Coaching Through Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Coaching Through Change - Essay Example Is this undergraduate undertakes this program, he or she will be in a position to be empowered to engage in broad thinking, global management and strategic competition. The undergraduate will be in a position to collaborate with other accomplished leader to acquire the insights of the industry and other global perspectives to lead the organization that they will undertake. To show their success, the undergraduate undertaking this program will be in a position to enhance their ability and improve the performance of the firm by analyzing and recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of the firm. The individual will also be in a position to set the required direction for their business and understand the competitive forces capable of distinguishing the profitable institutions. To be successful and reach his goal, the undergraduate will also be in a position to transform their operational capabilities into their competitive advantage. With so doing, the undergraduate is in a position to move the organizations that they will be employed to another

African American Literatury Essay Example for Free

African American Literatury Essay African-American literature can be defined as writings by people of African descent living in the United States of America. The African-American literary tradition began with the oral culture long before any of the materials in it were written on. Throughout their American history, African-Americans have used the oral culture as a natural part of black expressive culture. They are very powerful voices that give fuller meanings to words on a page. The America South is an important landscape in African-American literature. The South was a primary port of entry for slaving vessels. Most black slaves remained in the Southern states. The South was an important place for the African-American literature because the South was served as the site of hope and change for the black slaves but there were also horrors. The majority of African captives entered the New World from the Southern ports and remained in the Southern states. They relied heavily on the African cultural heritage and belief systems familiar to them. During their 300 years of slavery and servitude, black slaves and their descendants developed a complex relationship with the South. Amiri Baraka concluded that the South is a part of the scene of the crime, a land that is about the site of hope and the scene of the crime. For many African Americans, the South serves as the site of hope and change. The South has given birth to many African-American cultural practices, such as literature. This is the spiritual and ancestral home for African Americans and plays a dominant role in African-American literature. Before the American Civil War, African-American literature primarily focused on the issue of slavery, as indicated by the subgenre of slave narratives The most noted authors were all incited and inspired by the goings on in the south. Frederick Douglass was one of the most important African-American authors from the literary landscape in the South. He chronicled his life from bondage to freedom in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (1845), which helped the American public to know the truth about the institution of slavery and dismiss the myth that slaves were happy and treated well. He said, the South was not only a notorious site of slavery, it was also a landscape of racial terror and widespread violence. The biggest crime the South ever committed is the institution and perpetuation of slavery. But the Southern landscape is more than just the â€Å"scene of the crime† in African-American literature. It has multiple personalities that demand multiple treatments. Many 20th-century African-American writers, whether born and raised in the South or not, have used the southern landscape in their works to explore the complex relationships African-American communities have with the South. In her poem â€Å"Southern Song,† Margaret Walker (1915 – 1998) sings a praise song to the southern suns and southern land despite the â€Å"mobs† and â€Å"a nightmare full of oil and flame. Southern Song I want my body bathed again by southern suns, my soul reclaimed again from southern land. I want to rest again in southern fields, in grass and hay and clover bloom; to lay my hand again upon the clay baked by a southern sun, to touch the rain-soaked earth and smell the smell of soil. I want my rest unbroken in the fields of southern earth; freedom to watch the corn wave silver in the sun and mark the splashing of a brook, a pond with ducks and frogs and count the clouds. I want no mobs to wrench me from my southern rest; no forms to take me in the night and burn my shack and make for me a nightmare full of oil and flame. I want my careless song to strike no minor key; no fiend to stand between my bodys soutnern songthe fusion of the South, my bodys song and me. Margaret Walker’s poem characterizes the complex literary representations of the South in a great deal of African-American literature, for the speaker at once basks in the beauty of her homeland (â€Å"I want my body bathed again by southern suns†). Yet at the same time experiences a homecoming complicated by the threat of Southern violence (â€Å"I want no mobs to wrench me from my southern rest†). The theme of the southern home and its layered history is a prevalent one throughout the tradition of African-American literature. In conclusion, 90 percent of African-Americans lived in the South, it is no wonder that this landscape has taken on a great deal of cultural and historical significance. Literature from the South is complex and often absurd, as the region emerges repeatedly as a site of home.

