Sunday, May 24, 2020

How Was Archaeopteryx Discovered

Fittingly for a creature that most people consider to be the first bird, the story of Archaeopteryx begins with a single, fossilized feather. This artifact was discovered in 1861 by the paleontologist Christian Erick Hermann von Meyer in Solnhofen (a town in the south German region of Bavaria). For centuries, Germans have been quarrying Solnhofens extensive limestone deposits, which were laid down about 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic period. Ironically, though, this first, wispy hint of the existence of Archaeopteryx has since been downgraded by paleontologists. Von Meyers discovery was quickly followed by the unearthing of various, more-complete Archaeopteryx fossils, and it was only in retrospect that his feather was assigned to the Archaeoteryx genus (which was designated in 1863 by the worlds most renowned naturalist at the time, Richard Owen). It turns out that this feather may not have come from Archaeopteryx at all but from a closely related genus of dino-bird! Confused yet? Well, it gets much worse: it turns out that a specimen of Archaeopteryx had actually been discovered as early as 1855, but it was so fragmentary and incomplete that, in 1877, no less an authority than von Meyer classified it as belonging to Pterodactylus (one of the first pterosaurs, or flying reptiles, ever to be identified). This mistake was rectified in 1970 by the American paleontologist John Ostrom, who is famous for his theory that birds evolved from feathered dinosaurs like Deinonychus. The Golden Age of Archaeopteryx: London and Berlin Specimens To backtrack a bit: Shortly after von Meyer discovered his feather, in 1861, a near-complete Archaeopteryx specimen was unearthed in another part of the Solnhofen formation. We dont know who the lucky fossil-hunter was, but we do know that he gave his find to a local doctor in lieu of payment and that this doctor then sold the specimen to the Natural History Museum in London for 700 pounds (a massive amount of money in the mid-19th century). The second (or third, depending on how youre counting) Archaeopteryx specimen suffered a similar fate. This was discovered in the mid-1870s by a German farmer named Jakob Niemeyer, who quickly sold it to an innkeeper so he could buy a cow. (One imagines that Niemeyers descendants, if any are alive today, deeply regret this decision). This fossil traded hands a few more times and was eventually bought by a German museum for 20,000 goldmarks, an order of magnitude more than the London specimen had fetched a couple of decades before. What did contemporaries think about Archaeopteryx? Well, heres a quote from the father of evolutionary theory, Charles Darwin, who had published the Origin of Species only a few months before Archaopteryxs discovery: We know, on the authority of Professor Owen, that a bird certainly lived during the deposition of the upper greensand [i.e., the sediments dating from the late Jurassic period]; and still more recently, that strange bird, the Archeopteryx, with a long lizard-like tail, bearing a pair of feathers on each joint, and with its wings furnished with two free claws, has been discovered in the oolitic slates of Solnhofen. Hardly any recent discovery shows more forcibly than this how little we as yet know of the former inhabitants of the world. Archaeopteryx in the 20th Century New specimens of Archaeopteryx have been discovered at regular intervals throughout the 20th century--but given our much-improved knowledge of Jurassic life, some of these dino-birds have been relegated, tentatively, to new genera and sub-species. Heres a list of the most important Archaeopteryx fossils of modern times: The Eichstatt specimen was discovered in 1951 and described almost a quarter-century later by the German paleontologist Peter Wellnhofer. Some experts speculate that this small individual actually belongs to a separate genus, Jurapteryx, or at least that it should be classified as a new Archaeopteryx species. The Solnhofen specimen, discovered in the early 1970s, was also examined by Wellnhofer after it had been misclassified as belonging to Compsognathus (a small, non-feathered dinosaur that has also been found in the Solnhofen fossil beds). Once again, some authorities believe that this specimen actually belongs to newly designated contemporary of Archaeopteryx, Wellnhoferia. The Thermopolis specimen, discovered in 2005, is the most complete Archaeopteryx fossil discovered to date and has been a key piece of evidence in the continuing debate about whether Archaeopteryx was truly the first bird, or closer to the dinosaur end of the evolutionary spectrum. No discussion of Archaeopteryx is complete without mentioning the Maxberg specimen, the mysterious fate of which sheds some light on the seamy intersection of commerce and fossil-hunting. This specimen was discovered in Germany in 1956, described in 1959, and owned privately after that by one Eduard Opitsch (who loaned it out to the Maxberg Museum in Solnhofen for a few years). After Opitsch died, in 1991, the Maxberg specimen was nowhere to be found; investigators believe that it was stolen from his estate and sold to a private collector, and it hasnt been seen since. Was There Really Only One Species of Archaeopteryx? As the above list demonstrates, the various specimens of Archaeopteryx discovered over the last 150 years have created a tangle of proposed genera and individual species that are still being sorted out by paleontologists. Today, most paleontologists prefer to group most (or all) of these Archaeopteryx specimens into the same species, Archaeopteryx lithographica, though some still insist on referring to the closely related genera Jurapteryx and Wellnhoferia. Given that Archaeopteryx has yielded some of the most exquisitely preserved fossils in the world, you can imagine how confusing it is to classify the less well-attested reptiles of the Mesozoic Era!

