Employment and Discrimination Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Employment and Discrimination Law - Essay Example These laws are called the employment laws and they have proved effective in enhancing proper business conduct within the business world. Some of these laws which have been in place include those that govern employee dismissal, child labour, employee benefits and labour contracts among other contracts and their applications in various business enterprises have worked well in ensuring the well being of both the employers and their employees. In the course of business conduct, employee - employer relationship is crucial in determining the success of each of the two parties in the business world. However, sometimes achieving a cordial relationship becomes impossible with the eruption of personal issues that come in a day to day basis. This has sometimes led to discrimination and in this case it is the employee who suffers the brunt sometimes leaving the employer to go scot-free after committing some unfavourable and inhumane acts against his/her employee. The case of Anne is a similar one where she is forced to unfairly suffer the consequences of being in bad terms with her boss. Employer retaliation, like in Anne's case is an aspect of employment law in which a lot of emphasis has been put and attorneys have had to defend their clients in regular basis under such circumstances. As an attorney, I would consider Anne's case as a solid one and which she is capable of winning should she press legal charges against her employer. (Robert Hill, Nick Dent and Adam Lambert: Labour and Employment: United Kingdom: Associative Discrimination). Also According to The ACAS statutory Code of Practice on discipline and grievance, the proper procedure for disciplining Anne would not put her career at risk but to hold a meeting with her and discuss the issues. Her boss would be recommended to express his grievances directly to Anne after which he would make clear his decision to give poor reference to Anne which according to the law is not encouraged. In dealing with such a case, it is important to consider whether Anne's employer informed her of her employment rights as postulated in the labour law. This law which is concerned with the rights of employers demands that all employers should take charge and sensitize their employees considering the rights which they hold as workers in their workplace. Freedom from retaliation is one of the major subjects which are dealt with in this law. In a case whereby the employer had not informed Anne and maybe other employers of their rights as his employers, Anne should be able to sue him of that as the first offence committed against her by her employer. Anne would then go ahead and sue Jim, her boss for the offence of hindering her from exploring and obtaining other employment opportunities on grounds of unfounded accusations (Office of Public Sector Information (united kingdom) Employment Rights Act 1996, chapter 18). Jim has definitely committed an offence against Anne. With regard to the employment and labour law, Anne should seek legal redress since as an employees and a human being for that matter, she has her rights regarding the choice of how she relates with other individuals either within or without her office environment. In order to establish a concrete case against the crime of employer retaliation which Jim committed against

