Why are the events surrounding the South Sea Company often described Essay

Why are the events surrounding the South Sea Company often described as a financial bubble Identify at least one other famous bubble and discuss what feat - Essay Example With desires to get rich quickly, ambitious investors hurriedly and haphazardly invested on stocks of a particular company without first assessing its real situation. The result is the vital drop not only of a single firm but also of the entire national economy. This is the predicament that the South Sea Company in England in the 18th century experienced. Considered as one of the worst financial disasters in a capitalistic society, the South Sea Bubble is a proof that avarice can lead a single person, firm or even an entire nation’s economy to collapse. In those days, the British Empire reigned over the entire world. It was a time of affluence and prosperity for British people enabling them to invest. The exuberance of investors to gain more out of the company’s monopoly of the South Seas compelled the company issued more stocks that were also sold out by greedy investors. The lavish and generously enamored company office ostentatiously displayed the opulence and success of Britain on its industrial revolution. With the notion spread by speculators that this company â€Å"could never fail,† its share price skyrocketed tenfold from its original value, making its investors rich overnight. It was at this point that the reality set in, bursting the bubble of the company’s overpriced share prices. South Sea Company’s heyday ended when its management realised that they failed to manage and operate the company properly. They realized that the company was not generating profit at all. The funds came basically from selling stocks and not from actual commerce. News that the company was actually profitless instigated panic stocks selling. Useless stocks were sold frantically leading to a stock market crash. Many British people lost their fortune because of this. From 950 pounds per 100 pound par value it slid down to 290 pounds in less than 4 months. The invention of the personal computer

Suicides linked to bullied victims Research Paper

Suicides linked to bullied victims - Research Paper Example Many innocent lives have been lost owing to this problem of bullying and these precious lives could have been saved if proper intervention and help was provided for these issues. Bullying can be defined as acts of aggression which tend to humiliate the victim through every possible mean. According to Olweus, ‘A student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other students’ (Olweus 2001 p 5-6). Thus, bullying is basically a means of degrading a person to an extent that he may lose his confidence and morale and tend to consider options like suicide as the only solution. Different incidents have marked the severity of this act of bullying. Innocent young teenagers have died due to being the victims of humiliation. The examples of Tylor Cementi who was an 18 year old boy and Phoebe Prince who was a 15 year old girl serve as eye openers to highlight the issue of bullying. Tylor Cementi was a bright and intelligent boy who enrolled new in his university. Cementi was a homosexual and his sexual orientation was used as a point to bully him. His colleagues plotted against him and made a video of his private encounter with his homosexual partner. They then posted it on the internet which served to publicize a private encounter of Clementi. The young boy could not face this humiliation and he found it easier to submit him to death rather than face this embarrassment. He jumped off a bridge and committed suicide. The suicide of Tylor Clementi was a tragic incident and it was an example of cyberspace bullying. It left a great impact (Schwartz 2011). Phoebe Prince enrolled new in her school, South Hadley High School  after she moved from Ireland to the United States with her family. She became the target of the bullies and had to undergo severe pressure and mental exertion. She was bullied for three months in her school by different means which include calling her with names as well as physical harassment by the bullies. They used to give her disgracing names to humiliate her. The social networking sites served as another way to further bully Phoebe and to further publicly humiliate her. She finally could not face the pressure and gave up her race of life and committed suicide. Her death came as a shock and it served a great effect owing to the fact her suicide had just shortly followed the suicide of another young boy of 11 years in a school located in close vicinity to South Hadley High School. Serious notice of the incident was taken by the governing body in the state of Massachusetts which started formulating plans for the passage of laws to check into matters of bullying. The school also started to consider the issue seriously and started working towards creation of bodies to tackle the issue of bullying (Eckholm and Zezima 2010). Strong correlations and links between suicide and bullying have been reported. There has been an alarming rise in the suicide rate throughout the world. It is analyzed that amongst youth suicide ranks as the third reason of death. The CDC reports that 4400 deaths can attributed to suicide annually. Students who are enrolled in high school show very high levels of suicide and it has been analyzed that 7 percent of these students have actually tried to commit suicide. A research conducted by the Yale

Hr Policies of Ibm by Bal Essay Example for Free

Hr Policies of Ibm by Bal Essay About ibm IBM is a global technology and innovation company that stands for progress. With operations in over 170 countries, IBMers around the world invent and integrate hardware, software and services to help forward-thinking enterprises, institutions and people everywhere succeed in building a smarter planet. IBM has been present in India since 1992. The diversity and breadth of the entire IBM portfolio of research, consulting, solutions, services, systems and software, uniquely distinguishes IBM India from other companies in the industry. IBM Indias solutions and services span all major industries including financial services, healthcare, government, automotive, telecommunications and education, among others. As a trusted partner with wide-ranging service capabilities, IBM helps clients transform and succeed in challenging circumstances. IBM has been expanding its footprint in India and has a presence in over 200 cities and towns across the country either directly or through its strong business partner network. IBM India has clearly established itself as one of the leaders in the Indian Information Technology (IT) Industry and continues to transform itself to align with global markets and geographies to grow this leadership position. Widely recognised as an employer of choice, IBM holds numerous awards for its industry-leading employment practices and policies. IBM has one of the largest professional workforces in the world today. And what we bring to market is the expertise of our people, a workforce which is responsive to market requirements, with the skills and expertise to deliver value to clients, is resilient to market forces and delivers strong leadership. IBM has retained its position as one of the World’s Top Employers of Choice over these years because of its three-fold initiatives for the employees: * Capability: Rigorous and ongoing career/skills development programs * Climate: A challenging, empowering work environment, with world-class infrastructure * Culture: Sensitive to a global workforce The attributes that qualify these 3Cs are the Top Reasons that people come to work at IBM. IBM HR Policies 1. Global employment standards At IBM, we have always set high standards for the way we conduct business – in areas from corporate and social responsibility to sound business ethics, including compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. These Conduct Principles apply to all IBM employees. However, they are not meant to describe the full scope of IBM human resource policies or practices. More detailed statements of policies, procedures and practices are contained in documents such as the IBM Business Conduct Guidelines. Employees are required to comply with all IBM policies, procedures and practices at all times and are responsible for consulting their management if they have any questions. Our goal is to ensure full compliance with these principles by IBM managers and employees. A companion to this document, the IBM Supplier Conduct Principles, governs our relationships with and standards for IBM suppliers. . Forced or involuntary labor IBM will not use forced or involuntary labor of any type (e. g. , forced, bonded, indentured or involuntary prison labor); employment is voluntary. 