Contemporary Issues in Work and Occupations: Precarious Employment Essay

Employment is of various forms. An employee can work on temporary terms, permanent terms, under contract terms, or under subcontract terms. In temporary employment terms, there are the temporary employment relationships. Contract and subcontract terms of employment are defined under certain rights and responsibilities that are specified under the labor law to govern the agreement terms of the two parties. In contract or subcontract employment, an individual is engaged to carry out a specified set of tasks with the employer and employee having a relationship whose establishment is based on a written employment contract specifying the employment terms and conditions. A defined length of employment is set including the salary, bonuses, and any other benefits that are likely to accrue to the employee under the contract. In temporary employment, the employment is specified within a given time in the same case of contract and subcontract employment. The worker may hardly work for other businesses until the specified time elapses, but they can work full time or part time. The two cases of employment can be compared and contrasted as well as pointing out how they connect in some way. In contract employment, a contractor is engaged by a business to provide a task within a given duration of time. A decent contractual agreement involves the defined terms of payment, all benefits, any bonuses, and the terms of works, which sometimes may hardly apply especially in precarious employment. In a decent or high rated contract, the specific role to be played by the contract employee is defined clearly, before the contract starts. All contract employees are usually engaged for a specified term but the conditions of work in the case of precarious employment contractual terms are poor and unfavorable in many aspects such as poor salaries, few or no benefits, and poor employee relationships (Irs. gov, 2013). Sometimes the contract could have a provision for a renewal but only under circumstances that are specified under the contract agreement if an agreement applies effectively. In precarious cases of contract employment, contractual agreements may hardly play key roles in ensuring employee freedom. At the same time, the lengths and terms of contract engagements varies from one organization or employer to another but the term is typically associated with tackling a specified task or defined to work for a specified length of time, mostly in terms of years. In terms of the payments, precarious employment contracts receive less payments that they would require given the chance to dictate their compensations. The agreement in a high contract employment specifies the exact amount as well as the manner in which the contract employee would be paid by the employer. This aspect of employee determination on the compensations to be provided hardly applies to precarious employment contract employees. In precarious employment, conditions of employment are poor and could be caused high completion of employment and the unwillingness of organizations to offer permanent employment. Organizations in this case also want to avoid risks associated with taking full responsibility of workers and thus cut on their costs and risks by making use of low paid contract employees. Sometimes provisions are set in the contract employment terms that include cases of having to include salary increments at various milestones, which are usually set forth in the contract agreement for most contractors. The contractor in high-level contract employments is hardly entitled to salary increments or additional benefits, which may not have been included in the contact agreement before the start of the contract activity (McKendrick, 2005). Any increments or additional benefits would require an amendment done on the contract. The amendment of the contract can only take place if the two parties establish consent to do it. In contract employment, breaching the contract would call for a lawful consideration of the contractual agreement. The employer may terminate the contract prematurely but he or she would be required by law to pay the contractor the full amount of money in terms of salary, benefits, and bonuses as specified in the contract agreement terms and conditions (McKendrick, 2005). Sometimes the contract employee may engage in misconduct resulting to termination of the contract by the employer in which case the employer may fail to pay the amount specified in the contract terms and conditions. This case of considering the terms and conditions hardly apply to precarious employment contracts given that most of the contract employees are more careful with the terms and conditions provided by their employer. The high possibility of losing the contract to another individual makes it hard for a contract worker in precarious employment conditions mess up in his or job task. The willingness of a contract worker in precarious employment conditions is hardly driven by the salary but rather the condition of life and lack of option to worker elsewhere. Contract employment can be of two major forms of contractors. A contractor can be either a contact employee or an independent contractor. A contract employee is termed to be an employee of a certain business or an organization (Peck, & Theodore, 2002). Many case of precarious employment contract employ workers who are contact employees. On the other hand, and independent contractor works in free style and engages in providing service for a particular organization or business while working as high leveled contractors. Contract employment involves a direct link with the employer unlike the case of subcontract employment whereby the subcontractor depends on the general contractor for employment. The case of direct link to employers is however hardly prominent in the case of poor working conditions associated with some contract employments. Precarious conditions for contract employment provide limited connection between the workers and top managements. Most of the working conditions are similar to the cases of temporary employment and the