces of the 2008 financial crisis will impact severely upon the world economy, and could well dislodge the faith that the market based governance system is the only rational and efficient one for the future. It is more likely that solutions will be found to pressing problems of equity, sustainability and innovation in a diversity of finance and governance systems, responsive to deeper and wider concerns than the self-interest of the executives who control corporations, financial institutions and hedge funds. The paper served to clarify that while the Anglo-American model of corporate governance seeks to implement external discipline methodologies. This entails the concentration of the organizations resources and attention towards elements such as proxy fights in the competitive landscape, handling liability management claims and the sustenance of management reputation. The Anglo-American model of corporate governance is somewhat aggressive and appears to be a model that continuously demands the organization to function as a challenger in the competitive landscape. In comparison, the European model of corporate governance seeks to make use of extensive alignment between the organizations stakeholders. The external methodologies brought into use by the European model of corporate governance tend to increase coordination and communication across the organization in an attempt to streamline the organizations functions in accordance with the organizations objectives. In addition, the European model of corporate governance also seeks to ensure that the organizations objectives are understood and that the management, stakeholders and board of directors are in mutual agreement on the objectives of the organization. The comparison of the two corporate governance models has served to reveal that the Anglo-American model of corporate governance is an aggressive corporate governance model and in order to exercise the Anglo-American model of corporate governance the organization needs to have a strong foundation (Wolfenzon, 1998). This is because of the fact that the Anglo-American model of corporate governance often requires the managers to make decisions that are in favour of their own perspectives and require over-investment. In this case, the managers do not seek the approval of external stakeholders and proceed with the implementation of their decisions. In this regard, the European model of corporate governance comes forth as the preferred corporate governance model. This is because of the fact that the European model of corporate governance gives the organization the margin of deciding on an orientation that is best suited for the competitive landscape in which the organization is functioning (Wolfenzon, 1998). While the Anglo American model of corporate governance demands that the organization plays aggressively continuously, the European model of corporate governance gives the organization the margin it needs to adapt to changing needs. As a result, the organization can choose to function passively and steadily when it chooses; and functions aggressively when it chooses. In essence, the increased communication and coordination between the strategic, operational and tactical elements of the organization allows the organization to ensure that it does not get exposed to any high-risk scenarios. The recommendation of the European model of corporate governance is based on the pretext that recent global economic trends have proved that it is feasible for organizations to adopt an organization that minimizes their exposure to risk. Managerial reputation and status cannot be given importance over the organizations sustained growth because most organizations that have been successful in the last few decades have chosen to follow their expansion strategies with consistency; regardless of the speed at which they grew. While some organizations chose to grow rapidly by intentionally engaging in high-risk investments, others chose to implement the European model of corporate governance by reducing their risk exposure. Organizations such as these proceeded by studying internal and external scenarios closely before finalizing and implementing a strategy. It is because of this reason that such organizations were able to minimize the degree to which they were impacted by the recent global recession. It can be observed that the European model of corporate governance requires the management to engage in a level of coordination that the Anglo-American model of corporate governance does not call for. As a result, the European model of corporate governance places the management in a position where every decision that materializes into action is of a nature such that is supports the organization and is not influenced by a desire to drive up managerial reputation and status. Another key reason because of which the European model of corporate governance is recommended over the Anglo-American model of corporate governance is because the European model of corporate governance satisfies the need for the generation of shareholder profitability. The Anglo-American model of corporate governance does not give primary relevance to shareholder profitability because the authority to make investment decisions is placed and limited in the hands of a few individuals. In comparison to this, the European model of corporate governance places the organization in a position where the generation of shareholder profitability enables the organization to attract more investors. In this regard, it would be just to bring the paper to a concluding note with the statement that the European model of corporate governance accurately reflects emerging corporate trends. The examples and elaborations presented in the above discussion make it clear that the European model of corporate go vernance responds far more adequately to modern day business needs than the Anglo-American model of corporate governance.

