Film Critique - Dances with Wolves Movie Review

Film Critique - Dances with Wolves - Movie Review Example The Wind in His Hair, a young, angry Indian, did not trust him at all. When Dunbar brought back Stands With a Fist, who was a white girl that was living with the tribe and was attempting suicide following the death of her husband, Dunbar was looked upon the tribe less suspiciously by everybody. Then, when Dunbar came into the camp to tell the tribe about him spotting Buffalo, he attained mythical status, and everybody wanted to be his friend from that point on. Dunbar then started living with the tribe. He learned the language and married Stands With a Fist. Dunbar was captured by the army when he went back to his original post to retrieve his diary, thinking that the diary would be used to find the Sioux tribe and kill them. The Sioux brothers of Dunbar ambushed the Army men who were taking Dunbar to be tried for treason and probably hanged. Dunbar knew that his presence in the tribe made the entire tribe a target, and put everybody in danger, so he knew that he had to leave. With a heavy heart, he and Stands With a Fist left the tribe. In the captions, it was made known that the entire tribe had submitted to the white man’s rule 18 months later. One of the major themes that ran all the way through the movie was the white man’s disregard for nature and animals. Through this theme ran an undercurrent that the white man had no regard for life, period. The theme of having a general disregard for nature, thus having a general disregard for animals, was subtly introduced to the character of John Dunbar’s guide.... The Sioux brothers of Dunbar ambushed the Army men who were taking Dunbar to be tried for treason and probably hanged. Dunbar knew that his presence in the tribe made the entire tribe a target, and put everybody in danger, so he knew that he had to leave. With a heavy heart, he and Stands With a Fist left the tribe. In the captions, it was made known that the entire tribe had submitted to the white man’s rule 18 months later. Themes One of the major themes that ran all the way through the movie was the white man’s disregard for nature and animals. Through this theme ran an undercurrent that the white man had no regard for life, period. The theme of having general disregard for nature, thus having a general disregard for animals, was subtly introduced in the character of John Dunbar’s guide. This guide threw a tin can into the prairie, and by the way that Dunbar looked upon this action, it was clear that Dunbar did not approve of this. The theme was touched upon m uch more clearly in a subsequent scene – there were dead animals in a pond, all of them shot to death. It wasn’t clear why these animals were killed – they apparently were not killed for their hide, or their meat, because the entire carcasses were left to rot in the water. They apparently were killed only for sport. The next instance where the audience was shown that the white man had no respect for animals or nature came during a scene where there were thousands of buffaloes rotting in the sun. They were stripped of their hides and their tongues, then left on the prairie to rot. This was an insult to the Indians – they depended upon the buffalo for the meat, the hide, the organs, the bones, everything. They did not

Story of an Hour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Story of an Hour - Assignment Example The narrative is just so full of figures of speech, one has to really spend time meditating on the symbolisms to fully understand what the story is all about. Although during the initial reading, the reader could understand the events in the story however, it still requires an in-depth analysis for one to really ‘feel and understand’ the story behind the story. Selina Jamil thinks â€Å"The Story of an Hour† is an expression of emotions which she strongly supports through the symbolisms in the story. For instance, Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble is perceived as an emotional trouble rather than a physical one (Jamil). While other women might easily be been open to accept their fate as being the housekeepers and even husband and children keepers, it is interesting to note that not all men are created equal and Mrs. Mallard is not the common type who would just be satisfied with her share in life. She was the woman who loved the outdoors and whose dreams are not bound within the four walls of her house rather are far and beyond what her eyes can see as it was then revealed as she was alone in her room thinking about how she would be living after her husband’s burial. Aside from the information directly unveiled in the story, symbolisms help to further picture the desires of the main character. The open window that meets her eyes as she opens her room tells a lot about Mrs. Mallard. The room itself is a picture of her private, unspoken thoughts and desires. Entering it without letting anyone follow her could paint the picture of Louise’s secrets that are not meant to be revealed rather are hers alone. The comfortable, roomy armchair is a representation of the ease she can have with her thoughts and herself in the privacy of her room (Lorcher) and the open window symbolizes the window to herself, her heart. This could be

Contract Laws In China and America Essay Example for Free

Contract Laws In China and America Essay I.Concepts and Features of Contract and Contract Law I.Concepts A.Concept and Features of Contract 1. Concept of Contract According to the provision of Article 2 of the Contract Law of Peoples Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as Contract Law), contract is the agreement in which natural persons, legal persons or other organizations with equal status declare a common intention to establish, alter and terminate civil rights and obligations. Contract was once divided into agreement and contract. Agreement refers to the civil legal act established by both parties consensus with regard to opposite intentions, such as sales agreement. Contract refers to the civil legal act established by two or above three parties’ consensus with regard to collateral intentions, such as partnership contract. However, such division can no longer be seen in our current laws and the two are collectively referred to as contract. Contract has its broad and narrow meanings. In the broad sense, contract refers to all agreements generating rights and obligations, such as labor contract, administrative contract, civil contract, etc. Furthermore, civil contract may also be divided into creditor’s right contract, real right contract, intellectual property contract, identity contract, personality right contract, etc. In the narrow sense, contract refers to the agreement for involved parties with equal status to establish, alter and/or terminate civil rights and obligations. The contract adjusted by the contract law is generally confined to the contract of creditor’s right, real right and/or intellectual property, etc. 2. Features of Contract It can be seen from the concept of contract contract is the agreement in which natural persons, legal persons or other organizations with equal status declare a common intention to establish, alter and terminate civil rights and obligations that, contract has the following legal features: Contract is a kind of civil legal act implemented by natural persons, legal persons and/or other organizations with equal status. As the most important legal fact, civil legal act is the lawful act implemented by civil subjects, which can generate, alter or terminate civil right and obligations. Since contract is a kind of civil legal act, it is different from fact behavior in nature. Fact behavior refers to the act which does not take the declaration of intention as an essential condition and cannot generate the legal effect expected by the party involved, such as infringing act, picking up lost property, etc. In nature, contract as the civil legal act belongs to lawful act. That is to say, only under the circumstance that the declaration of intention made by the contracting parties is lawful, the contract is legally binding and protected by national laws. On the contrary, in case contracting parties make illicit declaration of intention, the agreement, even already reached, may not have the effect as a contract. As contract is a kind of civil legal act, general regulations of civil law concerning civil legal acts, such as essential condition of civil legal act, the ineffectiveness and revocation of civil act, are all applicable to contract. 3 Contract is the civil legal act in which two or more parties declare a common intention. The establishment of a contract shall have two or more parties who declare intention to each other and achieve a consensus. If such declared intentions are not consistent, no contract will be formed. Even though â€Å"one party cheats or threats or take advantage of the other party’s precarious situation to make such other party to conclude a contract which violates its real intention†, the party suffering damages is entitled to request people’s court or arbitration agency to alter or revoke the contract (Article 54.2 of the Contract Law. For similar notes cited in the following text, Contract Law will be omitted). Contract is the civil legal act with a view to establishing, altering and terminating civil rights and obligations. Establishing civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, civil rights and obligations thus emerge between; altering civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, the previous civil rights and obligations between them is changed and new civil rights and obligations are formed; terminating civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, the civil rights and obligations previously existing between them are abolished. â‘ £Contract is a civil legal relationship generated on an equal and voluntary basis by parties involved. That is to say, the subjects concluding the contract have equal legal status and no party may impose its will on the other party. â€Å"Parties of a contract have equal legal status and one party may not impose its will on the other