relationships in precarious employment contracts are similar to those of temporary working employees (Armstrong, Pat & Kate, 2006). Like in the case of contract employment, subcontract employment involves various types of subcontractors. One of the various types of subcontractors is domestic subcontractor whose obligation is to contract with the general or main contractor in supplying or fixing materials, goods, or executing work thereby forming part of the core contract. The general contractor employs the domestic subcontractors. A nominated subcontractor creates a permit to an architect or supervising officer in serving the final selection right as well as approval of subcontractors. In this case, the main contractor is given permission to make profits from hiring nominated subcontractors, but he or she is required to provide attendance information. In the case of nominated subcontract employment, direct contractual relationship is established between the client and subcontractor of a given task (McKendrick, 2005). A subcontractor ould be a named contractor who contracts with a general contractor in supplying or fixing materials, goods, or could be involved in executing tasks thereby forming a section of the core contract. It is challenging to determine whether an individual offering service to an organization is an employee or a contractor who is very independent. Some contractors are employees and could portray the same characteristics as in the case of temporary employment relationships who work under poor conditions, poor compensations, and unfavorable employer-employee relationships. The similarity in this case may reduce a person who is seen as a contractor to a temporary employee but in some case, precarious employment contracts are seen to be worse than temporary employment relationships (Kalleberg, Barbara, & Hudson, 2000). In the case of an employee under precarious contract employment conditions, the employer is expected to withhold income taxes, provide payments on social security fund, pay Medicare taxes, and provide unemployment taxes on employees’ wages. In the case of independent contractors, the employer can hardly withhold their income taxes or even do payment taxes on to them. Contract employment could sometime be considered as self-employments just like the case of one being the owner of a business or a contractor providing services to another business firm although in precarious employment conditions, contract employees can hardly term themselves as self-employed. In this case, one has own obligations on taxes and other deductions from their incomes (Flippen, & Chenoa A2012). In an organization, determinations of how payments would be treated on offered services have to be initiated from the relationship existing between the organization or employers and the people offering services (Armstrong, Pat & Kate, 2006). Differentiating an independent contractor from a contract employee would call for looking at all information providing evidence on the worker independence and the organization’s degree of controlling the worker. Degree of control or independence of the worker can be established from behavioral aspects, financial aspects, as well as the type of relationship existing between the worker and the organization or employer. In case the company has no control, over whatever the worker is doing, and how he or she does the task, it implies that the type of employment is contract employment whose conditions are hardly attractive to a real contractor or someone willing to work under permanent employment terms. Again, if the worker’s business aspects are hardy controlled by the organization or the payer, including the way the worker would be paid, expense reimbursements, tool, and equipment provision, then the worker is an independent contractor. An independent contractor also seems to have little or no relationship with the organization or employer. The employer has no power over what the contractor does given that any mistakes are taken to be a liability to the contractor (McKendrick, 2005). The employer only waits for the task accom0lishment in order to place his comments or point any disagreements with the contractor. The employer is therefore hardly allowed to take part in making decisions on the way the contractor does his or her job but he or she does in precarious cases of contract employment. The financial control over a worker, the relationship between the worker and the employer or organization, and behavior of the worker are aspects that distinguish between an employee and an independent contractor. It comes out that, in the contract and subcontract employments, workers have control over their way of performing tasks including the payments terms as well as the time duration they can perform a given task or a set of activities. In some cases, an independent contractor may perform a given task within a shorter time than the provided time, but still earn the same amount of salary and benefits as provided by the contractual terms or even more in case there are any amendments to increase the payments and benefits of the contractor (McKendrick, 2005). Contract and subcontract employment terms are different in many aspects from temporary employment and the relationships existing in temporary employment terms. Temporary employment terms provide that, an employee would offer services to an organization within a specified time or duration. The temporary employment relationships are faced with issues such as how the workers in the term of employment should plan for their time and the freedom they should have. The only thing hardly understood in this case is that even some eople having the mind that they are working as contractors are usually under temporary employment terms and relationships (McGovern, Deborah, & Stephen, 2004). The relationship in temporary employment is that face with control from the organization. Contract employees are sometimes categorized in the temporary employment relationships since they have to take orders from their employers as long as they are working within the specified time of the contract. In temporary employment, a worker is