3. Child labor IBM will not use child labor. The term child refers to any employed person under the age of 16, or under the age for completing compulsory education, or under the minimum age for employment in the country, whichever is greatest. We support the use of legitimate workplace apprenticeship, internship and other similar programs that comply with all laws and regulations applicable to such programs. 4. Wages and benefits IBM will, at a minimum, comply with all applicable wage and hour laws and regulations, including those relating to minimum wages, overtime hours, piece rates, nonexempt or exemption classification and other elements of compensation, and provide legally mandated benefits. 5. Working hours IBM will not exceed maximum hours of work prescribed by law and will appropriately compensate overtime. Employees will not be required to work more than 60 hours per week, including overtime, except in extraordinary business circumstances with their consent or where the nature of the position requires such work, as for exempt employees and employees in executive, managerial or professional positions. In countries where the maximum work week is shorter, that standard shall apply. Employees should be allowed at least one day off per seven-day week. 6. Nondiscrimination and harassment IBM will not discriminate in hiring, promotion, compensation of employees and employment practices on grounds of race, color, religion, age, nationality, social or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy, political affiliation, disability or veteran status. IBM will create a work environment free of discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or veteran status. . Respect and dignity IBM will treat all employees with respect and dignity and will not use corporal punishment, threats of violence or other forms of physical coercion or harassment. 8. Freedom of association IBM will respect the legal rights of its employees to join or to refrain from joining worker organizations, including labor organizations or trade unions. IBM complies with legal requirements worldwide regarding employee and third-party involvement. IBM respects the rights of employees to organize, and makes managers at all levels aware of those rights. The companys long-standing belief is that the interests of IBM and its employees are best served through a favorable, collaborative work environment with direct communication between employees and management. IBM endeavors to establish such favorable employment conditions, to promote positive relationships between employees and managers, to facilitate employee communications, and to support employee development. 9. Health and safety IBM will provide its employees with a safe and healthy workplace in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Consistent with these obligations, IBM will have and will implement effective programs that encompass things such as life safety, incident investigation, chemical safety, ergonomics, and will provide safe standards of health and safety in any housing and transportation provided for our employees by the company. 10. Protection of the environment IBM is committed to worldwide leadership in environmental protection.

How To Develop An Effective Relationship With Your Co-Worker

How To Develop An Effective Relationship With Your Co-Worker You can submarine your career and work relationships by the actions you take and the behaviors you exhibit at work. No matter your education, your experience, or your title, if you cant play well with others, you will never accomplish your work mission Effective work relationships form the cornerstone for success and satisfaction with your job and your career. How important are effective work relationships? Effective work relationships form the basis for promotion, pay increases, goal accomplishment, and job satisfaction. A supervisor in a several hundred person company quickly earned a reputation for not playing well with others. He collected data and used the data to find fault, place blame, and make other employees look bad. He enjoyed identifying problems but rarely suggested solutions. He bugged his supervisor weekly for a bigger title and more money so he could tell other employees what to do. When he announced he was job hunting, not a single employee suggested that the company take action to convince him to stay. He had burned his bridges. These are the top seven ways you can play well with others at work. They form the basis for effective work relationships. These are the actions you want to take to create a positive, empowering, motivational work environment for people. Bring suggested solutions with the problems to the meeting table. Some employees spend an inordinate amount of time identifying problems. Honestly? Thats the easy part. Thoughtful solutions are the challenge that will earn respect and admiration from coworkers and bosses Dont ever play the blame game. You alienate coworkers, supervisors, and reporting staff. Yes, you may need to identify who was involved in a problem. You may even ask the Deming question: what about the work system caused the employee to fail? But, not my fault and publicly identifying and blaming others for failures will earn enemies. These enemies will, in turn, help you to fail. You do need allies at work. Your verbal and nonverbal communication matters. If you talk down to another employee, use sarcasm, or sound nasty, the other employee hears you. We are all radar machines that constantly scope out our environment.In one organization a high level manager said to me, I know you dont think I should scream at my employees. But, sometimes, they make me so mad. When is it appropriate for me to scream at the employees? Answer? Never, of course, if respect for people is a hallmark of your organization. Never blind side a coworker, boss, or reporting staff person. If the first time a coworker hears about a problem is in a staff meeting or from an email sent to his supervisor, you have blind sided the coworker. Always discuss problems, first, with the people directly involved who own the work system. Also called lynching or ambushing your coworkers, you will never build effective work alliances unless your coworkers trust you. And, without alliances, you never accomplish the most important goals. Keep your commitments. In an organization, work is interconnected. If you fail to meet deadlines and commitments, you affect the work of other employees. Always keep commitments, and if you cant, make sure all affected employees know what happened. Provide a new due date and make every possible effort to honor the new deadline. Share credit for accomplishments, ideas, and contributions. How often do you accomplish a goal or complete a project with no help from others? If you are a manager, how many of the great ideas you promote were contributed by staff members? Take the time, and expend the energy, to thank, reward, recognize and specify contributions of the people who help you succeed. This is a no-fail approach to building effective work relationships. Help other employees find their