Semantics and syntax Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Semantics and syntax - Assignment Example The main difference between sentence meaning and utterance meaning is due to explicit content and implicit content. Proposition expressed is the part of explicit content. Through example proposition expressed will be illustrated. In this example the reply of student is implicitly stating that task is not completed. The student is not stating explicitly that work is not done but from the reply it is clear what student wants to convey. The statement of the teacher is explicit but reply of the student is implicit. Speech act is a term in linguistics. The modern use of the term goes back to John L. Austins doctrine of locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts. Speech acts normally include promising, ordering, greeting, warning, inviting and congratulating. In the above example the speaker is requesting and therefore a speech act. In the above example the relationship between the sentences is of presupposition. In linguistics, a presupposition is an implicit supposition about the world or background belief relating to an utterance whose truth is taken for granted in conversation. In the example the affirmative form of (a) presupposes (b). This presupposition is still true in case (a) becomes negative, interrogative or supposition. For example negative form â€Å"She was not appalled that prime minister was wearing flip flops†, still presupposes (b) as true. The same case prevails in case of interrogative and supposition. In the above example the relationship between the two sentences is of implicature. In linguistics Implicature is a term in linguistics, coined by H. P. Grice, which refers to what is â€Å"suggested† in an utterance, even though neither â€Å"expressed† nor â€Å"strictly implied† by the utterance. In the example, the second statement is stating what may not be true but from 2(a) it is implicit that speaker does not know where Henry is. The statement 2(a) is implicitly

Strategic Management Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic Management Language - Essay Example Under the influence of this principle, individuals in the business community increasingly decided to use some of their corporate power and wealth for the social good. These voluntary community obligations to improve, beautify, and uplift were quite evident by many business leaders. One early example was the cooperative effort between the railroads and the YMCA immediately after the Civil War to provide community services in areas served by the railroads. Although these services economically benefited the railroads, they were at the same time philanthropic (Shalhoud, 1999). In another example, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie put much of his great wealth to work for education. Henry Ford adopted a paternalistic style of management and made recreational and health programs available to Ford employees. The company town was one of the most visible examples of paternalism. Although business's motives for creating company towns (for example, the Pullman/Illinois experiment) were mixed, busine ss had to do a considerable amount of work in governing them (Shalhoud, 1999). Thus, the company accepted a form of paternalistic social responsibility. ... Because corporations control vast resources, because they are powerful, and because this power and wealth come from their operations within society, they have an obligation to serve society's needs. In this way, corporations and their leaders and managers become stewards, or trustees for society which forms an image of trust about the organisation among the society member. Under the influence of this principle, Congress, the popular press, and other factions started to attack many large and powerful organisations whose attitudes they perceived to be both anticompetitive and antisocial. Antitrust laws and other legislation began to place constraints on the actions of organisations. In general, there was a shift in the public perception of a corporation's place within and obligation to society. CSR & Strategic thinking To understand better why some organisations fall ethically, we can explore organisational attitudes toward stakeholders in the form of corporate social responsibility (CSR), the relationship between the CSR and a firm's strategic management can be found from various definitions of CSR. For many organisations, commitment to CSR is shown in references to stakeholders and "triple bottom line" thinking (i.e., financial, environmental, and social responsibility bottom lines). One useful definition of CSR is that it requires "the continuing commitment by business to behaving ethically and contributing to economic development while improving the quality of life of the work force and their families as well as of the community and society at large" (Anderson, 1989). The economy could only be improved in the long run and so strategic thinking is critical. Criticism of business

Reconstruction Writing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Reconstruction Writing - Assignment Example Notably, President Lincoln wanted people to forgive one another and the defeated states to rejoin the Union immediately (â€Å"Houghton Mifflin Company† 1). Conversely, the Radical Republicans in Congress sought to change the South and protect the rights of African Americans (â€Å"Houghton Mifflin Company† 1). Ideally, the United States Congress passed four statutes known as Reconstruction Acts after the civil war, which sought to support Reconstruction by creating five military districts in the South (â€Å"Houghton Mifflin Company† 1). Most specifically, President Lincoln assumed that the defeated states did not seceded from the Union and hence should suffer any punishment. Nevertheless, the Congress opposed his plan. Indeed, when Lincoln died, his successor, President Johnson adopted Lincoln’s plan to the dismay of the Congress. In the reconstruction plan, President Johnson pardoned all Southerners under oath and recognized the governments of defeated states (â€Å"Houghton Mifflin Company† 1). Indeed, by the end of 1865, only one Southern state lacked a new government and suffered from slavery. Nevertheless, the results of the mid-term elections in 1866 eliminated the Presidential Reconstruction and instituted the Congressional Reconstruction as the Radical Republicans gained dominant control in both houses. ... The Congress Reconstruction plan included the establishment of a Freedmen's Bureau to help freed slaves, enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 to protect the freed slaves from black codes, passing the 14th Amendment to protect the Civil Rights Act, and passing the Passage of Reconstruction Acts to bar defeated states from rejoining the Union. More specifically, the Reconstruction plan guaranteed universal manhood suffrage, mandated public school systems, and established progressive tax structures. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Reconstruction Amendments to the United States Constitution sought to help in the implementation of the Reconstruction plan after the Civil war. The amendments empowered the national government over the states where the Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery, Fourteenth Amendment gave blacks full citizenship, and The Fifteenth Amendment recognized the right of African American men to vote (â€Å"Houghton Mifflin Company† 1). Nevertheless, Pre sident Andrew Johnson attempted to veto Congress Reconstruction plans where the Congress had curtailed his powers through the Tenure of Office Act. However, President Andrew Johnson violated the restraining act, which propelled the Congress to impeach him (â€Å"Digital History† 1). Personally, the Congress Reconstruction plan is seemingly the best plan subject to its encouraging results. Indeed, under the Congress Reconstruction plan, black and white people were able to access public schools, homestead exemptions, and there was equal distribution of public resources (â€Å"Prentice Hall† 1). Furthermore, although President Johnson’s plan was significant in appointing military governors to

