Contemporary communication essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Contemporary communication - Essay Example Even noticeable have been the points of divergence in the manner in which information should be disseminated. This paper compares and contrasts the manner in which information in current affairs programs and regular news program is disseminated with respect to communication devices. In order to effectively achieve this, it focuses on the way BBC television news and CNN current affairs program covered the Casey Anthony’s case. BBC (2011) news makes use of the images, as well as sound. It features how the jury comprising of seven women and five men ended up in the rejection of the prosecutions that Ms. that Anthony was responsible for the murder of Caylee. The news describes that Ms. Anthony had been accused of dosing her with chloroform, making her suffocate using a tape and dumping her body in the woods. However, the accused was found to be guilty of relative petty offenses such as child neglect. As this is done, the image of Ms. Anthony is presented. Each time the information is described, the pictures in the proceeding are features in real images, breaking the monotony of vision of the news anchor. The news offers a description of the appearance of the accused during the verdict delivery session. Here, Ms. Anthony, who faced a death sentence if found guilty, cried in the quietly. The moments after the jury left the room, she went about hugging her lawyers tightly while she sobbed. All these are not only presented in words, but also in images. The News offers the description of the amount of time that the Ms. Anthony had spent in the jail while awaiting her trial, and also talks about the time that her release was expected. She had been made to spend about two and a half years in jail while she waited for trial. She was to be expectedly released soon, despite the minor offenses that she had been found guilty. This is because she had already served enough time in the jail. Images of the state of the parents and even the prosecutors during the court

Music Copyright & Interband Agreements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Music Copyright & Interband Agreements - Essay Example (c) The Members agree they will act in good faith in connection with any matter relating to the constitution of the group and any of the activities of the Group and any obligation of the Group entered into with third parties. (d) the choice of record company and publishing company and the negotiation of the terms of any long term agreement relating to the professional services of the Group or any promotion or exploitation of any product of or rights in the goodwill and reputation of the Group; (g) the making of any request for or commitment to any significant loan or any other Group financial liability to any party (including any guarantee of third party obligations) and for any purpose in this context the term "significant" shall mean a transaction or series of related transactions or a facility exceeding (e.g. Â £30.00 - insert appropriate amount) whether or not the whole amount thereof is intended be drawn down at any time; 3. (a) Any decision not being within clause 2 or which is otherwise stated to require the unanimous consent of all Members will be decided upon by a majority vote on a show of hands each Member having one vote. (c) If the Group appoints its manager or any other party to adjudicate on any matter which cannot be resolved by voting then a condition of that appointment is that the decision of the adjudicator will be accepted by the Group. (ii). In the case of any ground for expulsion other than fundamental disagreement on Group policy or development the expelled Member must first (if appropriate) have been given a reasonable opportunity to remedy the complaint or to have been warned about his or her activity complained of and the written notice of expulsion must state the reason for the expulsion. (b) If the unanimous decision is given without reasonable cause such as (but not limited to) a material breach of this Agreement or permanent incapacity or a serious criminal conviction or a fundamental

Literature Review on Compensation and Benefits

Literature Review on Compensation and Benefits CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Overview This chapter serves as the introduction part of this research, which addresses the core value of the research. Here, the overview of the relationship between the compensation and benefits and the job satisfaction among the university staff will be discussed in the well-manner. Background of Study Forty years ago, University of Malaya is the only one university in Malaysia. In today fast moving world, education is become very crucial for the young generation. Nowadays, there was many new public or private universities occur in the market. There were twenty public universities and eighteen private universities in Malaysia. There are become more and more competitors in the higher education industry and students have more choices when they want to enter to the university. The current trends for students choosing the universities are not depended on the outlook but they will choose the universities which have good academics performance and quality. Therefore, to attract more students and compete with others universities, each university must increase their competitive advantages. Thanks to the internet and the accompanying high speed of communications, nowadays technological and services differentiation is no longer a key to competitive advantage in higher education industry. So, what the main reasons to make some university more successful than others? What is the key competitive advantage in today globalize world? The answer is employees. In a university, university staff is played an important role to run the day to day operation of the organization. University with talented and motivated staffs will offer outstanding service to their students. This will increase the university performance and likely to pull the university ahead the competitors, even if the services offered are similar to those offered by their competitor. According to Tang, Roberto, Toto Tang (2004) from United States and Spain, job satisfaction is an affective reaction to a job that results from the incumbents comparison of actual outcomes with those that are desired or expected. Job satisfaction of the employees is just as important as customer satisfaction in terms of the organizational performance. Therefore, employers must make sure all their employees are satisfied with their job. But, how to make sure the staffs are motivated? How to ensure the staff are satisfied with their job? Here, the compensation and benefits is the key to those questions. Nowadays, compensation and benefits are one of the fastest changing fields in Human Resources, as many company are continue to investigate various ways of rewarding employees for increase their job satisfaction and their performance. Here, compensation refers to all forms of financial return and tangible services and benefits employees receive as part of an employment relationship, which includes topics in regard to wages or salary programs; for example, salary ranges for job descriptions, merit based programs, bonus based programs, commission based programs, long term or short terms incentives programs, and etc. Besides, employees benefit includes the allowances, income protection, life insurances, life balance, vacation, and etc. Benefits are forms of value, other than payment, that are provided to the employee in return for their contribution to the organization, that is, for doing their job. Why the compensation and benefits is so important for all the employees? The answer is compensation is the main sources of employees financial security. As we know, everyone is works in expectation of some rewards; employees may see compensation as a return in an exchange between employer and themselves, as an entitlement for being an employee of the company and as a reward for a job well done. Besides, compensation is a motivator for employees. Now, people look for a job that not only suit their interested and talent, people also look for the salary and the other benefits which the company will be offer, for example, life insurance, incentive, allowances, SOSCO, EPF and etc. Besides, in the economic downturn, based wages is become very important sources to employees for living. Therefore, if the employers give higher salary to their staff, this will