Aristotles Politics Essays - Forms Of Government,

Aristotle's Politics Aristotle does not regard politics as a separate science from ethics, but as the completion, and almost a verification of it. The moral ideal in political administration is only a different aspect of that which also applies to individual happiness. Humans are by nature social beings, and the possession of rational speech (logos) in itself leads us to social union. The state is a development from the family through the village community, an offshoot of the family. Formed originally for the satisfaction of natural wants, it exists afterwards for moral ends and for the promotion of the higher life. The state in fact is no mere local union for the prevention of wrong doing, and the convenience of exchange. It is also no mere institution for the protection of goods and property. It is a genuine moral organization for advancing the development of humans. The family, which is chronologically prior to the state, involves a series of relations between husband and wife, parent and child, master and slave. Aristotle regards the slave as a piece of live property having no existence except in relation to his master. Slavery is a natural institution because there is a ruling and a subject class among people related to each other as soul to body; however, we must distinguish between those who are slaves by nature, and those who have become slaves merely by war and conquest. Household management involves the acquisition of riches, but must be distinguished from money-making for its own sake. Wealth is everything whose value can be measured by money; but it is the use rather than the possession of commodities which constitutes riches. Financial exchange first involved bartering. However, with the difficulties of transmission between countries widely separated from each other, money as a currency arose. At first it was merely a specific amount of weighted or measured metal. Afterwards it received a stamp to mark the amount. Demand is the real standard of value. Currency, therefore, is merely a convention which represents the demand; it stands between the producer and the recipient and secures fairness. Usury is an unnatural and reprehensible use of money. The communal ownership of wives and property as sketched by Plato in the Republic rests on a false conception of political society. For, the state is not a homogeneous unity, as Plato believed, but rather is made up of dissimilar elements. The classification of constitutions is based on the fact that government may be exercised either for the good of the governed or of the governing, and may be either concentrated in one person or shared by a few or by the many. There are thus three true forms of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and constitutional republic. The perverted forms of these are tyranny, oligarchy and democracy. The difference between the last two is not that democracy is a government of the many, and oligarchy of the few; instead, democracy is the state of the poor, and oligarchy of the rich. Considered in the abstract, these six states stand in the following order of preference: monarchy, aristocracy, constitutional republic, democracy, oligarchy, tyranny. But though w ith a perfect person monarchy would be the highest form of government, the absence of such people puts it practically out of consideration. Similarly, true aristocracy is hardly ever found in its uncorrupted form. It is in the constitution that the good person and the good citizen coincide. Ideal preferences aside, then, the constitutional republic is regarded as the best attainable form of government, especially as it secures that predominance of a large middle class, which is the chief basis of permanence in any state. With the spread of population, democracy is likely to become the general form of government. Which is the best state is a question that cannot be directly answered. Different races are suited for different forms of government, and the question which meets the politician is not so much what is abstractly the best state, but what is the best state under existing circumstances. Generally, however, the best state will enable anyone to act in the best and live in the happiest manner. To serve this end the ideal state should be neither too great nor too

R&B essays

R&B essays Have you ever turned on the radio and thought to yourself where did this all start? In fact the root of Rs. Over the decades, thanks to different artists and their styles, R Despite all of the publications on Rthe land where the blues were born. (Allmusic.com). In the 1940s blues became very popular in Chicago. People at that time wanted to hear faster and louder music. Audience enjoyed dancing to this kind of music. In the 1950s people wanted a different change in the music. Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry made a really big change. Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry invented what we call today Rock and Roll. In the 1960s blue became known as the soul music. Soul music inspired other styles of music like Pop and Funk music. Pop music in fact is still going on today. ...

Best interests of patients with a lacking of mental capacity Essay

Best interests of patients with a lacking of mental capacity - Essay Example In accordance with the Mental Capacity Act (the Act) 2005 â€Å"any act done or decision made on behalf of an adult lacking capacity must be in their best interests†1. Such life aspects as financial, health and social care issues can be resolved from the perspective of the best interests of people with mental disabilities. Mental Capacity Act (1983) is another legal authority, which should be followed in the process of dealing with a lack of consent or mental capacity of the patients. It should be noted that consent occurs if the patient is properly informed about the potential medical treatment and is able to agree voluntarily without fraud upon it. In terms of mental capacity, a patient should be well-informed about different processes and results of medical treatment, but it should be noted that a patient may be capable in one sphere and lacking of mental capacity in making critical decisions. In accordance with Section 4 of this Act, there is a need to assess mental abilit ies or disabilities of a patient within 72 hours. The closest relatives or AMHP with one doctor’s support is essential to make some conclusions. Another doctor’s confirm should be received within 72 hours. ... iew of the case on mental capacity 2  tells us as follows: H’s was incapable in different ways and there was a need to solve his future destiny and take care of her. There was a need to improve her consent with regards to sexual relations and there was a need to prevent restrictions imposed on her liberty. Test determining mental capacity of a patient, enabling him to make relevant decisions is based on the following basic principles: first of all, it is necessary to determine whether a current turbulent state of a patient is an impairment or disturbance. Moreover, whether brain functions of a patient is damaged or not or whether a patient is able or unable to make some decisions by him or not. Therefore, it is relevant to weigh decisions and possible ways of communicating potential decisions. There are many different cases, when patients are lacking of mental capacity. Very often patients are in comma or they may suffer from â€Å"locked-in syndrome†. In case a patie nt is unable to communicate his decision, such sings as blinking or squeezing a hand may be positive signs. Therefore, the specialists of verbal and non-verbal communication are relevant in the field of such kind of patients. There is a need to take into account personal concerns and interests of a patient in order not to violate them in the process of decision making. It should be noted that medical personnel of the hospitals is always focused on life benefits of potential medical treatment of a patient or a potential possibility to save his life. Of course, it is necessary for the doctors to assess the capacity of the patients. First of all, it is necessary to assess the written records about a patient’s health conditions; to involve independent decision makers, take care of hospital complaints

