Effects of Job Rotation Essay Example for Free

Effects of Job Rotation Essay Discuss the various issues of managerial behaviour and related matters raised by this case study Laurie J. Mullins argues that A fist step in the effective management of other people is confidence in your own ability, and awareness of your own strengths and weaknesses. Why is it then that managers find it difficult to admit their mistakes, to say sorry or to laugh at themselves? 1 In the building society case study, there are examples of bad managerial behaviour on the part of both Mary Rodgers, the branch manager and Jane Taylor, the senior branch assistant. Jane Taylor was clearly good at her job if, after four years, she was promoted to this new role, yet within a short period of time, she was having trouble with Tony Jackson. Looking back at what Mullins said, Miss Taylor doesnt appear to have confidence in her own ability or indeed awareness in her own strengths and weaknesses. According to Thompson ;amp; McHugh control is not an end in itself, but a means to transform the capacity to work established by the wage relation into profitable production, and Jane is unable to control her sub-ordinate what are the reasons for this? Part of the problem stems from the beginning of the case study and the relationship between Jane and her manager. Mary Rogers does not instil any confidence in Jane when she effectively dumps this new role. Up until now, Jane has been performing specific task functions and has no real knowledge of how to manage people as she has previously been performing the duties of a cashier and looking after mortgage advice accounts more task orientated skills rather than managerial ones. The refresher course she attends includes nothing on this either and Jane immediately falls into what McGregor calls the Theory X assumption of human nature. The central principle of Theory X is direction and control through a centralised system of organisation and exercise of authority2 and Jane automatically tries to coerce and direct Tony Jackson. The inability of Mary Rodgers to provide effective support and development for Jane shows a clear ineptitude on her part. She admits herself that the reason for Janes promotion is that I [Mary] need someone to take some of the weight off my shoulders and she seems to be reluctant to help intervene and solve