required to leave his or her employer within specified time duration. The relationship existing in temporary employment is mainly contractual; it is also referred to as interim or seasonal relationship. The workers are said to be casual, and their efforts could give way to permanent employment. Just like in contract employment, temporary workers are given the option of working on a full-time or part-time basis. The time depends on the employer or organization. The employer or management controls all hours of work or service. Working as a part-time worker may lead to fewer benefits or compensations or having to work for a longer duration depending on the agreement and terms of service. Unlike in the contract and subcontract employment, workers in temporary employment relationships receive benefits such as Medicare and health insurance (Peck & Theodore, 2002). Such benefits are given to permanent employees, occasionally to temporary employees, and hardly to independent contractors and subcontractors. Temporary employment relationship may involve temporary work agencies or temporary staffing in which case workers are retained within a specified length of time after which they are dismissed. Sometimes, temporary work agencies form contractual agreements with organizations and companies requiring temporary workers to provide them with temporary workers. Temporary workers are sometimes considered for cyclical economic situation in which case restructuring workers or employees in a company would be highly required (Kalleberg, Barbara, & Hudson, 2000). Recruiting firms do not supply companies with temporary workers, but temporary work agencies do provide firms with temporary workers when they require them. In establishing the competences of temporary workers during their recruitment, a temporary work agency uses a set of standardized tests to provide judgment on the competence of the workers being recruited. Hiring a temporary worker would depend on the score obtained from the test, an aspect that fully contradicts with the way people are employed in contact employments. In contract employments, individuals earn contracts based on various factors including their competence with respect to their work records, the license they have acquired based on their licensing body, and their bargaining power (Peck, 2002). The best contractor in terms of all the factors considered wins the contract. In temporary employment relationships, the employer requires that the temporary employees be given adequate instructions as per the job structure as well as information on the required attire for the job. The work hours are also specified, including the wages, and the person to whom the temporary employees would report. This aspect is also not specified in the contract and subcontract terms of employment since contractors and subcontractors have control over their work and working hours. Contractors and subcontractors can hardly be assigned an additional task without having to amend the contractual agreement in terms of the salary increments and any additional benefits (Broemmel, 2013). In temporary employment relationships, temporary workers may not have control over their time. They can be required to tackle extra duties without having to adjust any agreements. Any complaints would call for the use of the right channel, but not directly with their employer like in the case of contract and subcontract employment. The worker in a contract employment has a direct communication with the employer or organization’s management. Any complaint may require the amendment of the written contract terms and conditions and may lead to adjustments in the employment terms in the aspect of payments and benefits. Contrary to the way complaints are handled in the contract and subcontract employment, in temporary employment relationships, discrepancies may lead to the termination of the employment terms, decreased pay, or undermine any chances of getting better employment opportunities including permanent employment (Kalleberg, Barbara, & Hudson, 2000). A temporary work agency may require that their temporary employees be provided to some organizations terminate their terms of service if they are working outside the initial agreements between the agency and the organization offering the temporary employment. This factor happens if the employees feel that they are exploited or employees are facing difficulties in the tasks they are assigned to offer their services. In the temporary employment relationships, the temporary employees are required to maintain constant contact with the respective authority in case things had gone astray according to the way their activities were organized. In contrast to contract and subcontract employment, temporary employment is easy to venture into since those with the required technical requirement in the required industry or job field get the job (McGovern, Deborah, & Stephen, 2004). In many cases, the job is provided without a selection process being applied like in the case of contract and subcontract employment. The temporary work agencies also absorb workers without them submitting their resume or going through an interview process. Contract and subcontract employment face many issues given that any misconduct or mistakes, in the task being offered, becomes a liability to the subcontractor, but the liability could turn out to be the organizations loss. Just as in contract employment, temporary employment relationships create room for flexible hour, but the flexibility is limited to the total time in terms of hours worked and the pattern of reporting to work. The respective human resource personnel also watch the time flexibility closely as a way of determining worker productivity and performance; this may give way to permanent employment terms or contract employment (McGovern, Deborah, & Stephen, 2004). The temporary employee is likely to strive hard to get better working conditions or better terms of employment that may only come with accumulation of great wealth of experience. A contractor or subcontractor finds his or her job ultimate as far as working conditions and specialty are concerned.

