Calderas - Worlds Largest

Calderas - Worlds Largest Calderas are large craters formed by volcanic explosions or by unsupported surface rock collapsing into empty magma chambers beneath the ground. They sometimes are referred to as supervolcanoes. One way to understand calderas is to think of them as reverse volcanoes. Volcanic eruptions often will be the cause of magma chambers being left empty and leaving  the volcano above unsupported. This can cause the ground above, sometimes an entire volcano, to collapse into the empty chamber. Yellowstone Park Yellowstone Park is perhaps the most well-known caldera in the United States, drawing millions of tourists every year. According to Yellowstones website, the supervolcano was the site of massive eruptions 2.1 million years ago, 1.2 million years ago, and 640,000 years ago. Those eruptions were, respectively, 6,000 times, 70 times, and 2,500 times more powerful than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington. Explosive Force What today is known as Lake Toba in Indonesia is the result of perhaps the greatest volcanic eruption since the dawn of early man. Approximately 74,000 years ago, Mount Tobas eruption produced about 2,500 times more volcanic ash than Mount St. Helens. This led to a volcanic winter that had a devastating effect on the entire human population  of the time. The volcanic winter lasted six years and led to a 1,000-year-long ice age, according to research, and the world population was reduced to about 10,000 adults. Potential Modern Impact Research into how a massive eruption would impact the world day shows the effects to be potentially devastating. One study focusing on Yellowstone suggests another eruption comparable in size to the three biggest ones of the past 2.1 million  years would kill 87,000 people instantly. The volume of ash would be enough to collapse rooftops in states surrounding the park. Everything within about 60 miles would be destroyed, most of the western United States would be covered in about 4 feet of ash, and an ash cloud would spread across the entire planet, casting it in shadow for days. The impact on vegetation could lead to food shortages across the planet. Visiting the Largest Calderas on the Planet Yellowstone is just one of many calderas throughout the world. Like Yellowstone, many of the others can be interesting and fascinating places to visit and to study. Below is a list of the worlds largest calderas: Caldera name Country Location Size(km) Mostrecenteruption La Pacana Chile 23.10 S67.25 W 60 x 35 Pliocene PastosGrandes Bolivia 21.45 S67.51 W 50 x 40 8.3 Ma Kari Kari Bolivia 19.43 S65.38 W 30 Unknown Cerro Galan Argentina 25.57 S65.57 W 32 2.5 Ma Awasa Ethiopia 7.18 N38.48 E 40 x 30 Unknown Toba Indonesia 2.60 N98.80 E 100 x 35 74 ka Tondano Indonesia 1.25 N124.85 E 30 x 20 Quaternary Maroa/Whakamaru NewZealand 38.55 S176.05 E 40 x 30 500 ka Taupo NewZealand 38.78 S176.12 E 35 1,800 yr Yellowstone USA-WY 44.58 N110.53 W 85 x 45 630 ka La Garita USA-CO 37.85 N106.93 W 75 x 35 27.8 Ma Emory USA-NM 32.8 N107.7 W 55 x 25 33 Ma Bursum USA-NM 33.3 N108.5 W 40 x 30 28-29 Ma Longridge(McDermitt) USA-OR 42.0 N117.7 W 33 ~16 Ma Socorro USA-NM 33.96 N107.10 W 35 x 25 33 Ma TimberMountain USA-NV 37 N116.5 W 30 x 25 11.6 Ma ChinatiMountains USA-TX 29.9 N104.5 W 30 x 20 32-33 Ma Long Valley USA-CA 37.70 N118.87 W 32 x 17 50 ka greater MalySemiachik/Pirog Russia 54.11 N159.65 E 50 ~50 ka greater BolshoiSemiachik Russia 54.5 N160.00 E 48 x 40 ~50 ka greaterIchinsky Russia 55.7 N157.75 E 44 x 40 ~50 ka greaterPauzhetka Russia 51 N157 E ~40 300 ka greaterKsudach Russia 51.8 N157.54 E ~35 ~50 ka Source: Cambridge Volcanology Group  caldera database

Profile of the Aryan Warriors Prison Gang

Profile of the Aryan Warriors Prison Gang The Aryan Warriors is a criminal gang that operates inside the Nevada prison system and in certain communities in Nevada. They offer protection to white inmates if they join the gang. History The Aryan Warriors began in 1973 in the Nevada State prison system. The gang, designed after the California gang the Aryan Brotherhood, claimed to be intended to protect whites against attacks from black prisoners. After seeking a charter membership from the AB and being turned down, the AW gang was on its own. About a year into its creation the gang, who up to now was unable to organize, was taken over by an older inmate doing a life sentence named The Pope. Familiar with the way the AB gang worked, The Pope began to organize and structure the Aryan Warriors. He established rules for all gang members to follow and a hierarchy of leadership. Building up the physical strength of the AW became a priority. Focusing on its enemy, primarily black inmates, became its target. Building the gangs reputation for violence and selecting future members based on their strength and violent backgrounds became its mission. Gang Structure The Pope designed a structure of leadership for all to follow. To this day members adhere to a written manifesto which establishes positions or ranks within the gang, such as horn holders (leaders), bolt holders (full members), prospects (potential members), and associates (non-members who are affiliated with the organization.) In order to become a full member, a prospect is required to perform a violent act as dictated by the horn blowers. Once they do it they become bolt holders and are tattooed (or branded) with lightning bolts on the inside of their left biceps. To rise to the next level, horn holders, they must perform a more serious violent act, which often includes murder. Once completed they are given a tattoo with a Viking helmet with the letters AW, which is put on their left upper chest. Horn-blowers, under the direction of the top leader, are in charge of running all gang activities. Black Gangs Rise to the Threat Not willing to succumb to the Aryan Warriors, the black inmates organized the Black Warriors and duplicated much of the AW symbols, like the helmet with a horn. Power struggles began to go on in the prison yard, a place the black inmates had long controlled and a war between the two gangs became imminent. The Aryan Warriors Prepare for War The Aryan Warriors had been manufacturing weapons inside prison and with the impending war with the Black Warriors close at hand, production sped up. They also met with Native American inmates who had also been in conflict with the BWs, and the two groups made a pact to fight on the same side to bring down the BWs. The showdown occurred in the prison cafeteria and the blacks, many unarmed and taken by surprise by the AWs and Native attackers, lost the battle. The whites and the Natives now had full control of the prison yard. The Thirst for More Power Now in control, the Aryan Warriors sought more power and began going after those who they were supposed to be protecting - white inmates. Intimidation and threats were used to extort money from white inmates and their families. Those who refused would be beaten and sold as prison yard prostitutes. Instead of focusing on protection, the AW was now focused on drug distribution, extortion, and weaponry. Aryan Warriors or Aryan Witnesses? On November 5, 1980, a group of AWs murdered an inmate, Danny Lee Jackson, who they suspected to be a snitch. They then bragged about it in the prison yard. The murder and the boasting turned out to be a fatal mistake for the gang. Robert Manly was a young prison deputy with an eye on the future. His door to the future opened when given the responsibility to find out who murdered the inmate. The AW, who had spent years extorting inmates, had many enemies willing to talk to Manly. This gave the deputy enough information to corner AW gang members, many of who rolled over and became state witnesses. In return, several received early releases. No longer having any hope of charter membership into the AB and with many of its members gone, the AW had lost most of its power. Its leader, The Pope, died in 1997, which proved to devastate the gangs power even more. Aryan Warriors Today Prison officials say that today the AW, now numbering about 100 members, still asserts control over other prisoners by using violence, including murder and attempted murder, assaults and extortion. They also corrupt guards, extort money and favors from prisoners and their families, distribute illegal drugs, and run extensive illegal gambling operations. The Aryan Warriors also operate a street program in Las Vegas, Reno, and Pahrump, in which members, associates, and girlfriends distribute drugs, steal or fraudulently obtain identification and credit cards, commit other crimes, and smuggle drugs into the prisons. Members use the money earned in the street program to support other criminal activities of the gang and to financially support incarcerated Aryan Warrior leaders. On July 10, 2007, 14 Aryan Warrior gang members were indicted and charged with murder, attempted murder, extortion, operating an illegal gambling business, identity theft and fraud, and drug trafficking. Michael Kennedy, an admitted leader of the Aryan Warriors pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in a related case. Seven of the 14 pleaded guilty to various charges and on July 9, 2009, five were found guilty. With the leader and other top gang members out of commission the future of the Aryan Warriors is questionable, however, some prison officials feel that this type of attention could actually strengthen the AW with other members moving into the now-vacant positions of leadership. Source: Criminal Intelligence Bureau

