The Impact of the Employee Handbook on Organizations Essay

The Impact of the Employee Handbook on Organizations - Essay Example What is an employee handbook There are many attorneys with internet presences offering "free advice" on handbook drafting in layman's language (Dickson Wright).Look for simple definitions on the internet and you may be disappointed; however, Schaefer goes to some trouble to distinguish it from the much larger "manual of policies and procedures": An employee handbook is designed to familiarize employees with basic company policies and benefits programs, and although it draws topics from the far broader policies manual, it presents them with much less detail. (43) Also, the reader may have direct experience of signing an acknowledgement often including a statement, a disclaimer, to the effect that you agree that the handbook does not in itself constitute an employment contract (Schaefer 43) which is a key point in understanding them. Handbooks are informational, non-contractual documents that cover the employee journey from induction to discharge. Implicit in them is the legal concept of consensus in idem ("agreement in the same thing"), widely acknowledged to be an advantage of these documents (Newcomb). For the purposes of this essay we will only consider large-scale enterprises which are usually where they are used. Handbooks can be most useful for employee induction, as a basis for resolving disputes or reducing a company's exposure to law suits arising from health and safety legislation, claims for harassment and for unfair dismissal; indeed, it could be a combination of all of these and more. Although it may be assumed that the handbook may not be well received by some employees, this misses the point in that it is a top-down, employer-created document and they must comply with its rules and spirit. In a unionized workplace, much of the content would depend of the relative bargaining strengths of the parties. Employer interests will inevitably dominate and, ironically in some respects, be separated from their employees', e.g. consider McDonalds' policies on "no solicitation, no loitering" (McDonalds 9). It may prescribe the use of safety goggles or a uniform (McDonalds 13), but also describe, say, an attitude that shop floor staff must have toward customers, as illustrated by McDonalds' conc ept of "customer delight" (10). If we compare and contrast the handbooks for a commercial concern, McDonalds Australia, the University of Chicago and The State of Iowa, we can see immediately that although covering broadly similar themes, they are tailored to the organization to take account of their particular corporate culture and aims, e.g. differing health and safety requirements, differing staff profiles (diverse age group or predominantly young people), the mission of the organization, etc.. One is aimed primarily at inexperienced young adults, one at a range of staff from clerical to collegiate, degree-educated academics and one at an American state with probably the broadest and most diverse employee profile. Handbook content is broadly similar regardless of the organization's purpose and covers matters such as absence and sick leave, benefits, dress code, health and safety, performance and appraisal,

Project management and the problem of project escalation Essay

Project management and the problem of project escalation - Essay Example As Keil suggested in his article, there are four factors that contribute to escalation, namely: project factors, psychological factors, social factors, and organizational factors. In this respect, effectively addressing escalation must, therefore, centre on addressing these factors.   First, it is important to complete a comprehensive cost-benefit and risk analysis at the initial planning stage in order to give project managers sufficient information with regard to decisions regarding the IT project. This will be able to address the objective factors that are caused by poor judgment on the scale of a project.Second, it is also important for the project team, preferably with the help of a professional not to the team, to establish protocols and standards to serve as indicators that will signal when a project must be abandoned, and when it is still salvageable. A separate quality analyst must also be employed to monitor these indicators and compare it with the project team’s p rogress. This will place part of the responsibility in abandoning a project on an outsider who will not be affected by the same psychological factors that plague project managers.   Third, it is also imperative to promote teamwork and a cooperative atmosphere within a project team to ensure that rivalry or any negative behavior that can affect a team’s ability to make sound decisions are not compromised. In this respect, team-building activities will be beneficial.   Fourth, in order to avoid pressure.

Video game genres Essay Example for Free

Video game genres Essay Today, video games have become the most popular means of entertainment throughout our world. More than three-quarters of American youths have video-game consoles, and on a typical day at least 40 percent play a video game. Moreover, recently there has been a wide range of studies by professors throughout the world all focusing on the idea of whether or not video games are causing the youth to become a more illogical violent society in the future. Moreover, some people believe they are just a waste of precious time. However, they have been proven by many scholars that they are not only the best means of entertainment, but also one of the best sources of learning and improving brain performance and strategies, speed of alertness and decision making, and problem solving skills. Coming up with good strategies can be very handy for our lives whether it be in business, learning, teaching, etc. Nowadays video games have been proved to make people smarter towards creative strategy thinking. For example, it has been stated that â€Å"While there are many games that place a premium on strategy, most set an overall goal and give the gamer numerous ways in which he or she can achieve that goal. † Vila, Monica. 7 Reasons Why Your Son Should Play Video Games. http://www. babble. com/. N. p. , 04 Feb 2013. Web. 4 Nov. 2013. Video games teach kids to think objectively about both the games themselves and their own performance. In addition, players also get instant feedback on their decisions and quickly learn their own strengths and weaknesses through try and error since they get unlimited lives in a video game. Video games have a great effect on the youth regarding decision making. Some researchers compared action video-gamers and non-gamers with a series of simple decision-making experiments. Gamers devoted at least five hours weekly in the year before the experiment to playing action video games, such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Halo 2. They presented volunteers with arrays of dots, asked them to identify which way the dots were moving, and varied the number of dots moving in the same direction to make the task easier or harder. Video games get kids to think. There are dozens of video games that are specifically geared towards learning, but even the most basic shooter game teaches kids to think logically and quickly process large amounts of data. Rather than passively absorbing content from, say, a TV show, a video game requires the player’s constant input to tell the story. Moreover, well known sources such as the video games CQ research proved this characteristic about video gaming â€Å"Games stress taking your knowledge and applying it. That’s pretty crucial in the modern world,† says University of Wisconsin Professor of Reading James Gee. † Glazer, Sarah. Video Games. Congressional Quarterly, 2006. 939. Print. Indeed, the argument that video and computer games are superior to school in helping children learn as gaining currency in academic circles. Claimed benefits include improved problem-solving, mastery of scientific investigation and the ability to apply information learned to real-life situations. In conclusion, as you have seen, there is more than just killing and violence in video games. Our future children should be more exposed to video games not only for ways of entertainment, but also for the sake of improving their intelligence whether it be in creating new strategies, enhancing problem solving skills, or even allowing them to make better life decisions.

Impact of ISO 9000 on Business Performance

Impact of ISO 9000 on Business Performance Introduction International Organisation for Standard (ISO) is based in Geneva. It is a worldwide body founded in 1946 to promote and develop the international standard and related activities to facilitate the exchange of goods and services nationwide (Randall, 1995). ISO inaugurated a technical committee on quality management and quality assurance to develop a universally accepted set of quality standard. In 1987 ISO published the ISO 9000 standard series on quality management and assurance based on the commendable work of the committee (Hoyle, 2006). These standards were also revised in 1994 and 2000 respectively, and the most recent called ISO 9000:2000 family of standard. Many writers have come up with several but related definition of ISO 9000. Hoyle (2006) defined ISO 9000 as: â€Å"A criteria that apply to the management of an organisation when determining customers needs and expectation and supplying product and services that are intended to satisfy those needs and expectations.† Martinez-Costa et al.(2004) also defined ISO 9000 as an effective system for the evaluation of the ability of an organisation to design produce, and deliver quality products and services consistently. Sun et al.(2004) also has it that the standard provides guideline for organisations for establishing of their quality management systems â€Å"by focusing on procedures, control, and documentation†. The Science and Engineering policy Studies Unit (SEPSU) came up with a more summarized definition for the ISO 9000 family of standard. ISO 9000 was defined as being about quality systems and about consistency. It aims to give customers confidence in their suppliers by assuring them that the suppliers have in place management processes that deliver consistency (SEPSU study,1994).The study also stated that IS0 9000 encourages but never in itself directly assures product quality. From the above definitions, it could by deduced that ISO 9000 is only a criteria or process to be followed to achieve quality, and not the quality itself. Research problem and study purpose The definition given by SEPSU study clearly explained the role of ISO 9000. Still, many issues remains unaddressed. Firstly, surveys has it that despite the fact that several organisations spend so much resources in obtaining certification of the ISO 9000 standard , there seems to be other motive for seeking the certification and which therefore influences the outcome of the their business (Gotzamani and Tsiotras,2002; Idris et al.,1996).There are organisations that seek certification just for market purposes (Hoyel, 2007), and some also consider it as path of continuous improvement for the company (Stone,2003; Goetsch and Davis, 2005). However studies have shown that customers prefer products from suppliers that are ISO 9000 certified (Taylor, 1995a; Witcher, 1993). This means organisations are now forced to obtain certification in whatever way possible. As a result of these hurry for certification, the European Commissions Directorate for industry which is a high profile regulatory group has questioned the effectiveness of the certification since many European firms are not sure if the certification actually infuses quality into their organisations (Stratton, 1994). The purpose of this paper is to address the problem above by examining critically if the ISO 9000 standard does improve business performance or not, by testing the strength of the relationship between the ISO 9000 certification and organisational performance. Research Question and study objectives â€Å"ISO 9000 is only a beginning; it provides a mechanism with which to bring about systematic improvement but it does not improve performance byitself†. Paying attention to the above statement made by Hoyle (1994) on the value of ISO 9000 certification and its diverse nature, the following questions will be clearly investigated in this work: Does ISO 9000 certification have a significant positive effect on business performance? What is the organisational attitude towards ISO 9000 certification? Providing answers to these questions above will lead to a clearer understanding of the impact of ISO 9000 certification on business/organisational performance. It will also guide to a realistic management expectation of business value of ISO 9000 certification in an organisation and the knowledge that gaining an ISO 9000 certification is noting similar to creating quality organisation. Research methodology This research seeks to review some extant theoretical literatures and web-based sources on the impact of ISO 9000 on business performance. It is important to acknowledge that major researches on ISO 9000 have been conducted via postal questionnaire (Magd, 2003, 2004, 2008; Bhuiyan and Alam, 2005, Douglas et al., 2003; Batchelor, 1992) which is a more standard, practical approach and gives less room for bias. Literature review The literature review identified quiet some articles that deals with impact of ISO 9000 on businesses in quality and reliability management studies. Despite the perceived benefit of the ISO 9000 certification, only few studies have examined if ISO 9000 certified organisations do actually perform good than non-ISO 9000 certified organisations. These studies include 🙠 Magd, 2008; Terziovski et al., 2003; Lee, 2003; Chow-chua; 2003; Sun, 2000; Dick et al., 2002; Heras et al., 2002a etc.). Several papers associated with ISO 9000 are mainly focused on the qualitative benefits associated with its certification, like communication and general understanding of the companys process, and not the quantitative benefits. Some literatures also focused on what to do to gain ISO certification. Perceived benefit of ISO 9000 certification ISO 9000 certification bodies such as the British Standards Institute (BSI), Lloyds Registers Quality Assurance (LRQA) and SGS, have claimed some benefit of ISO 9000 such as: Bringing recognition and reputation at the market place, increasing customers satisfaction, high profit margin (www.BSI-GLOBAL.com). Reduction in waste, competitive advantage, formalize management system (www.SGS.com). Magd (2008) listed some benefits like improvement in documentation and improvement in efficiency of the quality system are among the top perceived benefits of ISO 9000 in an empirical survey conducted on the Egyptian manufacturing sector. In another investigation in a servicing company in the UK industries, Douglas et al. (2003) found that the main external benefit of the ISO 9000 was the higher perceived quality from the customers, and the main internal benefit being â€Å"good documentation procedure†. In another research carried out by chow-chua et al. (2003), highest numbers of respondents agreed that expansion in international market was the internal motive, and improvement in customer satisfaction as the external factor for seeking ISO 9000 certification. However, an empirical study conducted by Heras et al (2002a) conclusively stated that the major benefits sought from ISO 9000 is profit improvement (see Table i below for illustration). In another negative vein, in a st udy conducted in China involving 194 manufacturing and servicing sector, a good number of respondents expressed the view that ISO 9000 will not have direct effect on companies business performance (Dang, 2007). In fact; Lima (2000) also supports this view. This variation in survey results only proves a point â€Å" That the implementation and the impact of ISO 9000 standards vary from organisation to organisation and from country to country†, these variation is as a result of the various organisational context and the level of the countries awareness of quality management practice ( Magd , 2004). ISO Certification Quality management system Quality improvement Business performance Profitability Certified to ISO 9000 standard The approved quality Management System brings an Increased emphasis on quality and how it may be achieved consistently Internal: Less waste and duplication of effort External: quality received by customers improves Reduced costs Improves Competitiveness Fewer customer defections so sales increase Badge of quality opens more sale opportunities Cost of sales reduces leading to increased profits Profitability benefits from scale economies and lower sales acquisition cost Driving forces for seeking ISO 9000 certification Juran (1995) has said that the main reason for an organisation seeking quality certification is â€Å"maintenance or market expansion†. In a survey by Madg (2008), the question was the deferent reasons for seeking of certification. These options were being limited to 14. The response rate was 35 percent, (see Table ii next page). The participants were asked to rate the significance of these reasons on a five- point scale. In response to improve the efficiency of the quality system and to achieve customer satisfaction took the top position. However, improve employees relations and capturing workers knowledge came below the list. (Table ii): Driving forces for seeking ISO 9000:2000 certification RANK DRIVING FORCES M SD 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. To improve the efficiency quality of the quality system To achieve customer satisfaction Pressure from competitors/foreign partners To maintain/increase market shears Avoid potential export barrier To meet government demands, requirements or pressure To achieve quality improvement To market product in the international arena To use ISO as a marketing promotion tool To be a step towards TQM To achieve cost reduction To meet corporate objectives To improve employees relation Capturing workers knowledge 4.71 4.68 4.64 4.62 4.60 4.56 3.71 3.64 3.47 3.29 3.19 2.24 2.17 2.14 0.42 0.48 0.49 0.50 0.57 0.60 1.02 1.10 1.42 1.30 1.27 1.20 1.18 1.09 NOTE: The Mean score is based on participants level of agreement with each statement on a scale of 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = Strongly agree; a mean score above 4 indicates high, between 3 and 4 indicates moderate and a score of less than 3 indicates a low level of agreement; SD = Standard Deviation. Another good example is the Science and Engineering Policy Studies Unit in the UK (SEPSU study,1994).This study took 28 survey on many different issues among these were the same as Magd (2008), reasons organisations seek certification and the effectiveness of the certification. There appears to be a motive some managers adopt certification. The commonly cited driving force for seeking ISO 9000 however, was customer pressure. This, therefore, results in less improvement in organisational performance (Park et al., 2007; Singles et al., 2001). The problem with this type of analysis is that it lacks the strength to show the relationship between ISO 9000 certification and organisational performance .However, it gives some useful results. Business value of ISO 9000 A more comprehensive empirical survey on quality practice is the International quality study (American Quality Foundation,1991).The study surveyed 500 banking, computer, automobile ,and health care organisations in Japan, Canada, USA, and Germany. The result of this survey was that some quality practices, most especially supplier certificate and process improvement which is aided by ISO 9000 indeed have some significant effect on performance. (Prubhu et al., 2000) also supports this fact. Similarly, a study in Australia by the Australian Manufacturing council (AMC study, 1994) whose approach was to analyze the methods and approach used by the Australian and New Zealand manufacturing organisations in quality management practice. The result was that more than 50 percent of the ISO 9000 certified firms agreed that ISO 9000 certification was a significant factor in the improvement of their business performance. Managers of certified firms has therefore agreed that certification increases customer perception of product quality, and such perception can often be effective in wining new customers (Cermen Escanciano et al.,2001). Firms are been advised in the AMC study ( 1994) that certification is not a substitute for quality product and services. The AMAC study has been criticized for its data analysis methodology (Terziovski et al.,1997). Organisations can achieve certification but still produce a poor quality product (Zuckerman, 1997; Hertz; 1997). Furthermore, certification could cause managers to have a self-satisfied attitude towards quality. There is this risk of also bringing in some poor practices through the certification process. It will be the best practice if organisations could set a quality standard for themselves well above the minimum being outlined by ISO 9000, and also seek ways to improve (Terziovski et al., 2003). Batchelor (1992) surveyed 647 certified manufacturing and service companies in the United Kingdom, and discovered that 15 percent of the respondents that participated thought they had gained business value on nine dimensions of organisational performance, which include: â€Å"customer satisfaction, waste and cost, market share, new customers, procedural efficiency, staff motivation, staff attitudes, and error rate†. A quite impressive body in management and quality literatures has pointed out that the major reason backing organisations decision to adopt ISO 9000 system is due to perceived marketing benefits (Lloyds Register, 1993). A survey carried out by Sun (1999) did some remarkable investigations on ISO 9000 certified firms in Norway. The survey reveals that â€Å"ISO 9000 and quality are correlated†. This was known to be in respect of the reduction of customer complaints, defects, and improvement of business performance in productivity and profitability. Supporting these facts Heras et al.(2001) reported that organisations that has implemented ISO 9000 standard have successfully been able to project themselves to achieve continuous improvement, competitive advantage, and are better-run organisation. Zairi and Baidoun (2003) also supports this fact. Magd (2003) in another study conducted at Saudi Arabia involving 140 ISO 9000 certified manufacturing firms. Using a questionnaire as a means of primary data collection, this relied on the use of five-point likert scale. The study suggested 20 possible benefit of ISO 9000 of which the respondents were asked to rate the extent to which ISO 9000 affect these elements. These rating were to be from â€Å"crucial effect† to â€Å"no effect†. From the results of the survey, improvement in efficiency of the quality system, increased quality awareness in the firms, improvement in customer service, and increase in quality of product was seen as of benefits ISO 9000 certification among the Egyptian manufacturing companies. McAdam and canning (2001) in another assessment of the impact of ISO 9000 on the performance decided to focus his study on the building construction companies in Northern Ireland. The methodology used was to conduct a semi interview with six surveying practitioners on their view on ISO 9000.This finding obtained was then used to develop and structure a questionnaire towards the study purpose. Out of about 66 questionnaires posted, 52 usable ones were returned. The result was that ISO 9000 certified firms indicated some internal benefit in varying degree. 35 percent agreed that they have improvements in management systems, 24 percent had improved service quality, 12 percent agreed they had developed clearer communication, and 6 percent of the respondents believed that ISO 9000 â€Å"increases profit ratio†. In summary, this research brings to light that majority of the respondents share the view that ISO 9000 has a significant impact on business performance, because of there is more benefit as compared to the demerits. In a survey conducted by Douglas et al.(2003) questionnaires were being forwarded to 200 quality managers/representatives in UK industries. Among these 200, 120 were from the service sectors while 80 were from the manufacturing sector. The simple task was for them to indicate the financial benefit of the ISO 9000. 104 usable questionnaires were received. 53 percent claimed they dont perceive any benefit with regards to staff motivation. 45 percent of the respondents said that their organisation did not achieve any benefit with regards to cost and waste reduction. Despite the contradictory figures a whopping 75 percent believe ISO 9000 to be a good value for money. This reaction may likely be in connection with the fact that they now gained the ability to tender for contracts previously not realistic. Another investigation was carried out by Musa et al (2003) which involves a different approach altogether. This survey compared the performance of ISO 9000 certified and non-certified Turkish firms by using their stock market returns. The list of the monthly returnes of these firms was gotten from the Istanbul Stock Exchange ISE (2001) market of Turkey from January 1977 to December 2000.One hundred and three (103) of these firms are ISO 9000 certified while one hundred and seventeen (117) where non-satisfied. Based on the objective of the research, two main hypotheses were made: H1 – ISO 9000 certified firms have higher stock market returns than non-ISO 9000 certified firms H2 – ISO 9000 certified firms have lower variability. This type of analysis of using the stock market returns of firms has some limitation since limited number of companies might meet the criteria to be listed in the stock market. Also the survey was measuring only the exports excluding the regional returns in this analysis. Considering the literature review so far, it appears that some managers have failed to distinguish conformance from performance. This is because they have not yet understood the primary role of ISO 9000 certification. ISO 9000 is a conformance specification that shows that the company has a system which is capable of giving a quality goods and services (Teziovski et al.; 1997). The willingness of the management and the employees to use and accept the standard in their day to day activities also depends on this capacity. Askey and Dale (1994) has it that managers tend to divert from the original practices after gaining ISO 9000 certification, which often result in managers engaging their workforce in preventive actions, after much damage has been done already (Brown, 1994). Performance specification on the other hand falls on the tools and techniques, and requires the employees to use the certification process as part of improvement initiative (Allan, 1993). The major problem that emerges from the review is the managers perception of the ISO certification as the answer rather than a tool to an answer. There is a general view in the literature that certification is a potential path to Total Quality Management (Sun, 2000). Barrier to ISO 9000 effective implementation Some assessments were performed to identify the perceived barriers that might add to the ineffective implementation of ISO 9000 in Egyptian manufacturing organisations by Magd (2008). Some numbers of barriers were extracted to perform this study. The respondents were being required to rate these barriers on a five point scale. From â€Å"strongly disagree†=1 to â€Å"strongly agree†=5. As explained in the research there was consecutive agreement among the Egyptians manufacturer that top management commitment, lack of qualified personnel, insufficient quality education and training, lack of financial resources, and failure to define responsibility were among the top barriers for an effective implementation for ISO 9000. Top management commitment was the most important barrier because if an organisation is lagging in management commitment, the employees do not tend to prioritize the quality management system, which will therefore affect the implementation of the quality m anagement (Lee, 2004; Magd, 2003; Bhuiyan and Alam, 2005). Boiral and Marie-Josee (2007) made it clear that lack of managers and employers commitment, difficulty in understanding the quality management system, meeting and system development, time involved in training and difficulty in overcoming the communication barriers are common factors against the implementation of ISO 9000 standard. Another similar study conducted in Singapore by Quazi and Padibjo (1998) explained that high cost of implementation, extra effort in documentation, shortage of manpower, resistance at supervisory levels, lack of management commitment and employee resistance to change are among the top barriers. These finding should be a significant factor to stakeholders in a business. The barrier to be eliminated can easily be identified so that the standard could be implemented effectively. Criticism of ISO 9000 certification Seddon (1997a) a strong critic of ISO 9000 expresses the view that a number of operations that are associated with ISO 9000 are actually not fully optimized within the work place. According to Douglas et al. (2003) the view of some critics of ISO 9000 is that â€Å"some organisations whose objective was TQM (Total Quality Management), implementing ISO 9000 took them away from achieving that objective†. The issue of cost of registration and implementation has also been stressed (Dick, 2000), in that the costs are greater than the desired benefit. (Douglas et al.,2003) in their survey asked participants to indicate a five-point scale the extent they agree with some statement against ISO 9000 (See table iii). From the survey, 53 percent of the respondents did disagree with Gotzamani and Tsiotras (2001) on the view that ISO 9000 sub-optimize performance in a workplace. On the argument about continuous improvement, Lee (2004) argued that 1SO 9000 only introduces improvement through prevention and correction of non performance. These critics has argued that achieving ISO 9000 certification does not mean quality as organisation may still be certified and still give poor quality output. The consistency and the role of the assessors of this standard have been questioned by previous researches (Killman and Stanford, 1996). Criticism Strongly disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly agree ISO 9000 promotes action which results in sub-optimization of performance. ISO 9000 a step backwards in the guess of TQM. ISO 9000 relies too heavily on other, in particular assessors interpretation of quality. ISO 9000 can only be effective if accompanied by a culture change. It is easy to be ISO 9000 certified yet produce poor quality output. ISO 9000 will only control output; quality is about improving output. 12 14 8 0 1 9 53 65 44 8 19 35 27 19 22 14 9 20 9 2 23 54 54 33 0 0 3 24 18 4 Findings From the random-sample carried out in this research, it will be practical to conclude that quality studies have been able to identify two main sections of which quality impacts business performance: In terms of manufacturing aspect which involves the increase in employee quality awareness, improve in internal quality process, reduction in production cost and increased productivity, reduces defect and wastage, improves operational performance. Marketing aspects where it increases costumers satisfaction, and market performance, and ability to tender for business. It also exposed how companies clutch for ISO 9000 certification as if it was a remedy for their quality control problem. Limitations of the study Several limitation of this study must be mentioned. In contrast to previous studies, which used survey, questionnaires and average monthly stock market returns of the organisations to examine their performance, which is wide, more stable, consistent and provides less room for bias or error. This study is based on collection of secondary data on the impact of ISO 9000 in business performance. Conclusions and Recommendations This work did analyze the result of implementing the ISO 9000 standard in business. From the opinions of researches reviewed in this paper it is of no doubt that the implementation of these standards has an effect on organisational performance. There is a very high consensus regard to the influence of ISO 9000 on a companys results, mainly through operation improvement, and the cost of companies internal activities. Despite the numbers of surveys on the impact of ISO 9000 on business, this review identified that few surveys have focused on Africa. Further researches should be focused on these developing countries because it is on this basis the general impact of ISO 9000 can be determined. References Allan, M.J. (1993), â€Å"Implementation of ISO 9001/2 in large Australian manufactures†, unpublished Research Project, Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne. Australian Manufacturing Council Study, leading the way: A study of Best Manufacturing Practices in Australia and New Zealand, 1994, pp.59-63. Askey, J.M. and Dale B.G, (1994 )From ISO 9000 Series Registration to Total Quality Management†: An Examination, Quality Management Journal, pp.67-76. Batchelor, K. ( 1992 ), â€Å"Badge of quality†, Financial Times, September. Total Quality Management, Vol. 7 No.3, and pp.293 – 303. Bhuiyan, N. and Alam, N. (2005), â€Å"An investigation into issues related to the latest version of ISO 9000†, Total Quality Management, Vol. 16 No.2, pp.199-213. Boiral, O. and Roy, M.(2007) â€Å" Integration rationale and organisational impacts†, international Journal of operations and production management, Vol. 27 No 2, pp 226-247. Chow-Chua, C., Goh, M. and Wan, B.T. (2003), â€Å"Does ISO 9000 certification improve business performance?†, International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, Vol. 20 No. 8, pp. 936-53. Clements, Richard B., Quality Managers Complete Guide to ISO 9000. New Jersey: Prentice Hall (1993). Dale, B.G., Boaden, R.J. and Lascelles, D.M. (1994), â€Å"Total quality management: an overview†, in Dale, B.G. (Ed.), Managing Quality, Prentice-Hall I, international, Englewood Cliffs, NJ pp 3-40. Dang, L. (2008),†The impact of Quality management practices on business performance†:An empirical investigation from China. International journal of Quality and Reliability, Vol. 22 No 8, pp. 809-82. Dick, M.P.G. (2000), â€Å"ISO 9000 certification benefits, reality or myth?† The TQM Magazine, Vol.12 No.6, pp.365-71. Dick, G., Gilmore, K. and Brown, C.J. (2002), â€Å"Does ISO 9000 accreditation make a profound differences to the way service quality is perceived and measured?†, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 30-42. Douglas, A., Coleman, S. and Oddy, R. (2003), â€Å"The case for ISO 9000†, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 316-24. Escanciano, C., Ferna ´ndez, E. and Va ´zquez, C. (2001), â€Å"Influence of ISO 9000 certification on the progress of Spanish industry towards TQM†, International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 481-94. Goetsch, D. and Davis, S. (2005), Understanding and Implementing ISO 9000: 2000, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Gotzamani, K.D. and Tsiotras, G.D. (2002), â€Å"The true motives behind ISO 9000 certification. Their effect on the overall certification benefits and their long term contributio TQM†, International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 151-69. Heras, I., Casadesus, M. and Dick, M.P.G. (2002a), â€Å"ISO 9000 certification and the bottom line: a comparative study of the profitability of Basque region companies†, Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 17 Nos 1/2, pp. 72-8. Heras, I., Casadesus, M. and Ochao, C. (2001) Vol. 9000, â€Å"Effects of ISO 9000 certification on companies profitability: an empirical study†, Integrated Management: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on ISO 9000 and TQM, pp. 60-65. Hertz, H.S. (1997), â€Å"The criteria: a looking glass to Americans understanding of quality†, Quality Progress, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 46-8. Howell, J.P., et al,(1986) â€Å" Moderator Variables in Leadership Research,† Academy of Management Review, Vol.11, no.1, pp.88-102. Hoyle, D.(2006),ISO 9000 Quality system handbook, Fifth edition, Butterworth-Heinemann publishers, Oxford. Hoyle, D. (1994), ISO 9000 Quality handbook, Reed Educational and Professional Publicizing Ltd,Oxford. Idris, M.A., McEwan, W. and Belavendram, N. (1996), â€Å"The adoption of ISO 9000 and total quality management in Malaysia†, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 8 No. 5, pp. 65-8. Juran, J.M. (1995), A History of Managing for Quality: The Evolution, Trends and Future Directions ofManaging for Quality, Vol. 109 No 1, pp 43 – 45. Killman, J. and Stanford, M.(1996),†Auditor evaluation System†, Quality world,January,pp10 -11 of ISO 9000†, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 88-94. Lee, Y.C. (2004), â€Å"TQM in small manufacturers: an exploratory study in China†, International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 175-97 Lee, S. K. and Palmer, E. (1999), â€Å"An empirical examination of ISO 9000- registered companies in New Zealand†, Total Quality Management, Vol. 10, No. 6, pp. 887-90. Lima, M., Resende, M. and Hasenclever, L. (2000), â€Å"Quality certification and performance of Brazilian firms: an empirical study†, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 66 No. 2, pp. 143-7. Lloyds Register Quality Assurance Limited: Setting Standards for Better Business, Report of survey Findings, 1993, pp1-10. Martinez-Lorente, A. and Martinez-Costa, M. (2004), â€Å"ISO 9000 and TQM: substitutes or complementaries? An empirical study in industrial companies†, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 260-76. McAdam, R. and Canning, N. (2001), â€Å"ISO in

Comparing Aeneas from Aeneid and Gilgamesh from the Epic of Gilgamesh :: comparison compare contrast essays

Comparison of Aeneas from Aeneid and Gilgamesh from the Epic of Gilgamesh  Ã‚   The dominant factor in an epic is the heroic main character. This character often is the son of a god or goddess and is favored by the gods. Heroic characters are also always hounded by constant tragedy which drives them to fulfill their fates. Most heroic characters are high in social status and share close contacts with the gods. All of these qualities of heroic characters show up in the characters of Aeneas from The Aeneid and Gilgamesh from the Epic of Gilgamesh. In this essay I will compare and contrast the qualities and plights of both Aeneas and Gilgamesh. These two epic heroes share similar fates, yet are very different in personality. Gilgamesh was an arrogant tyrant of his city-state who was obsessed with increasing his own influence and power while Aeneas was more aloof, letting the gods and the fates guide his actions in life. Aeneas acted as a perfect pawn of the gods and was tossed around at their whims. Gilgamesh on the contrary took fate into his own hands and attempted to gain immortality by seeking out the immortals. Gilgamesh was a man who wanted more power than mortals were allowed and wanted his influence to be known forever. Aeneas simply wanted to fulfill the prophesy of founding Rome and making his Trojan followers happy. Out of the two heroes Gilgamesh was the one who was most aggressive and pursued the more ambitious goal, though it was one near impossible to achieve. Gilgamesh wanted to have a power that only the gods possessed. He wanted to be immortal. Aeneas never sought such an unachievable task, and was not as determined as Gilgamesh was. Aeneas only had to find a place where the defeated Trojans could settle and found a new city. Once in the story he even had to be reminded of his destiny by the Jupiter when he was distracted by his love for Dido. The trials of Aeneas and Gilgamesh were very similar. Both led tragic lives and suffered from the wrath of the gods. Aeneas witnessed his family die, his home city burned to the ground, and was victim to the goddess Juno’s plots throughout his fated journey to Italy. Gilgamesh had seen his best friend die from the gods’ vengeance and was emotionally crushed by it.

Self-portraits - Van Gogh And Rembrandt Essay -- essays research paper

Each artist is an individual with a unique style, and although these styles can be similar in practice – the individuality of the artist often proves the discriminating factor for a successful artwork. Self-portraits are beneficial when looking at the individuality of the artist as there are two aspects to look at – the artist’s style, and the artist’s view of him/herself. The latter can provide a brief insight into the mental situation of the artist as well as any apparent influencing factors of the artwork. This view can often also include fragmental insights into the society and culture of the time. Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh are 2 artists of whom are well represented by this statement. Rembrandt was born into a Dutch society of the Baroque era . This time period influenced his style of artwork heavily as these were the Post-High Renaissance years. This meant that the accepted artworks of the society at the time were religiously based works influenced by the efforts of the Reformation which was also occurring at the time. This meant that Rembrandt painted his works using religious artwork methods such as the art of chiaroscuro, strategically planning the composition of light and dark to give the figures an enlightened or holy appearance. Therefore when Rembrandt painted self-portraits he carried over these methods, painting himself in this almost holy presence with the use of chiaroscuro. The self-portraits show a vast expressiveness that make the works succ...