be motivates them to perform well and they will more satisfy with their job. By doing so, the employees will know that the company is appreciate their contribution and their efforts are noted by management. Problem Statement As mention earlier, there are many new public or private universities occur in market. To compete with other competitor, each university must increase their competitive advantage. The key competitive advantage is employees. Therefore, the issues of the employee job satisfaction become very important for the employer. There are many factors which can influence job satisfaction among university staff, for example, job security, compensation and benefits, opportunities to use skills and feeling safe in the work environment. But, this research just will investigate the influence of compensation and benefits towards job satisfaction among university staff. For a university, there are many staffs to cover and the employer does not really understand what their staffs need. It is impossible for taking all employees compensation and benefits throughout the firm into consideration to set up the reward system. This is because different department staffs have different needs. For example, for lecturer the flexible working hours and higher bonus will be more favoured by them. But, for the marketing department the flexible working hours and more incentives and allowances will be favoured by them. Compensation and benefits is a primary motivator for employees. Nowadays, people look for a job not only suit their creativity and talents, but compensate them- both in term of salary and other benefits-accordingly. (Enotes.com, 2008) Therefore, when the problems occur to the compensation and benefits of the staffs are going to have impact on employees job satisfaction. When the staffs receives the salary less than he or she expected, he or she will feel that he or she is not appreciated by the university and what he or she did is meaningless. So, the staff will feel job dissatisfaction and less motivated by the university. According to the Society for Human Resources Management report, job dissatisfaction can contribute to multiple organizational problems and has been associated with increased levels of turnover and absenteeism, which ultimately cost the organization in terms of low performance and decreased productivity. (SHRM, 2009) Thus, employer must ensure that the compensation and benefits system is fair and equitable to all the staffs and understanding the system. By doing so, employer can create a real job satisfaction and motivate their employees. Besides, research has shown that both getting less than you want and getting more than you want leads to large discrepancies between desires and outcome and eventually leads to low job satisfaction thus to low quality if working performance. (Rice, Bennett, McFarlin, 1989) Hence, desires play an important role in assessing if increasing income impacts an individuals job satisfaction and work performance. Moreover, if the desires of the individual are already met, then an increase in income will not increase satisfaction as well as working performance. (Solberg, Diener, Wirtz, Lucas, Oishi, 2002) In other words, increasing compensation and benefits may not always lead to employees job satisfaction. Besides, employers must design an appropriate compensation and benefits system to their staff. This is because inappropriate compensation and benefits will have negative effect to employee job satisfaction. For example, assume that university staffs have received one thousand and fifty ringgit (RM) each month, no allowances and overtime claim and his or her still need to work 8 hours per day. Will you believe this staff will satisfy with his or her jobs? The answer is absolutely no. Therefore, an appropriate compensation and benefits system is very significant to an organization. As a conclusion, in today fast moving world, the issue of the compensation and benefits are getting more and more important. This is because it is have much influence on an employees life, for example, health, personality, mentality and thus lead to employees job satisfaction. Therefore, employers must ensure themselves understand the way of how compensation and benefits influence the employees job satisfaction. Objectives of the Study The objectives of this study are as following: To explore the influence of compensation and benefits towards job satisfaction among University staff To examines the awareness of the importance of compensation and benefits To investigate the importance of job satisfaction among university staff in Malaysia To identify about the opinion of the university staff about compensation and benefits on job satisfaction Scope of Study The scope of this study is all about the relationship between the compensation and benefits with the job satisfaction among university staff. This study will conduct a survey to support the finding. The respondents of the survey are the administrative staff among the university. The reason of choosing these respondents is because administrative staffs represent an important component in the university. They are played an important role to run the day to day operation of the organization. By choosing administrative staffs as survey object, this research can be strengthened by the survey results. Significance of Study The information gain from this research will be able to provide valuable insight on the influence of compensation and benefits towards job satisfaction among university staff. The aim of the research is to investigate and understand the relationship between compensation and benefits and job satisfaction. This research is conducted in a local public and private university is needed to gather the university staff basic information of salary, basic need of compensation and benefits, ideas of improving the total reward system of the university. From the result of the research, we can have a clear picture and concept of the relationship between compensation and benefits and job satisfaction among the university staff. Besides, we also can identify clearly the variable of the job satisfaction among the university staff. In addition, the significance of the study is to provide an opportunity to the university staff to express their opinions and thus the grievances on the compensation and benefits they receive. By doing so, this can help the employer to get a better understand on what their employees need. This research also enhances the understanding of both the employer and the university staff on managing and designing the compensation and benefits of staff. Therefore, the communication gap between the employer and the staff can be removed indirectly. From the information obtained, the employer can able to design an appropriate compensation and benefits system for their employees. As a result, the employer can increase the employees job satisfaction more effectively and efficiently by using appropriate compensation and benefits. Compensation and benefits are obviously crucial to either the employer or the university staff. Appropriate compensation and benefits will address fairness, openness and clarity. This can help employees to increase their job satisfaction, encourage and motivate them to devote themselves to the university thus improve the performance of the whole university. Organization of the Study In this Final Year Project 1 will be constructed into five different chapters. The following is the detail of each chapter. Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter will provide the core value and a clear image of the study and also a briefing of the whole study. This chapter will includes background of study, problem statement, objectives of the study, scope of study, and the significance of the study. Chapter 2: Literature Review The second chapter is related to the literature review. In this chapter, all the main point will be summary and related information of the articles and journals will be used which related with the research. Chapter 3: Research Methodology This chapter for the research is the method of investigation on the influence of compensation and benefits towards job satisfaction among university staff, which include theoretical framework, research design, sampling and data collection and so on. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Overview As discussed and highlighted in the previous chapter, this research examines the relationship between compensation and benefits and job satisfaction among university staff. In order to gain a better understanding about this issue, an examination of literature on related study were carried out. This chapter will consist of six sections. First, key terms definitions of the job satisfaction, compensation and benefits are provided on the following sections. For thoroughly capturing the significances of compensation and benefits, the selection related literature is explained in detail. And, the relationship between compensation and benefits and job satisfaction among university staff is being discussed and explored in the following sections by using some nations and different industry for examples. Last, the comprehensive review of all the related studies will be provided. The Definition of Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction has been explored in a variety of ways, and is defined differently by various researchers. It is also a heavily researched area of inquiry. Locke (1976) estimated that, as of 1976, about 3350 articles or dissertations had been written on the topic. Cranny (1992) indicated that more than 5000 studies of job satisfaction have been published. Job satisfaction defines as a workers sense of achievement and success, is generally perceived to be directly linked to productivity as well as to personal wellbeing (Answer, 2008). Job satisfaction is a measure of the degree to which the employee is satisfied and happy with the job. Prince and Patche (1972) defined job satisfaction as the degree to which the members of a social system have positive and affective orientation towards membership in the system. Smith (1969) perceived job satisfaction as the extent to which an employee expresses a positive orientation towards a job. Oshagbemi (2003) stated that job satisfaction is an affective reaction to a job that results from the comparison or actual outcomes with those that are desired. Job satisfaction is a pleasurable and emotional state resulting from the perception of ones job as fulfilling or allowing the fulfilment of ones important job values, provided these values are compatible with ones needs (Locke, 1976). Katzell (1964) argues that if there is consensus about job satisfaction, it is the verbal expression of an incumbents evaluation of his or her job. On this basis, it is an affective or hedonic tone, for which the stimuli are events or conditions experienced in connection with jobs or occupations. Job satisfaction refers to an employees overall affective evaluation of the job situation. There is increasing interest in the job satisfaction of frontline employees, given their prominent role in developing relationships (Schneider, Benjamin Bowen, 1993). Besides, according to Stephen and Mary (2004) a person with a high level of job satisfaction has a positive attitude towards the job, while a person who is dissatisfied with the job has a negative attitude. When people speak of employee attitude, they usually are referring to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is a very crucial issue in higher education industry; even less evidence is available related to job satisfaction in higher education for non-western nations. However, there has been a growing interest in job satisfaction in higher education over past several years mainly due to the realization that higher educational institutes are labour intensive and their budgets are predominantly devoted to personnel and their effectiveness is largely dependent on their employees (Kusku,2003), both academic and administrative. The Importance of Job Satisfaction in an Organization Job satisfaction is a very important attribute which is frequently measured by organizations. The topic of job satisfaction is also important because of its implications for job related behaviours such as productivity, absenteeism or turnover (Oshagbemi, 2000). Besides, it is also can be an important indicator of how employees feel about their jobs and a predictor of work behaviours such as organizational citizenship, absenteeism, and turnover. Further, job satisfaction can partially mediate the relationship of personality variables and deviant work behaviours (Answer, 2008). Extensive study has shown that job satisfaction has a direct impact on the performance of employees in different levels of profession. It is related to employee motivation and performance (Ostroff, 1992). For the organization, job satisfaction of its workers means a work force that is motivated and committed to high quality performance. On the other hand, to the worker, job satisfaction brings a pleasurable emotional state that often leads to a positive work attitude. A satisfied worker is more likely to be creative, flexible, innovative, and loyal (Answer, 2008). Therefore, the issue of job satisfaction among employees must be explored and discussed in the well-manner. The Definition of Compensation Compensation has been defined in a variety of ways. In English, compensation is defines as something that counterbalances, offsets, or makes up for something elses. However, if we look at the origin if the word in different languages, we can get a sense of the richness of the meaning, which combines entitlement, return, and reward (Atul, Matt George, 2002; Mark, 2002; Mansour, Peter, Mary, Robert, 2006). In Japanese, compensation is defines as kyuyo, which is made up of two separate character (kyu and yo), both meaning giving something. Besides, in China, the traditional characters for the word compensation are based on the symbols for logs and water; compensation provides the necessities in life (Milkovich Newman, 2008). According to Deluca (1993) and Rajkumar (1996), compensation is defines as pay, reward, remuneration, or salary and wage management. These terms are often used interchangeably in organization. In an organization perspective, compensation is often defines as an important human resource management function where it emphasizes planning, organizing, and controlling various types of pay systems. For example, direct and indirect payments, monetary and non-monetary rewards and cash and non-cash payments, those compensation is used for rewarding employees who perform in their work or service (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart Wright, 2004). In this research, compensation refers to all forms of financial returns and tangible services employees receive as part of employment relationship. It can be seen as a measure of justice. Normally, it is the major source of employees financial security (Milkovich Newman, 2008). Zhou, Qian, Henan and Lei (2009) stated that compensation provides competitive base salary levels necessary to attract and retain talent and compensates for day-to-day responsibilities performed at fully acceptable level and above. Chen and Brian (2004) propose that the types of compensation typically contain the following components base salary, overtime pay (OT), bonuses, commissions, the dollar value of restricted stock awards and gains from exercising stock options, profit sharing, and so on. The following is the definition for the two components of compensation. Base-Salary Base- salary is the annual and monthly salary rates of an employee which are established under current personnel policy for each position. Besides, base- salary is to represent the employees straight-time pay for a standard 40- hour workweek (Anonymous, 2007). According to wikipedia.com (2009), base- salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. In other view of running a business, base- salary can also be viewed as the cost of acquiring human resources for running operations, and is then termed personnel expense or salary expense. Besides, Henderson (2006) and Young (1999) are stated that base-salary is a base pay that is given to employees on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis based on job structure. Overtime Pay (OT) Overtime pay (OT) is always included in cash compensation. It is the pay to time worked in excess of an agreed upon time for normal working hours by an individual employee (Answers.com, 2008). In addition, Overtime Pay (OT) is defines as the payment of premium time and one-half rates in form of monetary compensation or time off is required for hours worked in excess of 40 in one a week, with exception of those considered exempt. The overtime pay rate usually is 1.5 times of base wage per hour (Anonymous, 2007). Bonus Bonus is refers as a cash payment provided to employees based on their performance. For example, monetary incentives for achieving job targets (Bloom Milkovich, 1998; Gupta Shaw, 