The 19th century was a period of progress Essay

The 19th century was a period of progress - Essay Example There is no dearth of totalitarian states that are scientifically developed. Yet they extend to their citizens a subhuman life. Still, others regard 19th century to be progressive owing to the unprecedented extension of Western colonialism in large parts of the world. Colonial expansions definitely brought affluence and riches to the West. However, at least by the contemporary standards, colonialism could in no way be considered an essential attribute of progress. Especially, when one takes into consideration the brutality and rapaciousness of the colonial regimes those were dominant in the 19th century. If 19th century is to be labeled as being progressive, then the term 'progress' needs to be defined as something vibrant and humane. A cursory perusal of the literary and sociological works of 19th century reveal the rise of unprecedented, radical yet intense stirrings in the social and political environment, which blatantly questioned the existing order and scheme of things in the r eligious, political and social dimensions of human life. It is this very discontent and aversion to the existing state of affairs that qualifies 19th century as a progressive age. Mary Shelley's work 'Frankenstein' though superficially seems to be a Gothic tale relying on the supernatural, horrible and absurd to grab human interest and attention. However, this literary masterpiece no doubt points towards much potent interpretations, which bring to fore the general mindset and intellectual temperament of the 19th century man. 'Frankenstein' unravels a novel approach towards the understanding of creation and life, which is rebellious, unconventional, far from being conservative and orthodox and intrinsically irreverent at the same time. In fact, these are the very attributes that delineate the intellectual atmosphere in the 19th century and account for all the ensuing progress and development. The 19th century man was able to muster enough of essential heresy, which emboldened him to allocate within one's scope the matters of life and death, till now appropriated to the realm of divine and celestial. This is indicative of an approach towards life that is ration al, matter of fact, inquisitive and bold. In the words of Shelley: "Whence, I often ask myself, did the principle of life proceed It was a bold question, and one, which was ever been, considered as a mystery: yet with how many things are we upon the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice and carelessness did not restrain our enquiries (33)." Yet, this severing of the ties with predominantly theological and anachronistic values in no way means that the 19th century intellectual environment was bereft of any moral or ethical constraints. On the contrary, this is representative of an intellectual mindset that though being audacious was marred by lurking fears and apprehensions. 'Frankenstein' also gives voice to such societal fears by indicating that an ethically unrestrained intellect may give way to something monstrous and abominable.'My Bondage and My Freedom' written by From Douglas, takes this enquiry into ethics and morality into an entirely new realm. Slavery was no doubt, one of the most burning and controversial issue of 19th century. 'My Bondage

Effects of Employee Empowerment on Project Success

Effects of Employee Empowerment on Project Success Introduction: Employee empowerment is not a new innovative word its being used from many decades but employee empowerment has now become a buzz word in recent management treads in both private and public sectors (pits 2005). Employee empowerment received a wide recognition as an important subject in management circles mainly because it seen as one of the fundamental elements of managerial and organisational effectiveness that increases when power and control are shared in organization (serenely et al 2007). thus employee empowerment hailed as management technique which can be applied universally across all organisations a means of dealing with the modern global business(demitrades 2005) . Generally employee empowerment comprises of an innovative approach with people and a shift of power from the top management to lower level of an organization (tzafrir et al 2005). researches and leaders worldwide aver advocated for empowerment of employees to ell organisations compete successfully in highly compe titive market place (tjosvold and sun 2005). Therefore org that are committed to employee empowerment are in a position to motivate and retain their employees (angora 2007). Employee empower mint is seen as motivational technique if designed and nurtured properly in organisations. Thus employee empowerment leads to improvement of performance of the org through increased level of employee participation and self determination (greasily et al 200). Tzafrir (2004) says basically employee empowerment is mainly y concerned with trust, motivation, decision making and breaking he inner boundaries between management and employees. Literature review: Definitions: Employee participation is defined as ‘a process of employee involvement designed to provide employees with the opportunity