Universalist Approach To Strategic Human Resource Management Business Essay

Universalist Approach To Strategic Human Resource Management Business Essay Your role and background is that of a Human Resource Management generalist consultant who has been called in to provide observations and suggestions to the current situation. You are an HRM generalist who has been asked to sit in on the meeting with John of PF. The CEO will ask for your opinions about how the organisation can move forward and overcome the current issues that it is experiencing. This is based on two critical forms of fit. Firstly, external fit and secondly internal fit. The external fit has to do with the HR strategy that fits with the demands of business Strategy. It is also referred to as vertical integration, the internal fit which is also referred to as horizontal integration suggests that all HR policies and activities fit together so that they make a coherent whole, are mutually reinforcing and are applied consistently. The strength of this model is that it provides a simple framework to show how selection, appraisal, development and reward can be mutually geared to produce the required of employee performance. Resource based approach This approach in concerned with the relationships between internal resources of which Human resources are one, strategy and the firm performance. It focuses on the Promotion of sustained competitive advantage through the development of human capital rather than merely aligning human resources to current strategic goals. The universalistic perspective posits the best of HR practices, implying that business strategies and HRM policies are mutually independent in determining business performance. The contingency perspective emphasizes the fit between business strategy and HRM policies and strategies, implying that business strategies are followed by HRM policies in determining business performance. The configurationally perspective posits a simultaneous internal and external fit between a firms external environment, business strategy and HR strategy, implying that business strategies and HRM policies interact, according to organisational context in determining business performance. Recruitment and selection Using the three recruitment methods of advertising in the national press, advertising in the technical press, and the internet, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each. National press When considering a press adverting campaign there are two main venues to think about; newspapers and magazines. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. The magazine ads look better but the quality and the workmanship that goes into producing a magazine ad make it expensive. The readership of a magazine, on the other hand, is much easier to target, and is comes with the type of magazine you choose; a car magazine, sports or fashion magazine. On the flip side, magazine ads are viewed more times than newspaper ads and can double the exposure of the readership. the newspaper ad is much quicker and cheaper. Newspapers vary in circulation and with that they vary drastically in price. From the national press advertising campaign in newspapers, advertising in newspapers still holds a charm. Newspapers give credibility to the ads unlike radio advertising that is heard while doing something else, newspaper reading is done when a person has leisure time and his attention is not diverted. Local press advertising has benefits when dealing with a local supplier. Internet Advertising is the branch of marketing that deals with communicating to customers about products, brands, services and companies. The Internet, as a global communications medium, provides advertisers with unique and often cost-effective ways of reaching advertising audiences. As with all media, however, advertising on the Internet has unique advantages and disadvantages. Advertising on the Internet is almost a necessity for modern businesses, especially those that do business outside of their local community. Consumers use the Internet for more than simply entertainment or information, as they do with radio, television, magazines and newspapers. Consumers use the Internet to assist them in nearly every aspect of life, creating countless opportunities to place relevant, targeted ad messages. The Internets vast reach can allow advertisers to reach significantly more people than traditional advertising media at a fraction of the cost. Internet advertising is ideal for businesses with a national or international target market and large-scale distribution capabilities. As a rule, the more people your business serves, the most cost-efficient internet advertising can be. Internet advertising can also be more targeted than some traditional media, ensuring that your messages are seen by the most relevant audiences. One disadvantage of advertising on the Inter net is that your marketing materials are automatically available for anyone in the world to copy, regardless of the legal ramifications. Logos, images and trademarks can be copied and used for commercial purposes, or even to slander or mock your company. This is not the case with television and magazine advertising, wherein images must be replicated rather than simply copied electronically. Another disadvantage is the fact that the Internet-advertising gold rush has begun to introduce ad clutter to the Web. Web users are so inundated with banner ads and spam email that they have begun to ignore internet advertising just as much as ads on traditional media. Technical press There are many trades, technical and professional magazines read by customers, suppliers and businesses in your sector. If your business sells to other businesses, advertisements in these publications can be a powerful way of gaining sales, product enquiries, higher profile, trade partnerships and even potential investors. Editorials are generally perceived by readers to be independent and impartial and are therefore seen as more trustworthy than advertisements. Editorial support or endorsement helps lend your business credibility with the reader. A proactive PR strategy can increase your chances of gaining favorable editorial content. The technical press can also be used for recruitment and to source suppliers. Trade magazines provide a variety of ways to advertise: Classified advertising particularly for recruitment and gaining suppliers. Display and semi-display display advertisements are bigger and more sophisticated, often appear on editorial pages or in special supplements, and can use pictures and other design devices. Advertisement features theyre laid out like editorial pages but feature you and your business or product. You pay for them, and you may also be given advertisement space. Your suppliers might advertise as well and offset the cost. Loose inserts that you supply yourself to the magazine publisher for them to insert into the magazine. Advantages and Disadvantages of performance related pay Performance