Personnel Management Master Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Personnel Management Master - Assignment Example However, this relation seems to be replaced by commercials ones in the application of flexibilities at work. Employers may resort to flexibility strategies due to a series of factors such as increasing competition, market uncertainties, technological change, government policies and labour supply factors (Blyton: 1996). Flexibility at work place is characterised by dynamism and adaptability in contrast to negative rigidity that have been the case with companies in the past. The reason why employers have been opting for flexibility at work does not favour employees in terms of bargaining for their rights in the work force. This is because, the prevailing labour market characterised by high level of unemployment put employers in the driving seat in this endeavour to decide who to hire, how and under what terms. The following are types of flexibilities used by employers:- Functional flexibility: In this type of flexibility, the organisation, segment its labour force into 'core' and 'peripheral' groups. The core work force is permanently employed and is particularly employed in the firm's continuous activities and enjoys greater and generous pay pack and career development including promotion. As a payback, they provide functional flexibilities that go beyond their job description to serve the company and accept multi-skilled roles in carrying out their assigned tasks (Bain & Gareth, p3). Numerical f Numerical flexibility: In this case, the firm strategise on the number of employees it want to employee for particular tasks and in what terms in order to maximise the output and reduce labour cost. It mainly does this by dividing the peripheral workforce into three groups; the first peripheral group may consist of firm workers who carry out routine, low-skill tasks and their employment is more susceptible to fluctuation in product demand compared to core workforce. The second peripheral workforce mainly drawn form external labour market provides specialised skills which are only required by firm on temporary basis. The third group comprises of workers located in the secondary external labour market who are mainly low-skilled and carry out poorly paid functions like cleaning or garbage collection and catering (Bain & Gareth, p2). Financial flexibility: This is where the employer engages in a performance-related pay system so as to reward employees in the core workforce who meet the targeted output. It is also used to secure long-term commitment from staff to the firm and thereby countering the problem of retention brought about by other flexibilities. Temporal flexibility: In this approach, a firm will make decision on how and when to employ temporary workforce. This is done by the firm strategising on the optimal time of the season and day when their services is needed. This involves among other thing peak times and elimination of non-productive prospective workforce like mothers and socially committed individuals. This flexibility is very important to the organisations as it is used to cover for sick leaves and maternal leaves of core and permanent employees. Locational flexibility: This is the strategic locationing of the firm operations or sourcing the service from outside its premises in order to gain the technological advantage. It also involves restructuring the whole supply chain logistics. Manufacturing firms may close some of its plants and consolidate its operation in one

Kinked Demand Curve Essay

Kinked Demand Curve Essay Critically examine the proposition that the relative stability of prices in an oligopolistic market is adequately explained by the Kinked-demand curve analysis. What other theories have been developed to explain this phenomenon? Introduction 150 Oligopolistic Market 400 It can be argued that the most important theories of the firm is the theory of oligopoly. There are few industries within the European Union and the United States of America that are imperfectly and monopolistically competitive consisting of many firms. However, the majority of existing industries are oligopolistic where very few firms operate share a large proportion of the industry (Anderton 2001). Characteristics of firms in the industry are: Significant barriers to entry restricting the entrance of new firms into the market. These barriers differ from industry to industry and are similar to those under monopoly. Interdependence between firms. Firms are mutually dependent due to the fact that each firm will have to take account of others as a result of very few firms operating in the industry. The sales of a rival firm will be affected by the decision a firm to alter specifications or prices of a product. Prices and specifications may be changed as a response by rivals. Thus, each firm is affected by the actions of rivals (Sloman and Sutcliffe 2004). Few firms must determine the supply within the industry. An example would be an industry where four firms produce 85 per cent of output even though the industry may consist of 96 smaller firms. This type of industry would still be classified as oligopolistic. Even though there are crucial features that distinguish oligopoly from other market structures, differences still exist between