US Executive Branch of Government

US Executive Branch of Government The executive branch of government is that branch with exclusive power and responsibility for the everyday administration of the country. This branch implements the law. The distribution of power into different branches of government is fundamental to the initiative of division of power. In some parts of the world (countries) the term executive refers to the government. Though, this practice fails to make a distinction between authoritarian and autonomous structure of the government. In the despotic systems (autocracy or complete dominion) where the diverse powers of government are unsaid by one person (small oligarchy) the executive branch stops to subsist in view of the fact that there is no other branch with which to divide up separate but equivalent governmental powers. The division of powers system is premeditated to allocate authority away from the executive branch. This is an effort to protect individual autonomy in reply to autocratic leadership throughout history. The execut ive officer is not hypothetical to create laws or construe them. Their chief role is to put into effect the laws as printed by the legislative branch (legislature) and construed by the judicial branch. The head of this branch is President of United States of America. This branch also comprises of many departments (sub departments) and agencies. Explanation: Bureaucracy in United States refers to the executive branch of government. The congress has it own bureaucracy, bureaucratic personnel that makes their budgets etc. The executive branch of United States consists of agencies and departments that receive inclinations from the President. The President (principal bureaucrat) is the directorial chief of executive branch. The lack of precise, exhaustive words in the Constitution unfolding the influence and responsibilities of the executive branch has specified President of United States an immense deal of suppleness to enhance its dimension and capacity over the years. This flexibility is in stipulations of both the assortment of its power and the amount of departments and agencies engaged to achieve its tasks. The division of executive branch (bureaucracies) is: The president The vice president Fifteen Cabinet rank executive departments. The President: President is chosen every four years, and decides his/her vice president as a administration companion. The president is also serves as the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces and is for all intents and purposes the person in charge of the country. Once in a year the President must convey a State of the Union address to Congress, He may propose legislation to Congress, he may assemble Congress. He also has the power to hire ambassadors to other countries. He has the power to select justices of Supreme Court and other federal judges. To execute and put into effect the laws of the United States he is expected with his Cabinet and other agencies. The vice president: The Vice President is chosen together with the President by the Electoral College. The person who receives the highest votes become the President and the second highest vote taker becomes the vice president in United States. The most important responsibility of the Vice President is to be prepared at a moments notice to presume the administration if the President is powerless to carry out his duties (death, resignation etc of the President). The vice president is also act as the president of senate of United States. He/she has the authority to give the vote (deciding vote) when there is a tie. Vice President hardly ever in fact be in charge of over the Senate as a substitute, the Senate choose one of their personal members to preside over the Senate each day. The Cabinet: It is a consultative body comprise of the heads of the 15 executive departments. Who are selected by the President and approved by the Senate. The members of the Cabinet are often the Presidents closest sounding board. In addition to the administration of key federal agencies, they have a significant part in the Presidential line of succession (after the Vice President, Speaker of the House, and Senate President pro tempore). All the constituent of the Cabinet receive the designation Secretary, excluding the chief of the Justice Department, who is designated as Attorney General. Clientele agencies: Department of Agriculture: The agriculture department of United States builds up and carries out guiding principles on farming, agriculture, and food. The plan of this department incorporates meeting the requirements of farmers, endorse agricultural manufacturing and its trade, guarantee safety of food, shielding natural resources, development of rural population, and finish starvation in United States and in foreign countries. Department of Commerce: This department acts as governmental bureau with the responsibilities of civilizing living standards for all the citizens of United States. This is done by encouraging economic growth and innovations in technology. This department helps the business and industry sector of US by assembling economic and demographic statistics, issuing exclusive rights and trademark, and makes sure of the effectual utilization of methodical and practical assets. It also prepares telecommunications and technology strategy, and maintains exports of United States by supporting and implementing international trade agreements. Department of the Interior: This department is United States major preservation bureau. Its task is to guard nationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s natural resources, recommend amusement occasion, carry out scientific explorations, preserve and look after fish and wildlife, and respects our sincerity to American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and our farm duties to island areas. Department of Labor: This department manages federal agenda for ensuring a well-built US workforce. Duty this department is to cultivate and support the wellbeing of the unemployed, wage takers, and those who are retired by standardizing their working environment, provide prospect for beneficial employment, providing health care and retirement benefits, help the manager to find personnel, escalating free cooperative negotiations, and follow alteration in employment, prices, and other nationalized economic dimensions. Union maintenance agencies: Department of states: This department is engaged in maintain and executing the foreign policy of President. Image of US in foreign countries, military education program for other countries, resist international misdeeds, and a large collection of services to American resident and people from other countries looking for entry to the U.S. Department of treasury: This department promotes economic wealth and guarantees the reliability and safety of the United States and global monetary structure. Department of Justice: This department implements the law and protects the welfare of America related to law. It provides protection against intimidation of alien and domestic bodies. It supports the federal agencies to stop the crimes and penalize those who are involved in unlawful practices. Department of Defense: This department grants