related pay is the idea of Fredrick Taylor who comprised his theory of scientific management. It is a bonus salary increase awarded in line with an employees achievement over a range of criteria. These criteria depend on each job. Awards are decided based on appraisal results. They must link achievements to pay. Advantages Rewards employees with highest productivity It is argued this system motivates staff It enables firms to recruit highly qualified staff who like the idea of being to earn a bonus Encourages employees whose performance is not u to scratch to leave company on a voluntary basis Easy to identify companies aims and objectives Disadvantages Only those who perform well get paid High flyers find it attractive possible to give employees no pay rise at all Inflation means pay will be cut and this coupled with; the indignity of being judged and found wanting, would make it that employees see a job elsewhere. Employees can be de-motivated if the goals set are too hard to achieve. Disgruntled employees Performance related pay cannot be determined unless there is a measuring system in place to assess output. It also provides a limiting factor to the use and extension of incentive pay in instances where work is difficult to measure. Where output cannot be measured, the sensible solution seems not to pay any bonus. However, because some jobs are difficult to measure, doesnt mean that good performance shouldnt be rewarded.. Learning and Training The essential purpose of training is to develop that knowledge and those skills and aptitudes which contribute to the welfare of the company and its employees. Further, all training programmes aim at making the employees more effective and productive in their present job and increasing their potential for higher level jobs. For effective transfer of training to occur, two conditions must be met; The trainee must be able to take the material learnt in the training process and apply it to the job context in which they work. The use of the learnt material must be maintained overtime on the job. Benefits of Good Training Programme It increases performance on the job, if applied. It help employee to raise current skill levels and correct any deficiency that have in doing their job efficiently. It enables present employees to acquire more and greater skill, thus increasing their versatility for transfers and their qualifications for promotions. If employees are properly trained, accidents, soiled work, and damage to machines and equipment are reduced. Training helps employees to adjust to new methods and processes that are introduced from time to time. Good training reduces dissatisfaction and absenteeism because it helps both new and experienced employees to use to the full, their individual capacities. It improves the quality of output which will benefit the company in the long run. Training improves the promotional prospect. Evaluation The HR Manager has o critically assess the training after the training exercise to determine if there is any change in their knowledge, skills, attitudes and ability. It is important to understand which skills; attitude and ability existed before therefore it is recommended that a measure of performance be undertaken before the training program begins. Transfer/behaviour This address the question, to what extent did the participant job behaviour change as a result of the training? Are the participants using their newly acquired skills and knowledge in their work environment? Is their change in behaviour and new knowledge sustained, are they using them effectively overtime. Is the trainee able to transfer the new skills to another person? Result Results answer the question, how is the training impacting on the organization overall. Is There a reduction in cost, increase in sales, are there more persons being attracted to company, improvement in production levels, less customer complaints or reduction in incidents? Performance appraisal This system is designed to measure the actual job performance of an employee. It provides feedback about the success about previous trainees and discloses the need for additional training. It helps to determine rewards or sanctions eg, of reward are pay increases based on his/her performance, promotion, commendation, demotion, warning or termination. It also gives the employee a clear understanding where he stands in relation to the organisation performance expectation. Performance Management System Performance appraisal is a method of evaluating a workers performance to ascertain how well he/she is meeting up with performance standards and targets and communicating it to the worker in order to set up a plan of improvement. Performance is the degree of accomplishment of the tasks that make up an employees job. An individuals performance is a combination of: Effort-physical and mental energy put in a work Ability-personal characteristics used doing a job Role perception-an understanding of direction and requirements of a job Performance evaluation on individual and group is usually based on: Standards set at the planning stage Performance targets set for individual or groups Accountability-the rate at which an employee understands and takes responsibility for his actions Competencies-the skills, experience, knowledge that a worker exhibits in a job Uses of performance appraisal Performance appraisal information can be used for: Promotions Firings/layoffs Merit pay increases Individual and organisational training and development Suggesting changes in behaviour, attitudes, skills or knowledge Selection procedures, and Human resource planning Performance Appraisal Methods Performance appraisal methods include: Goal setting, or management by objectives (MBO) Work standards approach Essay appraisal Critical incident appraisal Graphic rating scale Checklist Behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) Ranking methods 1. Goal setting or management by objectives. Management by objective consists of the following steps: Establishing a clear objectives for the work to be done by an employee Developing an action plan indicating how these objectives are to be achieved Allowing the employee to implement the action plan Measuring objective achievement Taking corrective action when needed Establishing new objectives for the future 2. Work standards approach. This method of appraisal involves setting a standard or an expected level of output and then comparing each employees level to the standard. Performance standards include: Quantity Quality Time Cost Dependability Accuracy Attendance, etc. 3. Essay appraisal In this method the appraiser prepares a written statement (narrative) describing a workers strengths and weaknesses, and past performance. A typical essay appraisal question might be Describe this employees performance, including quality and quantity of work, job knowledge, and ability to get along with other employees. 