greatness. Every employee in your organization has talents, skills, and experience. If you can help fellow employees harness their best abilities, you benefit the organization immeasurably. The growth of individual employees benefits the whole. Compliment, recognize, praise, and notice contributions. You dont have to be a manager to help create a positive, motivating environment for employees. In this environment, employees do find and contribute their greatness. If you regularly carry out these seven actions, you will play well with others and develop effective work relationships. Coworkers will value you as a colleague. Bosses will believe you play on the right team. Youll accomplish your work goals, and you may even experience fun, recognition, and personal motivation. Work cant get any better than that. How To Develop An Effective Relationship With Your Boss These steps will help you develop a positive, ongoing, supportive relationship with your boss a relationship that serves you well, your manager well, and, as a consequence, your organization well. The first step in managing up is to develop a positive relationship with your boss. Relationships are based on trust. Do what you say youll do. Keep timeline commitments. Never blind side your manager with surprises that you could have predicted or prevented. Keep her informed about your projects and interactions with the rest of the organization. Tell the boss when youve made an error or one of your reporting staff has made a mistake. Cover-ups dont contribute to an effective relationship. Lies or efforts to mislead always result in further stress for you as you worry about getting caught or somehow slipping up in the consistency of your story. Communicate daily or weekly to build the relationship. Get to know your manager as a person she is one, after all. She shares the human experience, just as you do, with all of its joys and sorrows. Recognize that success at work is not all about you; put your bosss needs at the center of your universe. Identify your bosss areas of weakness or greatest challenges and ask what you can do to help. What are your bosss biggest worries; how can your contribution mitigate these concerns? Understand your bosss goals and priorities. Place emphasis in your work to match her priorities. Think in terms of the overall success of your department and company, not just about your more narrow world at work. Look for and focus on the best parts of your boss; just about every boss has both good points and bad. When youre negative about your boss, the tendency is to focus on his worst traits and failings. This is neither positive for your work happiness nor your prospects for success in your organization. Instead, compliment your boss on something he does well. Provide positive recognition for contributions to your success. Make your boss feel valued. Isnt this what you want from him for you? Your boss is unlikely to change; she can choose to change, but the person who shows up to work every day has taken years and years of effort on her part to create. And, who your boss is has worked for her in the past and reinforced her actions and beliefs. Instead of trying to change your boss, focus instead, on trying to understand your bosss work style.Identify what she values in an employee. Does she like frequent communication, autonomous employees, requests in writing in advance of meeting, or informal conversation as you pass in the hallway. Your bosss preferences are important and the better you understand them, the better you will work with her. Learning how to read your bosss moods and reactions is also a helpful approach to communicate more effectively with him. There are times when you dont want to introduce new ideas; if he is preoccupied with making this months numbers, your idea for a six month improvement may not be timely. Problems at home or a relative in failing health affect each of your workplace behaviors and openness to an improvement discussion. Additionally, if your boss regularly reacts in the same way to similar ideas, explore what he fundamentally likes or dislikes about your proposals. Learn from your boss. Although some days it may not feel like it, your boss has much to teach you. Appreciate that she was promoted because your organization found aspects of her work, actions, and/or management style worthwhile. Promotions are usually the result of effective work and successful contributions. So, ask questions to learn and listen more than you speak to develop an effective relationship with your boss. Ask your boss for feedback. Let the boss play the role of coach and mentor. Remember that your boss cant read your mind. Enable him to offer you recognition for your excellent performance. Make sure he knows what you have accomplished. Create a space in your conversation for him to praise and thank you. Value your bosss time. Try to schedule, at least, a weekly meeting during which you are prepared with a list of what you need and your questions. This allows him to accomplish work without regular interruption. Tie your work, your requests, and your project direction to your bosss and the companys overarching goals. When making proposals to your boss, try to see the larger picture. There are many reasons why your suggestion may not be adopted: resources, time, goals, and vision. Maintain strict confidentiality. In your relationship with your boss you will sometimes disagree and occasionally experience an emotional reaction. Dont hold grudges. Dont make threats about leaving. Disagreement is fine; discord is not. Get over it. You need to come to terms with the fact that your boss has more authority and power than you do. You are unlikely to always get your way. Employee Relations Strategic Plan your definition of employee relations what kind of industry youre in how many employees your company has whether or not you have a union if not, how big is the threat of unionization what your turnover rate is what your pay rates and benefits plans are compared to competing (not just competing for your products but also competing for your employees) industries in your region how big your HR department is what your reasons are for deciding you need a strategic employee relations plan and probably a whole lot more stuff but this would be a start anyway. What Are Micro Inequities? The veiled putdown, the sarcastic tone, as well as nonverbal transgressions such as rolling the eyes and turning your back toward someone in conversation may seem like piddling things to fret about. Small slights can generate big problems. Employees might be willing to blow off one or even a few such rude gestures. But if a boss, manager or project teammate habitually treats colleagues disrespectfully, they will feel demoralized. Perhaps that will lead to attitude problems and increased absenteeism. Say a supervisor asks for suggestions on a project. An employee perks up with a thoughtful solution. As if tone-deaf, the supervisor then asks, Okay, whod like to get things started here? Or, the supervisor embraces the idea but only after someone else mentions it. Next time the supervisor asks for recommendations, the unappreciated employee remains tight-lipped. Maybe co-workers also button up. Result: Valuable ideas never get aired, and productivity suffers. A worst-case scenario, the disrespected employees leave. And in a worst-worst-case scenario, they may end up suing you for these unwelcome gestures. At least thats what is starting to occur, according to one San Francisco law firm that defends management in conflicts with employees. In todays ultra-competitive business climate, your small enterprise cant afford to lose valuable workers. Thats especially true with an expected major labour shortage on the horizon. Who knows, the offended employees might have been your companys next rainmakers. So How Do You Stop These Micro Inequities? First, understand what they are. Thats easier said than done, because many such offenses are committed