Industrial Relations Vs HRM

Introduction Human Resource Management (HRM) and Industrial Relations (IR) play a significant role in the management of employees-employers relationship. However, nowadays, industrial relationship has become very sensitive and complex to manage.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Industrial Relations Vs HRM specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Progress in industrial relations is difficult because of lack of cooperation and harmonious relationships between important parties. The term industrial relations define the association that exist between employees and management, which results from the prevailing union-employer relationship. Initially, industrial relationship entailed all the existing relationships, as well as interactions between employees and employers. It represented all elements of employment relationships that entailed HRM, employees’ relationship, as well as union-management relations. Currently, the great development of HRM and its proliferation has made industrial relations to specialize in studying and practicing trade unionism, collective bargaining, as well as labor-management relations. Whereas industrial relations use unions in the management of people within organizations, human resource management is a nonunion employment approach that engages in the recruitment, management and development of policies in the workplace. Human resource management is an upcoming field that is highly effective in hiring, performance management, employees’ motivation and training of personnel. It is a very effective approach in managing people, as well as workplace culture and environment. An effective human resource management involves use of comprehensive and strategic methods for managing employees to effectively contributing in efficient production process. Effective and efficient productivity is important in enhancing a company’s overall production, as well as enhancing a chievement of its goals and objectives. Industrial relations were more instrumental in the past and especially in ensuring collective bargaining and in disputes and grievances settlements.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, with the current great development and propagation of human resource management that encompass hiring, training, performance management and employees’ motivation, many organizations prefer to embrace HRM, rather than industrial relations for managing employees-employer relationships (Ackers, 2002). Whereas writers like Daver (2001), Carpenter Raphael (2012), see this shift like a response to the rising international competition, others like Bech (2005) see it as an incidence of the privatization and deregulation in the management of workforce. Different Theoretical Perspective Underpinning Employment Relationships Employee relationship refer s to all the elements such as industrial relations, management and resolution of employees’ grievances and conflicts, as well as management of employees’ cooperation and communication. Formerly, the term industrial relations was employed in referring to the management of employees relations, but nowadays employee relations is the currently used term. Mitchell (2012) posits that employment relationship is dependent on individuals’ perception of the world of work. Katz Darbishire (2002) claim existence of significant political, academic and philosophical theoretical perspectives that highly influence peoples understanding of employees’ relations. In line with Katz Darbishire (2002) claim, Kaufman (2004) identifies some important theoretical perspectives that influence individuals’ perception, which entail economic explanation, philosophical perspective, and Employment relationship. Tripathi (2003) argue the economic perspective as a labor market co nsisting of demand for labor from companies and supplies of labor by persons. He argues that Companies aim in maximizing profits to enhance shareholders wealth.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Industrial Relations Vs HRM specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Consequently, Mitchell (2012) considers neo-classical economics as an approach where economists perceive a company’s demand for labor as a function of the demand for its products/services. In this case, a firm will tend to hire more employees until the point where the revenue realized by hiring more employees approaches the costs of hiring those employees. When this scenario occurs, the firm stops hiring more workers, as it does not deem it profitable. However, this situation does not always happen because of other underlying factors that influence the market. Whilst the economic theory is imperative in explaining how demand and supply of labor is determin ed, it fails to account for other important factors in the chain. For instance, it fails to explain the organization structure and the party responsible for setting the wages. Similarly, it does not put into account the differential of wages between workers because of varied skills, as well as qualification requirements of jobs. In addition, economic theory does not show the employment relationship in the workplace or illustrate how management handles the human relations. According to the economic theory, the foundation of the relationship is purely the exchange of labor in return for wages. This means that if there is need for more labor, more wages is paid. The theory does not factor in the role of human resource management in work scenario. As per the perspective on the employment relationship, a philosophical approach regarding unitary and pluralistic is considered. The unitary method considers firms as a harmonious, integrated team with employees and managers sharing common goa ls and objectives. Mitchell (2012) claim that employees and management share common values that tie them together preventing any potential source of conflict. The approach perceives royalty and adoption of leadership characterize the workplace and managers oversee the employees in becoming involved as well as committed in pursuit of the firms’ goals and objectives.