225 Foreign Phrases to Inspire You

225 Foreign Phrases to Inspire You 225 Foreign Phrases to Inspire You 225 Foreign Phrases to Inspire You By Mark Nichol Here’s another writing challenge for you, a sequel to 150 Foreign Expressions to Inspire You. I’ve listed foreign phrases that eloquently draw, in just a few words, a portrait of a person or a situation. Some are obscure in their figurative language (esprit d’le escalier, one of my favorite expressions, refers to the chagrin you feel about coming up with a bon mot or an insult only after the opportunity to utter it has passed) and may require some research on the reader’s part, though everyone can identify with them once the meaning is clear. Others (crise de conscience) are not only universally resonant in our experience but also transparent. Once you’ve chosen one expression, use it as a prompt for a short story. Think what you can do with a story titled â€Å"Mole ruit sua† or â€Å"Hic illae lacrimae.† (Moliere wrapped an entire play, one of the greatest ever written, around malade imaginaire.) Alternatively, this post is a rich mine for a tale featuring an insufferable boor who tosses off foreign expressions ad arbitrium to advertise his erudition. At the very least, employ these phrases to encapsulate your characters; the preceding type could be labeled folie de grandeur, or you might keep faux-naif in mind when writing another character. 1. ab incunabulis: from the cradle 2. a bon chat, bon rat: to a good cat, a good rat (retaliation in kind) 3. a bouch ouverte: with open mouth (eagerly, uncritically) 4. ab ovo usque ad mala: from egg to apples (from beginning to end) 5. a bras ouverts: with open arms 6. ab uno disce omnes: from one learn to know all 7. a coup sur: with sure stroke (surely) 8. acte gratuit: gratuitous impulsive act 9. ad arbitrium: at will (arbitrarily) 10. ad extremum: to the extreme (at last) 11. ad majorem Dei gloriam: to the greater glory of God 12. ad patres: to his fathers (deceased) 13. ad unguem: to the fingernail (exactly) 14. ad utrumque paratus: prepared for either event 15. aegri somnia: a sick man’s dreams 16. aequam servare mentem: to preserve a calm mind 17. aequo animo: with even mind (calmly) 18. aere perennius: more lasting than bronze 19. a huis clos: with closed doors 20. a l’abandon: carelessly 21. a la belle etoile: under the beautiful star (in the open air at night) 22. a la bonne heure: at a good time (all right) 23. a la page: at the page (up to the minute) 24. alter idem: another self 25. a maximis ad minima: from the greatest to the least 26. a marveille: marvelously 27. amicus humani generis: friend of the human race 28. amicus usque ad aras: a friend as far as to the alters (a friend to the last extremity) 29. ami de cour: court friend 30. armamentum ad baculum: argument of the staff (appeal to force) 31. arrectis auribus: with ears pricked up 32. a torte et a travers: wrong and crosswise (without rhyme or reason) 33. au bout de son latin: at the end of one’s Latin (at the end of one’s mental resources) 34. au fait: to the point (socially correct) 35. au grand serieux: in all serious 36. au mieux: on the best terms (on intimate terms) 37. aurea mediocritas: the golden mean 38. auspicium melioris aevi: an omen of a better age 39. ausssitot dit, aussitot fait: no sooner said than done 40. autres temps, autres moeurs: other times, other customs 41. aut vincere aut mori: either to conquer or to die 42. bellum omnium contra onnes: war of all against all 43. bien-pensant: right minded (orthodox) 44. bon gre, mal gre: whether with good grace or bad (willy-nilly) 45. bonis avibus: under good auspices 45. brutum fulmen: insensible thunderbolt (futile threat of display of force) 47. cadit quaestio: the question drops (the argument collapses) 48. capable de tout: capable of anything (unpredictable) 49. cause sine qua non: an indispensable cause or condition 50. cheval de bataille: war-horse (argument constantly relied on) 51. comedie humaine: human comedy (the whole variety of human life) 52. comedie larmoyante: tearful comedy (sentimental comedy) 53. comagnon de voyage: traveling companion 54. compte rendu: report 55. concordia discors: discordant harmony 56. confessio fidei: confession of faith 57. contemptus mundi: contempt for the world 58. coup de maitre: masterstroke 59. coup d’essai: experiment 60. coute que coute: cost what it may 61. cri de coeur: cry of the heart 62. crise de conscience: crisis of conscience 63. crise de nerfs: crisis of nerves 64. crux criticorum: crux of critics 65. cum grano salis: with a grain of salt 66. custos morum: guardian of morals (censor) 67. de bonne grice: with good grace 68. de l’audace, encore de l’audace, et toujours de l’audace: audacity, more audacity, and ever more audacity 69. de mal en pis: from bad to worse 70. Deo favente: with God’s favor 71. de profundis: out of the depths 72. desipere in loco: to indulge in trifling at the proper time 73. Deus absconditus: hidden God (unknowable God) 74. dies faustus: lucky day 75. dies infaustus: unlucky day 76. dies irae: day of wrath 77. esprit d’le escalier: the wit of the staircase 78. faux bonhomme: false friend 79. faux-naif: affectedly simple or childlike 80. festina lente: make haste slowly 81. feux d’artifice: fireworks, or show of wit 82. folie de grandeur: delusion of greatness, megalomania 83. furor loquendi: rage for speaking 84. furor poeticus: rage for poetry 85. furor scribendi: rage for writing 86. gens du mond: fashionable people 87. guerre a outrance: war to the uttermost 88. haut gout: slight taint of decay 89. hic illae lacrimae: hence these tears 90. homme d’esprit: witty man 91. in omnia paratus: ready for all things 92. in partibus infidelium: in the land of the infidels 93. in statu quo ante bellum: just like before the war 94. januis clausis: behind closed doors 95. jeu de mots: play on words 96. ktema es ai: a possession for ever (enduring art or literature) 97. la belle dame sans merci: the beautiful lady without mercy 98. lacrimae rerum: tragedy of life 99. lapsus calami: slip of the pen 100. lapsus linguae: slip of the tongue 101. laudatory temporis acti: one who praises past times 102. lusis naturae: freak of nature 103. magni nominis umbra: the shadow of a great name 104. malade imaginaire: imaginary invalid 105. malis avibus: under evil auspices 106. mauvais quart d’heure: uncomfortable but brief experience 107. meden agen: nothing in excess 108. mens sana in corpore sano: a sound mind in a sound body 109. metteur et scene: (stage or film) director 110. meum et tuem: mine and yours 111. mirabile visu: wonderful to behold 112. mole ruit sua: it collapses from its own size 113. monumentum aere perennius: a monument more lasting than bronze 114. multum in parvo: much in little 115. mysterium tremendum: overwhelming mystery 116. ne quid nimis: not anything in excess 117. nil admirari: equanimity 118. nolens volens: willy-nilly 119. nostalgie de la boue: attraction to what is unworthy, crude, or degrading 120. novus homo: upstart 121. novus ordo seclorum: a new cycle of the ages 122. nuit blanche: sleepless night 123. obscurum per obscurius: explaining the obscure by means of the more obscure 124. onus probandi: burden of proof 125. ore rotundo: eloquently 126. otium cum dignitate: leisure with dignity 127. outre-mer: overseas 128. pallida Mors: pale Death 129. panem et circenses: bread and circuses 130. pater patriae: father of his country 131. paucis verbis: in a few words 132. pax vobiscum: peace be with you 133. peine forte et dure: strong and hard punishment 134. per angusta ad augusta: through difficulties to honors 135. peu a peu: little by little 136. peu de chose: a trifle 137. peu d’occasion: piece for a special occasion 138. piece justificative: document serving as evidence 139. piece montee: set piece (said of decorative food) 140. pleno jure: with full right 141. plus royaliste que le roi: more royalist than the king 142. pocas palabras: few words 143. point de repere: point of reference 144. police verso: with thumb turned (down) 145. pour rire: for laughing (not to be taken seriously) 146. pro aris et focis: for alters and firesides 147. pro bono publico: for the public good 148. pro hac vice: for this occasion 149. pro patria: for one’s country 150. pro rege, lege, et grege: for the king, the law, and the people 151. pro re nata: as needed 152. quantum mutates ab illo: how changed from what he once was 153. quantum sufficit: as much as suffices 154. quoad hoc: to this extent 155. quod erat demonstrandum: which was to be proved 156. quod erat faciendum: which was to be done 157. quod semper, quod ubique, quo dab omnibus: what (has been held) always, everywhere, by everybody 158. quorum pars magna fui: in which I played a great part 159. raison d’etat: reason of state 160. reculer pour mieux sauter: to draw back in order to make a better jump 161. re infecta: the beusiness being unfinished 162. religio loci: religious sanctity of a place 163. ruse de guerre: war strategem 164. rus in urbe: country in the city 165. saeva indignatio: fierce indignation 166. sal Atticum: Attic salt (wit) 167. salon des refuses: salon of the refused (exhibition of officially rejected art) 168. salto mortale: deadly jump (dangerous or crucial undertaking) 169. sancta simplicitas: holy simplicity (naivete) 170. sans doute: without doubt 171. sans gene: without embarrassment or constraint 172. sans peur et sans reproche: without fear and without reproach 173. sans souci: without worry 174. scene a faire: obligatory scene 175. secundum artem: according to the art (according to the accepted practice) 176. secundum naturam: according to nature (naturally) 177. se defendendo: in self-defense 178. semper eadem: always the same (feminine form) 179. semper fidelis: always faithful 180. semper idem: always the same (masculine form) 181. semper paratus: always prepared 182. simpliste: naive 183. splendide mendax: nobly untruthful 184. spolia opima: rich spoils (spoils of the victor) 185. status quo ante bellum: the state existing before the war 186. suaviter in modo, fortiter in re: gently in manner, strongly in deed 187. suo jure: in his own right 188. suo loco: inits proper palce 189. suo marte: by one’s own exertions 190. sur