subconsciously. A boss might not even be aware he is botching the pronunciation on a colleagues name. Or that he is glancing at his watch during an employees presentation. According to experts, were sending dozens of powerful micromessages every time we speak, gesture or even do nothing. Those communications may vary somewhat from culture to culture and even organization to organization. But the point is, were sending a message even when we dont think were sending a message. A number of organizations are playing closer attention to this workplace behaviour. They are paying for training sessions attended by their managers and rank and file. Short of taking training exercises, small companies can take several actions to prevent microinequities. Supervisors might bring up the topic at staff meetings to demonstrate their awareness. Or, the subject might be broached in company emails, newsletters or attitude surveys. Going forward, pay closer attention to all your employees, not just your stars or those you are most comfortable with. Consider engaging in nonbusiness conversations so you can develop rapport, respect and trust. Solicit suggestions from them. Maybe ask what they are working on and then pose follow-up questions. And, very important: Give direct eye contact and listen attentively to them. In group settings, Young suggests, be sensitive to how you greet or treat a colleague youre close with, so it appears youre not playing favorites. When possible, give public credit to owners of good ideas. And encourage participation from everyone

Rhetorical Reading Essay -- essays research papers

Rhetorical Reading Essay(Revision)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since they started pouring the concrete for the dam Lake Powell has been a center of controversy. From nature preservationists to ancient ruins advocates the subject has been heated and intense. On the other hand, those who support Lake Powell are just as avid and active in their defense of the reservoir. One of the former, Edward Abbey, sets forth his plea, hoping it does not fall upon deaf ears.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Abbey attempts in his article to help the reader visualize Glen Canyon before it was dammed up. He uses a lot of pathos to help the reader â€Å"feel† the beauty of the previous Glen Canyon and the ugliness of the present. His article seems to be written not to the supporters of Lake Powell, but to those who side with Abbey, perhaps in an attempt to strengthen their resolve to do something about their beliefs. Abbey advocates the draining and naturalizing of the reservoir, allowing it to regress back to its natural state. Although the author is very talented at using connotations and figurative language, he focuses too much on pathos and a 20th century view of nature and lacks sufficient logos and ethos. This essay while very passionate is poorly done. The author, Edward Abbey, admits that he is a â€Å"butterfly chaser, googly eyed bleeding heart and wild conservative†(Abbey, 144). His constant appeals to nostalgia and tree hugging are repetitive and long-winded. However, as mentioned above, he is an expert in figurative language and connotation. Right from the beginning Abbey uses a great metaphor comparing Glen Canyon to the living heart of the canyon lands, and throws in another about the Colorado River being golden. He tries to form a beautiful picture of what Glen Canyon used to be like by sharing an experience that he and a buddy had almost 50 years ago. Although picturesque and ideal, we all understand that change is a natural part of both mankind and nature and that all things have an end. Later in the article Abbey uses more great connotations and points out that the reservoir has had negative effects on the environment in that area. â€Å"†¦Debris brought down into them by desert storms, no longer carried away by the river, must unavoidably build up in the area where flood meets reservoir†(147). And later, â€Å"Anyone who has tried to pilot a motorboat through a raft... ...birds, 800 different mammals and more that a dozen reptile species (Lake Powell). And anyone who has been there will ask, if there is a slight lack of insects, which I am not sure there is, how is that a bad thing? This hardly seems the sterile, lifeless scene that Abbey paints for us and is simply one of the many examples of omission he uses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I feel that although Abbey means well in trying to preserve the natural form and environment of Glen Canyons, he is unable to see that many, many more people are out enjoying the beauties of Lake Powell than ever graced the shores of the Colorado River in that area. This is what people want. Abbey poorly surmises that the majority of people agree with his viewpoints, â€Å"I am not alone, for I belong to that ever-growing number of Americans, probably a good majority now, who have become aware that a fully industrialized, thoroughly urbanized, elegantly computerized social system is not suitable for human habitation†(Abbey, 144). If that were so Lake Powell would have been drained and dry decades ago. The truth is that with few exceptions, people like Lake Powell just the way it is.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Lady Macbeth is a Feminist Role Model and a Despicable Human Being Essa

This fall, the second instalment of the Hunger Games trilogy was released in theatres. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, is a brave, intelligent, female character with an exceptional level of physical and inner strength. Even 50 years ago it would have been considered unacceptable to present this type of female in entertainment and media has made significant strides when representing women in such a positive way. Yet in the 16th century, Shakespeare crafted a character that shared many of the same traits as Katniss while simultaneous pleasing an audience with traditional views on femininity. As a result, Lady Macbeth is a feminist role model before the rise of feminist ideology in the mainstream and a truly evil person as well. Lady Macbeth is shown to be a leader as it is her ambition that is the driving force behind the murder plot and her husbands actions. She had the strength to go through with the plan to kill King Duncan and holds it together for both she and Macbeth afte r the muder is complete. Finally, in elizabethan England the idea that a women could be capable of such evil wrongdoing would have been inconceivable. The fact that Lady Macbeth had murderous thoughts makes her equal to the men she was surrounded by. It is through these points that Lady Macbeth’s character can be both vilified and explored as a feminist role model. An audience who would have attended Macbeth in the 16th century would have believed that women we're incapable of ambition and leadership. Lady Macbeth shatters this when she latches onto the idea that Macbeth will be king and creates a plot to murder Duncan. While Macbeth is hesitant about assassinating the current monarch, Lady Macbeth doesn't have a second though; she tells her husband... ...he makes a plea to â€Å"Make thick my blood. Stop up the access and passage to remorse† (1. 5. 33-37). Her character broke down the notion that women are somehow more pure than men. She does an awful thing and as a result she sheds a light on the difference between the evil in men and women, there is none. If Shakespeare was alive today the story of Macbeth might have gone a little differently. People are multidimensional, they can be motivated by terrible thing and feel hesitation and guilt for these forces at the same time. As a result, Lady Macbeth could be the only Macbeth if the play has been written after the 20th century. She is both the face of women in power and a prime example of what happens when power gets the best of you. Lady Macbeth uses her ambition, leadership skills, emotional strength, and sheer absence of remorse to gain the throne for her husband.

