Changing Role of HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Changing Role of HRM - Essay Example This essay explores the functions of HR department within a company and the changing role it performs nowadays. Humans have always been a critical resource for almost all organizations for a greater or lesser extent. They are diverse, necessary and at times problematic as well. Talented and capable employees are the foundation stone of a competitive edge for most organizations. Since 1900, the field of Human Resource Management has gone forward a great deal. Initially, it was only about the clerical operations of an organization and activities such as payroll, employee records and arrangement of community trips. Until 1960s and 1970s, these activities stayed under the umbrella of Personnel Development, however with the social legislations that passed in these years striking changes modified the organizational element of human resource. With great inclination towards globalization, competitions, mergers as well as acquisitions in 1990s, there was an increase in concern for costs, plan ning and implementation of strategies for both organization as well as its employees, finally compelling a structured development of a Human Resource Department. With the changing trend, the empowering of HR department is elevating. From the very basic to the very top, HR performs four different roles today. These are the roles as administrator, employee advocate, operational and strategic. While the administrative role focuses largely on the secretarial and clerical supervision, employee advocate role aims to serve as a morale officer.

Role Of Notch Signaling In Oncogenesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Role Of Notch Signaling In Oncogenesis - Essay Example Extensive research in notch pathway has identified either dysregulation or faulty signaling in cancers and many other diseases like multiple sclerosis, tetralogy of Fallot and Alagille syndrome. Because Notch signaling pathway is involved in the progression and development of several malignancies, it is considered a novel therapeutic target and if the research on this aspect is fruitful, it can have the highest therapeutic impact in modern clinical medicine (Wang, Li, Banerjee and Sarkar, 2008).The Notch signaling pathway The most important constituents of the Notch signaling pathway are the receptors. There are basically four types of Notch receptors which are single- pass transmembrane receptor proteins. They are Notch1 through Notch 4. Each of these is a heterodimer which is proteolytically cleaved and lies at the surface of the cell. The receptor is made up of 2 domains, the ectodomain and intracellular domain. Both these domains are associated in a calcium dependent, noncovalent interaction. Ectodomain is large and constitutes the outside part of the cell surface. The intracellular domain is smaller and tethered to the membrane. The ectodomain part of Notch receptors interacts with certain ligands of adjacent cells. These ligands belong to Jagged and Delta- like families and are named as JAG1, JAG2, DLL1, DLL3, and DLL4. The interaction between the receptor and ligand induces a couple of proteolytic cleavages causing the release of the intracellular domain part of the receptor from the cell membrane.

Children's Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Children's Literature - Essay Example Science was starting to understand some of the great mysteries of life and becoming capable of explaining them in ways that didn’t depend upon the church. Political structures throughout the world had undergone significant changes within living memory and were not yet fully settled. Women began to band together against their oppressed status and philosophers were beginning to puzzle out a greater understanding of the human mind and the way it works. The child, up to this point, had often been considered either a sinful and wild creature or a miniature adult yet these new advancements revealed the child was instead something still developing. There was a â€Å"veritable explosion of information about this period of physiological and cognitive development in human beings† in which literature became â€Å"a central vehicle for expressing ideas about the self and its history† (Steedman 5). The introduction of magic and fantasy through the fairy tale and other stories proved quite effective in teaching children important life lessons in a way they could understand as can be seen in stories such as J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan and Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Breaking away from mundane experience through the introduction of fantasy and the magical realm enables authors to personify and exaggerate various behaviors, values and character traits. This provides children with a more accessible avenue to comprehending complex concepts while remaining in keeping with their varying levels of understanding. Although cognitive ability is known to be present at birth, it continues to improve upon skills acquired throughout the preschool years in order to apply and adapt to things that exist outside of the self. There are four main categories of skills developed during this period (Santrock). The first to develop are self help skills in which the child learns to take care of their daily needs such as getting dressed. They also learn social help skills in which they begin to perceive the importance of helping others such as taking part in household chores and demonstrating their ability to think outside of themselves. Academic skills also develop as the child builds analytical skills such as those necessary for mathematics and logic. The final main category of development refers to play skills. These skills enable the child to further perfect previously learned skills by participating in play and physical activity. They also end up placing themselves in situations in which they must analyze situations quickly and accurately to achieve the desired goals. Through such activities, they significantly improve their speech and communication skills as well as comprehension, vocabulary, pronunciation and sentence construction. These are all ideas brought forward in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (1865) and J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan (1904). Many of the early fantasy novels such as Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan are frame stories. These are stories that reveal a collection of adventures tied together by a unifying thread of narrative. The popularity of this format for these kinds of stories exists in the ability of the frame to reveal the connection between the real world and the world of fantasy. It provides a means of breaking through the adult paradigms of reality that are