place: in place (on the spot) 191. suum cuique: to each his own 192. tant mieux: so much the better 193. tant pis: so much the worse (too bad) 194. tempus edax rerum: time, that devours all things 195. totidem verbis:: in so many words 196. totis viribus: with all one’s might 197. toto caelo: by the whole extenet of the heavens 198. toujour perdix: always partridge (too much of a good thing) 199. tour d’horizon: circuit of the horizon (general survey) 200. tous frais faits: all expenses defrayed 201. taut au contraire: quite the contrary 202. tout a vous: wholly yours (at your service) 203. tout bien ou rien: everything well (done) or nothing (attempted) 204. tout court: quite short (simply) 205. tout de meme: all the same (nevertheless) 206. tout de suite: Immediately 207. tout ensemble: all together 208. tout le monde: everybody 209. trahison de clercs: treason of the intellectuals 210. tanche de vie: slice of life 211. tristesse: melancholy 212. ultima ratio regum: the final argument of kings (war) 213. uno animo: with one mind 214. urbi et orbi: to the city and the world (to everyone) 215. utile dulci: the useful with the agreeable 216. va et vient: coming and going (traffic) 217. ventre a terre: belly to the ground (at very great speed) 218. verbatim ac litteratim: word for word, and letter for letter 219. vieux jeu: old game (old hat) 220. vin du pays: wine of the locality 221. virgo intacta: untouched virgin 222. virtute et armis: by valor of arms 223. vis medicatrix natureae: the healing power of nature 224. vita nuova: new life 225. vox et praeterea nihil: voice and nothing more Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About Legs, Feet, and ToesHow Long Should a Paragraph Be?45 Idioms with "Roll"

Not all hybrids have electric motors and batteries

Not all hybrids have electric motors and batteries When it comes to transportation, hybridization is not new. Hybrid cars and trucks that combine an electric motor with a gasoline engine date back to the turn of the 20th century. Hybrid diesel-electric locomotives have been in operation for years, and in the 1970s, small numbers of diesel-electric buses began to appear. On a smaller scale, a moped is a hybrid - it combines the power of a gasoline engine with the pedal power of the rider. So, any vehicle that combines two or more sources of power is considered a hybrid vehicle (HV). Today, when hybrid and vehicle are used together - think Toyota Prius, Ford Fusion Hybrid or Honda Civic Hybrid - that vehicle, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, is a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). Each of these vehicles combine an internal combustion engine (ICE) and an electric motor that receives electricity from a battery pack. Today’s gasoline- and diesel electric hybrid systems are very complex, high-tech wonders in design and operation. Components include controllers, generators, converters, inverters, regenerative braking and, of course, a battery pack - either nickel-metal hydride or lithium ion. HEVs offer benefits that their conventional gasoline or diesel counterparts do not have - increased fuel economy and fewer harmful emissions coming out the tailpipe. But to achieve the same results not all hybrid vehicles require electric motors and batteries. Here’s a look at three alternative hybrid systems. One is now employed in big trucks and could find its way into cars, one is likely to appear in a 2016 BMW and the third could be on the road in three years. Hydraulic - Not Just For The Big Dogs Last August I featured an article about a hydraulic hybrid system that has made its way into big diesel refuse trucks, the ones that come around once a week and pick up our trash. On a good day, a garbage hauler will eke out 4 to 5 mpg. Then there are all those icky, nasty pollutants pouring out of the exhaust stacks. But thanks to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), yes, those same government folks who monitor environmental laws and fuel mileage testing, a hydraulic hybrid system they pioneered increases fuel economy in the big rigs by as much as 33 percent and reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) by 40 percent. The principal of the hydraulic system is similar to a HEV. It recovers a portion of the energy normally lost as heat by the vehicle’s brakes. But instead of a battery pack, a hydraulic system uses pistons to capture the wasted energy by compressing nitrogen gas stored in a tank, called an accumulator. When the driver lets off the accelerator pedal, the wheels drive a hydraulic pump that pumps hydraulic fluid to compress the nitrogen gas and slows the truck down. When the driver accelerates, the nitrogen is allowed to expand and pushes a piston in a cylinder filled with hydraulic fluid. This action assists the diesel engine in turning the rear wheels. The hydraulic system performs remarkably well on the big dog trucks, but what about light duty trucks or passenger cars? The Center For Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP), a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota is working on that. The center’s â€Å"Generation 2† vehicle - a Ford F-150 pickup - utilizes a custom-built continuously variable power split hydraulic transmission. It is complemented with hydraulic accumulators to enable hybrid operation. To be competitive, the system must demonstrate advantages over BEVs. Design specifications for the vehicle include: vibration and harshness comparable to a passenger vehicle; a 0 to 60 mph time of 8 seconds; climb a grade of 8 percent; emissions that meet California standards; and the big one, fuel economy of 70 mpg under the federal drive cycles. Steaming Along Twin brothers Francis and Freelan Stanley, inventors of the Stanley Steamer, would likely approve of BMW’s innovative use of the same principal that worked to power their steam engine cars more than 100 years ago to improve the efficiency in modern vehicles. Called Turbosteamer, this system uses wasted heat energy from an engine’s wasted exhaust gases to contribute power to the automobile. This steam assist system starts with a heat exchanger located between the engine and the catalyst that turns water into steam. The pressurized steam is then carried to what is essentially a small steam engine. A second, smaller steam engine produces a little more mechanical energy. I began following this technology in 2005 when BMW said the two steam engines combined generated 14 horsepower and 15 pounds-feet of torque on a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine. Additionally, fuel economy improved by 15 percent in overall driving. The automaker also said it intended to make the Turbosteamer ready for volume production in a number of its vehicles within a decade. Well, it’s 10 years later, will it see production? Since then, researchers and engineers focused on reducing the size of the components and making the system simpler to improve dynamics. They came up with an innovative expansion turbine based on the principle of the impulse turbine. The system is now smaller, costs less and the developers say fuel consumption is reduced by up to 10 percent during highway driving. While the Turbosteamer can’t compare its greenness to the BMW i3 all-electric car, a 10 percent improvement in fuel economy for an â€Å"Ultimate Driving Machine† is nothing to sneeze at. It’s possible a Turbosteamer equipped BMW vehicle will be introduced next year. Not Just A Bunch Of Hot Air The idea that compressed air could power a viable zero emissions car has been pursued for years by many respected engineers. In 2000, there was much ado about a new compressed air, zero pollution vehicle from French inventor and Formula One engine builder, Guy Nà ¨gre. His company, Motor Development International (MDI), rolled out an urban-sized car, taxi, pickup and van that were powered by an air engine. Instead of those tiny, tiny explosions of gasoline and oxygen pushing the pistons up and down, like in a normal internal combustion engine, the all-aluminum four-cylinder air engine used compressed air for the job. A hybrid version, using a small gasoline engine to power an onboard compressor for a constant supply of compressed air, was claimed to be able to travel from Los Angeles to New York on just one tank of gas. In 2007 MDI signed an agreement with Tata Motors, India’s largest automobile manufacturer to produce air cars in 2008, followed by the hybrid version in 2009. No cars were produced. That’s perhaps one of the reasons compressed air-powered cars have been the butt of jokes among the green car community. Today, the number of jokes has diminished. That’s the result of Peugeot’s introduction of the 208 HYbrid Air 2L Prototype at the 2014 Paris Auto in October. (Full Review). It employs a compressed air tank that turns a hydraulic motor for additional power or zero emissions city driving rather than a battery for the same functions. Like a BEV, during normal driving the car is powered by the gasoline engine. Compressed air is called upon for additional power when passing or traversing a hill. In this situation, power from both the engine and hydraulic motor are directed to the front wheels via an epicyclic transmission, similar to the planetary gear set transmission used by the Toyota Prius. In city driving, where less power is needed and emissions-free driving is the priority, rather than power provided by a battery, the compressed air alone motivates the car. The compressed air tank is recharged when braking or by using part of the energy developed by the three-cylinder gasoline engine to compress the air. During the Pairs Show, Peugeot said if another large auto manufacturer would buy into the technology to enable production in enough numbers to assure manufacturing affordability, the HYbrid Air could be on the market in three or so years. Two reports from Europe are suggesting, without naming the car company, that Peugeot has found an interested partner. Last Word It’s not certain that any of these three alternative hybrid systems will be available in production vehicles, and if they are, what kind of an impact they will have in the marketplace. What is clear is, electricity in the drivetrain isn’t the only way to hybridize a vehicle.

