Evaluate the strengths and limitations of Employee Voice Practices for Essay

Evaluate the strengths and limitations of Employee Voice Practices for employees - Essay Example voice practices benefit employees by turning them into equal participants of the major organizational processes, letting them express their views and impact firms’ profitability and, eventually, turning them into essential drivers of organizational growth. However, the most important limitations of employee voice practices should not be disregarded. If not delivered properly, employee voice may lead to serious shifts in status quo which may not benefit employees. Many employees have the fear of such changes and, consequently, try to avoid the use of their legitimate voice in business practices. Therefore, one of the basic tasks faced by managers in organizations is to develop and run employee voice processes in ways that do not inhibit the employee’s right for self-expression and influence on organizational performance and, simultaneously, do not turn employee voice practices into a punishment for the things employees usually want to say. In order to understand how employee voice practices benefit or damage employee positions in companies, the exact meaning of employee voice needs to be understood. This is not an easy endeavor since the meanings and implications of employee voice are numerous, and different companies handle employee voice approaches in entirely different ways (Dyne, Ang & Botero 2003). However, across these numerous meanings, employee voice is generally assumed to be a motivation and willingness of employees to express their information, ideas and opinions regarding workplace improvements (Dyne, Ang & Botero 2003). Yet, it should be noted that if the worker does not express any opinions or does not try to impact workplace-related processes, that does not mean that this employee exists in the atmosphere of silence. In many instances, employees who withhold from expressing their opinions and thoughts openly simply use their voice in a different manner. Employee voice practices may be of a different nature and may also promote different forms of

I Love to Travel Essay Example for Free

I Love to Travel Essay Ive decided I want to travel. I mean Ive always wanted to, but now Im going to start planning it. I think once I finish University Im going to take a year off, and travel the world. Visit different countries, move from town to town, live and experience different cultures. Im not going to go straight into work after Uni.. I want to live my life. I mean Im ready to leave this country right now, get away from everyone and just learn to be independant and travel but I have priorites at the moment, and for the next few years. And while it seems like a while away, a few years will pass quickly and I will be on my way to living in Paris for a while in a cute little apartment with the Eiffel Tower at your windows view, the busy streets of New York.. the sunshine of LA.. Ill be dancing with the Spanish, learning the local life of Greece, seeing beautiful places and monuments in Italy and learning the life of Tuscany.. When you live in one country your entire life, you learn to think its all thats out there.. his little world of yours. But its not. Once you come to realise theres a whole world out there left to explore, something inside of you just craves it.. craves knowing and understanding and learning and seeing.. I want to see the world, before I work and settle down and do whatever.. And I dont care if Im on my own. The years of my 20s will be finding myself. Establishing myself. Making the most of discovering who I am and the world out there.

