Recruitment & Selection

Recruitment and Selection Part 1 Produce a report, advising HiTech on how it should move forward as far as recruitment is concerned i. e. what advice would you give? Introduction HiTech International is one of the fastest –growing companies in the world. It currently employs over 30’000 people in 60 countries and has annual turnover in excess of $19billion. Located in West Dublin, HiTech European headquarters employs 2’500 people. 90% are employees of the company and remaining 10% are employed on a subcontracted basis.HiTech specialise in provision of computer hardware and bespoke software solutions for corporate clients to assist them in maximising the use of the internet. HiTech also provide a complete after-sales service which goes beyond regular software maintenance. The company is recognised as global market leaders in several of its principal line of business. Due to the competitive market that HiTech operates in innovation and continually evolving technolo gy developments through research and development department is central to the company’s future success.HiTech offers employees excellent terms and conditions of employment with top-salaries, generous bonus schemes, discounts, pensions, health and life insurance. The environment in which they work is very attractive with excellent facilities such as staff cafeterias, fitness facilities and valet services. Staff retention is very good; turnover levels are currently at 5% of which half are accounted for by dismissals and non-renewal of fixed-term contracts. HiTech are experiencing some difficultly with finding sufficient number of employees with the required skills to meet its expansion needs.Due to the fast-moving nature of the industry graduates are not utilised as by the time they are trained with a set of skills technology has moved on making their training redundant. Some graduates do succeed but most struggle, and are dependent on too much from the start. HiTech’s m ain source of new recruits is staff employed by competitors or working in closely related fields. They also have adopted a ‘no poaching’ policy with companies that HiTech has a customer relationship with or partner companies.Currently HiTech have two principle methods of recruitment in addition to a small- scale graduate training programme; advertising in national newspapers and head-hunters. HiTech are not satisfied with either method; adverts bring in too many applications that take up too much time to work through them. Head-hunters have found some suitable candidates but put at a great cost plus there is a risk that candidates would be lured away again by the same agent. And with the small pool of labour agencies are unable to identify the required individuals that are not already know to HiTech.Recommendations Improve on employer brand Although HiTech has global market leadership in several lines of its business and is recognised for its products as potential a bra nd leader but has it adopted an employer brand. Edward (2005) â€Å"employer branding is clearly aimed at attracting and retaining staff† (Edwards, 2005 Employer Branding) HiTech aim should be to develop and maintain a strong brand image as an employer that will reinforce their efforts to attract and subsequently retain the most effective performers.According to CIPD Survey â€Å"nearly three quarters of organisations have made efforts to improve their employee brand over the last year, most commonly through employee surveys and developing online career sites† (CIPD Annual Survey 2011/resourcing and talent planning). HiTech need to project a favourable impression of experience working there, similar to the reputation or brand that Google and Face book have. Evidence strongly suggested that employers can gain an edge in labour market through development of a good brand.Charles Schwab from US investment bank states â€Å"having a strong brand for an employee is a compet itive advantage and strategic advantage†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ it really does help to attract the best candidate†¦.. †(The Conference Board 2001, pg 5/people resourcing Chp 3 pg 68) Using different media to search for talent Website One of the most effective methods that attracts applicants to an organisation is the organisations own corporate website. Corporate websites is an excellent pool for attracting potential candidates. HiTech would have the skills in house to setup a corporate website at a minimum cost.The website should attract people to the careers section, convince them of the desirability of a career in HiTech and capture them as a candidate with an exceptional online response process. Furthermore to the website development HiTech should improve process of applying for a position within the organisation which would address the large quantity of applications received when they run a national newspaper advertisement. Adopting an online application will eliminate unquali fied candidates from first round and then suitable applicants can progress onto the second stage of competency test.This would highlight the qualified personnel with the required skills much more effectively. Trade Journals HiTech could sign up to the specific trade journals that are relevant to the specific industry, profession, trade or business that it in association with. Trade journal would effectively reach a number of the potential candidates that HiTech need to make their presence aware. LinkedIn It would be in HiTech best interest to get connected with social networking website LinkedIn that is geared towards companies and industry professional looking to make new business contacts, keep in touch with previous co –workers and clients.According to CIPD annual survey on resourcing and talent planning professional networking 16% of organisations find that it is an effective method of attracting applications to an their organisation (CIPD annual survey 2011 on resourcing and talent planning). HiTech can create profile that details the company profile and can link in with similar professional establishments and people. This can then form a platform for HiTech to search through profiles of people that they are interested in hiring new employees and also for candidates to search for potential job opportunities.Education Development Even though HiTech skills shortage is an immediate concern they also need to think long term especially when it comes to skills shortages as planning for the future will ensure the organisations continued success. Linking up educational establishments to ensure that the curriculum being taught is relevant to skills set required and preparing students for work and developing their internal talent pipelines around skills shortage areas.HiTech could also offer work experience placements with students to begin the internal training process of the organisation and therefore once qualified will be more up to date with the technol ogy and possible bring new ideas in order to remain innovate. Apple have developed an excellent link in with local colleges and students ; they approach colleagues in different fields and establish a campus rep that is trained in the apple technology and then the campus Rep hosts workshops , demonstrations and build up the Apple brand as a desirable employer.They also have an internship programmes to students through summer placements or co-op during academic year. Apple provides hands on experience by allowing interns to work on critical projects and also offer employment opportunities after they have graduated. Graduate Recruitment From the case study it is said that HiTech has a small scale graduate training programme and that they have difficultly employing graduates with limited experience and train them.HiTech need to further resource and enhance their graduate programme to ensure that candidates get the best possible opportunity during their studies and that they receive the relevant work experience so that once they graduate they can ‘hit the ground running’ . Sony has launched a European Graduate programme that is well structured and offers graduates the experience of all elements of the organisation. The structure is divided up into Business Experience – which is run over two years and graduates rotate on two assignments taking in all roles.They are then provided with training modules that are delivered by top management and highly skilled personnel giving them a unique networking opportunity. Each graduate receives a mentor from the middle management leadership development programme. And finally they are offered social entrepreneurship were they collaborate in groups and apply their business skills making a real contribution to a social project. â€Å"One in ten organisations is considering sponsoring students through university† and â€Å"over a quarter of organisations operate a structured graduate programme† (CIP D annual survey 2011/resourcing and talent planning).Talent Management Graduates struggle to succeed in developing their careers within the company and it doesn’t mention in the case study about any development programmes for employees. Talent management is â€Å" systematic attraction , identification, development , engagement , retention and deployment of individuals who are of particular value to an organisation, either in view of their ‘high potential’ for the future or because they are filling business/operation –critical roles†( CIPD Factsheet; Talent Management An Overview).HiTech need to develop this further for their graduates and employees, it would include a range of activities such as formal and informal leadership coaching, networking events and board-level and client exposure. This would assist HiTech to maintain competitive advantage and get the best from their people. This can be achieved by focusing on four areas of the talent manag ement loop; Attracting talent – as previously mentioned attracting external talent through corporate website to offer a recognised graduate programme enhance the employer brand which will attract new talent.Developing talent- learning and development initiatives should be in implemented to enhance employees and assist graduate to succeed in their career. Managing Talent – this could be linked to development aspect but focuses more on the retention. Succession planning can help HiTech to identify future and potential skilled personnel. Tracking and evaluating talent – continuous evaluation of talent will help improve the staff retention and give focus to areas that management need to work on. SecondmentSecondment refers to the temporary movement of an employee to another part of organisation. HiTech could find this very beneficial if they temporary moved the employees from other countries to Dublin based office. It would certainly assist with the immediate shorta ge of skills, they would not have to train the candidates as they would be familiar with the organisation and it would provide the time for the organisation to adopt the recommendations mentioned above to improve the employer brand and training and development programmes.Another option would be external secondment , HiTech have develop relationships with partnership companies and even with no poaching policy in place they could come to an agreement with another organisation to loan a required skill employee to them for short-term basis to relieve the immediate requirement . Conclusion HiTech International case study highlighted the fact that even been the fast growing company it the world and recognised as global market leaders without the requires skilled staff can cause significant effect on the companies continued success and to maintain competitive advantage.Without a defined, well recognised employer brand an organisation that depends on innovation and creativity attracting spe cialised skills in a relatively small pool of people can be difficult. Reviewing the organisations methods for recruiting talent and researching how successful they are and be willing to adapted and change to the diverse global market is important. Making connections with educational establishments and encouraging graduates to sign up with the programmes will help to prevent future shortages but all programmes and connections must be supported, managed and evaluated on a regular basis.Focusing on in house training and development of staff with career structures will further enhance the organisation and challenges employees to continue to be creative and motivated. Sourcing staff from other branches in other countries could relieve short-term shortage of staff while progress is being made on the employer brand to attract external candidates, training and development programmes are set up and implemented. Regardless of how successful an organisation is, skills shortages can cause sign ificant negative effects on the competitive advantage of an organisation.Continuous assessment of organisation recruitment strategy and ensuring that it is linked to the corporate strategy of the organisation should be re-evaluated on a regular basis to remain a successful organisation and a global market leader. Part 2 With reference to relevant academic literature; evaluate the effectiveness of the interview as a selection method. Introduction â€Å"There is a long tradition going back to the beginning of the twentieth century of academic research into the relative merits of different selection tools (People Resourcing Chp 11 Pg 254). Organisations worldwide must adapt selection method to recruit personnel in order to operate their businesses. The method that they select, be simple or sophisticated depends on a number of factors such as financial, cultural, resources that are available and if their requirements are immediate or for the future. â€Å"You are attempting to predict how a person will perform their work, interact with their future colleagues, treat your customers and respect your business†. (Recruitment and selection slide 8 Selection) All selection methods have positive and negative results and none are infallible.According to CIPD Annual report 2011, interview remains the most common selection method. (CIPD Annual report 2011 resourcing and talent planning). Main Body â€Å"Interviews of one kind or another are almost universally used â€Å"(IRS 2002c, CIPD 2007c). Interviews are popular as they provide the opportunity to meet face to face with the potential future employee, assess candidate’s ability to carry out the job. It also provides the opportunity for the employer to describe job specification, discuss the terms and conditions of employment and project a positive impression of the organisation and emphasise the organisations brand. A controlled conversation with a purpose â€Å"(Torrington, 1995). Despite their widespr ead use, interviews are often questioned as to how effective in selecting people for specific roles they really are. A number of draw backs that Anderson and Shackleton (Anderson and Shakleton, 1993) gather from a variety of studies show some of the reasons why interviews can been criticised. These include; Expectancy Effect – this is where the interviewer gains impression of the candidate before the interview Stereotyping – interviewers assume that particular characteristics are typical of a particular group of people.Personal Linking – interviewers may make decisions on whether they liked or disliked a candidate. Halo and Horns Effect – interviewers may rate candidates as simply ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Mirror Effect –interviewers may give preference to candidates that perceive to be similar to them. Contrast Effect – the interviewer may allow the experience of interviewing one candidate to affect the way they interview o thers. Primary Effect – interview puts too much emphasis on information gained in initial part of interview. Information overload Effect- interviewers may make decisions on only part of the data available to them.Temporal extension Effect – interviewers may assume that a candidate’s conduct at interview is their general personality. One thirds of employers make an initial hiring decision in the first ninety seconds of an interview, based entirely on interviewees appearance† (XpertHR 2011 selection interviews survey). It could be said that interview selection tool is prejudiced and biased but it is the responsibility of the organisation to ensure that interviewers are adequately trained to help eliminate these errors.It would appear that recruiters are positive, although not passionate about the effectiveness of the interviews as a selection tool (XpertHR 2011 selection interviews survey) Two thirds of employers rate interviews as â€Å"effective† bu t just 16. 