Ralph’s Leadership: Lord of the Flies Essay

Throughout the book, Ralph stands for democracy, ‘we’ll have to have hands up like at school’ In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies Ralph though not the stronger person, demonstrates a better understanding of people than Jack which gives him better leadership qualities. Ralph displays these useful human qualities as a leader by working towards the betterment of the boys’ society. He knows the boys need stability and order if they are to survive on the island. He creates rules and a simple form of government to achieve this order. Jack does not treat the boys with dignity as Ralph does. Ralph understands that the boys, particularly Piggy, have to be given respect and must be treated as equals. This makes Ralph a better leader as he is able to acknowledge that he was not superior to any of the other boys. Ralph’s wisdom and ability to look to the future also make him a superior leader. Ralph has the sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. He insists on keeping the fire burning as a distress signal. Ralph’s leadership provides peace and order to the island while Jack’s leadership makes chaos. Ralph as the leader on the island shows much initiative. He takes a great deal of control and is usually the first to step up in a situation to benefit the safety of everyone on the island. ’You hunters! You can laugh! But I tell you smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one. Do all of you see?’ He spread his arms wide and turned to the whole triangle. ‘We’ve got to make smoke up there – or die.’ This quote displays how Ralph is attempting to maintain order and civilized behavior. By being the first to tell them what to do and by showing initiative and by setting goals for the boys to follow, he prepares practical plans that will help the boys get rescued. He is trying to tell them what do to help save them so they will not die. Ralph also shows an immense amount of initiative when most of the other boys are concerned with playing, having fun, and avoiding work. Ralph decides to build huts as a method of survival. For th is reason, Ralph’s authority and power over the other boys are secure at the start of the novel. This expresses how Ralph has this idea, and stuck with it for the safety of him, and the others on the island. Under Jack’s rule, the boys become uncivilized savages. They have no discipline. Ralph, however, keeps the boys under order through the meetings which he holds. At these meetings a sense of order is instilled because the boys have to wait until they hold the conch to speak. When Ralph says, â€Å"I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.† (Golding 36) he enforces his role of leader by making rules and gives the boys the stability of an authority figure, mainly himself. By doing this he wins the boys respect and confidence in his leadership abilities. Ralph uses his authority to try to improve the boys’ society. By building shelters he demonstrates his knowledge of the boys’ needs. When he says to Jack, â€Å"They talk and scream. The littluns. Even some of the others.† (Golding 56) he is referring to why the boys need shelters. They are afraid. Ralph understands that by building the shelters, t he boys will feel more secure. This illustrates his superior knowledge of people, which makes him a better leader than Jack. Jack fails to realize the boys need security, stability and order in their society. Ralph’s treatment of the boys also demonstrates his knowledge of human nature. While Jack considers the boys inferior to himself, Ralph treats the boys as equals. Ralph’s superior leadership qualities are reflected in his constant defence of Piggy. Piggy is the weakest of the group and is therefore treated unfairly much of the time. When Jack hits Piggy and breaks his glasses, Ralph calls it â€Å"A dirty trick.† (Golding 78) This shows Jack’s disregard for other humans; while at the same time demonstrates Ralph’s compassion and ability to empathize with others thus illustrating his understanding of people. Ralph’s â€Å"government† is a form of democracy which gives each boy equal rights and an ability to express themselves. Jack treats the boys, especially Piggy, as inferiors. When Jack gets meat from hunting, he gives everyone some except for Piggy. When Piggy asks for some, Jack says, â€Å"You didn’t hunt.† (Golding 80) Ralph and many of the littluns did not hunt, yet only this treatment is directed at Piggy. Jack’s contempt for Piggy shows his inability to understand people, as a good leader would take care of all of his followers. Ralph possesses this knowledge and is therefore a better leader because of it. Ralph’s common sense and ability to recognize what is best for the group as a whole further demonstrates his superior leadership skills. His main focus throughout the book is getting rescued and he puts much emphasis on this. He instructs the boys to make a fire and to keep it burning as a distress signal. When the boys do not share his enthusiasm for getting rescued, he becomes exasperated. â€Å"The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don’t keep the fire going?† (Golding 88) Ralph’s determination to get rescued is not for purely selfish reasons, but rather, it is in the best interest of the group. When the boys join Jack’s tribe; Jack only satisfies their short term wants and needs, such as the desire for meat. A good leader however, should look to the future and plan accordingly such as Ralph does. Although these choices may not always be popular, the better leader will carry out long term plans. When Piggy says â€Å"Which is better – to be a pack of painted niggers like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?† (Golding 199) he demonstrates how the boys; by not following Ralph, have been lead astray by Jack. Ralph’s main priority, which is getting off the island, is a wiser choice than for the boys to follow Jack. Unfortunately, the boys take the easier choice, which is to hunt and play games rather than keep the fire burning. Had they listened to the better leader, the novel may not have ended as tragically. Ralph’s clear understanding of people and their needs make him a far superior leader when compared with Jack. Ralph’s understanding of the boys need for stability and order through government and rules prompts him to improve the society in which they are living. Jack’s society was barbaric and savage and met none of these needs. Jack treats the boys as slaves and inferiors. Ralph’s patience and caring with the boys shows his ability to take charge and rule in an effective, yet democratic fashion. Ralph’s priority to get off the island demonstrates his wisdom and ability to make decisions. Although a good leader may not be as charismatic as a poor one, it is important to choose the leader which will meet the needs of the people. The popularity of an inferior leader soon disappears, yet the wisdom and guidance of a good leader will always remain.

Empowerment supports organisational objectives at the expense of the individual worker Essay