party† (Article 3); â€Å"Parties have the right to conclude a contract voluntarily according to law and no unit or individual may intervene illegally† (Article 4). â‘ ¤Contract is the civil legal act which is legally binding. â€Å"The contract concluded according to law is legally binding upon parties involved. Parties shall perform their obligations as agreed and may not alter or terminate the contract with no consent†; â€Å"The contract concluded according to law is protected by law† (Article 8). Unless otherwise specified by law such as force majeure, the party who fails to perform the contract or whose performance of obligations does not conform to that prescribed in the contract shall assume the liabilities for breach of the contract to continue to perform the contract, adopt remedial measures or compensate losses. B. Concept and Features of Contract Law 1. Concept of Contract Law Generally speaking, the concept of contract law may be comprehended in the broad and narrow sense. In the narrow sense, given contract is the consensus of parties to the contract in nature, contract law is deemed as the law implementing the promise and agreement of parties involved. â€Å"The core of contract law is the exchange of promise†. However, the concept of contract law in the narrow sense confines the contract law to normalizing the establishment, effectiveness, performance and default liability of the contract, but excluding the non-establishment, ineffectiveness and revocation thereof. Therefore, the scope contained is not comprehensive. Just as Bayless stated, â€Å"The contract law pays attention not only to enforceable contracts and   agreements, but to adjusting the result of no contract or agreement concluded†. Therefore, the concept of contract law in the narrow sense is not suitable to apply. The concept of contract law in the broad sense proceeds from the object normalized thereby, namely the transaction relation, and defines the contract law as â€Å"the law relating to the individual transfer of property or labor service†. Most scholars in our country also consider that contract law is the law adjusting the dynamic property relations. Both contract law and real right law adjust the property relations, however, â€Å"the real right law stipulates and adjusts the static state of property relation while the contract law stipulates and adjusts the dynamic state of property relation†. Given that the contract law comprehensively adjusts the transaction relation and the establishment of a contract equals to the formation of a transaction, the performance, alteration, cancellation and termination of the contract constitute the transaction process. Consequently, it’s necessary for the contract law to stipulate the procedures to conclude the contract by parties involved, ineffectiveness and revocation of the contract, remedies upon the failure or part failure to perform the contract, various specific contracts, etc. In a word, any and all transaction relations may be adjusted by the contract law. The definition of contract law as the law adjusting the transaction relation precisely summarizes the nature and fu nctions of the contract law. 2. Features of Contract Law The contract law takes adjusting the transaction relation as its content and is applicable to various civil contracts, which determines the contract law has the features different from those in other departments of civil law (such as personality right law). These features are: Contract law has strong randomicity. Under the condition of market economy, the transaction development and property growth require the market subjects to be independent and fully express their wills. Laws shall leave broad space for the transaction activities of market subject and the intervention of government in economic activities shall be limited to the extent prescribed in the contract. The requirements put forward by the market economy against the law which endow parties with freedom to act as far as possible are thoroughly expressed in the contract. Therefore, the contract law mainly regulates the transaction through random norms rather than mandatory norms. For example, though the contract law stipulates various contracts with certain titles, it does not necessarily require parties to design the contract content precisely in accordance with the provisions prescribed in law concerning the contract with certain title, but parties may negotiate to determine the contract articles freely. As long as the articles negotiated by parties don’t violate the prohibitive regulations of laws, social public interest or public morality, the effect of the contract is acknowledged by law. Notwithstanding law stipulates the contracts with certain titles, parties are not prohibited from creating new contract forms. Although the form to establish a contract is stipulated by law, unless otherwise specially prescribed about the contract form, parties are allowed to freely choose the contract form in principle. In short, a majority of norms of the contract law may be altered by parties through agreements. The contract law also takes the freedom of contract as its basic principle; therefore, the contract law can be called as law at will in this connection. â‘ ¡Contract law emphasized the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value The object normalized by the contract law is transaction relation, which requires the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value in nature. Just as Marx indicated, the commodity is â€Å"equal by nature†. In the exchange of commodities, â€Å"only the owners of commodities with equal status stand at opposite sides, and the means of occupying others’ commodities may only be used to alienate their own commodities.† The exchange of commodities inevitably requires conforming to the law of value so as to carry out the exchange of equivalent labor, which determines that the contract law attaches more importance to the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value than other laws of civil law. â‘ ¢Contract law is a uniform property law. Market economy is an open economy, which demands for the integration of domestic market with international market, domestic trade and international trade. As the basic law of the market economy, the contract law should not only reflect the requirements for a uniform market with a set of uniform rules, but also integrate with international conventions. â‘ £Contract law is the law producing social wealth. Market economy is a developed credit economy, with all credit systems established on the basis of contract relations. A developed credit economy needs promise and agreement. At the same time, the more solid and universal the promise and agreement are, the more developed the credit economy is. II. Comparison of Development History and Textural Difference between Chinese and American Contract Laws A. Different Development Histories of Contract Legal Systems in China and US 1. Emergence of Contract and Contract Law Contract is the result of commodity economy, which emerges along with the emergence of commodity economy and develops along with the development of commodity economy. The contract law is accompanied with the emergence and development of the contract. In later period of clan society, due to the emergence and accumulation of private property, the exchange of products among people was becoming increasingly extensive and certain rules came into shape gradually. In the beginning, these rules were guaranteed by oaths, customs and other ways. When the oaths, customs and other ways were incapable to guarantee the implementation of trading rules, the social community emerging as the times required (organ of state power) thus formulated legal norms to supersede the foregoing. The earliest contract law of human society was developed from customs, so it’s called as customary law. However, the continuous development of society, especially the development and change of social   imbalance, made the customs different in various regions and groups, which resulted in customs here and now being inconsistent with those there and then, thus leading to transaction disputes. This determined that the written law would gradually substitute the customary law. The Code of Hammurabi promulgated by ancient Babylonian Empire in the 18th century BC is the most ancient and most well-preserved written law discovered so far in the whole world, which has 282 articles in total, among which over 120 stipulates contract norms directly. The Twelve Tables and Corpus Juris Civilis promulgated by ancient Rome have more complete legal norms about contract, acting as the most complete and typical law reflecting the production and exchange of commodities among ancient laws and playing an important role in the legislation of capitalist countries in later ages. The French Civil Code in 1804 was based on Roman law. The civil laws in European countries, except Britain, mostly originated from Roman law and formed the so-called â€Å"Roman Law System†. Along with the colonial expansion of these countries, the impact of Roman law was further extended to more regions of the world. After the Second World War, the contract law of early modern period was properly modified to become the modern contract law. 2. Development History of China’s Contract Law The ancient laws in our country had some regulations about the contract. According to the records of Rites of Zhou, there appeared written contracts such as â€Å"panshu (bamboo or wooden slips on which the texts of borrow and loan are written)†, â€Å"zhiji (sales contract)†, â€Å"fubie (borrow and loan contract)† in Zhou Dynasty. â€Å"Where any party asks for the government authority to deal with any dispute arising from debt borrow and loan, the case may only be accepted with the â€Å"panshu† previously co ncluded present†. â€Å"Where any dispute arises from a borrow and loan contract, the official in charge of trying such dispute should make a judgment according to the articles specified in fubie†. â€Å"Where any dispute arises from a sales contract, the official in charge of trying such dispute should make an award according to the articles specified in zhiji†. All these written