Global Human Resource Management

Question: Discuss about the Global Human Resource Management. Answer: Introduction The following assignment evaluates the impact of the cultural differences on the global human resource practice. For the purpose of the assignment, the human resource practices chosen are recruitment and selection as well as the career management practice. Employee recruitment and selection as well as career management are the essential human practices for the business enterprise. In this regard, it can be stated these two practices shall help the human resource management of the business entity. Mondy and Martocchio (2016) stated that cultural differences should have a significant impact on the recruitment and selection as well as career management of the workforce. Employees coming from different backgrounds and cultures shall have different views, opinions and work ethics. Thus, the management of the business entity has to consider these factors in developing effective human resource policies for the business entity. According to Mathis et al. (2016) there several cultural factors like power distance individualism, masculinity / femininity a well as the general attitudes and the beliefs of the consumers. Such factors shall have a tremendous impact on the formulation of the human resource policies adopted by a global business enterprise. Employee perception is a determining factor that has an impact of the human resource policies of a business enterprise. Thus, employee perception largely depends on the cultural attributes of an individual employee. Discussion Cultural factors The cultural attributes are a pertinent attribute that has an affect on the international human resource management. Hendry (2012) stated that the culture is composed of certain forces comprising of values, beliefs as well as the actions of a distinct group of individuals. Besides this, it can be said that religion as well as ethnicity are an important part of culture of a group. Therefore, there should not be a clash between the culture of the organization and employees. This can lead to employee discontent and increase the attrition rate in the business organization. Bennett and Ho (2014) mentioned that human resource practices like recruitment and selection as well as career management are highly influenced by the cultural aspects of a particular region. In this regard, it can be state that the expectations of the potential and the existing employee in the business organization are a highly important part of the cultural attributes of a specific region. Several cultural attributes would influence the human resource practices of recruitment and career management of the employees. The following are the factors that have an influence on international human resource management practices in the global market. The human resource practices of career management as well as recruitment, is evaluated in the context of these factors. Power Distance- The power distance in the organization is an essential cultural attribute. The concept of power distance refers to inequality among the employees working in the organization. Purce (2014) stated thatan increase in the power distance leads to greater differences in authority, responsibility and status among the seniors and the juniors in the business organization. In this regard, it can be stated that the power distance is among the essential factors that shall h help the business entity in the development of the goals and the objectives of the business entity. However, the concept of power distance is more prominent in many countries. As such, the business entity has to develop pertinent human resource strategies to overcome business sustainability in the domestic and the International market. Power distance shall lead to rigidity in the organizational structure of the business organization. Besides this, the impact of power distance in the organizational culture shal l lead to lesser flexibility in the business functionalities. In addition, this would result in lesser coordination and cooperation among the organization. A power-distance culture would be most suitable for organizations having a hierarchical work structure. Individualism -The concept of individual behavior is an essential trait for the business entity for the development of the organizational goals and the objectives for the business entity. According to Mello (2014), the individualism refers to the actions of an individual as opposed to working as a team for the business enterprise. According to Nickson (2013)., this essential cultural attribute can have an impact on the operational strategies of a business enterprise. The human resource department of the business enterprise has to consider the individualistic trait of the employees, in the development of human resource strategies of a business enterprise. Riley (2014) stated that individualisms shall lead to greater flexibility and help the employees handle a large amount of responsibility, thereby, enhancing their skill and aptitude. In the context of career management, the trait of individualism is most suitable and would help the business entity in enhancing the skills of the workf orce. Masculinity/Femininity- The dimension of masculinity/Femininity refers to the extent to which the masculine overcomes the feminine values in the business organization. The masculine values that can be identified are assertiveness, orientation of performance as well as the success and the competitiveness of the individual. In this context, it can be stated that the feminine values are the quality of life as well as the level of coordination and cooperation among the employees in the organization. In this regard, it can be stated that this level of masculinity as well as the feminine values varies from culture to culture. Thus, the development of the human resource policies in the business organization shall reflect about the operational and the marketing policies followed in the business organization. In this context, it can be stated that the masculinity and the feminine values in the business organization shall have an impact on the operational policies of the business entity. Nele et al. (2014) stated that the human resource practice of career management should depend considerably on the cultural attributes of the organization as well the employees currently working. As such, the management of the business enterprise has to respond appropriately in executing its career management strategies in a competitive manner. Both masculinity and feminine values have a huge impact in implementing the human resource strategies of the business entity. In the context of recruitment and selection strategies as well as the career management strategies adopted by the business enterprise. Attitude and Perception- Employee perception and attitude shall have a considerable affect on their loyalty towards their business organization. According to Kehoe and Wright (2013), the cultural aspect of a business organization shall have an impact in determining the attitudes and perception towards the business organization. In the context of the recruitment and the selection strategies of the business organization, it is essential to assess the perception of the potential employees of the business organization to understand their expectations