Monday, May 18, 2020

The Constitution Of The United States - 940 Words

If the United States was a house, the Constitution would act as its framework. It was built by the trusting Founding Fathers who were given the task of ensuring that the structure was sturdy enough to withstand anything from attacks to overpopulation. Little did they know, America would grow expediently in size, population and diversity impacting the house they created. But as that home has changed, the framework has remained a building block for prosperity welcoming amendments and expanding in interpretation. The Founding Fathers were afforded with the luxury of planting the seeds of a system which would develop overtime into superior governmental authority greatly contrasting the feudal order which they fought against. The Constitution†¦show more content†¦In contrast to the vast authority given to states in the Articles of the Confederation, the Farmers wanted to give the federal government some practical authority in order to ensure a sound base. Federalism has transfor med since then but remains consistent in its goal of balancing state and national power. Today the cooperative relationship between the two can be described as more fiscal federalism. By way of categorical grants and block grants, national government works with state governments to ensure economic and political stability. The benefits of the Federalist system set up by the Founding Fathers are rampant. It allows for the practice of pragmatism and pluralism in a diverse and vast country via the linkage of local and state officials to their population granting them the ability to choose policies to solve local problems without the input of a broad national government. (Campbell) Additionally the system works towards the separation of powers by ensuring that state governments function independently even if the national government is fraudulent, states would still be able to operate. Moreover, Federalism favors political stability by taking power away from the national level in some an tagonistic issue areas and giving it to the local level also acting as a safeguard against tyranny. The Farmers Federalist ideology was and still is pertinent in

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

The Invention and History of the Altimeter

The altimeter is an instrument that measures vertical distance with respect to a reference level. It can give the altitude of the land surface above sea level or the altitude of an airplane over the ground. French physicist  Louis Paul Cailletet  invented the altimeter and the high-pressure manometer. Cailletet was the first to liquefy oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and air in 1877. He had been studying the composition of gases given off by iron in the blast furnace of his fathers ironworks. At the same time, Swiss physician Raoul-Pierre Pictet liquefied oxygen using another method. Cailletet had an interest in aeronautics, which led to developing an altimeter to measure the altitude of an airplane. Version 2.0 AKA the  Kollsman Window In 1928, a German-American inventor named Paul Kollsman changed the world of  aviation with the invention of the worlds first accurate barometric altimeter, which was also called the â€Å"Kollsman Window.† His altimeter converted barometric pressure into the distance above sea level in feet. It even allowed pilots to fly blind. Kollsman was born in Germany, where he studied civil engineering. He emigrated to the United States in 1923 and worked in New York as a truck driver for Pioneer Instruments Co. He formed the Kollsman Instrument Company in 1928 when Pioneer didnt accept his design. He had then-Lieutenant Jimmy Doolittle conduct a test flight with the altimeter in 1929 and was eventually able to sell them to the United States Navy. Kollsman sold his company to the Square D Company in 1940 for four million dollars. The Kollsman Instrument Company eventually became a division of Sun Chemical Corporation. Kollsman also went on to file hundreds of other patents, including those for converting salt water into fresh water and for a slip-resistant bathroom surface. He even owned one of the earliest ski areas in the United States, Snow Valley in Vermont. He married actress Baroness Julie Luli Deste and purchased The Enchanted Hill estate in Beverly Hills. The Radio Altimeter   Lloyd Espenschied invented the first radio altimeter in 1924.  Espenschied was a native of St. Louis, Missouri who graduated from the Pratt Institute with a degree in electrical engineering. He was interested in wireless and radio communications and worked for telephone and telegraph companies. He eventually became the director of high-frequency transmission development at Bell Telephone Laboratories.   The principle  behind how it works involves monitoring a beam of radio waves transmitted by an aircraft and their time to return as reflected from the ground to calculate altitude above the ground. The radio altimeter differs from the barometric altimeter in showing altitude above the ground below rather than above sea level. That is a critical difference for improved flight safety. In 1938, the FM radio altimeter was first demonstrated in New York by Bell Labs. In the first public display of the device, radio signals were bounced off the ground to show pilots the altitude of an aircraft. Besides the altimeter, he was also the co-creator of the coaxial cable, an important component of television and long-distance telephone service. He held over 100 patents in communications technology.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow - 2025 Words