Why performance appraisal is important

Why performance appraisal is important The aims of the performance appraisal are to provide the employees with the feedback on their performance. Performance appraisal also helps in identifying the training needs of the employees. The performance helps the organization provide the proper rewards and recognition to the deserving employees. It also provides the opportunity to the organization for the diagnosis and development. It also helps the organization to better the communication between the employees and the administration. (Thomas F. Patterson,1987). There are various methods that are employed to measure and evaluate the performance and appraise the employees. The appraisal system of the organization may have the common practice of measuring the performance of the organization in the form of the numerical or the scaling system. (Armstrong, Michael,2006). The managers are asked to assess the individuals on the scale on the various objectives and attributes. In many companies employees may receive the assessment from their peers, managers, subordinates and customers which is also known as the 360 degree performance appraisal. (Smit, Martin E.J.H.,2006). Tuckman and Oliver, 1968 : This study illustrate how feedback is the efficient tool which valued the most for crucial decision making process. Receiver will be benefit from the various people surrounding him by feedback system if the sources have ample of knowledge about task performance of the recipient. According to study conducted student versus supervisor feedback to teachers proved that students were more effective efficient to improve the performance of the teacher rather than the supervisor. In explanation the author says that teacher spend more time with the students rather than the supervisor. Along with that multiple feedback system correctly shows the potential of the person by reducing biasness or malice practice which is usually part of the corporate. Seniors or supervisor generally or constantly focus on the scope of the improvement, underestimating the achievement. DeNissi and Mitchell, 1978: According to him middle upper management spend a huge amount of time with their peers. Hence the peers have maximum opportunity to know about attributes, qualities rather than supervisor or the boss. Hence its more important who spend the maximum time as well as who observe the concern person in many different dimension of work behavior that persons opinion is quite important. Mintzberg (1973) : This literature review gives us details about how manager use the opinion of the staff, supervisor or peers as effective tool to evaluate or appraise of the employee which is completely unbiased in the nature. According his study middle level manager, peers and subordinates are more qualified to evaluate the performance rather than supervisor because the they have more information about the working style, working environment rather than the supervisor. It helps to enhance the supervisory behavior. Hegarty, 1973: Many experimental studies already proved that multiple feedback not only improve the supervisory quality but also brought transparency in the complete appraisal system. According to him top level people think that peers were at best position to evaluate the personal traits as well as personal achievement. Implementation of 360 degree employee assessment is fair practice which help to reduce the discrimination biasness help to motivate the the employee to perform better productive. Implementation of multiple feedback system helps to improve to qualities in individual level as well as professional level. Bernardin (1986) : Though peers subordinates were in the best position to evaluate the performance but major challenge is the problem of anonymity. Its very difficult to share the correct information about the peers with whom you have a good rapport. Hence some time the multiple feedback system become ineffective biased. The Essence and Functions of Performance Appraisal Systems by Newman, Warren McGiIl, 1987: Job performance evaluation is an integral part of an any organization. It is basically management decision to control the organizations which consist of the control standards, measurement, and corrective actions. Control Standard is the first foremost thing which based primarily upon the mission of the organization or individual short term goal of the every department. It indicates the crucial contribution of the performance appraisal system in the organization. Measurement which is a quantitative analysis or process depends upon many steps like appraisal criteria/ technique consist of the attributes or parameters, appraisal timing. The appraisal criteria are predefined by the organization which varies from organization to organization. The appraisal method or technique plays a crucial role in this process. Generally appraisal depends upon the performance of the candidate along with lot of qu alities like team skill, soft skill, analytical skill, domain knowledge and so forth. Feedback is most crucial essential part of the appraisal process which cannot ignore any time. Corrective measures are taken after feedback receive from the different sources. The appropriate corrective action should be taken to if there is any discrepancy between actual performance and performance standard. It not only a check guard for an employee to attain certain standard or level but also help to motivate the employee to perform better and productive manner. It built or reinforces trust among the team members or employees. According to this study it creates a value which help to motivate the employees to perform better. Ilgen, Barnes-Farrell, and McKellin (1993): According to authors four important aspects should be considered to appraise the performance of the individual, those are purpose of the performance appraisal, characteristics of the rates, nature of the scale used for the rating purpose and the impact of influence of this appraisal on the organization as whole. Chu (2002): Though his study compare performance appraisal system in two industries i.e. manufacturing and service industry but it widely applicable to all the industry. According to him comprehensive framework of the performance appraisal include six category which are purpose of appraisal, personnel whom to appraise, criteria or attribute for the appraisal, methods involve for that, appraisal timing, feedback of the appraisal. Cleveland, Murphy and Williams (1989): According his study there is a positive correlation exist between the organization characteristics and the performance appraisal. Organization culture and structure are two ingredients of the performance measurement system. When organization more leans towards to the decentralization, performance standard more concentrates towards the results, where organization is centralized one it more leans towards process of management functions. Jobber, Hooley Shipley (1993): According to them, a large organization and small organization adapt different methods for performance evaluation. Pre determined performance standards which are more formalized and quantitative in nature adopted by the large or multinational organization where as small organization generally follow qualitative and informal appraisal methods. According to this study, the performance appraisal system differ from industry type to industry type but still there is a relation between organization characteristics and function of performance appraisal system. Ouchi (1981): The study carried out the performance appraisal system in region wise rather than industry type wise. According to his study American organizations are more focused about individual performance, while Japanese organizations are more focused about group or team performance. 2.2 The Performance Appraisal Process Performance appraisal is planned, developed and implemented through a series of steps, Establish performance standards: Appraisal systems require performance standards, which serve as benchmarks against which performance is measured. To be useful, standards should relate to the desired results of each job. In situations pertaining to embarrassment, performance standards must be clear to both the appraiser and the appraisee. The performance standards or goals must be developed after a thorough analysis of the job. Goals must be written down. They must be measurable within certain time and cost considerations. Communicate the standards: performance appraisal involves at least two parties; the appraiser who does the appraisal and the appraisee whose performance is being evaluated. Both are expected to do certain things. The appraiser should prepare job description clearly; help the appriasee set his goals and targets; analyse results objectively; offer coaching and guidance to the appraisee whenever required and reward good results. The appraisee should be very clear about what he is doing and why he is doing it. For this purpose, performance standards must be communicated to appraisees and their reactions should be noted down right away. If necessary, these standards must be reviesed or modified. As pointed out by De Cenzo and Robbins, too many jobs have vague performance standards and the problem is compounded when these standards are set in isolation and do not involve the employee. Measure actual performance: After the performance standards are set and accepted, the next step is to measure actual performance. This requires the use of dependable performance measures, the ratings used to evaluate performance. Performance measures-to be helpful-must be easy to use, reliable, and report on the critical behaviours that determine performance. Four common sources of information which are generally used by managers regarding how to measure actual performance are personal observation, statistical reports, oral reports and written reports. Performance measures may be objective or subjective. Objective performance measures are indications of job performance that can be verified by others and are usually quantitative. Subjective performance measures are ratings that are based on the personal standards or opinions of those doing the evaluation, and are not verifiable by others. Subjective criteria include ratings by superiors, overall goals, and socio-cultural values of the environment. Compare actual performance with standards and discuss the appraisal: actual performance may be better than expected and sometimes it may go off the track. Whatever be the consequences, there is a way to communicate and discuss the final outcome. The assessment of another persons contribution and ability is not an easy task. It has serious emotional overtones as it affects the self-esteem of the appraisee. Any appraisal based o subjective criteria is likely to be questioned by the appraise and leave him quite dejected and unhappy when the appraisal turns out be negative. Taking corrective action, if necessary: Corrective action is of two types: one puts out the fires immediately, while the other destroys the root of the problem permanently. Immediate action sets things right and get things back on track whereas the basic corrective action gets to the source of deviations and seeks to adjust the difference permanently. Basic corrective steps seek to adjust the difference permanently. Basic corrective steps seek to find out how and why performance deviates. 2.3 CONFIDENTIAL SYSTEM AND OPEN SYSTEM OF APPRAISAL 2.3.1Confidential System In most of the organizations confidential reports are considered to be confidential documents. The individual is communicated if there are any adverse ratings or remarks in C.R for a particular year. Communication aspect does not work well in most of organizations due to reluctance on part of assessor to communicate to employee about what he thinks of him. The greatest advantage of the confidential system is that it fails to honor the right if the individual to be heard in matter in which he has very high stakes. 2.3.2Open System The open system suggests that all aspects of assessment should be processed with the full knowledge of assesses. This will help him to understand his deficiencies and he will be able to appreciate what the organization is doing for his development. Whatever system suits the organization depends on culture and social conditions of the organization. In times to come, the confidential system will gradually give the way to open system. The need for involving assesses in the process of appraisal can be seen from different angles. One is the need to allow participation by the employee in the process of evaluation. Another need is involving him in setting his goals or targets. Whether the individual should be given an opportunity for self-appraisal as part of reporting process or whether this opportunity should be given to him through an appraisal interview is matter of policy for an organization. What is that opportunity should be given to have a say as to what he himself thinks about his own performance. The chances of getting a good report or bad report are same, as there is no guarantee that the assessment reports would be written on basis of real performance. Often a reporting officer who wants to give a good report about a poor performer would Emphasize the potential aspect of the individual while a very potential may get an adverse report based on his performance. However, a person who is initially connected with day-to-day work of employee concerned should do performance appraisal. This immediate superior should have an important say in evaluating his performance. Self-appraisal should not form the sole basis for any final decision. Self-appraisal should only form part of a sound appraisal system. 2.4 METHODS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL The performance appraisal methods may be classified into two categories, namely the Traditional and Modern methods, TRADITIONAL METHODS MODERN METHODS Graphic Rating Scales 1. Behaviorally Anchored Ranking Method Rating Scales Paired Comparison Method 2. Assessment Centre Forced Distribution Method 3. Human Resource Accounting Checklist Method 4. Management by Objectives Critical Incident Method 5. 360 degrees appraisal Grading Method Forced Choice Method 2.4.1 TRADITIONAL METHODS Graphic Rating Scales method is a printed form which is used to evaluate the performance of the employee. A variety of traits may be used in these types of rating devices the most common being the quantity and quality of work. The rating scales can also be adapted by including traits that the company considers important for effectiveness on the job. From the graphic rating scales excerpts can be obtained about the performance standards of employees. The rating scale method is the most common method of evaluation of an employees performance today. The graphic rating scale may however, suffer from a long standing disadvantage, i.e., it may be arbitrary and the rating may be subjective. In Ranking Method: the ranking of an employee in a work group is done against that of another employee. The relative position of each employee is expressed in terms of his numerical rank. It may also be done by ranking a person on his job performance against another member of the competitive group. The quintessence of this method is that employees are ranked according to their relative levels of performance. While using this method, the evaluator is asked rate employees from highest to lowest on some overall criterion. Though it is relatively easier to rank the best and the worst employees, it is difficult to rank the average employees. Under Paired Comparison Method the appraiser ranks the employees by comparing on employee with all other employees in the group, one at a time. This method results in each employee being given a positive comparison total and a certain percentage of the total positive evaluation. Forced Distribution Method is developed to prevent the raters from rating too high or too low. Under this method, the rater after assigning the points to the Performance of each employee has to distribute his ratings in a pattern to confirm to frequency distribution. Check list Method consists of a list with a number if statements about the worker and his behavior. Each statement of this list is assigned value depending upon its importance. Both statements and their values are derived from preliminary research in which the pooled judgments of persons familiar with the job are used. No restrictions are put on the rater as to the number of statements he should mark. The workers final rating is taken as the average of the scale values of all statements that his superior has checked in rating him. Under Critical Incidents Method, the supervisor continuously records the critical incidents of the employee performance or behavior relating to all characters (both positive negative) in a specially designed notebook. The supervisor rates the performance of his subordinates on the basis of notes taken by him. Grading Method, this method certain well-defined grades are established in advance. Generally; three different grades are used i.e., out standing, satisfactory and unsatisfactory. Employee performance is compared with the defined grades and each employee is allotted a grade that best describes his/her performances. The main limitation of this method is that the rater may rate most of the employers on the higher side of their performance. Forced Choice Method, J.P Guilford developed this method. This method contains a series of statements and the rater rates how effectively a statement describes each Individual being evaluated. The main limitation of this method is that it takes a lot of time and effort to construct several evaluating statements. Under Group Appraisal Method, an employee is appraised by a group of appraisers. This group consists of the immediate supervisor of the employee, other supervisors who have close contact with the employees work, manager or head of the department and consultants. The head of the department or manager may be the chairman of the group and the immediate supervisor may act as the coordinator for the group activities. In Confidential Reports Method, superior appraises the performance of his subordinates based on his observations, judgments and intuitions. The superior keeps his judgment and report confidentially. 2.4.2MODERN METHODS Behaviorally Anchored Rating scales (BARS) method combines elements of the traditional rating scales and critical incidents methods. BARS are a sophisticated method of evaluating employee performance based on employee behavior rather than attitudes or assumptions about motivation or potential. BARS are numerical scale that is anchored by specific narrative example of behaviors that range from very negative to very positive descriptions of performance. BARS are difficult and time-consuming scale to develop. Each job must be analyzed and a list of critical incidents developed by the experts in the job. Once the critical incidents are developed, they are then scaled from effective to ineffective performance. The BARS technique offers high degree of inter rater reliability and objectivity because of its emphasis on behavior. In the Assessment Centre Method, individuals from various departments are brought together to spend two or three days working on an individual or group assignment similar to ones they would be handling when prompted. Observers rank the performance of each and every participant in order of merit. The Human Resource Accounting, deals with cost and contribution of human resources to the organization. Cost of human resources may be taken as standard. Employee performance can be measured in terms of employee contribution to the organization. This technique has developed and still it is in the transitory stage. The concept of Management by Objectives, requires the management to set specific, measurable goals with each employee and then periodically discuss the latters progress towards these goals. This technique emphasizes participatively set goals that are tangible, verifiable and measurable. MBO focuses attention on what must be accomplished rather than how it is to be accomplished. It is, thus a kind of goal setting and appraisal programme involving six steps: Set the organisations goals Set department goals Discuss departmental goals Define expected results Performance reviews Provide feedback Under 360 degrees Appraisal, The 360 degrees appraisal method was first developed and used by General Electric Company of USA in1992. Today, the Indian companies like Wipro corporations, Infosys, Reliance Industries follow this method. In this method, his superiors, subordinates, peers and customers with whom he interacts in the course of his performance appraise an employee. All these appraisers provide feedback on employee by completing survey questionnaire designed for this purpose. And then reports are prepared, and then presented to the employees being rated. 2.5 ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS OF AN EFFECTIVE APPRAISAL SYSTEM Performance appraisal system should be effective as a number of crucial decisions are made on the basis of score or rating given by the appraiser, which in turn, is heavily based on the appraisal system. An effective appraisal system should possess the following essential characteristics: Reliability and validity Job relatedness Standardization Practical viability Training the appraisers Open communication Employee access to results 2.6 MULTI-SOURCE RATINGS IN TEAM PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL Recent trends in organizational behavior and the structural changes of organizations have facilitated an increase in the use of teams (Fisher, Schoenfeldt, Shaw, 2003). As traditional bureaucratic hierarchies have been replaced by flatter structures, teams have become commonplace in most organizations (Cascio, 1998). As with individual performance appraisal, performance rating in team settings is complicated by a host of issues regarding the most appropriate method for measuring it, including the appropriateness of rating sources. Team performance appraisal is further complicated through working with others as a necessity for the successful completion of work. The performance dimensions relevant to team performance differ from the task-specific performance typically evaluated in individual performance appraisal. In general, interpersonal aspects of contextual performance become more relevant, if not necessary, for successful team performance (Levy Steelman, 1997). Most conceptualiz ations of team performance integrate contextual performance dimensions into formal appraisal. Across the literature, a lack of agreement exists regarding what the specific targets should be in team performance appraisal and how the ratings should be applied. Although the teams effectiveness is the ultimate goal, the performance of individuals and the team as a whole should be evaluated. Levy and Steelman (1997) argue that the traditional supervisor-rated methods of performance appraisal are not appropriate for team settings. Ratings should instead come from all sources in cases where they have adequate opportunity to observe the teams behaviors. Aside from opportunity to observe, the raters relationship with the team may influence his or her perspective; in other words, whether the rater is a team member, team supervisor, customer, etc. Regarding the effectiveness of each rating source, each has advantages and disadvantages. The criteria evaluated by the majority of the literature were inter-rater agreement, agreement with hard criteria, and rating acceptance. From the literature reviewed, the majority of research on rater effectiveness in team settings evaluates rater congruence. This may not even be an appropriate measure of effectiveness, since multi-source appraisal generally proposes that each source affords a unique perspective for evaluating the targets performance. Therefore, rating sources may not agree and still be accurate (Murphy Cleveland, 1995). Overall, the effectiveness of multi-source ratings in team performance appraisal has yet to be definitively answered through empirical research. Of the various theoretical models and empirical studies, one common area of agreement is that team performance should be appraised using multiple raters. Still, a lack of research exists regarding the effectiveness of each rating source. In general, the practice of team based performance appraisal has far outpaced empirical research (Jones, 1997). Research in the domain of team performance appraisal is filled with questions and characterized by a lack of agreement on many fronts. Overall, team performance management is a research area with a great demand for future development.

