Absenteeism, Causes and Effects Essay

I. Meaning Absenteeism is the term generally used to refer to unscheduled employee absences from the workplace. Many causes of absenteeism are legitimate, for example personal illness or family issues, but absenteeism also can often be traced to other factors such as a poor work environment or workers who are not committed to their jobs. If such absences become excessive, they can have a seriously adverse impact on a business’s operations and, ultimately, its profitability. The Labour Department in India defined the absenteeism rate as the total man-shifts lost because of absences as a percentage of the total number of man-shifts scheduled. So for calculation of the rate of the absenteeism we require the number of persons scheduled to work and the number actually present. II .Causes of the absenteeism The rate of the absenteeism in Indian industries is very high and cannot be dismissed. A Statistical study of absenteeism of Indian Labour observed that, the basic cause of absenteeism in India is that industrial worker is still part-time peasant. Thus the workers go to find jobs at cities after the harvesting their crops. It means that when the transplanting season. These workers consider to the modern industrialism is insecure. Thus, cause to high rate of the absenteeism in the industrial sector. According to the Labour Investigation Committee (1946), there were many reasons that caused the absenteeism of the industrial workers. The Commission pointed out many factors which caused the absenteeism in Indian industries. These factors are: 1. Sickness and low vitality: The committee pointed out that sickness is most important responsible for absenteeism in almost of the in Industrial sector. Epidemics like cholera, small-pox and malaria always break out in severe from in most industrial areas. The low vitality of the Indian workers makes them easy prey to such epidemics and bad housing and unsanitary conditions of living aggravate the trouble. However, the Commission has been noticed that the rate of absenteeism among the female workers is higher than their male counterparts. 2. Means of Transport: The Commission also stated that the transport facilities also play very important to contribute the absenteeism of the worker in the industries. It has been pointed out that, the rate of absenteeism is higher in those factories where transport facilities are not easily available as compared to those where such facilities are easily available or provided by the factory itself . 3. Hours of work: The long hours of work also affect the workers’ efficiency and consequently their sickness rate and absenteeism rate are increased. 4. Nightshift: It has also been pointed out that there is a greater percentage of absenteeism during the nightshifts than in the dayshifts, owing to the greater discomforts of work during the night-time. 5. Rural exodus: The committee also pointed out that probably the most predominant cause of absenteeism is the frequent urge of rural exodus. It has been noticed that the workers go back to their villages at the time of harvesting and sowing the crops. It increases the rate of absenteeism in factories. 6. Accident: Industrial accident depends upon the nature of work to be performed by the worker and his ability for doing that work. In case of hazardous nature of job, the accidents occur more frequently which lead to higher rate of absenteeism. 7. Social and religious Function: it has been noticed that workers become absent form their duty on occasions of social and religious functions. Since the workers like to join their families on such occasions, they go back to their villages for like to join short periods. 8. Drinking and amusement: the Labour Investigation committee pointed out that drinking and amusements are also responsible for absenteeism. Since drinking and amusements in the late hours of night make it difficult for the workers to reach in time on their duties. They like to become absent rather than late since they know that badli workers will be substituted for them, if they are late. 9.After Pay-Day: the Labour Investigation committee also noted the level of absenteeism is comparatively high immediately after the pay-day because they get their wages, they feel like having a good time or return to their villages to make purchases for the family and to meet them, so the absenteeism is high after they got paid. 10. Nature of work: the absenteeism rate is also affected by the nature of work. According to Prof. William pointed out that absenteeism prevails because workers are not accustomed to the factory life and factory discipline. In other words, absenteeism prevails because the nature of work in factories is different from that for which the worker is accustomed. So when they come to work in the factory, they feel strange, this new situation make them uncomfortable, so lead to high rate of absenteeism of the industrial workers. 11. Other causes : The above factor which are caused the absenteeism in the Industrial which are pointed out briefly by the Labour Commission. However, there can be tow other factors which caused the absenteeism in industrial sector. These factors are: a) personal Factors and b) workplace factors. A. Personal factor: The personal factor also divided into other sub-factors, these are: i. Personal Attitude: there are different attitude of employees. The Employees with strong workplace ethics will respect their work and appreciate the contribution they make to their companies. Such employees will not engage themselves in taking unscheduled off. On the other hand, employees with very low or no work ethics are indiscipline and have lot of integrity and behavioural issues. Since, they feel no obligation towards the company, absenteeism comes easily to them. ii. Age: The younger employees are often restless. They want to spend time with their friends and have fun, rather than being tied down with work responsibility. This lack of ownership often leads them to take unauthorized time off. With age, people gain experience and maturity, which makes them focused and responsible. Their approach is rather professional and they prefer to stick to their chairs to get the work done. If ever they are found absent, then it could be due to sickness. iii .Seniority: Employees, who have been with the company for a long time are well-adjusted with the working culture and the job, therefore, they find no reason to be absent without permission. On the other hand, new hires are more prone to taking ad hoc breaks to unwind themselves. iv. Gender: Women generally do a balancing act by shuffling their time between home and work. Family, being their foremost priority, they don’t think twice before taking a step towards absenteeism. B. Workplace Factors i. Stress: The pressure at work sometimes takes a toll on the employees. This results in increased levels of stress. The employees then resort to excuses that can help them stay away from work. ii. Work Routine: Doing the same job over a period of time can get monotonous. The employees find the job functions boring. They rather choose time off to do something interesting than come to work. iii. Job Satisfaction: If employees do not find their job challenging, dissatisfaction creeps in. That leads to more absenteeism in the workplace. III. Effect of absenteeism: The effects of the absenteeism of the workers in the factories adversely effect to the employers, the cost of production of the factory is increased because of the absent of the workers, by employed extra temporary staffs in order to replace the absentee. The effects of absenteeism in the workplace are directly proportionate to decreased productivity. The company, eventually, is trying to cover up the direct and indirect cost involved to hire temporary staff, and pay employees for overtime. So the cost of the production of the company is increased as the result they increase the price of the commodity, so the consumers have to pay high price for the commodities.. However, the workers themselves also effect of the absenteeism because their income is reduced according to the principle of â€Å"no work no pay†, as the result their standard of live decreased. Thus, absenteeism adversely affects the employers and the workers, and consumers and ultimately , it can be adverse affect to the growth of the economy in the country. so all these give rises to many industrial labour and social problems. IV. Method to remedy the absenteeism As regard to the measure to be adopted to remove the absenteeism, the Bombay Textile Labour Enquiry committee stated that â€Å"the proper conditions of work in the factory, adequate wages, protection from accident and sickness, and facilities for obtaining leave for rest and recuperation constitute the most effective means of reducing absenteeism. The Labour investigation committee, agreed with the above view, stated that â€Å"the excessive fatigue and sweated conditions of work are bound to create a defence mechanism’ in the worker and if adding results are to be obtained, the best policy would be to improve conditions of work and life for the workers and make them feel contented and happy. Therefore, the Committee suggested that the most effective way of dealing with absenteeism is to provide holiday with pay or even without pay and permit workers to attend their private affairs occasionally and thus regularise absenteeism instead of merely taking disciplinary actions for it . Provision of suitable housing facilities in industrial towns should also go a long way in improving attendance. Besides, the above provisions a sense of responsibility towards industry should be created among the workers through proper education and training. The workers’ participation in the management of industry, introduction of an incentive wage scheme and linking wages and bonus with production may also prove very helpful in checking the rate of absenteeism.