from the company. As such, it is necessary for the business entity to analyze the employee feedback in structuring the recruitment and the selection strategies in such a manner, which shall benefit both the organization and the employee. In the recruitment and the selection strategies of the business entity, the business entity has to clearly communicate the job role as well as the benefits that shall be offered to the consumers. Career Management The career management refers to implementing strategies, which can enhance the skills and the competencies of the employees working in the business organization. In this regard, it can be stated that the management of the business entity has to consider the cultural influences, in order to understand the expectations of the workforce relating to their careers. Career management refers to helping employees acquiring greater competencies and skills to enhance their skills. Gatewood et al (2015) stated that the cultural differences should pose a threat and obstacles to such initiatives taken by the business enterprise. Thus, employees have to be receptive enough to gather new ideas and functionalities to enhance the organizational productivity. In this regard, it can be stated that the management of the business entity has to respond appropriately to understand employee needs and issues and react accordingly. According to Flamholtz (2012), the career management initiatives from the employees would not be fulfilled if the organization goals and objectives of the business entity were not taken into consideration. As such, there should not be a clash between organizational culture and the culture of the employees working in the business organization. Besides this, the culture of the organization shall not be de-motivating to the employees in any manner. To promote career management initiatives, the human resource department has to assess the motivational levels of the workers, and then act accordingly. The career management policies implemented in the business organization shall have to be fair and transparent and should not be biased to any employee in the business organization. Recruitment and Selection Procedure According to Flamholtz. (2012), multinational organizations have to face a number of issues while conducting their businesses in the oversees market. Thus, implementing a same business structure in a cultural different country can be stressful, given the complexities of the business operations. The affectivity of the human resource practices can only be achieved, if the managers and the subordinates accept the human resource practice in the business organization in a whole-hearted manner. However, due to rapid globalization employees have to execute their business in an appropriate manner. Gatewood et al (2015) stated that the recruitment has to be done in a global scale to conduct successful business operations in the global market. Therefore, the brand has to consider the cultural attributes of the potential employees in order to develop the goals and the objectives of the business entity. Therefore, the business entity has to conduct the interview in such a manner, in order to pre vent any harm to the local culture and traditions. Bratton and Gold (2012) stated that the recruitment and selection procedure should not contain any rigid policies that would create any negative perception on the consumers. Many traditional cultures prefer the interview timings to be fixed and planned rather than harp hazardously. Thus, the interview procedure shall have to be systematic to avoid any inconvenience to the consumers. Discrimination upon the basis of gender is one of the pertinent issues present in the operation policies of the business enterprise. Gender discrimination is considered as an offence in certain cultures, and can lead to negative perception among the employees. Thus, any business global business entity has to consider this attribute in framing the human resource policies of the business entity. Conclusion It can be stated that cultural attributes has a considerable influence on the human resource practices of any region. As such, the recruitment and selection procedures as well as the career management policies shall have to be considered if the business operates on a global scale. The career management initiatives of the company shall only be successful if the consumers in the business organization possess a positive perception towards the business enterprise and are keen enough to pick up new skills. Several factors shall have a proper impact on the International human resource practices. These factors include - Power distance, Individualism, Masculinity/ Femininity as well as attitude and perception towards the brand. Such factors shall have an influence on the employee behavior as well as the business functionalities of the organization. In the context of the recruitment and the selection procedures, it is necessary for a business entity to determine on the perception of the potential employees. As such, the management of the business enterprise has to adopt proper recruitment procedures to ensure the selection of the most suitable candidate for the business organization. The attitudes and the perception of the employees is largely dependent on the cultural policies adopted by the business enterprise. Cultural attributes like power distance, individualism as well as masculinity/Femininity are attributes that have an influence on the human resource strategies taken by the business organization. Power distance, which represents the level of inequality among the employees in the business organization, is a major cultural attribute within a workplace setting. Business enterprises that have a consider able amount of power-distance within the workplace shall have lesser coordination and cooperation among the seniors and the juniors in the workplace As a result, there would be a hierarchical structure and lesser flexibility in the structure of the organization. References Bennett, J. M., Ho, D. S. (2014). Human resource management. In project MANAGEMENT for ENGINEERS (pp. 231-249). Bratton, J., Gold, J. (2012). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan. Flamholtz, E. G. (2012). Human resource accounting: Advances in concepts, methods and applications. Springer Science Business Media. Gatewood, R., Feild, H. S., Barrick, M. (2015). Human resource selection. Nelson Education. Hendry, C. (2012). Human resource management. Routledge. Kehoe, R. R., Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees attitudes and behaviors. Journal of management, 39(2), 366-391. Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J. H., Valentine, S. R., Meglich, P. (2016). Human resource management. Nelson Education. Mello, J. A. (2014). Strategic human resource management. Nelson Education. Mondy, R., Martocchio, J. J. (2016). Human resource management. Pearson. Nel, P. S., Werner, A., Botha, C., Du Plessies, A., Mey, M., Ngalo, O., ... Van Hoek, L. (2014). Human resources management. Oxford University Press Southern Africa. Nickson, D. (2013). Human resource management for hospitality, tourism and events. Routledge. Purce, J. (2014). The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals), 67. Riley, M. (2014). Human resource management in the hospitality and tourism industry. Routledge.