Hrm and Technology

1. 0 Introduction In today’s rapidly changing business world, the need has arisen to harness the resources to its optimum use in order to gain success in the business arena. Technology plays a vital role as this applies to the most valuable resource of Human resource too. Technology has greatly influenced the transformation from traditional and personal management to a more strategic human resource management approach. The ongoing technology improvement has paved the way for quick access to obtain the preferred resource regardless of geographical and environmental barriers. The extent of technology use across various activities of HRM, especially in recruiting and selection covers from advertising positions, receiving applications, initial screening to final section. This particular search can be for entry level, middle level and high level position as appropriate, according to the external and internal factors of an organization. Huge cost reductions in HR have also been experienced through technology application, while, they have also led to adverse impacts such as redundancies and lay-offs. Communication development technology contributes furthermore, from the recruitment process to career development process through training and development, and creates resource personnel in the organization. Computer based testing leads to unbiased selections, arbitrating to effective and efficient Human Resource Management. Access to Human Resource Information systems (HRIS) has also helped to automate most of the functions of HRM to a greater extent and allows the HR activities to run in a less cumbersome and efficient manner. This report further outlines the adoption of virtual work and outsourcing as a result of modern technological evolution, and the benefits and impacts that technology has embraced towards Human Resource Management. 2. 0 DISCUSSION 2. 0 What is Human Resource Management? According to Samson & Daft, â€Å"Human resource management refers to the activities undertaken to attract, develop and maintain an effective workforce within an organization†. In other words HRM is the function dealing with managing people within the employer – employee relationship (Stone, 2005). HRM function involves the productive use of people in achieving the organisation’s strategic business objectives and the satisfaction of individual employee needs. HRM is closely related to other management aspects, as its main objective is to improve the productive contribution of people. Human Resources Management encompasses a wide range of activities inclusive of identifying and deciding on staffing needs, hiring, recruiting and training the most suitable employees, ensuring and evaluating their performance, , and ensuring that the personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. It also includes activities relating to managing approaches for employee issues such as benefits and compensation, safety, employee records and personnel policies. (Snell & Sherman, 2004). Human Resource managers plan, administer and review activities relating to staff selection, training and development, conditions of employment and other human resource issues within organizations (Peters, 2004). 3. 0 Objectives of using Technology in HRM The study of HRM describes what human resource managers do and what they should do. While there are many definitions of HRM, its primary purpose is to improve the productive contribution of people within an organization. Until the last few years the discipline was known as personnel  management. (Eddie & Smith, 2004). Now the term ‘human resource management' is increasingly used in recognition of the importance of an organization’s workforce in contributing to the goals of that organization. Today's human resource issues are enormous and appear to be ever expanding. The human resource manager faces a multitude of problems ranging from a constantly changing workforce to coping with ever increasing government rules and regulations. Because of the critical nature of human resource concerns, they are receiving increased attention from upper levels of management. It used to be rare to see job advertisements for human resource managers. Now such advertisements are very common and encompass significant organizational responsibilities. People are the common element in every organization. From an organization’s perspective, its staff is its human resources. It is people like you who produce the goods and services that create wealth. It is these goods and services that contribute to our standard of living. (Collins, 2005). There are many challenges facing organizations today. The better our organizations work, the easier it is for society to meet the present and future threats and opportunities. It can be said that the central challenge we face in society is to continually improve the performance of our organizations in both the private and public sectors. Part of this improvement will come from organizations becoming more efficient and effective. This requires the effective management in these organizations. 4. 0 Technology in the modern business An Organization’s Technology is the process by which inputs from an organizations environment are transformed into outputs. This model integrates organizational  level technology research with human resource management strategies. (Robert, Mathis, John Harold 2006). The model relates dimensions of technical processes to human  resource practices, focusing on practices used to develop employees. These relationships are mediated by the type of skills employees  use. An empirical study of 139 employees found support for two  hypotheses developed from the model. Results suggested that  technology and HRM activities are connected through the level  of cognitive skill complexity and the amount of support employees  receive in developing new skills. Due to changes in the way  decisions are made in organizations today (for example, making  more decisions at lower levels) the connection between the work  process, the skills employees need, and the emphasis on developing  employees will become increasingly important. 5. Impact of Technology in HRM The technology has radically changed the way employees and managers access human resource data, and the use of online HR solutions has expanded rapidly over the past year. (Collins, 2005). Self-service and online tools have become important in the continuing effort to improve the management of HR functions and to drive competitive advantage, the survey found. â€Å"As the lines blur between HR data and that used by the rest of the enterprise, organizations find it makes sense to consolidate all employee data using a corporate portal. The importance of HR self-service is increasing, especially those applications that improve employee performance. â€Å"We're seeing the strongest growth among applications focused on managing and enhancing worker skills and productivity–no surprise given that up to 70 percent of an enterprise's expenses are people-related. _New skills required: As new technologies are developed and implemented, there is an Urgent need to upgrade existing employee skills and knowledge if the organization wants to survive and flourish in a competitive world. Additionally there will be growing demand for workers with more sophisticated training and skills especially in emerging ‘hot’ sectors like telecommunications, hospitality, retailing, banking, insurance, biotechnology and financial services. For example, services. For example, service sector employee requires different skills than those utilized in manufacturing. (Peters, 2004). They need strong interpersonal and communication skills as well as the ability to handle customer complaints