Educating for Leadership Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Educating for Leadership - Article Example The article is about instituting a leadership programme in a healthcare environment.   It has identified the problem of nurses lacking opportunities to practice leadership skills in schools.   It recognized the current practice of preparing nurses for leadership roles only when they have been appointed to formal leadership positions.As the paper declares  the leadership programme being espoused in the article aims to progressively develop the leadership skills of nurses early in their careers. Implicit here is that it is a long-term programme and that leadership skills are not acquired overnight but can be developed through time.   There is a need to have this programme because leadership quality impacts the quality of patient care and staff satisfaction. Various literatures cited in the article point this out.   Studies have shown the relationship between good nursing leadership and good quality nursing care.   Moreover, constructive leadership behaviours lead to increas ed patient satisfaction, reductions in patient adverse events and decreased complications in various care settings.   Effective nursing leadership resulted in staff retention.   With good nurse leaders, the quality of both patient care and patient and staff satisfaction improves.  The leadership programme described in the article was instituted at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Australia, one of the leading hospitals in teaching and research. This hospital employs over 5,000 personnel of which 2,500 are nursing staff. The programme was comprised of two parts namely, the emerging leader and the developing leader. The emerging leader was designed to foster the acquisition of the beginning leadership skills. The emerging leader workshop is done within the graduate year of the registered nurses. Among the topics included in this workshop are the principles of learning and teaching, performance assessment and conflict management. This workshop has to be completed before the participants can go to the next level of the developing leader. The developing leader workshop consists of personal, interpersonal and professional leadership skills. The personal leadership activities are targeted at developing trust and increasing self-esteem. Interpersonal leadership on the other hand, aspires to develop the nurses’ abilities to work effectively with a team and providing them with feedback with regards to their performance. The professional leadership skills are more concerned with various management tools such as introducing changes in the work environment, identifying problem areas and proposing

Federal Drug Policy Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Federal Drug Policy Paper - Essay Example Early intervention with teens and parents is recommended, and programs and grants in economically disadvantaged communities are being increased. Drugs are big business and dealers look for big markets. Many young people are introduced to drugs by a friend, but the belief that "everyone" is using drugs is a fallacy. The President's drug control policy is focused on use by young people, while drug use is often related to behavior problems as well; however, the strategy does not address this (General Accounting 2003). In fact, communities are encouraged to apply for grants to set up their own programs. In other words, the government prefers to pass the buck. According to the 2004 strategy, the drug treatment system is being expanded over five years and an increase in funds is proposed. It is also suggested that drug courts could be established at the county level with incentives for drug users in order to reduce recidivism. Once more, however, as in plans to stop drug use, the community is called upon to develop a residential, therapeutic community-type treatment campus. (Fraser 2006). Law enforcement often targets smaller issues, while larger issues get out of hand (Fraser 2006). The U.S. Government announced that it would no longer seize small shipments of Canadian pharmaceuticals at the border. Months of aggressive seizures resulted in 40,000 confiscations nationwide. Because of cheaper drugs in Canada, seniors complained about the seizures. As a deterrent to major drug cartels this action had no effect at all and only made it difficult for seniors to survive in a failing U.S. economy. It is said that the FDA and U.S. Customs illegally confiscated medications to boost U.S. sales of pharmaceuticals (Fraser 2006). Disrupting the Market Increased initiatives are intended to curtail Priority Target Organizations in the international drug trade, with more flight hours for patrolling regions with radar coverage, and with the Department of State Andean Counterdrug Initiative supporting Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela, and Panama (President's National 2004). Unfortunately, an increase in budget in these areas might close down one area and cause another one is set up immediately (Friesendorf 2007). How Does Arrest of Drug Dealers Factor into the Policy The effort to curtail access to illegal drugs has been a government initiative for many years, but for every apparently successful effort, another drug trafficking organization arises, with bribery and money laundering as well as corrupt government practices creating a financial bonanza for those in the drug trade. Establishing increased enforcement is all very well if it is successful but too often it meets the barrier of corruption. The effort to limit agricultural sources has not been successful and interferes with a cultural way of life in which a country uses the plants it grows such as coca as medicine or in cultural rituals (Friesendorf 2007). Conclusion Government studies show that drug use initiation is highest among

House On Mango Street Book Report Essay Example for Free

House On Mango Street Book Report Essay At the beginning of the story, readers learn about a girl named Esperanza whose life has always been unstable and has always been moving from house to house constantly. Benumbed by all the hardships she’s had to deal with Esperanza longs to live in a beautiful house of her own. Children in Esperanza’s neighborhood never play with the opposite sex, and the only friend Esperanza has is her little sister, whom she is ashamed to be seen with. Discouraged and degraded, Esperanza goes through life labeling herself as being uglier than everyone else; the only way she can make a friend is by giving two girls called Rachel and Lucy, five dollars to buy a new bike. Esperanza likes the way her name sounds in Spanish, but dislikes her name in English, she is always ashamed to tell people her name. Frozen in a life of poverty, Esperanza befriends a girl called Marin, who dances under streetlights at night and dreams of a man to marry her and take her away to live in the barrio. Gullible foreigners who get lost and travel to Esperanza’s neighborhood always fear getting assaulted because of its appearance; only the inhabitants of the neighborhood know the truth about everyone who