Employee Turnover In The Hospitality Sector In China

Employee Turnover In The Hospitality Sector In China People are one of the most significant resources for business, especially in the people-intensive and service- intensive hospitality industry (Kong and Baum, 2006). Additionally, front office plays a role of reception and marketing as well as the brain in the hotel, and it is an important factor that has impact on hotels image and reputation. An increasing number of research in China and in the world are keen on investigating human resources management about the turnover in hospitality industry (Liu,2002; Baum et al.,2006). Gustafson (2002) indicated that high employee turnover had been widely accepted and documented in the hospitality industry. The study also showed the relationship between managers perceptions and staff turnover. Moreover, Poulston (2008) found the poor training was associated with workplace problems, and improving in the training part is likely to reduce the thorny problems such as under-staffing. The result proved via questionnaires indicated that in the hospitality industry, the employers were not generally looking for hard technical skills, especially in the front line positions, but rather soft skills (Nickson et al., 2005). Such soft skills encompass attitude and it was also the essential parts affect staff aspirations about changing work all the time. In brief, turnover in hospitality is affects not only including psychological factors but also physical factors. It is clear that China has a bright future in the hospitality industry, and absolutely it is with potential to open the outside world and thus to obtain advanced international management skills as a result. China is still facing the problem of shortage of quality personnel and high staff turnover which might relate to culture of bias to the hotel jobs (Kong et al., 2006). Due to the importance of about turnover in the hospitality industry, some of the psychological and physical factors may similar be all around the world, yet in China, culture differentials also exist about the job nature in the hospitality industry. 2.2 Turnover KPMG (1991) and Timo (1999) pointed out that high staff turnover rates in the hospitality industry are largely higher than manufacturing industries in Australian labor market. Timo (1999) indicated that hospitality sector employment is always described as a mode of instability and flexible form of employment. In addition, findings in Timos survey (2005), a unit of percentage can evidence this statement: only 23.2% of employee respondents had been employed by the hotel 3-5years. It is also worth mentioned that only a little more half or 56.5% of respondents had been employed for less than two years. Similarly, about half of the manager respondents have been employed by one hotel for more or less two years. A survey conducted by Kong and Baum (2006) found that 75% respondents in front office was their first experience of working in hotel sector. Only about 30% respondents indicated that they plan to stay on their job for one to three years. This percentage largely reflects the potentia l workforce turnover in hospitality environment. Awareness about staff turnover cannot just stay on the surface, it must recognize that staff instability is not only the loss of talent, but that also would result in more costs in hotels. According to the survey by Mitchell (2001), he indicated that turnover is costly in any kind of operations. Cost here is a general concept. It concluded intangible and tangible factors. The former involved loss of experience, technical skills, relationships knowledge etc. The latter is concerned about adding money to recruitment, training, creating of candidates. Additionally, Hinkin and Tracey (2008) also published a report regarding the cost profiles associated with staff turnover in Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. They divided the turnover cost into hard costs, soft costs and opportunity costs. Meanwhile they listed five cost categories during the recruitment, selection, training and development, and performance. The authors found out that the results that the managers spent a great amount of tim e and money in recruitment and selection new staff because of the poor quality of the candidates pool and high turnover rates existing in the hotels. The front office is the first place that customers have contact with a hotel, which employees provided the first impression to the customers about the hotel service. In other words, the front office represents the hotels image and as a consequence staff in front office must know all the answers concerned in hotel to make customers happy( Kaye, Thomas, 2000,pp24-P25). Meanwhile, the clerks in hotel front office face big challenge on daily work. Working stress is one of the reasons that caused staff turnover can be found (Lo and Lamm, 2005). Pressure caused by working challenge may give rise to staffs leaving desire and foreshadowing the final turnover in the hospitality. Moreover, several physical factors have an effect on staff satisfaction about the current job. In Hinkin and Traceys (2000) work, they analyzed major causes for turnover arose, poor working environment, low wages, unreasonable management and lacking guiding for employees and poor training is also mentioned in this work. From the literature it is evident that human resource challenges found that there are many regions all around the world are confronted with the same issue about staff turnover and specifically, the problem of seasonal employment in tourist regions trouble the hotel managers a lot. Martin et al. (2006) published a research paper and summarized that the bad image of tourism hospitality industry, unfavorable working environment, few development and promotional opportunities, these are all the candidates perceptions and the most significant factors for managers to improve and in order to attract and retain the workforce. Specifically, there is an outstanding issue in the hospitality industry that the staff working in hotels is younger and younger and it has closely relationship with turnover issue. According to a New Zealand survey, almost half or 40% of the employees in hospitality sector are less than 25-years-old, the biggest group of the staff being 15-19 year (Whiteford and Nolan 2007).Working in hotel, as well as in front office, the most significant requirement for the staff is not skill levels but service attitude. Selection methods for recruitment can discern such feature, it relied 79% on application forms, 74% on curriculum vitae or/and 89% on interviews and references (60%) (Nickson, Warhurst and Dutton, 2005). A pertinent study conducted by Norris (1995) found that there are low barriers for person to enter most of the hotels, to be front-line personnel. Therefore, low barriers interests young workforce to looking for job in hospitality industry. Meanwhile, the youth staff in front offic e is one of the reasons for its workforce instability. Play and work, this notion may attract those employees to choose jobs in hotel which has low skill barriers to enter as well as opportunities to travel and exciting. (Accirrt, 