firms. Even though firms may be producing virtually homogenous goods, these products are still differentiated as is the case with cars and soap powders. Much of the competition between oligopolies relies on elements of a marketing mix rather than solely concentrating on price summarised as the ‘4 Ps (Anderton 2001). The ‘4 Ps refer to: †¢ Products a firms produces which appeals to customers, †¢ Price a firms will set depending on the pricing strategy implemented by the firm, †¢ Promotion such as advertising creating awareness to buyers of goods currently on sale and, †¢ The Place the good will be distributed making it easy access for customers. To reduce the uncertainty of profits firms may result to collusion enabling them to maximise profits. Formal agreements between firms involving collusion are known as cartels. Big penalties are dished out in many European and US industries due to the formation of cartels being outlawed. Kinked Demand Curve A Kinked Demand Curve theory was developed in 1939 of non-collusive oligopoly. This theory is used to explain price stability in an oligopolistic market. The model developed by Paul Sweezy, R.L. Hall and C.J. Hitch seeks to explain how prices remain stable even when there is no collusion between oligopolies. An assumption of the Kinked Demand Curve theory is that an oligopolistic firm will face two demand curves as a result of a kink. The point of the kink is the established market price within the industry. The demand curve comprises of two segments as a result of this kink. The first segment relates to the increase in price by a firm resulting in the demand curve being relatively more elastic, whereas, the second segment relates to a firm decreasing its price resulting in a less elastic curve (Webmaster 2009). The theory assumes a change in price by one firm will lead to two asymmetrical reactions. The first being when firm A reduces its price, other firms in the industry will either maintain or cut its prices due to a fear of losing customers or sales to the first firm. The firms agenda to decrease price can be further represented by Figure 1.2. At the industry price Pe, a decrease to price P2 will lead to an output from Qe to Q2 along the inelastic AR=D curve. This will leave the firm making a loss in Total Revenue (TR). The advocacy in price stability is due to the shaded blue area representing a loss in TR being greater than the shaded grey area representing a gain in TR. This is mainly down to the inelastic demand curve AR=D, where a percentage change in price leads to a relatively smaller responsive change in quantity demanded. The second being when an oligopolistic firm raises its price, its competitors will not be induced to follow suit, leaving them to gain market share. The firms agenda to increase price can be further represented by Figure 1.3 below. At the industry price Pe, an increase to price P1 will result in an output for the firm from Qe to Q1 along the elastic AR=D demand curve. Due to the shaded blue area representing a loss in TR being greater than the grey area representing a gain in TR, the firm will be trading at a loss. This again encourages price stability for goods in an oligopolistic market. This TR loss is down to a relatively elastic demand curve AR=D, where a percentage change in price leads to a greater responsive change in quantity demanded. The stability in price in an oligopoly market leads to firms trying to obtain a greater share of the market via non-price competition. Game Theory 500 Prisoners Dilemma 200 Conclusion 150 Even though it is clear the Kinked Demand Curve points out there will be price stability in an oligopolistic market, there is no mention of other factors that may fluctuate prices. The Kinked Demand Curve theory does not give any indication as to the reasons why prices are set. Factors included in the ‘4 Ps are very influential in an oligopolistic market. Oligopolists will be more inclined to pour supernormal profits into the research and development department than that belonging to a monopoly. This will be to aid the value of a product by increasing design, improving efficiency or by technological improvements. The place of the product can also have an impact on price. An airline company may have unique access to a geographical location of a country enabling the firm to operate almost as if they were a monopoly. Making the product conveniently available for consumers will give the firm strategic advantages that will not be easily copied by competitors (Daniels, Radebaugh Sullivan 2001). Anderton (2001) advocates the need for the Kinked Demand Curve to aknowledge other factors than price. The main assumption of the theory is that firms will always react to other competitors changes in price but in reality the this is not the case. REFERENCES Anderson, A (2001) Depken, Craig 2005, Microeconomics Demystified The McGraw-Hill Companies, England Daniels, Radebaugh Sullivan 2001 Sloman, J and M, Sutcliffe (2004) http://tutor2u.net/economics/content/topics/monopoly/kinked_demand.htm http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=wpdc=dspk=kinked-demand+curve http://www.cs-territories.com/cyro//asa2_economics/unit4/moreonoligopoly.html Directory M Articles 2009 http://articles.directorym.com/Kinked_Demand_Theory_Of_Oligopoly_New_York_NY-r1047197-New_York_NY.html

