Article response paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Reaction paper - Article Example They likewise bring up the misguided judgment that numerous researchers have on the connection somewhere in the range of L2 and L3 obtaining; L3 isn't a continuation of L2 as they are free of one another. All things considered, the creators feature the reasons why L3/Ln must be dissected autonomous of their forerunners, L1 and L2. They additionally diagram the contrasts between the components, while indicating their individual and aggregate commitments to the investigation of language securing. How Article Relates To Previous Knowledge Up to until when I read the article, I was uninformed of the presence of any distinctions in language obtaining; to me, learning another dialect was a similar procedure as the kid first-language. In any case, the article traces the distinctions in language procurement obviously. General syntax, acquired from first language (L2), and past etymological information influence the procurement of grown-up third language (L3). While there are discussions on t he degree to which these elements influence grown-up securing, there is a general understanding that encounters with L1 and L2 decide its way and extreme achievement. The article likewise plots how kids get L2 utilizing etymological encounters from L1. Much the same as grown-ups do, youngsters structure theories about the second language that they are required to learn. They utilize these speculations to frame feelings and concoct procedures and philosophies that assist them with procuring second dialects. The way that youngsters with L1 experience work, along these lines as grown-ups, implies that L1 procurement is regularly alluded to as kid language incapably. This is on the grounds that it offers kids an encounter like what L2 procurement, alluded to as grown-up obtaining, offers adults. A few examinations have uncovered unexplainable attributes in L3 that were not learnt in L1 or L2. It is, consequently, right to conclude that widespread punctuation is accessible even at L3. Th is strengthens the contention that language procurement is age free; along these lines undermining the idea that L1 is ‘child first language’ and L2 and L3 as grown-up obtaining. When L2 students choose to obtain new dialects, regardless of whether through coaching or normally, they become L3 students. At this level, they have more metalinguistic associate and learning experience than at L2, expanding their capability and instructional experience. The article additionally draws out the way that tests uncover that the impacts of L1 and L2 on L3 rely upon the connections between the dialects, just as the typological vicinity of the examinations. This is dictated by the degree of likeness, or distinction, between the L1 and L2 and the L3 acquisitions. For example, considers demonstrated that putting German as a consistent L3, and English and French as option L1 and L2, L2 yielded more grounded nearness in L3, with English indicating a more grounded impact than French. This is disregarding English and French having almost no closeness. This is characteristic of the way that the language learnt as L2 greaterly affects L3 than that utilized at L1. Different explores likewise uncovered that regardless of the dialects, a few occurrences of L1 will be moved to L2, and at times, L3; then again, L3 assimilates a few highlights of L2 just as L1. Three Concise Excerpts from Article I. †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦it is to a great extent acknowledged that some degree of move acquires and altogether adjusts the way and extreme accomplishment capability of grown-up acquisition†

History and Overview of Levittown Housing Developments

History and Overview of Levittown Housing Developments The family that had the best effect on after war lodging in the United States was Abraham Levitt and his children, William and Alfred, who at last fabricated in excess of 140,000 houses and transformed a bungalow industry into a significant assembling process. - Kenneth Jackson The Levitt family started and culminated their home development strategies during World War II with agreements to manufacture lodging for the military on the East Coast. Following the war, they started to construct regions for returning veterans and their families. Their first significant development was in the network of Roslyn on Long Island which comprised of 2,250 homes. After Roslyn, they chose to focus on greater and better things. First Stop: Long Island, NY In 1946 the Levitt organization obtained 4,000 sections of land of potato fields in Hempstead and started to fabricate not simply the biggest single improvement by a solitary developer however what might be the countrys biggest lodging advancement ever. The potato fields found 25 miles east of Manhattan on Long Island was named Levittown, and the Levitts started to construct an immense suburb. The new advancement at last comprised of 17,400 homes and 82,000 individuals. The Levitts consummated the craft of mass-delivering houses by partitioning the development procedure into 27 unique strides from beginning to end. The organization or its auxiliaries delivered stumble, blended and poured concrete, and even sold apparatuses. They worked as a significant part of the house that they could off-site in carpentry and different shops. The sequential construction system creation procedures could deliver up to 30 of the four-room Cape Cod houses (all the homes in the first Levittown were the equivalent) every day. Through government credit programs (VA and FHA), new property holders could purchase a Levittown home with next to zero initial installment and since the house included apparatuses, it gave everything a youthful family could require. The best part is that the home loan was regularly less expensive than leasing a loft in the city (and new assessment laws that made home loan intrigue deductible made the open door too great to even consider passing up). Levittown, Long Island got known as Fertility Valley and The Rabbit Hutch the same number of the returning servicemen werent simply purchasing their first home, they were beginning their family and having kids in such noteworthy numbers that the age of new infants got known as the Baby Boom. Proceeding onward to Pennsylvania In 1951, the Levitts assembled their second Levittown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania (only outside of Trenton, New Jersey yet additionally close to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and afterward in 1955 the Levitts bought land in Burlington County (likewise inside driving good ways from Philadelphia). The Levitts purchased the majority of Willingboro Township in Burlington County and even had the limits changed in accordance with guarantee nearby control of the most up to date Levittown (the Pennsylvania Levittown covered a few wards, making the Levitt companys advancement increasingly troublesome.) Levittown, New Jersey turned out to be generally known because of an acclaimed sociological investigation of one man Dr. Herbert Gans. College of Pennsylvania humanist Gans and his significant other got one of the principal homes accessible in Levittown, NJ with $100 down in June 1958 and were one of the initial 25 families to move in. Gans depicted Levittown as an average workers and lower white collar class network and lived there for a long time as a member spectator of the life in Levittown. His book, The Levittowners: Life and Politics in a New Suburban Community was distributed in 1967. Gans involvement with Levittown was a constructive one and he bolstered rural spread since a house in a homogenous network (of practically all whites) is the thing that numerous individuals of the time wanted and even requested. He censured government arranging endeavors to blend utilizes or to drive thick lodging, clarifying that manufacturers and mortgage holders didnt need lower property estimations because of expanded thickness neighboring business advancement. Gans felt that the market, and not proficient organizers, should direct turn of events. It is edifying to see that in the late 1950s, government offices, for example, Willingboro Township were attempting to battle engineers and residents the same to fabricate customary decent networks. A Third Development in New Jersey Levittown, NJ comprised of an aggregate of 12,000 homes, separated into ten neighborhoods. Every area had a grade school, a pool, and a play area. The New Jersey form offered three distinctive house types, including both a three and four room model. House costs extended from $11,500 to $14,500 for all intents and purposes guaranteeing that the greater part of the inhabitants were of fairly equivalent financial status (Gans found that family piece, and not cost, influenced the decision of the three or four rooms). Inside Levittowns curvilinear boulevards was a solitary city-wide secondary school, a library, city lobby, and shopping for food focus. At the hour of Levittowns improvement, individuals despite everything needed to go to the focal city (for this situation Philadelphia) for retail chain and significant shopping, the individuals moved to suburbia however the stores hadnt yet. Humanist Herbert Gans Defense of Suburbia Gans 450-page monograph, The Levittowners: Life and Politics in a New Suburban Community, looked to address four inquiries: What is the cause of another community? What is the nature of rural life?What is the impact of the suburbs on behavior? What is the nature of governmental issues and dynamic? Gans altogether gives himself to responding to these inquiries, with seven parts dedicated to the initial, four to the second and third, and four to the fourth. The peruser increases an exceptionally away from of life in Levittown through the expert perception made by Gans just as the overviews that he authorized during and after his time there (the reviews were sent from the University of Pennsylvania and not by Gans however he was forthright and genuine with his neighbors about his motivation in Levittown as a scientist). Gans safeguards Levittown to the pundits of the suburbs: The pundits have contended that long compensation by the dad is assisting with making a rural matriarchy with injurious impacts on the youngsters, and that homogeneity, social hyperactivity, and the nonappearance of urban upgrades make melancholy, fatigue, depression, and at last psychological instability. The discoveries from Levittown propose the polar opposite that rural life has delivered all the more family attachment and a noteworthy lift in spirit through the decrease of fatigue and depression. (p. 220) They additionally take a gander at the suburbs as outcasts, who approach the network with a visitor viewpoint. The traveler needs visual intrigue, social assorted variety, amusement, stylish delight, assortment (ideally fascinating), and passionate incitement. The inhabitant, then again, needs an agreeable, helpful, and socially fulfilling spot to live... (p. 186) The vanishing of farmland close to the enormous urban areas is unimportant since food is created on immense industrialized homesteads, and the demolition of crude land and private privileged greens appears to be a little cost to pay for expanding the advantages of rural life to more individuals. (p. 423) Constantly 2000, Gans was the Robert Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. He gave his opinionâ about his considerations on the New Urbanism and the suburbs as to organizers like Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, saying, In the event that individuals like to live as such, fine, however it isn't new urbanism as much as nineteenth century humble community wistfulness. Progressively significant Seaside and Celebration [Florida] are not trial of whether it works; both are for prosperous individuals just, and Seaside is a timesharing resort. Ask again in 25 years. Sources Gans, Herbert, The Levittowners: Life and Politics in a New Suburban Community. 1967.Jackson, Kenneth T., Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States.â 1985.

