Unilateral Decision Making in Human Resources

Unilateral Decision Making in Human Resources Human resource management is a series of activities which first enable working people and the organisation which uses their skills to agree about the objectives and nature of their working relationship and secondly, ensure that the agreement is fulfilled Torrington and Hall (2002: 13). There has been an argument about who are the decision makers in the organisation. Is it the Management who are responsible for strategy forming and implementing the strategy or is it the employees who are the life line of the organisation who have the knowledge about the product. Who are best capable of making the decisions? In the essay there is the discussion about the various perspectives and the way decisions are taken. A brief introduction of three types of perspective: Unitary Perspective: A Unitary perspective has one source of authority and one focus of loyalty, which is why it suggests team analogy. Each accepts his place and his functions gladly, following the leadership of the one so appointed. Fox (1966) ( pg 2). Pluralistic Perspective: A Pluralist frame of reference recognises that the legitimacy and justification of trade union in our society rests not upon their protective function in labour markets or upon their success, real or supposed, in raising the share enjoyed by their members, but on social values which recognise the right of interest-group to combine and have an effective voice in their own destiny. This means having a voice in decision making. Marxist Perspective: the Marxist perspective sees the process and institution of joint regulation as an enhancement rather that reduction in managements position; at best they provide only limited and temporary accommodation of the inherent and fundamental division within capitalist based work and social structure. In the essay we would be concentrating more on unitary perspective and pluralistic perspective as they have closer relevance to the statement/argument. The essay gives the outline of how various perspectives effect the decision making process. The effects of various factors on factors like employee relations, employee contract, job regulations, and perspectives have been discussed representing them with a few examples. The corporation is the master, the employee is the servant. Because the corporation owns the means of production without which the employee could not make a living, the employee needs the corporation more than vice versa. Peter Drucker Business Capitalism Work Management regards its own unilateral decision-making over Human Resource issue as legitimate and rational; any opposition to it, either internal or external to the organisation, is seen as irrational. Managements unilateral decision making over Human Resource issue is legitimate and rational can be accepted only if the employer and employee feel that they are one big family (unitary perspective). As fox has summarised that the unitary perspective can be justified when employees and employers have a common goal and objective i.e., to maximise the success of the organisation and workers willingly accept to obey the decision taken by the management. Armstrong (1999) says that the philosophy of Human Resource Management with its emphasis on commitment and mutuality is based on the unitary perspective.fox also states that in unitary perspective there are no teams. Nor are they any outside it; the team stands alone, the members (employees) have an obligation of loyalty to their leader Fox (1966) (p.03). Therefore from the above references it is clear that the decision taken by the management is legitimate and rational and its the duty of the employees to follow it without opposing it. The employers are responsible for the effective running of the organisation and they would have a long term plans of the organisation and the decisions would be taken according to the company vision and objectives. The employees need to understand that the employers would always think to better the company and maximize the profits, opposing decisions taken by them would not only be disloyalty shown towards the organisation but also unethical practise to go against the people who have provided them with food and shelter which are the basic needs (Maslows hierarchy). The above statement is very strong in countries like India where the trade unions have more political view than the welfare of the members of the trade unions. The trade unions go on strikes just to overpower the management. States like West Bengal where the trade unions have the upper hand to the management. That is the main reason why no multinational company wants to set up their base in west Bengal. Whereas states like Karnataka where the unions are discouraged have come up because the IT industry does not encourage trade unions. It may not affect the Industry, but there would be change in the perception and image of the industry if trade unions are introduced. We must seriously consider whether it is the right time to have trade unions in the IT sector. It might hurt the industry Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO MD, Infosys Technologies (Forbes rated Infosys among the 5 best performing companies in the software and services sector in the world). The success of the organisation has been unitarist approach. Unitary perspective also overcomes the problems of disputes between rivalry unions. In this method the accountability becomes clear because everyone is assigned a responsibility. Unitary perspective approach towards job regulation is unilateral in internal regulations. A unitary approach manager takes all the decisions without the consultation of the employees as the employer would know best for the employees. If the decision would be put forward to the employees there would be conflicts of interest. For example during the recent recession period, when the companies had to lay off employees it would not be advisable for the organisation to consult its union about whom and how many are to be removed. The union which is formed for the welfare of the employees would not agree to such decisions and hence it would result in strikes (Jet Airways employees calling for a strike because 150 of its employees were given the pink slip. The