Tibetan Meditative Transformation Essay -- Buddhism Religion Papers

Tibetan Meditative Transformation When one hears the word "Tibet," several pop-culture images come to mind; these might include the often seen "Free Tibet!" bumper sticker, the perpetual smile of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, or the mental image of orange clad monks with shaved heads, chanting in unison. American culture has embraced many aspects of Tibetan culture in a rather superficial manner, but upon further inspection, it becomes apparent that these particular aspects have been embraced because they represent what is most important to Tibetans: their seemingly endless struggle for political freedom from an oppressive Chinese rule, the religious and political role of their charismatic leader, Tenzin Gyatso, and the role of religion in everyday life. One particular Tibetan practice which Americans seem to have latched onto is the idea of meditation. Many Westerners see it as a way to improve their lives; and yet meditation, while helpful, may not be all that unique in terms of its effects on occasional practitioners . Meditation is an essential part of Buddhism, the religion which pervades every aspect of the traditional Tibetan life; it was in part this central, unifying ideology that allowed the Tibetans to be almost completely self-contained, with little or no contact to the outside world, for most of their history prior to the twentieth century. The Dalai Lama and other religious figures lead the country; Buddhism is an inseparable part of Tibetan culture, to the extent that traditional Tibetans sometimes find themselves unable to relate to outsiders, and for this reason strove in the past to sustain themselves without trade or contact with other cultures. Prior to Chinese occupation, an extremely large percent of the ... ... Rehabilitation, 12, 117-125. Piburn, S. (1993). The Dalai Lama, a policy of kindness: An anthology of writings by and about the Dalai Lama. Ithaca, NY, USA: Snow Lion Publications. Stoyva, J., & Anderson, C. (1982). A coping-rest model of relaxation and stress management. In L. Goldberger & S. Breznitz (Eds.), Handbook of stress: Theoretical and clinical aspects (pp. 745-763). London: Collier Macmillan Publishers. Teasdale, J. D., Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., Ridgeway, V. A., Soulsby, J. M., & Lau, M. A. (2000). Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 68, 615-623. West, M. A. (1987). Traditional and psychological perspectives on meditation. In M. West (Ed.), The psychology of meditation (pp. 5-22). New York: Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press. Tibetan Meditative Transformation Essay -- Buddhism Religion Papers Tibetan Meditative Transformation When one hears the word "Tibet," several pop-culture images come to mind; these might include the often seen "Free Tibet!" bumper sticker, the perpetual smile of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, or the mental image of orange clad monks with shaved heads, chanting in unison. American culture has embraced many aspects of Tibetan culture in a rather superficial manner, but upon further inspection, it becomes apparent that these particular aspects have been embraced because they represent what is most important to Tibetans: their seemingly endless struggle for political freedom from an oppressive Chinese rule, the religious and political role of their charismatic leader, Tenzin Gyatso, and the role of religion in everyday life. One particular Tibetan practice which Americans seem to have latched onto is the idea of meditation. Many Westerners see it as a way to improve their lives; and yet meditation, while helpful, may not be all that unique in terms of its effects on occasional practitioners . Meditation is an essential part of Buddhism, the religion which pervades every aspect of the traditional Tibetan life; it was in part this central, unifying ideology that allowed the Tibetans to be almost completely self-contained, with little or no contact to the outside world, for most of their history prior to the twentieth century. The Dalai Lama and other religious figures lead the country; Buddhism is an inseparable part of Tibetan culture, to the extent that traditional Tibetans sometimes find themselves unable to relate to outsiders, and for this reason strove in the past to sustain themselves without trade or contact with other cultures. Prior to Chinese occupation, an extremely large percent of the ... ... Rehabilitation, 12, 117-125. Piburn, S. (1993). The Dalai Lama, a policy of kindness: An anthology of writings by and about the Dalai Lama. Ithaca, NY, USA: Snow Lion Publications. Stoyva, J., & Anderson, C. (1982). A coping-rest model of relaxation and stress management. In L. Goldberger & S. Breznitz (Eds.), Handbook of stress: Theoretical and clinical aspects (pp. 745-763). London: Collier Macmillan Publishers. Teasdale, J. D., Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., Ridgeway, V. A., Soulsby, J. M., & Lau, M. A. (2000). Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 68, 615-623. West, M. A. (1987). Traditional and psychological perspectives on meditation. In M. West (Ed.), The psychology of meditation (pp. 5-22). New York: Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press.