1998; Lowery, Beadles, Petty, Amsler Thompson, 2002). Steven and Loring (1996) stated that bonus is a single, one-off, lump-sum payment which can be in the form of cash or other creative monetary scheme, such as stock options. Bonus is defines as all payments to employees which is not paid regularly at each pay period, for example bonuses paid at fixed periods. Besides, bonus payments are generally linked to individual or collective performance. Bonus can be distributed randomly as the company can afford to pay a bonus, or the amount of the bonus pay can be specified by contract (Anonymous, no date). The Definition of Benefits Benefits refer to the part of the total compensation package provided to the employee in whole or in part by payments from the employer and its did not include the pay for time spent on work (Milkovich Newman, 2008). Besides, benefits are group membership rewards that provide security for employees and their family member. Benefits are a non-compensation paid to employees. Some benefits are mandated by law, for example social security, unemployment compensation and worker compensation. Employees benefits include pension, health insurance, fringe benefits, welfare and etc (Lee, Hsu Lien, 2006). Benefits are a crucial part of an employees total compensation package. Benefits packages are became popular after World War II, when wage controls made it more difficult to give competitive salaries (Enotes.com, 2008). Besides, benefits can be treated as the payment or entitlement, such as one make under an insurance policy or employment agreement, or public assistance program or more genera lly, something of value or usefulness. Benefits may also be seen as a reflection of justice in society (Herman, 2005). According to Carter (2008), benefits are forms of value, other than payment, that are provided to the employee in return for their contribution to the organization, which is for doing their work. Zhou, Qian, Henan and Lei (2009) argued that benefits are provides flexible and market competitive health benefits to support employment brand and support attraction and retention. Employees benefit includes disability income protection, retirement benefits, work-life balance (for example, sick leave, vacation, jury duty and etc), allowances (for example, dental, insurance, medical, transportation, housing, mobile phone and etc), and so on. The following is the definition for the two components of benefits. Allowances Bergmann and Scarpello (2002) and Milkivich and Newman (2008) stated that allowances is often related to additional financial rewards legally provided to employees based on the employment contract or organization related service, for example, entertainment allowance or allowance fixed for particular jobs or service schemes. Allowances is also defines as a amount paid to employees as part of their salary package, or defray their out of pocket expenses incurred on behalf of the firm (Business Dictionary.com, 2009). Work-life Balance Work-life balance is refers to the effectively managing the juggling act between paid work and the other activities that are important to people. Besides, work-life balance can defines as having enough time for work and enough time to have a life thus the work life balance. The concept of work-life balance is includes the priority that work takes over family, working long hours and work intensification (Dr. Mervyl, 2007). According to Milkovich Newman (2008), work-life balance is a programs that help employees better integrate their work and life responsibilities include time away from work (vacation, jury duty), access to services to meet specific needs (drug counseling, financial planning, referrals for child and elder care), and flexible work arrangements (telecommuting, non-paid time off). Besides, Melissa (2007) also stated that work-life balance is about creating and maintaining supportive and healthy work environments, which will enable employees to have balance between work and personal responsibilities and thus strengthen employee loyalty and productivity. The Importance of Compensation and Benefits in an Organization In today fast moving world, developments have made it more important than ever for companies to make sure they have a strategic, holistic and integrated approach to compensation. To compete in a tough arena, organizations now more than ever need the support of an informed, involved and motivated their employees (Chen Hsieh, 2006). Here, compensation and benefits is a primary motivator and rewards for employees. As noted by Lawler (1995), compensation can be an effective motivator only if it is important to people and it is seen to be tied to their performance in ways that are perceived to be credible and direct. Without rewards, a company is planting seeds for high turnover, low productivity and long-term failure. According to Herman (2005), compensation help to focus on the position and duties performed. And, it attempts to influence employees current and future working performance. Besides, compensation servers different objectives, the main ones being to attract, retain and motivate high-potential employees. Meanwhile, the fulfilments of those goals are subject to constraints such as the maintenance of equity, cost control and legal requirements (For example, wage and salary legislation) (Steven Loring, 1996). To employee, compensation may be seen as a return in exchange between the firms they work for and themselves, as an entitlement for being an employee of the company, or as a reward for job well done. It is given to employees in exchange for work performed (Milkovich Newman, 2008). Steven and Loring (1996) observe that for employees, compensation is an important issue since pay is perceived to be an indication to their personal and market value to the organization. Based on about.com (2009), for employers, compensation is one of the crucial communication tools, to send a message about your organizations expectations and goal achievement rewards. Besides, Yale and Donald (2002) stated that compensation rewards performance relative to others and progressive improvement in year-to-year results and providing regular measures of success or progress. It also balances rewards with risk and providing capital accumulation opportunity. Therefore, compensation has very crucial to not only the employees but also the employers. Carter (2002) proposed that benefits are increasingly expensive for businesses to provide to employees, so the range and options of benefits are changing rapidly to include, such as flexible benefits plan. For employers, they use benefits to attract and retain good and talented workers. For employees, they rely on benefits (for example, medical subsidies, vacations, and retirement) to secure their financial well-being. By linking benefits (for example, pension and holidays) to seniority, workers will be reluctant to change jobs (Gerhart Milkovich, 1992). Lee, Hsu and Lien (2006) stated that benefits are designed to safeguard employees and their family against problems due to sickness, sickness, accidents or retirements. Here, let use some examples of components of benefits to bring out its effect of employees. Work life balance with regard such as temporal flexibility, leave benefits, and interpersonal relationships has the potential to reduce or increase stress on workers with life responsibilities. The provision of work life balance strategies can provide a positive and direct effect on an employees decision to remain with an employer (Macran, Joshi Dex, 1996). Based on Milkovich Newman (2008), income protection helps protect employees from the financial risks inherent in daily life. It serves as a backup to employees salaries in the event that an employee is sick, disabled, or no longer able to work. Besides, workers allowances are absolutely needed for employees. It helps to reduce the financial burden of employees and also can treated as extra sum of salaries indeed (Herman, 2005). Therefore, a benefit has great significance to the whole organizations. The Relationship between Compensation and Benefits towards Job Satisfaction In todays globalizes world, organizations are facing changes generated by increased competition, mergers and acquisitions, shifting markets and changing employee demographics (Chen Hsieh, 2006). Therefore, it is crucial for organization to strategies their competitive and benefits plans in order to attract appropriate talent, maximize return on human capital and increase employees job satisfaction. A key component for a successful organizational intervention is the meaningfulness of the intervention to the employee. One intervention that may be meaningful to many employees is the amount of their compensation and benefits increase (Mayuri Mark, 2005). Compensation and benefits is a powerful communicator of organizational goals and priorities and companies that expect to be successful must make employees become partners in their success (Shuster Zingheim, 1993). Pam (2007) observes that employee compensation can be a sensitive subject, and people get very passionate when trying to determine the most appropriate compensation plan for any business. Nowadays, many human resources related concerns need to be addressed, but equally important understands the financial aspects of employee compensation and benefits. Thus, compensation and benefits play an important role in an organization. According to the survey report conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (2009), they found that compensation and benefits would affect em