Throughout the United States, the story of the Headless Horseman, described in â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† is well-known in American folklore. It is a scary story that many children tell around the campfire in an attempt to scare one another, saying that if someone is not careful, the Headless Horseman will come for them. However, many Americans do not realize that this legend originated from a story that appears in Washington Irving’s book, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Washington Irving was born to a Scottish immigrant family on April 3, 1783, in New York City. Later that year, The Treaty of Paris was signed, signaling that America had at long last won her independence from Great Britain (Irving, Norberg, and Stade iii). From that point on, the United States of America began the journey to find an identity to call its own. Before, when these people were a colony of Great Britain, they identified themselves as a part of the greatest empire on Earth. H owever, by the time of the Revolution many of the colonists were questioning their identity and position within the British Empire. Through gaining their freedom, this new nation was able to create a new identity, generating what was thought to be a purely American culture. Living through this time of change, Washington Irving wrote about the emerging society from a critical standpoint. Although Irving lived through the times of change, he was critical of how these changes, specifically those of capitalism andShow MoreRelatedThe Legend Of Sleepy Hollow895 Words   |  4 Pagestime that â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† was written, Capitalism was the dominant mode of production, and capitalist markets were spreading rapidly. This became especially true in the United States of America, which was heavily influenced by the British in matters of economy. Since capitalism was born in England, the influence of capitalism bled over into America while they were still under British rule (Wolf et al. 2670). However, by 1820, the year that â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† was publishedRead MoreThe Legend Of Sleepy Hollow1179 Words   |  5 PagesOn October 12th, 2017, the Averitt Center produced â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† at the Black Box Theatre in Statesboro, GA. â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† is based on the story by Washington Irving and was dramatized by Kathryn Schultz Miller. â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† was directed by Bathany DeZelle. Main actors were Zac Davis, Edward Preble, Grace Jarrell, John Parcels, Edy Kaleta, Aubrey Roberts, Sofia Costantini, Kenzie Cannady, Kian DeVine, and Ernesto Moina. Other actors included were XavierRead MoreThe Legend of Sleepy Hollow800 Words   |  4 PagesThe narration in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow functions as a way to give authority to the women of Tarry Town. This power of feminine is elicit by Washington Irving who gives respect and superiority to women indirectly, but yet evidently through third person narration. Furthermore through Katrina he parallels the power of Tarry Town’s women by illustrating their agency to beget the downfall of Ichabod. Irving draws out Katrina Van Tassel only in relation to the farm not to demean her, but rather toRead MoreThe Legend Of Sleepy Hollow920 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† Sleepy Hollow is a small Dutch town in rural New York. The women of these Dutch communities sit around their spinning wheels telling each other folklore and legends. One of these legends is about a Hessian soldier who got his head shot clean off by a cannon-ball in the Civil War. Every night he goes out to look for his head. This is what a female story looks like during the 1800’s. Focuses on legends and myths that the women can talk about during their gossip. HoweverRead MoreThe Legend Of The Sleepy Hollow1413 Words   |  6 PagesThe Legend of the Sleepy Hollow â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† is a rather intriguing story about an American man Ichabod Crane who relocates to the small town of Sleepy Hollow. It is a town that is quite superstitious and seems to be haunted by the ghost of a headless horse-rider. In the town, Crane falls in love with a girl Katrina and is held in a twist with another suitor Brom. However, as Brom has been able to intimidate all other potential suitors, he is unable to scare Ichabod away physicallyRead MoreThe Legend Of Sleepy Hollow2024 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction Washington Irving, is the author of the tale â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,† that was written in the nineteenth century (Baym 25). Irving was born in New York City on April 3rd, 1783 and was the last of eleven children. At home, Irving read a wide range of English literature and delighted in many other writers, including Shakespeare, Oliver Goldsmith, and Laurence Sterne. In 1830 Irving bought and began refurbishing a house along the Hudson River near Tarrytown (Baym 25). The beginningRead MoreThe Legend Of Sleepy Hollow886 Words   |  4 PagesWashington Irving wrote â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† in 1820. It tells the story of a man named Ichabod Crane, a schoolmaster who persistently frightens himself with supernatural beings he supposes he sees and hears on his way home from school. Later in the story, Crane threatens to take away the love of a lady from a man named Abraham Van Brunt. This man, known as Brom Bones to the townspeople, took advantage of Ic habod Crane’s credulousness to scare him out of town through a prank in whichRead MoreThe Legend Of Sleepy Hollow1026 Words   |  5 Pagesassociate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet. In Washington Irving â€Å"The Legend of sleepy Hollow,† setting, characterization, and Irony affect the protagonist in several ways. The night setting is important because it further emphasizes the superstitious theme. A somnolent, illusory effect appears to be dangling around the surroundingRead MoreThe Legend Of The Sleepy Hollow944 Words   |  4 PagesWashington Irving became the first American writer of the nineteenth century to achieve an international literary reputation .One of his greatest tales is â€Å"The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow† is set in a village on the Hudson River (Tarry Town), in which the author created two important characters throughout the story. Ichabod Crane and Brom Bones compete against each other in order to get a woman’s hand in marriage. Although they both want the same girl does not mean that they share more in commonRead More Comparing Sleepy Hollow and The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow Essay979 Words   |  4 PagesComparing Sleepy Hollow and The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow Over time, a change has occurred from the typical horror story to a violent and bloody legend. The original short story The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow is an example of a simple, yet mysterious fable in which Ichabod Crane acts as the protagonist. Ichabod becomes the victim of the feared headless horseman after believing the superstitious tales of this spirit preying in the night. The film that is supposedly based upon the