The Modernization of America Essay -- essays papers

The Modernization of America The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869. The telephone was invented in 1876. The first practical system for a radio was developed in 1895. The Wright brothers created a flying machine in 1903. The first gas powered automobile, the assembly line and the refrigerator were produced in the early 20th century. These are all very important steps in laying the foundation for the modernization of America, but I would argue that the first truly modern period in American history would have to be the 1920s. The 1920s brought a capitalistic population who, as a nation, leaned toward isolationism. In two main fields, the 1920s modernized American society to reflect the America of the 21st century more than any era before it. These fields are media and business. Along with a new decade came a new attitude from the media. By 1922 there were 22 magazines in circulation and by the end of the 1920s, 40% of Americans owned a radio. The first tabloid magazine appeared in 1919. The media that we know today spawned from this growth in the 20s. This new type of mass media permitted the spreading of national trends or obsessions, such as flagpole sitting. A 21st century equivalent to this type of rather bizarre behavior of national trends could be the Christmas â€Å"Tickle me Elmo† or â€Å"Furby† craze over the last few years. The national connection that the mass media provided also allowed for fashion to become important and for heroes in th...

Influence on the General Motors Corporation Essay

This report analyzes the primary internal and external influence on the General Motors Corporation and the influence of changing political environment on policy making and response of the corporation. Then the report discusses the changing political environment in and its influence. The influences of political environment on policies and decision making to the corporation are analyzed. The corporation response to the political environment changing is critically evaluated. At last, some improvement suggestion for the corporation in the response of the changing political environment is demonstrated. IntroductionGeneral Motors Corporation is the largest automobile manufactures in the world. The corporation, which is located in Detroit, employs more than 260 millions people and sells cars and trucks in about 35 countries. The corporation has a dominant influence in automobile market in the United States and other developed market such as the United Kingdom, Canada and so on. The corporation also enjoys a large market share in the rapid growing market of developing countries such as China and Brazil. However, the corporation is in face of changing internal and external environment. Discussion and AnalysisIn the first part of the report, the primary internal and external influence is analyzed following the SWOT Matrix, which is a modern tool for analysis of internal and external environment. In the SWOT Matrix, the S stands for strengths, W for weaknesses, O for opportunities, and T for threats. The strengths and weaknesses are the analysis of internal influence while the opportunities and threats stand for the influence of external environments. In the following part of the report, the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats that have influence of the organization is discussed one by one. Internal influence: Strengths This section analyzes the internal strengths of the corporation. The General Motors are rich in brands and product lines. The General Motors Corporation acquired and mergers many brands and auto companies in the early stage of its history. The General Motors Corporation acquired Buick and Oldsmobile after it is founded. Then it brought Cadillac, Elmore and Oakland and so on. As a result, the corporation owns many brands  which are fit for different segmented markets. Comparing to Ford’s only providing black Model T cars in the early years the General Motors Corporation provides various models, colors and brands for different markets. For example, the practical and economical Chevrolet are designed for entry level consumers, the Buick are make for middle class buyer and luxury Cadillac for high end consumers. (Warell, 2008) The advantage of multi brands strategy is to satisfy the needs and wants of different group of consumers to enter more segmented markets. The multi brands make GM a giant automaker and enjoys large market share. The General Motors Corporation has the strength that it governs the advance technology and has an influencing power in the distribution channel. The General Motors Corporation has developed for a century since it is founded in 1908. During the time, the technology and channel influence is accumulating and increasing. The technology is of great importance in the motor industry, but the technology accumulating needs a long period. The General Motors Corporation now governs the advanced technology that it can make more sophisticated automobiles which are more durable, more safety, and have a rapider speed. On the other hand, the General Motors Corporation has a dominant power in the distribution channel. The General Motors Corporation has been the top automobile manufacturer for a long time accordingly it has a strong bargaining power in the distribution channel. The corporation can distribute it product in the United States and all around the world. The technology and distribution chan nel can be a great assistant in the further development of the organization. Internal influence: Weaknesses This section analyzes the internal weaknesses of the corporation. One of the most significant weaknesses is that the cost of production is too high. The Japanese automakers such as Toyota are dangerous competitors for the General Motors Corporation and the have scrambled for quite a large part of market shares if the GM in America and the global markets. The Japanese competitors cut down the cost tremendously by lean production. However, the production cost is still high in the General Motors Corporation. And the inefficiency of production cause the high price of its automobiles and the market share shrinks accordingly.  (Coffey, 2005) Especially in face of the financial crisis, the General Motors Corporation has much to learn form lean production to cut down its production prices. The bureaucratic culture is another weakness in the corporation. The General Motors Corporation employs more than 260 millions staff, which composes a huge and complex organization. The General Motors Corporation had taken the lead in organization. For example, the corporation had injected into matrix organization that combined the functional and project patterns of department in the same corporation in early years. The General Motors Corporation also organized with strategic business unit that classified products and product lines in the same independent business department in ahead of other corporations. The decentralization makes each department a profit centre. However, after ages of development the departments and business units concerns more on their own benefits and become bureaucratic. The well defined division of departments and united became deficiency and resistance to change. Formal and informal networks formed in the corporation. The bureaucratic culture is accumulating and hander the further development of the corporation. External influence: Opportunities This section analyzes the external opportunities of the corporation. The emerging markets of developing countries provide a great opportunity for the General Motors Corporation. The market of developed countries is fully covered and closed to saturation in the modern days. For example, in the United States there are two cars in a family in average so the market can not keep a rapid growing rate. On the country, market in developing countries shows their potential. The sales volume in China and Brazil is second only to the market of the United States. Many international automaker groups are scrambling for these markets. The large and potential markets of developing countries will provide opportunities for the corporation. The achievement in technology is a great opportunities for the General Motors Corporation. The technology makes breakthrough achievement in fields of information, manufacturing, fuel and so on. The advance of information  technology and implementation of management information system make it possible to collect and analysis accurate data and information all around the huge organization. The computers and instant communication tool help the corporation to organize and manage the supply chain. The new methods in manufacturing, such as lean production, can increase the efficiency of production while cutting down the cost. The leading edge achievement on fuel and new energy engine can promote the upgrade of automobiles. The General Motors Corporation is huge enough to afford the cost of R&D center and the implement of new technology, which in turn can raise the competency of the corporation. (Sengi et al, 2004) External influence: Threats This section analyzes the external threats of the corporation. The increasingly growing price of petroleum is a threat to the General Motors Corporation. On the one hand, consumers turn to other transport tools when they can not afford the high petro price. On the other hand, they want to purchase energy saving automobiles. Many products of the General Motors Corporation are large in size and heavy in weight and they are high fuel consumption motors. The fluctuation of oil price has a negative effect on the sales volume of the automobile of the General Motors Corporation. Some political affaires such as wars and conflictions in the Middle East, the â€Å"oil shock† caused by OPEC with economic and political purpose, the environment protection organizations anti-automobile movement and so on, enhance the threats of oil price turbulence. The competition, both in the United States and the global market, is a vital threat to the General Motors Corporation. There are three automaker giants in the United States. They are the General Motors, Ford, and Daimler Chrysler. They compete fierce in the United States and in global market. In the Europe, there are strong competitors such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Peugeot etc. In the 1970s, with the raising of oil price, some Japanese automakers gradually seized the automobile market shares. The low cost and energy saving cars, such as Toyota, Honda and so on became world famous brands. More and more automobile brands enter into the United States and they also scramble the global automobile market. (Loomis, 2006) They compete and try to meet consumers’ different needs and wants with lower production cost. The competition in and abroad America is fierce and threats the  survival of the General Motors Corporation. The following is the second part of the report. This section of the report discusses the changing environment in and aboard the United States. First, the influences of political environment on policies and decision making to the General Motors Corporation will be analyzed. Second, the corporation response to the political environment changing will be critically evaluated. At last, some improvement suggestion for the corporation in the response of the changing political environment will be demonstrated. Influence on policies and decision makingThis section analyzes the influence of political environment change on the policies and decision making of the corporation. The political environment has great influence on the operation of the General Motors Corporation. One of the key political influences of the General Motors Corporation and automobile industry is the increased protectionism for fear of the decline of employment in the industry. The major automakers employ so many employees that the decline of automobile sales volume will cause the significant increase of unemployment in a country. As a result, many governments tend to support the automobile industry, no matter in the form of fund assistant, protective tariff or quota. The government of the United States has a tradition of protecting its automobile industry. For example, the America government used high protective tariff to protect the automakers from the competitors from Europe and Japan in the last century. The government also gave financial assistant to the automaker that is at the verge of bankruptcy such as Chrysler. In the modern time, the automakers fall into trap again and the financial crisis enhance the tendency. The America government aims to give a large quantity of money to the automakers and use other protection methods to protect the automobile industry. It can be seem that the changing of political environment has significant influence on the policy and decision making of the General Motors Corporation. (Bowler et al, 1996) However, different presents and its government in the United States may have different attitudes on the protectionism of the Automobile industry. The General Motors Corporation should take serious consideration on the change of political environment and make full use of it. The Country Alliances and Economic Blocs and other regional cooperation organizations are another main tendency of the political environment. The competition extends form national to blocs, even global. (Cho, 1998) The North American Free Trade Agreement, which including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, formed in 1994 with the purpose of freeing the trade, eliminating tax