Contemporatry social problems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Contemporatry social problems - Essay Example The film literally bursts with the theme of racial prejudice as a multi-colored cast careens in and out of the screen to make their presence felt. From the first frame, it already shows a black man sitting with a Hispanic woman, both police officers in a car that got bumped by another. This woman gets insulted by the Chinese lady driving the car that bumped into theirs and calls her a Mexican who â€Å"blakes (translated as brake) too fast†. She, in turn, wields her sword of a tongue to throw back the sarcasm by commenting to the petite Chinese lady that â€Å"Maybe if you see over the steering wheel, you’d blake too!† Indeed, one can’t help but judge one another based on physical appearances and the stereotypes they represent. Same goes for the American gun dealer who gets impatient with foreigners who speak their language in front of him, making him feel left out. Sensing that these Mediterranean customers are Arabs, he snaps at them by saying, â€Å"Play your jihad on your own time†. When the customer reacts angrily, saying he is an American citizen who has the same rights as everyone else, the dealer goes on his offensive oration on how these foreigners have no right to destroy America. He is suggesting that the customers are would-be terrorists, relating it to the â€Å"recent† September 11 terrorist attacks. The man is sent out of the store leaving her daughter behind while the dealer continues his hostile verbalizations. In doing so, he is unaware that he himself is terrorizing a lady. The overly- ethnocentric black car robber who constantly complains about how blacks are being unfairly discriminated upon in L.A. is one example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. He believes that the white server in the restaurant ignored them because they were blacks and because blacks are not known to give tips, proved her right by not leaving a tip at all, justifying that they had poor

Daydreamer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Daydreamer - Essay Example I was happy about that, because I felt smarter, like I was a more rational person. Unfortunately, I started to realize that as logic and rationality were building up in my mind, imagination was flowing out. The day that I first really noticed that this was happening, I was at my cousins’ house. We were hanging out and telling ghost stories, just like we had a long time ago, when we were just kids and really believed all the stories we told. The day before, I had been trying to write a story. I stared at my computer screen, but I could not dredge up one single good idea from the depths my mind. I slapped the lid of my laptop shut with disgust and tried to think about other things, thinking that an idea would come floating into my head when I wasn’t reaching out for it so desperately. Now, at my cousins’ house, we were talking about all the ghosts we used to believe in. We talked like we all still believed, though. At least, my cousins did. They talked about all th e hauntings and the ways we used to scare ourselves like it was real. I kind of nodded and laughed along with them, not sure if we were playing a game for the sake of old-times, or if they really meant it. One of my cousins, Sam, brought up the story of Adrian, a ghost we used to think haunted our grandparents’ house. We used to convince ourselves that every little sound or shadow was Adrian. We even made a little spinner, like a spinner from a board game, with a tack and a cardboard arrow that we could flick to make it twirl around and point to words we’d written on a piece of paper. â€Å"Yes / No / Maybe† were the words we’d scrawled in our big round kids’ handwriting. ... next to an open window, and all say together, â€Å"Adrian, Adrian, are you there?† If nothing happened (and nothing usually did), we would go off and play, and come back and check on the spinner to see if it had moved. If it was pointing to â€Å"yes,† we would start running around, giggling and screaming. The rare times when there was a breeze right at the time we said our little chant, and the spinner moved right before our eyes, we would completely freak out, no matter which of the words it was pointing to. â€Å"Yes† meant â€Å"yes,† and â€Å"maybe† meant yes, but he was being coy with us. â€Å"No† naturally meant there was some other ghost hanging around; perhaps a more sinister one than Adrian. That day we sat at the kitchen table, drinking Cokes and laughing about what silly kids we used to be, but when my cousins talked about Adrian, it was with total seriousness. â€Å"Remember the time he pulled the blankets down on my bed?â₠¬  Sam asked. â€Å"Oh yeah!† said Dana. â€Å"Or when he knocked down that statue of a brass cat that Grandma used to have on the shelf?† I couldn’t stand it anymore. Were they serious? â€Å"Guys,† I said. â€Å"You know Adrian wasn’t real, right? You know that that statue could have fallen down for a lot of different reasons, and you probably half-dreamed your blankets being pulled off when they really just fell. Tell me you don’t still believe in Adrian.† â€Å"No way!† Dana shook her head. â€Å"There’s no way that statue could have just fallen down by itself. It was way back on the shelf. And I know Sam wasn’t dreaming about the blankets. Tell the story, Sam.† Sam stared at me like he thought I had lost my mind. â€Å"I was sleeping at Grandma’s house one night, and I woke up and couldn’t move. I felt this presence in the room with

Identification Discussion Essay Example for Free

Identification Discussion Essay Through his 1946 Politics and the English Language article, author George Orwell discusses some of the challenges facing the English language. For example, the author descries the phenomenon whereby writers in English are increasingly using many and complicated words that effectively blurs their real meanings. In addition, Orwell laments that many writers are using regurgitated words and phrases rather than devise and employ their own fresh phrases. Orwell observes that the existing bad language is deteriorating the thoughts of the populace. In turn, he explains that such usage of bad language corrupts people’s thoughts. Further, the author holds that unclear language is indispensable to politics because it helps in hiding fallacies and atrocious phenomena. Language thus makes unacceptable things to appear tolerable besides concealing the details of certain issues (Orwell, 1946). All in all, Orwell’s pitch is that bad language contributes to poor politics; the complaint is that he is decrying the decadence of the English language, while the moment is that the author requires his audience to demonstrate caution when using the English language. For example, Orwell states that bad language and poor politics are intertwined because unclear expressions are useful political tools. In effect, poor language is employed to glorify war, as well as to cunningly conceal atrocities. The author thus views the English language as having undergone a dangerous transformation of adopting rigid orthodoxy and rejecting innovativeness. Readers are thus cautioned against blindly adhering to such lethargic English language conventions. In conclusion, through the Politics and the English Language treatise, Orwell criticizes the general decadence in the English language that has resulted from orthodoxy and general indolence. He thus observes that such language contributes to bad politics and cautions readers against being ensnared by such lethargic orthodoxy.

night Essays -- essays research papers

Night is an autobiographical novella written by Elie Wiesel a young jewish boy who tells of his experiences during the Holocaust. Elie is from the small town of Sighet, Transylvania. This book begins in late 1941 and chronicles Elie's life through the end of the war in 1945.He had two older sisters, Hilda and Beatrice Wiesel and a younger sister, Tzipora Wiesel. Elie spoke many languages including Hungarian, Romanian, German and he grew up speaking Yiddish. At the beginning of the book Elie has a very strong faith in God and the Jewish religion, but this faith is tested when he is moved from his small town by the Nazi's. Elie has to deal with the death of his family, the death of his, innocence and the death of his God at the very young age of fifteen. He tells us of the horrors of the concentration camp, starvation, beatings, torture, illness, and hard labor. He comes to question how God could let this happen and to redefine the existence of God in the concentration camp. In 1944, when Elie was fifteen years old, him, his parents and younger sister were taken to Auschwitz. There him and his father were separated from his mother and small sister. Within a year his father and him had been moved to several different concentration camps such as Buna, Gleiwitz, Auschwitz and Buchenwald. He tried his best to stay with his father every time they were moved. His father and him watched out for each other, till his father’s death in 1945. The Holocaust all began because Hitler blamed the Jews for Germanys defeat in World War 1. He also blamed the Jews for all the problems Germany had at the time such as poverty, unemployment, starvation and disease. In early 1942, Hitler decided to carry out what he called "The Final Solution," which he hoped would bring an end to the Jewish population. He ordered millions of European Jews to be arrested and deported to special camps. This is how concentration camps became death camps. In Night, the description, settings, presentation of exciting incidents and sadness was outstanding. Language was good. Elie wrote everything he saw and he heard and everything was straightforward. The plot of this book was good, as there was no false leads, no unexpected turns and no misleading information. Elie Wiesel was the main character and narrator of this book. The story takes place in many concentration camps or Europe. Elie sa... ...led them by their names. Think of yourselves their, running, behind u officers with guns. If u stop, you’ll die. It seemed to be the end of the world. After so much of struggle Wiesel n his father n many other of Jews were evacuted from Auschwitz just a head of the Russian army and taken on a long death-filled journey to Buchenwald. His father survives the trip but dies in early 1945 at Buchenwald. The story ends shortly there after, Wiesel freed from the camp in 1945. For the first time after 1944,Elie sees his own face. It is April 1945 and Buchenwald, the last camp he endured, has been liberated for a little over two weeks. Looking at himself, he sees someone, some thing he has never known. The dead eyes that stare at him confront him with all the lived pain he has endured and the destruction of his own selfhood - This passage is very powerful. It illustrates the horrendous crimes of the Nazis. In their Final Solution they succeeded in destroying the Jews- not only thos e who were massacred, but also those who survived. Elie Wiesel is unable to recognize the shell that stares back at him in the mirror. Although he has physically survived the Holocaust, Elie has also been killed.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Thirty-two