The Rule in Rylands and Flecther remains to be one of strict liabilty. Discuss free essay sample

â€Å"The Rule in Rylands v. Fletcher remains a tort of strict liability. The statement posed to us above is quite contentious, a statement which attracts diverse views from a number of different jurisdictions. The main question to consider here is whether the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher remains an independent tort of strict liability or whether there has been a move towards negligence and nuisance in recent years. There is a great emphasis placed on the rule of Rylands v. Fletcher for law students, however as noted by Lord Hoffman in Transco v.Stockport; â€Å"It is perhaps not surprising that counsel could not find a case since 1939-1945 war in which anyone had succeeded in a claim under the rule. It is hard to escape the conclusion that the intellectual effort devoted to the rule by judges and writers over many years has brought forth a mouse! †1 As mentioned above, a number of common law jurisdictions have diverse views on this issue. We will write a custom essay sample on The Rule in Rylands and Flecther remains to be one of strict liabilty. Discuss or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I shall discuss each separately throughout my answer. Firstly, in order to provide a fully comprehensive answer, I will discuss the facts of the case. The rule in Rylands v. Fletcher is a decision of the House of Lords which established a new area of tort law. According to Paul Ward; â€Å"it is a land associated tort which is considered to attract strict liability,†2 that is, it imposes liability for harm without having to prove negligence. Ward explicitly lays out that it is a tort that compromises of four elements; of accumulation of a natural thing, which if escapes and causes damage to the plaintiff, the defendant will be strictly liable. 3 The case concerned two adjacent landowners, Rylands and Fletcher. The defendant landowners, Rylands and Horrocks engaged with an independent contractor to build a reservoir in order to supply water to their mill. Due to negligence of the contractors and unbeknownst to the defendant landowners, the reservoir was built above a disused mine shaft, which flooded and collapsed causing water to escape and flood the neighbouring mine owned by the claimants. The plaintiff sued for damages, however a problem arose. At the time of the case, liability could not be based on any of the existing torts for a number of reasons. With respect to nuisance, the court found that the incident lacked continuity; it was not trespass because the flow of water onto land was not a direct impact consequence, and as vicarious liability was not an action at the time, the defendants could not be found liable for the negligent act of the contractor. One would therefore presume that there was no cause of action and that the defendants would escape liability, however liability was imposed. Professor Simpson stated that this was so because of the public anxiety about the safety of reservoirs at the time. 4 Blackburn J.stated the rule as follows; â€Å"a person who, for his own purposes, brought on his land and collected and kept there anything likely to do mischief if it escaped, had to keep it in his peril; and if he did not do so, he was prima facie answerable for all the damage which was the natural consequence of its escape. †5 However it is important to note that the House of Lords did add a further limitation on liability, they altered the notion of a â€Å"thing not naturally there† to a â€Å"non-natural use†, which was described by Lord Cairns as â€Å"that in its natural condition was not in or the land, then if it escapes, the defendant will be prima facie liable.†6 Blackburn, J. judgment was such that it led to the formulation of a new rule of strict liability for damage caused by an escape of something accumulated on a person’s property, if the accumulation is a non-natural use of property. The question today is; is this rule still in operation, one which remains a tort of strict liability? In particular, English, Irish and Australian judges have questioned the eligibility of the rule in recent decades. The main argument is over how one can keep the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher separate from other torts, in describing this Megaw, LJ.stated; â€Å"A regrettable modern instance of the forms of action successfully clanking their spectral chains. †7 The rule is so closely connected to these two torts, it is only natural to ask whether the rule should still claim its independence. I shall discuss this throughout my answer. In relation to Australian law, the rule of Rylands v. Fletcher remains no longer valid since the high court decision of Burnie Port Authority v. General Jones Pty Ltd, which abolished the rule and incorporated it generally into the tort of negligence. This case concerned a fire which started on a defendant’s property, caused by an employee of an independent contractor who was welding negligently. The fire spread to a nearby property causing 2. 