Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 12

Business Law - Essay Example one person to another, for example, fraud, assault, and theft.  On the other hand, negligent torts entail harm committed when one fails to exercise a given level of caution (care) – a reasonable standard of care. The final category is the strict liability torts which apply quite differently from the torts of intentional and negligence. As seen in the negligence and the intentional torts, the two concerns the defendant’s culpability whereas strict liability concentrates on the act itself, regardless of the exercised level of care or the intentions. To exercise the law of tort, various sources might be consulted to maintain justice amongst the parties involved in a criminal case. Some of these sources include the concepts of Case laws and/or statutes. Statutes are established by the agent of the government, while Case laws consult the precedence of formerly ruled cases which seem to have similar line of argument and premise. Case law holds that the laws can be orally stated or put in writing. Written and properly undersigned documents provided irrefutable evidence in court. However, case law as well considers orally declared agreements, even though not put in writing; this is handled by interpreting laws or establishing new precedence in favour o f the plaintiff. Different colonies have different Common laws; for example, Case laws applying in the U.K. are quite different from the ones applying in the U.S. Jamie Clark and Joe Adam entered into a contract for services, in a very informal way. The two meets over dinner and draft the contract’s basics at the back of the menu without adding an â€Å"integration clause† which would have acted as the final draft and that only the written terms in that agreement would apply in case of dispute. Despite the fact that the two didn’t involve â€Å"integration clause,† Case law would apply, by considering the credibility of the drafted basics on the back of the menu. The elements of the basics would have to be elaborated

Patrilineal Descent and Postmarital Residence among the Yanomamo Essay

Patrilineal Descent and Postmarital Residence among the Yanomamo Village Growth and Division - Essay Example The Yanomamo people of Central Brazil are one of the oldest examples of the classic pre-Columbian forest footmen. The Yanomami comprise a society of hunter-agriculturists of the tropical rainforest of Northern Amazonia, whose contact with non-indigenous society over the most part of their territory has been relatively recent. Their territory covers an area of approximately 192,000 km2, located on both sides of the border between Brazil and Venezuela, in the Orinoco-Amazon interfluvial region. They communicate in various dialects but have No written language. The total population of the Yanomami in Brazil and Venezuela is today estimated to be around 26,000 people. The Yanomamo exist in small bands or tribes and reside in round communal huts. The Yanomami local groups are generally made up of a multifamily house in the shape of a cone or truncated cone called yano or xapono, which are actually made up of individual living quarters or by villages composed of rectangular-type houses .Each collective house or village considers itself an autonomous economic and political entity (kami theri yamaki, 'we co-residents') . The village is the basic sociopolitical unit and is occupied by several extended families, composed of nuclear family households. The founding nucleus of such a village consists of two intermarried pairs of brothers, their sisters or wives and their descendants. The two resulting lineages exchange their women, thus creating a number of affinal alliances. As additional lineage groups join the village community and intermarry with members of the original lineage, political pressures and internal factionalism frequently lead to the spli tting apart of the village and the establishment of a completely new community. These small tribes hold their men in high ranks. Chiefs are always men who are held responsible for the general knowledge and safety of the group's women. The males are permitted to beat their wives if they feel the need to and can marry more than one woman at a time. This loose form of polygamy is a way of increasing the population of the tribe.Each village has its own headman (pata), and one pata is usually more influential than the others. Migliazza (1972: 415) claims that the position of chief or headman is not really inherited, but is dependent on the chief having many living agnatic relatives and the ability to assert himself among them. There is some indication, however, that the office was once inherited patrilineally from father to son or from elder brother to younger brother. During times of war, a man with experience in combat was often chosen to act as war chief, an office which was not hereditary and which became inactive when hostilities ceased. Marriage among the Yanoa ma serves to bind non-agnatically related groups of males to one another in a system of exchanges involving goods, services, and the promise of a reciprocal exchange of women at a later date. All Yanoama groups, as well as their Carib neighbors, have bifurcate Merging kinship terminology for the first ascending generation, accompanied by Iroquoian cousin terminology. Patrilineal descent and agnatic relationships are considered more important than matrilineal relatives. Clans and moieties have apparently never existed among the Yanoama, but lineages have been mentioned by Chagnon (1971). In his analysis of the kinship system, Chagnon affords a central place to the local descent group-basically a lineage segment, consisting