Comparing different international HRM strategies

Comparing different international HRM strategies Human Resources Management is a planned approach to managing people effectively for performance. It aims to establish a more open, flexible management style so that staff will be motivated, developed and managed in a way that they can give their best to support departments missions. Good HRM practices are instrumental in helping departmental objectives and enhance productivity. For the purpose of sharing expeience and providing reference in launching HRM initiatives. HRM Good Practices Since launching HRM movement in 1994 in the civil service, Civil Service Bureau has sponsore and individual departments have introduce various HRM initiatives. In taking HRM forward, we need strategic and integrated approach in managing people effectively for performance. In taking a strategic and integrated approach, HRM is linked to the department strategic direction in a systematic way. Such an approach is often reflected in the following practices clarifying a department strategic direction by way of articulating its Vision, Mission and Values statement; establishing the strategic linkage and integrating HR programmes through a HRM Plan projecting its short to long term human resource need through a Manpower Plan. At the same time, all manager must adopt a more open, flexible and caring style in managing their staff. Such an approach is reflected in number of ways. The three most common practices are managing people effectively for performance through an open Performance Management System that call for individual objectives tied to departmental objectives, regular coaching, and developing staff on job; enhancing staff competencies to perform better through effectively training people to achieve departmental objective and results LITREATURE REVIEW 1)Similarities and Differences in Human Resource Management in the European Union Sources: Thunderbird International Business Review, Vol. 45(6) 729-755 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ November-December 2003  © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). European authors have acknowledged that HRM originally developed in the United States.. European writer; Hendry Pettigrew, have been critical of apply American HRM views to other countries, especially Europe.Such criticism is entirely valid. A theoretical or practice HR model developed in the cultural context of one country should not indiscrimiately applied to another country without testing the cultural biases of its assumption..While the U.S. influence in HRM has been criticized,there is also a particular fondness among some European HRM academic writers to compare and contrast European with U.S. HRM. Brewster and Bournois posed the following question as a point of departure to justify such a comparison, To what extent there is sufficient similarity in Europe to require us to question whether there may not be significant difference between HRM in Europe as a whole and the United States of America? The comparison point out that in Europe, HRM is less dependent,companies have less autonomy and freedom of action, trade unionism is more important, the social partners have more influence,legal regulations are more important, and there is a stronger tradition of employee involvement. Brewster and Hegewisch push the comparison between European and American HRM even further and justify the existence of a European HRM model based on these differences. They conclude that,There are identifiable difference between the way in which HRM is conducted in Europe and that of the United States, a difference which allows us to speak of a European form of HRM . Brewster and Bournois also speak of two paradoxical trends that run through HRM in Europe. On the one hand there are clear country difference that can be understood and explained in the context of each national culture and its manifestations in history, laws, institutions, and employee organizations. On the other hand, there is an difference between the ways in which HRM is conducted in Europe vs the United States Brewster has made important contribution in pioneering the notion that there is a European HRM tradition distinct from others.He must be credited with being the first to attempt to develop a European model of HRM distinct from existing U.S. model. His European HRM model locates organizational issues within sectorial and national influences. However, according to Clark and Mallory , Brewsters European model has four main problems. First, talking abut European HRM is an example of reductionism that fails to take into account the cultural diversity of the European nations. Second,Brewster overestimates the level of autonomy enjoyed by HR manager and organizations in the United States. Third, his model is potentially culturally conditioned and inherently ethnocentric. 2) Changes in HRM in Europe: A longitudinal comparative study among 18 European countries Sources: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/ To examine HRM strategies and practices and HRM position within organizations in various cultural, economic and sociopolitical contexts from a longitudinal perspective. Findings The overall picture is that the 18 countries form two major clusters. Countries in Europe can be systematically clustered in a North/West-South/East distinction, regarding HRM practices. There is no indication of convergence between the major clusters. However, movement from one cluster to another was observed, with Italy and East Germany moving to the North-western cluster. Research limitations/implications The level of analysis, which is HR practice at a national) and regional level, is a methodological limitation of the present study. Analysis at this level conceals qualitative differences between countries, which are important in the contextual paradigm. Practical implications The issue of convergence in HR practices has important implications for HR managers in multinationals who operate in Europe and the transferability of HR practices. Originality/value This paper addresses the issue of whether over time there is an increasing Europeanisation (convergence) of HRM practices in Europe or not, by studying HR practices in 18 European countries. 