contracts were main basis for government authorities to judge right and wrong and determine the debt liabilities. In the following dynasties of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing, laws had several regulations about contract and contract system. However, in ancient times, our country was always with the agricultural economy which was self-sufficient and self-supporting, and the commodity economy was not developed. As a result, the norms of contract law centering on trading rules was also not developed, with no specialized civil code. Even in the collection of various laws such as Tang Code and Great Qing Legal Code, articles pertaining to contract and contract system are also rarely seen. Since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, the contract law of our country has achieved significant development. In the initial stage of new China, the Financial and Economic Committee of the Government Administration Council under Central People’s Government promulgated the Interim Measures for Organs, State-owned Enterprises and Cooperative societies to Conclude Contracts or Agreements on September 27, 1950, and the Trade Department formulated the Decision Pertaining to Earnestly Concluding Contracts and Strictly Implementing Contracts as well as the norms relating to various specific contracts such as sales contract and contract labor agreement of capital construction in the same year, all of which ascertain the legal norms of contract system and contract in the new China. Needless to say, due to the impact of wrong course and wrong trend of thought, the legal nihilism was rampant and the contract system was once cancelled in late 50s. Especially in the period of the â€Å"Great Cultural Revolution†, all the contract systems, relevant laws and regulations were discarded. In the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party, the wrong policy of â€Å"taking the class struggle as the outline† was abandoned, the focus of work of the Party and the nation was shifted to developing economy, and the strategic decision of reform and opening up to the outside world was made in the session. All of these opened up a promising prospect for the development of contract legislation . The Economic Contract Law, Economic Contract Law Involving Foreign Interest and Technology Contract Law were successively approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on December 13, 1981, March 21, 1985 and June 23, 1987. It is especially worth mentioning that the General Principles of the Civil Law approved in the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People’s Congress explicitly regulates the system of civil rights and the system of civil liabilities, playing a very important role in perfecting the system of contract laws in our country. Through more than a decade’s legislation, our country has formed the legal system of contract laws which is guided by the General Principles of the Civil Law, backboned with Economic Contract Law, Economic Contract Law Involving Foreign Interest and Technology Contract Law, and based on the contract norms in specialized laws such as Maritime Law, Civil Aviation Law and Copyright Law and a set of administ rative laws and regulations normalizing contracts. All these laws have greatly promoted the economic development and the establishment and development of socialist market economy in our country. However, along with the establishment and development of socialist market economy, this legal system gradually presented new defects. In order to adapt to the requirements of economic construction and development, it’s necessary to proceed from the actual situations of our country, summarize the experience of ten years’ contract legislation and borrow general international practices to formulate a uniform and relatively complete contract law. On October 1993, the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress embarked on drafting the contract law on the basis of the legislation program approved in the Eighth Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. According to the advice from all sources, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress further modified the draft for many times to form the Contract Law of People’s Republic of China (Draft) and submitted it to the Second Session of the Ninth National People’s Congress for deliberation. Through serious and earnest deliberation by people’s representatives, this important law was finally approved on March 15, 1999, which is a glorious page in the legislation history of the Republic, marking that the legislation of our country’s socialist market economy is ushering a new phase. 3. Development History of American Contract Law As a whole, the American laws are developed on the basis of inheriting British laws. Although American laws are influenced by British laws at different levels in different fields, the contract rules formed in the British common law and equity law have a significant impact on American contract law. Therefore, when investigating the historical evolution of American contract law, it’s necessary to review the early development history of British contract law. a. Lawsuit of Promise in Early Britain In the medieval period, British law had not formed the concept of contract. The earliest to emerge was the so-called lawsuit of promise, namely, when the promisor violated his/her promise, the promisee might file a lawsuit with the court to force the promisor to implement the promise. The principle pursued by common court when trying such lawsuit was: only making a promise cannot generate a right of action; under normal conditions, promise doesn’t have the effect of compulsory ex ecution, exceptional situations excluded. In contrast to the practice of common court as mentioned above, other courts showed more active attitude towards accepting the lawsuit of promise. First of all, ecclesiastical court regarded the promise with oath as an irreversible one according to canon law and rendered the implementation. Secondly, in the court of equity, the Chancellor decided that since one party suffered loss because of the other party’ failure to perform his/her promise, such party shall obtain the compensation. However, till the 16th century AD, common court won the battle with the court of equity and ecclesiastical court striving for jurisdiction. In this process, the jurisdiction of common court was increasingly enlarged and the common law became the main part of British law. The opportunity for the contract law to develop through the judgments of ecclesiastical court and court of equity was always limited. From the 15th to the 16th century, along with the development of the relations of commodity production within the feudal society, to develop a kind of general basis for enforceable promise within the previous lawsuit procedures of common law was the urgent task to be resolved which was confronted by common court. At the beginning, common court just confirmed more exceptional situations under which the promise may be executed mandatorily. However, this didn’t change the basic principle that promise doesn’t have the effect of compulsory execution under normal conditions. Since the second half of the 12th century, common court started to confirm the enforceable effect of sealed covenant, which was a kind of written promise with a seal on. Some people considered, if common court could loosen its requirements about the form of this written document, such document may also be mandatorily executed even with no seal on. The existence of such covenant might become the general basis of the compulsory execution of promise, while till the 14th century, this possibility disappeared. Common court considered, the seal not only proved that one party had already made a promise, but also indicated that the promisor had seriously expressed that he/she would perform the promise for the promisee. Therefore, a covenant which was not sealed couldn’t be compulsorily executed. At the end of the 12th century, common court started to confirm the debt of a borrow and loan relation as the cause of action: In case one person borrowed an   amount of money from another person, the borrower should pay back the money to the lender. If not, the lender might file a lawsuit with the court to force the borrower to pay back money. Later on, common court further expanded the scope of lawsuit of debt repayment: Once a person granted a kind of material interest to another person, such person might lodge a lawsuit of debt r epayment against the latter one, no matter the interest provided was a valuable thing or personal service. However, the existence of such debt also didn’t become the general basis of the compulsory execution of promise for this debt was only confined to the interest which was already granted to others. If a promisee just accepted a promise from the promisor while obtained no actual interest from the promisor, he still couldn’t lodge a lawsuit of debt repayment. In the beginning of the 15th century, common court developed such a principle in its judgment: If someone made a promise of undertaking some kind of obligation to another one, and the promisee suffered damages in the process of the promisor’s performance of the obligation, the promisee might lodge a lawsuit to require the promisor to compensate. This is called the Action of Assumpsit for Misfeasance, whose basis was the theory of law of torts then already approved. In this kind of lawsuit, if the promisor didn’t perform the obligation it undertook, the promisee couldn’t obtain the remedy. In the second half of the 15th century, the judges of common court realized that, in order to win the battle for jurisdiction with other courts, the scope of lawsuit of commitment must be expanded. New legal precedent rule in this period was: If the promisor changed his status due to his dependence on the promise and the non-performance of the promisor made the promisee suffer damages, the promisee might also obtain the remedy. Till the 16th century, the previous scope of lawsuit of commitment was newly expanded, namely, when two persons made promises to each other and the promise of one party constituted the transaction object promised by the other person, even if no party of the two performed his obligation, the promise to be carried out shall have the effect of compulsory execution. The reason to adopt such rule was that, once the promise was made, the promisee has an expectation for the implementation of the promise, which should be protected, even if the promisee didnt perform the corresponding obligation, nor suffered â€Å"damages†. Generally speaking, the 17th and the 18th centuries were the period during which British contract law slowly developed. b. Evolution of American Contract Law in Modern Society The American historian Henry Maine said in 1861 that, â€Å"till now, the movement of this developing society has always been a movement from identity to contract.