Arya The one-eared black tom arched his back and hissed at her. Arya padded down the alley, balanced lightly on the balls of her bare feet, listening to the flutter of her heart, breathing slow deep breaths. Quiet as a shadow, she told herself, light as a feather. The tomcat watched her come, his eyes wary. Catching cats was hard. Her hands were covered with half-healed scratches, and both knees were scabbed over where she had scraped them raw in tumbles. At first even the cook's huge fat kitchen cat had been able to elude her, but Syrio had kept her at it day and night. When she'd run to him with her hands bleeding, he had said, â€Å"So slow? Be quicker, girl. Your enemies will give you more than scratches.† He had dabbed her wounds with Myrish fire, which burned so bad she had had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. Then he sent her out after more cats. The Red Keep was full of cats: lazy old cats dozing in the sun, cold-eyed mousers twitching their tails, quick little kittens with claws like needles, ladies' cats all combed and trusting, ragged shadows prowling the midden heaps. One by one Arya had chased them down and snatched them up and brought them proudly to Syrio Forel . . . all but this one, this one-eared black devil of a tomcat. â€Å"That's the real king of this castle right there,† one of the gold cloaks had told her. â€Å"Older than sin and twice as mean. One time, the king was feasting the queen's father, and that black bastard hopped up on the table and snatched a roast quail right out of Lord Tywin's fingers. Robert laughed so hard he like to burst. You stay away from that one, child.† He had run her halfway across the castle; twice around the Tower of the Hand, across the inner bailey, through the stables, down the serpentine steps, past the small kitchen and the pig yard and the barracks of the gold cloaks, along the base of the river wall and up more steps and back and forth over Traitor's Walk, and then down again and through a gate and around a well and in and out of strange buildings until Arya didn't know where she was. Now at last she had him. High walls pressed close on either side, and ahead was a blank windowless mass of stone. Quiet as a shadow, she repeated, sliding forward, light as a feather. When she was three steps away from him, the tomcat bolted. Left, then right, he went; and right, then left, went Arya, cutting off his escape. He hissed again and tried to dart between her legs. Quick as a snake, she thought. Her hands closed around him. She hugged him to her chest, whirling and laughing aloud as his claws raked at the front of her leather jerkin. Ever so fast, she kissed him right between the eyes, and jerked her head back an instant before his claws would have found her face. The tomcat yowled and spit. â€Å"What's he doing to that cat?† Startled, Arya dropped the cat and whirled toward the voice. The tom bounded off in the blink of an eye. At the end of the alley stood a girl with a mass of golden curls, dressed as pretty as a doll in blue satin. Beside her was a plump little blond boy with a prancing stag sewn in pearls across the front of his doublet and a miniature sword at his belt. Princess Myrcella and Prince Tommen, Arya thought. A septa as large as a draft horse hovered over them, and behind her two big men in crimson cloaks, Lannister house guards. â€Å"What were you doing to that cat, boy?† Myrcella asked again, sternly. To her brother she said, â€Å"He's a ragged boy, isn't he? Look at him.† She giggled. â€Å"A ragged dirty smelly boy,† Tommen agreed. They don't know me, Arya realized. They don't even know I'm a girl. Small wonder; she was barefoot and dirty, her hair tangled from the long run through the castle, clad in a jerkin ripped by cat claws and brown roughspun pants hacked off above her scabby knees. You don't wear skirts and silks when you're catching cats. Quickly she lowered her head and dropped to one knee. Maybe they wouldn't recognize her. If they did, she would never hear the end of it. Septa Mordane would be mortified, and Sansa would never speak to her again from the shame. The old fat septa moved forward. â€Å"Boy, how did you come here? You have no business in this part of the castle.† â€Å"You can't keep this sort out,† one of the red cloaks said. â€Å"Like trying to keep out rats.† â€Å"Who do you belong to, boy?† the septa demanded. â€Å"Answer me. What's wrong with you, are you mute?† Arya's voice caught in her throat. If she answered, Tommen and Myrcella would know her for certain. â€Å"Godwyn, bring him here,† the septa said. The taller of the guardsmen started down the alley. Panic gripped her throat like a giant's hand. Arya could not have spoken if her life had hung on it. Calm as still water, she mouthed silently. As Godwyn reached for her, Arya moved. Quick as a snake. She leaned to her left, letting his fingers brush her arm, spinning around him. Smooth as summer silk. By the time he got himself turned, she was sprinting down the alley. Swift as a deer. The septa was screeching at her. Arya slid between legs as thick and white as marble columns, bounded to her feet, bowled into Prince Tommen and hopped over him when he sat down hard and said â€Å"Oof,† spun away from the second guard, and then she was past them all, running full out. She heard shouts, then pounding footsteps, closing behind her. She dropped and rolled. The red cloak went careening past her, stumbling. Arya sprang back to her feet. She saw a window above her, high and narrow, scarcely more than an arrow slit. Arya leapt, caught the sill, pulled herself up. She held her breath as she wriggled through. Slippery as an eel. Dropping to the floor in front of a startled scrubwoman, she hopped up, brushed the rushes off her clothes, and was off again, out the door and along a long hall, down a stair, across a hidden courtyard, around a corner and over a wall and through a low narrow window into a pitch-dark cellar. The sounds grew more and more distant behind her. Arya was out of breath and quite thoroughly lost. She was in for it now if they had recognized her, but she didn't think they had. She'd moved too fast. Swift as a deer. She hunkered down in the dark against a damp stone wall and listened for the pursuit, but the only sound was the beating of her own heart and a distant drip of water. Quiet as a shadow, she told herself. She wondered where she was. When they had first come to King's Landing, she used to have bad dreams about getting lost in the castle. Father said the Red Keep was smaller than Winterfell, but in her dreams it had been immense, an endless stone maze with walls that seemed to shift and change behind her. She would find herself wandering down gloomy halls past faded tapestries, descending endless circular stairs, darting through courtyards or over bridges, her shouts echoing unanswered. In some of the rooms the red stone walls would seem to drip blood, and nowhere could she find a window. Sometimes she would hear her father's voice, but always from a long way off, and no matter how hard she ran after it, it would grow fainter and fainter, until it faded to nothing and Arya was alone in the dark. It was very dark right now, she realized. She hugged her bare knees tight against her chest and shivered. She would wait quietly and count to ten thousand. By then it would be safe for her to come creeping back out and find her way home. By the time she had reached eighty-seven, the room had begun to lighten as her eyes adjusted to the blackness. Slowly the shapes around her took on form. Huge empty eyes stared at her hungrily through the gloom, and dimly she saw the jagged shadows of long teeth. She had lost the count. She closed her eyes and bit her lip and sent the fear away. When she looked again, the monsters would be gone. Would never have been. She pretended that Syrio was beside her in the dark, whispering in her ear. Calm as still water, she told herself. Strong as a bear. Fierce as a wolverine. She opened her eyes again. The monsters were still there, but the fear was gone. Arya got to her feet, moving warily. The heads were all around her. She touched one, curious, wondering if it was real. Her fingertips brushed a massive jaw. It felt real enough. The bone was smooth beneath her hand, cold and hard to the touch. She ran her fingers down a tooth, black and sharp, a dagger made of darkness. It made her shiver. â€Å"It's dead,† she said aloud. â€Å"It's just a skull, it can't hurt me.