Companies today are designed in someway, at some level, to develop individuals either for their own sake, the company’s sake or hopefully for both. The team has become a sophisticated structure. I t is ‘finely engineered, maintained to a high standard, and when running smoothly it is highly productive’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 63). It provides an environment in which energy can be maximised towards corporate needs, which also allows the individual to satisfy his or her own needs within work, rather than only outside of it. So often seemingly dull unimaginative and uncreative employees surprise their companies when they reveal the depth of their energy outside work. However it is the ‘corporate attitudes’ (Legge, K, 1995: 104) that stifled them, and when released companies recognise they have a pool talent, a wealth of resources, at their fingertips. Empowerment has been in the ‘forefront of quality improvement efforts’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 23). Several businesses worldwide have been and still are currently closely watching quality the ability to produce superior and distinguished goods and services to meet customer needs. The commitment to quality today is very present in ‘service industries, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions’ (Mabey at el, 1998: 48). Total Quality, also known as Total Quality Management (TQM), is seen differently by different people. Empowerment has been defined in different ways. Some have claimed it is ‘a fundamentally different way of working together’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 271) and ‘quite different from the traditional notion of control’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 94). Cole (1997) is able to define the concept of empowerment as an application to ‘none managerial roles’ such as team members. However, he argues there are several possible meanings. These can range from having ‘increased authority’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 53) and therefore their ability exercise a wider range of choices at work and to be given a more varied and interesting job in the form of job enrichment. At best empowerment increases individuals discretion over how they do their work. It may also provide additional opportunities for group problem solving on operational issues. Empowerment is seen as ways of giving people more opportunity or ‘power’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 38) to exercise control over, and have responsibility for, their work. It is intended to encourage individuals to use their abilities by enabling them to take decisions. According to Potterfield (1999), empowerment will be best defined as a way of bestowing upon employees ‘the power to use more judgment and discretion in their work and to participate more fully in decisions affecting their working lives’ (Legge, K, 1995:84). Others are more sceptical. Armstrong (1996) points out that ‘Empowerment, for example, may mean little more than giving employees the opportunity to make suggestions for change’ (Armstrong, 1996: 76). In practice, empowerment is intended to release active employee engagement only so long as it falls within the parameters for which it was selected as a strategy. In most organisations it is ‘management which defines and adjudicates and ultimately exercises control’ (Armstrong, 1996: 78). The concept of empowerment ‘is based on the belief that to be successful, organisations must harness the creativity and brain power of all the employees not just a few managers’ (Graham & Bennett, 1995: 3). The idea that everybody in the business has something to contribute represents a radical shift in thinking away from the old idea that managers managed and the workforce simply followed orders. The fact that empowerment does represent a radical shift in thinking explains why, in many organisations, the initiative has failed. Empowered organizations are composed of empowered persons, although it is not necessarily true that a group of empowered persons automatically creates an empowered organization. Organizations that are ‘truly empowered have moved out of the old paradigm of competition and beliefs in limitation and scarcity’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 291). The face of the contemporary workplace is drastically changing. More and more companies are realising the value of more ‘flat democratic organisational structure’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 23) over the traditional autocratic, hierarchical management styles. In contrast to empowered workplaces, disempowered workforce suffers from poor self-esteem, lack of a personal vision and a feeling of hopelessness. These ‘attitudes and beliefs form inner barriers that block growth and proactive development’ (Legge, K, 1995: 63) and manifest in the worker in the form of reluctance to accept responsibility, hesitance to communicate openly, lack of commitment and ownership and, ultimately, in below average performance. Such employees ‘become passive passengers who are more focused on having their personal needs met than on contributing fully’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 82) so that the company can grow. Because they feel afraid, uncertain and insecure, they will unconsciously sabotage new interventions and approaches. An example of this is the resistance management often experience when implementing a ‘quality management system’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 82). In this way employees become a stumbling block to progress instead of much-valued assets. In companies where managers make a concerted effort to delegate and share power and control, the ‘results are not always impressive’ (Graham & Bennett, 1995: 93). The reason for this is either a lack of understanding of the nature of empowerment, or a greater focus on applying a set of managerial techniques than on creating conditions that are essential for empowerment to thrive. Where empowerment does not work it is because ‘people do not think it through’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997: 83). To avoid such failures it is important to gain commitment for the senior management team, and then to cascade this down to other levels of management. The hardest group to convince about empowerment are ‘middle managers’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 92), because it is their jobs that are most likely to be affected. It is because these managers often have the most to lost that they may have a tendency to undermine or delay implementation of a new policy. The implementation of empowerment in organisations instead of the traditional hierarchies means a ‘flatter organisational structure’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 57), which can give rise to considerable resentment and individual resistance. There are, naturally, many problems that can arise in the empowerment process. Many workers may ‘resist these new responsibilities’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 23); they in fact like having their decisions made for them and will resent the extra burdens (and work). There still may be those workers who resent the implications of greater self-direction, possibly even arising from an obvious fear. There is an interesting theory underlying this reaction. Maslow has called this the Jonah Complex, ‘the fear of one’s own greatness’ (Maslow, 1971: 34). While Maslow discussed this term in a more mystical, spiritual context, it is associated as a sort of classic block to self-actualisation. Since empowerment speaks to the same sort of needs as self-actualisation, it could be drawn that there is the possibility of a collective sort of Jonah Complex at the heart of many conflicts in organizational transitions. Employees may also be ‘cynical and suspicious of this approach’ (Gennard & Judge, 1997: 235, Hitchcock and Willard, 1995:27) as another way to get more work out of them for less money. However allowing employees to take an active part in the change process from the very beginning, and showing them that their organization is truly changing will remove some of their wariness. There is also the danger of the ’employees feeling too empowered’ (Legge, K, 1995: 57); in feeling so independent of other facets of the organization that there might also be troubles in transitioning to teams. Empowerment supports organisational objectives at the expense of the individual worker to ‘speed up the decision making processes and reducing operational costs’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 293) by removing unnecessary layers of management such as staff functions, quality control and checking operations. In retrospect empowerment is usually advocated to ‘release the creative and innovative capacities of employees’ (Armstrong, M, 1996:386), to provide greater job satisfaction, motivation and commitment and giving people more responsibility enables employees to gain a great sense of achievement from their work therefore. The reasons for ’empowerment emerging as a concept for our time’ (Armstrong, M, 1996:385) is the need to generate energy release in employees by providing them with visionary leadership and a supporting environment and by treating them as a valuable asset to be invested in rather then as a cost despite the fact that organisatio ns are driven by profit generating, cost reduction and market pressures. Empowerment at workplace level has ‘greater justification for management in HRM terms’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994:582). Management needs to decide how much power to delegate to employees while controlling their levels of creative energies and at the same time ‘not undermining managerial prerogatives’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 582). TQM (total quality management) ‘suggests a system whereby worker empowerment is restricted very much within the boundaries set by the management’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 582). Training can provide ‘an opportunity to empower and motivate employees’ (Honold, L, 1997). Empowering workers in this small way (i.e., schedule the training sessions) during the actual implementation of the organizational change can provide workers with a small degree of control over what is essentially a change in process over which they have no control. Empowerment can be argued ‘as an objective in its own right as a means of extending worker satisfaction’ (Gennard & Judge, 1997: 211). This can be related to the concept of Quality of Working Life (QWL). It refers primarily to how efficiency of performance depends on job satisfaction, and how to design jobs to increase satisfaction, and therefore performance. The early psychological basis of QWL and of justifications of empowerment relating to increased worker motivation was Herzberg (1968). Herzberg developed a theory called the two-factor theory of motivation. Herzberg argued that ‘job factors could be classified as to whether they contributed primarily to satisfaction or dissatisfaction’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 64). There are conditions, which result in dissatisfaction amongst employees when they are not present. If these conditions are present, this does not necessarily motivate employees. Second there are conditions, which when present in the job, build a strong level of motivation that can result in good job performance. Management very rarely discusses the practical problems in attempting to apply empowerment through ‘quality management’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997:34) therefore employee views and feelings are unheard. The argument in supporting quality management requires an increase in ‘workers skills and results in genuine employee empowerment’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997:34). However, in contrast to the optimistic approach is the argument that empowerment through quality management results in the ‘increasing subordination of employees in return for little or no extra reward’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997:35). Recently, empowerment has become ‘an important Human Resource Management tool’ (Graham & Bennett, 1995: 93) in many organisations. It has been portrayed as the ultimate tool to access unleashed potential and help leaders get the best from their people. In reality, however, organisations that are trying to empower people may be fighting an uphill battle. Managers who harbour a fear that affirmative action may jeopardise their jobs, may be more worried about keeping their jobs than about empowering others. According to Maslow (1998), people need a sense of ‘self-determination, autonomy, dignity, and responsibility’ (Legge, K, 1995: 221) to continue to function in a healthy, growth-motivated way. When placed in an environment where any or all of these qualities are removed from them and they are instead ‘forced to submit to another’s will and think and act under constant supervision’ (Legge, K, 1995: 221), their sense of esteem and self-worth is robbed from them. The implementation of empowerment can be used successfully as a HRM tool as it provides a competitive advantage ensuring ‘organisational survival’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997:25) and at the same time protecting employees jobs. However, employee’s maybe compelled to work harder and more flexibly ‘for their own good’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997:25) otherwise they might be made redundant for the greater good. The aim of empowerment is to ‘enable employees to actually have to deal with problems to implement solutions quickly and without recourse to supervisors’ (Gennard & Judge, 1997: 71) and or higher levels of management. This is increasingly necessary as large and bureaucratic organisations ‘delayer’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 91) management hierarchies in the search for administrative efficiency and lower costs. Employee empowerment is a very important aspect when considering human resource management. The failure of employers to give employees an opportunity to participate in decisions affecting their welfare ‘may encourage union member ship’ (sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 53). It is widely believed that one reason managers begin employee involvement programs and seek to empower their employees is to ‘avoid collective action by employees’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 83). Employee empowerment offers the employers and the employees the chance to be on the same level, so to speak. Empowerment allows them to help make decisions that affect themselves, as well as, the company. Basically, through empowerment, employers and employees are in a win-win situation. The ’employees feel like they are needed and wanted, while the employers gain satisfaction through their prosperity’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997: 64). Employee empowerment can be a powerful tool. The now advanced leadership style can ‘increase efficiency and effectiveness’ inside an organization (Graham & Bennett, 1995: 13). It increases productivity and reduces overhead. Overhead expenses are those needed for carrying on a business, i.e. ‘salaries, rent, heat and advertising’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997: 39). It gives managers the freedom to dedicate their time to more important matters. Managers can highlight the talents and efforts of all employees. The leader and organisation take advantage of the ‘shared knowledge of workers’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 64). Managers at the same time ‘develop their own job qualifications and skills attaining personal advancements’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 38). Empowered employees can make decisions and suggestions that will down the line improve service and support, saving money, time and disputes ‘between companies and their customers’ (Gennard & Judge, 1997: 291). Empowerment of qualified employees will provide exceptional customer service in several competitive markets; therefore it will ‘improve profits through repeated business’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 76). Customers prefer to deal with employees that have the power to manage arrangements and objections by themselves, without having to frequently inquire of their supervisors (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 76). Empowerment is a strong tool that will increase ‘revenue and improve the bottom line’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 280). Empowerment is also the best way to ‘promote a good long-lasting employee-customer relationship’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998:32). Empowerment also brings benefits to employees. It makes them feel better about their inputs to the company; it promotes a greater productivity, and provides them with a ‘sense of personal and professional balance’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 91). It exercises employees’ minds to find alternative and better ways to execute their jobs, and it increases their potential for promotions and job satisfaction. It results in ‘personal growth’ (Mabey at al, 1998: 174) since the whole process enlarges their feelings of confidence and control in themselves and their companies. It is a process that makes workers utilize their full potentials. This enables them to stay behind their decisions, assume risks, participate and take actions. It is a ‘win-win situation’ (Wilkinson, A, 1998); customers benefit from sharp employees; organizations benefit from satisfied customers and sharp employees; and employees benefit from improving their confidence and self-esteems. Benefits come with changes in the organization’s culture itself. Benefits require ‘changes in management and employees’ (Mabey at al, 1998: 54). For empowerment to succeed, the ‘management pyramid’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 54) must be inverted. Old-fashioned managers must take a step back and for the first time serve their subordinates and give up control. Old-fashioned employees must also agree to changes. They could see ’empowerment as a threat’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 147), especially if they became use to the convenient old style of management structure where the ‘rules and decisions always came from above’ (Legge, K, 1995: 94). Employee involvement and participation schemes are to ‘enhance job responsibility’ (Legge, K, 1995: 24) by providing individuals with more influence over how they perform their tasks (employee empowerment). Each individual can make a personal decision on how to perform his or her task instead of being instructed on how to do so by management. When employees are involved, they have some influence on how they perform their job. This in turn is likely to ‘increase their contentment with the job’ (Mabey at al, 1998: 134), the probability that they will remain in that job and their willingness to except changes in the task that make up the job. Individual employees are more likely to be ‘effective members of the workforce’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 76) if management taps into their knowledge of the job by seeking their opinion on how the job should be performed and how it can be organised better. For employees, the greater empowerment and control given to frontline staff and to their teams has meant a great degree of freedom than ever before in controlling their own working lives (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998:166). The power that managers have, the capacity that managers have to influence the behaviour of employees and work responsibilities, must be ‘now shared with employees’ (Gennard & Judge, 1997: 73) through the creation of trust, assurance, motivation, and support for competitive needs. Work-related decisions and full control of the work is being pushed down towards the lowest operating levels (Armstrong, M, 1996: 58). Self-conducted teams have also emerged, which are groups of empowered employees with no or very little supervision. These groups are able to ‘solve work problems, make choices on schedules and operations, learn to do other employees’ jobs, and are also held accountable and responsible for the quality of their outputs’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 12) Guest (1987) argued under ‘high commitment management’ workers would be committed to management’s vision, and that management would favour individual contracts over collective agreements as a mean of furthering worker commitment and dependence, thus making unions redundant. Employees who feel they are in a stable work environment ‘will feel more secure and empowered’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 94). Advancement opportunities and rewards/incentive programs should also be implemented, as they feed into how committed and employee feels to making positive contributions and whether or not they are recognised for their efforts. Morale, too, provides a good measure of the culture of the organisation. Organisations with a ‘restrictive, secretive environment where information is tightly controlled’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 162) will have less informed less empowered employees. Organisations with a more open environment, where ideas are encouraged from all levels will have a freer flow of information, better-informed employees, and thus higher empowerment. Through the process of employee empowerment, ’employees feel more valued’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 40) because they are able to participate in the planning process and the decision making process. Empowerment gives employees the opportunity to contribute to the company’s overall success (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 40). This helps an employee feel that he/she is truly valued, rather than that they are just a back to be stepped upon by those trying to reach the top. All in all, if the employee is happy with their job, than a paying customer will see that and want to return. Empowerment allows an employee to find ‘new ways to express their creativity’ (Armstrong, M, 1996: 161). Through creativity, employees are able to make sales or transactions an unforgettable and pleasurable experience for customers, thus ensuring the customers return. Employee empowerment can have a ‘profoundly beneficial impact on the bottom line if used correctly’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 18). Empowerment allocates responsibility to an employee and creates the motivation to surpass customer expectations. In order to keep customers for life, employers must empower their employees to make their own decisions. Empowerment gives ’employees the opportunity to make decisions and suggestions’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 39) that will down the line improve service and support, saving money, time and disputes between companies and their customers. Empowerment is an aspect, which must be considered in ‘negotiating an effective team contract’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 69) .The team must be empowered to seek and find information across the existing management structures. The communication aspect of empowerment means that the team must be clearly shown where their work adds value to the company, where their effects will show results and where their work fits in with the company’s objectives. ‘Organizations wishing to instil a culture of empowerment must find a way of establishing systems and processes that do not restrict employees. By concentrating on what behaviour is considered optimal for the employees and what they do well, management can adapt, develop and change the organizational structure to produce the sought after behaviour’ (Erstad, M, 1997). Culture changed programmes are ‘commonly promoted’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 132) to increase the power of the worker, through empowerment. However, critics have argued empowerment is a means of increasing work intensity and gaining greater managerial control over labour (Brambell, 1995, Legge, 1989). Conclusion Work place attitudes such as ‘praising teams for success and punishing teams for failure are inherent in our society’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 32) where winning and survival have become synonymous. Businesses are installing empowerment into their organisations to ‘give people more responsibility and asking them to test the corporate boundary limits’ (Graham & Bennett, 1995: 91). A t the same time, organisations are asking staff to be more entrepreneurial, and take more risks. It can be argued employees who empower themselves can be called troublemakers and those who take entrepreneurial risks and fail are referred to as failures. The business ethic which condemns failure as a bad thing is going to ‘restrict its best people’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 12), force them to avoid taking risks that may one day be beneficial and will prevent the team experiencing the excitement of the empowerment which is vital to motivation and team dynamics. The advantages gained through empowerment are numerous. Employee empowerment allows an organization to unleash the vital, untapped forces of employee creativity and motivation to solve business problems (Legge, K, 1995: 50). Empowering employee also allows them to make decisions on the spot. This is very important when you work in an industry where you work directly with a paying customer. When employees are empowered, the employer enables them to offer full service to their clients and protect them from the competition. ‘The rewards of empowerment outweigh the risks of losing the employees themselves’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 203). The retail industry is a perfect example. Managers are ‘learning to give up control’ and employees are learning how to be responsible for the actions and decisions (Cole, G, A, 1997: 34). It is fundamental that management shares information, creates autonomy and feedback, and trains and creates self-directed teams for empowerment to work properly. Managers often prefer not to ‘communicate with employees, and not to share some extremely important information’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 247) with them, but an effective leader must have no hidden agendas. They must treat employees as ‘stakeholders for the road of success’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 247). Employees must have a clear vision of success, because if they are not aware of what success means to the company and where the company is heading, there is no way they can feel empowered to help accomplish this success. ‘Empowerment is not something, which can be passed over from management to employees as a pen is handed from one person to another. It is a complex process, which requires a clear vision, a learning environment both for management and employees, and participation and implementation tools and techniques in order to be successful’ (Erstad, M, 1997). Â   Bibliography Armstrong, M (1996) ‘A Handbook of Personnel Management Practice’, Sixth Edition, Kogan Page Beardwell, I & Holden, L (1994) ‘Human resource Management- A contemporary perspective’, Pitman Cole, G, A (1997) ‘Personnel Management’, Fourth Edition, Letts Erstad, M (1997) ‘Empowerment and organizational change’, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management; Volume 9 No. 7; Gennard, J & Judge, G (1997) ‘Employee relations’, Institute of Personnel & Development Graham, H, T &Bennett, R (1995) ‘Human Resources Management’, Eight Edition, M+E handbooks Honold, L (1997) ‘A review of the literature on employee empowerment’ ,Empowerment in Organisations; Volume 5 No. 4 Legge, K (1995) ‘Human Resource Management-Rhetoric’s & Realities’, Macmillan Business Mabey, C & Salaman, G (1997) ‘Strategic Human Resource Management’, Blackwell Business Mabey, C, Skinner, D & Clark, T, (1998) ‘Experiencing Human Resource Management’, Sage Sparrow, P & Marchington, M (1998) ‘Human Resource Management-The New Agenda’, Pitman Spencer, J & Pruss, A (1992) ‘Managing your team’, Piatkus Wilkinson, A (1998) ‘Empowerment: theory and practice’, Personnel Review; Volume 27 No. 1

