Tuesday, October 15, 2019

The White Dress Poem Essay Example for Free

The White Dress Poem Essay The White Dress is an expressionism poem discussing a powerful, universal connection with the dress hanging in the woman’s closet. She analyzes how she thinks the dress sitting in the closet would feels, should it be alive, ready to be at her service upon demand, cosmetically. When she wears decorative highly fashionable dress, the dress becomes a part of her, and the woman becomes part of the dress. The two are inseparable, like she is describing two special people feel towards each other. The white dress described in this poem is a formal dress, taken out for special occasions. Of all the dresses in her closet, and even other white dresses in her closet, this is the dress she writes an analytical emotional poem about. Perhaps she is discussing a one time special occasion when she was wearing the dress, perhaps when she got engaged, met a special friend, or maybe she is expressing her desire to wear the formal reserved dress more often.   The deep fascination she has with the dress is very intriguing, because the strongest emotional empowerment she feels to the dress is invisible, but overwhelming.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In her line in the first paragraph â€Å"We itch to feel it, it itches to feel us, it feels like an itch† (Emanuel, par. 1 lines 3, 4). This line is saying there is an underlying emotional reason why she was attracted to purchase that particular dress in the store, amongst all other dresses. Everyone, or at least all women, experience this â€Å"sudden click† when they see a dress or other item when shopping. There are items everyone buys, for example everyone needs clothes. Most clothes are purchased because the look good, or we need them for something coming up. Then there are items that click with us. When this happens, we always just happen to have the money, sometimes it may be barely enough, and more often than not, it is on clearance or better than average price. When she talks about mutual â€Å"itch† she is describing that sudden click when we see an item calling out to us in the store.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Next paragraphs she speaks about its decorations, the actual character or identity of the dress. â€Å"Encrusted with beading, its an eczema 5 of sequins, rough, gullied, riven, puckered with stitchery† (Emanuel, Par. 2 lines 5, 6, 7). †Bouquet of a woman’s body, or its armor and it fits like a glove.† She is saying she becomes the decorations, comparing her body to a bouquet of flowers, the dress acting as a vase. There is a phrase or saying in professional ballroom and salsa dancing, the man is the frame and the woman is the picture. The dress frames or outlines her body, like a vase, but she is the actual attraction inside the dress. But she is enslaved to the dress to make her look good. â€Å"When we’re in it we’re machinery.† (Emanuel, Par 4, line 13).   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Right now it’s lonely locked up in the closet; while we’re busy fussing at our vanity† (Emanuel, Par. 5, 6 Lines 15, 16, 17).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The tonality of this poem is consistent from beginning to end. A woman talks about a formal dress in her closet reserved for special occasions. She obviously had a very special event with the dress, probably meeting a special person or friend who made am important impact on her life. Not many of us think about any of the clothes sitting in our closet, not even the formals that stand out until we are planning an occasion we will wear the dress, or within the first few moments we bring it home. There is a hint of guilt in some of her lines, talking about the dress sitting in the closet, waiting for it to be called upon again.   This poem sums up her powerful invisible connection to the dress, talking about it like it much more than just another item. She identifies herself with the dress, almost like she is becoming another person or going into another realm of the universe when she puts on this dress.

