Technology Evolution in The Modern Society

The modern society is being greatly reshaped by the rapid developments in information technologies where it is evident that computers, telecommunications networks, and other related digital systems have combined to increase people’s capacity to know, achieve, and even collaborate (I. T. L. Education Solutions Limited, 2009).Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Technology Evolution in The Modern Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The presence of these technologies has motivated people to participate in activities of transmitting information more quickly and widely, connecting distant locations and creating global communities that almost one and half decade ago, such experiences were unimaginable (I. T. L. Education Solutions Limited, 2009). Notable is the fact that information technology is uniting people through different forms while at the same time integrating cultures and creating new social dyna mics. Information technology is further resulting into formation of closely bonded and widely dispersed communities of people who largely are united by their desire to transact business or just sharing experiences and pursuing academic and knowledge goals (I. T. L. Education Solutions Limited, 2009). Numerous areas of humankind world are being transformed and affected by information technology such as the business, media, education, security, and many more. Particularly in business, information technology enabled through IT communication, electronic service networks and multimedia continue to contribute to new and effective means of processing business transactions, integrating business processes, transferring payments and delivering services electronically (I. T. L. Education Solutions Limited, 2009). Thus, E-commerce has evolved to become a unique developmental product of information technology advances in business, which is tremendously changing business fronts and operation in t he entire world.Advertising Looking for term paper on other technology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More E-Commerce Electron commerce is regarded an emerging concept which among other variables involves the process of buying and selling or exchanging pf products, services and information through the use of telecommunication and computer support system networks largely involving the internet. E-Commerce has received numerous definitions as a concept that continues to undergo changes. For instance according to definition provided by I. T. L. Education Solutions Limited (2009) e-commerce refers to, â€Å"the electronic means of conducting commerce between business communications and transactions over the internet† (p.179). Accordingly this definition suggest that e-commerce involves â€Å"buying and selling over the internet, electronic fund transfers, smart cards, digital cash and all other ways of doing business over dig ital networks† (I. T. L. Education Solutions Limited, 2009, p.179). According to Janice Reynolds, e-commerce has evolved as the mainstream that is enabling businesses to sell products and services to consumers on a global basis hence e-commerce can be seen as the platform upon which new methods to sell and to dispense innovative products and services electronically are tested (Reynolds, 2004). Kalakota and Whinston (1997, cited in Bushry, 2005) define e-commerce concept using different perspectives such as follows. Communication perspective- where e-commerce is seen to constitute the delivery of information, products or services, orders and payments over telephone lines, computer networks or any other electronic means. Business process perspective – which on the other hand postulates that, e-commerce is the employment of technology towards automation of business transactions and workflow. Service perspective – which holds that e-commerce constitute a tool that fu lfills the needs and desires of companies, customers and management with aim of reducing the transaction costs while at the same time being able to excel in quality of goods and services and further be able to increase the speed of delivery.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Technology Evolution in The Modern Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Lastly, an online perspective on its conviction state that e-commerce possess the ability and capacity to for buying and selling products and information mainly on internet and other related online services (Bushry, 2005). E-Commerce has also been defined by Reynolds (2004) to comprise the paperless exchange of business information by largely using electronic data interchange, electronic mail. Electronic bulleting boards, electronic funds transfer, World Wide Web, and other network-based technologies (Reynolds, 2004). At the same time, e-commerce apart from automa ting manual processes and paper transactions again contribute and helps organizations to move fully to electronic environment thereby modifying how businesses operate. E-commerce has widely affected the world and business in numerous ways and the impacts are likely to accelerate in future as new innovative developments takes place. E-commerce today continue to exert concerted positive and negative influence on world economy, global markets, international trade, financial markets, and many more sectors of business (Bajaj, Nag and Bajaj, 2005). As the world continues to benefit from industrial activities, internet will continue to shape the world in form of e-commerce activities. In general, e-commerce involves moving organizations from dormant traditional environment to full electronic environment that in turn leads to â€Å"change in their work procedures, reengineering their business processes, integrating them with their business partners beyond their traditional boundaries† (Bajaj, Nag and Bajaj, 2005). Observation is that, e-commerce has revolutionalized the way business is conducted, as modern businesses have been intricate and complex.Advertising Looking for term paper on other technology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Transactions at the same time are involving several global trading partners located in different parts of the world, and to effectively handle these complexities and interdependences of business processes, the role of e-commerce has become important since it is able to knit different organizations objectives or goals through a viable electronic environment. From these literatures, e-commerce concept has been summarized by two groups: The Aberdeen Consulting Group and Giga Group. According to the Aberdeen Consulting Group, e-business which is used interchangeably with e-commerce constitutes, â€Å"the application of electronic network technologies to transform business processes† (Bajaj, Nag and Bajaj, p.20), while Giga Group defines e-business as, â€Å"the application of electronic network technologies to transform business processes† (Bajaj, Nag and Bajaj, 2005, p.20). E-Commerce and Business Business organizations both small and large have inevitably embraced intern et for the delivery of numerous information-based services. Due to its numerous potentials and opportunities organization, especially those involved in business activities continue to appreciate the internet in a variety of tasks (Botha, 2004). A business to full benefit from numerous aspects of internet has to go through certain but key stages: first, there is exposure stage, where the organization utilizes the technology mainly for electronic brochure and bulletin board. This is done to provide information to the company’s clients. Second, there is the interaction stage, which is a point where the internet is viewed as the link between the firm and the customer; here, the internet is perceived to be a communication channel and it becomes integral component in the operation of the organization. Third, there is the e-commerce stage, where internet is believed to have evolved and become part of the economic bloodline of the company generating need for new operational procedure s, financial management and marketing skills. In essence, a part from conducting communication with the organization using the internet the customer is at the same time able to purchase goods and services through the internet. The organization reacts to these by ensuring that adequate facilities to facilitate purchased products by customers and subsequent delivery are done effectively using the internet. Lastly, there is the e-business stage, where business is able to expand from its internal-focus role to exploitation of new market opportunities and in this way the internet become vital and useful in influencing the organization and business unit strategy (Botha, 2004). E-commerce constitutes five major types that continue to dominate modern business world: Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-Business (B2B), Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C), Peer-to-Peer (P2P), lastly, Mobile commerce (m-commerce). Primarily, Business-to-Consumer type of e-commerce entails the applications that †Å"provide interface from businesses directly to their consumers† (Sun and Finnie, 2004). Consumers are the main target of the business goals and objectives where electronic transactions in marketing, ordering and paying, and sometimes after sales service takes place more easily without requiring the consumer to move to the physical location of the product (Sun and Finnie, 2004). Most businesses have resorted to B2C e-commerce in order to attract new customers, reach new markets, and promote products and services (Sun and Finnie, 2004). Business-to-Business (B2B) on the other hand comprises the largest form of e-commerce in modern market. Modern companies associate and interact in business aspects of selling, negotiating, and contracting business products and opportunities through the web. E-commerce in this type (B2B) is used to improve communication within the organization and reduce costs while at the same time increase efficiency of business processes (Sun and Finnie, 2004) . Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) form of e-commerce on the other hand benefit consumers as it eliminates the hurdles of intermediaries. C2C Websites have been designed to enable consumers to have that ‘direct’ dealing with other consumers and these websites constitute online communities, free personal classified pages, and auction houses (Sun and Finnie, 2004). In modern world, e-bay found at www.ebay.com is a clear form of C2C e-commerce application that has gained popularity among consumers. Consumers open their own stores at e-bay.com where they are able to display and sell all their products in e-bay stores (Sun and Finnie, 2004). With advances in internet technology C2C traditional distance has become zero and communication largely free, an opportunity regarded to benefit and complement B2B e-commerce and B2C e-commerce in future. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) e-commerce constitutes new form of modern e-commerce concept that in its operation is characterized by lack of centralize d control (Mitchell and Institution of Electrical Engineers, 2005). P2P e-commerce has become popular due to its ability of being file-sharing networks, and providing means of distributing mostly copyrighted materials (Mitchell and Institution of Electrical Engineers, 2005). Nevertheless this form of e-commerce has been drawn back largely by lack of addressing security issues which is further compounded by conflict that arise with requirement to provide anonymity for users and increasing need to provide forceful access control, data integrity, confidentiality and accountability services (Mitchell and Institution of Electrical Engineers, 2005 ). The last type of e-commerce is mobile commerce. Mobile phones have become popular and constitute widely used mobile devices (Lim and Siau, 2003). Mobile phones especially those that are GSM enabled have become vital facilitating mobile commerce. Other mobile devices that are becoming important in mobile e-commerce include palmtops, and PDA, w hich are accelerating mobile e-commerce (Lim and Siau, 2003). Mobile e-commerce enables the users to conduct electronic commerce activities using their mobile devices and the e-commerce activities include obtaining marketing and sales information, receive ordering information, make purchase decision, make payments, obtain the product or service, and finally receive necessary customer support (Lim and Siau, 2003). Mobile e-commerce continues to get acceptance due to its convenience of being available anytime and anywhere. On overall e-commerce role in most businesses cannot be ignored or underrated. It is clear that businesses have grown and expanded as a result of e-commerce. Smaller business have been presented with opportunity to compete bigger and established businesses on equal grounds and business activities and operations have defied geographical barriers to establish in new markets and regions as a result of e-commerce (Botha, Bothma and Geldenhuys, 2008). Therefore, e-commer ce contribution to business has resulted into extended hours of operations for the business, geographical barriers have been broken, online tenders and contracts are enormous, business costs have drastically reduced, competition continue to be transparent, lastly, weak and inefficient middlemen have been eliminated (Botha, Bothma and Geldenhuys, 2008). E-Commerce and Technology As evidences show, it would be impossible to have electronic business without technology. Technology for e-commerce has originated in the use of internet and other computer networks to fulfill goals of online buying and selling, electronic funds transfer, business communications and other activities that involve buying and selling goods and services online (Zhou, 2004). The use of internet and other information technology techniques, which in wide sense constitute e-commerce has become an important part of meeting the needs and wants of consumers while the company benefits by gaining profit. Technology usage by companies has resulted in companies achieving greater value from e-commerce. In essence, companies with appropriate and superior technology infrastructure coupled with efficient human resource adopt e-commerce more easily than those lacking these aspects (Kraemer, 2006). Analysis of e-commerce adoption in developed and developing countries indicate that it is the technological readiness that account as the strongest factor influencing adoption of e-commerce. Technology is seen to be relative diffuse in developing nations while integrated in developed nations (Kraemer, 2006). E-commerce is further influenced and affected by the digital divide where in the past access and utilization of technology was confined in a small group of rich people. The masses especially in developing and least developed countries were left out leading to their inadequate acquisition of technology. This has hampered their effort to be part of the global community appreciating and enjoying the benefits of e-commerce (Wahab, 2003). As such, what is needed is a well-orchestrated scheme that enhances to incorporate the developing and least developed nations into the mainstream of technological learning and training, which in turn possess the capability to transform the larger society into embracing e-commerce. E-Commerce and Society Society is one at the receiving end of technological products. People in the society are the ones facilitating and at the same time benefiting from technology. Nevertheless, people do not just act as passive consumers of technological products but also largely participate in influencing and directing invention and adoption of various technologies. Different people in different regions of the world hold specific and unique values and norms, which has power in shaping and controlling the direction of information technology usages (Thanasankit, 2003). Adoption of technology and to extent e-commerce has been facilitated through language and communication. Techno logy development and adoption tends to take place within the functioning capacities of economy, political, legal, social, religious, and education institutions. On overall these institutions and structures affect or influence the level, propensity, type and period for invention and subsequent adoption of particular technological products. On overall the use of e-commerce has been associated with specific potential problems that emanate from issues to do with customer perception and cultural orientation, fear of loss of personal data, linguistic obstacles, difficult in integrating data and the high cost associated with adopting and running e-commerce technology (Reynolds, 2009). Transparency, global and efficiency of e-markets Electronic markets can be said to be still infant and online exchanges are yet to gain considerable acceptance especially by those in developing and less developed societies. Nevertheless, electronic markets are seen to possess the potential to â€Å"reduce tr ansactions costs, add product and pricing transparency, generate market liquidity, and facilitate bidding by a broad spectrum of potential suppliers in a standardized platform† (Zhu, 2002 cited in The Gale Group, 2004, p.1). Accelerating activities of electronic market, internet is seen to be at forefront in generating improved and flow of information (Kemerer, 1998 cited in The Gale Group, 2004). Electronic markets in this sense is seen to constitute a platform on which information is collected, synthesized, availed and circulated among various suppliers and consumers. The rise of electronic markets has resulted in creation of huge information with regard to products, prices, transactions, and competitors. As a result of this, information in electronic markets has become more transparent as compared to traditional convectional markets (The Gale Group, 2004). According to Zhu (2002), information transparency can be seen as, â€Å"the degree of visibility and accessibility of information† (The Gale Group, 2004, p.1). Benning (2007) notes that, the movement of the markets from their traditional form and location to the screen has been accompanied by numerous key developments. E-commerce in relation to electronic markets is changing the overall markets in the global perspective are organized, analyzed, quoted and priced (Benning, 2007). Transactions costs have been eliminated in turn has led to increase in trading volumes, prices have become more transparent and much easier to obtain and markets further react with increasing speed to new information (Benning, 2007). According to Mandorf (2008), electronic markets have become foundations of e-commerce when the possibilities of internet economy with regard to initiation, negotiation, and handling of contracts have been made easy by informational systems. Electronic markets have been characterized to reflect: virtual meeting rooms where suppliers, customers ‘meet’, and these rooms are indep endent of location and time; electronic markets have greatly contributed to improvement of market transparency since they are able to relieve suppliers and consumers into getting relevant information. Compared to traditional markets where markets were largely full of disequilibrium of information between supplier and consumers, which could in turn be used to gain undue competitive advantage; electronic markets have resulted into reduction of transaction costs as compared to traditional markets; lastly, electronic markets are more open providing a larger international audience (Mandorf, 2008). According to Loebbecke, electronic markets as compared to traditional markets are relatively low in prices that in turn include low margins (Loebbecke, n.d, p.1). As a result of this, the market is further seen to be more transparent exercised by suppliers, customers and products (Loebbecke, n.d, p.1). Electronic markets pool numerous offers from the world and these offers can be found online a nd consumers have the opportunity to sample and compare potential suppliers of products or services on the internet which in turn leads to lower transaction costs (Loebbecke, n.d, p.1). Transparency of the electronic market is further boosted by the utilization of search tools where at the same time competition among suppliers cause constant pressure on market prices and demand for extra services to be delivered (Loebbecke, n.d, p.1). Eugene Fama in 1970 developed the efficient market theory, which in essence is based on the economic theory of price equilibrium that originates from the interface of forces of supply and demand (Grover, Lim and Ayyagari, 2006). Generally, in an efficient market, information in great depth is available in terms of accessibility and cost and is handed to stakeholders at about the same time (Grover, Lim and Ayyagari, 2006). Electronic markets consists of inter-organizational information systems, which support and facilitate seller-buyer information commu nication regarding products and services (Bakos, 1991 cited in Grover, Lim and Ayyagari, 2006). As the internet continue to grow in great measures many expert and analysts’ predictions points to the fact that e-markets will continuously results into reduction of information asymmetry thereby paving way for price convergence operating at the lowest competitive level (Grover, Lim and Ayyagari, 2006). Why much confidence in reduction of information asymmetry? Many authors who have written on e-markets efficiency express that lower search costs and availability of information in great measure through the internet reduction information asymmetry and opportunistic behavior, should be seen to be main reasons leading to efficient e-markets (Alba et al., 1997; Bakos, 1997; Bailey, 1998 cited in Grover, Lim and Ayyagari, 2006). Globalization of e-markets is taking place at a first rate. E-markets are seen to be escalating into interrelated hubs of online exchange that pledge economies of scale that are greater than separate exchanges (Foley, Bacheldor and Wallace, 2000). Due to expansion of e-markets into global scene, marketplace operators are viewed to be prepared to offer services such as â€Å"automated real-time credit, connections to shipping and logistic providers, and integration with enterprise resource management and inventory systems† (Foley, Bacheldor and Wallace, 2000, p.1). As such, e-markets are fast becoming global supply-chain centers aimed at ensuring that businesses are all-round efficient; for instance, Oracle has in place Oracle Exchange, which is a horizontal e-marketplace in which majority of companies are able to buy and sell non-production goods and services (Foley, Bacheldor and Wallace, 2000). Globalization of e-markets has further expanded to initiate and facilitate online financing, supply chain planning, and collaborative design (Foley, Bacheldor and Wallace, 2000). Global companies such as Daimler Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors have moved numerous steps forward to integrate their online purchasing activities. Through the global e-marketing plan, the companies have formulated their operations in form of business-to-business exchange in which the overall aim is to enable them and other automakers to easily buy materials for constructing automobiles while at the same time collaborate with other partners (Foley, Bacheldor and Wallace, 2000). The advantages to which most companies are attaching their aim of globalization of e-markets emanate from the numerous advantages e-markets holds. For instances e-markets reduce costs for business buyers as a result of increased choice and price competition while at the same time giving sellers a new and modified profitable channel for delivering inventory (Foley, Bacheldor and Wallace, 2000). E-market rise: role of push or pull factors? E-commerce and to extend e-markets have evolved to permit almost every aspect of human daily life. As from 1990s when internet bec ame more popular among business and individuals, its utilization has is felt in almost all aspects of human sphere. Internet technologies have resulted into increased productivity; maximize convenience and improved communication in most parts of the world (Anonymous, n.d, p.1). Online banking, online payment, online buying, and