Science fiction and film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Science fiction and film - Essay Example Sci-fi films are absolute with heroes, far-flung planets, impracticable quests, dubious settings, incredible places, enormous dark and shadowy villains, revolutionary technology and gizmos and mysterious and bizarre forces. Many other Science Fiction Films feature time travels or extraordinary journeys, and are set either on Earth, in outer space or most frequently into the future time. Like the mainstream of the unsurpassed science fiction, Blade Runner does not relate to the typical false-scientific package of cryptic and difficult to understand jargon. In this regard, science fiction movies, although apparently hinting the opposite with their depictions of aliens and high-end technology, question the very nature of humanity; what, in essence, does it mean to be a human? What elements constitute the very essence of consciousness? This is why directors are able to express themselves with greater freedom in science fiction movies than through fiction, giving them science fiction movies an obvious benefit over their fiction counterparts. The very aspect is explored in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. The movie brings to the movie world a theatrical piece that combines human, childlike innocence and ingenuousness to a machine-like strength and ruthlessness. This sets the film in a class of its own, as the most excellent science fiction probes the spirit of life us ing differences out of the bounds of our contemporary world as a fuel to sustain the story (Blade Runner 2000). The movie is unique not only in presenting the typical science fiction traits in a subtly advanced and novel manner but also in the various dynamic themes and questions that have been embedded in it. The movie is set in the year 2019. The human race is on an exodus, from the earth to newly colonized places elsewhere in the universe. However since the exploration of space is a daunting task, androids known as replicants have been invented for the purpose of exploration. As with the

The Lamb by William Blake Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Lamb by William Blake - Essay Example William Blake wanted to show that there are contrasts in all human behavior. The Lamb represents the spiritual side, nature, innocence and childhood. He is a principal theme in the Christianity. Other themes studied in this essay will be the origin of humanity, nature and innocence. Blake considers these themes passive in retrospect to the experience one performs in life. A stream, the English country side and a small innocent child who questions the values of life are passive in comparison to the actions of a "tyger". "By the stream and o'er the mead". The first stanza brings us to the English country side with a stream and a meadow. "By the stream and o'er the mead" is literal but Blake differentiates between the physical and the spiritual: "gave thee life, and bid thee feed" and "Gave thee such a tender voice". The alternating between the physical and the spiritual adds to the playfulness of a child asking a question and then answering it. The narrator is playing. He is answering his own questions. "Little Lamb, who made thee?" Then the next stanza. "Little Lamb, I'll tell thee." The scenario is set in the first stanza and it is a nice setting. The lamb is a metaphor for a child as there is then reference to a child asking questions in regards to his clothing. " Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing, woolly, bright". In going one step deeper, the reader realizes that the questions are much more profound in the first stanza." Dost thou know who made thee?""Making all the vales rejoice?" This poem is in a child like song but the sophistication of the questions show that though the language is simple, the questions deal with the essence of humanity. In the first stanza the reader does not know who is asking the questions. He assumes, the narrator is a child talking but line three "Gave thee life, and bid thee feed", would not come from a child of either the 21st or 18th century. There are other interpretations. Is he a child; is he God or is he a pare nt asking the questions for his child? There is also reference that we are all the children of God. "Little lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee? If he is a parental figure and wanting to get the child to reflect on the existence of life. "Dost thou know who made thee?" In the second stanza, the narrator takes a different attitude. First by the form, the reference to Jesus by the 'He' and 'Himself' and 'He'. The narrator is stronger as he answers the questions in the first stanza. He alluded to the lamb being Jesus; to their having the same character traits of innocence, meekness and naivety. "For He calls Himself a Lamb. He is meek, and He is mild, "He became a little child" is his becoming a child of God."We are called by His name" is reference to our being children of God. "The Lamb" is a child's song. Blake wrote it in a common hymn like form that was well known in church. The trochaic meter was pleasing: ."Gave thee life, and bid thee feed. This continues throughou t the poem. He used another technique of repeating the first and last couplets of each stanza to continue the sing song effect : "Little Lamb, who made thee?" "Doest thou know who made thee?"" Little Lamb, I'll tell thee?""Little Lamb, God bless thee!". Another literary device was saying goodbye or good night in the last sentence as a lullaby."Little Lamb, God Bless thee!" The rhyme of the poem is AABBCCDDEE of the first stanza then AABBCCDDEE of the second stanza. The rhythm and the rimed couplets add