organisation was going through huge losses and the only way it would reduce its loss would be by reducing its man power which was not accepted by the Union, hence it resulted in strike). Therefore it is necessary for an organisation to limits the powers of trade unions in decision making. When the Theory X and Theory Y- Mc Gregors is taken into consideration it proves that employees of Theory X would oppose any decision taken by the management as the employees under theory X dislike work and do not care about the organisation goals. Thereby it becomes necessary for the management to take the decisions and employees opposing it are seen as irrational. But the organisation does not have any control over the external Job Regulations because external job regulation consists of forces which are partially outside the enterprise. Therefore, the organisation does not have complete control over the external job regulation. In context with the labour contract, the unitary perspective manager recruits the employees for a particular assignment and when an employee enters into a contract with the employer its his/her duty/responsibility to follow instructions given by the employer, as the statement refers anyone opposing it is seen as irrational would be true because when an employee goes against the contract it is irrational or not fulfilling the terms of the contract. The method of negotiations and bargaining is not encouraged in unitary perspective because the organisations face the problem of firstly recognizing the right union (multiple numbers of unions in an organisation has increased). Therefore the only way to solve this problem would be non recognition of unions. If the management needs to make unilateral decisions which has to be accepted by the employees the decision makers need to have a few traits in them. Firstly they should have a problem solving ability and how they can fit into the wider scheme. Secondly they should have a strong desire to achieve the goals, they should be self confident and self disciplined, they should have the ability to listen and communicate effectively. Finally they should be analytical and intelligent (not to intelligent). Robert.H. David Wilson. Managing organisations. (Pg198) When Unitarism is related to the labour process it becomes clear that the management has the whole authority to make all the decisions because in it is perceived that all the raw materials, means of production and the product of labour belongs to the management. Therefore the decisions taken by the management are legitimate and rational as they own everything and anyone opposing would be considered as irrational. The statement holds true in this situation because once a person/organisation is the owner of a particular thing, he/they should have the freedom to do what he/they want to do with it, without anyones interference. When there is a problem with the organisation it is the management that is held responsible for it. For example even if an employee has faulted in his work and the customer may have some problem with it is the organisation that has to pay the compensation to the customers not the employee. The statement is only applicable for a unitary approach organisation but it has its own draw backs which are low employee morale, low productivity and absenteeism, negative attitude towards work/ job, management rivalry, disagreement, incompatibility, incongruence. There may be various reasons for the following. But to avoid the following there has to be a two way communication between the employee and the employer. The above theory can be accepted but to a certain extent as the external factors cannot be controlled by the organisation. Factors like supply, demand, government policies all play a major role in the working of an organisation. Therefore external factors cannot be considered as irrational. The organisation needs to be flexible and change accordingly to the change in external factors. According to Dunlop (1950) industrial relations system consists of three agents management organizations, workers and formal/informal ways they are organized and government agencies. The Du nlops model gives great significance to external or environmental forces. In other words, management, labor, and the government possess a shared ideology that defines their roles within the relationship and provides stability to the system. The Dunlops theory projects that all the actors have to a common understanding; they cannot work without each others support. The effect of a decision taken will have an effect on the other actors; therefore considering there interference is irrational will not help in the smooth running of the organisation. This is the reason why trade unions were formed which represents the employees. Trade unions have been recognised by all the governments. In a free market unions are encouraged as it is a symbol of democracy which allows the employees the right of expression. In the modern day business there are new techniques like Delphi method; Quality Circles are introduced for the betterment of the organisation. This shows employee participation in the de cision making process of the management has become very important; therefore the management considering any opposition from the employees as irrational will be wrong. A unitary approach becomes really hard when the company is a Multi National Company, because the business market would be different in different countries therefore having a unilateral approach may not suite the organisation. To gain a competitive edge the organisation needs to make the best use of its resources and there are more chances of mis communications in unitary approach, which may result into conflicts. A pluralistic perspective completely agrees with the above said statement as a pluralistic manager believes conflicts are inevitable. It is something that cannot be avoided. The only way the conflicts can be solved is by collective bargaining. In a collective bargaining, its a Win-Win situation for both the employers and the employees. It keeps the morale high and even the productivity high. Therefore considering any interference of the employees of the organisation as irrational cannot be justified, its the right of the employee to have a say in the decision taken by