† Yet somehow the monster seemed to know she was there. She could feel its empty eyes watching her through the gloom, and there was something in that dim, cavernous room that did not love her. She edged away from the skull and backed into a second, larger than the first. For an instant she could feel its teeth digging into her shoulder, as if it wanted a bite of her flesh. Arya whirled, felt leather catch and tear as a huge fang nipped at her jerkin, and then she was running. Another skull loomed ahead, the biggest monster of all, but Arya did not even slow. She leapt over a ridge of black teeth as tall as swords, dashed through hungry jaws, and threw herself against the door. Her hands found a heavy iron ring set in the wood, and she yanked at it. The door resisted a moment, before it slowly began to swing inward, with a creak so loud Arya was certain it could be heard all through the city. She opened the door just far enough to slip through, into the hallway beyond. If the room with the monsters had been dark, the hall was the blackest pit in the seven hells. Calm as still water, Arya told herself, but even when she gave her eyes a moment to adjust, there was nothing to see but the vague grey outline of the door she had come through. She wiggled her fingers in front of her face, felt the air move, saw nothing. She was blind. A water dancer sees with all her senses, she reminded herself. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing one two three, drank in the quiet, reached out with her hands. Her fingers brushed against rough unfinished stone to her left. She followed the wall, her hand skimming along the surface, taking small gliding steps through the darkness. All halls lead somewhere. Where there is a way in, there is a way out. Fear cuts deeper than swords. Arya would not be afraid. It seemed as if she had been walking a long ways when the wall ended abruptly and a draft of cold air blew past her cheek. Loose hairs stirred faintly against her skin. From somewhere far below her, she heard noises. The scrape of boots, the distant sound of voices. A flickering light brushed the wall ever so faintly, and she saw that she stood at the top of a great black well, a shaft twenty feet across plunging deep into the earth. Huge stones had been set into the curving walls as steps, circling down and down, dark as the steps to hell that Old Nan used to tell them of. And something was coming up out of the darkness, out of the bowels of the earth . . . Arya peered over the edge and felt the cold black breath on her face. Far below, she saw the light of a single torch, small as the flame of a candle. Two men, she made out. Their shadows writhed against the sides of the well, tall as giants. She could hear their voices, echoing up the shaft. † . . . found one bastard,† one said. â€Å"The rest will come soon. A day, two days, a fortnight . . . â€Å" â€Å"And when he learns the truth, what will he do?† a second voice asked in the liquid accents of the Free Cities. â€Å"The gods alone know,† the first voice said. Arya could see a wisp of grey smoke drifting up off the torch, writhing like a snake as it rose. â€Å"The fools tried to kill his son, and what's worse, they made a mummer's farce of it. He's not a man to put that aside. I warn you, the wolf and lion will soon be at each other's throats, whether we will it or no.† â€Å"Too soon, too soon,† the voice with the accent complained. â€Å"What good is war now? We are not ready. Delay.† â€Å"As well bid me stop time. Do you take me for a wizard?† The other chuckled. â€Å"No less.† Flames licked at the cold air. The tall shadows were almost on top of her. An instant later the man holding the torch climbed into her sight, his companion beside him. Arya crept back away from the well, dropped to her stomach, and flattened herself against the wall. She held her breath as the men reached the top of the steps. â€Å"What would you have me do?† asked the torchbearer, a stout man in a leather half cape. Even in heavy boots, his feet seemed to glide soundlessly over the ground. A round scarred face and a stubble of dark beard showed under his steel cap, and he wore mail over boiled leather, and a dirk and shortsword at his belt. It seemed to Arya there was something oddly familiar about him. â€Å"If one Hand can die, why not a second?† replied the man with the accent and the forked yellow beard. â€Å"You have danced the dance before, my friend.† He was no one Arya had ever seen before, she was certain of it. Grossly fat, yet he seemed to walk lightly, carrying his weight on the balls of his feet as a water dancer might. His rings glimmered in the torchlight, red-gold and pale silver, crusted with rubies, sapphires, slitted yellow tiger eyes. Every finger wore a ring; some had two. â€Å"Before is not now, and this Hand is not the other,† the scarred man said as they stepped out into the hall. Still as stone, Arya told herself, quiet as a shadow. Blinded by the blaze of their own torch, they did not see her pressed flat against the stone, only a few feet away. â€Å"Perhaps so,† the forked beard replied, pausing to catch his breath after the long climb. â€Å"Nonetheless, we must have time. The princess is with child. The khal will not bestir himself until his son is born. You know how they are, these savages.† The man with the torch pushed at something. Arya heard a deep rumbling. A huge slab of rock, red in the torchlight, slid down out of the ceiling with a resounding crash that almost made her cry out. Where the entry to the well had been was nothing but stone, solid and unbroken. â€Å"If he does not bestir himself soon, it may be too late,† the stout man in the steel cap said. â€Å"This is no longer a game for two players, if ever it was. Stannis Baratheon and Lysa Arryn have fled beyond my reach, and the whispers say they are gathering swords around them. The Knight of Flowers writes Highgarden, urging his lord father to send his sister to court. The girl is a maid of fourteen, sweet and beautiful and tractable, and Lord Renly and Ser Loras intend that Robert should bed her, wed her, and make a new queen. Littlefinger . . . the gods only know what game Littlefinger is playing. Yet Lord Stark's the one who troubles my sleep. He has the bastard, he has the book, and soon enough he'll have the truth. And now his wife has abducted Tyrion Lannister, thanks to Littlefinger's meddling. Lord Tywin will take that for an outrage, and Jaime has a queer affection for the Imp. If the Lannisters move north, that will bring the Tullys in as well. Delay, you say. Make haste, I reply. Even the finest of jugglers cannot keep a hundred balls in the air forever.† â€Å"You are more than a juggler, old friend. You are a true sorcerer. All I ask is that you work your magic awhile longer.† They started down the hall in the direction Arya had come, past the room with the monsters. â€Å"What I can do, I will,† the one with the torch said softly. â€Å"I must have gold, and another fifty birds.† She let them get a long way ahead, then went creeping after them. Quiet as a shadow. â€Å"So many?† The voices were fainter as the light dwindled ahead of her. â€Å"The ones you need are hard to find . . . so young, to know their letters . . . perhaps older . . . not die so easy . . . † â€Å"No. The younger are safer . . . treat them gently . . . â€Å" † . . . .if they kept their tongues . . . â€Å" † . . . the risk . . . â€Å" Long after their voices had faded away, Arya could still see the light of the torch, a smoking star that bid her follow. Twice it seemed to disappear, but she kept on straight, and both times she found herself at the top of steep, narrow stairs, the torch glimmering far below her. She hurried after it, down and down. Once she stumbled over a rock and fell against the wall, and her hand found raw earth supported by timbers, whereas before the tunnel had been dressed stone. She must have crept after them for miles. Finally they were gone, but there was no place to go but forward. She found the wall again and followed, blind and lost, pretending that Nymeria was padding along beside her in the darkness. At the end she was knee-deep in foul-smelling water, wishing she could dance upon it as Syrio might have, and wondering if she'd ever see light again. It was full dark when finally Arya emerged into the night air. She found herself standing at the mouth of a sewer where it emptied into the river. She stank so badly that she stripped right there, dropping her soiled clothing on the riverbank as she dove into the deep black waters. She swam until she felt clean, and crawled out shivering. Some riders went past along the river road as Arya was washing her clothes, but if they saw the scrawny naked girl scrubbing her rags in the moonlight, they took no notice. She was miles from the castle, but from anywhere in King's Landing you needed only to look up to see the Red Keep high on Aegon's Hill, so there was no danger of losing her way. Her clothes were almost dry by the time she reached the gatehouse. The portcullis was down and the gates barred, so she turned aside to a postern door. The gold cloaks who had the watch sneered when she told them to let her in. â€Å"Off with you,† one said. â€Å"The kitchen scraps are gone, and we'll have no begging after dark.