to influence and where appropriate, take part in decision making on matters which affect them. According to Farnham (1997) Employee Participation is one of four policy choices for managing the employment relationship. Cited in Rose (2001, p380) Farnham states:‘†¦an employee has the right to question and influence organization decision making and ‘†¦. this may involve representative workplace democracy. The common dictionary definition of empowerment, to give official authority to: delegate legal power to: commission, authorize (Grove, 1971, p. 744) is the one most understood by most people. As an example, Gandz (1990) writes, Empowerment means that management vests decision-making or approval authority in employees where, traditionally, such authority was a managerial prerogative. (p. 75) However, this is not the definition of what is usually called employee empowerment. One author notes empowerment is, easy to define in its absence—alienation, powerless, helplessness—but difficult to define positively because it takes on a different form in different people and contexts' (Zimmerman, 1990, p.169) Employee empowerment is a process whereby: a culture of empowerment is developed; information in the form of a shared vision, clear goals, boundaries for decision making, and the results of efforts and their impact on the whole is shared; competency in the form of training and experience is developed; resources, or the competency to obtain them when needed to be effective in their jobs, are provided; and support in the form of mentoring, cultural support, and encouragement of risk-taking is provided Current research in employee empowerment: There is lot of research going on empowerment with respect to different entities of business like empowerment and total quality management, empowerment and sales, empowerment and customer satisfaction in tourism industry. Most of the research is concentrated on the relation between empowerment and employee motivation. Even though there is a vast literature review on my topic of interest .I am mentioning very few concepts here. In the most comprehensive, long-term study of empowerment-oriented practices, (Lawler, Mohr man, Benson, 2001) has empirically demonstrated the positive growth of empowerment practices in the last 15 years. Today, more than 70 percent of organizations surveyed have adopted some kind of empowerment initiative for some portion of their workforce. Why the tremendous growth in employee empowerment? Faced with competitive demands for lower costs, higher performance, and more flexibility, organizations have increasingly turned to employee empowerment to enhance their performance. Empowerment practices are often implemented with the hopes of overcoming worker dissatisfaction and reducing the costs of absenteeism, turnover, poor quality work, and sabotage (Klein, Ralls, Smith-Major, Douglas, 1998). Their focus is aimed at overcoming the debilitating psychological effects of traditional bureaucracies through the creation of high-involvement organizations. Empowerment enables employees to participate in decision making, helping them to break out of stagnant mindsets to take a risk and try something new. Empowering practices allow employees to decide on their own how they will recover from a service problem and surprise-and-delight customers by exceeding their expectations rather than waiting for approval from a supervisor (Bowen La wler, 1995). And perhaps most importantly, empowerment is viewed as critical in the process of organizational change. Rather than forcing or pushing people to change, empowerment provides a way of attracting them to want to change because they have ownership in the change process. Yet, in spite of this positive growth, more than 25% of the surveyed companies in Lawler et al.s (2001) study still report no significant empowerment-oriented practices anywhere in their organizations. And even those that do introduce empowerment practices often find it difficult to build genuine employee empowerment (Spreitzer Quinn, 2001). Some dont have the courage In order to understand the aims and implications of empowerment, it is necessary to understand the origins of the concept within the intellectual and political history of the West. While its modern form was derived principally from the civil and womens rights social movements of the 1960s, its philosophical lineage can be traced to the beginnings of modern political philosophy. While often regarded as a revolutionary development in thinking even in contemporary times, empowerments theoretical roots point to a longer progression than is commonly assumed. In myriad ways, empowerment theory is principally concerned with elucidating and applying the answers to the timeless questions of political philosophy itself namely the nature of power, the role of the citizen in the polis, and the achievement of justice in civic life. From this vantage point, empowerment is a continuation of this theoretical search for elusive, but critical, answers to timeless human questions. Sir Francis Bacon, b est known for his work new Atlantis, is intrinsically bound to the study of empowerment due to his crucial contribution to the development of the Western democratic system (White, 