barriers and promoting fair trade in the North America. The NAFTA also extended to Free Trade Area of the Americas, which including country in the North America, Latin America and Caribbean countries. Many European countries ally with each other to form the European Union. After years of development, the union own 27 membership countries and creates a common economic area, in which people move and trade freely. There are many other Country Alliances and Economic Blocs such as Association of Southeast Asian and so on. The political tendency of regional cooperation requires the top managers of the General Motors Corporation to consider and resolve the benefit conflicts between one power countries blogs and another when making decisions and policies. The Country Alliances and Economic Blocs and other regional cooperation organizations provide opportunities for the automobile manufacturers but the organizations in other area also became threat to the United States. The decisions and policies makers of the General Motors Corporation have to make strategy to cope with the tariff and nontariff barriers within and between the Country Alliances and Economic Blocs. The corporation should rethink its strategy. (Tay, 2007) The structure of the corporation according to different regional cooperation organizations should be considered when making decisions and policies. (Sastry, 1997) The new staffing and leading methods to deal with culture diversity also influence the policy and decision making of the Genera l Motors Corporation. The labor union, environmental organization and other political groups are gaining more and more power. The United Auto Workers is a key labor union in the automobile manufacturing industry. The union fights for the benefits of workers such as less working hours, more salaries, health insurance and pensions and so on. The labor union cause the high cost of the General Motors Corporation. The total expense on employees is almost twice as much as the workers in other industry in the United States, and much more than  the employees in competitors’ factories, such as Honda and Toyota. (Benders and Morita, 2004) The union is blamed as the reason of the uncompetitive of the General Motors Corporation and the crisis of the automobile industry. However, the methods to deal with the strong political power are the problem to the policies and decisions makers of the General Motors Corporation. In 2007, the United Auto Workers went on a strike against the General Motors Corporation, which causes tremendously negative effects on the General Motors Corporation. So the policies and decisions of the corporation should balance the interest of the employees. The environmental organizations are gaining more and more power. With the increasingly dangerous environment problems, many green groups, which become independent and influencing political power, claim for the protection of the earth. Motor vehicle exhaust is considered as the main effects of the greenhouse effect. Some green groups are against the using of automobiles, which cause the decline of the automobile sales volume. As the increasing of environment protection power and the widely acceptance of the green opinion, the managers should make new policies and decisions such as designing alternative fuels vehicles. Evaluation of GM’s responseThis section critically evaluates the corporation’s response to the changing political environment. In face of the dynamic changing political environment, the General Motors Corporation makes some responses accordingly. The General Motors Corporation makes full use of the protectionism policies and financial assistance of the government to maximize its benefits. In order to be more influence in political, the General Motors Corporation spends a lot of money on political contributions. Statistics shows that the General Motors Corporation spent quite a lot of money as the political contribution for both the Democrats and the Republicans. The spending on lobbying the members of parliament is also quite large. Besides the political contributions, the General Motors Corporation also spends plenty of money on charities. For example, the General Motors Corporation is the exclusive financial source of â€Å"Safe Kids Buckle Up† program, which p rotect the children through education and inspection. The political and charitable contributions are positive and active response to the changing political environment. On the one hand, the General Motors Corporation strengthens its influence and enhances the  connection with the government. On the other hand, the corporation undertaken its social responsibility, which wins the corporation positive reputation so the General Motors Corporation can easily get the support when in crisis and consumers tend to purchase automobiles of the corporation. In the behavior of giving political and charitable contribution, the General Motors Corporation well response to the political change and gain more political influence, which helps the corporation get protection from the government. The Country Alliances and Economic Blocs and other regional cooperation organizations are a main political change these decades. In order to minimize the hindrance and the conflict between different Economic Blocs, the General Motors Corporation makes trade strategy, ally with other automaker group, and establish joint venture in some countries. For example, the United States and China have different ideologies and economic situations and they belong to different Country Alliances and Economic Blocs. The Chinese government forbids the wholly foreign owned subsidiary in the automobile industry. The China customs also charge tariff on the automobiles. In order to enter the market of other Country Alliances and Economic Blocs, the General Motors Corporation establishes joint venture with Chinese company. The Shanghai GM joint venture is created by the General Motors Corporation and a Chinese company, in which the automobiles of China’s market were manufactured. The General Motors Corporation brings advance technology, operation experience to the venture. The joint venture employs local workers whose salaries are quite low comparing with the workers of the United Auto Union. The joint venture brings profits for both sides and the General Motors Corporation avoids the high tariff and nontariff protection between different countries and different Economic Blocs. The General Motors Corporation makes an effective response to cover the gap between the Country Alliances and Economic Blocs. The labor union and environmental organization become increasingly influencing political powers. The General Motors Corporation tries hard to response properly to the increasingly strong power of the labor union. The United Auto Union is blame as the cause of uncompetitive of the General Motors Corporation for the members’ salaries in the union are much higher than its foreign competitors. The General Motors Corporation tries to cut down costs of the workforces in face of the financial crisis and problem of the automobile industry. The General Motors Corporation makes a policy of eliminating the lifetime health benefits of the white collar retirees. It is a hard decision after negotiation to response the political environment change and the automobile industry crisis. The General Motors Corporation has a long way to go, but it has taken a constructive step to response to the changing of political environment. In response to the political force of green groups, the General Motors Corporation designs energy saving vehicles which implement alternative fuels and electric. The corporation researches and designs some alternative technology vehicles and some flex fuel burning vehicles. The General Motors Corporation also builds an automotive battery laboratory to research on battery for the electric vehicles. The hybrid electric vehicles are a more practicable automobile in the future. The General Motors Corporation introduced the hybrid concept vehicle in 2005. Up to now, the corporation owes several hybrid electric automobile models and even all electric vehicles. The General Motors Corporation does a good job in developing alternative fuels and electric vehicles in response to the environment protection political power. Areas for improvementThis section demonstrates some areas for improvement of the corporation. The General Motors Corporation does well in response to the challenge of changing political environment. However, there are still some areas for improvement for the corporation. The most important improvement area is to raise the manufacturing efficiency. The average cost of manufacturing in the General Motors Corporation is high comparing with its main competitors such as Toyota. The Toyota is scrambling the market share of the GM little by little in the United States and all around the world. The competitiveness of Toyota come form the low cost caused from lean production. The core spirit of lean product is more value with less work. The purpose of production is to provide value to the final consumers. The expense for other goals is considered as a waste, by which the waste of resource is eliminated and the manufacturing efficiency promoted. It can introduce advance assembly line and reorg anize the logistic department,  through which the supply chain is organized. (Kochan, 2003) The lean production and be combined with six sigma quality and total quality management to maximize the efficiency and cut down the cost. (Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park, 2006)The General Motors Corporation can make a reform on culture. It can build a harmonious culture as in Japanese automobile manufacturing factories to coordinate the relationship and benefits between managers and workers. On the one hand, the harm of the Union Auto Workers can be minimized and the cost of manufacture can be cut down. On the other hand, the harmonious culture can promote the efficiency of manufacturing. The General Motors Corporation also needs to fight against the bureaucratic culture. The organization structure can be reformed and reconstructed break out the barriers between different departments and stimulate the cooperation of different profit centers. Different methods can also be implemented to motivate confidence, communicate and collaborate between staff in different level. ConclusionThis report analyzes the internal and external environment of the General Motors Corporation in the first paragraph and then discusses the changing political environment of the corporation. In analysis, the strengths of branding strategy and advantage in technology and channel, the weaknesses of high production cost and bureaucratic culture, the opportunities of emerging markets and achievement of technology, and the threats of petroleum price fluctuation and strong competitors are analyzed with the SWOT model. In the second part of the report, the influence of political environment change is discussed in three perspectives. They are the protectionism from government, the tendency of Country Alliances and Economic Blocs, and the growing in strength of labor union, green groups and other political groups. Their influence on policies and decision making and the response of the corporation are analyzed and critically evaluated. Then some suggestions are given on several areas for improvement of the corporation. Recommendations As is analyzed in above, the General Motors Corporation can improve in two ways. First, the corporation can introduce new manufacturing methods, such as the lean production, the six sigma quality and total  quality management and so on. By implementing advanced manufacture methods, the corporation can promote its efficiency in manufacturing while reducing the cost. Second, the corporation can build a harmonious culture and fight against the bureaucratic culture, through which the barriers between different departments are broken while the staff in the corporation is motivated. Reference: Benders, J. and Morita, M. (2004), ‘Changes in Toyota Motors’ operations management’, International Journal of Production Research, 42(3), pp: 433-45. Bowler, S. et al. (1996), ‘The growth of the political marketing industry and the California initiative proces’ European Journal of Marketing, 30(10/11), pp: 166-78. Cho, D.S. (1998), ‘From national competitiveness to bloc and global competitiveness’ Competitiveness Review, 8(1), pp: 11-23. Coffey, D. (2005), ‘Delineating comparative flexibility in car assembly: the problem of wide selection’ International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 5(1), pp: 18-31. Dahlgaard, J.J. and Dahlgaard-Park, S.M. (2006), ‘Lean production, six sigma quality, TQM and company culture’ The TQM Magazine, 18(3), pp: 263-81. Kochan, A. (2003), ‘GM creates flexible assembly line at its Ellesmere Port plant in the UK’ Assembly Automation, 23(1), pp: 32-5. Loomis, C.J. (2006), ‘The tragedy of General Motors’, Fortune, 153 (3), pp: 31-45. Sastry, M.A. (1997), ‘Problems and paradoxes in a model of punctuated organizational change’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(2), pp: 237-75. Sengir, G.H. et al (2004), ‘Modeling relationship dynamics in GM’s research-institution partnerships’, Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 15(7), pp: 541-59. Tay, H.K. (2007), ‘Rethinking competition in the world auto market: cultural determinants, strategic’ Strategy & Leadership, 35(4), pp: 31-7. Warell, A. (2008), ‘Multi-modal visual experience of brand-specific automobile design’ The TQM Journal, 20(4), pp: 356-71.