the employer as it will be the employees who would be following those decisions. Ex. If an employer decides to extend the shift (working hours) it has to be consulted with the employees as it will be them who would be working for long hours. If the decision is taken without consultation it would result in conflicts. Every organisation has a member representation of the employees because the organisations have understood the importance of employee satisfaction. Therefore the above statement cannot be agreed on if the organisation follows pluralistic approach. Workers in various countries have been opposing the unilateral decision making process. They feel the managers have been mis using their powers. Even though the management owns the organisation it can only buy the labour power it cannot buy labour because labour is not saleable, therefore the management can restrict its decisions to labour power not labour. Therefore any decision taken which affects the labour can be opposed and it would be considered as rational. When pluralism is related to job regulation as stated by Bean (2000) (p.370) it is generally conceded in the liberal democratic world that working people should have the right to participate in the making of decisions that critically affect their working lives. From the above quote it shows the importance of employee involvement in the decision making process. The employers need to understand that employees play a major role in functioning of the organisation, by involving them into the decision making process not only increases the motivation of the employees but also increase the productivity of the employees. In the modern techniques there are various methods adopted like to increase employee participation in the organisation. It may sometimes result in new fresh ideas which may work in favour of the organisation. Therefore considering ideas from the employees while making decision can be very useful. Sometimes these ideas may contradict the decisions of the management, the manage ment needs to analyse the suggestion and implement it if it is for the betterment of the organisation. The management cannot consider these ideas as irrational. While making rules for the organisations various factors influence them, factors like State, the availability of labour. Supply and demand etc. play a crucial role and none of them can be considered as irrational when they oppose the decisions made by the organisation. The draw backs with pluralistic approach would be rivalry between the trade unions, it makes it hard for the organisation to negotiate when there are more than one trade unions and hence the unions and the management would loose valuable time and money in negotiating the problems. It is the duty of the unions to act as a mediator between the employees and management, but the unions have become so political that they just see how the party(the political) party they represent is benefitted. Example. TATA Nano project was shifted from Singhur (West Bengal, India) to Gujarat (India) because the opposition party wanted to put the ruling government down. There was loss of employment for the state (west Bengal) when the company made the decision to move out, and the union did not achieve any gain out of it. Therefore it can be concluded that the unions no longer work for the welfare of the employees, they have diverted themselves to work for the political party that is supporting them. The Marxist approach states that the management makes profit by exploiting the labourers, i.e. by paying them low wage compared to the work they have done. Conclusion From the above arguments and analysis it becomes clear that the argument is an Management regards its own unilateral decision-making over Human Resource issue as legitimate and rational; any opposition to it, either internal or external to the organisation, is applicable only in Unitary Perspective but this can be implemented in very Public/Private sectors. Some organisations have been successful after adopting such approach but this method cannot be adopted in all sectors as in this fast growing business world and the rate of attrition increasing it becomes very essential for an organisation to take care of its employees and other concerns which are attached to the company, considering their opposition as irrational can be very easily be a reason for the downfall of the organisation. An organisation may enjoy supreme authority when they have a unitary approach but the organisation to decide its transfers and promotions very carefully. It would play a major role because if a manager is recruited from outside the organisation may not be able to adapt to the organisations culture and there would be regular oppositions for his decisions. From the above essay we can argue that no one type of perspective is suitable for all organisations. Some companies may adopted a particular perspective and been successful but it does not confirm that all companies will be successful by following such a perspective. An organisation may have both Theory X category employees and even Theory Y category employees, it is the responsibility of the managers to use the resources available and make the best use of them. To conclude from the above essay it can be concluded that an organisation needs to be flexible but also needs to have authority over its employees. The management needs to take suggestion from its employees but the final decision needs to be taken by the management and its the duty of the employees to follow the decisions as they are under contract/agreement with the employer to render there services to the organisation. The management can have complete control over its internal part of the organisation and anyone opposing it would be going against the contract therefore can be considered as irrational but this can be said the same towards the external forces, the management does not have complete control over them, and considering their opposition as irrational would not be appropriate. Both the perspectives have their own advantages and disadvantages, its the responsibility of the management to balance their business and make profits after all- The only and only social responsibili ty of a business is to make profits- Milton Friedman (Noble Prize in economics).