Adolf Hitler: a Leadership Analysis

Adolf Hitler BSM Portfolio Assignment This paper demonstrates Hodges University’s learning outcome of leadership. Kevin J. Van Dyk – Third Wheel Hodges University MNA4360 Leadership for Managers Professor Ron Harbour Due: November 7, 2012 Graded by BSM Instructor: __________________________ Grade Awarded: __________________________________ Introduction For the past seventy years, Adolf Hitler has been known as one of the most evil men in history. The Fueherer, as he was known, exhumed hatred and violence in his pursuit of power.A vile man, driven by violence and a lust for power, eventually drove himself mad with his own idealistic vision of what a perfect world would be, and how he would achieve it. While his motives may have been questionable, his ability to lead and influence people is not. This case study will analyze the leadership tactics utilized by Adolf Hitler, as well as the personal issues he had with himself, society and the world he lived in. Also, Hitlerâ €™s unmatched desire for ultimate power, which ultimately led to his demise, will be examined as well. Ambitious scarcely describes the intensity of the lust for power and the craving to dominate which consumed him† (Green, 2001, pg. 8). Leadership, though defined through text books as, â€Å"The ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals† (Judge. 2013, 368), is not only limited to the ability to influence people. Leadership also includes the mental and physical maturity and knowledge to be able to influence people ethically and morally.The greatest problem with Hitler’s leadership was that he allowed his ego driven desire for power to become greater than his vision for his country. Without the ethical and moral standards, leaders become dictators, and most will become separated from their wits and end up with less than optimal results. Situation Analysis In Management: The New Competitive Landscape, Bateman defines situat ion analysis as, â€Å"a process planners use within, time and resource constraints, to gather, interpret and summarize all information relevant to the planning issue under consideration† (pg. 108).A situation analysis is a tool used to assess a particular situation and dissect the internal and external parts, focusing on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organization in order to accomplish a goal. Internal Environment The internal environment, or the factors that Hitler can control, are in his eyes limitless. Hitler truly believed he was in control of everything. His goals were driven by hatred and a hunger for power. â€Å"Hitler was a master of nationalist appeal† (Green, 2001, pg. 13), and â€Å"speech was the essential medium of his power† (Green, 2001, pg. ). The way he viewed the world he lived in, Hitler was able to control everything and everyone around him through his ability to speak and influence. Anything he could not contr ol, he sought to destroy, which included but was not limited to the Jews, Marxists, Czechs, Poles, French, any intellectual and the educated middle class. From an outside perspective, Hitler was a selfish, hateful, spiteful, violent man with demented goals towards world domination, and essentially was a cancer to the world. External EnvironmentThe external environment, which includes the factors uncontrollable by Hitler, to him is non-existent. Hitler controlled his external environment through brute force and violence along with fear. Countries like France and Britain allowed him to act this way for a great deal of time, as well as did some of the smaller areas conquered by the Nazi forces. It’s wasn’t until Hitler’s ego driven motives were finally seen by the rest of the world did anyone begin to rise up against him. Eventually, the other worldly enemies of Germany were able to stand up against him.Hitler’s own arrogance also became an external factor, as towards the end, he was unable to control his emotions or separate his delusion from reality. Political turmoil combined with good timing allowed Hitler to rise to power legally and begin to rally the people of Germany behind his vulgar plans. SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis is an evaluation a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Armstrong, 2010, p. 77). A SWOT analysis is a useful tool in comparing a business, or in this case a character’s, traits to the situation and to other characters.A SWOT analysis for Adolf Hitler * Strengths * Passionate Speaker * Charismatic * Calculated * Gifted Actor and Politician * Weaknesses * Angry and full of rage * Defensive * Ego driven and selfish * He became convinced of his own infallibility (EGO) * Opportunities * Rose to power during a time of political unrest and indecisiveness in Germany * Master of surprise tactics: gauged the psychological effects * Threats * Anyone who interfered with his mission was an enemy of the people. * Intellectual and educated people.Hitler was a very passionate speaker that was incredibly adept to connecting to his audience in order to influence or persuade. The people he was speaking to would feel his passion. His charisma for speaking combined with the weak structure of Germany at the time made him influential beyond any other. He had the combined skills of an actor and a politician, â€Å"he could talk well and he had the actor’s gift of mimicry to amuse his companions. (Green, 2001, pg. 12), and everything he said and did had a calculated thought behind it.He was never caught off guard or accidently let anything slip, â€Å"he never let slip and unconsidered word. He never said what he did not intend to say and he never blurted out a secret. Everything was the result of cold calculation† (Green, 2001, pg. 7). Hitler’s own ego was his biggest weakness. The arrogance to believe that his was a â€Å"man with a mission, marked ou t by Providence, and therefore exempt from the ordinary cannons of human conduct† (pg. 9). Hitler also had no respect for any type of God or higher being, deeming himself as a supreme deity in his own eyes.Anyone that believes they are on a divine mission to destroy and conquer clearly needs a path back to reality. His anger and rage would often play through during his speeches, though it was stated that he would often catch himself, calm himself, flatten his hair and continue on as if nothing had happened, and he also had a tendency to be on the defensive, making excuses and pointing the finger at anyone but himself or his country for the shortcomings of the time. Hitler took advantage of a great opportunity in early 1930’s Germany. There was a time of political unrest and uncertain leadership.The leaders of the respective political parties were weak, and Hitler saw the chance to put his plan into action to build the perfect nation. Incredibly patient and a master of t he surprise tactic, he waited until the timing was perfect to seize any opportunity. The greatest threats Hitler faced would be anyone that he was unable to control. The intellectual and the well-educated didn’t buy in to his rhetoric. Hitler had one way, his way. If you weren’t with him, you were against him. Anyone that interfered with his mission was an enemy of the people. Problem IdentificationBeing a leader is not just about influencing people to achieve a goal; leadership has to do with the motives behind the organization and its goals as well. When a leader allows their own ego to dictate the direction of the organizational goals instead of what’s best for the organization, a problem will occur. Such is the case of Adolf Hitler. His ego driven desire for power outweighed the organizational goals for the people of Germany and the rest of the world. An idealistic perfect nation was a nice thought, but eventually the overly eccentric steps taken forced Hitl er across the line from leader to dictator.Best Choice of Action I truly believe that Adolf Hitler could have been the world’s emperor, had he not let his ego get in the way. His biggest threats at the time were Britain and France, who he had kept on their heels for the majority of his time in power. Instead of being aggressive and driving forward hastily, Hitler allowed his ego to define his decision making. A lack of advisors in addition to an incredible ego cost him his empire. At one point Hitler said he would rather lose Germany altogether than surrender. The best choice of action for Hitler would have been to not be so closed off and untrusting.To appoint a cabinet of trusted officials that could help him objectively make a decision, as objectively as a genocidal maniac could possibly be, of course. With a little bit of an outside viewpoint, Hitler may have been able to see the flaws in his â€Å"Mission from Providence† and instead been able to be more efficient and effective in his plans for world domination. Characters Hitler had several types of power during his reign. Though seized through an opportunistic election, Hitler was granted Legitimate Power over Germany though their election process.The leader with legitimate power â€Å"has the right, or the authority, to tell other what to do. (Bateman, 2004, pg. 369). He also had Coercive Power, or the control over punishments. (Bateman). Hitler certainly used an Autocratic Leadership Model, which â€Å"makes decisions, then announces them to the group† (Bateman, 2004, pg. 374), He was also a very charismatic leader; charismatic leaders are â€Å"dominant and exceptionally self-confident and have a strong conviction in the moral righteousness of their beliefs† (Bateman, 2004, pg. 83). In addition to all this, Hitler was also a transformational leader, â€Å"Transformational leaders get people to transcend their personal interests for the sake of the larger community† (pg. 383). These qualities combined made Adolf Hitler the leader that he was, or at least the leader he started out to be. Once his ego and his own personal vendetta with the world clouded his vision for the organization, his empire began to crumble and his ability as a leader ceased. Student Use of Leadership OutcomeThis past week, Hodges University at PHCC was invited down to the main campus in Fort Myers in order to receive an award for outstanding leadership and activity. Although I am not currently the leader of this group, I seized this opportunity to go to the main campus and meet with the influential people within the university structure. As a new club at a satellite campus, the Ambassador Club was having trouble being noticed and acknowledged by the university. At this ceremony, I made sure to meet with the important department heads, deans and advisors in order to establish a channel of communication for the future.Our biggest problem as an organization right now, is tha t we are virtually unseen, by not only our community, but our university and campus as well. When I tell people I go to Hodges University, most people say, â€Å"Where’s that? † and â€Å"Huh? †. Even the students on PHCC’s campuses hardly know what Hodges University is. Our struggle with the university has been gaining the backing we need in order to secure a foothold within the community. A presence on campus and in the social eye would not only increase the student’s experience, but could possibly increase enrollment and student involvement.Our goal for the coming year is to show the university that we are getting noticed in the community and on our campus. We want to be noticed not only by the students, but by the administration as well in order to generate a better experience for students, alumni, faculty and prospective students alike. Learning to utilize the different types of power in leadership positions and when to use them allowed me to make the impression I needed to make in the presence of other leaders in positions of power. Conclusion Leadership is about more than just getting a flock of sheep to follow.Leadership is about having the moral and ethical maturity to influence people towards the right goals for the right reasons. Hitler lost sight of the moral and ethical end. He decided that his own diving ego was more important than the organization he was leading, which just so happened to be his nation of people. Hitler set out wanting to build a stronger, more dominate nation, a perfect nation above the rest. At first, he was charismatic and extremely effective. Once the leader loses the ability to influence, his ability to lead is gone.The people began to see how eccentric and evil and violent Hitler really was, and in effect, how unfit of a leader he truly was. Had Hitler had the moral ground ethical ability to continue to influence his people to follow him, the world may have ended up in a very different wa y. Reference Armstrong, G & Kotler, P. (2010). Principles of Marketing (14th Ed. ) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Bateman, T. S. (2004). Management: The New Competitive Landscape (6th Ed. ) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Green, W. , & McCarthy, G. (2001). Adolf Hitler. Oneonta, NY: The Hartwick Humanities in Management Institute.Judge, T, & Robbins, S. (2013). Organizational Behavior. Certification Statement I hereby certify that this paper constitutes my own original work and is properly quoted and cited where I have used the writings of another. Further, this paper has not been submitted for credit in any other Hodges University class or other college course or for publication elsewhere. Kevin J. Van Dyk You have 1 Essay Outgoing Title| Subject| E-Structor| Submission Time| | Hitler Case Analysis: Leadership| | Essay Center – 1 hrreview| | 11/06/2012 07:02:44 PM| You have 0 Question Outgoing Title| Subject| E-Structor| Submission Time|