Monday, October 14, 2019

An analysis of the budgeting in management accounting

An analysis of the budgeting in management accounting With the fast development of in the area of management accounting, more and more managers are aware of the importance of the budgeting, budgeting is an important control system in almost all organizations (Stephen C. Hansen, Wim A. Van der Stede, 2004, Management Accounting Research, Multiple facets of budgeting: an exploratory analysis,), and it provides an expression of the steps which management must take in the current period if it is to fulfil organizational objectives. (M.W.E.Glautier and B.Underdown. (1997) Accounting Theory and Practice, p531, 6th Edition, Great Britain: PITMAN PUBLISHING). This paper will discuss that what is budgeting and the budgeting committee, the budgeting purpose and types of budget, the benefits and limitations in the budget, and how to be a successful budgeting. The budgeting process focuses on the medium term period, normally one year, and it is an expression of plan in monetary terms, which is aim to achieve the organizational objectives, as Colin Drury said the budget is a financial plan for implementing the various decisions that management has made.(Colin Drury. (2008) MANAGEMENT AND COST ACCOUNTING. p10, 7th Edition, China: GENGAGE Learning) The various decisions are covered in cost and revenues, cash flow, assets and liabilities. In additional, the annual budget likely to be sub-divided for reporting periods, such as monthly budget reports, because the risk can be reduced in the monthly budgets and it helps managers easy to find the problems during the operation. In organizations, budgeting is often in the hands of a budgeting committee (M.W.E.Glautier and B.Underdown. (1997) Accounting Theory and Practice, p533, 6th Edition, Great Britain: PITMAN PUBLISHING), so the members of the budget committee is very important. For example, in the sales budgeting process, marketing department may be deliberately underestimated future sales, thus contributing to their performance evaluation. However, underestimate the quantity of sales will result in a corresponding reduction in production, which means the production will not be able to achieve the most efficient state. Another example, some department may padding the expenses in order to get more budget funds, resulting in a waste of money. Therefore, the budget committee should consist of the various important department managers, and some high-level executives be the leader. Furthermore, it usually has an accountant to be the budget officer in the budget committee, the role of the budget officer is to coordinate the individual budgets into a budget for the whole organization, so that the budget committee and the budgetee can see the impact of an individual budget on the organization as a whole. (Colin Drury. (2008) MANAGEMENT AND COST ACCOUNTING. p357, 7th Edition, China: GENGAGE Learning). The budgeting purposes and types of budget setting There are six useful purposes of budgeting, which are planning, coordinating, communicating, motivating, controlling and evaluating. Therefore, the budget will help managers through the planned activities to determine the target of the organisation and allowed managers to consider all possible situations. however it not only to reflect projected revenue and expenditure budget as of the amount of financial figures, the budget is a kind of resource allocation, input and output of the program content, quantity, and the input-output timing details. Through the budget, so that business managers can have clear objectives. In addition, the budget serves as a vehicle through which the actions of the different parts of an organization can be brought together and reconciled into a common plan. (Colin Drury. (2008) MANAGEMENT AND COST ACCOUNTING. P355, 7th Edition, China: GENGAGE Learning) and it is an effective way of the communication in the organization. Managers and staff can be motivated b y the budget because of it can help to enhance the predictability and avoid blind behavior and thereby to motivate they to complete the objectives. The Budget is based on quantitative way to show management standards, it can thus be judged according to the budget implementation effectiveness of the work and analyze differences improve their work. Two types of the budget setting are top down and bottom up. The table of illustration as following TOP DOWN BOTTOM UP OVERALL BUDGET FUNCTIONAL BUDGETS DEPARTMENTAL BUDGETS In the top down way, it typically start with overall budget then broken down into functional budgets and then into departmental. If budget setting is top down, it can be directly link to the organization objectives and reflected to the authority and mandatory of budget. However, it may be limited of the information from lower levels thus that separated from reality and may reduce the effect of budget in planning, coordination and control. On the other hand, in the bottom up way, it typically start with departmental budgets then build up into functional budgets and then into overall budget. Similarly, if budget setting is bottom up, although it can solve the lack of the information from lower levels, but the exchange of information in each department may be not enough thus plans of one department is conflict with others, therefore the lack of coordination will arise. To solve those problems, the budget setting should be repeated between individuals and the budget committee. Firstly, the objectives proposed by the budget committee, such as the quantity of sales, production costs and target profits. Next, use those indicators to discuss with the various departments in order to reach an agreement, and then the budget committee will based on the agreement to determine the master budget and give to the departments. After this, the various departments based on the master budget to set out departmental budgets and build up into functional budgets. Finally, the budget committee use those individuals budget to set out the final master budget and gives to each department. The benefits and limitations The budget has some benefits to the organization, and it will show in the figure as follow: Provide a basis for a system of control Budgets Provide a system of authorization Help co-ordinate the various sections of the business Motivate managers to better performance Promote forward thinking and identification of short-term (Perter Atrill. Eddie McLaney. (2008) Accounting and Finance for Non- specialists. P312. 