Monetary Policy & International Finance and the Exchange Rate Essay

Monetary Policy & International Finance and the Exchange Rate - Essay Example The supply curve analysis indicates that an increase in the amount of nonborrowed reserves implies there will be right shift in the supply curve. The implication is that the governemnt funds rate will not rise any further and a constant value may be achieved. As a result, the open market purchase will result into a rise in the monetary base and hence the monetary supply. The central bank uses rediscount operations which allows the banks to borrow from the central as part of its checks and measures on economic stability. While this approach is crucial for ensuring that there is no economic recession, there is evidence that there is danger when the central banks lends to other banks. One problem with this operation is that it prevents banks that would have failed from failing. While the failure of bank may be a sign of economic instability, there are many other causes for the collapse of banks. For instance, poor management strategies within a bank may result to its failure (Kashyap & Stein, 2004). While there is need to support banks and to prevent them from collapsing, there are times when lending to such banks does not solve the problem. Banks that have weak management should be streamline their operation rather than lend them, an approach that may not its problems. Therefore lending to banks that are in the verge of collapsing poses danger to the public as they feel that such a bank is stable while it dependent on borrowing. III. Compare the use of open-market-operations, central bank lending facilities (rediscounting), and changes in reserve requirements to control the money supply on the following criteria: flexibility, reversibility, effectiveness, and speed of implementation. The open-market operations are one of the most flexible approaches of controlling the money supply. Since this method is under the control of the government, it is possible to use it to fine tune the market and to achieve

A Case Study Of Apple Inc

A Case Study Of Apple Inc In the course of this paper, the author discusses about the practices of Reverse Logistics in Enterprise with Apple Inc being the case study of this discussion. This course work will be focusing on the key characteristics, benefits, implementation issues, barriers to implementation and risks of the practice. All the practices of reverse logistics would be correlated with the case study so a clear understanding is achieved on how reverse logistics really works, also a brief history of the case study is discussed herein. In previous years Reverse Logistics has been side lined and never given a serious thought, companies/organizations did not welcome the idea until recently, this was due to the fact that its introduction and implementation was perceived as a cumbersome, mainly because of its broad impact on environmental and human health (Rogers and Tibben Lembke, 1999). However today this is not the case as consumer electronics firms such as Apple, Samsung, Panasonic, Philips, Sony, etc. are now in stiff competition with each because they all practice a well organised reverse logistics scheme, this is so because such companies have come to a realisation that reverse logistics really does work boost profits, profits being the ultimate goal for every company. Furthermore firms that have not embraced and accepted the importance of an effective RL program are at very high risk of harming their organisations reputation and customers. However before one can understand the term Reverse Logistics we must first know and understand what Logistics is and what it is really all about. Gen.3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW Logistics is the planning and management of the flow of resources between the initial point of manufacture to the final point of sale or destination. These resources can be from manufacture, production, packaging, inventory, transportation, warehousing, information flow etc. (Council of logistics management, 2004) Logistics simply emphasizes the movement of products from one stage to the other (manufactures to customers), it has a number of fields but in the course of this work we will look at just one which is Reverse Logistics. Reverse Logistics is very similar to Logistics, as all the afore mentioned processes are carried out the only difference being that the activities or processes take place in the reverse or opposite direction. Reverse logistics according to Aviral Gupta 2009 can be explained in two simple steps: 1. Removal of new or used products from their original point in a supply chain and this includes, returns from consumers, over stocked inventory, or redundant merchandise. 2. Redistributing products using product return management procedure that will result in maximized value at the end of the products original useful life. Reverse Logistics is the process of removing original or used products from consumers back to the manufacturer; it is the process of moving goods from their typical final destination for the purpose of re-capturing value, recycling or proper disposal. It is the process of removing new, old, unwanted or used products from one point to another, for the purpose of revalue or proper disposal. (REVLOG, 2004) Reverse Logistics is basically the process of returning a faulty, defective or no longer in use products from the customer to the manufacturer in order to recapture value, for example if one was to recycle a bottle or a piece of paper that is taking part in the reverse logistics process. 