Desiderius Erasmus, the Great Humanist :: Biography Biographies Essays

Desiderius Erasmus, the Great Humanist Desiderius Erasmus was one of the great humanists. He was well educated and practice scholasticism. He was also a great writer, who wrote books of many types. He is even called the greatest European scholar of the 16th century (Britannica Macropedia). He was also courageous, as he criticized the Church harshly. It was said by R. C. Trench that "Erasmus laid the egg of the Reformation and Luther hatched it." Erasmus was the illegitimate son of a priest named Gerard. This fact would haunt him for his entire life. He feared that, if this fact was widely known, his life would be ruined. Therefore, there has been much confusion about his early life. It has been discerned that he as born in Gouda, Holland in 1469 and that he had a brother. Erasmus tried to keep all these facts hidden, confusing modern day historians. He died in 1536. Erasmus's writings included The Praise of Folly, a satire which pointed out major problems in the clergy, saying that monks were beggars, the clergy was greedy, and that the pope had no resemblance to the Apostles. He also wrote a short satirical skit in which Pope Julius II had trouble getting into heaven. In the skit, Pope Julius II is made out to be more of a Muslim than a Catholic. Writing this had to take considerable courage, for, though the Church was in decline, it still had considerable power. He also published the Greek version of the New Testament in Latin, so Europeans could read it. Erasmus was a traveller. He lived in many places in Europe at different times. He had lived in Rome, Paris, England, and many other European countries. His worked as a writer, but was dependant on gifts of nobles as most writers of the time were. In his travels he befriended many humanists. Erasmus became a humanist because of his education. He studied both ancient Greek and Latin. He had tried to be monk and a priest, but could not. He went to Paris where he mastered Latin. He received a good education there. This education, combined with his morality, made him a great humanist. He had both the knowledge and the ethics to criticize the Church (a person who lacked ethics and criticized the Church would be a hypocrite). Surprisingly, Erasmus was both tolerant and a pacifist. He, apparently, picked up these traits when in England.

Mistaken Identities: Problems of Movie Discussion Boards :: Online Cyberspace Web Essays

Mistaken Identities: Problems of Movie Discussion Boards â€Å"There’s always another mind there. Its like having the corner bar, complete with old buddies and delightful newcomers and new tools waiting to take home afresh graffiti and letters, except instead of putting on my coat, shutting the down the computer, and walking down to the corner, I just invoke my telecom program and there they are. It’s a place† is how Howard Rheingold described online communities in his essay The Virtual Community (94). Is this what the world has come to? The fact that shutting down your computer is such a horrid thought that walking down the corner to a bar or a cafà © becomes unrealistic and almost an absurd thought? That this small task has become too much effort to put forth? I would like to believe that such a mind frame does not exist throughout the population. These were just a few of the thoughts that raced through my mind after reading this essay. With Rheingold’s continual praise of online communities and in reading articles that confirm that others agree with this new lifestyle, I became extremely interested and wanted to learn more. I decided the only way to know what these communities were about was to join one. I chose Internet Movie Database (ImDb) Message board as my starting point. The topic of general film talk caught my interest. I read the posts left by those who had visited the site and found their knowledge of movies to be overwhelming. Many of the members were even able to name characters of many movies. One post was called, â€Å" Name that tagline†. It proceeded to list ten quotes from random movies. Within minutes responses were given with the answers to each quote; it was amazing that people were this indulged in movies on a daily basis. Another point I found a bit odd was the language in which the po sts were written. It was not typical everyday talk, rather highly structured, as if each person was attempting to outdo each previous post. â€Å"I realized this afternoon that the reason I can't stand him is not because he is dividing up the movie audience into marketing niches and then pandering to them. What he is doing is glomming onto daring artistic statements and movie projects that might be unprofitable if done with integrity, and guaranteeing himself a profit by dumbing them down and star sucking them up to make Oscar bait for a mass audience.

Can We Decrease Homlessness

Hicks 1 August 16, 2012 Can we decrease homelessness? The essay â€Å"A Modest Proposal† by Jonathan Swift is a brutal satire in which he suggests that the poor families should kill their young children and eat them in order to eliminate the growing number of starving citizens. At this time there was extreme poverty and a wide gap between the poor and the rich, the tenements and the landlords. Throughout the essay Swift uses satire and irony as a way to attack the indifference between classes.Swift is not seriously suggesting cannibalism; he is trying to make known the desperate state of the lower class and the need for a social and moral reform. Although this essay was written in the 1700’s we still have the same issues of homelessness and poverty in today’s modern society. Anna Quindlen Pulitzer Prize award winner author of â€Å"Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Kids,† states â€Å"Today the average homeless woman is younger than ever before, many have been in foster care or in shelters herself and so considers a chaotic childhood the norm† (345).Quindlen talks about the cycle of homelessness and poverty three hundred years after swifts essay. Smith goes to extreme measures to explain his new plan to raise the economic wellbeing of his country. He explains â€Å"what age is too young and what age is too old, in order to eat the Hicks 2 tenants children when they are at their prime juiciness. He also gives a list of suggestions on how to cook them. A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled, and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout. (350-352). Although he suggests to sell and cook the homeless babies. Swift is trying to point out the