Activity Based Costing †Definition and Concept Essay

An approach to the costing and monitoring of activities which involves tracing resource consumption and costing final outputs. Resources are assigned to activities, and activities to cost objects based on consumption estimates. The latter utilise cost drivers to attach activity costs to outputs.’ Activity-based costing (ABC) is a costing methodology that identifies activities in an organization and assigns the cost of each activity with resources to all products and services according to the actual consumption by each. This model assigns more indirect costs(overhead) into direct costs compared to conventional costing. CIMA Official Terminology, 2005 A development of the principles of activity based costing (ABC) is activity based management (ABM). Operational ABM is defined as: ‘Actions, based on activity driver analysis, that increase efficiency, lower costs and/or improve asset utilisation.’ CIMA Official Terminology, 2005 Strategic ABM is defined as:‘Actions, based on activity based cost analysis, that aim to change the demand for activities so as to improve profitability.’ CIMA Official Terminology, 2005 The main focus of this topic gateway is ABC. However, the development of ABC into ABM will be discussed further under Application. The concept of ABC was first defined in the late 1980s by Robert Kaplan and William Burns. Initially ABC focused on manufacturing industry where technological developments and productivity improvements had reduced the proportion of direct labour and material costs, but increased the proportion of indirect or overhead costs. Comparison of traditional costing and ABC The traditional method of costing relied on the arbitrary addition of a proportion of overhead costs on to direct costs to attain a total product cost. The traditional approach to cost allocation relies on three basic steps. 1. Accumulate costs within a production or non-production department. 2. Allocate non-production costs to production departments. 3. Allocate the resulting production department costs to various products, services or customers. This type of costing system usually allocates costs based on a single volume measure, such as direct labour hours or machine hours. While using such a simplistic volume measure to allocate overheads as an overall cost driver, this approach seldom meets the cause-and-effect criteria desired in accurate cost allocation. This method of costing has become increasing inaccurate as the relative proportion of overhead costs has risen. This distortion of costs can result in inappropriate decision making. ABC is therefore an alternative approach to the traditional method or arbitrary allocation of overheads to product, services and customers. AIM of the model With ABC, an organization can soundly estimate the cost elements of entire products and services. That may help inform a company’s decision to either: * Identify and eliminate those products and services that are unprofitable and lower the prices of those that are overpriced (product and service portfolio aim) * Or identify and eliminate production or service processes that are ineffective and allocate processing concepts that lead to the very same product at a better yield (process re-engineering aim). In a business organization, the ABC methodology assigns an organization’s resource costs through activities to the products andservices provided to its customers. ABC is generally used as a tool for understanding product and customer cost and profitability based on the production or performing processes. As such, ABC has predominantly been used to support strategic decisions such as pricing, outsourcing, identification and measurement of process improvement initiatives. Application In contrast to traditional cost accounting systems, ABC systems first accumulate overheads for each organisational activity. They then assign the costs of these activities to products, services or customers (referred to as cost objects) causing that activity. The initial activity analysis is clearly the most difficult aspect of ABC. Activity analysis is the process of identifying appropriate output measures of activities and resources (cost drivers) and their effects on the costs of making a product or providing a service. ABC systems have the flexibility to provide special reports so that management can take decisions about the costs of designing, selling and delivering a product or service. The key aspect is that ABC focuses on accumulating costs via activities, whereas traditional cost allocation focuses on accumulating costs within functional areas. The main advantage of ABC is that it minimises or avoids distortions on product costs that might occur from arbitrary allocation of overhead costs. Steps in development of an ABC System ABC uses cost drivers to assign the costs of resources to activities and unit cost as a way of measuring an output. There are four steps to implementing ABC. 1. Identify activities The organisation needs to undertake an in-depth analysis of the operating processes of each responsibility centre. Each process might consist of one or more activities required to produce an output. 2. Assign resource costs to activities This involves tracing costs to cost objects to determine why the cost occurred. Costs can be categorised in three ways: i. Direct – costs that can be traced directly to one output. For example, the wood and paint that it takes to make a chair. ii. Indirect – costs that cannot be allocated to an individual output, that is, they benefit two or more outputs, but not all outputs. For example, maintenance costs or storage costs. iii. General/administration – costs that cannot be associated with any product or service. These costs are likely to remain unchanged, whatever output is produced. For example, salaries of administration staff, security costs or depreciation. 3. Identify outputs Identify all of the output for which an activity segment performs activities and consumes resources. Outputs might be products, services or customers. 4. Assign activity costs to outputs This is done using activity drivers. Activity drivers assign activity costs to outputs (cost objects) based on the consumption or demand for activities. ABC in practice Steps to implement Activity-Based costing 1. Identify and assess ABC needs – Determine viability of ABC method within an organization. 2. Training requirements – Basic training for all employees and workshop sessions for senior managers. 3. Define the project scope – Evaluate mission and objectives for the project. 4. Identify activities and drivers – Determine what drives what activity. 5. Create a cost and operational flow diagram – How resources and activities are related to products and services. 6. Collect data – Collecting data where the diagram shows operational relationship. 7. Build a software model, validate and reconcile. 8. Interpret results and prepare management reports. 9. Integrate data collection and reporting. ABC activities have been around for nearly 20 years and many companies in a variety of sectors have implemented activity based thinking. ABC and ABM have brought about radical changes in cost management systems. The principles and philosophies of activity based thinking apply equally to service companies, government agencies, process and manufacturing industries. Management practices and methods have changed over the last decade and will continue to change. Organisations have moved from managing vertically to managing horizontally. There has also been a move from a function orientation to a process orientation. However, management information systems to track and provide information about the horizontal aspects of business have lagged significantly behind managers’ needs. ABC and ABM fill this information gap by providing cost and operation information that mirrors a horizontal view.ABC focuses on accurate information about the true cost of products, services, processes, activities and customers. Using ABC, organisations gain a thorough understanding of their business processes and cost behaviour during ABC analysis. Management then applies this insight to improve decision making at operating and strategic levels. This is then known as ABM. Simply, ABM is ABC in action. HOW ABC IS USED IN THE ORGANISATION This detailed study of how organisations are practically applying ABC can be found on the BetterManagement.com website (to access this study you must register, and then click on the link to activity based management in the top left hand corner of the home page). Available from: www.bettermanagement.com Accessed 4 November 2008] The study was carried out in July 2005 to determine the state of ABC within over 500 organisations across numerous industries of different sizes and locations. It provides a useful and interesting insight into how ABC is used in organisations. Reported benefits †¢ ABC provides a more accurate method of costing of products and services. It allows for a better and more comprehensive understanding of overheads and what causes them to occur. †¢ It makes costly and non-value adding activities more visible, so allowing managers to focus on these areas to reduce or eliminate them. †¢ It supports other management techniques such as continuous improvement, scorecards and performance management. Reported drawbacks †¢ ABC can be difficult and time consuming to collect the data about activities and cost drivers. †¢ It can be costly to implement, run and manage an ABC system. †¢ Even in ABC some overhead costs are difficult to assign to products and customers. These costs still have to be arbitrarily applied to products and customers.

Free Essays on Corporate Power

It is widely argued that the American corporation holds undue and excessive power over government decision making. Theorists supporting this notion have pressed numerous publications, from magazines to reviews to books warning us to be weary of corporations gaining too much political power. Corporate tyranny is a thing of the past, especially in the era after the Second World War, corporate political power is maintained at a safe, fair level. There is no reason to fear corporate power. The corporation has a right to gain political power; it can be argued the corporation must do so for survival. Furthermore, the attitude of government surely does not yield excessive power to the corporations, as has been proved many times by legislative action. The origins of American fear of corporations start before the birth of America, when the Sons of Liberty staged the Boston Tea Party. Despite what our elementary school history lessons tell us, the Bostonians were mainly concerned that the East India Company had gained enough power with the colonial government to levy the tax in the first place. The real reason for their dumping thousands of pounds of tea into Boston Harbor was to act against the corporation that was gaining enough size to dominate their lives (People’s Bicentennial Commission, xii). Later on in American history, Abraham Lincoln foresaw a tyranny of corporations to come. He wrote to his friend in 1864: It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . [C]orporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. (Shaw, 40) Many other great Americans, including Thomas Je... Free Essays on Corporate Power Free Essays on Corporate Power It is widely argued that the American corporation holds undue and excessive power over government decision making. Theorists supporting this notion have pressed numerous publications, from magazines to reviews to books warning us to be weary of corporations gaining too much political power. Corporate tyranny is a thing of the past, especially in the era after the Second World War, corporate political power is maintained at a safe, fair level. There is no reason to fear corporate power. The corporation has a right to gain political power; it can be argued the corporation must do so for survival. Furthermore, the attitude of government surely does not yield excessive power to the corporations, as has been proved many times by legislative action. The origins of American fear of corporations start before the birth of America, when the Sons of Liberty staged the Boston Tea Party. Despite what our elementary school history lessons tell us, the Bostonians were mainly concerned that the East India Company had gained enough power with the colonial government to levy the tax in the first place. The real reason for their dumping thousands of pounds of tea into Boston Harbor was to act against the corporation that was gaining enough size to dominate their lives (People’s Bicentennial Commission, xii). Later on in American history, Abraham Lincoln foresaw a tyranny of corporations to come. He wrote to his friend in 1864: It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . [C]orporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. (Shaw, 40) Many other great Americans, including Thomas Je...