1996; Chalmers and Kalb,2001) In other words, with the phenomenon of the seasonal turnover, human resource managers in the hotel cannot ignore the using of the students as a temporary labor pool (Farnsworth, 2003). There is no doubt that the close relationship among the local hospitalities and the hospitality manager schools and the tourism manager colleges, they can help provide potential workforce to the hotels. Also, the author advocates that hospitality operators should provide job related training to the students and improve their working competitive strength. Organizational commitment, missions, goals and direction Organization commitment is playing a significant role which as a factor reducing employee turnover in the hospitality industry (Kazlauskaite et al,.). According to Greenberg and Baron (2000, pp.181) definition, organization commitment is an extent to which an individual identifies and is involved with his or her organization or is unwilling to leave it. And there are three types of organizational commitment: affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment (Meyer and Allen, 1991). Among these three types of commitment, affective commitment may be considered most desirable for an organization. In addition to the reduction of employee turnover, according to Schuler and Jacksons research result (1999), they found out that employee organizational commitment was also seen to be important for quality improvement and maintain the importance of such human resource practices as teamwork, appropriate feedback system. Furthermore, employee empowerment as a factor can enhanc e organizational commitment. Empowerment is a rather complex process and it is hard to definite until now, but Lovelock and Wright (1999) define empowerment in service industry as the authorization of an employee without asking for a supervisors approval to help customers to find out service problem solutions and make appropriate decisions. And with regard to the relationship between psychological empowerment and organizational commitment, Sigler and Pearson (2000) found the positive relationship between them and Janssen (2004) indicated that psychological empowerment can be viewed as a way to stimulate an individuals commitment to the organization. Basically, empirical evidence suggests that the hotels organization mission, goals and direction influence employee retention and job productivity. And the organization development direction and support had a significant impact on employee job satisfaction and overall commitment (Kim, Leong, Lee, 2005). Susskind et al.s (2000) research also indicated that perceived organizational support strongly insfluences job satisfaction and employees commitment to their organizations. US Department of Labor (1993) on high performance work practices revealed that involving employees in decision-making, goals and the direction of an organization through participation in terms will help reduce turnover rate and produce job employee satisfaction. Furthermore, Cho et al. (2006) also reported that organizations which non-managerial employees are more likely to experience higher turnover rate comparting with which have high-performance work practice in the organization. Hotel culture and communication According to Becker and Huselid (1999), hotel culture creates competitiveness since it changes staffs working behavior by making them act consistently with the hotels desired corporate culture, thus influencing employee retention. Most of other researches indicated that there were uncovered similar findings between hotel culture and staff turnover rate and retention. For instance, according to Milman and Ricci (2004), they revealed that among the most powerful indicators to predict hourly staff retention in the hospitality industry were positive experiences with the hotels policies and with the hotels humane approach to staff. Work environment and job design In terms of the working environment and job design, most of the studies found that employees who had positive experience with regards to working hours, sense of fulfillment with their jobs and higher level of job satisfaction are more likely to stay with current employer. Although employees care lots about the monetary rewards which can be a top motivator for employee retention, having a comfortable working environment and flexible working hours were also important motivators (Wildes, 2007).The research work performed by Martin (2004), he pointed out the working situation has a quite important influence on the staffs perception and working attitudes. Accordingly, the working performance also impacted by the employees satisfaction of the working environment. Continuously improving the ethical problem in the hospitality, it will ultimately lead to the lower staff turnover and the successful retention of the talent workforce. What is more, the result that hourly employees retention was predicted by self-fulfillment and working conditions, even over monetary rewards was confirmed by empirical studies of lodging properties in Central Florida (Milman Ricci, 2004). Hires and promotions According to the searching result, numerous of the studies examine the impact of hiring and promotion activities on retention and performance (Becker Huselid, 1999; Cho, Woods, Jang, Erdem, 2006; Huselid, 1995; Milman, Hourly employee retention in small and medium attractions: the central Florida example, 2003). Based on the Pfeffer (1999) research, hotels which wishing to succeed in todays global competitive environment must make adequate HR investment and build staff who possess better skills and capabilities than their competitors. In addition, it is important that selective hiring procedures can ensure effective retention of the most qualified employees while lowering staff turnover in the long term (Huselid, 1995). Customer relationship The relationship between employees and customers is a connection that cannot be ignored. A theory about employees and customers satisfaction was tested by Heskett (1990), clients satisfaction is base on the employees satisfaction in the hotel. More precisely, employees in the hotel are the significant factor which is root for hospitality operation. Furthermore, the research study by Dienhart et al. (1992) found that there were positive relationship between customer centeredness and the staffs constructive views of job involvement, job security and satisfaction. If staff can feel that the hotel takes good cares of them, in return, they will provide a better service to customers to meet and/or exceed their expectation. They are more likely lead a higher satisfaction both staff and customers, also to better staff performance, thus making them less likely to leave (Arnett, laverie, McLane, 2002), positively influencing staff retention. Training High quality level training is one effective measure for staff retention. Several studies show that the close relationship between training activities and productivity and retention. In hotels where staff receives the proper training needed to assume greater responsibility, turnover rates are generally lower (Youndt, Snell, Dean, Lepak, 1996). And meanwhile Youndt et al. (1996) theorize