5 million Australian Dollars’ worth of damage. The plaintiff sued under nuisance, negligence and the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher. 8 The High Court held that Blackburn’s justification was â€Å"all but obliterated by subsequent judicial explanations and qualifications†9 and that Rylands involved â€Å"quite unacceptable uncertainty. †10 Therefore, thejustices felt that the law should be abolished and that the independent contractor be found culpable under the law of negligence. The new test laid down in this judgment was; A person who takes advantage of his or her control of premises to introduce a dangerous substance or to carry on a dangerous activity, owes a duty of reasonable care to avoid a reasonably foreseeable risk of injury or damage to the person or property of another. Where the person is outside the defendant’s premises, the duty varies according to the magnitude of the risk involved.†11 The judges believed in this case the Authority had breached the duty that it owed to General Jones for the damage sustained in the fire and that this therefore came under the law of negligence. According to Cane, the High Court’s view was that the Rylands rule â€Å"should bow been seen†¦as absorbed by the principles of ordinary negligence, and not as an independent principle of strict liability. † 12 It is clear from my research that the rule remains valid law in English and Irish jurisdictions, but that it is now viewed as a sub-tort of nuisance. Cambridge Water v. Eastern Counties Leather and Transco v. Stockport are two English cases which bring the rule of Rylands v. Fletcher under the wing of nuisance. The former case concerns the defendant who was a leather manufacturer. His employees spilled a solvent used in the tanning process prior to a change in a method; this solvent seeped through the floor and travelled until it met the plaintiff’s water supply. The well became unusable, and hence the plaintiff sued under Rylands v. Fletcher. In his judgment, Lord Goff rejected the claim of the plaintiffs; stating that this is an area of law which should not be developed further and that rather than being an independent tort it should be considered as a sub tort of nuisance. 13 He was of the belief that statutory provisions are a more modern way of dealing with issues which were previously solved with reference to Rylands. This judgment added an important concept to the rule, which is the concept of foreseeability; â€Å"knowledge, or at least foreseeability of risk, is a prerequisite of the recovery of damages under the principle.†14 This is important for us to note as it poses a limitation on the rule, that now in order to impose strict liability, the damage cause by the escape must be reasonably foreseeable consequence of the escape of the defendant. In this particular case, the seepage of chemicals was not reasonably foreseeable and therefore the plaintiff could not recover. One may view this as a way of weanin g out the concept of strict liability; however this is a concept which would be difficult to argue. Transco v. Stockport is also an influential English case dealing with the rule of Rylands v. Fletcher, a judgment which once again questioned the eligibility of the rule as a tort of strict liability. This case concerned the defendant council who were responsible for the maintenance of pipe work which supplied water to a block of 66 flats. A leak developed in the pipes and this was left undetected for a considerable period of time. This water collected at the claimant’s high pressure gas main, the embankment collapsed leaving the gas main unsupported. The claimants took immediate action and sought to recover remedial costs of nearly ? 100,000. 15 While the Lordships protected the rule of Rylands v. Fletcher, however more strict requirements were added which needed to be accounted for before imposing strict liability. It was stated that the escape must be something dangerous and out of the ordinary, which in this case did not include a burst water pipe on the council’s property. Lord Bingham noted; â€Å"to retain the rule, while insisting upon its essential nature and purpose; and to restate it so as to achieve as much certainty and clarity as is attainable, recognising that new factual situations are bound to arise posing difficult questions on the boundary of the rule, wherever that is drawn.