Concepts and Research into Green Networking

Concepts and Research into Green Networking Green Networking Abstract: Saving of excessive energy consumption is becoming a key concern in networking, because of theprobable economical benefits. These concerns, usually argued to as â€Å"green networking†, relate to inserting energy-awareness in the strategy, in the devicesand in the protocols of networks. In this work, I first formulate a more precise definition of the â€Å"green† attribute. I further more classify a few standards that are key enablers of energy-aware networking research. I then overview the up-to-date state of the art and offer a catalog of the relevant work, with a superior focus on networking. Introduction: Recent studies shows that Information Technology and communication advances are responsible for significant amount of world electric power consumptions which ranges from 2% to 10%, that is one of the contributing factor for global warming, via gases release from greenhouse and from the growth of demand of internet applications and services. Therefore, for these reasons energy efficient and sustainable networking often called â€Å"Green Networking†, has become a hot issue in the last few years. Definition: Green Networking is the practice of selecting energy-efficient networking technologies and products, and minimizing resources use whenever possible. [1] All facets of Information Technology and Communication are under supervision, from energy-saving design of all networking devices, to strategies which reflect the entire network’s energy depletion in the planning, design, implementation and management points, to new approach for long-run sustainability of the networking which covers reformed attitudes of users’ as well as smart energy mowing techniques.This special concern on Green Networking intentions at providing revolutionary influences to the research and development of energy-efficient networking solutions and approaches for network sustainability. Motivation for research and review: There are many complexities in network, unnecessary traffic congestion, and more power wastages due to unnecessary idling of node at the current situation of networking.Therefore, I have used one research paper published on the subject and examining the viewpoints to the matter.To the paper, I have added an analysis section where I reflect on the paper value, and discuss important points listed in the paper on the subject. Green Networking With Packet Processing Engines: Modeling and Optimization Published on:14th February, 2013. IEEE Computer Society Authors: Raffaele Bolla, RobertoBruschi, Alessandro Carrega, and Franco Davoli With the goal of monitoring power consumption in metro/transport and main networks, the paper reflects energy-aware devices capable to shrink their energy chucks by adjusting their performance. In specific, the paper focuses on state-of-the-art packet processing engines, which normally characterize the most energy-consuming apparatuses of network devices, and that are often collected of a number of parallel pipelines to â€Å"divide and conquer† the received traffic load. The paper talk about goal to control both the power structure of pipelines and the way to issue traffic flows among them. The authors proposed an analytical model to precisely represent the impact of green network technologies (i.e., low power idle and adaptive rate) on network-aware and energy-aware performance indexes. The model has been confirmed with experimental consequences, accomplished by using energy-aware software routers loaded by real-world traffic traces. The attained outcomes determine how the p rojected model can successfully epitomize energy-aware and network-aware presentation indexes. The method goals at dynamically adjusting the energy-aware device structure to lessen energy consumption whereas handling with received traffic signals and gathering network performance limitations. In order to genuinely comprehend the impact of such policy, a number of experiments have been executed by using experimental data from software router designs and real-world traffic traces. Analysis: In this paper, the authors considered energy-aware network devices (e.g., routers, switches, etc.) able to trade their energy consumption for packet forwarding performance by means of both low power idle and adaptive rate schemes. The proposed analytical model is able to capture the impact of power management capabilities on network performance metrics. The analytical framework considers stochastic incoming traffic at the packet level with Long Range Dependency (LRD) properties. On the basis of the analytical model, authors have chosen the parameters characterizing the joint usage of Adaptive Rate(AR) and Low Power Idle(LPI) energy-aware capabilities by optimizing the desired tradeoff between energy consumption and Quality of Service(QoS) while at the same time enforcing the satisfaction of given upper bounds on both. Since the performance and cost indicators used in the optimization depend on incoming traffic volumes and statistical features (notably, burst inter-arrival time and av erage burst length), researchers repeat the optimization periodically under updated estimations of these quantities. The modeling and control framework has been validated experimentally by using a Linux-based open software router with AR and LPI primitives under traffic generated by real-world traces; the results demonstrate how the proposed model can effectively represent energy-aware and network-aware performance indexes. Therefore proposed model, is efficient and addressing green networking maintaining the Quality of Service (QoS) in the network. Green Strategies Traditionally, networking systems are designed and dimensioned according to principles that are inherently in opposition with green networking objectives: namely, over-provisioning and redundancy. On the other hand, due to the lack of Quality of Service (QoS) provision from the Internet architecture, over-provisioning is a common practice: networks are dimensioned to sustain peak hour traffic, with extra capacity to allow for unexpected happenings. As a result, through low traffic periods, over-provisioned networks are also over-energy-consuming. Furthermore, on behalf of resiliency and fault-tolerance, networks are also deliberate in a redundant manner. Devices are added to the structure with the sole purpose of taking over the duty when another device fails, which further adds to the overall energy ingesting. These objectives, drastically divergent to the environmental ones, make green networking an interesting, and technically challenging, research arena. A major change is indeed needed in networking research and development to introduce energy-awareness in the network design, deprived of compromising either the Quality of Service (QoS) or the network consistency. This section illustrates a few key paradigms that the network infrastructure can exploit to reach the green objectives formalized above. We individuate three classes of solution, namely resource consolidation, virtualization and  selective connectedness  [2]. These three categories represent three research directions, which may find further detailed applications in device and protocol design. Resource consolidation regroups