Pocket Money Should Be Given to the Teenagers or Not Free Essays

With the development of our modern society, peoples living conditions become much more comfortable. But along with intense competition, parents have less time to consider children needs in all-round. One method to solve this contradiction is to give children some pocket money. We will write a custom essay sample on Pocket Money Should Be Given to the Teenagers or Not or any similar topic only for you Order Now Pocket money is useful to children. But whether the children are considerable enough to make correct use of these money. There are two viewpoints about the pocket money. Some people think that giving children pocket money will make them become luxurious. Others think that will not lead to such disadvantage. In my opinion, both of them are partially reasonable. Nowadays teenagers are moving to independence and it will help them if they have some practice in managing money. Giving pocket money teaches teenagers to manage money while they are still young and parents can still guide them. Also, it help teenagers to make choices and to see that sometimes people have to wait and save up some money to get what they really want. The important predicament of pocket money must have certainly flashed your mind either during your childhood or as a parent now. Of course, the dilemma is always much more grave if you are a parent. Parents extensively differ in their perspectives of upbringing children in a system of granting pocket money to take care of their petty expenses. At first, the definite expenses that should be termed as petty is pretty much subjective in nature and needs to be well-defined to start with. The second question you need to ask is what is the extent to which a child be given freedom to spend money which is deemed as pocket money? While lot of parentaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s concerns revolves around promoting unhealthy competition amongst children on the amount of money they get and loss of control on a childaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s spending habits, there are also some positive lessons for teenagers such as inculcating money management skills and making tough decision regarding spending desires that offer less value to their lifestyle. Some peoples believe that giving children pocket money really has many advantages. With pocket money, children can buy their daily necessities such as pencils, little toys, and snack food they like. It will give children a certain freedom to select what they want, make them aware rules of the equivalent exchange. Since time to parents is very precious, giving pocket money to children help them to save time spent in shopping, but used in busy working and earning money. Children can get the value of the money when they are responsible to pay for their purchases and they will become more responsible with money matters. It can also lead the children pay for their things from their pocket money itself, so that they get to know how grownups set up a budget when salary comes and pay for living expenses. Some parents think that giving pocket money to their children can saves a lot of time for grownups to buy small things for them. Parents can utilize this time for other important tasks. Once start giving pocket money to children, they have to begin make important decision regarding spending money themselves, this will gives them the sense of purpose and achievement. Besides that, children feel a sense of independence and responsibility towards spending the money in the right way. They learn to understand the value of money. Children will get into the habit of planned income and expenditure. They also learn about saving budgeting. Giving pocket money to children makes them feel an important part of the family since they know that they get a part of the family’s monthly income. Therefore, the way of giving pocket money will develop a sense to children of how much has to be done to earn money, learn that ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’, learn what money can buy, how much they need to buy and what they need to buy. They can have their own money to spend and helping them develop self control and understanding the value of money, and learn to save money. Others insist that there are undoubtedly some disadvantages in spending pocket money. First, young children do not know how to use pocket money appropriately, they possibly consume all the money to buy expensive merchandise that they like, and then ask for extra money from their parents. Some parents cosset their children, and always give them a large amount of pocket money. Such conditions will make children become more and more prodigal. Second, since adults do not supervise the procedure of shopping, children could probably buy something that is not suitable for their age, such as adult magazines. The aâ‚ ¬? Current Pocket Money Trends in Malaysiaaâ‚ ¬? survey has cited that metropolitan children in the 12-20 ages group get as much as RM500 to over RM1500 a month of pocket money to spend on apparels, physical appearance, cell phone and other lifestyle products. A child may not be cautious in spending money, he or she can easily spend on frivolous unnecessary items. Children are not expected to know the value of money so they are never expected to make a wise decision regarding money. A child can easily get into trouble if there is no supervision with regards to money matters. He or she can be the prey to the bullies at school or play area if they are carrying lots of pocket money. Children may always think they will get paid for everything they do to help, you have to find the money to pay them regularly, it is hard to know what the pocket money is supposed to pay for and there will always seems to be something more. Although children learn to understand that amount of money is limited and they need to always choose between their various desires to ensure correct use of their pocket money. Some parents believe that pocket money should not be given since that will make the child feel that ‘parents money is not his/her money’, it could lead to unhealthy competition amongst children on the amount of pocket money they get, and they will loss of control on where children spend the money. By judging these two viewpoints above that I mentioned, I think that parents should give their children a limited amount of pocket money and there must always exist some preconditions such as the amount of pocket money must be finite; parents should instruct their children how to use the money moderately and what is suitable to them; for a costly merchandise, parents themselves should take children to buy it. With these preconditions, pocket money will do no harm to their children. Parents need to explain to them where the money is to be used. For example when you first give the amount to your daughter, you need to explain that this money is to cover her school special lunch; candies or soft drinks requirements for a week. If the child is given money without any direction, you could run the risk of the child using the money is a way that does not agree with you. In such cases, parents need to be very careful in not micro- managing where the child spends the pocket money, else the child will get irritated and will not get the aâ‚ ¬? sense of independenceaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ that parents want to instill in the child. Once children start spending, sometimes away from their parents in going to school, sports classes, tuitions, and they need to carry some amount of money on them. In the beginning, the amount of money should be small and should be periodically reviewed as the child grows. For example parents could decide that every birthday, they will give an increment to your childaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pocket money. If your child excels in academics or sports, they could get higher pocket money increments! How much is the best as the pocket money? Parents must always ensure that they give comparable pocket money to their children. It should neither be too much or too little compared to friends. Giving more pocket money than friends will make your child spend more and consider money as frivolous and easily available. If your child gets less pocket money than his/her friends, it will lead to an inferiority complex and the child might start resenting you. An idea might be to give your child a set amount each week, putting half in a savings account. At the end of a time agreed on by you both, perhaps three months and the child can spend the saved money exactly as they wish. If they choose to ‘waste’ it on lollies they can do so. However most children want something special and usually prefer to save for that particular thing and not waste it on a brief pleasure. This helps teach them the value of saving. Another way treat pocket money as a way of punishment. Parents must be careful not to use pocket money as a way of punishment to their children. Often, parents use aâ‚ ¬? suspension of pocket moneyaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ as an easy way of punishing their children. This format of punishment is not wrong to use but must be applied carefully. For example if the child has a broken a beautiful vase and you want him/ her to understand the value of the same, you can penalize the child by deducting/ taking away the monthaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pocket money. But you cannot start using pocket money as a weapon to get the child to abide by all your wishes. For example you might want your child to have two glasses of milk everyday which he may not want to; in such cases by incentivizing the child for more pocket money will be wrong to do since such a format of giving money is not pocket money but aâ‚ ¬? bribeaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Similarly, pocket money penalty cannot be used as a blanket punishment to all wrong-doings. If the child starts feeling that he/she will never really get pocket money due to some punishment, he/she might be tempted to steal money from parents. If you decide to give pocket money you need to work out, how much is reasonable, whether the money will be paid for doing chores, how much must be done to earn it, and how much is simply because aâ‚ ¬? you are a member of the familyaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, how much each job is worth, whether all children get the same amount or the older child gets more, how much control parents will have over the use of pocket money or do they have to save some, what can they buy with it, when you will pay? Because the children won’t learn about the responsibility of money if parents don’t honor the agreement. How to cite Pocket Money Should Be Given to the Teenagers or Not, Essay examples