The Importance of Grading in Education Essay -- Education Tests

Students entering college for the first time look forward to the numerous tests that they are required to take least of all. Test taking and college are in tandem for many, but some debate that using testing as a grading system should be discontinued in universities. In theory it sounds like a great idea. It would cut back on stress and, more than likely, class time as well. However, stopping testing as a form of grading in universities would be soon regretted. Grading systems are an essential part of any education. Tests insure that that the student is learning what the teaching is teaching and identify areas that may need improving. The results from grading systems also show future employers or schools a glimpse of the kind of worker that a student will be. The numerous lists of positive effects on not only the students but the teachers, and even the university as a whole, outweigh the cons of using testing as a grading system. One of the reasons that grading systems should be required is to ensure that each student has retained the information that is being taught. Diane Ravitch agrees with this statement in her essay â€Å"In Defense of Testing.† Ravitch says, â€Å"They [test] protect us†¦from inept drivers, hazardous products and shoddy professionals.† (139). Ravitch is saying that test as a form of grading help to ensure that each person is knowledgeable in the field that they are in and give people a sense of security when they must put their trust in such professionals. There are many basic classes that are required for each major depending on the university that one attends. It is essential that the information obtained during these courses is kept in case a need arises for it in a future career. If the grading system is taken ... ...o focus solely on that which they are aware of misunderstanding. This saves valuable time for both teacher and student. It also helps employers save money by only hiring those who they know have a history of good work ethics. The arguments against grading systems are bountiful despite the obvious flaws. Test as a grading system in universities should be continued because, although the opposing view brings to light many valid points, discontinuing the current grading system would cause more problem than it would solve. Works Cited Goodman, Paul. â€Å"A Proposal to Abolish Testing.† Forming a Critical Perspective, Ed, Ann Spurlock. 1st. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010. 191-193. Print. Ravitch, Diane â€Å"In Defense of Testing.† Forming a Critical Perspective, Ed, Ann Spurlock. 1st. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010. 194-195. Print.