The Current Policing Philosophies Have a Positive Impact on the Commun Research Paper

The Current Policing Philosophies Have a Positive Impact on the Communities - Research Paper Example The current policing philosophies have a positive impact on the communities since they ensure community partnerships in addressing the underlying causes of crime and entail the use advanced technologies in the collection of intelligence information that ensure a proactive response. The history of policing in America has similarities to that of England since Colonial America had a system of night guards who were supposed to guard the cities and municipalities against disorder, fire outbreaks and crime (Palmiotto, 2000). A distinct characteristic of policing in the 1800s was the powerful influence of politicians since police chiefs were hired in order to further the interests of the politicians. Police officers were often accused of corruption, misuse of force and violence towards certain racial groups in the society (Adlam & Villiers, 2003). The Southern states such as Carolina established the ‘Slave Patrol’ that tasked the officers with the duty to apprehend and return escaping slaves and subject the slaves to summary disciplinary measures outside the formal judicial system (Reisig & Kane, 2014). The officers would also enforce the ‘Jim Crow’ laws that advocated for segregation and unequal access to the political rights. The end of slavery led to the evolution of policing work since formal police departments were established in order to deal with local law enforcement. The changes saw the establishment of the centralized municipal police department in the 1830s and the cities of Boston, New York and Chicago were the first to establish the American police force (Palmiotto, 2000). The 20th century led to urbanization and increase in crime rates thus better-equipped police force was established in order to handle crime (Cordner, 2014). The civil rights era led to a shift of policing from the tradi tional crime control to more cooperative partnerships with communities.  