6th edition. Essex: Prentice Hall Europe.) However, the budget has also been found a number of limitations, such as the time lag in the system, which means the results of last month may not be reported in time and be delayed to next month or later. Moreover, there will always be some changes in the organization during the budget period; such as the shortage of funds, labour and materials, and the budget may be impacted thus the objective of organization cannot achieve the optimal state. To be successful budgeting As we have discussed in this paper, there are some limitations of the budget, and those limitations may lead to it hard to implement and dissatisfaction may express regarding how budgeting operates in practice. The following is some way to solve those problems and make the budgeting more successful. Firstly, the budget should be always concerned to achieve the objectives of organization, and need to avoid to only focus on its own target, the reasons of the budget may only focus on its own target and forget the objectives is that it may not properly reflect the requirements of objectives.. In order to prevent the replacement of the budget target, it should enable the budget to more reflect with the organizations objectives. Secondly, the budgeting should be flexibility, it because of that business conditions are always changing. Although we have planned the business conditions for the situation may occur in the future and make appropriate action to deal with changes, but on the one hand the budget setting cannot cover everything, and on the other hand the situations are always changing that some problems cannot be foresee. Therefore, it is necessary to view the budgeting process as a guide to future action, rather than a rigid plan which must be followed irrespective of changing circumstances.(M.W.E.Glautier and B.Underdown. (1997) Accounting Theory and Practice, p532, 6th Edition, Great Britain: PITMAN PUBLISHING) Conclusion In conclusion, budgeting is an important tool for management planning and control, and it has some useful functions for businesses and organizations, but it also has great limitations. The key point in the budgeting is make the benefits of it to be maximum, and reduce the limitations and solve problems during the period, thereby the budgeting can be achieved the most effective level. References ¼Ã… ¡ Colin Drury. (2008) MANAGEMENT AND COST ACCOUNTING. 7th Edition, China: GENGAGE Learning M.W.E.Glautier and B.Underdown. (1997) Accounting Theory and Practice. 6th Edition, Great Britain: PITMAN PUBLISHING Perter Atrill. Eddie McLaney. (2008) Accounting and Finance for Non- specialists. 6th edition. Essex: Prentice Hall Europe. Stephen C. Hansen, Wim A. Van der Stede. (2004) The electronic journal: Management Accounting Research, Multiple facets of budgeting: an exploratory analysis. P415-439. ScienceDirect [online] ¼Ã… ½ Available at ¼Ã… ¡http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B6WMY-4DN9VP9-1_user=128592_rdoc=1_fmt=_orig=search_sort=d_docanchor=view=c_searchStrId=1095268002_rerunOrigin=google_acct=C000010620_version=1_urlVersion=0_userid=128592md5=f55e2a67d72ee304d2f1bc3f24de73eb

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Entrapment and Confinement :: essays research papers

People encounter restrictions and restraints daily: doors, walls, gates. The most frequently used and arduous are those that are intangible, be it in a job or social life, whether physical or emotional, literal or figurative. Both the tangible and intangible are seen in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† and John Steinbeck’s â€Å"The Crysanthemums†. Though written by members of the opposite sex, both authors are able to capture the feelings of physical and emotional imprisonment that causes a gradual mental breakdown. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† traces the treatment of a woman who descends from depression to madness in the male-imposed psychiatric confinement of her room, while the wife, Elisa, in â€Å"The Crysanthemums†, reflects an internal struggle with herself to find her place in a world of definite gender roles. The situations of the two women are similar: talents and dreams, hopes and desires, shunned by the husb ands and times of the women, which leads to hysteria; though similar, the women to conduct themselves ways drastically different from one another, which determines whether the women lose their sanity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The narrator in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† and Elisa Allen of â€Å"The Crysanthemums† both have husbands who fancy the idea of knowing what their wives want and need. With such attitudes and beliefs, these men contribute to the feeling of confinement that ultimately leads to the loss of sanity of their wives. The narrator’s husband also assumes that he knows what is best for his wife. He thinks isolation and confinement will cure her â€Å"nervous depression.† Nevertheless, this â€Å"cure† makes her weak; it transforms her into a woman gone mad. On the way to dinner, Elisa asks her husband about the fights and his immediate reply is, â€Å"We can go if you want, but I don’t think you would like them much.† He cannot fathom the idea that she may actually enjoy this non-feminine event.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The two women follow the pattern of those going mad: eventually, they begin to see things and form relationships with the images that reside only in their minds. The narrator gives into the figments of her imagination and begins to metamorphose this â€Å"thing† she imagines behind the wallpaper as a hallucinogenic image of herself. This â€Å"woman† becomes a deadly combination: best friend and worst enemy. She views the woman as trapped, and, in order to free herself from this non-fulfilling life, she must free the woman. Elisa also receives an uninvited guest, a tinker who she perceives as the perfect emblem of freedom.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Culture and Values Terms :: essays research papers