Impact of Reducing Global U.S. Troop Deployment Essay -- Effect of Iso

Introduction The United States military is the strongest military that the world has ever seen. However if it is to continue to remain a dominant power it must remain in key positions throughout the world. The United States military is used for more than just fighting the nations wars, it is also used as a diplomatic tool, a deterrent, and to assist in stabilizing the world economy. The effects of reducing U.S. troop presence around the world will have repercussions in more aspects than simply military strength. Deterrence Force Projection is the ability of a nation to apply all or some of its elements of national power (political, economic, informational, or military) to rapidly and effectively deploy and sustain forces in and from multiple dispersed locations to respond to crisis, to contribute deterrence, and to enhance regional stability. Using this definition for force projection the United States is going to put itself at risk if it continues to remove troops from strategically placed overseas assignments. In 2003, it was reported 14 different countries hosted more than 1,000 United States troops. Non-invasion deployments are a common method for deterring regional aggression. Since the 1950’s, an average of about 23% of U.S. troops have been stationed abroad and that a large part of American influence is derived from this military presence throughout the world. (Kane, 2006) One of the main aspects of Army doctrine has been forward presence of its troops. The National Security Strategy of Engagement and Enlargement emphasizes worldwide engagement and the enlargement of the community of free market democracies. In order to be successful in this strategy the United States can not move to a isolationist... ...have had for extended periods of time. The democratic world will feel impacts from the United States willingly taking a backseat on the world stage. Works Cited Collins, John M., 1998. Military Geography for Professionals and the Public. Washington, DC: Brassey’s. Ettlinger, Michael and Linden, Michael. â€Å"A Thousand Cuts.† Center for American Progress, September 2010. Arm'ys europe commander hopes to stave off further troop reductions. (2011, Oct 5). Retrieved from: http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=7c996cd7-cbb4-4018-baf8-8825eada7aa2&ID=537 Kane, Tim. Global U.S. Troop Deployment, 1950-2005. Center for Data Analysis Report #06-02, The Heritage Foundation, 2006. Buhaung, H., & Gleditsch, N. P. (2005, Sep 26). The death of distance. Retrieved from http://www.prio.no/sptrans/-830327507/2004npg003.pdf

Greenmail & firing employees Essay

The term is a greenmail is formed by combining the terms greenback and blackmail, invented by journalists and commentators who saw the practices of corporate raiders as a form of blackmail. The target company is financially held hostage, and is legally forced to pay the greenmailer to go away. Greenmailing is a variation on the corporate raid or hostile takeover. The greenmailer commonly targets a publicly traded company that is cash rich but often undervalued, with large assets and possibly a solid customer base. Other targets are companies that are simply inefficient. The greenmailer isn’t really interested in the business of the company. It doesn’t want to own the company, improve it, or further build it up. It will, if forced to acquire the target, sell its parts off piecemeal, which can bring a greater profit than selling the whole target. This is called asset stripping and involves replacing management and firing employees. Greenmail proved lucrative for investors such as T. Boone Pickens and Sir James Goldsmith during the 1980s. In the latter example, Goldsmith made $90 million from the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in the 1980s in this manner. Occidental Petroleum paid greenmail to David Murdoch in 1984. However, if a proper greenmail occurs, the greenmailer merely secures a significant stake in the target company. The greenmailer can offer to end the threat to the target company by selling its share back at a substantial premium. The target or â€Å"mark† can also go private with the same results: a profit to the greenmailer. The greenmailer gets away with no oversight, low overhead, and its profits. The target is left poorer and without the assets that attracted the raid in the beginning. A company which agrees to buy back the bidder’s stock position avoids being taken over. In return, the bidder agrees to abandon the takeover attempt and may sign a confidential agreement with the â€Å"greenmailer† who will agree not to resume the maneuver for a period of time. Greenmail is a corporate defense mechanism to buy back shares from shareholders attempting to control the firm. The practice has many critics but it can result to potential windfall for the company by protecting company shares from low takeovr bids and gives the firm the opportunity to restructure management. While benefiting the â€Å"greenmailer†, the company loses capital and other assets. This hamstrings its future growth potential. This means the shareholders lose as well in addition to impacting the supplier and customers economically linked to the company. Generally the company’s existing management may remain in place but the employees usually see their ranks reduced. Courts in states such as Calfornia have favored shareholder lawsuits, based on the contention that greenmailer constituted a breach of fiduciary responsibility. Greenmail is arguably counter productive because once such a payment becomes public others may feign a takeover attempt. Greenmail is money paid by a company (or allied company or individual) to acquire its own shares of stock from a shareholder who is threatening to take control of, or unwanted influence over, the company. In the parlance of the financial community, strategies to prevent a takeover are called a â€Å"Poison pill†. This implies that the corporate raider will suffer if they try to swallow the target of the takeover. This involves a myriad of arcane changes in the details of corporate ownership structure, investment market rules, and may involve legal requirement in the jurisdiction where the company is incorporated. Individual states may pass â€Å"protectionist† laws that impose limits for launching formal bids, or obligations to seek shareholder approval for the buyback of its own shares, and in Federal tax treatment of greenmail gains have all made greenmail far less common since the early 1990s. Heckmann et al. v. Ahmanson trial in July 1989. This was one of the final cases involving the payment of †greenmail†. Greenmail is slang for targeted share repurchases – transactions in which a company repurchases shares from specific holders, rather than on the open market. In the 1980s, it was not uncommon for companies to pay greenmail to large investors who were challenging corporate management and threatening a takeover of the firm. In this case, Disney had paid a premium price to repurchase shares accumulated by Saul Steinberg’s Reliance Group. Working with attorney Michael Hennigan, I explained to the jury how this could damage Disney’s other shareholders and to estimate the amount of the damage. Following my direct examination, as Arthur Liman was standing to begin his cross, the judge decided recess the trial early for the July 4th holiday. During the recess, the case settled. It was the only greenmail case in which plaintiffs received a cash settlement.