lives there. Hopelessly meek, Esperanza always allows people to run over her mentally and emotionally, she only says yes to all the negative comments said to her by Rachel, Lucy, and the Superior Sister at her school. Inspired by her own life a girl named Alicia whose mother has died, overloads herself studying, going to school, and taking the role of a mother for her siblings and father in order to escape the life of poverty that seems to be destined for all Latino families. Jumping and playing, the neighborhood kids all look at clouds to entertain themselves with, one kid even calls a cloud he sees God, Kinky and grown, the girls receive a pair of high heeled shoes that fit them all perfectly; these shoes cause the girls to be warned about trouble, and cause them to receive sexual comments about themselves. Later on in the story, Esperanza’s mother buys her a new dress but no new shoes, this causes Esperanza to not want anyone to see her, but she dances with her uncle and catches the attention of a young boy. Moved by her family, Esperanza gets a new job while lying about her age, she befriends a coworker and ends up kissing him. Now frightened, Esperanza learns that her grandfather has died and sees her father cry for the first time. Obliged to believe she’s going to hell, Esperanza makes fun of her aunt one day, then find out that she has died the next day. Prior to going home one day, Esperanza gets her fortune read and is told that she is filled with jealousy, sorrow, and cares solely about luxury. Quarreling with the police Marin meets a man at a club who is then hit in a car accident and dies at the hospital because no one was able to treat him. Receiving her first crush, Esperanza admires a neighborhood punk called Sire. Sealed to an unwanted life, a mother who has just moved in speaks no English and is condemned to isolation because she yearns to return to her home country. Tortured by her husband, a woman named Rafaela is locked in her own home and cannot leave because her husband fears she’ll leave him. Unusually beautiful, a girl named Sally is beaten by her father because he doesn’t want her to bring shame to his family by getting pregnant and running off with a boy, just like her sisters did. Violently betrayed, Esperanza is sexually assaulted when she is left alone by Sally at a carnival. Waken up, Esperanza realizes Sally willingly seeks men to escape her father, and never really cared about Esperanza the way Esperanza was faithfully loyal to her. Xenon colored heart, Esperanza blames her trauma on women because they never told her the truth about sexual intercourse. Y oung and still traumatized, Esperanza realizes that whether she likes it or not, Mango street is always going to be her home, and she learns about the true, horrid experience that women have to go through. Zoo like experiences change the narrator forever and she promises to always return to Mango Street and save those who couldn’t save themselves.

What Is Talent Management?

What Is Talent Management? Chapter 1 Introduction Background of the study There has been a paradigm shift in the business environment across the world which has led to a growing demand of more efficient and phenomenal results from the scheduled operations and routine activities. This applies primarily to the field of human resource management which stands accountable for the acquisition, development, utilization and retention of the human capital. The present, as is evident, is immensely competitive, be it in terms of sourcing activities, investor relations, technological advancement or simply the workforce. The human resource managers are now faced with the double-edged sword of identifying, selecting and nurturing potential talent and also to formulate and implement pertinent strategies that can effectively contribute towards the achievement of organizational objectives. Hence, the biggest challenge that comes across the human resource panels is to get a hold of limited and thinning pool of skilled accessible candidates to replace important employees whe n they leave, hugely emphasizing the difficulty to attract, develop, motivate and retain the best employees in an organization. Authors, academicians and business experts alike maintain different views and opinions regarding the meaning of â€Å"talent†. Talent can be anything that predisposes an individual to success in a position or organization (Jason Lauritsen, 2010). The author further supports this view by stressing that talent is situational. A person can be advantageous because of his natural ability in one scenario but not necessarily in others. This means that in order to be successful that person has to be placed in a right role within an organization so that his abilities and capacities can manifest as talent to drive the success of the business. Another view maintains that talent can allegedly be a potential trait, a symptom of inherent ability, a foreshadowing of future greatness, or a way of describing an individuals early achievements or performance merits (Downey Greg, 2009). Whilst at the same time paradoxically, talent can be understood as the reason why some experts are more capable than others; unlike a concept like jeito, (a Brazilian term for knack), talent is more often than not generally very much task specific or specialized, even while a talented person is believed to be often quite versatile. Talent is specifically opposed to hard work or determination, implying that skill is primarily a mix of natural talent and hard work, in various proportions and quantum. Likely, talent is very much an idea or a skill that some people learn faster, more effortlessly, and with greater effect. In certain ways, talent can be thought of as a multiplier, enabling a person to achieve more out of formative experiences and activit ies. Keeping such ideas in mind, in the business purview, â€Å"talent management† is the process of matching capabilities with commitments (Donald H Taylor, 2007). This describes the aim of the entire talent management process. It underscores that talent management rather than being aimed at an individual focuses on the entire organization so as to ensure that the firm is able to achieve its set targets for both, the present and the future. The encompassed assumption here is that capability is based on an organizations sole source of value and competitive advantage in a developed economy: its human capital. â€Å"Talent management† comprises identifying a persons innate skills, traits, individuality and fitting him into the right work profile; every individual possesses unique talent that matches an exacting job profile and any other position will lead to discomfort (Salma Aliakabar, 2004). It therefore falls under the Management, specifically the HR Division, to situate candidates with discretion and prudence simply because a wrong fit can result in additional hiring, re-training and all such wasteful activities. â€Å"Talent management† is a complex assortment of associated HR processes that delivers an easy elementary benefit for any business (SHRM, 2009). Talent Management can be easily considered to be