The english housel development Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The english housel development - Article Example the beauty and design have to be concordant to each other in such a way that the scheme may explore the needful appearance of the concept in theory1. The relation between Hitchcock and Pugin is that Hitchcock is a critic of building design and he finds Pugin to follow such dimension in his work. The narratives of Pugin are very sensitive in terms of explaining the true sense of functionalism. Such narratives have proven as effective context of understanding design process of functionalism beauty in structures, it is significant to note that the Hitchcock address beholds instruments and the changing circumstances which have conveyed the eligibility of process designing. The criticism that has been put forward by Pugin in his address of functionalism as a process of design critic does not just enhance the limitations and shortcomings but it rather takes a constructive approach to discuss this area of design and aesthetics. On the other hand, Shaw has been critically acclaimed by Muthesius with the usage of sculpture examples in the address. This is fairly different from the approach of Hitchcock who takes a case study approach to solve such aspects2. Thus, it can be said that my personal viewpoint considers the assessment and critical claim of Hitchcock to Pugin’s desi gn is appropriate and worth it as mentioned, â€Å" It is proper to remark that the cluster of pinnacles at A are not carried up for mere ornament, pinnacle at the point of

Philippine Environmental Laws Effect: Hospitality

Philippine Environmental Laws Effect: Hospitality The current environmental laws in the Philippines are policies of the state that aims to protect, conserve and develop our natural resources and the ones found and living with it. Executive Order Number 79 Section 16, Article II of the 1987 Constitution provides that the State shall protect and advance the right of the Filipino people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature. It shows that the state want a protection not just on nature but also on its sovereign people. Living in the rhythm and harmony of nature is what the state wants for its people. But that was a long time ago people are contented living a simple life they are already satisfied with what the nature can offer to them. People as time goes by seek more and find ways on how to get more resources on our nature that they wouldnt mind if its already endangering the nature. Presidential Decree 1152 Philippine Environmental Policy defines the policy objectives and the strategies f or the various aspects of environmental management, such as air and water quality management, natural source development, land management, and waste management. It launches a comprehensive national program of environmental protection and management, with reference to policies and standards of noise, air quality, water quality, classification of water and waste management. In this program the proper protection and management that was supposed to be done was not followed. Quality management is needed. It is one of the major factors that cause diseases on people because our resources were not of good quality nowadays. It recognizes that a clean and healthy environment is for the good of all and should therefore be the concern of all. Clean and healthy environment is not what all Filipinos have. Only a few can experience what a healthy and clean environment is because majority of the people tend to go to urban places and eventually pollute it. Presidential Decree 389 (P.D. 705) The For estry Reform Code codifies updates and raises forestry laws in the country. It emphasizes the sustainable utilization of forest resources. When we say sustainable it is how we use the resources properly and how to maintain its productivity for future generations. This law wants to eliminate illegal logging and other forms of forest destruction which are being facilitated. Taking Care of our forest is very crucial specially to us who are living on elevated areas we are more prone on Landslide and the ones living beneath us is also affected with flashflood, mudslide and others. It is important that we would take care and propagate trees on our forests. Presidential Decree. 856 Sanitation Code places the responsibility in the local government units for he solid waste management in his area of production. People in Cities are too many it causes pollution due to overcrowding the resources is not sufficient to support the population living in a certain place. A lot of people dont practice proper hygiene on themselves and even on their environment. Overcrowding leads to unhealthy practice and lifestyle. Presidential Decree 1181 (supplements the provision of P.D. 984) providing for the abatement, control and prevention of vehicular pollution and establishing the maximum allowance emissions of specific air pollutants from all types of vehicle. We invented so many things that really have a negative impact on our nature as we go through modernization so many substances is being used that served as a poison to our natural resources and slowly killing and destroying it. The state has no control and supervision on it. The use of Cars that produce smoke, chemicals on pesticides and insecticides and even using spray will harm our mother nature. It is negligence on our part we are supposedly the stewards of it but what we are doing is we are destroying it. Lack of discipline also is happening we dont mind the laws that were made to safeguard our nature and also ourselves from harm. The environment were living in right now is not what the state envisions for us. These are general policies that pursuit a better quality of life for the present and future generations. It provides objectives and strategies for the various aspects of environmental management. Nature is really one of the major sources of income before and even nowadays. But the equal opportunity was not imposed properly by the state proper resource allocation is needed. Strictly implementation of the laws passed is not enough we need to make the citizens abide with rules and regulations not because it is one of their responsibilities as a citizen, but because of the fact that we need this law that will serve as our guidelines and manuals to continue living in ecologically balanced and healthy environment. How Hospitality and Tourism Management Course is affected in current environmental Law? The quality of the environment, both natural and man-made, is essential to tourism. However, tourisms relationship with the environment is complex. It involves many activities that can have adverse environmental effects. Many of these impacts are linked with the construction of general infrastructure such as roads and airports, and of tourism facilities, including resorts, hotels, restaurants, shops, golf courses and marinas. In Hospitality Industry we offer products and services that are tangibles and intangibles. Attractive landscape sites, such as sandy beaches, lakes, riversides, and mountain tops and slopes, are often transitional zones, characterized by species-rich ecosystems. Hotel and Tourism Industry is anchored on natural resources. And it is where we usually build infrastructure we usually convert and developed the place to cater to our guests. The fact that most tourists chose to maintain their relatively high patterns of consumption (and waste generation) when they reac h their destinations can be a particularly serious problem for the industry as Philippines a developing country without the appropriate means for protecting our natural resources and local ecosystems from the pressures of mass tourism. Hospitality and Tourism Industry contributes a lot with this destruction. As a number one contributor our industry is affected with many these laws imposed it limits our capacity to render and innovate more on our products and services offered to our present and future guests. The Industrys business areas, the facilities being operated and managed as well as our locations and activities are also affected. We need to comply with environmental legislation, regulation and standards. We also need to identify the extents to which environmental issues are being considered and addressed in the operations, services and products of the organizations that are part of our industry. The Industry needs to commit on how we are going to manage the operations and ser vices to achieve environmental objectives and targets. The Hospitality and Tourism Industry must show where the organization stands on its environmental performance in relation to its operations, services and products. These environmental laws can make major impacts on the organizations activities, services and production processes. Those processes may have cause impact on the environment. It will take into considerations the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of all properties facilities and services. We need to develop or adapt procedures and technologies to the benefit of both the environment and wider community and still maintaining in reaching or exceeding our guests expectation. The practice of our staff, contractors, suppliers and customers must be with of responsibility for their actions and to comply with their environmental obligations. Suppliers taking part in the environmental protection initiatives will be considered. Purchasing strategies with th e suppliers and the materials needed is also affected we need to make sure that it does not add cost to the problem. Like in purchasing initiatives we must consider those who are committed to sustainable environmental development, and continuously seek environmentally-friendly products and services that represent genuine value for money. The industry need to devise the most innovative and practical environmental improvement initiatives. We need to provide products and services that have the minimum adverse impact on the environment. The industries employees and staff is also affected they need to carry out regular internal programmes of education and training to enhance environmental awareness amongst themselves. How can Hotel and Tourism Management Course help to improve the current environmental situation in the Philippines? Tourism can be considered one of the most remarkable socio-economic phenomena of the twentieth century. From an activity enjoyed by only a small group of relatively well-off people during the first half of the last century, it