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Budd (2004) considers unitary approach as the best approach for a proper workplace. Unitary approach considers applicants values and ideas during selection and recruitment exercise for qualification purposes. Consensus of ideas and values is paramount in unitary approach and new recruits learn appropriate values and ideas involuntary from management, which they use for socialization purposes, as well as for consensus building. Unitary approach advocates involuntary learning process, where employees involuntarily pursue corporate induction courses and other essential training programs. Mitchell (2012) argues that unitary is the best approach as it requires the management to manage the workers as a team to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in the workplace. Occurrence of a discord in unitary approach is an aberration and persistence existence of conflict may result to dismissal for those acting against the management. The approach does not give room for differing views and regards different opinions as contravention of the organization values and culture. Conversely, Jayne (2012) regards pluralistic approach as the best approach for workplace management as it enhance performance and innovation because of the presence of competing sub-groups in pursuit of their goals and objectives. Pluralistic approach embrace different opinions from competing factions, which are important in enhancing efficiency through subsequent inventions of more efficient processes of accomplishing objective. The conflicts that accompany the competition against the existing sub-groups are essential in the development and evolution of the firm, personnel and policies. Pluralist approach uses policies designed in managing these different groups, rather than unifying them. Thus, this approach advocates for the democracy where there is embracing of divergent views. Jayne (2012) posits that in instances of persistence conflicts, the management engages in negotiations and bargaining mechanisms to address diverging views, rather than using dismissal tactics as the case in unitary approach as posited by Kaufman (2004). The radical approach explains the employment relationship as one of exploitation where the employer exploits the workers. Mitchell (2012) argues that commercial and industrial harmony is not possible unless the management control the means of production to benefit in the relationship. Radicalism is the basis of trade unions and socialists associations; it facilitated development of trade unions to strengthen individual workers. According to Mitchell (2012), radicalism takes and sells labor like any other commodity. Whereas pluralists embrace competition and democracy, radicalism is founded on the superiority of the employer that results to the employer undermining the trade union and influencing the working conditions to suite them. Marxism views the exploitation to result from the employer setting the wages lower than the selling value of the products to en hance profits. Workers have limited bargaining power and must accept the market rate offered by the seller (Mitchell, 2012). The introduction of scientific management by F.W Taylor enabled the breaking of tasks in simpler parts to help the managers understand and control the work process better. This approach made the surveillance and monitoring of employees more achievable. In addition, it helped redesigning and combination of tasks to maximize efficiency. However, the approach resulted to more conflicts, as well as opposition to management. The process improved by incorporating employees in decision making, which resulted in increased employees’ satisfactions. Other subsequent important improvements entail job redesign, rotation, enrichment and enlargement. Despite, all the above improvements there is a concern of whether all the measures undertaken has adequately addressed the quality of working life to enhance employees-employers relationships (Kaufman, 2004). Industrial Relations in Managing Employment Relationship The aforementioned theoretical perspectives explained the various theoretical underpinning employees-employers relationship. Effective and efficient management of employees-employers relationship is imperative in enhancing productivity and profit maximization. Industrial relations involve the use of unions to manage employees-employers relations. One important aspect of industrial relations is the formation of trade unions. Industrial relations started during the industrial era where employees used the trade unions for collective bargaining and resolution of grievances and disputes. Industrial relations mainly entail the formation of trade unions, which is an association of wage earners for the aim of ensuring favorable working conditions in their workplace (Tripathi, 2003). Human Resource Management in Managing Employment Relationship Human resource management is a method for managing people in a thorough and structured manner. It inclu des recruitment, training, motivation and preparing policies to manage employees-employer relationship. Human resource management involves a move from collective employee relations that emphasize on use of union in the bargaining and dispute managements towards personalized –based negotiations, where managers use contract and performance –pay systems for reinforcement (Bech, 2005). Rise of HRM verse decline of Industrial relation The industrial relations entail the use of collective bargaining for employment relations. It uses the concept of unions and socio-emotions rather than contractual arrangements and performance-based remuneration. Industrial relations use rules and regulations to govern relations concerning work, workplace and working community. The main aim of industrial relations is to sustain harmonious working relationship between the employers and employees. They ensure harmonious working relationship by using collective bargaining and grievance solving te chniques to solve arising disputes. For instance, industrial relations use labor unions to force for better working conditions or wages increases through strikes and demonstrations. However, with the continuous evolvement and propagation of human resource management, firms are moving from industrial relations to embrace HRM in ensuring harmonious relationship between the management and other employees. The reason why firms tend to embrace the use of human resource management in management of workforce relationship is the effectiveness of HRM in managing employees’ relationship. HRM is not a reactive system as the industrial relation that focuses on solving emerging grievances, but a proactive approach that attempt to address underlying causes of grievances. Industrial relation uses the outdated philosophy of Marxism of radical approach where every party to exploit the resulting relationship in the workplace. The radical approach considers the workplace relationship as the one where the employers exploit the employees. The radical approach posits that employers sell their products at high prices but they pay their employees very little money. This is the reason why they regard the association as one of exploitation. The continuous exploitation of the employees by their bosses has caused dissatisfactions to many employees, an issue that has called for a better strategy to solve the low performance that accompanies unsatisfied workforce. This has given rise to the evolvement of human resource management to incorporate better strategies for introducing and sustaining favorable working relationship between the management and other employees. The human resource management has introduced payment packages, which are performance-based. This has been a very effective strategy in solving the remuneration grievances, which often affects existence of good relationship between the management and employees. Thus, instead of the employees using the concept of collectiv e bargaining to bargain for better pay, the human resource management institutes a system that links individual performance with the pay one receives. The