Road Rage: Preventive Measures

Road rage starts with just a simple tailgating or the guy in front of you cutting you off. Road rage is uncontrollable anger experienced by a driver in difficult road conditions, often leading to violent behavior. Behaviors resulting from road rage are speeding, driving to slowly, headlight flashing and many more. There are many causes of road rage. Such small things such as bright lighting up to very large incidents such as obstructing another vehicle can cause road rage. Have you ever been behind that annoying slow driving â€Å"Sunday driver† when you’re in a hurry?The feeling you may feel are a result of road rage. Another example of road rage is when your stopped at a stop sign and you are not paying close attention to what’s going on and the guy behind you is in a hurry and he beeps the horn and you instantly throw your hands in the air and give him the finger. All of these are the resulting cause of road rage. Every day there is road rage on the road. Fort y five percent of motorists say that they are more worried about road rage then drunk drivers.Another statistic is that 10,037 accidents occurred within a six year period that was a result of road rage. The amount of men, women, and children killed within this six year period was 218 with over 12,000 injured. The growth rate of aggressive driving is at a rate of seven percent. With all the statistics show why there needs to be prevention to road rage. There are many steps a motorist can take to prevent road rage. Such simple task such as playing your radio can be one way to stop the aggressive driver.When in a situation of road rage you should always think of your loved ones and never get out of your car. When in the scary emotional situation you should ignore the idiots that have started the road rage. Along with all these steps remember to always to ignore the payback temptations. In conclusion, Road rage is a severe problem on the road ways and needs to be prevented. Not only can there be damage done to your car but also road rage can result in death. To help prevent road rage remember the tips from above and always remember to never get frustrated at other drivers while behind the wheel.

AP Language Adversity Essay Essay

Adversity causes people to act differently. Some may choose to concede and run away from their problems. Others may try to fight and overcome the obstacle in front of them. According to the poet Horace, adversity will cause a person to reveal their true colours. However, there are also cases where adversity will impede one’s actions. I believe that adversity can cause one to rise to the occasion, but also can lead to one’s downfall. We can look at famous handicapped individuals and the struggle they got through to reach success. Terry Fox is an example of a person who faced adversity and achieved something amazing. Terry Fox was diagnosed with bone cancer and eventually had his leg amputated and replaced by a prosthetic leg. By refusing to give in to his cancer, Terry Fox was able to raise millions of dollars to support cancer research and prevent cancer cases like his own. Another prime example is Helen Keller. Helen Keller was blind and deaf, so it would seem like her life was a mess. However, Helen Keller didn’t want to give up, and she overcame many obstacles, and became the first blind and deaf person to obtain a bachelors of arts degree. Without the illnesses that Terry Fox and Helen Keller contracted, they wouldn’t have had an incentive to do what they did, thus they wouldn’t be able to reach such heights. While adversity can indeed help people discover themselves, there are times when adversity won’t. During the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, the protestors had to face a huge obstacle: the Chinese government. The protests were led by students and were increasingly popular for a while before 1989. To stop the protests, the Chinese government decided to use force. They had hundreds of thousands of troops and a number of tanks across areas of Beijing, arresting protestors and in some cases, protestors were killed in the process, however the Chinese government claims there were no deaths. The â€Å"failed† protests and â€Å"massacre† of Tiananmen Square, depict that in some cases, adversity can be a slippery slope to failure. After looking at both sides of the argument, the conclusion is that Horace’s statement sometimes holds true. While it is true that adversity influence people to do great things, we can also see how adversity can inhibit one’s  ability to create change. Thus, I believe that adversity can indeed reveal one’s true abilities, but copious and extreme amounts of adversity can have the opposite effect and prevent the discovery of dormant abilities.

Exam answer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Exam answer - Essay Example Successful construction procurement should result in timely project delivery, proper budgeting and quality in order to meet the required functions. The act of creating a new structure requires objective survey on site, interaction with design team and other consultants, suppliers as well as other stakeholders. An immediate choice in term of the cost and quality should be agreed upon. The procurement of a construction work is often the subject of joint funding with different stakeholders who have varying interests and goals in the outcome of the projects. The following elements are the best drivers in terms of construction management: Global Bank Corporation are the owners of this project whose purpose is to take account of the demise of many European banks during the credit crunch. The success of this project will meet owner’s interest and at the same time meet the needs of their customers (Schwalbe 2009, p. 45). It is very important to first point at the factors that will determine the most suitable procurement strategy before commencing the projects. These factors: In any construction procurement, the objectives and constraints of each building project are interdependent and therefore require concurrent considerations. A competent and industrious team will be necessary to meet these aspects. Risks are events known or unknown that adversely affect the outcome of the project. The nature of the risk is determined by the objective and constraints of the project. For instance, this project is budgeted at  £120m and any activity that may cost more than the amount projected will be a risk. Consequently, it will affect rest processes and the entire project. Similarly, this project has a tight timeframe for completion. Any delay to the construction program will be a risk on the completion of the project. The responsibility of managing a given risk will be allocated to the party that has the capacity to deal with that risk. Level of project complexity

Financial management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Financial management - Assignment Example The completion of the acquisition marks the first step in bringing these two organizations together as one team (Microsoft, 2014). Where do Nokia and Microsoft go from here? Since the deal was first announced last September, it was evident that this was a win-win situation for both sides. Nokia can get on with growing its solutions and networks division without the albatross of its money-losing mobile phone unit around its neck (fool.com, 2014). For Microsoft, a late transition to  the 21st  century will be realized in the next couple of days. Its about time. The completion of the Nokia Devices and Services business acquisition April 25 will enable Microsoft to accelerate its share of smart phones and feature phones in developed and emerging markets, and increase its role as a devices and services company. (Local news now, 2014). Microsoft will target the affordable mobile devices market, a $50 billion annual opportunity, delivering the first mobile experience to the next billion people while introducing Microsoft services to new customers around the world (Microsoft, 2014).   Microsoft will continue to deliver new value and opportunity, and it will work closely with a range of hardware partners, developers, operators, distributors and retailers, providing platforms, tools, applications and services that enable them to make exceptional devices. With a deeper understanding of hardware and software working as one, the company will strengthen and grow demand for Windows devices overall (marketwatch, 2014). Industry watchers thought it was a "win-win solution" for both of the enterprises. "Microsoft has always been trying to expand its mobile Internet market, and Nokia, whose manufacturing technology for handsets is advanced, urgently needs to look for a savior," Cao Yujie, director of consultants for IT market research agency CCW Research, told the Global Times. Forgoing the

Management Information system (journal) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Management Information system (journal) - Essay Example Infra-structure became the foundation for serving customers, working with suppliers and managing internal business processes System Design Development and Architecture, on the other hand, considered the relevant and crucial interplay of hardware, software, people or human resources, culture and processes to ensure effective implementation towards the achievement of organizational goals. Through designing appropriate strategies that incorporate details on systems design and architecture, organizations are able to tap internal resources and develop core competencies, as required. One learned from the module that the basic process of systems development involves defining the project, creating a model of the current system, deriving a model for the new system, measuring the costs and benefits of all alternatives, selecting the best option, designing the new system, completing the specific programming functions, installing and testing the new system, and completing a post-implementation audit (Laudon and Laudon: Chapter 8). By recognizing the crucial details that go into systems design, business and IT practit ioners could apply concepts learned in real life contemporary

The evience suggests that PPP hold both in the short and long run Essay - 1

The evience suggests that PPP hold both in the short and long run - Essay Example an be substantial short-run deviations from PPP, but in the long run relative PPP holds remarkably well because fundamentals and arbitrage are dominant long-run economic forces† (Marewijk, chapter 20); In short run price level tends to be sticky and takes time to change (Rogoff, 1996). And that â€Å"Dorodian, Jung, and Boyd [1999] found that in the long-run, PPP tends to hold more often under a floating exchange rate regime than under a fixed exchange rate system† (Anorou, Braha & Ahmad, 2002). There is however some studies which focused on the short run basis of PPP. Chowdhry, Roll & Xia (2004) find that â€Å"relative PPP holds well in the short run in both single-country-pair OLS regressions and a pooled system regression† and that their evidence â€Å"for short-run relative PPP is unlikely to be driven by missing world factors or by real effects of inflation†. Further, â€Å"our results complement the findings from the long-run PPP tests, and help resolve the PPP puzzle in the short run†. They also have an evidence that â€Å"relative purchasing power parity holds quite well in the short run when inflation is extracted from stock prices†. â€Å"For small differences in annual inflation between the United States and the country concerned, the correlation between relative inflation and depreciation in each of the years seems low. Relative PPP appears to â€Å"hold more closely for countries experiencing relatively high inflation† (Tayl or & Taylor, 2004); â€Å"Finally, the IIRE is operative in both the short and long run in response to changes in the domestic price level† (Elwood & Fields, 1998). Based on those results, Click (1996), as mentioned by Fujiki & Kitamura in 2004 concludes that in â€Å"the time-series dimension, using the random-effects model, purchasing power parity holds, conditional upon the Balassa–Samuelson effect.† Chapter 18 — Exchange Rate Theories discusses the favorable effect of PPP in the short run over long run. â€Å"PPP holds even in the