For The Sake Of Harmonising Asylum And Refugee Policy In Europe Is The Essay

For The Sake Of Harmonising Asylum And Refugee Policy In Europe Is The Returns Directive Fit For Purpose - Essay Example In other words the Returns Directive aims to harmonize asylum and refugee policy among the Member States. However, the Directive has been the subject of criticism, particularly from Non-government Organizations and human rights groups internationally. A major concern as expressed by the UNHCR is the Returns Directive mandate that Member States recognize return decisions made by other Member States. Such a mandate means that harmful decisions on asylum will have application across the EU. Therefore if the purpose of the Returns Directive is to ensure the harmonization of refugee and asylum policies relative to the protection of the interest of the concerned, it would appear that the Returns Directive fails in this regard. If decisions that are harmful to the individual refugee and asylum seekers are to receive common recognition, the Returns Directive is going to achieve an unintended and diametrically opposite purpose. In general, the Returns Directive sets out the rules for the proc edure to be adopted relative to returns. This includes the return decisions,4 bans on entry,5 and provides that nationals from third countries who stay on an irregular basis ought to be permitted between a week and a month to organize their own departure prior to forced exile.6 In many ways these procedural guidelines do not deal with substantive issues and as such do not provide for a harmonious method for exacting asylum and refugee policies. To begin with there are no guidelines for regulating how forced departure should be practiced and whether or not refoulement should be denied in cases where return could result in serious consequences for the asylum seeker or refugee. The emphasis therefore appears to be security and border control in Europe.7 Secondly, the requirement that a refugee or asylum seeker be released without more after being held in detention for 6 months appears to have some practical difficulties.8 Mole and Meredith explains the difficulty with Article 15. Artic le 15 provides that once a detainee has been held for the maximum period, he/she must be released regardless of any justifications on the part of domestic authorities for the refugee or asylum seekers’ continued detention. This means that a refugee or asylum seeker could be released without valid documentation, or in circumstances where he or she is violent, has no methods by which to support himself/herself and certainly has no place to live.9 It is difficult to imagine how Article 15 purports to achieve harmonization of European policy on asylum and refugee policies that seek to protect the interest of those individuals. Article 15 effectively ensures that the asylum seeker and the refugee are placed into the general population once the detention reaches a 6 months at his/her own peril and in circumstances that are burdensome to the wider community. It would appear that the only method by which Article 15 can achieve the main purpose of the Returns Directive is to encourage Member States to forcibly return the asylum seeker or refugee to their country of origin as quickly as possible. As previously noted, this practice is also inconsistent with the Returns’ harmonization of policies intended to protect the interest of the individuals concerned. In fact the Returns Directive, thus far reflects the opinion of Schain’s, that the Returns Directive is more concerned with border control and security.10 Moreover, Article 15(5) which provides for a limited period of detention, contradicts Article 15(4) which provides: When it appears that a reasonable prospect of removal no longer exists for legal or other considerations or the conditions laid down in

International business strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International business strategy - Essay Example However, Anthony Salim and his executive leadership group believe that being flexible to these unpredictable and changing dynamics of international culture and business competition is the key to success. Bartlett, Ghoshal & Beamish (2008) identify the concept of the coordinated federation, which is essentially a conglomeration of pre-existing core principles that have found business success at the headquartered centre of the company and then distributed equally across international boundaries. The Salim Group takes the advice of Bartlett et al. in not taking this rather unproductive distribution of core principles and then forcing them throughout the transnational environment and the business’ multiple industries. Instead, Salim advises on being adaptable to changing market conditions. This flexibility is a success factor to be more responsive to the external market environment. For example, the Salim Group faced public backlash with perceived corruption from the Indonesian go vernment between the Salim Group about its investment banking practices (Dieleman, 2006) for divesting 107 different assets to the Indonesian government. ... Though this is only one scenario that occurred with the Salim Group, it indicates that regional government and other influencing bodies in the regulatory environment continue to change the internal dynamics of how the business is operated and/or divested. This is why Salim continues to travel, personally, to different regions of the world to gain an understanding of what is driving governmental forces or cultural forces in key growth markets or existing markets so that the business can be structured accordingly or new strategies developed based on primary data research analysis. This type of flexibility by taking a proactive stand to leadership and research is a key success dynamic. Since more than one legal basis for operations drives this transnational company, such flexibility is a predictor of future success by fully understanding the forces that will impede business success or improve its competitive or public relations position. Anthony Salim is also open to being approached by new investors from multiple regions of the world in order to seize opportunities to expand the business or put it into a better financial position over the long-run. Salim fully recognizes the strengths and weaknesses of the firm, such as his indication that the group is not fluent in technological prowess, thus not having an attitude of superiority in any one division that might not be supported by actual business realities. Salim relies on synergies produced from acquired businesses or other strategic activities involving a secondary business and allows the firm to capitalize on these strengths through acquisition. In many ways, the case study reinforces that Anthony Salim is more focused on consumer relationship management and the marketing principles for

Strategies in the management of Human Resources

Strategies in the management of Human Resources The contemporary businesses environment is continuously changing due to the arrival of the information based, knowledge driven, service intensive economy. Managers today are recognizing that speed, flexibility and continuous self-renewal are required in the organization. As people are the number one assets in the organizations and companies, the daily business tasks and functions cannot be completed without people. The skilled and motivated people are the central point in the operation of companies in the new age. HRM is to help an organization to meet strategic goals by attracting, motivating and maintaining employees and also to manage them effectively. Attracting and retaining the quality staff is the competitive advantage for many organizations in challenging economic environment. There are two main approaches to attracting and retaining employees by the strategies employer of choice and employee engagement. Employer of choice has become in HRM in contemporary business recent years. It is representative of a whole new design of corporate culture. Employer of choice is applied in the company priorities by most successful and respected business leaders today. Now more and more employers are using an employer of choice strategy by providing and offering varieties of employee benefits in order to attract and retain best people. There are four measurements for monitoring the companys performance. In addition to market share, consistent financials and being a valuable corporate citizen, the fundamental element for a successful company is being an employer of choice. When companies are losing talent and experienced staff, the companies are losing professionals and expertise that gained at company expense, hard -built customer relationship as well that are very hard to replace todays labour market. To put employer of choice as the top priorities list can give the company competitive advantage be cause it can attract and retain critical human assets. The employee engagement is becoming very important across the globe as the customer power and employee power are increasing in the modern economic and business world. As 200 companies survey found that it can have $21 million benefit moving a workforce of 8000 employees from low level to high level engagement. And compared with 20% of disengaged the employees, more than 65% engaged employees say that they have a better understanding how to meet the customer requirements and needs. Employee engagement can also make effort on mental and emotional commitment to the organization. Engaged employees are willing to give extra effort to their job that can lead to increase the productivity. Some researches show that the employee engagement strategy makes an average less than three days sick leave per year than six days for the disengaged employees A successful employee engagement strategy helps create a community at the workplace and not just a workforce. When employees are effectively and positively engaged with their organisation, they form an emotional connection with the company. This affects their attitude towards both their colleagues and the companys clients and improves customer satisfaction and service levels. As the question mentioned that the companies must reject the concept that the loyalty is dead among todays employees. The company has to create a challenging environment that can attract and retain people. I totally agree this conception that employee royalty and satisfactory can be build up by employee engagement. It make employee make effort to the organization from coginitive level, emotional level and physical level. Engaged employees always think about the company, feel inspired by their job, they are customer focused in their approach, they care about the future of the company and are prepared to invest their own effort to see that the organization succeeds. It is now a generally acknowledged business fact that employee engagement is a key driver of business success. Employee engagement strategy can be applied no matter in small or large companies. It benefits the organizations and individuals, improving the performance, boosting the bottom line and makes employees happier and the work more enjoyable. However, it is not always the win-win situation. Some organization use employee engagement that can drive work intensification. It would obviously run this risk of being detrimental to the individuals concerned. The organization is expecting the employees to go one step further that can make overtime working normalised. And the over-performance rewarded can leave behind the staffs that just do a good job. In other hand, it is not easy to achieve work-life balance in some high-performance companies under employee engagement strategy. The priority of work with long and non-standard hours takes over family and social life. The increasing effort that engaged employees put into the work time make the work and life unbalanced. The latest research shows th at the employee engagement by high performance work systems may accrue marginal benefits in terms of the higher level of involvement and commitment. However, these benefits are outweighed by the associated increases in responsibility, workload, work-life spill over and work stress. 