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Sport Obermeyer Ltd. To: Wally Obermeyer From: 341 Consulting Group Date: Re: Production Process Problem Sport Obermeyer Ltd has quite a few problems at the moment that stem from a lack of streamlining of its operations. One of the problems that the skiwear manufacturer currently faces is demand uncertainty and how to measure it considering the disparate forecasts the buying committee members have come up with. In addition, the long lead-times for the production process makes forecasting even more difficult. The second issue for Sport Obermeyer is determining how to allocate production between the factories in Hong Kong and China. Conclusion and Recommendation Inaccurate forecasting is a major problem facing Sport Obermeyer, which has been addressed in Appendices A and B. Appendix A shows how much should be produced in Hong Kong given the assumption that there is no limit to the capacity; however, we have been asked to comment only on the initial order quantity, and not the reorder quantity. In keeping with this constraint, and using the forecasts given by all the committee members, we believe that Appendix B is an accurate representation of the amount of each style that should be produced in Hong Kong. It should be noted that this is only a short-term solution to the problem and the model itself must be looked at. For more consistent, accurate forecasts, a weighted average method should be used to give those committee members who have been most accurate in the past more importance, instead of using a simple moving average. As long lead times contribute to the difficulty in forecasting demand, Sport Obermeyer should attempt to reduce lead times for its production. One of the root issues causing the length of lead time is the number of SKUs, as well as the variety of components used in their production. Simplifying the product line would involve stopping production of those products with the least demand, reducing suppliers as well as altering designs so that they share as many of the same components as possible. Using the demand forecast for the 10 women’s parkas in Appendix B, there are three products, which have forecasted demands of less than 357, after which the demand spikes up. By removing the bottommost products, Stephanie, Teri, Isis would be deleted, which would allow for a shorter lead time. Sport Obermeyer should also introduce an integrated computerized system connecting all the different supply chain links. This would help reduce the time spent processing orders and make more efficient use of the raw materials. A combination of actions mentioned above can help make a significant change in the forecasting process and will allow Sport Obermeyer to make full use of its existing capacity. The company plans to source products roughly 50% from China and the other 50% from Hong Kong factories this year is attainable. However, our recommendation is to assign products to Hong Kong and China factories based on quality and design. According to Appendix C, the cost difference when comparing 19 parkas produced at both factories is not significant; but the Hong Kong factory is much more efficient. The products in Hong Kong are of a higher quality, require lower repair rates, and are produced twice as fast as those produced in the Chinese factory. Another advantage to the factory in Hong Kong is the minimum order quantity of 600 units, which provides the management with more flexibility in terms of determining their initial production requests. Lower quality products should be produced in the Chinese factory to take advantage of their low labor costs. Evaluation Criteria The main goal of the recommendations is to streamline Sport Obermeyer’s business processes. One of the most important criteria is the speed of the planning and production cycle. Any alternative that can reduce this time, from its current threshold of approximately two years, should be strongly considered. With regards to market share, Columbia Sportswear is gaining market share by providing lower-priced, higher-volume-per-style products. Sport Obermeyer needs to try and cut costs, and streamline its number of SKUs to achieve market dominance. It positions itself as a middle to high end producer, and the quality level should continue to be taken into consideration when looking to cut costs. Alternatives With regards to the inaccurate forecasts, Obermeyer could analyze the demand for its products based on an advanced showing prior to the one in Vegas and compare it with actual purchases. While this alternative can potentially be implemented, its effectiveness and reliability would be unknown. Simplifying the product lines would have a more direct and immediate impact on the lead times. Another possible alternative would be to start producing the products with the most predictable demand in advance. However, before implementing this change, Sport Obermeyer should focus on making overall accurate demand forecasts based on the newly recommended weighted average method. Implementation. Our implementation process will begin immediately with Wendy Hemphill researching the specifications for an integrated computerized system that match the