The Scandal of Larry Craig

The Scandal of Larry Craig Larry Craig was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport on a suspicion of Lewd Conduct. The date that this incident happened was on June 11th, 2007. Craig was arrested after trying to have sex with another male in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport bathroom. What he didnt know is that the man he was trying to have sex with ended up being an undercover officer, the officer was undercover because of complaints about a man trying to have sex with others in the bathroom, this has been going on for several weeks now. Larry Craig was the main person affected because of this incident, probably because he was the main person involved. Because of this incident Larry Craig lost many of his friends, a good amount of those friends were made through politics and were still in politics. One main friend he lost was Mitt Romney who was Governor of Massachusetts at the time of this incident. After the public heard about the incident, as you expected, there was a major backlash on Larry Craig and he was hated by many Americans. Many gay right activists were mad at Craig for making gay people look bad. At the time of this incident gays were trying to be treated equal to straight people because they werent equal at the time of this incident, so many people were mad for the sole fact that he interacted in a gay act like he did. In the end what really affected Larry Craig was that the incident cost him his political career. Larry Craig ended up serving the rest of his term as Senator because he refused to resign, but he did not end up running for re-election for the position because he knew just like everyone else did, that he would not win the re-election for Senator. He also was not liked by many other politicians after this incident. Another person affected because of the incident was Mitt Romney. Craig was one of the two Senators that were liaisons for Mitt Romneys 2008 Presidential Campaign. After this incident Mitt Romney was not a fan of Larry Craig, in fact Mitt Romney actually strongly disliked Larry Craig. Larry Craig made Mitt Romney look bad because of this incident, do the citizens of America really want a President that works with guys like this running the country? This ended up with Mitt Romney removing Larry Craig from anything to do with his Presidential Campaign then went on to talk badly about Craig to the public by saying Hes disappointed the American people (Hulse). The last person that was affected because of this incident was Mike Jones and the officer that arrested him. Mike Jones told the public that Larry Craig offered him $200 to have oral sex with him in a restroom. After this was told to the public and a reporter asked Larry Craig, he responded by saying Mike Jones was lying just to try to promote his new book about the incident between Mike and Ted Haggard (Hulse). So Larry Craig just said Mike was trying to just get money from his incident and that it isnt alright to do. Lastly, was the officer that arrested Craig. They never released the officers name, which is understandable because this was a big incident. Craig tried to have sex with him in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport restroom, after he made the arrest Larry Craig tried to blackmail the officer by showing his badge that showed he was a part of the government and then said So, what do you think about that? This incident occurred on August 8th, 2007. There are many facts about this government scandal. One fact is that he was arrested for disorderly conduct in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. Another fact about this scandal is that Larry Craig ended up sending a signed petition to the court and the petition pled guilty for misdemeanor charge was accepted and filed to the court on August 8th, 2007. When this was released to the public he said that he regretted pleading guilty because he was innocent. He said that he only plead guilty to the charges because he wanted this to just fly over and not go on, but it ended up backfiring and lasting along time. Larry Craig said that he just wanted to get this over as quick as possible and get on with his life and duty as one of the Senators of the United States. The time frame of this incident was in August 2007. But apparently he has been doing things like this for years but never got caught or had it released to the public until now. No one really knows if these reports about it happening in the past are true, but they know that the incident in August 2007 was real and it happened. At the time of this incident many other things were also happening in the world. One surrounding circumstance was the Phoenix spacecraft launched towards Mars. They launched the Phoenix spacecraft on August 4th, 2007. Another surrounding circumstance was that the war in Afghanistan was going on. The war in Afghanistan started in October 2001 because of the tragic incident of 9/11. This war was a long war that lasted 13 years, it eventually ended in 2014, three years after the US killed the man responsible for 9/11. The mans name was Osama Bin Laden and he was killed on May 2, 2011 in Pakistan which is a country that borders Afghanistan. He was in his hideout that he had. The last thing that was a surrounding circumstance in 2007 was the Iraq war. The US was in the middle of two wars in 2007. This war started in March 2003 because of an invasion in Iraq that was led by the United States. This war was also long but didnt last as long as the war in Afghanistan. The war in Iraq lasted 8 years. It ended in December 2011 because Obama decided it was a good idea to just end the war and pull out. In this scandal there were many rumors that had spread during this scandal. After this scandal, a gay rights activist Michael Rogers came out and told the public that this wasnt the first time that Larry Craig has done something like this. He said there were multiple similar occasions that something like this had happened to other people. The first one he has tied Craig to be in happened in 1982. Rogers also said that it has been happening in multiple locations all over the United States not just in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport where this incident took place. All these incidents were reported to a reporter for the Idaho Statesman. Michael