7% say they are â€Å"very effective† (App1). Studies have found that the predictive validity of the structured interview is quite high (Campione et al. 1988; Wiesner Cronshaw 1988). Structuring interviews can also help improve the ability to predict performance in the role as they provide interviewers with a framework to follow when interviewing each candidate, based on the criteria for the job.Adapting structure to the interview means that questions are planned carefully before the interview, all candidates are asked the same core questions, answers are scored using a rating system and all questions focus on the attributes and behaviours needed in the job. Evenden and Anderson ( 1992) suggest that the choice of questions and the appropriate use of them can ensure greater balance and flow in the interview itself (Gunnigle Human Resource Management in Ireland Chp 5 pg 128) The types of questions that can be used are ; * Direct or Closed – are useful to get f acts but too many lead to repetition. Leading – no real value in this type of question as most interviewee would follow it. * Topic Changing- help to create a flow through interview. * Probing and developing- help to test the interviewees specific knowledge or skills. * Open-ended- are useful to encourage interviewee to talk and get involved. * Reflecting back – are useful to ensuring information is understood. * Command – are useful retrieve additional information on specific area. Structured interviews can be behavioural, they focus on past performance or situational, they focus on future performance. A growing number of employers are now taking his approach, 60% carry out structured interviews as part of the selection process. (XpertHR2011 selection interview surveys). Interview format can also provide additional structure to the interview selection process, where her they are one to one, panel interview or sequence of interviews but whatever format is chosen the effectiveness of the interview should be the same. Newell (2000) warns that while efforts have been made to improve the selection process through a more systematic approach , currents trends in organisations make ‘best practises’ model somewhat problematic.Job specification and analysis can become difficult if job requires flexibility and also with a number of organisations looking for innovation and creativity the term ‘fit’ has less relevance. (Gunnigle, Human Resource Management in Ireland, Chp 5 pg 124). Other criticism of the structured approach is although highly effective method with the use of controlled questioning etc its doesn’t actually represent the more relaxed environment that a candidate can easily open up. â€Å"The main disadvantage of using a structured interview is that its rigidity can limit the information-gathering process.Instead of exploring an applicant’s responses by further questioning during the interview, th e process is often rushed in order to get through all the questions on the schedule, and the assessment of the individual can inaccurate as a result. Also, since the interviewer takes the lead, he or she may dominate the process, denying the applicant sufficient time to provide a considered and accurate response† (Du Plessis 2003 Pg 170). Approaching a system in reality there is always so sort of compromise as without flexibility systems wouldn’t be sustainable.The interview selection tool would need to adopt a degree of flexibility and would help to improve the problems that have been suggested above. Adopting a mixed approach of semi-structuring or mixed approaches into the process would create the more open relaxed situation that interviews are perceived as but also the structure process remains which overall would make the interview selection method more effective. Conclusion Through the research that has been carried out and reflecting back on some of the statistic s that have been reviewed , the interview process across a wide ange of organisations and even in different markets would be reasonable to say that it is and will continue to be an effective selection tool. Even more so structured interviews have a greater effectiveness, however rigid the process is interviewing remains essentially a selective process. Organisations must ensure that they provide adequate training to equip their interviewers with the essential knowledge and skills required to maximise the interview process and also that they offer the best opportunity with no bias or error for the candidate in question.Furthermore organisations need to be flexible in order to adapt to external and internal factors effecting their organisations environment for example economic, political cultural and technology. Thus the selection processes also needs to be adjusted; we can see this through compromising with the structure approach to interviewing with semi-structure or mixed approache s that slight modifications can improve the outcome. Organisations need to be flexible in order to maintain best practise for their organisation and jobs roles would need to be adjusted accordingly.The interview as a selection tool is still by far the most effective and widely used method across the globe. There are a number of draw backs and there are other selection tools that are more effective but a cost. The interview is the most cost effective, time effective method and with selecting the wrong candidate for the role costing an organisation approximately â‚ ¬15’000 you are not going to offer a position to someone that you haven’t meet face to face now are you ? Appendences 1Bibliography Anderson and Shackleton(1993) Successful selection interviewing. CIPD Fact Sheets Selection Methods. CIPD Fact Sheets Secondment. CIPD Fact Sheet Talent Managment. CIPD Annual Survey Report 2011 Resourcing and Talent Planning. Gunnigle Human Resource Management in Ireland. Tayl or People Resourcing. www. sony. com www. apple. com XpertHR 2011 Selection Interviews Survey; Effectiveness and Training Article. XpertHR 2011 Selection Interviews Survey; Interview tools and record-keeping. Recruitment & Selection Recruitment and Selection Part 1 Produce a report, advising HiTech on how it should move forward as far as recruitment is concerned i. e. what advice would you give? Introduction HiTech International is one of the fastest –growing companies in the world. It currently employs over 30’000 people in 60 countries and has annual turnover in excess of $19billion. Located in West Dublin, HiTech European headquarters employs 2’500 people. 90% are employees of the company and remaining 10% are employed on a subcontracted basis.HiTech specialise in provision of computer hardware and bespoke software solutions for corporate clients to assist them in maximising the use of the internet. HiTech also provide a complete after-sales service which goes beyond regular software maintenance. The company is recognised as global market leaders in several of its principal line of business. Due to the competitive market that HiTech operates in innovation and continually evolving technolo gy developments through research and development department is central to the company’s future success.HiTech offers employees excellent terms and conditions of employment with top-salaries, generous bonus schemes, discounts, pensions, health and life insurance. The environment in which they work is very attractive with excellent facilities such as staff cafeterias, fitness facilities and valet services. Staff retention is very good; turnover levels are currently at 5% of which half are accounted for by dismissals and non-renewal of fixed-term contracts. HiTech are experiencing some difficultly with finding sufficient number of employees with the required skills to meet its expansion needs.Due to the fast-moving nature of the industry graduates are not utilised as by the time they are trained with a set of skills technology has moved on making their training redundant. Some graduates do succeed but most struggle, and are dependent on too much from the start. HiTech’s m ain source of new recruits is staff employed by competitors or working in closely related fields. They also have adopted a ‘no poaching’ policy with companies that HiTech has a customer relationship with or partner companies.Currently HiTech have two principle methods of recruitment in addition to a small- scale graduate training programme; advertising in national newspapers and head-hunters. HiTech are not satisfied with either method; adverts bring in too many applications that take up too much time to work through them. Head-hunters have found some suitable candidates but put at a great cost plus there is a risk that candidates would be lured away again by the same agent. And with the small pool of labour agencies are unable to identify the required individuals that are not already know to HiTech.Recommendations Improve on employer brand Although HiTech has global market leadership in several lines of its business and is recognised for its products as potential a bra nd leader but has it adopted an employer brand. Edward (2005) â€Å"employer branding is clearly aimed at attracting and retaining staff† (Edwards, 2005 Employer Branding) HiTech aim should be to develop and maintain a strong brand image as an employer that will reinforce their efforts to attract and subsequently retain the most effective performers.According to CIPD Survey â€Å"nearly three quarters of organisations have made efforts to improve their employee brand over the last year, most commonly through employee surveys and developing online career sites† (CIPD Annual Survey 2011/resourcing and talent planning). HiTech need to project a favourable impression of experience working there, similar to the reputation or brand that Google and Face book have. Evidence strongly suggested that employers can gain an edge in labour market through development of a good brand.Charles Schwab from US investment bank states â€Å"having a strong brand for an employee is a compet itive advantage and strategic advantage†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ it really does help to attract the best candidate†¦.. †(The Conference Board 2001, pg 5/people resourcing Chp 3 pg 68) Using different media to search for talent Website One of the most effective methods that attracts applicants to an organisation is the organisations own corporate website. Corporate websites is an excellent pool for attracting potential candidates. HiTech would have the skills in house to setup a corporate website at a minimum cost.The website should attract people to the careers section, convince them of the desirability of a career in HiTech and capture them as a candidate with an exceptional online response process. Furthermore to the website development HiTech should improve process of applying for a position within the organisation which would address the large quantity of applications received when they run a national newspaper advertisement. Adopting an online application will eliminate unquali fied candidates from first round and then suitable applicants can progress onto the second stage of competency test.This would highlight the qualified personnel with the required skills much more effectively. Trade Journals HiTech could sign up to the specific trade journals that are relevant to the specific industry, profession, trade or business that it in association with. Trade journal would effectively reach a number of the potential candidates that HiTech need to make their presence aware. LinkedIn It would be in HiTech best interest to get connected with social networking website LinkedIn that is geared towards companies and industry professional looking to make new business contacts, keep in touch with previous co –workers and clients.According to CIPD annual survey on resourcing and talent planning professional networking 16% of organisations find that it is an effective method of attracting applications to an their organisation (CIPD annual survey 2011 on resourcing and talent planning). HiTech can create profile that details the company profile and can link in with similar professional establishments and people. This can then form a platform for HiTech to search through profiles of people that they are interested in hiring new employees and also for candidates to search for potential job opportunities.Education Development Even though HiTech skills shortage is an immediate concern they also need to think long term especially when it comes to skills shortages as planning for the future will ensure the organisations continued success. Linking up educational establishments to ensure that the curriculum being taught is relevant to skills set required and preparing students for work and developing their internal talent pipelines around skills shortage areas.HiTech could also offer work experience placements with students to begin the internal training process of the organisation and therefore once qualified will be more up to date with the technol ogy and possible bring new ideas in order to remain innovate. Apple have developed an excellent link in with local colleges and students ; they approach colleagues in different fields and establish a campus rep that is trained in the apple technology and then the campus Rep hosts workshops , demonstrations and build up the Apple brand as a desirable employer.They also have an internship programmes to students through summer placements or co-op during academic year. Apple provides hands on experience by allowing interns to work on critical projects and also offer employment opportunities after they have graduated. Graduate Recruitment From the