gradually became a mass phenomenon during the post World War II period, particularly from the 1970s onwards. It now reaches larger and larger numbers of people throughout the world, and is a source of employment for a significant segment of the labor force. And now Hospitality and Tourism Industry is one of the largest and fastest growing industry in the world has growing adverse impacts on our environment. It provides considerable economic benefits for many countries, regions and communities; its rapid expansion has also had detrimental environmental and socio-cultural impacts. Natural resource depletion and environmental degradation associated with tourism are serious problems. The management of natural resources to reverse this trend is thus one of the most difficult challenges for governments at different levels. The main environmental impacts of tourism are (a) pressure on natural resources, (b) pollution and waste generation and (c) damage to ecosystems. Furthermore, it is now widely recognized that not only uncontrolled tourism expansion is likely to lead to environmental degradation, but also that environmental degradation, in turn, poses a serious threat to tourism. Tourism is closely linked to biodiversity and the attractions created by a rich and varied environment. It can also cause loss of biodiversity when land and resources are strained by excessive use, and when impacts on vegetation, wildlife, mountain, marine and coastal environments and water resources exceed the carrying capacity. This loss of biodiversity in fact means loss of tourism potential. Global tourism is closely linked to climate change. Tourism involves the movement of people from their homes to other destinations and accounts for about 50% of traffic moveme nts; rapidly expanding air traffic contributes about 2.5% of the production of CO2. Tourism is thus a significant contributor to the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Air travel itself is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect. Passenger jets are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. The number of international travelers is expected to increase, adding greatly to the problem unless steps are taken to reduce emissions. Despite its many adverse impacts, tourism can help improved the current environmental situation by preservation and conservation of sensitive important sites in our country. Furthermore, tourism that focuses on cultural and historic sites (sometimes referred to as heritage tourism) can be the driving force for the preservation and rehabilitation of existing historic sites, buildings, and monuments. The Hospitality and Tourism Industry can contribute to environmental conservation through: (a) Direct financial contri butions; we can contribute directly to the conservation of sensitive areas and habitat. Contributions to government revenues; governments collect money in more far-reaching and indirect ways that are not linked to specific parks or conservation areas. User fees, income taxes, taxes on sales or rental of recreation equipment, and license fees for activities can provide governments with the funds needed to manage natural resources. Such funds can be used for overall conservation programs and activities. (b) Improved environmental management and planning; Sound environmental management of tourism facilities and especially hotels can increase the benefits to natural areas. But this requires careful planning for controlled development, based on analysis of the environmental resources of the area. Planning helps to make choices between conflicting uses, or to find ways to make them compatible. By planning early for tourism development, damaging and expensive mistakes can be prevented, avo iding the gradual deterioration of environmental assets significant to tourism. (c) Environmental awareness raising; Tourism has the potential to increase public appreciation of the environment and to spread awareness of environmental problems when it brings people into closer contact with nature and the environment. This confrontation may heighten awareness of the value of nature and lead to environmentally conscious behavior and activities to preserve the environment. (d) Protection and preservation; Tourism can significantly contribute to environmental protection, conservation and restoration of biological diversity and sustainable use of natural resources. Because of their attractiveness, pristine sites and natural areas are identified as valuable and the need to keep the attraction alive can lead to creation of national parks and wildlife parks. (e) Alternative employment; Tourism can provide an alternative to development scenarios that may have greater environmental impacts. ( f) Regulatory measures; Regulatory measures help offset negative impacts. It controls the number of tourist activities and movement of visitors within protected areas and it can limit impacts on the ecosystem and help maintain the integrity and vitality of the site. Such limits can also reduce the negative impacts on resources. Limits should be established after an in-depth analysis of the maximum sustainable visitor capacity. The Hospitality and Tourism Industry has now an increasing agreement on the need to promote sustainable tourism development to minimize its environmental impacts and to ensure more sustainable management of natural resources. The concept of sustainable tourism, as developed in the United Nations sustainable development process, refers to tourist activities leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity and life support systems. These sustainability concerns are, therefore, beginning to be addressed by governments at national, regional and local, as well as international, levels. In addition, given the leading role of the private sector in the tourism industry has many initiatives that have also been taken by this sector. The main policy areas regarding sustainable tourism are: (a) the promotion of national strategies for sustainable tourism development, including the decentralization of environmental management to regional and local levels, (b) the use of both regulatory mechanisms and economic instruments, (c) the support for voluntary initiatives by the industry itself, and (d) the promotion of sustainable tourism. The Industry needs to formulate and effectively apply an appropriate mix of regulatory and economic instruments for both sustainable natural resources management and environmental protection. The most direct tool for promoting sustainable tourism involves the use of r egulatory mechanisms, such as, integrated land-use planning and coastal zone management. In many cases, it may be necessary to protect coastlines through rigid building restrictions, such as, existing legislation that bans any buildings within a defined distance from the coast. It is also essential that environmental regulations be applied transparently throughout the tourism sector, regardless of business size, type of tourism activity concerned or location. Mass tourism, in particular, should be carefully monitored, regulated and sometimes even prohibited in ecologically fragile areas. In protected areas, such as national parks and natural world heritage sites, tourism activities should be strictly subject to the preservation of biological diversity and ecosystems, not stressing their limited capacity to absorb human presence without becoming damaged or degraded. The Industry has voluntary industry initiatives which tend to oppose greater government regulation and taxation of the industry on the grounds that they are ultimately detrimental to efficiency, competitiveness and profits. The tourism industry has thus developed several self-regulation and voluntary initiatives to promote greater environmental sustainability. These include waste and pollution reduction schemes, voluntary codes of conduct, industry awards and eco-labels for sustainable tourism. In addition, environmental management schemes to encourage responsible practices have been promoted in various sub-sectors, including hotel and catering, recreation and entertainment, transportation, travel agencies and tour operators. To achieve this emphasis it must be directed to sustainable ecotourism development as the core in this industry supported by expansion in the hospitality service sector. There is inadequate skilled manpower in this sector but the future of tourism needs product diversification, opening up of new tourist circuits, promotion of domestic tourism and provision of skilled manpower. The programme in Ecotourism and Hospitality Management is designed to train manpower to meet these challenges. Sources: http://www.chanrobles.com/eono79-2012.php#.UFWWlLLiYpA http://mboard.pcaarrd.dost.gov.ph/forum/viewtopic.php?id=12137 http://bio427.blogspot.com/2010/10/environmental-laws-of-philippines.html http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/envi/index.html http://www.mtnforum.org/sites/default/files/pub/1423.pdf

Things Fall Apart Essay -- essays research papers

Things Fall Apart: An Evaluation In â€Å"Things Fall Apart,† Chinua Achebe tells two different stories at the same time. One is of Okonkwo, the villager whose rise to power is halted because of all of his misfortunes. The other is of Okonkwo’s village, Umuofia, and its struggle to hold on to its cultural tradition while facing colonialism from the West. The title, â€Å"Things Fall Apart,† describes perfectly what happens to both Okonkwo and his village. Okonkwo’s life falls apart and as a result, he commits suicide by hanging himself. The cultural tradition of Umuofia falls apart, and becomes influenced by the West. In â€Å"Things Fall Apart,† Achebe uses Okonkwo and the village’s falling out to show how African culture, as well as other cultures around the world, suffered as a result of Westernization. In the book, Achebe focuses mainly on the character of Okonkwo. Okonkwo’s story follows the general pattern of a Greek tragedy. He experiences many successes in the beginning, but everything eventually comes crashing down on him. His early life is the typical success story. He starts poor, but works hard to earn everyone’s respect. From the beginning he is disgusted with his father. He is a lazy old man who borrows money and never pays it back. Okonkwo realizes that he does not want to be like his father, and it is this hatred that drives him to work hard. After his father’s death, Okonkwo pays off his debts, and starts his long journey to the top of the clan. In a short time, Okonkwo...