† This sentence indicates the profound revolution undergone by western society from the feudal times of middle ages to the times of â€Å"laissez-faire capitalism†: In the feudal society, human relation was determined by their identity; in the period of â€Å"laissez-faire capitalism†, human relation was determined by the agreement reached between them. The whole 19th c entury is regarded as the century of contract by western historians. The United States, just independent from the colonial domination of the Great Britain, entered in such a century soon after its establishment. In this period, main systems of British and American contract laws were both confirmed. With regard to the main body, American contract law remained consistent with British contract law. In this period, the consistency of American contract law with that of western countries was: The contract concluded by parties involved was generally considered as having the effect of compulsory execution. Once confirmed, such effect shall become absolute, and may not be changed by state will. In the second half of the 19th century, as the laissez-faire economy developed toward an extreme orientation, to safeguard individuals right to freely conclude contracts had become the primary goal of laws. In the eyes of Americans at that time, â€Å"in nature, justice is to safeguard lawful contracts†. The freedom of contract in the 19th century gave a full display of personal â€Å"independent will† and made private economy taking the â€Å"struggle for existence† as the motive power obtain rapid development with no government restraint and intervention. However, in late 19th century and early 20th century, the defects caused by this unlimited freedom of contract had fully appeared. In this period, contract laws of western countries underwent a new round of modification. The result was, the previous social movement â€Å"from identity to contract† started to turn to the social movement â€Å"from contract to identity†. In the US, since this century, especially since the Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 30’s, personal freedom of contract has received more and more restrictions. Today, the â€Å"identity† is playing an important role in determining the relation of rights and obligations among people for the second time: Workers are protected by â€Å"workers compensation law† due to their identity, and the article of employment contract preventing the employer from undertaking the compensation liability for industrial accidents is no longer legally binding. Similarly, the lessee of rental agreement, the insurer of insurance contract and the demanders of various contracts of public service are all protected by certain laws due to their special identities. It can be seen from the aforementioned change that, in modern American contract law, to provide special legal protection for the vulnerable party of a transaction has already become a consistent policy. Another feature displayed by American contract law in the process of its modern development and evolution is that, the impact of traditional British common law and systems and principles of other laws is decreasing, which is fully reflected from the fact that the Uniform Commercial Code abandoned and modified the traditional system of British contract law. B. Textual Difference and its Reasons between Chinese and American Contract Law Systems Given the development history of contract and the difference between Chinese and American political systems, there are following features when comparing Chinese contract law with American contract law: First, the contract law in our country is a uniform contract law applicable to all regions of China, whether in capital Beijing or western provinces. Second, this contract law is drafted with a round axis structure. Basic principles  are firstly stipulated, and then some specific contracts, such as sales contract, lease contract, etc. In this way, the basic principles are regarded as the axis, and many specific contracts are radiated to satisfy different transaction requirements. For example, the transport contract has the problem which cannot be covered by basic principles. This problem can be resolved by combining the axis and the excircle. American political system is different from Chinese political system, and the development history of American contract law is also different. In America, it’s impossible for the legislative body to approve a law with the two features as mentioned above. America has no uniform contract law, nor state contract law. The international contract laws, such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and New York Arbitration Treaty are commonly used in all used in the whole United States. However, with regard to the contract among American individuals, no law is promulgated by the federation. Consequently, there is no federal legislation with a round axis structure in America. Basically, each state has its own contract law and is responsible for developing basic principles of such law. The contract law of one state is not only applicable to the court of the state, but also binding on the federal court sometimes. In other words, as long as the state contract law exists, the federal court shall apply it. Of course, when 50 different contract laws are adjusting the same legal fact, the court will be confronted with a problem, namely, how to achieve the consistency of application of law? It’s also necessary to notice that American contract law is developed by the court rather than the legislative organ. You must be familiar with the concept of common law, which was formed in Britain and then introduced to America. The contract concept of the common law is formed th rough a long time. Their judges make the judgment and give opinions on the judgment. Now, in this connection, the greatest exception is the UCC. American UCC is a uniform law. In America, every state has its own laws, but these laws cannot cover all transactions. Some are involved with transaction of several properties, such as the transaction and lease of products and some are related to bank business, security trading, e-commerce, etc. However, the construction contract and real estate contract are adjusted by commercial law. Since different state laws may result in different court judgments, if the Congress can approve a law with the round axis structure, these problems will be soon resolved, because doing that can get all transactions under the adjustment of one law. C. Summary The development histories of Chinese and American contract law systems are different. Chinese culture has a long history and the contract law system was born very early. On the contrary, the US is a new country breaking away from the colonization. Although American economy is developing rapidly, its legal systems are mainly inherited from the Britain; especially the American contract law is significantly influenced by the contract rules formed in Britain common law and equity law. In short, China has a uniform contract law applicable to the whole nation, while America has no uniform contract code other than international contract laws. In addition, the difference of Chinese and American political systems leads to a great difference in the textural structures of Chinese and American contract law   systems: Chinese contract law system is based on basic principles which guides various specific contract law systems so as to form a complete set, while America has neither guidance of basic principles in the contract law nor uniform contract law applicable to the whole nation. All in all, the development history and political system of a country influence its legal system. III. Conclusion The economic globalization and political polarization are two trends of the world development. Since China has joined the WTO, how to coordinate our laws is the central issue in the field of law. Nowadays, the world has ushered in the era of knowledge economy and the advancement of science and technology is crucial to the economic development. However, the development of economy as well as the development, transfer and application of technology will inevitably require reforming the traditional contract law system. Some countries have already been reforming the current contract law systems quietly. The birth of China’s new Contract Law is confronted with the era of knowledge economy rather than that of planned economy or the transitional period from planned economy to market economy. The development of science and technology in the era of knowledge economy is so vigorous that it’s probable that difficulties in application will soon emerge after the implementation of new contract law, or even some regulations are already outdated. This situation may be considered as normal because law is the superstructure, which is always behind the economic development. Therefore, any law has to be continuously reformed and perfected. Bibliography 1. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com 2. Wilmot et al, 2009, Contract Law, Third Edition, Oxford University Press 3. Ewan McKendrick, Contract Law Text, Cases and Materials (2005) Oxford University Press 4. P.S. Atiyah, The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract (1979) Clarendon Press 5. Randy E. Barnett, Contracts (2003) Aspen Publishers 6. Scott Fruehwald, Reciprocal Altruism as the Basis for Contract, 47 University of Louisville Law Review 489 (2009).