armed forces to dissuade war and to guard the safety of United States. Regulatory agencies: Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Transportation, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Energy Redistribution agencies: This agency deals with the circulation of money in the county like Federal Reserve System, monetary policy, fiscal policy etc. The iron triangle: The todays US government forms a triangle in which all the interest groups, committees of Congress and bureaucratic agencies work together. In the essence of this theory the departments and agencies maintain close acquaintances with interest group who desire to persuade their procedures. They may give important information to government agencies, and they are provoked to include their opinion listened. The interest groups and administrator get in touch with congress committees and sub committees that form the laws that oversee their interests. Most governmental policies are set when these parties work together. Problem of bureaucratic control: The Bureaucrats have their personal aspirations and inspirations. There is a principal agent relationship between bureaucrats ant their agencies like they are dependent on two mechanisms (before and after the fact), the meetings procedures and bureaucratic authorities (before the fact) and encouragement given for achievement or suspended for nonperformance of a meticulous assignment (after the fact). These methods must be engaged to limit the option of bureaucratic drift in which the bureaucracy might create strategy more to its predilection than to the novel purpose of the commanding strategy creator. The president can lead bureaucratic agencies. Congress can encourage liable bureaucracy in the course of failure to notice and the exploitation and preservation of incentives. Public hearing is one instrument of Congress to supervise bureaucratic actions. In conditions, Congress can also have power over the bureaucracy by redrafting the legislation and changing appropriations. How to reduce bureaucracy: Regardless of the suspicions that the bureaucracy is rising uncontrollable, the federal government has scarcely developed in any way in the last 30 years. Even then many United States citizens squabble that government is too huge and ought to be condensed. The majority general efforts to decrease the bureaucracy consist of termination (the absolute removal of governmental programs and the agencies that manage them like deregulation), privatization (shifting an agenda from public sector to private sector) and devolution (Decline in bureaucracy can also be attained in the course of devolution. This means the hard work to rationalize the federal bureaucracy by hand over the policy execution to state and local governments). The post-9/11 demands of domestic safety contain misrepresented the political power of bureaucratic restructuring as general public and officeholders have come to believe that thought that the federal government will cultivate to guarantee the security of people of Un ited States. Conclusion: The executive branch has undergone incredible modifications over the years, assembly it very unusual from what it was under George Washington. Todays executive branch is much superior, extra multifaceted, and more influential than it was when the United States was established.

Similarities between Business & Military Strategy Essay -- War and Bus

The Art of War and todays business have many common characteristics. Sun Tzu has analyzed war from different angles like moral laws, time period, chances of life and death, skills of the commander and the maintaince of the army. The same analyses can be made for todays business environment. War is a position where only the strong have the ability to survive, or at least the stronger ones have the higher probability to survive. Similarly todays business environment and the character of business people, their agressiveness, motivation, stress are all similar to ancient soldiers and commanders. The comparisons between war and business life are similar in five ways. 'These are the way, the weather, the terrain, the leadership and dicipline.' First of them is the way. In war the way you have to avoid from the strong andstrike at weak. Therefore at the beginning when you want to grow your business you don't neet to challange stronger rivals at first, you have to grow first by challanging the weak rivals in the busin...

A Freudian Perspective of Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- GCSE English

Macbeth:   A Freudian Perspective   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Macbeth and Lady Macbeth   We may take as an example of a person who collapses on reaching success, after striving for it with single-minded energy, the figure of Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth. Beforehand there is no hesitation, no sign of any internal conflict in her, no endeavour but that of overcoming the scruples of her ambitious and yet tender-minded husband. She is ready to sacrifice even her womanliness to her murderous intention, without reflecting on the decisive part which this womanliness must play when the question afterwards arises of preserving the aim of her ambition, which has been attained through a crime.    Analytic work has no difficulty in showing us that it is forces of conscience which forbid the subject to gain the long-hoped-for advantage from the fortunate change in reality. It is a difficult task, however, to discover the essence and origin of these judging and punishing trends, which so often surprise us by their existence where we do not expect to find them. For the usual reasons I shall not discuss what we know or conjecture on the point in relation to cases of clinical observation, but in relation to figures which great writers have created from the wealth of their knowledge of the mind. We may take as an example of a person who collapses on reaching success, after striving for it with single-minded energy, the figure of Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth. Beforehand there is no hesitation, no sign of any internal conflict in her, no endeavour but that of overcoming the scruples of her ambitious and yet tender-minded husband. She is ready to sacrifice even her womanliness to her murderous intention, without reflecting on the decisive part which this womanl... ... Die Braut von Messina, III v. Strachey and Tyson (eds.).   Ã‚   Endnote 2 Cf. Macbeth, Act III, sc. I: Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, And put a barren sceptre in my gripe, Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, No son of mine succeeding ...   Ã‚   Endnote 3 As is Richard III's wooing of Anne beside the bier of the King whom he has murdered.   Ã‚   Endnote 4 Freud had already suggested this in the first edition of The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), Standard Edition, IV 266. Strachey and Tyson (eds.).   Ã‚   Endnote 5 This does not appear to have been published. In a later paper on Macbeth Jekels (1917) barely refers to this theory, apart from quoting the present paragraph. In a still later paper, on The Psychology of Comedy, Jekels (1926) returns to the subject, but again very briefly. Strachey and Tyson (eds.).     