1987). According to Bacon, humanitys existence in a world of scarcity will continually result in human deprivation and hostility without the conquest of nature. He argued that only by the ‘release of mans estate, namely the rational and scientific generation of greater goods from nature, could this cycle of constant political animosity and privation be ended. Freedom, enfranchisement, and harmony among citizens cannot be achieved without overcoming the aggression that is inherent to scarcity and issues of survival. By uniting people behind the common goal of creating better lives via reason and human invention, the common good is finally able to triumph over sectarian divisions. At the most fundamental level, liberal democracy and the concept of constant progress require the emancipation of workers a nd their empowerment. Without empowerment, the manual labourer (or serf or slave) is utilized to provide the inputs that political life necessitates, and the stratification of power is perpetuated. Although Bacon helped to form the foundations of the modern commercial republic, he could not have foreseen many of the developments that this polity engendered. One only has to peruse the works of Dickens, Marx, or Sinclair to be made aware of some of the obstacles of this political order. The sublimation of economic efficiency and science may liberate humankind from the bounds of scarcity, but it also can transform man into a servant of power. Moreover, it often leads to a form of consumerism that seems ill suited for providing citizens with meaning outside the bounds of the acquisition of material possessions, as well as elevates labour itself into the focal point for personal significance. From this perspective, our economic and political order may be required to bear more weight and significance than it can bear. Modern empowerment literature, with its emphases on theory, results, and meaning is focused upon improving this state of affairs through a variety of different approaches and applications. As a discipline, it embraces modern methodologies in order to answer ancient and familiar questions with the intention of elevating both the individual and the organization (political or otherwise) simultaneously. During recent years, workplace empowerment has increasingly become part and parcel of the lexicon of organizational research and practice. The meaning of the term empowerment has evolved over the years from its more radical beginnings in the civil and womens rights movements to its current manifestations focused on organizational performance (Bartunek Spreitzer, 1999). In this section of the chapter, we look across the most recent decades of writing on empowerment and highlight three contemporary theoretical perspectives. Research purpose: TO EVALUATE THE ROLE OF Employee Empowerment IN PROJECT SUCCESS. I want to know to what extent the empowerment is being employed in the projects. If so, to what extent the empowerment aids in success of the project. Research objectives Question 1 .TO WHAT EXTENT Employee Empowerment IS BEING EMPLOYED IN PROJECTS AT MANGERIAL AND TEAM LEADER LEVEL Question 2. TO WHAT EXTENT Employee Empowerment CONTRUBUTES TO PROJECT SUCCESS Research rationale: Research mainly has economical and social benefits My research will find the cause and effect of empowerment and project success at two different hierarchal levels of project , i.e. managerial and team leader. I believe that my research will provide a new perspective of empowerment in projects. Research scope: Scope of my research is restricted to a Construction Company. I am doing a case study on ksheeraabd constructions private ltd (KPCL), Hyderabad, India I will take 8 to 10 interviews and will also distribute Questionnaires among 20 people. I will consider both employee and employer perspective. In depth interviews will be taken from the project managers and lower level team leaders Research methodology: The analysis of the research will be largely quantitative, however qualitative analysis will be used to highlight patterns and make the analysis more robust. The findings will be compared to theory in context in order to describe the patterns which exist. An deductive approach will be used in order to evaluate a theory as a result of the research findings .The research strategy will be case study of a construction company( KCPL ,Hyderabad India) for which I have already gained access . The company chosen is a construction company which is at present working on a road construction project at a place called Madurai in India. In the case study the interviews will be conducted for project manager level and questionnaires will be given for team leader level employees The aim is to evaluate the effects of employee empowerment in an organisation. The questionnaire will have structured questions with set responses in order to quantify the empowerment employed in the organisation. There will also be open questions for participants to make comments on the various aspects empowerment in their organisation. I will do cross sectional study as I will collect all the data at same time Sampling procedures: My research involves data collection from two different levels of organisation like project managers and from team