differential of the pay based on performance has greatly embraced by many employees, which has resulted to an enhanced customer satisfaction that was difficult to realize by using industrial relations (Legge, 2004). Apart from introducing performance-based pay, human resource management has incorporated motivation in the workplace as a strategy of enhancing relations in the workplace. The use of motivation has greatly boosted working relations between the various stakeholders interacting in the day-to-day working process and particularly ensuring harmonious relationship between employees and the management. Human resource management is now using various strategies to motivate the employees. For instance, employees who meet their targets get rewards to reinforce their spirit for sustaining their high performance. Similarly, highly competent human resource staffs give the employees the opportunity to set their targets and the freedom to appraise their performance. This strategy has been instrumental in enhancing intrinsic motivation, where employees own the responsibility for setting high standards for themselves and pursuing them with vigor. This method has helped in enhancing performance because employees who have the freedom to set their goals and assess their performance pursue their goals with passion and are highly satisfied with undertakings. In the past, the management used to set very high targets for their employees that were unrealistic to accomplish. This method resulted in building tension between the management and the employees, as the employees contemplated the setting of high targets as a means for the management to exploit them. The lack of trust between employers and employees resulted to employees having low morale and lack of job satisfaction; the job turn up was very high. However, with a doption of human resource management that is proactive rather than reactive, the introduction of motivation strategies such as actively engaging the workers in decision making process has greatly boosted job satisfaction and enhanced performance. Therefore, instead of firms relaying on industrial relations, which are reactive, many firms are nowadays embracing human resource management in establishing proactive measures to facilitate harmonious working relationship between management and workers (Jayne, 2012). Industrial relation engage employer, employees, government and trade union in collectively resolving any dispute that erupt in the workplace. Industrial relation mainly use confrontation approaches such as boycotting duty, strike and demonstration in negotiating for proper working conditions or terms. This method is an outdated approach in conflict resolution. It is not a good strategy for solving work related issues, as the engaging parties do not carry good memories of resul ting confrontations that may hinder effective performance in future business endeavors. In other times, industrial relations use the trade union to pursue for better working conditions for member employees through lawsuits, which sometimes stay for a long period without being determined. In addition, the legal proceeding that the trade union use to seek for justice are very expensive, which require members to pay higher commissions to cater for the salaries of the trade union employees, as well as pay for the high legal fees. In some cases, the trade union uses alternative dispute resolutions to solve arising disputes between the employers and workers. Some of the methods used such as mediation and negotiation are very effective in solving any arising disputes amicably. However, because they are mainly not enforceable, the employers are likely not to honor the promise made. This leaves the conflict unresolved, which may crop up in future at a higher magnitude. Other alternative disp ute resolution such as litigation and arbitration although are enforceable, they are not the best option for solving disputes because they are time consuming and expensive because of the costs associated with the process. Thus, the poor conditions that accompany the use of industrial relations in solving conflicts arising from poor working conditions or poor terms of employment makes it less preferred approach than human resource management (Daver, 2001). Human resource management being a proactive approach tries to suppress factors that underpin poor working relationship. For instance, human resource management has been very instrumental in the recruitment, placement training and promotion processes to ensure that competence in the recruitment and placement process to enhance job satisfaction. Human resource management stresses the importance of ensuring job satisfaction in minimizing cropping conflicts in the workplace. The human resource management engages in a thorough exercise during the hiring process to make sure that it recruits only highly competent employees. The recruited employees receive appropriate training before placement to equip them with appropriate skills to ensure they fit in to their new environment. Proper recruitment and training is important in making sure that management identifies the strengths and weaknesses for the recruited personnel and assisted accordingly. In addition, knowing their strengths and passions is essential to make sure they take it in consideration during the placement exercise. During the training process they are get to know the culture of the firm they will be working to adjust accordingly. Proper training is important in helping employees overcome subsequent conflicts that may arise because of poor training and orientation that may hinder proper relationship between the management and the employees (Carpenter Raphael, 2012). Scholars who focus on industrial relation have a perception that the labor market is no t competitive, which opposes the claim of economic theory. industrial relations gives the employers an upper hand over the employees in the negotiation process of better terms and better working conditions. Industrial relations is characterized by a conflict of interests between workers and the management where the workers demand higher pays, while the management crave for higher profits , which give rise to an inherent conflict of interest in employers-employees relations. The perceived inherit conflict of interest makes it difficult for the laborers to contemplate that management can pursue laborers interest for better pay to bring to an end exploitation. In this respect, industrial relations aspire to improve the strained relationship between employers and the management by fighting for an improvement of workers right and employment relationships. Industrial relations are biased and underline on employees’ conflict of interests by supporting employees mechanisms such as co llective bargaining, labor union and labor management partnership. The policies endorsed by industrial relations through pluralists approach aim in ensuring a balance in the employment relationship to achieve economic efficiency and employment equity. Industrial relations have failed to bring the desired employment relationships. The reason why it has