Coursework of Management & Org. Behaviour Case Study

Coursework of Management & Org. Behaviour - Case Study Example In fact employees would perceive this as the quality of work life which directs on final outcomes as employee performance, motivation, individual satisfaction and personal growth and development in the organizational environment. Business organizations are those legal entities that engage themselves in the production of a good or service with the intention of selling it for a profit and are much more focused on the long run survival in achieving organizational goals such as profitability, shareholder satisfaction, market share and share price growth, corporate governance, sustainability, market leadership and so on. Google being an internet search engine is focused on serving customers worldwide by managing its organizational functions in the light of its strategically advantageous position over the years by understanding of the main components of competitive advantage and how to sustain it and analysis of the behavioral challenges faced by the company in modern business environment. Google indeed adopted some far reaching management practices to achieve organizational goals. The most powerful motivator of the workforce was the requirement to become shareholder of the company in addition to being an employee. Google's all employees served as equity holders with employee ownership. Next the company encouraged team work in which 3 to 4 employees were teamed together so that time waste in coordinating work effort could be reduced and employees would be motivated by team spirit. In addition to these employee friendly work practices and motivators a number of others were also adopted. In fact at Google, work teams tended to be smugly satisfied with their own performance in the absence of standards of reference. Performance of work teams has to be measured against relative performances of others and this requires common standards to be set up on a priority basis.Broader level of employee participation, minimal hierarchy, in-house expertise and problem solving and job rotation practices were good measures but they were not backed by a system of performance-based metrics. However, with the ever increasing threat of competition in the market, management practices at Google were oriented towards creating a pleasant work environment with a set of well defined corporate goals. Despite Google's growth, its management is constantly considering and encouraging employee interaction and the exchanging ideas among all level of employees and across the departments.However effective management practices must be aligned with organizational outcomes such as internal value chain enhancement, productivity and motivation parameters. Google is being practicing this kind of alignment in its strategy and policy with focusing on rewarding system for individuals and teams. HRM is a functional strategy that needs a freer organizational environment to develop into a code-based framework or model of convergence. Google's management practices were inherently flawed though it made some convincing efforts to identify workplace discontent issues and their implications for organizational outcomes. Organizational outc

Music in my life Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Music in my life - Assignment Example It is vital that an individual takes a break off work or studies, and listening to music or pursuing music information from different artists and musicians constitutes my leisure time. My time to relax is funfilled relative to my engagement in music. My inspiration in life has much to do with music. Music is done in diverse and dynamic ways, all of which are unique to specific genres and musicians. The information contained in music or messages that music passes through serves different people differently. Personally, music serves as a source of inspiration.On the same note, life encouragement and directions can also be derived from music (Turner 203). Music also serves as my personal advisor, with screening for positivity and negativity being accounted for. The diversity of the world is clearly evident in the way music is done. In my life, music serves as my educator in this line. Through music, I have come to learn and understand global diversity across borders. Over and above ente rtainment, music serves as an eye opener in every aspect of my life. This is more so in regard to the music genres I listen to.I have embraced music diversity in a global context, meaning that I am not fixed to any specific music genre. However, there are primary music genres that dominate my preference in music. RnB rates the tops the list although I have regard to locally composed and produced music, and also music that accounts for the individual, social, cultural, economic, and political differences around the world.

Management theories Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management theories - Research Paper Example The behavior of organization members influences both its functioning, structure and the principles on which the organization can be managed. There has been enough evidence from the studies that human elements are the main factors in the failure or success of an organization. In most studies, it has indicated that human beings prefer to be consulted instead of receiving information or orders. Less resilience on the application of power is preferred. The elements that are the foundation of the behavioral management theory and how the theory identifies the roles and the skills of the manager are as explained below (Davies, 2010). The behavior of an individual is closely connected to that of the group to which he belongs. The person’s change in behavior is indicated by the group he belongs to, as he observes the work principles approved by the group (Brandon, 2006). Informal leadership instead of formal authority of the organization’s managers is crucial for enforcing and setting the principles of the group of performance. A manager or leader can be more acceptable to the subordinates if he applies the democratic style of leadership. Another element is participation of the employees. If the subordinates are permitted to participate in establishment of goals, there will be a positive impact on their attitude towards work. When workers are involved in designing, planning the jobs and making decisions, they will resist less, changes that are effected in the work techniques and technology (Davies, 2010). Another element is that naturally, most individuals are motivated by self-development and self-control and in this, they enjoy working. Managers ought to identify and offer essential conditions that are conducive to the adequate and proper use of the individual potential. The attitude of the manager towards the behavior of the workers should be positive. He should know that the average

Organizational Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Organizational Change - Essay Example Poor communication and lack of strategic vision are the main problems faced by the Tech Division of CF&F. Most employees become dissatisfied when opportunities for meaningful achievement are eliminated and they become sensitized to their environment and began to find fault. Also, in CF&F performance deficiencies result from motivational problem which is closely connected with lack of skills. The weakness of the division is low trained staff and authoritarian leadership, poor communication and decision making process. Most employees are frustrated with the lack of progress and effective management. The threat is absence of coordination and unity between executives, and differences as for perspectives of power of top management. Many managers suppose that they need to dominate subordinates. The focus of power is with the manager, and all interactions within the group move towards the manager. The manager alone exercises decision-making and authority for determining policy, procedures for achieving goals, work tasks and relationships, control of rewards or punishments (Durant, 1999). The success or failure of a current strategy depends not only on decisions made in the past but also on how those decisions are being implemented now by people employed by the organization. It is therefore important to questions about who, how and why people are doing what they are doing and what they should do in strategic implementation. This situation shows that the Tech Division of CF&F needs a strong leader to be ruled. Nepotism is one of the main negative features which reduce effective promotion and communication between employees. Without the direct participation and support of an institution's leadership, power cannot be pushed to its full potential. Leadership requires many of the characteristics common to all leaders, but also requires special abilities to manage any organization in today's rapidly changing environment (HRM Guide, 2006). Lack of training and promotion is another problem faced by employees. In this very case, lack of training decreases the level of individual and organizational competence. It prevents employees to reconcile the gap between what should happen, and desire-targets and standards of performance; and what is happening and levels of work performance. A significant and disturbing feature of the Tech Division of CF&F is the negative attitude towards the benefits of training shown by Frontline Supervisors. Too often training is seen as a necessary expense to achieve output targets. It is not seen as providing long-term benefits or improving organizational performance. A common view of training is an activity undertaken by large corporate bodies who can afford it. Lack of people-centered approach results in low motivation of employees and management staff (Frontline Supervisors). Too many managers appear to attempt to manage through the use of rules, systems, procedures and paperwork, rather than with and through people. Managers should have a highly developed sense of people perception, and understand the feelings of staff, and their needs and expectations. It is people who are being managed and people should be considered in human terms. A genuine concern for people and for their welfare goes a long way in encouraging them to perform well. For many hourly employees, grief

Debt Financing and Bankruptcy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Debt Financing and Bankruptcy - Essay Example This chapter is distinguished from other filed chapter as it is the only chapter that allows companies to refinance and reorganize to prevent final liquidation. A company may refinance itself by getting loans thorough debt financing mode. This help to get the required money to finance the daily operations of the company and also pay other costs like salaries, pension and medical cost. Restructuring involves changing the mechanisms through which company operations are conducted. This involves reducing the number of employees and performance contracting to ensure efficiency in production and also reduce operation cost (Usatoday, 2012) The debt trouble that the company is experiencing is caused by the following factors. First, the annual sales of the company is about $2.5 billion ant this is not enough to cater for the rising medical benefit and pension costs of its 19000 unionized employees who operates in over thirty states are .In addition the company has had trouble attracting customers who have migrated to more healthier whole grain foods that do not put them at risk of suffering from obesity and other cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore the cost of ingredients-sugar and flour has increased significantly decreasing the total revenue accrued by the company. Hostess main competitors include Bimbo Bakeries, Kraft Inc and Sara Lee. The company has a debt of over $860 million with Industry International Pension and Fund Bakery & Confectionary Union as the main unsecured creditors (Guardian, 2012). The debt financing option that were available included getting loans from bank, taking goods (ingredients) on credit and then and then repaying the debt later after sale, creating more shares that are later sold to cater for the financial needs selling bonds and partnering with other well established companies that can inject in new ideas

Dss Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Dss - Case Study Example Therefore, this paper aims to study the application of Decision Support System in the UAE including the analysis of its effectiveness on the business arena. The selected application is the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), which is an application that integrated both internal and external information of different departmental sections in an organization. The application is aimed to allow the flowing of information between marketing, accounting, finance, and manufacturing, whilst managing the customer preferences and profiles. In addition, the research study also exhibits the importance of the ERP in order to determine its viability into the competitive global market. An effective DSS is the computerized application that assists the decision makers in compiling important information from a mixture of documents, raw data, business models, and personal knowledge in order to make decisions that solves the underlying or predicted problems. The business information that a DSS may assist include preparation of inventories for assets, projecting revenue costs based on the sales assumptions, and comparing sales figures, among others (Power, 2002). However, there are different areas in UAE under which DSS can be applied including in construction modeling support, in school’s learning management system, in operational management to assist employees, and automating financial records in accounts and finance departments. Other areas include human resource systems to monitor employees’ performance and attendance, for security monitoring by signing the visitors in and out or verifying their documents. In other words, DSS can be used in several areas, although it must be interactive and effective to all management staff. The organization must ensure there is satisfaction of all employee levels in adopting a new DSS in order to ensure its functionality and