selling are just some aspects that have been produced by growth of technology. In other words, internet, and to extent technology, has become integral to daily lives of many people and organization. However, few years back the growth of and acceptance of internet technologies was not hot issue as it is today and the likely question that may be asked is why? The answer to this considering the numerous information technology literatures available is that the necessary information infrastructural development that is evident today was not available (Anonymous, n.d, p.1). Put it simple the supportive infrastructural for adoption of internet technologies was limite d by lack of necessary infrastructures. However, as time lapsed, more information technologies gadgets found their way in people’s home, and individuals’ technological knowledge and experience increased. At the same time, most companies acquired more technologies, which apart from addressing the internal business issues and needs were seen to have the capacity of enhancing business operations and growth through e-commerce. Therefore, as consumers’ needs arose for more internet products and services businesses were left with no alternative, except aligning and incorporating consumer needs with the business objectives and capacities. Therefore, the intense pressure for the development of e-markets was a direct response from outside pressure emanating from consumers and internal business pressures to adapt to efficient and more reliable technologies. Push factors emanated internally in form of need to compete effectively in the market with other equally well-placed competitors and this required businesses to adopt efficient and sophisticated technologies. At the same time to leverage competitive advantage companies were forced to become innovative in inventing online business activities, this was due to need to ease consumers need to move to physical locations, expand business with disregard to geographical barriers, reduce costs and largely increase consumer base. These needs prompted most businesses to embrace online markets. On the other hand, consumers were becoming more informed, wanted to reduce transactional costs related to information search, wanted convenience and wanted to be part of global citizens, as a result they preferred and demanded for prefect forms of market they would operate with easiness. This resulted into development of e-commerce and subsequent electronic markets. Today markets are seen to be driven by consumer choice and in turn the consumer choice affects and influences the company’s strategy. What is being observed is consumer need-based business model which is rising in the marketing and replacing the older model which was push-based model (Kalakota and Whinston, 1997). In the push model companies have upper hands in making decisions while the pull model put much emphasis on the customer to make decisions which in turn translate and directs the company’s strategy. Pull model, also known as ‘demand-driven model’ postulate that today technology has empowered a large population to search and utilize information more faster which in turn is used in making key purchasing decisions (Kalakota and Whinston, 1997). Once the information has been searched it is translated into preferences where consumers use it in becoming more conscious about choice. As consumers demonstrates caution in relation to preference it becomes the duty of the company to translate the consumer wants and needs into appropriate products and the company that take early lead in doing this is able to ga in competitive edge over its rivals (Kalakota and Whinston, 1997). The pull model dictates a need for: supporting increased variability; reduced lead times; improved quality and lower unit cost; operation excellence; and comprehensive performance measures for control purposes (Kalakota and Whinston, 1997). In summary today consumers are seen to be pushing sellers to the wall demanding lower processes and prices, better and improved quality, and large selection of in-season goods. In return sellers are reacting to these demands by working hard to improve, reducing operational costs, reducing cycle times, buying more wisely, and making a lot of investments in technology. In short, e-markets have risen and expanded from both internal push factors and external pull factors which are further likely to influence future growth of technology in businesses. Conclusion For the last two decades, technology has transformed humankind world. From its slow development and acceptance in early 1990s to its current vibrant use in the 21st century it can be said with confident that technology will inevitably remain part of human’s society growth and expansion. Notably, information technology through internet has revolutionalized the marketplace through the electronic market (e-markets). Electronic markets are growing at a faster rate, which in turn has resulted into the transparency, efficiency, and globalization of the e-market. Consumers and sellers are able to interact in virtual rooms, anywhere in the world and at any time. This has resulted into convenience on the part of consumers while enabling businesses to increase their product. Nevertheless, e-markets are yet to be embraced by greater population of the world although statistics shows it is steadily increasing as more people become technological-knowledgeable. Therefore, what is suggested is for the digital divide issue to be addressed. This is especially necessary in developing and least developed societies whe re adoption of technology is still low. As globalization continues to influence the world and disintegrate economic, political, and social barriers, digital divide is an issue that should be addressed to realize equal and faster adaptation to e-markets and e-commerce. References Anonymous. (N.d). Types of E-Business Models and Markets. Retrieved from http://forums.techarena.in/guides-tutorials/6051.htm. Bajaj, K. K., Nag, D. and Bajaj, K. K. (2005). E-Commerce. New Delhi, Tata McGraw-Hill. Benning, J. F. (2007). Trading Strategies for Capital Markets. NY: McGraw-Hill Professional. Botha, J. (2004). E-Commerce. Cape Town: Juta and Company Ltd. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=SbSXCmsO5VMCprintsec=frontcoverdq=e-commercehl=enei=rdzsTLOPDMzpOeqJhZ0Bsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=10ved=0CF8Q6AEwCQ#v=onepageqf=false. Bushry, M. (2005). E-Commerce. NY: Firewall Media. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=0Untt_GF8M0Cprintsec=frontcoverdq=e-commercehl=enei=rdzs TLOPDMzpOeqJhZ0Bsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=6ved=0CEgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepageqf=false Foley, J., Bacheldor, B. and Wallace, B. (2000). E-Markets are expanding. Information Week, No.775, pp.22. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=64did=50614703SrchMode=1sid=5Fmt=4VInst=PRODVType=PQDRQT=309VName=PQDTS=1290639106clientId=29440. Grover, V., Lim, J. and Ayyagari, R. (2006). The Dark Side of Information and Market Efficiency in E-Markets. Decision Sciences, Vol.37, No.3, pp.297. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=3did=1158964821SrchMode=1sid=5Fmt=4VInst=PRODVType=PQDRQT=309VName=PQDTS=1290637208clientId=29440. I. T. L. Education Solutions Limited. (2009). Introduction to Information Technology. New Delhi: Pearson Education India. Kalakota, R. and Whinston, A. B. (1997). Electronic commerce: a manager’s guide. NJ: Addison-Wesley. Kraemer, K. l. (2006). Global e-commerce: impacts of national environment and policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press . Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=uDvPfcV2yFgCpg=PA374dq=how++technology+affects+e-commercehl=enei=hRjtTMzfFIGBlAfZnpWPAQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=7ved=0CEgQ6AEwBg#v=onepageq=how%20%20technology%20affects%20e-commercef=false. Lim, E. P. and Siau, K. (2003). Advances in mobile commerce technologies. PA: Idea Group Inc (IGI). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=441qCYlVjK8Cpg=PA19dq=Mobile+commerce+e-commercehl=enei=TwrtTJytMIqWOvzBvJABsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=Mobile%20commerce%20e-commercef=false. Loebbecke, C. (1998). Business Information Management Conference. Retrieved from http://www.chris-kimble.com/Courses/mis/e-commerce.doc. Mandorf, F. (2008). Processes in the Internet Economy: The View of Electronic Processes. Berlin: GRIN Verlag. Mitchell, C. and Institution of Electrical Engineers. (2005). Trusted computing. London: IET. Reynolds, G. (2009). Information Technology for Managers. OH: Cengage Learning. R eynolds, J. (2004). The complete e-commerce book: design, build maintain a successful Web-based business. CA: Focal Press. Sun, Z. and Finnie, G. R. (2004). Intelligent techniques in E-Commerce: a case based reasoning perspective. NY: Springer. Thanasankit, T. (2003). E-commerce and cultural values. PA: Idea Group Inc (IGI). The Gale Group. (2004). Information transparency of business-to-business electronic markets: a game-theoretic analysis. Management Science Journal. Retrieved from http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-4130535/Information-transparency-of-business-to.html. Wahab, M. (2003). The Digital Divide, E-Commerce, and ODR: Constructing the Egyptian Information Society. Proceedings of UNECEF Forum. Retrieved from http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vq=cache:CCPwrj7NnWcJ:www.odr.info/unece2003/pdf/wahab.pdf+digital+divide+and+e-commercehl=engl=kepid=blsrcid=ADGEESj5tm7pLGnOdc1Rip_XMtpVrFDMywj4OF2jZXuWunNdZ5yJ7y16VLwKs6MwTA9xka9hHRnydZ9EBXgco16sAYEUaaA-roWiRSUZF8t7NVo8eOZF-F35 eZATYyWopswwnOTQ9Ca5sig=AHIEtbR_EMNX1ijpSpF2Q6b8kp-BBXSzbw. Zhou, Z. (2004). E-commerce and information technology in hospitality and tourism. OH: Cengage Learning.. This term paper on Technology Evolution in The Modern Society was written and submitted by user Jazmin Sutton to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre Essays

Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre Essays Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre Paper Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre Paper Essay Topic: Jane Eyre In our world, there are many people who express their thoughts and feelings by art. For artists, painting is a way to explore their inner self and lets them express their emotional world. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses the paintings and drawings created by Jane at different points to show Janes suffering, her realism and her romanticism. In Chapter 13, Jane makes a watercolour painting that expresses her childhood suffering at Gateshead and at Lowood. In her painting, there are clouds low and vivid, rolling over a swollen sea: all the distance was in eclipse for there was no land. This suggests that she sees herself as a wretch, unimportant and meaningless, just feeling as if there is no hope for her no matter how hard she searches. However, there is a greedy seed bird that sat on a half-submerged mastits beak held a gold bracelet, set with gems that she painted with a variety of colours. Jane is saying that there might be a chance when she obtains freedom and peace. As a child, Jane was always mistreated and never had any independence. In her artwork, the bird represents freedom because it can go anywhere just like how Jane imagines her life. The painting takes another shift when something sinking below the bird and the pole was a drowned corpse that flashed though the green water. She is comparing herself to a dead body because she views herself as being useless and hopeless. She is doleful because there were many cruel people in her life that always thought negatively about her. In both Lowood and Gateshead, she had been treated unfairly and harshly. The only thing that is visible is a fair arm from which thebracelet had been washed or torn. The bracelet represents Mr. Rochester andwhen the bracelet washes away it shows that Jane will never be with Mr. Rochester. In addition, this also depicts that all of Janes hopes and dreams have been washed away.