all the dimensioning strategies to reduce the global consumption due to devices underutilized at a given time. Given that the traffic level in a given network approximately follows a well-known daily and weekly behavior [3], there is an opportunity to â€Å"adapt† the level of active over-provisioning to the current network conditions. In other words, the required level of performance will still be guaranteed, but using an amount of resources that is dimensioned for current network traffic demand rather than for the peak demand. This can, for example, be achieved by shutting down some lightly loaded routers and rerouting the traffic on a smaller number of active network equipment. Resource consolidation is already a popular approach in other fields, in particular data centers and CPU. Virtualization regroups a set of mechanisms allowing more than one service to operate on the same section of hardware, hence refining the hardware operation. It results in a lowered energy consumption, as long as a single machine under high load consumes less than several lightly loaded ones, which is generally the case. Virtualization can be applied to multiple kinds of resources, comprising network links, storage hardware, software resources, etc. A typical example of virtualization consists in sharing servers in data centers, thus reducing hardware costs, improving energy management and reducing energy and cooling costs, ultimately reducing data center carbon footprint. In the current context, virtualization has already been deployed with success: e.g., the US Postal Service has virtualized 791 of its 895 physical servers [4]. As virtualization is a more mature research field, we refer the interested reader to [5] for a detailed survey of virtualization techniques from a computer architecture perspective, and to [6] for a networking perspective. At the same time, it should be noted that a virtualization solution designed explicitly to reduce network energy consumption has yet to appear. Applying the same base concept, selective connectedness of devices, as outlined in [7], [8], consists in distributed mechanisms allowing single pieces of equipment to go idle for some time, as clearly as probable for the rest of the networked devices. If the consolidation principle relates to resources that are shared within the network infrastructure, selective connectedness allows instead to turn off unused resources at the edge of the network. For instance, edge nodes can go idle in order to avoid supporting network connectivity tasks (e.g., periodically sending heartbeats, receiving unnecessary broadcast traffic, etc.). These tasks may have to be taken over by other nodes, such as proxies, momentarily faking identity of sluggish devices, so that no essentialmodification is required in network protocols Conclusion: This article surveyed the efforts that the research community has been spending in the attempt to reduce the energy waste in fixed networks, which are usually denoted as â€Å"green networking†. I presented the importance of the issue, its definition and mainstream paradigms, and proposed a taxonomy of the relevant related work. Examining the state of the art, we observe that a few techniques are emerging, which can be roughly categorized as (i) resource consolidation, (ii) virtualization (iii) selective connectedness. It also emerges from my analysis that despite the relative youth of the green networking field, research in some of the above areas is already mature, with advanced standardization efforts and prototyping results. Finally, as the ultimate goal of networking is to provide services to end-users, the quality of such services and of the user experience is a topic that spans over all the previous branches. Indeed, while energy efficiency is becoming a primary issue, it shall never be neglected that the energy gain must not come at the price of a network performance loss. This delicate tradeoff arises from opposite principles: indeed, while networked systems have traditionally be designed and dimensioned according to principles such as overprovisioning and redundancy, green networking approaches praise opposite practices such as resource-consolidation and selective-connectedness. The challenge lays in this case in applying the latter principles in a way that is as transparent as possible to the user – in other words, avoiding that resource consolidation translates into congestion, or that selective connectedness translates into unreachability. While the first wave of green studies focused mor e on the achievable energy gain, we believe that a systematic evaluation of networking performance from the user-perspective should be undertaken as well. Indeed, in all branches interesting questions remain, which deserve precise quantitative answers: Finally, we believe that while, for the time being, techniques of different branches have been studied in isolation, future research should address the combined impact of different techniques as well. Indeed, even though each of the above techniques alone do not constitute serious threats for the QoS perceived by the end-user, however it is not guaranteed that the joint use of several technique will not raise unexpected behaviour. Due to the current rise in green networking research and attention, it cannot be excluded that, in a near future, users will run Energy Aware Applications, in a home equipped with a green set-top-box implementing Interface Proxying functionalities, and will access the Internet through an Internet Service Pro vider implementing Energy Aware Routing in devices interconnected by Adaptive Link Rate lines – which opens a number of interesting questions that are so far all unexplored. References: [1] â€Å"Discussion Definition of green networking,†http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/green-networking [2] â€Å"International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Software Engineering,†http://ijarcsse.com/docs/papers/Volume_4/9_September2014/V4I9-0353.pdf [3] A. Qureshi, R. Weber, H. Balakrishnan, J. Guttag, and B. Maggs, â€Å"Cutting the Electric Bill for Internet-Scale Systems,† in Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Applications, Technologies, Architectures, and Protocols for Computer Communications (SIGCOMM 2009), (Barcelona, Spain), Aug. 2009. [4] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Energy Star Program, â€Å"Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency Public Law 109-431,† Tech. Rep. , U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Aug. 2007. [5] S. Nanda and T.-C. Chiueh, â€Å"A Survey on Virtualization Technologies,† Tech. Rep. TR179, Department of Computer Science, SUNY at Stony Brook, 2005. [6] N. M. Kabir Chowdhury and R. Boutaba, â€Å"A Survey of Network Virtualization,† Tech. Rep. CS-2008-25, University of Waterloo, Oct.2008. [7] K. Christensen, C. Gunaratne, B. Nordman, and A. D. George, â€Å"The Next Frontier for Communications Networks: Power Management,†Computer Communications, vol. 27, pp. 1758–1770, Dec. 2004. [8] M. Allman, K. Christensen, B. Nordman, and V. Paxson, â€Å"Enabling an Energy-Efficient Future Internet Through Selectively Connected End Systems,† in Proceedings of the Sixth ACM Workshop on Hot Topics in Networks (HotNets-VI), (Atlanta, Georgia, USA), Nov. 2007.