Working Ethics of Human Resource Department

Question - Prepare documentation on working with the Human Resource department in an organisation? Table of Contents Executive Summary: Task 1:- Approving recruitment: Position Description: Advertising: Impact of legal, regulatory, and ethical considerations in process of recruitment and selection: Participation in the Selection Process: Evaluating personal contribution to the process of selection: Task 2:- Leadership Skills and Attributes: Contrast between different leadership types: Methods of motivating staff: Task 3:- Impacts of Team Work and Culture: Conclusion: References. Executive Summary: Human Resource is that department of an organization that looks after the welfare of both employers and employees. It is responsible for coordinating the activities of the organizational members. It is responsible for recruiting members or staffs to carry on with the organizational performance for better. An organization needs to maintain the process of recruitment, selection, training and retention in the most effective manner. As per the given scenario, XYZ Ltd is an organization that seeks for new staff to be recruited. The following tasks highlight on those aspects. They also focus on the concepts of leadership techniques, and assessment of organizational performance. Task 1: Human resource (HR) forms an integral part of an organization since the success of a business organization depends greatly upon the availability of innovative, skilled, committed, and creative workforce. Hence it is an essential requisite to pay greater attention to the human resource aspect of an organization (Johnson and Klee, 2007). With reference to the given case scenario of XYZ Ltd, it is required to develop a documentation to select as well as recruit a new member of staff(Jogulu, 2010). It is the responsibility of the human resource department of XYZ Ltd to create documentation for recruitment and selection of staff by abiding by all rules and regulations. The documentation is as follows: Approving recruitment: The process of recruitment must initiate with the approval from higher authorities of the organization. The concerned organizational department of XYZ Ltd who requires staff needs to send a draft specifying position description as well specifying required skills and qualification for the designation (Keyko, 2014). Once approved it is sent to the HR department. Position Description: Before giving advertisement, the company needs to describe the position of the new member. This also needs to be approved by the authority and it includes related roles and responsibilities of the individual. Advertising: This is an essential step and it requires approval of the executive director of the company. Advertisement is done in multiple ways like that of online advertisements, electronic media, print media, open advertisement, etc. Any particular mean is selected and detailed advertisement is given with details such as location, qualification, salary, work time, job specifications, etc. Impact of legal, regulatory, and ethical considerations in process of recruitment and selection: Thorough awareness of legal and ethical considerations would enable the company to minimize risks, interview question, job posting, checking job offers, etc. Some laws that are associated with the process of recruitment and selection are race relation act, sex discriminatory act, employment equality and regulation, etc. The firm XYZ Ltd is required to follow these laws. XYZ Ltd is said to maintain sex discriminatory act. It would not discriminate between male or female candidates. If a candidate meets all the criteria of a post, the firm would not consider whether the candidate is male or female. It would also abide by the race relation act. If any job advertisement demands for specific race or nationality, it would break the provision of race relation act (Hancock, 2002). Any individual having legal work permission in UK would be allowed to work. Besides, both young as well as old people would be given equal benefits. When the company is perceived to practice ethically and legally, it would hold a positive recognition in the minds of the people. This would in turn prove beneficial for the company. Participation in the Selection Process: The human resource manager of the company plays a significant role in this process. It includes a series of tasks. A suitable recruitment and selection panel is selected for appointment. The panel is responsible for taking interview of the candidates. On receiving applications from the candidates, the panel is required to shortlist few of the best candidates by some chosen method. This is followed by the interview. One done, the selected candidates are appointed by giving an official appointment letter (Kulkarni and Gopakumar, 2014). Evaluating personal contribution to the process of selection: As mentioned in this report, I have been engaged in preparing important documents required for employee selection on behalf of XYZ Ltd. I developed a suitable advertisement by specifying the required qualification, skills, and job details along with other important information. From the huge lots of applications, I had to shortlist few best candidates who match our given criteria suitably (Leban and Zulauf, 2004). I took part in the interview process and gave my opinions in selecting the best candidate. Thus, the whole process was an entirely different experience for me altogether. Task 2: Leadership Skills and Attributes: The concept of leadership is an important one with respect to organizational environment. A manager is supposed to be a leader who guides his entire team to the path of success. A leader is expected to exhibit