Be Your Own Friend Reflections on Growing Up Bookish and Male

Be Your Own Friend Reflections on Growing Up Bookish and Male Quiet, sensitive, and bookish boys have nothing. We really don’t. I understand, support, and appreciate the notion of quiet and bookish girls using their knowledge for power to usurp traditional expectations of women in most cultures, since knowledge is power and girls don’t have enough power. I just think it’s unfortunate that while we’ve tried to normalize girls and women in positions of power in a male-dominated world, we never normalized boys and men possessing quiet, sensitive, and bookish qualities. Boys are expected to be strong and play sportsâ€"not prefer books over people. I feel like I’ve been reading books for as long as my arm muscles could support them, and there have been very few occasions where I’ve found a character I can truly relate to. I gravitated towards books and knowledge very early onâ€"being an introverted only child was the perfect atmosphere for readingâ€"and those books became my armor as I started to grow up and realize that  not everyone takes books, reading, and knowledge as seriously as I always have. I might have struggled with math and science in school, but English class was always there to catch me when I fell. I never excelled at gym or any form of athletic extracurriculars despite my attemptsâ€"which was fine by my parents; they had no issue taking me out of basketball in favor of drama classes, since they were a better creative outlet. But by the time I reached high school, the fact that I was a boy who wasn’t skilled at any sport or any other acceptable form of masculine activity was all that mattered. It didn’t matter that I was always strong with reading and words and had a whole world inside my head for as long as I can remember. I knew this was true by the looks of my gym teacher and the looks of my parents when they told me to carry my books less effeminately. Books became my friends when I no longer had any, and the only fictional character who has ever come close to filling the void inside myself is Matilda Wormwood. I was in fourth grade when I first met Roald Dahl’s Matilda. Ignored, misunderstood, and bullied by her family, Matilda quickly takes solace in the books she reads at the library every day. Things change a little when she enters school and makes some friends, including her loving teacher Miss Honeyâ€"but they, too, are brought down by the horrible and scary headmistress, Miss Trunchbull. Later learning she possesses telekinetic powers, Matilda is able to exact revenge against the adults who’ve kept her down, as well as a system designed to ignore her. She becomes an unlikely hero and unstoppable force, using knowledge and imagination to defeat her bullies. This is what has made Matilda resonate with many readers and transformed the novel (and its 1996 film adaption) into timeless classics. I understand that a lot of the discourse surrounding Matilda’s legacy rightfully comes from the approach that Matilda represents a young girl finding a way to express her power and her rage in a culture that generally prevents girls and women from doing so. I understand that Matilda has surely resonated with young girls who see themselves in the character. But for me, Matilda represents embracing the qualities that an otherwise unforgiving, extroverted world tosses aside, especially for boys. That remarkable things come from hiding away with books. That it’s okay to be sensitive and different from others. That you can be your own friend. Matilda also taught us that emotions are important and real; that it’s okay to feel angry or sad. And the way she took the anger and sadness from being misunderstood and turned it into a power will always inspire me more than anything in this world. Both the book and the film have brought me immeasurable comfort in the darkest of times, and I c an never be grateful enough.

Dyslexi A Specific Neurological Learning Disability

Dyslexia Definition The Texas Education Code defines Dyslexia to mean a disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity. â€Å"Related disorders† include disorders similar to or related to dyslexia such as developmental auditory imperceptions, dysphasia, specific developmental dyslexia, developmental dysphasia, and developmental spelling disability (Texas Education Agency, 2014). However, the International Dyslexia Association adds that: Dyslexia is a specific neurological learning disability that is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding†¦show more content†¦Furthermore, students with dyslexia have trouble with understanding and hearing how sounds make up words in the spoken language, phonological memory and automaticity. Consequently, problems with these rudimentary processes result in subsequent issues with reading comprehension and written expression (Keller ISD, 2008). The TEA Dyslexia Handbook outlines the characteristics of dyslexia by grade level: Preschool students experience delays in learning to speak, difficulty with rhyming, pronouncing words and adding new vocabulary words, poor auditory memory, inability to recall the right word, trouble remembering letters and numbers, and a dislike for print or reading. Kindergarten and First grade students face difficulty with syllables, identifying and manipulating sounds in words, decoding, spelling words the way they sound and/or remembering letter sequences in sight words. In addition to many of the problems that preschool- first grade students endure, second and third grade students experience also experience difficulty recalling letter patterns in reading, connecting speech sounds with appropriate letter or letter combinations, decoding unfamiliar words and written expression, and they heavily rely on picture clues, or guess at words while reading. Fourth through sixth grade students exhibit the same behaviors

Mythology Tales Of Gods And Heroes - 1672 Words

Mythology: Tales of Gods and Heroes Glossary: Important Gods (1) Zeus, also known as Jupiter. Brother to Poseidon and Hades. He is the supreme leader of the Gods and he is the Lord of the Sky, the Rain-God, and the cloud gatherer, who wielded the incredible Thunderbolt. His power alone was greater than that of all the divinities combined. He once told his family â€Å"I am mightiest of all. Make trial that you may know. Fasten a rope of gold to heaven and lay hold, every God, and Goddess. You could not drag down Zeus. But if I wished to drag you down, then I would. The rope I would bind to a pinnacle of Olympus and all would hang in the air, yes, the very earth and the sea too.† (2) Poseidon, also known as Neptune. Brother to Zeus and†¦show more content†¦Each city had a public hearth sacred to Hestia, where the fire was never allowed to burn out. If a colony was to be found, the colonists carried with them coals from the heart of the mother city. (5) Hera or as the Romans knew her Juno. Hera was wife and sister to Zeus. It was a completely different time. Anyways, she was raised by Titans Ocean and Tethys. She was a protector of marriage. There is said to be the little attraction in her portraits drawn of her. In an early poem, she is called â€Å"Golden Throned Hera, among immortals the queen Chief among them in beauty, the glorious lady All the blessed in high Olympus revere, Honor even as Zeus, the lord of the thunder.† But on every account of her that gets on detail, it presents that she punished many of the women Zeus fell in love with. Even when the women were tricked, this made absolutely no difference to Hera. Not only did the women suffer but also their children. (6) Ares referred to by the Romans to be Mars. The God of War. Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. He is hateful throughout the Iliad poem. Occasionally heroes rejoice in Areas’ victories. However the other times Ares is escaping the brutality of the gods. Homer calls him â€Å"Murderous, bloodstained, the incarnate curse of mortals† And oddly enough he even calls him a coward. A coward in which, bellows with pain, and flees when wounded. In battle, he has a series of companions on the battlefield. His sisterShow MoreRelatedGreek Mythology : Ancient Mythology1630 Words   |  7 PagesGreek mythology denotes to the myths of the early Greeks, Greece gods, and mythical creatures. While pertaining to these legends and myths i ncludes; to their Gods, the nature and heroes, tales of clashes, and of their adventures. It is also a brief on the origin and connotation of their cult, and the innumerable practices that remained shadowed by them. 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Employee Selection Process in Private Company Free Essays