American Health Care Systems Issues Health And Social Care Essay

The Ever Increasing Cost of Care. The cost of wellness attention has been on the addition for decennaries. From 1960 through 2006, wellness attention disbursement has seen an addition of 9.9 per centum each twelvemonth, while the national Gross Domestic Product ( GDP ) rose merely 7.3 per centum during the same period. Additionally, Americans are paying well more than any other developed state. In 2008 entirely, the national wellness attention measure was about $ 2.5 trillion dollars ( Johnson T. , 2010 ) . This astronomical sum was about 16 per centum of the Gross Domestic Product. In simpler footings, every adult male, adult female, and kid in the state received $ 7,680 of medical attention ; yet, 1000000s of Americans had no coverage at all ( Kimbuende, Ranji, Lundy, & A ; Salganicoff, 2010 ) . In comparing, England ‘s wellness attention budget for 2009 was $ 160 billion for every English citizen ( Lyall, 2010 ) . In fact, no other industrialised state had similar outgos as the United States. President Obama admitted every bit much in a 2009 address to the American Medical Association: â€Å" Today, we are passing over $ 2 trillion a twelvemonth on wellness attention – about 50 per centum more per individual than the following most dearly-won state † ( 2009 ) . What state was the following most dearly-won? Actually, Norway and Switzerland were the following more dearly-won states with both passing $ 4,500 per individual in 2007 ( Pearson, 2009 ) . In add-on, insurance premiums have risen well in the last decennary. Employer-provided insurance premiums rose over 130 per centum while employee rewards merely saw an approximative 30 per centum addition. Furthermore, workers have seen their part addition over 125 per centum since 1999. The people who purchase their ain insurance have a significant addition in premium monetary values every bit good. The monetary value of the mean household policy in 2009 was $ 7,102 with an extra $ 1,690 spent on out-of-pocket disbursals ( Schoen, Nicholson, & A ; Rustgi, 2009 ) . Medicare and Medicaid presently account for approximately $ 750 billion dollars or 21 per centum of the national budget with Medicare having about two-thirds at $ 468 billion ( Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2010 ) . Payroll revenue enhancements were responsible for about 90 per centum of Medicare funding merely two old ages ago. Currently, Medicare is the primary insurance coverage for 45 million people. The bulk of receivers are over 65 but there are several million younger persons enrolled because of entire disablement. About 50 per centum of Medicare enrollees have at least three ongoing medical issues ; about half are besides really hapless. Ten per centum of Medicare receivers are responsible for two-thirds of the full plan ‘s disbursement ( Potetz & A ; Cubanski, 2009 ) . Obviously, Medicare needs more gross come ining its system or less money go outing its system. A combination of both would give the most favourable overcome for the plan. About 60 million Americans are take parting in the Medicaid plan with an extra 16 million enrolling in the following five old ages due to the health care reform jurisprudence. In 2008, the state spent about $ 340 billion on Medicaid. Which is non surprising since Medicaid is the primary remunerator for nursing place and other long-run attention. In add-on, Medicaid pays for much of mental wellness costs. It besides provides public infirmaries with 33 per centum of their net gross. Millions of people are working because Medicaid provides support for many occupations in the community. Like Medicare, a little per centum of Medicaid patients are responsible for over 50 per centum of entire Medicaid disbursement. Yet, Medicaid has the lowest administrative costs of all insurance remunerators ( Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010 ) . Where Is All The Money Going? Hospital attention is devouring the largest per centum of wellness attention dollars. For 2008, it accounted for about 30 per centum of all wellness attention disbursement. Unsurprisingly, the cost for the mean stay of four and one-half yearss will change from one installation to another ( U.S. Department of Health & A ; Human Services, 2008 ) . As an illustration, the cost for handling pneumonia can be every bit small as $ 1,900 or every bit much as about $ 16,000. Furthermore, the 30-day readmission rate was similar regardless of the cost of intervention. Similar attention should intend similar cost yet with the state ‘s infirmaries this is clearly non the instance ( Chen, Jha, & A ; Guterman, 2010 ) . Doctor and clinical services are besides devouring a immense per centum at 20 per centum. Many would reason malpractice or the fright thereof is driving some of these costs. However, physicians may good be the key to harnessing in physician-related disbursals ( Kaiser Family Foundation, 2009 ) . Training on the fiscal elements of wellness attention needs to be of high precedence, such preparation will do physicians more cognizant of the cost of a peculiar class of intervention. They will besides be more willing to order a generic or cheaper drug that will supply the same consequences ( Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010 ) . At 10 per centum, prescription drug use is besides taking a big part of the wellness attention dollars. Prescription drug disbursement has been the fastest turning component of the wellness attention field. In merely 18 old ages, disbursement for prescription drugs jumped from approximately $ 40 billion yearly to $ 234 billion in 2008. For several old ages, drug shapers enjoyed the most net income of any industry. Conversely, generic drugs were one of the primary grounds that prescription drug disbursement slowed by 12 per centum from 1999 until 2005. Of all the FDA approved drugs, 80 per centum has a cheaper, generic equivalent. Because of this low-cost option, most physicians will discourse the out-of-pocket cost of medicines with their patients. Over 60 per centum of physicians switched to a less dearly-won drug and 58 per centum of doctors provided free samples to their patients ( Lundy, 2010 ) . Solutions to Escalating Health Care Costss Technology will be indispensable in commanding costs. Electronic medical records will non merely cut down some administrative costs but it would besides let physicians to entree pertinent information needed to handle the patient in the most efficient and effectual manner. For illustration, the medical records would clearly demo the doctor all current trials and lab work completed, thereby diminishing the likeliness of extra acerate leaf trials and lab work every bit good as X raies. They would besides alarm the physician to patients who may be merely seeking to obtain narcotics. Most