advantageous and important to both the organization and the workforce. The organization gains from: improved productivity and potential; an enhanced association between a persons efforts and business goals; commitment of esteemed workforce; reduced employee turnover rate; Better bench strength and an improved fit between individuals work and skills. Employees gain from: Enhanced motivation and dedication; career growth; increased awareness about and involvement in companys goals; Continued inspiration and job satisfaction. Analyst research has established that companies employing talent management strategies and solutions display superior performance than their direct competitors and the market in broad (SHRM Survey, 2009). About 83% of the large enterprises view integrated talent management as mission critical and upto 73% of HR professionals believe that talent management impacts the financial performance positively (Softscape Global HR Survey, 2009). As per the Talent Pulse Survey, (2005) about 1,400 HR professionals worldwide believed the attraction and retention of high-caliber employees as the most critical issue. These issues were further underscored by the fact that 54% of the respondents agree that talent issues have an influence on overall productivity and that there is a clear linkage between talent management and industry performance. HRVote, Human Resources magazines online voting forum reported that 44% of the respondents implied talent management and succession planning was a considerabl e challenge. According to an IDC study U.S. HR BPO 2005 Vendor Analysis: The Evolving Landscape, 37% of U.S. HR outsourcing expenses in 2004 was on HR and talent management services. Several taxing workforce problems confront HR, counting: Increased competition for skilled personnel. Imminent retirement of the â€Å"baby boomer† generation workers. Reduced levels of employee commitment. Realization of the high cost of the employee turnover. Onerous demands of managing global human capital. Necessity of succession planning. Outsourcing and off shoring practices. This necessitates novel thinking and a new charge to achieve success in an industry. These elements, coupled with the requirement to align workers directly with business goals, compel HR to progress from policy formation, cost diminution, process competence and risk management to lashing a fresh talent frame of mind in the organization. Therefore, talent management is an ongoing process that provides the optimal personnel for a particular business. Under this role, HR performs as the strategic enabler and a catalyst of talent management processes that empower the managers and workforce whilst developing business value. Taleos graphical representation stresses upon the mandate of talent management to be responsive to the organizational goals and accordingly be the driving force behind the business performance. Herein, talent management is denoted as a circular and not a linear, module of activities. In the present scenario, workforce expenditure is the prevalent category of pay out for most organizations. Automation and analysis of the recruitment and hiring processes of a firm delivers the abrupt labor force visibility and insights that are needed to notably perk up the bottom line. Performance management contributes towards the ongoing processes and activities to sustain a vast workforce. The future prospect of talent management is encompassed in the solutions planned from the scratch to provide for the business-centric operations on an integrated talent management platform. Decisions about talent management figure the competencies that companies have and their eventual achievement and from the perception of people, such decisions establish the path and pace of careers. In India currently, it may be difficult to visualize the crisis of possessing too much talent, but the first slump in the financial system, or even in a fragment of the economy will make things stand apart. Such mismatches are most definitely included in the primary problems that organizations and many large employers face. Over the precedent generation, companies specifically, seem to have jumped from surpluses of talent to shortfalls to surpluses and back to such a cycle. The challenge evident in front of the employers is to follow much more strongly the requirements for talent to evade both the shortfalls and oversupplies. Talent management is not an end in itself. It is not about fostering the growth of employees or charting succession plans. Neither is it about gaining definite benchmarks like a four percent employee turnover rate, having the most qualified and skilled personnel, or any such strategic outcome. The objective of talent management is the quite more general but valuable task of serving the business achieve its general objectives. And in the business world, that objective is to be profitable; be it in the short run or the long. What we need to attend to going onward is to ensure how to craft investments in growth affordable and fraction of that challenge embodies employee retention, making it probable to at least retain workers long enough to recover the training investments made in them. Problem Statement â€Å"Intense competition in the emerging Indian IT market has made talent retention and its management a challenge and therefore, questions the role of strategic talent management in being able to address such issues and being effective in an organizations overall effectiveness.† Talent Management has gained its fair share of fame in being effective in attracting, retaining and managing talented individuals. The Indian IT industry is marked with the following: The increased globalization has fuelled the growth as well as competition of the IT industry in India which is characterized by issues of talent retention. In spite of rising demand for talent, talent management has not yet completely arrived in India, making it all the more crucial in the current chaotic times and its effectiveness in the Indian scenario. Development of talent pools remains to be a sore issue with the HR professionals employed in the Indian IT sector. To summarize the above headings, the issue is the talent retention of skilled individuals in the Indian IT industry that leads to increased costs to an organization. The HR professionals have to engage in brainstorming activities in order to unearth ways to attract, retain and manage talents which are considered to be the biggest asset of a company today. Also, the talent management practices and their implementation in the Indian IT industry context have been far from satisfactory and add to the woes of a highly competitive market. Moreover, maintenance of talent pools so as to support succession planning and measures to integrate talent retention, employee commitment and employee involvement all stress the need to address the issue of talent management with a strategic bend. Aims and Objectives of the Study The aim of the study is to understand the importance of talent management in the current corporate scenario by collecting relevant information and enabling a better understanding of the strategic HR processes that a company can employ in order to manage and retain its key people. Aim â€Å"To understand the impaxt of a good talent management program on an organizations overall effectiveness, particularly in the case of Indian IT industry, in order to enable it to manage and retain its key resources; and gaining an understanding of the talent retention and employee involvement functions.