1.3 PRM and SPM The two important points within any reverse logistics process come under the areas of products return management (PRM) and service parts management (SPM). PRM is based on the receiving, processing, and nature of product that come back from the customer to the manufacturer, while the service part management focuses on having the right inventory and management at the appropriate location to support service repair operations with spare parts. An effective PRM programme offers the possibility for value improvement and cost reduction. (Michael, 2012) CHARACTERISTICS OF REVERSE LOGISTICS Some of the characteristics of a good reverse logistics process are: A reverse logistics operation must have suitable collection and service support points to receive the used products from the customer. Packaging and storage systems must ensure that the remaining value in the used product is not lost due to careless or poor handling. The transportation mode must be compatible with existing forward logistic system. Disposition includes returning goods to storage warehouses, returning goods to the original manufacturer, selling goods in secondary markets, recycling, to get maximum value realization. Landfill has to do with disposal of products or parts that cannot be used. (Aviral,2009) Below is a cycle of the process of reverse logistics. Customer Production Dept Packaging Dept Distributor Testing Disassembling Service Support Receiving Dept Re-use/Re-sell Recycling Remanufacturing Figure 1.1 The cycle explains that the product comes from the customer and goes back to the manufacturer. The customer returns the product, the product goes either to the distributor or the service and support department this then goes to the test and disassembling department when it is tested and when the problem has been diagnosed it goes to the remanufacturing department it is either the product is refurbished and re-sold or recycled and most times when the products cannot be recycled it has to be disposed of (Landfill). Regardless of the issues all products need to be collected and sorted before transporting to the next phase. People return goods for various reasons and these reasons are stated below: Commercial Returns- customers dissatisfaction or due to catalogue sales. Repairable Returns- if the product has defective components. End-of-Use Returns- when the components are no longer useful to the original owner but can be useful to another person. E.g. trade-in End-of-Life Returns- Recalled by the manufacturer LeBlanc, H.M in his PhD thesis stated that there are 5 stages in the processing of returned goods, which are: Product Acquisition Collection sorting, testing Disposition Recovering Redistribution sales. This also agrees with the process in fig 1.1 BENEFITS OF REVERSE LOGISTICS Reverse Logistics is beneficial to both customers and manufacturers, below are some benefits of reserve logistics. (Liz et al, 2000) Consistency Transport costs Improved customer service Labour saving and expertise Increased flexibility and agility through management by exception Improved partner retention and satisfaction. More key benefits are improved inventory management and high revenue by offering new products in place of the old one. (Aviral, 2009).Reverse logistics is a tool to cut cost and improve customer satisfaction; it is also a competitive strategy. The drivers of reverse logistics can act as both benefits/incentive and as barriers depending on the company. BARRIERS TO REVERSE LOGISTICS There are several reasons and explanations why companies in the past did not accept and introduce reverse logistics but today a change in the perception and understanding of RL has been noticed as several companies have not only embraced but also implemented this idea. Change for the better they say is always met with obstacles and barriers, little wonder that such a great idea that would frontier a major positive change production and manufacture has been faced with barrier and implementation issues, it is important to differentiate between these two issues, the main difference being Barriers are legal related whilst implementation issues pertains to issues relating to the company and organization. (Rogers Tibben-Lembke,1999). Some of these barriers are as follows: Legal issues Environmental issues The government has strict rules and regulations about recycling sites and also companies do not want to have to carry the extra burden of paying tax for recycling sites. The major proof of environmental problems comes from the rapid need of waste disposal. Previously the majority of the public wastes disposal was land filled, and this however poses an unacceptable environmental risk because of location of the landfill, which in hindsight have posed hazardous risks to human health through ground water contamination and toxic air emissions. (Gungor, A., Gupta, S. M., 1999) Landfill sites have become a major issue as it pertains to the environment and human health because it has played out that the cons of having a landfill far outweighs its pros, strains on the natural environment as well as sickness from contamination became the order of the day. Hence the government, environmental bodies and individual are very sceptical about Landfill sites. 