supply chain structure of the company. Because of the complex nature of such a project, Sport Obermeyer would have to invest in such a project in November 1992, to begin use in February of the year of completion. In January 1993, the Buying Committee should implement the weighted-average forecasting method to analyze product demand. Since this is not a large change form the simple moving average, it should be used to find the forecasted demand for 1993. The following month, the SKUs should be reviewed based on the forecast created to consider which product lines to drop. This will be a gradual process, beginning with the deletion of a minimum number of products. In May 1993, the Buying Committee should allocate different product styles between Hong Kong and China based on quality. This can be seen in Appendix D.

Andrew Jackson, The United States President of the Common Man

Andrew Jackson, The United States President of the Common Man Andrew Jackson was the president of the common man because he greatly improved the economic aspect of life for white men during his presidency. However, some might argue that Jackson was not president of the common man because he continued to allow and encourage the mistreatment of marginalized groups like American Indians. Nevertheless, during his time as president, Jackson vetoed the renewal of the national bank, giving more power to the common man through state banks. In addition, he created the spoils system, giving less wealthy men the opportunity for government jobs, something very uncommon at the time. Jackson also extended the opportunity to vote to property owning white men as it became easier to buy property due to westward expansion. These changes made by Jackson created more economic opportunity and the potential for social climbing out of the lower class. The common, white man benefited greatly from Jackson, supporting the idea of him being the president for the common m an. Jackson eliminated the national bank, giving the state banks more power, benefitting the common man economically. When it came time to renew the charter for the National Bank, the president vetoed the renewal. Jackson believed the bank took money away from the common man as it was run by the wealthier portion of the population, looking to benefit themselves and not the majority of the population. The semi-private bank had investors coming from exclusively the richest class as few commoners could afford to invest in the bank. Jackson saw this consolidation of power in the wealthy as corrupt and dangerous for the common man, the bank and its investors wanted to make money, only benefitting a small fraction of the population (Document B). Shortly before the veto, Jackson withdrew money from the national bank and deposited the money into state banks, also known as â€Å"pet banks†. Pet banks were more apt to loan money to the lower class citizens that needed it, farmers in particu lar. Once Jackson decided to kill the national bank, declaring it unconstitutional (O’Donnell). This worked to the advantage of the commoners because they were able to take out loans as they needed them, controversially whether they could pay them back or not. Through employing people of lower classes in different federal jobs, it not only limited the amount of elites in power but also gave the lower class the chance to earn more money. On the road to Jackson’s presidency, he received help and support from many people and assured them that their support would not go without appreciation. Once Jackson was elected, he removed many elites from their positions in office, only to fill those jobs with the commoners that helped him achieve presidency. Jackson referred to this action as the Spoils System as he distributed his spoils of victory. (O’Donnell). Many of his supporters lacked education and money, as he appealed to the â€Å"common man†, attracting many farmers and other members of the lower class. However, Jackson believed the jobs were easy enough for the common man to carry out. By giving people from the lower class these jobs instead of those from the upper crust of society, he was giving them the chance to earn more money than they would as a farmer or even most merchants. This also provided the opportunity for them to move to a slightly higher social class because federal jobs were held to a much higher standard than most other jobs. The lives of many white men benefited economically and in some cases socially from the Spoils System. Some might argue that Jackson was not president of the common man because he continued to allow and prompt the terrible treatment of American Indians. By forcing them to leave Georgia and Michigan with the Indian removal act of 1830, the American Indians had no choice but to move to Oklahoma; they had no say in this matter. The trek that they made is famously known as the Trail of Tears. While the supreme court did not support Jackson’s decision, he continued with the plan anyways (O’Donnell). Although the American Indians were the group of people being directly affected by the Indian removal act, they did not have the right to vote on this matter or any affair until 1924. Jackson did not improve the quality of life of the American