Effects of Technology on the Hr Function Essay

Critically analyse the ways in which the increasing application of technology at work have an effect upon the HR function. The use of technology within HRM has grown considerably within recent years with the majority of large organisations now using technology of some form within their HR function (CIPD, 2005). As HR becomes increasingly reliant on technology it is important to assess its effect upon the HR function. Firstly, consideration will be given to definition of terms along with a description of the uses of technology within the HR function. Next the change in the structure of the HR profession that has developed alongside the emerging and growing use of technology will be addressed. The goals of the use of technology which have been afforded a significant amount of attention within the literature will then be outlined along with consideration of the realisation of these goals. In addition, the effect of shared service centres, which make significant use of technology, upon t he role of HR practitioners will be addressed in conjunction with the views of HR practitioners themselves. Whilst little attention has been given to the situating of the use of technology in HR within a wider sociological perspective in the academic literature, an attempt will be made to consider the effect of technology upon HR within such a debate. Finally, conclusions will be drawn as to the impact of the use of technology upon the HR function. It is firstly important to consider what is meant by the use of technology within the HR function. The term e-HRM is frequently used to refer to the use of technology within the HR function. The use of e-HRM varies enormously within organisations and may be used for different purposes (Parry et al. 2007). The term Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is also used to refer to any system that helps an organisation to â€Å"acquire, store, manipulate, analyse, retrieve and distribute information about an organisation’s human resources† (Tannenbaum, 1990, p.28). However, the use of technology within HR is broader than the use of HRIS and may encompass manager and employee self-service, the use of staff intranets and e-enabled processes such and recruitment and performance management amongst others (Reilly, 2012). It is acknowledged that some current research focuses on the more recent developments in web-based technology, collectively referred to as social media technologies or Web 2.0 (see Reddington, 2012). However, the use of Web 2.0 is outwith the focus of this discussion. HRIS was originally used for standardising the gathering of information about and for employees (Kovach et al. 2002). However, the use of HRIS has subsequently developed and is now used more broadly for purposes such as recruitment and selection, learning and development, administration of flexible benefits and performance appraisal (Grensing-Pophal, 2001) or to manage HR and employee information across the whole employment cycle (Parry et al. 2007). Technology has also been increasingly associated with supporting integrated call centres, shared service centres and the use of manager and employee self-service (CIPD, 2007). There is a great emphasis in the literature about the potential goals of e-HRM (Marler, 2009; Ruel, Bondarouk and Looise, 2004). However, there has been less emphasis on whether these goals have been realised in reality (Parry and Tyson, 2011; Strohmeier, 2007). Alongside the development and increasing use of technology is the development and changing role of the HR function itself. Traditionally the HR function has been seen as being a largely administrative function, focussed on administrative processes such as the maintenance of employee and payroll records (CIPD, 2007). It would appear that in its search for identity and the resulting proposed need for transformation of the function (Ulrich, 1997), HR has made use of technology to attempt to facilitate this transformation (Shirvastava and Shaw, 2003). Ulrich (1997) has argued that HRM should become a strategic business partner, in addition to performing roles as administrative expert, change agent and employee champion. It has been suggested that the use of technology within the HR function may create the opportunity for HR to become more strategic by freeing up time through the automation of many administrative tasks (Parry et al. 2007). The provision of accurate and detailed information available through the use of HRIS could also enable HR practitioners to engage in a more strategic role as such data could be used to inform managerial decisions. The move to new service delivery models of HR and the development of technology can be seen as interdependent as without increasingly sophisticated technology the various elements of HR service delivery may not be as effective (Reddington, 2012). Drivers for introduction of technology can be described as being operational, relational or transformational (Kettley and O’ Reilly, 2003; Snell, Stueber and Lepak, 2002) Operational goals can be described as having a focus on reducing the administrative burden of HR and cost effectiveness, whilst enhancing the accuracy of data; relational goals relate to improving services for internal customers due to reported low levels of satisfaction with the HR function (Kyprianou, 2008) and transformational goals address the strategic aims of the business (Lepak and Snell, 1998; Martin et al. 2008). These drivers of e-HRM can be seen as addressing either transactional or transformational goals (Martin et al. 2008). Transactional goals relate to operational efficiencies or improved service delivery. There is talk of liberating HR through technology (Shirvastava and Shaw 2003) although this strong statement is qualified by the requirement that it informates as opposed to automates HR proc esses. The distinction between automating and informating is made by Zuboff (1988) whereby automating relates to increasing efficiency through computerising work processes and procedures with decreasing dependence on human skills. In contrast, informating refers to