that human resource practices designed to develop talented and ream-oriented workers improve staff productivity and customer satisfaction. With the same working situation for choosing, to the candidates, they prefer to apply for work at the hotel properties which have done well with the career progression image (Martin et al, 2006). Alexander and Nuchols (1994) also support a positive relationship between high quality level training and employees turnover. Moreover, work by Poulston (2008) investigated that some turnover is redeemable, meanwhile some is inevitable. In such a case, if hotel provides p roper training focus on individual development features, employees are likely to stay long, and try their best to enjoy a complex and stressed environment. Obviously, hotels with substantial training opportunities should experience lower turnover rates according to Shaw et al.s (1998) research. However, an interesting finding also by Shaw et al. (1998) included a positive relationship between training and the discharge rate. They indicated that hotels provide more training opportunities are concerned about staff skills and performance, and therefore experience a high percentage of staff terminations. Conversely, hospitalities that experience a high discharge rate initiate training activities because of lower workforce skill levels. Employee recognition, rewards and compensation The most notable among hotels retention initiatives is compensation and benefits. Numerous studies have addressed the impact of employee compensation, rewards and recognition on turnover and retention (Walsh Taylor, 2007). In terms of wages, a survey by Norris(1995) indicated that workforce in hotel are usually low paid, compared with government average wage, staff in hotel earns just about 73% of the whole industry average. Another survey conducted by Choy (1995) pointed out that hospitality employees average annual salaried have been found to be about 16.5% to 31.6 % below than the hotel industry average and government average wage. Additionally, highly competitive wage system promotes employee commitment and thus results in the attraction and retention of a superior workforce (Guthrie, 2001). And other further survey noted that staff will remain with an organization as long as it serves their self-interest to do so better than the alternatives available to them elsewhere (Shaw, J enkins, Gupta, 1998). Although several study investigated the compensation can strongly influenced the staff turnover rate, also several other research have indicated that compensation in the form of base or variable pay may not be sufficient to attract or retain staff. The most important retention predictors included intrinsic fulfillment and working conditions rather than monetary rewards were confirmed by Milman (2003). Moreover, the absence of opportunity for professional growth and development affects hotels turnover rate and retention instead of compensation and work-life balance (Walsh Taylor, 2007). Leadership and human resource management partnership Furthermore, another survey (Gustafson, 2002) found that the frequency of managers in hotel sector filling in for workers has a negative relationship with turnover. If front offices managers working side-by-side with front-line clerks, teamwork sense developed from staff so that they will recognize that they are needed. At the same time, the managers action will lead to a sense of belonging and heightened communication, and therefore they would be less likely to leave. Contrarily, poor management, conflict between manager and front-line employees are all negative for daily operation in front office. It is not only negative for customer satisfactory, but also passive for staff to set career perspective it will lead employees more likely to turnover. A survey by Tutuncu and Kozak (2007) noted that supervision within the hospitality industry can bring job dissatisfaction, and otherwise staff turnover. What is more, Chew et al. (2005) reveals that hotel with a value profile of either eli te or leadership, complemented with strategic HRM effectiveness will enhance financial performance. Instead of just focusing on single practice like staffing, the simultaneous use of multiple sophisticated human resource practices was assessed, which was identified as a link between organization-level outcomes and groups of high performance work practices (Huselid, 1995). All the prior work has consistently found that the effective of human resource management initiatives increased staff productivity and retentions. Specially, recruitment and training process, working environment, labor-management and performance appraisal, promotion and incentive compensation system that all been linked with valued firm-level outcomes (Huselid, 1995). Although the effects of human resource management practices on employee turnover and retention of organization-level is significant, many of the research in the hotel industry paid more attention to the individual-level predictors of turnover (Shaw, J enkins, Gupta, 1998). 2.3 Turnover in China According to the statistics from China National Tourism Administration Office(2008), it is shown that Chinas current tourism related staff were around 6million, while the actual the need of that are about 8 million or more. Therefore, the talent gap between the practical situation and the expectation is about 2 million. On the other hand, the loss of existing tourism practitioners was very serious. The ordinary turnover rate is 5% to 10% in the general industry, while the turnover rate is as high as 20% or more in the tourism industry, especially the higher qualification, the higher rate of brain drain. (The Yearbook of China Tourism, 2008) The increased mobility of human resources in the hotel industry was becoming increasingly prominent, the brain drain had become a primary problem troubled hotel mangers. The turnover rate in other industries was about 5% to 10%, while the appropriate turnover rate in hospitality industry was about 8%. However, China Tourism Association, Human Resource Development and Training Center did an investigation in twenty three domestic cities in thirty three of two to five stars hotels human resource department, and found that the average turnover rate was 23.95% (Wang, 2009). According to statistics, it can be seen that the hotel staff turnover rate was 3 times more than the appropriate turnover rate, and it showed a gradual upward trend. Zhang and Wu (2004) also indicated that one of the key issues of human resource challenges of Chinas hotel was the high staff turnover rates. A paper published by Zhao et al. (2006) introduced that the high turnover rate in Hospitality industry is a universal existence question which puzzles the managers a lot. The literature concluded some reasons of employees turnover: instable work, little chance for promotion, pursuit higher returns and display their values, want to obtain the respect of personality, etc. Additionally, the author Fei (2009) did an investigation on the negative influence of hotel turnover, including cost allowance, undermine the team morale, and reduce the credibility of brand, loss business