Inner City

1. Financial Ratios— †¢Liquidity Ratio: measure the availability of cash to pay debt. Current Ratio = Current assets/ Current Liabilities 262,515/ 285,030= 0. 92 There is a problem meeting its short term obligations The best way to improve this ratio and better position the business to cover its short-term obligations is to better manage current liabilities (accounts payables).Generate more profit (cash) out of each sale by increasing profit (as long as it is competitive within the industry), reducing costs of goods sold (making the product with less cost or providing services with less costs) or finding efficiencies throughout the operating cycle. †¢Asset Management Ratio: indicate how successfully a company is utilizing its assets to generate revenues. Inventory Turnover= COGS/ Average inventory 1,428,730/ 18,660= 76. 57 Indicate a shortage or inadequate inventory levels, which may lead to a loss in business.Average days to sell the inventory= 365 days/ inventory t urnover ratio 365/ 76. 57= 4. 8 Measure of the number of times inventory is sold or used in a time period (a year). A low turnover rate might point to overstocking, obsolescence, or deficiencies in the product line or marketing effort. On the other hand, a high turnover rate might indicate inadequate inventory levels, which can lead to a loss in business, as the inventory is too low (stock shortages). Receivables Turnover= Sales/ Accounts Receivable 1,784,080/ 242,320= 7. 36 A low ratio implies the company should re-assess its credit policies in order o ensure the timely collection of imparted credit that is not earning interest for the firm. Days Receivable= 365/ Receivables Turnover 365/7. 36= 49. 6= 50 The receivables turnover ratio is used to calculate how well a company is managing their receivables. Total assets turnover= Net Sales Revenue/ Average Total Assets 1,784,080/ 294,565= 6. 06 Measures the efficiency of a Co. use of its assets in generating sales revenue. Companies w ith low profit margins tend to have high asset turnover, while those with high profit margins have low asset turnover. Debt Management Ratio: measure the firm's use of Financial Leverage and ability to avoid financial distress in the long run. The use of debt can improve returns to stockholders in good years and increase their losses in bad years. Debt Ratio= Total Liabilities (Total Debt)/ Total Assets (285,030+ 15,000)/ 294,565= 1. 02 All assets are financed by creditors and some losses are covered by creditors. Indicates the proportion of a company's debt to its total assets. It shows how much the company relies on debt to finance assets. The higher the ratio, the greater the risk associated with the firm's operation.A low debt ratio indicates conservative financing with an opportunity to borrow in the future at no significant risk. †¢Profitability Ratio: represents the % of total sales that Co. retains after incurring the direct costs (variable costs) associated with produc ing the goods sold. Return on Assets= Net Income/ Average Assets 17,610/ 294,565= 5. 98% Indicates that the company is asset heavy. Net Profit Margin= Net Income/ Sales Revenue 17,610/ 1,784,080= 0. 987% A high percentage of each dollar generated by the company in revenue is actual profit Gross Profit Margin= 1,784,080-1,428,730)/ 1,784,080= . 20% Indicates that gross margin isn’t large enough to cover other expenses beyond cost of goods sold. Purpose of margins is to determine the value of incremental sales, and to guide pricing and promotion decision. Understanding and monitoring gross margins can help business owners avoid pricing problems, losing money on sales, and ultimately stay in business. Helps avoid offering prices that are too low or have costs that are too high to ultimately make a profit. 2. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats— †¢Strengths: Fast Service/ delivery- supplied paint to contractors within 24 hours, -Steady growth in its mark et, -Competitive price, -Cheap rent/ low overhead costs- gives a competitive advantage, -Cheap employee wages- nonunion organization, -Low production costs- low cost and high quality paint, -Excess capacity †¢Weaknesses: -Unorganized- operating with no management or financial controls, -Lack of consistent and reliable inventory control system, -No customer record (manual count): wastes too much time, -No office space, no billing records, no shipping information -Undesirable ocation and building is in poor condition: old plant, and old equipment (dusty, dirty environment) -No sales personnel, -No computer, no database, -Inexperienced/ unskilled employees, -Lack of delegation and employee empowerment -Narrow product line, -Bad cash flow: insufficient financial resources to fund any changes, -Culture, -Lack of customer confidence: customer perception as a company that negotiates price and unreliable to fill large orders. -Lag between time when they are paying their suppliers and e mployees versus time it takes to collect receivables from customers (30-60 days) †¢Opportunities: Expand product range: go after different segments, -Purchasing a computer to organize data and reduce needless paperwork, -Increase market share by taking large orders, -Hiring professional salesmen to ensure consistent growth and accountants/ consultants to identify problems and solutions: Lower cost of goods sold, lower expenses due to Walsh’s salary, and lower bad debt. †¢Threats: -Market is in slow growth- housing market and overall economy, -High bargaining power of suppliers -High threat of substitutes: larger Co are more reliable Threat of new entrants,low entry barriers in paint manufacturing industry -Rumors that company is in difficult financial straits- unable to pay suppliers and owes a lot for payment on previous taxes, -No audit has been performed= IRS penalties: Wash did not include his income taxes in his income statement; he owes $38,510 in taxes. 3. Re commendations— Within 30 Days: †¢Pay his taxes before he gets audited †¢Collect bad debt from clients †¢Hire personnel to assist in various tasks -Salesmen and accounting managers †¢Grow business and solve current financial problems Within 90 Days: Inner City Paint should keep records of inventory, finances, billing info. -They should invest in a computer and keep all records in a database to automatically calculate changes. †¢Take a cut in high salaries †¢Find and research new suppliers -To be able to provide timely delivery for large orders †¢Minimize COGS Beyond 90 Days: †¢Buy more equipment and trucks †¢Improve management skills and create policies †¢Earn business of larger clients †¢Manage business and growth of the company and to be able to acquire companies in the future that help attaining a larger market share.