Indians by any standards, if anything, he contributed to the preexisting, unjust treatment they received. However, by obtaining the land in Georgia and Michigan, more white Americans were able to move there and be given an opportunity to own land, something that was difficult in places like the northeast, where land was not as easy to acquire. In many states, white men were allowed to vote if they owned land, and with this expansion, many â€Å"common men† throughout the United States were able to gain voting rights. While this privilege came at the expense of the American Indians homes and lives, Jackson did, in fact, improve the quality of life for what was considered to be the â€Å"common man†. Jackson’s changes to the U.S. during his presidency impacted many people but really only the common, white man profited from these changes. By liquidating the national bank, Jackson was able to put money into pet banks which greatly benefitted the lower class by allowing them to take out loans more frequently than they could have with the national bank. He further benefited the common man by supplying jobs to some of his supporters that helped him become president. By offering these jobs to people in a much lower class than the wealthy that used to hold those jobs, the common men had the chance to not only earn more money but to move to a slightly higher social class as well. Unfortunately, the American Indians did not gain nearly as much as many white men did from the Indian removal act. However, the vacant land provided the opportunities to vote to the common man. The changes made by Jackson that economically improved the lives of numerous common men support the theory that Andrew Jackson was the president of the common man.

Employment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Employment - Essay Example This is considered to be undesirable as the company will have to incur high training costs and will be left with inexperienced employees. In order to avoid this, the company should keep their employees motivated and give them additional benefits like bonuses, holidays etc. staff turnover is calculated by dividing the number of employees leaving the company by the current employees and then multiplying by hundred. Different types of staff turnover include internal, external, voluntary and involuntary. 2. Turnover can be internal or external. Internal turnover is when employees leave their current jobs to take over new positions in the same company. This can be a due to a number of positive and negative reasons. The employees might like the way the management treats its employees and therefore, they want to work in the same organization. Internal turnover is as important for the company as an external one. External turnover happens when the employees leave their jobs to work in other c ompanies or organizations. The employees might be unhappy with the way the employees are treated or the environment of the organization. The management should consider both these turnovers because a high staff turnover is not healthy for any organization. 3. The hospitality industry includes jobs in hotels, resorts etc. where the employees have to make the guests feel at home. This industry has a high turnover because of a number of reasons. One reason is its nature of seasonality. It is hard for the employees in off-the-peak season and therefore, the turnover is high. Also the work environment of this industry might not be good and the employees might not be treated in a good way. Another main factor is that dealing with customers is also not an easy task. Pay rates are often really low and along with less benefits, employees working in this industry get de-motivated. Therefore, the staff turnover of this industry is really high. 4. The costs of high turnover can have negative effe cts on the financial statements of a company. There are a number of techniques or tools which they can use in order to reduce their turnover rate. One tool is to provide a better working environment for the employees and to treat them well. To make their organization an employee oriented one which would keep the employees motivated. Another technique is to hire the right people suitable for the organization and provide them with adequate training facilities. Building loyal relationships with employees is also another tool which the organization can use. The organization can provide positive reinforcement to the employees by giving them incentives such as compensation, bonus, non-cash rewards and other benefits as well 5. Employee retention is extremely important for the success of an organization. High turnover rates are very costly for the company and therefore, they need to find ways to retain as many employees as possible. The costs of high turnover rates include training costs, recruiting costs and can have a negative affect on the financial position of an organization. The management needs to keep their employees motivated in order to have a high retention rate. Also that with high retention rates, experienced workers remains with the organization and continue to provide their advice so that the goals of the company are met. An effective employee retention program can help the reputation of the company and also improves employee morale. It also makes sure that the productivity and performance of the employees are maintained. 6. A high turnover rate can prove to be costly for the company. The costs are both direct and indirect. The direct costs include recruitment cost, the cost the company incurs when an employee leaves