increasing effectiveness through acquiring information by using information technology and using that information to create new knowledge. Automating could be seen as relating to addressing operational goals whereas informating could potentially address the relational and transformational goals through provision of information to inform decisions and strategy. Despite the attention to the promise of technology in transforming the HR function, much less attention has been given to the impact of technology on the HR function and whether or not the highly prized strategic orientation of HR has been achieved (Lepak and Snell, 1998, Shrivastava and Shaw, 2003). Studies that relate to whether e-HRM is achieving its operational goals provide some mixed results (Strohmeier, 2007). In practice it would appear that HRIS is having a slightly better (but not statistically significant) impact in areas of information processing, for example improving the speed that information is available and the quality of the information available than in economic terms, such as reducing headcount, lowering operational costs and improving productivity and profitability (CIPD, 2005). However, within this survey, in a third of cases the reduction in administrative burden was less than was to be expected. Stronger support for the operational impact of e-HRM comes from analysis of 10 case studies by Parry et al. (2007) which showed that technology can lead to faster and more efficient processes, greater accuracy and consistency as well as a reduction in costs. A number of other studies also provide some evidence of the impact of technology on operational efficiency ( Marler, 2009; Ruel, Bondarouk and Looise, 2004; Ruta, 2005). However, it may be that some caution needs to be exercised in drawing conclusions on the impact of e-HRM in this area as it may be that the efficiencies achieved within the HR function are simply moved elsewhere within the organisation as the responsibility for some tasks is moved from HR to line managers or employees (Ruel, Bondarouk and Looise, 2004). There is some positive evidence for the relational impact of e-HRM, notably improvements in HR service delivery achieved through the increased accuracy of data or by simplification of processes (Gardener, Lepak and Bartol, 2003). However, the relational impact of e-HRM appears to have been granted little attention in the literature (Strohmeir, 2007). Whether technology has led to a transformational impact on the HR function appears even less clear than the impact it has had on transactional processes. Despite the identification by many organisations of transformational drivers being important in the adoption of e-HR (Watson Wyatt, 2002; Yeung and Brockbank, 1995) it would seem that the issue of whether e-HRM supports a transformation of the HR function into a strategic business partner is only â€Å"parenthetically addressed† (Strohmeir, 2007, p.28). Indeed, Bondarouk and Ruel (2009, p.508) state â€Å"organisations are definitely silent about whether their HR departments become more strategic with e-HRM†. Where evidence is presented it is contradictory in nature. It would seem that in some cases technology has not led to a more strategic orientation of the HR function and has been used mainly for automating operational processes (Burbach and Dundon, 2005; Dery, Grant and Wiblen, 2009; Kinnie and Arthurs, 1993; Tansley et al. 2001). Indeed, Broderick and Boudreau (1992) found that most organisations have only used technology to support a narrow range of administrativ e decisions, resulting in efficiencies in managing information but that the potential competitive advantage of technology has not been exploited. In contrast, other studies have offered some evidence that e-HRM has supported the strategic integration of HR with business strategy (Olivas-Lujan, Ramirez and Zapata-Cantu, 2007; Ruel, Bondarouk and Looise, 2004; Teo, Soon and Fedric, 2001) More recent research has provided some anecdotal evidence for a move towards a more strategic role (Parry and Tyson, 2011) although the evidence supporting the transformational impact compared with the operational and relational appeared to be the weakest. It would appear that there is far greater attention in the literature to the potential for e-HRM to have an impact in the three areas outlined above than there is accorded to the actual outcomes (Shrivastava and Shaw, 2003; Strohmeir, 2007). The reorganisation of the HR function and the introduction of shared service centres appears to have had an impact on numbers of on-site HR staff and a reduction in the number of HR staff to employees (Francis and Keegan, 2006). The operation of such shared service centres relies on technology that is characterised by formalisation, routinisation and centralisation resulting in an impact on staffing of such centres, which require specialised but generally low level HR administrators (Martin and Reddington, 2009). Research that addresses the issue of how HR practitioners have viewed the increasing use of technology appears to be limited to date. There is evidence that some practitioners may view the use of technology and an associated increase in the use of shared service centres cautiously because it has resulted in a reduction of face-to-face relationships, which is often the reason individuals cite for choosing a career in HR (Francis and Keegan, 2006). Martin and Reddington (2009) suggest that the significant role of technology within shared service centres will lead to a lowering of the status of those employed in such environments especially when compared to the status of HR business partners. It is arg ued that there is a risk of deskilling within the administrative function of HR and that staff may be confined to more routine tasks where they had previously had a wider role (Reilly, 2000). It is also suggested that within shared service centres different skills may be required and staff may be employed who have customer service skills but who do not necessarily have a background in HR as technical knowledge can be learned whereas the right attitudes may be harder to learn (Parry et