Tourism Industry in Arizona Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Tourism Industry in Arizona - Essay Example But overall the tradition leisure and recreation tourism activities have remained core to the growth of the industry. Tourism has been one of the growing industries in Tucson, Arizona. It is one of the rapidly growing industries in the state having been ranked third in revenue. Tucson metropolitan attracts more that 3.5 million tourists every year which is one of the highest tourism numbers in the region. There are diversified tourism activities that attract tourism to Tucson from all parts of the world. The region has a good climate and the Sononarn Desert and the majestic mounts that ring the city continue to attract more and more tourist. This has contributed to the robustness of the industry. With an annual 300 days of sunny weather Condition and the natural ability to attract winter tourism from cold climates, Tucson makes one of the bets tourism destinations in Arizona. (Tucson, 2008a) Tourist attraction in Tucson include Saguaro National Park, Arizon-Sonoar Desert Mesuem, Reid Park Zoo, Pima County Fairgrounds, Kino Sport Complex, Old Tucson Studios, Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley, Arizona Historical Society, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Biosphere 2 Center, and others. There are other attraction sites in Tucson but these are the major leading attractions . Source: Tucson, (2008b). Tourism industry Data. Retrieved from http://www.visittucson.org/media/research/tourismdata/ on 23rd May 2008 Tourism companies operating in Tucson The growth of the industry in Tucson has corresponded with increased number of operation and hospitality companies. There are more that 289 local tourist companies in Tucson which absorbs a workforce of more that 44,200 employees. These companies have been contributing to more that $2 billion in revenue which has been a major boost for the economy of Tucson and the larger Arizona state. There are many companies which operate in Tucson offering tourism services. The major companies in the industry include Canyon Ranch Health Resort which employs 855 employees, Metro Restaurant Inc. with a workforce of more that 750, JW Marriot Starr Pass Resort & Spa employs about 696, Loew Ventana Canyon Resort which employs about 589 people, Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort employing 555 employees, and The Westin La Panaloma Resort & Spa with a workforce of more that 436 employee. These are the major operators in the industry. However there are other small operators providing the same services but the above are the major players who have been offering stiff competition to one another. Most of them have an international operation. These companies produce various tourism packages. Most of them offer travel services where they take their visitors from one tourism attraction to another. In this case they have the transport section which is concerned with arranging travel series from one area to another. They also offer accommodation services. This is one of the most important functions of the operators in the industry. They offer room accommodations and camp sites where accommodation is offered in cottages and tents. An accommodation service also comes with other in room services including meals, laundry services, and other. Although accommodation ser

TO WHAT EXTENT MBA DEGREE MOTIVATES PEOPLE TO BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR Essay

TO WHAT EXTENT MBA DEGREE MOTIVATES PEOPLE TO BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR - Essay Example Professional courses in management and administration provide the requisite knowledge based curricula that are intended to meet the challenges of the changing times. MBA or masters in business administration is the professional course that imparts and helps to develop and understand the pros and cons of the business so that people pursuing this course are able to manage it with more proficiency and creativity. With the whole range of modules, covering the various core areas of business, the highly demanding professional degree is designed to motivate the professionals to be creative and improvise and improve the business processes to compete effectively with the changing business trends. Therefore, it is important to know whether the MBA degree, provided by the different universities are indeed able to meet with their pre-meditated goals of equipping the students with the requisite skill and knowledge that would meet the wider implications of the business acumen needed to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing times? The purpose of the study is to gauge the impact of the professional course on the creative inputs of the students in the real life situations and evaluate the extent of motivating factors which would influence his business decisions. In the era of globalization, the emerging trends in business are crucial to understand and therefore, it becomes imperative to know whether MBA produces the professionals who are not only good administrators but also develop the traits of entrepreneur and intrapreneurs who are equipped to improve and improvise the business processes to optimise the intended output, within the parameters of organizational goals and objectives. It is also important to know whether the graduates of the MBA are able to meet the criteria within the defined parameters or are sufficiently motivated to exploit their entrepreneurial skills to further improve their aims and objectives. The universities facilitate higher studies in the

Symbolism In Hills Like White Elephants

Symbolism In Hills Like White Elephants Many stories contain symbolism such as the conch in the well known story Lord of the Flies symbolizing order on the island, or the name Fortunado in the story The Cask of Amontillado, symbolizing an ironic ending to the character. One story in particular that uses symbolism throughout the whole story to represent many different things is the short story Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemmingway. Hemmingway is an outstanding author and writes magnificent stories. This short story of his is about a couple who is discussing abortion in Spain and how difficult their problems are. Hemingway does a tremendous job using symbolism to show their problems throughout the story. Ernest Hemingway had a very interesting life and was a man who lived life as it came. His writing touched millions of people. He wrote about fascinating stories that were very strong and unforgettable. Hemmingway wrote about all sorts, pretty much whatever he felt like writing. Hemingway was born in Oak Park Illinois on July 21, 1899. His parents were Dr. Clarence Edmonds and Grace Hall Hemingway. His father was a practicing doctor, and later taught him how to hunt and fish. Hemmingway also liked to box.Unlike the bond with his father, Hemingway did not have a good relationship with his mother. Hemingways education consisted Oak Park and River Forest High School. Here is where he realized he had a gift of writing. Hitting the age of 18, Hemmingway decided to move to Kansas City instead of attending college. While in Kansas City, he obtained a job as a cub reporter on the Kansas City Star. During this time, he kept to himself. His writing style was first introduced by the Kansas City Star, it was brief and straight forward. Although his career was doing well, in May of 1918, Hemingway wanted to join the Army but was rejected due to a defective left eye which he inherited from his mother. Instead of joining the Army he joined the Red Cross. When he was overseas, one night he was sneaking smokes and chocolate into the soldiers. While doing so, he was hit in the leg by an Austrian machine gun and got over a hundred pieces of metal stuck in his body from grenades. Through unbearable pain, he managed to save a wounded soldier and carry him to safety. For his courageous acts, he was awarded the Italian Medal of Valor, a very high award. He recovered from injuries at the Ospedale Croce Rossa American, in Milan. This stay in Italy set a tremendous place to write his novel, A Farewell to Arms. After Hemmingways recovery, He returned to Oak Hill to live with his mother, until he was forced out for not having a job. After the trouble with his mom, Hemmingway moved to Chica go and got a job writing for the Toronto Star and was a sparring partner for boxers. While in the windy city, he came upon a women by the name of Elizabeth Hadly Richerdson. Hemingway fell madly in love with her and wanted to marry but money was a big problem. The two moved to Canada where their son John Hadly Hemingway was born in 1923. Shortly after, Hemmingway received a Nobel prize for his piece, The Old Man and The Sea. As success was finally with Hemmingway, tragedy struck. On one ofhis flights, his plane crashed leaving him with devastating injuries including a concussion, paralysis of the sphincter, first degree burns in his face, arm and head, a sprained right arm and shoulder, a crushed vertebra, and a ruptured liver, spleen and kidney. He was in much agony and pain for many months. In April 1961, Hemmingway tried to kill himself by putting a gun to his head, but did not succeed in suicide. While cleaning his shotgun in July of 1961, Hemmingway accidently shot himself. The gun which was made just for him took his life, and the life of an Author whose writing touched millions of people (Unknown, Ernest Hemingway Biography. The Hemmingway Resource Center. 4-1-10 http://www.lostgeneration.com/childhood.htm). Hemmingways story, Hills like White Elephants, has many symbolizing parts. Practically everything in the story symbolizes a different item. The story is about a girl by the name of Jig, and an American man, whose name is not stated. The story takes place in a railroad station while the two are waiting to board a train to Madrid. As the two await the trains arrival, they get into an intense, heated argument on whether or not the girl Jig should get an abortion. Jig wants to keep the baby, but the story indicates the man does not at first, but then emphasizes that he wants to do whatever Jig decides on. The story ends by the man carrying the bags to the other side of the tracks as they prepare to board the train and depart. The ending leaves us puzzled and unclear about the decision Jig made. At the end of the story she says I feel fine which leaves us questioning if she was going to go through with the abortion. There are many symbols in the story, but the three that are most recogniz able are the hills, white elephants, and the rail station. The hills symbolize one of many things. One could be obstacles that we as people must climb in order to achieve things. Being that they are hills and not giant mountains, we are able to get over them. This represents that the Jigs baby is a major obstacle in their life that they both can overcome and go on with normal lives. The Hills could very well be viewpoints to see from, but they block the views for people that live in the valley of the hills. This represents that in the story Jig views the Hills and finds opportunity while the man sees nothing because he is worried that the child will cause him to not have a happy and successful future. The Hills also could present a form of imagery being that the hills represent the shape of a pregnant woman. Jig could view the hills as a woman bearing a child is lying on her back with her stomach and breasts swollen from the pregnancy. During a part of the story, Jig mentions while viewing the scenery that they could have all this. Saying th is, she was meaning that the hills represented a challenge to face, new life to partake in, and possibility for the both of them. The white elephants are another sign of symbolism, which could possibly represent the baby. A white elephant is a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth. It is also a gift that is useless to one person, but priceless to another. This being said is that the baby is priceless to her, but her partner could care less about having a child. The last main symbolizing item in the story is the train station. It can mean one of many things. One side of the station is a dry, dead landscape, which represents dissipation and death of the baby, while the other side is green and beautiful, representing life, and a new beginning. Besides the landscape, the tracks also have a meaning. Railroad tracks run parallel, which means they never touch or run into one another. This could symbolize the relationship of Jig and the American man (Schaefers, Adam. Analyzing the Symbolism of Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway. Lifestyle. 