leader level. As the project managers are very few we wanted to consider the entire sample and for the team leaders I will use simple random sampling. Data collection and analysis: I will take interviews from the project managers. I will take ablest 8 to almost 10 interviews. I will distribute the questioners to the team leaders who are selected by simple random sampling. I will make sure that at least 20 employee from team leader level will participate in this procedure. Using the deductive approach, the analysis of the interviews will be mostly quantitative I will ask questions that have rating of the responses ranging from 0 to 5. The main purpose of the interviews is to avoid any bias of information from the questionnaires. The questioners are designed in such a way that each response is quantified like the interviews. By this method I can make quantitative analysis of both types of information. Validity and reliability Internal validity Increased through use of multiple sources of evidence, structured interviews and questionnaires (both closed and open questions). The design of questions and survey will be based on understanding of the theory from the literature and pilot testing of the interview and questionnaire will be used to make sure questions are understood as intended. External validity Multiple cases considered to examine whether findings can be generalised over a number of organisations. There is no requirement to make a statistical analysis of the results for generalisation here as the approach chosen examines practices and their effectiveness. The aim is to explain the findings and explore generalisability through a comparison of findings with theory. Reliability Structured interviews with questions derived from literature in order to examine cases in same way. Surveys to back up the interviews and obtain views from a wider group. Questionnaires all administered at the same time and in controlled manner, explanation to ensure participants all understand research in same way. Instrumentation : I am planning to collect information through questionnaires in single batch . Which will not pose any validity problems with respect to instrumentation? Mortality: with respect to this threat I ill make sure that there will be no dropouts of participants at the time of data collection Access to the company (consent): I have already spoken with the subject of interest (KCPL pvt ltd, Hyderabad) and gained access to the company. I have explained the total procedure and outcome of the dissertation. I have promised them that the information collected will be kept confidential so finally the company has given access to obtain information from their employees. The organisation is also looking forward to help me in this research. They felt grateful to me for taking their company as a case study. For reference I am enclosing a copy of the access grant letter

Results of Child Abuse Survey :: Primary Research on Child Abuse

The primary method was conducted using a series of distributed questionnaires to children for my research. The reasons why I used questionnaires are because I think I will obtain appropriate and honest responses which relates to their personal experiences. The data collected was then categorized by data into gender, age from age 8 to10, age 11 to 13, age 14 to16, age 17 to 19 and type of abuse. The surveys were equally distributed, a total of 13 surveys were handed out to children between 8-18 years of age that have been victims of child abuse/ neglect. The questionnaire consisted of 22 questions divided into five parts: multiple choice, background, open, rank order and attitude questions. The answers to most questions were suggested for consistency, and they could be ticked in boxes in a multiple choice format. This survey looked at two different groups of children, males and females. The aim of this research is to find out if child abuse has an effect on the intellectual and emotio nal development of the child and if it has effect on their adulthood. Primary Research Findings The respondents were asked 22 questions in the questionnaires. In the questionnaire I asked their age group, gender, who their abuser was, if the child was abused physically, sexually, emotionally, or psychologically and if they were mistreated because their parent or parents were abused as a child. I also asked if the child was ever arrested or charged for a criminal act and if answered yes then what was the reason why they arrested or charged. I surveyed The information gotten from the respondents is most out of 13 children 40 percent of them are between the ages of 8 to10 and 29 percent were between the ages of 11to13 and 31 percent abused between the ages of 14 to 16. I have found out that out of 13 children 6 of them are females that are victims of child abuse and the remaining children are males. Most of the children were abused by a step-parent or a parent. One of the important information that I have found out is that majority of the children were physically or emotionally ab used as a child at times and very often. Most of the children reported that they were either being mistreated by a parent(s) who were abused as a child or the abuser have problems with drugs or alcohol.