† â€Å"I'm not a beggar,† she said. â€Å"I live here.† â€Å"I said, off with you. Do you need a clout on the ear to help your hearing?† â€Å"I want to see my father.† The guards exchanged a glance. â€Å"I want to fuck the queen myself, for all the good it does me,† the younger one said. The older scowled. â€Å"Who's this father of yours, boy, the city ratcatcher?† â€Å"The Hand of the King,† Arya told him. Both men laughed, but then the older one swung his fist at her, casually, as a man would swat a dog. Arya saw the blow coming even before it began. She danced back out of the way, untouched. â€Å"I'm not a boy,† she spat at them. â€Å"I'm Arya Stark of Winterfell, and if you lay a hand on me my lord father will have both your heads on spikes. If you don't believe me, fetch Jory Cassel or Vayon Poole from the Tower of the Hand.† She put her hands on her hips. â€Å"Now are you going to open the gate, or do you need a clout on the ear to help your hearing?† Her father was alone in the solar when Harwin and Fat Tom marched her in, an oil lamp glowing softly at his elbow. He was bent over the biggest book Arya had ever seen, a great thick tome with cracked yellow pages of crabbed script, bound between faded leather covers, but he closed it to listen to Harwin's report. His face was stern as he sent the men away with thanks. â€Å"You realize I had half my guard out searching for you?† Eddard Stark said when they were alone. â€Å"Septa Mordane is beside herself with fear. She's in the sept praying for your safe return. Arya, you know you are never to go beyond the castle gates without my leave.† â€Å"I didn't go out the gates,† she blurted. â€Å"Well, I didn't mean to. I was down in the dungeons, only they turned into this tunnel. It was all dark, and I didn't have a torch or a candle to see by, so I had to follow. I couldn't go back the way I came on account of the monsters. Father, they were talking about killing you! Not the monsters, the two men. They didn't see me, I was being still as stone and quiet as a shadow, but I heard them. They said you had a book and a bastard and if one Hand could die, why not a second? Is that the book? Jon's the bastard, I bet.† â€Å"Jon? Arya, what are you talking about? Who said this?† â€Å"They did,† she told him. â€Å"There was a fat one with rings and a forked yellow beard, and another in mail and a steel cap, and the fat one said they had to delay but the other one told him he couldn't keep juggling and the wolf and the lion were going to eat each other and it was a mummer's farce.† She tried to remember the rest. She hadn't quite understood everything she'd heard, and now it was all mixed up in her head. â€Å"The fat one said the princess was with child. The one in the steel cap, he had the torch, he said that they had to hurry. I think he was a wizard.† â€Å"A wizard,† said Ned, unsmiling. â€Å"Did he have a long white beard and tall pointed hat speckled with stars?† â€Å"No! It wasn't like Old Nan's stories. He didn't look like a wizard, but the fat one said he was.† â€Å"I warn you, Arya, if you're spinning this thread of air—† â€Å"No, I told you, it was in the dungeons, by the place with the secret wall. I was chasing cats, and well . . . † She screwed up her face. If she admitted knocking over Prince Tommen, he would be really angry with her. † . . . well, I went in this window. That's where I found the monsters.† â€Å"Monsters and wizards,† her father said. â€Å"It would seem you've had quite an adventure. These men you heard, you say they spoke of juggling and mummery?† â€Å"Yes,† Arya admitted, â€Å"only—† â€Å"Arya, they were mummers,† her father told her. â€Å"There must be a dozen troupes in King's Landing right now, come to make some coin off the tourney crowds. I'm not certain what these two were doing in the castle, but perhaps the king has asked for a show.† â€Å"No.† She shook her head stubbornly. â€Å"They weren't—† â€Å"You shouldn't be following people about and spying on them in any case. Nor do I cherish the notion of my daughter climbing in strange windows after stray cats. Look at you, sweetling. Your arms are covered with scratches. This has gone on long enough. Tell Syrio Forel that I want a word with hirn—† He was interrupted by a short, sudden knock. â€Å"Lord Eddard, pardons,† Desmond called out, opening the door a crack, â€Å"but there's a black brother here begging audience. He says the matter is urgent. I thought you would want to know.† â€Å"My door is always open to the Night's Watch,† Father said. Desmond ushered the man inside. He was stooped and ugly, with an unkempt beard and unwashed clothes, yet Father greeted him pleasantly and asked his name. â€Å"Yoren, as it please m'lord. My pardons for the hour.† He bowed to Arya. â€Å"And this must be your son. He has your look.† â€Å"I'm a girl,† Arya said, exasperated. If the old man was down from the Wall, he must have come by way of Winterfell. â€Å"Do you know my brothers?† she asked excitedly. â€Å"Robb and Bran are at Winterfell, and Jon's on the Wall. Jon Snow, he's in the Night's Watch too, you must know him, he has a direwolf, a white one with red eyes. Is Jon a ranger yet? I'm Arya Stark.† The old man in his smelly black clothes was looking at her oddly, but Arya could not seem to stop talking. â€Å"When you ride back to the Wall, would you bring Jon a letter if I wrote one?† She wished Jon were here right now. He'd believe her about the dungeons and the fat man with the forked beard and the wizard in the steel cap. â€Å"My daughter often forgets her courtesies,† Eddard Stark said with a faint smile that softened his words. â€Å"I beg your forgiveness, Yoren. Did my brother Benjen send you?† â€Å"No one sent me, m'lord, saving old Mormont. I'm here to find men for the Wall, and when Robert next holds court, I'll bend the knee and cry our need, see if the king and his Hand have some scum in the dungeons they'd be well rid of. You might say as Benjen Stark is why we're talking, though. His blood ran black. Made him my brother as much as yours. It's for his sake I'm come. Rode hard, I did, near killed my horse the way I drove her, but I left the others well behind.† â€Å"The others?† Yoren spat. â€Å"Sellswords and freeriders and like trash. That inn was full o' them, and I saw them take the scent. The scent of blood or the scent of gold, they smell the same in the end. Not all o' them made for King's Landing, either. Some went galloping for Casterly Rock, and the Rock lies closer. Lord Tywin will have gotten the word by now, you can count on it.† Father frowned. â€Å"What word is this?† Yoren eyed Arya. â€Å"One best spoken in private, m'lord, begging your pardons.† â€Å"As you say. Desmond, see my daughter to her chambers.† He kissed her on the brow. â€Å"We'll finish our talk on the morrow.† Arya stood rooted to the spot. â€Å"Nothing bad's happened to Jon, has it?† she asked Yoren. â€Å"Or Uncle Benjen?† â€Å"Well, as to Stark, I can't say. The Snow boy was well enough when I left the Wall. It's not them as concerns me.† Desmond took her hand. â€Å"Come along, milady. You heard your lord father.† Arya had no choice but to go with him, wishing it had been Fat Tom. With Tom, she might have been able to linger at the door on some excuse and hear what Yoren was saying, but Desmond was too single-minded to trick. â€Å"How many guards does my father have?† she asked him as they descended to her bedchamber. â€Å"Here at King's Landing? Fifty.† â€Å"You wouldn't let anyone kill him, would you?† she asked. Desmond laughed. â€Å"No fear on that count, little lady. Lord Eddard's guarded night and day. He'll come to no harm.† â€Å"The Lannisters have more than fifty men,† Arya pointed out. â€Å"So they do, but every northerner is worth ten of these southron swords, so you can sleep easy.† â€Å"What if a wizard was sent to kill him?† â€Å"Well, as to that,† Desmond replied, drawing his longsword, â€Å"wizards die the same as other men, once you cut their heads off.†