Persuasive Essay on Adoption

Homosexual Couples Should Be Allowed to Adopt New Jersey’s statewide parenting legislation espouses a progressive stance on the matters of same-sex parenting and child care in the processes of adoption and foster parenting. The Garden State allows for same-sex adoption; allows single homosexuals to adopt; and allows second parent same-sex adoption (â€Å"Same-Sex Adoption Laws,† n. d. ). New Jersey has passed progressive laws and policies that prohibit discrimination charged against gay individuals in the adoption process (Sudol, 2010).New Jersey state law also bans discrimination against gay individuals in the foster parent process (2010). New Jersey Statutes Annotated 9:3-43 enables for any person to adopt permitted the said person(s) pass a background investigation and meet adoption criteria for eligibility(N. J. S. A. 9:3-43). Unmarried joint adoptive parents petitioning to adopt a child can do so because of N. J. S. A. 9:3-43. In re Adoption of two Children by H. N . R. , 666 A. 2d 535 (N. J. Super. 995) permits second parent adoption; this statute exercises the possibility for an individual to petition for shared rights of custody with a parent who already possesses legal parental custody of a child. Several states prohibit joint adoption due to unmarried status. This statute is favorable for unmarried parents seeking to adopt in New Jersey. This New Jersey statute provides for an overall tolerant atmosphere for queer individuals and couples looking to adopt or become foster parents. In summary, laws and policies regarding same-sex adoption vary from state to state.The three common forms of adoptive guardianship are individual (single) parent adoption, joint adoption, and second parent adoption. Firstly, the most traditional type of adoptive parents is the single parent adoption. This is where an unmarried individual adopts a child that has been put up for adoption by the birth parent or by the state. Secondly, joint adoption is when an unmar ried couple can petition the court to adopt a child. Lastly, in the case of a second parent adoption, one parent has legal guardianship over a child and a second parent petitions the court to become a legally recognized co-parent.Bans on gay marriage vary state by state, as a consequence, gay couples cannot petition for adoption as a married couple but, as single individuals. This creates the opportunity for gay couples to become legal parents of foster children since most states prevent unmarried couples from adopting. As a result of state to state differences in the question of gay adoptive parents, second-parent adoptions are either permitted or the laws are unclear (Montana, 2009). Montana (2009) argues that ambiguity in court decisions are prevalent regarding gay second parent adoption petitions.Montana (2009) asserts how a state’s unclear and ambiguous position on second parent adoption places the decision on the judge to rule according to his or her personal beliefs co ncerning homosexuality rather than the letter of the law. The courts of twenty-one states including Washington, D. C. have granted second-parent adoption availability to several individuals applying to become legal second parents or co-parents of former foster children (Public Broadcasting Service, 2006).Mississippi law bars same-sex couples from all possibilities of adoption but, allows the viability for single gays and lesbians to adopt (Public Broadcasting Service, 2006). In Utah and New Hampshire, all unmarried couples, regardless of sexual orientation are allowed to adopt (Public Broadcasting Service, 2006). The following states allow adoption by openly gay and lesbian couples: Florida, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Washington, D. C. Social movements and countercultures during the 1960’s and 1970’s emerged and challenged institutionalized oppression.The Civil Rights movement addressed the pli ght of African Americans in a viciously racist society. Gay rights and the feminist movement actively subverted traditional gender norms through political activism. The American public’s disapproval of the Vietnam War served as the political platform to advance anti-war, civil rights, feminist, and queer political agendas in the increasing struggle for equal rights in a discriminatory inequitable society. The social movements of the 60’s and 70’s impacted the traditional views of adoption in the United States.The trend of challenging the dominant society’s oppressive social structures that best represent the interests of the dominant group, influenced society to question adoption laws during the 1970’s (Montana, 2009). Much like today, openly gay applicants were barred from adoption. The majorities of the cases was and still are second-parent adoptions, in which the biological parent is the legal guardian and their life partner petitions the state court to adopt (Montana, 2009). Adopting a child that is unrelated to either partner is still difficult in contemporary society; however, it is o longer illegal in most states (Montana, 2009). The seventies birthed professional organizations designed to advocate for disenfranchised oppressed groups. One of the most renowned organizations that continues to engage in public education and legal activism is Lambda Legal. Lambda Legal’s mission is to achieve full equality and secure the legal protection of the LGBT community. Throughout the 1970s, Lambda Legal was instrumental in winning some of the nation's first court cases on behalf of gay and lesbian parents and same-sex couples (Lambda Legal, n. . ). Since its inception in the seventies, Lambda Legal has battled to institute policy change, social change through political and legal activism, and to shape new positive attitudes about the LGBT community through educational awareness. For instance, a landmark court case, Finstuen v. Edmondson, was a paramount victory for LGBT individuals and same-sex parents everywhere. In 2004, the Oklahoma legislature exacted a punitive law that rendered children orphans if adopted in other states by same-sex couples.Thus, when their families returned, moved to or traveled through Oklahoma, the parents’ legal custody over the newly adopted children is not recognized by the state of Oklahoma. The three families in this case were headed by same-sex couples with children adopted in Washington, New Jersey and California respectively. Two of the families moved to Oklahoma. In the legal defense of the three families, Lambda Legal argued that the law is unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment violating the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses. All legal parents have a fundamental right to care for and raise their children, which is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution (Lambda Legal, n. d. ). Lambda Legal remains active in challenging discriminatory laws and policies on the local and state level that work to invalidate the legal adoptions of children by same-sex parents. Lambda Legal secured pivotal wins for the LGBT community’s adoptive parents in its most recent trials; these trials are similar to the Oklahoma court case where the rights of same-sex couples and their adopted children were denied. The Evan B.Donaldson Adoption Institute is another notable organization that partnered with the Illinois chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) to produce a legal document to ensure ethical practice and policy to secure the well-being of same-sex adoptive families. The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and the NASW Illinois chapter are dedicated to promote the best interests of children by engaging in research regarding adoption. The adequate education and training of child welfare professionals encourages fundamentally sound and ethical practice when interacting with the gay community. In an effort to fight for ethical public policies and laws for same-sex adoption, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute immerses itself in political activism to apply pressure to local and state political officials to consider issues that inhibit the likelihood of same-sex parents for homeless foster children. The number of children in need of homes is steadily increasing; organizations like the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and Lambda Legal are instrumental in changing the willingness of adoption agencies to accept same-sex parents. Organizational response creates room for social change.Although the debate about same-sex adoptive parents continues to gain national attention, state, local courts and adoption agencies will continue to arbitrarily deny or accept same-sex petitions for adoption if the federal government does not intervene to standardize this issue by implementing an overriding national policy. Ryan Nishimoto, author of â€Å"Marriage Makes Cents: How Law ;um p; Economics Justifies Same-Sex Marriage,† suggests that society’s objections against same-sex marriage and same-sex adoptive parents are rooted in homophobic sentiments, religious views, and denigrating stereotypes (Nishimoto, 2003).The Supreme Court has historically undermined the gay rights question in contemporary American law (Nishimoto, 2003). The Supreme Court shares the general public’s sentiments about homosexuality’s immoral nature which deems same-sex couples unfit for marriage and parenting (Nishimoto, 2003). The prohibitions on same-sex marriage intimately impact the legal and economic dimensions of homosexual relationships. Marital benefits heterosexual couples receive do not apply to same-sex couples looking to adopt.Nishimoto (2003) lists how same-sex partners are excluded from insurance awards, social security benefits, public pensions, worker's compensation, income tax benefits, and estate tax benefits. Being that gays are not able to mar ry, their partners are not considered spouses. As a result, same-sex â€Å"unions† and â€Å"partnerships† are not legally recognized to qualify for the aforementioned benefits that heterosexual couples reap. This reality complicates adoption and custody cases for LGBT same-sex couples. Same sex couples must file for a second parent adoption so that both artners have legal custody over the adopted child. This process is emotionally draining and financially costly; a petitioning gay or lesbian parent faces extensive social work assessment to establish suitability (Nishimoto, 2003). State laws can prohibit same-sex second-parent adoption nullifying the possibility of a couple possessing joint custody of a child. Once again, second-parent adoption may be unclear in state legislations. This leaves the decision to appeal a petition on the court judge. A couple’s opportunity to gain joint custody relies on the judge’s personal views on homosexuality (Nishimoto, 2003).Nishimoto (2003) concludes the discussion of adoption and custody battles for LGBT couples by stating, â€Å"Thus, even if the parents overcome the lengthy, costly obstacles in their path, a judge may simply choose not to authorize the adoption. † Recommendation/Conclusion Interventions at the practice level can have far reaching benefits for same-sex parents and their children. Same-sex friendly foster agencies must engage in practice that does not further oppress the LGBT population with uninformed and unethical practice, policy, and unprofessional behavior.According to Sudol (2010) foster care agencies must cultivate a culture of inclusive practice integrated at the agency and case levels. At the agency level, staff training must have a comprehensive coverage of LGBT issues and topics; paperwork documentation, informational materials must use inclusive language, advertisements should portray a diverse representation of LGBT families, and inclusive recruitment effort s. Inclusive practice suggests that a practitioner uses culturally competent language as preferred by individual/family, avoids â€Å"outing† people, and includes other LGBT people/groups in family engagement/kin search (Sudol, 2010).In addition, Sudol (2010) adds that child welfare professionals and social workers alike, need to avoid focusing on the sexual identity of the individual/family by seeing the human not the identity. We strongly agree that the federal government must negotiate the contemporary question of same-sex parenting. It makes no sense for the federal government to give a blind eye and a deaf ear to same-sex parenting. Same-sex marriage coupled with this debate is gaining increasing attention as homosexuality gains legitimacy within the broader dominant society.The overview of current adoption law concerning lesbian, gay, and bisexual parents by the National Center for Lesbian Rights perfectly considers contemporary evidence justifying why LGBT parents are fit for adoption and why the Supreme Court must address this ensuing issue as opposed to leaving it for individual states to reconcile. One, a growing number of children lives in families with two same-sex parents. University of Maryland, Family Policy Impact Seminar, conducted research juxtaposing the rates of adoption in â€Å"gay-friendly† states in comparison to states with â€Å"anti-gay† policies.Studies showed that â€Å"gay-friendly† states adopted children and found permanent residencies as twice as much as â€Å"anti-gay† states. Two, sexual orientation is not relevant to parental ability. Discourse on the capabilities of same-sex parents to be adequate parents is governed principally by harmful stereotypes and moral judgments condemning homosexuality. â€Å"Not a single study has found children of gay or lesbian parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents.Indeed, the evidence to date sugg ests that home environments provided by gay and lesbian parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children’s psychosocial growth. † (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2002). Three, the need for adoptive homes and the increasing visibility of lesbian, gay, and bisexual parent families has contributed to a dramatic decrease in anti-gay discriminatory policies and practices on the part of adoption agencies and courts.Four, adoption provides legal protection to children of LGBT parents. The United States guarantees financial support, inheritance rights, social security benefits, retirement benefits, and state worker’s compensation benefits for children of heterosexual parents. The downfall to this is that current law is bias against LGBT couples. Children are not eligible for these benefits if the co-parent in a same-sex partnership is not legally recognized as a guardian.For example, if the child is sick and needs to be hosp italized, the second parent cannot give medical consent for treatment to his/her child. These incentives/benefits must apply to all children regardless of the parent’s marital status and sexual orientation. The LGBT community has made progressive strides for legal rights in the area of family law (NCLR, 2011). To strengthen and preserve the emotional health of a family in a same-sex parented household, society must change their traditional views of what constitutes a family.LGBT organizations remain fierce and persistent in advocating for equality and legal rights of the gay community. Custody, visitation rights, domestic partnership benefits, sick-leave benefits, marriage, and adoption are all arenas which the gay community continues to transform for their benefit (NCLR, 2011). Legal recognition of family relationships for same-sex families further enables courts, social welfare policies, and child welfare institutions to adopt LGBT inclusive protections. Mass media mirrors our society’s values and social attitudes.The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) encourages media outlets to recognize the highly increasing numbers of families with gay, lesbian and bi-sexual parents by incorporating their stories and experiences into the coverage of all issues related to families. The diversity of images in popular media aids in the reconstruction of the idea of the â€Å"ideal† family. It is more important than ever for literature, publication, television, cinema, advertisements, and music to be change agents in today’s society.Structural change may be slow; however, as a society we must realize that thousands of loving individuals and couples are being denied the chance of giving orphans a loving home. The numbers of orphans increasing in foster care services are disproportionate to the number of foster parents willing to adopt them. This fact alone without a shadow of a doubt calls to question the involvement federal govern ment to revise law and policy to integrate the needs of same-sex parents and the growing orphan problem in the United States.The investigation of same-sex parents continues to produce evidence suggesting that children growing up in same-sex households report feeling more tolerant of other groups. The quality of parenting and family functioning are not inhibited by the parent’s sexual orientation. Lastly, children raised by same-sex parents do not exhibit psychosocial and emotionally disruptive behaviors (Children Welfare Information Gateway, 2011). | |

