HRM Human Resource Management in TESCO Organization

HRM Human Resource Management in TESCO Organization Identification of the organisations business strategy, mission and goals Tesco is, as Brand Finance (2014) notes, the largest retailer in UK, as well as being a highly significant retailer globally. As of 2014, Tesco is operating in 12 countries globally, and there are presently 6,780 Tesco stores. In addition, the company employs approximately 500,000 people worldwide. In addition to its core business in the grocery sector, Tesco has also diversified to offer a range of other products and services, such as personal finance and mobile phones. It has developed its ‘bricks and mortar’ business model to include an increasing emphasis upon modern day technology, through Tesco Direct (Ma, Ding and Hong, 2010) and the customer relationship management programme, Clubcard (Felgate, Fearne and di Falco, 2011). Business strategy Tesco’s has, as Schiraldi, Smith and Takahashi (2012) comment, a well-established and consistent business strategy that has enabled the company not only to strengthen the core UK business but also to expand successfully into a range of new markets. Those markets that were not successful, such as the US Fresh Easy stores, have been off-loaded in order to limit group-wide losses (Tyrell, 2014). Tesco’s business strategies mainly focus, as Wood and McCarthy (2014) further postulate, on the huge UK domestic grocery market, along with financial services, and telecommunications. Evaluating its business strategy, Schiraldi, Smith and Takahashi (2012) assert that one of the main objectives of Tesco’s business strategy is to create sustainable, long-term growth. According to Tesco plc (2014), this will be achieved by world-wide expansion. With this goal in mind, the company initially focused on expanding its business enterprises into Asia and central Europe. Tesco primarily focuses, according to Metzger (2014), on five key market sectors: 1) its core UK business, 2) the communities in which it operates, 3) non-food products, both within and beyond those offered ‘in store’, 4) retailing services, and 5) international markets. The company has, as this essay discusses, separate strategies for each of these aspects. The major objectives of Tesco’s business strategy include being a successful retailer internationally, facilitating the continued growth of the core UK business, being strong in the non-food market, the further development of various retailing services like telecommunications, Tesco personal finance and Tesco.com, and giving to the communities in which it operates, so as to strengthen brand loyalty (Piercy, Cravens and Lane, 2010). Tesco’s core UK business is the most important part of the entire business and accounts for 70% of group sales (Tesco, 2014). There are, as already noted, almost 3,400 Tesco stores employing around 310,000 people in the UK; these people are employed in five main, distinctively different, types of store, in order of size format: Tesco Extra, Superstore, Express, Metro, and One Stop. In addition, there are other format stores, such as Homeplus, Dobbies, and internet shopping options. There are presently 247 Extra stores, 482 Superstores, 195 Metro, 1,672 Express, and 722 One Stop stores, which, quite literally, give Tesco a presence in almost every town within the country (Tesco, 2014). In commenting upon how Tesco has developed its business model in light of lessons learned from the current global recession, it is suggested by Piercy, Cravens and Lane (2010) that the primary realisation has been that people want more value for their money but they do not want to compromise on product quality. This message can be seen to have been acted upon by Tesco in a number of ways. First, Tesco has enhanced promotion of its ‘Value’ range, coupled with less advertising of its premier ‘Finest’ range. Secondly, the rewarding of customer loyalty has led Tesco to create a world-leading customer loyalty programme called ‘Clubcard’. According to Tesco (2014), fulfilling corporate responsibility and creating value within the communities it operates are crucial for achieving growth. Tesco believes, as Blythman (2012) further notes, that each and every strategy that it designs has an impact on the community. Tesco’s strategies regarding corporate responsibility include providing active support to local community, providing good jobs to locals, and taking care of the environment. In addition, the company is aiming to create zero carbon stores in the future (Rosethorn, 2009). The main objective of Tesco’s non-food strategy is to become as strong in this arena as it is in the food category. Tesco’s Dobbies, Homeplus and Extra stores are the three store formats where non-food products are available, the latter in addition to food. In 2000, Tesco Direct, the company’s online store where more than 125,000 products are available, was launched. The company has 25 distribution centres, out of which six deal with clothing and non-food products (Tesco, 2014). Cumulatively, these distribution centres deliver goods to an estimated 500,000 customers per week in the online sector only (Tesco, 2014); this division of the company has experienced rapid growth, showing the importance of diversification to the continued growth of the company (Ma, Ding and Hong, 2010). Tesco’s various retail services include Tesco Bank, Tesco.com and Tesco telecommunications. In the UK, Tesco Bank is the most successful supermarket bank (Scuffham, 2014), which once more shows how invaluable diversification has been to the continued success and growth of the group as a whole. Furthermore, developing Tesco.com was a strategy of keeping pace with modern trends in shopping which may result, in the future, in fewer resources being applied to traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ strategies, and more being routed towards on-line consumers. Identification of the organisations overall HRM strategy and goals This section discusses the overall human resource management (HRM) strategy and goals of Tesco. Given the global reach of the chain, it is imperative that managers make a complete and feasible HRM plan and use different strategies to manage employees. This will include changing strategies to account for local customs and variations (Brennan, Moore and Mughan, 2013). The human resource strategy presently utilised at Tesco’s revolves, as Merkel, Jackson and Pick (2010) discuss, around the training and development of employees, communication and