2. How companies are dealing with the linkages between HR and strategic formulation. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) in an organization can be defined as accepting and involving the HR function as a strategic partner in the formulation and implementation of the companys strategies through HR activities such as recruiting, selecting, training and rewarding personnel. SHRM means linking of HR with strategic objectives to improve business performance and company culture to develop competitive advantage, innovation and flexibility. There are four different levels of linkage between HR strategic and the strategic management process: administrative linkage, one-way linkage, two-way linkage and integrative linkage. These four levels of linkage are very helpful for an organization to categorize which HRM strategy has to be applied. The administrative linkage has no linkage between strategic plan and HR function. It simply engages in administrative work that has no emphasis placed on achieving the linkage in both strategy formulation and strategy implantation. It focuses on day to day activities and personal management. In one-way linkage, the company develops the strategic plan and then informs the HR function. Although it does recognize the importance of human resources in implementing the strategic plan, it precludes the company from considering human resource issues while formulating the strategic plan. In two-way linkage, he strategic planning team informs the HRM function of the various strategies the company is considering Æ’Â   HRM executives analyze the human resource implications of the various strategies, presenting the results to the strategic planning team Æ’Â   The strategic plan is passed on to the HRM executive, who develops programs to implement it. The Integrative linkage is based on continuing interaction. The HRM function is built right into the strategy formulation and implementation processes. In the higher level linkage such as two-way linkage and integrative linkage are characterized by a close relationship between HRM and business strategies. HRM effectiveness can be explained by examine the contributions of the HRM function in the process of achieving strategic integration. In both of the short term and long term, SHRM should complement and contribute to the improvement of the productive capacity of enterprises. Strategic business partner: a role performed by HR practitioners, aiming to execute organisational strategy by aligning HR processes with the organisational strategy. HR managers become able to reengineer the way HR department executes its job, accomplishes those transactional HR jobs cost-competitively, and increasingly turn its attention to truly being a strategic partner with the firms top executives With an integrative linkage, strategic planners consider all the people-related business issues before making a strategic choice. These issues are identified with regard to the mission, goals, opportunities, threats, strengths and weakness, leading the strategic planning team to make a more intelligent strategic choice. While this process does not guarantee success, companies that address these issues are more likely to make a choice that will ultimately succeed. Research has supported the need to have HR executives integrally involved in strategy formulation. The level of HR involvement was positively related to the refinery managers evaluation of the effectiveness of the HR function. HR involvement was highest when top managers viewed employees as a strategic asset and this was associated with reduce turnover. HR practices that are properly implemented do deliver significant financial benefits to an organization. ( profitability, shareholder return, stock prices and organizational survival) Administrative linkage level will either become more integrated or face extinction. In addition, companies will move toward becoming interactively linked in an effort to strategically manage human recourses. Integrating the HR function into strategy formulation may help the strategic planning team make the most effective strategic choice. Once the strategic choice is determined, HR must take the active role in its implementation. HR is emerging as the key concept in assessing the competitive assets of organizations. HR managers and professionals, by virtue of their knowledge of human performance, are well positioned to exercise strategic leadership and contribute significantly to a firms competitive advantage. Therefore, the company has to create opportunities for the HR function to develop a more strategic role in a firms operation (Lawler Mohrman, 2003). As the arrival of the global economy, the HRM has more challenges to create an environment to maintain the competitive advantages. In order to become a strategic partner in the organization, the HR executive must have the abilities to research and training that from being acknowledge of the HR concepts, logic and practices. HR executives have to show the competencies which add more value to the organization. The role of HRM is becoming more creative and strategic to adapt the changes of worldwide workforce structures. More and more high performing companies have HR executive involved in business at a strategic level. There are four major factors of competencies related to how well an HR professional contributes in a strategic way to businesses in areas such as strategic decision making, culture management, fast change, and market driven connectivity. Previously, organization structured on a centralized and compartmentalized basis-head office, marketing, manufacturing, financing etc. By the end of the 1980s, HR played largely on administrative work that focus on HR operations and processing standardisation and technology which has no connection with the strategic management. The role of HR traditionally in the organization is no more than a one- way linkage role. They were doing what the business manager wanted. In recent years, theres a fundamental reassessments of human resources structures and positions. The massive change of business conditions, organizational structure and strategic decision makers has been leading HR to develop their perspectives and functions. Today, senior management expects HR to move beyond its traditional. HR is more tightly linked to corporate strategy and to creating business value through HR services that address a companys most pressing strategic challenges. HR now seek t decentralize and to integrate their operations and developing cross-functional teams. HR is anticipating critical workforce trends, shaping and executing business strategy, identifying and addressing people-related risks and regulations, enhancing workforce performance and productivity, and offering new HR services to help a company improve and grow. In order to become a strategic partner in the company, the HR executives need to fulfil five challenges to help the company to achieve critical goals. Posses and use their knowledge of how people can and do play a role in competitive advantage as well as policies, programs and practices that can leverage the companys people as a source of competitive advantage Firstly, knowledge management is essential for competitive advantage for helping HR to play an important role in developing company culture for organizational learning as a strategic partner. With knowledge management, business success is achieved in a culture of learning and workplace planning. The Research Quarterly found that the HR executives can leverage the company people through knowledge management, for competitive advantage in a challenging economy. HR executive and professionals has to acquire the knowledge and skills that are necessarily link HR to stakeholder value. And HR related policies, programs and rules can have a fundamental influence on workforce behavior that helping company to achieve the competitive advantages. To become the strategic partner, it requires HR executive to be involved in transferring knowledge. HR professionals must know how to optimize policies and practices, how to manage the learning that results from any change or execution process associated with new business structures. And HR executives need to have multiple channels to make sure the engagement of business strategies. HR executives must demonstrate business knowledge includes not only how it fulfills its mission, but also how it serves its customers and differentiates itself from its competitors. When HR professionals demonstrate their understanding of what is driving their business, they will add value by mobilizing the right workforce with the right skills to achieve the business goals of enterprise. Knowledge management requires knowledge managers. Key business resources like labor and capital have substantial organizational functions devoted to their management. Knowledge wont be well managed until some group within a  ®rm has clear responsibility for the job. Among the tasks that such a group might perform are collecting and categorizing knowledge establishing a knowledge oriented technology infrastructure, and monitoring the use of knowledge. HR need to have clear strategies, outcomes, products , services and structures So the HR staff can achieve their goals and deliver the necessary outcomes. HR staff can do this to fulfilling for management roles Strategic HR role- aligns HR and business strategy and delivers the executive of strategy HR executives must be able to translate business needs in HR strategies to build up individual, team and organizational capabilities. HR strategy should be directly relevant to business requirement and delivering value that lead to an intense focus on structural realignment for HR teams. It requires HR to have competing perspectives, values and services. It also involved meeting stakeholder need for respect and ownership. HR executives need to widen the focus on learning new behaviours, changing attitudes and processes. Management of company infrastructure role- reengineers organization processes and builds an efficient infrastructure Management of employee contribution role- listening and responding the employees- employee commitment and capability is increased Transformation and change role- ensuing the organization has the capacity for change and delivers a renewed organization HRIS- HR information systems- technology is facilitating the transformation of HR function HRIS is designed to help provide information used in HR decision making such as administration, payroll, recruiting, training, and performance analysis. HRIS makes HR department working more effective to handle daily administrative tasks. Using the value-added approach to justify the HRIS expenditure links the system with the key business direction of the organization, and makes the critical of HR information to business success. The HRIS becomes not just a way to reduce administrative costs, but a key element of the business strategies. In additional to providing a framework of justifying HRIS expenditure as a strategic investment, the value-added approach emphasizes the role of HR as an active strategic partner in achieving the originations strategic business objectives Technology is facilitating the transformation of HR function. These technology solutions can cover