4.1 ISSUES OF IMPLEMENTATION AND RISKS Lack of publicity and knowledge of Reverse Logistics Under-development of recycling technology Misconception Lack of management attention and company policy Companies with little or no knowledge of reverse logistics think that reverse logistics has a high cost of operation and most of these companies have low financial resources. (Kwok, H U. Yiming, W., 2009) Many companies are of the opinion that returns compared to sales generate little or no money but with the introduction and initiative of the internet, sales returns of goods products by customers have improved. (Anindya R, 2003) Forward logistics systems are not designed for reverse logistics system, some companies do not understand this fact and it leads to poor services and eventually to failure. (Laura M. Joseph S, 2002) Poor inventory deployment is also a factor because if the inventory is not managed and organised properly then companies would not know what is in their inventory and what parts they need to ask their suppliers for, when there is lack of knowledge of reverse logistics then there is bound to be risks of failure. But these issues of implementation to reverse logistics were a traditional way of thinking because these days companies have embraced the practice of reverse logistics. Financial risks are also involved when a company does not have the means and financial status to run a reverse logistics practice, practicing a good and organised forward logistics does not necessarily mean that the same company can manage a successful reverse logistics scheme without adequate knowledge and top management planning. Another issue of implementing reverse logistics is the decision to carry out the operation in-house or to outsource, this decision can be based on a number of factors; Volume: if returned goods are low in number then the need to outsource isnt necessary. Cost-control: if the subcontract can perform the tasks more cost effective then the enterprise in question then the need to outsource can be considered. Complexity of Task: if there are varieties of tasks like inspection, testing, repair, repackaging, recycling, refurbishing etc, all these are time consuming for an enterprise that isnt well into the reverse operation then the enterprise can decide to outsource. Other factors of outsourcing may include: accuracy and data control, security etc. (Jade, 2002) REVERSE LOGISTICS: IMPACT ON THE PERMONANCE OF SUPPLY CHAIN The performance of reverse logistics can directly influence the entire supply chain system (Blumberg, 2005). Reverse logistics is better in information sharing between customer, supplier and manufacturers (Curran Ladd, 2000).It improves the flexibility, reliability of the supply chain system (Chopra Meindl, 2001). It helps in product development, shortened product life and development cycles can help companies to improve on their products and services. Reverse logistics helps in operational excellence and expertise, the management of products from manufacturing and into the closing stage which is sales and brings about cost and efficiency benefits of reverse logistics to the supply chain. The result of reverse logistics improves services to customers and better financial performance for the supply chain as a whole and its members individually, it reduces cost, increases revenue and customer services and help to obtain market advantage. (James, 2007) CASE STUDY: APPLE INC. 6.1 A Brief History: Apple Inc is an American worldwide enterprise which was established on April 1, 1976 and founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne with headquarters in California. According to statistics it is the worlds third largest mobile phone maker after Samsung and Nokia (Linzmayer, 1999). Apple manufactures and sells a variety of electronics computers (Mac), phones (iphones), iPods, ipads, application software printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones etc. It is a highly competitive market. Apples brand is driven by 3 elements: confidence, competence and customers, it sells worldwide through its online stores and retail stores, third-party, resellers etc. Apple sold more than 45 million units of iPod according to their annual sales report in 2007, on May 19, 2001 and it opened its first official Apple retail store in Virginia and California. 6.2 Reverse Logistics Operations: Previously their take-back (reverse logistics) program comprised of 2 methods: Customer drop-off Direct shipment to their centralized return centre When customers drop off the products at the service centres the products are merged before being shipped to the centralized return centre and customers do not have to pay for shipping and handling. In recent times Apple has added an online return system, in which a customer fills out the return form and once the application is completed successfully and it meets all required criteria Apple Inc sends a packaging box for the customer to ship the product back to them for either trade-in or whatever the case maybe. A case was published in an SC Digest about a customer who requested for his defective iPod to be returned online at the Apple website. He keyed in relevant information asked and within 12hours he got a mail from Apple confirming that the product was still under warranty and approving the return. Within 2days Apple delivered via express package service a box for shipping the product back to one of its source centres, within weeks a new iPod was delivered to him.