consultation, and rewards and benefits linked to achieving targets. This triple-headed approach to HRM has been successful over the years and has helped the firm to retain and recruit well-motivated staff who present a professional appearance to customers and are proud to work for Tesco. The most significant part of the HRM strategy of Tesco is training and development in terms of both time and money (Tesco, 2014). Every year, Tesco employs a large number of staff and a critical component of this, in addition to ‘front line’ shop staff, is the recruitment of high quality graduates from leading universities (Rosethorn, 2009). It is imperative, given the academic background of these recruits, that they are trained in ‘the Tesco way’ and introduced as quickly as possible to the corporate structure and mentality of the firm. This is why the training of graduates through specific recruitment programmes is essential (Merkel, Jackson and Pick, 2010). Tesco does not merely, however, favour graduates. It values all its staff as important resources and promises each of its employees that they will have a chance to develop their skill set and progress through the company (Fernie and Moore, 2013). This implies, in the opinion of the author, that each employee has the same opportunity to acquire essential skills relating to their work and the same opportunity to develop themselves to learn new knowledge. In the UK, skilled specialist employees in traditional occupations, such as fishmongers and bakers, can attain recognised qualifications during their careers at Tesco and, in 2008, 97.4% of shop-floor and 99.9% of Tesco.com employees in the UK were trained to bronze level (competent); 94.2% of shop-floor employees achieved silver level competence (expert or experienced). Such data suggests, as Ma, Ding and Hong (2010) comment, that Tesco realises the importance of investing in its staff and is keen to retain and develop a large number of skilled workers. In addition to the training programme evaluated above, Tesco has an Options development program. In this program, staff can select and learn skills that they need to grasp so as to progress to the next work level within the firm – this is, therefore, a form of self-guided career professional development. One in 30 employees of Tesco in the UK participate this programme, according to Tesco (2014). Mindful of its success, Tesco expanded this programme into Central Europe and Asia in 2009 (Brannen, Moore and Mughan, 2013). This suggests that different parts of the company can benefit from positive innovations trialled elsewhere. The second major part of its HRM programme is tied into issues pertaining to communication and consultation. Tesco wants to know the views of employees on problems which affect them and the wider company. This form of ‘bottom-up’ feedback is common in companies with a global presence, as Brannen, Moore and Mughan (2013) note. Managers are now encouraged to use different types of communication to gather feedback that can be used to develop the company further. This includes, according to Fernie and Sparks (2014), staff question times, face-to-face interviews, and use of the in-house internet. In addition, Tesco undertakes an annual staff survey and ‘Viewpoint’, which are anonymous and confidential (Tesco, 2014). Tesco uses these approaches to find the problems in working processes as soon as possible, so that it can address them and ensure that it responds to them in a manner so as to maximise returns. The third part of Tesco’s HRM strategy relates to rewards and benefits (Merkel, Jackson and Pick, 2010). Tesco tries to keep a competitive HRM edge over its major supermarket rivals by offering a basic wage that is as high as possible. This is enhanced by long-term reward plans and share bonuses (Tesco, 2014). Analysis of the various components of Tesco HRM Human resource management at Tesco involves various activities, including recruitment talent analysis, provision of a good working environment, programmes aimed at retaining employees who have good performance, and ensuring that all are treated equally (Rosethorn, 2009). These divergent trends within HRM are all important as, without them, employees may not feel valued. Increasing employee self-worth is, as Merkel, Jackson and Pick (2010) note, a valuable tool in the arsenal of the successful HRM practitioner because those who feel valued are likely to outperform less enchanted colleagues. In addition, a highly motivated workforce has been shown, by Fernie and Sparks (2014), to maximise the potential for high profit returns within a firm. It is also worth considering that ensuring equality in the firm is an important legal consideration given the right of all people to work in a safe environment that is free from bullying and respects human rights (Tushman and O’Reilly, 2002). For good employee relations the company also encourages its workers to work near their homes, which, as Piercy, Cravens and Lane (2010) observe, is a ‘green’ initiative that helps cut down on fuel costs and also reduces the time that individuals spend travelling to work. The company also gives their employees freedom of transfer, thus encouraging employee retention (Metzger, 2014). In addition, the use of shift work maximises the ability of people to work hours that suit their own timetables; thus, for instance, a student may be able to obtain an evening shift that does not interrupt his or her studies, whereas a mother of young primary school-aged children may be able to work during the day whilst the children are at school. This flexibility of working patterns, which is also important for the exchange of ideas and for the promotion of equality of faith (such as the need for Orthodox Jews not to work on Saturdays) are all factors that help Tesco to build a wide multicultural team of workers that are attune to the attitudes of the individual communities that they serve. Indeed, as a result of the UK being a truly multicultural society, HRM can be seen to play a critical role in working towards the creation of a healthy work environment. Tesco also ensures that every employee knows his or her rights in the organisation, which can also be seen as a way of ensuring that employee unions are supportive of the market aspirations of the company (Rosethorn, 2009). That Tesco also embraces health and safety regulations and training may be seen as a further bonus. In addition, Tesco trains its employees on disaster management, which is not only a positive for staff but also for the