Business issues and the context of HR Essay

The organisation is the background within which the HR function works. Understanding the deep nature of the organisation has to be the main goal for HRM as the nature of the organisation has a huge impact on how people are managed in the business. The organisation is defined as the planned coordination of the activities of a number of people for the achievement of some common, explicit purpose or goal, through division of labour and function, and through a hierarchy of authority and responsibility (Schein, 1980). Historically, there have been many definitions of organisations, depending on whether they focus on: †¢Their size: SMEs, Large and Public Sector. (Curran and Stanworth, 1988); †¢Their prime beneficiaries: members, shareholders, users, the public. (Blau and Scott ,1962 – Maltby, 2003); †¢The degree to which they are mechanistic (highly structured organisation with centralised policies, rigid hierarchical ranks, a strong emphasis on administration and clear boundaries between departments) or organic (a flattened structure, colleague, rather than command and control relationships as the predominant mode, short lived and flexible administrative systems and mobile departmental boundaries (Burns and Stalker ,1966); †¢Their structure meant as the relationships between employees at vertical and horizontal level (tall or flat/lean, hierarchical, matrix, flexible, virtual) (Leatherbarrow et al., 2010). Thinking about a mixed economy such as UK, organisations can be classified in: †¢Public organizations, generally providing essential services such as health, education, social services, policing. They are responsible to central government and those who run them are accountable to the public (Taylor and Wilkinson, 2012). The nature of their funding (taxpayers) requires them to prove their responsibility with the public money. Their HR department tend to be large and able to provide HR specialist support in different areas. Because of the accountability to the public, HR tend also to be bureaucratic and inflexible. †¢Private organizations are those owned  by private individuals/families/stakeholders (Taylor and Wilkinson, 2012). These are industrial and commercial companies that respond to the demands of the market and exist to make a profit for their shareholders. In the private sector, HR tend to be a small department with more room for innovative strategies. †¢Third sector organizations are understood to be non government and non profit. Non distribution of profits to shareholders is a defining feature, as is a degree of volunteerism. They tend to fill in the gaps in areas of state and market deficiencies, and are nowadays growing in global significance (Crampton et al, 2001). They are typically a mix of government funding, gifts, grants and earned income. Examples of third sector activities are found in international aid, culture, recreation, social services, education, religion and health. Staff is frequently very mission-focused and gains a lot of job satisfaction by just being committed to the cause. Large organisations in the third sector are likely to have specific HR departments while smaller organisations are unlikely to have specific HR departments and HR functions may be ‘tagged’ on to the role of managers or staff more generally (Venter and Sung, 2009) The nature of organisations and the style used to manage the people in it are strictly related, as the management style highly depends on the particular business. However, as seen for the definition of organisation, the definition of management and its classification have long been debated. At the beginning of 19th century the most important of the classical Management theories was the scientific approach or Taylorism which involved breaking down the components of manual tasks in manufacturing environments, timing each movement so that there could be a scientifically proven â€Å"best† way to perform each task. Employees could be trained to be ‘first class’ within their job by their managers. In the 60’s, there was a new approach focused on the â€Å"human factor†. In â€Å"The Human Side of Enterprise† by McGregor, he distinguished between: †¢Theory X, that adopts the authoritarian view that people normally abhor working and must be forced to work with punishment for failing to meet the objective. These people actually prefer to be directed and lack ambition. †¢Theory Y,  adopts the participative management style, which operates on the idea that people are inherently motivated to work if they find the job fulfilling The System Theories focused attention on organizations as ‘systems’ and on the complexity and interdependence of relationships of their inter-related sub-systems. This approach attempted to synthesize the classical approaches (organizations without people) with the later human relations approaches that focused on the psychological and social aspects (‘people without organizations). The Contingency theory, developed in 1950s, argues that there is no ‘one best way’ to structure an organization and we face different possibilities when determining how it should be structured and how it should be managed. Successful organizations adopt structures that are an appropriate response to a number of variables, or contingencies (Enoch, 2006). Practically speaking, management is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. There are several different resource types within management, such as: Human, Financial, Technological and Natural resources. HRM BACKGROUND AND ROLE OF HR HR is part of the overall management of an organization, but again, providing a conclusive definition of contemporary HRM is quite challenging. â€Å"There is no generally agreed framework for understanding and analysing the HR function; there are only competing models. In practice, the HR function within organisations is infinitely flexible, organisationally contingent over time and driven principally by the external contexts of the age; and these often change within short periods of time†. (Farnham, 2010, pg 4). During the years, we assisted to an evolution from what have been traditionally labelled as ‘personnel management’ to a distinctive HRM. The HRM was characterised by a different philosophy and approach to the management of ‘people at work’ (Storey, 1989) and was putting an emphasis on  performance, workers’ commitment, and rewards, based on individual or team contribution. Figure 1: From Personnel Management to HRM: a Summary (Farnham, 2010, pg. 7) The two main developments in the HRM have been the continued delegation of some HR activities to line managers and the outsourcing of large areas of the traditional personnel management. These changes have had particular consequences in the HRM and HR roles, increasing the need of highly specialised HR, technical experts who act as consultants either internally or externally. On the other side, these developments required more investment in training for Line Managers (also coaching) in order for them to be able to face HR issues and communicate with HR specialists. Changes in HRM have led to change in the structure of HR especially in large organisations in both private and public sector. It has been noticed that many organisations adopted the Ulrich’ ‘s ‘Multi-legged model’ (Ulrich, 1997) of HR structures in which HR functions become more focused on outcomes, rather than processes, more specialised and divided in Strategic partners, Expert, Champion for employees and Agent of continuous transformation. (details in appendix 1) This model has been reviewed by Ulrich in the ‘Three – legged model’ with HR divided in: †¢HR business partners (or strategic partners) – senior or key HR professionals working closely with business leaders or line managers, usually embedded in the business unit, influencing and steering strategy and strategy implementation; †¢Centres of excellence –small teams of HR experts with specialist knowledge of leading-edge HR solutions. The role of centres of excellence is to deliver competitive business advantages through HR innovations in areas such as reward, learning, engagement and talent management. †¢Shared services – a single, often relatively large unit, which handles all the routine ‘transactional’ services across the business such as recruitment administration, payroll, absence monitoring and advice on simpler employee relations issues. The responsibility of shared services is to provide low-cost, effective HR administration. (Ulrich and Brockbank, 2005) Behind the division in the HR roles, experts recognise organisations’ request for an HR more involved in the business and able to contribute to the business strategy with a tangible and cost effective results. In the CIPD’s 2001 ‘Next Generation HR: Insight driven’, it is explained that where the ‘Three-legged stool model’ is used, HR’s sphere of influence can be narrowed and there may be less opportunity for teams and individuals to be insight-led. The report highlights that while the main HR role is to maintain people and performance strengths, HR needs to be more integrated to the business. HR needs to speak the business language and need to have a full knowledge of it (of both internal and external factors) only in this way HR will be able to deliver deep organisational insight. Basically, HR needs to understand and fully use the ‘business savvies’: †¢understanding the business model at depth †¢generating insight from data and evidence †¢connecting with curiosity, purpose and impact †¢leading with integrity, consideration and challenge Finally, the report highlights that while the ‘Three-legged stool model’ is more appropriate for larger organisations, the ‘Business savvies’ it is appropriate for all sizes and shapes of organisation. (CIPD, 2001) BUSINESS STRATEGY AND HR STRATEGY (details in appendix 6) DATA SOURCES If the HR objective is to be integrated into the Business, it is then crucial for HR having a clear data sources, a strong competence in interpreting the information and presenting them to the business. HR can find data from internal and external sources. Examples of Internal sources in COMPANY NAME are: Employees (listening and talking to them), Focus Group, Climate Surveys, Employees Data Base, KPIs, Budget, Performance and Leadership Management System, Payroll data. Example of external sources are:  Customers’ reports, Customers’ surveys, Recruitment agency reports, CIPD Magazine, Employment law updates, Industry Magazines, Census Information, EHS Magazine. KPIs Once an organization has analysed its mission, identified all its stakeholders, and defined its goals, it needs a way to measure progress toward those goals: KPIs are those measurements. Key Performance Indicators KPIs, also known as Key Success Indicators (KSI), help an organization define and measure progress toward organizational goals. (Reh, 2005) The role and use of KPIs is crucial in COMPANY NAME. Here, every month a meeting is held during which every department presents its KPIs and discusses any progressions or need to improve them. Also HR has its own KPIs which are related to: hours worked, overtime hours (to be kept at 20% maximum level) and sick days (in order to monitor long sick periods). (details in appendix 6) Performance & Leadership Management (PLM) In addition to the KPIs, COMPANY NAME has adopted a specific system in order to measure, develop, evaluate and reward people’s performance: the Performance & Leadership Management system. This system is a management process that aims to establish a transparent and a bi-lateral communication with the employees to define together how they can contribute to the organization results, if they are working effectively towards achieving the agreed objectives and finally providing them with adequate support to improve and develop. The PLM process consists in 5 main phases: 1.Objectives Setting 2. Half Year Review 3.Self – Assessment 4.Evaluation and Calibration 5.Feedback phases. The PLM cycle is annual and at the end of it, the company may decide to assign a PLM Bonus to employees. Finally, the PLM is also uses to identify Talents, employees with high level of P&L skills, able and willing to accept positions of growing responsibility. This assures continuity to the business and a draw up succession plans for all key positions (details in appendix 7) SWOT and STEEPLE In addition to KPIs and the performance measurement, HR can also collect data and plan for its strategy by using two particular technics: The SWOT analysis and the Steeple Analysis. The SWOT analysis, developed by Ansoff in 1987, it is a data capture exercise which focuses on organisations Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (for an example of SWOT analysis in COMPANY UK, see appendix 8). The STEEPLE analysis is like an audit of the external environment which is focused on the external factors than can influence the organization and affect its long-term survival. If the organization has a full understanding of the environment and all its factors, it has the possibility to take advantage from potential opportunities and minimize possible risks. Below an example of STEEPLE analysis in COMPANY NAME realised in June 2013 during a Focus Group meeting: †¢SOCIOLOGICAL: Changes in culture, Cultural Barriers, Language barriers, Lack of educated people, Lack of technical skilled people, Immigration; †¢TECHNOLOGICAL: New Payroll System, SAP System, Skype, Conference call System, Computer Software, Blackberries, Outlook; Company Intranet; †¢ECONOMIC: Financial Crisis, Recession, Globalisation, Prices, Employment rate, Unemployment Rate, Banking Crisis; †¢ENVIRONMENTAL: Carbon footprints, Sustainability Report, Sustainability Plan; †¢POLITICAL: Government changes, Pension Reform, Sector regulation, EU regulations; Local regulations; †¢LEGAL: Employment law, European Law, European Court of Justice, Local authority; †¢ETHICAL: Local Community Interest, Stakeholders Interests, Anti-corruption Law, Equal opportunities, Human rights, Promoting employees welfare, Well working environment. HOW HR CAN RESPOND TO EXTERNAL PRESSURE? As shown in the STEEPLE analysis, the Lack of technical skilled people, it was perceived as a big external risk for the business. The role of HR in facing this problem was crucial and requested lots of curiosity, research and resourcefulness. The HR department had to concentrate on a short term need, which basically was focused on finding candidates with the right skill-set for the (many) uncovered positions, but they also had to think about a long term plan able to strengthen the presence and knowledge of COMPANY NAME in the Midlands area. After some research, the HR department found out that, the lack of high qualified people in the Midland, it was due to the fact that the particular skills required were either absent in the area or the few people who have them had already a job. Therefore, HR had to concentrate on different ways to recruit candidates. They then started to: †¢Using social network to advert company positions (in order to reach people in all over the world); †¢Using Skype for first and second interview stage; †¢Increasing the use of relocation and sponsorship for candidates coming from other countries; †¢Advertising all the uncovered position internally first, this in order to give to all employees the possibility to apply personally or to propose someone they knew (Word of mouth) The long term plan to create more visibility and awareness about COMPANY NAME and its business in the Midlands was achieved by: †¢Taking part in Colleges and Universities open days – this in order to attract the future generation of engineers; †¢Use of a work experience program – open to students from technical colleges who can spend one month in one of COMPANY ’s departments; †¢Selection and sponsorship of four graduates to be sent to the COMPANY Business School in Detroit or Shanghai for three months. It is important to highlight that some of the above initiatives, in  particular the ones in recruitment, made COMPANY save money. In 2012, COMPANY spent in recruitment (using agencies)  £30,000; in 2013, the cost for recruitment (using social network and word of mouth) dropped to  £22,000 with a saving of almost the 30% in budget resource. Recently, HR had to deal with another issue coming from the external context: The Pension Reform in UK. HR was particularly involved in designing an effective communication plan in order to spread to the UK team information about the changes. The communication plan was quite a delicate step as it was not only about the legal changes but also about the COMPANY UK’ s decision to change the pension provider (moving from Legal & General to Scottish Widows) and the contributions level (starting from January 2014). The first thing HR did, it was to select two champions among the most senior and influencing employees, trained them on the reform and invite them to share the news with the team. This approach was useful to create a good feeling about the reform and all the changes related to it. Then, during the sixty day consultation period, HR organized workshops during which, financial expert from Capita, presented and explained the reform and its consequences and gave personalized advice to the employees. Finally, HR provided employees with brochure, leaflets and posters. It is important to highlight that, behind the COMPANY’s decision to change Pension provider and level of contributions (well above the minimum required by law) there was the HR idea not to use the Pension Scheme as a compensation and benefit tool anymore, but to consider it and use it as a powerful tool to retain current employees and to recruit more of them by increasing the appeal toward COMPANY UK. Finally, as a consequence of the introduction of the new scheme, in less than one month, the number of enrolled employees has almost doubled, increasing from 34 (enrolled in L&G) to 60 (in SW) on a total of 72 COMPANY UK employees. This was a great result for both the business and HR.

