The rhetoric and reality of employee involvement Essay Example for Free

The rhetoric and reality of employee involvement Essay Introduction – The acceptable business paradigm changed over time. There was a time when the accepted concept of effective management relied largely on what the top management thinks best for the company, leaving the rest of the company especially blue collar workers with little or no participation at all in how a company grows and changes over time. As what Gupta and Sharma (2004) wrote, â€Å"The old fashioned view of employee involvement employee following the employers instruction in return for wage encourages employees to be passive, take a little initiative and often view themselves as adversaries of the enterprise and its management (Gupta and Sharma, 2004, p. 203).† But today, many business analysts believe in the concept of employee involvement and participation. This is a broad concept which includes many things (i.e. employee empowerment, proactive approach towards policy assessment, etc), but the basic precept of employee involvement is the conscious effort of the management to design a workplace that allows employees to actively participate in the manner by which the company moves towards its direction. The concept of employee involvement and participation is an important aspect in successful management of a company. Gennard and Judge (2005) wrote, â€Å"There is this important assumption behind employee involvement theory namely, the employees are an untapped resource with knowledge and experience which can be used by employers if they provide opportunities and structures for worker involvement (Gennard and Judge, 2005, p. 182).† But the main problem today is this: despite the fact that many worker’s rights advocates and business analysts points to the significance of employee involvement in a company, it seems that the concept of employee involvement remains to be a myth; that present organization and structure still renders employee involvement and participation as something that has no bearing at all. Thesis – With the growing surge in the development of professional service consultancy firms, people are also wondering about the exact role and impact that human analyst and employees make during the key stages of analysis. In the age of smart computers and complex software that aids people to think and opt for the best possible option and assists in company management, the question now is (externally) how significant really is the role of the human analysts in the designing of the options for decision making for the company’s client, and (internally), how significant is employee participation in the direction and growth of the company like Analysys Mason Ltd. As a company, Analysys Mason Ltd greatly depends on the skill of its employees so that it can deliver solutions that pushes away existing or prospective problems that a company might face. This act is a clear example of the role of human intervention and role in problem solving. But is this particular solution, the employing of the human role and intervention – is the same formula at work when Analysys Mason Ltd is faced with the task of solving its own internal problems, or does the company exercise a policy that greatly marginalizes the role and participation of the employee in how internal corporate concerns are being addressed in the company? T o be able to ascertain the role and participation of employees in the external and internal efforts of the company and to know whether the company is either suffocating the avenues wherein employee involvement would thrive or ignoring the possible contribution of employee involvement towards company growth, it is important to make an in-depth study of the company as well as review news and other materials that may contain information that can prove the real situation of employee involvement inside Analysys Mason Ltd. To be able to further understand the concept of employee involvement and participation and connect it with the current situation present in the selected company, it is important to also review the available literature that tackles the issue of employment involvement, like the work of Bratton and Gold (2001), who wrote about how â€Å"the aim of employee involvement is to promote workers’ interest in the success of the organization (Bratton and Gold, 200, p. 300).† Conclusion – The analysis of the level of employment involvement using a target company is an ideal approach to creating a company based-assessment from which future studies can be referenced from.   Through studies like this, other important information like the pooling of the needed resources to allow the success of employment involvement strategies can be identified. Bibliography Bratton, John and Jeffrey Gold. (February 2001). Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Byron, James S. and Vitalo, Raphael L. (April 2004). Using Working With Others Training Sessions to Drive Employee Involvement [Internet], Vital Enterprises.Available from: http://www.vitalentusa.com/learn/drive_ei.php [Accessed 4 June 2008]. EmploymentInvolvement.com (2005). [Internet]. http://www.employeeinvolvement.com/ [Accessed 4 June 2008]. Employment Involvement Advisor. (April 23, 2008). Engaging Employees [Internet]. Available from: http://employeeinvolvementadvisor.blogspot.com/ [Accessed 4 June 2008]. Employee Involvement Association (2006). The Employee Involvement Association [Internet]. Available from http://www.eianet.org/ [Accessed 4 June 2008]. Gennard, John and Judge, Graham. (2005). Employee Relations. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. CIPD Publishing. Gifford J, Neathey F, Loukas G. (December 2005). Employee Involvement Information, Consultation and Discretion [Internet]. Report 427, Institute for Employment Studies. Available from http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pubs/summary.php?id=427 [Accessed 4 June 2008]. Gupta, Jatinder N. D.   and Sharma. (2004). Intelligent Enterprises of the 21st Century. Idea Group Incorporated. Insightlink Communications (April 2005). Employers and Employees Making the Marriage Work: The Importance of Employee Commitment [Internet] Available from: http://www.insightlink.com/employee_commitment.html [Accessed 4 June 2008]. The Official Website of Analysys Mason Ltd. Available from: http://www.analysysmason.com/ [Accessed 4 June 2008].