High and Popular Culture High culture is a term referring to the "best of breed" (from some elitist viewpoints) cultural products. What falls in this category is defined by the most powerful sections of society, i.e. its social, political, economic and intellectual elite. The opposite of high cultural art forms, such as the opera, historic art, classical music, traditional theatre or literature; popular culture includes many forms of cultural communication including newspapers, television, advertising, comics, pop music, radio, cheap novels, movies, jazz, etc. In the beginning of the 20th Century, "high art" was the realm of the wealthy and educated classes while popular culture or "low art" was considered commercial entertainment for the lower classes. In the 1950s and 60s the gap between high and low art closed with the rise of Pop Art. Post colonialism This term describes the situation in existence since a majority of countries have achieved their political independence from Britain and other Western European powers such as Spain, France, Portugal, Holland, Belgium and Germany. Post colonialism describes the cultural, intellectual, political, and literary movement of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries characterized by the representation and analysis of the historical experiences of the victims, individuals and nations, of colonial power. A recent site of postcolonial change in the English-speaking world is the formal overthrowing of the "apartheid" system in South Africa. Post colonialism has transformed our sense of what we are about; and such impressive changes will naturally have important implications on English studies. Multiculturalism Similar to Post colonialism, multiculturalism has transformed our sense of what society and culture is about. Multiculturalism describes the status of several different ethnic, racial, religious or cultural groups co-existing in harmony in the same society. The existence of multiculturalism in the Western World today has expanded the English literary world, displacing the narrow notions of literature and increasing recognition of non-Western-European genres of writing, oral performance and cultural production for example legends, histories, laws, fables, anecdotes, oratory, song, chant, and song and dance. Culture itself is a broad term, therefore there are various views on what multicultural can mean. It can describe the existence of a multiracial society, in which case emphasis is placed on people's physical attributes i.e. Hair texture and skin colour. It can also describe the existence of multiethnic society, where the emphasis is placed more on people's social organisation or cu lture rather than physical make-up. Cultural differences of all kinds that exist in society can also describe the term multiculturalism, including differences of class, rank, caste, sexuality, gender, occupation, region, age etc. Culture and Values Terms :: essays research papers High and Popular Culture High culture is a term referring to the "best of breed" (from some elitist viewpoints) cultural products. What falls in this category is defined by the most powerful sections of society, i.e. its social, political, economic and intellectual elite. The opposite of high cultural art forms, such as the opera, historic art, classical music, traditional theatre or literature; popular culture includes many forms of cultural communication including newspapers, television, advertising, comics, pop music, radio, cheap novels, movies, jazz, etc. In the beginning of the 20th Century, "high art" was the realm of the wealthy and educated classes while popular culture or "low art" was considered commercial entertainment for the lower classes. In the 1950s and 60s the gap between high and low art closed with the rise of Pop Art. Post colonialism This term describes the situation in existence since a majority of countries have achieved their political independence from Britain and other Western European powers such as Spain, France, Portugal, Holland, Belgium and Germany. Post colonialism describes the cultural, intellectual, political, and literary movement of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries characterized by the representation and analysis of the historical experiences of the victims, individuals and nations, of colonial power. A recent site of postcolonial change in the English-speaking world is the formal overthrowing of the "apartheid" system in South Africa. Post colonialism has transformed our sense of what we are about; and such impressive changes will naturally have important implications on English studies. Multiculturalism Similar to Post colonialism, multiculturalism has transformed our sense of what society and culture is about. Multiculturalism describes the status of several different ethnic, racial, religious or cultural groups co-existing in harmony in the same society. The existence of multiculturalism in the Western World today has expanded the English literary world, displacing the narrow notions of literature and increasing recognition of non-Western-European genres of writing, oral performance and cultural production for example legends, histories, laws, fables, anecdotes, oratory, song, chant, and song and dance. Culture itself is a broad term, therefore there are various views on what multicultural can mean. It can describe the existence of a multiracial society, in which case emphasis is placed on people's physical attributes i.e. Hair texture and skin colour. It can also describe the existence of multiethnic society, where the emphasis is placed more on people's social organisation or cu lture rather than physical make-up. Cultural differences of all kinds that exist in society can also describe the term multiculturalism, including differences of class, rank, caste, sexuality, gender, occupation, region, age etc.