Movie Au Hasard Balthazar by Robert Bresson

Movies are representation of the social scenario of the contemporary period. Along with entertainment, these have various social, political and psychological perspectives attached to it. This paper is based on movie Au Hasard Balthazar by Robert Bresson. In his 1966 film, Robert Bresson, has focused primarily on his female character Marie, and her donkey Balthazar. The plot intertwines the fate of both these elements, until finally the symbolic connection between the two is established. While the donkey’s fate is clear, we cannot be sure of Marie, beyond what we are told in the narrative.A shy, farm girl in the French countryside, Marie follows what something of Maggie Tulliver’s experience, suffering abuse from different people in her life, oscillating between lovers, finally deciding that she must accept fate, perhaps even rely on some sort of tragic occurrence to relieve her of her pain. This has been called narcissistic rage in literature terminology, and finds its sharpest embodiment in the character of Marie. She too faces the trauma of her parent’s disgrace, because of her father’s decision, a mother who stands by the father but ultimately sees the pointless agony of a self pride, and then poverty and loss.The reason why women are presented in such terms, is as Laura Mulvey would say in her essay ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, due to the unconscious of patriarchal society. In this preexisting fascination with the female object, phallocentrism depends on image of the castrated woman. Female symbolism speaks of castration and her lack produces the phallus as symbolic. It stands as a signifier to the male â€Å"other†. It is thus the bearer of meaning, and not its maker. Women are bound by linguistic command to this situation, a command imposed by man to carry out his fantasies and obsessions.â€Å"The formulation surely owes something to Bresson's Au Hasard, Balthazar, whose literal ass here becomes a figurative bull-a creature whose portion of â€Å"spirituality† is earned in expressions of indiscriminate wrath and sexual irritability. † (Librach, 1992) There are two processes at work in cinema. One is the separation of erotic identity of the subject, the viewer, from the object, the character on screen. While for women, the way that other characters in the film look at her is the same as how viewers look at her, with the male, the viewer feels as though he is looking at the perfect mirror image of himself.Thus Gerard with his leather jacket and his motorcycle, his display of authority, often through violence and abuse, seems the perfect embodiment of masculinity, someone that the heroine, simple by virtue of occupying screen space, must fall for in the end. It rests on the belief that each one of us essentially thinks of himself as a Gerard. While recent feminist studies would refute this and recent changes in cinema have tried to equate the two sexes on screen, the screen largely remains a sexual parameter due to its connection with the ego, something that greatly manifests sexuality.The woman, however, is isolated, put on display and sexualized. This is what Mulvey terms the castration complex. In order for the woman to no longer be a threat because she lacks what men have, she must be glamorized into an object of desire, or fetish. Marie finds a consolation in the donkey. It has been presented as the other, against which Marie can understand the need to sympathize and be pitied and loved. Marie is essentially a Christ figure, whose ultimate ideals find their embodiment in Balthazar.Perhaps it is for this reason that the donkey’s fate has been presented explicitly, while Marie’s future remains in doubt. The perfect Christ must face explicit crucifixion. Marie might seem overtly tragic. This is somewhat due to Bresson’s insistence on purity of emotion. In this manner, Balthazar is the perfect Bresson character. Covere d with snow, we know that he is cold, his tail on fire, we know that he is scared, and finally finding peace and motionlessness among the sheep, we know that his end has come.When three children baptize it; symbolism tells us here that there is a place for all creatures in the house of god. The town drunkard Arnold is shows compassion, despite his other crimes. All the characters in the village are essentially flawed. However, the film’s religious imagery and minimal use of aesthetic detail makes it a powerful statement that highlights the barest of human emotions and thoughts. Reference: Librach, Ronald S. â€Å"The Last Temptation in Mean Streets and Raging Bull. â€Å"Literature/Film Quarterly 20. 1 (1992): 14+. Questia. Web. 11 May 2010.

Free Essays on Mission Statments

ARE MISSION STATEMENTS REALLY NECESSARY? A mission statement is necessary for a company because a companies culture reflects the basic organizational philosophy of it’s leaders. The company’s mission statement expresses this philosophy, as well as the most basic values, beliefs, and assumptions underlying the organization’s culture. It provides a sense of purposefulness and direction for members of the organization. It can also unify employees by providing them with a sense of identity. Furthermore it also informs employees about the basic principles that guide the company and gives people outside the company an understanding of the basic corporate beliefs. One example of this is the mission statement that was issued to me when I was an employee at signature flight support. When I was first hired, I had to go through an company orientation class where the company’s mission statement was issued to me, and from this document I was able to realize what the company’s goals and philosophy wher e.... Free Essays on Mission Statments Free Essays on Mission Statments ARE MISSION STATEMENTS REALLY NECESSARY? A mission statement is necessary for a company because a companies culture reflects the basic organizational philosophy of it’s leaders. The company’s mission statement expresses this philosophy, as well as the most basic values, beliefs, and assumptions underlying the organization’s culture. It provides a sense of purposefulness and direction for members of the organization. It can also unify employees by providing them with a sense of identity. Furthermore it also informs employees about the basic principles that guide the company and gives people outside the company an understanding of the basic corporate beliefs. One example of this is the mission statement that was issued to me when I was an employee at signature flight support. When I was first hired, I had to go through an company orientation class where the company’s mission statement was issued to me, and from this document I was able to realize what the company’s goals and philosophy wher e....