Essay --

What is the director ultimately saying about the ways in which hope affects the individual? During the film Shawshank Redemption there is a very prominent theme of hope. Shawshank Redemption demonstrates positive and negative ways in which the main characters Andy, Brooks, Tommy and Red display hope. Through out the movie Frank Darabont gives us an insight to how each character connects to the theme of hope. Each character connects differently to hope. For example andy persevering through digging the tunnel, Red connects to hope by become friends with Andy, Tommy gets his high school diploma and finally Brook, although institutionalized became accustomed to being the librarian for many years of his life time in Shawshank prison The first example of a character connecting to hope is Andy, continuing to stay determined and pushing through abuse with â€Å"the sisters† he is still able to remand hopeful and ultimately escape. After serving almost twenty years in Shawshank prison Andy’s views began to change from hope being non existent to honestly believing that hope was real. After re...

Influential Tube :: Essays Papers

Influential Tube Time has brought about a new past time for this generation of children. Within the grab bag of talk shows, one has surfaced to be the most talked about and harshly recognized. The infamous Jerry Springer Show. The Jerry Springer Show has perfected the ability to taint our airways with unfavorable materials. The show could have a damaging effect on children because it contains the ingredients that can influence them to adopt the unacceptable behaviors of its guests. Many mature viewers, unlike children that feel the show is a great source of entertainment, see that the guests are being exploited for rating and revenue purposes. Jerry Springer, the host of his self-titled talk show, joins his guests in using obscene language and distasteful phrases. Their choice of words can range from the cruel to vulgar and implied to the bold and direct. In this atmosphere, the quests attire and appearance somehow seem to perfectly match their harsh language. From the initial dashing entrance, towards the audience or previous guest, to the last blow of the show’s air, one witnesses an ongoing process of public humiliation. The behaviors of the show’s instigating host and untamed quests are embarrassing. In the battlefield of bleeps and permitted obscenities, nothing is being said or heard; in the midst of the blind-sided licks, object-tosses, and kicks, nothing is being resolved. Rather than the show being entertaining, it becomes more unbearable as it progresses. If I was privileged to ask the Springer Show producer one question, it would be, â€Å"Does the show have an audience?† The â€Å"gladiators† of the show seemed to be cued as to when to make an appearance from the â€Å"audience†, in which seems like rejected panel guests. They are full of rage at the panel’s comments, lifestyle, and/or behavior so they try to reach and beat â€Å"their† understanding into the face of a defensive guest, ready for battle. With these actions being far from funny and closer to ridiculous, the â€Å"gladiators† are shadowed by the comedic half of the â€Å"audience† who’s purpose is to laugh at all the actions of the show and occasionally crack a sour joke over the host’s hand held microphone. When all seems to fail and energy is at crucial levels, for ratings sake, the â€Å"power suppliers† come to the rescue. They are the portions of the audience that feed the show its energy.

Televisions Manipulation of the Facts Essay -- Argumentative Persuasi

Television's Manipulation of the Facts    One of the main activities that American's participate in during their free time is watching the television. Since its invention over sixty years ago, the television has been a source of enjoyment and information for the American citizen (Pember, 1981). Though what one sees on the television is not what one should always believe. Many people look at television with the "camera never lies" attitude, and are easily manipulated by this medium. People are manipulated by television because most television programming is controlled by a small number of companies, this is a main source of information, and people all too often trust what they witness in the media. Because television is controlled by an oligolistic market, the few companies that do control television programming are able to benefit from a great deal of selectivity, and would not put something on a news cast that would harm their business. The media is also able to manipulate people because television is one of the main source s of information in this country; from local news casts, to news related magazines like 20/20 and Dateline. These programs show a very limited view of the facts due to time restraints and company wide bias (Kaufman, 1998). And many people do not question what they witness on news shows, which can be very detrimental the their own knowledge of the facts. These three causes promote a society where the media many times has the upper hand in directing people's decisions, and therefore manipulating society as a whole. In the modern era, with cable and satellite television there is wide array of programming to choose from. A television connected to the latest technology can receive over 200 channels. Many pe... ...dia significantly effects many of the decisions that we make in our lives, and the media has learned to control how American citizens think and behave. There is no wonder that what we see on television is called "programming." Works Cited Bagdikian, B. (1983) The Media Monopoly pp. xv, 4, 187 Kaufman, R. (1998) "Review of Jerry Mander's Four Arguments For The Elimination Of elevision" availible online: http://www.netreach.net/~kaufman/ Mander, J. (1977) Four Arguments For The Elimination Of Television Review by Kaufman, R. availible on line: http://www.netreach.net/~kaufman/ Mann, J. (1982) "What is TV doing to America," Impact of Mass Media pp. 25-27  Ã‚   Pember, D. (1981) Mass Media in America pp. 178, 181 Stevetwt (1998) "Media Watch" availible online: http://www.infoasis.com/www/people/stevetwt/Media/media_watch.html    Television's Manipulation of the Facts Essay -- Argumentative Persuasi Television's Manipulation of the Facts    One of the main activities that American's participate in during their free time is watching the television. Since its invention over sixty years ago, the television has been a source of enjoyment and information for the American citizen (Pember, 1981). Though what one sees on the television is not what one should always believe. Many people look at television with the "camera never lies" attitude, and are easily manipulated by this medium. People are manipulated by television because most television programming is controlled by a small number of companies, this is a main source of information, and people all too often trust what they witness in the media. Because television is controlled by an oligolistic market, the few companies that do control television programming are able to benefit from a great deal of selectivity, and would not put something on a news cast that would harm their business. The media is also able to manipulate people because television is one of the main source s of information in this country; from local news casts, to news related magazines like 20/20 and Dateline. These programs show a very limited view of the facts due to time restraints and company wide bias (Kaufman, 1998). And many people do not question what they witness on news shows, which can be very detrimental the their own knowledge of the facts. These three causes promote a society where the media many times has the upper hand in directing people's decisions, and therefore manipulating society as a whole. In the modern era, with cable and satellite television there is wide array of programming to choose from. A television connected to the latest technology can receive over 200 channels. Many pe... ...dia significantly effects many of the decisions that we make in our lives, and the media has learned to control how American citizens think and behave. There is no wonder that what we see on television is called "programming." Works Cited Bagdikian, B. (1983) The Media Monopoly pp. xv, 4, 187 Kaufman, R. (1998) "Review of Jerry Mander's Four Arguments For The Elimination Of elevision" availible online: http://www.netreach.net/~kaufman/ Mander, J. (1977) Four Arguments For The Elimination Of Television Review by Kaufman, R. availible on line: http://www.netreach.net/~kaufman/ Mann, J. (1982) "What is TV doing to America," Impact of Mass Media pp. 25-27  Ã‚   Pember, D. (1981) Mass Media in America pp. 178, 181 Stevetwt (1998) "Media Watch" availible online: http://www.infoasis.com/www/people/stevetwt/Media/media_watch.html   

Design and Organisation of Management Essay

My course work is based on textile spinning that how should a manager deal with each step he makes. In textile spinning the role of a manager is totally different than in the book of management. Here the managers have to deal with everything which is possible. Director Role Designing and organizing Designing is creating the organizational structure so that work can be efficiently and effectively allocated to different departments and work units. Those work units are: > Strategy > Structure > People > Rewards > Processes In textile, there are five directors. And on those five directors the top director is the managing director. He passes the orders of what should be done and what shouldn’t be done. As being a managing director, he has four directors, working in four different departments. And these four directors tell the managing director how well the company is going on. The four directors are: > Director of Marketing > Director of Finance > Director of Operations > Director of Human Resource The director of marketing: The director of marketing is the one who market his product in the market. At first he should try to target good customers from the market who are well known or at least who will buy the product slowly but often. The director of marketing should market the product in a wide range of market where the competition is low and with good quality to maintain and gain more customers so that it would help the company grow wider. Other than this the director of marketing should find out more of the other market where his goods and services can be sold in a good price and make the company go into higher profit. The formal pattern of interactions and coordination designed by the management to link the tasks of individuals and groups in achieving organization goals. At the organisational level, dividing jobs among organizational members is called departmentation. Making departments make it easy to do work by distributing the work. As the cash going and coming would go to the accounts and finance department, selling products would go to the sales department, and handling employees and hiring new employees would go to human resource department. Distributing jobs into department make the job easy for the managing director help the company do well. And it has advantages as well. The advantages of distributing jobs are: > Efficient use of resources. > In-dept specialization and skill development. > Career progression within departments. > Excellent coordination within a function. > High quality technical problem solving. > Overall direction from top management. The disadvantages of the functional structure > Poor communication across functional departments. > Poor coordination leads to slow response to external changes. > Decision concentrated at the top of the hierarchy, creating delay. > Responsibility for problems difficult to pinpoint. > Employees have a limited view of the organisation. > Limited opportunity for development of general management skills. Producer Role Working productively The producer’s role is to work productively, adopting a productive environment, and managing stress and time. It is because, in textile if the product’s quality and quantity is low, the buyer would either returns the goods or pays the lower amount. If the quality or the quantity of cotton yarn is low than the buyer of the cotton yarn will have low profits. So the producer’s role is to maintain the quality of the product and the quantity of the product. Peak performers The producer should be: > Result oriented > Personal mission > Self management > Team mastery > Coping with change I agree with this, as in the producer should be aware of these things to satisfy the top management and the customers. Optimal performance The producer should be: > Setting goals > Being engaged > Being hypersensitive > Enjoying the experience Personal Motivation Extrinsic Motivation – these are the forces that are external to person Intrinsic motivation – these are the forces which are internal forces that are generated by the individual him or herself. They should adopt a productive environment in: > Pay and benefits > Opportunities > Job security > Pride in company > Openness/fairness > Camaraderie/friendliness This has to be given to the producer because they are the one who have a role in productivity. Otherwise they would decrease the quality and the quantity of the product. Quantity counts in textile because of the weight of the cotton yarn. And quality counts because of the strength. Pay and benefits: The pay and benefits for the producer should be given according to his know how because in this field one small mistake leads to a big one. Opportunities: The opportunities is given all the time, but mostly the cotton bales are not in good quality, so it is the producers job to make it into a good quality for the customers. Job Security: The job security should be given after the effort has been shown by the producer. Coordinator role Coordinator’s Role is: > Managing projects > Designing works > Managing across functions Coordinator role is concerned with the efficient flow of work, leading to continuity and stability. This requires the responsibility to see that the right people are at the right place at the right time to perform the right task. Coordinator should be responsible for overseeing change, lines of authority, ever changing tasks, and cross – functional activities. This competence is considered under two headings: > Project planning > Project monitoring Managing projects involves: Project monitoring: > Tracking progress. > Comparing actual results to predict. > Analysing the impact of the actual results. > Making adjustments to the plans. Coordinator should work with the project so that the project should meet the deadlines, but also the budget, the project manager is concerned with two types of information: > The amount of money budgeted for the work to be performed versus the actual cost of performing the work. > The budget cost of work performed versus the budgeted cost of work scheduled. Designing Work The coordinator should decide that whether more traditional and specialised work designs are preferred or to opt for work designs that give employees greater responsibility and greater autonomy. This decision is influenced by the technology required, the changing of the environment (in which the decision should be made quickly), and the link to the external customers. The coordinator should know the behavioural approach toward everyone. Behavioural approach should be towards the top management, middle management and the lower management. The behaviour could cost the coordinator lose his job. Job Design Strategies > Job Enlargement > Job Enrichment > Job rotation > Empowerment Job Enlargement Job enlargement is the opposite to the task of specialisation This increases the skill variety and task identity by redesigning the job to increase the number of task that the employee performs. This could be criticised because the work may not be challenging comparing to one task. This could increase the ability to complete a whole piece of work. Job Enrichment Except for increasing the variety, job enrichment increases the responsibility, decision making and feed back in the employees’ work and enhances the nature of the job relation with managers, company worker and clients. Job Rotation Job rotation helps the employees to increase their skills by allowing individuals to shift among the variety of tasks. This increases the understanding of the different jobs and their interdependencies. It can be used to reduce the boredom. Empowerment When employees are given the opportunity to inherit both thinking and doing the tasks, they will have more control over that how the work is been done, organised and controlled. This helps them to develop the ownership for the whole process, they would find the work more interesting and challenging and they will try to make the work more efficient. Monitor Role The next role we turn to is the monitor role. On the face of it this role appears less interesting than others in the competing values framework. Monitoring connotes the watchful and intrusive gaze of the bureaucrat or the snooping supervisor. Monitors sounds like people who get paid for catching others enjoying their work and putting a stop to it. Monitor may sound like controlling and nosy activity, but monitoring, in the way we describe it, is essential in maintaining high performance in both individuals and groups. The monitor function focuses the manager’s attention on the internal control issues. The monitor function is concerned with consolidating and creating continuity. These competencies are: Competency 1: Managing Information through Critical Thinking. Competency 2: Managing Information Overload. Competency 3: Managing Core Processes. To help business distinguish between activities that add value and things that do not, an expert on business strategy, purpose a model called a value chain. This value chain is a picture of all the activities a business uses to produce and deliver something its customers will value. There are five primary activities. The five primary activities involve the following: > Bringing materials or information into the organisation. > Operating on them. > Sending them out. > Marketing them. > Servicing them. The four supporting activities that surround these primary activities and help them operate more effectively are: > Firm Infrastructure. > Human Resource Management. > Technology Development. > Procurement. The Broker Role This role falls into the open systems model which is the most modern model out of them all. This role is more of an external one and involves being adaptable, innovative and flexible. All the qualities above lead to continual adoption, innovation and the ability to maintain external resources. There are three competencies associated with this role: > Building and maintaining a power base > Negotiating agreement and commitment > Presenting ideas The first competency in terms of business, power refers to the ability to make workers work and produce. They are able to exercise authority by using their power in the organization to get things done. There are four sources of power for the broker role: position power which reflects status in a company. Personal power involves personal characteristics. Expert power involves expert sing in an area and involves specializing or being skilled in a specific field. Network power is to do with the â€Å"social chapter† and information is from the people you know and trust. The second competency is negotiating agreement and commitment. They must be able to balance these qualities not only formally but also informally. Negotiation can be minor such as shift changes to discussing wages etc. Innovator Roles The innovator role focuses on adaptability and responsiveness to the external environment. It involves the use of creativity and the management changes and transition, and it provides a unique opportunity for managers to affirm the value of individual employees within the organizational setting. The meaning of the innovator means, that they tend not to think in terms of large, establishment organizations. The three key competencies of the innovator are: Competency 1: Living with Change. Competency 2: Thinking creatively. Competency 3: managing change. Each of these competencies requires the manager to be flexible and open to new ideas, new ways of thinking, and new challenges that the managerial role presents. Competency 2: Thinking creatively A very wide range of behavior and personality traits have been found to be associated with creative ability. A skill that each person can develop is a creative thinking. Creativity is was of thinking that involves the generation of new ideas and solutions. This is the process of associating known things or ideas into new combinations and relationships. People often underestimate their own creative ability. The difference between people who exhibit creative tendencies and people who don’t personal belief in creativity. Vast arrays of techniques, often called â€Å"creativity heuristics,† ranging from use of analogies to mental imagery, are available to enhance creativity skills. The major difference between creative people and others is personal belief. The individual barriers frequently have an emotional basis. The barriers result from personal beliefs and fears associated with taking risk, trying out a new idea, or trying to convince others of the value of our new ideas. Developing Creative Thinking Skills 1). Domain relevant skills: The domain relevant skill is that the more the manager knows the more creative he can be. Creative relies on linking knowledge together. 2). Creative Relevant Skills: They know how to make people to associate previously unrelated concepts and to think differently. 