Friday, October 11, 2019

The Role of a Critical Care Nurse

In the article, Legal Aspects of End of Life Care. author, Nurse Claire M. McGowan, explains that when performing the role of a critical care nurse acting as the advocate for the patient, his/her family, and significant others, it Is essential that the nurse has an understanding of legal implications associated with end of life care. McGowan goes on to provide information on the legal principles involved In end-of-life care, specifically addressing: limitations in treatment, assessing capacity and using surrogate decision makers and medical futility.In order to explain limitations in reatment, McGowan begins by listing what the courts have established as Ilfe sustaining treatments which include: mechanical ventilation, blood transfusions, dialysis, chemotherapy, artificial nutrition, and hydration. Although a competent or incompetent terminally ill patient with advances directives has the right has to refuse these treatments, there are rare cases when the state court may override tha t right: preservation of life, prevention of suicide, protection of third parties such as children, and preserving the Integrity of the medical profession (McGowan, 2011).Next, ccording to McGowan, if a patient is deemed incompetent the patient may be assigned a surrogate to make decisions on their behalf with respect to their advance directives. If a there is no advanced directive or surrogate appointed to the patient then the medical team may determine the plan of care for the patient (McGowan, 2011 Lastly, McGowan addresses medical futility, defined, as such, when treatment is no longer deemed a benefit to the patient. According to McGowan, arriving at this determination and accepting futility Is often stressful, inciting disagreements between the patients/surrogates and medical professionals involved.In order to resolve conflicting Interests, McGowan suggests a variety of methods that can be utilized to improve communication between the two parties including: making attempts to negotiate understanding between parties as to what constitutes futile care before conflict arises, using joint decision making, and using consultants to reach satisfactory resolution of disagreements. If these methods fail to help unite the parties' decision an ethics committee may be utilized to reach a determination, the patient may be transferred to another medical provider within the institution or to another Institution altogether (McGowan, 2011).In my opinion, Nurse McGowan clearly presented how important it is for a critical care nurse to have a working knowledge of the legal aspects of end of life care and how he/she can help to make sure that the patient's rights are respectfully carried out either directly or indirectly during end of life. After reading this article, It was impressed upon me that since the nurse is the main point of contact with the patient, family, and significant others during treatment, It becomes the responsibility of the nurse to help mediate conflict s that may arise during care, in order to protect the patient's best interests.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Secularization

Historically, â€Å"secularization† first referred to the process of transferring property from religious jurisdiction to that of the state or other no religious authority. In this organizational sense, â€Å"secularization† still means the decline of formal religious authority for example; in education, prisons, and hotel room bedside tables. Institutional secularization has been fueled by the breakdown of a unified Christendom since the Reformation, on the one hand, and by the increasing validation of society and culture from the Enlightenment to modern scientific society, on the other. Some political analysts prefer the term â€Å"laicization† to describe this institutional secularization of society, that is, the replacement of official religious control by no religious authority. [1][2] It is clear that these two forces represent opposite tendencies of thought. To insist upon the principles of traditional Christianity is to rob modern views of its very life; it opposes pessimism to the optimism of modern thought. And yet reconciliation between the two is not absolutely impossible. It can take place, however, only as the result of a modification of the current view of Christianity. A new conception of religion must make itself felt, and this change can be readily effected. It must center on the person of Jesus and must abandon its dogmatic system. In the person and in the preaching of Christ, as an historical phenomenon, we have the basis for an understanding between Christianity and the culture of our day. Jesus himself never accepted the total corruption of man as the basis of his preaching. Rather it was an ideal of moral perfection that he held up to his believers–of life in God and activity according to his will. 2] Secularism has also influenced Western art since the Classical period, while most art of the last 200 years has been produced without suggestion to religion and often with no particular ideology at all. On the other hand, Western art has often been influenced by politics of one kind or another, of the state, of the benefactor and of the artist. While institutional and ideological secularization have been preceded at the same time over the past few centuries, the relationship between the two is not exact or necessary. Even in a medieval, Constantinian setting, formally religious in character, men and women were not untouched from having their life, thought, and work shaped by secular influences. In an institutionally secular (laicized) society it is possible for individuals and groups to live, think, and work in ways that are motivated and guided by God and religion. [1] With a great deal of emphasis on contemporary discussions of Christianity and secularism the confrontational Letters and Papers from Prison penned by writer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, because the work is incomplete leaves much to the imagination and not enough fact. Bonhoeffer's notions start heavy debates on the meaning and implications starting with titles like: â€Å"Christian worldliness,† â€Å"man-come-of-age,† the world's arrival at â€Å"adulthood,† and the need for a â€Å"non-religious interpretation of Biblical terminology. † Other writers Friedrich Gogarten (The Reality of Faith, 1959), Paul van Buren (The Secular Meaning of the Gospel, 1963), Harvey Cox (The Secular City, 1965), Ronald Gregor Smith (Secular Christianity, 1966), and the â€Å"death-of-God†: all leave little to the imagination just as Bonhoeffer’s does. These are examples of those who have shadowed one possible course. Kenneth Hamilton (Life in One's Stride, 1968) denies that this is the best way to interpret Bonhoeffer and argues that these writers hesitated in his indispensable, orthodox attitude. [2] Of course, the differences between the sacred and the secular is an undeniable gap; In the same way that God speaks and acts Christians must speak and act inventively and full of redemption for there actions. In all cases, Christian life in the secular world is to be carried out under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and in compliance to the will of God rather than the will of the world. Christians may work to ensure that the Word of God is heard and is given room among the many other voices which will constitute the diverse whole. To insist that the Word of God be imposed on all without exception is to fall once again into an unbiblical oppression. To fail to articulate the Word of God in the saeculum, however, is to give in in a secularism which, by excluding the Creator, can lead only to death. Deliverance from sin and forgiveness of sin were indeed emphasized in his preaching; but his dominant thought was that of struggle toward an ideal moral life. This is the idea that must take possession of modern Christianity, if it is to be reconciled with modern views and civilization and to win for itself the educated classes. Not as a dogmatic system, but as a moral power, based on the powerful personality of Jesus, must Christianity be proclaimed to the thinking people of our times?