Project Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Project Management - Assignment Example Processes responsible for managing a project, establishing reliability and regulation that can as well allow for accountability in project scope. Retrieval and dissemination of information is an important factor in management and hence management results records and deliberations, coming up with schedules are bent on time management. Concise follow up of these knowledge areas will benefit the project ensuring a success at the end especially in monitoring and evaluation. Project Work Breakdown Structure Part 2: Scope of the project The developers of this project need to put into consideration the various processes involved in the achievement of appropriate technological method to detect tsunamis in the future in Japan. Input such as obtaining capital and authentication to set up the project; carrying out information storage on the project resource expenses and use. Tools like expert critical analysis plus coming up with new ideas and improving them with the concerned team. Verdict of the experienced and knowledgeable personnel are considered. The team manager and its team must deliberate on the possible outcome; the ending of the project should culminate into the development of a deliverable that will meet the required detector. There must be a consideration of time limitations and possible solutions. Factors influencing the project These factors include the availability of human resource; that is, well trained personnel with competent skills in the technical skills and knowhow. Capital plus charter that will authenticate its implementation considering good will from the Japan government. Finally, knowledge areas such as project time management, information services, quality and/or risk and procurement management. Reasons for probable failure Lack of necessary skills, technical attributes and knowledge by the team manager and his/her team. There is a possibility that if the project manager and assigned team do not have vital competencies, skills and concerned ap praisals, then the technological approach targeted for this project may not prosper. The team needs to acquire necessary skills, appraisals and motivations plus right interpersonal skills and important team networking skills. Failure to define the probable risks such as undetected malfunctioning of the technology developed, unforeseen tsunami trends that could be undetectable. Insufficient information retrieval and dissemination may lead to misinformation and a division between project managers and the team. Communication is a vital component any process especially projects. Part 3 Lists of paths shown: B: 6, E: 3, G: 2 and H: 3 is the critical path. These paths may include: earliest path for project completion, Latest path for project completion, slack path for activities that lie in the critical path and subjective time estimate paths. Importance of critical paths According to Roberta R and Bernard WT (2006), critical path has various benefits to the project team. Critical path is a path that interlinks the vital activities of a project. It helps the management to focus on the tasks that fall along it and are critical towards the completion of a project; while helping management to identify which paths to shorten, it enable crash program in which project completion period may be reduced and hence lead to earlier finishing. In the network shown, critical path is B: 6,

Cultural bias in the assessment of english language learner students Essay

Cultural bias in the assessment of english language learner students - Essay Example English language countries have many rich cultural traditions and features that must be reflected in the assessment of English language learner students and other parts of the learning process. It is also pay attention to the students of different cultures who study English as the second foreign language and their possibilities to understand English through its culture expressed in the language and to compare their native cultures with the English one. It helps to make the learning interesting that improves the results of English language learner students' assessment. 