The Smacking of Children should be banned by Law :: Child Abuse Violence

I firmly believe that the smacking of children should be banned by law. For me, there is no real debate in this matter. Many parents abuse the right to smack their children, which can lead to severe consequences. Children grow up copying and learning from their parents from a young age. If parents drink and smoke, their children may want to copy them. If parents smack, their children will think that it is acceptable to be violent and will be more likely to smack their own children in the future. Surely the main consideration in this case is that, if parents choose to smack their children they are damaging them, not always physically but definitely psychologically. I don?t believe that smacking is in any way acceptable, as the smallest bit of violence against children could cause them to use it themselves when they are older. Today, the law states that parents are allowed to hit their children as long as they leave no mark, graze or bruise. There are constantly cases in the media, involving the abuse of the right to smack children in Northern Ireland. This is because parents have been abusing this right more frequently in the past couple of years. I believe the reason for this is that most children have been exposed to violence in their homes, which has led them to be violent in their future. It is a vicious circle. Also, by beating children we are telling them that it is acceptable to smack, which will create more violence in the future, therefore making the matter worse. In dealing with this issue can we ignore the fact that there is no debatable reason why it shouldn?t be made illegal? In everyday life, violence doesn?t need to be used to control children?s behaviour. Most parents say that they use smacking as a way of controlling their children when they are disobedient. For example, if a child kept reaching for an open fire even when they are repeatedly told not to by the parent, the parent would eventually resort to smacking the child. I think the better alternative to this situation would be to buy a fire guard. This way, the child would learn that the fire is out of bounds in a non-violent way. I believe smacking can affect children when they become adults in two ways. They could disagree with smacking their own children because they didn?