string(43) " referenced as technical guides by judges\." EMPLOYEE SELECTION FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS: THE INFLUENCES OF THE UNIFORM GUIDELINES AND COURT DECISIONS Edward, Ph. D. McKendree College Business Division 701 College Road Lebanon, IL 62254 (618)-537-4481 ABSTRACT The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978) were promulgated with large businesses in mind in order to affect large numbers of employees as rapidly as possible. We will write a custom essay sample on Employee Selection Process in Private Company or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, the employee selection validation procedure advocated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, criterion related validity, is one that small business owners are unable to use due to statistical restraints and the lack of personnel with the esoteric knowledge of validation procedures. These restrictions, coupled with court decisions such as Albemarle Paper Company v. Moody in which the United States Supreme Court ruled the test validation guidelines issued by the EEOC were to be given â€Å"great deference† by lower courts, have left small business owners with one practical and potentially legally defensible approach to employee selection. This paper briefly mentions the advantages of valid employee selection procedures, followed by a detailed description of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978), relevant court cases, and a case study describing the validation of a small business employee selection test by the author. INTRODUCTION The importance of small business to the U. S. economy was well summarized by Siropolis (1986), who wrote: †¦ more than 99 percent of the nation’s 16 million businesses are small-even if we define a small business as one that employs fewer than 100 rather than 500 †¦. Further evidence of its vitality is the fact that small business employs roughly half of the nation’s workforce (pg. 8). In addition, Siropolis (1986) listed numerous other reasons for the importance of small business to the U. S. conomy, such as the higher return on equity small manufacturers earn than large manufacturers, the innovation found in small businesses as evidenced by small businesses accounting for half of all major inventions in the last 30 years in the U. S. , and the dependence of large businesses on small businesses as both suppliers and purchasers. These economic facts indicate that small business in the U. S. is the paramount force for economic growth and the creati on of jobs, as noted recently: Small businesses are the principal job creating sector of the economy during recessions and expansions† (â€Å"The State Of†, 1985, pg. 46). Further evidence of the economic importance of small business has recently been published: Employment gains in small-business dominated industries in construction (18. 9 percent), finance, insurance and real estate (12. 7 percent), and services (12. 6 percent) are impressive when compared to the gains made in similar, large business dominated industries. In construction, the small business ted industries had employment gains of 18. 9 percent, while the large business industries showed an employment loss of 10. percent. The relative strengths of the small business gains in wholesale and retail trade are also significant †¦. Small firms with fewer than 100 employees†¦ generated 52. 6 percent of net employment growth from 1976 to 1982. (â€Å"The State Of†, 1985, p. 17-21). One can add t o this the reliance of the U. S. government on small businesses, as evidenced by the federal government purchasing almost 29% of its of goods and services from small businesses in 1983 (â€Å"The State Of†, 1985). EMPLOYEE SELECTION An area of vital importance within small business management is the area of employee selection. An increasing awareness of the importance of employee selection has been noted: â€Å"Nearly 40% of surveyed employers are using more prehiring testing of job candidates than they were five years ago† (â€Å"Prehiring Tests†, 1986, p. 17). The importance to the U. S. economy of employee selection in a small business is due both to the fact that small businesses create the majority of new jobs in the U. S. (Birch, 1979; â€Å"The State Of†, 1985), and the impact of the employee selection process on a small business. First, the results of a valid selection procedure include increased productivity of as much as 20 percent (Schmidt, Hunter, McKenzie, Muldrow, 1979). This is an important result to small business owners, as productivity improvement has been rated as the number one concern of both CEOs and executives and engineers in separate surveys (â€Å"Productivity: A Top†, 1986, p. 46). Other important results include an avoidance of lawsuits (Dreher Sackett, 1981; Kleiman Faley, 1978), greater job satisfaction and organizational commitment, reduced absenteeism and fewer disciplinary actions (Fear Ross, 1983), reduced time spent in supervision for the small business owner, and reduced training costs and turnover (Stone Ruch, 1974). The potential for reduced turnover is also important for small business owners, due to recent data indicating that: Small businesses have higher annual employee turnover than large companies. The Administrative Management Society reports that businesses with 26-250 employees have a 19% turnover rate, while larger firms (more than 5000 employees) average only 7% (â€Å"Small Businesses, Turnover† 1986, p. 13). In total, these results are particularly important due to the greater relative effect each employee has in a small business as opposed to the effect of an individual employee in a large business. In the U. S. , the employee selection procedures used by all business owners are regulated by the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978). The Uniform Guidelines (UG) were designed to provide technical assistance to employers and were written following a review of relevant court cases and consultations with industrial psychologists. At present, the UG are serving as a reference for determining the legality of currently used selection tests. The UG are administered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which is empowered to do so by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As Landy and Trumbo (1980) have noted: â€Å"The EEOC has evolved from a weak public advocate status to a strong and active enforcement agency, with broad powers to initiate and negotiate legal and administrative action on behalf of protected minority groups† (p. 92). Although the UG are not â€Å"law† as a lawyer would define law in that they were not passed as bills in Congress, they are frequently referenced as technical guides by judges. You read "Employee Selection Process in Private Company" in category "Essay examples" In the UG, the employment decisions made by business owners and managers are regulated and broadly defined, e. . , promotions, referrals for training, as well as selection for hiring are all subject to the influence of the UG. The UG list three allowable approaches to validating a selection test used by a business. Briefly, criterion related validation approaches focus on the statistical ability of the selection test to predict the criterion, or as noted by Dreher and Sackett (1981): â€Å"†¦ criterion-related approaches focus on the relationship between a hiring requirement and job behavior† (p. 552). Another way of describing criterion-related validity was written by Landy and Trumbo) (1980): â€Å"When we are investigating the validity of a selection procedure using a criterion related design, typically, we are looking for a significant correlation between a test (predictor) and job behavior (criterion)† (p. 70- 71). The UG define criterion related validity in this way: â€Å"In criterion related validity, a selection procedure is justified by a statistical relationship between scores on the test or other selection procedure and measures of job performance† (P. 8292, Federal Register, 1978). According to the UG, the requirements of the job analysis, which is a comprehensive definition of the tasks performed by a job incumbent, are: â€Å"There should be a review of job information to determine measures of work behavior(s) or performance that are relevant to the job or group of jobs in question†. The paramount difficulty with conducting a criterion related va lidity study for the small business owner is the required number of hirees, which is discussed in the UG under the term of â€Å"technical feasibility†. Although the minimum is not specified in the UG, an absolute minimum is 30 employees (Heneman, Schwab, Fossum, Dyer, 1986). For many small business owners, this minimum number is more employees than they hire in a year, which in turn makes the criterion related validation approach of little value. In addition, the statistical measures required by the criterion related validity approach are often recondite for a small business owner. Construct valuation approaches attempt to measure an applicant’s amount of psychological characteristics such as â€Å"need for achievement†. The UG discuss construct validity in this manner: â€Å"Construct validity involves identifying the psychological trait (the construct) which underlies successful performance on the job and then devising a selection procedure to measure the presence and degree of that construct† (p. 38292, Federal Register, 1978). The construct validity of a test refers to the extent to which it measures the construct it is supposed to measure. Landy and Trumbo (1980) noted: â€Å"It is the most theoretical of the definitions of validity, since it is concerned with the abstractions used in referring to psychological structures, functions, or traits, rather than to the prediction of some external criterion† (p. 73). The job analysis for a construct validity study involves a list of critical job behaviors and the constructs believed to underly the behaviors. These studies are difficult to do, as a â€Å"construct† is a hypothetical attribute of a person that underlies and guides their behavior. Content validation approaches are oncerned with the job relatedness of the selection test rather than a concern with the criterion. Landy and Trumbo (1980) defined this approach toe employee selection procedure validation as: â€Å"Content validity is concerned with the extent to which the sample of items in a test (and the sample behavior elicited by these items) is an unbiased representation of the domain (i. e. , attr ibute or trait) being sampled† (p. 71). According to the UG: â€Å"A selection procedure can be supported by a content validity strategy to the extent that it is a representative sample of the content of the job†. An important concept for a content valid selection procedure is the job analysis, which was defined by Schultz (1978): â€Å"The purpose of the job analysis is to describe, in specific term, the precise nature of the component tasks performed by the workers on a particular job† (p. 76). A job analysis can be approached in a variety of ways, as noted by McCormick and Tiffin (1974): â€Å"Job analysis can be considered as embracing the collection and analysis of any type of job related information, by any method, for any purpose† (p. 9). The job analysis for a content validity study involves interviewing and observing incumbents: Job analysis for content validity. There should be a job analysis which includes an analysis of the important work behaviors(s) required for successful performance and their relative importance and, if the behavior results in work product(s), an analysis of the work product(s). Any job analysis should focus on the work behaviors and the tasks ass ociated with them †¦ The work behaviors selected for measurement should be critical work behaviors and/or important work behaviors constituting most of the job. The key to content validity is the answers to the questions the small business owner must ask: â€Å"How representative of on the job behaviors is the test? Does it sample all important aspects of the job? † Landy and Trumbo (1980) wrote â€Å"Content validity is determined on the basis of how well the test material samples the job performance domain† (p. 72). The validity of a content validation study is judgmental; no statistical analysis is done (Robinson, 1981). The value of the content validation approach to a small business owner is that it allows a selection test to be validated within the UG restraints, and at the same time it does not require large sample sizes or recondite statistical analyses: When is content validation appropriate? One circumstance is when there are too few people available to form a sample for purposes of empirical validation. While there are differences of opinion on what the minimum necessary sample size is for empirical validation, an absolute minimum is 30 individuals who all perform the same job (Heneman et al. 986, pg. 281-283). The restrictions of the content validity approach are few. One of the restrictions is that the selection test should consist only of knowledge or skills that cannot readily be learned on the job (Miner Miner, 1980). In addition, content validity is prohibited by the UG to measure mental processes as part of a selection procedure. An example of the content validation approach to employ ee selection is the appropriately titled Content Oriented Personnel Selection in a Small Business Setting by Robinson (1981). In his article, which involved the content validation process needed in designing a selection procedure which was used to hire one construction superintendent for a small construction firm, Robinson (1981) informs the reader of the steps necessary in a job analysis for a content valid selection test: 1. Convene a panel of experts†¦. 