Growth of the IT Sector in India

Growth of the IT Sector in India ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor JONATHAN C WESTLAKE for his insurmountable guidance and tremendous encouragement throughout this research. Without him I couldnt get effective results in this research. His precious inputs and valuable suggestions helped me throughout my research. I would like to thank my award leader PHILLMICKLEBURGH for his wonderful support and advice in technical and personal matters throughout my course and project work. I would like to thank the working people (in Information Technology) for their valuable time for giving me requires data. Last but not the least I would like to thank all my family and friends for helping me in so many ways and for just being there when I needed that bit of extra strength to carry on. It is pleasure to acknowledge contributions of all above people. RESEARCH OVERVIEW The whole research was divided into five chapters for the flexibility of reader to make this research meaningful and better understanding of what it explains. All these five chapters are interrelated to make this research appropriate and each chapter has its own importance in this research to make the necessary findings. The first chapter contains brief description about this research, introduction to information technology industry in India and describes attrition meaning. Then this chapter describes purpose of this research, fundamental aim, objectives, research questions to be investigated in this research and the methodology applied to get effective result and necessary findings. The second chapter contains information about literature review of this research, which contains the collection of data from researches done previously related to this topic. This data has been collected from books, journals, articles, web sources and magazines. The third chapter describes well about the research methodology and explains how the researcher used different types of methods to collect primary and secondary data. The data has been collected from employees and managers of different Information Technology organizations in India. Two different questionnaires have been prepared by the researcher to collect the data. One is for employees to collect required data and second one is for managers to investigate the depth of the problems and related solutions of this research. A good response from the employees and managers made this research process easy to get the accurate information required. The fourth chapter is the evolution part of this research. The information collected as means of primary data and secondary data, has been analysed by the researcher to find the required answers for research questions. The analysed data is presented in the form of tables and pie diagrams. Fifth chapter is the finale report of this project, which is useful for IT organizations in India to prevent and reduce the Attrition rate. The recommendations were prepared on the basis of primary data, secondary data and analysis part of this research. The management can use these suggestions as upcoming strategies to curb the attrition in their organizations. RESEARCH INTRODUCTION IT (Information Technology) industry is booming in India. The growth of IT sector in India represents the potential of IT industry to perform at world class levels. Internationally famed companies and locally self-made small-medium sized companies are competing in developing new software with in this huge industry in India. These companies function mainly in two divisions, i.e. Technical (development of software) and Support (HR, Marketing and Finance). Big giants throughout the world are competing to get their software projects done from Indian companies due to some prominent reasons, which include Cheap Labour and Technical excellence. Taking advantage of these incoming clients, Indian companies are not leaving any stone unturned to provide the top quality service. There are many reasons behind this growth of Information Technology market in India. These reasons belong to social, economical, technical and political issues. There are many Universities offering courses on science and mathematics and this kind of education system placed a great emphasis on increased number of science and engineering students. According to the NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) of India These Universities are pumping out nearly 0.2 million engineering graduates every year. This population constitutes one of the greatest assets of Indian IT market. Even though there is shortfall of workers due to brain drain with many skilled workers interested to move overseas for better pay and living conditions. Software services sector occupied nearly seventy percent of technical industry of India and its abundant skilled man power is attracting international software companies to back end their operations in India. The advantage of Indias backend operations is geostrategic location which offers 247 services and reduction in turnaround times by leveraging time zone differences. Recently government of India set down new ministry for Information Technology which established comfortable environment for growth in IT developments and attracted many multinational companies by providing greater range of facilities with cheaper costs. According to the NASSCOM survey IT industry attained the revenue of US $17 billion in 2008 there by capturing 12% of world market and expected growth of nearly 16.5% by the end of year 2009. Though the above points are considered as positive attributes in the growth and development of Indian software industry, so also, the negative impact comes into picture in the form of ATTRITION (Loss of Employees/ Work force), which can be explained in terms of large growth of the â€Å"number† of companies attracting talent/ work force (people) which is finally leading to confusion among the work force in deciding the company to work for depending upon the offers made by them. Attrition can be defined as the out flow of employees from an organisation due to various reasons. This research will contribute to identify the reasons behind the dangerous attrition levels in IT industry with in India and will suggest possible solutions to fight this problem. The increasing growth of the industry is leading to equal opportunities for inexperienced and experienced workforce. Since the companies rely on senior and experienced workforce for the projects, there is an unhealthy competition among them to attract the so called senior and experienced workforce which is finally leading to attrition. This research paper clearly lays emphasis on the importance of considering attrition in perspective of individuals and organization because attrition destroys the value of business, causes companies to lose knowledge there by leading to never ending cycle of hiring. The researcher here emphasised on the reasons behind the attrition levels in IT industry in India and the possible solutions to curb it. Questionnaires used in this research serve as channels to understand the specific reasons behind attrition. RESEARCH TITLE: Reasons behind the increase in attrition rate in the Indian IT Industries focussing Employee Turnover and techniques to reduce the Attrition. RESEARCH AIM: The main purpose of this research is to investigate the reason behind the day to day increasing Attrition rate in the Indian subcontinent with respect to the IT industry and there- by develop a report with the factors affecting attrition and possible solutions to overcome these issues. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: The proposed research questions are as follows: What are the reasons behind high attrition rate in the IT sector of Indian sub continent? What factors determine the attrition rate? How can this attrition rate be reduced in IT organizations perspective? OBJECTIVIES: The main objective of this research paper is to determine the relationship between good human resource practices and the reasons behind the employee attrition. To analyse various factors that affect an individuals decision to leave a job for a better opportunity, including individual related, job related and organizational related. To discover various threats and issues those impact the business performance, organisational health and rise in business cost, thus emphasising the importance of attrition in perspective of IT organisations. To evaluate the issues those affect the performance of the industry and minimise the attrition rate and also to analyse the techniques of motivation those will help in reducing the same? ACTIVITIES TO ACHIVE THE OBJECTIVE: Primary data collection will be done by conducting online survey with managers and employees in the organisation; the main reason being to gather accurate information. Moreover, while collecting primary data if the researcher can get to meet any of the old staff who have retired or who have left the organisation due to some reason, researcher would collect information from them to enquire the reason behind their exit from the organisation and their experiences while they were working for the organisation, the difference between their old and new organisation they have joined, whether they are satisfied at the new work place and their expectations from the new company. Conducting a survey with employees would result in measuring the level of satisfaction they have attained in the organisation. To achieve the above task two different questionnaires aimed specifically at managers and employees respectively contribute to the collection of relevant information to understand the problem of attrition in the organisations perspective. The secondary data collection in this research will be done by reading books, journals, web sources, articles, magazines and collecting the old data which is related to human resource management etc related to the research topic. Thus, data analysis of the information gathered would bring in a clear picture of the reasons behind the increasing attrition rate. THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: To study the previous works done (on this research topic), making a list of them and analysing them by means of literature review. Discovering the designations where in attrition is more and creating the attrition chart by conducting organization study. Conducting a job satisfaction survey and evaluating the work environment by interviewing IT employees and spreading questionnaires. Conducting a survey with managers to have a look at recruitment process, benefits, training and motivation techniques implemented in the organization to cut down the level of attrition. Considering the reasons for attrition by the analysis of interview data. Suggesting and implementing techniques on how to reduce the attrition. LITERATURE REVIEW Attrition in Indian IT sector is rising drastically due to rapid globalisation and high economic growth. According to the researcher, the attrition is occurring mainly among technically skilled persons due to vast growth of opportunities and booming job market. This booming job market is creating enthusiasm not only among the graduates but also among the most satisfied employees. Due to this act organizations are unable to predict the start of attrition. One of the main reasons put forth for attrition is external inequity of compensation. The affect of attrition is seen in the form financial imbalances in organisations, which can be balanced by reducing attrition through retention of employees which is possible by the diligence of people in managerial positions. ATTRITION IN INDIA Almost all major business sectors in India are facing high attrition rates; these include BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), Telecom sector, Retail sector, Services sector, Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical. Attrition rates in different sectors for 2007 are shown below. Source [online]: http://www.qcin.org/nbqp/qualityindia/Vol-3-No1/retaining.htm As evidence in the figure 1, BPO sector is the worst affiliated by attrition and IT sector is at ninth place with the attrition rate of 27%. This shows attrition in India is an enormous problem with wide range of concerns. As this research is narrowed by only concentrating on IT sector, a brief introduction was given below as a table about top Indian IT organizations. SOURCE [online]: www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/photo/4835043.cms The above table provides overview about working human resources in top IT organizations. Thousands of organizations were equipped with human resources as main source of business. Arup Chowdary, CIO of Everyday Industries explains â€Å"major challenges are in terms of resources. The kind of attrition that we have in the IT industry today is one of the business challenges. It is extremely important that the resources that are given into the project actually continue for a longer period of time, which is not really the case; because the IT industry so volatile. So one is managing resources and number two is training those resources with adequate means to come to the market standards† .This statement gives clear indication of attrition affect on Indian IT industry. According to the CCI (Chambers of Commerce of India) research study in India, attrition rate for 2007 was 27% and for 2008 was 29%, and according to Hewitt Associates survey for 2009-2010 most companies continued to experience attrition rates in double digits despite economic downturn. According to the India Attrition study 2008, which was done between October 2008 and March 2009 by partnership between BT and PeopleSoft, key drivers for employees leaving their jobs are opportunity or career growth, salary, type of work, training or development, family circumstances, current job dissatisfaction, health, work load and working environment. According to this survey highest percentage of people are leaving their jobs for career growth and next for salary. Among the people who leave IT organizations, more number of people is top performers (45%) of whole employees. Figure 3: Leaver type across Indian IT industry . REASONS FOR ATTRITION According to researcher, the major reasons for attrition other than monetary reasons (high salaries) are thought to be: Ø The aspect of exploring new avenues by the employees where they get a bigger opportunity to hone their existing skills. Ø Many employees, who work in IT sector, leave behind their interests and finally when they identify the clichà ©d nature of these jobs they willingly opt out and look for something novel and exciting even if it costs their careers. According to Dr. A. Oliver Bright, causes for attrition vary from one organizational level to another. Considering at senior management level many firms chase the dearth of top talent in business, this situation results in senior managers getting new offers with more compensation than existing job. At medium level, employees seek to move from one zone to another like moving from technical role to managerial role or