in a flexible way. _ Downsizing: New Technologies have decimated many lower end jobs with frustrating regularity. Increased automation has reduced employee head counts everywhere. The pressure to remain cost effective has also compelled many a firm to go lean, cutting down extra fat at each managerial level. The wave of merger and acquisition activity, in recent A time has often left the new, combined companies to downsize operations ruthlessly. The Positions that have been filled up with workers possessing superior technical skills and Knowledge has also tilted the poser base ( in many emerging industries) from management to technical workers. It is not uncommon today for managers to have limited understanding of the technical aspects of their subordinates’ work. Managing the expectations of knowledge workers is going be major area of concern for all HR Managers in the years ahead. (Akin, Norton, Peg, 2004) _ Collaborative work: Technological change has resulted in hierarchical distinctions being blurred and more collaborative teamwork where managers, technicians and analysts work together on projects. Team based incentive plans have also made it necessary for all classes of employees to work in close coordination with each other. Telecommuting: The rapid advances in technology have led to the relocation of work from the office to the home. Telecommuting has become the order of the day where employees work at home, usually with computers and use phoned and the Internet to transmit letters, data and completed work to the home office. Companies have been able to increase their applicant pool through this mode and empl oyees have also been able to live further away from cities and gain considerably due to savings in rents, transportation etc. _ Internet and intranet revolution: Internet and information technology have enabled companies to become more competitive by cutting costs. Manufacturers, bank, retailers, and you name anything have successfully harnessed computer technology to reduce their costs and deliver want satisfying goods and services to customers at an amazing speed. Even in HR, internets and intranets are being used to handle training, benefit administration, performance management and out placement functions, in recent times. (Peters, 2004). The cumulative impact of new technology is so dramatic that at a broader level, organizations are changing the way they do business. Use of the internet to transact business has become so commonplace for both large and small companies that e-commerce is rapidly becoming the organizational challenge of the new millennium. Managing virtual corporations and virtual workers in this technology driven world is going to pose tough challenges for HR Managers in the years ahead. _ Role of HR in a virtual organization: A virtual organization is network of companies or employees connected by computers. Virtual workers work from home, hostel, their cars, or wherever their work takes them. The human resources function plays a unique role in a virtual organization: i. Psychological fit: The lack of face-to-face interaction in virtual organization, virtually compels HR professionals to determine the psychological fit between different units initially. (Collins, 2005). ii. System alignment: Given the lack of physical proximity, it becomes even more critical that the organization’s mission, vision and measures be aligned and that all parties are familiar with these issues, the HR function can play an important role in this task. iii. Reconsider rewards: In a virtual unit. Very few permanent exit. In many cases, the organization will be staffed with workers having different motivational forces. So rewarding each entity in an effective way becomes an important job. iv. Reconsider staffing needs: In a virtual organization, most employees work on a contractual basis. Finding people with requisite skills, a knowledge and motivation level becomes an important activity. v. Build partnerships: Virtual, teams have to be built from scratch paying attention to their unique requirements. The concept of employment needs to be replaced by the concept of ‘partnership’ especially when most tend to work independently away from the permanent employees or owners of the organization. vi. Develop leaders: Leaders become the major forces for building trust, creating a mission and instilling a sense of belonging to the organization HR can play a major role in ensuring that leaders assume these responsibilities and meet them in an effective away. (Collins, 2005). 6. 0 Technology in HR Activities A human resources officer develops, advises on and implements policies relating to the effective use of personnel within an organization. HR personnel work comprises a number of different but related policies, all of which are required by organizations that employ people, whatever the size or type of business. These cover areas such as working practices, recruitment, pay, conditions of employment and diversity. HR staffs need to ensure that the organization employs the right balance of staff in terms of skills and experience, and that training and development opportunities are available to employees to enhance their performance in order to achieve the organization’s objectives. Collins, 2005). Typical work activities As a human resources (HR) officer they must have a clear understanding of their organization’s business objectives and be able to devise and implement policies which select, develop and retain the right staff needed to meet these objectives. (Farquharson, 2006)The exact nature of the work activities varies according to the organization, but is likely to include: working closely with departmen ts, increasingly in a consultancy role, assisting line managers to understand and implement policies and procedures; †¢ promoting equality and diversity as part of the culture of the organization; †¢ liaising with a wide range of organizations involved in areas such as disability, gender, age, religion and health and safety; †¢ recruiting staff – this includes developing job descriptions, preparing advertisements, checking application forms, short listing, interviewing and selecting candidates; †¢ developing policies on issues such as working conditions, performance management, equal opportunities, disciplinary procedures and absence management; †¢ advising on pay and other remuneration issues, including promotion and benefits; †¢ undertaking regular salary reviews; negotiating with staff and their representatives on issues relating to pay and conditions; †¢ administering payroll and maintaining records relating to staff; †¢ interpretin g and advising on employment legislation; †¢ listening to grievances and implementing disciplinary procedures; †¢ developing HR planning strategies with line managers, which consider immediate and long-term staff requirements in terms of numbers and skill levels; †¢ planning and sometimes delivering training, including inductions for new staff; †¢ Analyzing training needs in conjunction with departmental managers. (Farquharson, 2006) When considering all the above accepts of a human resource manager, they must allocate much and more time and energy on selecting the right candidate to the right position. The technology can be used on Selected HRM activities such for Employee recruitment, employee selection, training and development and performance appraisals 6. 