al. 2007; Reilly, 2000). In addition to this, there is evidence that suggests that there a perception amongst HR practitioners of an increasing distance between those at the top and bottom of the career ladder and that people from outwith the HR function are â€Å"parachuting† into the top jobs (Francis and Keegan, 2006). This effect could possibly be explained by the requirement of new areas of expertise, such as technical, consultancy and project management skills (Parry and Tyson, 2011), which may require developing within HR practitioners and could possibly result in recruiting from outside the profession. Indeed a number of reports emphasise the skills of HR staff as a significant barrier to transformation of the HR function (see Reilly, 2012). The debate on the use of technology within HRM can also be situated within a wider sociological perspective. Whilst the sociological literature appears to focus mainly on the use of technology within manufacturing environments or of computerisation in general as opposed to within the HR function an attempt to situate the effect of technology upon HR could be made in terms of attempting to assess the effect upon the organisation of the function and the impact on the level of skills required. The attempts to understand the impact of technology upon the organisation of work have resulted in divergent views. The debate focuses mainly on two opposing views. The managerialist and essentially optimistic perspective associated with writers such as Blauner (1964) argues that the application of technology will render obsolete routine and more manual jobs and create more skilled and complex opportunities resulting in an overall effect of â€Å"upskilling†, along with organisations characterised by decentralised structures, reduction in hierarchy, increased worker autonomy and a prevalence of knowledge workers (for example, Attewell, 1992; Piore and Sabel, 1984) Such analysis suggests that in the earlier phases of industrialisation advances in technology tended to reduce skills and devalue work but that more recent technological developments have had the opposite effect. Examination of the increasing use of technology and its impact on skills levels has provided some evidence for a raising of skills levels (Daniel, 1987, Gaillie, 1991) In contrast, labour process theorists have argued that technological changes have a degrading effect on work and result in â€Å"deskilling† of the labour process and reduced worker autonomy, with a centralised, neo-Taylorist form of organisation, with separation of conception from execution (for example, Braverman, 1974; Zimbalist, 1979). The issues of the expansion of non-manual work and the apparent rising skills levels as suggested by formal skills gradings are not inconsistent with the labour process perspective (Gaillie, 1991) who argues that non-manual work has undergone a major transformation, r esulting in work that is increasingly routinized and mechanised (supported by the increase in office automation). From such a perspective non-manual workers are no longer accorded their relatively privileged position and are now accorded a similar level of skills as manual workers. Support for the process of deskilling can be found in many analyses of the effects of computerised technology (Meiksins, 1994) Analysis of the experience of employees within the call centre environment emphasises the process of deskilling (Desai, 2010) which is described by Taylor and Bain (1999, p.109) as a situation of â€Å"an assembly-line in the head†. The impacts of such call centre roles are often high turnover rates and high levels of absence (Ackroyd, Gordon-Dseagu and Fairhurst, 2006) and the effect on employees is outlined by Rose and Wright (2005, pp.156-157): â€Å"low skilled call centre jobs allied with high levels of technological and management controls do not contribute towards employee well-being and satisfaction† This account of the impact of technology resonates with the description above of shared service centres whose result has been the deskilling of the administrative function of HR and the recruitment of those who do not have a background in HR (Martin and Reddington, 2009; Reilly, 2000). However, whilst it could be argued that a labour process perspective accounts for the effects of technology on some aspects of the HR function, it does not address the effect on the function as a whole as it does not appear to account for the strategic end of the spectrum, where it seems that business partner roles are accorded status and prestige along with substantially increased salaries (Francis and Reddington, 2006). The role of business partners cannot easily be reconciled with the notion of deskilling. There has been a tendency to view the classification of either upskilling or deskilling as too simplistic and some writers have moved away from this conceptualisation of work by postulating that instead there is an increasing polarisation of the workforce in terms of skill level with at one end, highly skilled workers with high levels of autonomy and at the other end a lower skilled sector characterised by an intensification of work through deskilling and management control (Edw ards, 1979), who can be dispensed if surplus to requirements (Berger and Piore, 1981). This polarisation of the workplace appears to be a better reflection of the changing HR function with the autonomous business partner role, with the accompanying perception of a high level of skill and status at one end of the spectrum and at the opposite end, the shared service centre roles characterised by routine and deskilling. In relation to professional work, there is some argument that professionals have not been adversely affected by computerisation and continue to be accorded high status and prestige (Friedson, 1984, 1986). In contrast, it is argued that technology may have differing effects on professionals, depending on the relative status of the profession and on the status of individuals within the profession (Burris, 1998). It is argued that alongside polarisation of the workplace, there tends to be poorer career prospects for non-expert