Strengths, weaknesses and uses of the Economic Value Added Essay

Strengths, weaknesses and uses of the Economic Value Added - Essay Example Economic Value Added (EVA) model also referred to as economic profit refers to the value created above the shareholders investment. Basically, shareholders and other investors are more interested in EVA since it depicts the actual returns that a company makes after the cost of financing the company’s capital is deducted. In order to obtain the economic profits, the cost of capital must be less than the return on the firm’s capital employed. This paper candidly evaluates the uses of Economic Value Added model in a business as well as its strengths and weaknesses.Uses of EVAÃ'ŽEVA is obtained by subtracting the cost of capital from Net Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT).In this regard, Al Ehrbar (2008) depicts that it is a useful tool for measuring the extent to which value has been lost or added on the business performance. After accounting for the various aspects covered by the balance sheet, EVA indicates the amount of the residual income. There are various factors th at cause an increase of EVA. First, if capital employed does not increase and the NOPAT increases. Secondly, EVA increases if the additional capital invested generates more returns than the cost of capital. EVA can also increase if the capital that was earlier invested in a business is divested if it fails to cover the cost of capital used by a business.

Grandparents Raising their Grandchildren Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Grandparents Raising their Grandchildren - Essay Example This paper discusses the difficulties, benefits, causes and other such factor related to the topic of grandparents acting as parent to their grandchildren. Grandparents who raise their grandchildren have become prevalent as an alternative family.(Bert, 2005) It is reported that 5.7 million children are living with their grandparents out of which 3.7 million live in grandparents household. Various factsheets reveal that there thousands of grandparents in United States taking care of their grandchildren due to numerous reasons. It is not an easy task to identify the exact number of grandparents raising their grandchildren without a parent due to informal relationships. With rising divorces, death of parents, disability, inability to care for their children, have increased the number of grandchildren being raised by grandparents. Kleiner et. al (1998) has classified grandparents into three sub groups as custodial grandparents, caregivers and day care parents. Casper & Bryson (1998) Custodial grand parenting is growing trend in American society with some 5.5 million grandparents have reported to be housing their own grandchildren in the year 1997. (Bert, 2005) It is also reported that the ages of most of the grandparents are between 55 and 64 years and 20% are over 65 years. Caregiver is explained as 'living with' grandparents who provide daily care but do not have legal custody. In such cases, grandparents focus on providing the child with economically and emotionally stable environment. The another classification 'day care' grandparents focus on helping the child's parent and function closest to societal function of grandparent. Causes for Grandparents Acting as Grandparents According to American Community Survey, 6.1 million grandparents are engaged in parenting activity in respect to their grandchild. 8% of grandchildren lived with their grandparent in the year 2006 in United States. (US Census Bureau, 2006) Grandparent after retiring from parenting activities after their child has settled well, if resumes the parenting job again, it needs a lot of careful thinking on the topic. Grandparents usually accept the task out of natural love and affection towards their grandchildren and would not accept the role of stranger in raising their grandchildren. (www.cornellcares.org) Most of the causes would revolve around the normal parents. Most of the statistics reveal that drug or alcohol abuse among natural parents is the main cause for inviting grandparent to step in and take over the responsibility of raising their grandchildren. It has been reported that in 1998 nearly 44% of youngsters were living with their grandparents because of their parents' substance abuse. And interestingly 28% were victims of child abuse, neglect or improper attention and 11% because of death of their any one or both of the parents. (www.egyptianaaa.org) Various reasons include ill health of their parents, or inability of parents to take the responsibility of their child, divorce, unexpected pregnancy of teen or adult child, etc. The reasons why the grandparents are acting as parents may vary on various factors. Difficulties of Grandparents to raise their child Many researches have been

Intigrating technology in the EFL classroom Essay

Intigrating technology in the EFL classroom - Essay Example Report indicates that about 70% of education funding in Israel comes from the central government while the remaining 30% comes from cities and other sources. This was in a show of the government’s commitment to educating its people to be literate for prosperity and development. So far, Israel has been registering an increase in the number of students enrolling for classes at different levels. Latest report indicates that Israel has about 1.8 million students from pre-school to high school level (Newman, 2012). This is an indication of the country’s commitment to high literacy level. This number also continues to increase as the population continues to grow. Even though teaching Israelis to be literate is a key priority of the Netanyahu administration, it is also the most challenging area in the country’s education system. This is attributable to the changing nature of the classroom. Research indicates that the classroom environment has undergone radical changes i n the 21st century (Cordova and Lepper, 1996). For instance, Israel has experienced an influx of immigrants from immigrants in the country from all over the world. This has resulted in an increase of a large number of people in the country who are not able to speak or write the English language, which is the country’s national language. The fact that a large population of the country cannot speak, read, or writes the English language is posing a huge challenge to teachers in the country. It is an acknowledgeable fact that becoming proficient in a foreign language is very difficult and can be daunting. As a result, a large number of people in the country who do not understand the English language normally find it difficult learning a new language since the English language is new to them (Jonassen, 2000). Therefore, in order for such students to learn and become proficient in the English language, they must be supported as much as possible. Teachers who have had the opportunit y to teach students learning English as their second language understand that such students require language support for their language acquisition. To say that students learning English as their second language have attained the level of proficiency required, they must be able, not only to hear and write the English language, but to speak and read the English language well. However mush this might be a daunting task; we strongly believe that integrating technology such as the use of computers can play a crucial part in increasing a student’s grades in the English language. This discourse examines how the integration of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) can be an important tool for teaching new learners of English language. In addition, the paper will explore the gains that have resulted from the use of computer-assisted instruction in teaching the English language to new learners. Literature Review Verbal Interaction Interaction between new English language learners and th ose who are proficient in English language is key in promoting proficiency in English language. As such, teachers of English language need to provide students learning English as a second language, a language-rich environment where they can continuously engage in the English la

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS Coursework

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS - Coursework Example Thus, banging on the perception of the require, and so vividly glimpsed by the detail that only a couple of years before Fast Company's periodic characteristic deserving "Change or die!" For most, the name is true. Change has become an integral part of organizational life for its constituents and the organization. more mighty technologies play a certain function in this, technological advancement is now nearly as very fast as data methods, so the proficiency to method data much quicker, more new submissions, innovative modes to organise data for better decisions (Moore & Fitz 2003). These innovative new modes to organise, in turn, conceived an interior dynamic of the developing organization. This is widespread, even banal currently discover constituents of all kinds of associations about the present plans for change, because the month of flavour. Although the workers (and managers) can be a bit jaded by all the alterations and the entire converse about change, it makes the method of altering bureaus in the 21st century and the convoluted phenomenon. Change bureau mentions to a change in detail made in organizational life. For each organizational change, an individual or lawful means to provoke or acknowledges any blame for the administration, implementation, upkeep or modification. This means or entity, generally an agency of change by the man called (Lacity Hirschheim and Willcocks 2004). Activity of this means or body part is called the change in the body. Organizational Alterations and Communication As is clear from the introductory consideration, there may be little or no creative consideration of the evolution of the bureau, without comprehending the environment of organizational change itself. Change and bureau, thus, characterised in common. Organizational Change Perhaps the most conversed about occurrence in the area of organizational dynamics and development over the past 20 years, organizational change mentions to the puzzling sequence of happenings, undertakings, plans and crusades to associations that have a thing in common: a kind of action of a set of ideas or demeanour in another set of ideas or behaviours (Major 2002). This action can be differentiated in periods of scale or dimensions and amount of data. This could encompass the whole association, or subsystem (the department or purposeful unit) of the organization. It may request to change the whole association, as well as in coordinating the transition from the customary hierarchy of government engagement, the flat structure, or going into unfamiliar markets with a new scheme, or it may demand other alterations, both in the reorganization of the newest expertise with the assist of output, inserting new types of individual employees, or new modes for educators to record class. It may furthermore be helpful to differentiate between alterations in notions and other periods that are affiliated with alterations and are occasionally utilised as synonyms. Change in Communicati on System The simplest delineation, but can furthermore be an international action of a somewhat steady state to another state for the time being provisional stable. The organizational alterations are progressing with the positions in which the purposes of work needed by most persons all through the association to discover new behaviours and skills. The major alterations encompass all workers and can focus on discovery and teaching of

Reflecting Paper of The Case of the Mismanaged Ms Essay

Reflecting Paper of The Case of the Mismanaged Ms - Essay Example Ed Coulter, the Vice President of marketing admitted that he had fronted Dick to fill the position instead of Ruth since Dick was a man, and since men tend to be in most factory settings, he assumed that Dick could relate better to clients. In as much as both Dick and Ruth had equal qualifications needed for the job, Ed argued that women were not reliable at higher levels since they could get pregnant, or abandon their jobs in order to follow to their husbands based on their husbands’ jobs or career (Seymour, 1987). From all these, it is evident that Ed was biased against Ruth. It is against the law to deny women opportunities because they are anticipated to get pregnant. From Ruth’s and Barbara’s conversation, it is evident that Triton does not promote affirmative action. The company has failed to respect women and regard them as important people who can add value to the company and society at large. First and foremost, Ruth’s revelation that women in Tri ton Company form only twenty percent of all the employees is worrying. Additionally, there are only two women holding mid-level managerial positions, with no woman holding a position at the top executive level (Seymour, 1987). This is a clear demonstration that women are discriminated against and their presence in the company is not considered of value. Secondly, I am extremely shocked to hear Ruth’s complaints regarding the manner in which Ed addresses her. When Ed meets Ruth in the morning and does not greet her, but comments on her blouse, her mode of dressing, as well as her eyes (Seymour, 1987), it serves to be a clear indication of sexual harassment. Ed does this on purpose with intentions of making Ruth feel bad. This is an unacceptable behavior that should not be tolerated in any working environment. It is also worth noting that there are no clear procedures that are being followed when promoting employees. This is attributed to the fact that information regarding suc h opportunities are passed by word of mouth. No formal communication is given to existing employees to enable forward their applications to these positions. Instead, the Vice Presidents of various departments (all of them are men) sit down by themselves and choose who to fill the position with. It worries that in all the cases they have appointed only men, some of whom have not worked for the company compared to women at their level (Seymour, 1987). This brings forward several questions that demand answers. For instance, one may want to know, what role the Human Resource Manager of the company plays if she is not involved in the hiring process. Additionally, one may question why the Vice Presidents consider giving these vacant positions to men who do not deserve them, leaving out hardworking and achieving women. These acts of discrimination if not well handled can be extremely disastrous to the company. First, the company may face several discrimination lawsuits which may dent its p ublic image. The lawsuits may reveal what is happening in the company and discouraged bright, hardworking and achieving women who had wished to be a part of the Triton workforce. Secondly, the company may lack a diverse executive staff. Failure to incorporate women in its operation may hurt the company since studies have revealed that including women in the executive staff and having diversity is interrelated with better performance. This is because divergent

Job analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Job analysis - Essay Example He or she will be required comprise files, respond to phone calls, process and review forms for alterations, maintain personal files, help the employees and clients, scrutinize payroll items and staff time, execute all personnel administrative functions, manage director’s calendar, type as required, deal with office mail, and any other assigned duties. The recruitment is from all areas because this will help identify the best candidate for the job. The recruitment will last for one month. This short period will only attract applicants who are qualified, competitive, and dedicated (Brannick & Levine, 2002). First, all applicants should be eligible to work in the country. The selection methods will include interviews and presentations. Interviews will provide the company with knowledge and first hand information about the suitability of the applicants. The applicants’ goals, philosophies and ambitions, should match the company’s. Interviews will give accurate and essential information on the applicants. Presentations will provide deep information on the applicants, as opposed to the materials like CVs. Presentations illustrate how the applicant will act in a work situation. It also gives an applicant a chance to display his or her ability (Torrington & Hall, 2005).   Cathy is thorough, competent, neat, and accurate. She ensures that all duties pertaining to the human resource department are accomplished in considerable time and can be accessed. She uses her time well and meets deadlines. She comprises files, responds to phone calls, processes and reviews forms for alterations, maintains personal files, helps the employees and clients, and performs any other assigned duties. Moreover, she understands the job concerns and procedures. Cathy is also cooperative and can work efficiently without supervision (Muchinsky, 2006). It is essential to invest in a job position that matches its own needs. A recruitment plan can be devised from ideas derived from similar

Castle Television Show Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Castle Television Show - Essay Example As is the relationship of the other characters on the show like Lanie Parish, the resident coroner, and her on-off boyfriend Det. Esposito and in turn, his relationship with his partner Det. Kevin Ryan. The show excels in this aspect because the writers stop to actually develop the back stories of these supporting characters. By giving them their own highlight cases and storylines every so often, the character development becomes a fluid part of the show. It is a move that helps to not only keep the stories fresh but also allow the viewers to take a liking to characters that they would otherwise not care so much about in relation to the main storyline which is the Castle - Beckett romance. â€Å"Castle† is also a show that knows not to take itself too seriously regardless of the gravity of the case. The show-runner, Andrew Marlowe, somehow manages to constantly balance the thrill of the crime with the method by which it is investigated. Richard Castle serves up hefty doses of comic relief at just the right moment every single time. This is also what makes the show uniquely special. Every time comic relief comes out of his mouth, he does so with a bit of trivia or history for the viewers to learn from. Be it a reference to Lady Gaga or a classic film noir, there is always something new for the viewers to pick up on and Google after the show. The characters are more than mere caricatures of people as presented in other crime shows. These characters actually have lives that go beyond the precinct. They are people who make mistakes as real people do. Each person portrayed can be either admired or hated depending upon the story that they are given. Take for example the character of Kate Beckett. She is the resident glamor girl on the show. She looks flawless and elegant on the outside.