Brief History Of Hrm Business Essay

Brief History Of Hrm Business Essay Introduction Literature Review In this present world of globalisation, most, if not all the organisations are facing the ever changing challenges of keeping sustainable profitability to be able to survive, particularly in this current economic downturn situation. In all the organisations, one of the major challenges is the need to manage its resources Human resources which are considered as its most valuable assets- . This is where the Human Resource Management (HRM) has its place. Brief History of HRM Before HRM, Personnel Management (PM) saw its debut in the year 1970 and comprised of the activities like recruitment, selection, work conditions, welfare of employees and training and development and employee exit (retrenchment, retiring schemes) Henderson, (2008). It was the only process used by the large organisations in managing its people resources. PM is called the traditional method also called the personnel administration and it plays such role as intermediary between the employer and the employees. Since 1980, HRM evolved from PM and is believed to be new versions of PM by some while others consider that it is a new wine in an old wineskin. However HRM has added functions compared with the PM and is defined as the strategic, integrated and coherent approach to the employment, development and well-being of the people working in organisations. Moreover, HRM is a management that deals with recruiting, selecting, training and developing human resources within an organization. When properly managed, the HRM can contribute a lot in achieving the organizations strategic objectives. Many managers and management theorists believe that HRM is a vital element in the survival and success of the 21st century organisations. Peter Drucker, (1993) refers to the idea that peoples skills, knowledge and creativity are the key resource for economic and organisational success which he called the knowledge-based economy (Henderson, 2008). Definition of Human Resource Management: The HRM is defined as a strategic, integrated and coherent approach to the employment, development and well-being of the people working in organisations (Armstrong and Baron, 2009). The differences between Personnel management and Human Resource Management is that, PM considers people as economic persons who work for money or salary whereas HRM views people as having economic, social and psychological needs. A brief comparison between HRM and PM is given in the following table. Table 1 Functions of HRM The functions of the HRM are split into two parts namely; the Managerial functions and the Operative functions. The emphasis is on the strategic part of the management of people within the organisation. Treating people as assets instead of cost. Adopting the Unitarist approach rather than the pluralist approach (Employee and employer have same interests). Encourage the line managers to apply the HR functions toward their subordinates. The HR manager therefore, faces multiple challenges among which is to ensure, on one hand, that the right employee is recruited and employed for the right job, at the right time and on the other hand, to have a sustainable competitive advantage to ensure that the organisation achieves its strategic aims. Therefore, the HR manager has to set up within the HRM scope, a performance management system that will ensure that the organisation and its employees as well as the individual have the skills to perform and be motivated to contribute in the success of the company. The Performance Management System (PMS) The word Performance basically means the accomplishment, execution, carrying out, working of anything ordered and undertaken (output/outcomes). It is also about the action of doing the work as well as the results achieved (Oxford Online dictionary, 2012). History: There is no full evidence on when formal performance management started but it is said that it began with the emperors of the Wei Dynasty (AD 221 265) where there was an imperial rater who evaluated the performance of the official family. Then it was recorded centuries later a system was established by Ignatius Loyola and the rating of the members of the Jesuit Society was formally done. The Milestones on Performance management are briefly given as follows: First monitoring system evolved from the work of F. Taylor before World War I. Rating of military officers was done in the year 1920s. Merit rating came to the USA UK between 1950s and 1960s. Management by Objective during the 1970s Result oriented system was issued in 1970s as well. The term performance management was first coined in 1970s by Beer and Ruh. However, the process was not accepted until during the latter half of 1980s. (Beer and Ruh, 1976). (Armstrong and Baron, 2005). Definition: According to Armstrong and Baron (1998), Performance Management is both a strategic and an integrated approach to delivering successful results in organizations by improving the performance and developing the capabilities of teams and individuals. PMS can also be defined as the process of taking systematic action to improve organisation, team and individuals performance expectations to be defined and creates the basis for development of organisations and individuals capability (Armstrong and Baron, 2010). The purpose of a PMS is to: Communicate an organisations vision of its objectives to all employees. Set performance targets in departmental and individual levels. Conduct performance appraisal sessions once or twice a year to review the progress of the employees in relation to the targets set. Identify gaps in the training, development as well as establish any reward wherever needed. In this case, the organisation can benefit from the improved skills and competency of its employees because they would have become aware of what is expected from them while moving toward a sustainable profitability. The overall performance of the organisation will then improve and will manage to reach its strategic objectives and gain in competitive advantage. Performance Appraisal (PA) Definition: A performance appraisal or performance review is a review and discussion of an employees performance of assigned duties and responsibilities. PA is sometimes used to refer to PM which is different as PA is only part of the PMS and is used to rate the employee within an organisation. The appraisal is carried out once or twice a year which differs from organisation to organisation. It is based on an evaluation done by the manager with the employee and the results obtained on the employees job performance; not on the employees personality. The appraisal process is a system that an organisation uses to define and measure the skills level of each employee by the manager or supervisor. The result is then reviewed by both the subordinate and the manager to determine whether there is any need to improve on the skills by providing training or to decide whether the employee could be promoted to a higher level if his/her performance is above what was defined initially. The aim is to help the employees improve and in so doing, contribute in the improvement of the organisations performance to meet its strategic objectives. Some History on PA There was quite a lot of research being carried out in the past decades and the main purpose of the research is to minimise the rating errors. In the years 1950 to 1960, have seen the need to use the graphic rating skills which is related to a trait-based evaluation method and other discussions on changing the number of scale points (Peters McCormick, 1966). Other researchers started discussions on behavioural rating during the years 1950s (Flanagan, 1949, 1954). Then the Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) and the Behaviourally Observation Scale (BOS) were developed at a later stage. Many alternative models were proposed and tested until discussions were held on the need to move away from the focus on rating scale to consider the rater particularly, as argued by Landy and Farr (1980). Three broad factors were identified which pertain to the performance rating namely; Job performance of the ratees. Raters biases on the performance. And finally, the measurement error. (Wherry and Bartlett, 1982). (Budworth and Mann, 2011). Other issues with performance appraisal The other issues that could be found may be attributed to one of the following reasons: Appraisal is not done according to a standard or behaviour or even a benchmark. Unreliable human judgement Issue of validity and bias from the appraisers. The difficulty in knowing the contribution of the employee because the appraiser does not know the appraisee well enough (Kinnie and Lowe, 1990:47) for the latter is constantly changing department (Howell and Cameron 1996: 28). External factors like resources, processes, technology, corporate and HR strategy, working environment, external business context and management influencing directly on the employees performance. In order for an organisation to implement a PA system that is suitable for both the management and the employees, it is crucial to use a system which has some of the following features: A system on which all the managers who will be using the system are well trained on and accustomed with. The system which follows the S.M.A.R.T objectives Specific, Measurable, Achievable Relevant and Time bound clear, unambiguous, understandable and challenging to both the managers and the employees. This will prevent frustration, demotivation which may impact on the individuals performance. The PA method used should be transparent, that is, the manager should inform on the contents of the appraisal types to be used before carrying out the appraisal itself. Also, both parties could sign the document after having completed the appraisal if they agree. In the case where an appraiser deliberately alters the rating, this is considered as unfair and the PA system should cater for such injustice (Budford and Mann, 2011). When the PA is completed, the management has to provide feedback to the employees informing them on their respective performance level and whether they have reached the objective set in the previous PA sessions. If any employee is under performing, management should identify the gap and provide for any enhancement program to help the employee to improve. Therefore, the PA which is a continuous process will proceed on and the individual and also the team will benefit from a continuous performance improvement into the future. The organisation will also improve in its performance and will be able to better compete and excel in the business arena. Analysis and Discussion Armstrong and Baron (2005) argued that performance appraisal systems should be seen as being transparent and equitable, providing reporting consistency and regular feedback on performance. The two organisations that were selected are the CIM Global Business and AW Wong Trading Co Ltd. The former is a company which is considered as a large corporate with 320 employees and the latter company is employs 22 people. The company profiles of both companies may be viewed in the Appendix. The Performance Appraisal System at AW Wong Group

Computers Toys Not Tools :: Essays Papers

Computers Toys Not Tools Due to the advances in recent computer technologies, computers are now sold with state-of-the-art, costly equipment that most people do not need. Most computers on the market these days are built to attract the eye of the consumer. They come loaded with hi-tech hardware and catchy tag words like mega RAM, quad-speed drives and digital processing, but the fact is, the computer has been exploited to the American public to attract a broader base of consumers and to change the way we view computers from tools to toys. The modern age has brought countless advances and the most sophisticated technologies the world has ever seen. Over the years, we have all marveled at the exciting developments in the fields of science and electronics. In the beginning, computers stored memory on reels of magnetic film, and the average size of a computer was as big enough to fill a whole room. Gradually, computers were built smaller and faster; however, computers were strictly used for business purposes, and only trained technicians were allowed to operate them. In this day and age, operating computers has become a daily exercise for the majority of the population. Computers are everywhere, and the demand for them is greater now than it ever has been. Today it seems that everyone wants their own compact super machine, not because it will process thousands of bytes worth of information in a blink of an eye, but because it comes in tangerine. Due to the strategic planning of many corporations that would like to see their products in your living room the

Greek Mythology Essay

Do you know any historical background on the word giant? Greek and Roman mythology is present all around us. Many new and interesting words were created from the Greeks. There are many types of myths that we hear about including; gods, goddesses, mythical heroes, other heroes, monsters, and villains. When looking up these myths, research will show that many of the words we say today come from these gods and goddesses. An example of this is the words gigantic and gigantism comes from giant. The word giant has a long, unique, and mysterious background. According to dictionary. com, â€Å"Giant is very large; abnormally great development in size. †(dictionary. com) Prior to my search, I predicted that a giant was a very large man that lived in the forest and had no connection with either gigantic nor gigantism. I inferred this because of movies and books. When I saw the word gigantic I remember hearing it and I thought it meant a large person, but I had no idea it was related to Greek or Roman mythology. Gigantism puzzled me because I’ve never heard it before. As I came across the definition of gigantic, I found out that it meant very large which connects to giant and gigantism. (dictionary. com) upon conducting research, I learned more about the root word giant, coming across information about its etymology and actual story behind it. Perrizo 2 Giant’s roots go all the way back before gods or even humans existed. The etymology relates back to Greek mythology the giants were the children of Uranus and Gaea. They were involved in a conflict with the Olympian gods called the Gigantomachy, which was eventually settled when the hero Heracles decided to help the Olympians. The Greeks believed some giants lay buried from that time under the earth and that they resulted in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Many stories have been written about giants in lots of cultures. In Norse mythology, the giants are the origin of most of various monsters, and in the eventual battle of Ragnarok the giants will storm Asgard and defeat them in war. The gods themselves were related to the giants by many marriages, and there are giants such as ? gir, Loki, Mimir and Ska? i, who have little difference in status to them. In Bulgarian mythology, giants called ispolini inhabited the Earth before modern humans. They lived in the mountains, fed on raw meat and often fought against dragons. Ispolini were afraid of blackberries which posed a danger of tripping and dying, so they offered sacrifices to that plant. Giants stand for the Basque people not willing to convert to Christianity who decides to stick to the old life style and customs in the forest. Sometimes they hold the secret of ancient techniques and wisdom unknown to the Christians, like in the legend of San Martin Txiki, while their most outstanding feature is their strength. It follows that in many legends all over the Basque territory the giants are held accountable for the creation of many stone formations, hills and old structures, with similar explanations provided in different spots. There are many similarities and differences in the words giant, gigantic, and gigantism. Gigantic is big: very large, tall, or bulky. Giant is a very tall imaginary creature: in fairy tales and legends, an imaginary being who resembles a human but is much taller, larger, and stronger. Perrizo 3 Gigantism is the quality of being giant: the quality or condition of being much taller, larger, or stronger than is usual. These three definitions are similar to each other because all of them have to do with being large. Today these words are all used to describe how tall, strong, or big someone is. All of these words also share the same Greek, Roman, and other origins. These he creatures. This particular word has a very long and precise background, whereas gigantic and gigantism have a short and not informational background. Not only is the word giant relevant in today’s world, famous playwright William Shakespeare alludes to the word in one of his plays. In Shakespeare’s play much ado about nothing, Claudio uses the word giant in act 1 scene 3. â€Å"He is then a giant to an ape; but then is an ape a doctor to such a man. †(line 2276) Shakespeare uses the monsters name as an illusion to illustrate the comparison between a giant, an ape, and man. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to show the difference between stupid and so-called smart. Giant is being used to illustrate that a giant and an ape are two unintelligent creatures. Aside from Shakespeare’s use of the word, giant is used in the following quote from measure for measure. â€Å"O, I do fear thee, Claudio; and I quake, lest thou a fevorous life shouldest entertain, and six or seven winters more respect than a perpetual honor. Darest thou die? The sense of death is most apprehension; and the poor beetle that we tread upon, in corpual sufferance finds a pang as great as when a giant dies. (isabell). The word giant is used in reference to emphasize the greatness of a giant dieing with Claudio dying. perrizo 4 Whether giant is used in Shakespeare or other forms of literature, the words etymology seems to be prevalent in today’s world. The word Is regularly used today, ranging from a gas company, to a disability center. The general meaning of giant hasn’t changed over time, but only people who are educated about the word know its true mythical meaning. For example gigantism organization is an organization for the tallest people in the world. I did not find a relevant industry on website on giant or gigantic. When writing this paper, I learned a plethora of information about the word giant, and its ethnic background. Not only did I learn about this interesting monster, I gained experience on learning how to evaluate reliable sources and search the web cautiously. This essay taught me that the majority of the words we use today have an origins that dates back to Roman and Greek times. Giant originated the words gigantic and gigantism, and I found a great deal of information that connected giant to both of the other words. Furthermore, locating the information necessary to complete the project was easy and fast, but then I began to write my report, I had to think about where to start and how to organize the information I had into a cohesive essay. Finally,, I learned that people can misconstrue the meanings of words easily if they do not understand or use the words correctly. All people need to develop their communication skills and look up unfamiliar words or inquire about the origin of words so they learn about the amazing history of our amazing language.