3) Employers Find An Innovative Way To Escape The Growing Expense Of Providing References Sources:www.workpass.co.uk/calculator UK Unemployment is at its highest for over a decade and still rising fast. One unexpected impact of this trend has been to increase the administrative burden on Human Resource departments, whose staff are required to provide references for the rising number of former employee who are seeking jobs. Added to that is the growing scrutiny of landlord and lending organisation seeking to authenticate the salary detail of current employees, in the wake of recent scandals about irresponsible lending. It is all making managing references unacceptably time-consuming and costly for HR team, at a time when most businesses are seeking to find new efficiencies and save money. As a result, more and more employers are choosing to entrust reference management to the specialists at WorkPass. Using WorkPass is one of those rare things in business: a genuine no-brainer. Its an innovative, online solution thats able to handle all kinds of reference requests relating to both previous employees looking for work and current ones looking for, say, a bank loan or to rent a property. WorkPass is a wholly owned subsidiary of Verifile Ltd the UKs leading provider of pre-employment screening services. Its services are fully compliant with the Data Protection Act -which means that using WorkPass helps businesses pass the common compliance challenges associated with providing references over to WorkPass, thereby reducing their risks. Ben-Cohen continues: We take data protection very seriously. Thats why we make sure that each employee has control over who can access their data by letting them generate consent codes which provide controlled access to their details on our site. As well as effortlessly maintaining high levels of compliance, clients can provide a platinum service that enhances the good reputation of their organisation, while freeing up costly HR resource, helping them to deliver real and rapid cost savings. Uniquely on the market, WorkPass is offered as a free service to employers and employees. Reference-seekers instead pay a small access fee for the benefit of getting accurate and speedy responses to their online queries, often within seconds saving them time and money as well. Employers can offer a flexible choice of reference though WorkPass. These include providing basic references, confirming only dates of employment and position held; detailed references of the sort usually sought by financial institutions requiring confirmation of salary; and customised references, such as those required under compromise agreements. 4) The Human Resource Development function: the ambiguity of its status within the UK public service Source: http://ras.sagepub.com/cgi/content Improving performance thrugh better employee development practice is a recurrent theme within the UK public sector. Human Resource Development is seen as playing a pivotal role in this process. This article will review the role, structure and status of HRD with in the UK public service. It will consider the apparnt paradox that exists. On the one hand, the HRD function is reported to have a vital role in the developent of those working within public service organizatons. On the other hand, some hold the view that the reshaping the function is diminishing its status and influence. The article draws on the findings of the first phase of study examining the role, structure and status of the HRD function in UK public sector organization. Findings suggest that how the HRD function is presented and represented is problematic. 5) The Unique Recruiting and Human Resources Practices in Japan SOURCES:The Unique Recruiting and Human Resources Practices in Japan By Ames Gross and Larry Hewes Spring 1997 Published in International HR Journal EXECUTIVE SUMMARY à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Foreign firm attempting to enter the Japanese market must first acquaint themselves with Japans labor laws and human resource practices in order to be successful. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Although not required by statute, in Japan, workers generaly have lifetime employment with a single company. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In Japan, promotions and increaes in responsibility are usually based on seniority, rather than solely on merit, and the promotion of a younger employee over more senior co workers can cause discomfort in the workplace. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ While Japan does have a national health system, many foreign company enroll their workers in a private health insurance plan, which are offered by foreign insurance companies. As matter of background, the Japanese economy is now recovering from a long period of recession and stagnation. It is a huge economy in world term, second only in power and size to that of the United States. In many way, Japans economy is superior to that of the United States; for example, Japan is the worlds largest creditor nation while the United States is the largest debtor nation. Japan run a trade surplus while the United States has a deficit, and the savings rate of Japans citizens far that of the United States. Japan has a population of 130 millions people, and its society which has been for centuries, and even during several decades, closed is opening up more and more to foreign commerce. For example, there are many more foreign car in Japan now than there were just 10 years ago, and hundreds of U.S. and European company now do business in Japan. Given the size of its market and its economic power, it behaves almost any U.S. business to look seriously at doing business with Japan. For some companies those whose products are so unique or who simply do not have the resources to establish a physical presence in Japan purely exporting may work, however, setting up an office in Japan and, of course, recruiting and hiring staff are the best way to go. However, one cannot do this successfully without understanding what the human resources issues and labor laws in Japan are, and how the written and unwritten traditions governing business and employment operate in that country. The purpose of this article is to provide foreign employer with some guideline on this subject. Recruiting, hiring, firing, termination, out placement, salary, title, and other basic subjects are covered. 6) The transferability of Japanese HRM practices to Thailand Jun Onishi Hirosaki University, Aomori, Japan This research examined the transferability of Japanese human resource management to Thailand. Attitude toward life-time employment, seniority system, consensual decision-making, quality circle, and house unions were considered. The sample included 560 managers and staff of Japanese companie in Thailand. The results indicate that all five practice except seniority are transferable. The Thai employees have more positive attitudes toward consensual decision-making, quality circles and house unions than the Japanese managers in the Japanese manufacturers in Thailand. Some Japanese managers think that consensual decision-making and quality circle are not appropriate or accepted in Thailand. This belief may limit the implementation of these practices. Regarding seniority, both the Japanese manger and the Thai employees agreed that performance should be evaluated by achievement, but years of service should be part of evaluation criteria. OBJECTIVES 1.To study HRM practices in Europe 2. To study structures operating within international companies across Europe. 