Athens in the Time of Pericles †Religion Death and Burial Essay

Pericles lived from 495-429 BC. During this time, religion was inextricably linked with Athenian society. It contributed to a lot of Athenian culture and the many aspects of religion were depicted through buildings, artworks, festivals and every day rituals. Gods and Goddesses In Greek mythology there were 12 main gods, that were prayed to and worshipped by the Athenians. It was said they lived on top of Mount Olympus. They resembled human form and through their stories of love, war and passion they were also viewed to have human feelings. The Greeks believed that the gods were immortal. The gods were associated with three main domains, Heaven, sea and earth. The 12 gods were: God/Goddess name Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Demeter Hephaestus Hera (Queen of heaven and wife of Zeus) Hermes (Messenger of the Gods) Hestia Poseidon Zeus (Lord of the Gods, Spiritual father of the Gods and the people) Heaven Heaven Heaven Heaven Earth Heaven Heaven Heaven Heaven Sea Heaven Domain Specialty Love, romance and beauty Sun, light, medicine, poetry and music War Hunting, the forest, wildlife, childbirth and the moon Agriculture Fire Marriage and magic Business Home and Homelife The sea, horses and earthquakes The sky. Dio Crysostomos (97 A.D) declared the image of Zeus so powerful that, â€Å"If a man, with a heavy heart from grief and sorrow in life, will stand in front of the statue, he will forget all these.† Athena (Patron goddess of Athens and daughter of Zeus) Heaven War, wisdom and crafts. Evidence of Athena being the patron goddess is the Athenian silver tetradrachm from 454-404 BC. Like on the coin, she’s generally depicted wearing a helmet and shown with an owl or olive tree as they were sacred to her. According to mythology, she gifted the olive tree to the city of Athens. Tara Heaslip Wednesday, 19 June 2013 6:12:56 PM Australian Eastern Standard Time Attica. Athens, c. 454-404 BC. Silver â€Å"old-style† tetradrachm. Head of Athena right, wearing crested helmet ornamented with olive leaves / Owl standing right, olive sprig and crescent moon behind. Apart from the main 12 gods and goddesses there were many others that were just as popular and worshipped just as much, for example, Dionysus. There is much evidence of the belief in these gods such as paintings, artworks and inscriptions, for example, a vase that has been dated back to 470-460 BC which depicts Zeus. Amphora, 470-460 B.C. This vase depicts Zeus aiming a lightening bolt at a giant with an eagle perched on his hand. Beliefs, practices and organisations Religion was a fundamental aspect of Greek life and the Athenian people incorporated it into their everyday lives as they believed their lives were dependent on the gods. It was believed that gods could interfere in the lives of men, so prayer was used by the people, so the gods would take favour and act kindly towards them. Xenophon said â€Å"The gods know everything and they give forewarnings to anyone they choose through sacriï ¬ ces, omens, voices and dreams.† The Athenians used sacriï ¬ ces, temples and prayers to honor particular gods and goddesses. They believed in the three ‘Fates,’ Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. Clotho was the youngest, she spun the thread of destiny with a distaff and determined the time of birth of an individual. Lachesis measured the thread length to determine the length of life and Atropos cut the thread of life, determining the time of death. Worship of the gods consisted of rituals and ceremonies. The relationship between human beings and deities was based on the concept of exchange; Gods and goddesses were expected to answer prayers and humans were expected to give gifts and sacriï ¬ ces. Tara Heaslip Wednesday, 19 June 2013 6:12:56 PM Australian Eastern Standard Time Evidence of the sacriï ¬ ces made by the Athenians came from Lysias (around 400 BC) who stated, â€Å"By performing the proper sacriï ¬ ces, our ancestors left our city the most powerful and prosperous in Greece. It is therefore right that we offer the same sacriï ¬ ces as they did, if only for the sake of the good fortune which has resulted.† Sacriï ¬ ces were the central ritual act performed by Athenians. Animals sacriï ¬ ced had to be willing, therefore they would sprinkle water on it so it’ll lift it’s head and ‘nod’. The richer families gave a blood sacriï ¬ ce almost everyday, however the poor couldn’t afford it. Treasuries were built at Olympia and Delphi to store generous offerings. Evidence of this is part of a female face with inlaid eyes which has been dated back to 4th cent. BC. Ancient Greek Votive offering, 4th cent. BC, set in a niche of a pillar in the sanctuary of Asclepios in Athens Athenian religion was characterised by a diversity of cults. People joined cults because they wanted a closer connection with one particular god. Although everyone believed and worshipped all 12 Olympian gods there were cults to speciï ¬ c gods, especially those not apart of the Pantheon. Evidence of the cults was the Votive plaque which dates back to the mid-4th Century BC and depicts elements of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which was a cult which celebrated Demeter and Persephone. Tara Heaslip Wednesday, 19 June 2013 6:12:56 PM Australian Eastern Standard Time Votive plaque, discovered in the sanctuary at Eleusis (mid-4th century BC) Private worship included family prayers and wine offerings. In the home, there were household shrines and many people offered daily libations to different gods. Private rituals included prayers, meals and storytelling. This god would be chosen depending on the families needs and lifestyle. E.g. Demeter, if they were a agricultural/farming family. They would pay this god special honor but made sure they didn’t exclude any of the others. Worship of the gods also took place publicly. Public meetings opened with recognition of the gods, festivals were dedicated to the gods as were temples, statues and artworks and many sacriï ¬ ces made to the gods were a public event. Mockery of the gods wasn’t regarded as blasphemy and was accepted in athenian life. Evidence of this is Aristophanes play, The Frogs, which depicts Dionysus as cowardly, gluttonous and morally depraved, was acted at Athens at the Lenaean festival (B.C. 405). Temples and Sanctuaries The Acropolis is the oldest part of Athens, it’s the sacred hill and during the reign of Pericles it became the place of the most famous Athenian temples, shrines and statues dedicated to the Gods. Pericles’ building program further evidences the Athenian’s devotion to the gods in all aspects of daily life. Pericles built many temples in honour of the various gods and goddesses, particularly to Athena, to thank her for Athens’ success in the Persian wars. The Parthenon was a temple built on the Acropolis in 448-432 BC. It was built in dedication to Athena for the salvation of Athens and Greece in the Persian wars. It was also used as a treasury. A statue of Athena was built, by Phidias, inside which stood 10 meters tall, made of ivory and gold. A big part of the Parthenon is the Panathenaic Frieze, which was made to depict the Panathenaic festival. Metopes were sculpted into the Parthenon. On the east side the struggle between the gods and the giants was depicted, on the west side was an Amazonomachy, on the south side the battle between the lapiths and the centaurs was shown and depicted on the north side was the Trojan War. There were also many pedimental sculptures which depicted images such as the contest between Poseidon and Athena. Tara Heaslip Wednesday, 19 June 2013 6:12:56 PM Australian Eastern Standard Time South Metope 31, Lapith and Centaur, 447-432 B.C. The Erechtheum is a temple on the northern side of the Acropolis and was dedicated to Athena and Poseidon. It was built between 421 and 407 BC and was designed to accommodate the Plynteria and the Panathenaia. Within the temple lived the sacred snake, which represented a spirit who was thought to keep the city safe. The snake was fed honey-cakes by the priestesses of Athena Polias. The snake’s occasional refusal to eat the cakes was seen as a bad omen. Festivals The Panathenaia is a festival held annually and is the most important as it was dedicated to Athena. It’s held on the 28th day of Hekatombaion which is believed to