The Success of Amazon.com

The Success of Amazon.com The Success of Amazon.comIf one is preparing a list of top ten companies of the decade it would not be completed without Amazon.com. The company is considered one of the top in the e-commerce industry and has managed to continue its success. The journey towards the success and its continuous growth is huge if not phenomenal and it shows how difficult it is to even be in the competition in the e-commerce industry. It was in 1994 when the Internet was still a baby that Jeff Bezos founder and chief executive of Amazon.com started the company out of a garage in Seattle. At that time the Internet was new, few had access and on top buying online was something that people feared. But of course that did not stop Bezos even though he was up against the biggest bookseller in the real world 'Barnes and Nobles'. Amazon.com became one of the primary instruments of the e-commerce revolution.Robot Co-op, makes of 43 Things with Jeff Bezos.This year too Amazon.com turned a profit despite the fact th at peers and pundits of the industry were expecting losses and even fans thought that it is the beginning of the end for the company. So what is the big mystery behind this success story, how has Amazon able to pull it off when other can barely float. Jeffrey Bezos sheds some light; one of the most important factors behind the success is the continuous refining and re-evaluation of the strategies and tactics. Bezos knows that 'Internet' is a vast and complex place to do business, he is aware of the psyche of online consumers. Moreover he realizes that in this vast, complex and dynamic place you cannot have fixed and static goals and strategies, you have to keep changing yourself, change is permanent and Amazon has been successful just...

Definition and Examples of Disjuncts in English Grammar

Definition and Examples of Disjuncts in English Grammar In English grammar, a disjunct is a type of sentence adverb that comments on the content or manner of what is being said or written. Put another way, a disjunct is a word or phrase that explicitly expresses the stance of a speaker or writer. Also called a sentence adjunct or sentence modifier. Unlike adjuncts, which are  integrated into the structure of a sentence or clause, disjuncts stand outside the syntactic structure of the text they are commenting on. In effect, says David Crystal, disjuncts look down from above on a clause, making a judgment about what it is saying or how it is phrased (Making Sense of Grammar, 2004). As explained below, the two basic types of disjuncts are content disjuncts (also known as attitudinal disjuncts) and style disjuncts.   The term disjunct is sometimes also applied to any of  two or more items connected by the disjunctive conjunction or. Etymology: From the Latin, to separate Examples and Observations Without a doubt, one of the  most popular and influential television shows  from the 1960s is the original  Star Trek  series, created by Gene Roddenberry.(Kenneth Bachor, Five  Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the Original  Star Trek. Time,  September 8, 2016)Strangely enough, they have a mind to till the soil, and the love of possessions is a disease in them.(Sitting Bull, Powder River Council Speech, 1875)â€Å"As weve discussed, the information you brought us has been, shall we say, a bit thin.  To be perfectly candid, my government feels as if were being played.†(Jeffrey S. Stephens, Targets of Opportunity, 2006)But sadly, one of the problems with being on public radio is that people tend to think youre being sincere all the time.(Ira Glass, quoted by Ana Marie Cox and Joanna Dionis in Mother Jones, September-October, 1998)Regrettably, the book is no longer in print, but copies can be found in libraries and secondhand bookshops.â€Å"Well, cou ld you sleep? the Count asked the next night upon his arrival in the cage.â€Å"Quite honestly, no, Westley replied in his normal voice.(William Goldman, The Princess Bride, 1973) Hopefully, the book will inspire readers to a wider interest in weather, atmospheric science, and earth science in general.(Keay Davidson, Twister. Pocket Books, 1996)Hopefullyand Other Commentary Disjuncts- Its time to admit that hopefully has joined that class of introductory words (like fortunately, frankly, happily, honestly, sadly, seriously, and others) that we use not to describe a verb, which is what adverbs usually do, but to describe our attitude toward the statement that follows. . . . But be aware that some sticklers still take a narrow view of hopefully. Will they ever join the crowd? One can only hope.(Patricia T. OConner, Woe Is I: The Grammarphobes Guide to Better English in Plain English, rev. ed. Riverhead Books, 2003)- Long before the controversial use of hopefully came along, it was possible to marshal words like happily, fortunately, foolishly, cleverly, in dual roles, as manner adverbs or disjuncts: He spent all his money foolishly or Foolishly, he spent all his money; He landed fortunately in a haystack or He landed in a haystack, fortunately; She did not weave all of the tapestry cleverly, Cleverly, she did not weave all of the tapestry. All the howling about hopefully, all the moralizing and execration, ignored the fact that a pattern of usage already existed, and that the hated word was merely taking up an available position. Other words of the same kind are currently being treated in the same way. One of them is regretfully, which is now being used as a commentary disjunct with the meaning It is to be regretted that . . . (Regretfully, we cannot serve early morning tea). This usage might be criticized on the grounds that we already have a perfectly adequate commentary disjunct in regrettably, and that there can be no good reason for pressing an impostor into service. Users, however, are stubbornly unanswerable to the gods of good reason.(Walter Nash, An Uncommon Tongue: The Uses and Resources of English. Routledge, 1992) Style Disjuncts and Content DisjunctsThere are two kinds of disjuncts: style disjuncts and content disjuncts. Style disjuncts express comments by speakers on the style or manner in which they are speaking: frankly as in Frankly, you have no chance of winning ( I am telling you this frankly); personally in Personally, Id have nothing to do with them; with respect in With respect, it is not up to you to decide; if I may say so in They are rather rude, if I may say so; because she told me so in She wont be there, because she told me so ( I know that because she told me so). Content disjuncts comment on the content of what is being said. The most common express degrees of certainty and doubt as to what is being said: perhaps in Perhaps you can help me; undoubtedly in Undoubtedly, she is the winner; obviously in Obviously, she has no wish to help us.(Sidney Greenbaum, Adverbial. The Oxford Companion to the English Language, ed. Tom McArthur, Oxford University Press, 1992)

Dark Energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dark Energy - Essay Example Ideally, it is the volume of space that consists intrinsic basic energy. It is equivalent to vacuum energy in reality since it is the energy density of unfilled vacuum. The general relativity theory denotes that the energy will have an effect on gravity (Wang 76). Cosmological constant is characterized by negative pressure that is equivalent to its energy density. As such, it causes acceleration on the expansion of the universe. Quintessence refers to the hypothetical form of energy that can be attractive or repulsive. It is a scalar field that has its equation defined by the ratio of pressure to its density. Attraction or repulsion of this energy is dependent on the kinetic to potential energy ratio (Morrey Bsc & Morrey 112). Quintessence serves to solve part of the problems accruing from cosmological constant. Unlike cosmological constant, quintessence is a dynamic equation that varies with time. In addition, it differs from cosmological constant from the fact that it forecasts a slower increase in rate of expansion of the universe. The third alternative idea stems from the string theory. String theory stipulates that an atom’s elementary particles are dimensional swinging lines (Amendola and Tsujikawa 64). It is a quantum theory of gravity. The theory comprises configurations that define all observed basic forces and matter, but have zero cosmological constant. The methods employed in determine the above ideas are geometry of space, exploding stars and the late- time integrated Sachs- Wolfe effect (Amendola andTsujikawa 340). Exploding stars is ideally the supernovae. Type la supernovae offer a standard candle for the measurement of the distance to galaxies that are much far away. It combines the information with redshift; a measure for the speed at which galaxy recedes. Conclusively, astronomers have inference that there is a factor that is contributing to the increased velocity of the recession of galaxies. The geometry

Quality Management and Continuous Improvement Uni 2 DB SA Third Week Essay

Quality Management and Continuous Improvement Uni 2 DB SA Third Week - Essay Example changing business environment and fluctuating costs involved in product development, it may be difficult for them to charge full-rate prices in future, which eventually may affect its profitability and productivity growth. Secondly, low-price strategy carries a risk that the cost leader, in its single-minded desire to reduce costs may lose sight of changes in customer’s tastes, eventually, the company might make decisions that reduce costs but drastically affect product demand. Furthermore, competitors’ ability to imitate cost leader by lowering their cost structure is another threats posed to Aldi, they might be beaten at their own game causing them to struggle to compete in future (Hill & Gareth 2011). Aldi stores focuses on low-cost leadership strategy to win its market share and encourage customer loyalty. The company focuses on low-income customers and offers limited amounts of product assortment, which has made them a more competitive store. The low-price strategy together with discounts offered on products by Aldi has forced other organizations to lower their prices in an effort to survive in the market. Yes, this strategy affects the amount allocated on adverting because these companies tend to keep their costs low by minimizing advertising expenses on television and the internet. These organizations tend to achieve the lowest costs possible; adverts on television and the internet are associated with high costs, which these firms seek to

School Organizational Health Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

School Organizational Health - Assignment Example Curriculum, as Freiberg says, are academic standards that are adhered to by the teachers, this ensures that they meet their target at the end of the term. The Leader teacher must concentrate on this area in order to see that their institutions move to greater heights in the education graph, hence increasing the number of students joining in the institution. For example, a good institution will always have more students enrolling every year (Freiberg, 1999). The task is what we engage in our day to day activities to win our daily bread, the Leader teacher influences this difficult duty by ensuring that everything that is needed for the job is in position at the right moment, teachers are motivated to carry out their duty well and in time. For example, a head teacher who ensures that learning materials are in place at the right time and teachers are in class in time, his/her institution has a greater chance to improve amicably (Freiberg, 1999). Freiberg has put across that good relationship at work matters a lot in every organization set up, this is how people relate to an organization which is a key factor for the organization to succeed. The good relationship at work creates an excellent working environment. As a leader one should enhance good relationship at work in order to achieve the set objectives. For example, an institution with the bad teacher to student relationship always fails at the end (Freiberg, 1999). Every person has a gift that should be proud of. These are gifts that need to be natured otherwise one may never realize them at all. A teacher has a mandate to encourage the students to diversify their talents by buying the equipment needed by the institution and involve themselves in co-curriculum activities such as footballs, netballs etc. For example, students cannot appreciate the facility if their talents are not enhanced at all (Freiberg, 1999).