The influence of ideology on the formation of Soviet foreign policy Essay

The influence of ideology on the formation of Soviet foreign policy - Essay Example The notion of a political system led in its international behaviour by a particular set of operational and ideological rules rather than temporary concepts of state ‘concerns’ is usually hard for Westerners to comprehend. Many scholars would agree that the complicated procedures, strategies, and goals making up the official Marxism-Leninism principle have had some influence on the formation of Soviet foreign policy, even though there are critical debates over the extent of the relevance of ideological influence. For instance, the policy aim underlying George F. Kennan’s well-known article in 1947 defining the justification for what developed into the ‘containment policy’ (Evans 1993, 44) was clearly to force the Soviet Union to discard ideological frame of thinking and to develop into a more cooperative and pragmatic one. Kennan tried to accomplish this by challenging Soviet rulers with geostrategic facts which rendered the policies and analysis origi nated from the ideology appears inexpedient and bleak (Quimet 2003, 81). A main idea underlying the containment strategy was that a ‘non-ideological’, specifically ‘normal’, Soviet Union would be much more unproblematic to contend with in the post-war period, when continuous cooperation between East and West would make the conditions of international security and reconstruction that much simpler to accomplish (Yanowitch 1991, 65). Kennan in the end came to challenge the relevance of the ideological influence (ibid, p. 65)... ev regime, Hugh Seton-Watson, satisfactorily described the continuous Western discussions of the influences of Soviet foreign policy as an outcome of what he refers to as ‘either-or fallacies’ (Miller 1991, 2): The most widespread is the controversy between those who see ‘ideology’ as the main force behind Soviet policy, and those who give this place to ‘security’. It is our case that the two are inseparable, and there is no need to repeat the argument. Arising from this misleading ‘either-or-ism’ is the dispute, perhaps even more widespread, as to whether Soviet policy is ‘expansionist’ or ‘defensive’. It is both. Obsession with protection of frontiers and of strategic position leads to expansion, and each successful expansion creates new positions to defend (ibid, p. 2). The argument of this essay resembles Seton-Watson’s assumption. Ideology has consistently been a major influence in the formation of Soviet foreign policy, but definitely not the only one. Also, its influence has usually been indirect rather than direct. Specifically, rather directly imposing policies, it has functioned to form the goals and context of Soviet policymakers, as well as their views of such seemingly ‘normal’ priorities as ‘defence’, ‘security’ and the requirements for ‘peace’ (Miller 1991, 2); the influence of ideology being referred to, as in Seton-Watson’s statement cited above, represent quite evidently the ‘old political thinking’ (OLT) (ibid, p. 3) that is currently challenged by Gorbachev. The Ideological Influence The definition of ‘ideology’ is itself the centre of some disagreement, as well as the characteristic of its contribution in state decision-making. Ideology, as defined by one scholar, is a ‘preconceived set or

Formation of Corporations and Stocks Essay Example for Free

Formation of Corporations and Stocks Essay * Why does a company choose to form as a corporation? What are the steps required to become a corporation? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the corporate form of doing business? Corporations are created in order to separate the businesses finances from the person’s individual finances so that they can protect themselves financially. The advantages of forming a corporation are that the business can obtain the credibility so that consumers are more comfortable. Since consumers normally prefers to do business with a corporation. Also by forming a corporation the person protects their assets and name by forming a corporation. The disadvantages are that the process is lengthy and pricey. Also corporations often end up paying more in taxes. Corporations are also monitored very closely and must be in compliance with several entities. * Why is preferred stock referred to as preferred? What are some of the features added to preferred stock that make it more attractive to investors? Would you select preferred stock or common stock as an investment? Why? Preferred stock is considered preferred because it has dividend preference over common stock. Preferred stockholders have the right to receive dividends before common stockholders. The per share dividend amount is stated as a percentage of the preferred stocks per value or as a specified amount. Preferred stockholders must ne paid their annual dividend plus any dividends in arrears before common stockholders receive any dividends. I would select referred stock over common stock because I want to get paid as quickly as possible. * What are the different types of dividends corporations may issue? When should a corporation pay dividends? Do you prefer a stock dividend or a cash dividend? Why There are four types of dividends: 1. cash dividends, 2. property dividends, 3. scrip (note), and 4. stock dividends. A corporation should pay dividends when it has retained earning, adequate cash, and a declaration of dividends. I would prefer a cash dividend. If the corporation issues stock, they are not having to spend actual cash. I want to be reassured that the business actually has my money. I have seen it too many times where huge corporations lie and cheat on paper. I also do not really like the stock market and never have been good at buying, selling, or owning stock.