4-1-10 ). Hemmingway wrote many great stories and used symbolism in many great ways. In his story Hills like White Elephants; he did an amazing job showing the trouble of a couple on a decision affecting the rest of their lives. Hemmingway has many other great stories and his stories and symbolization has given people different ways to view stories and has touched the hearts of millions. Citations: Schaefers, Adam. Analyzing the Symbolism of Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway. Lifestyle. 4-1-10 . Cummings, Michael J. Hills Like White Elephants. Cummings Guides. 4-1-10 . Unknown, Ernest Hemingway Biography. The Hemmingway Resource Center. 4-1-10 . Machete, Ernest Hemingway . Literary Analysis. 4-1-10 .

Reflective Paper

Reflective Paper – Effective Human Resources Management Theresa Tapley BUS 303 Dr. Kevin Righter March 13, 2010 Reflective Paper – Effective Human Resources Management Effective Human Resources Management (HRM) plays a major role in ensuring that an organization will survive and prosper. The HRM facilitates the most effective use of people or employees to achieve organizational and individual goals. The HRM consists of numerous activities which include, equal employment opportunity (EEO) compliance, job analysis, human resource planning, the recruitment, selection, motivation, and orientation of employees, performance evaluation and compensation, the training and development of employees, labor relations, and the safety, health, and wellness of the workforce. Effective human resources management plays a vital role in the success of an organization and is an active participant in charting the strategic course of competitiveness, productiveness, and efficiency. An effective HRM focuses on action rather than on record-keeping, written procedure, or rules. Although the use of rules, records, and policies are incorporated, â€Å"action† is the focus. The HRM emphasizes the solution of employment problems to help achieve organizational objectives and facilitate employees’ development and satisfaction. An effective HRM is, also, people-oriented. Whenever possible, the HRM treats each employee as an individual and offers services and program to meet the individual’s needs. An effective HRM program is concerned with helping an organization achieve its objectives in the future by providing for competent, well-motivated employees. Human resources are incorporated into an organization’s long-term strategic plans to assist with ensuring that future growth needs will be adequately staffed with qualified, trained employees (Ivancewich, 2010, pg 5). EEO and Affirmative Action One external factor that has a powerful influence on my company's HRM unction is the equal employment opportunity and human rights legislation, which has a profound effect on our policies and procedures concerning recruiting, selection, evaluation, and promotion. The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is an independent federal agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination complaints based on an individual’s race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability and retaliation for reporting and/or opp osing a discriminatory practice. This commission is empowered to file discrimination suits against employers on behalf of alleged victims and to adjudicate claims of discrimination brought against federal agencies. No other regulatory area has as thoroughly affected HRM as the EEO programs have. It has implications for almost every activity in HRM and sets standards for hiring, recruiting, training, terminating, compensating, evaluating, planning, disciplining, and collective bargaining. Employers, to prevent employment discrimination in the workplace or to take remedial action to offset employment discrimination implement EEO programs, (Ivancevich, 2010, pg 65). According to the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) website, the EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. The laws also apply to all type of work situations, including hiring, firing, promotions, demotions, harassment, training, wages, and benefits. During the employment selection process, each candidate should be evaluated on their qualification of the job requirements, based on their experience, education, and skill set. Many corporations use testing as an important tool. Rae T. Vann, general counsel of the Equal Employment Advisory Council, a national association of large federal contractors, observed, â€Å"When done properly, testing can be a very important tool in the employment selection process, and we commend the Commission on its efforts to improve the quality and fairness of tests and other job screening methods† (Title VII: Affirmative Action, 2006). I encourage my Clinical Managers to become familiar with the provisions of the EEO standards and guidelines. It is essential that they make every effort to seek counsel from our HR dept when initiating the interview and hiring process, dealing with poor performance, disabilities, demotions, appearance of harassment, and training and re-training. Throughout my five years of administrative management, I have unfortunately had to learn HRM and EEOC laws the hard way, through trial and error. With each mistake that I have made, such as not consulting the HR department before decreasing a dual role employee’s hours so that she could focus on one role due to extremely poor performance, I have learned the proper steps to come to the same conclusion. The decrease in hours caused her to lose her benefits and subsequently she filed an EEOC claim of discrimination and retaliation. Fortunately, due to proper documentation of the corrective actions, developmental action plan and the documented counseling, our HRM has adequate information to refute the claim. Now, I consult my HRM representative with any concerns, questions, or updates related to employee situations. Planning, Recruitment, and Selection Human resources planning are the processes by which management ensures that it has the right personnel, who are capable of completing those tasks that help the organization, reach its objectives. It involves forecasting of human resources needs and the projected matching of individuals with expected vacancies (International Labour Organization, 2010). An effective HR plan, also, provides mechanisms to eliminate any gaps that may exist between supply and demand. HR planning determines the numbers and types of employees to be recruited into the organization or phased out of it (Ivancevich, 2010). The Human Resource Planning Process incorporates strategic planning which will have a direct effect on the organization's profitability. The strategic plan must adapt to environmental circumstances. It must forecast how many and what employees are required for the organizations staffing requirements. Next, it must determine how many and what kind of employees are currently employed with the skills and training necessary for the future needs. Finally, after the HR system has analyzed the supply of and the demand or future workers, these two forecasts are compared to determine what action should be taken. Effective workforce planning is a critical element of effective strategic and operational planning. Workforce planning provides managers with a strategic basis for making human resource decisions. It allows managers to anticipate change ather than being surprised by events, as well as providing strategic methods for addressing present and anticipated workforce issues. The US Department of Health and Human Services states, â€Å"Organizational success depends on having the right employees with the right competencies at the right time. Workforce planning provides managers the means of identifying the competencies needed in the workforce not only in the present but in the future and then selecting and developing that workforce† (US Dept. Health and Human Services, 2010). The HR department for my company has implemented a staffing model tool that projects future, potential, or expected growth versus the actual census, the current staffing and skill set of that staff, and calculates the hiring needs of specific positions within the direct and indirect patient care. Once the future needs are determined, then the hiring process begins. Human Resources Development Training and development are processes that attempt to provide an employee with information, skills, and an understanding of the organization and its goals. Training and development are designed to help a person continue to make positive contributions in the form of good performance and advancement within the organization. A solid orientation program is the first step in developing an employee. It reduces anxiety and fears, reduces start-up costs of a new employee, reduces turnover, saves time for supervisors and co-workers, and develops realistic expectations, positive attitudes toward the employer and job satisfaction. Once will established in a specific position, then the manager and employee must set goals for development and advancement. Management and professional development is designed to reduce obsolescence and to increase employees’ satisfaction and productivity. An important part of development is the evaluation process. Performance management is the process by which executives, managers, and supervisors work to align employee performance with the firm’s goals. An effective performance management process determines and evaluates performance, provides feedback to the employees about their performance, and measures and monitors skill-set (Ivancevich, 2010, pg 251). The company that I work