†16 Transco disapproved with of the Australian decision in Burnie Port Authority to absorb the rule into the general law of negligence, with Lord Scott stating that it was â€Å"a rather drastic solution and not necessary,†17 but they did agree with the ruling in Cambridge that Rylands should remain valid in law but as a â€Å"sub-species of nuisance†¦while insi sting upon its essential nature and purpose; and†¦restate it so as to achieve as much certainty and clarity as is attainable.†18 In the common law jurisdiction of the United States of America, the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher initially faced very little criticism. There are many situations in which strict liability is applied to actions and according to Woodside; Rylands is commonly cited as the origin of this rule. 19 However, there have also been a number of American judges and scholars who have given notable criticism of this rule, who view it as a very poor decision. The Supreme Court of New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York have all respectfully rejected the rule. Bohlen gives a great insight in his article, he notes of a decision of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, where an unnamed judge said the rule â€Å"put a clog upon natural and reasonably necessary uses of matter and tend to embarrass and obstruct much of the work which it seems to be a man’s duty carefully to do. †20 These courts believed that the rule enunciated in Rylands v. Fletcher would cause economic harm. Bohlen also argues that the rule established is not trespass nor nuisance as there is respectfully no damage or no continuous action. He argues that the American jurisdiction never accepted the rule because of its â€Å"limited applicability. †21 On the other hand, Woodside notes that some Americans use the rule of Rylands v. Fletcher to justify absolute liability, an offence to which there is no defences. 22 This was never the intent of Lord Cairns in his judgement. Therefore it is very unclear as to whether the rule of Rylands v. Fletcher remains a tort of strict liability within the American jurisdiction. The Scottish jurisdiction, like Australia, has also abolished the ruling of Rylands v. Fletcher. The principles of Rylands v. Fletcher were first applied in Scots law in the case of Mackintosh v. Mackintosh, however according to Cameron; it was applied in such a way as that negligence was still the ground of liability. 23 However, the absolute use of the rule was abolished with the RHM Bakeries v. Strathclyde Regional Council when Lord Fraser stated that strict liability had no place in Scots law and that it was â€Å"a heresy that should be extirpated. †24 Finally I will make reference to New Zealand. The law regarding the rule of Rylands v. Fletcher remains unclear in this jurisdiction. A recent article by The Honourable Justice Chambers discusses the inter-relationship between the torts of nuisance, negligence and the ruling in Rylands v. Fletcher. The argued that there is a need for simplicity in the law of tort, â€Å"Where the law is clear, where the principles are clear, there are usually few cases†. 25 The recent Autex Industries Ltd v. Aucklands City Council case clearly illustrates how the law in New Zealand is unclear regarding this issue. A water main belonging to Auckland City Council burst and caused damage to Autex’ premises, plant, equipment and stock. Autex sued the council for damages. Strict liability and negligence were pleaded. Autex argued that this was a Rylands v. Fletcher case and therefore negligence did not need to be proved. 26 The Court of Appeal divided on their judgment; the majority believed that there was not sufficient evidence before them to make public policy decisions. These decisions should not be based on intuitivestatements, the consequences which flow from them should also be considered. 27 The minority on the other hand disagreed with the judgment in the Australian Burnie case. It is also important to note that in the Hamilton v. Papakura District Council case that it was established that there is no difference in the foreseeability test between nuisance and negligence. The Honourable Justice Chambers states; â€Å"The moment one states that as a proposition, one realises that it is absurd to continue talking about nuisance or Rylands v Fletcher as strict liability torts. They are not.†28 This leaves a question as to whether New Zealand will follow the court of Australia and abolish the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher or if the law will remain valid. With all the criticism posed above, can one still say that it is an area of strict liability? It is clear from the information which is presented in the above paragraphs that there is no clear answer as to whether the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher remains one of strict liability. Each common law jurisdiction appears to have different views on this rule. It is a contentious issue, an issue which is in need of worldwide reform.