† Objectives The objectives of the study are: To gain an understanding about talent management and its relevance to the current corporate scenario To explore the importance of talent management in the organizations overall success To study the role of strategic planning, employee retention and employee commitment in talent management To understand and evaluate the challenges faced in managing talent in the organizations today To study the role of talent management in prolonged employee satisfaction To explore the importance of talent management in the Indian IT industry and the significance of maintaining a talent pipeline for companies in the Indian IT sector To study the key drivers that lead to employee commitment crucial for a talent management system to be effective Significance of the study (to be edited upon the completion of the study) The implications of this research aim at exploring the relevance of talent management programs to the Indian IT indutry. It will assist the corporate in understanding the effectivess of framing such programs so as to be able to effeciently manage and retain its key players. Through implementation of talent management practices, the organizations efficiency is likely to increase, developing a proficient pool of skilled and talented employees which can be leveraged as a competitive strategy; making the corporate more competent to challenges in the industry. The research tests an employee commitment level to his/her organization and also aims at identifying the key drivers/attributes that propel employee commitement level in an Indian IT setting. The significance of the results mark that talent management programs are not only crucial and effective, but also cost-efficient, by maintaining a consistent pool of skilled employees tehreby reducing on the hiring, training and firing costs. In the present financial crisis effective workforce is the only difference that can make an organization carry its operations smoothly. Successful implementation of such talent management programs is of remarkable significance for the business. The research solution furthers the adoption of healthy talent management processes and its various functions to create significance for the business in achieving its ultimate goal of operational efficiency, cost control and profitability. Limitations of the study The study is subject to several limitations, some of which are highlighted as under: The study is confined to the specific organizations of the India IT sector. The finding of the study, therefore, cannot be generalized for the entire Indian scenario as a whole. Sample size, being small, is not completely representative of all the employees, employers and the HR people engaged in the Indian IT sector. All this might have affected the reliability of the results to some extent. Time as well as financial constraints are also one of the limitations of the study. Organization of the paper Chapter 2 Review of Literature 2.1 Meaning and Definition of Talent Management According to several authors, an all-encompassing definition of talent management is difficult to pin down. Lewis and Heckman (2006) pointed out that identifying an exact meaning of talent management is complicated owing to both the confusion regarding the definition of terms used and the various deviations in assumptions made by the writers who consider the issue. Lewis and Heckman further support their view by noting that the terms succession management, talent strategy and human resource planning are more often than not used interchangeably, all of which form an integral part of talent management functions. They believe that there is no clear view existing on talent management and none at all that can be considered as sufficiently strategic. As is evident, there are several approaches to talent management. One such approach identifies talent management with the traditional HR practices for instance recruitment, selection, training and performance management, among various other things (Cheese et al., 2008). This approach cannot be considered new as the traditional HR practices are becoming more decisive to a business success and hence, it is gradually getting imperative to associate such practices with the talents needed by the firms. Another varying approach towards talent management is firmly linked with the notion of HR planning, succession planning and strategic HR management (Rothwell Kazanas, 2004). These authors underscore and emphasize the strategic significance of talent management, whereas others stress upon the talent pools required for the succession planning. But this literature fall short in advancing the theory or practice of HR (Lewis Heckman, 2006). A third approach towards talent management caps on a rather general view by identifying talent management with concerns like leadership (Barner, 2006), talent pools (Michaels et al., 2001), an individuals potential (Smilansky, 2006), the development of talent (Fulmer Bleak, 2008) and the attraction and retention of personnel (Rueff Stringer, 2006). Understandably, none of the above-mentioned approaches to talent management is able to clearly define the concept of talent management or to highlight the ways of managing talent through comprehensive understanding of HR planning and practices. The third approach fails in being persuasive owing to its lack of focus and the plethora of topics covered under one head. Moreover, all these approaches overlook the strategic significance of talent management and hence, fall short of linking it with the overall business strategy thereby limiting the potential and scope of talent management and perceiving it as another HR domain. Another view deals with the task of talent management, â€Å"Talent Management is the recruitment, development and retention of individuals who consistently deliver superior performance.† (Tony Davis, 2007). The author further defines a talent management strategy as â€Å"a structured and corporate approach to the recruitment, retention and development of talented individuals within the organization.† The intent of a talent management strategy remains to ensure the employment of such personnel that will consistently deliver superior performance. The writer maintains that a talent management strategy is not an overtly intellectual concept as it is evident that highly skilled employees are expected to disproportionately contribute to an organizations successful achievement of goals and hence, become an invaluable asset in the process. The author inevitably agrees that it is a challenge to manage and retain a talented workforce and hence, terms it as a strategic issue whic h involves its own fair share of planning and execution. As per AndrÃÆ' ©s Hatum (2010), â€Å"Talent Management is a strategic activity aligned with the firms business strategy that aims to attract, develop and retain talented employees at each level of the organization.