information, and decline the service quality. After analyzing the reasons that leading to the staff instability in China hospitality industry, Zhao brought forward some countermeasures: improve the staff training, make plans for staff career development, and focus on communication to strengthen the emotional management, improve the hotel and cultural construction to foster people-oriented management concept. Meanwhi le Fei analyzed the potential development direction from different angles of social factors, corporate factors and individual factors to elaborate the importance of staff loyalty. Many hotel staff graduated from hotel management and have quite potential to be outstanding employees in hospitality industry, but all these outstanding staffs instability was also troubled their corporate managers a lot. Research from Zhang (2006) was focus on investigating the reasons of hotels outstanding employee turnover and introduced the ERG theory, after that he tried to solve the core issue in the hospitality industry: how to maintain the outstanding staff and pursue the hotels long-term stability and development. In this report, Zhang indicated that the outstanding employees outflow from their desire of leaving and the ERG theory used here to analyze the employees core requirement to prove that staff advantages should be discovered. Additionally, the author enumerates some positive examples to expound some recommendations for hotel and employees to establish loyalty mutually. It terms of the human resource management, dynamic management, relative to the static management, is also a research issue in China. Chen (2006) found out that in order to control the mobility of the employees and reduce the turnover and loss, the hotel should carry out the comprehensive, systematic and long-term dynamic management. Additionally, Chen advocated that investigate the hotels turnover situation, the searchers would not only investigate the external internal environment changing but also do some researches about the human resource inflow outflow and human resource flowing in the corporate at the same time. After that, Chen indicated the most important countermeasure was to establish the warning mechanism. Zhang and Wus (2004) did research about the human resources issues the hotel facing in China. It must mention that the authors analyze challenges the Chinese hotels were facing via hospitality perspectives, travel perspectives and university perspectives, and indicated the hospitality industrys expectation of education. They found that human resource challenges were playing a negative role in the development of Chinas hotel and tourism industry, the critical issue was the staff retention and human resource shortages, at the same time, the education level and the industrys expectation gap also became a thorny topic. All the organizations and the government would establish communication to enhance the graduates skills level and experiences, decrease the gap of expectation and practical operation, in order to enhance the retention rate in hotel and improve the problem of human resource shortage. According to Chinas culture, with the one-child policy, there are not enough citizens are born to supply workforce demands. In addition, the countrys relatively outdated educational system cannot lead the colleges and universities to provided outstanding human resources with types of skills in an increasingly globalized economy. One of the most important factors contributing to the high level turnover rate in hospitality industry in China is work-life balance, long hours working shift and heavy workloads instead of the technological working, especially in the front line post (Michael, 2008). The same evidence could be finding out in much of the related western hospitality and tourism industry work. Deery and Iverson (1996), Deery and Shaw (1999) and Ghiselli et al. (2001), all these research investigated the constructs like organization commitment and job satisfaction are significant elements contribute to staffs intentions to leave an organization. Additionally, work stress and pers onal attribute plays a decision role on leaving an organization (Deery M, 2008). As mentioned above, work-life balance (WLB) also is one of the influence factors that impact on the staff turnover rate in hotel (Wang and Walumbwa, 2007), while Dagger and Sweeney (2006) focus on life quality and staff turnover relationship research. 2.4 Turnover in Guangdong Province Based on the related HRM theories, such as learning organization, situational leadership, quality of working life and employee satisfaction, Chen (2007) deeply investigated the human resource management situation in one hotel in Dongguan which is a industrialized city with rapid economic growth, he got the result that no matter an international brand hotel or a local hotel, the issues of staff turnover and management brought out a series of problems in Guangdong Province. On one hand, due to the labor-intensive industry, the hospitalities have to operate with a large number of employees; On the other hand, the staffs that hard recruited were unable to retain. According to the identification of the basic turnover environment, the author analyzed the high turnover rate and the investigating the countermeasures based on the three parts: external environment, staffing department and human resource department. In Guangdong Province, many of the researchers found that training quality was a significant element on the issue of turnover in the tourism industry, especially in the hospitality industry. Dai (2005) made a hard working on doing the research about the different training approaches and quality between western countries and China, and set the Guangdongs Hotels as examples, pointed out the differences in terms of the importance of training, investment in training, training contents, training approaches and methods, and the training effectiveness and evaluation. According to Shen (2008), she also focused on investigating the important role of the training in the hospitality industry. She kept her mind on searching the hotel training effect assessment with an instance of Intercontinental Hotel in Guangdong. The author pointed out that the personnel quality would be the big issue during the management. Its meaningful influence not only present on the Human-Resource department, the whole hotel, but also on the employees themselves. One positive effect of training for the hotel, it could have a direct economic benefits, and training as an investment process on the staff. The assessment of the training can provide employees with consciousness of the hotels benefit changing based on their capacities and enhance of their senses of achievement, improved employees job satisfaction and loyalty to the hotel. According to the geographical situation in Guangdong province, its a developed area with lots of small medium enterprises as well as the hospitality industry provides a great amount of job opportunities to attract workforce from all the other provinces. It must mention that most of the workforces who live in other places go back to their hometown for the Spring Festival and its the peak period of labor-turnover (Wang, 2009). 2.5 Conclusion and research question After searching the literature with the issue of turnover in hospitality industry, and according to comparing among those researches, several similar points about the situation and reasons on the turnover can be found between Chinas hospitality industry and other countries. Although Chinas hospitality is developing with many thorny problems including staff turnover accompanied by Chinese culture. In this paper, the author aim to find out the following questions, and analyze the relationship among all the influenced factors. Accordingly, the author proposes a mode of managerial turnover cognitions set up by Carbery R. et al (Figure 1) with the purpose of helping identify the four sets of variables and define the hypotheses. The figure showed above, which identified the variables as possible of the hospitality turnover, involve Career Issues, Job Issues, Organizational Commitment and Covariates and so on. Based on the variables listed above, they can be classified into Demographic variables, Human capital variables, and Psychological variables according to this paper specific investigation of the staff turnover in the front office in hospitality. Demographic variables Age, gender and marital status are all demographic variables that influence the hospitality industry front offices staff turnover. There was a phenomenon that the a great amount of staff in front office were youth employees, almost accounts for 40% of the staff were less than 25 years old (Whiteford and Nolan 2007). And in China, in particular the loss of tourism management students of the phenomenon was particularly serious (Dou, 2009). In the research conducted by Hellman (1997), indicated that older staff was more likely represent a lower degree of mobility due to the concerned about the formal and informal benefits associated with age in the work place. On the contrary, it is important to think about whats the main reason for the highest turnover rate of the youth staff. As a result, it is hypothesized that: H1: Younger employees represent higher turnover. Human capital variables Specifically, in hotel front office, education level, working experience and salary level are related human capital variables that impact the employees turnover. Finding from human capital theory would suggest that staff with relatively higher education levels could more cognitive about their career development road relatively and could not change their current job straight away. Wong et al. (1999) found that individuals with relatively higher education levels are better informed of the external labor market and they are relatively good at comparing cons and pros with the current positions. As a result, it is hypothesized that: H2: Employees with higher levels of education attainment represent lower turnover. Psychological variables Thomas (2000) and Lamme(2005) indicated respectively working as a front line employee especially working in the front office, was a stressful job and full of challenge. Hinkin (2000) stressed the influenced factors about turnover were various, concludi

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a timeless American classic which set the tone for all other American literature to follow. The story opens up a window into the life of the American People before the Civil War. The lessons that this book presents can give the reader a deeper understanding of what existence was like along the Mississippi River over two hundred years ago. This is a novel which is full of thrilling adventure; personally, I enjoy adventure, which is the reason why I chose this book. Throughout the story there is constant exciting activity, there simply is never a dull moment in this book. Friendship, honesty, deceitfulness, and racism are all main issues all through this book. The characters face problems with ethics and morals along with the stereotypes of their society. The complex connections between race, culture, politics, and morality are made vivid in this story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn starts out with a brief description of the previous book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Both boys stole twelve thousand dollars in the previous book; each boy got six thousand a piece. Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer are both young boys growing up before the Civil War along the Mississippi. Both boys are mischievous but Tom is the one with all the plans, he reads a lot which gives him these ideas, which are fairly eccentric. Huck Finn does not live with either his mother or his father, in fact he seems to fear his father which he refers to as ‘pap’, he lives with a widow who takes care of him and makes him act very proper. It is thought that Huck’s pap is dead but Huck believes that he is alive and will come get him eventually.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first adventure that Huck has is with Tom Sawyer and a group of other young boys who band together to form a robber gang, all under the influence of Tom Sawyer. Their mission is to rob people and then kill them, however none of this ever happens and the gang soon breaks up.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shortly after the gang splits, Huck’s evil father comes back and takes him away from the widow. Pap takes Huck into the woods and makes desperate attempts to get the six thousand dollars which Huck owns. Luckily however, Huck gave it the bank manager, Mr. Thatcher for safe keeping. The beatings that Huck’s father gives him become unbearable, so Huck finally decides to run away.

Anthropology: Examining the Physical and Cultural Characteristics of Hu

Anthropology: Examining the Physical and Cultural Characteristics of Humankind This course has provided interesting field studies of cultures that are drastically different than what I would consider â€Å"everyday life.† Anthropology examines not only who we are as a people, but also, importantly, who we were as a people. The studies of past cultures is a good place to start to answer questions about societies and cultures today, and to bridge together the gap between the past and present, and maybe even predict where we are headed in the future. Anthropology spans millions of generations, examining the physical and cultural characteristics of humankind. Often the artifacts recovered from a past civilization can tell us a great deal about how those people lived, their level of technology, their patterns of subsistance, and so on. Anthropology uses methods and tools from multiple scientific disciplines, such as the scientific method which allows the testing of falsifiable hypotheses. This approach seems to be a strong basis for many of the different areas of anthropology, namely archeology, ethnology, and linguistics. I had thought that male dominance and superiority (â€Å"man the hunter† model) was a highly conserved cultural characteristic in past societies, and even in many â€Å"less developed† areas of the world today. I was surprised by the case studies of the !Kung San (traditional foraging society, not sedentary), in which females were just as important as males in...