The Political Economy of Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Political Economy of Communication - Essay Example By adopting Mosco’s process of commodification, it is evident that Google’s value addition outcomes from its advertising ventures can be directly linked to its commodification of the users of Google on an extensive level. Due to Google’s online platform popularity and accessibility, a lot of firms use this venue as an advertising forum. The number of Google users are so many such that it makes the company an efficient advertising avenue for companies and in so doing, commodifies its users at a level above that of conventional advertising media. In addition, Google employs a valorization process that enhances its ability to reap more profits and revenue than conventional media platforms. Its commodification of the users is also identified via its ability to calculate the advertising costs accurately and personalizing strategies for advertisements, which are largely due to its unlimited access to consumer behavior data. Also, the company’s vague differentiation between serviced content and advertisements for goods and services on its platform, clearly results in the intense commodification of its users and their online activities. However, the most intense commodification identified with the activities of Google has to be those related with its sale of keywords to advertisement companies. The advertisers then link the advertisements to the output of search data and are valued with regards to their popularity on the Google online platform. This behavior of intense corporate capitalism at the expense of the rights of consumers (privacy) has been termed as commodification of user behavior at its worst, and highlights the importance and relevance of PEC/M in modern times. Besides advertisements, Google maps and its application constitutes part of the company’s main activities and revenue sources. In accordance with Mosco’s definition of spatialization, it is mainly concerned

Evaluate the role of the WHO in global health governance Essay

Evaluate the role of the WHO in global health governance - Essay Example This has resultantly called for the reassessment of the rules and institutions governing healthy policy and practice at various levels, including subnational level, national level, regional level and global level. This has been so due to a number of factors, which despite the fact that they are outsider the health sector brackets, they are progressively affecting health. Some of these factors include such as collective violence, trade and investment flows, conflict, criminal activity, communication technologies and environmental change (WHO 2010, p.1). This thus necessitates for the broadening of the agenda of public health to include the aforementioned global forces and at the same time see to it that human health is promoted and protected. It is however broadly believed that the international health governance system is not sufficiently meeting these needs and besides, this current system is characterised by a number of gaps and shortcomings. As a result of these perceived shortcom ings, the concept of global health governance has become a key interest area of debate in the field of international health. ... New health challenges, the likes of rising non-communicable chronic diseases and global warming have been looming on the horizon. This has greatly affected the role of the World Health Organisation (WHO) of availing leadership on worldwide health matter and moulding the health research agenda in a negative way. Having been founded in the aftermath of the World War II, WHO has been dedicated to making improvements in global health through its involvement in various public health initiatives, offering technical support and at times material aid geared towards helping in the fight against infectious and chronic diseases (WHO 1983, p.6). Role of the WHO Being the organisation of nation states aimed at promoting global health, WHO is an actor that focuses on the apprehension of social right in the health arena. Apart from being a core objective of the organisation, health for all is also an established principal wish of national and international health activities by all the world’ s nations. Undeniably, it is common knowledge that WHO’s primary function is to direct and coordinate matters concerning international health. Nevertheless, this intergovernmental organisation is obliged to see through the fulfilment of a considerably stout normative responsibility in the creation of health-related standards that strongly enhance cooperation (Burci & Vignes 2004, p.124). Among the key roles of the WHO was the creation of health-related legal instruments including such as agreements, regulations, conventions and recommendations which would permit it exercise rational and legal authority. Since it had been obliged with ensuring the improvement of the global health grants, this

1000 words Health Promotion in the Workplace Essay

1000 words Health Promotion in the Workplace - Essay Example Legislations are the rules that the government creates and imposes them on all health care organizations (Ashcroft, 2007). The state does this to ensure that health care givers treat patients using the safest methods. Legislations also help to protect the rights of both patients and health care givers. Ethical issues, on the other hand, are standards that help to determine actions that may be accepted by the society (Scriven, 2010). Ethical considerations help to emphasize and complement legislations. This means that health promoters use ethics whether there are legislations or not. This is because both ethics and legislations support one another when they exist, and when one is absent, the other is applicable (Seedhouse, 2009). For example, when an individual is suffering from type 2 diabetes, ethical considerations require health care givers to maintain the confidentiality of the disease between them and patients. Legislation on the other hand prevents individuals from compelling others to inform when they are suffering from illnesses such as type 2 diabetes. State legislations help to safeguard patients from being discriminated against and from being provided with poor services in health care centres. For example, the â€Å"Equality Act of 2010† protects diabetes victims from being shown prejudice at the workplace (Kronenfeld, 2012). This rule requires employers to give diabetes patients equal employment opportunities like others who do not suffer from the illness. Legislations also enable diabetes patients to enjoy the freedom of autonomy by requiring health providers to maintain the confidentiality of patient’s information. Health care givers are not supposed to expose the diabetes condition of a patient without the consent of that recipient (Ham, 2009). Health care givers also have the right to maintain the confidentiality of their condition when they suffer

Evaluate the role of the WHO in global health governance Essay

Evaluate the role of the WHO in global health governance - Essay Example This has resultantly called for the reassessment of the rules and institutions governing healthy policy and practice at various levels, including subnational level, national level, regional level and global level. This has been so due to a number of factors, which despite the fact that they are outsider the health sector brackets, they are progressively affecting health. Some of these factors include such as collective violence, trade and investment flows, conflict, criminal activity, communication technologies and environmental change (WHO 2010, p.1). This thus necessitates for the broadening of the agenda of public health to include the aforementioned global forces and at the same time see to it that human health is promoted and protected. It is however broadly believed that the international health governance system is not sufficiently meeting these needs and besides, this current system is characterised by a number of gaps and shortcomings. As a result of these perceived shortcom ings, the concept of global health governance has become a key interest area of debate in the field of international health. ... New health challenges, the likes of rising non-communicable chronic diseases and global warming have been looming on the horizon. This has greatly affected the role of the World Health Organisation (WHO) of availing leadership on worldwide health matter and moulding the health research agenda in a negative way. Having been founded in the aftermath of the World War II, WHO has been dedicated to making improvements in global health through its involvement in various public health initiatives, offering technical support and at times material aid geared towards helping in the fight against infectious and chronic diseases (WHO 1983, p.6). Role of the WHO Being the organisation of nation states aimed at promoting global health, WHO is an actor that focuses on the apprehension of social right in the health arena. Apart from being a core objective of the organisation, health for all is also an established principal wish of national and international health activities by all the world’ s nations. Undeniably, it is common knowledge that WHO’s primary function is to direct and coordinate matters concerning international health. Nevertheless, this intergovernmental organisation is obliged to see through the fulfilment of a considerably stout normative responsibility in the creation of health-related standards that strongly enhance cooperation (Burci & Vignes 2004, p.124). Among the key roles of the WHO was the creation of health-related legal instruments including such as agreements, regulations, conventions and recommendations which would permit it exercise rational and legal authority. Since it had been obliged with ensuring the improvement of the global health grants, this

Disease Causation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Disease Causation - Essay Example The causes of the condition involves persons who smoke, people with high blood pressure, high cholesterol body levels and those suffering from diabetes. Risk factors for developing the condition depend on the individual’s age, medical condition, gender and their lifestyle choices. Most individuals especially men just like Steve are prone to acquiring the condition past the age of 50 years (Lockhart et al., 2012). Other risk factors for acquiring the condition includes diabetes, cigarette smoking, overweight and obese individuals, hypertension, high blood cholesterol levels and persons who have a history of a heart disease in the family. In regards to the information, Steve is at a great risk of acquiring the condition. Since he is overweight and lives a sedimentary life lacking any physical exercise. He is a smoker, he is also at a risk of acquiring diabetes, hypertension or a heart disease since there is a history of these chronic illnesses that are genetic (Fowkes et al., 20 13). Moreover, his blood pressure is high as it is above the normal range. Fowkes, F. G. R., Rudan, D., Rudan, I., Aboyans, V., Denenberg, J. O., McDermott, M. M., ... & Criqui, M. H. (2013). Comparison of global estimates of prevalence and risk factors for peripheral artery disease in 2000 and 2010: a systematic review and analysis.  The Lancet,  382(9901), 1329-1340. Jauch, E. C., Saver, J. L., Adams Jr, H. P., Bruno, A., Connors, J. J., Demaerschalk, B. M., ... & Yonas, H. (2013). on behalf of the American Heart Association Stroke Council, Council on Cardiovascular Nursing, Council on Peripheral Vascular Disease, and Council on Clinical Cardiology. Guidelines for the early management of patients with acute ischemic stroke: a guideline for healthcare professionals from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.  Stroke,  44(3), 870-947. Lockhart, P. B., Bolger, A. F., Papapanou, P. N., Osinbowale, O., Trevisan, M., Levison, M. E., ... & Baddour, L. M.