† Therefore, the talent management process is linked to an organizations business and strategic-planning processes. This approach emphasizes upon the most important aspect of talent management: the employees. The author further aligns talent management with the resource-based theory of the business which maintains that sustainable competitive advantage is in possession of the companies that nurtures resources that are valuable, rare and difficult to imitate. Talent Management is but a tool to generate and maintain such resources through its human capital. With such a view, the author has conveniently delineated the focus of talent management on the talent at the organizational level and not at the individual employee level. This definition therefore clearly defines how talent management can be used to develop an organizations talent structure by attracting, developing and training people. Such a talent structure can most definitely be the source of a sustainable competitive advantage in the current scenario. Talent Management is â€Å"a holistic approach to optimizing human capital, which enables an organization to drive short- and long-term results by building culture, engagement, capability, and capacity through integrated talent acquisition, development, and deployment processes that are aligned to business goals.†, (ASTD Research, 2009). The view focuses upon the consequences of employing talent management practices in the immediate as well as the distant future. Also, it supports talent management as being able to result in building and organizational culture that encompasses the essence of the work environment of a company. The definition also stresses upon the ability of employing talent management to enhance both the capacity and capability of individuals by appropriately matching them with the right job profile suiting their personalities. Furthermore, all such modules pertaining to talent management are to be designed keeping in view the ultimate goals of an organization thereby aligning it with the entire business strategy. Derek Stockley, (2011) defines talent management as, â€Å"A conscious, deliberate approach undertaken to attract, develop and retain people with the aptitude and abilities to meet current and future organizational needs.† He further states that â€Å"Talent management involves individual and organizational development in response to a changing and complex operating environment. It includes the creation and maintenance of a supportive, people oriented organization culture.† Derek aptly emphasizes upon the dynamic role of talent management in an ever-changing business atmosphere. The view aims at the function of talent management that leads to the development of healthy organizational culture within a business that considers the involvement of employees at a more active level. This view besides being consistent with others also, adds a new dimension to the scope of talent management thereby widening the applicability and functionality of the same. Another view maintains that â€Å"Talent Management is an oxymoron† (Davies Kourdi, 2010). The authors hold that linking talent to ‘management, a term that best describes planning, organizing, leading, directing, facilitating, and controlling a business; is absurd as talent is believed its own special ability and personal capacity for achievement. According to the writers, talent management was used first in early 1990s by an IT software firm that wanted to market a new employee database, hence, the view that talent management can be best believed to work with data and not with human capital and their potential. There are clearly several opinionated ideas of different authors on talent management. Whilst some associate it with the routine HR activity and processes and consider it as an extension to the faculty of human resource planning, others define such role as meager to the scope of talent management. They believe that limiting talent management to a specific domain is very much being unassuming and therefore, a proper sense is manifested in the term only when it is viewed as being appreciably strategically skewed. Under this dimension, the role of talent management can be considered as being fruitful in the present and the immediate future and both in the short-run and the long-run as well. 2.2 Importance of Talent Management in organizational success â€Å"Talent Management has become the lifeblood of organizations. It is often seen as a primary reason for organizational success and failure and the key source of competitive advantage.† (Silzer Dowell, 2010). The authors mutually agree that the business environment since the 1990s has been witness to several groundbreaking changes such as falling trade barriers and globalization of businesses worldwide. Such an expansion has led to increased demand for global talent which is needed to support these initiatives (Sloan, Hazucha Van Katwyk, 2003). This has further resulted in immense competition for the talent on a global scale (Michaels et al., 2001). Therefore, the ever-increasing demand for talent globally along with the widening scarcity of exceptional talent has made the organization realize both the importance and benefit of talent management practices. According to Ringo et al., (2008) as companies seek to overcome challenges coupled with globalization, changing workforce demographics and the emergence of new business models, they are looking forward to their employees as the critical source of differentiation in the market. The authors firmly believe in talent management practices and consent that investment in the same leads to an organization outperforming its peers. They also found through their research that high performing firms are more likely to invest in the talent management processes. They maintain that all organizations put into practice some form of talent management, without it they would be not capable to function. But at the same time, those that invest in an integrated set of talent management capabilities closely associated with their business strategy have a leg up against the competition. â€Å"No organization in todays economic climate can afford to invest in talent management practices without a demonstrable and significant return on investment† (Ringo et al., (2008). Organizations that are able outpace their competitors in attraction; development and retention of the best talent have a several distinct advantages: considerably lower costs, invariably higher productivity, consistently better quality, more satisfied and loyal customers, and increased financial performance (Schiemann, 2011). All such merits determine the critical path to on organizations success thereby chalking down talent management as the key driver in the entire phenomenon. Talent management, beyond any confusion, is crucial to organizational success. It can be easily considered equally important for innovation, customer satisfaction, profitability and