The Employment Relations Environment in France Essay

The Employment Relations Environment in France - Essay Example France is characterized by heterogeneous employment relations prevailing in different firms, yet unionization has achieved significant status and recognition in the country (â€Å"Eurofound†). The French government has provided full legislative and legal support to its workforce in the form of strict and enforceable laws. Essential elements of French employment relations structure are: Employment is provided on written contract based agreements and minimal wages are authorized. Employment is also guaranteed and no worker can be thrown out of a job without sound reasons. Employees are also guaranteed sick and paid leaves with maternity leaves for women in addition. France is faced with many serious problems and challenges with respect to its employment relations structure due to some inherent shortcomings and governance loopholes which are discussed as below (Jenkins 17): There is no provision of either insurance or hygienic working conditions. In addition to this, women do not get proper representation in the workplace as they should get. The communication gap between management and union with respect to recruitment policy and other information details is a common problem. Collective bargaining is a well known and established tool of dispute and grievance handling which is not implemented in its entirety in France. People are either not aware of their roles or possess little knowledge of the legislative remedies available to them. Employees feel fearful of losing their job and so do not raise their voice and similarly, managers are hesitant in delegating decision making authority to others to avoid any hassles. This has resulted in many stark conflicts and battles between union and management in bigger firms.

Physical Education and Academic Achievement Research Proposal

Physical Education and Academic Achievement - Research Proposal Example Students shall be divided into two groups: A physical education class and an academic-oriented class. This division shall occur for both 7th and 8th classes which indicate that there shall be four groups. Each group shall be compared from each other thru instruments detailed in later sections. The groups shall be observed weekly and shall be made to undergo a Physical Fitness Test immediately followed by Academic tests. Expected time frame is 3 months. In effect, the data shall provide two results: 1) whether exposure or non-exposure to physical education affects academic performance and 2) how the intensity of physical activity itself affects academic performance Covariant data shall be constructed for fifth categories. First is the family income where students shall be classified into families having $20000, $20001-60000, $60001-75000 and >$75000. These categories are based on National Statistical Socio Demographic profile which attaches corresponding ability to provide for educational materials with the amount of annual income. Second is the child's ethnicity where the participants shall be classified as: a) White, non-Hispanic, b) Black, non-Hispanic, c) Hispanic and d) other. Third is the previous academic background and performance. Fourth is the any additional educational support system specifically the amount of time a mother devotes to educate their children. The last is the amount of physical activity that the student experiences outside of the school. All data for these categories shall be obtained from parents, guardians and the students themselves. Classroom teachers shall be enlisted to produce reports regarding the number of times that students participated in physical education. The reporting process shall be from 0 (never) to the number of times like 3 times per day. Correspondingly, the teachers shall also indicate the total minutes per day that the sample population were engaged in physical education activities. It shall start from 0 with increments of 15 minutes (1-15, 16-30 with the last choice being >60). The data shall be categorized and labelled as low (0-30 minutes per week), medium (30-60 minutes per week) and high (70-300 minutes per week). At the end of every week, the students shall be made to undergo a Physical Fitness Test (PFT) in the morning and an Academics test in the afternoon. The PFT seeks to identify six aspects of fitness namely: 1) body composition, 2) aerobic capacity, 3) trunk strength, 4) abdominal strength, 5) flexibility and 6) upper body strength. These were chosen because it represents the intensity of physical development that the student has experienced. These data shall be compared with previous physical fitness examinations to fully determine the intensity of physical activity in consonance with the data generated from teacher-provided reports. For the academic tests, consultations shall be made with education authorities and other established education researchers regarding the appropriate content to be administered to the students. It shall also be determined whether test content that has been previously applied in other published studies such as that of Carlson et al (2008) can be adapted. In general, the subjects shall include science, mathematics, linguistics and world studies. In summary, we have four sets of data per group: 1) Physical education exposure, 2) Physical activity intensity and condition, 3) Covariates and 4) Academic