3.To study the structure and operation of the European Union 4.To study the corporate culture in Europe RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research would be undertaken through secondary data.The data collected from 1.Journals 2.Magazines 3.Internet 4.Books HR PRACTICES IN EUROPE HR in perspective across Europe A brief look at the economic and social context of the fifteen longer-established EU member states. Austria joined the EU in 1995. It has benefited greatly from both physically and linguistically close to Germany and it holds key position on transalpine transport routes. This small, but highly efficient, central European state has well-developed system of labour relations, a high level of employee involvement and a welfare system that, although generous, nevertheles incorporates a sufficient incentive to remain in work. Denmark has driven up its wage level to be the highest in the world by heavily taxing employees and relying heavily on collective bargaining to regulate pay and employment condition. However, it has one of the most skilled workforce in Europe and has been a pioneer in flexible working methods. This has helped Denmark to achieve high, sustained productivity level in recent years. Finland joined the EU in 1995. It has few natural resources and a complex language that could easily have become a barriers to international trade. However, it has been able to take full advantages of EU and eurozone membership to achieve a low level of price inflation and invest in its human capital to produce a highly skilled workforce. The Finnish economy has also benefited by employers being able to tap into ready supply of labour from the Baltic states. France has low level of unionisaton, but highly militant trade unions. The official stance towards foreign-owned multinational enterpries has often been hostile and there has been a tendency to overreact to corporate restructuing by the application of penal sanctions. The 35-hour week has not been a success and the French govenment is now trying to unpick itself from many of its past policies. Germany is the biggest and by far the most succesful of the older EU states. During the last two decades it has achieve a difficult transition in its eastern states from a system of state-run monopolie to a modern market economy. Complete integration has not, however, been fully achieved and a 20% wage gap still exists between eastern and western states. Neither has Germany been able to significanly narrow the equal pay gap between male and female employees. Greece joined the EU in 1981. It continues to be a country with many small employers, generally poor labour relations and government that have frittered away much of the economic gain from EU accession through unprodutive public spending and early retirement schemes. Statutory work obligations are commonly flouted, paricularly in leading sectors such as construction. Government employment data is generally weak, out of date and uneliable. Greece relies very heavily upon its tourism and agricultural industries and has not been successful at attacting a sustained volume of major inward investment projects. Moreover, it has never fully expited its physical location close to major external markets in the Middle East. Ireland provides the best ex within the EU of a small country overcoming its lack of natural resources and peripheral geogaphical position to become a true tiger economy. This has largely been achiev through a low rate of corporation tax, a sustained inward investment strategy and an open-door policy towards immigants from central and eastern Europe. Ireland has not focused on being a low-wage location, but has concentrated on minimising bureaucratic burden and keeping overhead such as social security costs to a minimum. Italy has overcome many of its past economic and political instability problems, and its most recent reform have helped to encourage flexibility and open up the labour market. However, it has still not overcome its major north-south economic divide, reduced the bureaucratic burden that it continues to place on employer, or resolved the inconsistent application of its complex employment laws. Spain joined the European Union in 1986 and was at first country burdened by poor labour productivity, tight employment protection laws and wage indxation. Although these problems have not entirely disappeard Spain is now western Europes second tiger economy, with rapid economic expansion driven by a property boom and a plentiful supply of low cost labour frm north Africa. Sweden joined the EU in 1995. During the 70s and 80s, Sweden had to undertake a major economic restructuring exercise to deal with a decline in it forestry and iron ore mining sectors. Its highly sophisticted and extensive welfare system helped to make this exercise a success. Since accession, however, the Swedish economy has underperformed. This is primarily due to the high tax burden imposed on ordinary workers to sustain the generous welfare provisions, the creation of a dependency culture, and the narrownes of pay differentials. The United Kingdom operate a very different corporate and work culture from the European continent. It has virtualy abandoned sectoral collective bargaining and has been reluctant to embrace formalised systems of employee participation. It has tended to take a minimalist approach to all EU social and employment Directives and has refused to join the eurozone. Although this has helped to encourage the growth of new enterprises, much of the UK advantage in attracting inward investment has been gained through its cultural and linguitic links with the USA. Labour costs, however, remain high by EU standard and productivity is well below the level that this degree of economic freedom should have achievd. Comparison between employment characteristics in EU15 and new EU states (averages) Employment characteristic EU15 States New EU States Employee cannot change own working methods 29% 37% Employees working on shifts 12.1% 23% Employees working on Sunday 6.5% 11.7% Employees with fixed-term/temporary job 10.5% 8.7% Employees working at night 4.4% 5.4% Employees with a second job 1.8% 5.2% Length of time in present job 10.9 years 13.4 years Length of working week 38.2 hours 44.4 hours Language training in workplace (av/yr) 4 hours 11 hours Management training in workplace (av/yr) 12 hours 7 hours The HRM concept remains undeveloped in many of established EU member states such as France and Germany. This is largely due to over-reliance on administrative procedures and company rules, the codetrmination powers of works councils, the prevalence of sectoral collective bargaining, and widespread union resistance to workplace innovation. It therefore remains uncertain how far HRM method will become the norm for managing personnel issues in the new member states. European HR trends Europe accounts for one-tenth of the world population. Two-thirds of Europeans live in countries that are member of the economic federation known as the European Union (EU). The proportion of the population (aged 15-64) who are employed in the EU is just 66.0%, compaed to 69.3% in Japan and 71.5% in the USA. The average employee in the EU works for 38.5 hours per week, 18% of the EU working population works part-time, 14.8% are on temporary contract and 5.1% of employees started their job in the last 3 months. 