2. Ask the panel to identify all the broad objectives to be met by an ideal incumbent on the target job. If objectives can be so quantified that they can properly be called standards, so much the better†¦. 3. List specific behaviors required to meet each objective †¦. 4. Identification of â€Å"critical† tasks †¦ The content sample will be valid to the extent that the critical tasks reflect actual job performance †¦. 5. Determination of interjudge agreement as to the importance of major dimensions of the job†¦ (pgs. 78-79). The importance of such a systematic approach to the job analysis was emphasized by Dreher and Sackett (1981): â€Å"The quality of any content validation effort depends on the thoroughness and appropriateness of the job analysis† (p. 54); the job analysis will be used to determine if the content valid test actually samples relevant job behavior mentioned in the job analysis as important. Having conducted the job analysis, Robinson (1981) constructed a test battery based upon work sample procedures. As an example, the applicants were given a construction error recognition test in which the applicants were required to inspect a 8†² by 12†² shed that contained 25 construction errors. The applicants were to list the construction errors they spotted during their inspection. This emphasis on the UG when discussing employee selection approaches for small business owners stems from two major court cases which directly ruled on the use of content validity as a way of validating a selection instrument. In Firefighters Institute for Racial Equality v. City of St. Louis, a promotional examination for fire captains was ruled to have adequate content validity within the directives of the UG. In U. S. v. Connelie, a selection procedure for New York State Police was ruled to be invalid due to in large part the lack of a task-oriented job analysis nor was the frequency and importance of job duties identified. In both of these cases, the UG used in making the judicial rulings. Two other court cases which indicate the importance of understating content validity are Harless v. Duck and King v. New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development. In Harless v. Duck, a structured oral interview was found to be rejecting more female applicants than male applicants, however, the employer argued the interview had content validity in that hypothetical situations were used that a police officer might actually face. The court ruled the selection interview was valid, in large part due to its content validity. In King v. New Hampshire, a business lost a discrimination lawsuit due to applicants being asked questions which were not job related, i. e. , not based on a job analysis and therefore not content valid. With the importance of employee selection validation in mind, coupled with the feasibility of the content validation approach for small business owners, I would like to describe the approach I used for a small business owner located in the Midwest. The small business is a general purpose real estate office (â€Å"general purpose,† in the sense that it handled farm, commercial, and private dwelling real estate sales) which has two owner managers and 10 sales associates. The primary function of the sales force for this small business is to sell as much real estate as possible, in terms of monetary value rather than number of units sold. The organization did not have a job analysis of the job of real estate agent and was using an unstructured interview to hire applicants. The initial step was to develop a job analysis. The purposes of the job analysis were to (a) define the job duties being performed by the job incumbents, (b) obtain a listing of the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform each job duty, and (c) determine the importance and time spent on each job duty as perceived by the incumbents. For this small business, the process of collecting information for the job analysis consisted of three steps: (a) reviewing the appropriate entry in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, (b) reading the job related material from the firm’s files, and (c) a series of interviews with all 10 real estate agents and both of the owner-managers. Due to the job analyst’s lack of familiarity with the job, the first step was to review the job description in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Its value is noted by Bass and Barrett (1981): â€Å"The job analyst can turn to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles to get a concise definition of almost any job in American industry† (p. 238). The use of this volume when approaching a job one is not familiar with was also noted by Cascio (1978): â€Å"First, the reader can become familiar with the vast array of jobs in general and with appropriate terminology in each job, (p. 47). The second step also involved acquiring some job related information about being a real estate agent; this step consisted of a reading of the informational and training manuals that are made available to the real estate agents. The perusal of these manuals was valuable in giving the job analyst background information necessary to conduct the third step of the information collection, the inte rviews with job incumbents. These interviews were conducted in a private room and ranged from 30 to 90 minutes. The interviews followed a patterned interview form, as recommended by Cascio (1978). The interview questions asked for traits, behaviors, and knowledge that the incumbents deemed necessary for the completion of the job of real estate agent. The interviewees were also informed that any knowledge or behaviors an applicant could learn within eight hours was not to be included. An example of an interview question is â€Å"What is the order of behaviors from the time you contact a customer until you are through with a sale? † The interviews generated a list of 106 job duties. Each of the interviewees received a copy of the 106 job duties, along with an instruction sheet asking them to rate each item as to its importance to their job and the relative amount of time they spend performing that job duty. The mean rating given each of the 106 job duties was computed by the job analyst for both the rating dimensions. With the interview information and summary statistics on hand, a selection instrument was constructed which was based on job duties which were rated highly in terms of their importance and time spent on each of them by job ncumbents, and which job incumbents considered were not trainable within eight hours. The selection instrument was based on a job sample approach, which is valid for a content validity based selection instrument. As an example, the selection instrument asked an applicant to calculate monthly payments on a home given certain financial parameters. The questions were given to six randomly selected job incumbents who were asked to ch oose which of the job sample test questions an applicant would have to pass in order to meet minimum standards as a new employee. The job incumbents overall picked an average of 80% of the job sample items as being necessary for a new employee to pass to be acceptable at a minimum level of acceptability. Therefore, an applicant would have to score a minimum of 80% in order to be considered for employment. As a check on the validity of the 80% cutoff score, the job sample questions were given to the four other job incumbents. All of these incumbents were considered to be satisfactory employees by the business owners, and all received a passing score of over 80%. In summary, small business owners need to be aware of the UG, the court cases which have resulted from the UG, the one practical approach to validating a selection procedure, and the advantages to having a validated selection procedure. By following the outline of Robinson (1981) or the case presented in this paper, the small business owner can both enjoy the benefits of a validated selection procedure and lessen any worry over an EEOC lawsuit. REFERENCES Bass, B. M. , Barrett, G. V. (1981). People, work, and organizations. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc. Birch, D. L. (1979). The job generation process. M. I. T. Program on Neighborhood and Regional Change. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cascio, W. F. (1978). Applied psychology in personnel management. Reston, Virginia: Reston Publishing Company, Inc. Dreher, G. F. , Sackett, P. R. (1981). Some problem with applying content validity evidence to assessment center procedures. Academy of Management Review, 6, p. 551-560. Fear, R. A. , Ross, J. F. (1983). Jobs, Dollars, and EEO: How to Hire More Productive Entry- Level Workers. New York, McGraw-Hill. Harless v. Duck, 14 FEB 1616 (1977). Heneman , H. G. , Schwab, D. P. , Fossum, J. A. , Dyer, L. D. (1986). Personnel/Human Resource Management. Homewood, Illinois: Irwin. King v. New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, 15, FEB 669 (1977) Kleiman, L. S. , Faley, R. H. (1978). Assessing content validity: Standards set by the court. Personnel Psychology, 30, 701-713. Landy, F. J. , Trumbo, D. A. (1980). Psychology of Work Behavior. The Dorsey Press, Homewood, Illinois. McCormick, E. J. , Tiffin, B. L. (1974). Jobs and their requirements. Industrial Psychology, (6th ed. ). Miner, M. G. Miner, J. B. (1980). Uniform Guidelines on employee selection Procedures. Washington, D. C. , The Bureau of National Affairs. Prehiring Tests. (1986, June). Small Business Report. Business Research and Communications, Monterey, California. Productivity: A Top Concern. (1986, February). Small Business Report, Business Research and Communications, Monterey, California. Robinson, D. D. (1981). Content-oriented personnel selection in a small business setting. Personnel Psychology, 34, pgs. 77-87. Schmidt, F. L. , Hunter, J. E. , McKenzie, R. C. , and Muldrow, T. W. (1979). Impact of valid selection procedures on work-force productivity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 64, 609-626. Schultz, D. P. (1978). Psychology and industry today. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. Siropolis, N. C. (1986). Small Business Management. Houghton Mifflin Company, Geneva, Illinois. Small Businesses’ Turnover High. (1986, January). Small Business Report, Business Research and Communications, Monterey, California. Stone, C. H. , Ruch, F. L. (1974). Selection, interviewing, and testing. ASPA Handbook of Personnel and Industrial Relations: Staffing Policies and Strategies, ed. Dale Yoder and Herbert G. Heneman (Washington, D. C. , The Bureau of National Affairs), 4, 137-138. The State of Small Business: A Report of the President. (1985, May). United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Uniform guidelines on employee selection procedures (1978). Federal Register, 43, 38290- 38309. How to cite Employee Selection Process in Private Company, Essay examples