Conflict Resolution in Office Romance Essay

Conflict is inevitable. It is a normal way of life. How we as individuals perceive each other depends on our ability to effectively resolve problems and how we cope with managing change. Some of us are unable to adapt to change therefore, it is expected that conflict will occasionally occur. There are different types of conflict that occur in our daily lives as well as in the workplace. However, the topic I choose to discuss as part of this conflict resolution paper is office romance that causes conflict. As we all are aware office romance is very common today in our society. It is no secret that people often find love on the job. There is a level of comfort and closeness that we share with our subordinates that we sometimes tend to fall in love with them. Office romance is dependent on a number of factors. Office romance can have both positive and negative effects on the working environment as well as work performance. It can cause conflict in the workplace, especially if it is a supervisor-subordinate relationship. It can affect the productivity of employees and may lead to sexual harassment and other claims. It can make co-workers uncomfortable and it can be dangerous because it can lead to conflict within the organization. Accusations of favoritism may occur and it may hinder the work performance of the parties involved as well as the co-workers. After analyzing the office romance that took place within the organization and the impact on which it had on employees, the recommended course of action to resolve the actual conflict that will make a difference to the future performance of the organization is to educate the employees on the issue of office romance. Develop a policy that declares what managers expect when it comes to office romance. The parties that are involved give them options such as disclosing the relationship to their boss and deciding who will leave the job if it gets too tough to handle and the parties do not want to terminate the relationship. Explain to them the actions that management will take if they do not solve the issue themselves. Enforce the rules on sexual harassment and office romance. Although, management cannot prohibit office romance, there are steps that they can take to ensure that it does not become a problem in the workplace, thus hiring a consultant that will help solve the issue is a good idea.

Research Proposal Sample on Vodafone Uk Customer Satisfaction

In the business industry, it is important to gather customer to make the product and services sold. Therefore, keeping a customer is difficult in the business when it is in the starting stage. A business will find it harder to find prospective and loyal customer when operating abroad. And because of the economic problem that many countries are facing now, another challenge was revived; how to keep the customer? The Customer Satisfaction The customer satisfaction is a business term that measures how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within business. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy1. Every business’s mission is making the customers as their first priority. In accordance to this, the business must fill or serve the satisfaction of their customers according to what preferences that the market is demanding for. For an instance, if the business is in the food industry and the customers’ wants different variations of soup then, the management must look forward to create sumptuous dishes. Some business use different approach in leading their customers in the satisfactory stage like making special for their valued customer or raffle promo or making a sale for some products, anything that will catch the customers’ attention and at the end bringing the profit and customers’ trusts. The business literally promotes their product with the use of their customer because if one customer felt great to their product or enjoyed the service, he/she will make it on the broadcast among with their friends. The value of customers in the business is very high thus; the business needs to find impressions to keep them coming back to their establishment. In the case of finding such market in the other country, is like finding a needle in a vast gassy meadow. It is hard when the business is new to the eye of the customers. It is hard when the business is not prepared in approaching the customers well. It is hard when the business has many competitors in the area. The need for adjustment is highly acceptable. And because of these issues that surround the business industry, the proper guidance is highly appreciated. The Vodafone case can be a basis in catching the customer’s interest. The Vodafone Vodafone UK has more than 17 million customers and is part of the world’s largest mobile community. Vodafone’s leadership in mobile voice and data communications has continued, thanks largely to its focus on developing its brand and customer experience2. In this big company, reaching the respect of the customers is not new to them. Most especially, the Vodafone is a technology-based business and the impact of acceptance is expectedly high. But even a good business like Vodafone still needs to assess their customers and answer every question of their customer. They also consider many opinions and suggestion coming from their customers so that, the evidence in the growing customer acceptance make their gross reach the highest every year. However, the challenge is still there in every kind of business. Customer’s Challenge Vodafone is constantly looking for new ways to drive interaction and enhance the service that we offer to our customers, while at the same time making the life of our