significantly, they have the possible to cut down medical mistakes in prescriptions drug interactions and in transmittal of really of import information between different medical suppliers ( Johnson T. , 2010 ) . A consumer-driven program is besides really of import in cost containment. When the patient has input in their ain wellness attention determinations, they become better consumers. Therefore, it is imperative that the existent costs of wellness services are readily available to the patient. Most consumer directed programs besides involve greater cost sharing, which will be ineluctable in promoting people to go more cognizant of the high cost of medical attention in America ( Johnson, 2010 ) . The bar of chronic preventable disease will be a cardinal component in commanding costs. Obesity, although non technically a disease, is the precursor to other really preventable, chronic diseases. Type 2 diabetes and bosom disease are two of the diseases straight related to fleshiness. Possible fiscal inducements to employees may promote more people to watch their weight and to take part in some sort of physical activity if needed. Some companies have gone every bit far as to increase the employee portion of premium part if an employee has high hazard factors such as fleshiness or baccy usage. Similarly, Medicaid patients should portion in the cost of their intervention. For illustration, if a patient does non desire to do important life style alterations to continue their wellness position so they should be required to pay some clip of extra fee. As overall wellness indexs improve, the fee can be refunded to the patient. Nicotine trials for baccy users can be one index. The resting bosom rate may be another index used for physical activity since the resting bosom rate lessenings, as a individual becomes more physical active. And, yes, the parents have to be held responsible for the negative wellness indexs of minor kids. Standardized medical charge could perchance salvage one million millions of dollars in administrative costs. For case, should all insurance companies use a procedure similar to the 1 used for treating Medicare claims ; there will be a drastic decrease in administrative disbursals. Of class, this would see uniformity in entry and payment of all claims. This would besides cut down the waiting period for payment ( Evans, 2010 ) . A Dim Future If wellness attention cost are non curtailed, economical desolation will be the result. Many employers are fighting to maintain up with the ever-increasing cost of wellness attention. Employers spent $ 460 billion for medical coverage in 2006. In other words, they spent 12 per centum of entire working budget on wellness insurance. Because of the uninterrupted addition in insurance costs, companies have to increase the cost of goods sold. General Motor reportedly has to add about $ 2,000 to the monetary value of each vehicle to cover the $ 5 billion it spends on employee wellness attention each twelvemonth. Employers spend $ 2.38 per hr for medical benefits while their foreign rivals spend $ .96. In fact, Johnson claimed, â€Å" At 12 per centum, wellness attention is the most expensive benefit paid by U.S. employers † ( 2010 ) . If this tendency continues, American companies will probably free fight in the international playing field. Some employers will hold no other option other than dropping wellness attention coverage wholly. Many more Americans will probably register bankruptcy because of reeling medical measures. Presently, about half of all personal bankruptcies file are partially because of medical disbursals. Many people are proroguing intervention because of cost. When intervention is eventually obtained, the status is much more expensive to handle with longer recovery periods. Seniors will hold to salvage a considerable sum to cover costs that Medicare will non pay ( Kaiser Family Foundation, 2009 ) . More employers are switching much of insurance premium increases to the worker. This in bend is go forthing more people with less take-home wage and larger out-of-pocket disbursals. In order to salvage money, some workers will non seek medical aid when needed. Alternatively, they will take extra ill yearss trusting remainder will do things better. Merely when the consumer usage available wellness attention sagely, will at that place be a positive result. Unfortunately, many may take to waive medical intervention when it is most needful ( Johnson, Rockoff, & A ; Mathews, 2010 ) . Medicare and Medicaid are the primary insurance for 1000000s of aged and hapless Americans. Numerous persons are besides double eligible, which allows them to have coverage from Medicare and Medicaid at the same time. Dual eligible persons must hold really low income to measure up for both plans. Intelligibly, these persons have much greater wellness demands than regular Medicare receivers. Medicare is the primary coverage ; nevertheless, Medicaid helps to pay the Medicare premiums. Medicaid besides picks up the check for services that are restricted or non collectible under Medicare. Medicaid pays for the long-run attention of 70 per centum of nursing place occupants. In add-on, because of the wellness attention reform jurisprudence, 1000000s more will be added. Although, province and federal money fund the Medicaid plan, the federal authorities will pay 96 per centum of the cost for people enrolled because of the wellness attention authorization ( Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010 ) . Decision Without a uncertainty, something has to be done to decelerate the cost of wellness attention so every American can hold entree to quality, low-cost attention. Electronic medical records can be a start in the acclivitous conflict to suppress cost. The benefits of fewer medical mistakes, less paperwork, and a more dependable transmittal of pertinent information greatly outweigh privateness concerns. Standardized charge will besides cut down administrative costs and see timely processing of all claims ( Johnson T. , 2010 ) . Furthermore, the figure of people having Medicare will increase to 79 million in twenty old ages. The aging population and longer life anticipation are responsible for this immense figure. Additionally, the figure of workers paying into the fund will see a lessening ( Potetz & A ; Cubanski, 2009 ) . How can an already delicate system survive this added strain? The registration age has to be raised a few more old ages. This will let more people to work longer to pay in and prorogue the registration of more people at the same time. Medicaid on the other manus, need more people paying just premiums and co-payments. The consumer of wellness services has the duty of doing better lifestyle picks. Chronic, ongoing medical issues have a annihilating consequence on persons, their households, and the national wellness attention system.