How Video Games Affect Children

How Video Games Effect Children During the last decade, attention and accusations within the media have turned more to the meteoric rise in popularity of arcade-type home computer and console games. Considerable anecdotal evidence abounds about how teenagers are affected by shoot-em-up and beat-em-up games. Zimbardo (1982) remarked that video games are so addictive to young people that they may be socially isolating and may actually encourage violence between people. Another comment came from the surgeon-general of the United States, who expressed his personal view that video games were one of the root causes of family violence in America.He was quoted as saying that children â€Å"are into the games, body and soul – everything is zapping the enemy. Children get to the point where when they see another child being molested by a third child, they just sit back† (Koop, 1982). Because most research into television violence does demonstrate a relationship between the exposu re to aggression and subsequently exhibited aggression, investigations of the effects of video game playing usually have predicted a similar relationship. However, many variables are involved, and researchers offer no clear statement on the role of game playing and aggressiveness.Parameters include, for instance, gender, age grouping, expressed hostility (feelings of aggressiveness) versus exhibited aggression (overt behavior), the behavioral measurement (e. g. , toward a life-size doll, or in terms of shocks administered from an â€Å"aggression machine†), experimental duration of exposure (time spent playing), and personality traits. Also, studies may be laboratory based or observational. I know these are reliable sources because there is an author and also research was done on the topic. #2 This is my second article and it was written in 2010 and the title of it is Pediatrics for Parents.What makes the article reliable is the fact it’s only two years old. Here are s ome facts from the article. The article stated that at a theoretical level, there are reasons to believe that violent video games may have a larger harmful effect than violent video games. But, recent studies that directly compare passive screen media to video games tend to find bigger effects of violent video games. The article also stated that a well-adjusted child who plays violent video games is going to become a school shooter.When you separate studies into those that were well conducted versus those that had major flaws, you find that a well-conducted studies found bigger average effects of violent games on aggression than did the poorly conducted studies. (Anderson, 2010) Internet Source My first internet article is from an online publication for youth and what makes it reliable is the fact is partner of Santa Fe College and University of Florida along with two newspaper companies. First, one negative influence that video games have is that they can foster violence.This means that when kids play these games and see their favorite character commit some type of violent action, they want to repeat it. Second, video games influence youth negatively by supposedly giving children a negative image of women. Women are not usually used in video games, and when they are, their purpose is usually sex appeal. Lastly, social isolation is a negative influence of video games. It causes the student not to care about grades or learning and to want to stay as far away from the real world as possible because of how much the player likes the videogame world. Smith, 2006) #2 According the American Psychological Association, violent video games can increase children's aggression. Dr. Phil explains, â€Å"The number one negative effect is they tend to inappropriately resolve anxiety by externalizing it. So when kids have anxiety, which they do, instead of soothing themselves, calming themselves, talking about it, expressing it to someone, or even expressing it emotionally by crying, they tend to externalize it. They can attack something, they can kick a wall, they can be mean to a dog or a pet. Additionally, there's an increased frequency of violent responses from children who play these kinds of video games. Dr. Phil also points out that violent video games don't teach kids moral consequences. â€Å"If you shoot somebody in one of these games, you don't go to jail, you don't get penalized in some way — you get extra points! † This doesn't mean that your child will go out into the world and shoot someone. â€Å"But they do use more aggressive language, they do use more aggressive images, they have less ability to control their anger and they externalize things in these violent ways.It's absolutely not good,† says Dr. Phil. The reason I feel that this is a reliable because source because it is from the American Psychological Association and Dr. Phil. I have read many great articles from APA. I have also watched Dr Phil shows and I k now it is all true information. References Anderson, A, C. (2010, March 01). Violent Video Games and Other Media Violence, Part II. Pediatrics for Parents, (3/4), 21, Retrieved from http://elibrary. bigchalk. com. ezp-01. lirn. net Koop, E. (1982). Surgeon general sees danger in video games.New York Times, November 10th, p. A16. Dr. Phil (2012). Children and Violent Video Games, Retrieved from http://www. drphil. com/articles/article/297 American Psychology Association www. apa. org Scott, Derek (1995, March 01). The effect of video games on feelings of aggression†¦ Journal of Psychology, ({129}) 121(12), Retrieved from http://elibrary. bigchalk. com. ezp-01. lirn. net Smith, Blake 9th grade (2006, August 17) How Video Games Affect Kids, Retrieved from http://rolemodels. jou. ufl. edu/rolemodels/entertainment/videogames. shtm

Cheque Truncation System

Lawyersclubindia Article : Cheque truncation in the Indian Scenario Page 1 of 3 Cheque truncation in the Indian Scenario During the last two decades or so the attitude and lifestyle of the consumers of banking service have been influenced by the advancement in technology. In tune with technological changes the banksaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ delivery system has to undergo tremendous transformation. The financial reforms process has enabled many competitors to enter the financial services market with a higher degree of efficiency and customer friendly behaviour. The public sector banks although reacted promptly to the new challenges, have not kept pace with the new entrants in the arena because of their inherent limitations. Under the impact of technology, the banks have been trying to innovate newer products and services to become more competitive in the ever demanding customer driven market. The technology has made it possible for the banks to come to terms with the demands of customers. The system of cheque truncation is prevalent in several foreign countries. Denmark and Belgium are the pioneers in the truncation system. They adopted complete cheque truncation system more than two decades ago. Sweden is the typical example for having achieved complete truncation where all the cheques can be presented and encashed at any branch; irrespective of the bank on which they are drawn. The process of cheque truncation is not only quick but also meets the requirements of future electronic transactions. In India the collection and payment of cheques is governed by the provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 which requires that the instruments