1 Recruitment & Selection The HR manager faces the main challenge when it comes to Recruitment and selection the manager has to be much more careful when choosing the right candidate. A recent study showed that the correlation between the ability to deliver well in a job interview and the ability to do well on the job is just 14 percent, or one good employee out of every seven people you hire. (Okpara, 2006). If you or your recruitment agency has found itself in a similar position, there are proven methods to improve this average. The same study considered these methods. Background Checks  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ According to (Okpara, 2006). The 14 percent increases to 26 percent if the candidates passes a series of  employee background checks like falsified educational credentials and other serious liabilities, background checks only reveal information when an individual has been caught being lying. Of equal or greater value are underlying attitudes, as well as actions at which an applicant has not been caught, to most fully protect the organization against negligent hiring lawsuits and to assure the organizations are hiring reliable, ethical, hard-working employees. Knowing this information about the people the company hire is absolutely essential because a business can be held liable for accidents and crimes committed by its employees. Personality Tests  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ consider traditional assessment tools used in the hiring process. These assessments measure personality characteristics. Personality tests  raised the rate of success in hiring to around 50 percent positive. (Okpara, 2006). Many employers want to know a candidate’s aptitude and personality type to ensure an appropriate job match. Some want to know it before they hire a candidate, some before they promote an employee, and some before they create work teams. In an effort to learn more about an employee, employers today administer personality tests. There are many kinds of personality tests available, but in the workplace a validated and reliable occupational assessment is critical to success on the job. (Okpara, 2006). Those professionals do not pass or fail but should be selected for the job that matches their individual personalities. Abilities Assessments  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ When applicants were tested for both abilities and personality, employers found they were hiring the right people just over half or about 54 percent of the time. (Times, 2006) After managers have used to identify their employee’s strengths and areas for development, they can use the Series to software’s available to develop the competencies that are most important to their professional growth and success. (Okpara, 2006). The software’s are conveniently located on the Internet, making it easy to implement and execute. These systems help managers to keep doing the things they do well, stop doing those things that interfere with their effectiveness, and start doing things that will improve their performance. These systems encourage managers to perform their jobs better. It gives emphasis to the importance of managers to the organization and its goals and pays big dividends in the form of improved productivity, fewer â€Å"people problems,† increased employee retention, and greater profits. It is an ideal method for managers to improve their leadership and management skills. It can be used anywhere and at any time because it is on the Internet. After responding to questions and doing online exercises, it gives managers the tools they need to maximize their strengths, become better managers, and lead more effectively. Interest Assessments  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ To take it one step further, the study considered  interest assessments, an even more sophisticated tool. It measures the job-related qualities that make a person productive – Thinking and Reasoning Style, Behavioral character, and Occupational Interests. These systems were used for placement, promotion, self-improvement, coaching, succession planning, and job description development. (Okpara, 2006). It is a flexible management tool that develops Job Match Patterns that can be customized by company, department, manager, position, geography, or any combination of these factors. Job Match  Assessments  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The study found that the most impressive and successful assessments are integrated measures of a combination of factors, and also include the concept of  job match. They use cutting-edge technology combined with empirical data to evaluate the candidate against employees who are exemplary in performing their duties. Okpara, 2006). These recruitment assessments increased an employer's ability to identify excellent candidates more than 75 percent of the time. Hiring top performing employees may be one of the most valuable activities you can do for your business. This system combine tested and reliable data derived from pre-emp loyment screening assessment system, with a customized job analysis survey to create a benchmark by which the manager can hire an employee who best fits for the job and company. Employee Selection Process By including job match as a key factor in your employee hiring process, allocation of human capital will be significantly more effective. Most employee hiring decisions are made with inadequate information, but Profiles International assessments will deliver the information that the manager need to know before tendering a job offer and making a hiring mistake. 6. 2 Performance Appraisal Technology may contribute to performance management and thus to appraisal satisfaction in two primary ways. First, technology may facilitate measuring an individual’s performance via computer monitoring activities. This frequently occurs as an unobtrusive and rote mechanical process that relies on minimal input from individuals beyond their task performance. Jobs that incorporate this type of appraisal technology are frequently scripted or repetitious and involve little personal judgment or discretion. Working in a call centre or performing data entry are examples. (Peters, 2004). In this instance, the very act of performing a job simultaneously becomes the measure of how well a jobholder accomplishes it. Keystrokes, time on task, or numbers of calls made are recorded and at once become both job content and appraisal content. A second approach to technology and performance management changes the emphasis so that technology becomes a tool to facilitate the process of writing reviews or generating performance feedback. Examples here include multi-rater appraisals that supervisors or team members generate online, as well as off-the-shelf appraisal software packages that actually construct an evaluation for a manager. (Peters, 2004). This particular technological approach occurs more often in the ontext of jobs that involve personal judgment, high discretion, and open-ended tasks for which real-time performance monitoring is not an option. 6. 3 Training and Development The activity of Training and development has been made more efficient from the implementation of technology to it. Organizations now use computer based training sessions which use a visually demonstrated and presentation oriented training programme for the employees. (Peters, 2004). Programmes are stored in computers which reduce the necessity of getting trainers to repeat the training programme over and over again. The employees are also equipped with software’s which enable them to re-check and use as manuals for the work they perform, thus influencing a cheaper mechanism of Self Training. (Peters, 2004). Errors and omissions are eliminated in the training programme, making the employees to understand their job processes more efficiently. 6. 