multiple HR tasks, such as recruiting, benefits administration, and training administration. Applications and data a re usually shared in common across the company, with links to other systems in services centre operations, finance, and accounting as well as third-party systems for such tasks as payroll and benefits. Modern HRIS are comprehensive, accurate and accessible systems for recording employee and work data relevant to HRM, HR and organizational planning. HRIS helps the organization to improve strategic planning and program development and faster information processing times. By increasing administrative efficiency, technology allows HR to have fewer staff marking more value-added contributions to their organizations. The rapid evolution of electronic HR delivery systems is pushing more information in more usable formats to employees and managers who can use it directly for the benefit of their organizations. Fast and cheap access to accurate real time HR information Access and the ability to analyse, assess, interpret, manipulate, leverage and share the information effectively will be key to giving organizations a strategic edge. Successful data mining will be made possible by the use of date warehouses with their ability to consolidate internal and external information with powerful analytical tools Ubiquitous access to information to improve employee effectiveness and efficiency. This means working from anywhere and at anytime, the size, format, the footprint of technology deliverables will more from departmental desktop devices operating under the full control of the user organization to a mixture of hand-held, pocket-sized, integrated devices and wireless linkage that provide needed access on a real time basis to centralized processing and data storage capabilities. Instant access to all needed knowledge and to essential meaningful data will be a keystone for the successful enterprise. A variety of analytics and decision trees. Smart self-service. Customized content. HR executives must implement the new plans or programs. HR executive must have the skills to oversee the change in a way that ensures it success. Change was more successfully where HR professionals had been involved in developing the vision of the organisation, strategic planning, the change required and where the HR manage was well paid and reported directly to CEO. In previous times, change is constant. HR executives like scanning, scenario building and search conferences can help to predict the future and manage change. However, the most effective HR executives will not depend on formulas but will develop their strategic intelligence including foresight, partnering with people who complement their strengths, visioning with systems thinking, motivating and empowering their collaborators to realize their visions to create a winning future for their organizations. HR executives must have integration competence, the ability to integrative the three other competencies to increase the companys value. Although specialist knowledge is necessary, a generalist perspective must be taken in making decisions. This means that how HR all functions fit together to be effective and recognising that changes in any one part of HR package are likely to requires changes in other parts of the package. There are a few competencies the HR executives have to master to become a strategic partner. The integration competency is one of the most important that can integrate the other three competencies together to increase the organizations value. HR executives are playing the role as connecting hiring, training and worker evaluations via organizational competencies. From talent mapping and planning to performance evaluation, recruitment, retention and even benefits administration, todays human capital professionals are constantly seeking new ways to streamline, integrate and align human capital functions with broader corporate objectives The organization management has to realize that it is very important to have an integrated and consistent technology platform for HRM. The more integration between activities as diverse as recruitment, payroll and benefits management, training/development and performance measurement, the better HR executives can be at overall workforce planning and managing and motivating individual workers. As the result, the organization can be more effective These developments lead to an entirely new set of competencies for todays strategic Hr executive. The new strategic role of HR shows both opportunities and challenges. These include forming a series of partners with senior executives, line managers and external providers of HR services. As companies cope with the economy, HR can be instrumental in helping organizations leverage knowledge-based resources for business results. As highlighted in Creating People Advantage, critical HR challenges focus on three strategic categories, all related to knowledge management: 1) developing and retaining the best employees (talent, leadership development, work/life balance); 2) anticipating change (demographics, change, cultural transformation, globalization); and 3) enabling the organization (becoming a learning organization). (4) As indicated in a SHRM April 2009 poll of U.S.-based organizations and multinational companies, the primary focus of companies now is workforce planning. Although hiring expectations are low, talent management priorities remain high despite the economic downturn (see Figure 1 Competitive challenges influencing HRM The challenge of HR innovation Knowledge management It is no secret that knowledge is power. Knowledge management can create competitive advantage for a company and its customers. By sharing information and best practices, organizations create expanded opportunities for market share and financial growth. Furthermore, knowledge management provides a means for organizations to differentiate themselves from competitors. Second, KM can create a truly customer-focused culture. Appropriate organization resources can be directed toward solving customer problems or meeting customer needs quickly and effectively. Third, knowledge management can be a catalyst. Through tools, resources, and systems, it can help ignite creativity and innovation in the development of an organizations products and services. Fourth, KM can improve time to market. By leveraging best practices, learning and other time-savers to improve productivity, products can be introduced faster. Last, KM can expand a companys strategic options. By leveraging intellectual property in research and development efforts as well as overall market and business strategy, organizations can discover new ways to create value. Knowledge management can provide an organization with man benefits. Organizations can more effectively counter problems and threats and can respond more proactively to opportunities. In a knowledge based economy, managing knowledge along with other resources is a requirement, not an option. Knowledge workers Self-managing, automony, responsibility for continuing innovation Knowledge workers in todays workforce are individuals who are valued for their ability to interpret information within a specific subject area. They will often advance the overall understanding of that subject through focused analysis, design and/or development. They use research skills to define problems and to identify alternatives. Fueled by their expertise and insight, they work to solve those problems, in an effort to influence company decisions, priorities and strategies As the workers become more knowledge based, firms will need to implement strategic human resource practices in order to retain their tacit knowledge base either by retaining the tacit knowledge or by retaining the knowledge worker and thus retaining a critical competitive advantage. Performance of knowledge based industries depends on organizations attracting, holding, and motivating knowledge workers (Drucker, 2003). The transition to knowledge workers is having a significant impact on human resource practices. The knowledge workers must think like entrepreneurs, and the firms must think of the knowledge workers as entrepreneurial professionals as well as ensure a learning organization where tacit knowledge is actively diffused throughout the firm. This will allow the firm to better manage their knowledge resources through HR practices and help sustain their competitive advantage. High-performance work systems (HPWS)- combining people and technology- self-managing work teams Change in employees work roles and skill requirement The use of teams to perform work Changes in the nature of managerial work Changes in company structure Increased ability of HR information HRM practices in HPWS The challenge of sustainability The challenge of globalisation The challenge of attracting and retaining people NOKIA CASE:- Connecting People Exernal and internal people Nokia is the worlds leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile and fixed telecom networks including related customer services. Nokias corporate headquarters are in over 120 countries and employees are more than 47000 people worldwide. Human Resource Management plays an important role for Nokia to become the giant among the communication rivals, HRM in the new economy should to be human centric with a strong technology focus. Nokia use the SHRM to leverage on emerging technologies to better satisfy the wants and needs of the knowledge workers and in the process to build a competitive advantages. Nokia Australia is recognized as an employer of choice having been named National Best Employer in 2002 by Best Employer to Work for in Australia Awards sponsored by Hewitt, AGSM and John Fairfax. Nokia is one of only five companies to have consistently featured in the Best ployer category since the inception of these awards. Nokias HR policies have played a key role in helping the company to reach its 45 percent share of the global handset market and industry-leading profit margins of 20 to 25 percent, at a time of technological change and intense competition from Asian manufacturers. At Nokia values are the foundation and people the core. Nokia offer a workplace with a world of opportunities, engaging work, global culture and competitive rewards. The goal of Nokia HR is to create an environment in which all employees can fulfill their potential. It is crucial for the company to have the ability to adapt successfully to the high speed of change in the global market. The scale of Nokias business also means that Nokia employees can lead or participate in projects that have global impact, affecting the lives of millions of people and fulfilling Nokias mission: connecting people. Attracting, motivating and retaining people have become the main external influence on Nokias HR strategies. These four elements are: The first element of Nokia HR strategy is the Nokia way and values. Nokia is a networked organization with speed and flexibility decision making. Nokia provides individuals with a platform for personal growth in a challenge environment with a clear vision, goals and management principles. The Nokia Way brings talented people together who share the principles and success. Through the extensive employee engagement, Nokia have renewed their values that reflect their business and changing environment. Nokia is continuing engage all the stakeholders and employees to meet the needs of customers. And Nokias HR strategy includes the passion for innovation through new and improved ways and better understanding the world. Professional and personal growth (Challenge of Innovation) Nokia is focusing on professional and personal growth. Only with truly innovative ideas can make the company and its people to