Effect of Earnings Decline on Crime Levels

Effect of Earnings Decline on Crime Levels Module: Contemporary Issues in the UK Economy Use an appropriate supply and demand framework to explain how a decline in earnings from legitimate work would be expected to affect the level of crime. To what extent does evidence from the UK support this theoretical prediction? The idea that low earnings affect crime is not a new idea; Aristotle (350 B.C.) himself said â€Å"poverty is the parent of revolution and crime† (pg. 32). Since then, there has been much research in the field since policymakers require this information to create effective crime-reducing policies. In recent years, falling real wages has been a significant issue since the UK is in the longest period of pay stagnation since 1855 (The Economist, 25th Oct 2014). I will discuss the impact of falling wages on the crime rate by using an economic supply and demand framework and comparing my findings to real evidence from UK data. Both Becker (1968) and Freeman’s (1999) work make the assumption that criminals are rational economic agents and hence criminal activity can be modelled using a supply and demand framework in the same way one could a goods or services market. Economic theory states that the supply of crime depends on four components: potential earnings from committing a successful crime (Wc), probability of being caught (p), level of punishment (S) and wages earned from legitimate work (W). This can be shown in the following inequality: (1-p)U(Wc)-pU(S)>U(W) The left hand side represents the potential net benefit gained from committing the crime and the right hand side shows the utility of legitimate earnings. So the individual will commit a crime if the net benefits of committing the crime exceed the benefits of legitimate work. These factors which influence whether an individual decides to commit a crime or not can be aggregated to create the following function for Criminal Participation (CP): CP=f (Wc, P, S, W). The demand function of crime describes how the level of crime in society falls as individuals take increasing preventative measures (Cook, 1986) and therefore, the demand curve is downward sloping. However, the level of demand for committing crimes varies depending on the type of criminal activity undertaken. Freeman (1999) differentiates between â€Å"victimless† and â€Å"victims† crime suggesting that â€Å"victimless† crime carries obvious economic gain, e.g. dealing drugs, whereas â€Å"victims† crime has no obvious economic benefit e.g. violent crime. However, the downward sloping demand curve for â€Å"victims† crime is less intuitive so most work focusses on â€Å"victimless† crime. It is worth noting that one of the limitations of this supply and demand model in analysing crime rates is that it does not take into account non-economic incentives i.e. the feeling of doing wrong versus earning an honest living. Having discussed how to model crime using supply and demand analysis, I will now use these economic tools to illustrate a situation where wages are falling. If wages from legitimate work (W) fall, the supply curve will shift outwards since the opportunity cost of crime has fallen. Using the inequality previously discussed ((1-p) U(Wc)-pU(S)>U(W)), if legitimate earnings (W) fall, assuming ceteris paribus, the benefits of committing the crime are relatively higher. Hence more people will be willing to commit crimes. This is shown in Figure 1 as the shift from CP1 to CP2. Cantor and Land (1985) call this the motivation effect. As shown here, the outward shift of â€Å"supply† of crime (CP1 to CP2) results in an increase in the amount of crime committed (Q1 to Q2). However, there is also a fall in potential earnings from crime (Wc1 to Wc2); if wages fall, the value of consumer goods being bought is likely to fall so there are fewer valuable goods available to steal. This is the Opportunity Effect (Cantor and Land, 1985). So the fall in wages could actually reduce the crime level. It is difficult to gauge which effect, Opportunity or Motivation, is stronger. One factor which could affect this is whether low or high wages are falling. Machin and Meghir (2004) make this distinction by analysing the 25th wage percentile to capture lower skilled workers whose opportunity cost of committing is lower (Freeman, 1999). Machin and Meghir use data from England and Wales (1975-1996) and focus on vehicle and property crime as these are more likely to be driven by economic incentives than e.g. violent crimes. Figure 2 shows the relationship between the level of wage growth in an economy and the level of crime. The close proximity of the points on the graph to the regression line (calculated using a weighted least squares regression) shows a relatively strong negative correlation between the variables and the slope of the regression line gave a value of -1.580; hence, as the 25th percentile wage rises by 1%, the property crime rate is expected to fall by 1.580%. Machin and Meghir’s work supports the theoretical analysis that falling wages leads to higher crime rates for low paid workers. Therefore if low wages fall, the Motivation effect exceeds the Opportunity effect. We can also look at more recent wage and crime data from the UK to see if it supports the conclusion, that falling wages leads to higher crime rates, drawn from supply and demand analysis. As shown in Figure 3, there has been a downward trend in the real wage rate in the UK since the financial crash in 2007, real wage growth was around 10% but this has fallen to -9% by 2014. Using economic theory, it is evident that if real wages fall, then tax revenue earned by the government is likely to decrease through e.g. lower income tax revenue. Moreover, if people have lower earnings, government’s spending in transfer payments e.g. benefits is likely to rise. The situation of falling tax revenue and higher demand for public services has led to a worsening budget balance so the Coalition government adopted austerity measures. This has affected many areas