O Brother Where Art Thou essays

O Brother Where Art Thou essays In the film O Brother, Where Art Thou, the Cohen Brothers present to the audience a comedic adventure of three on-the-run jail mate hillbillies led by the hero, Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney), looking to reclaim a buried treasure. The story takes place back in the days of the Depression-era, Deep South around the 1920s in Mississippi. It is a comedy. The picture is filled with intellectual and witty satire, as well as twists and turns, humorously paralleling scenes and characters from Homers epic poem The Odyssey. In the movie, the Cohen Brothers use various elements to capture the attention of the audience. Just as any other directors attempt to do, they aim to draw the audience into the movie and catch the spirit of the southern, Mississippian, Depression-era hillbillies. In order to generate this affect, one of the key elements the Cohen Brothers use is language. More specifically, they use old-fashioned, southern idiomatic dialogue, which is not really used in todays contemporary dialogue. Yet, most are definitely familiar with it, which serves as the common base to carry out the affect. Just by listening to this southern-type language with its southern accents and all its slang, idioms, and euphemisms, the picture of vast countryside farms and cornfields, old-fashion cars, live-stock, dirt roads, and rednecks and hillbillies in overalls with severe farmers tan instantly comes to mind. Thus, everything becomes more of a reality. However, more importantly, with a whole lot of fresh w itty intellectual satire, there are plenty of laughs through this southern dialogue, which serve as the whole point of making the movie. It is a comedy. Of course the task was not plain and simple. The Cohen Brothers did their research. Throughout the entire picture, there are a countless number of slang phrases, idioms, and euphemisms used. Of course there ar ...

Three Types of Galaxies essays

Three Types of Galaxies essays Elliptical galaxies are collections of stars that remain pretty close together because of the gravitational attraction between them. There is not a certain known rotation axis, so the stars in the galaxy show a wide range of orbital paths. The motions of stars are not entirely random; there is a degree of organization in the direction of these motions, and this determines the overall shape of the galaxy. Elliptical galaxies have a plain appearance, and some elliptical galaxies are nearly circular in shape, and some elliptical galaxies are extremely stretched out or flattened. The ones that are spherical are classed as E0 galaxies, and those that are flattest are E7, the types in between have the numbers E1 to E6. Elliptical galaxies show a larger range in brightness, some can be up to 10 times brighter than the brightest spiral galaxies, and the dullest ellipticals can be 1000 times less luminous than the dullest spiral. An elliptical galaxy is given the label En, where the galaxy sh ape determines the number n. Most galaxies are elliptical. This type of galaxy dependends on the orientation of the galaxy from our viewpoint; in other words, it describes how the galaxy appears to us, it does not tell us a lot about the true physical properties. Unless a galaxy is perfectly spherical, it will have a different appearance according to the direction from which we observe it. Another type of galaxies is called spiral galaxies. It has wide-ranging spiral arms like a hurricane, and a densely populated bar of old stars near the center. All that is clear in visible light. Each spiral galaxy is classified with a label, which gives some indication of its appearance. All spiral galaxy labels begin with the prefix "S", and usually is followed by a lower case letter, which describes the "style" or overall appearance of the particular object. This letter may be either 0, a, b or c, and is determined by ...

I added my word files Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

I added my word files - Essay Example ‘Vegetarian Times’ Study indicates that currently, about 7.3 million Americans have adopted vegetarian diets and 22.8 millions are on the path of vegetarianism. About 1 million American people consume absolutely no animal products and study also indicates that at least 11.9 million have strong inclination to follow a vegetarian diet in the future. Many Americans today look for high-fiber, low-cholesterol, and low-calorie diet and in that sense their switching to vegetarianism is justified. Usually, vegetarian meals provide the lot of fiber, controlled calories and cholesterol free diet. Rudolph Ballentine argues that two-thirds of American households changed their diets due to health reasons in last few decades. The changes incorporated aimed at eliminating beef and pork in diets and increasing vegetable and fruit intakes. Americans are consuming now more fruits and vegetables in their diet than a few years ago. This implies that there is a conscious choice in this change discarding their age-old cultural or traditional habits. Several studies done in past few years indicate that vegetarian diet is complete in all respects and conducive to good health in comparison to the usual diet consumed by majority of Americans. Vegetarians are less prone to many diseases that are prevailing in Americans society today. More and more studies reveal that coronary heart disease, colon and breast cancer rates are much less in vegetarians than those who eat meat. The incidence of obesity, diabetes, and constipation are found much less in those who follow vegetarian diet. The rising incidences of health issues along with mass movement to give up cruelty against animals have been the major causes forcing Americans to change their eating habits. Rudolph Ballentine argues that if meat were dropped by the people in Americas and elsewhere, everybody on this earth could be fed well. From the view point of agricultural land use and its cost