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Personnel Administration

Personnel Administration This lesson complies with the following course outcomes: CO 3: To analyze the policy and decision making process in public administration CO 5 : To discuss the importance of ethics in public administration Synopsis While the country’s public administration is considered an important machinery of the government, the people; men and women who devote their time more than eight hours a day are the key to successful public service. The public administrators of any country share the same goal to deliver services as best as possible to the citizen.Unlike their counterpart in the private sector, employees of the public sector made up a huge team of officers and staff paid through public fund to deliver services. In Malaysia alone, the public service is an employer to more than 1 million people around the country. Thus, the administration of these personnel surely isn’t a joking business. As time goes by and with the introduction of sophisticated managem ent systems and technologies, the personnel of the public service need to be trained and re-trained continuously to keep up. 89Personnel Administration in the Public Sector While the country’s public administration is considered an important machinery of the government, the people; men and women who devote their time more than eight hours a day are the key to successful public service. The public administrators of any country share the same goal to deliver services as best as possible to the citizen. Unlike their counterpart in the private sector, employees of the public sector made up a huge team of officers and staff paid through public fund to deliver services. In Malaysia alone, the ublic service is an employer to more than 1 million people around the country. Thus, the administration of these personnel surely isn’t a joking business. As time goes by and with the introduction of sophisticated management systems and technologies, the personnel of the public service need to be trained and re-trained continuously to keep up. So, who are these massive staff of the public service? Of course, they must be people with good calibre and worthy to be appointed into the service. One of the most important characteristics of modern public personnel dministration is the merit system or a system of appointment and promotion based on recognized ability and capability such as tertiary education, skills and experience. Historically, Prussia, one of the constituent states of what was to become modern Germany, was the first modern nation to institute a merit system. It was this German civil service that inspired Max Weber’s famous â€Å"ideal-type† bureaucratic model. In 1789, this system was The mertit system adopted by France, British-India in 1830s and in Britain in 1850s. 1 pposses any criteria of recruitment and promotion based on political preferences, nepotism and discrimination, also known as the â€Å"spoils system†. 1 Jay Shafritz, Albert Hyde and David Rosenbloom (1986). Personnel Management in Government: Politics and Process, New York: Marcel Dekker. 90 With the huge number of staff working for the public service, government ought to give attention to their welfare and career advancement. You see, working with the public service is actually a career because government provide opportunity for each staff to improve himself/herself throughout heir years of service. They can be trained, promoted, and transferred for job enrichment. All these are done through what we called public personnel administration. Public personnel administration covers â€Å"all activities that forecast on the number and type of employees which an organization will need and then find, and develop them with necessary skills† (Robert D. Gatewood). It is â€Å"concerning both the management of and the policy making for people, and positions in the government bureaucracy† (Nicholas Henry). Important functions of Personnel Adm inistrationSome of the most important functions of personnel administration include the followings: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Formulation of rules and regulations for an appointment which include terms and conditions of employment Establishment of suitable and reasonable remuneration system or the reward system Recruitment Promotion to encourage the most suitable and qualified people to apply and fill in the job Provision of attractive and long term career development Provision of sufficient and suitable training and development Application of fair and just disciplinary system Provision of fair and equitable welfare system Application of attractive pension system upon retirement 91As a career employment, each job in the public sector is well thought of before initializing recruitment. The government is very careful in identifying the needs of each job. For example, a government’s clerk should be able to conduct functions that are required from him/her at whichever department or agency. That is why the basic requirements needed for a person to fill in the post of a government clerk would be the same across the country. Thus, the government would need to enlist those needed requirements and advertise them to encourage qualified persons to apply and finally fill in the post. The process can be applied to all jobs within the public sector. The government should also be an ‘equal opportunity employer’.What it means is that public sector jobs should not only open to specific races, gender or religious background. The government must be an employer to all. However, there are some posts in the government that would require special criteria and skills. Take for example, anyone who would like to join the armed forces, police force or any other regimented bodies should pass the medical tests. This requirement cannot be considered as discriminating against those who are medically unfit. It is just that some occupations would require individual who possesses certain skills and capabilities. When one is hired into the service, the job should prepare him/her for further advancement.This is done through training, development, transfer, attachment and promotion. Employees undergo annual appraisal process in which the department would be able to tell the persons about their performances and readiness to shoulder more important responsibilities. These processes are well explained in Max Weber ideal-type bureaucracy as you have learned in the previous lessons. Among them is the guaranteed reward or compensation paid to the employees in terms of monthly salary. Now lets us look at the different processes of personnel administration. 