of public sector spending, including the police force where there have been  £2.5bn in budget cuts since 2011, and an estimated 70% of these cuts have been in officer cuts (BBC News, 22nd July 2014). This leads to a fall in the probability of being caught (P) and severity of punishment (S), since severe punishments are typically more expensive. The effects on P and S are â€Å"second round† effects derived from falling wages. Using the CP function, one would expect that if P and S fall there is a rise in crime. However, national crime statistics demonstrate a reduction in the level of crime in the UK (figure 4): So it is evident that crime has been falling since around 1995 as shown by the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) data estimate. Since the financial crash, crime has fallen from around 10.5 million in 2008/2009 to 8.5 million in 2012/2013. This contradicts the conclusion made using supply/demand analysis that falling wages leads to higher crime rates. However, David Cameron argues that remaining policemen have been asked â€Å"to do more with less resources [and they] have performed magnificently (Gill, 2013). However, critics argue that there are other factors which have reduced crime statistics. Gill (2013) points towards technological advancements as a significant reason for a falling crime rates. Firstly, car manufacturers are able to include central locking systems which makes it more difficult for criminals to break in. Secondly, car break-ins are typically a â€Å"starter crime† leading onto more serious crimes such as drug dealing; if fewer people are getting involved in crime at this lower level then there will be less crime overall. Thirdly, Gill (2013) highlights the way crime is reported as being a problem since there has been growth in online and high tech crime, for example, online credit card fraud, which is not taken into account in the CSEW crime statistics. Therefore, the â€Å"second round† effects, that falling wages/tax revenue force governments to cut police funding results in more crime, may not be felt since technological advancements have resulted in less (reported) crime. That said, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) made a statement (2010) explaining how it planned to stabilise the number of prisoners until 2014/2015 and after this it would look at reducing the number by 3000 fewer than the figure as of 19th November 2010 (85,393). So while austerity measures have been implemented by the government, the severity of punishments has yet to fall significantly; this may be another reason why the crime rate did not increase whilst wages have been falling. It will be interesting to see whether going forward now crime rates increase since the MoJ is aiming to reduce the number of prisoners. In conclusion, it is evident that a supply and demand framework to model the effect of falling wages on crime cannot fully explain the situation we are currently in. In all fairness, Machin and Meghir’s work did support these findings, however more recent wage and crime data has contradicted the expected outcome. Therefore, although using a supply and demand framework can explain the impact of falling wages on crime to an extent, other factors, such as technological developments, may also influence the crime rate and policymakers who are trying to tackle crime need to ensure these other factors are also taken into account. Bibliography Aristotle (350 B.C.E.) Politics. Translated by B. Jowett. 1999. Kitchener: Batoche Books. Becker, G. (1968) Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach. Journal of Political Economy, 76 (2): 169-217. Becker, G. (1992) The Economic Way of Looking at Life. Nobel Prize [transcript], Wednesday 9th December, Available from: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/1992/becker-lecture.pdf [Accessed 18th November 2014]. Blunt, C. (2010) Imprisonment for Public Protection. House of Commons Debate [transcript], Tuesday 23rd November, Available from: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101123/debtext/101123-0001.htm [Accessed on 20th November 2010]. Cantor, D. and Land, K. C. (1985) Unemployment and crime rates in the post-World War 2 United States: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis. American Sociological Review, 50 (3): 317–332. Cook, P. J. (1986) The Demand and Supply of Criminal Opportunities. Crime and Justice, 7: 1-27. Crime in England and Wales: Quarterly Bulletin. The Office of National Statistics [online], 19th July 2012. Available from: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_273169.pdf [Accessed 16th November 2014]. Dolphin, T. (2014) Bleak figures show a relentless slide towards a low-pay Britain. The Observer [online], Sunday 19th October. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/18/economy-bleak-british-workers-technology [Accessed 18th November 2014]. Ehrlich, I. (1996) Crime, Punishment and Market for Offenses. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 10 (1): 43-67. Freeman, R. (1999) â€Å"The Economics of Crime.† In Ashenfelter, O. and Card, D. (ed.) Handbook of Labour Economics, 3. Amsterdam, Netherlands: North Holland Publishers. pp. 3530-3571. Gill, M. (2013) David Cameron is wrong: falling crime rates are not because of the magnificent police. New Statesman [online], Thursday 18th July. Available from: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/07/no-david-cameron-falling-crime-rates-are-not-because-magnificent-police [Accessed on: 17th November 2014]. Machin, S. and Meghir, C. (2004) Crime and Economic Incentives. The Journal of Human Resources, 49 (4): 958-979. Police forces in England and Wales ’rise to the cuts challenge’. BBC News [online], 22nd July 2014. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28415123 [Accessed 18th November 2014]. Real Wages: What Recovery?. The Economist [online], 25th Oct 2014. Available from: http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21627665-workers-continue-feel-pinch-what-recovery [Accessed 18th November 2014].