develop the industry and improve the products and services. Commitment to Self-developments People at Nokia is continuously looking for ways to improve their performance in order to stay at the forefront of technology and develop own competencies. Employees are encouraged to create their own development plan and take advantage of the variety of available learning solutions and methods. On the job learning is heavily encouraged. Nokia has the high-performance work systems (HPWS). First, Employees reward and compensations at Nokia is related to the companys performance.Nokia provides employees with market competitive rewards through a flexible global structure, which can address diverse and changing business and employment environments, as well as specific individual preferences. Nokia rewards employees for good performance, competence development, and for overall company success. This creates a positive and encouraging environment with opportunities for employees to optimize their potential and be rewarded fairly. Higher performance and contribution will lead to higher rewards. The Nokia global market competitive rewards structure addresses the need for flexibility, personalization, empowerment and commitment. Second, Nokia has the coaching and management training system. Coaching is regarded as a vital part of continuous learning. Highly skilled colleagues at Nokia provide employees with rich sources of experience and knowledge. Receiving coaching and partic ipating in different teams will fuel employees ´ development as well as give them the opportunity, every day, to share ideas and goals with innovators and industry leaders. Employees have access to a wide variety of training activities. Through global network of Learning Centers, Nokia HR aim to offer a consistent standard of training and development to all employees. The Learning Market Place Intranet contains information on all Nokia ´s learning solutions including e-learning as well as classroom training. Management Training Nokia place particular focus on developing managers in management and leadership skills. It is one of the key areas in competence development. There is a full range of training available from new managers ´ programs to senior programs for our more experienced people. Internal Job Market (Changes in the place of work) All employees at Nokia are invited to look at the job opportunities available inside Nokia. All vacancies, with the exception of very senior positions, are advertised internally. Employees are encouraged to improve their competencies through changing their positions. Internal job opportunities, the possibility to register to our internal candidate pool and other services for job-seeking inside the company are available through the Internal Job Market Intranet. The aim is to give Nokia people the opportunity to manage their own careers. Performance Management Nokia has created a successful performance management system across the whole

Albert Camus Essay

This is the commentary on the book â€Å"The Outsider† written by Albert Camus. I decided to set up my commentary writing about: characters, theme, style, time & place and symbolism. The Outsider is a story about a man called Monsieur Meursault, who lives his life in total simplicity and simple enjoyment, but whom society eventually roots out, humiliates and crushes. He lives for the truth. The novel is divided into two parts. In part one his mother dies and he has to go to the funeral. He does not about his mother, so he does not mourn his mother at all. Next day he meets a woman called Marie, with whom he used to work with and they start dating. Meursault invites her out, they go to the cinema and afterwards they sleep together. Later Meursault helps his neighbour Raymond to write a letter to his girlfriend, which leads to the culmination of the book. Raymond and Meursault are now friends and they go to a party where they meet Raymond’s girlfriend’s brother and the Arab, a fight breaks out and the brother attacks Raymond. Meursault goes back to the beach and kills the Arab. Part two is about his trial for murder. The prosecutor is very cruel and Meursault is to be guillotined. At the end he argues with prison chaplain about God and religion. Finally, Meursault finds peace and he thinks perhaps after death his existence may be less absurd; he may be more closely aligned with the universe. He accepts his destiny with clear understanding. In the book â€Å"Outsider† there are three major characters and three minor characters I am going to write about. Characters in Camus novels and plays are keenly aware of the meaninglessness of the human condition, assert their humanity by rebelling against their circumstances. Monsieur Meursault is the central character in the novel. He is emotionless and a careless person; society sees him as an outsider or even a monster. Even though he is honest and as a character he is both disturbing and fascinating. He only seems to care for the most fleeting of sensations and gives no thought to future consequences, for example killing the Arab. For him the events that are important for most people do not mean anything, like the fact that his mother is dead, that Marie loves him and wants to get married. He simply does not care about that. Meursault is amoral; he cannot make difference between good and bad. Raymond asked him to write the letter for his girlfriend, which Meursault does without realising the consequences. Meursault’s indifference seems to apply solely to his understanding of himself. At the end of the novel he realizes that the universe is like him, totally different to human life and that people’s life do not have any meaning or importance, so at the end he is completed as a character. Raymond Sintes is a friend and a neighbour of Meursault. Raymond is a bit like Meursault, he is lonely, he keeps away from other people and he is a cold person. Raymond definitely dislikes women. If Meursault is just different and annoyed with himself, then Raymond on the other hand is a cruel and a violent person, and he knows how to use other people, as he uses Meursault. For example, he has problems with his ex-girlfriend, he beats and abuses her. He says to Meursault that he needs to punish her, which actually leads to conflict with the Arab. Raymond initiates action. Although he only seems to use Meursault, he actually testifies for him and feels a bit responsible. Marie Cardona is the girl who loves Meursault and he likes her as well, but he does not love her. Marie seems to be good-hearted, she accepts everything that Meursault does, including his behaviour and careless. Marie is cheerful, honest and loyal to Meursault. Marie loves Meursault a lot and wants to marry him; she says that she probably loves him because he is so peculiar. Marie also delights in physical contact; they do not kiss in public places. Marie’s physical affection for Meursault signals a deeper sentimental and emotional attachment. Marie acts in a strange way, because Meursault does not care about her at all, but Marie just forgets that and loves him still, and she stays loyal to him even when he is in the prison, she goes to see him. Probably, she enjoys the freedom, because Meursault does not take any interest in her life when they are not together. Marie never grasps the indifference of the universe and she never comes to understand the redemptive value of abandoning hope. Salamano is Meursault’s neighbour. An older man living with his dog (spaniel). He seems to be a very lonely and depressive person and he is filled with anger that he expresses by beating his dog. Meursault does not know him very well, but he always hears Salamano fighting with his dog. Once Meursault hears him crying and he goes to see what has happened, Salamano tells him that his dog is missing and he is really upset. From that, you can see that even if he was beating his dog, he actually loved it very much and the spaniel was the only friend he ever had. Salamano testifies for Meursault in the trial. The Arab is the friend of Raymond’s ex-girlfriend’s brother and he actually plays only a small role in the novel, which is important. You can see that The Arab is a person who wants revenge and he and Raymond’s ex-girlfriends brother are the ones who follow Meursault and Raymond to the beach and start the fight. Meursault is quite cruel to him, after he falls down, Meursault shoots him four times. Maman is not a living character, but is still important. Meursault has a very cold relationship with her; he sent her a home, where she lived out her remaining days. The fact that she is dead, and how Meursault acted in the funeral causes much trouble for him even later. His mother sets in motion society’s negative image of his personality. The novel â€Å"Outsider† was established in 1940’s after the Second World War in France. There is very big effect of the war on people’s religious beliefs. The meaninglessness of human life is one of the major components of Camus’ absurdist philosophy. He finds that human life has no redeeming purpose and the only thing that makes sense is death. In the novel you can see that Meursault finds his peace at the end. He understands that it does not matter whether he dies by execution or normal death. Meursault realizes that he is so different from the universe and the universe is indifferent to him. Like everyone else on this earth, Meursault was born, he will die, and he will not have any further importance to the universe. The importance of the physical world. Meursault is more interested in the physical aspects of the world around him rather than in its social or emotional aspects. In the â€Å"Outsider†, Meursault’s attention centres on his own body, physical contact with Marie, on the weather and on the nature. For example at his mother’s funeral the heat causes much more trouble to him, than the fact that his mother is dead. He also suffers on the beach, because of the sun. Which represents the obsessive effect of society. The story is written in the first person, in the kind of spare, economic style. The flat, impersonal style is perfectly matched to the subject matter. Sentences to not follow upon each other in a logical train, they succeed each other, almost without apparent connection. Camus tries to avoid causal conjunctions, but the ones Meursault uses are â€Å"and† and â€Å"then†, word which do not show motivation. At the end of the book, the language changes a bit. From being very passive it suddenly becomes an obsessive and legal language. The last two paragraphs are the culminating ones, blissful expression of passionate love of life. The sun is one of the symbols in the novel. The sun is usually associated with positive and good things, like societies generally, however they both can become overpowering. They beat down on people, smothering them just like the sun beats down upon Meursault. The sun is presented whenever the force of society is strong within Meursault. There is sun during the funeral, in the court hall, which claims to possess the right to judge people, and on the beach when he kills the Arab. But there is no sun in the cell, because the overpowering force society has been removed. The crucifix symbolizes Christianity, which stands as antagonism to Camus absurdist worldview. Christianity conceived a rational order for the universe based on god’s creation and direction of the world. The chaplain’s insistence that Meursault turn to god does not represent a wish that he should accept particularly Christian beliefs so much as a desire that he holds the principle of a important universe in general. When Meursault defies the magistrate by rejecting Christianity, he totally discards all systems that seek to define a realistic order within human existence.