failed to achieve its objective is the approach of its formation. Its foundation was in a form of a problem solving to bring using the radicalism method. For example, instead of employers having proactive strategies to enhance customer satisfaction, they failed to employ appropriate strategies that are employed by HRM such as motivational methods to enhance employees’ job satisfaction. Many scholars nowadays perceive industrial relations to be in crisis. This is because the industrial relations get pressure on one side by the dominant economic theory and prevailing institutional behaviors. On the other side, they receive an equa lly pressure by the postmodern views. In the formulation of policies, the emerging neoliberal perspective that advocate fort a free and fair market overruns the industrial relations tradition view of industrial relations on institution intervention. Moreover, many firms are nowadays adopting labor unions for solving employment disputes. In response to the demising in industrial relations, many firms are nowadays embracing human resource management. They prefer to adopt human resource management because of its ability to effectively ensure strong employment relationship that bring efficiency in economy and employee equity (Budd, 2004). Human resource management uses various models to bring and sustain harmonious employment relationships. One of the models it uses is the normative model of HRM that is oriented towards unitary perspective that identifies goals that are common to employers and employees. Normative model emphasize the importance of aligning business and individual needs through instruments of selection, development, assessment and rewards. This makes human resource management to appear a proactive business strategy, rather than a reactive approach like it is the case with industrial relations. Business integration of HRM within the overall business decision making makes it more efficient in establishing health employment relationship than industrial relations. Thus, many firms are adopting HRM for management of employment relationships because of its integrated series in the creation of personnel policies to underpin organization strategy of harmonious employment relationship. Similarly, the human resource management is becoming more preferred than industrial relations for its ability to use descriptive-functional perspective model that emphasize on the importance of partnership between employer and employee. This approach is engraved in the pluralist approach where there is acknowledgement that consensus cannot be taken for granted and thus, the m anagement has to take into consideration the competing priorities that prevail within the firm. In response of the economic theory, human resource management view labor as soft or hard. Soft HRM consider employees as valuable assets that should be developed and reinvested in, on the other hand hard HRM consider labor as another factor of production such that a firm should recruit the right number of workers, with appropriate skills and into the right jobs to cut down on unwanted expenses (Befort Budd, 2009). McDonald’s is one of the Companies that have disowned industrial relations and embraced HRM. The firm uses strategic HRM tactics to establish a competitive edge over its rival brands. For instance, McDonald’s selects, recruits competent personnel and then takes them through a thorough program to orientate them to the firm’s culture. In addition, the company adopts significant HRM skills such as employees’ motivation through increased wages. In McDona ld’s, there is extensive job differential and the management considers the passion and interest of its employees during placement process. Thus, McDonald’s uses pluralist approach where Employees have the freedom to air their views. In addition, McDonald’s employees get a chance to experiment new methods to foster innovations and inventions. However, all departments in the firm are required to operate in harmony as depicted by unitary approach and work for a common objective. Nonetheless, McDonald’s does not inhibit any characteristics of radicalism, where the management exploits employees (Gutterman, 2005). Conclusion Proper management of the human capita is important in ensuring high performance in organization. Firms that use strategic approaches for effectively managing their workforce have employees who are highly satisfied with their jobs. They tend to record low turnover rates and high productivity. Industrial relation is a common traditional appro ach for managing employers-employees relationship through collective bargaining, use of unions and collective dispute resolutions. However, because of the emergence of modern methods, which are more efficient in managing employment relationship such as HRM, many companies are moving from the use of industrial relations to adoption of HRM in ensuring strong employment relationships. Human resource management is more success in ensuring health employment relationship because it is a proactive business strategy rather than a reactive approach like industrial relations. Human resource management uses tolls such as selection, development, appraisal and rewards to enhance employment relationship between the employer and the employee. In addition, human resource management stresses the importance for management to recognize that an organization consists of groups with competing interest, which should be listened and assisted accordingly. This approach in solving the conflict of interests b etween the employer and employees has greatly helped in the success of HRM in ensuring strong employment relationships. Reference List Ackers, P. (2002).Reframing Employment Relations: The Case for Neo-Pluralism.  Industrial Relations Journal. 6, 7, 34-40. Bech, S. (2005). Managing Human Resources: Personnel Management in Transition. Oxford: Blackwell. Befort, S. Budd, J. (2009). Invisible Hands, Invisible Objectives: Bringing Workplace  Law and Public Policy into Focus. California: Stanford University Press. Budd, J. (2004). Employment with a Human Face: Balancing Efficiency, Equity,  and Voice. New York: Cornell University Press. Carpenter, C. Raphael, S. (2012).Industrial Relations: A journal of Economy and  Society. 51, 4, 143-145. Daver R.S. (2001). Personnel Management and Industrial Relations. New Delhi: Vikash Publications. Gutterman, A. (2005). Effective Employees Management: A Case Study of McDonald’s  New York: Prentice Hall. Jayne. (2012).Industrial Re lations Practice – Employment Relationship. Web. Katz, H.C. Darbishire, O. (2002). Converging Divergence: Worldwide Changes in  Employment Systems. New York: Cornell University Press. Kaufman, B. (2004). The Global Evolution of Industrial Relations. New York: Prentice Hall. Legge, K. (2004). Human Resource Management: Rhetoric and Realities. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Mitchell, D. (2012). Industrial Relation. Employment and Labor Relations Journal. 6, 8,123-126. Tripathi P.C. (2003).Personnel Management and Industrial Relations. New Delhi: Sultan Chand and Sons. This essay on Industrial Relations Vs HRM was written and submitted by user Senator Bail to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Learn Business English - The Definitive Guide