Rogers wasnt the only person to come out and say that Craig has done this before. Up to eight other gay men came up to the reporter for Idaho Statesman saying that they had either sexual encounters with Larry Craig or him attempting to engage in sexual conduct with them. Four of the eight men gave good details about their encounters with Craig, it wasnt proven if they had happened or not but it caused some discussion. The most recent encounter that had been reported came from a 40 year old man who claimed that he and Craig had engaged in oral sex in 2004. None of these reports had been proven true nor had they been proven false. They were all just rumors and not many know if these reports had been true or not. Because of this incident the government took a huge hit. Craig has been in politics along time and he was liked by many other politicians previous to this incident. Larry Craig lost many political friends because of this and there was a huge debate whether or not if they should allow Craig to stay as Senator. They decided that Craig could remain and serve the rest of his term as Senator. Craig did end up serving the rest of his term. Many people looked at the government badly for allowing a man who did this remain the Senator and not kicking him out of his position. They were mad because they didnt want a corrupt man helping run this country, they looked at it as not right. After Craigs term was up he did not re-run in the election as Senator because everyone knew that if he did he would not win. The only one to really suffer because of this incident is Larry Craig. After this incident Craig returned to his duty as Senator of the United States. He refused to resign from his position, but after his term as Senator he lost his job and didnt re-run in the upcoming election as Senator. This isnt the only thing that that ended for him. He ended his career in politics. Another person that you could argue suffered from this incident was Mitt Romney. Craig was one of the two Senators liaisons for Mitt Romneys 2008 presidential campaign. This incident made Romney look bad and he dropped Craig from being a part of anything to do with his presidential campaign. Mitt Romney ended up losing this election and Craig didnt impact his campaign positively. Craig wasnt the main reason he lost but would Romney have gotten more votes if this didnt happen? Nobody knows. Craig probably didnt lose the election for Romney but he sure didnt help Romneys chances. The last thing that suffered because of this incident was the government because Craig had been a part of politics for a long time. He had many friends and was trusted by many people that were in politics. This incident caused a man that was high in politics to lose his job and end his career. There were many outcomes after this Scandal. Mostly it affected Larry Craig and his life. Larry Craig ended up serving the rest of his term as the Senator, then decided that he is done with his political career after this incident. He didnt re-run because he wouldve lost and he knew that. One thing that happened that is kind of interesting is that the TV show Law and Order made an episode that replicated the whole Larry Craig scandal. The episode was called Political Animal. They used things in the episode such as the foot tapping that Craig apparently did in the stalls, and when the officer in the episode arrested the councilman, the councilman yelled Im not gay to resemble what Larry Craig also did. The last thing is the stalls in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport that this incident happened in started to gain notoriety. The airport then decided that they should demolish the stalls this incident occurred in and did so. In ending, this scandal wasnt one of the biggest to occur in the United States history. But the government did take a hit and this scandal was very popular and talked about. This incident will always be remembered as a weird scandal because no one really expected Craig to do something like this, yet it has been apparently going on for years and kept quiet.

Absenteeism and Attendance of Employees – Paper

Absenteeism and Attendance of Employees Employee absenteeism is one of the most common workplace problems facing employers in today’s workplace. Legitimate illnesses still account for the majority of employee absences, but some studies have shown that less than one-third of absences from the workplace are related to poor health. Most employers offer their workers vacation,  sick leave, paid time off, or other kinds of paid and unpaid  leave. A key to curbing abuse is to have an absenteeism policy that clearly sets forth which absences are allowed, and what behavior will subject the employee to  discipline.Absenteeism problems can range from employees not calling in or not showing up for their shifts, taking sick leave when well, and exhausting their available leave every month, to requesting extra time off and establishing patterns of abuse. For these non-protected absences employers can, and should, discipline their employees. A company’s policy should be clearly written and disseminated to all employees. In addition, the employer should make sure to  train all supervisors and managers  to ensure that the policy is being fairly applied.It’s a good idea to spot check attendance issues in every department to make sure that company rules are being fairly imposed. Absenteeism is the term generally used to refer to  unscheduled  employee absences from the  workplace. Many causes of absenteeism are legitimate—personal illness or family issues, for example—but absenteeism also can often be traced to other factors such as a poor work environment or workers who are not committed to their jobs. If such absences become excessive, they can have a seriously adverse impact on a business's operations and, ultimately, its profitability Read more:  http://www. nswers. com/topic/absenteeism#ixzz2OV25Xt00 Absenteeism  is the term used to describe the fact of an individual's missing his or her regular daily activity The habit ual non-presence of an employee at his or her job. Possible causes of absenteeism include job dissatisfaction, ongoing personal issues and chronic medical problems. Regardless of cause, a worker with a pattern of being absent may put his reputation and his employed status at risk. However, some forms of absence from work are legally protected and cannot be grounds for termination. Absenteeism  is a habitual  pattern  of absence from a  duty  or  obligation.Traditionally, absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implicit contract between employee and employer; it was seen as a management problem, and framed in economic or quasi-economic terms. More recent scholarship seeks to understand absenteeism as an indicator of psychological, medical, or social adjustment to work. In this study absenteeism is defined as: temporary, extended or permanent incapacity for work as a result of sickness or infirmity The purpose o f the study was to investigate the incidence of learner bsenteeism in the country, the reasons why learners absent themselves from schools and examine the systems that exist to monitor and reduce learner absenteeism. Firstly, there are reasons for absenteeism associated with personal factors, such as illness, age, gender and learning difficulties. Secondly, absenteeism may be caused by socio-economic factors relating to food insecurity, problems with transport to school, the impact of HIV/AIDS on children and families How to Deal with Employee Absenteeism Employee absenteeism is one of the major areas of concern for organizations today.It reduces productivity and puts burden on the available staff. Let us take a look at some methods through which you can keep it in check in your organization. One of the biggest challenges that organizations face today is unplanned absenteeism. Frequent absenteeism from employees not only hampers the productivity of an organization, but it also affec ts the morale of hard-working employees. It is therefore essential that organizations get their act together and take necessary steps to reduce it. Absenteeism can either be for genuine reasons or culpable.It is the responsibility of a manager to identify employees who are frequently absent, and look for steps to counter it. Some researchers are of the view that punitive action is the only way by which unplanned absenteeism can be reduced, but this belief has few takers. You can persuade an employee to come to office but the chances that he would work wholeheartedly are slim. You don't want to create an atmosphere where your employees come up with new ideas to call in for a day off. This will also make it more difficult for employees who genuinely need a leave to tend to their personal or family issues.Besides, you can't have different set of rules for different people as this will lead to accusations of discrimination. Analysts have pointed out that an authoritarian style of manage ment is one of the prime reasons behind frequent absenteeism and tardiness. Managers who set up targets that are simply unachievable or blame everyone expect themselves for any failure, put their employees under a lot of stress. This is one of the major reasons why employees don't feel like coming to office. Organizations which fail to have an efficient leave policy in place also witness high absenteeism.In the absence of a point of contact, employees get more leverage which can lead to higher absenteeism levels. How to Reduce Employee Absenteeism? Reducing employee absenteeism requires sustained effort, and the first and foremost step in this direction is to provide coaching to the team leaders/managers of your organization. Managers should be provided with adequate training to improve their interpersonal skills. They should also be reminded that the power that has been conferred upon them has to be used to make the organization a better place to work, not to boss around and put pe ople off.This will not only help you in addressing the issue, but also in tackling issues like employee turnover, and low morale among your staff. Having a clear leave policy is essential if you don't want your employees to abuse their privileges. It is important that you explain all the policies to your employees when you recruit them so that there is no scope for miscommunication. This helps especially in case of large organizations where it is virtually impossible to keep an eye on every employee. Having an effective communication system helps in maintaining transparency and keeps rumor mongers at bay.It dispels negativity and makes employees feel that they are being recognized as a part of the organization. Trusting your employees by giving them more responsibility instills a sense of confidence in them and creates a good atmosphere in the workplace. Rewarding employees who have shown good performance by missing lesser work days can go a long way in helping you deal with employe e absenteeism. It will not only help in recognizing hardworking employees, but also motivate employees to come to work rather than staying at home.Unplanned absenteeism costs a few million dollars to American companies every year, so it is important that you address this issue with utmost seriousness. If yours is a small or a mid-scale business, then the effects are much more grave. You can't completely wipe out this issue, but what you should essentially aim to do is to reduce the frequency of culpable absenteeism. Absenteeism – employees not showing up for work when scheduled – can be a major problem for organisations. As pressures increase on the budgets and competitiveness of companies, more attention is being given to reduce workplace absenteeism and its cost.Most research has concluded that absence is a complex variable and that it is influenced by multiple causes, both personal and organisational. Job satisfaction has been noted as one of the factors influencing an employee’s motivation to attend. INTRODUCTION To many in the world of work, absenteeism is one of those stubborn problems for which â€Å"†¦.. there is no clear culprit and no easy cure† (Rhodes & Steers, 1990, p. 1). Furthermore, as a general phenomenon it does not discriminate against individuals on the basis of sex, race and religion. Bydawell (2000, p. 5) postulates that â€Å"employers have the right to expect good attendance from their employees as employment is a contract between two consenting parties. † The author further states that absentee issues will undoubtedly arise within the employment relationship, and should be resolved in a manner which is fair and equitable to both the employer and the employee. Absenteeism can be very costly to organisations and enormous savings can be realised through effective management of non-attendance at work. Besides the cost implications, absenteeism is influenced by dozens of interrelated factors hich make it even more difficult to â€Å"quantify, qualify, or rectify† (Tylczak , 1990, p. 9). One of these factors which have been cited by different researchers is an employee’s level of job satisfaction in the workplace. In conjunction with this, George and Jones (2002, p. 93) maintain that â€Å"†¦many researchers have studied the relationship between absenteeism and job satisfaction in an attempt to discover ways to reduce absenteeism. † Early job satisfaction research has emphasised the underlying assumption that job dissatisfaction represents the primary cause of absenteeism (Steers, Porter & Bigley, 1996). McShane’s (1984) review as quoted by Steers et al. (1996) supported the notion that employees who are dissatisfied with various aspects of their jobs are more likely to be absent. Studies by McShane (1984) found â€Å"job satisfaction to be more highly related to frequency of absences than to number of days lost† (Steers et al. , 1996, p. 4 09) Rhodes and Steers (1990) propose that employee attendance is based on an employee’s motivation to attend as well as their ability to attend. According to George and Jones (2002), job satisfaction is one of the factors affecting an employee’s motivation to attend.It becomes important to measure the strength of the relationship between absenteeism and job satisfaction as â€Å"†¦.. positive attitudes can at times serve to â€Å"pull† the individual towards the organisation and the reverse can be expected when attitudes are more negative † (George & Jones, 2002, p. 94). An employees’ ability to attend is influenced on the other hand by factors such as family responsibilities, transportation problems, accidents and the like. Once all these variables are identified, managers may begin to understand why employees sometimes choose not to come to work when they are fully capable of attending.By the same token, it is â€Å"equally important for ma nagers to understand those circumstances in which people, for whatever reason (illness or otherwise), are genuinely unable to come to work† (Rhodes & Steers, 1990, p. 13). Absenteeism seems to be a behaviour that organisations can never eliminate, but they can rather control and manage it. George and Jones (2002, p. 94) note that â€Å"organisations should not have absence policies that are so restrictive that they literally force workers to come to work even if they are ill. Organisations may want to recognise that a certain level of absence is indeed functional. PROBLEM STATEMENT Tremendous pressure is being placed on companies to reduce costs either through downsizing, outsourcing or restructuring. For many employees, these changes can cause feelings of insecurity regarding the nature of their jobs as well as their future. Not having people at work increases the workload of fellow employees, reduces productivity and increases the cost of contract labour. Absenteeism In ter ms of the discussion, the three terms â€Å"absence, absenteeism and sickness absence† will be used as synonymous in meaning, implying that workers who were scheduled for ork and expected to attend, did not do so. Cascio (2003, p. 45) defines absenteeism as â€Å"any failure of an employee to report for or to remain at work as scheduled, regardless of the reason. † Milkovich and Boudreau (1994) define absenteeism from an organisation’s perspective as â€Å"the frequency and/or duration of work time lost when employees do not come to work. † Absenteeism therefore implies â€Å"an unplanned, disruptive incident; but more specifically, it can be seen as non-attendance when an employee is scheduled for work † (Van der Merwe & Miller, SUMMARY OF CHAPTERIn summary, this chapter highlighted the fact that absenteeism is pervasive throughout most organisations and can place huge financial burdens on organisations. A central concern in organisations is proba bly that some employees believe that it is their â€Å"right† to 13take sick leave whether they are sick or not. These short, unscheduled absences impact on work schedules, increase workloads of other employees and can also have a detrimental effect on productivity. Furthermore, this chapter emphasised that absenteeism is influenced by a number of interrelated factors ranging from family responsibilities to satisfaction on the job.Literature suggests that absenteeism is a major problem in many organisations, hence, the importance of focusing on this behaviour within the organisation. Various studies have attempted to examine the relationship between absenteeism and job satisfaction as absence is commonly viewed as one of the means of withdrawal from stressful work situations. According to Luthans (1995), research has generally revealed a consistent inverse relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism, i. e. when satisfaction is high, absenteeism tends to be low and w hen satisfaction is low, bsenteeism tends to be high. ABSENTEEISM 2. 2. 1 INTRODUCTION Unscheduled absences affect almost every type of organisation. Hoque and Islam (2003, p. 81) describe absenteeism as a â€Å"subject to be studied, matter to be thought over and a problem to be solved. † Besides the direct costs associated with absenteeism, there are also indirect costs such as hiring of casual staff, reduced productivity, turnover and potential loss in revenue (Cole, 2002; Mason & Griffin, 2003). Robinson (2002) further notes that the indirect costs of absenteeism can be up to three times higher than the direct osts of absenteeism. It therefore becomes vital that organisations recognise the extent of this problem due to the high costs associated with continued unscheduled absences. The main problem is perhaps that many employees believe sick leave is a â€Å"benefit † like annual leave and they are entitled to take it, irrespective of the condition of their health. This has implications for organisations because it is difficult for an organisation to operate smoothly if employees fail to report for work. According to Robbins et al. (2003), having sick leave programmes in organisations, i. e. providing paid sick eave, actually enforces the wrong behaviour, which is absence from work. The authors argue that organisations should rather reward employees for attendance, not for being absent. Moreover, the importance of good attendance and its benefits should be clearly communicated to all employees (Bydawell, 2000). Rhodes and Steers (1990) maintain that people tend to have different perspectives or attach different meanings when viewing the topic of employee absenteeism. To the 20manager, absence is often seen as a problem to be solved, but to the employee it can take on a very different meaning.For the employee, absenteeism can be symbolic of deeper feelings of hostility or perceptions of inequitable treatment in the job situation or a way to sab otage the organisation for the poor work environment or other attributes of the job. TYPES OF ABSENTEEISM Van der Merwe and Miller (1988) classify absenteeism into three broad categories that help to understand the nature of this phenomenon. They are: (1) sickness absence, (2) authorised absence/absence with permission and (3) unexcused absence/ absence without leave. Sickness absence Sickness absence is a category where employees claim ill health as their reason for bsence. Requirements regarding medical/doctor’s certificates vary and are determined by company policy or the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA). The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 (1997) stipulates that a certificate needs to be produced after two days of sickness absence. Most managers have found that certification is not a guarantee of genuine absence as it has become easy for people to gain access to medical certificates. Van der Merwe and Miller (1988, p. 10) maintain that â€Å"having a criti cal attitude to short sick absence, and indicating to employees that heir absence behaviour is regularly monitored, is likely to result in a better norm of attendance. † 2. 2. 3. 2 Authorised absence Absence with permission is where employees prov an â€Å"excuse† for their absence whether that be for holidays, study leave, special leave and the like. Normally such a request is included in the absence policy (Van der Merwe & Miller, 1988, p. 11). 2. 2. 3. 3 Unexcused absence All absences not falling into the two previous categories and where no reason is given, or not accepted, are regarded as unexcused (Van Der Merwe & Miller, 1988, p. 11). This ype of absence, when it reaches problematic proportions, will have to be pointed out to employees in question in order to bring their attendance in line with acceptable norms Employees who come to work later in the day or who leave earlier are normally not recorded on the leave records of employers and the supervisor is normall y aware of such absences (Wolmarans, 1994). CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Sickness absence has attracted attention in response to competitive pressures and tightening labour markets and by managing absence, organisations can achieve a better competitive edge (Johnson et al. 2003). For many organisations however, absenteeism management remains a daunting task, as it can place huge financial burdens on organisations. Aware of the indirect costs associated with absenteeism, management must determine what factors are responsible for absenteeism and how these factors can be addressed to curb this challenging problem. The main goal of the present study was to determine the impact of job satisfaction on absenteeism as research generally states that dissatisfied employees are more likely to miss work than satisfied employees (Aamodt, 2004; Saal & Knight, 1988). The study owever only found a weak, albeit inverse correlation between satisfaction and absenteeism. The role of other variables, for example personality, work-group norms, organisational commitment and family related responsibilities have not been included although their impact on absenteeism have been noted (Mowday et al. , 1982; Rhodes & Steers, 1990). In order to improve on this, it is suggested that further research be undertaken to ascertain the potential effect of these variables on absenteeism. 145Since the current research utilised a non – probability sampling method, certain groups may have been under-presented.Although the sample of 121 is considered appropriate, a larger, stratified random sample would have enabled greater precision and control with respect to the sample. Furthermore, the sample employed was relatively small, reducing the study’s generalizability to the larger organisation. Moreover, the small number of female respondents prevented meaningful comparisons being made. The study was conducted in one organisation in the Western Cape, which further limits its applicabilit y to a wider population. A cross-sectional design was used for the study as it provided the researcher with a napshot of the research elements at a given point in time. Even though this design is considered appropriate, a longitudinal study would allow for forming a better understanding of the true nature of absenteeism and job satisfaction as it uses the same sample over a period of time. The study is further limited in that it used self –report measures of absence, which is highly subjective. Johns (1996) as quoted by Siu (2002) – argues that â€Å"employees do not have accurate perceptions of their own absenteeism, some employees underestimate their own absenteeism and overestimate the absenteeism of co-workers† (Siu, 2002, p. 218).Further research should adopt more objective measures of absence. The second goal of the study focused on the relationship between personal characteristics and absence. Significant correlations were found and it is important for ma nagement to 146understand these dynamics in order to control absenteeism in the workplace. The importance of understanding specifically the impact of age on the work force will continue to grow, owing to changes in legislation (age discrimination, non-mandatory retirement) and also the impact of HIV and AIDS (Kacmar & Ferris, 1989). Organisations need to have stringent policies in place to control absenteeism, and a ulture of attendance needs to be cultivated amongst employees. Future research needs to also examine the absence severity rate (ASR) which indicates the number of days sick leave per incident over a period of time, which is how long employees are off when they do take sick leave (Mowday et al. ,1982). Excessive absenteeism can escalate to the point that it directly affects productivity, quality and morale. A final goal of the study was to examine the impact of personal characteristics on job satisfaction. While the study focused on personal predictors of job satisfaction , there re other variables (job and organisational) that may be better predictors of job satisfaction (Spector, 1997; 2000). It is suggested that further research needs to be conducted to identify these factors that contribute to employees’ job satisfaction. 147REFERENCE LIST Aamodt, M. G. (1996). Applied Industrial/Organisational Psychology (2nd ed. ). USA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. Aamodt, M. G. (2004). Applied Industrial/Organisational Psychology (4th ed). USA: Thomson/Wadsworth. Alavi, H. R. , & Askaripur, M. R. (2003). The relationship between self-esteem and job satisfaction of personnel in government organisations.Public Personnel Management 32 (4) : 591-599. Anderson, A. E. (2004). What’s absent in absence management. Employee Benefits Journal 29 (1) : 25-30. Anderson, N. , Ones, D. S. , Sinangil, H. K, & Viswesvaran, C. (2001). 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(1994).To conduct an investigation into absenteeism in Cape Town organisations. Unpublished masters thesis, University of Cape Town. Buitenda ch, J. H. , & De Witte, H. (2005). Job insecurity, extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction and affective organisation commitment of maintenance workers in a parastatal. South African Journal of Business Management 36 (2) : 27-33. 149Bydawell, M. (2000). Managing people who don’t come to work. People Dynamics 18 : 15-19. Carr, M. , & Human, P. (1988). Job satisfaction and its relationship with demographic and work-related variables: A case study in the Western Cape, South Africa.South African Journal of Labour Relations 10 (3 & 4) : 60-67. Cascio, W. F. (2003). Managing Human Resources : Productivity, quality of work life, profits (6th ed. ). MacGraw-Hill Irwin. Chambers, J. M. (1999). The job satisfaction of managerial and executive women: Revisiting the assumptions. Journal of Education for Business 72 (2) : 69-75. Cole, C. L. (2002). 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Analysis of Cold in the earth&quot Essay

The death of a loved one is sometimes traumatizing and shocking and it indeed takes time to enable us to heal, especially if the victim of death was a soul mate. In the poem ‘Cold In The Earth’, Emily Bronte addresses the aspect of death and love. The persona has lost the love of her life and is describing her never ending love for him despite the obvious separation between them. The eight quatrain poem is dominated by the permanence of death and the changes that are brought about by its occurrence. Cold In The Earth being a reference to the dead and buried. The repetition that is used in the poem, â€Å"Far, far† creates emphasis on the distance between the two lovers. The persona addresses him as â€Å"Only Love† in capital letters showing the respect and significance that he was in her life. The rhetorical questions that are asked bring out the personas uncertainty of his absence and devastation by his death as these are questions that generally cannot be answered. The poet was known to have used paracosm in her writing. Angora, a place that she mentions in the second stanza is perhaps a fantasy world that she created as an act to make herself feel better. Her thoughts were like a bird. They no longer fly. They land on the grave where they rested their wings. There is very intense language and imagery used at this point of the poem. Persona is saying that her thoughts always land at the grave. Birds are free and fly wherever they please but they choose to land at the grave. The grave of the man she will always love no matter how far apart the two lovers are. She refers to the deceased man as a noble heart showing us that this was indeed someone who was very precious to her. The love of her life has been gone for fifteen years by the third stanza. She has mourned and suffered immensely since his death. The brown hills being a metaphor to describe her perhaps immediately after the death as being alone and finished completely. Thus her never ending thoughts to commit suicide and end her life which she thought was pointless without her love. The hills have now faded away and look like they do in spring. Beautiful, colorful and alive. This shows that time indeed changes things but she will, despite the immense changes, never forget him. She remains faithful to him. The persona begins to ask for forgiveness. She feels that she has forgotten him due to the other never ending demands of her life. However, she assures him that although these demands can sometimes come in the way of her thoughts of him, they will never make her forget him. However far he is, she will always love and remember him. No other person has ever been so significant and important to her. Whether day or night, â€Å"No other Sun,† â€Å"No other Star†, He was a blessing to her. He is a blessing like no other. Every thought she had was of him. The fifth stanza is a constant reminder of her consistent love for him. It is a declaration that nothing in the universe can overcome her love for him. But the persona continues with a completely different perspective than that from the beginning of the poem. She accepts that life must go on with time. It does not necessarily have to be an ecstatic joyful life, but instead one where she has not given up all hope. The last stanzas are a final declaration of how she feels about the death, her love for him and the intense changes that she has gone through over time. She has grown out of the thoughts of suicide she had had before and realized that it was his death and not hers. She must wait for her turn and quickly refuses the thoughts of her dying. She realizes that this was not her grave. Oxymoron is used in the final stanza. ‘Rapture and pain,’ ‘divinest anguish’ being two entirely feelings, the purpose is perhaps a description to show that the excellence of time and the misery of it have finally come together. Her anguish could only be taken away by divine power. We are able to see love, loss, sadness, time and a declaration that life must go on. The nostalgic mood brought about by the persona deeply yearning for something she cannot have, her lover.

Free Essays on Racial Profiling

Racial Profiling can be defined as the identification of racial factors, such as skin color, hair texture, facial structure, physical attire, gender, spoken language, accent, or religion. As noted above, there are many ways in which someone can be racially profile. Racial profiling has been used for many years. It started with segregation in the early 1900’s and recently with cases such as Major Aaron Campbell vs Florida. Yet, racial profiling has been overlooked and not investigated thoroughly until recently. Some believe that racial profiling is a good offensive tactic by law enforcement. But, others feel that singling out minorities to be involved in criminal activities is a violation of the law, the Fourth amendment, and their civil rights. According to Voice magazine, about 50 uniformed and undercover officers, Caucasians and African American, participated in an unscientific survey which contended that â€Å"the felon look† or â€Å"Tupac-thug-for-life† image and posture account for the majority of the stops and frisk done by officers.(Noel, 2000) During the survey the officers had to assign a high or low percentage to every piece of clothing a person is wearing. Therefore, showing us a glimpse into an officer’s mind. The following is a list that may constitute suspicion for a stop and/or frisk according to the survey: 1. A baseball cap, worn at any angle, accounts for about 10%. 2. A bandana, particularly red or blue, hints a gang involvement and accounts for about 20%. 3. An XXL hooded sweattop, or â€Å"hoodie†, accounts for about 20%. 4. Sagging or baggy trousers, accounts for about 30% of stops. 5. Exposed plaid boxer shorts, accounts for about 10% of stops. 6. Expensive high-top sneakers, unlaced, suggesting that the person may have done prison time, accounts for about 10%. These are just mere suggestions of how a suspicious person may dress and could be involved in criminal activities. Living ... Free Essays on Racial Profiling Free Essays on Racial Profiling I. Introduction What’s a person, group or society to do when the holder of law itself states that a police officer’s true motive for stopping someone was irrelevant. If that person is suspected of some kind of violation, the police officer may pull that person over even if the police officer was motivated by racial bias (Savage 2001). Challenge it, that’s what we can do. There are African-Americans and other racial ethnicities in our society who feel that police officers are racially bias towards them because the color of their skin happens to be shades darker than theirs. There are people out there who see this as unconstitutional and yet there is no supreme law directly stating that Racial Profiling is unconstitutional. It must be that there are people that are too scared to challenge something like this because it’s a real big controversial issue, which is considered to be too much heated of a controversial issue to debate at times. Debate after debate people b egin to lose track of what Racial Profiling really means. Then consider this, the neutral definition of Racial Profiling: the practice of police officers stopping motorist and pedestrians of certain racial or ethnic groups because the officers believe that these groups are more likely than others to commit certain types of crimes (House Research Organization 2000: 2). This active kind of practice of police officers to stop people solely on the basis of their skin color being shades different from theirs is, to no purpose, wrong. There are African-Americans and other ethnic groups in our society who feel that police officers are racially bias towards them because the color of their skin happens to be shades darker than theirs. In addressing this issue to you, this paper begins with a brief background sketch on racial biases against the African-Americans and other ethnic groups in society. Following that, addressing the issue through first... Free Essays on Racial Profiling Position paper: Is Racial Profiling Justified in Certain Situations? To begin with, I believe that when a traffic stop is made simply based on race and color than this is wrong and a violation of an individuals rights. However, I believe that in some situations racial profiling is justified. Some even consider the act of racial profiling as a valuable and effective way to reduce crime. When our national security is on the line, â€Å"racial profiling† or more precisely, threat profiling based on race, religion, or nationality is justified. Last week the FBI came under fire for questioning Muslims in Seattle about possible terrorist ties. Where else are federal agents supposed to turn for help in uncovering terrorists plots? How can people argue that profiling is offensive when prohibiting it jeopardizes our safety? Profiling in certain situations must be done and we must consider the missed opportunities. In summer 2001, Phoenix FBI agent Kenneth Williams urged his bosses to investigate Muslim men whom he suspected of training in U.S. flight schools as part of terrorist missions. His superiors rejected him and FBI director, Robert Mueller, said the reason was that there were concerns that the plan could be viewed as discrimatory racial profiling. If the FBI had taken the advice, the feelings of some Arabs and Muslims might have been hurt but the Twin Towers might still be standing and 3,000 innocent people might be alive today. Profiling is just one investigative tool among many that can be used. This is a situation where racial profiling is justified. We need to pay close attention to issues of security and public safety, issues that could mean giving up some of the freedoms that we enjoy especially in the time of the war on terror. People need to understand that they could be profiled and just except the fact. If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about. If the government needs to profile me... Free Essays on Racial Profiling Racial Profiling can be defined as the identification of racial factors, such as skin color, hair texture, facial structure, physical attire, gender, spoken language, accent, or religion. As noted above, there are many ways in which someone can be racially profile. Racial profiling has been used for many years. It started with segregation in the early 1900’s and recently with cases such as Major Aaron Campbell vs Florida. Yet, racial profiling has been overlooked and not investigated thoroughly until recently. Some believe that racial profiling is a good offensive tactic by law enforcement. But, others feel that singling out minorities to be involved in criminal activities is a violation of the law, the Fourth amendment, and their civil rights. According to Voice magazine, about 50 uniformed and undercover officers, Caucasians and African American, participated in an unscientific survey which contended that â€Å"the felon look† or â€Å"Tupac-thug-for-life† image and posture account for the majority of the stops and frisk done by officers.(Noel, 2000) During the survey the officers had to assign a high or low percentage to every piece of clothing a person is wearing. Therefore, showing us a glimpse into an officer’s mind. The following is a list that may constitute suspicion for a stop and/or frisk according to the survey: 1. A baseball cap, worn at any angle, accounts for about 10%. 2. A bandana, particularly red or blue, hints a gang involvement and accounts for about 20%. 3. An XXL hooded sweattop, or â€Å"hoodie†, accounts for about 20%. 4. Sagging or baggy trousers, accounts for about 30% of stops. 5. Exposed plaid boxer shorts, accounts for about 10% of stops. 6. Expensive high-top sneakers, unlaced, suggesting that the person may have done prison time, accounts for about 10%. These are just mere suggestions of how a suspicious person may dress and could be involved in criminal activities. Living ... Free Essays on Racial Profiling Racial Profiling: â€Å"Its Time to Put an End to this Unjust Practice† It has happened to actors such as Wesley Snipes, Will Smith, Blair Underwood and LeVar Burton. It has happened to football player Marcus Allen, Olympic athletes Al Joyner and Edwin Moses, and it has happened to attorney Johnnie Cochran. Police officers stop, question and even search black drivers who have committed no crime, based on the excuse that a traffic offense has occurred. The term black Americans use for these stops are â€Å"Driving while Black† or DWB. Driving while black is a prime example of racial profiling. The issue of racial profiling in America is one of great importance to the future of American society, and regrettably, is not a new issue. For decades black Americans have complained about this practice. Law enforcement officials across our great nation deny that racial profiling occurs, but an over whelming majority of the black community believes that racial profiling is practiced on a daily basis. During the Civil Rights Era, racial profiling was a major issue, thousands of black Americans were unnecessarily stopped and arrested based on their skin color alone. Yet, after all of our progress 2 since that torrid period of our past, we continue to fight for the stoppage of racial profiling in the year 2000. This issue screams to be addressed by the government and abolished in American society if we truly desire our country to be â€Å"The Land of the Free,† that we all know and love. Racism, and stereotyping in general, are issues that date back many centuries. It would seem that skin color alone may very well make you a suspect in America, and more likely to be stopped by our law enforcement personnel. The war on drugs has given police a license to target those people who they believe fit the â€Å"profile† of a drug dealer or a gang member. The prevailing perception in American society today is that most drug trafficke... Free Essays on Racial Profiling Racial profiling is the tactic of stopping someone because of the color of his or her skin and a fleeting suspicion that the person is engaging in criminal behavior (Meeks, p. 4-5). This practice can be conducted with routine traffic stops, or can be completely random based on the car that is driven, the number of people in the car and the race of the driver and passengers. The practice of racial profiling may seem more prevalent in today's society, but in reality has been a part of American culture since the days of slavery. According to Tracey Maclin, a professor at the Boston University School of Law, racial profiling is an old concept. The historical roots "can be traced to a time in early American society when court officials permitted constables and ordinary citizens the right to 'take up' all black persons seen 'gadding abroad' without their master's permission" (Meeks, p. 5). Although slavery is long since gone, the frequency in which racial profiling takes place remains the same. However, because of our advanced electronic media, this issue has been brought to the American public's attention. Some consider racial profiling a viable tool to reduce crime. The New Century Foundation, a non-profit organization based in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Oakton, VA, published a report on the American Renaissance website, stating that African-Americans commit 90% of the approximately 1,700,000 interracial crimes of violence that occurs every year in the United States. They are more than fifty times more likely to commit violent crimes against whites than vice versa. According to this same report, African-Americans are much more likely to commit violent crimes than whites and when they commit these crimes, target whites slightly more than half the time. The foundation believes that these crime statistics warrant racial profiling as a crime deterrent and believe that it may even reduce crime. A recent article publish...