Objective Of Post Compulsory Education Education Essay

Post compulsory instruction is optional, but to come in a respectable calling persons normally must go on their instruction in order to accomplish their fiscal and/or personal ends. The primary aim of station compulsory instruction is certainly to heighten an persons potency for their hereafter, to add value to themselves and do them a more attractive proposition for a possible employer. Post compulsory instruction has become an indispensable portion of the educational system in our society by being the right measure for many different people with many different fortunes. For some pupils it provides a vehicle of passage from school to university. For those people that are sing a calling alteration, the station mandatory instruction provides the chance to larn a new accomplishment or trade at a every sensible cost, more significantly if employers can be persuaded to lend financially there is the chance of increasing the pool of good qualified people at decreased cost to the treasury. Given the above it may be an thought for the Government to take attention of the initial set up and so go forth market forces to predominate and see to what extent farther instruction attracts the involvement of the people who will finally prove the accomplishments of the pupil, the employers. The regulations of the game will necessitate to be clearly defined and held up for examination, the most of import in my sentiment – merely fund what is required and works, there ‘s nil that focuses the head like traceability and answerability! Education is of import in life. Had there non been a community college system, many people would non hold realised their educational ends. As research has shown, without a formal instruction, most people are less likely to make their full gaining possible. It is of import to look at the positives that the community college system provides to communities across the state. If the people who discredit the community college system would take a deep expression into it, they excessively would see the great carry throughing value of this establishment. In recent times instruction has been viewed as the great leveller with regard to societal para. Throughout Britain and so the developed universe, instruction has been the agencies for increasing human capital resources and the path into the in-between category for many 1000000s. Education plays a polar function in many communities desire for societal betterment. Families will do about any forfeit to guarantee that a household member obtains the chance to derive the accomplishments and makings that will maximise the potency of societal promotion. These capital resources include: Cultural Capital – Harmonizing to Bourdieu ‘s theory of cultural reproduction, kids from middle-class households are advantaged in societal and rational cognition gained due to their ownership of cultural capital. I agree, cultural capital is conveyed within the place environment, which can hold, in my sentiment, a important consequence on public presentation in the GCSE ( General Certificate of Secondary Education ) scrutinies and has a cardinal affect on the accomplishment of pupils thenceforth, peculiarly those who unluckily have small ability and semen from disadvantaged backgrounds. Social Capital – Social Capital is an of import portion of Labour ‘s community coherence docket, foregrounding the shared values that can give rise to adhering within communities. Friendships in schools can develop from an early age bridging cultural, background and spiritual divides, which in bend can ensue in parents developing a regard of people as a effect of their kids ‘s new found associations. Possibly more accent should be placed on interrupting down the barriers between different fractions of society instead than activities such as school twinning. Human Capital – The acquisition of human capital will normally increase the life-time gaining capacity and employability of any person who acquires it, and finally it could be argued commanding the degree and distribution of income in society. In my commercial experience it is both profitable and productive to ship on both the preparation of immature people ( learners ) and more experient forces, supplementing their accomplishments guaranting they are kept in touch with modern fabricating techniques and engineerings. In add-on the trainee would usually profit from a feeling of being valued by the company and a sense of personal accomplishment, guaranting a greater consciousness of the benefits associated with success, taking to a thirst for increased personal development.Post war developments in instruction.Education in Britain as changed greatly since World War II, chiefly due to the 1944 Education Act which made a proviso for statutory secondary instruction for all. One of t he chief alterations it made was that the system of public instruction was reorganised in three progressive phases: primary, secondary and farther instruction. The school go forthing age was raised to fifteen and subsequently to sixteen. The educational system created by this Act had three chief characteristics: That there should be a division between primary and secondary instruction at the age of 11. That there should be three types of secondary schools designed to run into three different types of kids, viz. the grammar schools, the secondary proficient and the secondary modern schools. The appropriate school for a kid should be determined by trials at 11 old ages of age. On closer review instruction and its importance in national, political and economic footings have changed a great trade since so with each new authorities ; there have been tonss of good purposes, but in my sentiment excessively few enterprises taken to accomplish the ideal system. In his survey ‘Education in the Post-War Years ‘ ( 1988 ) Lowe remarks that politicians who were in favor of the tripartite system truly believed that such a differentiated secondary system offered the best instruction to disfavor kids. They saw the constitution of a cosmopolitan secondary school system and the elevation of the school go forthing age as the key to taking category differentiations. It was hoped that the 1944 Act would take to a greater flow of working category kids to grammar schools. The chief accomplishment of the 1944 Act was the effort to associate the degree of secondary instruction received by kids to degrees of their intelligence by excepting the fee-paying students from the grammar schools. In this manner entree to grammar schools would be limited to those who could go through the 11plus and those who failed would non be able to purchase their manner into the grammar schools. As was shown by M Sanderson in his survey ‘Educational chance and societal alteration in England ‘ ( 1987 ) , the distribution of chances was in a much closer relationship to that of ability than of all time before. Yet the difference in opportunities of acquiring to grammar school remained really broad across the spectrum of societal category. Children from the working categories had merely a 3rd of the likeliness of selective secondary instruction of the kids from the professional categories. There was non a unvarying national trial which led to differences and unfairness between different educational governments. A survey by Lowe ( 1988 ) shows that choice standards varied well between different educational governments and were ever determined by the handiness and non the demand for the grammar school topographic points. The whole primary course of study was distorted by training for the 11plus trial. In world the procedure of spliting kids into more and less able was taking topographic point non at 11 but at much earlier age of 8 or even 7. The more intensive instruction was invested in the upper watercourse and less able kids were frequently neglected The choice did non give a desirable consequence. By 1949 it began to emerge that about 20-25 per centum of the seemingly carefully selected grammar school students could non get by with an academic instruction and were go forthing schools early. Some modern secondary schools were more successful in footings of the scrutiny consequences than some grammar schools. Ample grounds was emerging that many really able kids whose ability developed strongly after the age of 10 were being misallocated by 11plus trials. This thesis from Another unfortunate consequence of choice was that some 70 per centum of all 11-year-old kids who went to the secondary modern schools started their secondary instruction with the stigma of holding failed the 11 plus. There was no clear construct of the secondary modern schools which were merely what was left after choosing the more able kids to the grammar and proficient schools. Young people were go forthing their schools at 16 without any recognized makings. The 3rd portion of the three-party construction, the secondary proficient schools, failed to happen. Secondary proficient schools took approximately 4 per cent of the kids compared with 70 per centum for the secondary modern and 20 per centum for the grammar schools. There were merely really few of them. The grammar schools with their academic values had a disproportionate prestigiousness compared with their proficient opposite numbers. The lone solution to this full job seemed to be get rid ofing choice at 11 and directing all the kids to the same school. In 1965 Round 10/65 was issued bespeaking Local Education Authorities to organize a system of comprehensive schools. By 1979 comprehensive schools become the prevailing province sector norm. However in my sentiment perfect equality of chance has non been achieved. First the staying grammar and independent schools still creamed off high ability in-between category kids cut downing comprehensive schools to secondary modern. Second, the comprehensive schools could non take those features of disadvantage in society which affected kids ‘s response to instruction. Comprehensive examinations did non widen cross-class friendly relationships nor did they widen the calling aspirations of working category kids. ‘The impression that societal constructions can be changed through educational reform is a broad myth ‘ . ( Sanderson, 1987 P 64 ) . The present comprehensive system made educational chances of working category kids even worse. In theory all comprehensive schools are equal, but in world schools situated in the more flush catchment countries became more academically orientated as more parents expected their kids to go on their instruction at University. As a consequence bright kids from the deprived countries are forced to go to schools that are unequal for their demands and unable to carry through their possible. The lone manner for them to be accepted to more academically orientated school is to travel to the ‘leafy lane ‘ country which is much more hard for a kid to make than to go through a 11 plus trial. There is an sentiment that such kids would hold benefited from returning to the selective system. Should the state return to the selective system? Clearly, present comprehensive system needs reforming, but on the other manus there is a organic structure of grounds against the three-party system. There are statements in favor and against either of these systems. The selective system provided a better instruction but merely for the minority. The comprehensive system seems to offer equal chances but has been accused of keeping back development of more able pupils. In my sentiment the solution lays in developing a system which would roll up strengths of both the selective and comprehensive thoughts. Educational systems should supply all kids with cognition and accomplishments which should assist them develop their possible and should fix them for their grownup life. I believe that the best manner to accomplish it is non to travel back to the old selective system, even though I was a merchandise of it, nor would it be wise to maintain the present ‘non selective ‘ system. In my sentiment kids should be selected into different groups but choice should non be made on the footing of different abilities or aptitudes, which has been proved hard if non impossible