4. Critical incident appraisal In this method the appraiser keeps a written record of incidents that illustrate both satisfactory and unsatisfactory behaviors of the employee. The appraiser then uses these incidents as a basis for evaluating the employees performance. 5. Graphic rating scale This method requires the appraiser to indicate on a scale where the employee rates on factors such as quantity of work, dependability, job knowledge, and cooperativeness. Graphical ratings include both numerical ranges and written descriptions. Ex. On quantity of work (1) the worker does not meet minimum requirement (2) Does just enough to get byà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(5) has a superior work production record. 6. Checklist In this method the appraiser answers with a yes or no to a series of questions about the behaviour of the employee being rated. The checklist can have varying weight assigned to each question. 7. Behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) This method of appraisal determines an employees level of performance based on whether or not certain specifically job behaviors are present. BARS consist of scale value and anchors. Scale values define specific categories of performance such as: Excellent, good, average, poor, etc. Anchors are statements which indicate the level of performance on the scale opposite that particular anchor. 8. Ranking methods In this method of appraisal, the performance of an employee is ranked relative to the performance of others. Ranking methods include: Alternation ranking Paired comparison ranking, and Forced distribution Alternation ranking-the appraiser lists the names of employees to be rated on the left side of a sheet of paper. The rater chooses the most valuable employee on the list, crosses that name off the left-hand list, and puts at the top of the column on the right-hand side of the paper. The rater repeats the process for all names on the left hand side of the paper. Paired comparison ranking: suppose a rater is to evaluate six employees. The names of these individuals are listed on the left side of a sheet of paper. The rater then compares the first employee with the second employee on a chosen performance criterion, such as quantity of work; he then makes a mark on the first employees name if he produced more. He then compares the first employee with the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth employees on the same performance criterion. Forced distribution-In this method, the appraiser places a certain percentage of employees at various performance levels. It assumes performance in a group of employees is distributed according to a normal curve. Thus, the rater could place 60% of employees as meeting expectation; 20% as exceeding expectation, and 20% as not meeting expectations. Model of Attendance Your company wont suffer much from the occasional employee day off or sick day, but patterns of absences can create havoc in your work place. With several employees out of the office, production slows, or other employees may have to pick up the slack causing the quality of their work to suffer. While you cant prevent every absence, you can take steps to decrease the number of overall absences. Create an Attendance Policy Some employees may show up late or take several days off because they do not understand the companys stance on absences. You need a clear-cut attendance policy so every employee knows what you expect of him. Include reasons for acceptable absences, what you consider unacceptable and any disciplinary action or reduction in pay the employee may face after abusing holiday or sick days. Make sure every employee receives a copy of this policy. Have your supervisors monitor their employees and enforce the policy. Improve Morale If your office staff suffers from general low morale, employees will start to dread coming to work. This can increase absences throughout the staff. Spend time each week on boosting morale. Make sure every employee has regularly scheduled breaks throughout the day. Offer group lunches, prizes for completing projects or other incentives. Creating a positive environment that incorporates hard work with down time helps boost morale. Reduce Stress An employee can feel stressed in the workplace, especially if she has a large workload. High levels of stress can lead to avoidance, or even cause an illness. Both of which can lead to frequent absences. Make sure every employee has an even workload and can complete tasks given to them. Create teams to complete projects, rather than assigning one employee to the entire task. Reducing workloads and placing the right people with the right jobs will reduce stress levels in the office. Steers and Rhodes developed a model on absenteeism which according to Harrison and Martocchio, 1998 was deemed to be very influential and frequently cited in literatures about absenteeism within organizations. The model states that the capability of employees or workers to attend work is primarily dictated by how motivated as well as their ability to attend and perform their duties. These variables, ability and motivation have been thought to interact in a manner that an individual supposed ability to be present at work usually moderates his/her enthusiasm to attend work-what has been known as attendance relationship(Steers and Susan, 1978).The two further argued that personal characteristics or attributes which include sex(gender), tenure, family size, education, in addition to that, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, the ability to attend which encompass sickness, family responsibilities, accidents as well as transport problems, pressure to attend that include attendance reward system/incentives/bonuses, work group norms all either in isolation or in combination influence absenteeism of employees. It is worth to note that these were addition to their initial model developed in 1978 which only identified job satisfaction as the only specific significant factor affecting attendance motivation. From the diagram, attendance motivation is influenced by organizational practices, culture of absenteeism, attitude, values and goals of employees. Employees who are fully satisfied with their jobs do have strong loyalty to the organization and proud of it hence will desire to actively engage in activities to better the organization, and this is done by being present at work. REFERNCES Retrieved August 12, 2011, from World Wide Web http://smallbusiness.chron.com/things-improve-employee-work-attendance-19070.html Retrieved August 3, 2011, from World Wide Web (function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })() Retrieved August 3, 2011, from, from World Wide Web http://www.businessballs.com/trainingprogramevaluation.htm Retrieved August 12, 2011, from, from World Wide Web http://managementhelp.org/training/basics/reasons-for-training.htm Daft, R. and Marcic, D. (2007). Management, The New Workplace. Ohio. USA: Thomson Kotler, P., Armstrong, G. (1996). Principles of Marketing. New Jersey: Prentice hall.

BURNING QUESTION THE GLOBAL WARMING

Make you hold that planetary warming emanation in USA and China can be reduced?â€Å"Global heating is excessively serious for the universe any longer to disregard its danger or split into opposing cabals on it.†TONY BLAIR, address, Sept. 27, 2005. Decidedly in the past decennaries planetary warming emanation has been increasing bit by bit in all over the universe. Worlds are playing an of import function in accepting the effects and duties of their action behind the issue of planetary warming emanation ; in fact we do n't hold any other beginning to set the incrimination on. We are seting our kids are in menace by coercing them to inhale toxic gases into their lungs in the hereafter, people should work to turn up a solution for this job. In order to decrease the planetary heating emanation many organisations are taking action to promote citizens, authoritiess, corporations, and politicians take the stairss necessary to haltplanetarywarming. A protocol was made in Japan on 11 December 1997 called by Kyoto Protocol which is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major property of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets adhering marks for 37 industrialised states and the European community for cut downing nursery gas emanations.These sum to an norm of five per cent against 1990 degrees over the five-year period 2008-2012.The protocol is non merely promoting these states to stabilise the emanation but commits them to make so. ( www.ec.europa.eu ) We are cognizant of these series accomplishment that had been made but humanity still persevere to happen a convincing reply for the inquiry, which is, can planetary warming emanation in USA and China be reduced? If we come across the concern as human beings we can be able to happen a solution for the emanation worldwide merely if we worked together as one state and convey to an terminal the actions the human doing it, all for the interest of us and to see a cleansing agent and brighter hereafter for our kids. This research will exemplify convincing indicant of ways to cut down the emanation of planetary heating. The study findings are restricted to both United State of America and The Republic of China. Entirely because both states are rated on the highest beginnings of planetary warming emanation. There many factors and beginnings behind the increasing of emanation in both USA and China, chiefly the factors are semisynthetic, ensuing from human activities and impacting negatively in our planet. A few beginnings are of course caused, but merely the incrimination can belong to us as homo. Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is gathered in the ambiance, pin downing the Sun ‘s heat and doing the planet to warm up. Coal firing power workss are the major U.S. beginning of C dioxide pollution ; they produce 2.5 billion dozenss every twelvemonth. Cars are following major beginning, bring forthing about 1.5 billion dozenss of CO2 annually. Local temperatures rise and autumn of course, over the past 50 old ages the typical planetary temperature has increased at the fastest rate. And specializers think the motion is speed uping. The 10 hottest old ages on record have all taken topographic point since 1990. Scientists say that unless we cut down planetary heating emanations, mean U.S. temperatures could be 3 to 9 grades higher by the terminal of the century. Global heating is already doing injury in several parts of the United States. In 2002, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon suffered their most atrocious wildfire seasons of all time. In the same twelvemonth, drouth created dust storms in Montana, Colorado and Kansas, and inundations caused 100s of 1000000s of dollars in harm in Texas, Montana and North Dakota. Since the early 1950s, snow assemblage has decreased by 60 per centum and winter seasons have shortened in several countries of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington. ( www.earthjustice.org, www.climatehotmap.org ) China is counted as the one of the top states in emanation of toxic gases. In 2008, China became the universe ‘s largest emitter of nursery gases, in front of long clip leader the United States. China is confronting a series threaten and catastrophe caused by the big sum of C dioxide been emitted to the ambiance, the menaces may impact the imbibing H2O system, more hurricanes and twister, a side to longer dry seasons which may straight impact the agriculture industry. ( www.news.mongabay.com ) There have been many ideas declaring that the emanation is acquiring out of control and no 1 is able to take back control of it. As the figure of autos, planes, trains, ships, and mills increases bit by bit will take to an addition in the emanation of toxicant gases to the ambiance. Many will state it is non possible to command our planet no more. We can answer by stating there are many stairss should be taken in order to keep a lower emanation rate. Car shapers are bring forthing new type of autos called â€Å"Hybrid cars† these auto will utilize a clean beginning of energy such as solar energy or electrical energy which will non breathe toxic exhausts to the ambiance. All these clean beginnings can be used into other transit vehicles other than autos merely. hypertext transfer protocol: //ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/kyoto.htm The Greening of Global Warming Book by Robert Mendelsohn ; American Enterprise Institute, 1999 hypertext transfer protocol: //news.mongabay.com/2009/0817-hance_china_climate.html hypertext transfer protocol: //www.carnegieendowment.org/topic/index.cfm? fa=viewTopic & A ; topic=3000145 & A ; gclid=CO6iqsPYxJwCFSn6agodUEelmA hypertext transfer protocol: //www.earthjustice.org/library/background/climate_change_additional_links.html hypertext transfer protocol: //www.climatehotmap.org/namerica.html

Christianity and Islam Essay

A few months ago, when a Vatican official announced that Catholicism was surpassed by Islam as the world’s largest faith, many news agencies around the world carried what seemed to have been a largely unnoticed issue for this present generation – religion. At least for some time, renewed debates about whether or not one should indeed consider Islam as a religion that commands world’s largest followers surfaced one after another. The issue many people think should not be dismissed is the fact that Christianity – a religion which combines an array of all its offshoots namely Roman Catholicism, Orthodox, Protestantism, Anglicanism, Evangelicals, among others – still has the largest adherents compared to any other religion, including Islam. Even if Christianity may be broken down into some larger or other smaller denominations, many people subscribe to idea that since all Christians root their belief in Christ, one must take them as belonging to a singular religion, the largest in the world to be exact. To consider Christianity as a single religion involves rounds of new separate debates. Surely, when the differences between the mainstream Christian blocks and the thousand of other minor denominations are brought into the fore, their respective beliefs will manifest diversity, resemblance, opposition, and even contradiction. Tedious as this process may appear, one may not yet consider the fact that even in the Islam religion itself there are further classifications of membership that must be taken into careful account. Again, it is legitimate to inquire whether it is proper to take Islam as a unitary religion, or they too must be broken down into their finer types. As one may correctly observe, inner divisions within the world’s largest religions – Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. – appear to be a fundamentally given fact. One can perhaps inquire whether it is possible to identify a major religion with millions, if not a billion of adherents, which does not have any, or have not suffered from any inner rift at any given point of its history. It may be interesting to ask therefore, what accounts for the eventual internal fall out of world religions in history? Better yet, how must we attempt to understand what happens in a religion that has been divided into smaller aggregate types in the course of history? II. Rationale and Scope This brief study presents a case for divisions transpiring within world religions. But since the scope of studying the issue is broad (considering that there are many major world religions to cite), this research shall be restricted at tackling Christianity and Islam as chosen types. Specifically, the study shall describe the events that transpired during the Catholic-Protestant divide of the mid 1500’s for Christianity, and the Shiite-Sunni divide for Islam. To be sure, there are other identifiable divisions which can be noted in the history of Christianity. While there are small schisms involving â€Å"heretics† who refuse to accept fundamental Christian teachings, Christianity is said to have been divided into two major blocks during the 11th century. It produced the dichotomization between the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox, which until the present still exists. For the purposes of limiting this study, the Christian division which shall be discussed in this study shall dwell on the Luther-led Reformation of the 1500’s. Meanwhile, it is also insightful to note even in the Islam religion, there have been various types of smaller divisions and schisms. For the purposes of this study too, the rift between the Shiites and the Sunnis that was created in the early years of Islam religion shall be the one in focus. A short analysis and interpretation of the sample religions used shall comprise the conclusion of this study. III. Discussion Proper a. Nature of Religion Before relating the events defining the divisions that were experienced both by Christianity and Islam, it will be helpful to cite some theories to help explain the dynamics of religion. This is important since it shall provide a working perspective which is to be used later on in the analysis. Religion is a phenomenon which may be understood in many ways. Basically speaking, it refers to the common innate feeling or â€Å"belief in a Supreme Being† (McCutcheon, 2007, p. 22). Religion obviously stems from a belief that there is a higher being that must be worshiped or adored. But religion does not pertain to kind of personal belief alone. It also describes how a believer finds the need to belong to a community which shares the same belief, and thus obey a given set of rules within it. Thus, another definition for religion may also be expressed as a â€Å"unified system of belief and practices relative to sacred things† which â€Å"unites (believers) into one single moral community† (McCutcheon, 2007, p. 22). Combing both definitions enable one to fully appreciate the fact that religion pertains to both a personal ascent to God, and a commitment to a community, a set of rules and a specific set rituals. When seen under the lenses of scientific inquiry (e. g. anthropology, sociology, philosophy, etc. ) religion reveals patterns and dynamism consistent with human belief system, knowledge, interest and relationships. This means that religion is molded into the belief system of the believers. For instance, if Christians hold that Christ in his lifetime was compassionate to the poor, it follows that they too, since they follow Christ, must do something good for their less fortunate brethren. Or if Moslems take Mohammad as their example, and Mohammad was a deeply spiritual man, they too must not take spirituality lightly in their lives. Religious mindset is committed to certain courses of action (Slater, 1978, p. 6); and these actions are meaningful only because believers draw their identities from a person or a belief system they embrace – be it the Lordship of Christ, or the greatness of the Prophet Muhammad (Slater, 1978, p. 82). This is one of the primary reasons why religions possess their â€Å"continuing identities† (Slater, 1978, p. 82). So long as a group of Christians identify themselves to the teachings of their religion, say Catholic Church, they will remain to be Catholics. As indeed, so long as a group of Moslems identify themselves to the teachings of their religion, say Shiite group, they will remain to be identified with it. What explains the shift in a belief system is when one cannot anymore identify either with a teaching, or specific religious structures. It is a general rule that key to a religion’s perpetuity is establishing an identity. When people start to feel alienated with what they used to hold or believe it, it can explain why a group of believers create their own groups to accommodate their otherwise alienated belief system. To help establish the point, it may be good to lay down two glaring examples. b. The Shiite-Sunnis Divide Islam was born at least five hundred years after Christianity was already an institutionalized religion. But what started out only as a small community following Muhammad, Islam grew in exponential proportion in just a short span of time. Within the rapid growth came bitter disputes and eventual breakaways. Although Islam is a religion which does not readily recognize that there are divisions within them, scholars are almost unanimous in agreeing that some factions already broke from within the Moslem community dating back to the days when the religion itself was merely beginning to be established. In a sense, Islam is a religion broken down into at least two major divisions even before it got to be formally established as a religious phenomenon. It all started when a certain man named Muhammad, who by the way was born in 570 to a very poor family, begun to attract followers after experiencing visions and revelations (Renard, 1998, p. 7). His reputation spread in neighboring places, and soon found himself at odds with ruling empires for the large number of followers he had gathered. After this increasingly expanding community finally settled in Mecca in 630, Muhammad would die two years after (Renard, 1998, p. 7). His death would then see his community figure in a prolonged tug-of-war for rightful succession, and would officially begin the drift within the newly established religious community. One group claimed that Muhammad chose his rightful successor in the person of his son named Ali before he died. The other group contested the claim and said, no instructions were made by the Prophet whatsoever. Instead, they held that it was appropriate for to appoint leaders themselves, and eventually chose Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father-in-law, as the first of the four caliphs (meaning head), to rule the Islam community. Those who embraced the leadership of Ali were eventually known as the Shiites, while the followers who believed Abu Bakr’s caliphate eventually came to be known as Sunnis. As such, the neat separation within the just-emerging Islamic religion has been established. Since it exists up until today, it can be described as the â€Å"largest institutional division within the Muslim community† so far (Renard, 1998, p. 13; Ayoub, 2004, 72). c. The Catholic-Protestant Divide The era that colored the Catholic-Protestant divide was a Church marred with controversies, silent disenchantment and an ever growing discontent among Christian faithful. As history would show, it was through and because of Martin Luther – and his whole ebb generating protests against the Church – that the radical break from Catholicism was to be established. But hundreds of years before the supposed break, there had already been numerous events that point to the restlessness within the membership of the Church which it tried to quell. What were the controversies about? As early as the 1300’s, roughly two hundred years before Luther was born, an ordained priest by the name of John Wycliffe started to publish series of attacks against some of the major teachings and traditions of the Church. In 1372, he was summoned and reprimanded by Church authorities for his teachings that dwelled on the following: his denial of the doctrine of transubstantiation (a belief that the bread and wine used in celebrating the Eucharist is transformed into the real body and blood of Christ), attacks on the authority of the Pope as the head of the Church, corrupt practices within the Church, and emphasis on preaching and the use of Scriptures for teaching the doctrines of the Church (Cook, 2008, p. 95). Wycliffe probably represented the first courageous voices which tried to confront what’s wrong with the Church. In fact, he did try to raise legitimate concerns about both the divisive doctrines and lamentable discipline which the Church at that time practiced. Years after, Luther would pick up from where his predecessors had left out. In 1517, he released his Ninety-Five Theses to the public – a collection of ninety-five protests against many Church teachings – both doctrinal and moral – and Church practices, such as indulgences (spiritual merits obtained in return for monetary donations), celibacy (the promise for priests not to marry), Eucharist, among others (Cook, 2008, p. 100). Since the general religious atmosphere at that time was already ripe for reforms, his ninety-five theses were easily duplicated and spread throughout the German empire – a testament, as it were, to a huge popular support he enjoyed for the risks he took. Luther’s break from the Church was formally established when he burned the Papal bull Exsurge Domine (a decree which threatened him of excommunication if he did not recant his protests) in front of many people in a public square (Cook, 2008, 101). After which, he did subsequently ask the authorities of the German kingdom to support his cause for Church reform. Luther is remembered as a man who broke the Catholic Church apart. True enough, even before he died, he already saw the far reaching effects of his call for reforms he perhaps initially did not intended to jumpstart. Thanks to Luther, Christianity would never be the same again. The â€Å"Germany after (the) Reformation† movement in the mid 1500’s became a home to a new breed of Christians who came to be branded as Lutherans, Calvinist, Reformers, or even Protestants (Pennock, 2007, p. 168). In principle, Luther earned the reputation of being an agent of division within the Christian religion. IV. Conclusion To be sure, Christianity and Islam are not the only major religions in the world which had suffered a kind of break-up from within. Religious divisions are commonplace, and that variations sprouting from within large communities may be brought about by various factors. When divisions occur, one normally observes that differences pertaining to a host of issues including (but not limited to) doctrines, practices, or even recognized leadership become patent. As earlier mentioned, the dynamics of religion may help explain why a feeling of alienation (or a loss of identity) can push a believer or a group to break-away from mainstream religion to form their own set of practices and norms independently. Christianity and Islam were taken as exemplifications. In the points that were developed, it was seen that they share a history with lots of bitter disputes, which in turn led to an eventual division. But both religions suffered from internal rifts quite differently as well. Islam’s division was more political in nature, as two major factions with their respective claims to rightful succession to their now-dead Prophet-leader tore the emerging community apart – thus, the Sunnis and the Shiites. Christianity on the other hand, after experiencing many breakaway groups in the course of history, had to suffer yet another major blow from internal disputes led by Martin Luther in the 1500’s on account of doctrine and practices. What followed was a Christian religion torn once again, which ushered the creation of a big faction named Protestants. Religious divisions can be put under rigorous inquiry. There are viewpoints that consider these divisions as something that separate one group after another, while there are those who propose to see the same divisions as something that merely distinguish (but not separate). While the two viewpoints may be valid in their respective senses, this study places much interest not on their â€Å"distinguishability† or â€Å"separability†, but on the fact that, truly, religious divisions from within happen. References Ayoub, M. (2004). Islam. Faith and History. Oxford: Oneworld. Cook, C.. (2008) The Routledge Companion to Christian History. New York: Routledge. McCutcheon, R. (2007). Studying Religion. An Introduction. London: Equinox. Pennock, M. (2007) This is Our Church. A History of Catholicism. Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press. Renard, J. (1998)101 Questions and Answers on Islam. New York: Paulist Press. Slater, P. (1978). The Dynamics of Religion. Meaning and Change in Religious Traditions. San Francisco: Harper and Row. (Also consulted) http://ca. news. yahoo. com/s/capress/080330/world/vatican_muslims

P4 M2 - 4002 Words

3/20/2013 ERIC KAMAU | P4amp;M3 | UNIT 36 STARTING A SMALL BUSINESS | P4amp;M3 | UNIT 36 STARTING A SMALL BUSINESS | Contents INTRODUCTION 2 Proposed legal structure of the business 2 LEGAL ASPECTS 2 Local licenses and regulations 4 The implications for the business in legal aspect (M3) 4 FINANCIAL ASPECTS 5 The implications for the business in financial aspect (M3) 8 INTRODUCTION For this task I have been asked to describe the legal and financial aspects that will affect start-up of the business Proposed legal structure of the business TYPES OF BUSINESSES sole trader- is a type of business entity that is owned and run by one individual and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and†¦show more content†¦Any organization that keeps and processes personal data has to be registered under the Data Protection Act 1998. The Data Protection Act protects the privacy and integrity of data held on individuals by businesses and other organizations. The act ensures that individuals (customers and employees) have access to their data and can correct it, if necessary. It is enforced by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has responsibility for overseeing the Freedom of Information Act and the regulation of interception of communications under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. As an employer and a business owner of free from foods I have responsibilities to ensure your employees personal details are respected and properly protected e.g. IN number, date of birth, bank account details etc. Also I have to ensure that customer’s information is secure since it is an online business, I have to ensure that the site is secure e.g. including the use of a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) server. Any information customers enter while they are using the secure server is encrypted before being transmitted, so it is virtually impossible for an outside party to access or intercept your information. Consumer law- For many products, society has laws and standards that the designer must meet. These help to protect the users, by specifying that products meet certain requirements and have suitable levels ofShow MoreRelatedtask 2a p3 p4 m2 d11846 Words   |  8 Pagesï » ¿ Don’t print out this page!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! P3 describe the physiological responses common to most sports injuries P4 describe the psychological responses common to sports injuries M2 explain the physiological and psychological responses common to most sports Injuries D1 analyse the physiological and psychological responses common to most sports Injuries Content Know about a range of sports injuries and their symptoms Physiological responses: damaged tissue, eg primaryRead MoreInternet Marketing P4,P5,P6,M22632 Words   |  11 PagesTesco Direct in 1997 which gave their customers the availability to shop online and have the items/groceries delivered straight to their house. It is also possible to order groceries online to be delivered to the customer’s door. Section Two: Task One (P4) To determine and describe the benefits, opportunities and challenges for Tesco; I will use the 7P’s of marketing: Price Tesco have finest, regular and value products within their range offering choice of value and quality. This creates an ease andRead More11c - Safeguarding Adults P4, P5, M29539 Words   |  39 Pagestypes of abuse procedure used in health and social care to reduce the risk of abuse. Also I will be describing legislation and regulations, working strategies and procedures used in health and social care to reduce the risk of two types of abuse. P4: Outline key legislation and regulations which govern safeguarding adults at work Legislation | Main Points | Application | Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006Protection of Vulnerable Groups Act 2007 Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) 2010Read MoreWho Is Cardiovascular System For Steady State Exercise ( P4 And M2 )5161 Words   |  21 Pageshe cardiovascular system responses to steady state exercise (P4 and M2) -Heart rate is the number of times a person s heart beats per minute. When you are preforming a type of exercise that will increase your heart rate, then your heart will pump blood all around your body faster and especially to muscles that are working the most because they require the most oxygen because of the intensity they are working at. It is vital to take your resting heart rate and the normal heart rate is 60-100bpm.Read MoreEssay about P4 M2 D1 - National Initiatives Unit 21588 Words   |  7 Pagesassessment of the influences of a recent national policy initiative promoting anti-discriminatory practice in health and social care settings. Then I am going to evaluate the success of a recent initiative in promoting anti-discriminatory practice. P4 I am going to write about 4 legislations, these are the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Age Discrimination Act 2006. Sex Discrimination Act 1975 is to protect men and womenRead Moreunit 27 p3 p4 m2 m3 d13828 Words   |  16 Pagessafety in all the job roles they are in such as: landlords, trade unionists, consultants, emergency services and contactors. Analyse the roles and responsibilities for Health and Safety of key personnel in a selected workplace (M2) There are many roles and responsibilities in Health and Safety that organisations like Debenhams have to consider when running a business. Some of the roles are more senior than others such as: Directors, Line Managers and different employees thatRead MoreUnit 2 - P4, P5, M2, M3, D1, D23271 Words   |  14 Pagesï » ¿Unit 2 – Equality, Diversity and Rights within Health and Social Care P4 For this task, I am going to explain how two national initiatives promote anti-discriminatory practice. Sex discrimination act 1975 This act applies for both men and women. It promotes that both men and women should be treated equally. For example, in transport, education, jobs etc. It promotes anti-discriminatory practice by making sure those men and women are treated equally, if this act applies didn’t exist, men and womenRead MoreHealth and Social Care- Case Study- P3/P4/M2/D2 Essay examples1339 Words   |  6 Pagesimportant to take individual circumstances into account when planning care that will empower an individual, using relevant example from health and social care (P4)Discuss the extent to which individual circumstances can be taken into account when planning care that will empower them, using relevant examples from health and social care (M2)Assess the potential difficulties in taking individual circumstances into account when planning care that will empower an individual, making suggestions for improvementRead MoreUnit 40 Health Social Care P3 P4 M2 D1 Essay1579 Words   |  7 PagesEndurin g Power Of Attorney Act: This is for individuals who are lacking the mental capacity and need somebody else to help them manage their legal, financial and health problems. The mental capacity act therefore made it legal so that those who are unable to make their own decisions have the ability to choose somebody who they feel they can trust to help manage their finances, properties and to help make their health and welfare decision. This is done through the power of attorney. This act linksRead MoreSkills for LAND A1 2015 1978 Words   |  4 Pages 16/4/15 Date 21/5/15 Issued: Due: Feedback Due: 11/6/15 Student Name: ................................................................. Assessment Criteria Outcome P M D R 1 P1 M1 X 2 P2 X X 3 P3 M2 D1 P4 M3 D2 4 P5 M4 X P6 X X This assignment is submitted as partial fulfilment of this unit. Please read the statement carefully and sign your name below: I confirm that the work that I have submitted has been produced through my own effort, and