Learn Business English - The Definitive Guide Learning Business English, like any language, is a process that involves dedication and many different strategies. You need to approach learning Business English in a long-term, holistic, dynamic, and authentic way. Strengthen Your Grammar You must have strong English grammar for business writing. People simply won’t take you seriously if your writing is full of grammatical and punctuation mistakes. Strengthening grammar can seem frustrating and never-ending, but there are several small, daily actions you can take: Use Grammarly - Grammarly is a free app you can use through Google Chrome. It checks any and everything you write online, and you are able to upload documents to the site as well. There is a paid version as well, but for non-native writers I find the free version to be better because it focuses on basic and common grammar issues (the paid version identifies more sophisticated issues that aren’t applicable to all types of writing). Grammarly will help you identify and correct your mistakes. Once you know what your mistakes are, you can study up on those areas here: (grammar only) and punctuation) This blog post and video explain a technique that can help you improve your use of prepositions. Use this same technique for all sorts of grammar. Read our blog! There are lots of posts about different grammar topics, such as Pronoun Antecedent Errors here. Browse through or search by topic. Subscribe to the blog by entering your email in the field on the right-hand side of the screen. Read, Read, and Read Some More Reading is the best way to improve your Business English vocabulary and Business English writing skills. Reading anything and everything is good, but to really build effective business communication in English, you need to read business texts. Here are some good options: The Harvard Business Review. Sign up for a free account and access up to 15 articles per month (without an account, you can only access five articles per month). There are hundreds of articles written at a high level of Business English on all sorts of Business related topics. The Wall Street Journal. There is lots of good content here, though you may need a subscription or at least an account. The Economist. Again, there is good content, but you can only access a certain number of articles each month without an account. Forbes.You'll find lots of shorter articles that are easy to read, as well as longer, more in-depth stories. Paul Krugman’s blog in the New York Times This is a blog, so you willnotice some differences between this and a standard newspaper article (Use of â€Å"I," a more casual and conversational tone, etc.) You can read up to ten free articles per month at nytimes.com. After that, you need a subscription. Paul Krugman is an excellent author, and as an economist, he addresses finance and other technical topics. Fortune Magazine. This publication is most famous for its â€Å"Fortune 500,† the list of the 500 most powerful companies around the world. Bloomberg Businessweek. Another trove of well-written business news. Entrepreneur. This is geared towards entrepreneurs, as you might expect from the title and has many well written articles that will help your business skills as well as modeling good English writing. Fast Company. This publication focuses on innovative and creative ideas, so it’s useful to non-native readers from companies where time-tested approaches are valued more than innovation. It will stretch your business approach as well as providing a good model of business English. The key is to consistently read business texts from a variety of sources dailyto strengthen your business English vocabulary, reading comprehension, and ultimately writing skills. Aim to set 15 minutes aside each day to read good business English. Enjoy it with your morning coffee or tea! Write More Often Reading alone won’t strengthen your writing. Like any skill, business writing takes practice. So, to improve your business English writing skills, you need to write, and write often! Here are some ideas for how to get started: Take some of the topics that you usually write about in your field and write these in English. Google â€Å"business letter topics†, â€Å"business email topics†, or â€Å"business report topics." You’ll find lots of great ideas to get started writing. Here are some good report topics. Use these topics to practice writing letters, emails, and reports. Once you have written a practice letter/email/report, upload it to Grammarly (Can you tell we like this tool?) for grammar feedback. This will help you identify your most common grammatical errors for different styles of writing. As with reading, you’ll need to write a variety of texts consistentlyto build and maintain your business English writing skills. Practice Listening to Business English Sometimes, you need to give your eyes and fingers a break from all that reading and writing. You can still strengthen your business English skills even when you are not reading and writing! Try listening to a business podcast on your way to work or while exercising. Here are some good options: â€Å"5 Business Podcasts to Start Listening to in 2016† from Entrepreneur â€Å"The 8 Best Podcasts for Business Savvy Listeners† from Fast Company â€Å"9 Great Business Podcasts You Should Know† from Fortune Remember that podcasts are spoken English, and they tend to be conversational. The language used will often be less formal than most business English writing needs to be. But, podcasts are a great way to expand your vocabulary and knowledge base about a variety of business topics. Plus, they are a nice break from other types of practice. Like everything else, you’ll get the most benefit from listening daily! Pro Tip:Listening to conversational business English will help you to learn idioms and phrasal verbs. Take a Business English Course The methods above are great for independent work. However, to truly improve your business English communication skills, especially writing, you need to take a course that provides you individualized feedback. You need a person, not just a computer program, to tell you exactly where you are shining and where you need to focus your energy. You may find that your grammar is strong, but you need to work on tone, directness, or more appropriate vocabulary. A good course will teach you strategies and an effective process, not just quick business writing tips and tricks. You can take a face-to-face course or an online course. Instructional Solutions offers both onsite and online business writing courses for non-native speakers of English and for native speakers. We focus on context-specific writing practice with individualized feedback in key areas, including grammar, punctuation, tone, and organization. Combining independent practice with abusiness writing course that includes instructor support is the best way to improve your overall business communication skills in English.