The Technological Change Of Frito Lay Information Technology Essay

The Technological Change Of Frito Lay Information Technology Essay The aim of this report is to perform a knowledge audit of Frito Lay, by gathering data, analyzing the findings and making suggestions for the best possibility of knowledge to be utilized in an organization. This report mainly highlights the main external factors that affect the organization, internal knowledge culture which builds an organization structure, technological change and some important points on knowledge workers and leaders. The major finding in this report is that the knowledge management is a key to achieving both scalability and business optimization. Knowledge management is an attractive concept to many organizations. It helps in understanding the needs and gaps in knowledge by simple analysis and helps in coping up with the globalization. Moreover, the knowledge leaders and workers will help to put the theories and ideas from papers to real world. FRITO LAY Intoduction Scope This report mainly focuses on knowledge audit about the external influences on the organization and how knowledge culture enhances the organization structure. Moreover, this report mainly highlights about the technology and how it will revolutionize the companys culture. Background Frito Lay sales force is facing an issue with finding and integration of organization data and customer sales account information. Mike Marino, vice president of customer development, stated that knowledge is trapped in files everywhere. Many sales people would ask the companys marketing and operation staff the same information over and over. And the staff has to perform the same task for endless times. For this reason Mike Marino, integrated a Knowledge portal in corporate intranet. This portal opens gates to all sales staff with same information. This information can be shared and updated at the same time moreover it will be available to any one for any location. This portal was tested with a sales pilot team and passed with flying colors. This report does knowledge audit on the knowledge needs and gap in Frito Lay organization. Identified and provided few knowledge audit tools used to gather present knowledge from an organization. Even tools have been mentioned which could be helpful for the case study. Purpose The purpose of this report is to generate a knowledge report by studying the important external factors that influence the organization, internal knowledge culture in an organization, technology change in an organization and some highlights on knowledge workers and leaders. Current Knowledge position of the Frito Lay In current knowledge position of Frito Lay has no centralized system and its sales team is not able to merge data of the corporate and the customer account information. Purpose of the organization Frito Lay falls under a private sector enterprise. A private sector company mainly looks for profits for their stakeholders while long lasting sustainability in the commercial market. Their main aim is to take advantage of their opportunities and consider profits as the most important result. The main funding is done by the stakeholders, to enhance the development and growth of the company. The key goal for Private Sectors Company is to make a balance among long term sustainability and short term profits. The CEO of the company is mainly responsible for creating a vision to the organization; generally he/she would be a highly experienced person in field and is responsible in the success of the business (Debowski 2006). The purpose of the Frito Lay is to focus on one single mission; to become worlds leading products company for the consumer who focus on convenient foods. They try to offer better opportunities for growth and improvement to their employees, business and the in communities where they work. Moreover, whatever they do, they struggle for honesty and integrity. Frito lays main vision is to improve all their features in which they operate- environment, social and economic. They try to implement this vision by programs and concentrate on environmental stewardship, steps that benefit society and building a good relationship among stakeholders. Moreover, they not only focus on financial success of the company but also in reducing environmental footprint by protecting natural resources and using renewable energy in order to reduce toxic emissions. The knowledge environment in which the organization exists external context When organizations are exposed to external environment, it will go through many changes. There are many factors like technological changes and globalization have brought many opportunities and caused threats in the marketplace (Debowski 2006). Globalization has provided an opportunity for businesses like Frito Lay to gain access all over the world but also brought international organizations to the home market which poses a threat to other companies. Globalization allows customers to check prices, services and reviews of the product from many providers before selecting their suppliers. Even if the supplier is at another end of the world could be located and contacted through telecommunications to meet customer requirements (Debowski 2006). Like discussed before, Globalization provides both opportunity and threat. The threat could be an increase number of competitions means customer are exposed to a wide range of products and services. Then we can assume that customer wont stick to one supplier as there are many, so customer loyalty cannot be trusted. Since costumer is exposed to many varieties of products, it will in turn increase the stress on organizations like Frito Lay to be more creative plus more responsive to the costs set by the competitors (Debowski 2006). The other external factor that affects organization is the pressure from the stakeholder. Since the investment become global, there will be continuous demands from stakeholders to improve market shares, cost reductions and increase in profits. Even technological change is a main factor that effects on business and also helps developing quickly. In case of Frito lay, the Globalization is forcing business to update their technology in order to compete in the market (Wimmer 2004). Technology has become a foundation to many organizations and work tasks, and allows effective communication and management (Debowski 2006). The organizational structure including the internal knowledge culture According to the Oliver Kandadi (2006 p.6) knowledge culture is A way of organizational life that enables and motivates people to create, share and utilize knowledge for the benefit and enduring success of the organization. This culture was seen in Frito Lay organization which was implemented by Mike Marino, vice president of customer development. The company bought a tool called Autonomy from navigator systems, a search engine that allows users to search information and explore new ideas through intranet sites. By the help of navigator system, new innovative ideas and solutions were developed through combined efforts. Once the system was centralized, knowledge sharing became top activity between staff members with the help of supervisor and leaders. After the implementation, employees are kept up to date about the issues, events and innovations. This internal culture has encouraged a regular communications all over the organization which helped openness, honesty and concerned for o thers is promoted. Knowledge culture allows employees to work together by sharing and learning from their peers and supervisors (Oliver Kandadi 2006). Organizational structure is an influencing element in creation and development of knowledge culture. It defines the way power and responsibility is performed in an organization and also distributes knowledge in a way that it will be easily adopted by the firm. Organizational structure allows employees to be grouped according to their functions or division or both. In Frito Lay, the company grouped sales team as a pilot team for the portal, which helped the firm to understand the new system (Debowski 2006). Knowledge workers According to Debowski (2006, p.31) knowledge workers use their heads more than their hands to produce value. Knowledge workers mainly work with their own knowledge to resolve issues or problematic situations. They try to learn new information to reshape their existing knowledge, by doing so they can apply these skills in a variety of areas to resolve issues, generate ideas, or develop new services and products (Prince, 2010). Their job mainly deals on the mental rather than muscle power and is characterized by non respective tasks. They use different methods to solve issues and they also have authority to decide which technique to use in order to achieve the success (Prince 2010). In the case study, Frito Lays vice president of customer development, Mike Marino and Price had many types of organizational knowledge (Debowski 2006). Knowledge that may possess many features, characteristics and value of different sources or systems that may be found in the Frito Lay organization. Knowledge that can identify people, groups and organization and techniques to link them. Understand how to carry out difficult task which require analytical skills such as researching, testing and innovating. An ability to observe, estimate and access correct knowledge sources. The sales pilot team was dispersed all over the country to collect information from the customers and analyze it with correct resources and then fed back it to the sales people in the organization. This flow of knowledge from knowledge workers to the organization will empower them with superior customer knowledge and competitive intelligence. Knowledge leaders Knowledge leaders are the pillars to the organization and support of knowledge management in a firm. These people provide the encouragement, set goals and vision to transform the knowledge concept in to a reality. By the circumstances of the organization, the knowledge leaders roles and responsibilities are designed. Knowledge leaders help to build an effective knowledge community. Their roles require them to understand the complex framework of the knowledge operations and ways communication and teamwork is built and strengthened (Debowski 2006). The generic attributes of knowledge leader were they contribute some important attributes which depend on understanding of process, systems and people The main concepts identified within the case study are disciplines of knowledge leadership, like willingness to share knowledge because it is seen as a power and also collaboration of their work with other organizations. Mike Marino acted as a Change Agent as he identified that knowledge was dispersed in various systems across their organization which created complexity for employees to retrieve data freely and there was inconsistency in data too. They solved this problem by sharing the knowledge all over the organization by developing a centralized system (KM portal) for all of their business processes (Debowski 2006). Another model that is clear in case study is generic attributes of the knowledge leader, for instance selecting an appropriate sales pilot team and sending them with knowledge management portal support across 10 different cites to by measuring up their performance with the normal teams which displays the qualities of strategic visionary and knowledge executor attribute of the knowledge leader (Debowski 2006). Technology Technology is a main factor that brings out a huge positive difference in an organization and also helps developing it growth rapidly. In case of Frito lay, due to no integration between business process for finding and merging data of cooperate and customer account information. After the implementation of Knowledge management system (KMS) it become a basic foundation to the organizations and work tasks by providing an effective communication and management (Debowski 2006). KMS provides a unified and functional platform in an organization on which many other knowledge activities flow and interconnect. It offers knowledge capture and sharing freely, readily and openly to all the stakeholders across the organization. Moreover, it also offers a channel to an individual user to acquire a document, send, share and create knowledge to meet the priorities of the organization. Basically there are four components in KMS; Business process management, Content management, Web content management and Knowledge application management. In case of Frito Lay, they have built knowledge management portal on the corporate intranet. It acts a centre point of access to various sources of information and offers individual access too. This type of system falls under content and business process management (Debowski 2006). The content management system is an intellectual content in KMS. It allows users to retrieve knowledge on particular theme and topic from the KM portal. It allows a wide range of strategies of indexing, storing and organizing the knowledge that are linked in KMS. Business process management defines the processes that are needed for an organization. Like in Frito Lay, these systems are linked to a knowledge management practices so that employees of the company have the access of accurate and up to date data to build up their knowledge (Debowski 2006). Knowledge resources and knowledge-sharing practices One of the core practices in knowledge management is knowledge repositories and knowledge sharing (Debowski 2006). Typically, knowledge repository outlook is like another web-based index. It provides many options to the users to explore with the main menu that offers wide range of access to the recognized knowledge resources from internal and external to the organization. Repositories act as a connection between the user and the core knowledge, working as a single point of entry to support users finding required information across the organization and also other organizations (Annunziata Levant 2002). Through repositories knowledge is shared among users, sharing knowledge has become institutionalized and ends up becoming a part of the routine daily life (Barnes 2002). The repository system used by the Frito Lay sales force was Autonomy. This system was acquired from a consultancy, Navigator systems from Dallas. This tool enables users to search all the way through various repositories like internet sites, spreadsheets and power point presentation (Huysman Writ 2002). It supports many salespeople to get all significant information from a variety of sources which allow them to achieve all the different data sets through one picture. Furthermore other features that we can see in this tool are; it links the organization data with internal sources and outside too, it is a search service that helps people to find data that is required and it also help to record solutions and best practices of other so that it can be shared with others (Barnes 2002). Knowledge needs The main goal of knowledge needs is to identify accurately about the knowledge the organization, its team and its people need at the moment and the knowledge they might need in the feature to achieve their goals and objective. The future strategy of an organization is enhanced due to knowledge needs analysis. This analysis can also find out the staff skills and capability of improvement needs and opportunities for training and developing, team spirit and relationship with staff, subordinated and peers (Ovio Komi-Sirvià ¶ 2002). Knowledge gaps A gap between the ideal world and the existing knowledge world is known as knowledge gap. Gaps may obstruct innovations, opportunities for organization improvement or impede technology implementation Often, the first task is to review the about the existing knowledge in the organization and then analyze who has it, where it is and which jobs the knowledge is used in. Moreover, when knowledge gaps are visible then it gives a confidence in decision making. It is important to identify knowledge gaps of two forms of knowledge, explicit and tacit knowledge (Debowski 2006). According to Lin, Yeh Tseng (2005 p.3) knowledge gaps can be viewed in four different aspects: strategic aspect, planning aspect, perception aspect and implementation aspect. Strategic aspect: This type of knowledge is necessary for the improvement of the organization competitiveness. Implementation aspect: Implementation of knowledge management. Plan aspect: The plan of knowledge management Perception aspect: To improve the organizations competitiveness as perceived by the top managers and employees. Questions What categories of knowledge do you use in your organization? How do you use each of that knowledge? From how many sources can you acquire the knowledge? Apart from yourself, who else use this knowledge? Is a specific knowledge is restricted to specific users? Justification For the first question, it was important to know how knowledge was divided into the firm and how many categories are present for the employees and teams in an organization. For the second question, how organization utilized that knowledge, for instance whether there are any restrictions or no restrictions. For the third question, how does the organization acquire knowledge, like internal and externally. For the fourth question, apart for the organization and its people, is that knowledge is utilized by other organization? Or it is used by the suppliers or other external factors. For the final question, are there any security constraints in the company, if there are then why those constraints. Knowledge audit Tools According to Ramalingam (2006 p.13) knowledge Audit offers a framework for gathering data, synthesising findings and making suggestions about the best way forward for knowledge and learning initiatives against a background of the broader structural and policy factors affecting an organization. In Frito Lay, the sales team has been given access to portal with different content as well as research abstracts, which was called as a performance scorecard (Chowdhury 2006). It is to evaluate the performance of the account. This tool comes under the balanced scorecard approach for measuring the performance on the four key aspects; financial investment, internal process, customer/stakeholders expectation and focus on learning and growth. This tool will help in measuring the performance of the employees and help in providing results on how effective the company is operating. The tools of knowledge audit are Knowledge Gap analysis: This tool shows the gaps that hold back technology implementations and hamper opportunities and block innovations. SWOT analysis: It is a strategic planning technique that is applied to calculate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats included in a project or an organization. Knowledge Taxonomy: it regulates a construction of knowledge map by describing an organizational knowledge and relationship. Exit Interviews: When an employee is leaving a company forever, then he/she will be taking knowledge along with them. So this tool will help to document that knowledge so that it can be utilised by other employees. Questionnaire: A research in conducted with a series of questions for the purpose of gathering data from large number of respondents. Recommendations Knowledge portal has made a huge difference to Frito Lays sales team. The portal acted as a central point for the whole organization by providing multiple resources as it provides an essential way to capture information. The implementation of portal has brought a lot of profits and made their work easy. However, this is the beginning stage of the progression and still a lot to come. Since the portal is implemented in only to team it is recommended to add its functional to other employees across the 3 divisions. Moreover, it would be better if this is added to their customers like supermarkets as it would help them to synching their knowledge with the organization for co promoting and co merchandising of products together. In future, the organization might implement other knowledge management systems like Web Content Management and Knowledge Application Management. Web content mainly deals with building an effective website structure through which users may access to the KMS Frito Lay can have advantage with this system as it will provide a direct communication with the client side. It will provide an easy user interface and it would even benefit the consumers too. Knowledge application management system would provide users with applications like word processing and emails. These applications will help the staff creating knowledge. Conclusion In conclusion, knowledge management is the key to every organization for opening a door full of opportunities and possibilities. KM portal has become a PepsiCo project as it has helped in improving employee retention rates and the efficiency of the companys operation too. Frito Lays sales team is able to capture the specific information of the corporate and customer sales account information from any location. It has reduced inconsistency and duplication of data which reduced the performing of same tasks over and over. Knowledge management is an attractive concept to many industries. It helps understanding the needs and gaps in knowledge by simple analysis and helps in coping up with the globalization. Moreover, the knowledge leaders and workers will help to put the theories and ideas from papers to real world.