Tax Rate Biases in Tax Planning Decisions

Question: Discuss about the Tax Rate Biases in Tax Planning Decisions. Answer: Introduction The following case is based on the contract of sale entered by the taxpayer on January 10 2002, for the purpose of land sale valued $2,975,000. The contract was formed as per the Option Agreement between the parties along with the option fee amounted to $25,000 to be borne by the purchaser as soon as the contract is executed. According to the clause 2 of the contract, it was stated that the option would be exercised by providing written notice including the payment of contract deposit amount. Another clause of the contract i.e. clause 5 stated that on receiving the written notice and requisite payment, the seller would be liable to sell the land while the purchaser would be liable to buy the same. According to the terms and conditions of the contract, buyer paid the deposit amount but failed to pay the balance amount $2,677,500 on the extended settlement date July 10 2003. Due to the failure in payment, taxpayer served a rescission notice on buyer to fulfill the default amount, which was not complied on 11 July 2003. Accordingly, the taxpayer rescinded the contract on sale on land while the amount of deposit was forfeited on 26 July 2003. Issue: Accordingly, the case was proceeded to the commissioner and assessed the seller for payment of GST with respect to the forfeited amount. The Commissioner contended that the forfeited amount was deposited within the meaning of taxable supply under section 9-5 GST Act (Goods and Service Tax Act) 1999. The Federal Court of Australia contended that the taxpayer forfeited the deposit amounted was subjected to receipt of consideration for the supply on rescission of the contract. Law/ Regulations breached Law: Considering the regulations of GST Act 1999 section 9-5, it is stated that the taxable supply would be regarded as supply for consideration if the payment of such supply does not meet the other present relevant criteria. Further, section 9-10(1) provides the meaning of supply that includes grant, assignment or sale of real property against the consideration (Wilkinson?Ryan and Hoffman 2015). In addition, it has been stated that under section 29-5 GST Act 1999, taxable supply is subjected to the charge of GST for the period of tax during which the amount of consideration has been received in terms of the issued invoice (Odening, Ritter and Httel 2015). The Act of GST 1999 also states the regulations on security deposit under section 99-5 providing that the amount of security deposit cannot be referred as an amount of consideration. However, it would be considered as consideration only if the amount of security deposit is forfeited by the seller due to failure of performance as per the contract obligation (Kowalski 2015). The amount of deposit will be included as a part of consideration if such amount is accounted in the form of consideration. Therefore, the amount of deposit with respect to taxable supply is subjected to the charge of GST since the security deposit was a part of consideration for the performance as per the contract (Moore 2016). Breach of Law: In view of the facts of the case, it has been noted that the payment of contract amount for sale of land had been categorized as deposit amount and the balance amount of settlement date. As the buyer failed to pay the balance amount of consideration as on the extended date of the contract therefore, the taxpayer forfeited the balance amount and failed to consider the amount as a taxable supply for the payment of GST. It can be said that the taxpayer breached the regulation of GST Act 1999 section 99-5 on constituting the forfeited amount as consideration. Since the principle under section, 99-5 provides that the security deposit amount is regarded as consideration if such amount has been forfeited due to failure of performance (May 2016). Since the amount of security deposit $297,500 forfeited by the taxpayer, it is said that the requirement of section 99-5 has been breached. Further, taxpayer did not consider section 9-5 of GST 1999 with respect to the meaning of taxa ble supply, which states the inclusion of consideration if the same does not fall in any other criteria (Yung 2016). In both the situations, the deposit amount forfeited by the taxpayer constitutes the part of consideration hence Goods and Service Tax charge would be applicable on the amount of deposit. With respect to the terms of economy, GST is referred as consumption tax since the burden is imposed on the consumers while it is directly chargeable to the receiver of the consideration. Additionally, section 9-10 provides that the word supply include real property, which means the right or interest on the land as well as a license to own the land (Behal 2016). Accordingly, in the present case, the contract on sale of land had been created but the taxpayer has not provided the invoice to the purchaser. Further, mere presentation of contract does not constitute or transfer the right to use or occupy the land since the full consideration had not been paid to the seller. Analysis of courts decision In view of the principles of GST Act, the Australian court held that the contract between the taxpayer and purchaser for sale of land i.e. for the supply of real property. However, the supply of property could not be considered since the contract was rescinded. On the contrary, the taxpayer forfeited the amount of security deposited and as per the rules of section 99-5 of GST Act 1999 forfeiture of deposit is considered as consideration. Accordingly, taxpayer is liable to pay GST charges on the deposit amount $297,500 @ 10% i.e. $29,750. According to the section 9-70 under GST Act, GST is chargeable on the amount of taxable supply at the rate 10%, which was breached by the taxpayer since the taxpayer did not charge the amount of GST. Division 29 under the GST Act states the regulations on charges for a tax period if the taxpayer receives the consideration and if the respective invoice has been issued for the taxable supply (Smalley 2016). In the present case, the taxpayer or seller did not issue any invoice but the taxpayer had received consideration with respect to the security deposit. Therefore, it can be noted that the taxpayer breached the regulations of division 29 since one criteria has been followed in terms of receipt of consideration. The decision of the court had been taken on the basis of legal requirements of GST Act 1999 on taxable supply. Even though the contract was not complied as the taxpayer rescinded it but the forfeiture of deposit amount would be constituted as consideration, hence the provision of GST Act 1999 would be applicable. The case is similar to the case of Brien v Dwyer (1978) 141 CLR 378 where in the deposit amount was considered as a standalone obligation therefore GST charge was applicable. Another reason for which the court contended application of GST charges is the inclusion of deposit amount as a part of consideration for supply of property. The amount of security deposit was a part of supply consideration as in the case of Carpenter v McGrath (1996) 40 NSWLR in which the taxpayer held for breach of GST principles section 9-70. Conclusion Considering the present case of Reliance Carpet Co. Pty Ltd v FC of T, it can be concluded that rescinding of contract does not exclude the chargeability of Goods and Service Tax on the amount of consideration. As per the principle of section 9-5 GST Act 1999, it was contended that the amount of security deposit would not be considered as amount of consideration. However, if the seller forfeits the amount on failure of contractual performance, then it would be subjected to consideration. In the present case, taxpayer rescinded the contract since the purchaser paid the deposit amount but failed to pay the balance amount on the settlement date. On failure of payment, the taxpayer forfeited the amount of security deposit but did not pay the GST charges and breached the regulations of section 9-5 and division 29 of GST Act 1999. Further, the meaning of supply as per the principles of GST Act 1999 constitutes transfer of real property (Amberger, Eberhartinger and Kasper 2016). Hence, in the given case sale of land would be referred as supply within the meaning of section 9-70, GST Act 1999 whereas the transfer would not be constituted since the obligation of performance was failed. The principle on considering the deposit amount for charges of GST is available only if the receiver forfeits the deposit amount due to failure of contractual performance. In the given case, even though the taxpayer has not provided the invoice for sale of property, amount of security deposit was forfeited. Accordingly, the taxpayer would be liable to pay 10% GST on deposit amount $297,500 as per section 99-5 GST Act 1999. Therefore, it can be concluded that the decision of the court with respect to the charges of GST was correct and reasonable. Reference List Amberger, H., Eberhartinger, E. and Kasper, M., 2016. Tax Rate Biases in Tax Planning Decisions: Experimental Evidence.WU International Taxation Research Paper Series, (2016-29). Bal, A., 2015. Taxing Virtual Currency: Challenges and Solutions.Intertax,43(5), pp.380-394. Behal, V., 2016. IMPACT OF GST ON INDIAN ECONOMY.South Asia Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies,2(4). Bramwell, A.W. and Socash, L., 2015. Preserving Inherited Exclusion Amounts: The New Planning Frontier.Real Property, Trust, and Estate Law Journal,50(1), p.1. Bryant, J.J., 2013. Recovering Taxes Paid When Income Is Forfeited: An Analysis of Section 1341.Journal of Taxation of Investments,30(3). Kowalski, P., 2015. Taxing Bitcoin Transactions Under Polish Tax Law/Opodatkowanie Obrotu Bitcoinami Na Gruncie Przepisw Polskiego Prawa Podatkowego.Comparative Economic Research,18(3), pp.139-152. May, S., 2016. Applying the GST to imported digital products and services: Problems and solutions.Tax Specialist,19(3), p.110. Millar, R. and McCarthy, D., 2012. The Future of Indirect Taxation: Recent Trends in VAT and GST Systems Around the WorldAustralia.THE FUTURE OF INDIRECT TAXATION: RECENT TRENDS IN VAT AND GST SYSTEMS AROUND THE WORLD, T. Ecker, M. Lang, and I. Lejeune, eds., Kluwer Law International: The Netherlands, pp.21-96. Millar, R., 2014. Grappling with basic VAT concepts in the Australian GST: the meaning of supply for consideration.World Journal of VAT/GST Law,3(1), pp.1-31. Moore, M.L., 2016. 16 Tax Implications of the Treatment of Marketing Expenses.Accountable Marketing: Linking Marketing Actions to Financial Performance, p.218. Odening, M., Ritter, M. and Httel, S., 2015. The term structure of land lease rates. In2015 AAEA WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California(No. 201664). Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Western Agricultural Economics Association. Petra, S.T. and Dorata, N.T., 2012. Restricted Stock Awards and Taxes: What Employees and Employers Should Know: Forfeiture Risk, Stock's Potential Future Value Are Key Considerations for Sec. 83 (b) Elections.Journal of Accountancy,213(2), p.44. Smalley, K.E., 2016. Student Note: Section 83 (b) Elections: Taxation and Governance Considerations for Tennessee Start-Up Ventures.Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law,17(2), p.5. Smalley, K.E., 2016. Student Note: Section 83 (b) Elections: Taxation and Governance Considerations for Tennessee Start-Up Ventures.Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law,17(2), p.5. Wilkinson?Ryan, T. and Hoffman, D.A., 2015. The common sense of contract formation.Stanford Law Review,67, pp.14-5. Yung, B., 2016. Justice and taxation: From GST to Hong Kong tax system. InEthical Dilemmas in Public Policy(pp. 183-195). Springer Singapore.

First Amendment Essays (1494 words) - , Term Papers

First Amendment In the First Amendment, it is stated that: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. These aforementioned statements ratified by our forefathers are commonly referred to as the freedom of expression. The freedom of expression is not only limited to speech; it refers to all forms of exchanging ideas: religion, press, assembly, petition, etc. In Alan M. Dershowitz's essay, "Shouting Fire!", he boldly claims that Justice Holmes' analogy of "shouting 'Fire!' in a crowded theater" to circulating pamphlets to the public during wartime that contain political ideas against the draft is both "self-deceptive or self-serving" (Dershowitz, 328). However, shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater does not only refer to the freedom of speech, but to freedom of expression implied by the First Amendment. By shouting "Fire!", an individual is implying alarm, and the indication of alarm will ultmately cause chaos. There is no way that a shout of "Fire!" in a crowded theater, a form of "decontextualized information" (Postman, 8), is the same as the circulation of waritme pamphlets. The idea of "speech" is not specifically defined in the First Amendment. Due to the absence of the authors' intention in using the word, "speech," we are then forced to speculate on the meaning of this nebulous word. In Webster's New World Dictionary, one will find the following: speech (spech) n. [* OE sprecan, speak] 1 the act of speaking 2 the power to speak 3 that which is spoken; utterance, remark, etc. 4 a talk given to an audience 5 the language of certain people Let us interpret "speech" according to the definition given by Webster's New World Dictionary, then "speech" should only constitute audible sound and not also the ideas that may result from the act of speaking. According to this theory, we are then allowed to freely say anything that please us, including the act of shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater. However, we can clearly see that this is not the intention of the First Amendment from historical evidence. It does not seem that the Supreme Court and the public view only the act of "speaking" to be protected by the First Amendment, for it is the act of expressing ideas that concerns them. Even Justice Holmes announced that "[t]he most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater, and causing a panic. It does not even protect a man from injunction against uttering words that may have all the effect of force" (Dershowitz, 325). Which then leads us to believe that it is the expression of ideas that leads "directly to serious harm" (Dershowitz, 328) to the public that acts as a violation of the First Amendment. However, each individual's interpretation of what may lead directly to serious harm may be different. Some individuals' interpretations of what cause serious harm are more liberal, while others are more conservative: I may find the circulation of pamphlets containing radical political views to be quite detrimental to wartime effort, while others may find that to be virtually harmless. In recognizing that the government does indeed have the right to censor "expressions [that] may lead directly to serious harm" (Dershowitz, 328), Dershowitz implies that there is a hidden status quo, or norm, that individuals within an interpretive community use as a guideline to determine what constitutes extreme disorder. It is then left up to the Supreme Court to act as the absolute authority to set these guidelines for the members of the interpretive community. In order for chaos to occur, there must be people to interpret and interact with ideas that are proposed. If one were to shout "Fire!" in an empty theater, then there would be no chaos resulting from that action; no one would be there to interpret the shout of "Fire!" as a potential alarm. As Justice Holmes pointed out in Schenck v. United States, "the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done" (Dershowitz, 325). However, it was most unfortunate for Schenck to be imprisoned for distributing his political pamphlets, for it was not the intention of these pamphlets to cause chaos: "nothing in the pamphlet suggested that the draftees should use unlawful or violent means to oppose conscription" (Dershowitz, 324). Although the Schenck pamphlets did not directly cause chaos, it was its potential