Rebuttal - Why Marijuana should be Legal in the US Essay

Rebuttal - Why Marijuana should be Legal in the US - Essay Example a striking difference can be seen as the results of the poll in 2011 put forward the fact that 50 percent of the Americans wanted marijuana to be legalized now (Carey 2011). The legalization of marijuana has sparked many debates as many benefits of this legalization have been put forward and demands for the revision of the legislation with regard to marijuana has been demanded. The Huffington Post reported the stand of the White House on the issue of the legalization of marijuana. The White House declared the fact that marijuana was a drug which carried many disadvantages and they could not legalize the drug as it would bring much harm to the society. The White House indicated the fact that the government was spending much on research with regard to marijuana and they did not find any strong research that upheld the benefits of this drug. It was further claimed that marijuana resulted in health issues which included â€Å"addiction, respiratory disease, and cognitive impairment.† It was also stated that legalizing of marijuana would not result in any benefit for the community and would rather cause harm to the society (Graves 2011). The benefits of marijuana have been upheld by many groups who consider that legalization of marijuana would result in many positive effects. The use of marijuana in medicine has been one of the most important benefits of the drug. The California Medical Association upheld this stand and put forward the fact that marijuana should be made legal. The Association indicated the fact that advantages of this legalization were much higher than the disadvantages. They also upheld the fact that marijuana was helpful in the relief of pain and thus it should be made legal and regulations should be imposed on drug distribution rather than putting a ban on it (York 2011). The President of Columbia also put forward the fact that the legalization of marijuana had many advantages and he explained that the drug should be made legal throughout the

Questioning Techniques Essay Example for Free

Questioning Techniques Essay A number of researches conducted recently within the local setting on teaching skills of teachers show that there is a decline of the quality of classroom teaching of many teachers. The prime reason for this decline, as concluded by many researchers, lies in the problems of the training they receive at pre-service training institutions. For example; Lim, Cock, Lock et.al. (2009) state that though there is a practical element of pre-service teacher training, it does not provide enough knowledge and skills for the teachers to handle the challenges they encounter in the classroom brought by globalization and the development of modern technology. Because it is the National Colleges of Education that produce the pre-training to majority of teachers their syllabi were analyzed to understand that heavy theoretical knowledge given through the syllabi deprives the prospective teachers of opportunity of having enough practical teaching experience during their on campus training. On the other hand, no specific attention is paid on developing important teaching skills even though some practical teaching opportunities are given to them. Karaseva (2013) also highlights the importance of giving teachers assistance in getting their problems solved in relation to particular teaching skills of which they show weaknesses in. Among those important teaching skills, questioning techniques are one of the skills to which less attention is paid during pre- service teacher education. Cotton (1989) says that virtually no attention is paid on developing questioning techniques of teachers during their pre-service training period. Further, Aggarwal (2013) highlights the importance of questioning techniques because psychologically and philosophically asked questions help teachers achieving lesson objectives to expected level. Therefore, this research broadly aims at developing the questioning techniques of prospective teachers using a widely recognized technique and evaluating the efficacy of the used technique in developing teaching skills  of prospective teachers. Objectives of the Study; To review the theoretical background of questioning techniques in teaching. To investigate the development of questioning techniques of prospective teachers through the current programme of instruction. To find out innovative techniques that can be used in improving questioning techniques. Methodology/Design; Theoretical background of questioning techniques was reviewed through literature and a check list was used to determine the current states of questioning techniques employed by prospective teachers in their lessons. It was further expected to use the checklist to determine how far the existing methodology of instruction is capable of developing questioning techniques. The check list focused broadly on general aspects of questioning such as tone and accuracy of questions and specific skills such as eliciting, probing and Socratic questions. Lessons were videotaped for further analysis and at the same time descriptive field notes were kept by the researcher for recording and analyzing the questioning techniques employed by prospective teachers. Peer group members too observed the lessons and used an observation schedule to record and comment on the questioning techniques used by their colleagues. An available convenience sample of 30 prospective teachers of English was selected for the research and two lessons of each member were observed using the check list. From the 30 teachers observed, 12 were selected to conduct lessons in the classroom for the peer group. Half the peer group acted as students while the rest was observing the lesson using the observation schedule. Therefore, the data gathering