A Brief Guide to Evaluating Your Own Writing

A Brief Guide to Evaluating Your Own Writing Youre probably used to having your writing evaluated by teachers. The odd abbreviations (AGR, REF, AWK!), the comments in the margins, the grade at the end of the paperthese are all methods used by instructors to identify what they see as the strengths and weaknesses of your work. Such evaluations can be quite helpful, but theyre no substitute for a thoughtful self-evaluation.* As the writer, you can evaluate the whole process of composing a paper, from coming up with a topic to revising and editing drafts. Your instructor, on the other hand, often can evaluate only the final product. A good self-evaluation is neither a defense nor an apology. Rather, its a way of becoming more aware of what you go through when you write and of what troubles (if any) that you regularly run into. Writing a brief self-evaluation each time you have completed a writing project should make you more aware of your strengths as a writer and help you see more clearly what skills you need to work on. Finally, if you decide to share your self-evaluations with a writing instructor or tutor, your comments can guide your teachers as well. By seeing where youre having problems, they may be able to offer more helpful advice when they come to evaluate your work. So after you finish your next composition, try writing a concise self-evaluation. The following four questions should help you get started, but feel free to add comments not covered by these questions. A Self-Evaluation Guide What part of writing this paper took the most time? Perhaps you had trouble finding a topic or expressing a particular idea. Maybe you agonized over a single word or phrase. Be as specific as you can when you answer this question. What is the most significant difference between your first draft and this final version? Explain if you changed your approach to the subject, if you reorganized the paper in any significant way, or if you added or deleted any important details. What do you think is the best part of your paper? Explain why a particular sentence, paragraph, or idea pleases you. What part of this paper could still be improved? Again, be specific. There may be a troublesome sentence in the paper or an idea that isnt expressed as clearly as you would like it to be. * Note to Instructors Just as students need to learn how to conduct peer reviews effectively, they need practice and training in carrying out self-evaluations if the process is to be worthwhile. Consider Betty Bambergs summary of a study conducted by Richard Beach. In a study specifically designed to investigate the effect of teacher comment and self-evaluation on revision, Beach [The Effects of Between-Draft Teacher Evaluation Versus Student Self-Evaluation on High School Students Revising of Rough Drafts in Research in the Teaching of English, 13 (2), 1979] compared students who used a self-evaluation guide to revise drafts, received teacher responses to drafts, or were told to revise on their own. After analyzing the amount and kind of revision that resulted with each of these instructional strategies, he found that students who received teacher evaluation showed a greater degree of change, higher fluency, and more support in their final drafts than students who used the self-evaluation forms. Moreover, students who used the self-evaluation guides engaged in no more revising than those who were asked to revise on their own without any assistance. Beach concluded the self-evaluation forms were ineffective because students had received little instruction in self-assessment and were not used to detaching themselves critically from their writing. As a result, he recommended that teachers provide evaluation during the writing of drafts (p. 119).(Betty Bamberg, Revision. Concepts in Composition: Theory and Practice in the Teaching of Writing, 2nd ed., ed. by Irene L. Clarke. Routledge, 2012) Most students need to conduct several self-evaluations at different stages of the writing process before theyre comfortable detaching themselves critically from their own writing. In any case, self-evaluations shouldnt be regarded as substitutes for thoughtful responses from teachers and peers.