be Athena’s birthday. Every four years the festival would be extended with many games and a contests being held, this was known as the Greater Panathenaia, whilst the festival held every other year was known as the lesser Panathenaia. The festival holds great religious signiï ¬ cance however it was used to implement the power and political supremacy of Athens. A large part was the Panathenaic games included solo and group contests. The games began with individual activities such as wrestling, horse drawn chariot races and the pentathlon. The individual contests were open for all greek citizens however the group contests were reserved for Athenian citizens. The group contests consisted of a beauty contest between athletes, military dances and a mock combat. Participants from all over Greece were also invited to participate in musical and poetry competitions. A torch race took place in the evening and was then followed by a night of dancing and singing. Evidence of these competitions was the Panathenaic amphoras, which were given to the winners of competitions as a prize. Panathenaic Amphora, depicting foot races at the games, 530 B.C. Tara Heaslip Wednesday, 19 June 2013 6:12:56 PM Australian Eastern Standard Time Amphora, depicting a musician performing with a music instrument used in festivals, 490 B.C. The next day held one of the most important aspects of the festival which was the Panathenaic procession. During this procession a peplos was given as a gift to Athena. A new one was woven and decorated for her every year. It was an honor to be chosen as one of the Ergastinai to make the peplos. Many offerings were brought on to the life size statue of Athena at the end of the procession. Only citizens were allowed to the Acropolis, everyone else remained at the gateway. The Hecatomb was made at the Acropolis. Upon the altar of Athena meat from sacriï ¬ ced animals such as cows and sheep was used in a ritual meal to end the festival, however only certain people were invited to this. Evidence of the Panathenaia and the procession is the Parthenon frieze depicts many aspects of the festival such as the procession and the games.

Computing and Ieee-754 Floating-point

1. Name the three ways in which signed integers can be represented in digital computers  and explain the differences. 2. Which one of the three integer representations is used most often by digital computer  systems? 3. How are complement systems like the odometer on a bicycle? 4. Do you think that double-dabble is an easier method than the other binary-to-decimal  conversion methods explained in this chapter? Why? 5. With reference to the previous question, what are the drawbacks of the other two  conversion methods? . What is overflow and how can it be detected? How does overflow in unsigned numbers  differ from overflow in signed numbers? 7. If a computer is capable only of manipulating and storing integers, what difficulties  present themselves? How are these difficulties overcome? 8. What are the three component parts of a floating-point number? 9. What is a biased exponent, and what efficiencies can it provide? 10. What is normalization and why is it necessary? 11.W hy is there always some degree of error in floating-point arithmetic when performed  by a binary digital computer? 12. How many bits long is a double-precision number under the IEEE-754 floating-point  standard? 13. What is EBCDIC, and how is it related to BCD? 14. What is ASCII and how did it originate? 15. How many bits does a Unicode character require? 16. Why was Unicode created? 17. Why is non-return-to-zero coding avoided as a method for writing data to a magnetic  disk? 18.Why is Manchester coding not a good choice for writing data to a magnetic disk? 19. Explain how run-length-limited encoding works. 20. How do cyclic redundancy checks work? 21. What is systematic error detection? 22. What is a Hamming code? 23. What is meant by Hamming distance and why is it important? What is meant by minimum  Hamming distance? 24. How is the number of redundant bits necessary for code related to the number of data  bits? 25. What is a burst error? 26. Name an error detection met hod that can compensate for burst errors.