new product development of the company (Management Study Guide, 2011). Talent and leadership continue to be inadequate. Fewer qualified personnel and leaders intend to join the workforce to replace aging workers who are on the verge of retirement. Moreover, talent management practices of the 20th century need to be relooked and worked upon to keep pace with the actuality of a rapidly varying 21st century business environment (ADP, 2010). Silzer Dowell (2010) further maintain that there are several other such factors that have contributed invariably to the growing importance of talent management in an organization: There is a widely increasing demand for talented leaders and individuals with growth of the emerging markets in the developing countries. There is an acute realization of shrinking pool of skilled, talented and experienced workforce, especially in USA, Europe and Japan. Besides, increasing complexity of global business and the emerging requirement for talented individuals that can effectively adapt to the changing business atmosphere further advocates the role of talent management in organization success. The growing need that specific organizational capabilities are needed for developing a sustainable competitive advantage in a highly competitive market and a rising call for recruitment and retention of highly skilled workers with specialized competence to build upon the future capabilities. And most importantly, the increased difficulty in retention of crucial talent as a result of a shift to a self-managed professional careers where skilled personnel aggressively pursue their careers and advancement by switching over different companies and geographic boundaries. Also, talent management has led to containment of internal costs of hiring, training and firing by focusing upon centralized shared services, outsourced functions and continual investment in the state-of-art HR practices of talent management that seeks internal hiring and retention. Talent management adds up to a number of significant human resources and management inventiveness (Derek Stockley, 2011). Organizations that properly make a decision to manage their talent (i.e. human capital) embark on a strategic analysis of their contemporary HR processes. This is to make certain that a synchronized, performance oriented approach is implemented. According to Derek Stockley (2011), most often than not, organizations adopting a talent management approach should focus on co-coordinating and incorporating, in order for it to be beneficial: Recruitment Under this the organization has to ensure that the right people are attracted to the right jobs matching their attitude and personality which will lead to â€Å"best job fit†. Retention Under which the focus lays on the development and implementation of such practices that reward and support employees. Employee development It is concerned with ensuring that incessant informal and formal learning and development continues within a firm. Leadership and high potential employee development This involves particular development programs for fostering the growth of existing and future leaders. Performance management This module primarily deals with specific processes that cultivate and sustain performance, including feedback and measurement mechanisms. Workforce planning The organization here undergoes planning for business and general variations, including the older workforce and current or future skills shortages. Culture This particularly deals with the development of a positive, progressive and high performance way of operating the processes and activities. A vital step is to recognize the personnel or workers, the people and positions that are significant to the business. It is not necessary that they need be senior personnel. Many companies lost a substantial amount of organizational knowledge in the downsizing exercises during recession a couple of years ago. The impact of the loss was not realized immediately. However, with time it became apparent to many firms their mistake, when the organizations were at a loss of people with the knowledge and skills to either anticipate or solve problems that arose. Therefore, talent management processes ensure the avoidance of such blunders by recognizing and assorting talented individuals in such a format that their real potential is unleashed and the organizations stand to gain from this. Derek further maintains that the current deliberations about skill shortages and the ageing population are also hugely forcing the organizations to focus on the talent management issue. At most of the times it becomes improbable to recruit and develop new individuals to look after the operational needs. Therefore, as a solution most of the leading firms often decide to develop and foster their own personnel, instead of making an attempt to hire highly skilled individuals. The author believes that every organization should implement talent management principles and approaches. The varied views on the importance of talent management in the organizational success all converge on a single theme that it is critical for the successful achievement of business goal and more so, in the competitive times such as these. They clearly throw light on the advantages and benefits that a firm can accrue from the efficient implementation of talent management processes and can bolster the business as well as its corporate culture. 2.3 Role of strategic planning, employee retention and employee commitment in talent management Strategic Planning The talent management approach should be strategically driven in order to be successful and effective (Silzer, Israel, Dowell, 2009). It then becomes the focus of achieving the business and talent strategy. The planning of talent management has to be done strategically in Discourse Community Analysis Draft: Die-Hard Sports Fans Discourse Community Analysis Draft: Die-Hard Sports Fans In one way or another, we have all been members of a discourse community at some point in our life. So, what is a discourse community? A discourse community is defined as a group of people involved in and communicating about a particular topic, issue, or in a particular field (Mohrenne). They share the same common goals and aspirations. It can be anything from the organizations you participate in at school, to the choir you sing with at school or church, and/or the groups or organizations you engage in at work or at home on a daily basis. According to Robert Mohrenne, John Swales suggests that a discourse community can be characterized by six distinguishing characteristics 1) a broadly agreed upon set of common public goals, 2) mechanisms of intercommunication among its members, 3) participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback, 4) one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims, 5) some specific lexis, and 6) a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise (Mohrenne). A good example of a discourse community are die-hard sports fans. Die-hard sports fans fit the description of being a discourse community because they all have the common goals of wanting to see their