12.9% of the population agd 15-64 have undergone tertiary education and almost 10% of the EU population aged 25-64 take part in lifelong learning activitie. EU citizens spend 12.2% of GDP on pension and their average retirement age is 59.9 years. HR policies and strategies checklist The focus HR strategy over the last decade has been to find an ever-widening range of methods to cut cost and improve operational performance. These tend to be carried out irrespective of the current stage of the economic cycle or a company relative competitive position. Options which were once regarded as either in or out of fashion are now being assessed purely on their merit, and are being swiftly adopted if they seems likely to succeed. We have entered an era of corporates perfectionism in which almost anything is possible. The prevailing aim of companie is not just to be more efficient and effective than their business rivals, but to be so good that it will be dangerou for competitors to try to emulate their achievements. Cost saving Reduction of operational costs: redundancy delayering pay cuts and freezes increasing variable pay as percentage of total pay , recruitment freezes outsourcing removing deputy posts gain sharing -,rationalising company car policies maximising grants or subsidies. Control of overheads: relocation to lower-cost centres ,use of teleworkers cutting benefits rationalising back-office functions expense account audits trimming expense budgets extending the working day. Limitation of future liabilities: changing from defined benefit to defined contribution pension schemes removing incremental pay scales curtailing grade creep. Pain sharing: board pay cuts, HQ downsizing single status facilities limiting top management severance packages ,utplacement counselling. Operational flexibility Job flexibility: job design flexible working hours annual hours contracts time off in lieu (TOIL) time banking ,part-time working ,fixed-term contracts ,multi-skilled work teams. Pay and benefit flexibility: profit sharing employee share ownership share options self -service benefits. Operational flexibility: time management , improving managerial leverage , the 24/7 workplace use of freelance and temporary staff suggestion schemes. Human capital Encouragement of lifelong learning: individual learning accounts , action learning elearning cpd mentoring. Retention of know-how: strategy for older workers staged retirement ,removing age barriers knowledge management developing knowledge banks. Promotion of equal opportunities: removing glass ceiling equality training equal opportunities monitoring diversity policies positive action. Promotion of health and fitness: in-house fitness centre discounts on external facilities stress counselling company sports teams regular medicals. Performance effectiveness Use of performance management methods: benchmarking process rengineering management by objectives employee appraisal upward feedback (360 degree feedback) decentralization empowerment delegation quality circle open door policies performance incentive supply chain management HR system integration data mining and warehousing. Improvement of recruitment process: student sponsorship on-line recruitment automated scanning background checks positive vetting verification of cv data University ratings personality/literacy testing assessment centres head-hunting succession planning. Reduction of absenteeism: attendance bonuses- wellness programmes surveillance of those on long-term absence motivational programmes. Prevention of fraud and theft: expense claim audits ctv scanning whistleblowing schemes amnesties forensic audits. Further important element in HR management are softer policy concerns and personnel administration, together with legal compliances and the avoidance of litigation. Increased board visibility and accountability have become areas of concern following recent exposures of corporate irregularitie such as the Enron affair. Data privacy and security are also becoming more significant issues and are making the application of HR policies a much more complex task. Corporate culture Family-friendly workplace: work/life balance childcare eldercare parental leave emergency leave term time working job sharing flexible working arrangements sabbaticals. Corporate governance: annual social and environmental reports remuneration committee independent reviews visibility and accountability of corporate boards. Localisation: support for local events service contracts with SMEs replacement of expatriates with local employee environmental improvement schemes. Employee welfare: Dutch-style arbo services hospital visits disability counselling company social functions attendance at funeral long service awards flowers on birth of employees children car-sharing initiative season ticket loans. Legal and ethical compliance Safety: statutory obligations codes of conduct safety training , health and safety audits joint committees safety signs emergency procedures alcohol and drugs testing. Employment: statutory obligation custom and practice codes of conduct disability quotas collective agreements works councils European work councils. Privacy and security: codes of practice data security standards international transfers of personal data email monitoring subject access procedures emergency planning workplace security zoning. Personnel accounting: tax compliance ,- payroll procedures IAS 19 remuneration committees. Community: corporate social responsibility (CSR) work experience student exchange sponsorship. Labour courts and court systems in Europe Belgium There are two levels of specialist labour court in Belgium: Labour tribunals: Courts of first instance dealing primariy with individual employment contract issues. Labour courts: These hear appeals referred by tribunals and seek to resolve significant collective disputes. Each tribunal retains a team of labour prosecutor who may be called upon to provide opinions to the court and are also responsible for instituting criminal proceeding against employers when health and safety laws have been seriously breached. Denmark Denmark operate a well established and highly complex array of courts, arbitration and conciliation machinery. Actions concerning individual employments contracts are heard by the general courts. The Labour Court Act governs the activities of the labour court that hear cases involving breaches of collective agreements. However, the starting point for dispute resolution is usually the set of standard rules that are common to almost all collective agreement. These define a number of steps to be followed as soon as a problem arises in the workplace. The parties are first obliged to negotiate, then to seek private arbitration if required and, finally, to go to court rather than resort to strike action or lock-outs. No individual employee can bring a case, or be the sole subject of a labour court actions. Germany Around 650,000 cases are heard by labour courts each year in Germany. Of these around 90% concern individuals rather than trade unions or works councils (as collective suits). Half of all cases are settled at an initial hearing before a lower labour court, but 1,000 cases a year eventually go through the full appeals process. Three levels of courts of appeal 1) Labour courts (Arbeitsgerichte) 2) Higher labour courts (Landersarbeitsgerichte) 3) The Federal Supreme Labour Court (Bubdesarbeitsgericht) final court of appeal These deal with private law disputes involving statutory rights such as wrongful dismissal, infringements of works council procedure, wage payment problems and the interpretation of collective agreement. Social security cases are heard by separate courts of social affairs. Conflicts of interest between works councis and employers are dealt with by ad hoc settlement committees Italy Labour court are an integrated element of the civil court system. They are composed of professional judges who deal with a wide range of social insurance and social welfare issues as well as internal civil service dispute and labour laws. There are three levels of labour court: 1) The court of first instance 2) The appeals court 3) The Cassazione All parties must be legally represented at every level of labour courts. Both individuals and collective bodies may seeks a decision by the court. However, unions may intervene in individual disputes if the case involves the interpretations of a collective agreement. Most cases that are heard by a court of first instance are permitted to go forward upon appeals. Spain Around 300,000 cases are heard by Spanish labour courts each year. However, only 40% of all cases relate to contracts of employment, with the balance being taken up by social security disputes. There are three levels of labour court: 1) The social courts at a provincial level. 2) The social chamber of the high courts at a regional level. 3) The social chamber of the Supreme Court in Mad

True love is so hard to find :: essays research papers

I want to capture and preserve our first meeting together in a bottle of love. The first time I saw you it was like standing next to a waterfall with beautiful shades of color. Your face was glowing as your eyes and smile showed words of love. "I knew I loved you before I met you." I felt as if seeing you for the first time were to see the beauty first hand, to be able to touch you and allow these tingling feelings to release. Before we met in person I knew that my love for you was deeper than any monument on earth. I fell in love with you from the inside out, getting to know your inner most thoughts and see the beauty locked inside. I looked into your eyes and felt a strong power of communication, there was no need for words. I felt lost in a world of thought, yet I was found with the strength of love. We exchanged those feelings of love with only our expressions. It was these expressions that created a strong tingling sensation throughout my body, a feeling that I had never in my life experienced. Sitting beside you engulfed my mind with thoughts and filled my body with further sensations. Each time you glanced at me, it was literally melting my heart; I was just overwhelmed by you. As my hand rested by my side you reached over and gently touched my hand. I can only describe that that moment as being struck by lightning. There was this jolt of electricity going through my entire body and I didn’t want it to stop. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, accepting these wonderful feelings. Your hand caressed mine and my fingers gently slid along yours as I touched the back of your hand. As you held my hand and led me through a darkened patch of trees, I put myself in your hands and trusted your guidance. With gripped hands we settled upon a rock with the ocean below. The air was filled with silence except for the constant splashing of water against the rocks. We gently rubbed our faces against each other as our cheeks caressed. As our bodies

Chimney Sweeper Essay

A great writer, or poet, will make their readers feel as if they are a part of their story. The reader will feel happy when the character is happy, or sad when the character is sad. This is achieved by various rhetorical strategies that writers use. Some of these strategies include imagery and word diction. Sometimes it is one sentence that really gets to the reader. Other times it is simply one word that can make the reader feel anything from warm to sad. In William Blake’s poem, â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper,† from Songs of Innocence, there is an important transition in which the reader’s sense of emotions change from negative feelings of darkness, death, and misery to positive emotions of happiness, hope, and salvation. This transition in emotions reflects the child’s innocence and oblivion to his victimization whereas in the same poem from Songs of Experience the child is aware that he is the victim and therefore only reveals feelings of bitterness and sarcasm. This contrast is important to my understanding of the Innocence poem because it reveals a softer and more innocent perspective than the poem of Experience does. In the first half of the poem Blake uses word diction that gives off negative connotations in order to illustrate the horrible conditions the young chimneysweepers live in. The chimneysweeper says, â€Å"And my father sold me while yet my tongue/Could scarcely cry † ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ’† (2-3). Not only does the word â€Å"weep† clearly give off a sense of sadness and depression, but the fact that it is repeated four times puts an emphasis on the sadness that the chimneysweeper feels. The quote implies that the father sold his child at a very young age. As a result, the child was still too young to weep and therefore could not refuse to be sold. Another quote says, â€Å"So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep† (4). When one hears the word â€Å"sweep†, they are imagining dirt and filth being lifted off the ground. Moreover, the phrase â€Å"in soot I sleep†, if one imagines it in a literal sense, shows that the child is literally sleeping in soot, which is the black debris that the