Hepatitis C Virus

With the WHO goal of HCV elimination seeming more achievable with the new DAA therapy, nurses are uniquely positioned to be the final and vital spoke to get the machine running efficiently. History has shown that nurse led programs in HIV treatment were successful and many developed and developing countries have adopted nurse led models in the fight against HIV. Nurses have the education to be a useful ammunition in the fight against HCV infection. Nurse led programs can be a cost effective alternative and also help to decentralize HCV care and improve access. Certainly, progress in HCV care has been appreciable. Nurses have been integrated into the system in novel ways and numerous studies have shown that the effect is an improved rate of recognition of the infection, treatment uptake and adherence and achievement of sustained virologic response (SVR). Nurse are currently supporting physicians in treating HCV patients. Yet, this is not enough in bringing about any observable change in the epidemic of HCV. With the shortage of physicians and specialists, it is imperative to bring about policy changes that will allow nurses to treat HCV. What is lacking is the involvement of nurse practitioners (NPs). This is the age of DAA and no time has been better than today in involving NPs in the fight against HCV by giving them prescribing authority for DAA. Study conducted in United States (US) showed similar treatment outcomes for HCV infected patients with care by NPs, PCPs and specialists (Sarah et al, 2017) concluding that HCV treatment provided by NPs was as safe as that provided by specialists. An Australian study (Lloyd et al, 2013) conducted between 2009 to 2010 utilizing a nurse led program in prisons with specialist supervision via telemedicine also showed safe and effective HCV treatment outcomes. The newer regimens of DAA which have lesser adverse effects can be easily prescribed by nurse practitioners who have the relevant education and experience. NPs in Australia have already been given the authority to prescribe DAA (Gastroenterology Society, 2017), and US and Canada can take important lessons from the success of this policy change. Nurse practitioners working in nurse led models in prisons, rural areas, and with hard to reach groups like PWID can bridge the gap due to non-availability of specialists.Expanding the scope of practice of NPs is especially relevant today in order to improve uptake of high risk groups into treatment. PWID have a high prevalence of HCV (systematic review 60 – 80% of IDUs in 25 countries had anti HCV while >80% IDUs had anti HCV in 12 countries https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673611610970 ) and are the core group of transmitters. Treatment uptake is low in this group and yet the success of HCV programs is not going to be substantial if issues of HCV detection and treatment in PWID are not addressed effectively. PWID have many barriers to accessing health care, including but not limited to criminalization, poverty, mental health issues, addiction related issues, stigma and marginalization. But they are more likely to be engaged with community level health care providers like primary care physicians and nurses (Milne et al, 2015) in low threshold settings where they do not have fear of stigma or criminalization. Expanding the role of NPs to improve capacity to provide HCV care in these settings will lead to shorter wait times, improve information sharing with patients, advance engagement with the health care team and deliver better treatment outcomes. Prison environments have a huge concentration of HCV infected inmates. 24% of federal prisoners and 23% of provincial prisoners were positive for HCV antibody (Trubnikov 2011). Prisoners are at high risk of passing on the infection due to sharing of drug paraphernalia and are able to spread the infection once out in the community. Rural and remote areas also have disproportionate allocation of health services putting those living in these areas in the demographic of marginalized. Patients are less likely to travel large distances to start and complete treatment. Nurse led models in these two settings are urgently needed to improve HCV care. Nurse led model: a protocol based treatment program can be developed and tailored to cater to the needs of specific populations in community care clinics, OST centers, prisons, rural/ remote areas. The protocol can include relevant history taking, clinical assessment, investigations including the nurse performing transient elastography and triaging patients to determine the risk of each patient. Based on this the nurse would either start treatment, do a one on one consultation with the physician or refer the patient to consult with the physician using telemedicine. Follow up assessments should be conducted and referred for any adverse effects. In prison environments, patients who are released before the end of treatment should be referred to the community center and appropriate continuation of care must be in place. With shorter DAA regimens and better tolerated drugs, more number of prisoners may be offered HCV treatment and more number of inmates may be motivated to complete treatment upon release. Future research should focus on impact of nurses in protocol driven treatment of HCV, nurses dong fibro scan as compared to physicians, efficacy of DOTs therapy in HCV for those populations with adherence issues. Increased funding for specialty education for nurses in viral hepatitis to improve HCV care would definitely improve capacity in the fight against HCV. Lack of treatment for the marginalized is unfair and inexcusable. Nurse led programs in HIV care provided improved outcomes in all indicators and is evidence that they will be crucial in the war against HCV. Nurse practitioners need to rise to the challenge and advocate for better patient care among those affected with HCV by demanding prescribing authority for DAAs. Nurse led model in HCV care is an effective strategy to attain the WHO goal of elimination of HCV by 2030.