team dominate other teams and displaying their loyalty for their team year after year. They faithfully follow their team throughout the entire year by supporting them through the good and bad times. Die-hard fans also watch every game, know specific stats about every player on the team, and know the language and signs players and referees use on every play. Die-hard fans do not care for fans who only ride the wave of the team when they are on a winning streak. They typically call these kind of fans bandwagoners because they are not passionate or committed to the overall goals of the community. In actuality, it is somewhat hard to call yourself a die-hard fan around true die-hard fans because they tend to question the loyalty of new comers especially if they know that the person supported other teams in the past. According to my dad, Mark Jefferson, a die-hard Pittsburg Steelers fan, a die-hard fan has a ride-or-die type of attitude for their team even if theyre having an 0 -14 season. He stated that he would never jump on another teams side regardless of how bad his team is doing because he knows their potential as a team and the skills of their players. In other words, die-hard fans can clearly distinguish bandwagoners from true die-hard fans based on interest level and knowledge of the team. Die-hard sports fans also use their own language to communicate with each other during games. For example, when die-hard sports fans are preparing for and/or watching their team play, they use social media and other forms of communication to communicate their respect and admiration for their team. They might text, call, tweet, post images on Instagram, or send messages on Facebook to express their thoughts and feelings about plays, calls that referees make, or their dislike for the opposing team. They also use these methods of communication to stay in touch with each other throughout the game they are watching and throughout the season. When a die-hard fan communicates with another die-hard fan, he or she will use the language of their community. They are typically loud, uses a lot of profanity, and are very aggressive. The language die-hard sports fans use to communicate is powerful because they have the ability to bring out the best in their team and other fans and in some instance s their language can upset fans from other teams. Along with using their own language within this discourse community, die-hard fans also have a specific lexis they use to show their undying loyalty and devotion to their team. For example, they wear team jerseys and other team paraphernalia to show their support all year long. Regardless if theyre sitting at a stadium in 20-degree weather, in the comforts of their home screaming at the television, or just going to pick up items from the grocery store, die-hard fans make sure others know that they are passionate about their team. Furthermore, this public display of loyalty also gives them the opportunity to dialog and form bonds with other die-hard fans regardless if they know the person or not. In conclusion, I think die-hard sports fans is a great example of a discourse community. Its members are commonly interested in their team defeating other teams. The members have an unexplainable passion for the team (s) and/or sport (s) they support season-after-season despite their wins or losses. This type of passion for sports is what distinguishes a new fan from a fan who has supported their team for years. They have a way of communicating with one another that is unlike any other form of communication when watching sports. As a member of a family of sports fanatics (especially football), I have seen and heard the enthusiasm on the faces and in the voices of several members from this discourse community. With that being said, I understand why being a die-hard sports fan can be considered a discourse community. Works Cited Jefferson, Mark. Personal interview. 8 March 2017. Mohrenne, Robert. English 1102-Composition II. University of Central Florida, Aug. 2013, https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/984277/pages/what-is-a-discourse-community. Accessed 10 March 2017.

The Tommyknockers and Nuclear Energy :: essays research papers

The Tommyknockers and Nuclear Energy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Tommyknockers, a book seemingly about an alien ship buried in a small town in Maine that affects the townspeople, has a much deeper message about humans and our usage of nuclear energy. There is much evidence to confirm that King as strong views on nuclear power and is trying to convey them in the book.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  King’s book about himself, On Writing, includes a reference to nuclear war in a passage about his early life. â€Å"I was born in 1947 and we didn’t get our first television until 1958. The first thing I remember watching on it was Robot Monster, a film in which a guy dressed in an ape-suit with a goldfish bowl on his head-Ro-Man, he was called—ran around trying to kill the last survivors of a nuclear war. I felt this was art of quite a high nature.† (34). He later references nuclear superpowers as a fix to overpopulation and a chance to start over (202). Before getting to The Tommyknockers, King seems to have strong ideas about nuclear war. He sees it as the end of the civilization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The word â€Å"nuclear† appears 39 times in The Tommyknockers. The first mention (on page 56) speaks of fear of a power plant during an earthquake. On page 98, one of the main characters, Jim Gardener, thinks to himself â€Å"insanity of nuclear power† and proceeds to ramble on about conspiracies, meltdown cover-ups, and its overall dangers until the end of the chapter on page 114.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Internet article titled with the quote â€Å"†¦late last night and the night before†¦Ã¢â‚¬  has a lot to say about the dangers of nuclear energy being a motif in The Tommyknockers. The author makes the comparison of the way the ship changes people (known as â€Å"The Becoming†) and effects of radiation poisoning. â€Å"The Becoming† also gives people the power to build tremendous technology, such as a super hot water heater or a mind reading typewriter. However, it neglects to give them comprehension of what they are doing. The comparison to nuclear energy there is â€Å"a society of people playing around with powers they don’t understand.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In On Writing, King says â€Å"I don’t believe any novelist, even one who’s written fortyplus books, has too many thematic concerns; I have many interests, but only a few that are deep enough to power novels. These deep interests (I won’t quite call them obsessions) include how difficult it is—perhaps impossible!—to close Pandora’s technobox once it’s open (The Stand, The Tommyknockers, Firestarter) (207)† One can argue however that nuclear energy is potentially one heck of a Pandora’s box.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as the Fools of Hamlet Essay -- GCSE Cour