The Impact Of Employee Involvement And Participation On Organization Performance

Abstract The following research paper seeks to explore the correlation between employee involvement in decision-making processes within the organization and organization’s performance. The main focus remains to evaluate the existing academic literature to demonstrate evidence that employee involvement and participation initiatives produce tangible advantages for organizations. Hence, the research considers theoretical approaches towards the impact of employee participation on organization’s performance and examines empirical studies conducted on the subject stated above. The results of the following study are mixed. While chosen empirical cases show that direct forms of employee participation contribute to improved organization’s performance, such evidences have not been observed in reference to representative form of employee involvement. Introduction Over the past decades work reforms were implemented in order to guarantee humanistic patterns of work and to improve the quality of working life. As the global business environment started to become more competitive in the 1980s, major focus shifted towards the productivity and economic performance of the organizations. The organizations sought new avenues to gain competitive advantages over rival companies. According to the studies conducted in the 1980s by Gallup Organization, employees engaged in the company’s decision-making were more productive, customer-focused, profitable and more willing to stay and develop within the organization (Dicke, 2006). Hence, human capital started to be perceived as the company’s most important asset (Belanger, 2000). Currently a range of organizations including corporations, government agencies, schools and other non-profit organizations believe that employee involvement and participation are crucial to the good economic performance ( Boxal & Purcell 2011). Employee participation contributes to the organization’s efficiency in two ways. First, it increases employee’s productivity. Second, it increases the company’s capacity to react quickly to changing business environment. Therefore, employee involvement as a part of Human Resources Management (HRM) practices became a subject of numerous academic researches over the last decades. The scholars from various fields in industrial relations developed various approaches and models in order to provide new evidences on the linkage between HRM and business performance (Gonzales, 2009). The following research project examines the impact of employee involvement and participation on organization’s performance. First, the project defines a term ‘employment involvement and participation’ and demonstrates two concepts of measuring employee involvement. Further, the project discusses theoretical developments on the linkage between employee participation and organization’s performance. Finally, the project analyses empirical evidences of such relationships. The empirical study include the cases of direct and representative forms of employee participation. Employee involvement – definition Employee involvement, called also worker’s participation can be perceived as â€Å"a variety of processes and structures which enable, and at times encourage employees to directly and indirectly contribute to and influence decision-making in the firm and in the wider society† (Gonzales, 2009, p.8). The following definition indicates that there are various activities through which the employees can influence decision-making processes within the company. Generally, employee involvement can have a direct or indirect form. Direct involvement means that employees have an immediate influence on the decision-making processes within the company. Typical forms of direct involvement are employee surveys, team briefings, autonomous working groups or suggestion schemes (rewards for meeting company’s goals). Indirect involvement (representative involvement) means that a specific group which represents all employees is involved in the decision-making processes within the comp any. Common forms of indirect involvement are board representations, work councils or task forces (Eurofund, 2009). In turn, Gonzales (2009) classified employee involvement into three groups. These are informative, consultative and delegative participation. Informative participation refers to downwards communication within the organization. Employees have been given information top-down about the organization and its competitors, their own department or their individual performance. Information sharing includes open communication processes as well as information disclosure. Consultative participation regards various schemes developed by the management team to gain opinion of its employees and can have a form of individual meetings, team briefings and employees’ surveys. Delegative participation concerns various programmes which give employees capacity to make decisions on a particular set of issues and includes the forms such as problem-solving groups and semi-autonomous gro ups. Finally, Forth and Millward (2001) demonstrated three types of practices in reference to employee participation. These forms are individual supports (i.e. extensive information disclosure or specific training); task practices (i.e. quality circles or team work) and organizational supports (i.e. job security or employee share ownership). A number of models measuring employee involvement and participation have been developed over the past decades. One of the most important seems to be a model presented by Marchington (2005). He identified four core aspects of employee participation within the company: The degree of involvement: – this indicates the extent of involvement to which employees, either directly or through their representatives, may exert some form of influence on management decisions. Scope: – the scope of management decisions that are open to influence by subordinate employees may differ depending on the subject matter and may range from trivial to strategic decisions. The level: – the level at which the subordinates may be involved in management decisions varies substantially and can range from departmental level, through to division and headquarter level. Forms of participation: – participation may be direct or indirect. Direct participation refers to the face-to-face involvement while, indirect participation occurs when workers are represented by trade unions in workers’ council or high-level consultation committees and through collective bargaining. Another interesting model has been developed by Cox et.al. (2006). This model identified two dimensions of employee involvement, breadth and depth. Breadth regards a number of various employee involvement’s practices and programmes implemented in a work place. Using diversified but complementary schemes of employee participation leads to stronger impact on the company through mutual reinforcement. It also indicates that the management team aims to maximise the profits of employee participation. In turn, depth concerns the quality of employee involvement’s practices within the company. This measure indicates how embedded the employee participation’s practices are within the company. Both breadth and depth are important as they are strongly linked with organizational commitment and job satisfaction (Hayman & Mason 1995). That is, if employees’ views are taken into consideration and acted upon by the management, then they are more likely to demonstrate their commitment to the organization and indicate their satisfaction with their work. A major weakness of this measure is that the embeddedness of employee participation within the organization has often been assessed through management eyes rather than by analysing employee views on employee participation. Employee participation and company’s performance – theoretical approach The idea of employee participation as a part of Human Resources Management practices has been researched by a number of scholars who underlined significant benefits of employee involvement schemes on the company’s performance. Kanter (1982) postulated that participatory character of the decision-making processes within the organization brings more positive outcomes than bureaucratic structure, as it involves knowledge sharing between workers and managers. Workers seem to be better informed than their managers with regard to the products and services, processes and work tasks, as they are directly involved in these activities. Hence, their views and suggestions might be very valuable in developing company’s strategy and achieving enhanced performance. In turn, Lawler (1990) listed a number of various benefits of employee involvement within the company. He pointed out that employee participation leads to more efficient and innovative methods and procedures in a workplace and improves communication within the organization (between managers and workers as well as across work departments). Greater employee involvement results in higher job satisfaction and lower staff turnovers. Further, as employee participation concerns training and team work, it also leads to greater staff flexibility and higher job motivation. Additionally, high work motivation and better work methods determine increased rate of outputs and hence, contribute to the better quality of the products and services offered by the company. Finally, better communication and improved worker-management relations reduce a number of disputes and conflicts within the organization and help to resolve existing conflicts in the most effective way. All these factors contribute to i mproved performance of the organization. It is also important to add that Lawler identified various negative consequences associated with employee involvement. One of them are expectations created amongst the employees. These expectations usually concern organizational changes, personal self-development and career advancement opportunities. If the organization fails to meet these expectations, it will lead to dissatisfaction amongst workers. Employee participation causes also additional costs. Developing new skills is associated with additional costly trainings. In turn, accepting new responsibilities by the employee automatically requires an increased in salary of such an employee. Participatory character of decision-making is also slower than traditional style of leadership as it involves a significant number of people that have to accept the decision (Lawler, 1990). Markowitz (1996) underlines higher morale of the employees and their greater commitment to performed job as a consequence of increased participation in the decision-making processes. As employees have a decision-making power, they fulfill their duties more accurately. Higher productivity of the employees contributes to higher profits of the organization and greater stability within the industry (Jones, 2006). More recently, the effects of employee involvement were analysed by Appelbaum et.al (2000). Similarly like Lawler, the researchers emphasized the importance of information on the production (service) processes possessed by employees. The organization should aim to gain such knowledge from its employees