Shawshank Redemption Essay Example for Free

Shawshank Redemption Essay The literary works such as novels, plays and short stories, have long inspired moviemakers to create films. Films based on these literary works usually draw more attention of the movie audiences or critics than the one not based on them. If a literary work is not well adapted into a film, a number of critics and viewers willingly rise to fulminate at its filmmakers for degrading the essence of its literary work. Also, a lot of people who read a book first usually have a certain bias that a movie inspired by it would not be any better than the book. Even though a film does achieve a superb adaptation from a literary work, many of them still tend to be more loyal to the book than the movie. Certainly, in order to dramatize the literary work and deliver its essence to the audiences in a limited time, a filmmaker has to change many of its detail settings and eliminate unnecessary characters. In addition, a screen writer has to simplify emblazoned descriptions of the book and rewrite it as dialogues to fit in the film through the process of the adaptation. In this process, there is the transformation from the language of words to the language of images. So, what is lost, and what is gained? A good way of finding an answer to this is to compare the film adaptation of the book with its original literary work that is the basis for the film. Novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank and Movie, The Shawshank Redemption Stephen King’s short story, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank, in Different Seasons, one of his collections published in 1982, is what the film, The Shawshank Redemption produced in 1994, is based upon. The movie, directed by Frank Darabont, is presented as if it is Ellis Boyd Redding’s (Morgan Freeman) story telling about Andy Dufresne (Tim Robins) convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Ellis Boyd Redding, simply called Red, is a lifetime convict of Shawshank prison, telling you about Dufresne’s stay at Shawshank from his arrival to his escape. On the other hand, the novella is a little bit different format from that of the film. It is presented as a form of a document written by Red. He is looking back over twenty-five-year period of time, while writing, so the things that he described in the document have already happened. Due to this, the story is written as if it is told from someone. Basically, both the film and the book are very similar in terms of the story line. Even though there is the similarity of the plot, the film captivates the viewer more than that of the novella that seems to drag out for quite a bit. In fact, Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption seems to convert an ordinary literary work into a cinematic masterwork. There are several elements that make it possible. The movie eliminates inessential characters to position major characters better, slightly modifies the story line and dialogue to strengthen the essence of the novella. In addition, it changes the role of certain characters to solidify their views. Overall, in The Shawshank Redemption, Darabont accomplishes a resplendent adaptation from the novella. Now, I would like to analyze what is gained and lost in the process of adaptation, comparing the both works in terms of these elements. Solidification of the Role of Certain Characters by Eliminating Inessential Characters If you read the book and watched the film, you would notice that there were many characters excluded from the book because they were simply not taking essential parts of the movie. They are only mentioned for a couple of times to explain a certain situation from the view point of Ellis Boyd Redding, who tells the story about Andy Dufresne and left behind the story soon. Darabont takes a resolute action to cut out these characters. In the book, while Andy’s serving in Shawshank, there is a constant change of different wardens who control the prison. By eliminating all the wardens, he removes a group of unnecessary characters at the same time. For example, there are several cruel, merciless wardens in the book; George Dunahy, Greg Stammas, and Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton). However, Dunahy does not even exist in the film, and neither does Stammas who was also a former guard in Shawshank. During Andy’s stay in the prison, the role of all wardens transformed and solidified into the last warden Norton. In the movie, Darabont only uses one warden, Norton to superintend Andy for the whole time of his stay in the Shawshank. If there was a frequent change of wardens in the film during Andy’s stay it would have confused the audiences, providing different focus to new wardens with their different characteristics. Another example is a brutal, cold-blooded guard, Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown). His role in the book seems obtrusive only in the part that Andy dare tries talking to him to save his tax payment when there is the roof sealing project on the rooftop of the prison. Then, soon later, he is retired from the prison in the middle of the story. Byron Hadley had gone two years earlier. The sucker had a heart attack and took an early retirement. (55) In the film, however, his role has always been a captain of the all guards during Andy’s stay, substituting for all chief guards from the book. Furthermore, his overall role of the film is much more prominent than that of the book. In other words, his role represents the Shawshank as a severe, notorious prison where cold-hearted guards watch over every movement of each prisoner. Instead of showing a number of vicious wardens and guards from the book, Darabont focuses on only these two major villainous characters, eliminating unnecessary characters. In addition, it ultimately provides the audiences time to develop the hatred and indignity against warden for numerous, evil and immoral deed they do. Not only wardens and guards but also some inmates in the book are eliminated as well in the film. For instance, there are three different prisoners, Sherwood Bolton, Ernie, and Brooks Hatlen, in the book. Unfortunately, Sherwood Bolton is gotten rid out of the film. He is a person who raises a crow named Jake until released from the prison. Maybe they set you loose someday, but†¦ well, listen: I knew this guy, Sherwood Bolton, his name was, and he had this pigeon in his cell. From 1945 until 1953, when they let him out, he had that pigeon. He wasn’t any Birdman of Alcatraz; he just had this pigeon. Jake, he called him. (26) Ernie, a sweeper of the cellblock, is another prisoner who used to do Red a favor only in the book by delivering contrabands such as a rock hammer which Andy asked Red for. Early the next morning, twenty minutes before the wake-up horn went off, I slipped the rock-hammer and a package of Camels to Ernie, the old trusty who swept the Cellblock 5 corridors until he was let free in 1956. He slipped it into his tunic without a word†¦ (31) The last person, Brooks Hatlen, has been a librarian in the prison for about 25 years. When he is paroled, Andy takes over his position in the library. A year later he is out from the Shawshank, he died in his home according to the book. He was working in the library then, under a tough old con named Brooks Hatlen. Hatlen had gotten the job back in the late twenties because he had a college education†¦ In prison, Brooksie had been a person of some importance. He was the librarian, an educated man†¦ I heard he died in a home for indigent old folks up Freeport way in 1953. (49) However, in the film, all three characters are taken the role of one person, Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore), who eventually enables Darabont to eliminate first two characters as well as place more weight on the character of Hatlen in the film. In fact, the book makes him a headstrong person with no dialogue and no depth. On the other hand, the movie alters his character into a gentle, emotional person to make the audiences sympathize with him. After released, he hangs up himself, dramatizing it to be one of the grievous scenes in the film as well as emphasizing on what Red means by â€Å"institutionalized†: â€Å"First you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough time passes you get so you depend on them. That’s â€Å"institutionalized. They send you here for life. That’s exactly what they take. Part that counts, anyway. † There is also a very distracting character in the book, among various inessential characters eliminated in the film; Normadden. But in all that time Andy never had a cellmate, except for a big, silent Indian named Normaden (like all Indians in The Shank, he was called Chief), and Normaden didn’t last long. (54) Normaden was moved out, and Andy was living in solitary splendor again. 55) In the book, Andy shares a room with Normadden, a native Indian cellmate for a short period of time. If his character was appeared in the film, it would detract the view of the audiences from the mysterious character of Andy who spends most of his time enjoying being alone. In the film, moreover, he might have been left as a latent character which no one would pay attention to. Modification of Certain Plots and Dialogues Fat-Ass keeps blubbering and wailing. Total freak-out. Hadley draws his baton, gestures to his men. Open it. A GUARD unlocks the cell. Hadley pulls Fat-Ass out and starts beating him with the baton, brutally raining blows. Fat-Ass falls, tries to crawl. The place goes dead silent. All we hear now is the dull THWACK-THWACK-THWACK of the baton. Fat-ass passes out. Hadley gets in a few more licks and finally stops. This is what happens on the first day of Andy’s stay in the prison. It almost delivers the audience an infernal atmosphere of the Shawshank prison. In the book, on the other hand, almost nothing about Andy’s first day in the prison is presented although Red later mentions how new comers cry in tears at first night. First-timers usually have a hard time adjusting to the confinement of prison life. They get screw-fever. Sometimes they have to be hauled down to the infirmary and sedated a couple of times before they get on the beam. It’s not unusual to hear some new member of our happy little family banging on the bars of his cell and screaming to be let out†¦ and before the cries have gone on for long, the chant starts up along the cell-block: â€Å"Fresh fish, hey little fishie, fresh fish, fresh fish, got fresh fish today! † Andy didn’t flip out like that when he came to The Shank in 1948, but that’s not to say that he didn’t fell many of the same things. (93) Even though this scene of Hadley beating a fat new prisoner to death is not in the book, but only created in the film, it seems a good representation of the Shawshank. Another example is the way Andy is getting out of gang rape from Bobs Diamond (Mark Rolston) and their â€Å"Sisters. † In the film, when Diamonds fails to let Andy submit to him, Andy rather contempt his ignorance, so he ends up with being beaten. After the mobbing, when Diamonds returns to his cell, a captain guard Hadley clubs him to severe injury because he cannot save his tax without Andy. Eventually, Diamonds is transferred to another prison for serious injury, which gives the audiences some sort of a justice at the moment. In the book, however, Red describes Andy might bribe guards to gets rid of Bogs. Bogs Diamonds left off that summer, all at once. That was strange thing. Bogs was found in his cell, badly beaten, one morning in early June, when he didn’t show up in the breakfast nose-count. He wouldn’t say who had done it, or how they had gotten to him, but being in my business, I know that a screw can be bribed to do almost anything except get a gun for an inmate†¦ A guard could have been bribed real easy to let someone – may be two or three someones – into the block, and, yes, even into Diamond’s cell†¦ I’m not saying it was Andy Dufresne, but I do know that he brought in five hundred dollars when he came, and he was a banker in the straight world- a man who understands better than the rest of us the ways in which money can become power. 35) Although this part in the book may be more realistic to the truth, if it was directly adapted into the movie, it would not have the same impact to the audiences. There is a dramatic example of plot and dialogue change; when Tommy Williams (Gil Bellows) is killed by Hadley on the Norton order. Williams is happened to tell Andy that the Elmo Blatch (Bill Bolender) is the guy who murdered his wife and her lover. Although Andy has a chance to get a new trial with his testimony, Norton rather put him into the solitary, not giving him a chance for a new trial. In the meantime, Norton transfers Williams to the light security prison in a different county for concealing the information that can give Andy a new trial and release him. â€Å" This is a dialogue that Norton and Andy have in Norton’s office after Andy is done with a month of solitary stay that Norton ordered. It is because Andy mentioned a word â€Å"obtuse† to the attitude of Norton who does not concern his chance of new trial. However, in the film, the sequence is a little bit transformed into a different place. In other words, this is not what happened to Williams. Norton tries to let him forget about his hope and chance of new trial and release. The similar dialogue scene in the book is shot at a solitary where Andy has already been served for a month in the movie. Even though Norton orders Hadley to shoot Willams at the prison yard when he does not notice it, he lies to Andy that he is killed because of his escape. â€Å"I’m sure by now you heard. Terrible thing. A man that young, less than a year ago trying to escape, broke Captain Hadley’s heart to shoot him. Truly it did. We just have to put it behind us. Move on. † This scene makes the audience harden their hatred for the warden and loathe brutality of his character more. Transformation of this part eventually strengthens the vicious character of Warden and Hadley, making the audience impossible to feel sympathy for them. This sequence in the film is significant because it leads Andy to feel extremely resentful, igniting him to escape whereas the dialogue in the book simply does not carry such an allusion of his escape at the moment. As the story towards the ending, there is more heart-twisting in the film than in the book, especially when the audiences make an assumption that Andy commits suicide. It is because Andy talks strangely, bringing up Mexico, Red is told Heywood gave Andy a length of rope, and a guard is walking up to look for Andy in the next morning roll call. Then, when the guard finds that Andy escaped, it almost feels like the load off. A MAN is meticulously stripping the old paint and varnish by hand, face hidden with goggles and kerchief mask. Red appears b. g. , a distant figure walking out across the sand, wearing his cheap suit and carrying his cheap bag. The man on the boat pauses. Turns slowly around. Red arrives with a smile as wide as the horizon. The other man raises his goggles and pulls down his mask. Andy, of course. They hug each other. Ending with a panorama view of the blue vast ocean, the audience is finally able to feel relieved and happy for Andy and Red meeting up together. As other examples of plot changes, this scene is also never described in the book. At the end of the book, Red writes, like he says in the film, â€Å"I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope. † (107) In fact, the Pacific is only as blue as the reader thinks and as beautiful as Red expects it to be. In other words, the end of the novella makes the reader hope more that Red makes it to Zihautanejo and meets Andy, ending with â€Å"I hope. † This is absolutely what is gained in the film, but lost in the book. Like many other films inspired by their original literary works, the film, The Shawshank Redemption, is also inspired by the novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption written. Basically, the movie is based on the language of Stephen King, but through Frank Darabont’s adaptation of the novella, we see the transformation from the language of words to the language of images in his film. As for the question earlier, â€Å"what is gained and lost? † in the process of this transformation, Darabont answers through his movie. His adaptation presents some changes that strengthen the movie without any digression from the original literary work. In fact, the overall essence of the story is described better by the movie. Elimination of unnecessary characters, alteration of the role of certain characters, and modification of certain plots and dialogues make it possible. As a matter of fact, despite these alterations, the differences between both works do not seem much disturbing in terms of the story line after all. Maybe this is what Robert Altman means by â€Å"Cinematic equivalents of literary material manifest themselves in unexpected ways. †