Press Release Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Press Release - Assignment Example It has come to our attention this morning that one of our directors in charge of finance has run away with her secretary. The two are not married to each other. Mr. Brown, the finance director, is a married man with two children while Mrs. Rivers, his secretary, is also a married woman with one child. Information availed to us from photos and background checks reveals that the two have been having a secret affair behind their spouses’ backs. This is said to have been going on for a couple of days now. The two love birds have left their families in dire need as they were the bread winners of their families. The second issue is that the two have run away with a substantial amount of money from the staff pension fund kitty. Save the family organization would like to express its stand that we do not encourage such behavior in the organization. The employee code of ethics stipulates that it is an offence for members of staff to have a have a romantic relationship at work as it compromises work and the family values that we advocate for. Secondly we would also like to say that we are conducting internal investigations at the moment to ascertain how the money was stolen by the finance director. Our organization only has three signatories to its accounts: the chief executive officer, the finance director and one member of the board of directors selected through a unanimous vote. The matter has also been reported to the police who are currently working on the case to find the two culprits. Thirdly the organization has taken up the responsibility to take care of the families of the two who were left behind as they cannot fend for themselves. In conclusion we would like to say that this indecent act by one of our directors will not be tolerated and appropriate action will be taken when the two are found. Besides that internal mechanisms are being put in

Homework Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

Homework - Coursework Example The four aspects holistically helped shape the American culture. For example, marriage and female domesticity were depicted as primary goal for the American woman in conjunction with intense religious renewal. The media provided a platform through which the various aspects were spread. Religious leaders were also crucial in the American society. For example, Evangelist Billy Graham was a spiritual adviser to several United States’ Presidents (Kutler 96) The promises that were made by Kennedy were an attack on poverty, as well as growing the economy. The promises were all geared towards economic reconstruction. He promised to move legislations to see to it that he achieved these goals and was moved especially by the desperate conditions he saw when he campaigned in Appalachia, in 1960. Upon clinching the presidency, he helped push poverty onto the national agenda where he won a $2 billion urban-rural renewal program (Kutler 77). He was assassinated in 1963 and his promises were realized by his successor by the name of Lyndon B. Johnson who moved for the enactment of the Civil Rights of 1964 and the Economic Opportunity Act that emphasized on unconditional war on

The Epic of Gilgamesh (trans. Maureen Gallery Kovacs) Essay

The Epic of Gilgamesh (trans. Maureen Gallery Kovacs) - Essay Example King Gilgamesh is supposed to have lived around 2700 B.C. After the death of Gilgamesh stories of his great deeds were propagated through oral transmission. Though short episodes of these stories were written later, the first complete version of the epic was written in Akkadian, the extinct Semitic language of the Southern Mesopotamia. Later so many versions of the epic appeared in written form. The translation by Maureen Gallery Kovacs is from the â€Å"Standard† Akkadian â€Å"Edition.†. Originally written in 12 clay tablets in Cuneiform script, the translator chooses to eliminate tablet twelve, for the simple reason that it appears to be more a sequel to the first eleven tablets. Why it is an Epic? : Epic poems are long poems that celebrate the deeds of heroes of legendary Stature. Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk was two third God and one third human. â€Å"Gilgamesh is strong to perfection, son of august cow Rimat Ninsun; Gilgamesh is awesome to perfection.† (Epi c of Gilgamesh, Tablet 1; 35-36). The stories of legendary epic heroes happen long long ago, there by taking the listener/reader to a world of super reality and strange enchantment. Both the time and the space of the epics are, far too removed from our day today realities. The Epic of Gilgamesh is no different. ... xamples for these epic poetic patterns are Homer’s Odyssey, and Saint Valmiki’s Indian epic poem, Ramayana written in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit. The second and third books of Ramayana deals with the going of King Rama into exile into the forest where he confronts the demon king Ravana who steals away the king’s wife Sita and he had to fight to get back his wife. Odyssey, as the very title of the epic indicates is the return journey of the King Odysseus ten years after the Trojan War which it self lasted for ten years. The Epic of Gilgamesh has two journeys – One from the forest and wild life into the civilization and the other a reverse journey from the evils of civilization to the wisdom of the wilderness. Both journeys are hazardous, full of challenges -- physical as well as from the forces of nature. Odysseus and Gilgamesh: Comparison between Odysseus and Gilgamesh, both heroes of ancient literature, is very interesting in that their appro aches to the challenges are different. Gilgamesh, one third God and the rest human used to be sadistic to his people. He oppressed the newly married women during their wedding nights. He challenged young men with games and tests of strength or exhausted them with forced labor. Unable to bear with these the people of the kingdom cry out to the Gods in the haven above, to rescue them from the sadistic attitudes and actions of their own king. The Gods responding to the plea of the people decide to create an equal to Gilgamesh so that he will get distracted from his sadistic attitudes and activities. This alter ego of Gilgamesh is Enkidu. He is a primitive man who has a very hairy body and is inhabited with animals in the forest. The first journey in â€Å"The Epic of Gilgamesh† is the journey of Enkidu from the

Unemployment in America Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Unemployment in America - Research Paper Example Unemployment in America The analysis then is extended to examine a variety of macroeconomic concerns that have been argued to contribute to unemployment. In these regards, the research argues that Federal spending and the increasing National Debt are major areas of concern regarding investment that could contribute to improved unemployment. It then demonstrates that the very nature of the American political and economic sectors contain significant structural elements that are contributing to the country’s high and rising unemployment rate. Background After the Great Depression, the United States experienced unprecedented economic growth and progress almost until the end of the XX century. During the early years of the XXI century, this growth continued in sometimes staggering proportions with house prices steadily rising and Americans enjoying sizeable employment success. In 2008, this stopped. With the sub-prime mortgage crisis leading the charge, America and, eventually, the world economy experienc ed perhaps the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression. American unemployment rose to staggering rates, leaving citizens and politicians equally perplexed about the future. Even as some progress has been made in staving off the tide of unemployment, including lackluster reform policies, in great part the American economy is still experiencing a large number of problems, most prominently in terms of employment. One of the overarching considerations in regards to unemployment in America is the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate, as the name indicates, is a statistical measure established by the United States government; it indicates the amount of Americans that are currently unemployed. The American unemployment rate over the last decade demonstrates a number of trends, some of them highly problematic. Unemployment Rate 2002-2007 While the unemployment rate was at a slightly high but manageable 5% at the beginning of the ten-year period, it lowered significantly through 2007 (Hupp 12). While the exact causes of this lowered rate are complex and multi-varied, a reasonable assumption can be made that the infusion of capital into the American economy coupled with technological innovation that placed the United States at the forefront of development greatly contributed to these shifting trends. Still, perhaps more problematic is the recognition that this declining unemployment rate  œ nearly reaching 4% in 2007 – is greatly contrasted with the startling spike caused by the 2008 recession (Hupp 12). Unemployment 2007-2009 The spike in the unemployment rate during 2007-2009 demands specific consideration be given to the juxtaposition of these rates and the potential causes of the Great Recession. This research argues that the declining unemployment rate between 2003 and 2007 is at least partly attributable to a bubble economy that was brought on by inflated home prices. The eventual mortgage crisis that would lead to the recessionary period and spike in unemployment was at least partially caused by a correction in the true value and production of the American economy. The Economist points out that even when the economy begins to recover certain job sectors may never see pre-recession employment figures. It argues that: â€Å"The past decade’s jobs in retail and in entertainment were largely supported by household borrowing. Not only is a new wave o f borrowing unlikely to develop after the

Characters in Lord of the Flies Essay Example for Free

Characters in Lord of the Flies Essay The power struggle, egocentric and intolerance in society today is ruining human relationships and Golding shows this through his characters in Lord of the Flies. Through the characters Jack, Roger and Ralph, Golding shows this interaction. Jack symbolises the struggle and silent fight for power over other people, Roger represents people who easily gives up in relationships and walk away and Ralph helps demonstrate mans reliance on appearance to create and keep relationships. The island emphasises these relations and shows Goldings view of relations among people. The relationships between humans is emphasised throughout the novel, and Golding has given his views on these relations through characters in the novel. Jack is a very strong, dominant character who feels the need to gain superiority over everyone else to feel power and control. He represents the power and hunger for dominance over others and Jack shows this through scaring others and demanding them to do jobs that put Jack on top which is emphasising the silent fight for dominance in human relationships today. Jack says â€Å"I ought to be chief†¦ because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I and sing C sharp†. This narcisstic dialogue shows how Jack wants escalate the idea of how important and better he is than Ralph and all the other buys, by saying this he is showing the boys how much better he is and scaring him with his range of talents. This affects the way that the reader understands and develops Jack’s character which then shows his egotistic approach to dominance over the other boys. Golding is using the character Jack and his silent fight for dominance over the boys to show how society is constantly trying to gain superiority in relationships. This is showing how the power struggle in society is ruining human relationships. Roger in Lord of the Flies is a character developed by Golding to comment of how humans too easily give up on relationships. Roger throughout the novel develops into one of the savage followers of Jack, which brings out and dramatises the human characteristics and actions in relationships. Piggy died by being hit by a falling boulder that was pushed from the side of a cliff by Roger. This action of pushing the boulder to stop Piggy talking and complaining is how Golding showed us how human relationships are easily given up. â€Å"storm of sound†¦incantation of hatred†¦Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever†. This imagery and hyperbolic language emphasises how Roger found the easy way to escape the relationship all the boys had with Piggy as they were in a disagreement. The imagery gives a picture which makes the reader feel the tension and the hyperbolic language helps emphasise the tone of aggression that humans use today to escape relationships easily. Golding has used the character Roger to show the intolerance in relationships in society today, which is running human relationships. There are many purposes to Ralph’s character in Lord of the Flies, one is that he gives a emphasised view on mans reliance on appearance to create and keep relationships. In the beginning of the novel when the boys first arrive on the island they elect Ralph instead of Jack because of his appearance and characteristic demeanour, this reflects the attitudes of humans in society today. Golding describes Ralph through the perspective of the boys by saying â€Å"could see not that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders†, this imagery and comparison to the features needed to be an athlete gives the reader an image of what Ralph would look like and why he is looked up to by the other boys. This means the boys would rather have a fit good looking leader that they would aspire to be like, which is close to the way many people decide on their relationships with others. This is what Golding is trying to show through the character Ralph that in society h uman relationships are becoming ruined by creating relationships based on the appearance of others. Golding uses the characters in Lord of the Flies to demonstrate the power-struggle, intolerance and dependence on appearance to create and keep relationships. This is through Jacks power struggle over the other boys, Roger’s intolerance towards Piggy and how through the boys choosing Ralph to be their chief in the early hours of landing on the island it shows how his strong, built appearance was more appealing that Jack which demonstrates how appearances have a big effect on human relationships.