fact that reforms that would be practical and beneficial to the people are being overlooked for the convenience of the rich. Melanie Scheller author of â€Å"On The Mea ning Of Plumbing And Poverty,† writer for North Carolina Independent Weekly, state’s â€Å"My family was visibly and undeniably poor. My clothes were obviously hand-me-downs, I got free lunches at school, I went to the health depertment for immunizations† (356).Like swift Schellar emphasizes on what being in poverty and homeless is like. â€Å"It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and importuning every passenger for an alms. These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants† (349).They are trying to get people to understand that not every homeless person has a way to get out and go find work so they can go find work and provide for their f amilies. Hicks 3 Peter Singer author of â€Å"The Singer solution to world Poverty,† an Australian-born philosopher and bioethicist, states â€Å"poverty, hunger, illness, and lack of shelter, these are the things that plague a majority of the people of the world and yet most of us are not even aware of it† (359).He believes that prosperous people should donate all of the money not needed for the basic requirements of life to organizations meant to help those less fortunate that are homeless and/or in poverty. Life swift he is trying to find a way to help those whom need it. Swift says â€Å"with neither house nor clothes to cover them from the inclemencies of the weather, and the most inevitable prospect of entailing the like or greater miseries upon their breed forever† (353). Both Singer and Swift feel the need to help those less fortunate and want other people to know that they can help.The hole meaning is to try and get people to understand that not everyon e is as well of as them, that not everyone can just go off and get a job so they can provide for their families and that is why they end up in poverty and homeless. Swift says â€Å" I profess in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich† (353).If Swift was around today I believe he would be a great president for the United States of America and that he would actually make a great difference to those in poverty and homeless. Hicks 4 Works cited Ackley, Katherine Anne. Perspectives on Contemporary issues, 4th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2006. Print. Quindlen, Anne. â€Å"Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Kids. † Ackley 344-346. Scheller, Melanie. â€Å"On The meaning Of Plumbing And Poverty. † Ackley 354-357. Singer, Peter. â€Å"The Singer Solution To World Poverty. † Ackley 358-362. Swift , Jonathen. â€Å" A Modest Proposal. † Ackley 348-353.

Nineteen Minutes

The nature versus nurture conflict has continuously been a controversial subject for the public. People want to know what effects our development, personality, and especially our behavior, which seems to overlap the two. The nature side of the argument believes that a human is developed by the genes that are hard-wired into them. In other words, the reason why this human behaves the way he or she does today is because of the genes he or she were born with. On the other hand is nurture, which says a person is formed into the person they are by the environment. This suggests that a person is born with no inborn tendencies and acquire traits off of the setting and the people they are around. In Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult, Peter Houghton, the main teenage character, suddenly snaps. Prior to Peter’s murders, he showed no aggression or violence whatsoever. Even his childhood best friend, Josie, who eventually became a member of the popular crowd in school, made efforts to back him up. The sudden outburst from Peter clearly demonstrated that his environment shaped him into the killer he became. An adolescent can be bent and twisted into a completely different person. Hostile environments, like Sterling for Peter, could distort any type of personality and shape the person in undesirable ways. A famous psychologist, by the name of Sigmund Freud, believed that there was evil built in us all. People, after his time, ran with this naturist belief and also said that it is in one’s human nature to do wrong. It is a pessimistic view on the matter, however, they also say that the evil, or wrongdoing, may be brought out with time. Nonetheless, this side of the debate still thinks people are born as thieves, criminals, or in Peter’s case, murderers. Josie‘s mother, Alex, has a strong first impression, from Peter‘s childhood, as she recalls the day when Peter and Josie were playing with the firearms. Alex states, â€Å"I keep thinking about him as a little boy†¦sometimes I can still see him handing you that rifle-â€Å" (Picoult 170). Alex references the time she walked in on Peter and Josie playing with the firearms, accidently left out by Peter’s father. She associates him as a little boy and relates it to why she thinks he killed his peers in high school. This is an easy way to blame Peter, despite the fact that he has been tested before by bullies, and never showed any aggression at the time. Also, instead of blaming Peter, the finger should be pointed at Lewis Houghton. He is the one who made Peter knowledgeable about the guns at a young age, and also was irresponsible by leaving them out with kids around. If Peter’s biological genes were a factor, his aggression should have been presented at a younger age, when the bullying was excessive then too. In contrary to Freud’s theory on human development, comes behaviorism. This theory, which was created by psychologist John B. Watson, essentially states that every infant is born with a blank slate. Meaning that any personality can be molded into what its educator or environment makes it to be. The most influential element of a child’s life is clearly the parenting. This makes the child-parent bond the most important relationship a child has. The way the child is shaped dictates how he or she will view the world, and more importantly themselves. The bullying was immediate for Peter. His first day, on the bus to school, resulted in a lost lunchbox and a few tears. The bullying continued and Peter’s parents were notified. How Lewis and Lacy Houghton handled the situation is vital. After the unpleasant incident, in a conversation with Peter, Lacy replies, â€Å"I know about the lunch boxes. I know what’s been going on with [the bullying]†¦The next time it happens, you have to stick up for yourself. You have to, Peter, or I†¦I’m going to have to punish you† (Picoult 