Political Culture and Good Citizenship

Political Culture and Good Citizenship Political culture is a widely shared set of ideas, attitudes, practices, and moral judgments that shape people’s political behavior, as well as how they relate to their government and to one another. In essence, the various elements of a political culture determine the people’s perception of who is and is not a â€Å"good citizen.† To an extent, the government itself can use outreach efforts like education and public commemorations of historical events to shape political culture and public opinion. When taken to excess, such attempts to control the political culture are often characteristic of the actions of totalitarian or fascist forms of government. While they tend to reflect the current character of the government itself, political cultures also embody the history and traditions of that government. For example, while Great Britain still has a monarchy, the queen or king has no real power without the approval of the democratically elected Parliament. Yet, while doing away with the now largely ceremonial monarchy would save the government millions of pounds per year, the British people, proud of their tradition of over 1,200 years of being ruled by royalty, would never stand for it. Today, as always, a â€Å"good† British citizen reveres the Crown. While political cultures vary greatly from nation to nation, state to state, and even region to region, they generally tend to remain relatively stable over time. Political Culture and Good Citizenship To a great degree, political culture implies the characteristics and qualities that make people good citizens. In the context of political culture, the traits of â€Å"good citizenship† transcend the government’s basic legal requirements for attaining citizenship status. As Greek philosopher Aristotle argued in his treatise Politics, simply living in a nation does not necessarily make a person a citizen of that nation. To Aristotle, true citizenship required a level of supportive participation. As we see today, thousands of lawful permanent resident aliens and immigrants live in the United States as â€Å"good citizens† as defined by the political culture without becoming fully naturalized citizens. Traits of Good Citizens Good citizens, in their daily lives, demonstrate most of the qualities considered important by the prevailing political culture. A person who lives an otherwise exemplary life but never works to support or improve the community by taking an active part in public life may be considered a good person but not necessarily a good citizen. In the United States, a good citizen is generally expected to do at least some of these things: Take part in the representative democracy by registering to vote and voting in elections.Run for elected office or volunteer to serve on appointed governing boards.Obey all federal, state, and local laws.Show up for jury duty if called.Be knowledgeable of the basic freedoms, rights, and responsibilities contained in the U.S. Constitution.Pay all applicable federal, state, and local taxes.Remain knowledgeable about political issues and government policy.Volunteer to take part in community improvement programs.Take part in patriotic observances and traditions, like standing for the National Anthem and knowing the Pledge of Allegiance. Even within the United States, the perception of political culture - thus good citizenship - may vary from region to region. As a result, it important to avoid depending on stereotypes when judging a person’s quality of citizenship. For example, people in one region may place more importance in strict observance of patriotic traditions than those in other regions. Political Culture Can Change Though it often takes generations to happen, minds - and thus political culture - can change. For example: Since its colonial period, America has seen periods during which the dominating political culture favored a policy of isolationism from foreign affairs, particularly foreign wars. In each of these cases, threats that foreign wars might directly threaten American lives and freedoms resulted in rapid reversals of the isolationist political culture.As part of President Lyndon Johnson’s sweeping Great Society social reform initiative, Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Passed after generations of post-Civil war racial discrimination, the law authorized the use of federal troops to supervise elections in several Southern states in order to protect the voting rights of black Americans. Forty years later, fearing that the racially-charged political culture in the South might still be a threat to the political freedom of blacks, Congress and President George W. Bush enacted the Voting Rights Extension Act of 2006. Today, multi-racial voting coalitions exist throughout the nation and Black-Americans are commonly elected to federal, state, and local offices. While some political cultures can be changed by the passage of laws, others cannot. In general, elements of a political culture based on deeply-seated beliefs or customs, such as patriotism, religion, or ethnicity are far more resistant to change than those based simply on the government’s policies or practices. Political Culture and US Nation Building While it is always difficult and sometimes dangerous, governments often try to influence the political culture of other nations. For example, the United States is known for its often-controversial foreign policy practice called â€Å"nation-building† - efforts to convert foreign governments to American-style democracies, often through the use of armed forces. In October 2000, President George W. Bush came out against nation-building, stating, â€Å"I dont think our troops ought to be used for whats called nation-building. I think our troops ought to be used to fight and win war.† But just 11 months later, the September 11, 2001 terror attacks changed the president’s perspective. As an outgrowth of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States has attempted to establish democracies in those nations. However, political cultures have hindered those U.S. nation-building efforts. In both countries, years of long-standing attitudes toward other ethnic groups, religions, women, and human rights shaped by years of tyrannical rule continue to stand in the way.

Contracts As a Common Phenomenon in the Business Sector Case Study

Contracts As a Common Phenomenon in the Business Sector - Case Study Example Formalities required by law have been reduced and currently, only a few formalities get required. Formalities on signing of deals and putting contracts in writing have been abolished. This has made contracting easier as parties have less legal processes involved when making such contracts. This means that oral agreements are acceptable. However, contracting in this way can be disadvantageous as parties can misinterpret, misunderstand or misremember the terms of the contract (Howells & Schulze 2009, pp.125). In a case where the agreement gets made over the telephone, the terms of the agreements should be put in writing for clear future references. Oral agreements should be summarized in writing to protect the terms of the contract from misinterpretation. In the case provided, some of the agreements made got reached over the phone. It could have been advisable that John puts such an agreement in writing. The law further provides for cases when a contract must be put in writing. This includes a case where a contract contains a guarantee. In John’s case, the agreement did not contain any guarantee. Putting the terms of the agreements in writing was, therefore, not necessary. There are several advantages that come with putting the terms of an agreement in writing. One such advantage is that formal writing is less prone to manipulation and misinterpretation as it is the case with oral agreements. When parties put their agreement in writing, copies can be made and preserved by both parties. Both parties get obliged to follow these agreements. Another advantage is that written agreements have the option of including signatures which commit the parties to that agreement (Howells & Schulze 2009, pp.125). However, considering the nature of

U.S. Involvement in the military coup against Hugo Chavez Essay

U.S. Involvement in the military coup against Hugo Chavez - Essay Example The coup was later given up by Hugo Chavez which had taken 16 lives and resulted in injuring of 60 individuals. Chavez spent his life in jail for 2 years before being pardoned. He later reorganized his movement turning from a military officer into a Politician. [3] The opposition has been striving to oust the president through legal legislation methodology since 2002 accusing him of imitating the communist Cuban State but in 2004 it managed to secure a referendum on his leadership which only helped in Mr. Chavez getting more strength, winning the referendum won by a large majority and went on to win the 2006 presidential elections. Hugo Chavez has also been the first world leader who has attacked the US president on the floor of the United States; Nikita Khrushchev of the former Soviet Union, threatened the West in 1960, but he did not personally attack President Eisenhower. He said, "The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Mr. Bushs address on Tuesday and making the sign of the cross. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world."[4] On 9th of April 2002, a two day strike was called by Carlos Ortega by CTV (Confederation of Workers of Venezuela) in which scored of hundred of thousands of strike suporters took to the street of the capital [5] and marched towards the headquarters of Vanezuela’s State owned oil Company Petrà ³leos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) on the 11th of April 2002. The mob was supporting the recently fired management of the oil company. A demonstration in support of the President Chavez was also being staged at the presidential palace and the organizers of the strike supporters decided to re-direct the mob to the presidential palace which resulted in severe violence eruption between the supporters of the two demonstrations. While the action was on, the head of the venezuelan army Lucas Rincon Romero announced the resignation of the Chavez from the