case study it is said that HiTech has a small scale graduate training programme and that they have difficultly employing graduates with limited experience and train them.HiTech need to further resource and enhance their graduate programme to ensure that candidates get the best possible opportunity during their studies and that they receive the relevant work experience so that once they graduate they can ‘hit the ground running’ . Sony has launched a European Graduate programme that is well structured and offers graduates the experience of all elements of the organisation. The structure is divided up into Business Experience – which is run over two years and graduates rotate on two assignments taking in all roles.They are then provided with training modules that are delivered by top management and highly skilled personnel giving them a unique networking opportunity. Each graduate receives a mentor from the middle management leadership development programme. And finally they are offered social entrepreneurship were they collaborate in groups and apply their business skills making a real contribution to a social project. â€Å"One in ten organisations is considering sponsoring students through university† and â€Å"over a quarter of organisations operate a structured graduate programme† (CIP D annual survey 2011/resourcing and talent planning).Talent Management Graduates struggle to succeed in developing their careers within the company and it doesn’t mention in the case study about any development programmes for employees. Talent management is â€Å" systematic attraction , identification, development , engagement , retention and deployment of individuals who are of particular value to an organisation, either in view of their ‘high potential’ for the future or because they are filling business/operation –critical roles†( CIPD Factsheet; Talent Management An Overview).HiTech need to develop this further for their graduates and employees, it would include a range of activities such as formal and informal leadership coaching, networking events and board-level and client exposure. This would assist HiTech to maintain competitive advantage and get the best from their people. This can be achieved by focusing on four areas of the talent manag ement loop; Attracting talent – as previously mentioned attracting external talent through corporate website to offer a recognised graduate programme enhance the employer brand which will attract new talent.Developing talent- learning and development initiatives should be in implemented to enhance employees and assist graduate to succeed in their career. Managing Talent – this could be linked to development aspect but focuses more on the retention. Succession planning can help HiTech to identify future and potential skilled personnel. Tracking and evaluating talent – continuous evaluation of talent will help improve the staff retention and give focus to areas that management need to work on. SecondmentSecondment refers to the temporary movement of an employee to another part of organisation. HiTech could find this very beneficial if they temporary moved the employees from other countries to Dublin based office. It would certainly assist with the immediate shorta ge of skills, they would not have to train the candidates as they would be familiar with the organisation and it would provide the time for the organisation to adopt the recommendations mentioned above to improve the employer brand and training and development programmes.Another option would be external secondment , HiTech have develop relationships with partnership companies and even with no poaching policy in place they could come to an agreement with another organisation to loan a required skill employee to them for short-term basis to relieve the immediate requirement . Conclusion HiTech International case study highlighted the fact that even been the fast growing company it the world and recognised as global market leaders without the requires skilled staff can cause significant effect on the companies continued success and to maintain competitive advantage.Without a defined, well recognised employer brand an organisation that depends on innovation and creativity attracting spe cialised skills in a relatively small pool of people can be difficult. Reviewing the organisations methods for recruiting talent and researching how successful they are and be willing to adapted and change to the diverse global market is important. Making connections with educational establishments and encouraging graduates to sign up with the programmes will help to prevent future shortages but all programmes and connections must be supported, managed and evaluated on a regular basis.Focusing on in house training and development of staff with career structures will further enhance the organisation and challenges employees to continue to be creative and motivated. Sourcing staff from other branches in other countries could relieve short-term shortage of staff while progress is being made on the employer brand to attract external candidates, training and development programmes are set up and implemented. Regardless of how successful an organisation is, skills shortages can cause sign ificant negative effects on the competitive advantage of an organisation.Continuous assessment of organisation recruitment strategy and ensuring that it is linked to the corporate strategy of the organisation should be re-evaluated on a regular basis to remain a successful organisation and a global market leader. Part 2 With reference to relevant academic literature; evaluate the effectiveness of the interview as a selection method. Introduction â€Å"There is a long tradition going back to the beginning of the twentieth century of academic research into the relative merits of different selection tools (People Resourcing Chp 11 Pg 254). Organisations worldwide must adapt selection method to recruit personnel in order to operate their businesses. The method that they select, be simple or sophisticated depends on a number of factors such as financial, cultural, resources that are available and if their requirements are immediate or for the future. â€Å"You are attempting to predict how a person will perform their work, interact with their future colleagues, treat your customers and respect your business†. (Recruitment and selection slide 8 Selection) All selection methods have positive and negative results and none are infallible.According to CIPD Annual report 2011, interview remains the most common selection method. (CIPD Annual report 2011 resourcing and talent planning). Main Body â€Å"Interviews of one kind or another are almost universally used â€Å"(IRS 2002c, CIPD 2007c). Interviews are popular as they provide the opportunity to meet face to face with the potential future employee, assess candidate’s ability to carry out the job. It also provides the opportunity for the employer to describe job specification, discuss the terms and conditions of employment and project a positive impression of the organisation and emphasise the organisations brand. A controlled conversation with a purpose â€Å"(Torrington, 1995). Despite their widespr ead use, interviews are often questioned as to how effective in selecting people for specific roles they really are. A number of draw backs that Anderson and Shackleton (Anderson and Shakleton, 1993) gather from a variety of studies show some of the reasons why interviews can been criticised. These include; Expectancy Effect – this is where the interviewer gains impression of the candidate before the interview Stereotyping – interviewers assume that particular characteristics are typical of a particular group of people.Personal Linking – interviewers may make decisions on whether they liked or disliked a candidate. Halo and Horns Effect – interviewers may rate candidates as simply ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Mirror Effect –interviewers may give preference to candidates that perceive to be similar to them. Contrast Effect – the interviewer may allow the experience of interviewing one candidate to affect the way they interview o thers. Primary Effect – interview puts too much emphasis on information gained in initial part of interview. Information overload Effect- interviewers may make decisions on only part of the data available to them.Temporal extension Effect – interviewers may assume that a candidate’s conduct at interview is their general personality. One thirds of employers make an initial hiring decision in the first ninety seconds of an interview, based entirely on interviewees appearance† (XpertHR 2011 selection interviews survey). It could be said that interview selection tool is prejudiced and biased but it is the responsibility of the organisation to ensure that interviewers are adequately trained to help eliminate these errors.It would appear that recruiters are positive, although not passionate about the effectiveness of the interviews as a selection tool (XpertHR 2011 selection interviews survey) Two thirds of employers rate interviews as â€Å"effective† bu t just 16. 7% say they are â€Å"very effective† (App1). Studies have found that the predictive validity of the structured interview is quite high (Campione et al. 1988; Wiesner Cronshaw 1988). Structuring interviews can also help improve the ability to predict performance in the role as they provide interviewers with a framework to follow when interviewing each candidate, based on the criteria for the job.Adapting structure to the interview means that questions are planned carefully before the interview, all candidates are asked the same core questions, answers are scored using a rating system and all questions focus on the attributes and behaviours needed in the job. Evenden and Anderson ( 1992) suggest that the choice of questions and the appropriate use of them can ensure greater balance and flow in the interview itself (Gunnigle Human Resource Management in Ireland Chp 5 pg 128) The types of questions that can be used are ; * Direct or Closed – are useful to get f acts but too many lead to repetition. Leading – no real value in this type of question as most interviewee would follow it. * Topic Changing- help to create a flow through interview. * Probing and developing- help to test the interviewees specific knowledge or skills. * Open-ended- are useful to encourage interviewee to talk and get involved. * Reflecting back – are useful to ensuring information is understood. * Command – are useful retrieve additional information on specific area. Structured interviews can be behavioural, they focus on past performance or situational, they focus on future performance. A growing number of employers are now taking his approach, 60% carry out structured interviews as part of the selection process. (XpertHR2011 selection interview surveys). Interview format can also provide additional structure to the interview selection process, where her they are one to one, panel interview or sequence of interviews but whatever format is chosen the effectiveness of the interview should be the same. Newell (2000) warns that while efforts have been made to improve the selection process through a more systematic approach , currents trends in organisations make ‘best practises’ model somewhat problematic.Job specification and analysis can become difficult if job requires flexibility and also with a number of organisations looking for innovation and creativity the term ‘fit’ has less relevance. (Gunnigle, Human Resource Management in Ireland, Chp 5 pg 124). Other criticism of the structured approach is although highly effective method with the use of controlled questioning etc its doesn’t actually represent the more relaxed environment that a candidate can easily open up. â€Å"The main disadvantage of using a structured interview is that its rigidity can limit the information-gathering process.Instead of exploring an applicant’s responses by further questioning during the interview, th e process is often rushed in order to get through all the questions on the schedule, and the assessment of the individual can inaccurate as a result. Also, since the interviewer takes the lead, he or she may dominate the process, denying the applicant sufficient time to provide a considered and accurate response† (Du Plessis 2003 Pg 170). Approaching a system in reality there is always so sort of compromise as without flexibility systems wouldn’t be sustainable.The interview selection tool would need to adopt a degree of flexibility and would help to improve the problems that have been suggested above. Adopting a mixed approach of semi-structuring or mixed approaches into the process would create the more open relaxed situation that interviews are perceived as but also the structure process remains which overall would make the interview selection method more effective. Conclusion Through the research that has been carried out and reflecting back on some of the statistic s that have been reviewed , the interview process across a wide ange of organisations and even in different markets would be reasonable to say that it is and will continue to be an effective selection tool. Even more so structured interviews have a greater effectiveness, however rigid the process is interviewing remains essentially a selective process. Organisations must ensure that they provide adequate training to equip their interviewers with the essential knowledge and skills required to maximise the interview process and also that they offer the best opportunity with no bias or error for the candidate in question.Furthermore organisations need to be flexible in order to adapt to external and internal factors effecting their organisations environment for example economic, political cultural and technology. Thus the selection processes also needs to be adjusted; we can see this through compromising with the structure approach to interviewing with semi-structure or mixed approache s that slight modifications can improve the outcome. Organisations need to be flexible in order to maintain best practise for their organisation and jobs roles would need to be adjusted accordingly.The interview as a selection tool is still by far the most effective and widely used method across the globe. There are a number of draw backs and there are other selection tools that are more effective but a cost. The interview is the most cost effective, time effective method and with selecting the wrong candidate for the role costing an organisation approximately â‚ ¬15’000 you are not going to offer a position to someone that you haven’t meet face to face now are you ? Appendences 1Bibliography Anderson and Shackleton(1993) Successful selection interviewing. CIPD Fact Sheets Selection Methods. CIPD Fact Sheets Secondment. CIPD Fact Sheet Talent Managment. CIPD Annual Survey Report 2011 Resourcing and Talent Planning. Gunnigle Human Resource Management in Ireland. Tayl or People Resourcing. www. sony. com www. apple. com XpertHR 2011 Selection Interviews Survey; Effectiveness and Training Article. XpertHR 2011 Selection Interviews Survey; Interview tools and record-keeping.

Case Report of Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital Essay

Six Sigma is a business management strategy designed to meet customer needs and process capability. Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. It uses a systematic project-oriented fashion through define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) cycle, including statistical tools, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization (like â€Å"Black Belts†, â€Å"Green Belts†, etc.) who are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified financial targets (cost reduction, profit increase, etc). Overview: Project name: Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (AMH) Problem: Patients with potentially life-threating injuries and illnesses are waiting for over an hour for treatment in Emergency Department at AMH! Although long wait times seemed to be readily excuses by many physicians due to complexity of managing emergency room and processes and clinical staff, it is still unacceptable for the patients. Targets: help Emergency Department (ED) at Academic Medical Hospital (AMH) to reduce the wait time Method: instituting Six Sigma at AMH and establishing a Six Sigma Foundations Teams, which undertake an application practicum on an assigned AMH project with, cooperate trainers acting as coaches. Six Sigma Foundation TEAM: Champion: Dr. Elbridge (establishes business targets and creates an environment within the organization to promote the Six Sigma methodology and tools) Sponsor: Dr. Terry Hamilton (key communicator and approves final recommendation) Owner: Nancy Jenkins (implementation and accountable for sustaining long-term gains) Black Belts: Jane McCrea (project leaders who are experts in Six Sigma methodology and statistical tool applications) Green Belts: Dr. James Wilson (trained by six Sigma methodology from hospital) The Foundations Team: (a group of local experts who participate in the project) &4 people (Nancy Jenkins, Patient Care Manager; Georgia Williams, ED registration Manager; Bill Barber, senior Clinician; and Steve Small, Senior Clinician and Quality Improvement Coordinator) Seven Process Steps and Activities for patients at the Emergency Department: Triage: The Nurse complete a preliminary assessment of the patient’s condition and ranks his criticality accordingly; Register: The Nurse obtain demographic and insurance information; Lobby: The Patient wait for the nurse call your name; Tx Room& Nurse: The patient do testing and get the results; MD: The patient wait for doctors. Questions: Q1.Describe how Six Sigma Methodology (DMAIC) is implemented in the â€Å"ED Wait Time Project.† As stated, Six Sigma is based on a 5 phase, step-by-step process that was used in the â€Å"ED Wait Time Project.† In the Define phase the team identified expected benefits of the project including expedited medical care delivery, improved patient satisfaction, reduced patient complaints, increased patient capacity and improved operational efficiency. Moving on to the Measure phase, the team determined the baseline measures and the target performance of the original process as well as defined the input/output variables. They collected 2 groups of data sets as well as administered a patient satisfaction survey, which produced the maximum wait times for pa tients. During the Analyze phase the team then analyzed the baseline study and found that two processes mainly influenced the wait time; the waiting room time and the time spent waiting on the MD. As the ED Wait Time Foundations team moved on to the Improve phase it was decided that they would improve: Patient flow, Care Team Communication and Streamlined Order Entry and Results Retrieval Process. By changing procedure by which the Priority Level II patients were moved, it resulted in less or no waiting room time and allowed patients to proceed to the examination room. Modifying ED zone assignments within the patient- care team and using new communication boards would reduce patient complaints and improve satisfaction. This change will also help with new central clerks that will help entering patients and decrease the amount of time that physicians and nurses are occupied. Lastly, in the Control phase the team ensures that the new standard operation procedures for moving patients through the ED are maintained. They compared the performance of the Emergency Department before and after in order to note their progress and set guidelines to preserve their advancement. Q2.Access the pilot results from the process changes. What should the team say to the Project Sponsor, Dr. Hamilton, and to the Project Champion, Dr. Elbridge about the results? According to the results, the pilot Lobby Wait Time mean value came in under the acceptable target of 15 minutes, and the MD Wait Time measure was improving(pilot mean was 8.9 minutes against a study 1 baseline of 16.1 minutes and a study 2 baseline of 11.2 minutes). Although pilot MD Wait Time didn’t reach the target set at 8.0 minutes, it was apparently improved. Pilot Lobby Times were better than established 15 minute target, the defect rate dropped, and the 95% confidence interval test on the study 1 median and study 2 median vs. pilot median validated statistical significance of the improvement in wait times. Results of MD Wait Times were stat istically significant in one of two Mood’s Median tests (study 1 vs. pilot). Positive trending was demonstrated in the comparison of study 2 to the pilot which showed that the MD Wait Time became shorter and the detect rate decreased. The outcome looked promising. However, the Hawthorne effect came into play, particularly in the study 2 data collection activities. Due to unreliable automated data-gathering procedures in the ED’s information systems and the need to use intra-departmental manual data surveyors, the presence of bias was recognized. The team needed to decide whether to redo some aspects of their work in the Improve phase. The data was not convincing enough, and the result of improvement in MD Wait Time was not very apparent. Q3.What are the obstacles to AMH adopting Six Sigma? The equation [Q*A=E] is the cornerstone of successful Six Sigma improvement implementation. It infers that the quality of process solutions multiplied by the Acceptance level of stakeholders is equal to the effectiveness of those results. In this case, the primary obstacle is the acceptance level of the hospital. NO matter which solutions result from the analysis, the potential for success will be limited without the acceptance of the people affected and involved. Getting people to embrace six Sigma reforms in ED was going to be an uphill battle. There are 3 reasons: 1) Physicians are not hospital employees, but independent contractors of a sort from the Medical school. It is almost a disincentive to participate since their incentives lie with research, education, and patient care specialty. 2) Dr. Hamilton who is the sponsor of the project was hesitant to get involved in anything that he was unfamiliar with or which would add to his already full plate. Also, Nancy Jenkins, who is the project owner, implementing significant process and behavior change were not among her strengths. 3) Last, it was noted that the Hawthorne effect came into play. The Hawthorne effect refers to a phenomenon in which participants alter their behavior as a result of being part of an experiment or study. It is hard for the team to get reliable automated date-gathering procedures. Q4.Consider whether or not the team should recommend a change in the Project Sponsor even at this late phase of the project. The project sponsor is supposed to be the reque stor of the project and is committed to its solutions. He/She should also be responsible to identify project goals, objectives and scope; remove barriers and aligns resources; serve as a key communicator of project progress and status and approves final recommendations. However, in this case, Dr. Terry Hamilton, the project Sponsor, had a lot of work in his own domain to focus on (busy vice-chair of the Medical School’s Emergency Medicine Department, active in several other department initiatives and responsibilities) and he was also an involved father and husband. As a result, he was so reluctant and kind of indifferent to this project. We would like to recommend the project team to change the Sponsor. Who’s elective? Dr. George Calhoun, the Emergency Medicine Department Chair, had remained at arm’s length throughout the team’s work. As the chair, Dr. Calhoun was in a position of influence over faculty and long-term changes that could result from the ED Wait Time Project. And we also learned that Dr. Calhoun’s interests and incentives were linked to achieving national emergency medicine program recognition and publications. So Dr. Calhoun is the appropriate candidate for the Project Sponsor. Q5.Based on what you k now of the project’s results, limitations, and key stakeholders, what would you recommend as the next step for McCrea in her role as the Black Belts of the ED Wait Time Project? According to the results and the analysis, there are many improvements we can do. There are four aspects of improvements: Eliminating interference factors They should reduce the Hawthorne effect recording the Wait Time without being observed by the staff. They should think of new methods to record the MD Wait Time more accurately because there were some bias and errors in the measurement. Perhaps we can use video camera to observe staff’s actions to make sure they comply with the rules of Six Sigma and to record the MD Wait Time. 2.Increasing the Acceptance level The equation, Q x A = E, is the cornerstone of successful Six Sigma improvement implementation. No matter which solutions result from the analysis, the potential for success will be limited without the Acceptance of the people affected and involved. I think increasing the Acceptance level is the most important mission for the next step. The tools and techniques are referred to as â€Å"The Change Acceleration Process,† or CAP. Several CAP techniques were used throughout the ED Wait Time project, including Process Mapping, Elevator Speech, Extensive and Creative Communication Plans and The Stakeholder/Resistance Analysis. 3.Quality Improvement Considering that the Pilot MD Wait Time apparently didn’t decrease, I suggest the team should look for some other methods for improvement. The current methods seemed not very effective. Changing some key members As the article mentioned, the project Sponsor, Dr. Hamilton, was not very active. He was very busy and was not interested in Six Sigma project. The project Owner, Nancy Jenkins, was not good at implementing significant process and behavior change. It’s less likely that the implementations will be sustained after the Six Sigma experts leave. Perhaps the two members mentioned above should be replaced by more competent people. As mentioned above, Dr. Calhoun may be the right person for the Sponsor. I also think that Dr. Elbridge should be more positive in this project.

Newspapers and Books outdated? Essay

Newspaper and books have long been a medium for information transfer and dissemination. The printing press and the printing industry have been around for centuries, and have become the major tool for communication and information. They have been the most popular medium for shaping public opinion. Their credibility, knowledge, values and information-gathering skills remain a formidable force on the high street, and with titles now separated into sections with more lifestyle content, their potential for brands has increased further – online and offline. The success of newspapers largely boils down to a single truth: they are effective in shaping opinion. They possess a large amount of power when it comes to public perception. For many, newspapers are the most reliable form of news and information, backing up this information with credible opinion and insight. It is this level of trust that leads to readers spending a huge amount of time reading their newspaper with two thirds of readers at least three quarters of the content, impacting millions of people. Technology has many great functional purposes, which aid in our daily lives. As more and more people start embracing these functions, books are slowly being replaced. A total of 2,267,233,742 people use the Internet alone that constitutes 32.7% of the world’s population. New technology is thought to be very empowering. We live in an information society where the leading role has been given to new technologies, especially those devoted to information. This is a very threatening prospect for books and newspapers. As we try to understand information, to separate it from judgement, to establish fact, we find ourselves in a free fall: we bring to information, to judgement, to ‘fact’, our opinions and views which are in part created by the very manifestations of information, news and opinion that we consume. The Internet and other forms of the new media shape this very information. Also, more and more people are using technology. Whether they want it or not, technology is not only becoming a mandatory part of their jobs, but their children are bringing it into their homes. The increased sophistication of operating systems (e.g.Windows) and of the applications written for them lower the barriers to learning how to use technology. The catchword of these new tools is intuitive (as in, â€Å"this new application has a number of intuitive, easy-to-use features . . .†). The plain fact is that people are  using more technology because it enables them to do more with less. Compare the process of performing manual research using books with the process of using a computer. Computer-assisted research usually takes a fraction of the time and, consequently, money. Thus with the aforementioned points, one could argue that books and newspapers are a thing of the past as we move into the twenty first century. However, one could argue that books and newspapers are in fact creating something new, blurring the lines of old and new media. Perhaps one cannot judge a book by its cover, but there is a wealth of information to be gleaned from its interior. As we embrace the Internet and other new technologies, newspapers and books are beginning to blur the line between old and new media. The new media is not here to replace the old media; in fact, there are possibilities of linking the new media to form a † whole new art form â€Å". Books and newspapers possess the enduring role in shaping habits of thoughts, conduct, and expression. At the same time, it draws attention to the ways in which the social, economic, and material coordinates of books have been changing in relation to other media, denser forms of industrial organization, shifting patterns of work and leisure. These two forms of media seek a broad audience for a typically narrow (and often biased) message that’s typically embedded in entertainment or useful information/opinion. Mass media communication is expensive, so it’s funded through participant admissions/subscriptions and contributions, or through sponsorships and advertising (or a combination of these funding sources). It thus must provide something sufficiently valuable to its potential audience to gain that necessary financial support. Emotional arousal created by these media drives attention, which drives learning and conscious behavior – so it’s important for media programmers to understand and present content that will emotionally arouse potential participants. The media thus exploit areas of strong emotional arousal to help shape our knowledge and opinions. The content covered in these two forms of media potentially shape our thought and opinions. Newspapers and books may exist physically as old media but the content within lets newspapers and books coexist as new media. Therefore, with the aforementioned points, books and newspapers are not deemed as outdated. Books are artifacts with a deep and abiding history that belong in and to our own age-no more and no less so than flat-screen televisions, MP3 players, computers, and other so-called cutting-edge technologies, they keep us in tune with the rest of the world. Janice A. Radway, an American literary and cultural studies scholar, quoted that; printed books and newspapers â€Å"do not appear miraculously† in people’s hands. â€Å"They are, rather, the end product of a much-mediated, highly complex, material and social process.† (Radway 93) Integral to this process, is distribution. Developments in this perhaps more arcane aspect of the circuit of culture have paralleled transformations in the more closely scrutinized domains of book production and consumption. The everydayness of books belies a long, complicated, and still unfinished history, one intimately bound up with all of the following: a changed and changing mode of production; new technological products and processes; shifts in law and jurisprudence; the proliferation of culture and the rise of cultural politics; and a host of sociological transformations, among many other factors. The history of books go further beyond than just writing down a story, it consists of much more and people should learn to cherish that fact. Thus with the aforementioned points, books and newspapers are not outdated. The normative role of newspapers-setting a community agenda-remains essential, but the ways in which the newspapers fulfill this function are in constant transition. All media are about relationships. We are connected with community by means of our contact with media, including other people, who also are a form of media after all. Communication scholar Keith Stamm argues that â€Å"children are a [medium of connection] between families and the school system.† (Stamm 100). Similarly, news media connect us to the communities to which we belong, or want to belong. Likewise, the World Wide Web is not just a medium about information but about relationships-a way for individuals to connect with other individuals. Audiences have historically connected with their community by means of newspaper agendas. Audiences, who collectively or individually adopt the newspaper agenda of issues as their own, meld with their local community. Sharing media agendas means that different types of people-men versus women, old versus young, rich versus  poor-become more focused on the same public issues, suggesting that one function of news media is to draw disparate individuals around selected public issues. That role has been important for the newspapers since our colonial beginning and is likely to remain so in the twenty-first century. In modern times, newspapers have proven important platforms to examine the performance of contemporary institutions, such as the _Washington Post_ investigations of the incidents surrounding the Watergate break-in during the administration of President Richard Nixon in the early 1970s. Newspapers reflect the community dynamic, and the future of newspapers is linked to the future of communities. Therefore, with the aforementioned points, books and newspapers are necessary in society and are not outdated. In conclusion, books and newspapers have many deep hidden qualities that people cannot see from the surface, they provide us with essential information, they have a deep abiding history, they blur the lines between old and new media. Although it may seem as though technology is replacing newspaper and books, it is not necessarily true as newspapers and books are needed in society and they cannot be outdated. BIBLIOGRAPHY Keller, Bill. â€Å"Disrupters and Adapters, Continued: Will the Internet Save Newspapers?† _Bill Keller’s Blog_. N.p., 3 Oct. 2011. Web. 13 July 2012. . Porter, Eduardo. â€Å"EDITORIAL | EDITORIAL OBSERVER; What Newspapers Do, Have Done and Will Do.† _The New York Times_. The New York Times, 14 Feb. 2009. Web. 10 July 2012. . Striphas, Theodore G. The Late Age of Print: Everyday Book Culture from Consumerism to Control. New York: Columbia UP, 2009. Print. â€Å"World Internet Usage Statistics News and World PopulationStats.† World Internet Usage Statistics News and World PopulationStats. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Aug. 2012. . Griffith, Cary. â€Å"Multimedia and the Importance of Books: Does Greater Use of Nonprint Research Sources Herald the Book’s Demise?† _Information Today_ 1 Jan. 1997: n. pag. Print. Sylwester, Robert. â€Å"BrainConnection.com – How Mass Media Affect Our Perception of Reality — Part 1 – Page 1.† _BrainConnection.com – How Mass Media Affect Our Perception of Reality — Part 1 – Page 1_. N.p., Dec. 2001. Web. 10 Sept. 2012. .

How education has changed through the years Essay

How education has changed through the years - Essay Example 131). Violence has had a considerable influence on the national agenda and as such has influenced changes in education in US schools. Previously, there was a perception that even when the community was unsafe, schools offered a safe haven for children. However, since the 1990s, these perceptions have changed and schools can no longer be perceived as â€Å"islands of safety† (Elliott, Hamburg and Williams 1998, p. 254). Violence in schools was once perceived as a purely urban problem and the source of the problem was violence directed at teachers. The 1955 film Blackboard Jungle is demonstrative of this perception. In Blackboard Jungle (1955) the violence was perpetuated by juvenile delinquents in an all-male school where teachers appeared to be passive, permissive and unmotivated. The suggestion is therefore that violence in school was specific to problem boys where discipline was lacking. Therefore, violence in schools was not only predictable but could be resolved by committ ed and serious teaching and administrative staff. Moreover, school violence was geographical in nature and could easily be tempered by identifying the juveniles and expelling them from the school.

Post 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Post 3 - Essay Example There have been numerous researches that have been published concerning the link between genes effect on IQ, group dissimilarity in IQ, race as well as impact of the environment on IQ. Specifically belligerent in the continuing argument has been the characterisation of concept of race and that of intelligence, particularly if they can be defined in an objective manner while being operationalized. Even though a number of environmental factors have been considered to influence differences in groups’ intelligence, there is no proof that they can elucidate the whole inconsistency. Nevertheless, there are no genetic factors that have conclusively demonstrated a casual association with group difference as far as intelligence test scores are concerned. Recent reviews concerning the debate have called for more research to be directed at the topic to define the relative influence of the environment and genetic factors in clarifying the superficial inconsistency in IQ among racial group s. The best evidence demonstrates that there exists no widespread change in the proportion of Americans who select multiracial identities. Additionally, practices that deal with racial self-classification have a lower likelihood of having considerable repercussions in relation to the direction of social policies than the acts of social classification. Social classifications entails the manner in which people are observed and considered racially as well as ethically by others. The chances that an individual has in life are hugely influenced by the manner in which others consider and position them than the person’s own choice of racial classification. The physical characteristics possessed by a person and the interpretation of these attributes by others are in most cases the key factors that dictate how they will be treated by others. Variations seen in racial identity that are produced by changing meaning of morphology as well as ancestry are in most

Types of Business Model for MyGiftShopper.com Essay

Types of Business Model for MyGiftShopper.com - Essay Example   Two of the business models that were accepted by the team are Freemium Business Model and Multi-Side Matching Business Model. The reasons for accepting the Freemium business model is that it would allow the company to attract as many subscribers as possible as at the beginning of the business, it would be difficult for the firm to draw too many paid subscribers. The other business model accepted is the Multi-Side Matching Business Model and the main reason that has been presented for the acceptance of the business model is that different groups of customers would be able to satisfy their needs with different merchants and the company would be able to make money through both means i.e. from customers as well as from merchants. The team not only presented logical reasoning behind acceptance of the two models, but reasonable facts and reasons were also presented regarding why the team had rejected the other two business models. The main reason for rejecting the two models is more or less the same i.e. increase the cost of the firm which would make it difficult for the firm to either attract more customers if the charges are increased or it would be difficult for the firm to make sufficient amount of profits. In the other section of market opportunity analysis, the team did the much better job as they were able to analyze how the market influences MyGiftShopper.com from a different perspective. The influence of the customers was discussed and opportunities were analyzed about the target market of the firm in a statistical way with several facts. However, in the segmentation section of the business plan, the team should have covered the types, ages, demographics, and other characteristics of the target market and how they plan to segment their customers.  

Engineering Ethics Case Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Engineering Ethics Case Studies - Essay Example Firstly, considering one of the codes of ethics indicated, if I am an engineer on a private practice, I may help the other engineer in interpreting the said project but I will not give false views and corrections as a form of injuring the reputation of the more experienced engineer. Moreover, even though I found some technical mistakes and found out that the project did not compensate the price being paid by the companies, I will remain neutral on the issue and will never attempt to make known my findings. However, if both of us or the three of us work for the government, as provided under the codes of ethics, if required, I will help in the interpretation and review of the project but there should be no statements that will damage my colleague’s reputation. In addition, I will not attempt to scrutinize the project of another engineer to gain confidence or a sense of superiority, instead, I would tell the young engineer to make some valid suggestions and forward it to the othe r engineer. 2. As a professional engineer, it is my responsibility to deliver correct, accurate and credible study on a certain material that will be produced by a certain company either for public information or consumption. If for instance, I would predict that there is something hazy or unclear and needs to be resolved, I would have to inform the companies or authorities concerned. First, I will make a presentation or I will explain to the company my findings about the potential problems or the questions underlying the said study. Since I have found out that there is still a need to undergo another deeper investigation, I will inform them about the problem and how this can be solved. I will make a proposal stating the need for an additional fund that includes the reason, the benefits and the necessary inputs needed for the resolution. This may show rundown of numbers to clearly explain to them where the money is to be used. As a professional engineer, it is my utmost responsibility to ensure safety and quality of life. Since I have found out something that I believed to be a potential threat for quality, then the best way to address this is to inform the authorities about your findings and present to them your solutions for these problems. 3. This particular case has a lot of concern. First, there is a manifestation of a risk for safety. Second, there is a potential conflict of interest in view of the fact that a certain component for the project has been seen to be not savvy enough and might cause the public safety. Consider this, â€Å"Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public†. In view of this fact, it is the responsibility of the engineer to ensure that the project will be safety for public use and consumption. However, since there was a malicious thing revolving, and consider that â€Å"If engineers' judgment is overruled under circumstances that endanger life or property, they shall notify their employer or client and such other authority as may be appropriate.†. Considering this, first I will present to the authorities the study that I have found out especially those findings concerning the safety and the durability of the materials being used. I will not disregard the issue; instead, firstly, I will talk to the project manager and inform him that there is a possibility of malfunction that might occur considering that there were some technical issues discovered like the computer controller card that does not allow software to procure certain features. Similarly, I will talk to the customer so that they will also know why the project will take more time and why there is a need for additional funds. 4. This case has something to do with prestige and money. The concerns are first, the company ABC has taken advantage of an engineering service to develop a next-generation product that will revolutionize the industry. ABS took

English 103 - The Respendent Quetzal by Margaret Atwood Essay

English 103 - The Respendent Quetzal by Margaret Atwood - Essay Example About the mental state of Sarah, Atwood writes, â€Å"At first Edward’s obsessions had fascinated her†¦but now they merely made her tired†¦She herself, she thought, had once been of his obsessions† (1998,p.154). They see a superficial world in Mexico, as compared to the painful world in which they live at present, for the obvious reason. Somehow they wish to transcend the unhappy reality of their marriage, and seek solace in the beauty of nature in Mexico. The superficial world of Mayan ruins now is plagued with the commercialization, and the westernization of the village from which they hail from are like the alternative beats of the same heart, but Sarah and Edward do not realize this fact. The author describes the situation at the site of Mayan ruins in Mexico thus. â€Å"The "authentic" Mexican diner where they ate had a radio shaped like Fred Flintstone playing American pop songs, a crà ¨che with an eclectic collection of holy figurines and a TV playing a dubbed version of "The Cisco Kid". The Mayan site is swarming with foreign tourists with their generic guidebooks, straw hats and large "tasteless" handbags.† (Atwood, n. p.)Through the failed marriage theme Atwood tries to explore the important women issue, the difference in perception for the tragic loss Sarah and Edward suffer. Thus, the characterization of the tourists mentioned in the story is not about the normal tourists but the ones who arrive to find solutions to their inner turmoil and strained relationship. The symbolic object of Mayan ruins becomes the destination of the couple and they hope the vacation in Mexico will restore the lost cheer back to their lives. A story writer, howsoever intelligently he/she may try to sweep under the carpet, will not be able to hide some of the real life

Digital Textile Printing Technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6250 words

Digital Textile Printing Technologies - Essay Example Product innovation and services would be the assets for competition and the key to growth in the future. International companies can only face the competition by selling know-how intensive products to the Chinese market and by focusing on the quality and technology lead. Technical textiles are likely to develop into a niche market for companies based in Europe and the US. These textiles promise good business potential, with worldwide consumption expected to touch 20.58 million tonnes by 2006 and 24.67 m.t. by 2010. In 2005, consumption of technical textiles stood at 18.69 m.t. Technical textiles find application in several fields such as agriculture, where the worldwide consumption in 2005 stood at 15.81 lakh tonnes, in the building industry (16.48 lakh tonnes), clothing industry (12.38 lakh tonnes), the medical field (15.43 lakh tonnes) and even sports (9.89 lakh tonnes), among others. The last two decades have witnessed substantial effort in improvement of printing technology in the world. Conventional product lines have given way to new automated digital printing technology. The rapidly growing world of digitally printed textiles is a reflection of several exclusive and different business models that create challenges, threats and opportunities to the future of the textile printing market. The challeng The challenges in digital textile printing industries include finding suitable markets and changing their paradigms, limitations of materials, testing requirements, the current pace of technology, and set individual challenges in making digital textile printing technology grow successfully in this new world. The first challenge is to find the right market for the digital printing industry to flourish and grow. Second challenge is understanding the pros and cons and varying characteristics of the materials in the market today. Keeping up with technology improvements and changes is the only way for the potential prospects of the digital textile industry. Product Innovation Product innovation means different things to different people. Some, for example, tend to think in terms of a product which is 'first of its kind'. Such radical innovation is not necessarily more important than the steady, incremental improvements to existing ranges of

Assess the strengths and weaknesses of Rational choice theory(RCT) as Essay

Assess the strengths and weaknesses of Rational choice theory(RCT) as an analytic framework for politics and IR - Essay Example Becker was the first to develop the theory and applied rational actor models in economic widely. According to Rational action theory, when there are several course of action to carry out a task, an individual will choose the one which he thinks is most likely to be the best rewarding (Ogu, 2013). This paper will focus on application of RCT in paradigm of Politics and International Relation, with its benefits and drawbacks. In politics and economics, competition has been the main drive for greater power for scarce resources. Semblance of politics and economics and, unravelled nature of relationship between economic and political competition of goods in former case and for power and privilege in the later, has made the theorist to apply economic methods in the study of politics. Some researches show that individuals or representatives in economic and political paradigm acts in the same manner on overall value scale while taking part in market of political activity. In this way, the research shows that the voters are inherently the same as costumers because the same individual is a voter and a customer simultaneously (Tullock, 2006). Since its development by Becker, the rational choice theory came along way and stormed the field of political science. It is because of two important advantages which rational choice theory possesses over its rival theories that are; first, the theory possesses immense analytical advantage. Then, secondly, it is not a mere theory, rather a technique to develop theories. Although, it work with certain other theories, however, it explains the behaviour of political actors while making selection from a certain set of options in order to get their goal with minimal input. Briefly, it illustrates the fashions and ways in which people behave when provided with choices. Similarly, this theory entails the behaviour explicitly depicted by the