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 16

Essay Example On the other hand, if the setting is changed to a penthouse in Los Angeles, the characters of the story would probably, exhibit much more blasà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ attitude towards life and relationship. The penthouse epitomizes wealth and thus the value system of the family would not be grounded to earth, displaying a careless attitude towards familial ties and genuine concern for each other. Their superficial lifestyle would dictate their actions and behaviour in public which might be totally at odds with their nature and general attitude towards things and people. In the new circumstances, the mother would appreciate and get along better with Dee as she is more inclined to climb social ladder with her ambitious nature and inherent tendencies for ruthlessness who would not hesitate in crushing the weak to reach her goal. The mother would be impatient with the timid and sensitive Maggie and would probably keep berating her for lack of confidence and other shortcomings. Despite her big built and manly disposition, the mother would be carelessly proud of her physical stature and make sure that it becomes recognized as her style statement. Dee would grow up to be highly fashion centric person who would also be extremely self-centered because of her good looks. She would show all the characteristics of a spoiled rich girl who would continuously desire what others have. Supported by a mother who promotes her shallow aims and objectives, Dee would symbolize the degenerating values of the rich for whom wealth dominates decent human values, including love and relationships. Her material goods and artificial lifestyle would bespeak of her shallow personality that depends on the fragile covering of the modern day Cinderella that can be shorn away with very little effort. Maggie would probably be the only character in the story that would not much change. Though still timid, she would show strong character traits by

African American Religion Hoodoo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

African American Religion Hoodoo - Essay Example Although most of its adherents are black, contrary to popular opinion, it has always been practiced by both whites and blacks in America. Other regionally popular names for hoodoo in the black community include "con-juration," "conjure," "witchcraft," "rootwork," and "tricking." The hoodoo tradition places emphasis on personal magical power and thus it lacks strong links to any spe-cific form of theology and can be adapted to any one of several forms of outward reli-gious worship. Although an individual practitioner may take on students, hoodoo is not an obviously hierarchical system. Teachings and rituals are handed down from a one practitioner to another, but there are no priests or priestesses and no division be-tween initiates and laity (Haskins, 1978, p. 13, 124). Like the folk magic of many other cultures, hoodoo attributes magical properties to herbs, roots, minerals (especially the lodestone), animal parts, and the personal pos-sessions and bodily effluvia of people. The African origins of hoodoo can clearly be seen in such non-European magical customs as jinxing, hot footing, foot track magic, crossing, and crossroads magic, in which are embedded remnants of the folkloric be-liefs of various African tribes.

Police Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Police - Essay Example In the case of a large-scale police box, someone is always there, so it is convenient for visitors. In contrast, each residential police box is manned by just one officer, making it possible to cover a wide area with a small number of personnel. The residential police box system is effective in rural and semi-rural areas, where there are relatively few crimes and accidents. Since officers posted at residential police boxes work and live in the same place with the ir family, they can keep in closer contact with community residents. Police boxes vary widely in size. Apart from an office area, a police box has a simple kitchen and break room for officers. A "community room", a reception room for residents, has recently been incorporated. Residential police boxes have been built as a combination of office and residence, and recently they also contain a community room in the office section. Small-size police cars are deployed at many police boxes and residential police boxes for use in pa trols and trips to and from the police station. All police boxes and residential police boxes feature a red lamp above their entrances. Many community residents feel reassured when they see this lamp, and it has become an instantly recognizable symbol for a police box or residential police box. ... Under the three-shift system in which most police box officers works, on-duty officers work from one morning to the next, but their net working hours are 16, because they receive a total of an eight-hour break over the shift. At busy police boxes such as those located in city areas, however, officers cannot take such long breaks. In contrast, a residential police box officer works eight hours a day and five days a week. However, he needs to receive residents even outside working hours if requested. Because the area of a residential police box is fairly large, door to door visits are usually undertaken simultaneously with patrols. The wife often helps her husband by, for example, receiving visitors while the husband is out . The duties of officers assigned to patrol cars are more specific, and cover mobile patrols, the arrest of offenders, and rushing to the scene of crimes and accidents, followed by initial action. They perform the ir duties in pairs, with one officer driving the vehicle, while the other keeps an eye out for suspicious persons, and engages in radio communication. Patrols are the most important duty for community police officers in that the visible presence of police officers in their uniforms prevents crimes and gives community residents sense of security. Patrols are in principle to be perfo rmed either on foot or by bicycle, because that way officers can effective ly grasp the situation and assess suspicious persons. Where the area of the police box is large, a small patrol car or motorcycle may be used. While on patrol, officers question suspicious persons and make arrests or give guidance or warnings if there is a crime or an unlawful activity. They also give guidance to traffic law violators and juvenile delinquents, take care of drunken persons

Impact of Offender Stigma and Discrimination