Social Media Essay

Social Media Essay Social media and social networking seem to play an imperative part of peoples lives around the world. There are some who debate whether it is improving or crippling communication skills. Sitting behind a computer communicating with cyber friends can be easy and fun but can weaken a persons verbal communication skills. I will not only focus on the negative impacts on communication because there are some positive impacts on communication through social media. I will explore how social media and networking strengthens and weakens communication. Communication is defined as the act or an instance of communicating; the imparting or exchange of information, ideas, or feelings. (Collins, 2009). Communication involves the transfer of meaning or information from one person or group to others. (Baack, 2012). It is an integral part of everyones life. All communication areas are significant in that each area represents a system that operates within a broader system of destination management, and contributes to its overall efficiency. However, each area of communication has its own characteristics and the knowledge of these characteristics will ultimately help establish an efficient communication pattern. There can be no argument that technology has had a major impact on the world and how people communicate. (Omrcen, 2009) Accessibility that one has to the internet through smart phones, tablets, computers, and other mobile devices has made accessing information and connecting with people a touch away in some cases. People are communicating almost all day every day through texting, e-mail, and the ever-expanding social media. Because it has had such a modern explosion in popularity and usage, social media has become the new norm when it comes to communicating everything from huge life events like engagements and the birth of children to minute particulars like what one ate for dinner. Social media has had one of the most substantial impacts on how people communicate within the past decade. The internet has a greater impact on people today than ever before. It has been a continual source of news, entertainment, and education for users around the world for more than 20 years. However, the most innovative of its technologies, social media, did not achieve mainstream popularity until about ten years ago. Facebook, Twitter, and similar services are becoming the most visited destinations on the internet. These websites allow users to quickly and easily share pictures, links, ideas, and messages with other users; theoretically facilitating social interaction. These services, through a combination of accessibility, simplicity, and intuitive design promote positive social behavior by encouraging interaction among friends, relatives, and co-workers; facilitating communication between individuals, and fostering a profound sense of community. Social media is a rising trends in the world today. Communication skills are exemplified by use of social media networking. Social media networking allows for a communication outlet. Social media is being utilized by students, parents, businesses, and religious organizations. It is being used in many forms by many different platforms for many reasons. The transmission device is anything that carries a message, including sound waves, light waves, pieces of paper, mobile-phone signals and screens, the Internet, computer monitors, billboards, radio and television signals, and an endless number of additional carriers (Baack, 2012). Social media is employing many transmission devices, including mobile devices and computers. I am interested in the role social media plays in communication because I use some form every day and notice that it is becoming a rising trend. I have found myself checking my Facebook page without even thinking about it. I have also noticed that some friends post frequently and tell everything they are doing via status updates. The social network, Twitter, appears to be one of their first choices with celebrities tweets being the topic of many news discussions. At the bottom of nearly every commercial, there is a Facebook/Twitter link. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have always encouraged their subscribers to come up with an online persona. They then build a personal network of friends that connects to an open worldwide community (Griffith Tengnah, 2009). Information is now shared freely between the two. These parties can communicate either publicly (writing on walls) or via the more discrete personal messages. Apart from connecting to a network of friends, a subscriber can join community groups with a specific interest. Here, the subscribers discuss different issues touching on that interest. More often than not, events are created where physical meetings are arranged. Briggs found out that an average Facebook user is connected to around 80 community groups (Griffith Tengnah, 2009). Most of these groups encourage the subscribers to give suggestions on how they should be run and to engage in debates. They also provide a social forum for members to interact amongst each other and with the leaders of the groups. There are other social sites like YouTube that give users a platform to upload and share videos. Here, users post videos of themselves for other users to view. YouTube has been a great platform for musicians and film producers as their fans can easily access their music videos. Other social sites like MySpace have also given users the platform to post videos on their profiles. Such sites enable easy access to a variety of videos like music, sports, documentaries, and movies. Social media has lessened the use verbal communication and increased the use of online messaging. People nowadays can have phone conversations over their computers. This has been enabled by the development of social sites such as Skype. Here, people that are connected will communicate by word of mouth. This is unlike Facebook and Twitter where the mode of communication is by writing. Most of the social sites have now incorporated webcams for their subscribers. Webcams enables friends to have a one on one conversation while at the same time watching each other. This communication is more private and very effective as subscribers get to see each other. There has really been an increase in popularity in webcam conversations. Facebook, Twitter, and Skype are popular social media platforms millions utilize daily. It is extremely rare to come across anyone in todays society who does not have an account on one of these platforms. Social media is not only people used by people but by businesses and organizations, as well. Most sites that I visit online has a link to their Facebook page, Qualman, 2009 states: Social media touches nearly every facet of our personal and business lives. In business, it is not just for Marketing and Public Relations department. Rather it is imperative for social media to be a part of the companys overall strategy. Social media is living and breathing and it touches every part of a company from Customer Service to frontline sales, even Human Resources and Information Technology. (p.13) With the rising growth of social media networking, businesses are turning to it as a means of advertisement. It allows businesses and organizations to reach millions of users on a platform they are using on a daily basis. Businesses and organizations reach numerous users on Facebook by creating pages and offering promotions and discounts to get fans. If there is someone on your page who is a fan of their page, your friends can share post that are displayed in your newsfeeds. This allows the business to reach the fan and the friends of the fans. It is important to realize that as social media evolves the realm of communication changes. The technological advances added to social media changes the way we communicate with people on daily basis. It has made communication quicker and more efficient. Social media sites like Facebook send daily reminder of friend birthdays. Instead of picking up the phone and traditionally wishing someone birthday greetings, you can simply type your birthday greeting on their page. This has eliminated the need to make a phone call or send a greeting card While receiving a birthday message from your friends online is okay, it feels impersonal. The feeling of opening a greeting card and reading a message someone picked out for you, fills my heart with warmth. That personal effect is not felt from a message left on a page I have created online and in most cases, I do not read them. Almost everyone young and old use social media in some fashion. Twitter is popular social platform for celebrities. I often watch the news and there is a story of what some celebrity tweeted to their fans or other celebrities. The use of social media and networking has elevated communication to a higher platform. It has helped social organization, businesses, churches and individuals reach audiences in which they could not reach before. It has even be used in politics with President Obama using twitter to keep Americans posted on what is happening in the government, The negative effects of social media on communication are the effect it can have on kids through cyber bullying and unwanted exposure. Younger people are using mass communication without the without realizing the consequences. (Wallis, 2012). There has been instances where young folks have committed suicide as the result of negative things that have been posted about them on the internet, Parental controls are available to ensure website are access that are inappropriate for certain age groups but they cannot protect young folks from what is being posted by their peers. Social media and networking is often used as an outlet and peers can post things that are potentially hurting to others. With the emergence and growth of social media there are benefits and disadvantages to the way communication is impacted. The real question is whether the benefits surpassed the disadvantages. I believe that the benefits of social media are helpful to the world and we communicate. As with anything, there will be disadvantages and it will be used to do things that it was not originally intended. Inmates in prison have access to social media and networking allowing them to stay connected to what is happening in the outside world. The television is slowly becoming obsolete with Facebook, Twitter and other sites providing news at faster rates then the local news at 10pm. The news station and newspaper also have Facebook and Twitter accounts that provide new stories, as they are unfolding. The ability to access social platforms via computers, tablets, and cellphones allows you access at all times throughout the day. The convenience and ease of access leads to social media and network addictions. Anyone who has a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account have seen the user who is logged in all the time. There are some users who post everything they are doing throughout the day, which can be dangerous. Facebook also lets you to make groups, have applications and have as many friends as you want this assists you with getting in touch with people who like what you like, play games online, and make additional friends. One thing it lacks in is security from pedophiles. There is no report button to report users, even if they are irritating you. It also has a social bookmarking websites, allowing you to keep your favorite websites in one place, as well as all your friends. Another wonderful idea only integrated by Facebook is the friend finder. It permits you to find friends in an instant, allowing you to connect to friends. If you page is not private and can only be accessed by your friends, when you post your everyday activities it allows users to know your location and what you are doing. If you post that you will be going on vacation for the next couple of days, it lets potential burglars know that you are not at home and can lead to your home being broken into. There is no general rulebook on the dos and donts on how to effectively use social media without making yourself vulnerable. Privacy has been become a rising issue in social media and networking with the addition of locations and gps tracking. Recently, Facebook has made it easier to understand and adjust your privacy settings but it is up to the user to ensure their privacy is protected. The best way to protect your privacy is to be mindful of what you post and who can access and view what you are posting. I suggest not posting anything on the social media and networking sites that you do not want broadcasting to everyone. Although you believe your family and friends are viewing what you are posting, anyone can access it. Communication has improved greatly by emerges and continual growth of social media. Everyone from churches to schools use it to communicate with users. Social media has evolved communication to new heights. The ease of access and growth makes it very beneficial to everyone from pastors to politicians. As social media evolves, communication will improve and continue to soar to new heights. The positive impact on communication definitely overcomes the negative and makes it very beneficial.