workers (Baran, 1987; Hodson, 1988) with higher level posts being filled from outwith the organisation (Hodson, 1988; Burris 1983,a,b) This issue within HR is highlighted by Reilly (2000) who suggests that there may be less opportunity for career development if lower level staff do not build the experience that they would gain in more generalist roles in traditional HR functions. As stated earlier, there also appears to be a perception that the higher status business partner roles are at least sometimes being filled not just from outwith the organisation but from outwith the HR profession (Francis and Reddington, 2006). Whilst the issue of the impact of technology upon the HR function appears to have been given little attention within research (Lepak and Snell, 1998; Shrivastava and Shaw, 2003) it would seem that what discussion there has been relates mainly to the promise of technology in transforming the HR function and facilitating a more strategic orientation. The reality of the impact of technology in achieving an impact in operational, relational and transformational areas is much less clear although evidence would suggest that the greatest impact is in achieving operational efficiencies. Alongside the development of the use of technology has been the reorganisation of the HR function. Although there has been little attempt to consider the impact of technology from a sociological perspective, it can be argued that the increasing use of technology, which has been used to support the shared service centre model may be resulting in a deskilling of an element of the HR profession and reducing career development paths for some practitioners. In addition, there appears to be a change in skills viewed as necessary within this function, with a focus on customer service skills as opposed to specialist HR knowledge. In contrast, although the evidence for a transformational impact of technology upon HR is weaker and more contradictory, there would appear to be a perception of a higher status role in the business partner, with accordingly higher remuneration, thus demonstrating a polarisation of the HR function in terms of both skills and status. However, this reorganisation of the HR function and the development of a more strategic orientation, which it is argued can be facilitated by the increasing use of technology, although being seen as having an upskilling effect on those in a more strategic role could be argued as achieving the opposite effect if the result is recruiting from outwith the profession. This could leave HR professionals in a precarious position in terms of career and skill development, which could at least in part be attributed to the effect of technology as without increasingly sophisticated technology the new models of service delivery may not be possible or at least may not be as effective. Whilst, a lack of academic attention to the actual impact of technology on the HR function requires that caution is exercised in drawing conclusions, the tendency to focus on the potential impact of technology could be followed in suggesting that the potential of technology in facilitating the move to a transformation of the HR function may be to tend towards a degradation of the HR profession, with low skilled staff employed in shared service centres and more highly skilled and valued business partners being recruited from outwith the HR profession. However, without significant further research in the area, in particular on the impact of technology and the accompanying change in service delivery models upon the career paths and development opportunities for HR practitioners, this conclusion remains just a potential. References Ackroyd, K., Gordon-Dseagu, V. and Fairhurst, P. (2006) â€Å"Well-being and call centres†, Institute of Employment Studies, Brighton [online]. Available at: http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pdflibrary/mp69.pdf (Accessed 21st November 2012) Attewell, P. (1992) â€Å"Skill and occupational changes in U.S. manufacturing† in Technology and the future of work, P.S. Adler, New York, Oxford University Press. Baran, B. (1987) â€Å"The technological transformation of white collar work†, in Computer chips and paper clips, vol 2, H. Hartmaan, ed., Washington DC, National Academy Press. Berger, S. and Piore, M. (1981) Dualism and discontinuity in industrial societies, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Blauner, R. (1964) Alienation and freedom, Chicago, IL, University Chicago Press Bondarouk, T.V. and Ruel, H.J.M. (2009) â€Å"Electronic human resource management: challenges in the digital era†, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20 (3), pp. 505-514. [online]. Available at: http://ezproxy.napier.ac.uk:2343/doi/pdf/10.1080/09585190802707235 (Accessed 10th November 2012) Braverman, H. (1974) Labor and Monopoly Capital, New York, Monthly Review Press Broderick, R. and Boudreau, J.W. (1992) â€Å"Human resource management, information technology and the competitive edge†, Academy of Management Perspectives, 6 (2), pp. 7-17. [online]. Available at: http://ezproxy.napier.ac.uk:2334/docview/210521060/fulltext PDF/13A99A5CA0029773271/6?accountid=16607 (Accessed 21st November 2012) Burbach, R. and Dundon, T. (2005) â€Å"The strategic potential of human resource information systems: Evidence from the Republic of Ireland†, International Employment Relations Review, 11 (1/2), pp. 97-117. [online]. Available at: http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=164472644509297;res=IELBUS (Accessed 21st November 2012) Burris, B.H. (1983a) No room at the top, New York, Praeger Burris, B.H. (1998) â€Å"Computerisation of the workplace†, Annual Review of Sociology, 24, pp. 141-157. [online]. Available at: http://ezproxy.napier.ac.uk:2334/docview/199730349/fulltextPDF/13A94B0278177DBCD7E/8?accountid=16607 (Accessed 10th November 2012) CIPD (2005) People management and technology: progress and potential, London, CIPD. CIPD (2007) HR and Technology: beyond delivery, London, CIPD Daniel, W.W. (1987) Workplace industrial relations and technological change, London, Frances Pinter. Dery, K., Grant, D. and Wiblen, S. (2009) Human resource information systems (HRIS): replacing or enhancing HRM, Paper presented at the 15th World Congress of the International Industrial Relations Association. [online] Available at:http://sydney.edu.au/business/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/72273/IIRA_Dery_et_al_HRIS_Replacing_or_enhancing_HRM_final.pdf (accessed 10th November 2012)

History of Marie Antoinette as a Leader Essay

  Marie Antoinette has acquired a rather bad legacy in world history. She was the Archduchess of Austria, the Queen of France, and the fifteenth child of Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria. She was also the wife of King Louis XVI, the unpopular king of France. She was also the lucrative symbol of taste, power, and notoriety. Indeed, one when servant said, â€Å"the people of Paris are rioting because they have no bread,’ Marie Antoinette replied ‘Then, they should eat cake. ’ Marie Antoinette’s Austrian origin had made her an easy target of the revolutionaries who accused the royal family of treason. Many of the king’s decision and some of the ministers were heavily influenced by the queen. One such example was the king’s decision to remove Jacques Necker as minister of finance. The libelles accused the queen of having illegitimate sexual encounters with several lovers – a violation of state and church law. These accusations reflected the image of the Crown and in general the legitimacy of the ruling dynasty. Indeed, throughout France, the queen’s name was synonymous with disgust and luxury. The queen however was a leader cloaked in notoriety. As Larry Wolff argued: Precisely the qualities that were making Marie Antoinette into an emblem of decadence for the ancient regime had been realized on the brink of the French Revolution. The queen led by notoriety and abuse, whilst the king led by example and authority. Indeed, Marie Antoinette was not only the symbol of hatred and disgust, she was in essence the manifestation of such qualities (25). As a woman, Marie Antoinette was initially a person of integrity. When Maria Antoine became the only potential bride in the family, Empress Maria Theresa was generally dismayed. Marie Antoine had a cracked smile, due perhaps to the irregularity of her teeth. The empress commissioned a French doctor to perform some painful oral surgeries. After several months, France and Austria set a large dowry for Marie Antoinette. On the 7th of May 1770, Marie Antoinette was handed to the French monarchy. Madame Antoine showed great interest in the marriage, as it was the only way to forge a powerful alliance between the two great powers. Reaction to the marriage was initially mixed. The would-be-queen was popular among the French public. Indeed, her first appearance in the French capital was considered a success. At court, Marie Antoinette was not very popular. The nobles called Marie Antoinette ‘the Austrian woman. ’ Prominent officials of the court accused the queen of attempting to bend the king to Austria’s interests. The queen was frivolous of French politics. Indeed, in a letter to Empress Maria Theresa, her mother, she said: Madame, my very dear mother, I am delighted that Lent has not damaged your health. Mine is still rather good. The same can be said of my husband and the public. I am very grateful that the French people have accepted me as their queen. My joy is politics. Politics is what drives the kingdom into excitement and prejudice (32). Marie Antoinette’s relationship with the mistress of Louis VX was not very good. The mistress, Madame du Barry influenced the king to remove duc de Choiseul from power. Marie Antoinette spoke to Madame du Barry to resolve the crisis. After their conversation, the mistress was satisfied and the crisis over. The king, Louis XV, was pleased with Marie Antoinette. The influence of the Dauphine increased dramatically after the crisis. Marie Antoinette’s anxiety forced her to spend more on fashion and gambling. She spent mindlessly on clothing, special trips, shoes, and perfumes. She also developed intimate friendships with the ladies of the court. The princess de Lamballe became the Superintendent of the Household; the duchesse de Polignac became the Governess of the royal children; the comtesse de Provence became the teacher of the royal children. On the 27th of April 1774, the king fell ill. Marie Antoinette pressured the king to send his mistress away from Versailles. On the 10th of May, the king died of smallpox. The Dauphin was crowned King Louis XVI of France at Rheims. Marie Antoinette, unfortunately, was not crowned queen. Marie Antoinette became more and more desperate after the comtesse d’Artois gave birth to a son. The queen plunged into a spending spree – buying clothes from prominent dressmakers from Paris and gambling. The queen also attracted admirers from the king’s court. Louis XVI gave Marie Antoinette a duty. She was given responsibility to renovate the Petit Trianon. She ordered the construction of an elaborate garden with an arboretum of exotic species. Madame de Pompadour became one of the queen’s closest friends. With the consent of the king, the queen instituted several changes in the court. The queen abolished segregated dining spaces in the court and abandoned heavy make-up and widehooped panniers. The queen also participated in plays and musicals. She was very fond of acting and singing. She also started to influence the appointment of officials in the state. The Marquis de Castries and the Comte de Segur became minister of the navy and minister of war respectively. Unknown to many, their appointments were approved by Jacques Necker, the finance minister. On the 29th of November 1780, Empress Maria Theresa, the queen’s mother, died. Marie Antoinette was worried that the death of her mother would destroy the Franco-Austrian alliance. She sent a letter to Emperor Joseph to request an assurance that Austria had no intention of leaving the alliance. The success of Marie Antoinette’s correspondence saved the country from embarrassment. The king rewarded her with precious items for her services to the French nation. She soon gave birth to a male heir – the Dauphin. However, after the death of her mother, Marie Antoinette was semi-retired from politics. The king shelved the queen from the affairs of the court. Indeed, the king rarely talked to the queen about official policy. As a mother, Marie Antoinette devoted so much time for the royal children. She would tirelessly look after her children and even the children of her courtiers. The queen also read famous historical novels as well as Rousseau’s political philosophy. The queen developed an appetite for leaning the English language. On the 27th of March 1785, the queen gave birth to a second son. There were, of course, suspicions of infidelity. The image of a conspicuous, hard-headed, and spendthrift queen was becoming a public expression. A second daughter was born two years later. According to Wolff and Hubert, Marie Antoinette was a concocted image of power (92). She was the power behind the throne, not in its classic sense. Her actions were beyond the reprove of the king. Indeed, her actions proved detrimental to the king’s position. She also played one minister against another in an attempt to strengthen her own position. It is not a classic expression of power play, but a magnified reaffirmation of the queen’s uncertain position. The queen, above all, was never deterred by the intensity of French politics. She was politically independent. An example of such instance was her management of the Trianon. According to Sheriff: From the moment she was in possession of the petit Trianon, it was spread about in some societies that she had changed the name of the pleasure pavilion that the king had just given her and had substituted that of little Vienna or little Schonbrunn. A man of court, simple enough to believe the rumor and desiring to enter into her society at the petit Trianon wrote to M. Campan to ask permission of the queen. He had in his letter called Trianon little Vienna (61). During the French Revolution, the queen’s extraordinary qualities as a ‘born’ politician and power player began to emerge gradually. She sent letters to the German and Austrian monarchs to restore Louis XVI to the throne. She also sent correspondence to the British prime minister, enumerating the dangers of the Revolution. From time to time, she was actively involved in conspiracy. When she was about to be beheaded, she remarked with haste ‘Long Live the Bourbon dynasty. From a historical perspective, Marie Antoinette was an effective leader in its classic sense. Her power plays were not without purpose. Indeed, her influence was based on pure politics and charisma. Works Cited Sheriff, Mary. ‘Portrait of a Queen. ’ Marie Antoinette: Writings on the body of a Queen. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 2008. Wolff, Larry. ‘Hapsburg Letters. ’ Marie Antoinette: Writings on the body of a Queen. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 2008. Wolff, L and G. Hubert. The Monarchy in Flames. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Investment Arbitration: Thesis Proposals Essay

I. Implications of Naming a Most Favorable Nation in International Investment Contract Disputes a. What is meant by clauses containing the assignment of jurisdiction to the Most Favorable Nation? b. How does this affect international relations? c. What is the present validity of such contract clauses? d. What are some known instances of Most Favorable Nation clauses being accepted or rejected? e. If surveyed, what are people’s perspectives on the naming of a Most Favorable Nation? II. Investments to Widow of Deceased Husband: Her Stepchildren’s Argument a. What is fair is the allocation of investments to the widow of a deceased husband when he attributes them to her? b. What are some arguments which may be posed by his children, her stepchildren? c. Would it be fair to divide the investments between all parties? d. How could one assert the rationale that the investments belong solely to the wife, the named inheritor? e. If surveyed, what are people’s perspectives regarding the inheritance rights of family members? III. International Investment Arbitration: One Judicial Oversight a. What is the rationale for having one international judiciary for resolving investment disputes? b. How would regional judiciaries do a better job than one international judiciary? c. What would become of US city, state, and national laws with the intrusion of a larger judicial body? d. Would individual freedom and democracy be affected negatively by one world judiciary? e. If surveyed, what are people’s perspectives regarding many regional judiciaries versus one international judiciary?

Penn Foster Journal Enteries

That decomposing bodies can bring disease. Many religions turned such b when church and state were homogeneous. Modern medicinal technology allows for the harvesting of organs from a corpse, and the successful implantation of that organ into a living human being. Why is that worse than letting that same organ decompose? Treating our dead with respect and reverence is a beautiful characteristic of any society. By honoring the dead we are cherishing the memory of our loved ones, following paradigms of our various belief systems, and honoring the radiations of previous generations.None of those are time valued traditions hold their value if we do not put a higher value on our living than our dead. Our societies need to move forward, and let go of archaic belief systems that hinder our society and hold our citizens health hostage. Reflect If feel that my attitude to writing is relatively the same. My knowledge about writing though has increased substantially throughout this process.I fee l a lot of growth has happened as I have made my way through this Journey. I know a little bit more about my writing style. I have also learned many essay writing techniques that will prove invaluable as I continue my academic and professional careers. I think I could improve as a writer, by being more patient and allowing more time for my ideas to form. Some I am very thankful for the educational opportunity the English module at Penn Foster College has provided.