Coming of Age In Mississippi

Coming of Age In Mississippi The life of Anne Moody and the events of the civil rights movement are chronicled in her autobiography and a book called Coming of Age in Mississippi which was published in 1968. In this essay, this autobiography will be drawn upon and her involvement in the movement will be analyzed. The thesis for the essay is that Anne Moodys change in perspective about the movement brought about a shift in the civil rights movement. Biographical Narrative Anne Moody was born in the Jim Crow era in Mississippi where she was also raised as a kid. The details of racism, patriarchal control, injustice and her involvement with grassroots organizations such as Congress of Racial Equity (CORE), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) have been documented in her autobiography. Moody, as a graduate of Tugaloo College, reflects upon her participation with local leaders and other Tugaloo students in order to protest against racial injustices. Her narrative includes a piece of history, which comes from meeting many leaders and witnessing many unforgettable movements, which otherwise would never have been documented or told. Anne lends her story and voice through narrating events such as Emmett Tills lynching, Medgar Everss assassination; sit-ins and rallies in which she fully participated (Page, 2007). Factors Influencing Moody to become Involved in the Movement Anne Moody witnessed the worst form of racism and discrimination in Mississippi in the era of Jim Crow. However, the biggest factor that contributed to Annes involvement in the movement was that she was a daughter of poor African American family and a female. Her father left the family when she and her other 8 siblings were still very young. Moodys mother supported her nine children through restaurant work and domestic chores. Moody attended a segregated school in Centreville in which she seemed to be a bright student despite her impoverished conditions. Anne witnessed a lot of discrimination against women and the African Americans in the area where she lived since her childhood. Being and African American and moreover a female, she experienced a lot of discrimination and racism herself. She was active throughout her college life which forced her to work for the independence of women from discrimination and get them voting rights, to create a history for the Southerners and give the African Americans the freedom they deserve and await (eNotes.com, 2010). Change in Moodys Perspectives about the Movement Overtime Moody started to work in the fourth grade as she was the eldest in her siblings and her mother could not earn much for the nine children. She won basketball scholarship at junior college and an academic scholarship to Tugaloo College from where she graduated in 1964. Anne Moody became an activist in the civil rights movement while she was at Tugaloo College and maintained involvement with CORE, NAACP and SNCC. She was one of the three youngsters in 1963 who staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworths lunch counter in Jackson. In the same year, Moody also took part in a march on Washington DC (eNotes.com, 2010). As Moody learned that she was both an African American and a woman, she was quick to adapt to the situations which would have been fatal. She did not allow anyone to dominate her and did not accept being an inferior African American woman to any white person or men. She never became satisfied from or accustomed to the mandated subordination due to the white people in the US. Instead, her participation in the civil rights movement expanded when she began to challenge the myths, authorities, false heirs of superiority and assumptions in the society. Her perspective about the civil rights movement changed when she began to question her assumed position and role in the society in opposition to the other white people. She also began to ask other African Americans about their fulfilling roles and why they did not react against the white racists and discrimination (Page, 2007). As Moody continued to mature, her perspective about the movement changed when she learnt about the murders, the lynching and the threats to the lives of those African Americans who reacted to the impudence and rebellion that Anne has awaited to demonstrate (Page, 2007). These crimes not only disgusted her but also they stopped her from reacting or taking any actions as she writes in her book on page 155 Negroes are being killed, beaten up, run out of town by these white folks and everything. But Negroes cant even talk about it (Moody, p.155). Moody constantly learned about the differences between expectations and behaviors and the rules governing the whites and the African Americans. She sought to move out of Mississippi as she never accepted the Jim Crow system. She moved out to New Orleans and Baton Rouge to live with her relatives. She expected to find equality and more freedom there but was disappointed there as she again encountered racism and prejudices. She learnt that the rea lity is that these flavors of discriminations and racism are present all over the Southern states (Page, 2007). When she returned to her home state Mississippi, she learned that it was even more difficult to live in the state than before as the fear of losing own life and the life of loved ones was pertinent in the African Americans. At this point in time, Anne Moody became fed up of the differences shown by the African Americans, her community, her friends and her family. She decided to step up and make a difference as she could no longer be afraid and inactive. She notes in her autobiography Courage was growing in me too. Little by little it was getting harder and harder for me not to speak out (Moody, p.163). This led Anne to attend a greater number of meetings with the city leaders, other Tugaloo students and professors, and activists. She participated in a number of marches, riots, meetings, rallies, sit-ins and many other activities in order to fight and plead for equal rights for all the African American citizens (Page, 2007). Reflection of Moodys Change in Perspective In the 1950s, the major strategies involved in the civil rights movement were litigation and lobbying in order to abolish discrimination against the African Americans. However, in 1955, the black citizens became frustrated because of the gradual approaches of the state and federal governments to implement desegregation. The other reason for this frustration was the massive resistance from the proponents of voter suppression and racial segregation. Most of the actions that were taken in the 1950s and the early 1960s were nonviolent resistance and indirect actions by the African Americans. However, these actions were not voiced until the mid and the late 1960 when the civil rights movement took major steps such as the march on Washington and speech by Martin Luther King. In the past, it was difficult for the African American leaders to cooperate and work on a combined purpose. The strategy of the civil rights movement emphasized more direct actions and mass action replaced litigation. Therefore the civil rights movement reaped no results in the 1950s and early 1960s. However, when the African Americans united and the people felt courageous, then only results such as nullification of the legal article of separate but equal, banning of segregation, banning of discrimination in employment practices in 1964 and restoring of voting rights. These broader shifts in the civil rights movement from the 1950s to 1960s hence reflect the changing perspective of Moodys activism. She was active at first but then was discouraged by the lack of cooperation of the blacks and the height of murdering and killings of African Americans by the white people. Then she again became courageous and became active with participation in the riots and other strategies. . Conclusion Hence the change in perspective of Anne Moore about the movement was clearly reflected upon the broader shifts in the civil rights movement from 1950s to the end of 1960. The movement was taken by storm because of the mass action of the African Americans which can also be reflected by Moodys growing courage when she returned to Mississippi. Although Moody became disenchanted with the movement earlier when she moved out to another state, but she became an active member of the movement afterwards as the perspective of civil rights movement also shifted.