to mensurate, but on footing of accomplishment. I can conceive of a system where students are transferred along the educational ladder non in conformity with their age but in conformity with what they have learned. The scrutiny system should be designed in such a manner that it does non set unneeded emphasis on the pupils but it should be clear that they could non travel along earlier being able to demo solid cognit ion of the course of study. Such a system would give a wages and encouragement to the pupils that are really larning at school. It would let the more able students non to reiterate clip after clip what they already know but to analyze with the older pupils. In my sentiment kids that have non passed the standard trial for 11 old ages old at the terminal of the primary school should non be automatically transferred into secondary school but should remain in primary school for another twelvemonth. The purpose of the trial should non be about choosing the most able students but look intoing that every kid traveling to a secondary school acquired a basic cognition without which he or she would non be able to analyze farther, certainly so we would non be in the absurd place of holding to back up pupils in deriving makings in foundation accomplishments and using a choice process which fails to recognize GCSE ‘s at what of all time grade, asking an initial appraisal trial to guarantee pupils are able to come on. One of the advantages of the tripartite system was the effort, if non successful, to set up a system of the proficient schools. I think it is really of import to go on enlargement in this way and to develop different types of secondary schools. One type of school should hold more academic orientation and another one more proficient or vocational, in short get downing the work of vocational colleges in progress and leting successful pupils to come on earlier than would otherwise hold been possible. Both of them could be a portion of one comprehensive school. The determination on which school each peculiar kid is traveling to go to should be left to the parents and the kids. I believe that such system would be more merely and would give a better opportunity of quality instruction for all pupils irrespective of their societal position conglomerating in the patterned advance to a productive, profitable and carry throughing calling pick. My specialist country prepares pupils for a vocational calling where the development of accomplishments is paramount, this is an country which was scrutinised by Lord Leitch who was asked by the Government in 2004 to see what the UK ‘s long-run aspiration should be for developing accomplishments in order to maximize economic prosperity, productiveness and to better societal justness. Lord Leitch, placed great accent on the accomplishments docket, frequently referred to as the 'employer battle ‘ docket reflecting the Government ‘s belief in the importance of employer input. I must acknowledge to happening it hard to understand Lord Leitch ‘s theoretical account as the study itself contains no inside informations of the modeling that led him to his decisions, ( ‘working towards ‘ is in my sentiment non a mark at all ) , seting this aside I can merely travel with his findings one of which is the mark that 40 per cent of the 19-65 population should keep a flat 4 making by 2020. Lord Leitch adds, ‘This challenge is formidable. Skills affair basically for the economic and societal wellness of the UK. I have listened to identify stakeholders and high minds at place and abroad. There is consensus that we need to be much more ambitious and a clear message that the UK must ‘raise its game ‘ . ‘ . 2006. P 5 I feel strongly about the content of this study and hope that the marks are achieved. We can non be a state of service industries, more demands to be done to guarantee that we hack stuff out of the land, add value to it and sell it on at a net income, ok this is somewhat light-minded but the rule holds true. Education in the 60 ‘s in my sentiment was perceived as a agency of back uping the states economic prosperity instead than adding value to the pupil back uping them to carry through their dreams, aspirations and potency. The move to comprehensive schools accelerated in the 70 ‘s, guaranting the death of a big figure of grammar schools. Mrs Thatcher was Education Secretary at this clip, I think she did really small to better community respect and spirit relating to instruction, her first act was to get rid of free school milk for the over sevens, a going from the values of 1944. During the 80 ‘s instruction became more centralized with increased accent placed on parent engagement. The proviso of free school repasts was removed and The 1988 Education Act set out the National Curriculum, giving increased power to governors and the ability to choose out of Local Education Authority control. The intent of instruction in Britain in my sentiment has changed significantly since 1945 ; this I think has resulted in betterment for the bulk of pupils. However, if Britain is to do the most of its pupils, it is indispensable that alterations continue to be made so that the potency of pupils is both satisfied and increased.ProfessionalismLike many Teachers, I live and work among public retainers and professionals. Most of us I think work to function the public scrupulously. Many establishments enjoy first-class reputes and carry out outstanding work. Yet during recent times we have all found our reputes and public presentation doubted, we progressively hear that we are no longer trusted. Is this true? Of class non. The ground for this misgiving is non easy to understand, but it seams that the redress lies in countenances and bar. Government, establishments and professionals should be made more accountable and progressively this has become the instance. ‘the quest for greater answerability has penetrated all our lives, like great checkerss of Hieneken, making parts that purportedly less developed signifiers of answerability did non make ‘ . O'Neall, O ( 2002 ) . A Question of Trust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 45. Professional pattern is deemed to be supported by new methods and demands, the answerability revolution may be achieved if this were so. In my sentiment I think it frequently obstructs the proper purposes of professional pattern. Examinations are more frequent later clip for larning psychiatrists. Professional pattern used to concentrate on interaction with those whom we serve, pupils. Now less clip is available due to increased signifier filling demands, record inside informations what we as instructors do, how and why we do it and if things go incorrect guarantee that we have the grounds to protect ourselves from what can be far-fetched ailments. Targets seem to be in a province of flux invariably being re-defined guaranting a changeless focal point on an establishments public presentation up the conference tabular array, instructors can either see these as demoralising and call for increased support, or to cite modern fabricating rhetoric ‘an chance to reflect ‘ . Serious and effectual answerability, I believe, needs to concentrate on good administration, an duty to state the truth and on intelligent answerability. O'Neall, O ( 2002 ) . A Question of Trust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 59. Professional pattern is to a great extent influenced by organisation construction, these can be many and varied, nevertheless normally a concern is organised by its maps, e.g. selling section, histories section and so on. This is because being grouped together allows the maps to profit from specialization and division of labor. This leads to take down unit costs and a greater efficiency, nevertheless it can intend that there is departmental competition. A tall administration has a larger figure of directors with a narrow span of control whilst a level administration has few directors with a broad span of control. A tall administration in my experience can endure from holding excessively many directors ( a immense disbursal ) and determinations can take a long clip to make the underside of the hierarchy, nevertheless a tall administration can supply good chances for publicity and the director does non hold to pass so much clip pull offing the staff. Castle College is presently traveling through a clip of alteration, one of which is organizational, one degree has disappeared and new places created. My sentiment is that it is a positive move leting determinations to be made faster and without the influence of ‘committee ‘ which normally ensures that information exchange is protracted and positive focussed way can be more hard to come by, merely clip ( and successful campaigners ) will state.DifferentiationWhen be aftering the distinction for the lessons I decided to follow the scheme of ‘Differentiation by Outcome ‘ suggested by ( Pollard, 2008 ) . This scheme involved pupils being differentiated based on the degree of understanding/knowledge they demonstrated when finishing set undertakings, lending to category treatments and replying directed inquiries. This links to my old recommendations associating to student advancement being limited to attainment of the needed degree prior to traveling on. It did non necessitate separate undertakings to be created for peculiar persons or groups of pupils. This method of distinction regards vocational instruction as 16 to 19 twelvemonth olds are non enthusiastic about being identified as different to their equals. The distinction worked as follows: More able students would expose a good apprehension of the constructs and be able to supply elaborate replies to the worksheets, category treatments and directed inquiries. Their replies will show clear illustrations and links to real-world scenarios. Less able students would demo less understanding of the constructs and might non be able to word their replies, verbally or written, to a standard appropriate to level two. Their replies may miss item and pupils may non be able to compare the constructs to real-world scenarios.Inclusion, equality diversenessCulture and acquisition are connected in of import ways. Early life experiences and a individual ‘s civilization impact both the results and procedures of acquisition. If this relationship is true, could we so assume that pupils who portion cultural features have common ways of acquisition? They are of import because we need all the information we can acquire to assist every pupil win in college. An apprehension of both civilization and acquisition manner differences is of import for all instructors. The relationship and values of the civilization in which a scholar is presently populating, or from which a scholar has roots, and the learning outlooks and experiences in the schoolroom is straight related to the scholar ‘s success academically, socially, and emotionally. It is of import to back up scholars in every manner in category or in its milieus. Having a schoolroom clime is one measure to back uping a scholar. The room needs to be of three climes, relaxed, warm and supportive. If the coach is relaxed so the pupils in the schoolroom feel relaxed and may non even think of misconducting. Warmth can be seen by the pupil when the instructor is showing their kindness, for illustration ‘do you need any aid? ‘ in a soft relaxed tone. Supportive significance promoting the pupils to run into their results and giving prompt and accurate feedback. By being there for the pupils and back uping them through hard undertakings is merely manner to go through on the cognition and accomplishments that the instructor possesses even if you are mentoring. Presentation is the cardinal word particularly if I ‘m carry oning practical training/learning. However Maslow ‘s Hierarchy of Needs makes the point that the lower demands are identified first before lifting upwards measure by measure. The purpose of inclusive instruction is certainly to promote colleges to reconsider learning attacks and pupil groupings so that they support and respond to the demands of all students ( Farrell, 2000 P 77 ) . An inclusive schoolroom is one where the demands of all students are taken into history