instruments of the research include a checklist, field notes, an observation schedule, videotaping and lesson plans prepared by prospective teachers. Results/Findings; When the theories related to questioning techniques were analyzed it was understood that Bloom’s Taxonomy provides proper guidance for teachers in selecting, grading and using questions to develop the cognitive domain of students(Bloom et.al. cited in Huitt, 2011). Doff, (1988); Alexis,( 2009); and Hyman, (1982) add the importance of wait time to classification of  questions according to Bloom’s Taxonomy. They prove that longer wait time encourages critical thinking. When literature is further analyzed it was understood that probing questions are very important for the subject taught by prospective teachers, i.e. English language as probing questions demand authentic language production (Stepien, 2012). With the light of the theories related to questioning techniques, results of check lists were analyzed with comparisons to the field notes of observed lessons. The results of check list show that prospective teachers use tone appropriately in asking questions which is further verified by the field notes. Though high marks were noticed for the accuracy of questions in the checklist field notes and observation schedules record inaccurate questions especially in complex structures such as, â€Å"Can you tell me what is this colour?† There were five sections of the check list out of which probing questions recorded the least marks for a greater majority of the prospective teachers. This was further noticed in field notes and observation schedules because only a few such questions had been recorded. Teachers seemed to be happy with the received questions or directly corrected the inappropriate answers without attempting to probe into the answer. When research conducted to develop teaching skills were studied it was found out that â€Å"Micro Teaching† has provided effective results in international setting in developing skills such as class control and classroom management Conclusions; Prospective teachers should be encouraged to preplan their questions whenever possible to increase the accuracy of them because inaccurate questions lead to misconceptualization. New strategies must be employed to give more training to prospective teachers to develop aspects such as wait time, using probing questions because the existing method has not been able to develop those aspects of questioning. â€Å"Micro Teaching† is suggested to be used in developing questioning techniques since it has been successful in many other situations in developing several other teaching skills such as class control and classroom management. Reference; 1. Aggarwal, J. C. 2013. Essentials of Educational Technology. Innovations in Teaching – Learning. Dlhi, Vikas Publishing house Pvt. Ltd. 2. Alexis, 2009. A Questioning Strategy, Power of Wait Time/Think Time. Retrieved from http://schoolvisitexperts.com/?p=563 on 10.02.2014. 3. Asking Questions to Improve Listening. The Teaching Center. Washington University.(2009)Retrieved fromhttp://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/strategies/Pages/asking-questions.aspx on 12.02.2014 4. Beare, K. (N.D.) Speaking Skills Asking Questions. About.com English as 2nd Language. (Retrieved on 13.02.2014) 5. Cotton, K. 1989. Classroom Questioning. School Improvement Research Series. NorthwestRegionalEducationalLaboratory.http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/3/cu5. html. 6. Doff,A. 1988. Teach English: A Training Course for Teachers. Trainer’s Hand Book. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 7. Fries-Geither, J. 2008; Why Ask Questions? The Ohio State University. Ohio 8. Hyman, 1982. Teaching Methods. Questioning in the Classroom. How to Ask Questions. Retrieved from,http://www.tea ching.iub.edu/finder/wrapper.php%3Finc_id%3Ds2_1_lect_04_quest.shtml on 14.02.2014 9. Innovations and Initiatives in Teacher Education in Asia and the Pacific Region. (1990).(Vol-II).Bangkok, UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific 10. Marzano, R. Pickering, D. and Pollock, J. 2001. Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 11. Professional Development among Academic Staff at Selected Malaysian Public Universities: Preliminary Findings of the Impact of the Basic Teaching Methodology Courses, International Journal of Business and Social Science 2(3) 2011.p.125 12. Research Scholar. An Experimental Study to Find Out the Effectiveness of Some Micro Teaching Skills in Teaching Geography at the Secondary Level. West Bengal, Rabindra Bharati University. 13. Rowe, M.B. (n.d.) Wait Time: Slowing Down May Be A Way of Speeding Up. Journal of Teacher E ducation. 1986; 37; 43 Retrieved from, http://jte.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/37/1/43 on 13.02.2014 14. Shomoossi, N(2004),.The effect of teachers questioning behavior on EFL classroom interaction: A classroom research study, The Reading Matrix, 4 pp. 96–104 15. Yang, C.C.R. (2010)Teacher questions in second language classrooms: An investigation of three case studies, Asian EFL Journal, 12 (1) (2010), pp. 181–201 Declaration Form for Corresponding Author Title of the abstract: Asking Questions the Right way; an analysis of the questioning techniques employed by prospective teachers. (Current state of an ongoing action research to develop the questioning techniques of prospective teachers) Name of authors: R.M.D. Rohan Address of institution where the work was carried out: Pasdunrata National College of Education Kalutara Name of the supervisor: Prof. Manjula Vithanapathirana I declare that the above abstract reports the results of original research work and that the work reported in the abstract has not been published or presented elsewhere. Name Signature of the Corresponding Author: R.M.D. Rohan Address: Pasdunrata National College of Education Kalutara Date: Supervisor’s signature: