What Is Social Policy?

What Is Social Policy? Essay Topic: What is social policy and why is it controversial? Write an essay in which you explore the topic of social policy giving consideration to differing theoretical debates, positions and arguments for and against the provision of social policy as well as the nature of wellbeing in society. Use New Zealand examples to support your discussion. Marks will be allocated based on: The breadth of your reading and the sources you use to develop your argument. Your ability to develop a strong and effective argument, with a good introduction and conclusion. Your use of references, taking into account accuracy, suitability and conformity to the Style Guide for this paper. The level of originality which you bring to the topic. The extent that you cover the topic fairly and comprehensively. Introduction Wellbeing is a relatively new concept it references draw from a satisfactory in good health and happiness through having material or attitude compare to others in society. Social policy has long been a material well being as to response to a basic needs create a safe environment, providing food and shelter. In the mid of rising populations and rapid social change and uncertainty, Social policy regards to well being becoming more important to response to more complex needs as by far is hard to measure of it quality wellbeing is increasingly important and to regulate under different political ideologies.Various environment socio economic, there is much to look for. Social policy accompanied welfare state is the remnant of an old policy from the post war era, today political parties in search policy that fit in others economic ideology spectrum, pay attention to social reform agenda, to achieve this requires great flexibility, compromise or consent of voters and opposition party. Social policy is an urgent agenda for New Zealand that have grown into multicultural society although still trapped in a disorder of a bi-culturally tough going effort to achieve in the last 200 years. This essay is an attempt to explore different theoretical debates and position for and against social policy that incorporated in New Zealand political context. Controversial policy Exiting gap between men and women, employed and unemployed, rich and poor there is large number of left out people in working life, minor, gender and others who get pay unequal to that of other workers. The disable, mentally ill and the elderly receive minimum live able income and being support by government funded organization employees to visit in their home in community, for this reason government is to look closing this gap of equality in society. The Department of Social Policy at the London School of Economics defines social policy as an interdisciplinary and applied subject concerned with the analysis of societies responses to social need (Pawar, 2014, p. 131) the definition confined within the idea of responding to need, it recognize the inaccessible and inequality as necessitate by default. Social policy in a wider term is an action that affects the well-being of members of a society mainly regarding distribution and access to goods and resources(Cheyne, Belgrave, OBrien, 2009). The initiative emphasis on the need that arises concerned the society where intervention and mechanism is put in place to response to it. This humanitarian response is mainly base on socialism that exit in most welfare states regarding how the government should help it citizen enhance the capability to achieve as oppose to capitalism scheme (Giddens, 2013) Influences by socialism from the left wings, Labour party for example a Social democratic old party in early 1900s initiate change to the fundamental social policy in New Zealand. After 1935 labour party won the election and form the government, result in Social reform in social security, national health services and low rent housing programs(Smelt Lin, 2008). Labour influence policy has not flourish without tension for example in 1970’s Crisis of the welfare state where theoretical debate was become critical on government legitimacy on state intervention was put to the ordeal (Cheyne, Belgrave, OBrien, 2009) key inherently to this was about the ability of state unable to develop the framework response to the market economic and political ideological context. Liberal based political ideology the prominent right in New Zealand politic perceived social policies as counterproductive it interrupting the nature of market economic and political ideology. Liberal idea emphasis on equality of the individually takes priority over society and the right to make choices for themselves. Liberalism and Neo liberal opening stages of the free-market economy has influence scientific revolution that fundamentally altered New Zealand society today however a Classical Liberal opinion awkwardly associated with state intervention as â€Å"necessary evil†(Heywood, 2002, p. 45) Political axes can no longer be over amplified from the fact that there are flavor variations within political party show pluralistic of political idea. Recently there are strong conservative patriotic support to the â€Å"new right† movement of social conservative i.e United future combine strength of voters to support state intervention(Mulgan Aimer, 2004) both came from right and left of the political spectrum. Regardless of it controversial, from an observation social democracy in a small mono ethnic country in Europe seemed to be successful with a state welfare management but could be different in a multicultural environments (Giddens, 2013) Theoretical debates/ position for social policy Socialism believes based on the principles of collectivity, equal opportunity, distribution of wealth and public responsibility for those who are able to help themselves these emphasis on the applied policy involving a welfare state within the framework of a capitalist economy (Sejersted Adams). Originated in 19th century Germany from the influence of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (Aspalter, 2001) grew out of necessity to combat the universal suffrage, the poor and middle class play a great role in supporting social democratic process. Liberal on the other hands with a vague idea of allocation of resources to the disadvantage base on justice and inequality in realizing that the individual freedom need some form of guarantee (Cheyne, Belgrave, OBrien, 2009) and safeguard individual for social evil(Heywood, 2002).Liberal showed need for states to sustained and decided what matter for individual(Lister). This argument has been cultivated by Socialist resulting in assimilations and made an alliance. Social democratic party in a post war New Zealand it has morphed into hybrid, the mix between Socialism and Liberal ideology. Socialism has been favor in democratic process and it has made it way to the capitalism dominated political arena (Cheyne, Belgrave, OBrien, 2009) pressing it influences in to capitalism market economic. Policy model largely based on the principle of eligibility, government granting access to benefits and services based on citizenship, socialist regime in practice include the welfare system(Giddens, 2013) in order to achieve equality a legitimate, ideally the elected government will engages in retribution of resources depending on the given policy and process. State management involved transferring of funds to the services providers. Labour party manifesto, for example in 1960’s emphasis on taxation must be use to achieve major wealth and income for disadvantages routing distributions to education, social security and healthcare(Lavalette Pratt, 2007). Labour adopted social liberal promotes woman right, honoring treaty of Waitangi, opposing nuclear weapons and a sport apartheid in South Africa (Mulgan Aimer, 2004). New Zealand has been a bi-cultural country follows the treaty of Waitangi.(SooHoo Nevin) treaty regulates the co-exit between westerners, newcomers and the Maori indigenous population this has causes more grieve than pleased chiefly to the indigenous populations. Subjected to a colonization process that strip Maori of their land for resources, the country then route immaturely into a global market capitalism (Cheyne, Belgrave, OBrien, 2009) resulting from lost of land, cultural and identity, Maori community relied on political party’s policy draw heavily on the socialism collective practice regarding to the right of indigenous people as a citizen and as people of the land, issues highlight the problems of social exclusion (Humpage, 2006). There is yet to find solutions around the issues of Tino rangatiratanga, the right, ownership accountability, management of tribal resources recognition of duty and ability to participate the concern of tribal issues this become part of the Labour policy in 1957 and recently Maori custody right to the foreshore and seabed the space for mussel farming.(Orange, 2011) Debate argument against social policy Post cold war society Liberal have gain it popularity it satisfy the Demand for individual autonomy and accommodates the rise of global market (Giddens, 2013) Liberal admire democratic process gaining power through freedom to vote. Fredrick Hayek writing of Neo-Liberal ideas from the classic political economic believes in the power of unregulated market liberalism will deliver efficiency and prosperity (Heywood, 2002) Liberal ideas allow people to developing different ways of thinking takes action for changes to happen, practices contributes to the progression, ideology hold the individual responsibility to create their own destiny for a person fortune this oblige people to become self reliance (Pawar, 2014) for this reason Liberalism and capitalism are fit together favor free market and limited government control , they despise the welfare state as the source of all evil (Giddens, 2013) government redistribution of income or capital as an unacceptable intrusion upon individual freedom(Lavalette Pratt, 2007) The Liberal model remained market dominance and private provision, the state only recognized poverty and provide minimum support to the basic needs but still limited to it terms of agenda hence the poor need to keep up the speed or be the economic victim of the rich. There are numbers of New Zealand political party that base one Liberal ideology for example†¦. Conservative†¦ National maintain it conservative regarless of liberal favor among young people.(Mulgan Aimer, 2004) Argument; welfare state lost it quality representing the collective interest.(Sejersted Adams) nz example explain references 3 National party always oppose to socialism (Cheyne, Belgrave, OBrien, 2009) National the second oldest political party emerges from an old Liberal and Reform party to counter the balance(Miller, 2005) Labour and National currently exist as the two main rival parties. National party favored the the idea of liberal and conservatives. Having been form against Labour national have strong policy again collectivism unionist and welfare(Miller, 2005)†¦. In early 1990’s National actively promote the one country one law, new minister elected uphore the inherent Labour policy seeing favor Maori is socially devisive(Hill). Nature of well being in society The discourse of wellbeing is underpinned by an individual satisfaction and, as such, is inherently quality of life. in concept to be well is to be not â€Å"unwell† for this reasonâ€Å"well† comes to be defined by the absence of crisis episodes. In this sense identifying the sufferers, and natural human reactions can lead to a better picture of it. Enable people to experience freedom and realize their potential Material well being psychological well being development and long term†¦productivity in life cycle as social investment†¦. conclusion number of key events including the elections of†¦.help turn the tide national showed level of ideology flexibility and pracmatic†¦.. = National and Labour represent an opposing view for the same agenda to the ultimate goal of policy for the well being of all. social policy reported one sided account mark the growing self confident; well being can not be express in monetary unit†¦ , the promotion of health and treatment of the sick, the care and support of those unable to live a fully independent life; and the education and training of individuals to a level that enables them fully to participate in their society. Social policy out there†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦different theoretical social policy according to 2 rival ideas in the western world B.social democratic state duty to guarantee to establish well being. References Aspalter, C. (2001). Importance of Christian and Social Democratic Movements in Welfare Politics: With Special Reference to Germany, Austria, and Sweden: Nova Science Publishers. Cheyne, C., Belgrave, M., OBrien, M. (2009). Social Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand: Oxford University Press. Giddens, A. (2013). The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy: Wiley. Heywood, A. (2002). Political Ideologies: politics (2 ed.). Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Hill, R. Maori and the State: Crownà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"Maori Relations in New Zealand/Aotearoa, 1950 2000: Victoria University Press. Humpage, L. (2006). An Inclusive Society: A leap forward for Maori in New Zealand: Auckland University Press. Lavalette, M., Pratt, A. (2007). Social Policy: Theories, Concepts and Issues: SAGE Publications. Lister, R. Understanding theories and concepts in social policy: Policy Press. Miller, R. (2005). Party Politics in New Zealand: Oxford University Press. Mulgan, R. G., Aimer, P. (2004). Politics in New Zealand: Auckland University Press. Orange, C. (2011). The Treaty of Waitangi: Bridget Williams Books. Pawar, M. (2014). Social and Community Development Practice: SAGE Publications. Sejersted, F., Adams, M. B. The Age of Social Democracy: Norway and Sweden in the Twentieth Century: Princeton University Press. Smelt, R., Lin, Y. J. (2008). New Zealand: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. SooHoo, S., Nevin, A. Culturally Responsive Methodologies: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Human Resource Management Strategies: Tesco Case Study Human Resource Management Strategies: Tesco Case Study As Tesco has grown, so has the importance of Every Little Helps. Over time, theyve gone from simply selling groceries to providing anything from loans to mobile phones. By setting out in all these new directions they ran the risk of losing our way. So, they have relied on Every Little Helps more and more over the years, to act as a common philosophy to bind us all together. Mission statement: Tescos mission statement is Creating value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty. The Organisation  Structure and culture: Structure: The structure of Tesco is simple one apart from the fact that it has huge labour force under its belt. The company have found more efficient ways of completing a task or business activity. Tesco has advancement in technology to minimize human error e.g. stock ordering, delivery schedules, etc. The company is giving general staff more responsibility when helping or serving a customer. The managers within each store have now been given a much broader span of control with their workforce. This means that each manager will have more employees to communicate with, but each employee has been trained to a set standard, which allows the manager to trust them to get on with the job with little guidance from him or her. All of the key decisions are made by the board of directors based in Chesnutt, which makes the company centralized in its diction making. Culture is made up of the values, beliefs, underlying assumptions, attitudes, and behaviour shared by a group of people. Culture is the behaviour that results when a group arrives at a set of generally unspoken and unwritten rules for working together (humanresource.about.com). Organizational culture is the workplace environment formulated from the interaction of the employees in the workplace (portal.brint.com). It can be analysed through the observations of the companys behaves, including routines, rituals, stories, structures and systems. Tesco has a very friendly and supporting approach in the routine ways that staff at Tesco behaves towards each other, and towards those outside the company. The control systems and measurements are constantly under the management review to monitor the efficiency of the staff and managers decisions. The rituals of the companys life are the special events, corporate gatherings, which Tesco emphasizes are very important. Leadership styles: Previously, Tesco was following John Adairs Action Centred Leadership (ACL) model of leadership. The ACL model is represented by three interlocking circles encompassing the following: Achieving the task Building and maintaining the team Developing the individual (Thomas 2005). Action-Centred Leadership tends to focus on the hierarchical structure of the organization. It is applicable in organizations that are highly authoritarian. But later, with the appointment of Terry Leahy as the Chief Executive Officer, Tesco led into a series of organizational changes. Leahy is considered as a visionary leader who aimed for the company to become more customer-focused and to develop its workforce. According to him, there are four things that a leader must provide to his workers and followers to satisfy and motivate them. These are: A job that is interesting to do A chance to get on in life To be treated with respect A boss who is some help and not their biggest problem Leahy adapted a participative style of leadership wherein the employees are given voice in the decision-making process. The organizational structure became more flat where the roles and responsibilities of everyone are clearly stated. Leahy delegates leadership roles to individuals in the organization in order to ensure that the company, with more than 300,000 employees, operates effectively. The leadership style that is manifested by Terry Leahy and is imitated by the leaders in the company has changed the structure of the company. The company has adapted an organic, a simpler and flatter organizational structure. Corporate Social responsibility: CSR is defined as the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life. Approach to CSR in Tesco: Environment: Tesco promote environmental issues through training package in order to create enough awareness on the issue of environment and to allow the company to maximize its operational effectiveness initiatives e.g. recyclable bags Community: In several attempt to give back to the society Tesco create special support for children, community based projects and education programmes in order to create a peaceful environment to operate e.g. Tesco Charity Trust. Suppliers ethical trading: In order to maintain high ethical standard in business practices, Tesco is encouraging long term trade relationship with supplier with a centralized distribution system with transparency and accountability to promote good quality of rang products and services at competitive pricing. Customers choice and health: It promotes the health of the customers through the management of customers choices. This can be confirmed by the statement that Tesco will continue to appeal to a broad range of customers and that the company will offer something for everyone through an extensive product range, offering price and product choice, in food and non-food products. People/workers: Employees are given opportunities of carrier development through Training and development programme with effective communication to facilitate staff feedback. Rewards and benefits are used to motivate workers, based on performances on the job, pension scheme, save as you earn and family friendly working through flexible hours of work to accommodate mother education. Ethical Practices: All employees contribute to TESCOs reputation; therefore, it is important that all employees adhere to ethical guidelines. Always follow these principles: Compliance with Laws: TESCO business, whether domestic or international, must be conducted in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Honesty and Integrity: All employees must be honest and honourable in all dealings with other employees, the public, the business community, shareholders, customers, suppliers, competitors, and government authorities. Entertainment and Gifts: Any gift, entertainment, or benefit you provide to a business associate must be modest in scope and value. Never provide a gift, entertainment or benefit that contravenes any applicable law. Consultant Fees, Commissions and Other Payments: Never give or receive any payment that falls outside the normal conduct of business. If staff is found engaged in giving or accepting kickbacks, bribes, payoffs or other illegal or similar transactions, will be subject to immediate discipline, up to and including dismissal in accordance with TESCOs policy on employee discipline. Political Contributions: TESCO does not wish to discourage the participation of employees in political and related activities. Employees cannot do on behalf of Tescos either directly or indirectly, without the prior written approval of TESCOs Executive Management. Compliance with Accounting Controls and Procedures: Employees must always comply with the Companys accounting procedures and controls, and all applicable laws. They should properly record all financial data and transactions. Leadership styles: Tesco PLC is one of the leading retailers in the United Kingdom and one of the largest food retailers in the world. The management and leadership styles analysed below, are approaches which are likely to be implemented by Tesco. McGregors Theory X and Y: According to Douglas McGregor (1960) in developing theories X and Y, managers took two different views of their subordinates and conducted practices that would best suit their assumption of the workers. Theory X managers, think that people dislike work, which is a necessity for survival. They perceive workers to be lazy who avoid responsibility, who lack ambition and prefer to be directed, rather than use initiative to take roles of responsibility. These managers use directive approach to leadership and are very strict and controlling with their subordinates. Organisational goals already established and workers are pushed in a certain direction so that these goals can be fully achieved. Theory Y managers believe that if workers are in the right conditions, they will work hard their own will, helping the organization achieve the set out goals, and in return, being rewarded for this hard work and effort. In this scenario, managers will work together with subordinates, deciding work objectives and by developing strategies designed to achieve these goals. They will encourage team working and also delegate decision making when and where possible. In relation to Tesco, the management are likely to take a theory X approach in running their organisation. Due to the enormity of the number of subordinates a manager is likely to be in supervision of, it would be almost impossible to use the latter approach. Blake and Moutons Management Grid: The management grid identifies a range of management behaviours based on various ways that task-oriented and employee-orientated styles can interact with each other. In relation to Tesco, the management would identify themselves mostly to an Authoritarian management style (also known as produce or perish style), which has a high concern for production and efficiency and concentrates less on people. They take a task oriented approach which takes in hand the needs of the task rather than the wants of subordinates. This is again, similar again to the Theory X approach stated approach, and is effective to Tesco where there is a larger amount of lower-skilled employees. Herzberg Two Factor Theory: Fincham and Rhodes (2005) stated that Herzbergs two factor theory involved, firstly the motivators and secondly the hygiene factors. Hygiene factors involved supervision, salary, work environment, company policies and relationship with colleagues. The absences of these were seen as dissatisfying aspects of a job which can affect the morale of workers. Motivators stated by Herzberg include; responsibility, achievement, promotion and recognition. In relation to Tesco, subordinates of the managers such as shop floor employees are unlikely to achieve the motivators stated by Herzberg. This can be very negative for a firm like Tesco because a de-motivated workforce is obviously more unproductive then a motivated workforce. Taking this into thought, it is vital for managers to tackle motivational issues of the workforce and see that the hygiene factors of employees are met, making it an effective approach to adopt. Development of workforce: Workforce development links staff learning and development to other human resource and business activities. It includes strategic planning, workforce planning, performance management and career development. Strategic planning: Tesco has a systematic planning process involving a number of steps that identify the current status of the association, including its mission, vision for the future, operating values, needs (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), goals, prioritized actions and strategies, action plans, and monitoring plans. Workforce planning: Workforce planning is the process of analysing an organisation includes: Identifying current and future numbers of employees required to deliver new and improved services. Analysing the present workforce in relation to these needs. Comparing the present workforce and the desired future workforce to highlight shortages, surpluses and competency gaps. Analysing the diversity profile at all levels against that of the local population. Recruitment and selection process. Risk of deployment. Performance management: An important element in workforce development is to have clear job descriptions and person specifications. A job description sets out: the title of the job to whom the job holder is responsible for whom the job holder is responsible a simple description of roles and responsibilities If employees will know their job well, their performance will automatically be beneficial for organisation. Career development: Tesco seeks to fill many vacancies from within the company. It recognises the importance of motivating its staff to progress their careers with the company. Tesco practises what it calls talent planning. This encourages people to work their way through and up the organisation. Through an annual appraisal scheme, individuals can apply for bigger jobs. Employees identify roles in which they would like to develop their careers with Tesco. Their manager sets out the technical skills, competencies and behaviours necessary for these roles, what training this will require and how long it will take the person to be ready to do the job. Report: Organisational structure and its impact on people in Tesco: Tesco is a company that has also delayered the amount of employees used throughout the company. Reasons for Tesco delayering are: The company have found more efficient ways of completing a task or business activity. The advancement in technology has allowed the company to take some of the more demanding tasks away from employees to minimise human error E.G stock ordering, delivery schedules etc. The company giving general staff more responsibility within stores and allowing them to use their own initiative when helping or serving a customer. The managers within each store have now been given a much broader span of control with their workforce. This means that each manager will have more employees to communicate with, but each employee has been trained to a set standard, which allows the manager to trust them to get on with the job with little guidance from him or her. Looking at the Tesco Company the report can see that all of the key decisions for each region of the country are made by the board of directors based in Cheshunt, which makes the company centralised in its diction making. As the company is run centrally it allows Tesco to minimise the cost of having big finance, general office departments in each of its stores as well as minimise the amount of work each store has and allows them to concentrate on selling the businesses products to the customers. Organisational culture and its impact on workforce: In Tesco today the company is still recognised by the motto of pile it high and sell it cheap, but the company has introduced quality into its products by offering three different key areas of products. The first area consists of very high quality products such as organic and these products are usually the most expensive. The middle group of products are usually a collection of Tesco and company branded products and covers a wide price bracket. The third group of products are Tescos value range, which consists of the cheapest products such as toilet rolls, bin liners and ready meals. These types of products are all about value for money and are not priced by the level of quality. As well as offer their customers more choice, in the way of groceries, Tesco now offer their customers the opportunity to purchase clothes, electrical goods, DVDs CDs etc. By offering their customers these other products Tesco are changing their culture into becoming a one stop shop, which offers customers the chance to purchase almost anything they need at the same time. A danger for Tesco is the threat of ASDA overtaking them in affordability along with viability and becoming the new store that piles it high and sells it cheap. Leadership styles: A managers leadership style creates the climate within which employees work and influences the attitude and performance of his team. A manager will have a preferred style, but this will not be appropriate in every situation. To be effective, managers must learn to adapt their leadership style to the circumstances and in response to the employees they manage. This is known as situational or contingency leadership. In an article published in the Harvard Business Review in 2000, Daniel Goleman identified six leadership styles: coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting and coaching. Goleman linked these six leadership styles to managers able to choose the style best suited to the situation. Coercive and Authoritative: Managers with a coercive leadership style exert tight control over employees and rely on the threat of negative consequences to ensure compliance. This style of management can be successful in crisis situations. However, coercive leadership is not effective in the long term because it can create a negative atmosphere by demotivating capable employees and damaging morale. This style engages employees and results in the most positive work environment. Affiliative and Democratic: An affiliative style emphasizes harmonious interactions and can be useful if a manager needs to encourage a group to work together or heal rifts in a dysfunctional team. However, it is not effective if a manager needs to deal with inadequate performance or crisis situations that require clear direction and control. Democratic managers involve their employees in decision-making and encourage them to collaborate. This motivates capable employees because it encourages them to apply their skills and expertise. A democratic style is unlikely to be effective with employees who lack competence or require close supervision. Pacesetting and Coaching: Managers who lead by example have a pacesetting style, which can work well when an organization has to adapt and move quickly. Pacesetters set high standards and are apprehensive about delegating. A pacesetter can overwhelm his team with demands for unachievable excellence, resulting in a drop in morale. A manager adopting a coaching style of leadership helps employees identify their strengths and weaknesses. He encourages employees to set and attain goals, providing regular feedback to assist them to improve their performance. Benefits of flexible working practices to individuals: Ability to balance work and home commitments more readily. Increased quality of life. Reduced stress. Greater levels of job satisfaction. Ability to continue to work. Ability to maintain career development and personal growth during a period of temporary increased family commitments. Benefits of flexible working practices to organisation: Retention of trained and valuable staff. Increased productivity. Decreased absence. Individuals who have jobs tailored to meet their individual needs may be more motivated. The company is seen to support its diversity values. Access to a talent pool which might otherwise be unavailable thus improving recruitment. Ability to allow employees to continue to develop and grow in their career and to match the natural cycle of family commitments that everyone experiences. http://www.hirescores.com/flexible-working-corner.php Impact of ethical practices on motivation level of staff: The ethical climate of an organization can have both positive and negative impacts on employee job satisfaction. Unethical workplace behaviours create chaos and impact the organization in a variety of ways. Motivation level impacts the organization on many levels. Low levels of job satisfaction lead to low motivation, decreased productivity and increased turnover. Dishonest management practices lead workers to be suspicious of their leaders. The most successful organizations include high ethical standards at all levels of the organization. Cognitive Dissonance Theory Cognitive dissonance theory is often used to explain the loss of motivation and job satisfaction that generally results from unethical organizational practices. This psychological theory, first developed by social psychologist Leon Festinger in 1956, holds that, there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions (i.e., beliefs, opinions). When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviours (dissonance,) something must change to eliminate the dissonance. As this dissonance continues in the workplace, the worker feels increasingly dissatisfied with their positions when they there is no support or rewards for exhibiting ethical behaviours. http://www.ehow.com/info_7753033_job-satisfaction-organizational-ethics.html Use of CSR to motivate employees: Employees are motivated by corporate social responsibility (CSR). The integration of social, environmental, and economic improvement through CSR makes workplaces sounder. Below are the top 10 ways to motivate the workforce through CSR. Let employees participate in all the social activities done outside the company. Let employees lead volunteer and charity efforts in the local areas. Recognize attitude of the employees towards their job to raise the commitment and motivation level Encourage employee referrals to help retain and recruit talent. Bring CSR inside the company to develop employees inside the company through training and tuition Convert sick days to rewards by creating a rewards program for unused sick days. Make executive team visible by handshake and personal thanks. Encourage initiative taken by employees to increase employee engagement. Create a competitive advantage by true and defining differentiation from competitors which can be felt by employees, suppliers, partners, and customers. Be loud when you have done a great job with CSR, share it through social media, newsletters, media coverage, and face-to-face interactions to increase the energy, excitement, and enthusiasm of employees. Management styles to deal with difference in behaviour: Theory X and Theory Y have to do with the perceptions managers hold on their employees, not the way they generally behave. It is attitude not attributes. Theory X: In this theory, management assumes employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can and that they inherently dislike work. As a result of this, management believes that workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of controls developed. A hierarchical structure is needed with narrow span of control at each and every level. Theory X managers rely heavily on threat and coercion to gain their employees compliance. Beliefs of this theory lead to mistrust, highly restrictive supervision, and a punitive atmosphere. Theory Y: In this theory, management assumes employees may be ambitious and self-motivated and exercise self-control. It is believed that employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. They possess the ability for creative problem solving, but their talents are underused in most organizations. Theory Y manager believes that, given the right conditions, most people will want to do well at work. They believe that the satisfaction of doing a good job is a strong motivation. Motivation theories: The most commonly held views or theories are discussed below and have been developed over the last 100 years or so. Taylor: Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856 1917) put forward the idea that workers are motivated mainly by pay. His Theory of Scientific Management argued the following: Workers do not naturally enjoy work and so need close supervision and control. Therefore managers should break down production into a series of small tasks. Workers should then be given appropriate training and tools so they can work as efficiently as possible on one set task. Workers are then paid according to the number of items they produce in a set period of time- piece-rate pay. As a result workers are encouraged to work hard and maximise their productivity. Mayo: Elton Mayo (1880 1949) believed that workers are not just concerned with money but could be better motivated by having their social needs met whilst at work (something that Taylor ignored). He introduced the Human Relation School of thought, which focused on managers taking more of an interest in the workers, treating them as people who have worthwhile opinions and realising that workers enjoy interacting together. Maslow: Abraham Maslow (1908 1970) along with Frederick Herzberg (1923-) introduced the Neo-Human Relations School in the 1950s, which focused on the psychological needs of employees. Maslow put forward a theory that there are five levels of human needs which employees need to have fulfilled at work. All of the needs are structured into a hierarchy (see below) and only once a lower level of need has been fully met, would a worker be motivated by the opportunity of having the next need up in the hierarchy satisfied. For example a person who is dying of hunger will be motivated to achieve a basic wage in order to buy food before worrying about having a secure job contract or the respect of others. Benefits of training and development to individuals and organisation: Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees. This has an added benefit of making your company more attractive to prospective employees. More motivated workers, which in turn tends to increase productivity and spur profits. More effective and efficient use of workers time as a result of higher skill levels, combined with a better understanding of the job function. Employees who know they are competent, and therefore feel more confident. Self-assured, well-trained employees are important in the debt collection function. An increase from employees in the number of ideas, recommendations and suggestions for improving performance, or processes and procedures. Lower overall employee turnover and less absenteeism. Investing in employee training enhances the company image as: a good place to work a company that offers its employees the opportunity to grow and meet their individual goals and aspirations a company that values employees a company that nurtures its employees Creating a pool of cross-trained employees can bridge gaps when someone unexpectedly leaves the company or if they accept a transfer or a promotion. Doing so tends to create more efficient employees that require less supervision and who need less detailed instructions. This frees managements time for higher value added activities. Employees that receive in houses training tend to be better equipped to adapt to changes and challenges facing the credit department in particular, and the company as a whole. http://www.coveringcredit.com/business_credit_articles/Credit_Management/art204.shtml People management strategies used in organisations: Here are some key strategic factors on the management of people to reinforce the importance of them to businesses. Understanding the competitive advantage they can gain from employing good people and including workforce planning in their business strategies. Developing people management strategies, structures and practices that align with the overall business strategy and customer-driven business processes. Attracting, training and retaining key people through effective recruitment processes, training and development, employee engagement and succession planning activities. Active leadership from business owners and managers through clear organizational communication, development of a team culture and effective management of organizational change. Effective recognition and reward systems, including performance reviews and feedback, rewards for good performance and support for individual development plans. Essential human resource systems to meet legislative requirements regarding employing people to ensure the business will avoid expensive litigation and employment problems. http://www.harris-management-solutions.com/managing-people.html Conclusion: In conclusion we can argue that the human resource aspect of any organisation can be seen as the greatest asset for an organisation. However neither the knowledge of this resource or knowledge about this resource should be seen as static, instead for organisational strategies to be effective they must be dynamic and adapt to be external changes in the environment as well as internal information concerning this human resource.

Kindergarten Readiness Skills Promotes Academic Achievement

W7000_M1_A1_MAYS-TRUITT_L Research Topic11/4/12 Topic: Kindergarten individual readiness skills promotes student success in Language and Literacy Potential Questions * Does attending Pre-Kindergarten lead to a greater success rate in Kindergarten? * Is academics more important than developing the whole child? * What advantages are achieved by students who attend Pre-Kindergarten compared to those that do not? * Why do some parents prefer not to allow their child to attend Pre-Kindergarten? * How does pre-kindergarten lottery selections affect readiness skills?Keywords Success rate Academic success Public Pre-Kindergarten Public Kindergarten Readiness skills Parent educational level Educational Significance The researcher will use the qualitative methods approach, which would be most beneficial to support the topic. In qualitative research, the numbers and types of approaches have also become more clearly visible during the 1990s and into the 21st century. Books have summarized the va rious types (such as the 19 strategies identified by Wolcott, 2001), and complete procedures are ow available on specific qualitative inquiry approaches. Case studies are a strategy of inquiry in which the researcher explores in depth a program, event, activity, process, or one or more individuals. Cases are bounded by time and activity, and researchers collect detailed information using a variety of data collection procedures over a sustained period of time (Stake, 1995). Background/Need for the Study Most of the long-term research on the effects of preschool focuses on low-income children.There is very little data on any long-term benefits for middle-class children. A growing number of states have started to fund preschool programs offered at public schools, called pre-kindergarten (or pre-K) programs. Reason for interest in topic As a Kindergarten teacher in the public school system for over ten years, it has amazed me that some students enter Kindergarten ill prepared. Readiness skills are a key factor in a child experiencing academic success during the early years of school.The achievement gap is gradually closing within our school district. However, outreach to parents is still vital in order to help them understand the importance of early childhood learning. References Creswell, J. W. (2008). Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches. (3rd ed. , p. 13). Sage. Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Wolcott, H. T. (2001). Writing up qualitative research. (2nd ed. ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. healthofchildren. com/P/Preschool. html

Advantages and Disadvantages of an Early Marriage Essay

Below is a free essay on â€Å"Advantages and Disadvantages of an Early Marriage† from Anti Essays, your source for free research papers, essays, and term paper examples. Young people in modern society have completely different views on marriage. Ones prefer to get married at an early age; others, however, tend to postpone marriage until they finish their studies and make a successful career. Early marriages have lots of advantages, such as experiencing the joy of parenthood and other benefits of the wedlock and becoming mature as early as possible, but also have some negative sides, such as economic restrictions, misunderstanding between partners and inability to get proper education. On the one hand, marrying young has some advantages. Firstly, due to the heavy workload arising from new responsibilities and duties, such as earning the living, taking care of children, organizing time properly, running the household, the newly married youngsters mature much earlier than their peers. see more:advantages and disadvantages of family Read more:  Child Marriage Essay Introduction Secondly, the earlier the partners get married, the more time they spend together, the more obstacles they overcome hand in hand, the more mutual interests they have, and, as a result, it is quite easy for them to find common ground and see eye to eye on various problems. Besides, such spouses are more likely to compromise and to comfort each other more successfully. Thirdly, having children is another important aspect of family life, which is worth mentioning. The idea is that giving birth at an early age is not likely to be followed by any health problems. On the other hand, there are some disadvantages in getting married at an early age. To begin with, both partners do not have an opportunity to finish their education, as they have to provide for their family and one of the spouses is likely to become a breadwinner. Furthermore, marrying young leads to a wide range of problems and inconveniences, such as insufficient income and lack of suitable accommodation. This is when a young couple realizes that the reality is much tougher, than their pure feelings and family life is not always about being lovers, but it also demands self-sacrifice.

A Comparison of Marx and Engels with Mill Regarding Social...

A Comparison of Marx and Engels with Mill Regarding Social and Economic Progress To understand what these two different philosophies tell us about the nature of social and economic progress it is important to clearly establish, for the purpose of this essay, a definition of the word progress. Many philosophers see progress as being a positive, continuous advancement into the future where, if we do not gain full scientific and empirical knowledge of our surroundings one day, then we will at least gain a deeper knowledge of our lives than we at present possess. If we can therefore have a fuller understanding of our surroundings there leaves the further question of whether we will ever reach a stage†¦show more content†¦They decided that it is not the ideas and thoughts of individuals or society as a whole that drives progress forward but it is the material circumstances under which people live that determines how they think and act; in their own words ‘Consciousness does not determine life, but life determines consciousness’. These two phil osophers therefore believe, like Feurbach (an extremely influential philosopher, especially on Marx) that philosophy must begin with the finite, material world as this is the only way that philosophical problems may be overcome; thought does not precede existence, existence precedes thought. For example in an article written by Marx titled ‘The Jewish Question’ the racist and stereotypical nature of the Jew is discussed. The majority of people at that time, under the Hegelian influence, would see with their ‘idealist eyes’ that the problem of Jews is in religious consciousness which could be resolved by establishing a new way of thinking. However Marx clearly points out that the problem does not lie in anything spiritual but is within society itself; therefore society would need to be re-organised in order for bargaining to be abolished and this problem on ‘The Jewish Question’ would be resolved. Materialists therefore believes in ‘the un ity of theory and practice’, thus explaining how the active side of materialism, the practical human activity, must be used toShow MoreRelatedMarx vs. Weber: a Comparative Analysis1965 Words   |  8 PagesKarl Marx v. Max Weber: Comparitive Analysis C. Wright Mills places both Weber and Marx in the great tradition of what he calls the sociological imagination a quality that enables us to grasp both history biography and the relationship between the two within society. 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