73). The sudden change in Peter’s guidance is drastic. This new approach for Peter suddenly makes violence acceptable. Even though Peter doesn’t show it right away, due to shyness, a seed is planted which ultimately grows into the violence he displayed the day of the massacre at Sterling High. This type of shaping taught the child to become violent since he was not already. Due to the young age, the child will obey the parenting without question, or any conscious conflict. When a child reaches adolescence, physical maturity plays a major role in a human’s development. The dramatic changes of the body are a big change for any teenager. If one’s physical development becomes delayed like Peter’s, then it can become complicated to live an ordinary high school life. During adolescence is when one determines their identity, and with Peter’s difficulty to fit in, he had trouble finding who he was. With the stress and anxiety building for Peter, he can’t even decipher if he is straight or not. The narrator states, â€Å"He just wanted to know what it was like to be among guys who were gay, and totally okay with it. He wanted to know if they could look at him and know, instantly, that Peter belongedâ€Å" (Picoult 231). It’s not that hitting puberty late was a bad thing for Peter, it just made it harder for him to uncover himself. He had to resort to the extreme by surrounding himself with homosexual men. Also, a run in with Mr. McCabe, a gay teacher at Sterling High, aided the discovery Peter needed to experience that he was straight all along. The confusion and delay of puberty makes it easy for a low self esteem to take place. Bullying can be another significant factor in social development. A victim of bullying usually is incapable of having a high self esteem, and sustaining a healthy lifestyle. If bullying is suspected, it is important that the victim has someone to go to. In Peter’s case he had no one. He learned early in life that he had to stick up for himself, so his parents were ruled out the equation early. If a victim of bullying cannot seek help, the bullying can cause emotional, social, and even academic problems. Peter clearly had problems in these three areas. Combine the pressure built from the bullying with no one to talk to, and Peter was a balloon ready to pop. However, Peter shows no remorse after the incident. When talking to his lawyer he states, â€Å"Why is everyone so upset that those jerks are dead? I mean people are crying over them†¦and they were assholes, Every one’s saying I ruined their lives, but no one seemed to care when my life was the one being ruined† (Picoult 134). It is clear to see the damages given to Peter over time. What once seemed like a kid who wouldn’t hurt a fly, is now a kid who shows no remorse and is forced to play survival of the fittest. With Peter Houghton as a prime example it is evident that nurture takes its course. It’s not that Peter became one of the bullies, rather than he adapted to the dog eat dog world. Any parent imagines the potential their baby boy or girl can have when it is born. Some kids may be ignored, steered in the wrong direction, or bullied at school. No one can say what his or her child will be like before he or she is born. Nonetheless, every infant learns. What they learn makes up the world, but they must make up their selves first. The environment around a child is critical to the learning and shaping he or she endures.

How Sports Can Improve Team Relations

Team sports are a great fun way to instil strong teamwork values in staff that have to work effectively together off the field. Team Sport Spirit As a sports team functions in much a similar way to a workplace team – with members cooperating with one another to achieve a common goal, sport participation is a good way of further instilling the important principles of teamwork in a group. A lot of the same rules of the workplace team can be played out on the field or court. For example, if one person fails to pull their weight then the whole team performance will suffer. And conversely if one individual dominates then the performance of others will be adversely affected. Feeling undervalued and second best, their morale and motivation will droop. In both arenas the only way to achieve a victory is with a team working in harmony and on equal terms with one another. As with sport, a team may comprise of the most brilliant individual talents but if they don’t work well together then the team will be worthless. The Mechanics of a Good Team It’s easy to accept that the key lessons of team sport are the same as those in the workplace, but beyond that what can sport teach employees about teams that they can’t pick up in the workplace? For starters, the benefit of taking team relations out onto the field is in providing a more direct and boiled down display of how a team should function. On the field success is made or broken based on the effort – or lack of – of the competing players. If there are any weak links on the field, for example, then the upshot will be swift and decisive. It’s not so clear cut in the workplace where success and failure is not judged in super fast one hours bursts. Lazy individual members can generally drag the team down for a long time before the negative effects become apparent. Therefore by participating in sports, team members learn the effectiveness of ‘pulling together’ in achieving a goal and hopefully apply the same principles to their work. Team Bonding and Communication Team sports not only instil a belief in the power of effective teamwork but also they help improve team bonding and the relationships between team members, so that they can better achieve that goal. Encouraging staff to participate in team sports together on a regular basis is an excellent way to allow team members to get to know one another better and build up stronger and more productive relationships both on the field and in the workplace. Sport promotes a numbers of qualities that are valuable in the office, such as trust, respect, effective communication and good old fashioned comradeship. If team members find success together on the football field or badminton court, for example, then the bond they form with one another will hold strong in the workplace context. Often it doesn’t even matter whether certain people don’t get on in the workplace. On the sports field there is no room for frosty relations – for the sake of the team players must put their differences aside and cooperate. Hopefully success together can help people to put their petty differences aside off the field too.