shoppers who frequent Tesco (Blythman, 2012). That staff receive such training means that members of the public can shop in safety in the secure knowledge that in the event of a fire outbreak the staff are trained, and responsive. With regard to the use of human resource models, Tesco can be evaluated as using a range of different models to ensure that it meets it core business goals (Fernie and Moore, 2013). This is important to note within the confines of this essay because no two people are identical (in terms of their behaviour and personality traits), thus calling for different HRM approaches to be adopted to ensure that there is, within the workforce, harmony in the company (Merkel, Jackson and Pick, 2010). Tesco has, as Rosethorn (2009) notes, has resolved to use a commitment-based model which does not force employees to meet frameworks. Rather, the achievement of goals is looked at as possible through respect, provided that there is co-ordination and self-control. This model calls for motivation and reinforcement in order to achieve the objectives of Tesco management and, as Tushman and O’Reilly (2002) suggest, employee opinions are taken into consideration and are used even during problem-solving processes. This model puts the employee at the forefront and helps to sustain motivation. Identification of areas that could be improved Tesco knows that it, in order to keep competitive in an increasingly cut-throat market, it has to keep sound strategies and build upon them (Wood and McCarthy, 2014). It is critical therefore, in accordance with the view advanced by Tushman and O’Reilly (2002), that human resource management continues to develop, identify, and strengthen the capacities of its staff. Tesco has a lot of employees who have substantial experience, and it follows that there is a key role for them to play in the training of new employees. In addition the company needs to train employees with expertise and ensure that they are kept up-to-date with regards to their key skill sets. The training concepts mentioned within this assignment work together to ensure that the organisation benefits from the increased competence of its staff. For rewards and wages Tesco is in line with existing laws and regulations and pays salaries according to the minimum wage law (Tesco, 2014). Nevertheless, further benefits could be accrued by making a more explicit linkage between performance and reward, especially with regard to the firm’s overall profits (Metzger, 2014). This would mean that when annual profits increase, there should be an increase in the salaries and rewards enjoyed by employees. Such rewarding of talent will have a positive impact on both workers and the company (Fernie and Sparks, 2014). Conclusion The human resource management department plays an important role in any organisation. Tesco has a well-documented, forward-thinking HRM department which is in tune with its overall business aims. Through the recruitment and retention of first rate staff and ensuring that all employees can perform to the best of their ability, Tesco increases the chances that its staff will be a positive asset (Merkel, Jackson and Pick, 2014). In addition, as Tesco increasingly diversifies its business portfolio, there is a need to ensure that all employees in each country in which it operates learn from best practice elsewhere (Brannen, Moore and Mughan, 2013). Indeed, if Tesco is to attain its global objectives, it is imperative that its HRM department continually evaluates its own performance (as well as that of employees), so that the company’s most important asset – its staff – can continually adapt to the changing needs and expectations of the company’s customers to help ensure that it retains its existing position of primacy within the UK supermarket sector (Metzger, 2014). Bibliography Blythman, J. (2012). Shopped: The shocking power of British supermarkets. London: HarperCollins. Brand Finance (2014). Global 500 2014: The world’s most valuable brands. Available at: http://brandirectory.com/league_tables/table/global-500-2014 [accessed 10 September 2014]. Brannen, M.Y., Moore, F. and Mughan, T. (2013). Strategic ethnography and reinvigorating Tesco plc: Leveraging inside/out bicultural bridging in multicultural teams. Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference Proceedings, London, September 16-18, pp. 282-299. Felgate, M., Fearne, A. and di Falco, S. (2011). Analysing the impact of supermarket promotions: A case study using Tesco Clubcard data in the UK. Kent Business School. Working Paper 234. Fernie, J. and Sparks, S. (2014). Logistics and retail management (4th edn). London: Kogan Page. Fernie, S. and Moore, C. (2013). Principles of retailing. Abingdon: Routledge. Ma, Y., Ding, J. and Hong, W. (2010). Delivering customer value based on service process: The example of Tesco.com. International Business Research, 3(2), 131. Merkel, J., Jackson, P. and Pick, D. (2010). New challenges in retail human resource management. In Krafft, M. and Mantrala, M.K. (eds) (2014). Retailing in the 21st century (2nd edn). Springer: Berlin, pp. 257-270. Metzger, K. (2014). Business analysis of UK supermarket industry. Master’s dissertation, Loughborough University. Piercy, N.F., Cravens, D.W. and Lane, N. (2010). Marketing out of the recession: Recovery is coming, but things will never be the same again. The Marketing Review, 10(1), 3-23. Rosethorn, H. (2009). The employer brand: Keeping faith with the deal. Farnham: Gower. Schiraldi, P., Smith, H. and Takahashi, Y. (2012). Estimating a dynamic game of spatial competition: The case of the UK supermarket industry. LSE Working Paper. Scuffham, M. (2014). Tesco takes on UK banks with current account launch. Reuters [online]. Available at: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/06/09/uk-tesco-bank-account-idUKKBN0EK24H20140609 [accessed 10 September 2014]. Tesco plc (2014). Annual report 2014. Cheshunt: Tesco plc. Tushman, M.L. and OReilly, C.A. (2002). Winning through innovation: A practical guide to leading organizational change and renewal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Press. Tyrell, J. (2014). Introduction to socio-cultural influences. In Mutum, D.S., Roy, S.K. and Kipnis, E. (eds) (2014). Marketing cases from emerging markets. Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 9-11. Wood, S. and McCarthy, D. (2014). The UK food retail ‘race for space’ and market saturation: A contemporary review. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 24(2), 121-144.