Overview Of The Human Resource Activities Management Essay

Overview Of The Human Resource Activities Management Essay This essay gives an overview of the Human Resource activities in Goldman Sachs Group with particular concern to the challenges faced at the senior management level. In Goldman Sachs, Human resource management is referred to as Human Capital management and during my investigation it was revealed that the Groups HR managers employ the SOFT approach that emphasis the need to gain commitment of employees through involvement and communication. The challenges faced by this division are as a result of the rapid changes occurring in the external business environment and some internal re-structuring adopted regularly to tackle short and long-term un-foreseen circumstances. The Goldman Sachs Group is a global investment banking and securities firm which engages in investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients. Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 and is headquartered at 200 West Street in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City, with additional offices in major international financial centre. The firm provides mergers and acquisitions advice, underwriting services, asset management, and prime brokerage to its clients, which include corporations, governments and individuals. The firm also engages in proprietary trading and private equity deals, and is a primary dealer in the United States Treasury security market (Goldman Sachs, 2010). According to Leif Edvinsson (2002), the only essential value an enterprise has is the experience, skills, innovativeness and insights of its people; Goldman Sachs believes human resource management plays a critical role in managing the firms most important asset, the people. People are our most valuable asset is a truism which no member of the senior management team would disagree with. The HR division serves the firm globally from locations in the Americas, Europe, India and Asia, and is responsible for a broad range of activities that relates to that outlined by Henry Fayol (1841-1925). Question 1: Business environment is rapidly changing and bringing new challenges to the workplace. What are the challenges face by the HR Manager in your chosen organization and suggest how these can be overcome by effective HR strategies. There is a dynamic shift in the global business environment today and more dramatic change is expected in the next decades especially at senior level (CIPD, 2010). As a result, HR managers at Goldman Sachs must play special roles in dealing with these changes and must develop specific competencies to tackle the effect. These changes include Workplace Diversity, Pay structure, the transfer of work abroad, either to outsourced providers or on a global in-sourcing basis; the e-enablement of many HR process; greater sophistication in the HR information technology, new structures for international HR functions; greater competition for talented staff at all levels of organization; more protracted and strategic talent pipelines. Stuart (2009) wrote in an article that If HR is not yet sufficiently respected in financial services, especially in the Investment banking industry, and then such an important issue, affecting both corporate image and the compensation of senior executives, is unlikely to be delegated to them. I strongly concur with this logic, implying that other senior executives will make the decisions, while HR is left to handle the vast amount of day-to-day paperwork: This is not the case in Goldman Sachs Group. After a careful research into the Human resource activities in Goldman Sachs, this report revealed that there is a well-structured strategy tailored specifically for senior level employees. This is because of their strong concern for long term leadership scheme required for the sustainability of their cooperate strategy. They accept as true that Human Capital management has been the bed-rock of the Organizations success so far (GS leadership Summit, 2009). There is a direct link between the corporate strategy and the HR strategies in Goldman Sachs. As a result, the HR managers in various locations continually strive to hit a balance in the way and manner they deal with executives in the top level (Goldman Sachs, 2010). The HR managers have long wanted to get away from the old reputation of telling line managers what they cannot do, by concentrating on business partnering, change management, leadership development and of course Financial Directors that are also seldom turned on by reconciliations and Internal Audit, but they do it while still remaining strategically relevant (Taylor, 2009). In Goldman Sachs, the HR function is viewed differently according to the organizations sub-divisions; however, the financial crisis has given rise to four key issues that provide HR managers in Goldman Sachs with the chance to demonstrate the value of its expertise and elevate its image and status within the Investment banking industry. These issues are: Leadership selection and development, pay structure, Workplace Diversity, intelligent and efficient downsizing, and the need for new ways to manage, engage and retain staff for higher management positions. Spencer (2009) in a research discovered that these issues are key factor that could affect the future of any organization in the long term hence the need for critical response by the HR managers in Goldman Sachs. Leadership selection and development Establishing a strong pipeline of potential leaders is important for Goldman Sachs future success (Goldman Sachs, 2008). In the financial services industry, organizations have often felt compelled to reward high revenue-generating employees with promotion to management positions, the results have been mixed indeed, it could be argued that the inappropriate selection of managers contributed to the recent crisis. The Goldman Sachs group as a whole is still grappling with this issue, thinking of effective ways to integrate star performers within the management structure without compromising standards. A good retention plan as well as training and development programs for senior executives (as illustrated in the later part of this paper) can help Goldman HR managers tackle this challenge. Pay structure The financial crisis has brought the compensation structure within all divisions in Goldman Sachs back to the drawing board (FT, 2009). There is a widespread feeling that short-term pay deals encouraged risk-taking behavior which, at least in part, contributed to the crisis. As a result, growing pressure from government, media and the general public has resulted in many investment banks rethinking the way they pay their front-line staff. The need for greater transparency, a remodeled financial incentive for risk-taking, and more precise measurement of individual performance is a topic of much debate within Goldman Sachs. At the very least, HR can anticipate heavy involvement in ensuring compliance with newly introduced and very detailed legal and regulatory requirements on pay. Workplace Diversity The future success of Goldman Sachs relies on the ability to manage a diverse body of talent that can bring innovative ideas, perspectives and views to their work. The challenge and problems faced of workplace diversity can be turned into a strategic asset if Goldman Sachs is able to capitalize on this melting pot of diverse talents. With the blend of talents of diverse cultural backgrounds, genders, ages and lifestyles, they can react to business opportunities more rapidly and creatively, especially in the global investment banking industry. Alison (2008) confirmed that this fact must be one of the important corporate goals to accomplish for greater success. More importantly, if Goldman Sachs internal working environment does not support diversity broadly, they risk losing talent to competitors. In order to effectively manage workplace diversity especially at senior level, Cox (1993) suggests that HR Managers at Goldman Sachs needs to change from an ethnocentric view (our way is the best way) to a culturally relative perspective (lets take the best of a variety of ways). This shift in philosophy has to be deep-rooted in the managerial framework of the HR Management in her planning, organizing, leading and controlling of the Groups valued asset Our People. Since pay is no longer a necessarily key motivator, other ways to attract, engage and retain staff need to be emphasized or discovered for long-term benefits. Intelligent downsizing A harsher economic climate has resulted in several Investment banks downsizing their staff level considerably. Goldman Sachs HR managers most consider reshaping the organization so that it can ride the downturn with morale intact, while ensuring that it is prepared to capitalize when the economy recovers, this will present a clear opportunity for HR managers at Goldman Sachs to prove their commercial value. However, at their annual stakeholders conference (2009), doubts were expressed about whether HR has so far managed to stamp its authority on this process. Question 2: Comment on how HR activities contribute to the success of your chosen organization. Use any 2 HRM Models to explain your answer. A number of studies have noted significance of human resource activities in the success or failure of an organization (Terpstra Olson, 1993). Human resource factors form one of the most important areas for success for Goldman Sachs (Castanias Helfat, 1991; Spender, 1993; Lei Hitt, 1995; Conner Prahalad, 1996). Carter, et al. (1994), as well as Nucci (1999) wrote that business continued existence and success is associated to human resource as well as the financial factors at the early start-up phase. A study of new businesses by Bamford, Dean, McDougall (1996) acknowledged acquiring competent human resources was critical for any Business success or failure because HR management (also called Human capital management in Goldman Sachs) influence and may determine how well success can be achieved in a highly competitive global market environment. HR managers at Goldman Sachs employ a model synonymous to the Harvard analytic framework which focuses on the different stakeholders interest that impact on employee behavior and performance. All the successful internal operational activities have been shaped by their Human Resource strategic choices (Goldman Sachs, 2009). Like the Harvard analytical framework, HRM policies at Goldman Sachs are derived from Stakeholders interest and the outcomes which are in-line with the HRM policies produces corresponding Long-term consequences (Organizational effectiveness). These consequently have a direct effect on the Stakeholders interest and several