Essay On Parliamentary Sovereignty

Essay On Parliamentary Sovereignty Tesco was founded in 1924 by John Edward Cohen in the East End of London. The name Tesco, was first used on tea, and was derived from the initials of Cohens tea supplier, T E Stockwell, combined with the first two letters of Cohen. Tesco Stores Limited was incorporated in 1932. In 1935, Jack Cohen visited the U S A and was impressed by the supermarkets self-service system which enabled more people to be served faster, with lower labour costs. In 1947, the Tesco branch in St Albans, a small shop by 21st century standards (200 square metres) was the first Tesco to be converted to self service, although it didnt immediately catch the publics imagination. See appendix 1 for details. Tescos Mission Statement Tescos mission statement is to Retain Loyal People. To make sure Tesco achieve their mission statement, they need to know who their loyal customers are. That is why Tesco has got a club card service, through which they can award people by giving them special vouchers and extra points. Vision A business aim is an organisations long-term goal. In 2005, the two core values of Tesco are: No-one tries harder for customers and Treat people as we like to be treated. In 2006, Tescos mission and vision shows that this company is really for quality service and values their customers:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Be the leader in Quality Service provided to everyone in the retailing industry  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Understand the needs of their client and respond with urgency.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Meet customers demands and exceeds their expectations  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Maintain highly trained and motivated employees.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Continuously improve their skills, service and achieve excellence in all of the companys endeavours. Objective Objectives are goals that a firm sets itself for the next three or five years. They have a timescale, they must be measurable and they must contribute to the business achieving its aims. The core objective of Tesco is to establish value for customers in order to gain their lifetime loyalty.  Tescos success depends on their valued customers. These customers shop and work with the company. Tescos principle is, if the customer likes what they offer, surely these people will come back and purchase again. Industry Stage Life Cycle The stage life cycle of the retail industry is no doubt to be mature  because of the profits they are gaining every year. The retail industrys profit is increasing and profiting from their cash cows. Tesco is the largest UK retailer and the 3rd largest global retailer. Tesco controlled 30.8% of the UK grocery market as of May 2009 and ~9% of the UK non-food retail market. The majority of its sales and profits are generated in its 2,282 UK stores, which are segmented into the following formats: Tesco Express neighbourhood convenience store that focuses on fresh products, 961 stores Tesco Metro city centre convenience store,174 stores Tesco Superstore conventional supermarket, 448 stores Tesco Extra hypermarket that serves an entire community, 177 stores Tesco Homeplus and One-Stop account for its remaining stores The company also sells general merchandise through Tesco Direct, its online and catalogue businesses. Tescos management focuses on customer satisfaction by giving customers more choices where to shop and by offering them attractive prices on its products. In the fourth quarter of 2008, Tesco began selling new discount range of products to compete more aggressively on price against discounters. Its prices are generally perceived to be at a small premium to Asda and a small discount to Sainsbury and Morrison. Tescos primary supermarket competitors in the UK include Asda (17.3% share of UK grocery market), Sainsbury (16.3% share), WM Morrison Supermarkets (11.2% share), Waitrose (3.7% share), Aldi (2.9% share) and Lidl (2.3% share). In recent years, some of its major competitors have turned around their struggling stores, which will make it more challenging for Tesco to gain significant share in the UK market going forward. Tesco uses its customer information to target and segment communications to the millions of its loyalty program members by almost infinite demographic, purchase, and lifestyle profiles. Several hundred million in-store purchases per day are being tracked by the loyalty-card program. The company developed 5,000 customer needs segments, with each segment receiving personalized coupons. Source: www.tesco.com Income Statement Summary Sources: Companies, www.DeutscheBank.com Tescos UK sales grew 4.3% last year (3% ex gasoline) and its net new stores contributed 2.7% to growth. Its UK sales also benefited from a 53rd week that represented 2.1% of sales and the first time contribution from the consolidation of Tesco Personal Finance. International sales grew 30.6% (including FX benefits) and 13.6% at constant exchange rates benefiting from square footage growth and strong sales growth in Asia. The companys operating margin was flat at 5.9% in fiscal 2009 as unfavourable sales mix was offset by increased productivity and good expense control. Its EPS growth was only 2.6% last year, hurt by 26.7% tax rate vs. 24% in fiscal 2008 when it benefited from tax reimbursement and lower UK corporate tax rate. Introduction: The organisations of choice are within the Retails sector TESCO and ASDA as the elective firm both are UK based companies. 1.1 Tesco objectives blend in with each other All of Tescos objectives blend in with each other. None of the objectives will work without each other. For example; the business will not have any customers if the business is not operating well. Share holders will not invest money in the business, if the business hasnt got any customers. The company will not be able to afford to have any employees working for them if they havent got money being invested in the business. 1.2. Stakeholders Tesco Stakeholders are a certain group of people that have an interest in Tesco group businesses. Each group have their own interests in the business. The service-profit chain attempts to show the interrelationship of a companys internal and external communities, stakeholders and highlights how customer loyalty that translates into revenue growth and profits might be achieved; developed by Heskett et al. (1994). It does this by establishing relationships between profitability, customer loyalty, stakeholders and employees satisfaction. Tesco has many stakeholders. They are as follows: * Shareholders * Customers * Employees * Government and Non-Governmental * Local Community * Suppliers * Financials * Pressure Groups Customers: Generally a customer wants quality goods at a low cost. They would also want a variety of products to choose from. All customers want these things and by Tesco providing them Tesco will attract more customers because of people talking about it (Word-of-Mouth). Tesco like most business need their customers because they are the business income as the customers are the people who buy Tescos products. Tesco staffs hear customers views on everything from how we are serving them in our stores to our role in the community. The customers are a bit like a pressure group because they apply pressure to Tesco to meet their needs. Meeting the customers needs can be things such as expanding their stores. Staff Tesco employees give management their feedback through the Viewpoint staff survey, Staff Question Time sessions and Tesco Staff Forum process. Suppliers Tesco group core value is treat people how we like to be treated, and its something Tesco organisation applied firmly to enhance their suppliers relationships. Investors Capital Investor Relations team regularly meet analysts from the financial institutions which invest in Tesco group or represent their shareholders. All the above defined stakeholders are Tesco group influencers. They affect the outcome of the decision making process through their influence on others. Influence could stem formally from expertise, such as the advice of an accountant on return on investment. 2. Nature of the Retail (Tesco) Marketing Environment The definition that the module assignment work with is that Tesco organisations marketing environment is made up of those forces that lie outside the Tesco group organisation and that exert some degree of influence upon the ways in which marketing management develops relationship with the firms target markets. Two distinct components within Tesco environment are: Micro-environment and the macro-environment. See figure 1 below. Social and cultural factors Legislation Economic Factor Political Issues Technological changes Supply chain Customers Competitors Suppliers Distributors The Tesco Organisation Figure 1. The Tesco Organisations marketing environment It is recognised that regardless of which approach Tesco group adopts; the environment is a significant determinant both of strategy and organisational performance. Baker (1985, pg. 85) described it as the ultimate constraint upon the firms strategy; Drucker (1969), referred to the environment of the 1960 and 1970s as age of discontinuity; and Toffler (1970, pg. 28), who look ahead, referred to it as a time of future shock. 2.1. MARKETING AUDIT The marketing audit is really the launching pad for the Tesco marking plan, because it encourages Tesco management to reflect systematically on the environment and the organisations ability to respond, given its actual and planned capabilities. Similar to financial audit, marketing audit is first and critical about developing a shared, agreed and objective understanding of Tesco organisation. The audit is has suggested by McDonald (1995, p.28): The means by which a company can identify its own strengths and weakness as they relate to external opportunities and threats; It is thus a way of helping management to select a position in that environment based on known factors. Three major elements and potential benefits of the marketing audit can be seen to be: The detailed analysis of the external environment and internal situation The objective evaluation of past performance and present activities. The clearer identification of future opportunities and threats. These three above factors can be viewed against the background of comments made by Ansoff (1968 1984), who has suggested that irrespective of the size of the organisation, corporate decisions have to be made within the constraint of a limited total resource. Marketing audit have a place the overall management audit that incorporate financial audit together with audits of other functional areas as illustrated in figure 2 below. Marketing audit in terms of structure consists of three major and detailed diagnostic steps. That involved a review of: Tesco organisations environment (opportunities and threats) designed to establish the various dimensions of the marketing environment, change and probable impact of these change upon the organisation; its marketing systems (strengths and weakness) an assessment of the extent to which Tescos marketing systems are capable of dealing with the demands of the environment and its marketing activities review of the individual components of the marketing mix. There are the environmental variables and operational variables with distinction in terms of the macro-environmental forces (political / legal, economic / demographic, social / cultural, and technological) that affect the business. Micro-environmental actors (customers, competitors, distributors and suppliers) who subsequently influence Tesco organisations ability to operate profitably in the market-place Macro environment is the most general external audit of the environment, that consist of broad environmental factors, aimed at identifying key variable that offer actionable responses that would benefit Tesco and threats that must be avoided. These key external forces can be divided into five broad categories. Economic forces Social, Cultural, Demographic and Environmental forces Political, Governmental and Legal forces Technological forces Competitive Force Financial audit Personnel audit Production audit The Management audit Marketing audit EXTERNAL (Opportunities and threats) Macro The business and economic environments (political, economic, social/cultural, technological, legal and environmental factors PESTLE) Market Competition INTERNAL (Strengths and weaknesses) Micro Organisational performance and structure Operations and resources Marketing objectives Marketing strategy Information systems Planning systems Control systems Functional efficiency Inter-functional efficiency Profitability analysis Cost-effective analysis Figure 2. The place of the marketing audit in the overall management audit 2.2. SWOT Analysis The strengths and weaknesses of a SWOT analysis focus on the current market position of Tesco in retails business in relation to its: Customers is the business meeting the needs of its target markets Competitors- is the business offering a better way of meeting customer needs compared with its competitors Internal resources- is the business making effective use of its internal resources to meet customer needs and deal with competition The opportunities and threats of a SWOT analysis focus on the future market position of Tesco in retails business. Tesco organisation used their strengths and limits the weaknesses to plan for future development, marketing strategies and activities. Tescos opportunities and threats grew out of objectives, consideration of the real strengths and weaknesses of their business. Specific information were collated (such as data captured and analysed from CRM programs) before the process begins and personnel working to a joint solutions, adopted a truly objective positioning for the processes to be successful and worthwhile. 