Spanking is Positive Essay -- Children Obedience Discipline Essays

Spanking is Positive Have you ever been spanked, when you were a child? Do you remember how it felt? Did it have an effect on your attitude as you grew older? Now, when you look back at it, do you think it was a good thing? I have interviewed three random college students that have been spanked when they were a child. Even though spanking may be an example of physical abuse, I believe it is positive and not as serious as hitting with a fist or object. The following gives examples of how students felt during the time being spanked, how their behavior was after being spanked, and how being spanked affected his/her life. At the time of being spanked NAU student Lindsey Richardson said, â€Å"being spanked was an embarrassment for me at the time, mainly because my parents would spank me in public, so I could feel embarrassed to show how embarrassed they felt when I put on a tantrum.† For Lindsey, being spanked was to embarrass her, not to feel pain for what she has done, but to feel how her parents did when they would get embarrassed. As for Megan Marlatt, also a NAU student said, â€Å"at the time of being spanked it was pain, it was for punishment and feeling of regret for doing what I did†. When Megan was being spanked her parents had to show her how it would feel if she misbehaved the next time. While doing these interviews I have also done research to why parents would chose to spank their child. And according to Abraham Andero and Allen Stewart who conducted a survey in the fall and summer of 2001, of 500 parents on why they spank their child, 100% of the parents responded with, â€Å"for disobedience.† Therefore, Andero and Stewart said, â€Å"parents saw corporal punishment as a connective measure and ha... ...ng about people’s stories of when they were spanked, do you think you can remember how you felt when you were spanked and how it affects you now. In the way you represent yourself as a person and represent your family as well. As a result, we students never knew spanking was an example of physical abuse, until we grew older. Back then, spanking was a sign of punishment not abuse. Now, that these students and myself know, we still believe it was a good idea and a good way to discipline us. This worked affectively for the parents and made their child learn to obey their elderly and have respect for others. â€Å"So what would you do? Would you have a child disobey you as young as they are? Or have a child respect you and know what you’re doing is out of discipline and love for the child, in trying to raise that child in knowing what is appropriate and what’s not. Spanking is Positive Essay -- Children Obedience Discipline Essays Spanking is Positive Have you ever been spanked, when you were a child? Do you remember how it felt? Did it have an effect on your attitude as you grew older? Now, when you look back at it, do you think it was a good thing? I have interviewed three random college students that have been spanked when they were a child. Even though spanking may be an example of physical abuse, I believe it is positive and not as serious as hitting with a fist or object. The following gives examples of how students felt during the time being spanked, how their behavior was after being spanked, and how being spanked affected his/her life. At the time of being spanked NAU student Lindsey Richardson said, â€Å"being spanked was an embarrassment for me at the time, mainly because my parents would spank me in public, so I could feel embarrassed to show how embarrassed they felt when I put on a tantrum.† For Lindsey, being spanked was to embarrass her, not to feel pain for what she has done, but to feel how her parents did when they would get embarrassed. As for Megan Marlatt, also a NAU student said, â€Å"at the time of being spanked it was pain, it was for punishment and feeling of regret for doing what I did†. When Megan was being spanked her parents had to show her how it would feel if she misbehaved the next time. While doing these interviews I have also done research to why parents would chose to spank their child. And according to Abraham Andero and Allen Stewart who conducted a survey in the fall and summer of 2001, of 500 parents on why they spank their child, 100% of the parents responded with, â€Å"for disobedience.† Therefore, Andero and Stewart said, â€Å"parents saw corporal punishment as a connective measure and ha... ...ng about people’s stories of when they were spanked, do you think you can remember how you felt when you were spanked and how it affects you now. In the way you represent yourself as a person and represent your family as well. As a result, we students never knew spanking was an example of physical abuse, until we grew older. Back then, spanking was a sign of punishment not abuse. Now, that these students and myself know, we still believe it was a good idea and a good way to discipline us. This worked affectively for the parents and made their child learn to obey their elderly and have respect for others. â€Å"So what would you do? Would you have a child disobey you as young as they are? Or have a child respect you and know what you’re doing is out of discipline and love for the child, in trying to raise that child in knowing what is appropriate and what’s not.

A Mixed Economic System Would Benefit the United Kingdom Essay

A Mixed Economic System Would Benefit the United Kingdom Two main economic systems have been developed since the Industrial Revolution, these are Capitalism and Socialism. Both systems have advantages and disadvantages, this essay will explain these, and also give my proposals for a mixed system for the whole society of the United Kingdom. Capitalism Capitalism generally started as an economic system in the United Kingdom at the time of the Industrial Revolution. The basic explanation of Capitalism would be to say that 'the economy is left to its own devices with no Government intervention'. A Capitalist economy is a market economy where all economic decision making is decentralised, and the Government will only supply national defence, administer justice and provide certain public works. The goods that are provided in a Capitalist economy are decided by individuals who choose how to use their labour and spend their income. All resources are privately owned and will only be used for obtaining the highest profit. Advantages of Capitalism There are many advantages to a Capitalist economic system which could make it very appealing to society. The system allows the powers of market forces to operate which in turn gives the consumer a wider range of goods and services. Also because producers are always seeking the highest profit they must try to please the consumer and win their custom. This leads to innovation and greater quality and variety. The firms which produce the correct goods and services will win custom and make profit, those which don't will go out of business and therefore release their resources to the successful firms. This will lead to the expansion of the economy and greater prosperity. In summing up the advantages, it is clear to see that the consumer has the power to dictate the goods in the economy. Disadvantages of Capitalism As discussed in the advantages of Capitalism the consumer has all the power in the economy. However individuals purchasing power is drastically unequal because of the inequality of wealth within the economy. This is due to the fact that some people will always be able to work harder, be more innovative and be more talented than others, and therefore be more profitable and promote themselves higher in the economy whilst others will fail. Because of the inequality of wealth in a truly Capitalist society with... ... Since the war the Government has still kept a lot of control but the opportunity for entrepreneurship is available. The economy in the United Kingdom is, as far as I can see, the only way a society can flourish. The Government tax people but provide, health care, infrastructure, education and welfare as well as owning certain industries to keep some form of economic planning available to them. However recently the Government has sold off a lot of nationalised industries and this has allowed for more competition and moves the economy in to a more Capitalist state. Conclusion In a Capitalist society there is great suffering because of the great inequality but in a Socialist society it seems that, even though the idea of everyone living equally in harmony is appealing, the fact of the matter is that the only equality that people will share is the equality of no choice and oppression. True Socialism can never work in any society because it is human nature to want mare than you have and to strive to achieve this. Countries that say they are socialist seem to me to be more of a dictatorship. A true mix between the two must be achieved to sustain a healthy economy and a happy society.