Financial Distress: Bankruptcy Essay -- Economy, CNN Money, Kmart

Halley 1 Financial Distress: Bankruptcy Financial distress which results in bankruptcy are very common for businesses in today’s economy. According to CNN Money Fortune 500, â€Å"Last year marked the highest number of billon-dollar bankruptcies ever recorded. And corporate bankruptcies have continued at an elevated clip, with about twice the number of businesses filing for bankruptcies filing for bankruptcy protection in the 12 months ending June 2010, as they did during the same span of time in 2008, 2007, or 2006.† (Roane, 2010) It is very important for every financial manager to acknowledge that bankruptcy can be a reality for any company and financial managers have to know how to prevent it. Most all companies have debts and these debts are used for financial leverage, but they have to be closely monitored by the financial manager. Many monthly debts that companies are faced with are, making monthly payments to vendors, and paying employees. It is the financial managers to manage and monitor th ese debts, so that the debts don’t become more than the equity. (Ross, Westerfield, & Jordan, 2010) Companies will be considered in financial distress when all of their liquidity has to be used to pay their outstanding debt. Companies can file bankruptcy to deal with and manage the lack of liquidity. When a company files bankruptcy the company is protected and bondholder or creditors cannot sue them for money that is owed. According to the authors of Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, â€Å"In principal a firm becomes bankrupt when the value of its assets equals the value of its debt.† (Ross... ...s trying to compete with Wal-Mart and Target on similar name brands, and prices, which became detrimental to Kmart. (CNN Money.com, 2002) According to CNNMoney.com Kmart filing included â€Å"Kmart, which has about $37 billion in annual revenue, said it had secured $2 billion in debtor financing to pay its $1.6 billion in debt and expected to emerge from bankruptcy in about a year.† (2002) Kmart wanted to emerge from restructuring with a new image that was totally different form their competitors and by filing bankruptcy and reorganizing their organizations they were able to do that. Conclusion: In order for a company to prevent any type of bankruptcy a company will need to keep its assets lower than his debt. It is important for financial managers of a company to manage a company’s debt-equity ratios while still increasing leverage within the company.