2.2.1. The main purpose of a SWOT analysis: Identify market opportunities To avoid complacency about market position a self evaluating organization As a safety check before embarking on major new project As a response to change change of director might initiate a SWOT analysis to gauge the strength of the team. There is no set procedure for carrying out a SWOT analysis but care must be taken to identify weaknesses if the process is to serve its purpose. A weakness may purely be lack of information, or lack of suitably qualified staff. SWOT analysis of TESCO Strengths Weaknesses To provide high level customer service Presence in multiple retail markets For Tesco to create unique products Increasing market share Wide knowledge of retail industry Competent top management and rank file for operation and maintenance Existing customer base Financial investment backing. Strong IT returns through internet shopping Good advertising Used iconic models to attract core target group. Tesco Online Brand value Insurance Secured commercial standing within the global market place winning Retailer of the Year 2008 at the World Retail Awards. This can be used for marketing campaigns to drive advantage towards the demographic base for future growth and sustainability Product diversification home and furniture Turnaround in sales and growth As a business looking for continued expansion TESCO have reserve funds of credit coupled with income derived from property portfolio development funds. In an environment where global retail sales are showing decline or level performance on a like for like basis TESCO Group have published sales gain of 13% for UK markets and 26% growth in international markets. As a business looking for continued expansion TESCO have reserve funds of credit coupled with income derived from property portfolio development funds. Tescos position as a price leader in UK markets can lead to reduced profit margins in order to retain the key price points on must have commercial items. Grocer outlets are not set up to operate as specialist retailers in specific areas of product which can be capitalised on by other smaller bespoke retailers. Low supervision on international market Considerably late exploitation of the Internet. Whilst current economic conditions suggest Tescos key value message will succeed there is a weakness in non-essential, mid to high ticket price items which will suffer from the rising cost of living and lower disposable incomes. Reliance upon the UK market Comparing Tesco with British Airways might get you thinking about how dependent Tesco is on the UK market (73.8% of 2003 revenues.) Comparing Tesco with Amazon might reveal flaws in its attempts to move into new markets. TESCO Finance profit levels were impacted through bad debt, credit card arrears and household insurance claims. Grocer outlets are not set up to operate as specialist retailers in specific areas of product which can be capitalised on by other smaller bespoke retailers Opportunities Threats Statistics suggest TESCO is the third largest global grocer which indicates a level of buying power to ensure mainstream economies of scale. Further international growth Expansion of target market Healthy market environment Increasing detraction of small retail businesses in UK Use younger more contemporary models to attract younger generation. The acquisition of Homever provides the opportunity to develop the brand through Asia, specifically South Korea and further grow International markets for the group. The development of Tesco Direct through online and catalogue shopping will grow the use of technology, providing the launch pad for larger non food based products with moderate to high margin returns and less focus on sales and margin per foot return to space. TESCO mobile have grown  ¼ million customers in 2008 and moved into profitable status suggesting further growth and development within this technological area can be developed. Tesco Homeplus stores offer all of Tescos ranges except food in warehouse-style units in retail parks. Introducing wider ranges such as Tesco (Value, Brand, Finest, Wholefoods, Bakery Kids), Healthy Living, Organic, Best Of British, World Foods, Cherokee, Free From, Tesco Christmas, Tescos own clothing label F+F to mention few Other services e.g. banking, insurance, savings to mention few. UK structural change could spark a price war Rising raw material costs from both food and non food will impact profit margins overall International expansion Economic restructuring Intensified competition Government regulation UK and American markets have been affected by economic concerns through the credit crunch. Lower available income will impact and strategic focus may need to change to lower priced basic products with less focus on higher priced brands suggesting a switch in price architecture. Sourcing changes to Far East locations with regards exporting restrictions on some non food product areas will reduce margin rates on products with already low margins. Changes to consumer buying behaviours require further analysis as technology develops consumer buying patterns change which will result in product areas requiring evaluation. For TESCO there is a persistent threat of takeover from the market leader Wal-Mart who has both means and motive to pursue such action. Lower available income will impact and strategic focus may need to change to lower priced basic products with less focus on higher priced brands suggesting a switch in price architecture. Overconfident of Tesco management Figure. 3. Tesco Micro and Macro-Environmental SWOT analysis 3. Tescos Strategic Options 3.1. Generic Strategies Generic Strategies are characterised by an individual retailers response to the industry structure. For a giant retailer, such as Tesco, to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage they may have followed either one of three generic strategies, developed by Porter (1985). The first strategy of cost leadership is one in which Tesco can strive to have the lowest costs in the industry and offer its products and services to a broad market at the lowest prices. This strategy will be based on the Tescos ability to control their operating costs so well that they are able to price their products competitively and be able to generate high profit margins, thus having a significant competitive advantage. Tesco used another strategy of differentiation that it has to try to offer services and products with unique features that customers value; Tesco was able to create brand loyalty for their offerings, and thus, price inelasticity on the part of buyers. Tescos breadths of product offerings, technology, special features, or customer service are popular approaches to differentiation The last strategy of focus can be either a cost leadership or differentiation strategy aimed toward a narrow, focused market. In pursuing a cost leadership strategy Tesco focuses on the creation of internal efficiencies that will help them withstand external pressures. Therefore, it appears reasonable to think that Tesco will have frequent interactions with the governmental/regulatory and supplier sectors of the environment. In accordance to this framework, while both overall cost leadership and differentiation strategies are aimed at the broad market, Tesco may also choose to confine their product to specific market areas or may choose to offer a smaller line of products to the broad market, thus pursuing a strategy of focus or niche (Porter, 1980). In other words, Tesco pursues a strategy of cost leadership or differentiation either in a specific market or with specific products. 3.2. Core Competence and Corporate strategy Superior performance, according to Johnson and Scholes (2003), has to be determined by the way in which companys resources are deployed to create competence in the organisational activities. Core competencies are activities or processes that critically underpin the companys competitive advantage. Core competences may be embedded deep in Tesco at an operational level in the work routines. The framework developed by Prahalad and Hamel in the 1990s suggests that over time companies may develop key areas of expertise which are distinctive to that company and critical to the companys long term growth (Drejer, 2000; De Toni, and Tonchia, 2003). In the case of Tesco the areas of expertise are most likely to develop in the critical, central areas of the organisation where the most value is added to its service and its delivery The phrase used by Tesco to describe its aspiration to appeal to upper, medium and low income customers is inclusive offer in the same stores. Tesco pulled off an idea that other retailers were not aware. That appealed to all segments of the market. One plank of this inclusively has been Tescos use of its own-brand products, including the upmarket Finest and low-price Value. Tesco implemented CRM programme launched the Clubcard rewards program to gather necessary customer information, which it then used to cater to specific customer needs and potential wants. When shoppers signed up for the card, they automatically submitted their age, gender, and income. Tesco was able to segment their shoppers based on these factors. As soon as the shopper used the card when shopping online or in-store, purchased product information was automatically uploaded into Tesco database. Product information was used to cross-sell additional products and services such as grocery delivery services. Beginning in 1997 when Terry Leahy took over as CEO, Tesco began marketing itself using the phrase The Tesco Way to describe the companys core purposes, values, principles, and goals This phrase became the standard marketing speak for Tesco as it expanded domestically and internationally under Leahys leadership, implying a shift by the company to focus on people, both customers and employees. 3.3. Partnership with Tesco Tesco respond to changes in marketing by partnering with other businesses; Tesco then added a travel service through a partnership with Lunn Poly, giving discounts off high-street prices. It also combined its card with Visa through the Royal Bank of Scotland, and offered discounts on DIY goods through well-known home improvement chain BQ. In 1997 it added a full range of financial services, and the Tesco Direct service. Adding value was mandatory to these functional items so, for example, expectant mothers were given priority parking outside the store, changing facilities, and personal shopping assistants to help them. In 1998, after the U.K.s deregulation of utilities, Tesco began to offer electricity and telecommunications products and services. Also in that year, clothing was added to the range through Next. By this time, Tesco had identified 108 customer market segments. This year, 2000, a joint undertaking with General Motors allows customers to buy cars from Tesco. 3.4. Enhancing Quality Everyday, top managers of Tesco stores gather for an hour-and-a-half customer advocacy meeting to pore over that weeks performance statistics. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a strategy which is concerned with changing the fundamental beliefs, values and culture of an organisation, harnessing the enthusiasm and participation of everyoneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.towards an overall idea of right first time by Atkinson and Naden (1989, pg 6). What makes this unusual is that every performance measure under scrutiny relates to customer satisfaction, and this meeting is the most important one on the corporate schedule. See Appendix 2 for On-Time-Delivery Tesco competitive strategy. 4. Industry Attractiveness   Inherent within the notion of strategy is the issue of competitiveness, analyzing industry attractiveness, and Porters (1979) five forces model is used. The attractiveness of the retail industry depends on the situation of competition. The competition in the retail industry is based on its economic structure Porters Five Forces Model implies that business are being influenced by five forces namely supplier power, threat of substitutes, buyer power, barriers to entry and rivalry. This model also implies that business must be able to understand the industry context in which they operate. 4.1. Porter five forces analysis: A Porters five forces analysis can complement other techniques, like a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis focuses on the company, while a Porters five forces analysis looks at the external factors impacting on a company Porters five forces framework as shown in figure 4, helps identify the sources of competition in the retail sector, and as a way of assessing the attractiveness that profit Tescos retails market. The underlying force in the macro-environment driven competitive forces are:- The bargaining power of supplier The bargaining power of buyers The threat of potential new entrants The threat of substitutes The extent of competitive rivalry The above five forces are not independent of each other, connection between competitive forces and the key driver in macro-environment is essential. Pressures from one direction can trigger off changes in another in a dynamic process of shifting sources of competition. Industry Competitors Rivalry among Existing firms Potential Entrants Buyers Suppliers Substitutes Bargaining power of suppliers Bargaining power of buyers Threat of substitude products or services Threat of new entrants Figure 4, Porters Five Forces Model The objectives of such an analysis investigated how Tesco organisation formed its strategy in other to develop opportunities and protect itself against competition and other threats. This must be done in order to better design the strategy that the business will use to be able to compete with rivals within the same industry. It is important for businesses to determine the level of competition present within the industry. This will allow them to address potential risks before they even strike. 4.2. Cost advantage and differentiation According to Baker (1985), a business positions itself based on its strengths and strength are categorized into two cost advantage and differentiation. Furthermore, when these strengths are applied in either a narrow or a broad sense, it will result to three generic strategies focus, differentiation and cost leadership strategy. Cost leadership strategy means that the company is the low cost producer or provider of a certain quality item in a given industry. This kind of strategy is being implemented for two reasons and achieved through two ways. The first method and reason is to sale items at average industry price so that the company will be able to be more profitable compared to rivals. The second method and reason is to sale the products at below average industry price in order to gain market share. According to Baker (1985), a company that has the ability to produce or offer less costly products will be able to remain profitable for a longer period. It is important to note that this strategy targets a broad market. 4.3. BCG Matrix Tesco can be considered as a cash cow because it distributes quality and extra services to its consumers and equipped with new innovative products and services in United Kingdom. At the same time the company can also be considered as Stars because they put a lot of efforts to increase the awareness of their consumers to the benefits of e-commerce and retailing 5. Market Objectives and Strategies Implementation Strategy frameworks and structuring tools are keys to assessing the business situation. Risk and value trade-offs are made explicit, leading to concrete proposals to add value and reduce risk. Explicit plans for action, including effective planning need to be developed by Tesco as the strategic alternative. Piercy and Morgan (1990, pg. 2) state: In short, the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..reality the marketing executive faces is that implementing plans and strategies successfully is often d