Harassment in the Workplace :: Workplace Harassment

Tracy is a 43 year-old accomplished school teacher whose life was turned upside down. She had been teaching for 12 years and had received glowing references and many letters from the Dean congratulating her on her performance. Then, Tracy was transferred to a remote country school where, for the first time in her life, she experienced workplace bullying to the point where she became ill and could no longer face going to work. For six years Tracy put up with bullying. A colleague/superior told her that it wouldn’t matter if she was dead. She was physically pushed. She was isolated by not being included in staff celebrations, or volunteer work projects, and the staff involved would not sit by her. She was humiliated by having a dunce hat placed on her head during a school performance. She was yelled at during a meeting for being late yet others who arrived later received no reprimand. She was denied appropriate resources to do her job and was told that thirty pieces of art paper was sufficient for the entire year. She endured psychological games by being made to feel as though there was something wrong with her. Tracy endured this treatment from her colleagues and superiors for six long years and now she has major depressive illness with anxiety attacks that are so bad that she lies down and groans. She has nighttime enuresis that worsens when she is highly stressed. She has tried to commit suicide. Tracy has become a recluse and describes herself as a shadow of her former confident self. Tracy’s story is not an isolated case. Many workers have endured similar treatment with devastating effects. (Freeman) John said: "I had lost my identity and self-esteem, and there was a lot of unresolved anger that I had to let go of before I could channel my energies into the future.† Simone said: â€Å"I practically turned myself inside out to gain his approval but went nowhere in the company. He ignored my input at meetings, sneered and talked through my presentations. Friends in the business passed on quite vicious rumors about me. I know he started them, but have no proof.

Bondage and Escape in Sons & Lovers Essay

A major theme in â€Å"Sons & Lovers† is bondage and escape. Every major character is held hostage by another character or by their environment. Her husband, her family and her anger at the family’s social status hold Mrs. Morel hostage. She has no friends to be seen or money of her own to use. Her escape from her bondage is her death. She was unhappy her whole life and lived though another human as a source of happiness. She essentially lived her life through William and, after his death, through Paul, which in a twist of irony, by doing so she is essentially keeping them in bondage. She wants William to move to town to get a good job and a good wife to help up their social status. When he does move and bring home a woman, she thinks she has finally arrived, only to be pushed back down with his death. William, who found a good upper class woman with Lily, brings her back to his family’s home. He loves Lily, until he sees her behavior to his sister; Lily treats Annie like a servant. Although his mother likes Lily, he cannot stay with her and soon leaves her and then falls ill and dies. William’s death is his great escape from the bonds of his mother. When William dies Paul replaces him as Mrs. Morel’s dummy; Paul leads his life as his mother wants him to, she keeps him in check, approves who he dates and even goes with him and speaks for him on his first job interview. The only thing redeeming Paul in this is that he knows that he is being tied down by his mother and is fighting a silent fight against her for his whole life. Although Mrs. Morel doesn’t like Miriam, he keeps his relationship with her. Although Mrs. Morel doesn’t want Paul to stay out late, on most occasions he breaks this rule also. The only thing that ever releases Paul from Mrs. Morel’s grasp is her death. Mr. Morel’s captivity is the most literal. He is held captive by the mine; every day he must work in the mine and the harder and longer he works, the more money he makes. He is held captive by money and a blue-collar career. As a man, he ahs more options than Mrs. Morel, he can go to work, he can drink in the bar after work, he has his own money; but still the mine is always there, calling him back with the lore of making more money next week. Miriam is held captive by Paul and by her own lofty hopes and dreams. Paul strings her along in their relationship, with no future for them in the relationship. This lack of future for them may be based on Mrs. Morel’s dislike of Miriam and by Paul’s willingness to always please Mrs. Morel above him. Miriam is also held captive by her own dreams; she envisions herself as a princess, not as the wife of an office clerk. She has aspirations that are unattainable, and therefore is kept down by her own refusal to settle with Paul. Clara is held captive also, but for the opposite reason that Miriam is: Clara is levelheaded and stable and supporting herself with a job. She is too levelheaded though and will not allow herself to fall too much in love with Paul. She in the end seems to only head further into captivity, by going back with her abusive husband. In conclusion, everyone of the major character is held in bondage and not all are able to make an escape from their bonds.