3). Task Motivation Creating an environment that is conductive to creativity. Competency 3: Managing Change The world is changing at a very high speed rate and so as the people and organization. And all the organizations are under pressure to change. Understanding resistance to plan change The following changes usually provoke resistance: > Changes affecting knowledge and skill needs. > Changes suggested associated with economic or status loss. > Changes suggested by others. > Changes involving risk. > Changes that disrupt social relationships. The Mentor Role The mentor role might be called the concerned human role. This role reflects a caring, empathetic orientation. In this role a manager is expected to be helpful, considerate, sensitive, approachable, open, and fair. In acting out the role, the leader listens, supports legitimate requests, conveys appreciation, and give recognitions. This competency has been shown to be a key factor that differentiates successful managers from those who have detailed. Integrity, security, and self-acceptance increase the ability to practice empathy, the key skill in helping others to grow. Empathy involves truly putting yourself in the position of others and honestly trying to see the world as they see it. References Combe, Colin, An Introduction to E-Business: Management and Strategy, 2006, Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd Abraham H. Maslow Toward a Psychology of Being, D. Van Nostrand Company, (1968) Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 68-30757 http://www.esight.org/view.cfm?x=1073 http://www.ericdigests.org/1993/esteem.htm

Disk operating system Essay

MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) is a single-user, single-tasking computer operating system that uses a command line interface (CLI). †¢ It also works as an interpreter between user and computer. †¢ The term DOS can refer to any operating system, but it is most often used as shorthand for MS-DOS (Microsoft disk operating system). Originally developed by Microsoft for IBM, MS-DOS was the standard operating system for IBM-compatible personal computers. The initial versions of DOS were very simple and resembled another operating system called CP/M. Subsequent versions have became increasingly sophisticated as they incorporated features of minicomputer operating systems. However, DOS is still a 16-bit operating system and does not support multiple users or multitasking. For some time, it has been widely acknowledged that DOS is insufficient for modern computer applications. Microsoft Windows helped alleviate some problems, but still, it sat on top of DOS and relied on DOS for many services. Even Windows 95 sat on top of DOS. Newer operating systems, such as Windows NT and OS/2 Warp, do not rely on DOS to the same extent, although they can execute DOS-based programs. It is expected that as these operating systems gain market share, DOS will eventually disappear. In the meantime, Caldera, Inc. markets a version of DOS called DR-OpenDOS that extends MSDOS in significant ways. †¢ †¢ Components of MS-DOS †¢ MS-DOS consists of four essentials programs and a set of additional utilities. Four main programs are †¢ Boot Record †¢ IO.SYS †¢ MSDOS.SYST †¢ COMMAND.COM What is BOOTing ? †¢ †¢ †¢ It is a process that starts up a computer. It checks for proper functioning of all the peripheral devices attached with the system. It searches for the operating system and, when located, loads it into the main memory. OR When the computer is switched on, the firmware program in Read Only Memory(ROM) also called Basic Input-Output System(BIOS) reads programs and data i.e. Operating System and loads it into memory (RAM). This process is known Bootstrapping(Booting). The OS once loaded takes control of the computer, handles user interaction and executes application programs. BOOTing Sequence During Booting process, computer loads the operating system into its memory. DOS booting involves reading following files into memory namely IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND COM. The Basic Input/Output Program (IO.SYS): This program provides interface between the hardware devices and software of the system. It takes care of the keyboard input, character output to monitor, output to printer and time of the day. The File and Disk Manager Program  (MSDOS.SYS) : It contains the file management and the disk buffering management capabilities. It keeps track of all the disk access of an application program and remains permanently in memory. The Command Processor (COMMAND.COM) : It is also called command interpreter. It is the program that displays the system prompt and handles user interface by executing the command typed in by the user using keyboard. The CONFIG.SYS file : This file contains reference to device drivers which are loaded when OS takes control of the computer. This device drivers are required for configuring operating system for running special devices. The AUTOEXEC.BAT file : This is a special batch program that is automatically executed when the system is started. It can be used to define keys, define the path that MS-DOS uses to find files, display messages on the screen etc. It will be executed only if it exists in the root directory or the diskette from which the system is loaded. Each time the system is started, MS-DOS executes the commands stored in AUTOEXEC.BAT file. One can run it without restarting the system by typing AUTOEXEC at the command prompt. Warm and COLD Reboot Switching on of the computer from Power off and loading the operating system is called â€Å"Cold Boot†. This generally starts with memory test and chips initialization. There may be case when the computer is already on or has hanged up and we want to reboot the system. This is known as â€Å"Warm Boot† and is done by pressing ctrl+alt+del keys simultaneously or just by pressing â€Å"Reset† button on the system. Naming DOS directories and files †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ There are two name in DOS and is divided into 2 parts. 