Original purpose Essays

Original purpose Essays Original purpose Essay Original purpose Essay In this article, the author highlights some of the major problems facing humanity today. Poverty according to him is among the very top followed by the struggle for human rights, the guarantee against arbitrary arrest and mutilation and murder. The author talks about the fact that politicians generally end up cutting expenditures which affect the poor because they have no regard for these people and have no concern for the hunger and the suffering they have to go through. The article also touches upon Marxism and reveals the authors Marxist upbringing. He is very vocal about the causes that need to be focused upon such as providing work for the jobless, raising the standard of the homeless, preventing the poisoning of the atmosphere and the degradation of the environment and to overall improve the circumstances people live in. He also talks about his opposition organizations and institutions taking on official positions on critical public issues. His reason for this opposition is that it imperils the organization or institution and impedes pursuit of its original purpose. Moreover, if members of the institution or organization have different opinion from the official positions it reduces their ability to promote the exercise of professional activities. This is all the more true for educational institutions since involvement in external issues becomes a threat to academic freedom. While the general opinion is that because educational institutions are repositories of wisdom, they should speak out in times of crisis and on issues which are important to the public. However, history does not support this conclusion. At the onset of the Nazi regime, German universities chose to speak out but the position that they took on wasnt what was expected of them. Overall, the author is opposed to all forms of political activities by universities and professional organizations. He is also of the opinion that educational institutions should be entitled to act on behalf of academic freedom whenever and wherever it is threatened as long as such action does not hamper its ability to function. The article also talks about modern approaches for economic analysis. According to the author there is sometimes no real need to come up with complicated economic models to explain old concepts merely for added realism. He believes that a well designed model ahs the ability to work effectively as long is the model is based on the trade-ff between accuracy of representation of reality and usability in analysis. If and when a new model is proposed, it should lead to oversimplification rather than end up being a painstaking attempt to complicate an already available model. The author has two key conclusions related to this aspect. First, increased realism is not necessarily a virtue. If it complicates an already existing model it is actually a moral sin. Second, a particular model can neither be judged good or bad in the abstract sense. A models effectiveness can only be judged at the time of analysis. A model may be suited for the analysis of one issue but may be ill-suited for another. Another important point highlighted in this article is the value of pure economic research. While additions to the state of knowledge is always valuable and should contribute to the improvement of the state of social welfare, research in its truest form is always useful because it helps reduce the degree of ignorance. In fact, it is sometimes the purest of research which ultimately makes the greatest contribution to social welfare. However, caution should be exercised when engaging in abstract research before hastening to apply its results to complex issues. Overall, this is an extremely interesting article and presents a different outlook to several issues such as economic research, modern economic models, the role of professional organizations and educational institutions with respect to critical public issues as well as the need to address some of the major problems facing humanity today. Bibliography 1. Baumol, William J. (1993) From the book Eminent Economists: Their Life Philosophies By Michael Szenberg. Published by Cambridge University Press

Chinese biography book review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Chinese biography book review - Essay Example In fact, they claim that Mao’s motivation since he was a young boy was power, and this led to the murder and arrest of most of his political opponents; whether they were his friends or not. They contend that Stalin’s patronage in the 20s and 30s was responsible for his ascent to the Communist Party’s chairmanship, while the Long March and the decisions he took at the time were not heroic as has been stated by many Chinese scholars. The authors wrote the book to debunk Mao’s mythical status as the Chinese government’s emblem that remains the same to the present day. According to the authors, those areas that were controlled by the Communists in the Civil War were financed by the sale of Opium, which allowed the Communists to rule by terror (Chang & Halliday 156). Sacrificing over five thousand soldiers to rid the party of his enemies and rivals, they claim that Mao was not even responsible for the initial plan to fight off invaders from Japan. His we althy background ensured that he had no concern for Chinese peasants, which they support by detailing his determination to make the Great Leap Forward successful, leading to the death of millions of Chinese from famine. Mao’s role in the revolution and the Long March was also exaggerated, tweaked throughout years of rule by the Communist Party to make him the leader of the revolution. The autobiography authors claim that he only commanded a small force and was almost left behind, majority of those who marched alongside him disliked him, and came up with flawed strategy and tactics. Mao, along with other elite Communist leaders, is also accused of being privileged and protected from the hardships that his subordinates were going through. Contrary to mythology surrounding the revolution, the biography contends the Luding Bridge Battle was a fabrication and that the heroic crossing was complex propaganda. According to the book, a witness named Li contended that the bridge was ne ver set on fire, nor was there any fighting on the bridge (Chang & Halliday 160). Using battle plans from the Kuomintang, the authors show that those forces on the bridge guarding it were pulled back prior to the attack by the Communists. One major allegation the authors make in the biography is that Mao was in support of opium production and its trade in those areas that the Communists controlled. The trade, according to some sources from Russian archives, generated some $100 million every year for Mao and the Communists (Chang & Halliday 165). The only reason that the production was stopped was because they overproduced the opium, which had a negative impact on the price, rather than the commonly held belief that Mao stopped it due to its immoral nature. They also allege that Mao put those under his command through torture in order to rid the party of those against him. For example, Zhang Guotao was sent into the Gobi desert with a platoon of soldiers on a mission that was hopeles s, following which all survivors were ordered killed due to ineptitude. Other ways he used to get rid of his opponents included general purges and cultural revolutions. In comparison to Chinese official information, the authors disclaim the fact that the Communists under Chairman Mao waged guerilla warfare on the Japanese. Instead, they claim that Mao’s main concern was saving his troops to take on the

Organisational Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

Organisational Analysis - Essay Example In reality, when Scottie determines to have his quintessentially imagined woman, he tried to mould another woman Judy Barton, starred by Kim Novak by changing her appearances in accordance with his imaginary woman â€Å"Madeleine†. During his effort of altering appearances of Judy, Scottie barely thinks about the clay he is modelling and starts the unique story of Hitchcock’s works of arts (Ebert, 2014). The main purpose of this essay is to highlight the moral derives from the story of â€Å"Vertigo† and critically define the role of structure and culture, which have major influence on organisations and/or processes of organising that are represented in some way. In order to obtain the key purpose of the study, the discussion critically reviews the story and thematic representation of â€Å"Vertigo† and representation of the aesthetic view of the film in the context of organisational processes. The discussion of the essay also focuses on critical evaluation by emphasising on the moral of the film and how it can relate with the current organisational structure and culture. Retired police detective Scottie was hired by Gavin Elster to follow his wife Madeleine, regarding her outlandish behaviour. Scottie was appointed in this role to develop effective behavioural aspects of Madeleine but he obsessively falls in love with her. However, she starts believing that she is the recreation of a particular woman who expired many years ago and therefore Gavin Elster is concerned regarding Madeleine’s sanity (Adas, 2006). During the time of Scottie’s affection on Madeleine, they visit an old mission church where Madeleine commits suicide by jumping from the top steeple of the church. The incident of Madeleine’s death faults Scottie not for stopping her from the top of the steeples. After several months of that incident, Scottie