92 Human Resource Planning In the previous section, I have briefly explained some of the processes involved in human resource planning.Planning is a very important aspect of personnel administration. If you failed in your personnel planning, then the productivity o f the organization will be at stake. According to Edgar Schein, â€Å"†¦ if you wrongly hired a person to any posts, then you would need to spend a lot of money to train and re-train the person to put him/her at par with requirements of the job†. Well, that is considered if he/she has the right attitude. It the public sector, there are numerous rules and procedures to follow that once a person is hired, it is difficult to fire under normal circumstances. Thus, taking in the right the person for a particular job is very, very critical.It all begins proper planning for the job by the personnel manager or administrator. Firstly, the manager should perform an in depth study about what the job will perform and ultimately a ‘list of duties or functions’ will be made ready for the job. Some call it the ‘job specifications’. Second, the manager needs to identify the right qualifications, skills and experiences of the potential candidate. Third, the mana ger also needs to ascertain the remuneration and other allowances for the candidate. Forth, the manager should also concern in identifying various training programs for the candidate’s later professional development. Criteria and Methods of RecruitmentWhen a public manager has prepared the request for a new post or to fill in a vacant post, approval needs to be gained from the higher authorities. This may refer to a higher office such as from a district office to the state office, from state office to the main office say in Putrajaya or from the main office to the Central Agency, Public Service Department (JPA). The request from the original manager will be studied and upon approval from the central agency, the request will be submitted to the Public Service Commission (SPA) for recruitment exercise. Some agencies are given the empowerment to hire when JPA has granted the ‘warrant to hire’. However, most hiring by government departments except for part time and c ontractual jobs are conducted by the SPA. 93Some of the criteria that will be considered for hiring purposes would include the followings: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Academic qualification Age Skill (technical staff) Working experiences Health Working ability Attitude (cooperation, passion and etc) Interest in work The recruiting bodies (either SPA or the relevant agencies) would first need to advertise vacancies in a wide communication medium. This would include newspapers, television and radio channels, websites, letters to associations etc. It is very important that the government use all these mediums to reach almost everyone that are qualified to fulfill its role as an equal-opportunity-employer. Candidates will then be short-listed and call for interviews. The persons who are responsible to conduct interviews should be well prepared and equipped with instruments or questions that are relevant.Since interview sessions would certainly make ca ndidate exposed some of their own personal information, the interviewers should exercise confidentiality and professionalism. At the end of the process, when a candidate is selected, he/she would receive a letter of appointment together with the job specifications, remunerations and terms of the appointment. Training and Development New staff is at their best when they first joined the organization. However, as time goes by, he/she would need training and development to continue to be relevant to the organization. New methods of doing a job, technology and skills change almost everyday. Thus, every employee needs to be trained and re-trained.The public is very generous in proving fund for employees’ training and development. So, it is not surprising that each one of then should fulfill at least 36 hours of training time in a year. Some organizations provide more than 36 hours! 94 Training and development encompasses three main activities: training, education, and development. Training refers to activities that are focused upon the enriching the job a particular staff is currently holding. They are meant to help him/her to perform well in the job. They can be conducted on the job or can also be held outside the organization. Training is makes the person more competent in the things he/she does. 2 Training is an event.Training has a beginning and end. Participants are exposed to knowledge and skills associated with new concepts during the event. Many organizations think, all we have to do is conduct some training and everyone will embrace the new: strategy, system, method, process, procedure, tactic or tool. They will go back to work the next day, use the new way and execute flawlessly within a short period of time. 3 Training usually refers to some kind of organized (and finite it time) event — a seminar, workshop that has a specific beginning data and end date. It's often a group activity, but the word training is also used to refer to specific i nstruction done one on one. Education activities focus on the jobs that an individual may potentially hold in the future. These activities are planned to move up an individual staff to a higher position and responsibility. 