Cultural Identity

Ticia R. Grant June, 1, 2011 Bridging Course for Women Assignment #2 Course Director: Brenda L. Blondeau The Consequence of Cultural Identity To understand the significant effect that our cultural background has on our identity, we must acknowledge the advantages provided by the sense of unity, of belonging to something bigger, and of collectively sharing a heritage with others. In contrast, someone who feels disconnected with said heritage might feel deprived of that highly sought after sense of belonging, which in turn can lead to a feeling of not knowing who they should e, a lack of identity. It is the causes and effects of this conflict that Apryl Gladue describes in her writing, and she makes the clear argument that the cycle of deprivation of her predecessor’s native culture is likely to keep repeating itself. This, in essence, is cause of the mourning of â€Å"paper† Indians. Gladue coins this term â€Å"paper Indians† which she uses to refer to Native Ame ricans who have learned their culture only through classes, in school and on paper. The term is also meaningful in the sense that according to overnment documentation, she is of Native status; however she was not raised or brought up as such. In addition to outlining the difficulties she has faced in losing her mother and her connection to her heritage, she also speaks of her triumphs despite her crises of identity. To quote Gladue on page 206 she writes â€Å"Unsure of how to make my way in the world, I soon formed my own identity in academics. † I believe this was a defining and transitional time for Gladue, as she no longer identified herself as being either white orNative but rather as a part of the academic community, wherein nationality, creed, gender, social status and even age are often overshadowed by an individual’s intellect and ability. She describes being admitted to the legal bar and pursuing a career as a civil servant as legal counsel to the DIAND, as a way of contributing her own ideas of law and policy concerning Natives in Canada, however she plainly expresses that despite her efforts she never felt like she â€Å"fit in† within her own community. This feeling of etachment, seemingly all stems back to never having been raised by a Native, as a Native, and it is this loss that plainly illustrates the permanency of this damaging cycle. I can definitely relate with the entire notion of feeling disconnected from my own culture, as I was also raised without a parent. I was raised by my mother, who was many ethnicities, but my father, who was born in Quito, Ecuador, left when I was very young. While I did learn some of the Spanish language, I was never brought up within the traditional Latin culture.Instead I was raised here, within western society and denied the opportunity to experience that part of who I am. I am reminded of this everyday by my boyfriend who was born in Spain, and his mother, who we currently reside with. T he differences in cultural behaviours and beliefs are immense, especially with regards to morality and family, in comparison to what I was taught to believe and how I was raised. To many people my features appear Hispanic, and when asked of my background I always answer â€Å"Spanish† because I do see it as part of my identity, but In terms of feeling ike I belong to the Spanish culture, I am sad to say that for me it is a reality that I will never know. The best I can do is listen to the music and learn the language to speak the native tongue of my father, who I never really knew. It is only then that I feel connected to him, to my culture and to that â€Å"something bigger† that we all seem to yearn for, however it is vital that we recognize that there are many other ways to define ourselves. References Apryl Gladeau, A Culture of Loss Canadian Woman Studies (Volume 26 3,4) pg 204- 207, 2008 Cultural Identity Losing Cultural Identity Both the authors Choy and Engkent focussed mainly on the ideas of culture, immigration and assimilation. These two essays showed that acculturation is bi-directional from both the sides and it requires neither a change value, although values may become acculturated nor the internal change. Assimilation is unidirectional, towards the dominant group and it requires change in values and the internal change. Losing cultural Identity : Immigrants always have fear that they will lose their identity when move into new society.In I'm banana and proud of it, Choy expressed his father feeling by saying that â€Å"Father used to say We lacked Taiost rituals, Taoist manners. We were, he said, â€Å"mo li. † Similarly, Engkent showed his father fear of losing cultural values and how he discouraged his wife not to learn English by saying these words † That old women will get rich doing nothing. What have these women learned ? Fan- gwei ways- make-up lipstick, smelly perfumes, fancy clothes.Once she gets through with them, they won't be Chinese about the land and the life they had been forced to leave behind. † Even the author Choy personally felt that he is caught between two cultures. He claimed himself as Banana, which means that he possessed both the Chinese physique outside and Western lifestyle inside. Acculturation of immigrants: The acculturation is process of cultural change between two different cultural groups who come in contact with each other. The media and language