Impact of Offender Stigma and Discrimination Does stigmatising offenders cause more harm than good? Discuss In the study of deviant behaviour, sociologists have explored the effects of society’s perceptions on deviants in a school of thought popularly known as ‘Interactionism’. Deviant behaviour, explained from this perspective, is more a result of how society deals with the deviant individual, rather than a result of the individual’s unique characteristics or background. The labelling theory put forth by interactionists, thus argues that an offender’s deviant ways is not due to his or her own deviance but due to the external stigma faced by the individual. This essay will argue that stigmatising offenders causes more harm than good for the following reasons. Firstly, stigmatising offenders can lead to re offending. Secondly, stigmatising can affect the self-esteem of an offender. Thirdly, stigmatising can also result in the unintended consequence of causing stress and social isolation for the family of the offenders. Fourthly, this essay will discuss and further refute the idea of stigma acting as deterrent to crime. Lastly, stigma will hinder an offender from re integrating and contributing back to the society. This essay will highlight society’s influence in the understanding and portrayal of deviance and will discuss the consequence of this on rule- breaking individuals. Furthermore, it will include examples and various sociological theories to justify the impacts of stigmatising offenders. The definition of stigma used in this essay would be that of Goffman’s(1963) who defines stigma as ‘the situation of the individual who is disqualified from full social acceptance.’ Merton (1948) introduced the concept of the ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’. This begins with a false conception of the situation evoking a new behaviour making the original false conception come true. (Merton, 1948) This can be used to explain how society stigmatising offenders can cause more harm than good as the stigma can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy being created by the offenders. Where an individual has committed a deviant act, they will be stigmatised and cut off from ‘participation in more conventional groups’. (Becker 1963). Becker attributes the further development of deviant behaviour to the stigma faced by the individual which thus results in the individual’s inability to lead an ‘ordinary routine life’. The individual is further given an ‘outsider’ status. When this occurs, the individual internalises the idea of him or her being a deviant. This will propel the individual to act deviantly to upkeep societyâ₠¬â„¢s stigma of him resulting in secondary deviance. The secondary deviance thus causes more harm than good as it will only result in the reoffending of an offender. It can thus be derived from the above that self-fulfilling prophecy which originates from stigma will result in re offending, thus causing more harm than good. This is evident in the UK with regards to the Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs). ASBOs are intended to protect the public from anti-social behaviour that is likely to cause harassment, distress or alarm. In 2013 however, it was found that 73 % of the offenders had breached their orders. A possible explanation for offenders who had breached their orders could have acted in this way to conform to society’s expectations of them by unconsciously adopting the self-fulfilling prophecy. This thus causes more harm than good as it has also resulted in offenders regarding ASBOs as a ‘badge of honour’. (Squires and Stephan, 2005) thus living up to society’s expectations of them. Stigmatising offenders can also cause more harm than good as it can lead to the ‘dramatization of evil’ (Tannenbaum, 1938). This can have potentially lasting implications on the behaviour in children, thus causing more harm than good. The process of dramatization of evil involves the shift from an act being defined as evil to the individual becoming seen as evil. For example when a child has committed a criminal act he or she will be separated from other children and will then will be tagged. This evil is then further dramatized by treating the individual the way society thinks the individual should be treated. The individual is recognised as being different from others who are considered ‘normal’. Tannenbaum (1938) describes this process one of â€Å"tagging, defining, identifying, segregating, describing, emphasizing, making conscious and self-conscious.† This inaccurate label that stigma can impose on an individual results in the social exclusion of the individual. This cause more harm than good because the offender will now associate himself with other deviants ( Heimer and Matsueda, 1992) and this could further lead to deviance amplification ( Lermert, 1967) Recently, Injunction to Prevent Nuisance and Annoyance (IPNA) bill was the subject of debate, with the House of Lords rejecting this bill. The intention of the bill was to replace ASBOs. The IPNA in my opinion, is a reflection of ‘dramatisation of evil’ as, it can result in many unassuming juveniles being caught by it which can trigger the possibility of the juveniles seen as delinquent rather than the act alone. This will thus cause more harm than good. It should also not be passed as this could lead to children being considered offenders for petty crimes. This will breed a new generation offenders from such a young age. Stigmatising offenders can result in a lack of self-esteem in offenders. This is explained by symbolic interactionism. The symbolic interactionist view holds that the stigma faced by offenders would affect the way they perceive themselves and this in turn will affect their future behaviour(Blumer, 1969) , causing more harm than good. Cooley (1922) states that one’s perception is formed through the â€Å"looking glass self†. An individual thus will shape their self-concepts based on their understandings of how they are being perceived. With regards to offenders their self perception and esteem is thus based on what is reflected of them in society. An offender will thus have a low self esteem as what is reflected of them is likely to be poor. This reflects how crucial society’s perceptions of offenders are as it can reduce the offender’s esteem where they are negatively perceived. Having a low self-esteem will result in the failure of the offender to move past his mistakes. However, it is impossible to completely blame society for an individual’s actions at the end of the day. Deviants are not always ‘thrust’ with the label of offenders. Offenders could have actively seeked the label be joining certain groups. (Ackers, 2007) Also, Lemert (1967) argues that offenders who have committed secondary acts of deviance do not necessarily commit crimes just because of the stigma they face. There are instances where offenders are able to brush off the stigma, and in other instances even become oblivious to the stigma. The idea of whether stigma discourages offending behaviour and thus acts as deterrence to crime, has indeed been a contentious issue. (Williams and Hawkins, 1992; Tittle, 1980; Grasmick and Bursik, 1990; Zimring and Hawkins, 1973; Andeneas, 1974; Nagin and Paternoster, 1994). Becker (1955) in his study; Marijuana Use and Social Control; observed that the stigma attached to marijuana users as ‘unproductive criminals’ acts as a deterrent to individuals who intend on using the drug. This is supported by the observations of Cohen, who noted that there are certain roles which people actively resist, such as the label of alcoholic or drug addict. Cohen observes that people would avoid subjective identification with these negative labels even when they have been identified with them, trying to limit the visibility of these roles or to emphasise that these are secondary characteristics of their sense of self. Similarly, stigmatising offenders, can work as a deterrent as potentia l first time offenders would not want to be labelled or stigmatised. The certainty of stigma derived from punishment of a crime deters an offender more than the severity of the punishment. (Nagin, 1998). From an