( SC digest, 2009) Basically even if a customer goes to a service and support centre of one of the retail centres and asks for a take back or replace, the product is checked and if it is still under warranty or has a defect it is taken and shipped to the testing and disassembling centre for testing, remanufacturing, recycling or disposal if necessary and the customer does not have to pay for shipment. A personal case happened that a customer went to an Apple retail shop with a defective product for a trade-in, the product was tested and within 1week a new phone was sent to the customer. 6.3 Environmental issues and means of improving For many years Apple has been working on means to minimize the impact their products have on the environment. Their first policy was developed in 1990, since then they have been designing new means of energy efficiency, reducing environmental impact via digital consumption. In 2010 Apple introduced the Apple Battery charger for recharging batteries, instead of the disposal alkaline batteries and this reduces waste by 78%. (Apple Inc, 2012). In recent times Apple faced an enormous number of concerns about toxic pollution and industrial unit accidents at an overseas suppliers factory in China, and that environmental examinations would be separate from an independent investigate of working conditions at the overseas factory of the supplier. Apple Inc reviewed this problem and hopes to make public the results of the review. (Kathy, 2012) Greenpeace international campaigned against Apple on various environmental issues regarding a particular chemical called polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants BFRs toxins in their products, on the 2nd of May 2007 Steve Jobs released a statement announcing the policy to eliminate the toxins by the end of 2008 (Apple Inc, 2008), the enterprise has since eliminated the toxins from their products becoming the first laptop manufacturer to do so. (ABC News, 2007) Because of the issues about landfill sites Apple has devised a means to meet the energy requirements of their landfill site in Carolina using renewable resources. The energy efficient design element of Apples facility will include a construction process that utilizes 14% recycled materials diverted 93% of construction waste from landfill and sourced 41% of purchased materials within 500 miles of the site (Apple,2012). Apple is devoted to protecting and shielding the environment, health and safety of employees, customers; in fact the whole planet from environmental hazards and this is stated in their environment health and safety policy statement. Apple Inc has a life cycle assessment process that evaluates the effect a product has on the environment throughout its life cycle and the objective of the assessment does is to improve resource efficiency while trying at the same time to reduce the impact the product has on the environment during the activities of recycling, manufacturing, re-manufacturing, distribution, usage and disposal. Apple is market driven, has strong leadership, strong direction, and great software support, has a good financial analysis report so the basic implementation issues like financial issues, lack of knowledge of reverse logistics, misconception etc are not factors for Apple as compared to some other companies. 6.4 Success/benefits of implementation. Apple has mastered the act of reverse logistics and they have success stories in the following fields: impact on supply chain management, relative price performance, product quality, reliability, design innovation, marketing and distribution capacity, service and support, corporate reputation, constant development etc (John, 2010) A previous challenge that Apple had was the consumer mindset about environmental issues but the public have a better opinion about Apple products in recent years because of the extent on how Apple has gone to tackle and improve the environmental issues they had in the past. Reverse logistics has helped to improve expertise and also helped to satisfy customers. According to the table below Apple has a 45% inventory return. source:http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/amr-research-apple-has-the-best-supply-chain-dell-no-2/18791 CONCLUSION: In the course of this paper, the author attempted to analyze reverse logistics activities in the manufacturing/ consumer company. There are several issues in the recycling, reuse, refurbishing, or appropriate disposal of products. The primary barrier to the practice of reverse logistics programs in some organisations is lack of knowledge and misconception. The reasons to implement reverse logistics are very basic; to reuse products and salvage redistributing unsold products. Though initial studies indicate that reverse logistics practises once implemented, yield cost-savings, these examples are far and few between as has been seen with the case of Apple Inc. Information Technology plays a vital role in reverse logistics because its applications are used to trace and track the goods and products on their return trip from the customer to the initial point of manufacture. Apple has grasped this fact and it has enabled them operate in the reverse supply chain channels efficiently.