The Egyptian Religion :: essays research papers

The Egyptian Religion The Egyptians had a very influential religion that can be analyzed using the five elements of religion. The characteristics of the Ancient Egyptian's religion can be divided into the five elements of religion: authority, faith, rituals, moral code, and concept of the deity. First, the authority of the Egyptian religion. The main authority of the Egyptian religion was the Pharaoh, he had divine right over the people and was considered a god. Also, he could change the religion any way he wanted, for example in the 14th century BC Akhenaton, the Pharaoh outlawed all gods but Aton, who was the sun god, and this became the first monotheistic religion in history, but it was short lived, for when he died the new Pharaoh overruled the law and restored the other gods. The Egyptians Sacred literature was the â€Å"Book of the Dead† which consisted of 42 â€Å"negative confessions† , spells and prayers. Here is a excerpts from the â€Å"Book of the Dead† 1. I have not acted sinfully toward me 2. I have not oppressed the members of my family 3. I have not done wrong instead of what is right 4. I have known no worthless folk (Encarta ‘96) Their were also what we would call "Priests" who sold the people "magical" items that they said would ensure the dead people a way into heaven. Therefore, the authority of the Egyptian religion was controlled heavily by the government. Second, the Egyptians Faith was an important characteristic of their religion. First, they believed that the Pharaoh was a god, and what he spoke became law. The Egyptians worshipped almost every form of life, the worshipped trees, water, animals, and even vegetables. The Egyptians also believed that a person had 2 souls, the ba and the ka, which left the body at death and then returned later to the body. The Egyptians believed that mummification make sure the ba and the ka would find the body when they returned to the body to transport it to the underworld. The Egyptians also believed that they were the ‘ cattle of the gods', and were controlled by them. They also believed that the gods owned all the land, so they sold all their crops at the temples. Furthermore, their idea of heaven was that it was in the milky way, that stood for a fertile Nile and where good crops grew every year. Their belief in a hell was that the soul was devoured by a savage animal called the ‘Devourer of Souls' and then thrown into a pit of fire. The Egyptians believed that what was placed

Spunk: Kill and Story

Brianna Walton English 101 What Goes Around Comes Around Men’s role in the eyes of society is to be the head of the house, to provide for the family, and to be physically and mentally strong. They are taught not to show their emotions but to bury them. Society has taught us that the aggressive man will run the bigger business, make more money, eventually have a more successful life. Men who tend to be soft spoken and timid are looked at as weak in the eyes of others as well as in society. In Zora Neale Hurston's â€Å"Spunk,† there is a conflict between Joe and Spunk. Spunk is having relations with Lena, Joe's wife. Joe seeks revenge and Spunk kills him. Ultimately Spunk is killed supposedly by Joe's evil spirit. The language captures the tone in the story, which strengthens the saying â€Å"what goes around comes around†. Spunk is looked at as the town’s hero because he is not afraid of anything and he is physically strong, when in all actuality he should not be glorified by the town’s people because he is nothing but a bully. Joe is the exact opposite of Spunk, he is physically weak but mentally strong. The purpose of this story is to show that the physically bigger male doesn’t always win. Karma is always out looking for revenge and eventually the man that has spunk will be shown. Spunk is first introduced as a giant brown-skinned man that’s known for his bravery. The town’s people rejoice as they see him even though he is walking arm and arm with someone else’s wife. He is seen as the â€Å"ideal† male because he is strong and brave. Joe’s introduction is completely different. He is immediately looked at as weak by the town’s people because at the mention of his wife you could see the pain he was suffering in his eyes, his face, his hands, and even the dejected slump of his shoulders showed the pain he was suffering from the absence of his wife. It is obvious that Joe is not respected by his peers. Joe pulls out the razor to show them that he plans on killing Spunk, they don’t believe that he has what it takes to kill Spunk. They even go as far as laughing boisterously behind his back as they watched him go into the woods. The overall tone used in â€Å"Spunk† is seriousness and irony. The serious tone is shown when its seen that Joe’s wife is having a public affair: â€Å"Now Joe knew his wife had passed that way. He knew that the men lounging in the general store had seen her, moreover, he know that the men knew he knew. † This means Hurston uses this conflict to create a serious tone in the story. Moreover, a bigger conflict with Joe and Spunk occurs: â€Å"Joe came out there wid a meat axe an' made me kill him. This also sets up a serious tone. Hurston uses this conflict to fuel the next part of the tone in the story. There is also ironic tone in the story † But Spunk says twan't no bob-cat nohow. He says it was Joe done sneaked back from hell! † The author sets this tone up by making the story supernatural and spiritual. The mood in the story that seemed to arise was anger. The first part of the anger is towards Lena. â€Å"Lena looked at him real disgusted but s he don't answer and she don't move outa her tracks. She was cheating on her husband in public. She should have divorced him or fully left Joe, instead of mistreating and humiliating him in public. The second part of the anger is towards Joe. â€Å"One could actually see the pain he was suffering, his eyes, his face, his hands, and even the dejected slump of his shoulders. † The reader wonders why Joe let Lena and Spunk make a fool out of him. For that, the reader is angry at Joe’s timid personality. In â€Å"Spunk,† Hurston uses a series of language devices. The allusion element is vividly used: â€Å"Joe came out there wid a meat axe an made me kill him. He sent Lena home and led the men back to Joe-crumpled and limp with is right hand still clutching his razor. † Hurston sets Spunk up to be an over-exaggerator in the story without saying he is. The author also uses the conversation between the Elijah and Walter to exhibit the distinctive dialogue: â€Å"Ah like him fine but tain't right the way he carries on wid Lena Kanty, jus' 'cause Joe's timid about fightin'. This form of down south olden' days slang give a different edge to the story, that the reader does not experience in modern day. The story displays a dramatic irony: â€Å"It was Joe, â€Å"Lige that dirty sneak shoved me†¦ he didn't dare come to mah face†¦ † This makes the reader say isn't that ironic. Hurston displays Spunk to be the bad guy he is that killed the good guy, then is killed. In the beginning of the story an allusion is presented to the reader: † Looka theah folks! cried Elijah Mosley, slapping his knee gleefully. ‘Theah they go, big as life an' brassy as tacks. † This gives the reader the conception that there is going to be some drama in the story. The dialogue in this story establishes realism: â€Å"Gimme some soda water. Sass'prilla, Ah Reckon. † The dialect shows the reader the setting is probably during the days when blacks did not have an education or wasn't really allowed to get educated. The dramatic irony enriches and evokes the central idea: â€Å"If spirits kin fight, there's a powerful tussle goin' on somewhere ovah Jordan, cause Ah b'leeve Joe's ready for Spunk an'aint skeered of anymore†¦ Karma gave the illusion that Joe returned and killed Spunk. However Spunk's guiltiness about killing Joe led him to his fate. The dominant element of â€Å"Spunk† is the central idea, karma. Hurston exhibits karma: † He pushed me ‘Lige-the dirty hound pushed me in the back! † Spunk Banks was claiming Joe Kanty's evil spirit kill him. Spunk took Joe's wife and killed him, nevertheless Spunk died. This is a classic case of what goes around comes around.