Mulan

Hayden Ikerd Mr. Wheeler AP Literature 12 April, 2013 Thomas Foster’s Themes Traced in Mulan In his book How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas Foster explains many reoccurring themes in literature, and shows how to recognize them and in some instances shows certain works where they occur. By reading this guide to literature, one may gain a deeper understanding of the work itself and of the author’s intent in writing it. However, Foster’s methods can also be applied to films.A film that contains many of the various themes, models, symbolism, and devices discussed in his book is Walt Disney’s Mulan. Mulan is a character type with which people are familiar. Foster discusses this process of association in the chapter â€Å"Now Where Have I Seen Her Before? † In his book, he asserts that no work is wholly original. The whole idea of a female Chinese heroine was not originally conceived by Disney. The character of Mulan can be traced back to The Ballad of Hua Mulan, written sometime in the 11th century.Still, most people may not be so familiar with this relatively dated ballad. Some people may associate the character of Mulan with that of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. Both Mulan and Scout are tomboys by nature, acting in ways more suited to boys. Also, they both do things they do for the approval of their respective father figures. Mulan is notably the heroine of her story, saving the Chinese empire from the attacking Huns. The ‘heroine’ model can also be seen in characters such as Antigone and Hester Prynne. Food plays some role in every work- namely the act of consuming it.Mulan is no exception. Foster talks about this in the chapter â€Å"Nice To Eat With You. † Towards the beginning of the movie, Mulan along with several other young maidens go to visit the match maker, who is in charge of determining each girl’s eligibility as a wife. This process by which she judges them is by partaking in a cup of tea with each one. Mulan’s ‘interview’ as it were went over horribly. This is to establish the fact that Mulan has a measure of difficulty coming into womanhood, and the whole idea of being ladylike does not come to her naturally.The second meal that plays a big part in the film is the one that takes place in the barracks. Mulan just met her fellow soldiers, and the next thing to occur is a meal with them. Trying to establish herself as a man, she accidently picks a fight with one, leading to a riot, and rice being spilled all over the camp. After this, they all held her in contempt. Mulan’s first meal with her comrades shows that she has just as hard a time fitting in with these men as she did with the women. Mulan’s two meals show the difficulty she has trying to find her place.The role of men and women play an important role in this movie. Foster touches this phenomenon in the chapter â€Å"It’s All Political. † The unde rlying message of Mulan is that of gender equality. As a woman, Mulan is looked down upon, and is not allowed to fight in the war against the Huns in the first place. To fight is to disgrace her whole family. This offense was so dire, that when she was discovered to be a woman on the battlefield, she was sentenced to death. She is also portrayed as being weaker and less capable than the other soldiers.However, she learns to keep up, and eventually excels in combat training and proves to be an invaluable asset to the Chinese army. In the end, Mulan portrays women as strong, and in the battle could not have been won without femininity. Towards the end, the Huns are ultimately overcome by the male soldiers dressing as women, who seduce them, then defeat them. In the end of the film, virtually all of China bows to Mulan in respect, showing that she is held in equal esteem as even the emperor, who is male (he also bows, of course).Another important element in Mulan that Foster points out is that of rain, which he mentions in his chapter entitled, â€Å"It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow. † Foster would have one to believe that often times when a character goes through rain, snow, or something of the sort, that he or she has undergone a figurative baptism. After Mulan has failed in her encounter with the matchmaker, she goes home and begins singing the marvelous, gripping song called â€Å"Reflection†. She asks, â€Å"When will my reflection show who I am inside? She realizes that her fair appearance does not reflect her feelings. Singing this song, she washes away her makeup, and gives up on becoming the perfect daughter and bride; it is a baptism. Maybe it would be key to mention that during this song, Mulan sings in a downpour of rain. Just like Foster describes in his book, Mulan is ‘baptized’ in the rain. Disney movies are not notorious for their violent nature. So, when something violent occurs in a Disney movie, or an individu al (or animal in many cases) dies, it must carry some kind of importance.In the chapter of his book â€Å"More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You†, Fosters says that there is usually more to violence than just violence. When Mulan is struck by the sword of Shan Yu, many more things happen to her than a fatal wound. She almost meets her demise, and for the first time, the reality of war sets in. Mulan realizes that she is not invincible and grasps the perils of war for the first time. When she receives medical attention for her wound, she is discovered to be a woman. All she has worked for up until this point is now for naught, as she is expelled from the army and her family name is disgraced.Another instance where violence plays an important role is when Li Shang’s father is discovered to be dead. Li Shang’s father was the head general of the Chinese army; he was held in high esteem by everyone, especially his son. Li Shang aspired to be the general his father was. Shang’s father’s plan was to make an assault on the Hun army, and meet up with Shang after they had obtained victory, which they thought was inevitable. When Shang reaches the point at which he was to intersect with his father, he found him gone.Shang’s father’s death signals the time for Shang to take up the burden of leading the Chinese army and the time to become a man. The only way for China to be victorious was for Shang to surpass his father and to do what he could not: defeat the Huns. Without this loss, Shang would have never grown and would have never become the general that he was. One can see that Foster’s themes are very prevalent in the story of Mulan and are echoed in movies and books alike. Mulan is a real masterpiece to include so many elements of good literature.

Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation Essay

Abstract CBSE has introduced Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) in standard IX and X from 2009. CCE refers to system of school based evaluation of a student that covers all aspects of a student development. It emphasizes continuity in evaluation and assessment of broad based learning and behavioural outcomes on the other. Effectiveness of CCE depends on teachers positive attitudes towards it. Hence, this paper studies the attitude of social science teachers towards CCE at secondary level in relation to their gender, area and teaching experience. The study was descriptive in nature. An Attitude Scale towards CCE developed by Investigator, having forty items was administered to the respondents to determine the subjects’ attitude towards CCE. All the social science teachers, teaching at secondary level in West District of Sikkim constituted the population of the study. Fifty social science teacher comprising male and female, rural and urban and less than and above eight years o f experience were selected as a sample of the study. Two to four social science teachers were selected at random from the sampled institutions. Mean, Standard Deviation, t-test, Quartile Deviation were applied to measure and compare the attitude of social science teachers towards CCE. The analysis of the data revealed that the majority of the social science teachers possess positive attitude towards CCE. It was found that there was no significant difference in attitude towards CCE between the female and male social science teachers. Teacher working in rural secondary schools were found same attitude towards CCE as compared to the teachers working in urban schools. It uncovered the fact that the teachers having less than eight years of experience are equally committed and possess positive attitude towards CCE as compared to the teachers having more than  eight years of experience. The in- depth qualitative study should be conducted to investigate variable affecting attitude of social science teachers at secondary level. Key words: Attitude, social science teachers, continuous and comprehensive evaluation, secondary level. INTRODUCTION The main aim of education is to bring holistic development in the learner. Through education all individuals can achieve greatness and become responsible and productive citizens. Since time immemorial lots of efforts have been given to impart quality education to the younger generation considering them as nation assets but outcomes were always remain questionable. System gave more impetus for transmitting the information but less importance on understanding the need of learner. System emphasizes more on cognitive development of the learner, but for any student to fulfil his her potential, timely and proper assessment is even more imperative as only after this is done can proper guidance be given on how to move forward, improve, develop different facets of personality, polish rough edges, till the finished product emerges like crystals. Comprehensive, proper and timely assessment is lacking in today’s system which values and indeed glorifies learning by rote. Keeping in view of need of quality education, recently new initiative has been done in the field of evaluation, focussing to decrease the accumulated stress of board exams on the students and to introduce a more uniform and comprehensive pattern in education for the children all over the nation. Concept of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation is a process of determining the extent to which the objectives are achieved. It is not only concerned with the appraisal of achievement, but also with its improvement. As testing, evaluation is also concerned with identification of learning experiences and educative environment to produce changes in the learner’s behaviour. It involves information gathering, information processing, judgment forming, and decision-making. Effective implementation of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation is depending on teachers’ attitudes as they are the key person in the transmission and implementation of the system. Teacher is instrumental for better assessment of the students. He is required to have a higher degree of interest to accept the innovation in education because of changing circumstances. A good teacher is expected to be committed to his work and have the ability to take the initiative (Sparks, 1979). The teachers did not know anything about the preparation of the blue print; they were also ignorant about the objectives of unit wise teaching (Tewari 1975) shows their unfavourable attitude towards teaching and evaluation. As Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation is the new initiatives in education substantial majority of the teachers seemed to think that it promoted creativity, analytical ability, regularity and command over the subjects by students, teachers responded positively to the continuous evaluation system (.Rao and Bharathi, 1989). Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation enable teacher and students to make judgments about the work undertaken; to identify their knowledge, attitudes and skills, and to understand the changes that have occurred in these; and to increase their ability to assess their learning and performance. CCE not only helps in awarding grades and certificates but also helps teachers to diagnosis learning difficulty of the learner. Continuous evaluation would help the subject teachers to diagnose the deficiencies in their students so that they could adopt appropriate corrective measures at the appropriate time (Rao, 1982). CCE helps to teacher to ascertain the learning difficulties among the learner but it depends on their ability and attitude to use different types of tools and techniques. (Thangamani, 1989) found the teachers working in Madurai city higher secondary schools positive attitude towards oral examination as a diagnostic device. Continuity of assessment from the first day of school is the prime motive of CCE rather than sole depend on summative evaluation. Conventional evaluation system was emphasized on summative evaluation only. Traditional evaluation system facilitates more rote learning, classify of pupils based on division and marks rather than creativity, social and emotional development. Whereas, CCE (Pareek, P.L. 1986) scheme does not like examination; seek to classify  the pupils into classes or divisions but aims essentially at their all-round improvement or development. Assessment is done from time to time with the aim of discovering the extent of their progress, their strengths and weaknesses and then to take on that basis necessary steps to bring about the desired growth. This scheme promotes healthy student teacher parent relationship by giving them continuous and necessary feedback at frequent intervals to both teachers and parents. People’s attitudes towards new approach have an effect on implementation. It is also valid for new approach of evaluation system i.e., Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation. The quality of education is directly related to quality of evaluation. Teacher is expected to not only to master the subject and various methods of teaching but also to show that he is capable of selecting the various study materials according to the teaching goals and varied group of pupils. He also possesses the potentials to create a learning environment for the students (Vermont and Verschaffel, 2000. The success of a curriculum depends on its transactional strategies and the skills of teachers in reading to students (Pandey, 2000). They have to plan how to arrange remedial teaching for low and slow achievers to bring them on an equal footing with their peers. The teachers are required to use the educational technology to the maximum and continuous and comprehensive evaluation frequently. CCE implies not only a change in evaluation practices in the classroom but also a paradigm shift in the autonomy and responsibility of teachers. Teachers are supposed to update him/ her with the latest knowledge to cope up with the need of the time. Teachers’ lack of sense of responsibility and unfavourable attitude cannot bring any changes in evaluation system which was found (Rao Manjula, 1998; 2001; 2002) that Evaluation practices carried out in schools are still conventional in their nature and purposes. The personal and social qualities are totally ignored due to lack of awareness of what to be evaluated and how to evaluate. Assessment of wrong things or the same range of things too often is carried out. One doesnâ €™t get a fair and realistic picture of what students have actually mastered. (Smita, 2002) CCE demands that the teacher