How the United States Must Handle China and Its Military in the 21st C

There is a delicate balancing act a country must be aware of when it is a military superpower. A superpower must exercise extreme care to protect their economic superiority, advance their foreign policies, and project their military might all while working to advance the global system. Enticing China to become a responsible pillar of the global system will be one of the greatest challenges of coming decades for the United States and the Western world-particularly since it appears for the moment China is uninterested in playing such a role. This is the unique situation the United States and China find themselves in, with so many mutual interests, and as the global economy begins to slow, challenges such as: China’s increase in military spending and foreign tension which is rising throughout the Pacific region, highlight the importance of the U.S./China political and military cooperation. However, China’s economic agreements with neighboring countries, the U.S. and Chi nese trade deficit, Chinese foreign policies and military growth, and current U.S. Presidential relations with Beijing all play a decisive role in shaping these two military superpowers. China’s continued refusal to contribute positively to international trade negotiations and constant challenge to their current World Trade Organization (WTO) status places these agencies in a serious state of jeopardy. China is also hurting the global trading system by supporting the creation of a loose but potent Asian trading block. China has difficulties in accepting the terms of membership into organizations which already exist such as the WTO and International Monetary Fund (IMF). They’ve continually challenged the WTO’s rules by exploiting loopholes and the lack of regula... ...007): 26-30. Scobell, Andrew and Wortzel Larry M., Shaping China’s Security Environment: The Role of the People’s Liberation Army. Carlisle: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 2009. The White House. National Security Strategy of the United States 2010 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2010): 1-60. Tucker, Nancy. Strait talk: United States-Taiwan relations and the crisis with China. Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2009. Tzu Sun. The Art of War. Translated by Samuel B. Griffith. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971. Walt, Victor. "China bets on Iran." Fortune 160, no. 8 (2009): 90. Yanhua, Li. "President Hu Jintao and US President-elect Barack Obama Discuss over Telephone 2008-11-09." September 15, 2009. http://www.enghunan.gov.cn/wwwHome/200811/t20081109146216.htm Internet; accessed 9 Aug 2010.

Womens Ice Hockey :: Sports Essays

Womens Ice Hockey The fight for women's ice hockey players to earn respect and acceptance has been hard fought over the past one hundred years. Women have constantly been told that they can not play with men and that there sport is a second rate version of the men's game. The road of women's ice hockey has had many ups and downs but has perservered to the present day and is stronger than it has ever been. The future of women's ice hockey is bright thanks to diligence and hard work of those who kept it all going. Ironically women began playing the sport side by side with men over 100 years ago right at the sports inception. One of the oldest action pictures featuring ice hockey shows men playing with women. Part of the reason that women enjoyed early participation with men is because of the way that the public viewed the game. At the start, hockey was seen as a recreational activity. Women have been routinely barred from participating in serious and competitive sport, but if the game is viewed as merel y recreational then women are more accepted. In the 1890's this is what happened to the sport of ice hockey. Suddenly the game was more than recreation and organization entered, rules were drawn and leagues were formed. With the new structure came segregation of the sexes. As the sport progressed for the men, the women were left behind. In spite of all this, the first all female organized game was played in Barrie, Ontario in 1892. Women's ice hockey slowly limped on up until the 1920's. In the 1920's womens ice hockey began to pick up again. Amateur, college and junior level teams were formed and the women's sport became much more organized. In 1924 the Ladies Ontario Hockey Association was formed and would for years be the benchmark of women's ice hockey. Bonnie Rosenfield, a tremendous Canadien athlete who won Olympic medals in Track and Field would be the sports first true superstar. Bonnie grew up in a hockey family and became a very skilled player at a young age. She became irritated with the lack of opportunity for women and took up track were she excelled on an international level. She returned to hockey though with the formation of the LOHA. She became the leagues first star and became a role model for young women who also wanted to play the game.