5 Finally, development focuses on activities that the organization plan to continuously improve an employee not only his/her skills but also attitude, esprit d’ coup, productivity and quality. Development is a process. IT is a much bigger, inclusive â€Å"thing†. For example, if a manager pairs up a relatively new employee with a more experienced employee to help the new employee learns about the job, that's really employee development. If a manager coaches and employee in an on-gong way, that's employee development.Or, employees may rotate job responsibilities to learn about the jobs of their colleagues and gain experience so they might eventually have more promotion opportunities. That's employee development. Thomas N. Garavan, Pat Costine, and Nor een Heraty (1995). â€Å"Training and Development: Concepts, Attitudes, and Issues†. Training and Development in Ireland. Cengage Learning EMEA. pp. 1. 3 4 2 http://ezinearticles. com/? Whats-The-Difference-Between-Training-and-Developmen t? &id=1038575 http://performance-appraisals. org/faq/trainingdevelopment. htm Derek Torrington, Laura Hall, and Stephen Taylor (2004). Human Resource Management. Pearson Education. pp. 363 5 95 Different Kinds of Training and Development 1. On-the-job Training and LecturesThe two most frequently used kinds of training are on-the-job training and lectures, although little research exists as to the effectiveness of either. It is usually impossible to teach someone everything she needs to know at a location away from the workplace. Thus on-the-job training often supplements other kinds of training, e. g. , classroom or off-site training; but on-the-job training is frequently the only form of training. It is usually informal, which means, unfor tunately, that the trainer does not concentrate on the training as much as she should, and the trainer may not have a well-articulated picture of what the novice needs to learn.On-the-job training is not successful when used to avoid developing a training program, though it can be an effective part of a well-coordinated training program. Lectures are used because of their low cost and their capacity to reach many people. Lectures, which use one-way communication as opposed to interactive learning techniques, are much criticized as a training device. 2. Programmed Instruction (PI) These devices systematically present information to the learner and elicit a response; they use reinforcement principles to promote appropriate responses. When PI was originally developed in the 1950s, it was thought to be useful only for basic subjects.Today the method is used for skills as diverse as air traffic control, blueprint reading, and the analysis of tax returns. 3. Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) With CAI, students can learn at their own pace, as with PI. Because the student interacts with the computer, it is believed by many to be a more dynamic learning device. Educational alternatives can be quickly selected to suit the student's capabilities, and performance can be monitored continuously. As instruction proceeds, data are gathered for monitoring and improving performance. 96 4. Audiovisual Techniques Both television and film extend the range of skills that can be taught and the way information may be presented. Many systems have electronic blackboards and slide projection equipment.The use of techniques that combine audiovisual systems such as closed circuit television and telephones has spawned a new term for this type of training, teletraining. The feature on † Sesame Street † illustrates the design and evaluation of one of television's favorite children's program as a training device. 5. Simulations Training simulations replicate the essential charac teristics of the real world that are necessary to produce both learning and the transfer of new knowledge and skills to application settings. Both machine and other forms of simulators exist. Machine simulators often have substantial degrees of. physical fidelity; that is, they represent the real world's operational equipment.The main purpose of simulation, however, is to produce psychological fidelity, that is, to reproduce in the training those processes that will be required on the job. We simulate for a number of reasons, including to control the training environment, for safety, to introduce feedback and other learning principles, and to reduce cost. 6. Business games They are the direct progeny of war games that have been used to train officers in combat techniques for hundreds of years. Almost all early business games were designed to teach basic business skills, but more recent games also include interpersonal skills. Monopoly might be considered the quintessential business game for young capitalists.It is probably the first place youngsters learned the words mortgage, taxes, and go to jail. Source : http://ezinearticles. com/? Six-Types-of-Training-and-Development-Techniques&id=1944536 97 Roles of Public Service Commission (PSC) and Public Service Department (PSD) There are constellation of information from the SPA and JPA websites about their functions, history and other things that you can learn from. Please visit these two websites and perhaps you want to ask them something related to this course. Good Luck! Public Service Commission (PSC) Website. Public Service Department (PSD) Website. 98 Lesson 7 Assignments Please check with your Seminar Facilitator for a list of assignments for this lesson. 99 100 Similar essay: Theories Actually Seen in Practice in Ojt