people simpler and more rewarding. However, Vodafone recognized that it was not differentiating the needs of its in-store customers or allocating store employees according to their areas of expertise. This meant waiting times could be lengthy and the level of service provided varied on the store employee’s area of expertise. So, Vodafone introduced a re-branding program aimed at improving the customer journey in store, as well as differentiating Vodafone from its competitors. Based on the macro planning principles of â€Å"Organize me, Engage me†, the key components of the refit included greater automation in-store, the option for self-service through kiosks, and footfall counters to track the volume of customers in-store and optimize the customer flow. Benefits to the Customer †¢ Improve the customer experience – customers now have more time to browse the store and choose how to purchase, so everyone benefits from faster and more efficient service, in a more relaxed atmosphere. This has led to a considerable uplift in customer satisfaction. Increase performance – optimized stores outperform other stores. Average contract volumes have increased with average upgrade volumes also increasing. †¢ Minimize business disruption – systems availability is enhanced, with a substantial reduction in support calls and improvement in first time fixes, increasing sales opportunities †¢ Maximize profit margins – self-serv ice significantly reduces the cost of sale especially amongst core pre-pay customers †¢ Enhance productivity – automation of commodity purchases enables faster transaction times and frees up resources to help other customers. The number of customers leaving stores without seeing an advisor is also declining †¢ Reduce support costs – tailoring services and removing duplicate effort and resources has cut costs, while increasing the overall level of support †¢ Optimize resource deployment – increased management information, such as customer numbers, waiting times and sales conversion figures, is helping to track and measure the customer experience in-store and enable staffing roles to be prepared to reflect store and customer requirements. The Business Case for Measuring Impacts The nature of multinational business is complex, shaped by globalization and rapid socio-economic and political change. Sustainability issues are increasingly contributing to this complexity, not least climate change, resource constraints, endemic poverty and ecosystem degradation. Committing to create a more sustainable and inclusive form of globalization and the following are the key objectives3: †¢ Develop a deeper understanding of how global issues such as poverty, the environment, demographic change and globalization affect individual companies and sectors; †¢ Use the understanding of these issues to search for more inclusive business solutions that help to address the issues at both a local and global scale; †¢ Align core business strategies with the solutions identified; †¢ Incorporate long-term measures into the definition of success, targeting profitability that is sustainable and supported by a responsible record in managing social, environmental and employment matters. The Business in Developing Countries Companies recognize the risks and opportunities their operations face in developing countries and the important role they play in influencing change. They rely on transparent legal systems, access to markets and infrastructure services, social stability, healthy and skilled employees and suppliers, as well as consumers willing and able to purchase their products and services. While these conditions are critical for business growth and success, the benefits resulting from the presence of multinational business and the associated in-flows of capital may not reach all sectors of society. The consequence can be a thriving middle and upper class while the low-income segment gets left behind. This can lead to strained relations between business and the communities associated with their activities, increased scrutiny from civil society organizations and greater levels of political pressure from local and national governments, all of which can increase commercial risks for investors3. Conclusion The importance of customer in one business can affect the operation of a multinational company most especially in the developing countries. The success of a multinational company can make an additional growth in their own economy. Getting the heart of the customers are essential to keep the business moving. Although there are many factors that can affect a business that is new in the face of the foreign country, the main strategy that the study can add is to look for a customer that has a same nationality of the business. For example, the American business is new to Japan, therefore, the business should target their very own race first before entering the Japanese culture and became part of their life.References:1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gitman, L; & McDaniel, C., (2005). The Future of Business: The Essentials. Mason, Ohio: South-Western. ISBN 0324320280. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Vodafone Case in Customer Satisfaction (n.d.). [Online] Available at: http://www.fujitsu.com/uk/casestudies/fs _vodafone-customersatisfaction.html [Accessed 14 Aug 2009].3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Impact: Beyond the Bottom Line (2008). WBCBD. [Online] Available at: http://www.wbcsd.org/web/projects/sl/MIbeyondthebottomline.pdf [Accessed 14 Aug 2009]. Read more: http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/08/research-proposal-sample-on-vodafone-uk-customer-satisfaction.html#ixzz1Es0Qh2Bk