Author Thomas Hardy and Educational Reform :: Biography Biographies Essays

Author Thomas Hardy and Educational Reform Britain did not establish a national system of education until the year 1870. Until this time, education for the masses was not centralized, but separated by class. Local authorities, philanthropists, and religiously affiliated societies usually provided education for the poor. Meanwhile, middle-class and upper-class children were either sent to public schools or home-tutored. Not until the year 1862 and the formation of the New Castle Commission would education start to become more standardized, though slowly. The reformists argued the necessity of teaching rudimentary skills in basic subjects, especially to the working class. Education at home became less common, and women were no longer taught only domesticity, but academic studies as well. Despite all of these advances, it was not until the year 1870, when the Elementary Education Act was passed, that education became standardized in England. Not only was a secular national system set up but, by the year 1880, school attendance had be come obligatory for anyone under the age of ten. Affluent children attended denominational and public schools, while less affluent children attended England's national schools. By the end of the century attention was then shifted to secondary education. The majority of Thomas Hardy's education took place prior to any attempt at standardization, and therefore, the brunt of this responsibility fell upon his mother and acquaintances he made as a small boy and young man. In the fall of 1848, at the age of eight, Hardy entered his first school at the Stinsford Parish, where he learned mathematics and geography. It was run by the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Establi shed Church. Hardy's mother, as always, was concerned with and had more ambitious plans for Hardy's education and supplemented his readings. She withdrew Hardy from the conformist school, and in 1850, she enrolled him at a school in Dorchester, run by the noncon formist British and Foreign School Society under the respectable headmaster, Isaac Last. At Last s school, Hardy learned Latin and mathematics. At the age of 15, he began learning French as well, and in 1856, at the age of 16, Hardy became an apprentice to John Hicks, an architect in Dorchester. During his apprenticeship, Hardy became friends with Horace Moule, who served Hardy as an unofficial tutor, and influenced his reading. In April of 1862, at age 22, Hardy decided to move to London, and with the help of a family friend, John Norton, got a job as an architect with Arthur Bloomfield.

Examples of Ethical Dilemmas Accounting

Examples of Ethical Dilemmas Accounting: Your supervisor enters your office and asks you for a check for $150. 00 for expenses he tells you he incurred entertaining a client last night. He submits receipts from a restaurant and lounge. At lunch your supervisor’s girlfriend stops by to pick him up for lunch and you overhear her telling the receptionist what a great time she had at dinner and dancing with your supervisor the night before. What do you do?Bank Teller: You have worked as a bank teller for several months when one of the other tellers who has become a good friend tells you that her daughter is extremely ill and that se must have an operation to survive. She also tells you that she has no insurance and the operation will cost $10,000. Sometime later you ask her about her daughter and she tells you she is just fine now. She then confides in you that she took $10,000. 00 from a dormant account at the bank to pay for the operation. She assures you that she has already st arted paying it back and will continue to do so until it is all returned.What do you do? Computers: In your spare time at work, you have developed a new spreadsheet program on the personal computer in your office. It is even more powerful, yet easier to sue than anything on the market. You share your new program with a friend who encourages you to market it on your own because you could probably make an incredible profit in a very short time. This is a very attractive option, yet you developed it using company equipment and during time that you were at work. What do you do?Journalism/Advertising Your newspaper has published a report on a national study, which concluded that bottled water has virtually no health advantages over the tap water in more cities, including yours. The study included comments from local health storeowners and water distributors challenging the study. The AquaPure Bottled Water Company, advertising account worth over $75,000. a year, has threatened to pull it s account with your newspaper unless you run another story of equal prominence, focusing on the benefits of bottled water. What do you do? Read also Ethical Dilemma â€Å"Glengarry Glen Ross†Ã‚   by David MametLaw Enforcement You are a rookie officer assigned to a training officer for the first six months of your employment. The training officer is a 20-year veteran and is a close friend pf thee Assistant Chief of Police and the brother-in-law of the Watch Commander. The third day that you are working with him you respond to a burglary call at a local convenience store. It is 2:30 am and the manager has been notified. You are directed to wait 30-35 minutes for his arrival. A short time later you observe your partner take a soda, candy and a bag of chips. He consumes the soda and chips.When the manager arrives, the two of you depart. What, if anything, should you do? Personnel Your company has a firm policy regarding cases of theft of company property. Used company equipment is on a table to be sold by bid each month. You see a valued employee who is 2 months from retirement slip an electric drill from the table a nd put it in his car before the day of the sale. What so you do? Real Estate A lady from out of town calls you to list her deceased parent’s home in Liberty. She is not sure what it is worth, but says she will be happy to get $50,000. 0 for the home. You look at the home and feel it is worth at least $75,000, and re4laise it would be perfect for your brother. What do you do? Retailing You are the buyer for a retail-clothing store. Your store has a policy of not accepting gifts. However, over the years, salesmen have offered, and other employees have accepted lunch, theater and baseball tickets. You arrive home from the office and find a new TV and DVD player on you doorstep with a note that says: â€Å"A personal gift for out long standing friendship.Enjoy it with you family in good health. The Jones Clothing Company† What do you do? Teacher You have a student who is from a single parent family. The student must work to attend college. However, the job is interfering w ith the student’s performance and several assignments have not been turned in. You have determined that a â€Å"D† is all the student can make when a counselor informs you that the student need a â€Å"C† to qualify for an academic scholarship. ’ What do you do?