70 Dialogue Writing Prompts

70 Dialogue Writing Prompts 70 Dialogue Writing Prompts 70 Dialogue Writing Prompts By Ali Hale For some writers, dialogue comes naturally. They find it easy to â€Å"hear† their character’s voices and they have the knack of crafting dialogue that sounds natural without trying to replicate all the â€Å"ums† and â€Å"ers† of actual speech. For many writers, though, dialogue can be a struggle. Maybe they don’t know how to get started, or they find themselves writing long conversations that don’t have much point. Dialogue writing prompts can be a great way of kicking off your dialogue – but they can also be helpful if you’re stuck for an idea or looking for an opening to a scene or a short story. Here are a bunch of different ones to try, all of which could suit lots of different scenarios – and which could be spoken in different ways. Thirty Potential Dialogue Starting Prompts If you’re struggling to get started on a scene, or on a conversation, pick one of these starting lines as a prompt: #1: â€Å"That was my favourite cup.† #2: â€Å"Is there a problem here, gentlemen?† #3: â€Å"What on earth happened in here?† #4: â€Å"You’ve caught me at a really bad time.† #5: â€Å"Hang on. Where’s the baby?† #6: â€Å"What have you done now?† #7: â€Å"You’ll never guess what Sarah told me last night.† #8: â€Å"Ma’am, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news. Please, sit down.† #9: â€Å"How – how did you find me?† #10: â€Å"Excuse me. Excuse me! Yes, you. You’re sitting in my seat.† #11: â€Å"I don’t think it can be repaired.† #12: â€Å"Ouch, that must’ve hurt.† #13: â€Å"Quick! It’s going to explode!† #14: â€Å"Well, this is new.† #15:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Let’s hear your side of the story.† #16: â€Å"I don’t know what happened, officer.† #17: â€Å"There’s blood everywhere.† #18: â€Å"Right, who’s drawn the short straw this time?† #19: â€Å"I don’t even hate you. That would imply I cared.† #20: â€Å"There’s no point running.† #21: â€Å"How are you feeling today? A little better, hmm?† #22: â€Å"This is going to be way harder than we thought.† #23: â€Å"Was that a scream?† #24: â€Å"Do you ever hear noises in the night? Like scratching in the walls?† #25: â€Å"Don’t move.† #26: â€Å"I’m your biggest fan!† #27: â€Å"I love you! No time to explain – gotta go.† #28: â€Å"When did you last see him? Think! This is important!† #29: â€Å"Oh man, I’ve had the worst day ever.† #30: â€Å"This isn’t what it looks like, I swear! Okay it’s kind of what it looks like, but just give me a chance to explain.† 30 Potential Dialogue Response Prompts If you find it tricky to imagine a scenario from a starting prompt, try picking one of these prompts that might come slightly further along in a conversation. #1: â€Å"I’ll take that as a compliment.† #2: â€Å"That’s the first time I’ve heard anyone call it that.† #3: â€Å"Woah, back up. You’re losing me.† #4: â€Å"Stop yelling!† #5: â€Å"Well, that’s not a very nice way of putting it. But yes, I suppose you’re right.† #6: â€Å"Okay, I think we do need to call an ambulance.† #7: â€Å"Oh my gosh, are you sure? Like, sure sure?† #8: â€Å"You must have misheard me.† #9: â€Å"Actually, I think this is the wrong way† #10: â€Å"It’s taken me fifty years to get here. I’m sure as hell not giving up now!† #11: â€Å"Believe me, my dear, no-one regrets this more than I do.† #12: â€Å"Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to talk to strangers?† #13: â€Å"Don’t worry. I hated that wallpaper, anyway.† #14: â€Å"No. Hell, no. Absolutely not.† #15: â€Å"If you could just set it down – very slowly – and then back away.† #16: â€Å"I’ve never actually liked chocolate.† #17: â€Å"I find it very hard to believe that, I’m afraid.† #18: â€Å"That’s a very bold thing to say.† #19: â€Å"And you can’t think of any other reason?† #20: â€Å"Shut up.† #21: â€Å"I’m going to give you five seconds to take that back.† #22: â€Å"You’re wrong. That’s not what happened at all.† #23: â€Å"Hey. Look at me.† #24: â€Å"Apologise. Right now.† #25: â€Å"I’m sorry. That sounds awful.† #26: â€Å"Do you maybe think, in retrospect, that this was a terrible idea?† #27: â€Å"Good. I meant it to hurt.† #28: â€Å"That’s not very nice.† #29: â€Å"So hang on, let me get this straight.† #30: â€Å"Actually, I think you’d find that most people have a pretty massive problem with that.† Ten Other Dialogue Prompts to Try in Your Writing If the above prompts aren’t enough for you, there are loads of other prompts out there. Here are some of my favourites from around the web: #1: â€Å"Just sit around and cry, then. I don’t have that luxury.† (from 100 Writing Prompts Based on Dialogue, for Fiction, Screenplays, and More, Bryn Donovan) #2: â€Å"You have to tell her. It wouldn’t be right not to.† (from Dialogue Exercises: 40 Writing Prompts To Get You Going, Marylee MacDonald) #3: â€Å"I need nothing but my mad skills, rugged good looks, and maybe half a million dollars.† (from   Rooftop Writing Prompt #42, Gabrielle R. Pollack) #4: â€Å"I told you never to go in there, boy!† / â€Å"But I heard screaming!† / â€Å"That’s none of your concern.† (from Writing Prompts 51-60 (Dialogue Prompts), Amina Cavallo) #5: â€Å"That’s it! I’m killing them all.† / â€Å"Wait, but what about the plan?† / â€Å"Forget the plan! These idiots keep getting on my nerves. They have no one to blame but themselves.† (from Dialogue Prompts Writing things, theunamazingauthor) #6: â€Å"I made breakfast, but I didn’t know what you liked so I made enough to probably feed a small tribe.† (from #100 Dialogue Prompts to Make a Reader Swoon (Okay maybe not all of them), Yasmine) #7: â€Å"Hey! Yeah it’s me†¦.guess what†¦I’m coming home.† (from Dialogue Prompts, Tumblr) #8: Sweetheart, what did you bury in the garden? (from Random First Line of Dialogue, Writing Exercises) #9: â€Å"How much of that did you hear?† (from 50 Dialogue Prompts, Chrmdpoet) #10: â€Å"For what it’s worth, I don’t know much about you either.† (from Dialogue with Emotional Connotations: Part Deux, Your Local Writer) Let us know which prompt(s) you’ll be trying out (feel free to combine a few!) or share your own dialogue prompts with us in the comments. 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 Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:16 Substitutes for â€Å"Because† or â€Å"Because Of†3 Cases of Complicated HyphenationDrama vs. Melodrama