smoke from the chimney creates. As a result, this quote illustrates a dirty and filthy setting that these chimneysweepers are forced to live in. A phrase that, without a doubt, gives off a sense of death and hell is â€Å"coffins of black† (12). The chimneysweeper uses this phrase to describe where the other chimneysweepers are locked in Tom’s dream, which is still filthy and almost suffocating. While these quotes and phrases observe and reveal the terrible conditions that these children are living in, the chimneysweeper in the Experience poem reasons why he is living in those conditions by blaming his parents. This comparison makes evident the different perspectives from each poem. Hints of hope are first revealed in the Innocence poem where Blake uses the child’s sarcasm to show that in moments of darkness and unhappiness there is still space for optimism so as not to suffer so much. This is revealed when the chimneysweeper reassures Tom to â€Å"never mind it, for when your head’s bare/You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair† (7-8). In a way this would make Tom feel hopeful because with a bare head, the soot cannot ruin his hair. But in a metaphorical sense, it implies that darkness (the soot) will not prevail over everything, which gives one hope. What follows this sense of hope is Tom’s description of his dream: And by came an Angel who had a bright key/And he open’d the coffins & set them all free/Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run/And wash in a river, and shine in the Sun/Then naked and white, all their bags left behind/They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind. (13-18) This stanza contains numerous amounts of words and phrases that all give a positive connotation of hope, freedom, warmth, and happiness. Words such as â€Å"Angel†, â€Å"bright key†, â€Å"laughing†, â€Å"Sun†, and â€Å"white† give off a feeling that is too good to be true, which explains why it is a dream in the first place. But that hope and happiness is so strong that when Tom awakes, he continues his work happily. This utopian perspective clearly shows the innocence of these children, while the child in the poem of Experience has no sense of hope because he is aware of the reality he is living in. While the children in the Innocence poem use religious words and phrases to give them something to look forward to, the child in the Experience poem condemns religion. Blake shows how religion is used to almost condone the treatment and conditions of these chimneysweepers when he writes, â€Å"And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy/He’d have God for his father and never want joy† (19-20). This quote implies that obedience and sticking to your duties will bring happiness in the afterlife. The same thing is implied when the chimneysweeper says, â€Å"So if all do their duty they need not fear harm† (24). In other words, as long as these chimneysweepers continue with their gruesome work while refraining from complaints, they will be happy and will be rewarded in the afterlife for their good behavior. This mentality seems to convince the children that it is acceptable live in these horrible conditions because they will be rewarded once they pass. In contrast, the child in the Experience poem does not see the afterlife or God as something or someone to look forward to because he blames God for the position he is in. He mocks God by saying, â€Å"And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King/Who make up a heaven of our misery† (11-12). The child’s parents are praying in the church and believe that they have not caused their child any injury. In this case, it is the parents that are condoning the brutal life of their child. This major difference between the two poems is important because it reveals how differently each child views the situation they are in as chimneysweepers. Blake’s use of word diction and imagery in the poem of Innocence and in the poem of Experience differentiates the two opposing perspectives of each poem. Because the Innocence poem transitions from darkness and hopelessness to freedom and hopefulness, my understanding of this poem is extremely different from the other. It is clear that the chimneysweeper in the Experience poem is aware that he is the victim; therefore, his feelings of sadness and despair block him from seeing any hope. Instead, he blames God and his parents for the life he lives. In contrast, I am given the sense that the chimneysweeper in the Innocence poem is completely oblivious to the fact that he is a victim, and therefore it is easier for him to see the light in the darkest moments; in this sense he is still innocent of any hard feelings towards his father or God.

Colonial Language, Behavior and Identity Formation in Two Tempests

Colonial language, behavior and identity formation in Two Tempests Shakespeare in his last work, The Tempest tells the story of Proespero, the duke of Milan who is exiled to an island. The conflicts throughout the play arise from the desire of power over nature and people. Prospero overtakes the power from the native people on the land and is fighting for his title; that has been stolen by his brother. The influence of colonization is present in The Tempest, and is demonstrated in the characters Caliban and Ariel; who become Prospero’s servers in order to get free.Cesaire writes A Tempest, based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, to help the reader understand its message better. The theme remains the same, but Cesaire emphasizes more deeply on the characters Caliban and Ariel. Cesaire presents them as people of the new world, who are under the influence of a foreign power, Prospero. Cesaire presents Caliban and Ariel with slightly different characteristics as Shakespeare, sh owing the important role of their language, behavior and actions.The very first change that Cesaire made in A Tempest we can see at the beginning of the play where the author mentions Ariel as a mulatto slave and Caliban as a black slave. Their change in color is significant because Cesaire expresses the post-colonial influence on the characters. The example of colonization is presented by a white conqueror, Prospero, who takes over the native people on the island, Caliban and Ariel. The two Characters, Caliban and Ariel are described differently in Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Cesaire’s A Tempest.A Tempest is a post-colonial writing, and Cesaire forms his characters with stronger and more significant characteristics. Caliban’s personality becomes more important than in Shakespeare’s play. In The Tempest, Caliban is an insolent, uneducated slave who is controlled through magic by Prospero, while in A Tempest; he becomes an aggressive and defined black ma n. In The Tempest, we can see Caliban as a child of a witch, Sycorax, who is a poor judge of character, acting like an animal and willing to get free.In Cesaire’s play the way he enters the scene is already telling us that he becomes a strong and brave character with a personality. Caliban’s word to Prospero, â€Å"Uhuru† (Cesaire 1. 