1. Primary Name 2. Secondary Name or extension. Primary name is separated from the Secondary name/ extension with the help of a dot (.) look at the following example. Example: ENVOICE. TXT †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Primary name can be from 1 to 8 characters long. Secondary name contains 3 or less than 3 characters and is optional. The extension tells DOS about what kind of file it is. A valid Character for naming a file are: from A to Z and the digit 0 to 9 Types of DOS commands †¢ C :> Is known as DOS command prompt, where we give the commands. DOS command divided into 2 parts. 1. Internal Commands or Memory-Resident Commands 2. External Command or Disk-Residence Commands †¢ Any instruction given to the computer to perform a specific task is called command. The DOS has several commands, each for a particular task and these are stored in DOS directory on the disk. The commands are of two types : (a)Internal Commands : These are in built commands of MS-DOS i.e. these are stored in Command interpreter file (COMMAND.COM). These commands reside in the memory as long as the machine is at the system prompt(C:>) level. To use these commands no extra /external file is required. E.g. DATE, TIME, DIR, VER etc. These are also called Memory Resident Commands. These commands are automatically loaded into the computer‟s memory during the booting process. They actually included in the Command.com file. So these commands are executable immediately after getting the DOS prompt. Example: mkdir, cd, rd, copycon etc. (b) External commands : These are separate program (.com) files that reside in DOS directory and when executed behave like commands. An external command has predefined syntax. for e.g. HELP, DOSKEY, BACKUP, RESTORE, FORMAT etc. These are also called Disk-Resident Commands. These commands are meant for special purpose. These are found in separate files on Hard Disk or Floppy Disk, hence they don‟t typically consume valuable memory space. They are loaded into memory only when called. Example: xcopy, move, doskey etc. Microsoft Disk Operating System Introduction to the Operating Systems: An Operating system is software that creates a relation between the User, Software and Hardware. It is an interface between the all. All the computers need basic software known as an Operating System (OS) to function. The OS acts as an interface between the User, Application Programs, Hardware and the System Peripherals. The OS is the first software to be loaded when a computers starts up. The entire application programs are loaded after the OS. Whenever an application needs information it requests the OS which in turn queries the System clock on the motherboard. User interacts with the computer through the OS then OS interprets inputs given by a user through the Keyboard, Mouse or other input device and takes appropriate actions. An Operating System can be of Three Types: Single User MS-Dos, MS-Win 95-98, Win-ME Multi User UNIX, Linux, XENIX Network Novel Netware, Win-NT, Win-2000-2003 1. Single User: If the single user os is loaded in computer’s memory; the computer would be able to handle one user at a time. 2. Multi user: If the multi-user os is loaded in computer’s memory; the computer would be able to handle more than one user at a time. 3. Network: If the network os is loaded in computer’s memory; the computer would be able to handle more than one computer at time. Command Prompt Interface: Operating System provides a text based interface called command prompt. From the command prompt commands can be issued to perform file and disk management and to run program. Results of these commands are presented to the user as text message. C:>The command prompt can be an alphabet followed by one colon (:), one back slash (), one greater than sign (>) and one blinking element called cursor (_). Where C: represents the Drive letter (Current Drive) represents the current folder / Directory > represents the end of the Prompt and _ blinking element (represents the Cursor) Always a cursor position decides that the current typed letter from the keyboard will appear on that position. The operating system (OS) is the first program that must be loaded into the memory of your PC before you can use it for any application. You can start your computer with disk operating system (DOS) or some other operating system such as Windows 95, 97, 98 or Windows NT that might be installed in the Hard disk. In this chapter, we shall discuss the basic facilities available in DOS. Switch to MS-DOS and go through most of the text given in this and the next two chapters. If your computer is running under windows 95/98 or Windows NT, perform the following steps to switch to MS-DOS, otherwise move to section 2.1. ï‚ · Click the start button in the taskbar and press the windows logo key to open the start menu then click programs in the start menu. ï‚ · Windows displays the program submenu. ï‚ · In the program menu click MS-DOS Prompt and your screen displays a window that contains MS-DOS Prompt, such as â€Å"C:windows>_†. ï‚ · If you like you can also restart your computer in MS-DOS mode by using the following steps: o Close any open programs o Click the Start Button in the TaskBar or Press the Windows Logo Key to open the Start Menu. o Click â€Å"restart in MS-DOS Mode† and then click OK. Wait for some time and your PC restarts in MS-DOS Mode. After your PC starts in MS-DOS Mode or window, skip the next section and move to section 2.2. What is a File? In computer terminology, file is a collection of text or data stored on a storage device, such as a Floppy