Money Wont Solve the Prolems in Our Public Schools :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument

Money Won't Solve the Prolems in Our Public Schools "Our Public Schools are the worst in the state," I heard someone say. Last year's results of the State Mastery Tests were the lowest ever. Some parents even went as far as calling on the mayor to declare the education system a state of emergency. They complain that the schools in the suburbs have more money to spend on resources than they do. At meetings I hear community members appluad when administrators say that the Board of Education will be getting extra funds to spend per student, but they are all looking in the wrong direction. Money will not change the test scores. Computers will not change students' abilities. Additional books will not suddenly improve mathematics or language skills, but a change in behavior will. It is the attitude of students, mainly their behavior, that results in poor achievement. Too much valuable time is wasted with classroom control. It is difficult trying to teach children who are constantly talking and laughing as if the teacher is not in the room. When they are supposed to be working, some students walk around the room and when scolded by the teacher they pout with ugly looks on their faces and stomp back to their seats. Others purposely rock their chairs disturbing the ones who are trying to work quietly. When teachers have to spend half of the morning trying to control and discipline students, they are then too exhausted and mentally tired to teach with the same enthusiasm they had at the beginning of the day. Therefore students miss out on a high quality lesson and instead receive a watered-down version. Another result of their disruptive behavior is low morale. I once saw two third-grade teachers line up their entire class on the playground and scold them for at least ten minutes. I stood in the distance watching the students squirming, some hanging their heads and some looking as if it was all going in one ear and passing out the other, and I wondered what could have driven those teachers to this point. Sometimes I pass a line of students in the hallway being yelled at because they cannot walk in a neat line from the classroom to the gym without talking loudly or at least two kids ending up in a dispute. The behavior is worse at lunch time. I entered the cafeteria one day and heard a loud banging noise. Money Won't Solve the Prolems in Our Public Schools :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Money Won't Solve the Prolems in Our Public Schools "Our Public Schools are the worst in the state," I heard someone say. Last year's results of the State Mastery Tests were the lowest ever. Some parents even went as far as calling on the mayor to declare the education system a state of emergency. They complain that the schools in the suburbs have more money to spend on resources than they do. At meetings I hear community members appluad when administrators say that the Board of Education will be getting extra funds to spend per student, but they are all looking in the wrong direction. Money will not change the test scores. Computers will not change students' abilities. Additional books will not suddenly improve mathematics or language skills, but a change in behavior will. It is the attitude of students, mainly their behavior, that results in poor achievement. Too much valuable time is wasted with classroom control. It is difficult trying to teach children who are constantly talking and laughing as if the teacher is not in the room. When they are supposed to be working, some students walk around the room and when scolded by the teacher they pout with ugly looks on their faces and stomp back to their seats. Others purposely rock their chairs disturbing the ones who are trying to work quietly. When teachers have to spend half of the morning trying to control and discipline students, they are then too exhausted and mentally tired to teach with the same enthusiasm they had at the beginning of the day. Therefore students miss out on a high quality lesson and instead receive a watered-down version. Another result of their disruptive behavior is low morale. I once saw two third-grade teachers line up their entire class on the playground and scold them for at least ten minutes. I stood in the distance watching the students squirming, some hanging their heads and some looking as if it was all going in one ear and passing out the other, and I wondered what could have driven those teachers to this point. Sometimes I pass a line of students in the hallway being yelled at because they cannot walk in a neat line from the classroom to the gym without talking loudly or at least two kids ending up in a dispute. The behavior is worse at lunch time. I entered the cafeteria one day and heard a loud banging noise.

Distribution of Wealth

Since time immemorial, there is an alarming inequality existing among men. It is ironic how wealth is distributed with apparent discrepancies, resulting to an overwhelming amount of money acquired by some while others remain in the pits of poverty. Perhaps some would perceive the possession of billions of dollars as morally unacceptable, while others would view this as a natural consequence of human nature. It is quite alarming how extreme standards of living is plaguing our society and impairs our basic function as human beings. But this has been the problem since the first existence of man. And perhaps this nothing but a natural tendency, and that the actual nature governing mankind is that there is a law of equity.Individual needs is basically thought to determine his resource acquisition. Or at the very least, it would serve as a baseline or a standard as to how he would lead a decent kind of living. Therefore philosophers and people in general have defined that the needs of soci ety would be the primary established factor for justice and wealth distribution. Are men created equal therefore should not acquire more than his neighbor? Or are men inherently unequal, being that others are superior than the ones next to them?Some ask, â€Å"Is it right that some people have acquired billions of dollars through business dealings while other people live in great poverty?