Religion and the Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Religion and the Media - Essay Example As Schofield Clark observes, the founding principles of Protestantism have led to the Protestantization of modern societies. Take say, the value of individualism. It is a value that is strongly equated to advanced industrial societies. The concept is used in Occidental discourse as the opposing principle to collectivism, which is said to represent the Orient. While most liberal democracies portray this value as a political ideal, nowhere is it more celebrated than in the USA. The much cherished national idea of the ‘American Dream’ is founded on the concept of right to own property, one of the legislative provisions that resonate with the individualistic ethos. More importantly, this contemporary manifestation of individualism can be traced back to Martin Luther’s plea to the Catholic Church, whereby he make a claim to eschew elaborate ritualized liturgy. In its place, according to Luther, should be a more direct interaction between God and individual through the medium of the sacred text. Likewise, the rights for freedom of expression and freedom of choice that we take for granted today, have had their origins in the Protestant Reformation. In Luther’s milieu, it meant foremost the freedom of the individual to ‘interpret’ the holy text as is cognizable to the faithful. This principle was promoted in critique of the role of official clergy, who had taken upon the role of sole arbiters of the divine word. Breaking away from this stifling tradition, Protestantism reinforced the primacy of the connection between God and the faithful. It achieved this by giving believers the freedom to own, read and interpret the Bible as they see fit. It also includes the freedom to inquiry using God endowed intellectual faculties (intellectual inquiry). The freedoms we enjoy as consumers or as citizens today can thus be called Protestantization of law and culture. Moreover, by emphasizing that all religious

Ethnic group Essay Example for Free

Ethnic group Essay Race in America is one of those subjects that scholars rarely broach and are heavily criticized for these omissions by their constituents. For this reason, the subject of race and urbanization felt a proper choice for this final paper. Following, we will incorporate data from multiple sources including Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, a novel that examines the harrowing trials of different groups in Afghanistan and what happens to the ones lucky enough to escape the violence of their homeland into the safety net of American soil; in an attempt to show the inalienable link between race and urbanization. This discussion on urbanization and race in American will also include a brief discussion on classism. Classism is a part of the structural organization of society that can be measured as part of the contributing factors to the socioeconomic divisiveness experienced in this urbanized world. Some argue that gentrification, in all of its wonders is class based. Others argue it more a matter of ethnicity and race, both may be correct. Nevertheless, the issue of race, as aforementioned should be granted a closer look. By examining the ideas and experiences of anthropologists and sociologists past and present this paper will attempt to specify on how classism, racism, and urbanization are connected. Growing Cities and Ghettos The Industrial Revolution sparked an enormous wave of migrants and immigrants into American cities creating an urban ecology. Chapter 3 of the Giddens et. al. text, describes the social movement from Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft; from a community based ideology in society to a more individualized world. Afghanistan is an agriculturally based society. Urbanization is a global process that draws people away from rural areas and into the cities. Once in those cities, people tend to gravitate to areas that are inhabited by people of their same cultural fabric. In discussing theories of urbanization, gentrification and displacement, John Bentacur (2010) in Gentrification and Community Fabric in Chicago points out how people are drawn to areas that have a cultural/ethnic connectivity, â€Å"immigrants with different characteristics compete for space until they get accommodated with alike others in locations that correspond to their competitive strengths† (p 384). In the novel, The Kite Runner, Amir and his father make the arduous migration from Kabul, Afghanistan to Fremont, California. Their low income neighborhood of Fremont is ethnically diverse but with a notable concentration of Afghani residents. It makes sense that when people leave their countries of origin to settle in a new place, they will be drawn to people and areas that are familiar to them. Even with familiarity problems arise, urban studies reveal several difficulties that plague densely populated urban neighborhoods; poverty, crime and dilapidated conditions to name a few. In Afghanistan Baba, Amir’s father, was rich and even wielded some power for being a respected business man and serving the community by creating an orphanage that would later be destroyed by the Taliban regime. In America, there would be no such accolades to speak of for their family. In fact, they would live in a type of poverty, they had never experienced nor hardly imagined. They would experience the existence that many black Americans face with no end in sight. A growing world population combined with globalization and the heightened mobility that comes with it has led to the creation of cities and a scramble for affordable housing. Gentrification also known as ‘urban regeneration’ or ‘re-urbanization’ is the process that happens in a community when it becomes urbanized and consists of the higher income families moving into lower income areas. During this process demographic changes are notable; in America, gentrification is notably marked by white families moving into black neighborhoods. Race and Ethnicity America is a multicultural nation. Our history of slavery created the black and white groups and the immigrant populations from around the world contributes to a high variety of culture and ethnic background. The macro-sociological issue of race and ethnicity has been the source of much debate and discussion. The reason for this is that the issue of race has been the root cause of social and political turmoil. Douglas Massey and Nancy Denton provide the backdrop in history when segregation by race was created in America in their book American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Massey and Denton edify that racial segregation was not always a fact of life in American society and that in fact; blacks and whites lived in close proximity to each other, albeit in the alley ways of the big homes occupied by their white neighbors, â€Å"industrialization in the north unleashed a set of social, economic and technological changes that dramatically altered the urban environment in ways that promoted segregation between social groups† (1993:19-26). Urbanization and technological advancement (causing blacks in the south to migrate to northern cities by the tens of thousands) would be the foundation for residential segregation where blacks and other minorities would be relegated to the outskirts of town. Black ghettos would remain isolated from society in a manner that was rarely, experienced by the European immigrants that came to this country during industrialization. Blacks and later, Latinos, would be destined to live isolated and neglected from social organizations and deprived from many of the benefits enjoyed by white communities with little hope of escape, â€Å"not only was the segregation of European ethnic groups lower, it was also temporary. Whereas Europeans isolation indices began to drop shortly after 1920, the spatial isolation characteristics of blacks had become a permanent feature of the residential structure of large American cities by 1940† (Massey and Denton 1993:57). In America, race and ethnicity is more clearly defined than in places like Afghanistan. According to data gathered from the PBS News Hour website, Afghanistan has nine different ethnic groups that reside in different territories of the country. They have fought and continue to fight civil wars, over culture (religion), legislative power and territory. Afghanistan and the U. S. are similar in their historical oppression of one ethnic group over another. In Afghanistan, the Pashtun/Sunni have for a long time ruled the land and claimed dominion over the Hazara/Shites. The Hazara group can be considered the equivalent to the Black demographic in America where historically they were the slave class, but are currently represented in government. Statistics In a rapidly modernizing world, Afghanistan is among the severely underdeveloped countries of the Middle East. As previously mentioned, Afghanistan is a multiethnic/multifaith, agriculturally based democracy, with a history of violence. And it perhaps it is this history, in addition to deep religious belief systems that have kept this land from joining the rest of the modern world. In reviewing the Millennium Development Goals indicators, data collected by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), I reviewed several indicators that point to the fact that Afghanistan has a long road ahead. Afghanistan is making slow but sure progress trying to bring itself into a socially, politically and economically stable place. The first indicator measured the number of underweight children less than 59 months. The UNSD defines this indicator as a high number of moderately to severely underweight children, â€Å"whose weights for age are less than two standard deviations†. According to the report a healthy population will have 2. 3 percent of their children in this category. In 2004, 32. 9 percent of Afghanistan’s children were reportedly underweight, compared to 44. 9 percent in 1997. This indicator points to the poverty level and lack of nourishment recorded within a seven year period in Afghanistan. A second indicator measures women’s rights and representation in government. This indicator is defined as, â€Å"the portion of seats held by women in national parliament† increased from 3. 7 percent in 1990 to 27. 3 percent in 2006. The measurement was sustained through 2012 at 27. 7 percent. More work needs to be done and educating the population should be the place to start. Theological Link The Modernization Theory discussed in the text looks to explain the underdevelopment of countries like Afghanistan. Marx worried about capitalism and the effects it had on the lower-class population and thereby, the democratic process. Marx’s Conflict Theory dictates that societies are ruled by a small group of elite that create social order for the larger population. In this, we have the creation of divisions by class (division of labor), a central topic of discourse since the beginning of industrialized times. The French Revolution of 1787 (also known as the revolt of the bourgeois or middle-class society) creating capitalism and thereby usurping government power from monarchs. Karl Marx hated democracy. â€Å"Democracy is the road to socialism† (Karl Marx) Capitalism created tensions between the working and bourgeois classes. Summary Race and urbanization are indivisibly linked. Marxism and Class Conflict is the most applicable theory of today’s society. Considering the current events and status of world order, it is undeniable; capitalism continues to be the most powerful ideology in the world. The United States is a powerful country and the way it retains power is by unwaveringly maintaining capitalistic ideology and participating in global conflict around the world in defense of this ideology, â€Å"power, ideology, and conflict are always closely connected† (Giddens 2012:20). Societies are based on trust and these trusts are broken by the people that create and uphold unjust rules for the population of color and the poor. Works Cited Betancur, John. 2010. â€Å"Gentrification and community fabric in Chicago. † Urban Studies Journal Foundation. Sage 48(2): 383 407. Retrieved from http://usj. sagepub. com/content/48/2/383 Giddens, Anthony, Mitchell Duneier, Richard P. Applebaum and Deborah Carr. 2012. â€Å"Introduction to sociology. † New York: W. W. Norton and Company. Eighth ed. , pp. 15-78. Massey, Douglas and Nancy A. Denton. 1993. â€Å"The construction of the ghetto. † Pp 17-59 in American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making for the Underclass. Harvard University Press. Retrieved from http://ereserve. baruch. cuny. edu. remote. baruch. cuny. edu/eres/coursepage. aspx? cid=3155page=docs United Nations Statistics Division. (1991-2011) [Table Data on Gender Parity Index in Primary Enrollment retrieved November 5, 2012. ] Millenium Development Goals Indicators. Retrieved from http://mdgs. un. org/unsd/mdg/Metadata. aspx? IndicatorId=0SeriesId=559 United Nations Statistics Division. (1991-2011) [Table Data on Gender Parity Index in Primary Enrollment retrieved November 5, 2012. ] Millenium Development Goals Indicators. Retrieved from http://mdgs. un. org/unsd/mdg/Metadata. aspx? IndicatorId=0SeriesId=557.