situational factors (Workforce, Business strategies, Management Structure and Culture). Stake holder Interests Shareholders Management Employee Groups HRM policy HR outcomes Long-Term Government choices Consequences Community Employee Commitment Individual Unions influence Compliance well-being Human resource Congruence Organizational flow Cost effectiveness effectiveness Rewards systems Societal well- Work Systems being Situational Factors Workforce Characteristics Business Strategy and conditions Management Philosophy Labor Market Unions Task Technology Law and Societal values Figure 1: Harvard analytical framework adapted from Beer et al (1984) Guest strategic Human Resource management model best summarize the strategies and contributions of Human Resources managers at Goldman Sachs. The model draws a link from the HRM policies (concerning Organizational design, management of change, Recruitment, selection, development and reward systems) to the Human Resource outcomes (strategic integration, commitment and quality) produced by such policies and onto the corresponding Organizational outcomes (High job performance, innovation, Cost effectiveness and competitive advantage). HRM Policies Human Resource Outcomes Organizational Outcomes High Organizational design Job performance Management of change Strategic Integration High Problem-solving Change Recruitment Commitment Innovation selection socialization Appraisal training Flexibility High development Cost Effectiveness Reward systems Quality Low Turnover Absence Grievances Leadership/ Culture/Strategy Figure 2: SHRM model Adapted from Guest (1989) The degree of the overall HR performance at Goldman Sachs is positively associated with success and growth as explained by Fombrun et al (1984). The approaches to employee recruitment and selection are many. The firm often has greater resources to filter potential workers, yet the HR managers have greater insight regarding a potential recruit at the individual level. Regardless of the types of recruitment, tests, interviews, and measures of potential performance, recruitment and selection of the right people for company positions affects the probability of success. Effective recruitment and selection is positively associated with success and growth. Designing and implementing adequate work environments, reward systems, benefits packages (among others) are part of HR function at Goldman Sachs. These are often critical to retain the highest performing quality employees. At Goldman Sachs, difficulties sometimes arise in keeping their best people from accepting posts that are more attractive. This is particularly true in the Investment banking sectors of high demand for particular human capital. Retention of quality employees is positively associated with success and growth. In the same way, Employee Satisfaction is positively associated with success and growth. The Group recorded an increase in profit from 15.6% as of November 28, 2008 to 16.0% In March 27, 2009 and this was linked to the effectiveness of her HR managers with particular concern on the way and manner they managed issues relating to recruitment and selection of the Groups senior executives, established successful retention of quality employees (created high number of high ranked staffs renowned in the investment banking industry), and excellent succession planning strategies. Rewards Selection Performance Appraisal Training Figure 3: Human Resource circle adapted from Fombrun et al (1984) HR managers at Goldman Sachs provide enhancement of human capital by education, training, mentoring and other programs as a means to improving business outcomes. These programs not only increase the skills of employees, but also motivate them and inspire new ideas. There are positive effects in the interrelation between knowledge-structures (such as development and training) with the corporate goal. Employee training and development is positively associated with success and growth. Question 3: What role HR planning plays in your chosen organization? Describe any 3 HR planning Methods that has been used to achieve organizational objectives. In March 27, 2009 Goldman Sachs improved her balance sheet, reporting a Tier 1 ratio of 16.0% (an increase from 15.6% as of November 28, 2008); credit was given to the effectiveness and proactive strategies of her HR managers for successful planning across all divisions of the group (GS summit, 2009). Goldman Sachs HR managers believe that a good planning requires an assessment of present and future needs of the organization compared with present resources and future predicted resources. Effective HR planning has anticipated and mapped out the cost and benefit of their business strategy on the effectiveness of their Human resources (Bott, 2010). These plans have enabled them anticipate the future needs of their Human resource management, and indentify practices that will help them meet those needs. Although, Goldman Sachs corporate strategy guides the HR strategies, their HR plans are highly congruent with their Business strategy (vertical integration). In like manner, the HR strateg ies are cohesive and mutually supportive to all functional departments and divisions across the Group (Horizontal integration). HR planning has contributed immensely to the emulating succession planning at Goldman Sachs (Goldman Sachs, 2009), it has helped to anticipate and prevent chaos within the organization (Smoke detectors), help to resolve employees challenges especially at the senior level, enable an effective Retention plan, and several developmental programs to ensure staff competency (Goldman Sachs treasured asset). It has also helped the group to answer question like; where will the next generation of our managers come from, how they can retain their highly skilled staffs, and what number of staffs they should employ. Several HR planning methods has been employed by HR managers at Goldman Sachs to achieve success in these areas. Some of such planning methods are; Bench Strength Plan; this planning method is more of a targeted succession planning at Goldman Sachs. It emphasizes on the Human capital on reserve that are capable of succeeding a senior executive when they leave. It is currently the least automated talent management procedure within the Group but has also provided the senior executives with global visibility into the talent pipeline and overall bench strength by leveraging dynamic talent pools and advanced analysis of capable staffs that would take over if a senior executive leaves (softscape, 2009). Goldman Sachs Succession planning systems have helped to identify, prepare, and track high potential employees for promotion and advancement. This planning method further reaffirms the fact that the key success factor as stated in the Groups Values is Our People (Goldman Sachs, 2010). Practically, Goldman Sachs examines the capabilities of her employees and follows up their performance and effectiveness from basic roles to leadership qualities. Senior executives are encouraged to select at least three employee of their choice who would be monitored and later given more responsibilities within a division by way of heading smaller departments (see figure 4). These selected employees would then be observed and scrutinized considering several behavioral and professional factors. After a specified period, one out of the three would be groomed specifically for the proposed senior position. Figure 4: Succession planning adapted from Goldman Sachs (2010) Retention Plan; this planning method enables the Goldman Sachs HR managers to identify competent employees who are of great value to the organization and have the capabilities of stepping into senior positions. This category of employees are then developed and mentored through a planned procedure to equip them with the classified ethics of the Group (GS annual conference, 2009). Goldman HR managers also use tools like competitive pay rate, quality training, and continuous development programs as a retention strategy for senior executives. Although Goldman Sachs keeps all vital information regarding their senior executives classified. Effective Retention planning has helped Goldmans HR managers to anticipate unforeseen circumstances that may occur if an employee under grooming decides to leave (Lloyd, 2008). Horizontal Progression plan; as a result of the recent economy down-turn Goldman Sachs has integrated many job positions to shrink cost (FT, 2008). The effect of this change created an un-safe environment for their employees and resulted to under performance across all divisions. As part of the strategic intervention by the HR managers, Horizontal progression plan was introduced to enable job rotation and staffs transfer across the Group (Goldman Sachs, 2009). This created a boost in their employees morale and there was a recorded Tier 1 ratio of 16.0% increase in Balance sheet (an increase from 15.6% as of November 28, 2008). Question 4: Recruitment Selection strategies ensure the deployment of a new human capital in the organization. What Recruitment and Selection strategies are taken in your chosen organization to recruit select senior management staff to enhance organizational performance? Goldman Sachs global business reputation and success begin from the recruitment and selection of competent and talented employees (Lloyd, 2009); this statement forms the bedrock on which GS HR managers build recruitment and selection strategies for senior executives. Fletcher (1996) started that an organizations workforce should match her corporate vision; hence the HR policies for recruitment and selection of senior executives at Goldman Sachs have been tailored to best fit their business goals. There is a clear definition of who is needed and a well defined role and responsibilities of any selected senior executive at all division. A recent report by KPMG (2009) started that in the USA 20 percent of the entire workforce will retire in 2011, in London 60 percent of skilled employers are facing skill shortage already, and the average cost of recruitment and selection process runs into an excess of about  £4800. Recruiting senior staff members is a critical procedure for HR managers at Goldman Sachs, unlike the general recruitment process; Brains are not just enough, there are several stages to determine whether a prospective candidate meet the Goldman Sachs intellectual standards. Prospective employees are identified, assessed and selected on the bases of their work experience and professional recognition within the financial trading, asset management and investment banking industry. Some of the best fit recruitment strategies employed by Goldman Sachs HR managers includes; Employers Branding, In-house search, Head hunters, Employee referral schemes, Professional social networks like LinkedIn (Crawford, 2010) a nd sometimes newspaper advert. Employers Branding Minchington (2005) defines employer brand as the image of an organization as a great place to work in the mind of existing employees and key stakeholders. Simon and Tim (1996) defined it as the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment. HR managers at Goldman Sachs use their employer brand in the form of series of messages and images about the company to communicate its culture and value- from the employees point of view during the pre-recruitment phase. They employ this strategy as a strong tool to attract and recruit talented senior executives across the investment banking industry as well as retention strategy for existing senior employees (Goldman, 2009). In-House Exploration Goldman HR managers identify existing employees who have the capabilities and can possibly fill in a vacant senior position when the need arise (Goldman Sachs Tactical recruitment option, 2009). The advantage of this option is that it reduces the cost of going through the rigorous recruitment and selection process for fresh candidates. However, the disadvantage of this strategy is that when a junior employee is identified to fill up a senior position, the position of that employee becomes vacant thereby creating the need for the recruitment of another junior employee to fill in such gap. Head Hunters Traditionally, Headhunter is the industry term for a third-party recruiter, who seeks out possible candidates. Goldman Sachs has got in-house Headhunters who have been employed to network, cultivate relationships with various companies, maintain large databases, purchase company directories or candidate lists, and cold call prospective recruits (GS, 2009). This category of employees is part of the Goldman Sachs HR team and their sole responsibility is to source for possible candidates to fill any senior job role vacancy. Employee referral schemes This is the case where existing Goldman Sachs senior employees suggest potential candidates drawn from their own networks and connections. Goldman Sachs HR managers adopt this strategy very often considering the quality of these existing senior employees and their contribution to the success and standard of the Goldman Sachs Group. Latest CIPD Recruitment and Retention survey  ¬Ã‚ ndings indicates that the percentage of organizations that attract applicants by this method has increased from 38% in 2005 to over 47% in 2010 (CIPD, 2010). Purcell et al (2003) started that the willingness of existing employees to recommend their organization to others is used as a measure of organizational commitment in high performing workplaces. The advantage of employee referral schemes includes reduced recruitment costs, as well as enabling applicants to achieve a more realistic job preview. Professional social network (LinkedIn) Goldman Sachs has a network on LinkedIn a social networking site that is career focused and has got a tremendous reach across geographies. Goldman Sachs HR managers use LinkedIn to post job vacancies especially for senior management roles. Sometimes, the use of LinkedIn search prompts which has a sophisticated algorithm to job match possible candidates may become handy (Goldman, 2010). This strategy is often adopted when the need for a candidate to fill up a vacant role arise rather impromptu. However, the tendency for such situation to arise is slim due to the proactive nature of HR managers at Goldman Sachs. The right selection strategy is as important as any recruitment strategy employed by Goldman Sachs HR managers. The aim is to ensure that candidates are employed based on realistic competency rather than an acclaimed quality usually presented in resumes (Milner, 2009). Goldman selection process aim to quickly, accurately, and efficiently identify the best potential candidate for a vacant position. As a result, Goldman Sachs selects potential senior employee by means of direct telephone interview, board-room presentation and on rare occasions, face-to-face interview. Goldman Sachs HR managers adopt this medium considering the necessity for a fast, efficient and cost effective selection process for any prospective candidate who has been deemed fit for a senior position. Interviewing is the most widely used selection process in Goldman Sachs; where first and second interviews are conducted. Interviews are normally conducted between business hours, which are from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Interviews are ideally scheduled one week in advance, but may not always be possible, therefore negotiation between GS HR representative and prospective senior employee may be necessary. Behavioral interviewing is a common practice at during Goldman selection process, alongside with reference checks and psychometric assessments. It is advised that a combination of these selection methods be utilized to guarantee that the best candidates are screened and to benefit from a reduction in future costs associated with hiring and training, even at the fundamental entry level positions. It is also important to consider compensation and benefits packages in order to retain and attract the best candidates. Question 5: HRD interventions help organization to develop highly competent staff and teams. Describe the use of at least 3 HR training Development methods taken to enhance the competence of the senior management staff in your chosen organization. To a large extent, models of strategic HRD presupposes a rational and linear model of strategy formulation and implementation of process involving objective settings, the analysis of environmental trends and available resources, evaluation of options, and ending with a careful planning of the strategys implementation (Storey, 1991). Hendry (1995) suggested that the ideal HRD strategy should be the one that best fit Goldman Sachs business goals not actually the best practice. Beer and Spector (1989) added that strategic HRD can be viewed as a proactive system-wide intervention which is linked to strategic and cultural changes. Goldman Sachs Business objective Goals and strategies Departmental strategies Finance,Marketing,HRD,HRM,Operations HRD policies HRD plans HRD procedures HRD practices Evaluation Figure 5: Strategy and HRD adapted from (Wilson, 1999) Figure 5 illustrates the contribution of strategic HRD interventions to the training and development of Goldman Sachs human capital at every stage of the organizations strategy breakdown structure. HRD is an essential factor that affects employees capability and performance. It shows that HR development in policies, plans, working procedures, and practices would lead to staff competency. Human resource development focuses on the development of people, enhancing their skills, knowledge, attitudes so that they create value (human capital) for Goldman Sachs business needs. HRD seeks to optimize the human potential readily available across all Goldmans divisions (Shames, 2010). Goldman Sachs believes that human resource development interventions should be proactive rather that reactive (Lloyd, 2009). Employees are frequently groomed to become efficient in their core competency. Like the Japanese Kaizen, training and development is a continuous process in Goldman Sachs; the quality and standard of employees reflects the effectiveness of the HRD strategies employed by HR managers at all divisions of the Group. The training and development methods adopted are; Job rotation: Flexibility within working environment is a breeding-ground for development (Frederic, 2006). Senior executives are obligated to perform different job roles on regular bases as part of Goldman Sachs continuous development plan. This is a proactive strategy that does not only increase employees competency but also ensures that all senior employees can play several roles within the organization to reduce cost. It also creates an avenue for the HR managers to identify who best fit certain roles for efficiency and productivity. Coaching: Although rarely employed at senior level, Coaching at Goldman Sachs explains the development process where a more experienced senior executive (trainer) ensure that the senior employee under development (trainee) is monitored and guided through a well structured on-the-job training program. Usually, the trainer commits the trainee to undertake certain un-familiar responsibilities while he looks out for errors. These errors would be corrected in a manner that wouldnt tarnish the morale of the senior employee under development else the aim for the program would be ruined. This method ensures a close working relationship between the trainer and the trainee. Self-development and Learning: During the GS annual conference in March, 2008, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein stated We cannot recruit an employee who doesnt have value for self development. Self development is enhanced by continuous learning and development in a broader perspective increases competency. Goldman Sachs encourages its senior management staffs to improve by constantly challenging them with greater job responsibilities as well as a regular review of working standards. Figure 5 illustrates the model of Goldmans employees continuous learning where they engage in learning opportunities to maintain, or improve, their employability. Figure 6: GS continuous learning structure adapted from (eBusiness Community Model, 2010) Question 6: What role Performance Management plays in achieving higher performance in your chosen organization? M

Essay --

â€Å"At about age 2 children become capable of representation, of thinking about the properties of things without having to act on them directly. This capacity marks the first level of the preoperational period. At this level, the child can deal with only one representation-one idea or thought at a time. At the second level of the preoperational period, beginning at about age 4, children develop the ability to deal mentally with more complex things.† (Early Childhood Development/The Talking Page, Literacy Organization, Research Information ) I have chosen Taffy Sea Turtles Catch and Hatch Pool Toy for the cognitive effects it has on its age group. This toy is targeted toward ages six and up. It consists of baby turtles and their shells. You instruct the children to take the baby turtles out of their shells and throw them into a pool. The empty shells are evenly distributed among the children that are playing. These shells are placed in different areas by the pool by each individual child. You have the children then choose a nesting place (where they will put all the eggs after the...