† Two renowned philosophers have shared their views on how the distribution of wealth should be. John Locked said, â€Å"God gave the world to men in common.† He believed that the available property in nature has become the restriction within which man sets his labor and standards of living. It is his belief that each man has his own right to work, to own, to consume, and not to be transgressed.   He further elaborated, â€Å"Which  measure did confine every man’s possession to a very moderate proportion, and such as he might appropriate to himself without injury to anybody , in the first age of the world† (Hutchins 1952, p. 1047).Locke discussed this rule of property, which is â€Å"that every man should have as much as he could make use of† without both inflicting injury towards others and passing judgment on them. It actually was quite ideal and it worked quite successfully in previous times, when there most societies promote freedom and free enterprise. Locke thought that this world could provide enough land for each and every human being who wishes to build a home and that everything that the world holds would have been enough for people to survive had it not been for the invention of money. Because of this, people have become occupied by their ambitions of acquiring more wealth, wealth in the form of imperishable commodities with great excess.There should have been enough resources for everyone to live on, yet these resources seem scarce for most. The world is given to men and therefore each has an equal right to everything the earth could offer. How much a man works would determine how much he earns. His labor would equate his wealth acquisition as his capacity to consume is regulated by his ability to produce. If one has excessive amounts of wealth, then this entails that there is waste. And this waste is a violation of nature’s laws. Because of money, man has become able to accumulate wealth through time, saving inheritance and working for more to bequeath. Because money is not perishable by time, man only keeps on having more of it without any possible limits. Money allows wealth accumulation without causing injury towards others (Hutchins 1952, p. 1047).Rousseau on the other hand, believes that there is an inequitable acquisition of wealth and that men are created unequal. He believes that it is not money itself that is  the cause of the existence of inequality of mankind, but the property itself. He even thought of the first man who has made an enclosure to a piece of land and claimed it his that made others believe him is actually the real founder of civil society. As it has become a right to establish ownership of a property, this wealth amassed makes one to want more and expand what he already owns.Others tend to ignore the poverty that surrounds them, and when asked if they take notice on these, as perceived by Rousseau, they try to not care as it would affect their interests of owning more. They want to protect their possessions from the threats of being attacked or taken. Mankind has established a civil law that they propose is for the purpose of security for everyone, yet the truth is that they only initiate this as to secure their ownership of property and power.This instead results to the violation of the rights of the poor, as it only curtails their chance to improve their standards of living. It actually chains the poor and only makes the rich even wealthier. This consequently lead to the destruction of natural liberty, it only fixed the law of property and inequ ality, and turned transgression into a right, only for the advantage of the few (Hutchins 1952, p. 1048). When others’ are harmed, man is therefore given the â€Å"right to punish the offender, and be executioner of the law of nature† as proposed by Locke.Rousseau believed that it is contrary to nature that only a few should be privileged to have an extensive amount of wealth while others, a multitude of others, are in dire need of the basic necessities of life. This is why he proposed that there should be a government that would repair this and allow each and everyone to be provided with the minimum needs that they have. A â€Å"government should prevent extreme inequalities of fortunes† not by forcibly taking a man’s possession from him,  but instead prevent him from accumulating it. It is more of preventing the people from becoming poor or too rich (Hutchins 1952, p. 1048).It is indeed a fact that each human being should have an equal access to whate ver resource they need. They should be given equal opportunities to survive and to lead a certain standard of living fitting them. Cause I believe that there is indeed inequality and inequity among mankind. Both Locke and Rousseau presented strong thesis on the question of wealth acquisition. Theirs are quite complementary to some degree as they share that each man has a right of property. Each affirmed that the problem of poverty is not a problem that could be easily resolved, nor would there really be a solution to it, once the right of property is admitted. The right of property is said to be sacred and is a basic right of citizenship to a country, yet there is quite a difficulty in securing the property of individuals without attacking it on another.I believe that it is true poverty is an inevitable consequence of property, as war is an inevitable consequence of sovereignty, and in neither case can the cause be abolished. Both proposed that men should be equal, and men should pr event, as asserted by Hegel himself. Men should think that they are equal, as to prevent transgression against each other. But the truth is that everyone is created different, and these differences entail that there are inequalities in abilities and skills among man. But it does not mean that one has a greater importance than the other, they are simply different.But their differences in particular areas mean that it can be in the form of wealth. Men as a whole are equal, but in particular aspects, they are not. And that is the truth