Management perspective

A new, female CEO was brought in and she began implementing a wave of changes. The areas where there was a lot of focus was culture, improving technology and staff retention. The current situation of the Hospital Trust from indicates that there are problems within the trust, which is causing a weak performance and quality. These problems need to be addressed in order to improve performance and quality. Staff and patient surveys showed major problems with moral and communication. It also indicates that staffs were unhappy with the current style of management.And although there were changes little improvement in finance and staff was complaining of overwork, too much change, they knew little Of he new CEO and that their own manager's style was unchanged. All this could be due to lack of communication between the CEO, staffs and patients. In order to address this major problem, the CEO needs to put in place a clear communication strategy, for example have regular monthly updates in the Hospital as an open forum updating staff on new developments and listening to staff concerns and their ideas.Maybe set up a diverse committee of managers, staffs, and patients that comes together frequently to address the current problems, ideas and feedbacks with the CEO This form of immunization could help structure ways performance and quality can be improved, eradicate the barrier between the new CEO and her staffs and also improving their relationship. There are various aspects of leadership and cultures that can be important to this case I. E. Types of leadership, their styles and theories, relationship, organization culture etc. Leadership is more than just wielding power, as this shows.The ‘Great Man' theory by Thomas Carlyle says that ‘leaders are born not made' however it can be argued that a great leader is not merely born; many leaders develop their leadership skills and Tyler from trial and error, studies and experience of success (Edgar et al. 1954). Genera lly, there can be confusion between management and leadership (Smyth 1 989) because they both have a lot in common. Managers and leaders both have power, which is use in the running of operation or businesses efficiently (Smyth 1989). They both have people that depend on them for ideas, information and direction on a day to day basic.However, there are some major differences between them. Management direct and control people and resource, in a group or organization according to the aloes or principles already established or provided to them by the organization (Mullions 2005). They manage resources to retain the current situation or make sure things occur according to established plans and policies, there is no new direction or change. On the other hand, leadership is the ability of an individual to provide inspiration and lead a group of people effectively for the benefit of an activity or organization, but still maintaining valid ideas and principles.Because just talking about the vision and showing passion is not enough. A leader (inspirational leader) listens to the people in heir organization; this allows the thoughts and ideas of the staff to help shape the mission and vision (Mullions 2005). People are more supportive of a direction they partly form. Because just talking about the vision and showing direction they partly form. The new CEO in this organization need to combine her leadership skills with her management skills. This will help to set direction and manage resources to achieve SUcceSS.Because leadership without management is setting a vision or direction for others to follow without taking into account too much on how the vision is going to be achieved. THREE KEY AREAS CULTURE A number of authors suggest that culture is a vital determinant of organizational performance. Research carried out by Lorry (2003) shows a link between positive cultural views among employees and proactive leadership behaviors. What is organization culture? Literature r eview shows countless definitions for organization culture, with perhaps the more common definition being â€Å"the way we do things around here' by Deal and Kennedy (1982).Organizational culture is demonstrated usually in the characteristics of the organization. It is regarded as the way things are done or understood in an organization (Shill 2008). Tall BRB (1983) regarded organization culture as a network of beliefs and shared values that combine company's people, control systems and organization structures, to produce behavioral norms. Firstly a SOOT analyses was done to be able to assess the situation and put a strategy in place. A soot