for has an excellent formal performance evaluation process that is very effective in the development the employee and the motivation to succeed. Appraising and managing performance at my workplace starts form the day of hire. Each newly hired direct or indirect patient care must attend a through and intensive training program. After 90 days, from date of hire, the new staff member is evaluated for suitability for the position. The manager will present a written 90-day evaluation to the staff member. This evaluation will result in a successful completion of the introductory period, determine a need for an extension of 30 days to improve and meet expectations, or termination due to being unsuitable for the position (this usually occurs when the staff member continually fails to follow policies and procedures and/or causing patient endangerment). Every manager must complete an annual evaluation for staff members under their direct supervision. The score on the evaluation determine the merit increase and caps set forth by the company. When a staff member is failing to follow policy and procedure, putting patient’s safety in jeopardy, tardiness or excessive absenteeism, insubordination, breaking confidentiality and HIPPA regulations, and etc. the manager will conduct corrective action in the form of documented counseling, written corrective action, final corrective action, 3 day suspension, and/or termination. To make this process more effective and ensure compliance with EEOC and federal and state regulations, both next level supervisor and the HR dept representative must approve all final corrective actions, 3-day suspensions, and terminations. Compensation and Benefits There are several reasons that an employer or corporation will offer benefits and services to their employees. One reason is to keep the organization competitive in recruit and retaining employees. Another reason is to keep a union out or because the union has won this during negotiations. Finally, is the fact that providing benefits and service contributed to increased employee performance and job satisfaction (Ivancevich, 2010, pg358). Federal and state governments mandate three benefits programs offered by private and not-for-profit employers. The three mandated programs are unemployment insurance, social security, and workers’ compensation. In addition to the benefits required by law, many employers provide other kinds of benefits voluntarily, such as, compensation for time not worked, insurance protection, retirement plans, FMLA or medical FMLA, life insurance, short and long-term disability, and various retirement programs and stock ownership plans. Some organizations offer tuition reimbursement and flexible benefits plans. Whenever I am interviewing a candidate for a position, I always spend a portion of the interview discussing and explaining our benefit package. Sometimes our hourly rate is not quite as high as our competitor, but our benefits and employee services usually out ways the difference in compensation. Safety and Health The Human Resource Management team of the dialysis company of which I am employed, works very closely with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to ensure that the most acceptable and innovative concepts in employee safety and health are used. The NIOSH is the primary federal agency that conducts research on the safety and health of the workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) of 1970, to provide research, information, education, and training in the field of occupational safety and health established it in 1971 (Bradley, 2002). The NIOSH develops and promotes the use of national and state-based surveillance systems to identify, quantify, and track injuries and illnesses. Epidemiological analysis of these databases helps identify unsafe and unhealthy workplace conditions. NIOSH also supports laboratory and field research to further identify, assess, and control occupational hazards and exposures and the diseases and injuries they cause. In addition to identifying risks, the NIOSH develops and evaluates prevention measures such as control technology, personal protective equipment, and work practices. Through research internally within our company and the NIOSH, many improvements and standards have been put into place for water treatment safety and personal protective equipment. We have strong policies and procedures that protect both the employee and the patient from exposure to health or safety hazards. There are several reasons for establishing good occupational safety and health standards. First, on a moral note, an employee should not have to risk injury or death at work, nor should others associated with the work environment. The second is economical in nature. Many governments realize that poor occupational safety and health performance results in cost to the State, through social security payments to the incapacitated, costs for medical treatment, and the loss of the employability of the worker. The employing organizations also sustain costs in the event of an incident at work, such as legal fees, fines, compensatory damages, investigation time, and lost production, lost goodwill from the workforce, customers, and community. Lastly, from a legal standpoint, the occupational safety and health requirements may be reinforced in civil law and/or criminal law. It is a known fact, that without the extra â€Å"encouragement† of potential regulatory action or litigation, many organizations would not act upon their implied moral obligations. During a Frontline interview with assistant secretary of labor for occupational health and safety, John Henshaw, the question was asked, â€Å"How successful do you think OSHA has been at protecting workers in the United States? † Mr. Henshaw replied, â€Å"In the last 30 years, OSHA has made some tremendous strides in reducing injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. In the last six to eight years, injuries have gone steadily down and fatalities have gone down to the point where they are the lowest ever (Frontline, 2002). The dialysis industry is carefully scrutinized to uphold acceptable OSHA safety and health standards. We, also, have internal auditors that simulate inspections to ensure compliance and safe practices. Employee and Labor Relations Labor relations can refer broadly to any dealings between management and workers about employment conditions. Most commonly, however, labor relations refer to dealings between management and a workforce that is already unionized, or has the potential to become unionized. Labor relations are thus crucial to industries like autos and airlines with heavily unionized workforces. In the United States, labor relations were profoundly affected by the National Labor Relations Act passed during the 1930’s, which gave workers the right to form unions and bargain collectively. Labor relations have been drastically affected by the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, which prohibited the â€Å"closed shop†, as well as, the introduction of right-to-work laws in more than 20 states (Ivancevich, 2010, pgs 477). By the early 21st century, labor relations were less affected by labor unions, to which only 8 percent of private sector workers belonged in 2004, about half of the rate in 1983. The decline reflects the increase in labor relations consultants, who have helped managements avoid unionization (Anonymous, 2010). The presence of a union directly affects most aspects of Human Resources Management, including recruiting, selection, performance evaluation, promotion, compensation, and benefits, among others (Ivancevich, 2010, pg. 34). Unions were once thought of a being for blue-collar factory workers, but now even engineers, nurses, teachers, secretaries, salespersons, college professors, professional football players and even physicians belong to unions. Within my workplace, we have an ongoing informational and educational campaign against the unethical practices of recruitment and enticement for our employees. We offer seminars and counseling in regards to the unionization tactics. While facing declining membership, union officials have turned to highly questionable practice of organizing new members through a process called â€Å"card check†. With card checks, paid union organizers try to persuade workers to sign cards saying that they favor union representation. This persuasion comes in the form of deception, coercion, and harassing visits to worker’s homes. John Ivancevich describes this practice as the â€Å"authorization card† (Ivancevich, 2010, pg. 480). Under current laws, as soon as more than 50 percent of the workers sign a union authorization card, all employees within that organization will be required to participate in the union and pay union dues, even though not a single employee has actually been able to cast a personal, private vote. Often times, individual will sign the cards under intentional or unintentional misunderstandings or to get the organizer to stop harassing them, even though the employee may have no desire to join a union (Anonymous, 2010). Conclusion Human Resources Management is the heart of every organization. It serves as an advocate for each employee, while also protecting the organization from legal repercussions. Whether it is ensuring equal employment opportunity (EEO) compliance, providing job analysis, planning for the future staffing needs and subsequent recruitment and selection of qualified candidates, each of these areas are vital to a well-organized corporation. The HRM is paramount in the motivation, training, and development of employees. Ensuring a positive orientation experience, and concise performance evaluation and compensation will aid in retention and job satisfaction. Finally, the HRM has an extremely important role in labor relations and ensuring the safety, health, and wellness of the workforce. References Anonymous. (2010). When voting isn’t Private. Retrieved on February 26, 2010 from website: http://www. unionfacts. com/articles/cardCheck. cfm Bradley, J. (2002). National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Retrieved on 3/1/2010 from website: http://www. cdc. gov/niosh EEOC Office of Legal Counsel staff members (2006). Title VII: Affirmative Action. Retrieved on February 12, 2010 from website: http://www. eeoc. gov/eeoc/foia/letters/2006/vii_affimative_action. html Frontline. (2002). A Dangerous Business. Frontline Interview with John Henshaw. September 30, 2002. Retrieved on 3/2/2010 from website: http://osha. gov International Labour Organization. Retrieved on February 11, 2010 from website: http://wwwilo. org Ivancevich. J. (2010). Human resource management (11th ed. ). Boston: McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 9780073381466. US Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved on February 10, 2010 from website: http://www. hhs. gov/ohr/workforce/wfpguide. html Reflective Paper Reflective Paper – Effective Human Resources Management Theresa Tapley BUS 303 Dr. Kevin Righter March 13, 2010 Reflective Paper – Effective Human Resources Management Effective Human Resources Management (HRM) plays a major role in