slower moving sector to faster one. At junior level, hike in salary and demand for employees in the market make employees to move to another job. There is a rapid development in Indian IT business sector, because many organizations from the USA and the UK outsource their work to Indian companies, thus resulting in the rise of opportunities. Hence people want to reach the top of the career at faster pace. It makes the employees to skip from one company to another. Employee as reason for attrition: An employee might get the feeling of â€Å"insecurity† regarding his job if the management neglects his career ladder. There are chances of an employee leaving the organisation if the so called training does not emphasise on his area of work and career growth. The communication gap between higher managerial personnel and the employees could be another possible reason of attrition. Another reason is the delay of intra-organisational promotions, which if offered by a different organisation will lead to the loss of employees (attrition). Employees tend to leave the organisation if they are not engaged in projects, which can be avoided by focussing on their growth. Several reasons for attrition could be due to the employee himself/herself. The employee might not have grasped the job profile at the start of his/her tenure and/or the profile was not explained in detail by the company. Poor work habits of employees from their previous job get carried over to their new jobs which dist urbs their comfort zone. As explained earlier due to insufficient knowledge about the job profile the employee might not be competitive both in his/her organizational skills and interpersonal skills. This leads to improper job handling. A poor job fit, which is explained by the inversely proportional relationship between the new job preferences and the employee attitude/interest. High female staff attrition is great problem these days in IT organizations as many number of female employees quit their jobs to give focus on their families even their salary is with six digits. WIPRO joint CEO Mr Vaswani says male to female ratio is almost same at entry level, but women employees drops to about fifteen to twenty percent at middle management levels and further about five to ten percent at senior management levels, and he continuous that it is a loss when trained and talented employee leaves. Currently Infosys employs 33.4% of women, TCS 30% and Wipro 29%. A women project manager says â€Å"I had to stretch myself and the team till late nights to fit into clients time zone. Women also quit at mid level because their priorities change. They want to show their excellence as a homemaker, which was the case with me†.To reduce this attrition organizations increased maternity leave, offering work from home policies for women, relocating them if their husbands get t ransferred, trying to be gender neutral and making easier to women for working. {Source [online]: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Jobs/TCS-Wipro-Infosys-go-all-out-to-check-high-female-staff-attrition/articleshow/5324809.cms?curpg=2.Accessed on 13/12/2009} Ashok Arora, executive director for HR, Ashoka Leylands says â€Å"high end talent is always high on aspiration; their worry is not one of survival, but how fast they climb up the corporate ladder. Management people tend to lose them every time if they do not reasonably address their concerns. The reasons behind people changing their jobs: Employees expect more salary and more compensation than within their present position. Overseas opportunities, which may give hike in salary and position. A higher position in Indian culture means status and respect. If employees want to change their locations for personal and family reasons. Especially in India family plays a crucial role where a family decision can change the career path of a young professional and make employee to change his/her job (Dr. Elena Groznaya). People are interested in new technologies rather than working with same technology. To balance the social life and flexibility with working hours. Taking into account the company image and future growth of the organization. Employees will be self motivated to leave the company because of job insecurity, no freedom of decision making, relationship with peers, less compensation packages and lack of motivation. Management as cause of reason: It is very important for the management to meet the expectation of employees, if there is any such kind of problem or communication gap between management and employees then the persons would like to leave the organization. Another reason for attrition in organization is if management fails at satisfying employee needs and management does not follow correct policies or does not have appropriate tools to manage the employee related tasks then this situation leads to further dissatisfaction. Azim Premji (CEO, WIPRO Technologies) stated that â€Å"when talented people leave organizations despite of high salaries, they dont leave the organizations but they leave their managers†. When there is continuous process of good employees resigning their jobs then management should have a look at their immediate supervisor. Advantage of Indian IT industry is the availability of large number of human resources in market, when managers show their concern as â€Å"plenty of fish in the pond† towards their employees by not considering their personal values then there is chance of increase rate of attrition rate. When first time employees face difficulties with their managers they look forward to solve that situation, second time they will think about leaving, but third time they will look for external opportunity. Job profile as a cause of reason: Job profile may cause the increase in attrition by considering the following factors. While dealing with the outsourced projects the employees have to work according to the time zone of client place, employees have to work by travelling most of the time to reach their targets, and if the employee is not satisfied with his job profile all these factors push the employees to look for a different alternative. REFLECTING FACTORS OF ATTRITION According to the researcher high attrition level may cause the employees to feel insecure and leave the organization, while lower rate of attrition will act as a retention policy. High attrition level indicates the poor ability of organization to hold its people. â€Å"Attrition is unfortunately viewed as a management flaw when in fact it could well be a recruitment error†. (MONISHA ADVANI, CEO, EMMAY HR)[source:http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050822/technologylife01.shtml)] Attrition level not only reflects the flaws in recruitment strategies but also training methods, retention strategies, work culture and company value in the market. CALUCULATING EMPLOYEE ATTRIRION It is very much important to concentrate on the rate of attrition in an organization which can be achieved by analysis and debate for. According to Sudiptha dev calculation of employee attrition may vary from one organization to another. Anil Naronha one of the director and HR of Novell software limited states that the standard method used to calculate the attrition of employees is dividing the number of employees who left during the year by the average number employed for that year. According to the researcher it is very important to consider the root problem while calculating the attrition level of employees by going back to the hiring stage. Fresher (newly recruited) attrition level will be calculated by considering the number of these employees left and critical level attrition will be calculated when key persons leave. Some organizations may not consider the attrition of beginners when they leave the organization for higher studies and moreover, termination of employees (whose performance is not met to the standards) is also not considered as attrition. But these exemptions depend on the policies/ methods followed by the organizations to calculate the levels of attrition. COST OF ATTRITION There are both visible and invisible costs associated with attrition. The invisible costs are low production rate which in turn creates loss in future sales, loss of customers and degradation of brand name in the market, loss of clients and contacts that person had with industry. Visible costs are the costs due to workforce leaving the organization, recruitment costs, training costs, loss of productivity costs and new hire costs etc. Costs due to loss of workforce includes the cost of the temporary recruitment to fill in while the position is vacant, compensation and benefits, administrative costs like clearing the benefits and stopping the payroll and cost of lost knowledge. Every person who leaves an organization becomes its ambassador, for better or for worse. When employees leave the organization continuously, it is important to consider the recruitment process which in turn will become a never ending cycle. Recruitment costs include cost of advertisement, employee referral costs and agency cost. Recruitment is a long-term process which consists of many stages and tasks to perform. These steps include understanding the requirements of position, advertising the vacancies, search for new talent, checking the background of applicants, preparing and conducting interviews and notify results to candidates whether they are successful or not. Training is the next aspect to consider which involves high costs. It is an important task to hire a person who conducts the orientation which includes the cost of orientation materials. Cost for training material includes cost of hardware, software and printing manuals. By considering the above factors one can lead to a conclusion that there are massive costs associated with attrition. TECHNIQUES TO REDUCE THE ATTRIRION The attrition levels can be reducedby the active input from HR people of the concerned organizations. Since they are the first line of contact for employees, they need to emphasise on the necessity to communicate with employees very often, motivating them and identifying any troubles and disturbances which if not done will gradually encourage the employee to leave the organisation. When the management neglects career ladder of an employee, that person might get the feeling of future insecurity. This can be reduced by conducting well prepared training sessions to improve employee skills and attitude. Some of the solutions that have been implemented successfully by the organisations in recent years to reduce attrition include, work-life balance, recognition and corporate brand building, healthy work environment, continuous employee learning (Subramaniam 2005). It is very important to follow the effective recruitment strategies rather than following traditional recruitment methods. This can help the company to improve the response between organization goals and individual expectations to reduce the attrition level. The type of Indian IT market can be called as people driven business, because it is a huge industry which is mainly depend on Human resources. So it is big challenge for human resource department to handle high stream of employees coming in and going out of the organizations.Padmaja Alaganandan, Principal Consultant, Mercer HR Consulting, India says â€Å"recruitment should be strategic to scale back organizations business targets because of their inability to recruit quality talent at the pace and scale called for. In such organizations with large scale of hiring, recruitment needs to be seen as a separate function with strong linkage to the business†. Compensation and rewards play vital role in IT organisations to motivate and satisfy the employees. When a company makes high profits, it should make an effort to recognise the contribution of employees in this success by releasing bonuses which will lead to a positive employee response in future endeavours. Dr Elena Groznaya(freelance researcher and consultant in the field of intercultural relations and diversity management) suggested some motivation methods, they are extrusive motivation by money (pay rises, bonus and promotion), by showing long-term perspective towards employee including the family and enabling personal development. In order to motivate staff, experts claim that it is important to recognise set of values and needs, those vary in each particular culture. According to the classical theory of Maslow the hierarchy of needs includes : Psychological, survival needs Safety and security needs Social needs of acceptance Esteem and acknowledgment needs Self-actualization and self-development needs Major impacts on the employee behaviour are organizational culture and working environment. Providing good work environment and acknowledging the employee as a customer is an effective technique to reduce the attrition level. A good employer can be differentiated from other employers by thoroughly looking at the priorities of them, while considering the goals and needs of employees. Maintaining work-life balance among the employees is the main technique to reduce the attrition level. The nature of IT industry is to upgrade its operations frequently to achieve the business requirements and for this there is a need of dynamic change in deploying and using the upgraded technologies. To achieve the above requirements the management needs to take measures to help employees to update their knowledge through training programs from time to time. It is important to identify top performers to reward and retain them, but keeping them secure and motivated becomes a key challenge. One of the best ways is to engage them by implementing strong career program for them. One of the top companies of India, National Information Technology, has implemented structured staff communication program which includes periodic sessions with business heads, skip level meeting, star performing bonus for high level performers and national or business level recognition programme. On other hand identify non performers to put on performance related exercises. To keep employees engaged there is need for staff involvement programmes like pre festive events, in-house sports activities and participation in outside activities. According to the WIPRO leaders quality survey, perfect leadership is one of the techniques to reduce attrition levels. Marcia Robinson and Ravi Kalakota (2005) suggested seven strategies for recruiting and retaining employees. Spend time developing and Bench marking incentives which include free transportation, education allowances, health related allowances, bonuses and performance based appraisals. The main problem in Indian IT industry is that most of the newly recruited students/employees are leaving the organization to pursue masters/ higher studies. This situation can be overcome by the organisations, through the provision of subsidies for the higher education of beginner employees, to improve their knowledge in their area of expertise. Change the locations of work by sending the projects to places where labour and real est Growth of the IT Sector in India Growth of the IT Sector in India ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor JONATHAN C WESTLAKE for his insurmountable guidance and tremendous encouragement throughout this research. Without him I couldnt get effective results in this research. His precious inputs and valuable suggestions helped me throughout my research. I would like to thank my award leader PHILLMICKLEBURGH for his wonderful support and advice in technical and personal matters throughout my course and project work. I would like to thank the working people (in Information Technology) for their valuable time for giving me requires data. Last but not the least I would like to thank all my family and friends for helping me in so many ways and for just being there when I needed that bit of extra strength to carry on. It is pleasure to acknowledge contributions of all above people. RESEARCH OVERVIEW The whole research was divided into five chapters for the flexibility of reader to make this research meaningful and better understanding of what it explains. All these five chapters are interrelated to make this research appropriate and each chapter has its own importance in this research to make the necessary findings. The first chapter contains brief description about this research, introduction to information technology industry in India and describes attrition meaning. Then this chapter describes purpose of this research, fundamental aim, objectives, research questions to be investigated in this research and the methodology applied to get effective result and necessary findings. The second chapter contains information about literature review of this research, which contains the collection of data from researches done previously related to this topic. This data has been collected from books, journals, articles, web sources and magazines. The third chapter describes well about the research methodology and explains how the researcher used different types of methods to collect primary and secondary data. The data has been collected from employees and managers of different Information Technology organizations in India. Two different questionnaires have been prepared by the researcher to collect the data. One is for employees to collect required data and second one is for managers to investigate the depth of the problems and related solutions of this research. A good response from the employees and managers made this research process easy to get the accurate information required. The fourth chapter is the evolution part of this research. The information collected as means of primary data and secondary data, has been analysed by the researcher to find the required answers for research questions. The analysed data is presented in the form of tables and pie diagrams. Fifth chapter is the finale report of this project, which is useful for IT organizations in India to prevent and reduce the Attrition rate. The recommendations were prepared on the basis of primary data, secondary data and analysis part of this research. The management can use these suggestions as upcoming strategies to curb the attrition in their organizations. RESEARCH INTRODUCTION IT (Information Technology) industry is booming in India. The growth of IT sector in India represents the potential of IT industry to perform at world class levels. Internationally famed companies and locally self-made small-medium sized companies are competing in developing new software with in this huge industry in India. These companies function mainly in two divisions, i.e. Technical (development of software) and Support (HR, Marketing and Finance). Big giants throughout the world are competing to get their software projects done from Indian companies due to some prominent reasons, which include Cheap Labour and Technical excellence. Taking advantage of these incoming clients, Indian companies are not leaving any stone unturned to provide the top quality service. There are many reasons behind this growth of Information Technology market in India. These reasons belong to social, economical, technical and political issues. There are many Universities offering courses on science and mathematics and this kind of education system placed a great emphasis on increased number of science and engineering students. According to the NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) of India These Universities are pumping out nearly 0.2 million engineering graduates every year. This population constitutes one of the greatest assets of Indian IT market. Even though there is shortfall of workers due to brain drain with many skilled workers interested to move overseas for better pay and living conditions. Software services sector occupied nearly seventy percent of technical industry of India and its abundant skilled man power is attracting international software companies to back end their operations in India. The advantage of Indias backend operations is geostrategic location which offers 247 services and reduction in turnaround times by leveraging time zone differences. Recently government of India set down new ministry for Information Technology which established comfortable environment for growth in IT developments and attracted many multinational companies by providing greater range of facilities with cheaper costs. According to the NASSCOM survey IT industry attained the revenue of US $17 billion in 2008 there by capturing 12% of world market and expected growth of nearly 16.5% by the end of year 2009. Though the above points are considered as positive attributes in the growth and development of Indian software industry, so also, the negative impact comes into picture in the form of ATTRITION (Loss of Employees/ Work force), which can be explained in terms of large growth of the â€Å"number† of companies attracting talent/ work force (people) which is finally leading to confusion among the work force in deciding the company to work for depending upon the offers made by them. Attrition can be defined as the out flow of employees from an organisation due to various reasons. This research will contribute to identify the reasons behind the dangerous attrition levels in IT industry with in India and will suggest possible solutions to fight this problem. The increasing growth of the industry is leading to equal opportunities for inexperienced and experienced workforce. Since the companies rely on senior and experienced workforce for the projects, there is an unhealthy competition among them to attract the so called senior and experienced workforce which is finally leading to attrition. This research paper clearly lays emphasis on the importance of considering attrition in perspective of individuals and organization because attrition destroys the value of business, causes companies to lose knowledge there by leading to never ending cycle of hiring. The researcher here emphasised on the reasons behind the attrition levels in IT industry in India and the possible solutions to curb it. Questionnaires used in this research serve as channels to understand the specific reasons behind attrition. RESEARCH TITLE: Reasons behind the increase in attrition rate in the Indian IT Industries focussing Employee Turnover and techniques to reduce the Attrition. RESEARCH AIM: The main purpose of this research is to investigate the reason behind the day to day increasing Attrition rate in the Indian subcontinent with respect to the IT industry and there- by develop a report with the factors affecting attrition and possible solutions to overcome these issues. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: The proposed research questions are as follows: What are the reasons behind high attrition rate in the IT sector of Indian sub continent? What factors determine the attrition rate? How can this attrition rate be reduced in IT organizations perspective? OBJECTIVIES: The main objective of this research paper is to determine the relationship between good human resource practices and the reasons behind the employee attrition. To analyse various factors that affect an individuals decision to leave a job for a better opportunity, including individual related, job related and organizational related. To discover various threats and issues those impact the business performance, organisational health and rise in business cost, thus emphasising the importance of attrition in perspective of IT organisations. To evaluate the issues those affect the performance of the industry and minimise the attrition rate and also to analyse the techniques of motivation those will help in reducing the same? ACTIVITIES TO ACHIVE THE OBJECTIVE: Primary data collection will be done by conducting online survey with managers and employees in the organisation; the main reason being to gather accurate information. Moreover, while collecting primary data if the researcher can get to meet any of the old staff who have retired or who have left the organisation due to some reason, researcher would collect information from them to enquire the reason behind their exit from the organisation and their experiences while they were working for the organisation, the difference between their old and new organisation they have joined, whether they are satisfied at the new work place and their expectations from the new company. Conducting a survey with employees would result in measuring the level of satisfaction they have attained in the organisation. To achieve the above task two different questionnaires aimed specifically at managers and employees respectively contribute to the collection of relevant information to understand the problem of attrition in the organisations perspective. The secondary data collection in this research will be done by reading books, journals, web sources, articles, magazines and collecting the old data which is related to human resource management etc related to the research topic. Thus, data analysis of the information gathered would bring in a clear picture of the reasons behind the increasing attrition rate. THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: To study the previous works done (on this research topic), making a list of them and analysing them by means of literature review. Discovering the designations where in attrition is more and creating the attrition chart by conducting organization study. Conducting a job satisfaction survey and evaluating the work environment by interviewing IT employees and spreading questionnaires. Conducting a survey with managers to have a look at recruitment process, benefits, training and motivation techniques implemented in the organization to cut down the level of attrition. Considering the reasons for attrition by the analysis of interview data. Suggesting and implementing techniques on how to reduce the attrition. LITERATURE REVIEW Attrition in Indian IT sector is rising drastically due to rapid globalisation and high economic growth. According to the researcher, the attrition is occurring mainly among technically skilled persons due to vast growth of opportunities and booming job market. This booming job market is creating enthusiasm not only among the graduates but also among the most satisfied employees. Due to this act organizations are unable to predict the start of attrition. One of the main reasons put forth for attrition is external inequity of compensation. The affect of attrition is seen in the form financial imbalances in organisations, which can be balanced by reducing attrition through retention of employees which is possible by the diligence of people in managerial positions. ATTRITION IN INDIA Almost all major business sectors in India are facing high attrition rates; these include BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), Telecom sector, Retail sector, Services sector, Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical. Attrition rates in different sectors for 2007 are shown below. Source [online]: http://www.qcin.org/nbqp/qualityindia/Vol-3-No1/retaining.htm As evidence in the figure 1, BPO sector is the worst affiliated by attrition and IT sector is at ninth place with the attrition rate of 27%. This shows attrition in India is an enormous problem with wide range of concerns. As this research is narrowed by only concentrating on IT sector, a brief introduction was given below as a table about top Indian IT organizations. SOURCE [online]: www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/photo/4835043.cms The above table provides overview about working human resources in top IT organizations. Thousands of organizations were equipped with human resources as main source of business. Arup Chowdary, CIO of Everyday Industries explains â€Å"major challenges are in terms of resources. The kind of attrition that we have in the IT industry today is one of the business challenges. It is extremely important that the resources that are given into the project actually continue for a longer period of time, which is not really the case; because the IT industry so volatile. So one is managing resources and number two is training those resources with adequate means to come to the market standards† .This statement gives clear indication of attrition affect on Indian IT industry. According to the CCI (Chambers of Commerce of India) research study in India, attrition rate for 2007 was 27% and for 2008 was 29%, and according to Hewitt Associates survey for 2009-2010 most companies continued to experience attrition rates in double digits despite economic downturn. According to the India Attrition study 2008, which was done between October 2008 and March 2009 by partnership between BT and PeopleSoft, key drivers for employees leaving their jobs are opportunity or career growth, salary, type of work, training or development, family circumstances, current job dissatisfaction, health, work load and working environment. According to this survey highest percentage of people are leaving their jobs for career growth and next for salary. Among the people who leave IT organizations, more number of people is top performers (45%) of whole employees. Figure 3: Leaver type across Indian IT industry . REASONS FOR ATTRITION According to researcher, the major reasons for attrition other than monetary reasons (high salaries) are thought to be: Ø The aspect of exploring new avenues by the employees where they get a bigger opportunity to hone their existing skills. Ø Many employees, who work in IT sector, leave behind their interests and finally when they identify the clichà ©d nature of these jobs they willingly opt out and look for something novel and exciting even if it costs their careers. According to Dr. A. Oliver Bright, causes for attrition vary from one organizational level to another. Considering at senior management level many firms chase the dearth of top talent in business, this situation results in senior managers getting new offers with more compensation than existing job. At medium level, employees seek to move from one zone to another like moving from technical role to managerial role or slower moving sector to faster one. At junior level, hike in salary and demand for employees in the market make employees to move to another job. There is a rapid development in Indian IT business sector, because many organizations from the USA and the UK outsource their work to Indian companies, thus resulting in the rise of opportunities. Hence people want to reach the top of the career at faster pace. It makes the employees to skip from one company to another. Employee as reason for attrition: An employee might get the feeling of â€Å"insecurity† regarding his job if the management neglects his career ladder. There are chances of an employee leaving the organisation if the so called training does not emphasise on his area of work and career growth. The communication gap between higher managerial personnel and the employees could be another possible reason of attrition. Another reason is the delay of intra-organisational promotions, which if offered by a different organisation will lead to the loss of employees (attrition). Employees tend to leave the organisation if they are not engaged in projects, which can be avoided by focussing on their growth. Several reasons for attrition could be due to the employee himself/herself. The employee might not have grasped the job profile at the start of his/her tenure and/or the profile was not explained in detail by the company. Poor work habits of employees from their previous job get carried over to their new jobs which dist urbs their comfort zone. As explained earlier due to insufficient knowledge about the job profile the employee might not be competitive both in his/her organizational skills and interpersonal skills. This leads to improper job handling. A poor job fit, which is explained by the inversely proportional relationship between the new job preferences and the employee attitude/interest. High female staff attrition is great problem these days in IT organizations as many number of female employees quit their jobs to give focus on their families even their salary is with six digits. WIPRO joint CEO Mr Vaswani says male to female ratio is almost same at entry level, but women employees drops to about fifteen to twenty percent at middle management levels and further about five to ten percent at senior management levels, and he continuous that it is a loss when trained and talented employee leaves. Currently Infosys employs 33.4% of women, TCS 30% and Wipro 29%. A women project manager says â€Å"I had to stretch myself and the team till late nights to fit into clients time zone. Women also quit at mid level because their priorities change. They want to show their excellence as a homemaker, which was the case with me†.To reduce this attrition organizations increased maternity leave, offering work from home policies for women, relocating them if their husbands get t ransferred, trying to be gender neutral and making easier to women for working. {Source [online]: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Jobs/TCS-Wipro-Infosys-go-all-out-to-check-high-female-staff-attrition/articleshow/5324809.cms?curpg=2.Accessed on 13/12/2009} Ashok Arora, executive director for HR, Ashoka Leylands says â€Å"high end talent is always high on aspiration; their worry is not one of survival, but how fast they climb up the corporate ladder. Management people tend to lose them every time if they do not reasonably address their concerns. The reasons behind people changing their jobs: Employees expect more salary and more compensation than within their present position. Overseas opportunities, which may give hike in salary and position. A higher position in Indian culture means status and respect. If employees want to change their locations for personal and family reasons. Especially in India family plays a crucial role where a family decision can change the career path of a young professional and make employee to change his/her job (Dr. Elena Groznaya). People are interested in new technologies rather than working with same technology. To balance the social life and flexibility with working hours. Taking into account the company image and future growth of the organization. Employees will be self motivated to leave the company because of job insecurity, no freedom of decision making, relationship with peers, less compensation packages and lack of motivation. Management as cause of reason: It is very important for the management to meet the expectation of employees, if there is any such kind of problem or communication gap between management and employees then the persons would like to leave the organization. Another reason for attrition in organization is if management fails at satisfying employee needs and management does not follow correct policies or does not have appropriate tools to manage the employee related tasks then this situation leads to further dissatisfaction. Azim Premji (CEO, WIPRO Technologies) stated that â€Å"when talented people leave organizations despite of high salaries, they dont leave the organizations but they leave their managers†. When there is continuous process of good employees resigning their jobs then management should have a look at their immediate supervisor. Advantage of Indian IT industry is the availability of large number of human resources in market, when managers show their concern as â€Å"plenty of fish in the pond† towards their employees by not considering their personal values then there is chance of increase rate of attrition rate. When first time employees face difficulties with their managers they look forward to solve that situation, second time they will think about leaving, but third time they will look for external opportunity. Job profile as a cause of reason: Job profile may cause the increase in attrition by considering the following factors. While dealing with the outsourced projects the employees have to work according to the time zone of client place, employees have to work by travelling most of the time to reach their targets, and if the employee is not satisfied with his job profile all these factors push the employees to look for a different alternative. REFLECTING FACTORS OF ATTRITION According to the researcher high attrition level may cause the employees to feel insecure and leave the organization, while lower rate of attrition will act as a retention policy. High attrition level indicates the poor ability of organization to hold its people. â€Å"Attrition is unfortunately viewed as a management flaw when in fact it could well be a recruitment error†. (MONISHA ADVANI, CEO, EMMAY HR)[source:http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050822/technologylife01.shtml)] Attrition level not only reflects the flaws in recruitment strategies but also training methods, retention strategies, work culture and company value in the market. CALUCULATING EMPLOYEE ATTRIRION It is very much important to concentrate on the rate of attrition in an organization which can be achieved by analysis and debate for. According to Sudiptha dev calculation of employee attrition may vary from one organization to another. Anil Naronha one of the director and HR of Novell software limited states that the standard method used to calculate the attrition of employees is dividing the number of employees who left during the year by the average number employed for that year. According to the researcher it is very important to consider the root problem while calculating the attrition level of employees by going back to the hiring stage. Fresher (newly recruited) attrition level will be calculated by considering the number of these employees left and critical level attrition will be calculated when key persons leave. Some organizations may not consider the attrition of beginners when they leave the organization for higher studies and moreover, termination of employees (whose performance is not met to the standards) is also not considered as attrition. But these exemptions depend on the policies/ methods followed by the organizations to calculate the levels of attrition. COST OF ATTRITION There are both visible and invisible costs associated with attrition. The invisible costs are low production rate which in turn creates loss in future sales, loss of customers and degradation of brand name in the market, loss of clients and contacts that person had with industry. Visible costs are the costs due to workforce leaving the organization, recruitment costs, training costs, loss of productivity costs and new hire costs etc. Costs due to loss of workforce includes the cost of the temporary recruitment to fill in while the position is vacant, compensation and benefits, administrative costs like clearing the benefits and stopping the payroll and cost of lost knowledge. Every person who leaves an organization becomes its ambassador, for better or for worse. When employees leave the organization continuously, it is important to consider the recruitment process which in turn will become a never ending cycle. Recruitment costs include cost of advertisement, employee referral costs and agency cost. Recruitment is a long-term process which consists of many stages and tasks to perform. These steps include understanding the requirements of position, advertising the vacancies, search for new talent, checking the background of applicants, preparing and conducting interviews and notify results to candidates whether they are successful or not. Training is the next aspect to consider which involves high costs. It is an important task to hire a person who conducts the orientation which includes the cost of orientation materials. Cost for training material includes cost of hardware, software and printing manuals. By considering the above factors one can lead to a conclusion that there are massive costs associated with attrition. TECHNIQUES TO REDUCE THE ATTRIRION The attrition levels can be reducedby the active input from HR people of the concerned organizations. Since they are the first line of contact for employees, they need to emphasise on the necessity to communicate with employees very often, motivating them and identifying any troubles and disturbances which if not done will gradually encourage the employee to leave the organisation. When the management neglects career ladder of an employee, that person might get the feeling of future insecurity. This can be reduced by conducting well prepared training sessions to improve employee skills and attitude. Some of the solutions that have been implemented successfully by the organisations in recent years to reduce attrition include, work-life balance, recognition and corporate brand building, healthy work environment, continuous employee learning (Subramaniam 2005). It is very important to follow the effective recruitment strategies rather than following traditional recruitment methods. This can help the company to improve the response between organization goals and individual expectations to reduce the attrition level. The type of Indian IT market can be called as people driven business, because it is a huge industry which is mainly depend on Human resources. So it is big challenge for human resource department to handle high stream of employees coming in and going out of the organizations.Padmaja Alaganandan, Principal Consultant, Mercer HR Consulting, India says â€Å"recruitment should be strategic to scale back organizations business targets because of their inability to recruit quality talent at the pace and scale called for. In such organizations with large scale of hiring, recruitment needs to be seen as a separate function with strong linkage to the business†. Compensation and rewards play vital role in IT organisations to motivate and satisfy the employees. When a company makes high profits, it should make an effort to recognise the contribution of employees in this success by releasing bonuses which will lead to a positive employee response in future endeavours. Dr Elena Groznaya(freelance researcher and consultant in the field of intercultural relations and diversity management) suggested some motivation methods, they are extrusive motivation by money (pay rises, bonus and promotion), by showing long-term perspective towards employee including the family and enabling personal development. In order to motivate staff, experts claim that it is important to recognise set of values and needs, those vary in each particular culture. According to the classical theory of Maslow the hierarchy of needs includes : Psychological, survival needs Safety and security needs Social needs of acceptance Esteem and acknowledgment needs Self-actualization and self-development needs Major impacts on the employee behaviour are organizational culture and working environment. Providing good work environment and acknowledging the employee as a customer is an effective technique to reduce the attrition level. A good employer can be differentiated from other employers by thoroughly looking at the priorities of them, while considering the goals and needs of employees. Maintaining work-life balance among the employees is the main technique to reduce the attrition level. The nature of IT industry is to upgrade its operations frequently to achieve the business requirements and for this there is a need of dynamic change in deploying and using the upgraded technologies. To achieve the above requirements the management needs to take measures to help employees to update their knowledge through training programs from time to time. It is important to identify top performers to reward and retain them, but keeping them secure and motivated becomes a key challenge. One of the best ways is to engage them by implementing strong career program for them. One of the top companies of India, National Information Technology, has implemented structured staff communication program which includes periodic sessions with business heads, skip level meeting, star performing bonus for high level performers and national or business level recognition programme. On other hand identify non performers to put on performance related exercises. To keep employees engaged there is need for staff involvement programmes like pre festive events, in-house sports activities and participation in outside activities. According to the WIPRO leaders quality survey, perfect leadership is one of the techniques to reduce attrition levels. Marcia Robinson and Ravi Kalakota (2005) suggested seven strategies for recruiting and retaining employees. Spend time developing and Bench marking incentives which include free transportation, education allowances, health related allowances, bonuses and performance based appraisals. The main problem in Indian IT industry is that most of the newly recruited students/employees are leaving the organization to pursue masters/ higher studies. This situation can be overcome by the organisations, through the provision of subsidies for the higher education of beginner employees, to improve their knowledge in their area of expertise. Change the locations of work by sending the projects to places where labour and real est

Les Miserables - Reconciliation between a Man and Himself Essay

Les Miserables - Reconciliation between a Man and Himself The ending of the Victor Hugo novel, Les Miserables, contains a reconciliation between a man and himself, and his family. This is, in many ways, the entire purpose of the book. Goodness or saintliness can be achieved,   despite difficult or unwholesome beginnings. This theme is an enduring one, because of both its truth and its presentation. Fay Weldon may as well have been   describing Les Miserables when she said "The writer, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting response from readers are the writers who offer happy endings   through moral development .... some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral   reconciliation, even with the self, even at death."   The hero Jean Valjean undergoes quite the transformation throughout the   course of his story. He begins as a criminal and convict with absolutely no scruples. A kindly prelate forgives him after a theft, and simply turns the other cheek. This act of unexpected generosity inspires Valjean...

Intro to Accounting Notes

Business Environment Accounting: The information system that measures business activities, processes the information Into reports, and communicates the results to decision makers. Two Major Fields of Accounting: 1 ) Financial Accounting: The field of accounting that focuses on providing information for external decision makers. 2) Managerial Accounting: The field of accounting that focuses on providing information for internal decision makers. Certified Public Accountants (Spas): Licensed professional accountants who serve the mineral public.Certified Management Accountants (Camas): Certified professionals who specialize in accounting and financial management knowledge that typically work for a single company. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FAST): private organization that oversees the creation and governance of accounting standards. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): the US government agency that oversees the US financial markets. Generally Accepted Accounting Principl es (GAP): the main US accounting rule book, created and governed by the FAST.Cost Principle: states that acquired assets and services should be recorded at their actual cost. Going Concern Assumption: assumes that the entity will remain in operation for the foreseeable future. Accounting Equation: Assets-Liableness + Equity Assets: an economic resource that is expected to benefit the business in the future. Liabilities: debts that are owed to creditors. Retained Earnings: capital earned by profitable operations off corporation that is not distributed to stockholders. Net Income: the result of operations that occurs when total revenues are greater Han total expenses.Revenues: amounts earned from delivering goods or services to customers. Expenses: the cost of selling goods or services. Steps to Analyze a Transaction Assets Liabilities + Equity (Contributed Capital & Retained Earnings) Cash + Acts Race + Supplies+Land = Acts Payable + Common Stock – Dividends + Revenue – Expenses 1) Identify the accounts & account type -Cash (Asset) & Common Stock (Equity) 2) Decide if each account increases or decreases 3) Determine if the accounting equation is in balanceAccounts Payable: a short term liability that will be paid in the future Accounts Receivable: business expects to receive cash in the future from customers for goods sold or services performed. 4 Types of Financial Statements 1) Income Statement: Reports net income/net loss of business for specific period 2) Statement of Retained Earnings: Reports how the company's retained earnings balance changed from the beginning to the end of the period. 3) Balance Sheet: Reports on the assets, liabilities, and stockholders' equity of the business as of a pacific date. ) Statement of Cash Flows: Reports on the business's cash receipts and cash payments for a specific period. Return on Assets (ROAR): measures how profitably a company uses its assets. Return on Assets = Net income/Average total assets Average Total Assets = Beginning total assets + ending total assets 12 4 Reasons Stockholders Equity Can Change: Stockholders equity is broken out into two components, contributed capital and retained earnings, as shown in the accounting equation. The basic component of contributed stock capital is stock.

The Cherokee Princess Myth - Common Family Legends

The Cherokee Princess Myth - Common Family Legends My great-great-grandmother was a Cherokee Indian princess! How many of you have heard a similar statement made by one of your relatives? As soon as you hear that princess label, the red warning flags should go up. While they are sometimes true, stories of Native American ancestry in the family tree are often more fiction than fact. The Story Goes Family stories of Native American ancestry often seem to refer to a Cherokee princess. Whats interesting about this particular legend is that it almost always seems to be a Cherokee princess, rather than Apache, Seminole, Navajo or Sioux - almost as if the phrase Cherokee princess has become a clichà ©. Keep in mind, however, that almost any story of Native American ancestry may be a myth, whether it involves the Cherokee or some other tribe. How it Began During the 20th century it was common for Cherokee men to use an endearing term to refer to their wives that roughly translated as princess. Many people believe this is how princess and Cherokee were joined in the popular Cherokee ancestry myth. Thus, the Cherokee princess may have really existed- not as royalty, but as a beloved and cherished wife. Some people also speculate that the myth was born in an attempt to overcome prejudice. For a white male marrying an Indian woman, a Cherokee princess may have been a little easier to swallow for the rest of the family. Proving or Disproving the Cherokee Princess Myth If you discover a Cherokee Princess story in your family, begin by losing any assumptions that the Native American ancestry, if it exists, has to be Cherokee. Instead, focus your questions and search on the more general goal of determining whether there is any Native American ancestry in the family, something that is usually untrue in the majority of such cases. Begin by asking questions about which specific family member was the one with Native American ancestry (if no one knows, this should throw up another red flag). If nothing else, at least try to narrow down the branch of the family, because the next step is to locate family records such as census records, death records, military records and records of land ownership looking for any clues to racial background. Learn about the area in which your ancestor lived as well, including what Native American tribes may have been there and during what time period. Native American census rolls and membership lists, as well as DNA tests can also potentially help you prove or disprove Native American ancestry in your family tree. See  Tracing Indian Ancestry  for more information. DNA Testing for Native American Ancestry DNA testing for Native American ancestry is generally most accurate if you can find someone on the direct paternal line (Y-DNA) or direct maternal line (mtDNA) to test, but unless you know which ancestor was believed to be Native American and can find a descendant down the direct paternal (father to son) or maternal (mother to daughter) line, it isnt always practical. Autosomal tests look at DNA on all branches of your family tree but, due to recombination, are not always useful if the Native American ancestry is more than 5–6 generations back in your tree. See Proving Native American Ancestry Using DNA by Roberta Estes for a detailed explanation of what DNA can and cant tell you. Research All Possibilities While the Cherokee Indian Princess story is almost guaranteed to be a myth, there is a chance that this cliche stems from some type of Native American ancestry. Treat this as you would any other genealogy search, and thoroughly research those ancestors in all available records.

Tamimi Foodservices at SEC

Tamimi Foodservices at SEC Introduction Much consideration has been given to some of the core structures of understanding the buyer behavior, the so-called perceived value and rewarding experience, which are described in detail in service marketing materials and special literature.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Tamimi Foodservices at SEC specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the future research of their mutual relation is still in demand, although the undeniable importance of these structures has already become a source of many theoretical discussions and brought forth some empirical evidence. A comprehensive approach based on a number of landmark research studies allowed to incorporate perceived value, quality and rewarding experience or satisfaction within a single research framework. Such food qualities as taste, flavor, temperature and texture being the main product of foodservice industry, have been given the most attention and thei r aspects have been considered the key structures for understanding the buyer behavior and were widely explored in service and marketing literature. Tangible and intangible aspects of this industry alike were identified as the main attributes that allow comprehending the perceived value, customers’ behavioral intentions and their levels of satisfaction. The definition of attitude most often includes the general evaluation of a brand or a solo product, while perceived quality usually implies the buyers judgment about organizations overall superiority or advantage; both of these concepts have made significant contributions in marketing and consumer research fields. The reason for significant attention that was aimed at foodservice research was the rise of interest in and concern about service-quality literature, which also led to identifying the quality of service as one of the keystones of the dining experience, and to further understanding of the perceived value, customersâ⠂¬â„¢ behavioral intentions and their levels of satisfaction. The goal of this study is to explore the key features of Tamimi foodservice and their impact on perceived value and satisfaction, as well as the consumer attitude of the SECStaffs. Conceptual background The guidelines for this research framework are presented in Fig. 1.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Figure 1: Concept of Research Framework As can be seen in Figure 1 above, the satisfaction serves as an intermediary agent between the perceived value and buyers attitude while the same framework also encompasses and investigates the impact of differences in locations, the management and Staffbase position differences on the process of attitude formation. This research framework enriches the previous studies on interrelations of perceived value, satisfaction, and quality attributes. Moreover, its adaptatio n allowed the framework to fit the specific environment in the shopping and entertainment centers. As was mentioned above, this study aims to emphasize the key features of Tamimi foodservice and their impact on perceived value and satisfaction, and eventually the consumer attitude. To sum it up, the study suggests that the formation process of consumer attitudes towards Tamimi foodservice is subject to change, depending on the groups and is, in fact, a function of Tamimi foodservice features, including food quality, quality of service, menu, and facilities), perceived value, and satisfaction.

Lesothosaurus - Facts and Figures

Lesothosaurus - Facts and Figures Name: Lesothosaurus (Greek for Lesotho lizard); pronounced leh-SO-tho-SORE-us Habitat: Plains and woodlands of Africa Historical Period: Early Jurassic (200-190 million years ago) Size and Weight: About six feet long and 10-20 pounds Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Small size; large eyes; bipedal posture; inability to chew About Lesothosaurus Lesothosaurus dates from a murky time in geologic historythe early Jurassic periodwhen the first dinosaurs had just split into the two main dinosaur groups, saurischian (lizard-hipped) and ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaurs. Some paleontologists insist that the small, bipedal, plant-eating Lesothosaurus was a very early ornithopod dinosaur (which would place it firmly in the ornithischian camp), while others maintain that it predated this important split; yet a third camp proposes that Lesothaurus was a basal thyreophoran, the family of armored dinosaurs that includes stegosaurs and ankylosaurs. One thing we do know about Lesothosaurus is that it was a confirmed vegetarian; this dinosaurs narrow snout had a beak-like appearance on the end, equipped with about a dozen sharp teeth in front and many more leaf-like, grinding teeth in the back. Like all early dinosaurs, Lesothosaurus was unable to chew its food, and its long hind legs indicate that it was very fast, especially when being pursued by larger predators. However it winds up being classified, Lesothosaurus isnt the only ancestral dinosaur of the early Jurassic period that has continued to puzzle paleontologists. Lesothosaurus may or may not have been the same creature as Fabrosaurus (the remains of which were discovered much earlier, thus giving the name Fabrosaurus precedence if the two genera wind up being merged, or synonymized), and it may also have been ancestral to the equally obscure Xiaosaurus, yet another tiny, basal ornithopod native to Asia.

Marketing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Marketing - Term Paper Example Developing an effective marketing mix for the organizations is one of the crucial aspects in the present advanced technological era. The marketing mix comprises the concept of 4Ps of marketing including Products, Price, Place and Promotion, related to the products and/or services that are rendered by any organization. Product Product or service of an organization can be determined as the fundamental factor for the company in its growth portfolio. In the context of continuous advancement made in business activities, the organizations are highly focusing on their offerings with quality, affordability along with ensuing fulfillment of the customers’ desires from the specific product or service. Moreover, the organizations in the present scenario are concentrating upon making upgrades in their products and/or services frequently in order to attract customers’ attention or to generate their buying desire towards the developed or new products/services. Technology such as e-co mmerce based technology can be used by a company to derive consumers’ product related preference through online feedback mode so that it can create or customize products/services based on the desire of the consumers. Price Pricing of the product is also an important facet for the organizations that is correlated with the financial growth of the companies. A feasible pricing strategy enables to derive value of the products or services from its respective buyers according to the market demand of the product. The pricing strategy of any product/service is one of the major decisions for the organizations for a particular region or country. However, it represents the financial growth structure of the enterprise along with generating new buyers and retaining the existing purchaser with it. In this context, proper use of technology can be made such as online website can be used by the companies to put on sale their products. Pricing of such an online available product can be kept re latively low than that of a product kept at a retail store. As there is no basic need for a physical location to store the product, so the price margin can be adjusted likewise, benefiting a business concern to draw large number of customers. Place Place is also a significant part for the organizations to offer their products/services to the final consumers. According to the modern day’s selling perception, the place can be determined as a crucial factor to acquire the ultimate buyers for the products or services. However, the modern organizations are quite conscious about their source of offerings with regards to availing their services through e-commerce and non e-commerce approaches or both the concepts. Electronic media is one of the favorable and effective places for the modern organizations in order to provide their products and/or services to its targeted consumers. Promotion Promotion of products and/or services is a major element of the marketing mix that consigns to a practice of influencing the buyers by providing additional benefits within the products/services rendered by the organization. Moreover, an effective use of the process

Management & Organisational Behaviour - The Change is Coming Essay

Management & Organisational Behaviour - The Change is Coming - Essay Example In case of Tracey Foods Production, employee motivation is likely to go down because of the expected changes in the organizational systems. In this case, it is the responsibility of the managers to take effective steps to build the level of employee motivation to make them put their efforts in increasing the productivity of the company. Communication with employees and other staff members is also necessary in order to make organizational changes effective and result-oriented. Moreover, the top management of the company also needs to take effective steps to restructure the culture and work approach in order to make the company accomplish its goals effectively and efficiently. Answer 1: 1. Need for Increasing Motivation Motivation is the key to increased employee productivity. It is imperative for the management of a company to take effective steps to build employee motivation. Williams (2010, p. 1) states, â€Å"Motivating people to do their best work, consistently, has been an endur ing challenge for executives and managers†. However, employee and management motivation could be affected due to the changes that are brought within an organization due to the variability in internal and external environment. ... Those human needs include need for power, need for affiliation, and need for achievement. The top management of Tracey Food Production can use this theory to make employees aware of their needs of power and achievement which can ultimately be used for increasing the motivation level of employees in spite of of the all anticipated changes. 2.1 Need for Power One of the needs of employees is power. Employees want to be included in decision-making matters, as well as in other managerial affairs to some extent. To build employee motivation companies can share some management power with the key employees. They can also involve the employees in decision-making matters to make them feel valued. Moreover, consulting employees in making different business strategies, as well as in setting employee benefit strategies can also prove effective for a company. It is a fact that every employee wants to be taken into consideration during the phase of decision-making or strategy development. Therefor e, if Tracey Food considers these needs of employees while developing or implementing strategies, the results would definitely be good for the company. for example, if the management invites employees to give their suggestions in business planning, they will feel valued and the level of their motivation increase will increase as well. 2.2 Need for Achievement The need for achievement is the need of an individual to accomplish his/her personal and professional goals. Tracey Food Production can make employees aware of the importance of achieving company’s goals in a timely manner. The top management of the company can motivate the employees to work hard to get better job positions which can play a significant role in the accomplishment of their personal goals. Moreover,

Pharmaceutical Industry in United States Assignment

Pharmaceutical Industry in United States - Assignment Example The Company conducts business in virtually all countries of the world with the primary focus on products related to human health and well-being. The paper presents the financial ratio analysis of Johnson & Johnson for the past three financial years and highlights its financial outlook. The ratios presents the company’s financial outlook is strengthened and is able to manage its finances prudently. The ratio analysis shows that the company has enough liquid assets through which it can pay off its liabilities and also can finance its operation for the foreseeable future. Moreover, the company is efficient enough, as represented by the ratios, to reduce its cash operating cycle and convert its sales into money quickly. The analysis shows that it would be prudent to invest in the company as the shareholders can earn significant return through capital gain, by disposing the shares later, and also through dividend. Introduction to the Pharmaceutical Industry in United States The top of the worldwide pharmaceutical market is the US and it is expected to hit almost $345 billion in 2014. The second largest market is the Japanese market and then the European market including Germany France, and Chinese market (Market line industry guide, 2012). However, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (IFPW) shows that growth rates in developed and developing markets based on their capability to recover from the economic crisis is significantly inconsistent. According to the research of Urch Publishing (2012), the global pharmaceutical industry in 2014 is expected to be worth over $1 trillion with a 5% compound annual growth rate. The pharmaceutical industry becomes more competitive. Major competitor companies Company HQ location Pharmaceutical Segment Sales Total revenue Share of pharmaceutical segment $Million $Million % Johnson & Johnson US 25,400 67,224 38% Pfizer US 51,214 58,986 87% Novartis Switzerland 32,153 56,673 57% Merck US 40,601 47,267 86% Roche Switzerland 35,200 45,500 77% Sanofi-Aventis France 39,940 42435 94% AstraZeneca UK 43,143 43,143 100% GlaxoSmithKline UK 27,758 40,722 68% Eli Lily US 19,934 22,603 88% Source: 2012 Annual Report of the companies As Table5 shows, the majority of the largest pharmaceutical companies not only focused exclusively on pharmaceutical products such as AstraZeneca and Sanofi-Aventis but also developed and manufactured other health care products. However, they still regard pharmaceutical partitions as the core of their business that offer over 50% of their incomes. However, Johnson & Johnson is an exception because its sales of pharmaceutical products are 38% of total sales. I will analyze GlaxoSmithKline firstly because it is significant competitor of AstraZeneca in the UK. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is a science-led global healthcare corporation researches and develops a wide range of innovative products. GSK is Britain’s biggest drug maker (Hirschler, 2012). A balanced synergisti c business, with multiple growths, drivers supporting a core pharmaceutical R&D operation (2010 Annual report, p3). It has three primary areas of business including Pharmaceuticals, Vaccines and Consumer Healthcare. It has created more diversified business for past five years. Moreover, delivery of sustainable growth across portfolios is GlaxoSmithKline’s objective. It has 87 manufacturing sites and R&D centers in the UK, USA, Spain, Belgium and China. Its purpose of R&D is to improve its pipeline products safely and efficiently to produce new medicines, which deliver improved treatments that

Media Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Media Analysis - Essay Example There are radio studios from where the radio signals originate. When a show is being held at a radio studio, the sound waves go into the microphone and are passed to a transmitter, which uses an antenna to send the waves through the air as radio signals. The frequency of the radio signals matches the one in the radio being used, and thus we are able to listen to whatever is being aired from the radio studio. Radio was developed from the idea of telephone and telegraph, all of which are pretty much related. Radio was first used as wireless telegraphy. Radio was not invented right away, but it was the discovery of radio waves which was a major breakthrough. It is because of these waves that the scientists were able to invent the radio, which is has been one of the major forms of communication. It all started back in the 1860s, when a Scottish physicist realized that there existed a kind of waves called radio waves. After a few years, an American dentist was able to perform wireless tel egraphy and established the first form of wireless aerial communication. After him, an Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi, was able to establish radio communication and send a wireless telegram across the English Channel. At first, these wireless telegrams were basically dots and dashes, a form of Morse code, but gradually future events demanded that some kind of wireless communication must be present, to communicate with each other in time of need. Therefore, in 1899, the United States army developed wireless communication, and the Navy adopted it too. Before this, the Navy was using pigeons and visual signals to spread the message across. During the first few years of radio, the signals were very distorted and the message could not be spread across clearly. Therefore, AM broadcasting was introduced which amplified the signal received by the radio receiver, and thus increased the clarity if the message being sent. Through this, the first speech was declared from New York City to S an Francisco and across the Atlantic Ocean. Then in 1933, a much improved version came into being, the FM- Frequency Modulation. It increased the clarity of the audio messages being received by the radio receiver by removing the noise static, caused by the electrical device. This was great improvement over the AM broadcast and led to the development of FM broadcasting, which is the main type of radio broadcasting today. Radio communication is possible by the existence of radio waves. These waves have opened a gateway to different forms of communication, and not just the transistor radio or a household radio receiver. Other than AM and FM broadcasting, radio waves are also used to provide picture and sound in televisions, which have antennas connected to them. These antennas catch the radio signals and receive picture and voice through AM and FM radio waves. Satellites, also make use of radio signals to indicate their position to the computers on Earth, and radio waves are also used to communicate with the devices that have been put in the Solar system, such as the Mars Rover. Cell phones and satellite phones which have become increasingly popular in the past decade, also make use of radio waves to connect to telephone networks, which link the call to the desired destination. Other than this, radio waves are also used in remote controls that are used for televisions, and remote controlled cars and also even to detonate explosives. Nowadays,

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

Business Law - Essay Example One such case referred in the article was decided in 1991 at California in which a developer named Mark Borough California, Inc. litigated against consulting engineers. These engineers designed an artificial lake but its liner failed and therefore a $5 million amount was claimed against the engineers. So the engineers took the position that the contractual agreement involved the limitation of liability clause that restricted their liability to their fee earned on the project i.e., $67,640 and the trial court accorded with the engineers. Succeeding cases endorsing ‘LOL’ include Valhal Corp. v. Sullivan Associates, Inc., Union Oil Company of California v. John Brown E&C,., and R1 Associates, Inc., v. Goldberg-Zoino & Associates, Inc. Although such cases also exist where the claim was overturned by the court, for instance Ricciardi v. Frank. This case was settled in New York city in which a house owner litigated for the failure in problem identification in the water encroac hment in the basement. The LOL clause constrained the liability of engineers in this case to only an amount of $375 but in this case the clause was ruled to be as invalid as it didn’t entailed the option for the house owner to buy complete protection and the clause was provided in the inspection report after the inspection had been done (Fishman, 2011). The article provided the ways to increase the chances of enforcement of this clause. It has been presented that if the clause has been inserted into by parties having equal strength to bargain, and its drafting has been clarified, it will lead to enforcement unless the state law contrary to this clause exist or it has been decided that the clause enforcement had been unconscionable. The article recommends negotiation of the LOL clause among the two parties. The limitation offered on the liability should be equitable. The article offered

Answer 3 questions about Early World History Essay

Answer 3 questions about Early World History - Essay Example These two societies were relatively egalitarian and full of barbaric laws. In terms of geographical factors, they lacked natural borders, materials, and experienced irregular flooding. I believe that intermittent natural flooding would result in stagnation as well as retardation in the plant growth which would eventually lead small harvest from the agricultural farms. They highly depended on foreign natural resources, meaning that they could not support their leadership from within. I believe that this affected their political systems due to external shocks originating from those societies or nations they relied upon for foreign support. They had a lot of cultural variations leading to political instability, and this is because the change in culture meant that they ended up having different cultural views and opinions, hence minimal unity among the society members. In these companies, they have a life where an individual lived for the moment. In other words what I mean is that they had no hopes for the future, and for this reason they could consume as well as exhaust all that they had for the purpose of maximizing their satisfaction. There are other factors that also led to the weak political unity in the two societies and these included gender roles and religious ideas and functions. For the case of sex roles, these communities lacked gender roles that got defined and well structured for the purpose. I believed that well defined and structured gender roles play significant roles towards the political unity of any society. I mean that, when a society has well-defined gender roles, the two gender of the society plays their distinct role, which exhibit forms of specialization and division of labor, leading to an increase in the general production. By specializing in gender roles, be it in agriculture or other economic

Media Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Media Analysis - Essay Example There are radio studios from where the radio signals originate. When a show is being held at a radio studio, the sound waves go into the microphone and are passed to a transmitter, which uses an antenna to send the waves through the air as radio signals. The frequency of the radio signals matches the one in the radio being used, and thus we are able to listen to whatever is being aired from the radio studio. Radio was developed from the idea of telephone and telegraph, all of which are pretty much related. Radio was first used as wireless telegraphy. Radio was not invented right away, but it was the discovery of radio waves which was a major breakthrough. It is because of these waves that the scientists were able to invent the radio, which is has been one of the major forms of communication. It all started back in the 1860s, when a Scottish physicist realized that there existed a kind of waves called radio waves. After a few years, an American dentist was able to perform wireless tel egraphy and established the first form of wireless aerial communication. After him, an Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi, was able to establish radio communication and send a wireless telegram across the English Channel. At first, these wireless telegrams were basically dots and dashes, a form of Morse code, but gradually future events demanded that some kind of wireless communication must be present, to communicate with each other in time of need. Therefore, in 1899, the United States army developed wireless communication, and the Navy adopted it too. Before this, the Navy was using pigeons and visual signals to spread the message across. During the first few years of radio, the signals were very distorted and the message could not be spread across clearly. Therefore, AM broadcasting was introduced which amplified the signal received by the radio receiver, and thus increased the clarity if the message being sent. Through this, the first speech was declared from New York City to S an Francisco and across the Atlantic Ocean. Then in 1933, a much improved version came into being, the FM- Frequency Modulation. It increased the clarity of the audio messages being received by the radio receiver by removing the noise static, caused by the electrical device. This was great improvement over the AM broadcast and led to the development of FM broadcasting, which is the main type of radio broadcasting today. Radio communication is possible by the existence of radio waves. These waves have opened a gateway to different forms of communication, and not just the transistor radio or a household radio receiver. Other than AM and FM broadcasting, radio waves are also used to provide picture and sound in televisions, which have antennas connected to them. These antennas catch the radio signals and receive picture and voice through AM and FM radio waves. Satellites, also make use of radio signals to indicate their position to the computers on Earth, and radio waves are also used to communicate with the devices that have been put in the Solar system, such as the Mars Rover. Cell phones and satellite phones which have become increasingly popular in the past decade, also make use of radio waves to connect to telephone networks, which link the call to the desired destination. Other than this, radio waves are also used in remote controls that are used for televisions, and remote controlled cars and also even to detonate explosives. Nowadays,

Answer 3 questions about Early World History Essay

Answer 3 questions about Early World History - Essay Example These two societies were relatively egalitarian and full of barbaric laws. In terms of geographical factors, they lacked natural borders, materials, and experienced irregular flooding. I believe that intermittent natural flooding would result in stagnation as well as retardation in the plant growth which would eventually lead small harvest from the agricultural farms. They highly depended on foreign natural resources, meaning that they could not support their leadership from within. I believe that this affected their political systems due to external shocks originating from those societies or nations they relied upon for foreign support. They had a lot of cultural variations leading to political instability, and this is because the change in culture meant that they ended up having different cultural views and opinions, hence minimal unity among the society members. In these companies, they have a life where an individual lived for the moment. In other words what I mean is that they had no hopes for the future, and for this reason they could consume as well as exhaust all that they had for the purpose of maximizing their satisfaction. There are other factors that also led to the weak political unity in the two societies and these included gender roles and religious ideas and functions. For the case of sex roles, these communities lacked gender roles that got defined and well structured for the purpose. I believed that well defined and structured gender roles play significant roles towards the political unity of any society. I mean that, when a society has well-defined gender roles, the two gender of the society plays their distinct role, which exhibit forms of specialization and division of labor, leading to an increase in the general production. By specializing in gender roles, be it in agriculture or other economic