Communication and its Barriers

Communication and its Barriers Any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person information about that persons needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional; it may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or non-linguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes. Organisations cannot operate without communication. Communication can take various forms but all forms involve the transfer of information from one party to the other. In order for the transfer of information to qualify as communication, the recipient must understand the meaning of the information transferred to them. If the recipient does not understand the meaning of the information conveyed to them, communication has not taken place. Communication is the life source of organisations because organisations involve people. People cannot interact with each other without communication. In the absence of communication, everything would grind to a halt. For example; the workers in an organisation would not know the organisations objectives so they would not strive to achieve the organisations objectives. The workers in an organisation would not know what their roles and responsibilities were, so they would not be able to carry out their daily tasks and duties. The managers would not be able to train their workers reports so the workers would not possess the skills they needed to carry out their jobs. The managers would not be able to inform workers of changes The organisation would not be aware of their competitors activities On the whole people are able to communicate with each other as this is a basic human function. However successful organisations strive not only for communication but effective communication. Interpersonal Communication This is defined as communication between two or more people and involves the transfer of information (or message) from one person to the other(s). The person transferring the information is called the sender or transmitter. The people receiving the message are known as receivers. The transmitter will need to send the information in a format that the receiver(s) will understand. Converting the information into a format that the receivers will understand is known as Encoding. Messages can be encoded into a variety of formats oral, written or visual. After encoding the message is transferred via a medium called a channel, for example a letter, fax, phone call, or e-mail. After transference the information will need to be interpreted by the receiver. This process of interpretation is known as decoding. Finally the receiver will send a message back to the transmitter confirming whether the information sent has been understood. This back check is known as feedback. The communication process involves seven key elements as illustrated in the diagram below. Why you need to get your message across Effective communication is all about conveying your messages to other people clearly and unambiguously. Its also about receiving information that others are sending to you, with as little distortion as possible. Doing this involves effort from both the sender of the message and the receiver. And its a process that can be fraught with error, with messages muddled by the sender, or misinterpreted by the recipient. When this isnt detected, it can cause tremendous confusion, wasted effort and missed opportunity. In fact, communication is only successful when both the sender and the receiver understand the same information as a result of the communication. By successfully getting your message across, you convey your thoughts and ideas effectively. When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you actually send do not necessarily reflect what you think, causing a communications breakdown and creating roadblocks that stand in the way of your goals both personally and professionally. In a recent survey of recruiters from companies with more than 50,000 employees, communication skills were cited as the single more important decisive factor in choosing managers. The survey, conducted by the University of Pittsburghs Katz Business School, points out that communication skills, including written and oral presentations, as well as an ability to work with others, are the main factor contributing to job success. In spite of the increasing importance placed on communication skills, many individuals continue to struggle, unable to communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively whether in verbal or written format. This inability makes it nearly impossible for them to compete effectively in the workplace, and stands in the way of career progression. Being able to communicate effectively is therefore essential if you want to build a successful career. To do this, you must understand what your message is, what audience you are sending it to, and how it will be perceived. You must also weigh-in the circumstances surrounding your communications, such as situational and cultural context. The Communications Process To be an effective communicator and to get your point across without misunderstanding and confusion, your goal should be to lessen the frequency of problems at each stage of this process, with clear, concise, accurate, well-planned communications. We follow the process through below: Source As the source of the message, you need to be clear about why youre communicating, and what you want to communicate. You also need to be confident that the information youre communicating is useful and accurate. Message The message is the information that you want to communicate. Encoding This is the process of transferring the information you want to communicate into a form that can be sent and correctly decoded at the other end. Your success in encoding depends partly on your ability to convey information clearly and simply, but also on your ability to anticipate and eliminate sources of confusion (for example, cultural issues, mistaken assumptions, and missing information.) A key part of this knows your audience: Failure to understand who you are communicating with will result in delivering messages that are misunderstood. Channel Messages are conveyed through channels, with verbal channels including face-to-face meetings, telephone and videoconferencing; and written channels including letters, emails, memos and reports. Different channels have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, its not particularly effective to give a long list of directions verbally, while youll quickly cause problems if you give someone negative feedback using email. Decoding Just as successful encoding is a skill, so is successful decoding (involving, for example, taking the time to read a message carefully, or listen actively to it.) Just as confusion can arise from errors in encoding, it can also arise from decoding errors. This is particularly the case if the decoder doesnt have enough knowledge to understand the message. Receiver Your message is delivered to individual members of your audience. No doubt, you have in mind the actions or reactions you hope your message will get from this audience. Keep in mind, though, that each of these individuals enters into the communication process with ideas and feelings that will undoubtedly influence their understanding of your message, and their response. To be a successful communicator, you should consider these before delivering your message, and act appropriately. Feedback Your audience will provide you with feedback, as verbal and nonverbal reactions to your communicated message. Pay close attention to this feedback, as it is the only thing that can give you confidence that your audience has understood your message. If you find that there has been a misunderstanding, at least you have the opportunity to send the message a second time. Context The situation in which your message is delivered is the context. This may include the surrounding environment or broader culture (corporate culture, international cultures, and so on). QUESTION 2 Barriers of Communication 1. Physical barriers Physical barriers in the workplace include: Marked out territories, empires and fiefdoms into which strangers are not allowed Closed office doors, barrier screens, separate areas for people of different status Large working areas or working in one unit that is physically separate from others. Research shows that one of the most important factors in building cohesive teams is proximity. As long as people still have a personal space that they can call their own, nearness to others aids communication because it helps us get to know one another. 2. Perceptual barriers The problem with communicating with others is that we all see the world differently. If we didnt, we would have no need to communicate: something like extrasensory perception would take its place. The following anecdote is a reminder of how our thoughts, assumptions and perceptions shape our own realities: A traveller was walking down a road when he met a man from the next town. Excuse me, he said. I am hoping to stay in the next town tonight. Can you tell me what the townspeople are like? Well, said the townsman, how did you find the people in the last town you visited? Oh, they were an irascible bunch. Kept to themselves. Took me for a fool. Over-charged me for what I got. Gave me very poor service. Well, then, said the townsman, youll find them pretty much the same here. 3. Emotional barriers One of the chief barriers to open and free communications is the emotional barrier. It is comprised mainly of fear, mistrust and suspicion. The roots of our emotional mistrust of others lie in our childhood and infancy when we were taught to be careful what we said to others. Mind your Ps and Qs; Dont speak until youre spoken to; Children should be seen and not heard. As a result many people hold back from communicating their thoughts and feelings to others. They feel vulnerable. While some caution may be wise in certain relationships, excessive fear of what others might think of us can stunt our development as effective communicators and our ability to form meaningful relationships. 4. Cultural barriers When we join a group and wish to remain in it, sooner or later we need to adopt the behaviour patterns of the group. These are the behaviours that the group accept as signs of belonging. The group rewards such behaviour through acts of recognition, approval and inclusion. In groups which are happy to accept you, and where you are happy to conform, there is a mutuality of interest and a high level of win-win contact. Where, however, there are barriers to your membership of a group, a high level of game-playing replaces good communication. 5. Language barriers Language that describes what we want to say in our terms may present barriers to others who are not familiar with our expressions, buzz-words and jargon. When we couch our communication in such language, it is a way of excluding others. In a global market place the greatest compliment we can pay another person is to talk in their language. One of the more chilling memories of the Cold War was the threat by the Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev saying to the Americans at the United Nations: We will bury you! This was taken to mean a threat of nuclear annihilation. However, a more accurate reading of Khruschevs words would have been: We will overtake you! meaning economic superiority. It was not just the language, but the fear and suspicion that the West had of the Soviet Union that led to the more alarmist and sinister interpretation. 6. Gender barriers There are distinct differences between the speech patterns in a man and those in a woman. A woman speaks between 22,000 and 25,000 words a day whereas a man speaks between 7,000 and 10,000. In childhood, girls speak earlier than boys and at the age of three, have a vocabulary twice that of boys. The reason for this lies in the wiring of a mans and womans brains. When a man talks, his speech is located in the left side of the brain but in no specific area. When a woman talks, the speech is located in both hemispheres and in two specific locations. This means that a man talks in a linear, logical and compartmentalised way, features of left-brain thinking; whereas a woman talks more freely mixing logic and emotion, features of both sides of the brain. It also explains why women talk for much longer than men each day. Removing Barriers at All These Stages To deliver your messages effectively, you must commit to breaking down the barriers that exist within each of these stages of the communication process. Lets begin with the message itself. If your message is too lengthy, disorganized, or contains errors, you can expect the message to be misunderstood and misinterpreted. Use of poor verbal and body language can also confuse the message. Barriers in context tend to stem from senders offering too much information too fast. When in doubt here, less is oftentimes more. It is best to be mindful of the demands on other peoples time, especially in todays ultra-busy society. Once you understand this, you need to work to understand your audiences culture, making sure you can converse and deliver your message to people of different backgrounds and cultures within your own organization, in your country and even abroad. Barrier refers to something non physical that keeps apart or prevents activity, movement so on. Types of Barriers Physical mechanical barriers Language or Semantic barriers Socio-psychological barriers Organisational barriers Personal barriers 1- Physical Mechanical Barriers Noise It is the disruption or interference in communication process anywhere along the way. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ Noise though of varying degree, disturbs or interferes with communication. Whatever that distracts the receivers attention causes communication breakdown. Noise can be physical psychological. Physical distractions or disturbances such as loud speakers, gossip etc., draw the attention of the receiver. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ Psychological noise is related to mental disturbances like ego clash, pre occupied thoughts, hang over, anxiety. DISTANCE Long distances between the sender the receivers can also obstruct effective communication TIME Time refers to the reaching of message. If an important message reaches late it is sure to affect communication. INFORMATION OVERLOAD It refers to excessive transmission of information. Much more information than what the receiver can process is transmitted to him/her. The receiver can ·t understand , digest, analyze act upon information overload that is beyond mental capacity. MECHANICAL BARRIERS Outdated machines equipment may produce excessive noise leading to physical barriers in communication. Distraction like background noise, poor lighting., affect the morale of the employees also obstruct effective communication. 