2. 10-11), shows his rebellious attitude towards his master, letting him know about his eagerness to become free and independent on his island again. â€Å"Uhuru† in Swahili means freedom and for Caliban means his life. With this word, Caliban is showing to Prospero his defiance towards the situation, in which he becomes a slave of his own land.Caliban is the one who introduced the island to Prospero, and he expects to be treated with respect. Caliban is a fighter who is ready to choose death over humiliation: â€Å"Call me X. That would be best. Like a man without a name. Or, to be more precise, a man whose name has been st olen. You talk about history and everyone knows it. † (Cesaire 18) With Prosepero’s arrival to the island, Caliban becomes a slave of its own land. In spite of difficulties and his situation, Caliban does not easily admit defeat.The fact that he wants to be called X rather than Caliban, shows his fight for his free will that he has as a person. In Cesaire’s play Caliban becomes aware of his situation and he knows that a person can be considered a person, if that has the right to take decisions over himself. Prospero has power over Caliban, gives him a new name, and with that Prospero steals his identity and his whole being as a human. This contrasts with Shakespeare’s play where Caliban’s fight for his personality is less important; he just exists and obeys as a slave.Caliban represents the suppressed category of people who are under foreign intruders’ power and forced to obey their commands. The language that Cesaire uses for his characters is more aggressive and eloquent than in Shakespeare’s play. Caliban is arguing furiously with Prospero, showing the injustice of Prospero’s power over him: â€Å"You lied to me so much, about the world, about myself, that you ended up by imposing on me an image of myself. † (Cesaire 3. 5. 22-24) The way Caliban talks to his master shows the tormented relationship that they have.Caliban uses the language that Prospero taught him in a way that expresses his anger and his suffering as a slave of his land. The way Prospero treats Caliban is an example of the colonized lands where the new rulers used the native people for their advantage. The colonizer’s influence on native people is presented by Shakespeare and Cesaire too, just in different languages. For Caliban, there is no importance in speaking Prospero’s language: â€Å"You taught me language, and /my profit on’t/Is, I know how to curse. † (Shakespeare 1. 2. -4); he is forced to do that in order to obey his commands. The colonization of the island took away Caliban’s own language, his name and his home that now he calls â€Å"ghetto†. (Cesaire 13) Shakespeare doesn’t focus as much as Cesaire on Caliban’s character. The language what he uses is from 1400s, and the characters are used mostly for their role in the play and not as a symbol of the colonized lands as in Cesaire’s play. Changing the character’s color and language, Cesaire shows the essence of the diversity in people and their important role in life according to their skin and language.Ariel’s change is substantial, too. He is presented as a mulatto slave, which is another character of colonized lands. His identity is totally different from Caliban’s; he is the naive and obedient slave and not the fighter like Caliban. Ariel is representing the category of people who are ready to obey the master’s command and waiting for changes to happen. Ariel knows that Prospero uses him for his own purpose, and despite of all that, he approaches his tasks with enthusiasm, reporting any activities that he observes.Even though Shakespeare describes Ariel as a sprite, he has human qualities; he is longing for his liberty. He is invisible, but his actions are important, and he reflects human emotions: â€Å"ARIEL. If you now behold them, your affections / would become tender. / PROSPERO. Dost thou think so, spirit? / ARIEL. Mine would, sir, were I human. † (Shakespeare 5. 1. 35-39) Throughout the play, Ariel, the mulatto slave, is described as a compliant server and is treated in a nice way comparative to Caliban, who is treated horribly and threatened.The different treatment of slaves shows us that even between slaves are classifications, and they all have their place in world according to their skin color. In contrast with Shakespeare, Cesaire represents the two characters on a deeper level and focuses more on their personal ities. Throughout the play, Cesaire describes Caliban and Ariel as two servants with different desires and places in the colonized land. Caliban is ready to fight for what belongs to him, including his identity, in contrast with Ariel, who accommodates to the situation and waits for a better future.

Ancient Egyptian Clothing essays

Ancient Egyptian Clothing essays Egyptian clothing styles did not change much throughout ancient times. Clothes were usually made of linens ranging from coarse to fine texture. Men usually wore a short skirt called a kilt. Women wore a straight fitting dress held up by straps. The wealthy men wore pleated kilts, and the older men wore a longer kilt. When doing hard work, men wore a loin cloth, and women wore a short skirt. Children usually ran around nude during the summer months, while in the winter, wraps and cloaks were worn. Noble women sometimes wore beaded dresses. Noblemen would sometimes wear a long robe over his kilt, while the women wore long pleated dresses with a shawl. Some kings and queens wore decorative ceremonial clothing with feathers and sequins. Very little sewing was done as most of the cloth was wrapped and secured with strings or belts. Women covered their breasts most of the time, though there were some periods when fashion left them bare. Circular capes were sometimes worn. They were generally made of linen and had an opening for the head cut at the center. These capes were often dyed, painted or otherwise decorated and covered little more than the shoulders. Shawls were sometimes worn during the later years. Most people went barefoot, but wore sandals on special occasions. The king wore very elaborately decorated sandals, and sometimes decorative gloves on his hands (some of the gloves had fine linen linings, while others would have separate index and middle fingers and a hole for the thumb.) Clothing styles were chosen for comfort in the hot, dry climate of Egypt. The wealthy men and women wore long see-through robes that were pleated. Better-off people wore wide clothes of white cloth. Wealthy people did not wear more jewelry or fancier clothes to show wealth. They did wear gold jewelry and the most transparent clothes. The Egyptians were not embarrassed about their bodies, ...