analyses is helpful as it helps the organization to exploit its opportunities and strengths and avoid mistakes and correct its weak areas.An evaluation and of opportunities and threats provides information on what an organization might do. While strengths and weaknesses enables the organization to determine what it can do (Davidson ND Griffin 2 006). The SOOT for the NASH Trust shows: Strength: Part of a Large organization, Skilled Manpower and Labor force Weakness: Needs Leadership, lack of motivation for staff, old IT system Opportunities: Improve efficiency for patients, improve the IT systems Threats: Organizational Culture TO begin the process Of bringing in planned changes the CEO decided to upgrade the hospital IT systems.This was required to provide employees with state-of-the-art hardware and software equipment to work more effectively and to assist the organization to respond better to the competitive environment. Secondly, empowering employees with extra motives and third begin a process of cultural change that would help the organization to overcome workforce difficulties and conflicts. The chief executive officer and managing directors allowed the external consultants to have access to any kind of documents relevant to the organization.External consultants formed the team that would lead the change initiative with other internal managers from human resources, IT manager and about 15 employees of the IT service division and the Clinical Directors from the Medical and Surgical Departments and Ward Managers, nurses and some allied staff. It was very important that the Trust included the most influential people in the team, as they are vital to any change process. The inclusion of senior managers helps to have lines of accountability and clearly defined expectations from managers, as they have to manage the changes successfully.According to Pascal and Those (1982) shared values is one of the ‘levers' of management and managers could manipulate this culture. Therefore managers can use culture as a tool to bring about change. Stakeholders involvement was a key aspect of achieving these goals. According to Freeman (1984) the concept of stakeholders is to assist with the tragic management within organizations (Marinades et al. 2011). In terms of organizational change strategies, stakeholde rs are both those who are involved in making decisions about change and those who are affected by the change.The software and hardware advancement led to better design and implementation of information systems and services for the organization especially highlighting areas where improvements could be made to achieve short term gains and make a difference to the service to patients like cutting waiting lists for patients and better appointment times thereby improving efficiency. In terms of organizational change strategies, stakeholders are those who are involved in making decisions about change and those who are affected by the change.First, the employees of the organization are the internal clients, as the cultural and technological changes concern them. The external clients of the change are the public and government organizations to which the NASH provides services to. The software and hardware development led to better design and implementation of information systems and lead to an improvement in the services for the organization and the patients. Many searchers characterize organizational change as a chaotic process (Burns 2005).Therefore it is very important to identify who will be your â€Å"change agents† in the organization, to drive the change forward. In this case the main people Were the organization's medical and surgical directors and human resource manager who was involved with cultural changes, the fifteen employees of the IT services division who made the software and hardware updates, the ward managers and the external consultants. Lastly the sponsor is the person that provides the budget for the change project and influences session making in this case the CEO (Goldenberg et al. 011 TECHNOLOGY A planned changed approach managers were able to use a formal process to identify what the changes will be and setting about it in a planned way. Linen's three Steps change framework of â€Å"unfreezing, movement and refreezing was used (Lenin 1951 The unfreezing phrase breaks down the resistance to change and sets up a malleable organization. The movement phase establishes the new systems or tasks and the refreezing stage embeds the changes in the organizational systems. Managers are able to have clear goals that can be measured and completed within a set timeshare.