2012 Penn State University Football Team Scandal

2012 Penn State University Football Team Scandal This was the scandal that woke up our nation to the sexual abuse and unethical conduct in our university system. Jerry Sandusky had been on the Penn State football coaching staff. Mr. Sandusky was the defensive coordinator for Joe Paterno for 30 plus years. Graham Spanier, Penn States president, Gary Schultz, Penn State’s vice president and Tim Curley the athletic director were all charged for perjury to a grand jury about the knowing of Mr. Sanduskys sexual misconduct and not reporting the child abuse or sexual abuse to the proper authorities.† This paper will show what ethically went wrong with the people involved with the 2012 Penn State Football Program scandal that destroyed their football program.    The President of Penn State Mr. Spanier had been in charge for over 16 years before he was forced to resign in the year 2011. Mr. Spanier believed that Gary Schultz and Tim Curley followed all the proper rules and regulations during this sexual abuse scandal. Mr. Schultz had a extensive history at Penn State. Gary Schultz attained his bachelors along with his master’s degree from Penn State. Mr. Schultz started his career at Penn State in the year 1971 in which he had different admin duties in business operations, finance, and technology. The in 1995 he was appointed to the Vice President position. Mr. Schultz had decided to retire from the university then return in 2011 on a temporary basis until the university was able to hire someone for the position. The athletic director Tim Curley was at Penn State from 1993 until 2011. Joe Paterno was the head coach of the Penn State football team during the time of this scandal. Joe Paterno, was on the coaching staff of this football t eam for over half a century from 1966 to 2011. Jerry Sandusky is a convicted serial child molester, and was the assistant coach to Joe Paterno for more than 30 years which most of those years as a defensive coordinator. Through the 1970’s Mr. Sandusky had developed the nonprofit organization named The Second Mile. The Second Mile was to helped underprivileged children and their parents that are at risk in the state of Pennsylvania. There were a few incidents that pointed the finger at Sandusky’s indecent behavior with young boys on the Penn State campus. There are incidents also off campus. I will focus on the incidents that happened at Penn State. In 1998 was the first incident. The Penn State police department along with the Pennsylvania Public Welfare investigated an incident where the mother of the 11year old boy had reported Mr. Sandusky took a with her son and may had sexual conduct with the young boy. After the investigation of Mr. Sandusky confessed of taking a shower in the nude with the young boy he made apology and all charges were dropped. There were two janitors that witnessed incidents on the same night in 2000. Fall of 2000 a janitor that worked at the university observed a man, which was identified as Mr. Sandusky, in the showers of the assistant coach’s locker in the Lasch Building with a child. Mr. Sandusky had the boy pinned to the wall and Mr. Sandusky was performing oral sex o n the child. Then on the same night, a different janitor saw two pairs of feet in the same shower at the Lasch Building but he could not see the upper torso of the two people. The janitor waited for them to finish their shower, then he later saw Mr. Sandusky with a child, leave the locker room holding hands. The head janitor told that they told about what they witnessed. The other janitor advised the head janitor how he could report what he saw, if he wanted to do so. Everyone knows that the Penn State football, it is the heart of the University and the surrounding community. Joe Paterno is like Paul Bear Bryant to Alabama when it comes to Penn State Football. The ethical dilemma is that what these janitors faced should of been reported and the incidents they witnessed to their supervisors at the University to protect these children and to prevent any possible damage to the University. But instead these janitors did nothing to save their jobs. Which resulted in they decided not to r eport because they were scared of losing their jobs. Was this morally a good decision? No it wasn’t. What these janitors witnessed was wrong and they knew it was. I can understand that someone wouldn’t want to lose their job, but children being molested should’ve been at the top of the list. They felt too much pressure to do what was ethically right. Janitor B thought that Paterno had a lot of power and would get rid of whomever he had to in order to protect the program. Football runs through the veins of this college. Those connected with the program would do what they had to do to keep the reputation of the football program as well as the University squeaky clean. There are a couple of ethical questions I have when I look at this scandal. The first one is what would make an ethical person make bad choices when they are facing an ethical dilemma? Why did Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz, Tim Curley, and Joe Paterno turn their back on Jerry Sandusky’s molestation of young boys at Penn State? The group of men mentioned all failed to protect children from a child predator, Jerry Sandusky. Here is an ethical dilemma that Spanier, Schultz, Curley, Paterno faced. Should they have taken legal action against Sandusky and possibly caused the University reputation to be smeared or should they have just talk to Sandusky and move on from this situation. They chose to just talk to Sandusky and just move on. This is ethically wrong because they were not looking out for the welfare of the children from the Second Mile that Sandusky brought to the Penn State campus. It’s obvious that Penn States big four leaders were more committed to making sure the University did not get any negative reporting instead of thinking of the safety of the children the university brought Mr. Sandusky to the campus and then he molested children. The big four covered up what Sandusky was doing to children. I feel that the Penn State police department also played a part in this scandal. I feel the Penn State police department should have gotten more involved including the FBI. If the other coaches and staff new about this why didn’t they do something. Joe Paterno is just as guilty as Mr. Sandusky because he knew that this was going on but did nothing. Why didn’t they charge Sandusky in 1998 when the child’s mother reported Sandusky showered with her son and had inappropriate contact with him? Sandusky apologized for his behavior and it was all dismissed. Which it should have never been dismissed. Mr. Sandusky should have gone straight to jail. Was football bigger than everything in Penn State? It seemed like the leaders of the Uni versity and the police department was more concerned with protecting the reputation of the University instead of prosecuting a child molester.   In 1999 Sandusky retired from Penn State. However, he was still granted access to the same areas of the University even after his retirement. In 2002 there was another incident witnessed in which Sandusky had abused another boy. â€Å"On March 2, 2002, Mike McQuarrie tells football Coach Paterno that he saw Sandusky in the locker room shower the evening before, performing sex on a child to be 10 years old. On March 3, 2002, Coach Paterno reported the incident to Athletic Director Tim Curley, telling the graduate assistant had seen Sandusky doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy. â€Å"Tim Curley informed Schultz about what Paterno reported to him. The outcome was Sandusky had to turnover his keys and was no longer allowed to bring kids from his Second Mile foundation to the campus. This was not reported to the law enforcement. During this I really looked at Paterno. He was known to be a good guy, but in my opinion, he approving of Mr. Sandusky’s behavior by not ta king action and reporting it. Since the year 1998 Coach Paterno knew that Mr. Sandusky was involved molesting children. What did he do when faced with this ethical dilemma, he looked the other way. Coach Paterno thought it was more important to protect the image of his football team and Penn State instead of taking matters in his own hands. Even though Sandusky retired he still was associated directly with Paterno on the campus. What should Paterno have done? I think that Paterno should have taken the actions of a whistle blower. â€Å"Serious harm raises moral intensity of an issue.† (Trevino & Nelson, 2011) These children were being seriously harmed and even when the leaders of the University were obviously covering up this situation. I feel Joe Paterno should have taken the necessary steps to let law enforcement know that Sandusky was still molesting young boys. Spanier, Schultz, and Curley were all released from their duties at Penn State charged with covering up Sandusky’s abuse of young boys from his Second Mile foundation. Joe Paterno was dismissed from the Penn State Nittany Lions and later died from complications from a lung cancer treatment. If Joe Paterno was still alive he also would have faced charges for covering up Sandusky’s molestation of young boys. The Second Mile foundation is trying shutdown and transfer to another youth based ministry that will help underprivileged kids. Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to jail for 30 to 60 years for sex abuse of minors. Jerry Sandusky is 69 years old and after this sentence will spend the rest of his life in jail. The 2012 Penn State Scandal involved the top leaders of Penn State University. There were a few incidents that pointed the finger at Jerry Sandusky for sexually molesting young boys from his Second Mile foundation. What would make an ethical person make bad choices when they are facing an ethical dilemma?   Why did Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz, Tim Curley, and Joe Paterno turn their back on Jerry Sandusky’s molestation of young boys at Penn State? Why didn’t the Penn State police pursue this further? These are few ethical questions about this scandal. Even after Sandusky retired from Penn State he was still allowed to have access he did when he was employed. Joe Paterno was also involved in this cover-up. All the top leaders were fired from their duties at Penn State. This scandal did ruin the reputation of this University in which the big four tried so hard to not let happen. It’s sad that they all did not make better ethical decisions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   References: Penn state scandal: Timeline from November 2011 to July 2012. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/18/penn-state-timeline-nov-july_n_1682867.html Schultz returns to fill interim senior vp post; nominations sought. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://news.psu.edu/story/156548/2011/07/29/schultz-returns-fill-interim-senior-vp-post-nominations-sought A timeline of the Penn state child sex abuse scandal. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/16/justice/pennsylvania-coach-abuse-timeline Paterno, others slammed in report for failing to protect Sandusky’s victims. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwoway/2012/07/12/156654260/was-there-a-coverup-report-on-penn-state-scandalmay-tell-us Linda K. Trevino & Katherine A. Nelson, K. A. (2017). Managing Business Ethics. (7th ed.).