The Change from Idealism to Realism In the Process of Growing Up In Bot

Introduction: In both Northanger Abbey and Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen uses the concept of idealism in contrast with realism to elicit the theme of growing up and the effect it has on the characters’ points of view. This theme is most evident in the female protagonists-- Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility, and Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey. Although both characters hold an ideal world in their minds, their personalities differ enormously. While Marianne imagines the world to be perfect and romantic, Catherine lives as a heroine and is constantly on the search for frightening scenes. However, despite this major difference, both protagonists go through memorable life experiences and eventually develop their perception from idealism to realism. In other words, although they possess different personalities, both Marianne and Catherine go through similar experiences of maturing from girls with fantasies to women who are forced to face reality. This then further leads int o the question, what is the effect of growth on a person’s mentality? Marianne Dashwood’s idealism: The Dashwood family has three daughters-- Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret. Among the three, Elinor, the eldest, represents sense as she has â€Å"an excellent heart; her disposition affectionate, and her feelings [are] strong: but she [knows] how to govern them† (Austen 6). In contrast, the second youngest sister Marianne is the representation of sensibility as she is â€Å"sensible and clever, but eager in everything,† she is also â€Å"generous, amiable, interesting†¦ everything but prudent† (Austen 6). After the death of their father, all of Mrs. Dashwood’s estate is taken away by the oldest male in the family, Henry Dashwood. While Elinor and her mother... ...earn from our mistakes-- that is how we grow. In Jane Austen’s novels, Marianne and Catherine are the definition of maturing. As the stories in both progress, Marianne and Catherine learn to take on new challenges and overcome new obstacles. Although there might be heartbreaking moments in their process of growing up, both characters eventually reach their moment of realization and decide to take off their goggles of idealism so to view the world better with the sight of realism. Is not this what life is all about? Living while trying to find a better definition for â€Å"living† and to find a better interpretation of the world we live in? Works Cited Austen, J. (2005). Northanger Abbey. New York City: Barnes & Noble Classics. (Original work published 1818) Austen, J. (1995). Sense and Sensibility. New York City: Dover Publications. (Original work published 1811)

Important Factors in Employee Motivation Essay

Important Factors in Employee Motivation The motivation of employees is one of the most vital requirements in the contemporary business development. People from all works of life may hold distinct views towards the topic that what are the radical motivating factors. Actually, it was salary that used to be considered as the most important motivators, as financial reward was comparatively proposed to be traded on impelling hirelings’ motivation, according to some early theories(Wiley,1997). However, some different factors of motivation, which now are universally favored by companies and conglomerates, may be more essential than personal emolument. This essay attempts to demonstrate these major factors in motivating employees, including empowerment, esteem demands and compensation in both physical and psychological aspects. Delegating more responsibility to workers is an efficacious way to increase job satisfaction, as well as employees motivation (Herzberg,1987 cited in Madura,2008). It means employees may be motivated by being involved in general affairs or being offered the power to participate in decision making, which can be equivalently called empowerment (Madura,2008) and this has been executed at numerous companies or by some notable people such as Warren Buffet. Once he left the investment in his manager and employees’ charge even without any periodical supervision, only in the case that the manager demanded to have a deliberation for exigent matters. Therefore,the personnels were empowered and they would devote all themselves to work, in order to accomplish a better consequence, since so colossal responsibility were on their shoulders (Luke,2011). Strikingly, it not only promoted the production but also increased employees’ enthusiasm and required capacity for later work. In addition, Tesco, a world famous conglomerate for commodity and service offering, also attaches importance to responsibility delegation. It stages informal discussion annually, deliberating salary raise with the workers and constantly adopt proper recommendations for food going onto the cartes in its restaurants from the staff. Employees thence be motivated to provide their enterprise with creative and proper ideas(The Times 100, 2010), cumbering with considerable duties. Equally important, esteem demands such as self-respect and respect from others,especially recognition for the works the employees have done can impel motivation to a certain extent. Full appreciation for hard work could helps erect self-esteem by concentrating on employees’ value for the firm and then the company may capacitate employees to reach their needs (Madura,2008). Nonetheless, although employees do need appreciation for work done, investigation illustrates that employers merely acknowledge recognition for employees’ work . Also, principles for presenting appreciation, consisting of description of required actions, explanation for appreciating and expressing gratitudes (Cherrington, 1992, pp. 2-3,cited in Wiley, 1997) should be followed, otherwise, it might be invalid. Take Tesco for example, it usually makes its employees feel satisfied in work by communicating with them regularly to help employees set individual goals and sum up the work they have done. What’s more,Tesco invites its workers to participate in a survey named Viewpoint every year, affording them the chances to present any opinions on nearly all fields of their work. T hus, employee motivation becomes higher as the value they have in various aspects are recognized and get the respect from their firms. Sufficient compensations related to employee outstanding achievement, can have positive effects on reinforcing employees because people will usually be motivated by being rewarded for their work. Financial rewards, together with non-financial factors, contributes to people’s getting into the swing of their job. For example, some firms like Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company offers bonuses to workers based on its profit and the average money that Nucor pays to its employees as premiums can even be more than the medial base salary(Madura,2008). Both of the two companies compensate employees with financial rewards. Apart from that,some non-financial factors may do a more adequate job of motivating workers, such as personal skill promoting and developing opportunities (The Times 100,2010). According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory, self-actualization is the final category to reach but beneficial to people if fulfilled. Best Buy organized a program to gather some employees to work and live together, getting trainings and texts. Meanwhile they were required to discuss to think of ideas for their goods sale. During this program, people who performed well in the groups can even had an opportunity to get extra management training and they then would be more likely to get promotion. Consequently, Best Buy motivated employees by promoting them with additional trainings as compensations besides pay raises and could enhance the enterprise’s creativity at the same time (Reena,2009 cited in Luke, 2011). Still some people, however, may insist on advocating salary as the most important factor in motivating. Although it is true that payment, as a kind of physiological need among five categories of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, is the foundation that people depend on for existence, itwill not absolutely result in increasing of staffs activeness. Instead, inadequacy of hygiene needs will lead to employees’ dissatisfaction for work. Dissatisfaction dose not mean no satisfaction because â€Å"dissatisfaction† may produce negative influence while â€Å"no satisfaction† will just keep unchangeable(Herzberg, 1987). As a result, adequate salary will only prevent employees from becoming dissatisfied rather than motivating them. Furthermore, as market conditions have transformed speedily and innovation continues, most people do not just work for money to survive, but for experiencing the life and actualizing personal worth. In this case, salary may have almost little effect in motivating, compared with other motivators mentioned above. From what have been discussed above, motivation now is extremely a significant problem in management of business and companies all over the world and it is widely acknowledged that fundamental factors to motivate employees need to be correctly understand. Management practices in companies and theories published by experts both contribute to the fact that important factors in motivation are complex and more than just salary. Delegating responsibility to employees can empowers them to be more active in work and appreciating the work they have done will meet individual esteem needs, preventing them from feeling undervalued. While compensation includes salary raises and non-financial rewards both can affect employees job satisfaction related to motivation.