and single differences are valued, irrespective of societal or cultural backgrounds, disablement or larning troubles. The factors impacting inclusive instruction are huge and include curriculum content and administration, attitudes of staff and students, quality of instruction, criterions of attending and behavior ( Alban-Metcalfe & A ; Alban-Metcalfe, 2001: 21 ) . It is the duty of both colleges and instructors to develop the best possible environment for all pupils, and how inclusive a peculiar college is, is non easy to estimate. Richards ( 1999: P 99 ) believes it can merely be achieved by colleges that are committed to maximizing inclusion and understating exclusion. I believe and understand all students have the right to be educated along with their equals in mainstream college. However, my college experiences to day of the month hold resulted in assorted sentiments about the extent of inclusion. It is of import to province that this is non from a damaging position point, merely a practical one. From my observations a category may dwell of many students with differing particular acquisition demands and many more that are categorised as ‘normal ‘ . I have on a regular basis observed students who become disengaged because they do non understand the work or are frustrated by having small support. This frequently manifests itself in unruly behaviour and in utmost instances big parts of a lesson can be disrupted for the whole category. If the student had been given the attending and support they require so in some instances the hapless behavior may hold been averted. I believe pull offing the behavior of students in the schoolroom is freq uently polar to the acquisition experience which the bulk of them receive. Van Acker & A ; Wehby ( 2000: 93 ) believe â€Å" some of the greatest concerns expressed by pedagogues throughout this state affect happening ways to efficaciously turn to the demands of pupils who display disputing behavior within the school scene † . Van Acker, R. W. , & A ; Wehby, J.H. ( 2000 ) . Researching the societal contexts act uponing pupil success or failure. Michigan. Heldref Publications I have besides observed students in lessons continuously struggle because the instructor merely does non hold the clip to give them the extra support they require. When this occurs, what make these students gain from being in big, diverse groups? In my sentiment they are being disadvantaged by being denied specializer, segregated proviso. I can see both positive and negatives, rules and practicalities of inclusion but unluckily I can see no ideal solution. Possibly an instruction which involves a mixture of both mainstream and specializer instruction would be best. Teachers now had direct duty for their students larning. We are in a cardinal place to detect SEN students ‘ responses in category and should recognize scholars who are sing troubles in larning. We should seek out different learning methods to assist run into their demands. In add-on instructors should be encouraged to maintain full records of their students ‘ advancement to include information about professional audiences and appraisals.The pupil ‘s positionWhatever we choose to make as instructors, we must get down with the pupils ‘ ain position of things. What do they cognize, or think they know, about the subject? A What distinctions do they do, and what values do they put on these distinctions? A Journeys ever get down where you are. We must accommodate non merely to the pupils ‘ apprehension of the subject, but to their apprehension of the world.A Some will hold more experience of methods of problem-solving or creativeness or have more general background to pull from. We ca n't take these things for granted. Besides portion of this background are their native abilities, whether genuinely familial or merely learned at a stamp age, A rapid versus slow capacity for acquisition, learned or congenital energy degrees etc. In other words, we must be cognizant of all those assorted and contrastive things we frequently label intelligence. The inquiry remains ( and it is a hard one ) : A How make we as instructors become cognizant of the pupils ‘ position? A One reply is to prove them.A We have arrived at the point where we see trials as feedback instead than strictly appraising instruments.A But why non see trials as feedback for the instructor? A Sadly, many instructors see hapless trial public presentation merely as indicants of a deficiency on the pupil ‘s part.A I believe that it ‘s clip for these instructors to get down taking some of the duty. There are for pupils and instructors, more immediate and continual signifiers of feedback.A Teaching is an interaction, and if you are cognizant of pupils ‘ responses to your presentation, you will have of import information, their understanding.A If they laugh when you expect them to, look puzzled when you expect them to ; inquire inquiries when you expect them to, and so on, it is at least more likely that you and they are â€Å" in sync. † But we can be more direct, A we can ask.A We can inquire them for their positions, inquire them if they understand, ask for illustrations, and inquire them to explicate to others ( for in learning we learn ‘ ) , and so on.A Education should be a mutual procedure. If you are non larning something in your categories, your outlooks will doubtless non be met.Trials and feedbackSome things, such as larning to drive a auto, give immediate and continual feedback: A When you do n't maneuver decently, you wind up on the paving or worse.A The impulsive trial that comes afterwards is non intended to be feedback to better acquisition ; it is intended to maintain incompetent drivers off the roads.A Video and computing machine games likewise provide immediate and continual feedback, so parents rarely need to promote their kids to pattern harder at the Nintendo.A The engagement turns what might otherwise be construed as the rote acquisition of eye-hand coordination, into something meaningful. I do n't cognize that much academic rote acquisition could easy be converted into video games.A Frequent, informal â€Å" quizzing † — true nowhere near every bit much merriment as Pacman — provides good feedback.A With computing machines, feedback can be used to change lessons to stress pattern of weak accomplishments, as in many of the typing-tutor plans. But, with non-rote, per se meaningful acquisition, feedback can surely be made more immediate and continual by prosecuting pupils in meaningful undertakings and simulations.A If the stuff is without uncertainty meaningful, the pupil will be per se motivated to make better, which in bend means he or she will be motivated to notice and even seek out elaborate feedback.A In other words, if you care about what you ‘re making, â€Å" proving † takes attention of itself. The most of import feedback is really from my pupils themselves. For illustration, what aspects of their acquisition are they basking or how are they reacting to the acquisition stuffs and resource that they are using. Feedback must be given in order to come on to competence and the pupil has a right to give feedback excessively. Reece and Walker write: â€Å" Alternatively, you can inquire pupils themselves what sort of feedback they want. If it is what they have asked for, they will be motivated to take it more earnestly. They are in the best place to cognize what their troubles are and to judge what sort of feedback is helpful. † ( Reece and Walker, 2000, p470 ) .Measuring acquisition, measuring instructionIn order to measure scholars, grounds of public presentation and cognition is required. It is of import to be clear what the cardinal difference is between grounds and appraisal. Although the two footings are frequently considered to be virtually synonymous when used in common linguistic communication, they have radically different intensions when used in an educational or developing context. By appraisal we mean those activities that are designed to mensurate learner achievement brought approximately as a consequence of an instructional programme of some kind. Evaluation, on the other manus, refers to a series of activities that are designed to mensurate the effectivity of the instructional system or a subdivision or constituent thereof. Clearly, the two procedures are reasonably closely related, since the consequences of pupil appraisal constitute one of the most of import sets of informations that should be taken into history in the rating of any class or course of study. Both are besides closely related to the educational objectives/learning results of the class or course of study, since they are both fundamentally concerned with finding the extent to which these have ( or have non ) been achieved. Feedback obtained from the consequences of decently designed appraisal and rating processs frequently demonstrates a demand for alterations in the aims or larning results of the class or course of study, every bit good as in the methods adopted for seeking to accomplish these. ‘Assessment helps kids learn by supplying them with feedback so they know what they have achieved and how they can better ; enabling them to judge and take duty for their ain acquisition ; supplying encouragement ; and assisting to develop the accomplishments of womb-to-tomb larning ‘ ( Pollard, 2008: 392 ) . All assessment patterns should be just, valid, dependable and appropriate to the degree of award being offered. Assessment should be undertaken merely by suitably qualified staff, who have been adequately trained and briefed, and given regular chances to update and heighten their expertness as assessors. Programme suppliers should guarantee that elaborate and up to day of the month records on pupil advancement are kept. Throughout a programme of survey, pupils should have prompt and helpful feedback about their public presentation and advancement in relation to larning outlooks and assessment standards so that they can suitably direct their subsequent acquisition activities. ‘If scholars do n't cognize what they are seeking to make, they are most improbable to make it! ‘ ( Petty, 2004:451 ) Evidence in my specialist country is produced by the campaigner as a consequence of work done and knowledge shown. Appraisal is the procedure of look intoing this grounds against the criterions and it includes checking by detecting work done, look intoing the completed work and inquiring inquiries to corroborate cognition and apprehension. Institutions should do agreements for pupils at all degrees, including those who study at a distance or in a parttime manner, to be given clear information about the relationship between accomplishment appraisal, academic advancement and accretion of recognition. To guarantee that my scholar ‘s demands are being addressed, they are continually assessed throughout their class. This ensures that the scholar is accommodating good to session and learning methods and that they are appropriate for their single demands. Ongoing re-assessment of session bringing and instruction methods are ever addressed and up-dated, so that the scholar ‘s demands are being met. For those scholar ‘s that require teaching/learning AIDSs to be developed otherwise, there will be one to one support given alongside of their preparation clip, ( see Appendix 1, Scheme of Work ) . When there are scholar ‘s that have identified acquisition demands, most Sessionss will be adapted, for case authorship on a white board, for those who need aid with spelling and appropriate and altered press releases given for those that find it hard to follow a taught session, whilst holding to take notes at the same clip. In contrast, summational appraisals are normally undertaken at the terminal of a period of larning in order to bring forth a class that reflects the pupil ‘s public presentation. Summational appraisal is traditionally used at the terminal of a module/course/topic and contributes to the scholar ‘s concluding award. It can be hard make up one's minding whether single scholars have met the specified standards contained within the appropriate national models. First, the instructor must guarantee the lesson being taught is in line with the appropriate national model. Second the instructor must make up one's mind upon the appraisal standard which will be used to find if pupils have reached the expected acquisition results. Third they must take how best to measure the students, to guarantee that each student is assessed to a satisfactory degree and no 1 is overlooked. This assessment procedure involves a combination of both subjective and nonsubjective information. The advice given in the National Curriculum for utilizing flat forms is that instructors should judge which description best fits the pupil ‘s public presentation. I provide single campaigners with elaborate feedback on how they performed, and, in peculiar, allow them cognize how and where they went incorrect in any country where they failed to show competency. We so discourse how we are traveling to set these issues right, an action program is agreed and a reappraisal day of the month is documented and signed by both the campaigner and myself. I hold a tracking papers bespeaking the advancement of all campaigners at any one clip. All records are completed with the input and understanding of the campaigner and signed and dated ( in pen ) by both of us at the clip to bespeak this understanding. ( Appendix 2 ) . Individual pieces of work are assessed and a feedback sheet is completed, this acts as a reminder for the pupil and a prompt for me when reexamining the content of the submitted work during feedback to the pupil. ( Appendix 3 ) .RecordsAs in all appraisal processes, the importance of record maintaining can non be understated they must be used in order to advance dependability and cogency of appraisal in a manner that is crystalline to all involved. In kernel, accurate and comprehensive records promote transparence – where anyone involved in the procedure, or utilizing the results of appraisal, should be able to see clearly how and why the determination was made. When judging me as a trainee instructor, assessors may happen it helpful to see, for illustration: make my records provide a footing for puting or reexamining larning aims? Make my records enable clear feedback to be given to scholars on strengths and countries for betterment in their work, observing accomplishments and assisting students to cognize what they need to make and how they can better? Are my records easy understood by other co-workers who need to cognize in some item about students ‘ advancement and degrees of accomplishment? Do their records supply a sound footing on which they, or others, can pull to show accurate studies on students ‘ advancement and attainment? Records that we as an Engineering Department maintain include tutor observations, staff development programs, reappraisals of attendance/retention/ accomplishment informations, registries, exam consequences records, records of initial appraisal, moderator studies, scholars work, proceedingss of meetings, scholar questionnaires and single scholar programs. These records are used in order to fix the section SAR. Castle College similar to any other suppliers involved with funded bringing has to bring forth an annualA Self Assessment Report. In add-on, they besides have to bring forth a Quality Improvement Plan whichA must be reviewed sporadically and we must supply grounds that this has taken topographic point. The College dainty these SAR and QIP asA critical planning tools and public presentation indexs designed to implement and pull off alteration. Measuring the success of scholars is at the bosom of self-assessment, but it is besides really much about measuring how good the demands of employers and scholars are being met and the active publicity of equal chances and wellness and safety. Self-assessment besides makes clear suppliers ‘ capacity to convey approximately betterment and their success in making so. ‘The chief duty for quality betterment remains with suppliers themselves. The Government looks to all suppliers to follow schemes for procuring uninterrupted betterment as many already do. These schemes should be based on self-assessment and action planning ( including mark scene ) and reacting and moving upon scholar feedback and ailments ‘ . ( LSC, May 2005, p. 5 ) . It is indispensable that uninterrupted records are kept of every scholar ‘s demand of any particular characteristics, medical conditions, public presentation and behavior, which may act upon future educational proviso. Such information will be peculiarly of import at the transportation phase and on other occasions when a student moves from one class to another within the college, this information is besides made available to the scholar should they bespeak the information, for illustration, to finish a mention.CollaborationI am fortunate that the technology squad to which I am affiliated has high degrees of reflexiveness – we tend to openly reflect upon the squad ‘s aims, schemes, and procedures and accommodate them to current or awaited fortunes, working through things and assisting each other as and when required. This can besides be said of my class co-workers who continue to supply input, work in coaction to discourse thoughts, theories and bring forth group wo rk, one of which was a presentation on Globalisation in Education which looked at the how and why we need to fix our pupils to be competitory in the twenty-first century ( see appendix 1 ) . ‘Teaching demands teamwork. We need to larn from each other, assist each other, and act as a consort if our pupils are to profit to the full ‘ . ( Geoff Petty, Teaching Today, page 481 ) .DecisionAll of the above information is non to add extra duty to the instructor but to stress the function he or she plays and the statute law, bureaucratism and unusual demands that have to be accommodated in order to guarantee support and certificating organic structures are satisfied. Of class, supportive decision makers and parents, a relevant course of study and appropriate stuffs facilitate the instructor ‘s duties. Yet it is the instructor who spends a great trade of clip with the scholars supplying hints about the scholar ‘s accomplishments, civilization, and larning possible, this surely emphasises the polar function the instructor plays in the instruction and the future potency of the pupils he or she supports.BibliographyLearning Skills Council, 2005. Quality betterment and self-assessment. LSC-P-NAT-050365, 5. Lord Leitch ( 2006 ) . Prosperity for all in the planetary economic system – universe category accomplishments. Norwich: The Stationary Office. 5. Petty, G. ( 2004 ) . Teaching today. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Limited. Pollard, A. ( 2008 ) . Brooding Teaching Third Edition. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Walker, I. R. ( 2003 ) . Teaching, Training and Learning. Sunderland: Business Education Publishers Limited. Van Acker, R. W. , & A ; Wehby, J.H. ( 2000 ) . Researching the societal contexts act uponing pupil success or failure. Michigan. Heldref Publications

Innovative Technology: the Lead Cause of Employee Redundancy? A Literature Review

Introduction Technological developments have led to an increase in adoption of different innovative technological solutions in organisations. Several positive consequences have emanated from this, including the increase in efficiency of operations (Thompson, 2011). There have also been negative consequences, one of these being the fact that services of some employees are rendered unnecessary, leading to their possible dismissal (Klehe et al., 2011). This section intends to carry out an in-depth and critical review of literature on the adoption of innovation technology and employee redundancy. Workplace Innovation and Innovative Technologies In order to understand the need for innovative technologies, it is vital to develop an understanding of innovation at the workplace. Innovation is defined by Mumford (2012) as the process by which new ideas, methods or devices are introduced so as to provide better solutions for issues being faced by an organisation. The constant changes in the business environment, coupled with an increasing competition across all business industries have made innovation an inevitable option for almost all companies (Thompson, 2011). According to Sung and Choi (2014), workplace innovation is at the intersection of three organisational elements, which are technology, skills, and human resource management. The coexistence of these elements lies in the fact that when the adoption of technology is driven by the strategic human resource management policies, there is a likelihood of HR managers to improve organisational processes through investing in employee training programs to improve their skills. Con versely, static human resource management presents a barrier to the adoption of technology and thus, less workplace innovation (Tushman & O’Reilly, 2013). This perspective of workplace innovation clearly indicates that technology adoption plays a key role. Technological innovation is the development or extensive adoption of new and better technologies by organisations (Nordhaus, 2007). Brynjolfsson and McAfee (2011) argue that there has been an increasing pace of technological innovations, which is expected to further increase in future. There are a variety of innovative technologies, which is based on the differences in services and products that are offered by different companies. Whereas development of innovative technologies has been in place for a long time, it was accelerated by the onset of information and computer technologies in the 1960s (Teece, 2010). Often referred to as the computer revolution, it began with the initial use of computers commercially and went on t hrough the introduction of the internet and later, e-commerce (Nordhaus, 2007). Even though they may be expensive to acquire and maintain, there are several advantages that are associated with these innovative technologies (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2011). For businesses, one of the advantages is the reduction of costs. This is because it reduces the overdependence on employees and as a result, eliminates expenses that could be incurred in form of salaries, benefits and training costs. It also eliminates the losses associated with employee turnover and reduces wastages in operations (Davenport, 2013). For manufacturing companies, it makes it easier for them to streamline their processes and implement lean manufacturing strategies (Leiponen & Helfat, 2010). Innovative technologies also increase productivity and reduce downtime. Campbell-Kelly (2009) argues that algorithms used in computerisation of tasks in workplaces eliminate biases that are typical to humans. Whilst human have to ful fil other tasks that are unrelated to their occupations like eating, sleeping and grooming that often disrupt their work routines, algorithms are programmed to accomplish the range of tasks that it is allocated without these interruptions. As a result, it enables companies to meet demands from customers, expand their operations and increase their returns (Campbell-Kelly, 2009). Trends in Innovative Technologies In explaining workplace innovative technologies of the 21st century, Autor et al. (2003) categorise tasks into four. These are routine, non-routine, manual and cognitive tasks. Routine tasks are those that are accomplished by following explicit steps, and can be easily executed by machines. Non-routine tasks, on the other hand, are more complex, and have not been adequately understood by programmers to develop a specified computer mode for their operations (Autor et al., 2003). Both routine and non-routine tasks can then be classified into cognitive or manual tasks. Whereas manual tasks relate to physical duties, cognitive tasks relate to manual work. Historically, automation or computerisation was limited to routine manual and cognitive tasks, which are known to involve explicit activities that are rule-based. However, with the technological developments that have taken place over the years, even tasks that are non-routine are also being automated (David & Dorn, 2013). Examples of i nnovative technologies being used in present-day organisations are mobile robotics. These are widely used in the health and manufacturing sectors to accomplish tasks that were initially handled by manual labour (Gomes, 2011; Dudek & Jenkin, 2010). Other tasks, as illustrated by Autor et al. (2003), include navigation of automobiles, deciphering handwritings, fraud detections and healthcare diagnostics. In healthcare, for instance, oncologists in leading medical centres are the Watson computer from IBM to offer chronic care and diagnostics for cancer treatment (Cohn, 2013). The computer utilises data from 600,000 medical reports, 2 million pages of from medical journal articles and 1.5 million criminal trials and patient records to benchmark and recognize patterns. This enables the computer to make a near accurate comparison of a person’s genetics, symptoms and history of his/her family medications so as to come up with the most appropriate plan for treatment (Cohn, 2013). Nor mally, it could take many employees to analyse all this data in order to provide a near-accurate diagnosis and treatment prescription. The fact that all these can be executed by a single machine renders many hospital employees jobless (Walker, 2014). This is one of the examples that denote the milestones that have been reached in regard to technological innovation. Societal Impacts of Innovative Technologies There are several societal impacts that have been associated with the adoption of innovative technologies in organisations. Of interest in this study, however, are their impacts on the jobs of employees in different organisations. This concern has been raised by several researchers, including Brynjolfsson and McAfee (2011), who argue that automated or computer controlled equipment have widely contributed to the recent increase in the levels of unemployment across the world. They also state that automation is no longer limited to routine tasks in manufacturing industries (Autor et al., 2003). It is increasingly being applied on other autonomous tasks, which increases the possibility of a reduction on the demand for manual tasks. An example is the recent development of an autonomous driverless car by Google (Rathod, 2013). In another study by Beaudry et al. (2013), they also established that within the past 10 years, there has been a huge decline in the demand of manual skill as a resu lt of increased automation and dependency on computer and information technology. This is even with the increase in the number of people who enrol in and graduate from higher education institutions. This research, however, fails to put into consideration the jobs that have been created as a result of technological developments and the computer revolution. Among the industries that have prospered because of information technology and, as a result, absorbed many employees include the telecommunications sector (Leiponen & Helfat, 2010). According to Acemoglu (2011), this has resulted into a situation where skilled employees have move down the occupational ladder to take up roles that were originally handles by semi-skilled or unskilled employees. This pushes the low-skilled labourers further down the ladder, forcing some of them to move out of employment. These findings concur with David and Dorn’s (2013), who established that there are increasing proportions of skilled workers in organisations. This does not, however, mean that there is an ongoing creation of jobs for skilled employees. It means that automation has taken up most of the jobs that were originally handled by skilled and semi-skilled employees. Several questions have been raised in regard to technological innovations and employee job security (David & Dorn, 2013). One of these is the extent of unemployment that will be brought about by innovative technologies. With the on-going trends of automating tasks that were originally considered as un-automatable, even skilled employees face the risk of losing their jobs. By losing jobs, these people also lose a source of income, making the impacts to spill over to their families and dependants (Acemoglu, 2011). Even with the widely available evidence on ‘technological unemployment’ resulting from these technological innovations, there are economists who still insist that it cannot happen (Campa, 2014). They argue that even though automati on leads to the displacement of workers, it reduces operational prices in several companies, leading to reduced prices. These reduced prices trigger increased consumer demands, which require more products and services to be satisfied. As a result, more industries will have to be created, which provide a basis for hiring more workers. This argument is often referred to as the Luddite fallacy (Walker, 2014). Even though this has been more or less true for the past two centuries, it is yet to be proved whether it will still hold true with the acceleration in technological innovations that has been facilitated by the computer revolution. Governmental approaches to employee redundancy The effect of automation on employment in the United Kingdom and across the globe has raised concerns among different stakeholders (Acemoglu, 2011). As organisations continue to take advantage of technological advancements to increase their competitive positions in their various industries of operation, more employees face the risk of losing their jobs. In response to this, there are several policies that have been put in place by the government to reduce redundancy (Gov.uk, 2014). However, these policies are general and do not focus on the redundancy that may be brought about by technological innovations in the workplace. Some of the reasons that are cited for redundancy, alongside adoption of technological innovations, include changing the location of business premises, acquisition of one company by another or reduction of staff members with the aim of cutting costs in the organisation (Griffith & Macartney, 2014). In case an employee is selected to be made redundant, employers are required to provide a clear explanation for the decision. Some of the reasons that can be included as explanations for this are skills and qualifications of the employee, their attendance and disciplinary records, success/lack of success at the workplace and their overall workplace performance (Gov.uk, 2014). Reasons for redundancy ought not to be related to prejudice or discrimination. There also has to be an appeal procedure that provides employees with a platform to question his/her selection for redundancy in case they feel that the selection is unfair in any way. On dismissal, companies are also required to pay their employees a statutory redundancy pay (Gov.uk, 2014). Whereas these policies offer a slight reprieve to employees in regard to losing their jobs to technology, there has been no quantifiable argument to pinpoint their effectiveness (Griffith & Macartney, 2014). Even with the extensive research that has been carried out on innovative technologies and their effects o n employment, there is still a shortage of literature that explains the approaches that companies can use to retain employees while adopting these innovative technologies. How to find a balance between innovative technologies and employment Referring to the literature that has been reviewed on innovative technologies and the ‘technological unemployment’, it is clear that the most likely trend will be an increased adoption of innovative technologies at the workplace, with a consequent increase in technological unemployment (Huizingh, 2011; Campa, 2014). However, there are different approaches that have been suggested by researchers that will help in reducing the adverse impacts of technological innovations on employment and employee living conditions. For instance, Piovarciova (2014) suggests that governments need to introduce an unconditional basic income for the growing number of unemployed people. This will result in the continuation of the market economy as the cycle of consumer spending will be propped up. Yet, this suggestion has been downplayed by many, with some arguing that providing everyone with a guaranteed basic income will mean that the working populations will have to part with more money in form of taxes (Gajewska, 2014). Another approach was offered by Brynjolfsson and McAfee (2012) who suggested that, in order to avoid being overtaken by machines in workplaces, people need to work towards advancing their capabilities faster than the pace with which technological advancements are taking place. In addition to this, super-intelligent minds ought to develop new desires that will trigger the creation of new industries (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2012). However, all these suggestions may be impractical because the acceleration in development of innovative technologies that has been facilitated by computer and information technology could be challenging to catch up with. Moreover, some of the human capabilities that will have to be advanced include skills in designing and developing new and more advanced innovative technologies, which are being fought against in the first place. Mitigating employee redundancy caused by technological advancement As earlier established, there are several reasons why companies lay off employees, one of these being automation of tasks. Automation reduces costs of operation, standardises quality of repetitive processes and increases the pace at which work is done. However, not all layoffs are necessary (Bartels et al., 2012). There are several measures through which employee redundancy can be mitigated. This section intends to address some of them. Effective strategic planning All successful organisations have managers who are strategic planners and future oriented. The ability to take chances and make future projections determines if the company will survive the tough times that are the norm of a globalised and competitive world. In line with this proposition, Autor et al. (2003) state that a clear, elaborate, well-planned and structured strategic plan ensures that the organisation is prepared for any eventualities. As such, organisations need to prepare for technological advancements and make the necessary adjustments in their workforce. One of the adjustments that can be made is distributing employees who could be redundant to other departments to reinforce their operations (Gall, 2011). Hiring highly skilled employees and offering employee training Based on analysis conducted by Waters (2007), technological advancement ordinarily automates most of the functionality of an organisation that does not require highly skilled and/or specialised labour. As su ch, companies whose larger population of employees is not highly skilled are susceptible to employee redundancy in case of technological innovations in the organisation (Walker, 2014). To mitigate this while still allowing the company to grow and advance, organisations should have a highly skilled, effectively trained and tested labour force, which will still be effective after acquisition of new technological innovations. Gall (2011), who concurs with this opinion, states that organisations are expected to invest heavily in training staff that can facilitate growth and stability of the organisation. The limitation of this strategy is that not all tasks in the organisation require a high level of skills to be accomplished (Bartels et al., 2012). In addition, if skilled employees are assigned tasks that they consider not to match with their skill set, they are likely to seek employees in other companies, increasing employee turnover. Continuous evaluation of employees Even with the automations of tasks in organisations, companies will still find it difficult to dismiss employees they regard as being valuable to the organisation. There is thus a need for standards to be set to gauge the performance such as performance appraisals (Waters, 2007). Rewards can be put in place for employees who positively contribute towards the organisation’s prosperity and punitive measures for those who do not. With such measures, employees will continuously upgrade their skills and increase their value to the organization (Palaiologos et al., 2011). This will increase their chance of retention in case of an automation of tasks. Even with such measures in place, there will still be employees who will be not as effective as others. Employee cross-training Cross-training refers to the provision of training for employees to enable them improve their levels of proficiency in roles other than those of their functional areas or departments (Ramanigopal et al., 2012). An example is when an employee in the production team of an organisation is provided with training on roles in the human resource department. Whereas this is commonly done with the aim of replacing employees who might have moved to other organisations, dismissed or on leave, it can also be used to mitigate employee redundancy occurring as a result of automation. Employees whose jobs will be taken over by machines can be distributed to other functional areas, where they will effectively fit (Abernathy, 2011). Cross-training, however, has the limitation of being costly to the organisation. Planned and progressive acquisition of innovative technology Most organisations tend to apply technological advancement as a reactive measures rather than an active measure (Gall, 2011). As a reactive measure, organisations apply technological advancement for purposes such as warding off competition, subscribing to the new standards set by the government or other regulatory bodies, meeting the unexpected high demand from the clients or any other reason which was not planned but rather as a result of unavoidable circumstances. In such cases, employee redundancy is normally high and there is need to take action against it (Campa, 2014). However, this can be mitigated through planned and progressive implementation of technological advancement. When technological advancement is planned, the organization will be ready for the change and the employees will be adequately skilled to tag along with the change and still be relevant (Teece, 2010). Progressive implementation will allow for critical analysis of the impact if the technological advancement a nd thus laying down better strategies or corrective measures to mitigate the negative impacts of the technology while at the same time reduce employee redundancy (Gall, 2011). All the suggested approaches towards mitigation of employee redundancy as a result of technological innovation only provide a slight solution. This is because of the fact that whilst the current employees in the organisations will be retained, there will be a shortage of employment positions to accommodate new workers (Walker, 2014). Thus, this will only provide a shot-term solution to technological unemployment. The relationship between technological advancement and unemployment Employee redundancy that is majorly caused by technological advancement is also regarded as one of the primary contributors to the high levels of unemployment in the society (Autor et al., 2003). In order to fully understand the concepts behind the relationship between technological advancement and unemployment, one has to understand the genesis of formal employment and technological advancement. From the onset of capitalism in the society, there was need for specialised labour to ensure that the high demand for goods and services was met. The surplus production of food led to larger populations and thus higher demand for goods and services. The industrial revolution helped to set the platform on which technology was used in industries to enhance productivity and maximise on the resources available (Huizingh, 2011). The use of technology helped to automate repetitive tasks and standardise the quality of goods. The more beneficial technology was to the organisations, the more it was harnessed to ensure that capitalism prevailed and the needs of the people were met. However, the unskilled labourers lost their jobs when machines were able to do the work that they did faster and at lower costs (Antonelli, 2014). This situation led to the term commonly referred to as technological unemployment where people lost their jobs to machines. The use of machinery led to the employment of only skilled labour (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2011). The invention of computers was revolutionary to the way humans lived, communicated with each other and also the way they worked (Gajewska, 2014). There was more automation of functions in organisations and the skills that people possessed then were rendered obsolete. According to Ayres (2009), many organisations, such as Google, have specific departments that are focused on research and development of new technologies to make work cheaper, easier and faster. Each and every day, there is a new invention aimed at making life for humans better but the inventions could also lead to massive unemployment (Campa, 2014). The development of robotics is one of the forms of technological advancement that has led to unemployment. Robots are being used to perform the tasks that were initially being performed by people (Ayres & Warr, 2009). For example, as earlier stated, Google has recently launched a driverless car which is not prone to accidents (Rathod, 2013). These technologies require highly skilled labour to operate. However, since most of the world’s population is unskilled thus technology is leaving them jobless thus increasing the levels of unemployment (Campa, 2014). The acceleration if the digital revolution is conditioned by the basic human desire to be better. Tasks that were considered to be complex and had to be done by highly skilled professionals are also being overtaken by technology (Nordhaus, 2007). Careers, such as banking, are being taken over by automated teller machines and online banking leading to unemployment of skilled labour. The use of 3D printers and the integration of artificial intelligence in the technological advancement concepts are leading to obsolesce of skills that were considered impressive, such as surgery (Cohn, 2013). As much as technological advancement is criticised for causing massive unemployment in variou s industries for both skilled and unskilled labour, there are many jobs which may be related to the technological advancements which have been created as a result (Mumford, 2012). For instance, although the librarians and libraries are becoming less significant with the invention of computers and the internet, jobs for people who are manufacturing the computing devices have been created. In addition, other computer and information technology related industries, like telecommunications, have expanded and created more jobs (Leiponen & Helfat, 2010). Technological advancement can thus be regarded as constructive destruction where it causes unemployment in some sectors while creating employment in others. The future of technological advancement Technology has been regarded as a solution for several problems within and outside organisations. This mentality has deterred people from considering the adverse impacts that it has on society. One of the many drawbacks of technological advancement is employee redundancy, which is the subject of this study. In this regard, researchers like Brynjolfsson and McAfee (2012) are for the opinion that technology is but an improved means to unimproved ends and cannot equal social and moral progress. According to Walker (2014), as technological advancements progress, there are resulting limitations in people’s learning abilities and their flexibility in adopting new ideas. This will in turn limit their innovation and as such, the rate of technological advancement will decline. However, Gomes (2011) presents a conflicting argument, stating that technological advancement is limitless and will continue to advance as long as humanity survives. This is because of the tendency of human beings to design easier approaches to day-to-day tasks. Human beings strive on a daily basis to make their lives better and are not satisfied with the level of progress made. Even though several strides have been made, there still is need for improvement (Huizingh, 2011). This is evidenced by the recent technological innovations that have been made, included the development of smartphones and driverless cars. In addition, for all innovations, there are often flaws or discoveries of better ways tha t they can deliver their intended tasks. Thus, there is a persistent need for further improvements of previous designs (Acemoglu, 2011). One of the factors that could limit the adoption of innovative technologies in workplaces is the increasing concern of their greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption (Wheeler, 2013). However, this concern is being addressed by a further development of technological innovations that are more environmental friendly, and use sustainable energy sources like solar and wind power (Hansmann et al., 2012). Based on these findings, unless raw materials needed to facilitate technological advancements are depleted, technological advancements are expected to endless. Summary This section has reviewed a wider range of literature on innovative technologies at the workplace and its impacts on employee redundancy. A wide range of literature suggests a positive relationship between the adoption of innovative technology and technological unemployment. However, the Luddite fallacy developed by some economists states that that there is no positive relationship between the two. Other issues that have been addressed in this section include the trends in innovative technologies, the affects that they have on social life and how the resulting employee redundancy can be mitigated. In regard to whether there will be an end to technological advancements, most of the literature that has been reviewed suggests that technological innovation will progress. This argument is supported by the trends in technology innovations in the 21st century, where tasks that are non-routine and were considered as being non-automatable, are now being automated. One of the gaps that have be en identified in literature is on the measures being taken by organisations to limit employee redundancy as a result of technological innovation. References Abernathy, W.B. (2011). An analysis of the effects of selected management practices on organizational productivity and performance. Performance Improvement, 50(6), pp.39-47. Acemoglu, D. (2011). 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Two Accounts of The Battle of Pharsalus essays

Two Accounts of The Battle of Pharsalus essays The battle of Pharsalus, which took place on August 9th 48 BC, was the turning point in the Roman civil wars fought from 49-44 BC. These wars arose primarily from a struggle between the two powerful members of the First Triumvirate, Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great. Pompeys defeat by Caesar at Pharsalus resulted directly in his own death and Caesars rise to unimpeachable power in the Roman Republic. The focus on individual leaders as the center of military and political power that was exemplified by the battle of Pharsalus became the overarching structure of governance in Rome, eventually bringing about the end of the Senate-led Republic and the beginning of imperial rule. The first source describing the battle of Pharsalus is found in the seventh book of Lucans epic poem Pharsalia. Lucan was a Roman poet who began writing this poem in 61 AD. It was left unfinished upon his death in 65 AD., therefore the poem is only ten books long ending with Caesars arrival in Egypt in 48 BC. He became successful under Neros reign in Rome, however, there seemed to be an increasing dispute growing between the two after the Pharsalia was published. Many critics assume the cause of the dispute to be based on Lucans anti-imperialistic views that he expresses throughout the poem. The second source describing the battle of Pharsalus is found in book 3.72-99 of Caesars Civil Wars. Caesar himself writes in 48 BC an account of his war against Pompey and the Senate. Book 3.72 begins after Caesars regroups his army in Thessaly because of his defeat at the battle of Dyrrhacium by Pompeys army. Caesar justifies his actions of fighting against Pompey and the senate based on his ultimate goal, which was that of restoring order to the Roman people by bringing an end to the civil wars that had plagued Rome for the past couple of years. In an indirect way h...