4 Reward System The revolution is being driven by new technologies and by the major social and political changes that have led to the globalization of business and to the increasing numbers of democratic, capitalist countries. Billions of people have recently entered, or are about to enter, the capitalist world. (Collins, 2005). A smaller but very significant number have entered the world of electronic connectedness as a result of the growing popularity of the Internet, satellite TV, cellular phones, and videoconferencing. The combined effects of technological and political change on organizations are enormous and multifaceted. Increasingly, organizations are finding that in order to be competitive in the new global economy they have to reinvent themselves in important ways. This is true of their basic organizational structure, their global reach, and their use of information technology. (Collins, 2005). It is also true of their reward systems. The old reward practices and systems that worked well in nationally focused, bureaucratic, capital-intensive, hierarchical, steady-state, near-monopoly corporations. Dramatic change is needed, and it is not difficult to identify what the key theme of today's reward systems should be: a focus on rewarding excellence. Many factors argue for excellence being the number-one focus of any organization's reward system, including the ability to attract and retain the best people and to motivate the kind of performance that an organization needs in order to succeed in the new economy. Creating reward systems that focus on excellence and treat employees as human capital investors requires a major change in the way most systems operate. (Collins, 2005). Reward systems typically treat employees as job holders who are rewarded according to the size and nature of their jobs and how well they perform their jobs. Viewing them as human capital investors suggests a different approach to rewards in two respects. First, it suggests basing rewards on the value of the human capital that people bring to the organization. What their job is at a particular moment is much less important than the value of their knowledge and skills. Second, it suggests rewarding people according to how effectively they use their human capital-their knowledge, skills, and competencies to help the organization improve its business performance. Creating reward systems that recognize the value of human capital and reward performance excellence is not easy. It requires a careful articulation among an organization's reward system, business strategy, organization design, information systems, and employees. (Collins, 2005). I will begin our discussion of how it can be done by considering how reward systems impact organizational effectiveness. 7. 0 HRIS Human resource ‘info system’ The Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is a program or software or online issue solving method for the data entry, data tracking, and data information needs of the Human Resources, payroll, management, and accounting functions within a business. (Stone, 2005). In general packaged as a data base, hundreds of companies sell some form of HRIS and every HRIS has different capabilities. It is very important to select the HRIS carefully based on the capabilities you need for the organisation. Benefits of a Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is no longer a â€Å"nice to have,† but a necessity to help HR manage both a sea of information and the money spent on benefits plans, as HR faces limited resources and constantly changing data. (Stone, 2005). As a result the HRIS that most effectively serves companies tracks: Pay raises and history, pay grades and positions held †¢ Performance development plans, training received †¢ Disciplinary action received, personal em ployee information †¢ High potential employee identification, and applicant tracking, interviewing, and selection. An effective HRIS provides information on just about anything the company needs to track and analyze about employees, former employees, and applicants. Your company will need to select a Human Resources Information System and customize it to meet your needs. 8. 0 Benefits of Technology in HRM Technology is changing the way we work, the roles we undertake, and the interactions through which work gets done. (Peters, 2004). Companies are leveraging to manage the complexity of the global HRM and to deliver high-quality service. Companies use either a common system universal to all location For a example, HSBC uses people soft Ids to identify all the employees dispatched globally. SAP is the system that is used in MAS Holdings Globally, which enables the employees, suppliers and the management and the higher management to make Operational, analytical and strategic decisions, or a set of non standard system in unique to a each location to handle their HR programs and informational needs. The problem with the latter is that data are often late, incomplete and/or inaccurate. However because the time and cost factors they are the most commonly used. To reduce the negative impact of such problems some companies are developing service centers utilizing self service technologies and HRIS databases to eliminate routine work and to push delivery point back the employee or line management. With an appropriate use of HRM technology Human Resources staff enables employees to do their own benefits updates and address changes (example: by creating a data entry format , uploading it to the intranet and later program the filled data to be store into a central location), thus freeing HR staff for more strategic functions. Additionally, data necessary for employee management, knowledge development, career growth and development, and equal treatment is facilitated. (Farquharson, 2006). Finally, managers can access the information they need to legally, ethically, and effectively support the success of their reporting employees. 9. 0 Conclusion Technology and Human Resource have brought about a radical change in meeting with the strategies, policies and implementation of the corporate planning of an organization. In other words, it has become the nucleus of an organization, which caters to the requirements of selecting the right candidate for the suitable job, training and coaching them to develop and achieve the desired levels to maximize objectives and to create a competitive edge in the industry and ultimately sustain them in the organization with a career development plan. In this process, opportunities will be given to those who are really in need of a specific exposure in another country so as to acquire the required skills. This so called valuable resource will be able to cater to the demand with a long-term view, by adopting the right technology advancement at the right time and improve the overall operation of the organization with a clear vision and hence contribute to the bottomline which will enhance the share value and satisfy the shareholders to achieve satisfaction. 10. 0 Reference ? Stone, J, R. (2005). Human Resource Management. (5th Ed. ). John Wiley and sons, Australia ? Anne Osborne Kilpatrick, James A. Johnson, 2004. Handbook of Health Administration, Co. CRC Press ? Collins, M. (2005). Professional recruitment: Journal of proquest education, p. 32. ? Eddie, C. & Smith. (2004). Human Resource and Personnel Management: Text and Cases, Co. Tata-Mcgrawhill, p. 87-89. ? Farquharson, M. (2006). Performance appraisal: Journal of proquest education, p12. ? Grey. . (2005). Human resource planning: Journal of proquest education. ? Robert L. Mathis, John Harold Jackson, 2006. Human Resource Management, Co. Thomson South- Western ? Okpara, J. O. (2006). Job satisfaction: American journal of academy of business, p81. ? Peters, L. (2004). five keys to effective recruiting: Ivey business journal, p 21-24. ? Snell & Sherman, 2004, managing human resource 12th edition