that the universe holds. I believe that Rousseau’s proposal of a government safeguarding the interests of its citizens by preventing mass wealth acquisition or extensive resource scarcity is ideal. But this is as promising as it is almost impossible.Because just as communism failed, humans have this natural tendency to outdo the other, and that the selfishness inside would dominate the want to put things in their proper places. Those who would enf orce these proposals are themselves men and therefore fallible, making the entire thesis too unrealistic in for the human setting.If Locke was asked the given question, he would say that it having wealth despite the poverty of others is immoral but technically moral. Because money has legitimized wealth accumulation as it allows one to become richer without causing another human being to become poorer. However it is immoral, as men are created equal and must all have enough resources necessary for them to lead decent lives. Men are not accountable to his neighbor unless he transgresses the other’s rights. He only answers to himself therefore he has the right to become whatever he pleases within the bounds of not causing harm to others.If Rousseau answers the same question, he would say that it is definitely immoral, however a common occurrence, and must be prevented by all means. This is why he proposed that a government should prevent extreme ends in society. This is quite t he dream of many, as all have wanted a society that exists in respect. That there should be a society with its member without any source or reason of jealousy, or competition, because everyone should have enough. But the truth is, man knows no bounds and does not want enough. Man wants to have plentiful of everything, and this is the major source of all the conflicts in our world today and for all of history. In times when he himself is threatened of his possessions, his life or other material wealth, he would not instinctively act in accordance for the common good but for the good of himself alone. And if given the chance to have access to conveniences that the world has to offer, he would definitely take it.The central issue that plagues mankind is the existence of money or property or any form material possession. Perhaps it is immoral in the sense that it creates disparity and it questions what moral obligation does a human being have. For indeed, how can one sleep at night in t heir lofty beds while others sleep in the dumpsters with newspapers as their blankets? How can a person spend on useless jewelry when his money can actually save millions of lives from the face of death because of starvation? And how can life be so cruel to those who did not intend to become poor but because they are born that way, they have to suffer the same kind of life?Both philosophers attempted to condemn the existence of money. But money is one commodity that governs human existence and will dictate man’s society for eras to come. It is almost impossible to put equality among people. People determine what they would have, and they must work for what they need. This is the concept of equity for it is quite unfair that one would work harder than the other and acquire just as much just because they are told equal. It is more appropriate that man works for himself and has every right to become whatever he pleases as long as he does not violate the rights of others.Works Ci tedAdler, Mortimer J. â€Å"Wealth.† A Syntopicon of Great Books of the Western World.  Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1952. 1038-1049.

Performance Appraisal Essay

Appraisal is a procedure by which an organization assesses employee performance based on present standards . The main purpose of appraisals is to support managers effectively, staff companies and deal with human resources, and to develop efficiency . Being â€Å"part of an organization measurement process†, performance appraisals serve that purpose by showing employees how to improve their performance, establish goals for employees and helping managers to evaluate subordinates’ efficiency and take actions related to hiring, promotions, training, job design, compensation and terminations. In the last 30 years companies use the employee evaluations not only for administrative purpose, but also for motivational and organizational planning purposes. The object of this paper is to understand and explain the role of human resources which to ensure the effective and efficient use of human talent to accomplish organizational goals in a company. Human Resources Management deals with what can or should be done to make working people more effective and satisfied. In a few words, the management of human resources means that they must be recruited compensated,  trained, and developed. It is HRM’s responsibility to make job analysis (describe work and personal requirements of a particular job), to communicate to the employees performance standards (translate job requirements into levels of acceptable / unacceptable performance) and to coordinate performance appraisal programs. Thus, all aspects of human resources managements are critical to an organization’s ability to adequately effectively provide a quality work force. In fact, performance appraisals are a significant part of performance management system responsible for designing a work environment in which â€Å"people can perform to the best of their abilities.