Disk or Hard Disk. If you new to computers, it may sound a bit complicated. Well, a computer file is not much different from a conventional paper file that you must have used, or at least seen being used. Just as you stored different types of documents (invoice, letters, reminders, memos etc.) in conventional files, computer files too store information. File Name Each file is given a name so that it can be referred to later. This name is called Filename. The filename in DOS can be up to eight alpha-numeric characters long. Optionally it can also have a period (.) followed by an extension name. The extension name the up to three characters long. For instance, consider the following filename: REPORT2 PROGRESS.DOC Here REPORT2 is a filename. This filename does not have an extension name – „DOC‟. The use of an extension name in a filename is optional. However, the extension name helps in organizing and identifying a file. For instance „DOC‟ may suggest that it is a document file; and „COM‟ may suggest that is a command file. If you use an extension name with a filename, normally you will have to specify the complete file name, normally you will have to specify the complete file name (i.e. including the extension name) while using it with DOS commands. While naming files, you can use the following characters in filename: A- Z, a- z, 0 – 9, @, #, $, %, ^, &, -, _, { },`, ~,( ) You cannot use other characters, such as coma (,) colon (:), semicolon (;), , , /, etc. in filename. Moreover, you cannot use space in filenames. Some examples of invalid file names are: Filename Reason SALE 2 Contains space PROGRESSER Contains more that eight characters MY, File Contains commas CHAP_01.DOC3 Extension name contains more than 3 characters If you use more than eight characters in the filename or more than three characters in the extension name, DOS may automatically truncate the filename by removing extra characters. Further, some file names, such as COM 1, COM 2, LPT1, com and PRN are reserved by DOS for its own use. Therefore, do not use these names to name your file. Also, remember that all DOS application programs including Word, Excel, WordStar, Bbase III PLUS AND Fox Pro follow the same file naming convention. WHAT IS A Directory? As you know, the storage capacity of the hard disk is usually quite large (10 MB to a few GB). You can store hundreds or even thousands of files in your hard disk. Even the capacity of a floppy disk is large enough to store many files. A directory is nothing but a named section of a storage device, such as hard disk, floppy disk. In other words, to organize file on hard disk or floppy disk, these are divided into various segments (sections), called directories. You can store any number of files in each directory. The directory helps to organise your file in an efficient manner. Using directories in a storage devise is similar to keeping different types of files in an office in separate drawers of a filing cabinet. For instant, Xyz Company may keep all sales files in the first drawer, all purchase files in the second drawer and all employees‟ files in the third drawer of a filing cabinet. In the same way, when XYZ Company computerizes its operation, it may store all sales files in the SALES directory, all purchase files in the PURCHASE directory and all employees‟ files in the EMPOLYEES directory. Similarly, the user Raj Kumar may keep his personal files in the RAJ directory and the secretary of XYZ Company may store the letters in the LETTERS or DOC directory. Like a file name, the directory name can also have up to eight alpha-numeric characters. The directory name can also have and extension name up to 3 characters long. However, normally, the extension name is not used with the directory name. When you start your PC, it usually responds with „C :/>‟ and selects the main or the root directory of drive C. Any file that you create or copy to drive  C is added to this root directory. If you continue to add files in the root directory, after a few days, the root directory will have too many files. This will not only confuse you, it will also make the PC slow. The PC may take too long to locate or open the files if there are too many files in a directory. There for you should try to use directories (and sub directories) in your hard disk DOS always creates a root directory in each story device. You can create new directories in the root directory of the hard disk or floppy disk. You can store files in these directories. Moreover, beside files, each directory can also have directories. Those, the file and directory organization in DOS looks like the roots of a tree, as show in figure 2.1.here, the root directory in drive C contains if you files in two directories – WORD and EXCEL. The WORD directory contains a few files as well as a directory TENDER. Sometimes, the second level directory (TENDER in this case) is called sub-directory. The root directory contains another directory – EXCEL. This directory contains a few files as well as two directories – SALES and EMPLOYEE. Both these directories contain files. At any level in the directory structure, can be created. For example, another directory, say FOXPRO directory may contain files as well as more directories. If you want, you can remove files from any directory or more files to another directory. You can also delete an enter directory. Comments to copy, move, rename and delete files and to create and change directories are discussed letter in this chapter. Additional file and directory comments are discussed in the next chapter.