effective leadership qualities to impact upon the overall outcomes of the team (Carter and Greer, 2013). The skills and attributes possessed by a leader distinguish him from the rest of the individuals. A successful leader is one who possesses the following attributes: Motivation - A leader is essentially required to be a source of constant motivation. He needs to encourage his team members to achieve great. Communication A leader needs to possess the quality of effective communication. He needs to have that skill of active listening, awareness of body language, and must ensure that he communicates with all his members adequately. Learning A leader needs to have a crucial role of learning ability. He must adapt his surrounding changes easily and positively. A leader is always on the path of learning because he knows that it is the most effective weapon to survive challenges. Analytical skills An effective leader is one who analyzes all given information so as to utilize these thoroughly for future progress. Organization skills An effective leader knows how to set expectations, delegate tasks, fixes deadlines, and evaluate alternatives. Leadership or management approaches are quite varied. These include autocratic, democratic, paternalistic, transformational, and laissez faire leadership style. As per personal opinion, democratic leadership is the best leadership style. Democratic leadership is one that allows increased level of participation of the organizational members in the process of managerial decision-making (Liakhovitski, Stone-Romero and Jaccard, 2008). Any final decision that is taken by a manager is approved by the senior authority. Here, the employees are quite responsible for their respective tasks. This approach of leadership brings about positive and desirable outcome. Although leadership and management are inter-related, these two concepts have some key differences. The main distinction amidst the two is that leaders who practice leadership have followers who walk on their defined path; whereas managers practice management and they have workers who work for them (Carter and Greer, 2013). A manager is said to administer but a leader innovates; a manager maintains but a leader develops. Leaders determine the goals as well as direction and lay challenges to both. They lead the team and encourage them to reach the new direction. On the other hand, managers maintain that all their workers to achieve their objectives and that of the organization. Contrast between different leadership types: Among various types of leadership styles, the democratic style is the most effective one since it involves participation of every organizational employee to participate in the decision-making process. This participative process keeps the employees motivated. Instead, if the organization would follow autocratic leadership, it would have led to adequate dissatisfaction amidst the employees (Ulver-Sneistrup, Askegaard and Kristensen, 2011). This is because only the manager is given the authority to make decision in this style. Paternalistic approach is also not desirable as this does not allow independence to the employees. On the other hand laissez faire approach is also not suitable since managers do not any role at all in the decision-making process (Melville, 2005). This often creates confusion and conflict among the employees. Methods of motivating staff: Leaders and managers adopt various motivating strategies to encourage employees to achieve objectives within the organization. Some of the mentionable methods are Maslows Hierarchy model, Herzbergs two factor theory, etc. This mentioned organization XYZ Ltd adopts Maslows hierarchy theory for encouraging its employees(Ahmad and Schroeder, 2002). The organization needs to ensure a fair salary structure for its employees. This acts the prime motivational source. Good salary structure keeps employees better off physically and psychologically(Schmid, 2006). The organization must treat all its employees with due respect. This is one of the most essential factors in bringing about positive work culture. Task 3: Impacts of Team Work and Culture: Team work and effort is considered to be one of the most important success factors of the organization. In team efforts, the skills of all members can be effectively shared to get the best output. At crucial situations, team members may rely upon each other to bring out the desired outcome. The members share their knowledge and skills and contribute to success in an extended manner. The concept of team work enables employees to work cohesively by sharing their skills, knowledge and competencies(Mumford, 2000). This team work not only benefits the organization to get the entire work done smoothly and with maximum productivity but also enhances the skills of the organizational members to work in the coordinative manner in accordance to organizational needs. Team work is regarded as a significant key for developing efficiency within the work organization (Rogers, 2012). It completes the whole work faster with optimum effectiveness. This is not possible on an individual basis. Share of w ork leads to reduction of workloads. The members can share their own ideas and responsibilities among each other to reduce individual pressure and stress. This in turn enhances the integrated performance for achieving sustainable growth. Team work is greatly needed to enhance employee relations within the organization. Within the work environment of XYZ Ltd, when employees work together it creates a better opportunity for them to bond with each other. Different projects are taken up by work teams to be completed effectively. This gives them a feeling of pride and respect (Mustafa and Gold, 