† Job description The focus in this paper is on presenting information about conducting a performance appraisal for a bus driver position. I choose this position because, bus drivers are important for our contemporaneous society which is in a continued development. This aspect implies the need of more connections between places, more transits and travel for people. It is essential that this action be done in the most safety and comfortable ways. The behaviour of each bus driver employee has to be evaluated and improved if it is necessarily. The training programs are the key in helping drivers learn how to deal with difficult people and avoid violence while on duty. Making a job analyse, bus driver is a position is responsible for transporting people from one place to another for work, errands, school, or other reasons. Takes fares from passengers, issues receipts, announces routes, and ensures passengers get out safety. Their primary responsibilities imply transport people, operate bus, and drive regu lar routes on a schedule or on chartered trips. They obey traffic laws, stop frequently and check the bus tires, lights, and oil and other basic maintenance. They have to report mechanical problems and accidents. May load and unload passengers’ luggage. A bus driver has to deal with unruly passengers, assist disabled ones and keep passengers informed of delays. Bus drivers are employed by urban transit system, elementary and secondary schools and private transportation companies. According to Service Canada the job prospects in this occupation is good having an annual average salary of 43,895. Thus, customer service skills are important because of the interaction with passengers. For a school bus driver is essential to ensure the safety of the children, which  may include accompanying students across the street and providing first aid in emergencies. The following skills are very important for a bus driver: active listening, operation monitoring, social perceptiveness – being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do, equipment maintenance, operation and control, reading comprehension, coordination, time management, speaking, and critical thinking using reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. Performance appraisal method Measurement of bus driver performance starts with the evaluation of skills and effectiveness during and following the year of work. The primary objective of performance appraisal is to establish whether drivers are performing their job safely serving the customer adequately, and following work rules, policies, and procedures that ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Analyzing the above information and knowing the job description for a bus driver, the behaviourally anchored rating scale (BARS) would be a good method for performance appraisal. This method scales points and is defined by statements of effective and ineffective behaviours. It puts together the benefit the benefits of narratives, critical incidents and quantified scales by attaching a rating scale with specific behavioural examples of good or poor performance. It provides better appraisals than the other tools. The evaluator has to show which behaviour on each scale describes an employee`s performance. For constructi ng the BARS process imply the generation of critical incidents the development of performance dimensions, the relocation of incidents, the scale of the incidents and the development of final instrument. Managers have a file folder for each employee, which can be hard copy or electronic. Critical incidents are important employee actions which help or hurt performance. The BARS is developed by a committee that includes both subordinates and managers. Thus, the main advantage of this method is that personnel outside HR department join with HR staff in its development. Of course, the employees will have a greater acceptance of the performance appraisal process and its measures. In the same time BARS requires considerable time and effort to develop it. Another disadvantage is that a  scale designed for one job might not apply another. For example, the BARS for a bus driver will contain the rating scale from 4 (exceeds expectations) to 1 (unsatisfactory) and its evaluation of safety, timeliness, student conduct, bus cleanliness and care, and attitude. Identification of appraiser Appraisal and feedback system should be made by a multi-rate assessment because bus driver position is multifaceted and people see different things. A range of people are asked to assess an individual against company framework. The feedback can be from subject`s staff, from their bosses and from colleagues and clients and passengers. This is called 360 ° appraisal. The intention of it is to give a boarder and more objective assessment of employees’ competence. This multi-rate feedback is only use when manager has 4-8 people reporting to them. It is important that the employee do not know how any evaluation team member responded ensuring the anonymity concept of 360 ° system. The exception of this rule is the supervisor`s rating. When this feedback comes from more people, it may lessen bias or prejudice. In the same time, feedback from peers and other may increase employee self-development. In the conclusion of this paragraph, remind that HR department has the primary responsibility for supervising and coordinating appraisal program. Conclusion A valuable performance appraisal program makes feedback and instruction to employees and gives a useful framework to the managers and to the supervisors which asses their staff’ performance. The conduct appraisal program should be set up once and reviewed whenever the manager and the employee meet for the regular performance report or periodically: annual or once every six months. Preferable, managers and supervisors should consecutively estimate and direct employees so that performance imperfections do not go unexamined for a long period of time only to be discerned and debated at the functioning appraisal survey. In summary, the performance appraisal for a bus driver position it’s important for the evaluation of this position’ skills but also for the safety of passengers in  their work and personal environment and their daily activities. That’s why a serious and concrete performance and appraisal method should be applied in a schedule planed time in al l the transportation company. Bibliography Belcourt, Monica, Singh Parbudyal, Bohlander George, Swell Scott. Managing Human Resources. Toronto, Ontario: Nelson Education, 2014. Service Canada, http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/qc/job_futures/statistics/7412.shtml Sage Publication, http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/45674_8.pdf Transportation Research Board, www.30hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/NOC/2006/Profile