ensuring that an organization will survive and prosper. The HRM facilitates the most effective use of people or employees to achieve organizational and individual goals. The HRM consists of numerous activities which include, equal employment opportunity (EEO) compliance, job analysis, human resource planning, the recruitment, selection, motivation, and orientation of employees, performance evaluation and compensation, the training and development of employees, labor relations, and the safety, health, and wellness of the workforce. Effective human resources management plays a vital role in the success of an organization and is an active participant in charting the strategic course of competitiveness, productiveness, and efficiency. An effective HRM focuses on action rather than on record-keeping, written procedure, or rules. Although the use of rules, records, and policies are incorporated, â€Å"action† is the focus. The HRM emphasizes the solution of employment problems to help achieve organizational objectives and facilitate employees’ development and satisfaction. An effective HRM is, also, people-oriented. Whenever possible, the HRM treats each employee as an individual and offers services and program to meet the individual’s needs. An effective HRM program is concerned with helping an organization achieve its objectives in the future by providing for competent, well-motivated employees. Human resources are incorporated into an organization’s long-term strategic plans to assist with ensuring that future growth needs will be adequately staffed with qualified, trained employees (Ivancewich, 2010, pg 5). EEO and Affirmative Action One external factor that has a powerful influence on my company's HRM unction is the equal employment opportunity and human rights legislation, which has a profound effect on our policies and procedures concerning recruiting, selection, evaluation, and promotion. The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is an independent federal agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination complaints based on an individual’s race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability and retaliation for reporting and/or opp osing a discriminatory practice. This commission is empowered to file discrimination suits against employers on behalf of alleged victims and to adjudicate claims of discrimination brought against federal agencies. No other regulatory area has as thoroughly affected HRM as the EEO programs have. It has implications for almost every activity in HRM and sets standards for hiring, recruiting, training, terminating, compensating, evaluating, planning, disciplining, and collective bargaining. Employers, to prevent employment discrimination in the workplace or to take remedial action to offset employment discrimination implement EEO programs, (Ivancevich, 2010, pg 65). According to the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) website, the EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. The laws also apply to all type of work situations, including hiring, firing, promotions, demotions, harassment, training, wages, and benefits. During the employment selection process, each candidate should be evaluated on their qualification of the job requirements, based on their experience, education, and skill set. Many corporations use testing as an important tool. Rae T. Vann, general counsel of the Equal Employment Advisory Council, a national association of large federal contractors, observed, â€Å"When done properly, testing can be a very important tool in the employment selection process, and we commend the Commission on its efforts to improve the quality and fairness of tests and other job screening methods† (Title VII: Affirmative Action, 2006). I encourage my Clinical Managers to become familiar with the provisions of the EEO standards and guidelines. It is essential that they make every effort to seek counsel from our HR dept when initiating the interview and hiring process, dealing with poor performance, disabilities, demotions, appearance of harassment, and training and re-training. Throughout my five years of administrative management, I have unfortunately had to learn HRM and EEOC laws the hard way, through trial and error. With each mistake that I have made, such as not consulting the HR department before decreasing a dual role employee’s hours so that she could focus on one role due to extremely poor performance, I have learned the proper steps to come to the same conclusion. The decrease in hours caused her to lose her benefits and subsequently she filed an EEOC claim of discrimination and retaliation. Fortunately, due to proper documentation of the corrective actions, developmental action plan and the documented counseling, our HRM has adequate information to refute the claim. Now, I consult my HRM representative with any concerns, questions, or updates related to employee situations. Planning, Recruitment, and Selection Human resources planning are the processes by which management ensures that it has the right personnel, who are capable of completing those tasks that help the organization, reach its objectives. It involves forecasting of human resources needs and the projected matching of individuals with expected vacancies (International Labour Organization, 2010). An effective HR plan, also, provides mechanisms to eliminate any gaps that may exist between supply and demand. HR planning determines the numbers and types of employees to be recruited into the organization or phased out of it (Ivancevich, 2010). The Human Resource Planning Process incorporates strategic planning which will have a direct effect on the organization's profitability. The strategic plan must adapt to environmental circumstances. It must forecast how many and what employees are required for the organizations staffing requirements. Next, it must determine how many and what kind of employees are currently employed with the skills and training necessary for the future needs. Finally, after the HR system has analyzed the supply of and the demand or future workers, these two forecasts are compared to determine what action should be taken. Effective workforce planning is a critical element of effective strategic and operational planning. Workforce planning provides managers with a strategic basis for making human resource decisions. It allows managers to anticipate change ather than being surprised by events, as well as providing strategic methods for addressing present and anticipated workforce issues. The US Department of Health and Human Services states, â€Å"Organizational success depends on having the right employees with the right competencies at the right time. Workforce planning provides managers the means of identifying the competencies needed in the workforce not only in the present but in the future and then selecting and developing that workforce† (US Dept. Health and Human Services, 2010). The HR department for my company has implemented a staffing model tool that projects future, potential, or expected growth versus the actual census, the current staffing and skill set of that staff, and calculates the hiring needs of specific positions within the direct and indirect patient care. Once the future needs are determined, then the hiring process begins. Human Resources Development Training and development are processes that attempt to provide an employee with information, skills, and an understanding of the organization and its goals. Training and development are designed to help a person continue to make positive contributions in the form of good performance and advancement within the organization. A solid orientation program is the first step in developing an employee. It reduces anxiety and fears, reduces start-up costs of a new employee, reduces turnover, saves time for supervisors and co-workers, and develops realistic expectations, positive attitudes toward the employer and job satisfaction. Once will established in a specific position, then the manager and employee must set goals for development and advancement. Management and professional development is designed to reduce obsolescence and to increase employees’ satisfaction and productivity. An important part of development is the evaluation process. Performance management is the process by which executives, managers, and supervisors work to align employee performance with the firm’s goals. An effective performance management process determines and evaluates performance, provides feedback to the employees about their performance, and measures and monitors skill-set (Ivancevich, 2010, pg 251). The company that I work for has an excellent formal performance evaluation process that is very effective in the development the employee and the motivation to succeed. Appraising and managing performance at my workplace starts form the day of hire. Each newly hired direct or indirect patient care must attend a through and intensive training program. After 90 days, from date of hire, the new staff member is evaluated for suitability for the position. The manager will present a written 90-day evaluation to the staff member. This evaluation will result in a successful completion of the introductory period, determine a need for an extension of 30 days to improve and meet expectations, or termination due to being unsuitable for the position (this usually occurs when the staff member continually fails to follow policies and procedures and/or causing patient endangerment). Every manager must complete an annual evaluation for staff members under their direct supervision. The score on the evaluation determine the merit increase and caps set forth by the company. When a staff member is failing to follow policy and procedure, putting patient’s safety in jeopardy, tardiness or excessive absenteeism, insubordination, breaking confidentiality and HIPPA regulations, and etc. the manager will conduct corrective action in the form of documented counseling, written corrective action, final corrective action, 3 day suspension, and/or termination. To make this process more effective and ensure compliance with EEOC and federal and state regulations, both next level supervisor and the HR dept representative must approve all final corrective actions, 3-day suspensions, and terminations. Compensation and Benefits There are several reasons that an employer or corporation will offer benefits and services to their employees. One reason is to keep the organization competitive in recruit and retaining employees. Another reason is to keep a union out or because the union has won this during negotiations. Finally, is the fact that providing benefits and service contributed to increased employee performance and job satisfaction (Ivancevich, 2010, pg358). Federal and state governments mandate three benefits programs offered by private and not-for-profit employers. The three mandated programs are unemployment insurance, social security, and workers’ compensation. In addition to the benefits required by law, many employers provide other kinds of benefits voluntarily, such as, compensation for time not worked, insurance protection, retirement plans, FMLA