Lost in the Digital World

Lost in the Digital World Technology is everywhere in today’s society. It is how we communicate with others, sense of communication and even how we turn in our essays for an English class. It is beneficial to the world in so many ways but at the same time it also has many negative effects. In the article â€Å"Can You Hear Me Now? † by Sherry Turkle, she explores how technology is affecting our daily lives, especially communication. Before the article even begins there is a quote â€Å"Thanks to technology, people have never been more connected—or more alienated† (270).The author explains that through technology our bond with communication is getting weaker and more people rely on technology to control their lives, rather than having control of their own lives. First gives the example of her being at a conference and not a single person can get off technology to even pay attention to what they even came to the conference for. In my personal opinion it show s that we have lost respect for people and have gained more respect for technology and what is going on with the digital world more than the real world. Every once in a while audience members give the speaker some attention, lowering their laptop screens in a kind of digital curtsy† (270). How can we expect someone to listen to us if we cannot even pay attention to them in person? Technology is often the easy way out and it shows through business meetings, families, and how kids are being raised in society in this time. A business meeting is a very personal thing. It is not just what you talk about but it is also how the person looks, communicates in person, and just that vibe you get when you know how to handle people. Consultants used to talk to one another as they wanted to give presentations; now they spend that time doing email† (271). Technology is so impersonal that it makes people unconnected personally. I agree with the author as she criticizes the technology wo rld. â€Å"We are connected, tethered, so important that our physical presence is no longer required† (272). The fact that we do not communicate with people on a deeper level can cause makes trusting people too easy.Texting and emailing a coworker is so convenient for the life of a business person, but are you really going to get the same response or conversation when you could just do it in person? Not only are our careers getting taken over by technology, but our entire lives. The first thing I do whenever I wake up every morning is to check my cell phone to see who had texted me last night while I was sleeping. It never was brought to my attention on how horrible this habit is until I read this article by Turkle. â€Å"I look at my watch to see the time. I look at my BlackBerry to get a sense of my life† (273).A sense of life should not be a hand-held-size of internet and the people that consume your life. A sense of life is how you live it and the decisions and cho ices that you make. The personal connections that you have with the people you love and respect and most of all trust. I am also guilty of texting my mom when we are in the same house. Even though these ways of communication are so easy and most of the time effective; we lose a personal connection and reflect on just pure laziness. A cellphone gives someone a source of protection because they know someone is just a click away. Kids get cell phones from their parents. In return they are expected to answer their parents’ calls. On the one hand this arrangement gives teenagers new freedoms. On the other they do not have the experience of being alone and having to count on themselves; there is always a parent on speed dial. † (275). There are so many reasons why kids would need cell phones but if the world got by without them before, can they do it again? Technology with adolescents is such a touchy subject just because of how easy it is to abuse that power of connecting wi th the entire world.With being so impersonal in the world we have less fear of what we are showing to the public. Even though we are not communicating with people, they can simply get on a website to see what you have been doing for the past twenty-four hours of your life because of how little privacy is online. â€Å"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear† (277) this quote is so impersonal because you are â€Å"hiding† something or simply do not want other people to know your personal life should not mean that you have anything to fear.In the past ten years technology has advances tremendously at a rapid rate and it will be crazy to see where it takes us in the next ten years. I am one to hope that it can become more personal and things more like Skype come into play. Reliance on technology has come too far out of hand and society would be a much better place if more people focused on how to run their lives versus who texted us. We need to focus on buil ding stronger connections with the people around us instead of the connection with the devices in our hands. ?