in order to stay profitable. However, three conditions have to be met by the company to gain such knowledge. Employees need to be involved in substantive decisions. They are required to have specific skills and they need to be given appropriate work incentives. This approach indicated that employees cannot provide valuable information to the organization’s management if these conditions are not met. Additionally, employees are not willing to provide such information if they are not given appropriate incentives. Hence, this approach underlines the important of coherent and accurate HRM practices within the company (Jones, et.al., 2006). Grimsrud and Kvinge (2010) postulate that employee participation is associated with the features such as responsibility, control rights, rights on revenue and risk taking. The companies are characterized by the areas of joint interests of employers and employees as well as by the areas where the conflicting interests appear. In particular, the author focuses on two conflict areas. These are principle-agent problem and free-rider problem. Principle-agent issue concerns different approach of the organization (owners and management team) and employees towards the inputs of work and distribution of created outputs. While the organization aims to achieve higher labour productivity and higher value added and keep fixed salaries at the same time, employees intend to share higher profits. Free rider issue refers to the situation when the organization cannot monitor individual contribution of its employees to the organization’s development and hence, individual rewards of employees dep end on joint efforts. Hence, the organization tends to implement practices that will improve the productivity of employees, while employees seek to take advantage of such situation and gain additional benefits (i.e. higher return rights) in exchange of improved productivity. Employee participation and company’s performance – empirical evidences A number of scholars sought empirical evidences of the positive correlation between employee participation and organization’s performance. Some scholars based their analysis on the examples of a single organization (i.e. Jones, 2006) or selected industry (i.e. Sesil, 1999), while others examined the various businesses across the country (i.e. Guerrero and Barraud-Didier). Some researchers decided on a wider cross-country study (i.e. Gonzales, 2009; Grimsrud and Kvinge, 2010). Due to the scope of the following project, only key findings of selected empirical researches will be presented. At the individual company level, Bartel (2004) conducted research on HRM practices amongst the branches of large bank. He proved that recognition system and performance feedback were of key significance for employees of this bank. Implementing these particular HRM practices contributed to the increasd sales of loans (Gonzales, 2009). In turn, Jones et.al. (2006) examined the influence of innovative HRM practices on performance of a Finnish company in the retail services sector. They proved that employees who have been given opportunities to participate in decision-making process within the company, to receive solid information and to gain rewards were willing to increase their productivity. It is crucial to note that these HRM practices were implemented in settings where employee were characterized by low skills and were assigned relatively simple tasks. At the industry level, Sesil (1999) analysed the impact of employee participation and group incentives on the company’s performance in high technology industry in the UK. The research included 118 companies, primarily in electronics and engineering and concerned various aspects of employee participation such as quality involvement, presence of union, multi-skilling of employees, communication between employees and management, strategic planning and establishment plan. Additionally, the researcher examined the bonuses for employee as a form of group incentives. The research revealed that bonuses, quality involvement and multi-skilling had large positive effects on company’s outcomes, while other variables showed no impact on performance. Hence, these results indicated that there is strong correlation employee participation and the company’s performance. This effect is even stronger if the employee involvement is combined with group incentives. At the country level, Guerrero and Barraud-Didier (2004) focused on high-involvement practices and their impact on French firms. The research was based on the questionnaire conducted amongst 180 large companies in France. 57% of these companies originated in the industrial sector, while remaining 43% – in the services sector. The study concerned four major HRM practices, namely empowerment, compensation, communication as well as training and skills development. The following study revealed that empowerment was a key determinant of improved company’s performance, while communication and training had a minor effect on organizational results. In turn, compensation showed no influence on company’s outputs. The following study underlined that the company should ensure enriched and challenging activities in order to manage employee participation. Further, the study postulated that the companies should promote open communication and power sharing amongst management and employees in order to develop participatory style of leadership as this style contributes to better HRM within the company and improved company’s performance. In the cross-country context, Grimsrud and Kvinge (2010) conducted research on the economic impact of representative participation in eight countries[1]. The research took form of perception studies which means that â€Å"the respondents are asked to indicate whether different participation initiatives are believed to have an impact on different output measure† (Grimsrud and Kvinge, 2010, p. 149) and investigated various forms of representative participation such as work councils, trade unions or joint management – union committees. The following study showed very mixed results. Most of the analysis demonstrated that there was no correlation between employee participation and company’s productivity or such correlation was negative, while only several studies reported small positive productivity gains of employee participation. For instance, the study conducted on work councils amongst the German companies revealed that these councils had a positive impact on labo ur productivity while they influenced negatively company’s profitability. Similarly, the analysis of the Japanese companies showed a positive correlation between trade unions and labour productivity and negative correlation between trade unions and company’s benefits. Finally, the research amongst the British companies demonstrated that trade unions had a negative impact on productivity growth as well as on climate of relations between managers and employees at the workplace. Conclusions To sum up employee participation became a subject of theoretical debate and empirical analysis amongst the scholars. A number of researchers underlined positive correlation between employee involvement and organization’s performance. Precisely, employee participation (either direct or indirect) brings a valuable knowledge of products and services delivered by the organization and hence, contribute to the organization’s performance. Additionally, employee participation leads to higher job satisfaction and increased labour productivity as well as to lower staff rotation. These factors also determine organization’s success. On the other hand, some scholars stress various conflict areas within an organization (principle-agent issue; free rider problem) that might have a negative influence on the organization’s outputs. Three empirical cases presented in the following paper revealed that direct employee involvement in decision-making processes within an organization contributed to its better performance. Employee empowerment and information sharing as well as financial rewards seemed to be mainly responsible for this improved performance. Employees must thus be sought for ideas on how organizational performance and quality of product or service can be improved. There is the need for management to ensure existence of employment participation programmes and initiatives that contribute to employee involvement in decision-making processes. Not only should the emphasis be placed on the existence of such initiatives but also on the embeddedness of such initiatives within the organization. The evidence on strong correlation between employee participation and organization’s performance has not been found in reference to indirect forms of employee involvement. Although the following paper examined only one case of representative participation, this case included analysis across various countries and industries. This study revealed that employee participation had only minor positive impact on labour productivity while no effects (or negative effects) on overall company’s performance have been observed. Reference Belanger, J. (2000). The influence of employee involvement on productivity: a review of research. Hull: Human Resources Development Canada. Boxall, P. and J. Purcell (2011). Strategy and Human Resource Management. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Cox, A., S. Zagelmeyer and M. Marchington (2006). â€Å"Embedding employee involvement and participation at work†. In: Human Resource Management Journal, 16 (3), pp.250–267. Dicke, C. (2006). Employee engagement and change management. New York: CAHRS. Eurofund, (2009). Employee involvement [online] Available from: (Accessed on 14.05.2012). Forth, J. and Millward, N. (2001). â€Å"The impact of unions on pay levels in lower-skilled jobs†. National Institute Economic Review. 176, pp. 76-90. Gonzales, M. (2009). Worker’s involvement at the workplace and job quality in Europe. Edinburgh: RECWOWE Publications. Grimsrud, B, and Kvinge, T. (2010). Productivity Puzzles – should employee participation be an issueNordic Journal of Political Economy, 36, pp. 139-167. Guerro, S. and Barraud-Didier, V. (2004). High-involvement practices and performance f French firms. International Journal of Human Resources Management. 15(8). pp.1408-1423. Hyman, J & B. Mason (1995). Managing Employee Involvement and Participation. London: Sage. Jones, D., Kalmi, P. and Kauhanen, A. (2006). How does employee involvement stack upThe effects of Human Resources Management policies on performance in retail firm. New York: Cornell University ILR School. Kanter, R. (1982). Dilemma of Managing Participation. Organizational Dynamics. (summer). pp. 5-27. Lawler, E. (1990). High Involvement Management. Participative Strategies for Improving Organizational Performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Marchington, M. (2005). ‘Employee involvement: Patterns and explanations’. In: (ed.) Harley, B., J. Hyman and P. Thompson Participation and democracy at work. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Sesil, J. (1999). The impact of employee involvement and group incentives on performance in UK high technology establishments. New Jersey: School of Management and Labour Relations.