Vision And Goals For Bank Alfalah

Vision And Goals For Bank Alfalah Bank Alfalah Limited started it functioning on June 21st, 1992 in the form of public limited company under the Companies Ordinance 1984. Its banking operations started from November 1st, 1997. Since then the bank is engaged in commercial banking and other services relating to banking as defined in the Banking companies ordinance, 1962 of Pakistan. The Bank is currently operating through various branches in Peshawar and in Pakistan at large. They have also branches in Bahrain, Bangladesh Afghanistan, with the registered office at B.A. Building, I.I.Chundrigar, Karachi. Since the start, as the new identity of H.C.E.B after the privatization in 1997, the management of the bank has adopted strategies and policies to create a different position for the bank in the market place. It became economically stronger with the banking of the Abu Dhabi Group and its driven by the strategic goals set out by its board of management. The Bank has invested in revolutionary technology to have a vast range of products and services. This helps the commitment of Bank Alfalah to a culture of more innovation and seeks out synergies with clients and service providers to ensure undisturbed services to their customers. Bank Alfalah focuses on the requirements of their customers and always try to match them with quality products and service solutions. During the past five years, Bank Alfalah has raisen in the market as one of the foremost financial institution in the region endeavoring to meet the needs of tomorrow today. The Name of the Chief Executive of Bank Alfalah is Mr. Sirajuddin Aziz and the Co-Chairman Central Management Committee is Mr. Parvez A. Shahid (Reference: http://www.bankalfalah.com /about/historical_overview.asp) Bank Alfalah vision: To be the premier organization operating locally internationality that provides the complete range of financial services to all segments under one roof. Mission Statement of Bank Alfalah: To develop deliver the most innovative products, manage customer experience, deliver quality services that contributes to brand strength, establishes a competitive advantage and enhances profitability, thus providing value to the stakeholders of the bank. (Reference: http://www.bankalfalah.com /about/historical_overview.asp) Faisal Bank Limited Faysal Bank Limited started its operations in Pakistan on October 3, 1994, in the shape of public limited company under the Companies Ordinance, 1984. The Bank has listed its shares on Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges. Since then the Bank is engaged in Commercial, Consumer and Corporate Banking activities. The Bank has a network of 136 branches including 10 Islamic Banking branches and 2 sub-branches. The registered head office of the Bank is situated at Faysal House, ST-02, Shahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi The Pakistan Credit Agency Limited (PACRA) and JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited have fixed the Banks long term rating as AA and short term rating as A1+. Faysal Banks asset in 30th June, 2010 was over Rs. 175 billion; about 3,000 employees are working in the banks with a network of over 135 branches in 38 cities of Pakistan. Currently it is the 12th largest bank in Pakistan by assets. The majority share holding of Faysal Bank is held by Ithmaar Bank B.S.C. (Reference: http://www.faysalbank.com /aboutus.html) Faysal Bank Limited Vision: Excellence in all that we do Faysal Bank Mission Statement: Achieve leadership in providing financial services in chosen markets through innovation. Faysal Bank VALUES: Faysal Bank daily code of conduct is exemplified by eight core values: Four threshold values values at the heart of our brand and four differentiator values values that set our brand apart. The president and CEO of Faysal bank is Naved A. Khan while the chairman of Faysal bank is Syed Naseem Ahmad (Reference: http://www.faysalbank.com /visionmissionandvalues.html) Objective of the study: We went to Bank Alfalah and Faysal Bank branches located in Peshawar. We interviewed the HR officers of both banks and some other employees for our HRM assignment and we asked them questions regarding the way they plan Human Resource and their Processes and the way they Recruit new employees for the Bank. Now we are going to apply the information relating to Human Resource planning and Selection and Recruitment Method gain from these two Banks in our HRM assignment. Analyze the need for human resource planning, the information required and the stages involved in this process (P4) Human Resource Planning: Human resource planning refers to as the process of deciding what positions the organization will have to fill and how they are going to fill them (Reference Gary Dessler, page.no.152) Human resource planning is a process conducted by a firm for the future in order to decide how much employees are required by the firm to recruit to cover the post, from warehouse keeper to the CEO. Human resource planning is the most important part of the overall Human Resource strategy. For example a firm wants to enter into a new type of business or market it will have to plan that how much of employees it needs for carrying out those new operations if it wants to achieve success. Process of Human resource Planning: Planning relating to employment is being done on the basis of some basic assumptions. Forecasting techniques like HRP enables a company to generate these assumptions. If a company wants to plan for their employment needs, they basically need to consider three things: Personnel needs (demand) Supply from inside (Current employees) Supply from out side. After doing the analysis of demand and supply then the stage of removing the gape between supply and demand comes Forecasting of personnel needs (Demand): Organizations keep the some factors in mind while forecasting demand. Factors like the objectives of the organization, employees utilization (how much of labor will an organization require for their production or services objectives), the cost of labor, and environmental factor like technology and social norms are important for demand forecasting. There are simple techniques like ratio analysis and time series analysis through which forecasting of demand can be done. Forecasting of Supply: One important question in this regard is should an organization plan to fill the forecasted positions with employees already working in the organization or by hiring people from outside the organization. There are also some important factors, which a firm must consider while conducting the process of forecasting supply. If a firm is planning to fill the position from within so it must consider factors like employees skills, performance standard, potential trainability, educational base etc. On the other hand, if a firm is planning to recruit people from outside so it should consider factor like skill availability, education and training level of the potential people, competitors activities and paying rate in the markets. Computerized information systems that contain a database of all the employees can be used for forecasting supply from outside. Removing Gap between demand supplies: After doing the demand and supply analysis three situations can arise. Firstly, demand may become equal to supply so no actions are needed in this situation. Secondly, there may be surplus of workers so in such a situation steps like early retirements, limited hiring and reducing the numbers of employees are appropriate. Thirdly, a shortage of employees may arise so in such a situation the process of recruitment and selection should be fastened. (Reference: Gary Dessler,) Apply the concepts of human resource planning and stages involved in this process on the organization under study (M3)? The concept of Human Resource Planning along with the stages involved in its process has been discussed in detail in P4 of this assignment here we will discuss the Human Resource Process in Faysal bank and its advantages for the organization. According to HR officer of Faysal Bank, Human Resource Planning is very important for their Human Resource department. By conducting the analysis they come to know how many employees they have currently and how much they require in the future in order to gain their Human Resource objectives. They analyze Human Resource with the help of time series which mean they give targets to their employees and if they are unable to get those targets in given time with the available staff (Demand) they then analyze the performance of each employee by using their human resource information system (HRIS) that contains the data of the all the employees they foresee the potential trainability, productivity improvement of their current employees. Beside this they hire more employees in order to expand and to get their Human Resource targets. For example if they want to recruit new employees firstly, they look at their current employees, someone with experience, skill, competitive edge over other if there are such employees then they assign them double duties with 50% increase in pay. If there are not such employees available then they find new employees through the reference of their existing employees or friend and family members (Supply of employees from Inside). If they are opening new branch for that purpose they also first look in their current employees to bring employees for them. Faysal Bank Human Resource department do not advertise for the required general posts, they only advertise (Supply from outside) for the post of MTO (Managing Training Officer). Student from high class Universities apply online for this post once a year and normally they accept the qualified student of LUMS, IBA, NUST Universities respectively, for this post. Objectives of Faysal Bank behind conducting Human resource planning: Objectives of Faysal Bank behind conducting human resource planning are as follow: To fill the desire to look into the future: Organizations like Faysal Bank are growing big and the method of doing business are becoming difficult day by day as a result jobs at Faysal Bank sometimes requires sophisticated experience and skills that cannot easily be found and bought. Secondly it takes time to train and develop employees. Due to these factors Faysal Bank may find it self in a problem if they dont plan their employees properly so for Faysal Bank the desire to look into the future is growing due to factors mention above thats why it is the main objective behind conducting Human Resource Planning.. To exercise control over as many variables as possible which influence business? Businesses are cant forecast their future. Most of the analyst refers Human Resource Planning as an approach to risk management. Faysal Bank also uses Human Resource Planning so that it can practice control over changeable or variable factors like labor turnover, future labor market etc. To cope with employment protection legislation: It is one of the Faysal Bank main objectives behind conducting Human Resource Planning. Legislation (laws) relating to job security and general expectations from Faysal Bank as far as social responsibility is concern makes it difficult for it to simply remove employees. The cost of this for Faysal Bank can be measure in financial terms (cost of employee development etc) as well as loosing its reputation as a secure employer that at times may also harm its business. So Human Resource Planning can help Faysal Bank in dealing with problems like these. To comply with technological changes: Advancement in technology is changing the nature of work as new technologies are emerging in Service Sector. Faysal Bank conducts Human Resource Planning so that technologically competent employees can be hired. For example if it pre-plan to hire fresh IT experts who are able to know that how to use competitors for online payment and receipts along with some accounting skills so it means that Faysal Bank would be having a competitive edge over its competitors. To cope with de-jobbed workers: In Pakistan the pace of jobs is changing the trend of project base work is increasing day by day. So it is one of its core objectives behind conducting Human Resource Planning that proper planning can be done about project base workers. To complete the expansion plans in time: The demands for Banks are increasing day by day. Therefore Faysal Bank has some serious plans to expand its operations. This means that it would need new people for which it conducts human resource planning so that a forecasted demand of human resource can be generated. This will help the organization in hiring the right person for the right job and with in time. Ultimately Faysal Bank will be able to complete its expansion plans in time. Recommend, how the organization can improve their human resource planning to achieve Human Resource goals effectively (D3). The changes and pressures brought in by economic, technological and social factors have forced organizations of all kinds to study the costs and human aspects of labor much more seriously and carefully than ever before. Therefore Faysal bank needs to further improve their Human Resource Planning in order to achieve their HR goals effectively. For improving their Human Resource Planning Faysal Bank need to implement the suggested steps below: They need to accept employees from the most honest and well known reference (Supply of labor from inside). Not from any body because some can be bias in bringing their relative, friends with no educational background and skills in order to improve their Human Resource Planning. They must select the worker (employees) with the required ability and information because it will give spirited edge over competitors since a good quality worker will carry advance service deliverance and hence productive personnel can analyze Human resource well. They need to educate their present staff and try to make use of their present staff more by raising their salaries, in this way the present staff can be made knowledgeable and it will also help the Analyzers of HR to measure the performance of their current staff and the required number of staff and skilled they require to hire in order to support the old and hence achieve their HR goals. They need to keep their strategic planning (corporate objectives) in mind while conducting Human resource planning process; this means that the HRP must satisfy the whole objective of the organization. They should actively involve their managers, executives, and line employees during analyzing human resource because they have more inside to the organization. Compare the structured process for recruitment in two organizations and evaluate the methods and media that can be used (P5) Systematic approach to Recruitment Recruitment is the part of the human process concerned with finding the applicants: it is a positive action by management, going into the labor market, communicating opportunities and information, and encouraging applications from suitable candidates. Recruitment And Selection from harshalsk