are greatly responsible for acculturation.In I'm a banana and proud of it, the author greatly influenced by the host culture through media. The host media like magazines, music and movies are the only choice for them to read, listen and watch. This showed great influence over immigrants soul and culture. On the other hand, there are some people unable to acculturate into new society due to greater affection towards their culture and lack of communication. In, Why My Mother Can't Speak English Engkent mother was unable to acculturate into new society. hat's why she offered. lai-shi to the officer, which means bribe in Canada even after 30 years stay in Canada. Further, she faced difficulty in learning English. The Berry (1990) psychologist defined acculturation is individuals change both by being influenced by contact with another culture and by being participants in the general acculturative changes underway in their own culture†. This means that culture is being influenced by internal force within the individual and external environmental factors.This acculturation leads to assimilation which gives either an harmony or conflict and stress. References Berry, J. W. (1990). Psychology of acculturation: Understanding individuals moving between cultures. In R. Brislin (Ed. ), Applied cross-cultural psychology. Newhury Park: SagePublications John W. Berry (2005). Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures. Retrieved from ht tp://isites. harvard. edu/fs/docs/icb. topic551691. files/Berry. pdf Cultural Identity Ticia R. Grant June, 1, 2011 Bridging Course for Women Assignment #2 Course Director: Brenda L. Blondeau The Consequence of Cultural Identity To understand the significant effect that our cultural background has on our identity, we must acknowledge the advantages provided by the sense of unity, of belonging to something bigger, and of collectively sharing a heritage with others. In contrast, someone who feels disconnected with said heritage might feel deprived of that highly sought after sense of belonging, which in turn can lead to a feeling of not knowing who they should e, a lack of identity. It is the causes and effects of this conflict that Apryl Gladue describes in her writing, and she makes the clear argument that the cycle of deprivation of her predecessor’s native culture is likely to keep repeating itself. This, in essence, is cause of the mourning of â€Å"paper† Indians. Gladue coins this term â€Å"paper Indians† which she uses to refer to Native Ame ricans who have learned their culture only through classes, in school and on paper. The term is also meaningful in the sense that according to overnment documentation, she is of Native status; however she was not raised or brought up as such. In addition to outlining the difficulties she has faced in losing her mother and her connection to her heritage, she also speaks of her triumphs despite her crises of identity. To quote Gladue on page 206 she writes â€Å"Unsure of how to make my way in the world, I soon formed my own identity in academics. † I believe this was a defining and transitional time for Gladue, as she no longer identified herself as being either white orNative but rather as a part of the academic community, wherein nationality, creed, gender, social status and even age are often overshadowed by an individual’s intellect and ability. She describes being admitted to the legal bar and pursuing a career as a civil servant as legal counsel to the DIAND, as a way of contributing her own ideas of law and policy concerning Natives in Canada, however she plainly expresses that despite her efforts she never felt like she â€Å"fit in† within her own community. This feeling of etachment, seemingly all stems back to never having been raised by a Native, as a Native, and it is this loss that plainly illustrates the permanency of this damaging cycle. I can definitely relate with the entire notion of feeling disconnected from my own culture, as I was also raised without a parent. I was raised by my mother, who was many ethnicities, but my father, who was born in Quito, Ecuador, left when I was very young. While I did learn some of the Spanish language, I was never brought up within the traditional Latin culture.Instead I was raised here, within western society and denied the opportunity to experience that part of who I am. I am reminded of this everyday by my boyfriend who was born in Spain, and his mother, who we currently reside with. T he differences in cultural behaviours and beliefs are immense, especially with regards to morality and family, in comparison to what I was taught to believe and how I was raised. To many people my features appear Hispanic, and when asked of my background I always answer â€Å"Spanish† because I do see it as part of my identity, but In terms of feeling ike I belong to the Spanish culture, I am sad to say that for me it is a reality that I will never know. The best I can do is listen to the music and learn the language to speak the native tongue of my father, who I never really knew. It is only then that I feel connected to him, to my culture and to that â€Å"something bigger† that we all seem to yearn for, however it is vital that we recognize that there are many other ways to define ourselves. References Apryl Gladeau, A Culture of Loss Canadian Woman Studies (Volume 26 3,4) pg 204- 207, 2008