2012). Working in a team gives them a feeling of team spirit, and they respect each other and support key decisions within the team. The concept of team effort increases mutual trust which is essential for enhancing employee satisfaction and employee relations within the organization. The organization XYZ Ltd has to face several challenging situations for accomplishing everyday tasks. They usually solve their issues in a cooperative manner. all members are quite goal-oriented and understand their responsibilities quite well. Within the organization, the coordinator is the individual taking up the role of a leader. He is responsible for every member and is quite committed to the organizational goals as well as objectives. He motivates the members to take up new jobs and responsibilities to accomplish all organizational tasks. He acts as a role model and a leader for all organizational members(Omisore and Okofu, 2014). Another identity is that of a shaper. He is mainly responsible to shape the team accomplishments. He is quite focused to achieve organizational objectives. His energy and enthusiasm is a motivational source for other team members. This individual often creates challenges, make arguments, and plan strategies to reach organizational goals (Politis, 2003 ). Other designators are resource investigator, implementer, monitor evaluator, team worker, and specialist. These individuals are equally responsible for organizational accomplishments. The team of XYZ Ltd is quite effective within the increased competitive business environment. To work in various environments they require diversity of knowledge as well as experience. The organizational team possesses diversity of knowledge that helps them to overcome various challenges that they face. Team effort requires effective ethical code of behavior while working with varies individuals within the team. The members must have mutual trust and respect for each other (Ahmad and Schroeder, 2002). This enhances the effectiveness of the team outcomes. Leaders and managers adopt various motivating strategies to encourage employees to achieve objectives within the organization. Some of the mentionable methods are Maslows Hierarchy model, Herzbergs two factor theory, etc. This mentioned organization XYZ Ltd adopts Maslows hierarchy theory for encouraging its employees. The organization needs to ensure a fair salary structure for its employees. This acts the prime motivational source. Conclusion: The concept of leadership is highly significant to accomplish new tasks in an entirely new environment. Some leaders exist in the organizational environment that brings about radical changes to bring about successful accomplishments of the organization to work competitively. Effective leaders face environmental challenges and motivate employees to achieve the desired organizational as well as individual objectives(Parrott, 2014). When employees follow the leaders and abide by the advices of the leadership styles, they become competent to accomplish organizational tasks. References Ahmad, S. and Schroeder, R. (2002). The importance of recruitment and selection process for sustainability of total quality management.Int J Qual Reliability Mgmt, 19(5), pp.540-550. Carter, S. and Greer, C. (2013). Strategic Leadership: Values, Styles, and Organizational Performance.Journal of Leadership Organizational Studies, 20(4), pp.375-393. Hancock, C. (2002). Effective Recruitment and Selection.LIM, 2(02). Jogulu, U. (2010). Culturallyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ linked leadership styles.Leadership Org Development J, 31(8), pp.705-719. Johnson, N. and Klee, T. (2007). Passive-Aggressive Behavior and Leadership Styles in Organizations.Journal of Leadership Organizational Studies, 14(2), pp.130-142. Keyko, K. (2014). Work engagement in nursing practice: A relational ethics perspective.Nursing Ethics, 21(8), pp.879-889. Kulkarni, M. and Gopakumar, K. (2014). Career Management Strategies of People With Disabilities.Human Resource Management, 53(3), pp.445-466. Leban, W. and Zulauf, C. (2004). Linking emotional intelligence abilities and transformational leadership styles.Leadership Org Development J, 25(7), pp.554-564. Liakhovitski, D., Stone-Romero, E. and Jaccard, J. (2008). Strategies for detecting joint dichotomous moderators in human resource management research.Human Resource Management Review, 18(3), pp.164-179. Melville, R. (2005). Human research ethics committees and ethical review: The changing research culture for social workers.Australian Social Work, 58(4), pp.370-383. Mumford, M. (2000). Managing Creative People: Strategies and Tactics for Innovation.Human Resource Management Review, 10(3), pp.313-351. Mustafa, M. and Gold, M. (2012). Chained to my work'? Strategies to manage temporal and physical boundaries among self-employed teleworkers.Human Resource Management Journal, p.n/a-n/a. Omisore, B. and Okofu, B. (2014). Staff Recruitment and Selection Process in the Nigerian Public Service: What is to be done?.ijhrs, 4(3), p.280. Parrott, L. (2014). Culture, Values and Ethics in Social Work.Ethics and Social Welfare, 8(4), pp.428-429. Politis, J. (2003). QFD: the role of various leadership styles.Leadership Org Development J, 24(4), pp.181-192. Rogers, R. (2012). Leadership communication styles: a descriptive analysis of health care professionals.JHL, p.47. Schmid, H. (2006). Leadership styles and leadership change in human and community service organizations.Nonprofit Management Leadership, 17(2), pp.179-194. Ulver-Sneistrup, S., Askegaard, S. and Kristensen, D. (2011). The new work ethics of consumption and the paradox of mundane brand resistance.Journal of Consumer Culture, 11(2), pp.215-238.