Effective recruitment is increasingly important today. Recruitment is a very complex concept it is not a simple process of placing ads or calling employment agencies. The crucial effort in this regard is that recruiting should make sense in terms of your overall corporate strategic plan. Successful results of recruitment depends upon other HR polices so it is very important that recruitment policy should be coherent with your HR policy and also with the overall strategic plans. Recruitment sources (internal and external) Internal sources: Existing employees, rehiring the old employees and succession plan {The ongoing process of systematically identifying assessing and developing organizational leadership to enhance performance (Gary Dessler, p.no163)} are the internal sources for recruiting employees. External sources: Advertisement, employment agencies, off shoring/outsourcing, college recruiting and employee referrals is the external sources of candidates. Systematic approach to recruitment A systematic approach to recruitment will involve the following steps: A detailed document of human resource planning, which contains anticipated detail of required human resource such as how, much of human resource organization needs to meet it objectives. Job analysis which includes: Job description: a process conducted so that detail information of competent Tasks, duties and standard can be generated. Job specification: a detail statement of the professional qualification and skills required for a job. Job analysis is being conducted so that there is detail information with the organization that helps in hiring the right person for the right Job. An identification of the free posts, by analyzing the human resource plan and job analysis for different branch or department, which has free vacancy, and subsequent, approval or authorization. Seeking approval from that specific department ensures effective, low cost and timely recruitment. Evaluation of the sources of the staff that should be predicted by using forecasting techniques. Internal and external sources should be analyzed in this regard. Preparation and publication of information (giving the jobs description and specification in the media along with other condition). One the applications from the potential candidates are received they can further processed before selecting the candidates. Recruitment approach by Bank Alfalah The overall aim of recruitment process in an organization is to obtain the quantity and quality of candidates required to fulfill the objectives of the organization. The recruitment policy of bank Alfalah is centralized and lower employees have no access to it but it exists in a proper form. The policy manual of Alfalah is also not properly communicated to the lower employees and no one in the lower employees knows that what the overall policies of bank are. When we asked about the policies from the lower employees some of the employees were not clear about the HR policies as they had neither been not communicated, nor seen the policy manual. We asked the HR coordinator about the policy manual, she refused to give it to us saying that its highly confidential. Yet verbally she gave us some idea that what are the steps in recruitment. These steps are as follows. Policy: The recruitment policy of bank Alfalah has the following conditions: If some one is applying from Khyber Pakhtun Khwa he must be domiciled in Khyber Pakhtun Khwa. The required ages for the fresh recruits at start level are between 18-26 The educational qualifications of the employees. Officers (Executive Category) Master Degree /MBA/MCOM (Any recognized University by Federal Govt.) Assistant Officers/below Category B.A./B.Sc (Any recognized Institute by Federal Govt.) Peon and supporting staff / matriculation. Sources of Recruitment (labour pool): Whenever a vacant position is available, the head of department make reviews of the existing personnel and carry out a search within the organization for suitable persons before trying the outside sources. But if a person with the required qualifications for a given job is not available, fresh recruitment is made. Ways of Recruitment: The vacant posts are advertised through the local and national newspapers and applications are invited with the job specification and description showing the job requirements and eligibility. If the staff member knows any eligible person he or she is asked to call him along with his CV. If he meets the job criteria than the bank does not advertise for five or six seats but if the seats are more and time is less than they do advertise. Managers view: The HR coordinator of bank Alfalah told us about the recruitment policy of bank Alfalah according to her they follow the following approach to recruitment: Detailed human resource planning defining what resources the organization needs to meet its objectives. The HR Manager described the duties, responsibilities, objectives, tasks and standards of the job. The HR Manager specified that what type of employees they are looking to perform the job. We provide equal opportunities to all the employees meeting with our criteria. No gender or racial discrimination is involved. We train our employees after recruitment according to their job and assign them a job or duty. At start we hire our employees on contract basis of one year but if he/she performs well then he/she can be made permanent. Employees view: As we have interviewed some of the employees according to their point of view recruitment policies are very much transparent and fair. As those employees have spent more than three years in bank Alfalah and were satisfied from their manager and from the bank environment. According to them they have submitted their CVs in bank AlFalah and after some time they were called for a written test and than after qualifying the test they were called for interview. Then they were selected and sent for four months training to Lahore where they have their own training academy for fresh employees to train them for such specific job for which they were recruited. Personal analysis: Bank AlFalah is considering well in banking sectors because of their transparent policy which includes recruitment, selection etc. We personally fell well about their policy because the employees which are part of the organization are personally satisfied from their recruitment process. They clearly show the qualities of the personnel, which they required. Because of their good behaviors to the applicants they create a good corporate image on the mind of the applicant. The peoples who are still part of the organization are in favor of their recruitment policy, which helps in creating a good image of the organization of the peoples out side the organization. Recruitment approach by Faysal Bank Whenever there is a resulting demand of recruitment F.B (Faysal bank) there are a few patterns which F.B follows in order to achieve a person for that job, for that reason Faysal bank hires different recruiting agencies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ to conduct the operation of recruiting of the desired vacancy. Similarly when different internees to drop in their C.V (curriculum vitae) so that when ever required they can fetch them for the desired vacancy. Before the recruitment of an employee different aspects are planed to accomplish the finest out of the new recruit so that it can give the best it can to the bank. The objectives which are kept in front before the recruitment are as under: The individuals potential of achieving the objectives which he/she is hired for. The recruit may not get exceeded before the finalization of the desired task. The recruited should have the ability of holding new things when he/she is being skilled. He/she could adopt himself/herself to the changes or innovation in the bank industry. And above all he/she could be reliable so that he/she could keep the business secret of this financial organization. The individuals who are preferred before the recruitment of the new candidates for the bank are as under. Initially the preference is given to the existence employees if there is any employee who deserves that particular job, or that if a particular person is capable of filling that vacancy, he/she is preferred as to before hiring a new employee. If there is some individual in the Faysal Bank branch who has got the nerve that if he could be trained he can get more skilled and suits that job unoccupied at that time he could be indulged in that particular vacancy. The desired vacancy could be referred to the other braches of the bank, so that if there is any capable employee who can be assigned to that job then he/she will be undertaken. Faysal Bank Relationship Manager View: Mr. Muhammad Yaver Khan Khattak the branch relationship manager Faysal bank Omer Plaza Jehangirabad University Road view over the recruitment policy is that this is a very flexible and feasible approach for the employees already working in the bank that if they are given the motivation that if there gets a vacancy in the bank they have got a chance for the promotion for the employee, this end results in the betterment of the organization and the employees start for put in more efforts for the achievement of that desire post. likewise he thinks that if there isnt any one commendable enough for that job, we hire different agencies for the recruitment of the staff of the bank which helps in the time saving of the organization but for the desired quality of the new recruitment the final interview is being conducted by the HR coordinator in the Islamabad brunch. And then the C.V (curriculum vitae) of the candidate is send to the head office in Karachi. Employees view: When we interview Mr.Imran a newly recruit in F.B Omer Plaza Jehangirabad Peshawar, he said that the recruitment policy of Faysal bank is flexible and feasible as that he was doing the internship from the bank and when there was a vacancy they called him if he was willing to do that desired job. Our Personal analysis: In our view Faysal bank has got a very professional approach to the recruitment policy for their bank because their policy of giving the opportunity to the old employees to be upgraded to the new post. Similarly the phenomenon of hiring a recruiting agency is very feasible for the bank and as well as for the new recruit. Evaluate the interview as a selection technique and discuss a range of alternative selection methods available (P6) Interview: Interview is a kind of face to face negotiation between two people for a particular purpose. An interview is a purposeful exchange of ideas, the answering of question and communication between two or more persons. Both Faysal Bank and Bank Alfalah consider interview to be useful for selecting employees. A selection interview is a selection procedure designed to predict future job performance on the basis applicants oral response to oral enquiries. A hiring and selection tool is an aid that helps interviewers focus on key success criteria, compare findings with others more effectively, and develop more rigors in evaluating and scoring candidates. To be effective, the tool must be supported by excellent skills in behaviorally-anchored interviewing. In addition, interviews must be sensitive to various guidelines about the kind of data sought in interviews. The guiding principle is that specific information related to protected classes of individuals or to personal activities or principles that are nor related to specific job activities should not be directly questioned. In addition, using these tools and processes provides an excellent opportunity to sell the companys approach to performance excellence, including tools that candidates can use throughout their employment to maximize their own performance. General Process of a selection is as follows: Selection involves number of steps through which the applicants are screened for choosing the most appropriate persons for available posts. The main objective of selection is to choose the right person for the vacant job. The general process of selection is as follows: Checking each applicant against the criteria given in the job advertisement. Short listing of Applicants Notifying Short listed Applicants Conducting Interviews Verifying Credentials Ranking Applicants Reference Checking Writing Selection Report Follow-up procedure for candidates who successfully completed the selection procedure Negotiation of terms and conditions of the job. Formulate up a contract or written conditions of jobs. Plan initial orientation for the new employees. Review the applicants list which are not interviewed and putting the potential candidates on cling to for future. Telling the unsuccessful applicants for the desired post. Alternative selection methods available to the Banks Psychological Test: Psychological test is the important technique in selecting personnel, and this is widespread at all levels and periods of life. And it is a measuring device, a yardstick applied in consistent and systematic fashion to measure a sample of behavior? Purpose of Psychological test: Selection: The emphasis is on finding a person with the right qualifications for a particular job. Placement: The importance is depended on employees; the problem is to find the right kind of job for a suitable employee. Characteristics of Psychological tests: Standardization: It refers to the combination or customary of the conditions and procedures for administer a test. Norms: It refers specifically to the average or performance on the test Reliability: It refers to the regularity of response on a test. There are several methods for determining reliability: Test Retest Method Equivalent-forms Method Split-halves Method Validity: It is one of the most important requirements of any psychological test is that it measures accurately what it is intended to measure. A number of steps are required to establish a testing program: Conducting a job and workers analysis Finding or developing a suitable tests Conducting an item analysis of each question on a test Determining the level of difficulty of each question Establishing the reliability and validity of the test Setting the cut-off scores Types of Psychological test Administration Test: Individual Group Test: Individual test is straight to one person at a moment in time, are more precious and hence, are used to slighter degree in industry than a grouping analysis. Speed Power Test: Speed Test: It has a rigid time limit at which spot applicants taking the assessment ought to terminate. Power Test: It has no time limit, examines are permitted as much time as they feel they need to finish the test. Paper and Pencil and Performance Test: Paper Pencil Test: Is a kind of assumption test in which questions are in written structure and the answers are recorded on an answer page. Performance Test: It possibly will take longer to administer than paper pencil test and also may need a candidate testing operation. Objective Subjective score: Objectivity: It is the greater part of the test used for automated selection aims are objective.

Essay --

Testing is a way to measure what students have learned from their teachers. Standardized/High-Stakes testing is a tool used to measure the performance of students and the quality of teachers in public school systems. High-Stakes testing is an inaccurate measuring stick of teaching quality and thus is detrimental to the educational system. Pressure is being exerted on students to pass, and teachers to enable their students to pass the standardized tests being presented to them. This takes much classroom time that could be spent instructing students on what might be more valuable information, and instead study for the test by what some consider rote memorization (Silva). Experiments have been done seeing how much different teaching approaches were before and after the implementation of standardized testing (Desimone). These experiments demonstrated how vastly the difference between teaching to the test and teaching what the instructor believes is the most valuable knowledge and the best way to present this knowledge. If there is a disconnect between what America’s teachers believe is best to know, and what is on the examinations, then one of the two is flawed, and it is not likely to be what the teachers are teaching. Students simply do not care about their results on standardized tests. Many students either â€Å"Christmas Tree† (pick random answers, named because people sometimes make shapes) or just select one answer and continue with the same answer the entire way down (Tests that count). Student’s only incentive is that they might move on to the next grade, or that they have to pass to graduate. There are a significant number of students who simply drop out of high school. They can either get a GED or find a job that will sustain ... ...en if say, a parent had died within the past week. That would certainly be jarring enough to grant a pardon to a student. All a university would see, though, is a large F on the transcript. Teachers will neglect students that need the most help to help those who need a slight shove. This is known as â€Å"educational triage† (Booher-Jennings 231). Those on the threshold of passing the state mandated tests are significantly more likely to receive help from instructors than those that are significantly lower than their peers (233). This is to make the district look better as these children are far more likely to pass the test with the extra assistance. This still leaves the ones who were left behind essentially out to dry. If anything, it should be the opposite. The ones who are at the lowest levels should be receiving the most assistance on standardized test preparation.

Snapshots of Love Essays -- Personal Narrative, essay about my family

Most of the snapshots of my life are held in the photo albums of my mind. Some were captured by a camera, and those pictures I keep in a shoebox under my bed. I'm lucky to have "shoebox photos" of the earliest things I can remember. For example, three days after my third birthday, Katherine Emily arrived. I remember my dad taking me to see my new baby sister; we stopped at a gas station on the way to the hospital and bought my mom candy and a cola. That day, the camera caught the tiny smile only a big sister could have as she holds one of the best birthday presents ever. I don't take up even half of a blue hospital chair as I cradle Katie in my arms. She is wrapped all in white, like the little angel that every baby is. My white, hooded sweatshirt has faint patches of sky blue, and just a tiny crimson triangle of a T-shirt peeks out from behind the zipper. Looking closer, a third person can be seen: my mother's wrist-banded hand holds Katie's head up. My tiny arms weren't quite strong enough for that task. That was the first time I ever posed with Katie. Looking at that photo makes me remember all the other pictures I have of Katie and me, even when there was no camera with film and batteries ready to go. It's these pictures that I'll never lose. Before Katie and I went off to school, we spent our days in the tunnels and caves of cardboard boxes and secret hideaways under the kitchen table. Our house has never been short on toys (there were six kids born before Katie and me), but boxes have always been a favorite. I remember being able to easily slide through the long passageways, my back not even brushing against the "ceilings" of our tunnels and forts. Katie had an even easier time ... ..., on the right, Horseshoe Falls bubbles under a mist that slowly rises above the horizon. Katie and I lean against the heavy, black railing, and against each other. Our smiles are sweet and happy, reminiscent of Katie's first birthday. These two shoebox pictures of Katie and me are just two snapshots in a shared photo album, filled with every cake, thought, joke, and sweater we've shared. In the midst of looking through the collection, Katie yells at me, "Hey, that's my shirt!" "You borrow my stuff," I reply. "Not without asking." "You had my black skirt for three months." "I asked for it." I let the fight peter out, not wishing to waste a memory on an argument about clothes. There will be plenty of hair-pulling, name-calling, and angry situations between Katie and me to come. I want to save my film for better times. Snapshots of Love Essays -- Personal Narrative, essay about my family Most of the snapshots of my life are held in the photo albums of my mind. Some were captured by a camera, and those pictures I keep in a shoebox under my bed. I'm lucky to have "shoebox photos" of the earliest things I can remember. For example, three days after my third birthday, Katherine Emily arrived. I remember my dad taking me to see my new baby sister; we stopped at a gas station on the way to the hospital and bought my mom candy and a cola. That day, the camera caught the tiny smile only a big sister could have as she holds one of the best birthday presents ever. I don't take up even half of a blue hospital chair as I cradle Katie in my arms. She is wrapped all in white, like the little angel that every baby is. My white, hooded sweatshirt has faint patches of sky blue, and just a tiny crimson triangle of a T-shirt peeks out from behind the zipper. Looking closer, a third person can be seen: my mother's wrist-banded hand holds Katie's head up. My tiny arms weren't quite strong enough for that task. That was the first time I ever posed with Katie. Looking at that photo makes me remember all the other pictures I have of Katie and me, even when there was no camera with film and batteries ready to go. It's these pictures that I'll never lose. Before Katie and I went off to school, we spent our days in the tunnels and caves of cardboard boxes and secret hideaways under the kitchen table. Our house has never been short on toys (there were six kids born before Katie and me), but boxes have always been a favorite. I remember being able to easily slide through the long passageways, my back not even brushing against the "ceilings" of our tunnels and forts. Katie had an even easier time ... ..., on the right, Horseshoe Falls bubbles under a mist that slowly rises above the horizon. Katie and I lean against the heavy, black railing, and against each other. Our smiles are sweet and happy, reminiscent of Katie's first birthday. These two shoebox pictures of Katie and me are just two snapshots in a shared photo album, filled with every cake, thought, joke, and sweater we've shared. In the midst of looking through the collection, Katie yells at me, "Hey, that's my shirt!" "You borrow my stuff," I reply. "Not without asking." "You had my black skirt for three months." "I asked for it." I let the fight peter out, not wishing to waste a memory on an argument about clothes. There will be plenty of hair-pulling, name-calling, and angry situations between Katie and me to come. I want to save my film for better times.

Critical Analysis of Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Essay

Critical Analysis of Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom, is a story of the love between a man and his college professor, Morrie Schwartz. This true story captures the compassion and wisdom of a man who only knew good in his heart and lived his life to the fullest up until the very last breath of his happily fulfilled life. When Mitch learned of Morrie’s illness, the began the last class of Morrie’s life together and together tried to uncover â€Å"The Meaning of Life.† These meetings included discussions on everything from the world when you enter it to the world when you say goodbye. Morrie Schwartz was a man of great wisdom who loved and enjoyed to see and experience simplicity in life, something beyond life’s most challenging and unanswered mysteries. Morrie was a one of a kind teacher who taught Mitch about the most important thing anyone can ever learn: life. He taught Mitch about his culture, about trust, and perhaps most importantly, about how to live. One lesson Morrie teaches Mitch is about the view his culture has and how we, not only Mitch but also the rest of the world, should not believe what they say. Morrie tells Mitch: â€Å"Take my condition. The things I am supposed to be embarrassed about now — not being able to walk, not being able to wipe my ass, waking up some mornings wanting to cry — there is nothing innately embarrassing about them. It's the same for women not being thin enough, or men not being rich enough. It's just what our culture would have you believe. Don't believe it.† Morrie speaks these words of advice to Mitch during their eleventh Tuesday together, when they talk specifically about culture. Gradually, Morrie has come to accept his physical handicaps, just as he has come to accept his impending death. He complains that the culture is wrong to deem natural physical need as socially embarrassing, and thus he refuses to believe that his handicaps are shameful. In rejecting the values of the popular culture, Morrie creates his own set of customs, which accommodate the physical shortcomings popular culture finds disgraceful and embarrassing. As Morrie sees it, popular culture is a dictator under which the human community must suffer. He has already suffered enough from his disease, and does not see why he ... ...s that one must accept the possibility of one's own death before he can truly appreciate what he has on earth, as the sobering awareness that one day, it will all be out of reach, prompts the urge to appreciate and value what one can have only for a limited period of time, and to use every moment of that time doing something that one will not regret when the bird sings its last note. Morrie’s messages about life in this book were not solely directed fro Mitch; they are meant for anyone who is willing to take the time to listen. For me, there is not only one thing I learned from Morrie. I learned that I should not take life for granted because you never know when it will be over. Even though I have heard it many times I never really believed that what the media says is not necessarily true, until I read this book. Finally, I learned that love and compassion, not only for others, but also for oneself are essential in living a happy life. It does not matter if someone is rich, or if they are poor for that matter. The truth is that as long as you lived your life as best you could, you learned from your mistakes, and you are happy with yourself, then you lead a fulfilling life. Critical Analysis of Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Essay Critical Analysis of Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom, is a story of the love between a man and his college professor, Morrie Schwartz. This true story captures the compassion and wisdom of a man who only knew good in his heart and lived his life to the fullest up until the very last breath of his happily fulfilled life. When Mitch learned of Morrie’s illness, the began the last class of Morrie’s life together and together tried to uncover â€Å"The Meaning of Life.† These meetings included discussions on everything from the world when you enter it to the world when you say goodbye. Morrie Schwartz was a man of great wisdom who loved and enjoyed to see and experience simplicity in life, something beyond life’s most challenging and unanswered mysteries. Morrie was a one of a kind teacher who taught Mitch about the most important thing anyone can ever learn: life. He taught Mitch about his culture, about trust, and perhaps most importantly, about how to live. One lesson Morrie teaches Mitch is about the view his culture has and how we, not only Mitch but also the rest of the world, should not believe what they say. Morrie tells Mitch: â€Å"Take my condition. The things I am supposed to be embarrassed about now — not being able to walk, not being able to wipe my ass, waking up some mornings wanting to cry — there is nothing innately embarrassing about them. It's the same for women not being thin enough, or men not being rich enough. It's just what our culture would have you believe. Don't believe it.† Morrie speaks these words of advice to Mitch during their eleventh Tuesday together, when they talk specifically about culture. Gradually, Morrie has come to accept his physical handicaps, just as he has come to accept his impending death. He complains that the culture is wrong to deem natural physical need as socially embarrassing, and thus he refuses to believe that his handicaps are shameful. In rejecting the values of the popular culture, Morrie creates his own set of customs, which accommodate the physical shortcomings popular culture finds disgraceful and embarrassing. As Morrie sees it, popular culture is a dictator under which the human community must suffer. He has already suffered enough from his disease, and does not see why he ... ...s that one must accept the possibility of one's own death before he can truly appreciate what he has on earth, as the sobering awareness that one day, it will all be out of reach, prompts the urge to appreciate and value what one can have only for a limited period of time, and to use every moment of that time doing something that one will not regret when the bird sings its last note. Morrie’s messages about life in this book were not solely directed fro Mitch; they are meant for anyone who is willing to take the time to listen. For me, there is not only one thing I learned from Morrie. I learned that I should not take life for granted because you never know when it will be over. Even though I have heard it many times I never really believed that what the media says is not necessarily true, until I read this book. Finally, I learned that love and compassion, not only for others, but also for oneself are essential in living a happy life. It does not matter if someone is rich, or if they are poor for that matter. The truth is that as long as you lived your life as best you could, you learned from your mistakes, and you are happy with yourself, then you lead a fulfilling life.