2- SEMANTIC OR LANGUAGE BARRIER UNCLEAR MESSAGE Lack of clarity in message makes it badly expressed. poorly chosen empty word , phrases, inadequate vocabulary, failure to clarify implications etc., are some common faults found. FAULTY TRANSLATION The message that every manager receives from his superiors, peers, subordinates must be translated into language suitable for the respective person( for whom the information is destined). SPECIALISTS LANGUAGE It is often found that technical personnel special groups tend to develop a special, peculiar technical language of their own. It hinders their communication with persons not in their specialty, because of the receivers ignorance of that type of language. 3- SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTION Perceptual barriers may arise due to differences between individuals in the way they perceive, organize understand their environment. DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDE People differ with regard to attitudes opinions which often interfere with communication. If the message is consistent with our attitudes opinions we receive it favorably. INATTENTION Communication has no impact on those who are unable or unwilling to listen. If people do not pay the required degree of attention to listening understanding the messages they are supposed to receive. PREMATURE EVALUATION Some people form a judgment before receiving the complete message. Such premature evaluation prevents effective communication. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ RESISTANCE TO CHANGE when new ideas are being communicated, the listening apparatus may act as a filter in rejecting new ideas. Thus resistance to change is an important obstacle to effective communication. CULTURAL DIFFERENCE Cultural refers to values, beliefs, norms, attitudes perceptions of people of different nations or regions. Symbols, words, colors, gestures, language must be carefully selected when senders of information are dealing with people of different nations regions. 4- ORGANISATIONAL BARRIERS STATUS RELATIONSHIP ONE WAY FLOW ORGANISATION STRUCTURE RULES REGULATIONS 5- PERSONAL BARRIERS ATTITUDE OF SUPERIOR- the attitude of superiors towards communication affects the flow of messages in different directions. LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN SUBORDINATES LACK OF TIME MESSAGE OVERLOAD Barriers to effective Communication (leaky bucket) At each stage in the process encoding, transference, and decoding there is the possibility of interference which may hinder the communication process. This interference is known as noise. Often a comparison is made between communication and a leaky bucket. If you use a leaky bucket to carry water, water will be lost at various points in your journey from the water tap to your destination. It is not possible to stop losing water because the bucket contains holes. The amount of water you will lose will be determined by the number of holes in the bucket, the size of the holes, the route you take to your final destination and length of time it takes you to get to your destination. There may also be other events that occur during your journey which increase the amount of water lost. Similarly when information is transferred from the transmitter to the receiver not all of the information may be received by the receiver because of holes called noise. Each of the noise may be affect the amou nt of information transferred. Just as in a leaky bucket, more holes decrease the amount of water, more noise decreases the amount of correct information received. Language issues and Cultural Differences The receiver(s) may not (fully) understand the language used by the transmitter. This may occur if the transmitters language is foreign to the receiver. There may also be language problems (that the communication process) if the message contains technical information and the receivers is not familiar with the technical terms used. Cultural differences created by an individuals background and experience affect their perception of the world. Such cultural differences may affect the interpretation (decoding) of the message sent. Environmental issues If the environment that the transmitter or receiver are in, is noisy and full of sound, the sounds may prevent the message being fully understood. Background noise is often created by colleagues or machinery. Channel issues If the channel used to transfer the information is poor it may prevent all or some of the information being transferred. Examples include a faulty fax machine, a crackling phone, handwriting that cannot be read or in the case of oral messages incorrect facial gestures. Receivers Attitude and behavior If the receiver(s) is not interested in the message (or unable to give their full attention to decoding) this may reduce the amount of information received or the accuracy of the information transmitted to them. Similarly the receiver(s) may misinterpret the message by jumping to conclusions or reading the message in a manner that suits their own interests/objectives and distort the true meaning of the message. Transmission journey i.e. steps in the message, If the message is complicated or there are lots of steps taken to transfer the message it may affect the accuracy or interpretation. Comparing with the leaky bucket if the leaky bucket has to carry water over a longer distance more water will probably lost than if the journey was shorter. Internal / Organisational Communication This is communication that takes place within (or across) an organisation. In addition to the usual face to face, telephone, fax or mail; modern organisations may use technology to communicate internally. Technology may be used for e-mails or a linked internal communication system such as the intranet which is an internet system designed solely for use by those working for the organisation. External Communications Conversely external communication is communication between the organisation and those outside the organisation. Modern organisations may design technological systems so that they can communicate with customers and undertake e-Commerce. Alternatively they communicate with other businesses through the internet or similar systems and undertake e-Business. Functions of Internal and External Communications Technology has rapidly expanded the types of internal and external communication available to organisations. The diagram illustrates the vast array of internal and external communication available. Combined together internal and external types of communications allow various sectors of the local, national and international community to interact, liaise and conduct business. Formal and Informal Communications Formal communication is defined as communication which occurs through the official organisational channels or is undertaken by an employee to do their job. For example official meetings, letters and a manager asking an employee to carry out a particular task. Conversely informal communication is that which occurs outside the recognised communication networks such as talking in the lunchroom or hallways between employees. Informal communication can be productive or negative. It has the potential to build teams, improve working relationships and generate ideas as employees are in a relaxed environment. Upward and Downward Communications Downward communication is communication created by directors and managers and passed down the hierarchy of workers in the organisation. In traditional organisations this is the preferred method of communication ie Managers decide what the systems, rules and procedures will be and then they pass these down to employees they manage and supervise. Downward Communication can increase efficiency by synchronising organisational procedures and can ensure that everybody is working towards the same overall aims and objectives. Types of downward communication include job descriptions, appraisals/evaluations, organisational policy, and organisational systems. Although there are advantages to downward communication organisations have began to encourage upward communication. This is communication which originates at the lower level of the employment hierarchy and is then communicated up through the line. Organisations encouraging upward communication believe that everybody is capable of generating thoughts and ideas which may help the organisation to progress, particularly when they are working closely in the area that the idea applies to. Upward communication may increase motivation and make employees feel valued and respected whilst enabling managers to understand how employees are feeling. Furthermore if problems occur at they are more likely to be identified earlier by those working closely in the area that they occur. Types of upward communications include suggestion schemes, feedback forums/surveys, grievance procedures and employee-manager discussions. Lateral Communication This is communication that occurs between employees on the same level in the organisation. As this can involve decision making it can create efficiency as employees do not have to wait for managerial approval. On the other hand if the manager is not kept informed or if the manager fails to set boundaries there is potential for conflict. Diagonal Communication This occurs when communication occurs between workers in a different section of the organisation and where one of the workers involved is on a higher level in the organisation. For example in a bank diagonal communication will occur when a department manager in head office converses with a cashier in a branch of the bank based on the high street. TELECOMMUNICATIONS GLOSSARY Term Definition Telecommunication Communication between parties based in different locations by using a cable, telephone, broadcast or a telegraph. Networking Linking to or more computers together so that information and facilities can be shared. Computers in the same room may be linked together or the organisation may decide to link, computers in different parts of the world together. Local Area Network (LAN) Computers linked by a network without the use of telecommunications. Often the computers linked are based in the same location, group of buildings or site. Wide Area Network (WAN) Computers linked by a network using telecommunications. Often the computers linked are based in different locations. Teleconferencing Through the use of telecommunication devices such as video link participants based in different locations communicating is known as teleconferencing. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Computer networks used to exchange standard business transaction documents between organisations. QUESTION 3 How might a manager use the GRAPEVINE to his or her advantage? First of all the definition of grapevine is that it is the unofficial way that communication takes place within the organization. It is neither supported nor authorized by the organization. It can also be called gossip. As we know many gossips have no factual bases at all; most of them however do. A manager can use grapevine to his or her advantage if it is an organization where people are used to get their information from these sources. And of course it would be a lie to say that most of us dont gossip, or listen to them at least occasionally, especially if it involves us. Bad information spreads a lot faster than good news, so the information gets to employees real fast. It can happen by a word of mouth, or recently more frequently by electronic means. If an organization is based on honesty, these grapevine information can be a lot more accurate than in an organization that is based on an authoritative culture. Usually there is always some truth to it however. Rumours about major lay-offs, plant closings, and the like may be filled with accurate information regarding who will be affected and when it may occur. This truth component is what a manager can use to his or her benefit. Most employees know that if there is any kind of grapevine information circling in the company, whatever its about can be true. If a manager for example wants to influence employees to work harder, or put more effort into it, he or she can simply start a new gossip, or encourage an existing one about lay-offs that might involve their department. Im not saying this is a nice way to do this, but if nothing else works, why not. This is however not the sign of the good manager, because he or she should be able to use other methods of motivation. A good leader needs to be able to exert high level of effort from his or her employees by motivating them in different ways. Another way of looking grapevine information is its usefulness in supplementing formal information channels. It provides a way for employees to communicate their imaginations and inputs to a certain issue. If management is not really doing a good job with communicating with employees about what is going on in an organization, then grapevine can satisfy these natural needs for information. Grapevine is a healthy human desire to communicate. It is the informal communication channel within the organization. Managers have to acknowledge this fact, and try to use it to their own advantage. Managers interested in creating good communication within the organization will use grapevine as a mean to improve it. The real value of grapevine should be to management is that it reveals issues that generate from those whom interested in or effected by it. Managers can also participate in grapevine. They can be filters, who monitor the information and forward to upper management only the valuable and important components. Grapevine usually pops up during times of uncertain times; therefore management has to make sure that it is providing enough information about important issues. The longer the rumour goes around, the hardest it is to control, so management had to intervene quickly if it wants to avoid its damaging effects. The fact is that grapevine is exists within organizations, and they always have a truth component to them. Management therefore can use them to their own benefits, as a compliment to the official and formal channels of information. How to use the Grapevine effectively in business organizations? Grapevine is an informal channel of business communication. It is called so because it stretches throughout the organization in all directions irrespective of the authority levels. The management can use grapevine to supplement the formal channels of communication. Though it carries some degree of error and distortion, efforts can be made to correct it. Ignoring the grapevine is nothing but to ignore a valuable source of communication. The management can eliminate its negative consequences and, at the same time, it can nourish its positive benefits. The managers have to learn to manage and control it. 1. The management can open up all the channels of organizational communication to present the facts positively before the employees and thereby can fight the negative messages with the positive weapons of facts and figures. 2. Better job design and better quality of work life can easily bring the grapevine under the control of the management. 3. It also prevents the boredom, idleness and suspicions among the employees. 4. The negative consequences of the grapevine can be easily eliminated if the management is successful in creating trust-relatio