An Overview Of Critical Legal Studies

An Overview Of Critical Legal Studies The given quotation in question is by Robert Gordon, in Law Ideology as featured in Lloyds Introduction to Jurisprudence by MDA Freeman where he has touched upon critical legal studies. For our purposes, my answer will provide a short explanation of what the critical legal studies is about, then it will feature how law maintains inequality according to critical legal scholars, and what techniques are adopted in response to the inequalities and finally how effective these techniques are. Critical legal studies (hereinafter referred to as the CLS) grew out of a dissatisfaction with current legal scholarship.  [2]  As Raymond Wacks  [3]  put it the most important feature of CLS is its rejection of what is taken to be the natural order of things, be it free market or meta-narratives, or the conception of race. Law based on reason is what attract the scholars of CLS the most. For the scholars of CLS it is to doubt the prospect of uncovering a universal foundation of law based on reason. The myth of determinacy is a significant element of the critical assault on law.  [4]  To the scholars of CLS, law is far from being a determinate, coherent body of rules and doctrine, the law is portrayed as uncertain, ambiguous and unstable.  [5]   If American legal realism was jazz jurisprudence, Critical Legal Studies may be its rock successor.  [6]  Ronald Dworkin found the CLS resembling the older movement of American realism, and for him it was too early to decide whether the CLS is more than an anachronistic attempt to make the then dated movement reflower.  [7]  Professor Hilaire McCourbey and Dr. Nigel D. White  [8]  finds the ultimate target for scholars of CLS is to destroy the notion that there is one single truth, and that by disclosing the all-pervasive power structures and hierarchies in the law and legal system, a multitude of other possibilities will be revealed which are all equally valid. LAW, ITS INEQUALITY AND OTHER ISSUES SURROUNDING LAW The scholars of CLS find it very disturbing how the law maintain inequalities in society. According to the scholars of CLS, legal doctrine is limited and imperfect. Legal doctrines can only offer a narrow view of the world. Robert Gordon finds the legal doctrine to comprise of abstract and impoverished categories. These crude, artificial categories e.g., found in criminal law, laws of contract and family, which will illustrated below, are based on complex human relationships although they in no way reflect or naturally represent with what is occurring. With regard to criminal law, M Kelmen  [9]  uses the example of a wife who, having been battered by her husband, kills the husband. Then she pleads the defence of provocation. Question arises whether the judge is to adopt a narrow time frame  [10]  or that of a broad one  [11]  . No one can say it for sure which law is to be applied here for certain. There may be circumstance where the alleged offender is considered in a narrow time frame basis and another in a broad one. This line of approach is making individuals fall into the contradiction in law faced in criminal law. The law of contract where the principle enshrined in the maxim caveat emptor a maxim devised to protect capitalist interest against the interests of the powerless consumer stands against the principle that it is the function of the state to intervene to protect the weaker party against exploitation is a clear reflection of inequality in law.  [12]  This kind of contradiction in law has always put the judges in confusion as to which principle a judge needs to follow in a given case. It is argued by the scholars of CLS that law is fundamentally political. For D. Kennedy  [13]  there is no line between private and public law. It is a myth.  [14]  There is nothing natural or neutral about contract law as much as administrative law, property law as much as environmental law.  [15]   The law of co-habitation opens range of options to a judge which makes it hardly possible to come to a decision which ultimately causes conflicting outcomes from the courts of law. Where a woman who seeks to enforce a co-habitation agreement against a male partner the question that comes before the court is to choose between (1) common law principle that such agreements are not legally enforceable because of the presumption that such agreements lack the necessary element of an intention to create legal relations and (2) the principle, arising from public policy that it is the duty of the courts to give effect to the intention of the parties. This has always put judges in a difficult position as said earlier. For Peter Gabel,  [16]  one is never, or almost never, a person; instead, one is successively a husband, a bus passenger, a small businessman, a consumer and so on, in contemporary capitalist society. To Mark Kelman,  [17]  liberalism in the eyes of Crits is a system of thought that is simultaneously beset by internal contradiction and by systematic repression of the presence of these contradictions. Liberalism focuses upon individualism and self-interest at the cost of others. The scholars of CLS are against such notion. Such preference is evinced in the laws creation and maintenance of division between the public and private matters. Mills liberty is the perfect example. Mills liberty is the principle that an individual can be compelled where his actions harm others, but must be free where his actions affect himself. The courts always find it difficult to prevent oppression in the private realm because of the legal division between public matters, in which the state or its laws can intervene, and private matters, in which they cannot. The Crits of CLS termed this division as false and a mere illusion. Robert Gordon very clearly mentions that for the Crits, law is inherently neither a ruling-class game plan nor a repository of noble with perverted principles. To Gordon, it is a plastic medium of discourse that subtly conditions how we experience social life.  [18]   Robert Gordon refers to some basic points that the Critics want to make about legal discourse. He refers to discourses of power. Law cannot be a toy for the powerful to play with. However, in reality to avail legal services or matters in conjunction to it one has to be able to wield legal discourses with facility and authority or to pay others, such as lawyers, legislators, lobbyists, etc., to wield them on your behalf is what matters and that is what is takes to posses power in society. For this reason legal discourses tend to reflect the interests and the perspectives of the powerful people who make most use of them.  [19]  This may be regarded as another example of how law maintains inequality in the eyes of the scholars of CLS. However, whether actually being used by the powerful or the powerless, legal discourses are saturated with other non-legal discourses that for the most part rationalise and justify in subtle ways the existing social order as natural necessary and just.   [20]   It is a common phenomenon to make laws to spur economic competitions and thus assisting the elite class in their search for power and wealth. Duncan Kennedy  [21]  mentions that the primary targets in Legal Education are the unhealthy hierarchies at various levels like those existing between lecturers and the students they teach; those between the faculty members and the administrative support and he terms them all as false and unnecessary hierarchy which gets into the mind of law students and thus creates a continual chain of hierarchies. TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO LEGAL DISCOURSES Trashing or Debunking As McCourbey and White put it trashing is mainly aimed at revealing the illegitimate hierarchies that exist within the law and society in general.  [22]  The scholars of CLS are essentially engaged in revealing those hierarchies and undermine them. In Marxism the hierarchy of power exist in terms of classes but he we have seen the hierarchy to exist even in universities where there is a power relationship between lecturer and student.  [23]  It is much more complex than the marxists view.  [24]  Trashing involves seeking to question and challenge the mainstream liberal legal regime. Mark Kelmans scepticism towards mainstream or orthodox views of law led to defend trashing against mainstream academic critics and stated that the discrediting of accepted legal argument is good. The following extract from Kelman explains the purpose of trashing or debunking:  [25]   We are also engaged in an active, transformative anarcho-syndicalist political project At the workplace level, debunking is one part of an explicit effort to level, to reintegrate the communities we live in along explicitly egalitarian lines rather than along the rationalised hierarchical lines that currently integrate them. We are saying: Heres what your teacher did (at you, to you) in contracts or torts. Heres what it was really about. Stripped of the mumbo-jumbo, heres a set of problems we all face, as equals in dealing with work, with politics, and with the world.  [26]   The above quotation reveals the tension of exposing hierarchies at work place, specifically it goes on to mention within the law school and expressly between the teachers and students as discussed earlier. Kelman further mentions that one main objective of trashing is to de-stabilising view of the theoretical world that is trapped in liberal legalism. Trashing helps us to see the underlying complacencies and assumed premises in liberal legalism as imperfect and opposes the belief that the world is running smoothly. Robert Gordon, in his Law Ideology, states that trashing techniques are used sometimes simply to attack the discourses on their own terms to show their premises to be contradictory or incoherent and their conclusions to be arbitrary or based on dubious assumptions or hidden rhetorical tricks.  [27]  He claims that this would reveal the hidden truth of obscure realities. Dereification Dereification is aimed at exposing what the scholars of CLS see as one of the most important functions of law in a liberal society.  [28]  Mostly everyone is in a trapped situation that is to say an implicit hierarchy is established in society. The term employee is attached to people who agree to work for another in return for payment and the term employer is used to refer to the person or body who hires them. The use of employer and/or employee is attached with a range of consequences and expectations for both parties. For this reason the parties are led to behave in a particular way that is to say on the basis of their formalised relation under the heads of employer and employee. In this sense reification has occurred. Peter Gabel has characterised law by reification, which involves a gradual process whereby abstractions, originally tied to concrete situations, are then themselves used and operated instead of the concrete. Dereification involves the scholars of CLS to see it th e other way round. Dereification is basically the recognition and exposure of such fallacies to reveal the law as it really is. Delegitimation To delegitimate law the scholars of the CLS attempt to strip away the veneer of legitimacy to reveal the ideological underpinnings of the legal system.  [29]  McCourbey and White states that delegitimation is aimed at exposing what the scholars see as one of the most important functions of law in a liberal society, namely the legitimation of the socio-economic system of that society. This brings the important insights into the law. Genealogy Robert Gordon considers genealogy as another technique to highlight the awareness of the transitory, problematic and manipulable ways legal discourses divide the world which is by writing their history.  [30]   CONCLUSION CLS is considered as radical by many jurists today. It is submitted that CLS and its technique is to filter the process of thinking of mankind. Most of the general public finds anything more acceptable which brings in more explanation for things going around us in our day to day life. CLS and its technique reveal an attempt to bring equality and more thinking into law. Trashing, genealogy, dereification etc. are all well convincing methods of looking into things surrounding our day to day life to find the right reason and hence bring equality in to law. However, it needs to be mentioned as well that too much critical thinking in to anything may not bring the right or convincing result. Therefore, a balance between critical thinking and a liberal approach is a must for a better philosophy. Words Counted:2061