A Comparison of the Power of Will in Heart of Darkness...

The Power of Will in Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now The story of Heart of Darkness was adapted to film after many failed attempts. (Hearts of Darkness, Coppala E.). Finally, director Francis Coppala collaborated with his friend John Milius on writing a screen play for Conrads masterpiece. The two came up with Apocalypse Now, utilizing a more modern setting than the original story which was based in imperialistic Europe. The modern setting was that of the Vietnam war. Apocalypse Now focuses on the insanity of a decorated military colonial. Kurtz intended to enlighten the natives, but instead he circums to the primal temptations of the jungle and goes insane. (Hearts of Darkness, Coppala E.) The fiction of†¦show more content†¦Innocent people and families were slaughtered. Images of blood and death were seen everyday as common to soldiers as smiles are to civilians. The ivory trade in imperialistic Europe, as seen in Heart of Darkness, is another example of suffering and mans evil nature. Through mans inhumanity to the elephants in hunting them and slaughtering them for their tusks, to in turn trade for the necessities of life such as food, water, and shelter. Both of these show mans will to live and survive, be it in battle or in everyday life. Willards [in the book this character is named Marlow and in the film his name is Willard, I will refer to him as Willard] mission to terminate [Kurtz] with extreme prejudice (Apocalypse Now), is one that induces suffering and is just as unjust or inhumane as the previous examples. Society as people see it is a mirror reflecting will, Everything in the phenomenal world is merely the manifestation of this perverse will, or, as he [Schopenhauer] called it, an objectification of the will [that is to say, the will passed through the categories and the grid mark of space and time] (Palmer). Man has made laws and morals as the foundations for rationality to protect the people from their will or primitive instincts. These instincts work much like nature does, unconsciously, and these instincts include sex and violence, but are not limited to these. Kurtz journeyed out to the jungleShow MoreRelatedHeart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now Essay1782 Words   |  8 PagesEXTENSION ESSAY – Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now The dark core of human nature has been a timeless notion, explored and extrapolated by many literary critics. Both the core text,  Heart of Darkness  by Joseph Conrad and its film appropriation,  Apocalypse Now  directed by Francis Ford Coppola, ignite interest as to question whether  humans are essentially creatures of dark nature when stripped down to bare essentials. 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