economic view point, a key advantage of stigma is that it is a deterrent with no cost involved. (Rasmussen, 1996) This could thus reflect the benefits that stigmatising offenders has. Whilst stigma acts as a deterrent and thus causes more harm than good, it also has some limitations. Firstly, where the stigma is huge, and the offender has no way of hiding it or shedding it, the stigma will be counterproductive to deterrence and will instead amplify the offender’s misconduct. Secondly, research has also shown the stigma might have little effect of already stigmatised ex-convicts, and can possible drive the ex-convict to commit more crimes (Funk, 2004). Having taken into account the advantages of stigma being a deterrent to crime, and the limits to this, this essay argues that whilst stigmatising offenders is good as it helps to deter potential new offenders from committing crime to avoid the stigma that other offenders already face. Offenders are not the only ones to face the stigma and the possible effects of it. Stigma also has broad effects on their families who suffer stress from stigma and also possibly social isolation. This especially holds true for the families of offenders in prison, where the stigma is borne by a host of non-offenders as well. (Thompson, 2008) Where the families of prisoners come from areas that are ‘disproportionately victimized by crime’, the stigma they face is a lot greater. Children of serious offenders suffer secondary stigma, which is related to the idea of ‘contamination’. (Condry, R. and Boswell and Wedge) Condry states that this stigma could be long lasting and serious. 3 It has been established that the stigma society holds of offenders have a significant impact on their livelihood and their abilities to re integrate into society. This is proven by the failure of ‘disintegrative shaming’ which is adopted by many countries which will make an offender still feel like a criminal, and prevent him from re integrating into society. Mc Alinden (2005, 2007) argues that disintegrative shaming stigmatises offenders which thus results in the ostracism from their respective communities. This in turn may result in violence directed towards the offenders. This was evident in the brutal slayings of two sex offenders in Maine in 2006, where the addresses were obtained via the sex registry. This sparked debate in the US as to whether an online sex registry (and thus shaming the sex offender) was necessary. Furthermore, this form of disintegrative shaming will hinder an offender’s employment opportunities and re-entry into the community. This knowledge has contributed to an alternative method of combating certain deviant behaviour, such as juvenile delinquency, known as ‘Reintegrative Shaming’. This method has been analysed by Braithwaite and Mugford. Central to this process is the condemnation of the deviant act, while reintegrating the individual into regular society. A conference is conducted between the deviant, the victim and the deviant’s family, with a neutral coordinator. The deviant is forced to hear the victim’s side of the story, and is shamed in front of his family. He is given the opportunity to apologise and is in turn forgiven, hence reintegrated into society.(McAlinded, 2005 , Makkai and Braithwaite 1994). Braithwaite notes that the most important elements for this method to work are that the actor and the act must be decoupled, so that it is the act which is criticized, not the actor. Petrunik (2002 : 56) that re integrative shaming allows a sex offender to ‘redeemâ⠂¬â„¢ himself/ herself whilst under the scrutiny of the community concerned. Braithwaite identifies Japan as a country with much lower crime rates because the communitarian values that are upheld in Japan enable re integrative shaming to be successfully applied. Further examples of successful re integrative shaming would include New Zealand where juvenile delinquency is dealt with by family group conferencing. Re integrative shaming will also allow the offender to contribute to society, (Braithwaite, 1989, McAlinden 2005). It must be noted that re integrative shaming should not be seen as a softer option to conventional punishments as it can also be degrading and hurtful. There are however certain shortcomings to re integrative shaming. They are that both the victim and the offenders have to be present. McAliden finds that where the participation of offenders is forced upon them, the programme is futile. Where offenders voluntarily involve themselves, the programme is more effective. (McIvor 1992; McLaren 1992; McGuire 1995). Furthermore, forcing victims to participate could lead to victimization and disempowerment. Moreover, the process is often met with controversy, particularly with ‘gendered and sexualised violence’. (Hudson, 2002). â€Å"Disintegrative shaming† on the other hand, labels and stigmatises offenders, ostracises them from the local community and may result in violence directed towards offenders. Mc Alinden (2005, pg 380), in support of Braithwaite’s disintegrative shaming practices in the form of coercive criminal justice responses will not deter offenders, protect victims or make significant reductions in recidivism levels except in the short term. The difference between reintegrative and disintegrative shaming is not in the quality of the shaming, but in its aim and in the processes that follow. However, my view is that such a process shows the deviant that he is no longer ostracised by other members of society. After the apology, he is forgiven by all, including the victim. This eliminates the sense of alienation which was identified earlier as the central cause for amplification of the deviant behaviour. However this process may not work well for perpetrators of serious crimes or for adults, who may not be as open to such a process as juveniles.

Cruel Intentions Essay -- essays research papers

The film â€Å"Cruel Intentions,† directed by John Hughes, is a fast-paced glimpse into the lives of New York yuppies whose entire existence revolves around money, power, sex, and drugs. Hughes’ direction for the movie concentrates on those who prey on innocence and will stop at nothing to achieve their ambitions. The story centers on Sebestian, played by Ryan Phillipe, whose main intention in life is to sleep with, and ruin the reputations of, girls whom he labels â€Å"Manhattan’s insipid debutantes.† Using his good looks, charm and vast wealth, he manipulates the naà ¯ve ladies found in his elite private school, Manchester Prep, as easily as a ten year-old boy manipulates Tetris pieces on his Game Boy. Phillipe is perfect for the part. He executes Sebestian’s dry humor and wry wit flawlessly. His raw good looks and style captivates every room he enters, not to mention the fact that he has no problem whatsoever wearing the threads of those meticulous Armani outfits with such class that Prince William could take notes. However, Sebestian holds a burning flame for his cunning step-sister Katherine, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. She is well aware of Sebestian’s forbidden desire and, in her own conniving way, uses it to bait Sebestian and make him her own puppet. Gellar also plays her part right on cue. She brings Katherine to life, emphasizing her snobby accent and fake goodiness, while all the while snorting cocaine from her misconceiving rosary that she wears around her neck. By b...