or medical FMLA, life insurance, short and long-term disability, and various retirement programs and stock ownership plans. Some organizations offer tuition reimbursement and flexible benefits plans. Whenever I am interviewing a candidate for a position, I always spend a portion of the interview discussing and explaining our benefit package. Sometimes our hourly rate is not quite as high as our competitor, but our benefits and employee services usually out ways the difference in compensation. Safety and Health The Human Resource Management team of the dialysis company of which I am employed, works very closely with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to ensure that the most acceptable and innovative concepts in employee safety and health are used. The NIOSH is the primary federal agency that conducts research on the safety and health of the workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) of 1970, to provide research, information, education, and training in the field of occupational safety and health established it in 1971 (Bradley, 2002). The NIOSH develops and promotes the use of national and state-based surveillance systems to identify, quantify, and track injuries and illnesses. Epidemiological analysis of these databases helps identify unsafe and unhealthy workplace conditions. NIOSH also supports laboratory and field research to further identify, assess, and control occupational hazards and exposures and the diseases and injuries they cause. In addition to identifying risks, the NIOSH develops and evaluates prevention measures such as control technology, personal protective equipment, and work practices. Through research internally within our company and the NIOSH, many improvements and standards have been put into place for water treatment safety and personal protective equipment. We have strong policies and procedures that protect both the employee and the patient from exposure to health or safety hazards. There are several reasons for establishing good occupational safety and health standards. First, on a moral note, an employee should not have to risk injury or death at work, nor should others associated with the work environment. The second is economical in nature. Many governments realize that poor occupational safety and health performance results in cost to the State, through social security payments to the incapacitated, costs for medical treatment, and the loss of the employability of the worker. The employing organizations also sustain costs in the event of an incident at work, such as legal fees, fines, compensatory damages, investigation time, and lost production, lost goodwill from the workforce, customers, and community. Lastly, from a legal standpoint, the occupational safety and health requirements may be reinforced in civil law and/or criminal law. It is a known fact, that without the extra â€Å"encouragement† of potential regulatory action or litigation, many organizations would not act upon their implied moral obligations. During a Frontline interview with assistant secretary of labor for occupational health and safety, John Henshaw, the question was asked, â€Å"How successful do you think OSHA has been at protecting workers in the United States? † Mr. Henshaw replied, â€Å"In the last 30 years, OSHA has made some tremendous strides in reducing injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. In the last six to eight years, injuries have gone steadily down and fatalities have gone down to the point where they are the lowest ever (Frontline, 2002). The dialysis industry is carefully scrutinized to uphold acceptable OSHA safety and health standards. We, also, have internal auditors that simulate inspections to ensure compliance and safe practices. Employee and Labor Relations Labor relations can refer broadly to any dealings between management and workers about employment conditions. Most commonly, however, labor relations refer to dealings between management and a workforce that is already unionized, or has the potential to become unionized. Labor relations are thus crucial to industries like autos and airlines with heavily unionized workforces. In the United States, labor relations were profoundly affected by the National Labor Relations Act passed during the 1930’s, which gave workers the right to form unions and bargain collectively. Labor relations have been drastically affected by the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, which prohibited the â€Å"closed shop†, as well as, the introduction of right-to-work laws in more than 20 states (Ivancevich, 2010, pgs 477). By the early 21st century, labor relations were less affected by labor unions, to which only 8 percent of private sector workers belonged in 2004, about half of the rate in 1983. The decline reflects the increase in labor relations consultants, who have helped managements avoid unionization (Anonymous, 2010). The presence of a union directly affects most aspects of Human Resources Management, including recruiting, selection, performance evaluation, promotion, compensation, and benefits, among others (Ivancevich, 2010, pg. 34). Unions were once thought of a being for blue-collar factory workers, but now even engineers, nurses, teachers, secretaries, salespersons, college professors, professional football players and even physicians belong to unions. Within my workplace, we have an ongoing informational and educational campaign against the unethical practices of recruitment and enticement for our employees. We offer seminars and counseling in regards to the unionization tactics. While facing declining membership, union officials have turned to highly questionable practice of organizing new members through a process called â€Å"card check†. With card checks, paid union organizers try to persuade workers to sign cards saying that they favor union representation. This persuasion comes in the form of deception, coercion, and harassing visits to worker’s homes. John Ivancevich describes this practice as the â€Å"authorization card† (Ivancevich, 2010, pg. 480). Under current laws, as soon as more than 50 percent of the workers sign a union authorization card, all employees within that organization will be required to participate in the union and pay union dues, even though not a single employee has actually been able to cast a personal, private vote. Often times, individual will sign the cards under intentional or unintentional misunderstandings or to get the organizer to stop harassing them, even though the employee may have no desire to join a union (Anonymous, 2010). Conclusion Human Resources Management is the heart of every organization. It serves as an advocate for each employee, while also protecting the organization from legal repercussions. Whether it is ensuring equal employment opportunity (EEO) compliance, providing job analysis, planning for the future staffing needs and subsequent recruitment and selection of qualified candidates, each of these areas are vital to a well-organized corporation. The HRM is paramount in the motivation, training, and development of employees. Ensuring a positive orientation experience, and concise performance evaluation and compensation will aid in retention and job satisfaction. Finally, the HRM has an extremely important role in labor relations and ensuring the safety, health, and wellness of the workforce. References Anonymous. (2010). When voting isn’t Private. Retrieved on February 26, 2010 from website: http://www. unionfacts. com/articles/cardCheck. cfm Bradley, J. (2002). National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Retrieved on 3/1/2010 from website: http://www. cdc. gov/niosh EEOC Office of Legal Counsel staff members (2006). Title VII: Affirmative Action. Retrieved on February 12, 2010 from website: http://www. eeoc. gov/eeoc/foia/letters/2006/vii_affimative_action. html Frontline. (2002). A Dangerous Business. Frontline Interview with John Henshaw. September 30, 2002. Retrieved on 3/2/2010 from website: http://osha. gov International Labour Organization. Retrieved on February 11, 2010 from website: http://wwwilo. org Ivancevich. J. (2010). Human resource management (11th ed. ). Boston: McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 9780073381466. US Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved on February 10, 2010 from website: http://www. hhs. gov/ohr/workforce/wfpguide. html

Gamification

70 percent of global organizations will have incorporated gamification into at least one element of their training program by 2014 according to research firm Gartner. Gamification, put simply, is the use of game theory in platforms of interaction with employees, customers and the wider community. The advent of game technology allows training providers to integrate the positive reinforcements of gaming into the learning environment.While some may roll their eyes and make some assertion that big business is kowtowing to the younger crowd or that gamification is a passing fad, others embracing it and creating loyalty among customers and higher engagement among training participants. A common discussion among training specialists is the cost-effectiveness of training as some studies show that participants retain a mere 10% of content. Indeed, the prospect of sitting all day listening to someone talk about a topic that you have little interest in would test anyone’s tenacity for un divided attention.So while some readers would have already disengaged with this article (because they have little interest in the topic, maybe gamification would have been a better way to engage the nay-sayers to gamification) let us look further at why gamification works: Games give us real time feedback, if a participant gets something wrong they are corrected immediately. It does not wait for the participant to get back to the workplace, wait for the scenario to arise and fail with real-world clients or profits at stake. Games involve problem solving, which sparks our creativity.Games provide us with fun and enjoyment, which increases the motivation to continue playing and maintain our attention. Games involve goals which provide us with the motivation to complete the tasks. Games are based on storylines, storylines create affiliation and emotional attachment. Gamification could effectively destroy the need for those dreaded performance appraisals be it yearly or quarterly. As th e human resource professional in the organisation we are viewed as the uncool ogre come performance appraisal time. The line managers hate them, the employees fear them and we get sick of reminding everyone to do them.Gamification take the performance appraising away from line managers through developing a standardised inventory of correct answers, the employees are given goals promoting competition between departments, which increases social interaction between employees. The gamification pulls employees in rather than us as HR practitioners and leaders having to push the process onto them. It is amazing what a gold star can actually do. Positions that have KPI’s can now be set up as a game to beat your highest score, beat your co-worker with relevant rewards tied to it.