must be in writing and have to be physically presented for payment in due course (before the amendment in the Negotiable Instruments Act). In view of this requirement the time taken for the processing of cheques, etc. was long particularly for the outstation cheques. In a country like India, the time taken for collection of outstation cheques is rather tiring for the customers. With the advent of technology, the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India took initiative to improve the customer service. The working group constituted in 1982 to consider the feasibility of introduction of MICR/OCR technology for cheque processing recommended that India should join SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) Network for the transmission and reception of international financial messages as well as instil electronic forms of monetary transaction in the Indian economic transactions. The term aâ‚ ¬? hequeaâ‚ ¬ has been defined in Section 6 of the Negotiable Instruments Act as aâ‚ ¬? bill of exchange drawn on a specified banker and not expressed to be payable otherwise than on demandaâ‚ ¬ . As per definition it is essential that cheque should be presented for payment. But in truncation, the physical cheque is not presented but only its image shall be transmitted to the paying branch. ** In common parlance the word aâ‚ ¬? tru ncatedaâ‚ ¬ means deformed, disfigured, mutilated, etc. As per the Negotiable Instruments Act, the truncated cheque means a cheque which is truncated during the course of a clearing cycle. The process of truncation requires the banker to convert the cheque data into electronic form for the purpose of safe keeping or to return the cheques at the request of the banker or to provide information on cheques as and when requested. The cheque in the electronic form means a cheque which contains the exact mirror image of a paper cheque and is generated, written and signed in a secure system ensuring minimum safety standards with the use of digital signatures (with or without biometric signature) and http://www. lawyersclubindia. com/articles/print_this_page. asp? rticle_id=250 7/24/2011 Lawyersclubindia Article : Cheque truncation in the Indian Scenario Page 2 of 3 asymmetric crypto system. Features of truncated cheque system With the advent of technology and cyber era, security of the system has acquired prime importance. No doubt, the financial institutions have started providing fast services than ever before. But the technology has brought in its trail security problem als o. Under the cheque truncation system, therefore, the image of the cheque is captured at the point of deposit where it is sealed and encrypted before its transmission. This renders it tamper proof. This is done strictly as per international standards. The transmission between the presenting, paying and payee bank is authenticated by a certificate authority as part of the public key infrastructure. The process of image certification at the banks is certified by an independent auditor to ensure that it conforms to the requirements of the laws of evidence of that country. Under the cheque truncation system all cheques are transmitted electronically. The original cheques are retained by the collecting banker. Indian scenario Truncation of cheques can be done by the clearing house or the bank which collects the truncated version of the cheque. As per Section 81 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, the banker who receives the payment, is also supposed to retain the copy of the cheque even after payment has been done. Section 89 of the Negotiable Instruments Act says that any distinction between the original cheque and the truncated image should be construed as material alteration. In such cases it is obligatory on the part of the clearing house or the bank to ensure the correctness of the truncated image while transmitting the image. An explanation has been added to Section 131 of the Negotiable Instruments Act vide the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2002. It says that it shall be the duty of the banker who receives payment based on an electronic image of a truncated cheque to ensure that there is no fraud, forgery or tampering apparent on the face of the instrument. It would be seen that after the amendment the responsibility of the collecting bank has increased manifold. Earlier it was the position that if he collects any instrument in good faith and without negligence he was not liable for any fraud, etc. But after the amendment it is obligatory upon the collecting bank to verify the genuineness of the cheque with greater degree i. e. due diligence. Hence the cheque truncation system has burdened the collecting banker with a greater degree of responsibility. As per sub section (2) of Section 64 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, where an electronic image of a truncated cheque is presented for payment, the drawee bank is entitled to demand any further information regarding the truncated cheque from the bank holding the truncated cheque in case of any reasonable suspicion. Two new sub-sections have been added to Section 89. As per these sub sections any difference in apparent tenor of electronic image and the truncated cheque shall be a material alteration and it shall be the duty of the bank or the clearing ouse, as the case may be, to ensure the exactness of the apparent tenor of electronic image of the truncated cheque while truncating and transmitting the image. In spite of the advantages, the truncation system has its own drawbacks. The truncated cheques are vulnerable to fraudsters who can hack into this system and change the contents of the cheques. So the security of the system must be ensured. RBI has taken upon itself setting up of a safe, secure and http://www. lawyersclubindia. com/articles/print_this_page. asp? article_id=250 7/24/2011 Lawyersclubindia Article : Cheque truncation in the Indian Scenario Page 3 of 3 efficient communication network for the exclusive use of the banking sector known as INFINET (Indian Financial Network). This network is already being used by a large number of banks for transfer of funds. INFINET uses the latest technology and security called PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) which is within the legal requirements of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Source : – http://www. ebc-india. com/practicallawyer/index. php? option=com_content&task=view&id=8047&Itemid=54 http://www. lawyersclubindia. com/articles/print_this_page. asp? article_id=250 7/24/2011

Gold and Diamond Mining of Africa Essay