Monday, May 4, 2020

Free Sample Notes For Research Methods For Business

Questions: 1. Comment on the following situation.The dilemmas of Dorothy DunningDorothy Dunning, Chief Production Manager, was on top of the world just two years ago. In her nontraditional job, she was cited to be the real backbone of the company, and her performance was in no small measure responsible for the mergers the institution was contemplating with other well-known global corporations.Of late, though, the products of the company had had to be recalled several times owing to safety concerns. Quality glitches and production delays also plagued the company.To project a good image to consumers, Dunning developed a very reassuring website and made sweeping changes in the manufacturing processes to enhance the quality of the product, minimize defects, and enhance the efficiency of the workers. A year after all these changes, the company continues to recall defective products!2. Given the situations below:a. discuss, with reasons, whether they fall into the category of applied or basic researc h;b. for Scenario 1, explain, with reasons, who will conduct the research.Scenario 1 To acquire or not to acquire: that is the questionCompanies are very interested in acquiring other firms, even when the latter operate in totally unrelated realms of business. For example, Coca-Cola has announced that it wants to buy China Huiyuan Juice Group in an effort to expand its activities in one of the world's fastest-growing beverage markets. Such acquisitions are claimed to "work miracles." However, given the volatility of the stock market and the slowing down of business, many companies are not sure whether such acquisitions involve too much risk. At the same time, they also wonder if they are missing out on a great business opportunity if they fail to take such risks. Some research is needed here!Scenario 2 Reasons for absenteeismA university professor wanted to analyze in depth the reasons for absenteeism of employees in organizations. Fortunately, a company within 20 miles of the campu s employed her as a consultant to study that very issue.Scenario 3 Effects of service recovery on customer satisfactionA research scientist wants to investigate the question: What is the most effective way for an organization to recover from a service failure? Her objective is to provide guidelines for establishing the proper 'fit" between service failure and service recovery that will generalize across a variety of service industries. Answers: Comment on the following situation Dorothy Dunning, the chief production manager for the company had taken every possible measure to correct the situation. The companys image had suffered a lot due to deteriorating quality of products. Dunnings efforts to enhance the image by launching an online campaign by launching a reassuring website. This step seemed to be correct as this is the fastest and the cheapest way to connecting with customers. Dunning seemed to be aware of the power of the power of the internet and its impact on the minds of the customers without incurring high costs of traditional marketing campaign. This was an innovative idea on rhe part of Dunning to start a positive campaign. The results of this campaign is however not very clear form the case study as it is not stated whether the company had been able to gain advantage from the online campaign. On the other hand the most critical problem was to plug the production of faulty products. Dunning took the usual steps that one would take to enhance quality assurance and quality maintenance. Dunning also tried to improve employee efficiency. But even after a year the steps seem to have not resulted in any positive result. It seems that Dunning had not been able to locate the actual problem as even after taking all the usual possible steps the situation did not improve. Hence it can be said that Dunning was unable to locate the actual problem in the production line. Secondly, even after not getting results using the usual steps taken for quality enhancement and assurance, Dunning needed to take some innovative steps to enhance and maintain quality of products. 2 (a) In the scenario 1 where Coca Cola wants to acquire Chinas Huiyun Juice Group by buying out much research is needed into the proposal. The research needed would be applied research about the actual market situations in China, which the Coca Cola Company is backing on the worlds fastest growing beverage market, China, for its increased sales from the acquisition. The theories of market research, risks theories of acquisitions and volatility of the global market need to be tallied with the actual on the ground situation in the Chinese market (Collier, 2003). In scenario 2 where the university professor wants to analyze the reasons for absenteeism has to employ applied research. Here the professor would have to find out from the factory workers where she has been offered employment as a consultant, their reasons for absenteeism and arrive at practical decision on the subject. The aim is to find out in-depth knowledge about absenteeism based on some basic knowledge about the subject already known and use the actual on the ground situation at the factory (Fields, 2002). As in scenario 1, here too the research aims to find out practical solutions to the problem. In the scenario 3, the researcher needs to conduct basic research where he would find solutions to a general problem. The researcher would not have access to practical situations. The researcher would depend on the researches already done. The aim of the research is to prepare general guidelines on the subject and hence basic research work is needed. 2 (b) In scenario1, the research should primarily carried out by market experts form the company. Some help can be sought from survey agencies who can do a survey among the customers in the Chinese market about beverages. The reason for conducting the research by in house representatives is that they are the best judge of the situation and are aware of the company objectives behind the research. Moreover there is also the question of integrity as the research is vital for the Coca Cola Company to take a business decision that would have far reaching consequences (Webster, 2004). References Collier, P. (2003).Accounting for managers. West Sussex, England: J. Wiley. Fields, E. (2002).The essentials of finance and accounting for nonfinancial managers. New York: AMACOM. Oldcorn, R. (1993).Accounting for managers. London: Routledge. Webster, W. (2004).Accounting for managers. New York: McGraw-Hill.