An Evaluation of Human Productivity Using Computer and Internet

Computers are becoming an important piece of equipment in our daily life. Computers not only enable us to better achieve our tasks, but are also a way to of sharing and communicating with others around the world. Whereas computers and technology are so close together, they are giving humans a new rhythm in their lives. Both technology and Computers are more than ever present in our daily routines helping us achieve our objectives in a faster, secure and more professional way. The aim of this report is to evaluate whether Computers and Internet make people more productive. According to the information gathered, it turns out that in most cases they do in fact improve the overall productivity of people. It†s amazing how many new communications discoveries have improved the way people work, behave and conduct their lives. The term productive can be explained as â€Å"Yielding favorable or useful results; constructive. Or involved in the creation of goods and services to produce wealthy or value†. 1 Let me start by providing some of the new technological terms that have been changing the lifestyle of many people. Internet, or Information Super Highway, is aimed to improve accesses to information and corporate resources. â€Å"This communication will allow people to move faster, control communications costs, and overcome distance. It can also make your people more productive, empowering them with new tools to help meet business objectives.†2 Thanks to the Internet, people are more than ever able to share their information, thoughts and ideas faster. Another technology being used nowadays is called telecommuting. A simple explanation is that employees can now work from home, without having to go to their offices. According to many surveys, the number of people whom will adopt this working method will reach 45 millions people in the United States by the Year 2000. â€Å"Telecommuting provides me with a lot of flexibility†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"And it allows me to balance my work load with my personal life. I feel that I'm definitely more productive.†3 This can only be accomplished by the lower price of hardware and software available in the market today. In addition, with lower-cost high-tech home office equipment available, the approach saves employers money on office space and overhead. This is only the tip of the iceberg, compared to the endless ways of how the use of Computers integrated with an Internet connection can make people more productive. Furthermore, lower software prices together with very well designed computer interfaces can also increase the productivity of workers. I can certainly say that well-designed user interface helps me better accomplish my daily tasks at work. Why? One of the major changes in computer technology has been the development of icons instead of command driven interfaces. According to the use of Human-Computer Interaction Studies, â€Å"only 5% to 20% of user interactions typically involve help, but although this reflects a small percentage in terms of data collection it can be very substantial one in terms of effort and frustration!†4 â€Å"GUI (Graphical User Interface) also provides interface options not available in character mode. The chance that they're all irrelevant is slight; some will let you make people more productive.†5 An image is easier to be recognized by humans; thus well-designed software facilitates the tasks included in performing your job. This method yields constructive results, which is one of the definitions for productivity. In addition to that, many changes have been made in the way in which people connect themselves. The terminology LAN (Local Area Network) and WAN (Wide Area Network) are the methods used for people to connect in an office, within their houses or with friends around the world. Network Structure is related to the people working under the same building but not in the same area. The connections between different floors within a company can be achieved by using LANs. By means of LANs and WANs, people can contact their co-workers within the same building or the other side of the world by only sending them an e-mail message. Not only does this kind of information technology give people the ability to do their jobs more effectively, but also allows them to respond faster, yielding more productivity. â€Å"So, for instance, if your company has internal web sites in London, Singapore, Seattle, and New York, someone with a web browser could retrieve information from any of those sites with equal ease.†6 Again, this technique produces, in my opinion, favorable results not only for the user but also for the company. The aim is to make people more productive, to reduce cost and provide the best quality possible. To achieve this stage, such tools are necessary today. Not only e-mail messages make things simpler but also improve the speed in which people received/send their answers. A valid example where a user needs faster help is when a computer problem arises or you need to find out the next flight to â€Å"Spain†. Instead of calling the Telephone Company and asking for the telephone number of the carrier, one can just check the Internet for a fast, reliable information. Another example is when you need to fix your computer. You need that information as fast as you can get it. Nowadays, the use of on-line help has been proven a true value. Problems with printers, files and computers bugs can arise at any time. On-line help can easily provide that information for you or your company faster than spending time finding the number to call to customer service for help. Less time to fix the problem means more time to be productive. This example explains the ability to generate services, another explanation of productivity. Much has been said about the Internet and computers. But can computers without the Internet increase people†s productivity? I strongly believe that computers have increased the speed in which we accomplish our activities. According to many studies, my assumption is not always correct. A report states that †¦ â€Å"Information processing continues to be the principal task undertaken by America's work force. Over half the labor force is employed in information-handling activities. Overall productivity growth appears to have slowed significantly since the early 1970s and measured productivity growth has fallen especially sharply in the service sectors†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 7 But it also states that computers helped people to be more confident and therefore to feel more comfortable making decisions on their own. Computers are able to provide people with resources and material to facilitate their decision-making. They are becoming user-friendly enough for all to be able to use. This is one of the main reasons why the hi-tech companies today are facing such a state of grace, with outrageous revenues and endless room for new development of products. Many others believe that what is happening now is just the beginning and that we are entering in a new era as described by Peter Schwartz. He states that†¦ We are watching the beginnings of a global economic boom on a scale never experienced before. We have entered a period of sustained growth that could eventually double the world's economy every dozen years and bring increasing prosperity†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 8 With all this new technology emerging is not difficult to agree that much more is yet to come. If all the new technology will make tasks easier, improve quality and increase productivity, let this technology be part of the world and accessible by people. As stated before, computers are becoming a very important piece of equipment in our lives. Much can be done with computers. They are only tools that need to be driven by a smart, intelligent individual to generate the best outputs possible.