* Diamond mining in Africa Ever since the Kimberley diamond strike of 1868, South Africa has been a world leader in diamond production. The primary South African sources of diamonds, including seven large diamond mines around the country, are controlled by the De Beers Consolidated Mines Company. In 2003, De Beers’s operations accounted for 94% of the nation’s total diamond output of 11,900,000 carats. Nicky Oppenheimer, the current Chairman of DeBeers. * The life of the miners The search for diamonds is not exactly easy. Many miners and diamond diggers in sub-Saharan Africa travel great distances to find work and submit to gruelingly long hours for low wages – or sometimes no wages – in substandard conditions. Child labor has long been a problem in informal diamond mines, especially during times of war. Children have often been exploited to do excavation work because they are small enough to be lowered into small, narrow pits by ropes to dig out sacks of dirt, which is in turn washed by other children in search of diamonds. During Sierra Leone’s 10-year civil war, children were often used as soldiers and workers in the rich Koidu diamond mines that funded the country’s rebels. USAID launched the Kono Peace Diamond Alliance in 2002 to try to improve the working conditions in the mines – particularly for children. But it is an uphill battle across Africa to get children who are either family breadwinners, or fending for themselves or conscripted into slave-like labor to stop working and go to school. A child solider in Africa Land is often cleared and vegetated areas dug up to create open pit mines in he rushed search for diamond deposits, leaving them unsuitable for other farming activities. Informal mining in hilly areas also leads to erosion – and, in turn, flooding. The salt, heavy minerals and chemical products from mining equipment can run off into rivers and pollute vital water sources for mining communities and people living downstream. * gold mining in Africa South Africa accounted for 15% of the world’s gold production in 2002 and 12% in 2005, though the nation had produced as much as 30% of world output as recently as 1993. Despite declining production, South Africa’s gold exports were valued at $3. billion USD in 2005. Almost 50% of the world’s gold reserves are found in South Africa. Barrick Gold Corporation is the largest pure gold miningcompany in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units (RBU’s) located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America. Barrick is currently undertaking mining and exploration projects in Saudi Arabia, Papua New Guinea, the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Australia, Peru, Chile, Russia, South Africa,Pakistan, Colombia, Argentina and Tanzania. For 2008, it produced 7. million ounces of gold at a cash cost of US $443/ounce. As of December 31, 2008 its proven and probable gold mineral reserves stand at 138. 5 million ounces. Peter monk, the wizard of gold mining * The life of gold miners The unknown factor in South Africa is the future of labor costs. The mines employ several hundred thousand miners underground: half the production costs are for wages. Most of the gold miners are members of the black National Union of Mineworkers, which is pressing hard both for political and social reform, and for better wages and working conditions for its members. But the long-delayed beginnings of political reform in South Africa in the late 1980s coincided with a slump in gold prices. The South African gold mines, many of them a century old, were by then the world’s deepest, and were technically very difficult and financially very expensive to operate even in spite of the low wages paid to the miners. The quality of the ore was slowly dropping: the average gold ore now averages less than 5 grams of gold per tonne. Winnie Mandela is on record as saying to black miners, â€Å"You hold the golden key to our liberation. The moment you stop digging gold and diamonds, that is the moment you will be free. † She could not be more wrong. If the gold mines close, the economic disaster will be visited most on the poorer section of society, the blacks. The South African reforms were predicated absolutely on a stable and healthy economy. In 1999, the price of gold dropped to a low point around $250/oz. This was very bad news for South African gold companies, South African gold miners, and the South African government. Gold companies scrambled to reorganize and streamline their operations. By the time the price again reached $290 again in early 2000, the gold industry had changed dramatically, in South Africa and globally. Health problems of gold miners who worked underground include decreased life expectancy; increased frequency of cancer of the trachea, bronchus, lung, stomach, and liver; increased frequency of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), silicosis, and pleural diseases; increased frequency of insect-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever; noise-induced hearing loss; increased prevalence of certain bacterial and viral diseases; and diseases of the blood, skin, and musculoskeletal system. These problems are briefly documented in gold miners from Australia, North America, South America, and Africa. In general, HIV infection or excessive alcohol and tobacco consumption tended to exacerbate existing health problems. Miners who used elemental mercury to amalgamate and extract gold were heavily contaminated with mercury. Among individuals exposed occupationally, concentrations of mercury in their air, fish diet, hair, urine, blood, and other tissues significantly exceeded all criteria proposed by various national and international regulatory agencies for protection of human health.

Mein Name Ist Hase - Ich wei Bescheid - German Idioms

Mein Name Ist Hase - Ich wei Bescheid - German Idioms Like actually every language, the German language has a variety of expressions that are not really easy to understand as their literal translation usually doesnt make any sense. Those are best learned in an appropriate context. I will present a few interesting German idioms to you and add a literal translation as well as a similar English expression below it and if available some etymological information. Auf gehts: Mein Name ist Hase, ich wei von nichts. Lit.:   My name is hare, I know of nothing.  Fig.: I don’t know about anythingWhere does this come from?This expression has nothing to do with hares, bunnies or any other animal. It has to do with a certain man named Victor von Hase. Hase was a law student in Heidelberg in the 19th century. He got into trouble with the law when he helped his friend flee to France after he shot another student in a duel. When Hase was asked in court what his involvement was, he declared: â€Å"Mein Name ist Hase; ich verneine die Generalfragen; ich weiß von nichts.† (My name is Hase; I negate the general questions; I know of nothing) From that phrase came the expression that is still in use today.Funny FactThere is a popular song from the1970s by Chris Roberts with the same title that you might enjoy: Mein Name ist Hase. Viele Hunde sind des Hasen Tod Many dogs are of-the hare deathMany hounds soon catch the hare.   There is not much one person can do against many. Sehen wie der Hase luft See how the hare runs.See how the wind blows Da liegt der Hase im Pfeffer There lies the hare in-the pepper.That’s the fly in the ointment. (A small annoyance that spoils the whole thing.) Ein alter Hase An old hare.An old-timer / old-stager Wie ein Kaninchen vor der Schlange stehen Like a rabbit in-fron-of the snake stand.A deer caught in the headlights Das Ei des Kolumbus The egg of-theL Columbus.An easy solution to a complex problem Man muss sie wie ein rohes Ei behandeln One has-to handle her like a raw egg.To handle someone with kid gloves. Er sieht aus, wie aus dem Ei gepellt He looks as if (he was) pealed out of the egg.When somebody looks well put-gether. Der ist ein richtiger Hasenfu Hes a real hare-foot.He’s chicken. Der ist ein Angsthase Hes a fear-hare.He’s chicken Er ist ein Eierkopf He’s an egghead. (Hes a thinker but in a negative way) Where does this come from?This expression comes from the prejudice that scientists very often have a (semi) bald head which then reminds us of an egg. EDITED: 15th of June 2015 by Michael Schmitz