Information Literacy Essay

Information literacy is an understanding and set of abilities allowing persons to â€Å"distinguish when information is needed† and have the capacity to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively employ the needed information. â€Å". An information literate individual is someone who has learned how to learn, and is able to: ? recognise a need for information ? Establish the extent of information needed ?efficiently access the needed information ?assess the information along with its sources critically ?add in particular information into their knowledge base  ?make use of information effectively to achieve a specific purpose ? comprehend legal, economic, social and cultural matters in the use of information ? Make use of and access information ethically Information literacy is not identical to computer literacy (which involves a technological expertise to control computer hardware and software) or library literacy (which entails the capability to utilize a library’s collection and its services), even though there is a strong relationship between all these concepts. Each literacy calls for some level of critical thinking. However weighted against computer literacy, information literacy goes further than kust having access to, and knowledge of how to employ the technology, since technology alone does not assure quality learning experiences. Compared with library literacy, information literacy is above searching through an online catalogue or other reference materials, for information literacy is not a technique, but a objective for novices. Information literacy involves knowledge of the manner in which information systems work, of the dynamic bond among a specific information need and the sources and channels needed to fulfill that need. Information Literacy – Why? Information literacy necessary given the proliferation of information access and resources. People are faced with different, abundant, information choices in the place of work, in their studies as well as in their lives. Information is available throughout community resources, media, the internet, manufacturers special interest organisations, service providers  and libraries. Progressively more, information comes unfiltered. This brings up questions about authenticity, validity, and reliability. Information is also accessible through multiple media, embracing graphical, aural, and textual. These pose special challenges in evaluating, understanding and using information in an ethical and legal manner. The doubtful quality and expanding quantity of information also cause large challenges for businesses of all types, as well as for society itself. Why has the idea of information literacy taken root? The concept of information literacy has its roots in the appearance of the information society, characterized by fast growth in accessible information and related changes in technology used to create, disseminate, access and control that information. Ever since the publication of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Final report (1989), written by a group of librarians and other educationalist, the idea of information literacy has been broadly accepted. This focus in information literacy is largely a result of its strong association with the idea of permanent learning. Conclusion: Being information literate requires knowing how to clearly define a subject or area of investigation; select the appropriate terminology that expresses the concept or subject under investigation; formulate a search strategy that takes into consideration different sources of information and the variable ways that information is organized; analyze the data collected for value, relevancy, quality, and suitability; and subsequently turn information into knowledge (ALA 1989). This involves a deeper understanding of how and where to find information, the ability to judge whether that information is meaningful, and ultimately, how best that information can be incorporated to address the problem or issue at hand. Sources: 1. http://www. nap. edu/catalog/6482. html 2. http://www. ycp. edu/library/ifl/glossary. html 3. http://www. ala. org/Content/NavigationMenu/ACRL/Standards_and_Guidelines/Information_Literacy_Competency_Standards_for_Higher_Educati on. htm#ildef 4. http://www. ala. org/Content/NavigationMenu/ACRL/Publications/White_Papers_and_Reports/Presidential_Comitee_on_Information_Literacy. htm 5. http://www. nap. edu/catalog/6482. html 6. http://notes. cc. sunysb. edu/Pres/boyer. nsf/ 7. http://www. infolit. org/index. html 8. http://www. infolit. org/documents/progress. html 9. http://www. fiu. edu/~library/ili/iliweb. html 10. http://www. infolit. org/definitions/index. html 11. http://www. infolit. org/documents/89report. htm 12. http://www. ed. gov/pubs/UnderLit/understanding. html 13. http://www. bham. wednet. edu). 14. http://www. rrpubs. com/heproc).