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as the Fools of Hamlet  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚   In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince Hamlet replaces the letter that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are carrying to England with a forgery of his own making, thus sending these two men to their deaths. He does this without giving it a second thought and never suffers from any guilt or remorse for his actions. Considering that these two men were friends from his youth, this would at first glance seem to reflect poorly on his character. However, one must consider carefully the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern before passing judgment on Hamlet.    Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent for by the King and Queen to spy on Hamlet and learn why he "puts on this confusion" (III, i.2). While some are fooled by Hamlet's act of insanity, the king is not. He is convinced that it is an act and, being a sly man himself, he suspects that Hamlet is up to something. Having obtained the throne through deceit and murder, he believes Hamlet capable of the same. While King Claudius is evil, he is not a fool and he would never have sent for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern if they were such close friends of Hamlet. They are even told outright that they will be rewarded for their efforts (II, ii. 21-6).    The very fact that they undertake this task for the king is proof enough of their lack of love and loyalty toward Hamlet. Despite their actions, Prince Hamlet gives them ample opportunity to show their loyalty by admitting that they were sent for and why. By showing so much reluctance, they show themselves to be allied with the king. Hamlet asks them to "be even and direct with me, whether you were sent for or no." But after this direct question, Rosencrantz s... ...let's warning. Either way, they are indeed fools and they die a fool's death in the end. They carry in the form of a letter, the king's command to have Hamlet beheaded upon his arrival in England. Hamlet switches the letter with a forgery and seals it with a likeness of the king's seal. The new letter orders the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, thus they handcarry their own death sentences to their executioners. A poetic justice is served to these unfaithful "friends."    Works Cited Frye, Northrop. 1991. Northrop Frye on Shakespeare   London: MacMillan. Girard, A Theater of Envy: William Shakespeare New York: Oxford University Press, 1991 Shakespeare, William. The Tradegy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark.   New York: Washington Square Press, 1992 Watts, Cedric. Hamlet Twayne New Critical Introduction to Shakespeare; Boston: Twayne, 1988.   

Justice in Tale of Two Cities

Kate Partington Mr Wood Accelerated English 11 22 February 2013 Justice is a major theme seen in The Tale of Two Cities and it connects all characters in one way or another. One character in particular, Madame Defarge, links most others together in her crazy quest for justice. In Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities, Madame Defarge responds to an injustice in a negative way after the harming of her family and goes about the wrong way of trying to get revenge, which in turn contributes to the overall plot of the story as a whole.Madame Defarge’s search for justice for her family is gone about in the wrong way. She believes that in order to get back at Darnay, she must inflict the same pain she felt upon him. â€Å"Madame Defarge is the symbol of the evils brought forth by the French Revolution,† (eNotes, 67). After the rape of her sister by Darnay’s uncle the Marquis, and the death of her brother, Defarge’s becomes obsessed with hate towards anyone related to the Marquis and then in turn to the whole aristocrat society.Defarge targets the aristocrats in a very stereotypical way, yet does not understand that what she is doing is wrong. â€Å"Madame Defarge plots the downfall of the St. Evremondes and other aristocrats with almost infinite patience, working the names of those whom she hates into her knitting. She plots Darnay's arrest in 1792 and the eventual deaths of his entire family, demonstrating the depths of her hatred,† (eNotes, 67). Her understanding of justice is completely backwards and that only continues to cause more trouble throughout the book.Madame Defarge’s search for justice is successful in her eyes, because she achieves causing pain and suffering, but then goes too far when she begins to target random people. Madame Defarge becomes so obsessed with her idea of justice that no one can hold her back in doing whatever she wants to. Defarge is obviously wrong to go on and kill innocent people, yet in her e yes it is perfectly okay because of the injustice done to her family. Madame Defarge’s acts towards justice contribute to the work as a whole because without her actions there would be essentially be no plot.Defarge is responsible for Darnays trial along with all of the murders, which make up the bulk of the story. The Darnay family is also a big part in this story, and the reader grows a kind of fondness to them. When the Darnay’s family is in danger, the reader is affected as well because of all that was invested in these characters. The reader’s feelings for hatred towards Madame Defarge and sympathy towards Darnay and his family add a great deal to the overall lesson and experience of reading the book.Without Madame Defarge and her crazy acts of justice in her own mind, the story would not be the same and would not give the reader the same benefit. Madame Defarge all in all represents much more than a scorned sister looking for revenge, she represents all th e bad in the French Revolution. She had good intentions in the beginning; just wanted to get justice for her family, much like the French Revolution had good intentions to make a better life. Yet both Madame Defarge’s plan and the French Revolution went too far than originally planned.Madame Defarge began targeting random people just because they were associated with the aristocrat class while the French Revolution did the same. Defarge’s plan was a big part of the overall plot, yet it represents the Revolution as a whole much as the whole book does. Madame Defarge and her quest for justice are a huge part of the overall plot of the story. Without many of her actions, the story as a whole would not be the same. In her search for justice, she represents much more and that in itself contributes to the plot as a symbol for the French Revolution.The injustice done to Madame Defarge continues to affect all throughout the story. Works Cited â€Å"Characters. †Ã‚  Nove ls for Students. Vol. 5. Gale Cengage, .eNotes. com. 22 Feb, 2013 http://www. enotes. com/tale-of-two-cities/ Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. Evanston: McDougal Littell, 1997. Print. Bibliography â€Å"Characters. †Ã‚  Novels for Students. Vol. 5. Gale Cengage, . eNotes. com. 22 Feb, 2013 http://www. enotes. com/tale-of-two-cities/ Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. Evanston: McDougal Littell, 1997. Print.