Restructuring & Downsizing Essay Example for Free

Restructuring Downsizing Essay Human resource management has evolved from a largely administrative and operational role to one that plays an important part in strategic planning. This shift is more evident in its role towards downsizing. The decision to downsize is a decision that requires careful planning and consideration. It is critical to consider the long-term effects that short-term cost cutting measures can bring. Downsizing creates disruptions in the organization’s relationships with customers, suppliers and employees, organization’s structure, culture and climate. As Wayne F. Cascio says â€Å"if you must downsize, do it right, that no class of employee can be disproportionately affected. † Finding the best way to downsize is crucial, because the success of organisations that have downsized in the past has not been particularly laudable. Downsize Decision The downsizing decision is the most demoralizing and stressful aspect of the emerging Human resource managerial role. Downsizing is viewed as having a profound effect on the organization and the personnel including those who are terminated and those who survive. Yet it is the integral part of any workforce management decision. It involves understanding the tangible pitfalls of a reduction in workforce and analyzing the emotional and practical ramifications. Downsizing may occur intentionally as a strategic, proactive response designed to improve organizational effectiveness, increase productivity and cost cutting strategy. This response may involve mergers, acquisitions, sell-offs, or restructuring to better enable the organization to meet its mission or fill an environmental niche. It may involve reduction in personnel through transfers, outplacement, retirement incentives, buyout packages, layoffs, attrition, and so on or may occur in which new products added, new sources of revenue are opened up, etc. It affects work processes. Fewer employees may be left to do the same amount of work and the quality may suffer. Downsizing activities may include discounting functions, abolishing hierarchical levels, merging units, or redesigning tasks. Downsizing can impact financial well-being, health, personal attitudes, and family relationships. Before downsizing HR need to explore possible alternatives such as reducing hours across the board, introducing forced vacation, asking for layoff volunteers, compressed workweek, hiring freeze, and early retirement or implementing other cost-cutting measures. Human resource managers should weigh in on several factors that influence downsizing decisions. They need to identify the specific problems downsizing is expected to solve, consider overall financial health of the company, fiscal operating policies, and industry benchmarks before proceeding, and review all legal implications. Managing Process One key to a successful downsizing plan lies in management’s ability to clearly convey to employees the purpose behind the cost-cutting efforts. Secondly, consider any oral or implied contracts of employment, review employee files, plan for the contingencies, know the stakeholders, clearly define criteria for selection factors on which downsizing decisions will be made. Downsizing may have variety of adverse effects on layoff individuals, survivors and organizations such as loss of morale, distrust, anxiety, feelings of job insecurity, anger, job stress, physical ailments, poor mental health, decreased loyalty, lowered motivation and productivity, increased resistance to change, crisis mentality, politicised special interest groups, occupational violence, lack of teamwork, perception of unfairness, lack of leadership and overall commitment to the organization. Downsizing decision has to be a prudent one because it deals with lives of people. The managers will be faced with a work force at least partly staffed with survivors of downsizing. Providing information regarding the type of severance packages or outplacement benefits will be given to those displaced will alleviate some fears and let those who remain will know that their colleagues are being taken care of. The personnel attribute of downsizing usually involves reductions in personnel. However, downsizing is not limited entirely to personnel reductions. In some downsizing situations new products are added, new sources of revenue opened up, and/or additional work acquired. Even though some people may be added, the overall process results in fewer numbers of workers employed per unit of output as compared to some previous level of employment. Human resources must also position the company to be able to respond quickly and effectively when the economy recovers. The approach taken by the organization to the downsizing process can have an ongoing impact on the companys reputation with clients and potential future recruits. An inability to recruit critical talent later can mean an inability to rebound, so human resources must provide information openly and promptly to manage perceptions and rumors both internal and external about the fairness of any reductions and the need for additional downsizing in the future. Job placement services, employee assistance programs and financial counseling are all services that human resources should consider offering to affected employees. In the aftermath of a mass downsizing, employee morale will undoubtedly be affected. Employers should strive to be as open as possible during the process. Information should not come as a surprise to employees. If the company repeatedly assured workers everything was fine before announcing an unexpected layoff, it will be difficult to regain the trust of the workers who remain. Similarly, if the company focus has always been on meeting the needs of employees and taking active steps to motivate and encourage staff, a forced layoff may actually be more detrimental because it is so contrary to employees expectations of the organization. Management and human resources should meet regularly with employees to keep them informed, answer questions and respond to concerns. Any downsizing of the workforce is likely to result in the loss of key knowledge and critical skills. In the case of a voluntary separation program or early retirement initiative, Because turnover increases in the wake of a layoff, human resources must connect with key workers to outline their importance to the organization and provide information about how the company plans to recover. HR should also detail future career opportunities that can be realized by remaining with the business. Clear documentation, particularly regarding the layoff process itself, is important. Therefore it is vital that HR management weigh the relative costs and benefits against the negative impact downsizing has on employees and identify hazards, undertake risk assessment, consult with employee representatives, pursue compliance with legislative duties and take appropriate steps to manage any significant hazards that are identified, including psychosocial hazards. Downsizing refers to activities undertaken by management to improve the efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness of the organization by reducing the workforce size. Implications of Organisational Restructuring to HR Planning Restructuring: A Perspective Organizations and businesses today are faced with increased demands to become leaner due to global competition and rapid technology change. Many organizations have responded by corporate restructuring and downsizing or streamlining their operations and often outsourcing many functions originally assigned to permanent employees. Restructuring can lead to changes of ownership, radical changes in the internal management structure, mergers, acquisitions and significant downsizing or hiring trends. Internal factors can also include the addition or removal of a major product or service, addition or loss of a major client or the restructuring of departments. Restructuring is not a quick fix. Before restructuring we need to spell out the expectations and objectives and effectively communicate with the all the stakeholders to improve organizations ability to move through change effectively. Restructuring is a formal system of re-aligning tasks and reporting relationships that controls, coordinates, communicates, decides and motivates employees so that they cooperate to achieve an organizations goals. Restructuring may be carried out to expand and create new departments to serve growing markets or to downsize or eliminate departments to conserve overhead. Depending on the size of the organisation and type of business one may adopt a flat or tall structure and model it according to functional, divisional (product, market or geographic) or adaptive lines. Implications of Organisational Restructuring to HR Planning In the event of restructuring HR planning becomes critical because HR is typically responsible for handling all aspects of an organizations restructuring. HR departments provide or support announcements to employees regarding restructuring. HR is typically present when employees are informed of layoffs or permanent downsizing related to restructuring. Changes in employment policies, organizational structure, workforce, and location and job descriptions are announced to employees by human resources and management. HR also calculates changes in compensation and benefits resulting from reorganization. Organizations rely on human resources to provide a smooth transition during restructuring while retaining desired employees and integrating new employees into the new organizational plan. Restructuring leads to a new organization chart and HR need to reassess and alter their existing roles and responsibilities to better reflect the dynamics of the shifting workplace environment. HR departments also fulfil staffing recruitment needs including preparing job descriptions, posting and publishing available jobs, screening and interviewing candidates for employment and integrating new staff members into their assigned work areas. HR will often be called on to act in an advisory capacity salary ranges and often making changes to benefits, profit-sharing and other corporate perks. HR also institute training and educational programs and seminars and assist employees with transitions in and out of positions and in and out of the company. It may provide information, updates and job seeking resources for employees displaced from their jobs due to restructuring. HR departments are responsible for researching, recommending and implanting employee retention strategies during restructuring. Restructuring brings in changes to corporate cultures, which directly affects employees and may result in loss of identity, shrinkage in compensation, distrust, stress and conflict. HR has to ensure the internal processes accommodate the changes and the communication base is prepared to sensitize the various stakeholders.

Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS)

Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) Literature Review The aim of this chapter is to capture the main idea of the research in depth and provide a review on literature related to the study and go through the ideas of various authors towards the relevancy of the study and establish the need for the research. 2.1 Evolution Vessel Traffic Management System A vessel traffic management system (VTMS) is a nautical vessel movement observing system established by harbor or port authorities. According to TRANSAS (2014) the VTMS system utilizes information collected by advanced sensors, for example, radar, AIS, closed-circuit television (CCTV), Meteo-Hydro and other electronic object detection systems. The primary purpose of VTMS is to improve the safety and efficiency of navigation, improve features of port services, protection of life at sea and the safeguard marine environment. In 1946 a demonstration was done in order to identify the helpfulness of coast based radar system in Liverpool. The initial effort in developing harbour controlled radar was done by establishing a system at the end of Victoria Pier, Douglas, Isle of Man in 1948. (Hughes, 2009) With the rapid growth of marine industry marine safety and efficient navigation has been addressed as one of the issues that have major consideration. Different methods for improving the marine safety have been developed the past few decades. Some of them can be stated as radio-communications, navigation rules, electronic chart systems and identification systems. (Goralski, Ray, Gold, 2011) Goralski et al. (2011) further describes that most recent technological developments in improving vessel traffic management includes radar, electronic charting like Electronic Chart Display Information Systems, (ECDIS), vessel traffic control and management (VTMS) and automatic identification system (AIS) and communication. Several sources of data are combined from sensors such as GPS, radar and AIS in order to improve the vessel traffic monitoring. The final objective of this is offer more precise understanding of the navigational situations. Many developed countries utilize the services of highly sophisticated VTMS. The Port of London is one of the UKs busiest ports utilize an exceptionally advanced VTMS. In this VTMS the data from radars are associated with a mass of other data inside a very advanced computer system. This gives an ongoing picture and a thorough record of all developments at Port of London. (Goldman, 2011) 2.2 Vessel Traffic Management Systems in Commercial Setting As described by Goralski, Ray, Gold, (2011) many researchers have presented theories of developing an efficient vessel monitoring systems. The need for diminishing human error and decreasing the number and danger of accidents at sea is a need to be addressed. Developing such system to be used in real-time situations is a challenging task. Not much research has been done in this area. The world’s first three dimensional ECDIS prototype was demonstrated in Brest in 2007. This was a research led by Dr. Rafal Goralski and his team. It’s possible to incorporate data from many sensors around a port to produce a real time three dimensional traffic management visualization tool. (Goralski, Ray, Gold, 2011) As stated by Goralski, Ray, Gold, (2011) an interface has been developed and presently being trialed in the Port of Milford Haven. This system is used in real-time for navigation observing and control. The system is considered to be the first commercial operation of a 3D VTS. Transas Marine Limited and GeoVS Limited offer 3D vessel traffic monitoring solutions. Transas Group is a worldwide pioneer in marine navigation systems. Transas presented its initial 3D vessel activity monitoring system to the business in 2008. This system gives most extreme backing to VTS administrators. (TRANSAS, 2011). Sri Lankas first home-developed vessel movement administration system was the result of investigation led by the modeling and simulation group of University of Colombo, School of Computing. The system includes two dimensional and three dimensional views of the harbor. The three dimensional VTMS was established at the Colombo-South harbor in 5th August 2013. (UCSC,2014) 2.3 Need for more improved Vessel Traffic Management System The commercial 3D VTMS that were mentioned above are closed proprietary and extremely expensive solutions. This fact raised the need to implement a novel vessel traffic monitoring solution. The modeling and simulation group of University of Colombo, School of Computing developed the Sri Lankas first home-developed vessel movement administration system. This proposed and developed solution is entirely based on the free and open source structures (Sandaruwan, et al. 2013). There are limitations of the existing solution. In the existing solution, real-time movements of the ships can be visualized. However in the existing solution the path of a moving ship is not continuous. Goldman (2011) discussed that one of the major considerations in improving the VTMS is to enhance the use of Automated Identification System (AIS). The objective is to provide more data about the vessel’s positions. Furthermore a significant feature of the VTMS upgrading has been to further increase the continuity of the vessel display and resilience. In a research carried by Popovich, Christophe, Vasily, Cyril, Tianzhen, Dmitry, (2009) states that some of the important issues to consider in VTMS. The concerns are operability, accuracy and completeness of moving and positioning of vessels. Moreover a key problem in the vessel’s location estimation is addressed. That is in the occasions where the estimated location is different with the actual location of the vessel, and then the system should avoid such circumstances. 2.4 Automatic Identification System (AIS) The SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) Convention by the IMO (International Maritime Organization). According to that the Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automatic system utilized on ships and other vessels for distinguishing and finding vessels by electronically trading information with other adjacent vessels, AIS base stations, and satellites. AIS play a vital role in managing vessel traffic and improving maritime security. Vessel engaged in international voyages AIS is required from registered tonnage (RT) of 300. A vessel travelling in national waters AIS is required from registered tonnage (RT) of 500. (SOLAS Chapter v, 2002) AIS information is classified as 2 types of information static and dynamic. Vessel name, call sign, MMSI number (user ID), IMO number, dimension, type of the ship are static information. Position, course over ground, speed over ground, true heading, rate of turn are dynamic information. (Vesseltracker, n.d.) AIS transponders naturally transmit information at regular intervals through a VHF radio incorporated with the AIS. The position and speed originate from the ships GPS or, if that comes up short, from another GPS receiver. Other information is incorporated when AIS transponder is installed on the ship. (Weatherdock, 2014) The AIS signals are then received by other shore-based facilities like VTMS or nearby vessels. The received information is then used to display ships on two dimensional marine charts. This helps to observe ships activities. This enables ports and coastal states to recognize ships in their waters and regulate the vessel activity. (Weatherdock, n.d.) . In Sri Lanka such receivers located at Colombo and Mirissa, receive AIS signals emitted from vessel at Colombo harbour. This information is used to display the vessel on two dimensional marine charts. The ships are represented by arrow heads. 2.5 Applications of AIS There certain usages in AIS data. To enhance security nautical activities To safeguard the maritime surroundings To support collision avoidance. To manage vessel traffic in busy harbors. 2.6 State Estimation Problems The objective is to estimate the states of a dynamic system sequentially, utilizing set of noisy measurements. Orlande et al. (2012) describes that in state estimation problems, the accessible measured information is utilized together with prior learning of the physical phenomena. This task is undertaken by minimising the error. There are many applications in state estimations numerous fields. Orlande et al. (2012) describes that the position of an aircraft can be found using estimation. Also it may also be possible to locate the position using GPS system and altimeter. Usually these measurements are not always accurate. In state estimation combines the model predictions and GPS measurements to obtain more accurate estimates of air craft position. This idea can be incorporated in the research since the measurements are available during the course of the ship. It is possible to make estimations for the locations of the ship for the places where measurements are missing. Also it is possible to check whether the estimations are reliable with the measurements. 2.7 Kalman Filter The Kalman Filter also known as linear quadratic estimation was developed by Rudolf E. Kalman around 1960. Peter Swerling developed a similar algorithm in 1958. Richard S. Bucy of the University of Southern California backed the theory, making it often being called the Kalman–Bucy filter. As stated by Madhumitha Aich (2010) the Kalman Filter is a mathematical system used to correct observed values that contain inaccuracies and other disturbances and produce values with are nearer to true values. In many military and space operations Kalman filter is widely used. The fundamental operation done by the Kalman Filter is to produce estimates of the true and calculated values. Then the uncertainty is calculated along with a weighted average of both the estimated and measured values. A considerable amount of literature has reported that there exist different variants of the Kalman Filter. Discussions such as that conducted by Madhumitha Aich (2010) presented that different variants of the Kalman Filter including Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and Unscented Kalman Filter. The Extended Kalman filter is an extended variant of the original Kalman Filter. The requirement of linear equations for the measurement and state-transition models is relaxed; instead, the models may be nonlinear. The Unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is an improved alternative to the (EKF) for a variety of application. According to Kandepu, Bjarne, Lars, (2008) the performance of the UKF is better than the EKF in terms of robustness and speed of convergence. However computational effort in both EKF and UKF are almost the same. Webb, Prazenica, Kurdila Lind (2007) addresses a problem of obtaining a robust, real-time estimation of aircraft states from a set of measurements. The solution is gotten through by implementing implicit extended Kalman filter, a variation of the classical Kalman filter. The approach taken in this paper is to use the Kalman Filter to provide reliable state estimation. The resulting estimates are implicit functions of the aircraft states, the tracked feature points, and the camera parameters. In a research carried out by Freeston (2002) the Kalman Filter has been implemented for robot localization. Robot localization means the method whereby a robot locates its own position in the world in which it functions. The measurements of the robots x and y components of the position and the orientation is available. The information can be represented by a state vector. In order to find out its position, the robot uses beacon distance and angle measurements and kinetic data. This data consists of error. The Kalman Filter is one of the better methods to incorporate measurements into estimates. The Kalman Filter identifies that the measurements are noisy and that occasionally they are discarded. Furthermore the Kalman Filter identifies measurements that have only a small effect on the state estimate. The Kalman filter smooth out the uneven effects of noise in the state variable being estimated by add in more information from trustworthy data than from untrustworthy data. The user is able to provide the value of the error in the data and the system as an input in the filter. The Kalman filter computes an estimate of the position by considering the noise in the data and the system. The Kalman Filter algorithm can be used to combine measurements from different sources such as vision measurements and kinetic information and different times updates as a robot is moving. In addition the algorithm provides an estimate of the state variable vector uncertainty which is a measure of how accurate the estimate. This situation is somewhat similar to the situation discussed in the research. This idea can be utilized in the research to obtaining better estimates of the state variables by minimizing the effect of the noisy measurements. (Freeston, 2002) 2.8 Particle Filter The Kalman filter (KF) has revealed tremendously useful, however has stern assumptions about linearity and Gaussian noise. This is not always satisfied in real world applications. In such situations Particle Filter can be used to obtain solutions. (Orlande, et al., 2012) The Particle Filter Method is a Monte Carlo technique that can be utilized to obtain the outcome of state estimation. Particle filtering methods can be used in situations which are non-linear and/or non-Gaussian. Particle Filter otherwise called as bootstrap filter, condensation algorithm, interacting particle approximations and survival of the fittest. (Orlande, et al., 2012) In Karlsson (2005) the Particle Filter is adapted to some positioning and tracking applications. Particle Filter is constructed on a model which is linearized and a Gaussian noise assumption. A method for estimating position of industrial equipment that works underwater is developed. The data is collected from sonar sensor and surface direction finding system using radar readings and sea chart data. The problem is approached by using Bayesian methods and data collected from maps are used to improve the estimation performance. A real-time application of the Particle Filter as well as hypothesis testing is presented for a collision prevention application. A situation is somewhat similar to the condition talked about in the research is discussed by Ceranka Niedzwiecki (2003). A navigation system for the estimation of the pedestrian position, based on evidence from sources like GPS, is created using the Particle Filter approach. Although the GPS provide accurate information obstacles such as high buildings, trees, bridges may weaken or reflect the signals. This leads to significant growth of errors or even creates loss of GPS signals completely. The Particle Filtering approach is suggested to be suitable in this situation in order to estimate the missing locations and make sure the estimates comply with the constraints of the digital map. 2.9 Chapter Summary In this chapter the past studies and discoveries presented by various researchers related to the research is discussed. The details about the development of vessel traffic management systems (VTMS) up to the present day commercial vessel traffic management systems are presented. The problems associated with the VTMS are addressed. Then the facts about the AIS data are presented. Then the chapter addressed the solutions to improve the VTMS such as state estimation. The theoretical background of the Kalman Filter is presented as a solution to the state estimation problem. In the instances the Kalman Filter is not applicable the Particle Filter is presented as a better approach.