Measuring And Managing Absenteeism In The Workplace

Productivity loss due to absenteeism is a serious growing challenge. We live in an absenteeism culture. Talking a day off and calling in sick is supported and encouraged by the society. Many people’s attitude is† The time is coming to us† (Robert F.Allen and Michael Higgens- the Absenteeism Culture. Becoming attendance oriented.) Unscheduled absenteeism is on the rise and the rates of absenteeism are at their highest since 1999. The major concern is that almost two out of three employees who do not show up aren’t physically ill or have challenging issues.Absence measurement and management is an increasingly growing body of knowledge and experience that managers apply to control and reduce absenteeism and its accruing costs. To ensure that the issue of absenteeism is effectively addressed, managers and supervisors-armed with the required guidance and training, need to understand the circumstances and factors surrounding absenteeism in the workplace, and thus actively participate in the company’s procedures and policies to effective curb absenteeism in the workplace.Employers attempt to cut down excessive employee absenteeism through tighter controls. They demand doctor’s report or use some other punitive mechanisms that targets symptoms of absenteeism rather than its causes. The problem will not go away unless the underlying root causes are removed. Building an attendance culture!How should absenteeism effectively be managed? Triggers or incentives? / Carrots or sticks?Introduction:Absenteeism from workplace has been on the increase and may be an indicative of poor morale, lack of motivation, sick building syndrome, poor organizational polities or mere indiscipline from the employees. However, many employers have introduced and implemented absence policies which make no distinction between absence for genuine reasons or illness and absence for inappropriate reasons.One of these policies is the calculation of the Bradford F actor, which only factors total number and frequency of individual absence into account, neglecting the kind of absence. 40 million days are lost each year in the UK, due to workplace absenteeism, 93% of employees say cold and flu are the reason for being away from work, but research has shown  that in reality, half of absenteeism in the workplace has nothing whatsoever to do with health. Workers decide to stay away from work for a host of other reasons relating to work and personal issues, which range from job de-motivation, low pay, lack of work life balance and occasional hangover.Absenteeism has been viewed traditionally as a breach of an implicit contract between employee and employer, as a management problem and has been framed in economic terms. This report will critically discuss the causes and effects of absenteeism in the workplace with the view to derive effective ways to measure and manage absenteeism. It will seek to understand absenteeism as an indicator of psycholog ical, social adjustment to work. 1. What do we mean by Absenteeism?According to dictionary reference.com, Absenteeism can be defined as habitual failure to appear, especially for work and other regular duty. The rate occurrence of habitual absence from work or duty. Absenteeism can be viewed as re-occurring absence from work, duty and obligation, thought to reflect employee demoralization or dissatisfaction. This can also be viewed as a breach of the implicit contract that exists between the employer and the employed. Simply put, Failure to report to or stay at work when scheduled is tagged absenteeism. 1.1 Absenteeism can be grouped into two categories –Involuntary/Innocent absenteeism: This is when absences are unavoidable and understandable. For instance Absences due to death in the family Pregnancy or Maternity issues Absences caused by illness or injury Car/ vehicle issues Other family related or personal issues Accidents and natural disasters Disability-related absentee ism- Human rights obligations Voluntary/Culpable Absenteeism: Voluntary absenteeism is an instance where an employee, out of his own freewill or laziness, chooses to stay off work. Absences in this case are avoidable. Missing work without advance notice, to go the cinema or watch football Making excuses for consistent late coming to workDeceitfully/fraudulently applying for sick leave or calling in ‘sick’Failure to report to work as scheduled or showing up late for no good reason 1.2 Causes of Absenteeism in the workplace There are various factors that could influence an employee to be absent at work. These factors are as followsPersonal Factors:Personal Attitude: individuals posses different attitudes and bring these attitudes forth to the workplace. Employees with strong workplace ethics will respect their work and appreciate their contribution to the organisation and as such, will not take unscheduled off from the workplace. Conversely, employees with low or without work ethics are in- disciplined and have behavioural issues. Because they feel no obligation to the organisation, absenteeism comes easily to them. Age: The age of an employee often affects their attitude to work.The younger the employees are often restless, they want to have fun and be with friends rather than being tied down with responsibilities. This leads to lack of ownership and usually leads to unscheduled and unauthorised time off. Gender: Women are usually challenged with balancing their time between work and home. Their families are always the utmost priority, thus they would rather be absent from work to sort out family issuesWorkplace Factors:Organizational Culture: Every organisation is a culture with its own norms. An organisation with an embedded absenteeism culture, screen played by its management and supervisors lack of commitment would encourage further employee absenteeismLack of Motivation and Rewards: The relationship between the organisation and its employees i s influenced by what motives them to work and the rewards and fulfilment they derive from it. Inability of managers or employers to motivate employees and meet their extrinsic and intrinsic needs would lead to lack if motivation and commitment hence, absenteeism in the workplaceAbsence of learning culture: Learning means change, thus can affect  organisations effectiveness. Employees love to work in an organisation where they would improve themselves and their career through organisational learning and knowledge management, which could be inculcated through coaching, mentoring, trainings and other explicit methods. In an organisation where a learning culture is absent, employees feel de-motivated, unsatisfied and feel their career growth is threatened.Hence they excuse themselves from work without authorisation in search for greater challenges and organisations where they would gain improve themselves. Stress at work: According to a report cited in Financial Times: ‘Stress a t work is the biggest problem in European companies’ Voluntary absenteeism takes place because employees are dissatisfied with their job; hence they feel stressed doing the work either because of the work load or unsuitable assigned roles. {Egs} wrongly assigning a customer service manager to manage treasury department, without adequate experience and training.Due to lack of adequate experience in the field and fixed timed deliverables and tasks, he feels stressed and harassed in the role and thus breaks down into stress or depression and seeks sick leave and abandons the job. Voluntary Absenteeism also takes place where the employees feel there is a strain on their psychological contract with the employer, this indirectly erupts lack of organizational commitment. This strain could develop to stress and impact on employee attendance to work.Leadership Style: An organization’s, team or unit leadership style could impact on employee commitment, job satisfaction with impr oved or impaired participation and attendance to work. While Democratic and laissez fair leadership style encourages shared decision making, shared responsibility, creativity and participation and can be highly motivational, which enhances teamwork and interpersonal relations. Autocratic and paternalistic leadership styles could de-motivate and alienate employees. Employees might feel less important in the organisation, hence the need to avoid work. Work Routine and lack of Change: doing the same job or task over a long period of time can get monotonous.The employees get bored and thus might choose to take unauthorised time off to do something he considers interesting than going to work. Job Satisfaction: if employees do not find their work interesting, satisfying and challenging, they feel dissatisfied, which leads  to increased absenteeism in the workplace Work life balance: Organisation who not factor employee’s roles and work life such that a balance is stroked with wor k and the individual’s personal life commitments and family would experience increased employee absenteeism. Conflict in the workplace: ultimately increases chances of employee absenteeism.Lack of team spirit: A team that lacks unity, synergy and good interpersonal relationship amongst its members, will be a