2. It is better to consider the role of culture in English teaching and learning on the examples of some concrete countries cultures of which differ from that of English. The examples of Russia and Japan show considerable features in English language learning and teaching. "Native speaking English language teachers are very much needed in Russia and in most cases they are met with traditional Russian hospitality, get a decent pay according to Russian standards and receive good evaluations and references" (Millrood). Cultural features of Russia influence the teaching process and assessment. English lesson in Russia has some features. "A lesson usually has three-stages, including homework check up, presentation of the new material and reinforcement of the new material" (Millrood). ... "In pairs and small groups learners need a very detailed description of what they are supposed to do, otherwise tending to work individually and/or waiting to be asked by the teacher and to give the prepared answer" (Millrood). In pair and group activities in Russia learners must follow the teacher's instructions, and their assessment directly depends on task performance accuracy according to it. "Whole-language approach is not universally supported. A good lesson is considered to be competence-building. In every lesson, the teacher is expected to organise balanced activities in learning lexis and grammar, as well as in speaking, listening and reading" (Millrood). The learners' assessment is tightly connected with their skills of taking part in these balanced activities. In Russia "a lesson is usually result-oriented and it is the result, which is considered primary, not the activity, which may be very motivating and activating the learners" (Millrood). So, good assessment and a posi tive result are the main orients of the English language lesson in Russia. "At the end of the lesson, each learner usually gets a mark on a five-point scale with a detailed comment from the teacher" (Millrood). This kind of assessment of a five-point scale form doesn't reflect the whole depth of learner's knowledge and cannot be considered as the objective assessment of learning results. In Russian schools "a lesson is usually declared as communicative though in reality, teachers and learners spend a lot of time dealing with grammar structures, bilingual exercises and text understanding" (Millrood). Because of that the learners' assessment is often

The Milgram Experiment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Milgram Experiment - Research Paper Example This research paper will concentrate on discussing the Milgram experiment, the method used in this experiment and the results of the experiment. Literature review Most people would answer no, when ordered by a person in authority to deliver an electrical shock of 400-volts to another person, but Stanley Milgram conducted obedience experiments that showed results which were surprising. Experiments like this offer a disturbing and powerful look in the power of obedience and authority. Shortly after the trial of Adolph Eichmann had begun who was a World War II criminal Milgram started his experiments. Adolph Eichmann’s defense roused Milgram’s interest when he said he was following instructions when he ordered millions of Jews to be killed. "Could it be true that Eichmann and his were just following orders accomplices during the Holocaust? Could we call them all accomplices?" (Milgram, 1974); this is the question Milgram posed in his book Obedience to Authority. The Milgra m Experiment method The Milgram experiment involved 40 participants who were men who were recruited in for exchange for $4.50 due to their participation. In this experiment, Milgram had to develop a shock generator that was intimidating. This shock generator had shock levels that started at 30-volts and had an increment of 15-volt up to 450-volts. Switches had terms labeled slight shock, moderate shock, severe shock and finally two switches that were labeled XXX. Each of the participants took the role of a teacher delivering a shock to a student each time there was a production of an incorrect answer. Participants in this case thought that they delivered ideal shocks to the respective student, while actually the student in the experiment was pretending to get a shock. The participant heard the learner plead for a release or complain of a heart condition as the experiment progressed. After reaching the 300-volts level, the learner had a demand to be released and banged on the wall. T he learner refused to answer and remained silent, refusing to answer more questions. Milgram, who was the experimenter, then gave instructions to the participant to deliver another shock when there is silence treating silence as a response that is incorrect. Most of these participants asked Milgram whether to continue delivering these shocks. Then Milgram issued a series of commands to determine what the participant would follow his orders. Milgram first commanded the participant to continue delivering shocks; he then commanded them that the experiment required that they continue delivering shocks. He then commanded them that it was essential that they continued delivering these shocks. Finally, he commanded them that they had no other choice but to continue delivering those shocks. In his book Obedience to Authority Milgram quotes that social psychology reveals a lesson that not what kind of person a man is, but the kind of a situation in which he can be, that determine the action of a person, (Milgram, 1974). Milgram Experiment results The measure of obedience was determined by the levels of shock that participants were willing to subject to the learner. Milgram once posed a question to a group of students at Yale University as to how far they thought most participants were willing to go. The prediction was that not more than 3 percent of the participan