Free Essays on Juvenile Justice System

Title of Article: An Overview of the Juvenile Justice System Juvenile justice is the area of criminal law applicable to persons not old enough to be held responsible for criminal acts. In most states, the age for criminal culpability is set at 18 years. Juvenile law is mainly governed by state law and most states have enacted a juvenile code. The main goal of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation rather than punishment. Juveniles can be transferred into adult court if the juvenile court waives or relinquishes its jurisdiction. State statutes creating juvenile courts and providing methods for dealing with juvenile delinquency have generally been upheld by courts as an acceptable extension of state police power to ensure the safety and welfare of children. The doctrine of parens patriae authorizes the state to legislate for the protection, care, custody, and maintenance of children within its jurisdiction. The federal role in the field has largely been that of a funder and standard setter. Congress passed the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Control Act in 1968. This was later revised in 1972, and renamed the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act. The stated purpose of the act is to assist states and local communities in providing community based preventative services to youths in danger of becoming delinquent, to help train individuals in occupations providing such services, and to provide technical assistance in the field. The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act defines juvenile delinquency (any act that is otherwise a crime, but is committed by someone under 18 years of age) and sets forth rules by which state laws must comply with regard to juvenile court procedures and punishments. In my opinion, Juveniles have an very easy system although it may be for the best that they receive this treatment. Juveniles need treatment so they won’t grow up or grow any longer with the behavior or rage of emotions they feel to... Free Essays on Juvenile Justice System Free Essays on Juvenile Justice System Title of Article: An Overview of the Juvenile Justice System Juvenile justice is the area of criminal law applicable to persons not old enough to be held responsible for criminal acts. In most states, the age for criminal culpability is set at 18 years. Juvenile law is mainly governed by state law and most states have enacted a juvenile code. The main goal of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation rather than punishment. Juveniles can be transferred into adult court if the juvenile court waives or relinquishes its jurisdiction. State statutes creating juvenile courts and providing methods for dealing with juvenile delinquency have generally been upheld by courts as an acceptable extension of state police power to ensure the safety and welfare of children. The doctrine of parens patriae authorizes the state to legislate for the protection, care, custody, and maintenance of children within its jurisdiction. The federal role in the field has largely been that of a funder and standard setter. Congress passed the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Control Act in 1968. This was later revised in 1972, and renamed the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act. The stated purpose of the act is to assist states and local communities in providing community based preventative services to youths in danger of becoming delinquent, to help train individuals in occupations providing such services, and to provide technical assistance in the field. The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act defines juvenile delinquency (any act that is otherwise a crime, but is committed by someone under 18 years of age) and sets forth rules by which state laws must comply with regard to juvenile court procedures and punishments. In my opinion, Juveniles have an very easy system although it may be for the best that they receive this treatment. Juveniles need treatment so they won’t grow up or grow any longer with the behavior or rage of emotions they feel to...

The eNotes Blog Shakespeare in His Time New Audio Guides for AuthenticPronunciation

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