Essay --

Imagine yourself strapped upright in a chair, so tightly that you can move nothing, not even your head. A sort of pad grips your head from behind, forcing you to look straight in front of you. This place is bigger than most of the cells you had been in. But you hardly notice your surroundings. All you notice is that there are two small tables straight in front of you, each covered with green baize. One is only a meter or two from you; the other is further away, near the door. For a moment you're alone; then the door opens and I come in. You asked me once what's in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that's in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world. The door opens again. A guard comes in, carrying something made of wire, a box or basket of some kind. He sets it down on the further table. Because of the position in which I'm standing, you can't see what the thing is. The worst thing in the world varies from individual to individual. It may be burial alive, or death by fire, or by drowning, or by impalement, or fifty other deaths. There are cases where it's some quite trivial thing, not even fatal. You move a little to one side, so that you have a better view of the thing on the table. It's an oblong wire cage with a handle on top for carrying it by. Fixed to the front of it is something that looked like a fencing mask, with the concave side outwards. Although it is three or four meters away from you, you could see that the cage is divided lengthways into two compartments, and that there's some kind of creature in each. They're scorpions. In your case, the worst thing in the world happens to be deathstalker scorpions. A sort of premonitory tremor, a fear of you're not certain what, ha... ...ck panic takes hold of you. You're blind, helpless, mindless. [As didactically as ever:] It was a common punishment in ancient Persia. The mask is closing on your face. The wire brushes your cheek. And then -- no, it's not relief, only hope, a tiny fragment of hope. You're falling backwards, into enormous depths, away from the scorpions. You're still strapped in the chair, but you'd fallen through the floor, through the walls of the building, through the earth, through the oceans, through the atmosphere, into outer space, into the gulfs between the stars -- always away, away, away from the scorpions. You're light-years distant, but I'm still standing at your side. There's still the cold touch of wire against your cheek. But through the darkness that envelopes you, you hear another metallic click, and know that the cage door had clicked shut and not open. Wake up now.

Devils Advocate Essays -- essays research papers

I believe that the theme of this film is, â€Å"there is no such thing as a free lunch†. The story gives the lead money and power. The lead finds out that he needs to pay for it with his soul. The director has a lot of ambition for the movie. He brings a lot of religion and ethics into the characters of the film by using subliminal symbolism. Even though the director tries to make a lesson out of the film, he makes the film with a lot of takes. This makes the film fast and very stimulating. Every detail of the screenplay is needed to make up the whole story. Given the director’s ambition and intent, I think that he portrayed the story well. Subjectively, I did like this film. Even though the world is not entirely Christian, I believe we all have religion. Religion does not have to revolve around a god, but religion revolves around or morality. I enjoyed this film because it dealt around someone’s decision to do the right thing. The film starts out in Gainesville, Florida. As successful lawyer, Kevin Lomax, has never lost a case. During his trial defending an alleged child molester in the form of a math teacher, he suddenly is caught up in the whole intriguing plot of the movie, that the firm Milton, Chadwick and Waters, a powerful firm in New York asks him to come down to help select a jury. After, he and his wife are treated to luxury on that visit, Kevin is offered a job with the firm based on his talent. He was given all he could wish for, in the form of a huge apartment and great office. There are two main characters in this movie, Kevin Lomax, who is played by Keanu Reeves, and John Milton, who is played by Al Pacino. Kevin Lomax is a relatively good person, even though he is a lawyer. He has got a sixth sense; he has intuitions when he picks his jury. His mother is a devout Christian in Gainesville and does not approve of his life. She speaks at Kevin in scripture and he answers her back. He is not a practicing Christian though. During the church scene, you see Kevin go up to the church that he was once a big part of his life, but not in it. He is half in the light and half out of the light. He is a cool and cocky character. He knows that he is an unbeaten lawyer. His expensive alligator skin boots are shown throughout the movie. In the first trial they show him with these boots while he is wearing a southern, cotton suit. These boots symbolize that he i... ... win but not at the expense of your humanity†. I think that the message of the filmmaker is that there are choices that we make concerning everyday. We might be able to make unethical choice but maybe making the right choices. He is saying that you might not have to pay for your choices now but sometime down the road you are going to have to. I think that the title of the movie has a lot of meaning. The Devil’s Advocate has a meaning all to itself. In business it is a person that goes against the group thought. He tries to get the get the group from getting groupthink (a stagnant cohesion of thinkers). Kevin was the devils advocate in his trials. Everyone knew that his defendants were dirty and bad people, but got them to think about how they were innocent of the crime they were under persecution of. Webster’s Dictionary says an advocate is one that argues for a cause, one that pleads in another’s behalf, a lawyer. During the Jewish Apocalyptic movement Satan went from God’s public prosecutor to an ind ependent adversary. This sounds like what Kevin did. He was an Assistance District Attorney with a 64:0 record and then went to work for the scum of the earth. Like father, like son.

Wal-Mart Supply Chain Management Essay -- Wal-Mart Logistics

Retail super-giant Wal-Mart has fought its way to becoming the world's largest company. Much of their success can be attributed to providing a vast assortment of products at exceptional prices all under one roof. Wal-Mart began operations in 1964 and has since become the world leader in retail. Today, Wal-Mart is visited by 138 million customers per week at their 4,750 stores. Wal-Mart operates under four basic rules in order to satisfy such a large number of customers: Respect the individual, provide the best service to their customers, strive for excellence, and exceed customer expectations. Their corporate mission focuses on a global growth strategy through concentrated integration. The company continues to expand its existing discount stores, warehouses, and super-centers. The company maintains two goals: First, Provide the customer with what they want, when they want it, all at value and secondly, team spirit through total dependency on associates to treat customers as they would want to be treated. Their business strategy is to provide well-known name brands at an everyday low price. Wal-Mart has a wide range of products offered. They offer everything from electronics, movies, books, toys, games, gardening supplies, home supplies, photo development, gifts, jewelry, and at some locations even automobile, optometry, and grocery shopping centers. In operating its network of retail stores Wal-Mart pushes their output to the general public. Wal-Mart focuses their competitive priorities on bringing the customer the lowest prices by selling in volume. The vast size and selection essentially guarantees that the store will have what the customer wants in stock and at a cheaper price than competitors. This strategy allows them to outsell their competition. In order to facilitate the achievement of their goals Wal-Mart has designed their layout to accommodate a large number of shoppers at the same time. They build expansive stores with wide aisles so that many people can feel comfortable shopping at the same time. Wal-Mart has taken the initiative to build stores in countless rural towns and smaller cities. They have increased their market share and have gained a reputable name by doing so. At the same time, this benefit has created an enormous supply chain management problem. How can Wal-Mart effectively keep all of its... ...y at creating an efficient supply chain in order to beat the competition on price and selection has certainly paid off. Works Cited Bacheldor, Beth. Information Week. ?Sen. Leahy Calls On Congress to Study RFID.? Accessed 4/30/04. http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?ArticleID=18402616 Beatty, Vernon L., Jr. ?You Gonna Be a Greeter Accessed 4/30/04. http://www.almc.army.mil/alog/issues/janfeb97/ms046.htm. Bianco, Anthony and Zellner, Wendy. Business Week. ?Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful Accesed 5/3/04. http://www.businessweek.com/maganize/content/03_04/b3852001_mz001.htm ?Carrers.? Wal-Mart. Accessed 4/30/04. http://www.walmartstores.com/wmstores/wmstores. Fishman, Charles. Fast Company. ?The Wal-Mart You Don?t Know.? Accessed 5/2/04. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html Heizer, Jay and Render, Barry. Operations Management. Seventh Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall. New Jersey, 2004. ?Stauffer v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.? US Department of Labor. Accessed 4/30/04. http://www.oalj.dol.gov/public/wblower/decsn/99sta21c.htm ?Wal-Mart Effect? Accessed 5/3/04. http://www.wordspy.com/words/Wal-Marteffect.asp.