weak and unproductive. Such team members will lack team spirit-the spirit that bonds individuals in a team. This lack of team spirit can de-motivate team members, make them work in isolation, they would lack the sense of belonging, love and satisfaction. There would exist, fears of the unknown, lack of trust for team members. These feelings will encourage an employee to stay off work. Social Factors: factors such as difficult community circumstances like High crime and intimidation rates which constitutes fear in employee’s catalyses absenteeism in the workplace. Other social factors are – Lack of transportation/transport facilitiesPoverty levels Malnutritio n HIV/AIDS Labour Strikes 1.3 Effects of Absenteeism in the workplaceWhen a company has an absentee problem, it has a profit problem. Absenteeism can take a deep financial toll on any business, whether a small or multinational company. There are also other significant effects associated with excessive absenteeism: Decreased Productivity: in a team of people doing interrelated tasks, if one persistent remains absent or fails to deliver, it creates a domino effect on productivity. It affects employee/team morale: this is due to the fact that additional stress are places on employees who act as replacements or assume additional tasks for absenteesAbsenteeism causes disruptions in the workplace and impacts on the SLA’s It affects customer service levels, turnaround times, customer loyalty and satisfaction. It affect or disrupts effective team formation and operations It may create a perception of unfairness amongst employeesIt affects the bottom-line 2.0 Measuring Absenteeism2.1 Why measure absenteeism?It is pertinent to measure the rate of absenteeism in the workplace. Measuring employee’s absenteeism is a good way to measure Overall Labour Effectiveness (OLE) in the workplace, which is a key performance indicator (KPI) that measures the utilization, performance and quality of the workforce and its impact on productivity. Monitoring staff absence rates helps to trace the pattern of employee attendance.To monitor and check dead times, in the workplace, to derive and measure resources and costs incurred due to employee absenteeism with the aim of devising effective methods to manage absenteeism in the workplace. In measuring absenteeism in the workplace, we derive the ratio of its administrative, financial and productivity cost to the organisation which will enable development of strategies to curb absenteeism while rechanneling resources more effectively to effect the bottom-line positively.Administrative costs of Absenteeism:Time consumed in control ling absenteeism Time consumed in sourcing replacements and re-assigning duties. Supervisor’s time Financial Costs: this are the costs accruing form Overtime costs Replacement employee costs Training costs Over staffing costs Productivity Costs: Replaced productivity and loss of output costs the costs of supporting replacement employees Costs accrued in training new or replacement staff/hiring temp staff Substandard production2.2 Ways of Measuring AbsenteeismThe Total Tim lost: Number of person-days lost through job absence during period X 100 (Average number of employees) x (Number of Work days)This rate also can be based on number of hours instead of number of days. The â€Å"individual frequency† formula: This is calculated as thus : Individual frequency = (Num of Absent Employees/Average Number of Employees) x100 The Bradford Factor or Bradford Formula: According to the Chartered Institute of Personal and Development, the term was first coined due to its supposed c onnection with research undertaken by the Bradford University School of Management in the 1980s. It was developed as a way of highlighting the misappropriate level of disruption on an organisation’s performance that can be caused by short-term employee absence compared to incidences of prolonged absence. In contrast, it is considered short-sighted and unlikely to be successful which could lead to staff dissatisfaction and grievances. The Bradford factor can be calculated as follows:B= S2 x D where: B is the Bradford Factor score S is the total number of spells(instances) of absence of an individual over a set period D is the total number of days of absence of that individual over the same set period The ‘set period’ is typically set as a rolling 52 week period. For example:1 instance of absence with a duration of 15 days (1x 1 x 5)= 5 points 4 instances of absence; one of one, one of four and one of six days (4 x 4 x 5) =80 points 6 instances of absences ;each fo r two days (6 x 6 x 5) = 180 points However, the Bradford factor has been critiqued for its limited and short-sightedness in effectively measuring absenteeism, this is because it only factors total number and frequency of individual absence into account, neglecting the kind of absence.Again, the Bradford factor is a generic process and would be inappropriate to implement on disabled employees this is because certain disabilities require higher days of absence. Employers are bound by law e.g. The British Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 2005 (DDA) to tailor their actions to the individual circumstances of  disabled employees and failure to provide these reasonable adjustments by employers may lead to civil actions or breach of DDA in employment tribunal 3.0 Managing absenteeism:Absenteeism: A cultural problemEvery organisation is a culture, with its own norms that constitute the expected, supported and accepted ways of behaving. These norms are most times unwritten and advice people on the code of conduct. The existing culture and norms influences everyone’s perception of the business, from the CEO to the newly hired employee. Management’s behaviour has a special impact on organisational behaviour as relates to absenteeism, this is because of its modelling influence. Investigations have shown that absenteeism was/is directly traceable to the group norms established by leadership, the work environment and group expectations. Each group had similar illness records, it was the norms that dictated, and almost predictably, whether people showed up for work.Absenteeism is often symptoms of larger organisational problems and can be managed as thus: Leadership modelling and commitment: Managerial commitments and participatory culture have an important impact on attendance. E.g. in a retail company, a manager who demonstrated little commitment to attendance practices recorded one of the highest absenteeism rates in his organisation. Work motivation and rewards: Motivation in the work place is the driving force to achieve employee job satisfaction and commitment. This motivation could be Extrinsic or Intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation relates to the tangible rewards e.g. Salary, security, promotion and conditions of work.While,  Intrinsic motivation relates to the psychological rewards which includes; a sense of challenge and achievement, participation and appreciation from the employer. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; the expectancies of an employee from the employer are captured as thus- Motivated employees overcome obstacles to make it to work. The key to reducing employee absenteeism is to create a culture where employees want to come to work. Effective Groups and Team Building: groups and teams are essential features of the work pattern of organisations.These include formal and informal groups, project and virtual teams. Effective group and team building  encourages inter personal relationships, fulfils the individuals psychological need of love and belonging, encourages organisational learning and communication while reducing conflicts in the organisation. This ultimately gives employees, sense of belonging and contribution, job satisfaction and an increased love for the job which will be evidenced in attendance rate. Recruitment and selection: Employers should recruit employees with good attendance records. This information should be included in references.Employee orientation and training: Attendance norms should be established the first day on the job. These norms are inculcated at inductions and orientation sessions. Performance Appraisal: this can boost employee attendance rates. Management should attach attendance rates to performance appraisals, if employees are aware that attendance would be a part of their appraisal, they would minimise unnecessary absence from work.Conclusion:Organisational culture is a key factor that affects the norms and modus operandi of an organisat ion. Thus the leaders and manager have a great job of making effective decisions and inculcation the required culture through policies and examples. Creating an attendance-oriented culture requires a complete corporate commitment to encourage attendance rather than manage absenteeism. This would be a significant shift because an absenteeism culture not only cost millions of pounds, but also impedes the development of human resources, reduces organisation’s competitive advantage and affects the bottom-line My case study illustrating the causes, effects and how to manage absenteeism is evidenced in my reflective writing.