should change her strategies on the basis of the outcomes continuously and tailor them to the needs of individual children. The principal and the teachers should develop an action plan indicating the scheme of evaluation, identifying the task and role of  different activities and their time schedule, mode of implementation and feedback mechanism along with remediation strategies (Rajput and Kumar, 2003). Unfavourable attitude of teachers towards Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation can make the effect of scheme more badly than the conventional evaluation system. (Rao and Rao, 2008) the teachers were found to be recording mechanically by simply putting tick against each student to satisfy the supervising and inspecting authorities. Without the dedication and positive attitude towards the CCE the aim of the scheme can not be accomplished. NEED OF THE STUDY Continuous and comprehensive evaluation necessitates the use of multiple evaluation techniques and tools in addition to certain conventional ones. This is required because different specific areas of pupil growth need different types of evaluation through certain techniques. The teacher has to select the most appropriate technique for a situation and develop the necessary tools for the same, and decide upon the periodicity and timing of evaluation. As a social science teacher, he/she should have Knowledge and ability to construct assessment tools that are criterion based appropriate for assessing the competencies. Social science teacher at secondary level are dealing with the adolescence learner so they are expected to require knowledge, skills of evaluation, commitment, and assistance to provide remedial teaching. Teacher should have favourable attitude to use new innovation in evaluation system. This study therefore seeks to provide some insight into the attitude of social science teachers from some randomly selected secondary and senior secondary schools in West District of Sikkim towards Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation. The study was delimited to West District and only Government schools of Sikkim. Objectives The objectives of the study were: 1. To study the attitude of Secondary Social Science Teachers towards the CCE, 2. To study the difference between male and female Secondary Social Science teachers attitude towards CCE, 3. To study the difference between rural and urban Secondary Social Science teachers attitude towards CCE and 4. To study the difference in teachers attitude towards CCE between the teachers having more than and less than 8 years of teaching experience. Research Questions /Hypothesis The research question and hypotheses were: 1. Whether there is any attitudinal variation among the secondary social science school teachers towards CCE? 2. There exists no significant difference in attitudinal score between male and female teachers towards CCE. 3. There exists no significant difference in attitudinal between urban and rural social science teachers towards CCE 4. There exists no significant difference in attitudinal score between social science teachers having less than and above eight years of experience towards CCE. METHOD The present study was undertaken using the survey method. SAMPLE The investigator selected about 50 secondary social science teachers from the secondary and senior secondary schools of west district, Sikkim on random selection basis as the target group of the study. The distribution of the sample selected for the study were twenty seven female and twenty three male social science teachers of which only twelve were from urban schools and thirty eight were from rural school again from the same sample twenty three teachers were having less than eight years and twenty seven were having above eight years of teaching experience. TOOLS In the study of attitude, the investigator constructed the attitude scale for assessing the attitudes of social science teachers towards CCE at secondary level. There were forty statements in the scale having thirty three positive and seven negative statements. It was constructed in five point scale ranging from Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree and Strongly Disagree. Maximum weightage to each statement was five. So, the maximum score of the scale was 200 and minimum was 40. DATA COLLECTION Researcher personally contacted all the respondents and administered attitude scale to collect the data. Clear instructions were prepared for the respondents. They were requested to go through the general instructions first and then to respond. The respondents were asked to decide about their agreement with the statements and mark the relevant response honestly on the given space. Attitude scale and personal information sheet were distributed to subjects with the request to complete and return it as soon as possible. The measurement of attitudes of these groups and the comparisons therefore were undertaken to find out the differences in the attitude of different groups. The comparison were aimed at locating the differences in the attitude towards CCE affected by the variable a) gender, b) the area of residence rural and urban , and c) teaching experience- less than and more than eight years of teaching experience. STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURE OF ANALYSIS The investigator used Quartile Deviation to find out the total attitude score of the subjects and t test to make comparisons between the variable like male: female, urban: rural and below eight years: above eight years of teaching experience. Research Question-1 Whether there is any attitudinal variation among the secondary social science school teachers towards CCE? For the analysis of Research Question 1 Investigator categorized the score with quartile deviation. Categorizations are as follows: Score up to 145 = Marginal attitude, 145-159 = moderate attitude and above 159 = highly favourable attitude. Result found that 24% fall under marginal attitude, 52% moderate attitude and 24% highly favourable attitude. Hypothesis-2 There exists no significant difference in attitudinal score between male and female teachers towards CCE. To establish if teachers’ gender has influence  on their attitude towards CCE at secondary level the t-test statistics was utilized to test the hypothesis as shown Table II below. Table 1 show that the calculated t’value 0.62 is less than the critical value 2.01 at 0.05 level of significance. This indicates that the difference in the attitudes of Male and Female Teachers towards CCE is not significant hence Ho is accepted. It revealed that male and female social science teachers are having equally positive attitude towards continuous and comprehensive evaluation. There is no influence of sex on the attitude of social science teachers towards CCE. Hpothesis-3 There exists no significant difference in attitudinal score between urban and rural social science teachers towards CCE. Table 2 shows that the calculated t’value 0.77 is less than the critical value 2.01 at 0.05 alpha level of significance. This indicates that the difference in the attitudes of Urban and Rural Teachers towards CCE is not significant hence Ho is accepted. It revealed that social science teachers from urban schools are having same attitudes towards CCE as rural school social science teachers possess. Further, it can be said that on the basis of location of school attitudes of teachers can not be influence and make differences towards continuous and comprehensive evaluation. Hypothesis-4 There exists no significant difference in attitudinal score between social science teachers having less than and above eight years of experience towards CCE. Table 3: Shows that the calculated t’value 0.63 is less than the critical value 2.01 at 0.05 alpha level of significance. This indicates that the difference in the attitudes of social science teachers having less than and above eight years of teaching experience towards CCE is not significant hence Ho is accepted. It revealed that experience is not the factor to make attitudinal difference towards continuous and comprehensive evaluation but teacher’s enthusiasm, interest may make the difference. Further, it can be said that experienced teachers and fresh teachers are equally capable to make CCE successful and should be given equal responsibility to carry out the task. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The result of the study revealed that the proportion of Social Science teachers who had scored above 159 out of 200 points was 24%, 145-159 was 52 % and 120-144 was 24%. . This indicates that 24% social science teacher’s attitude were highly favourable attitude, 52% teachers’ moderate positive and 24 % teachers’ marginal positive. Teachers’ attitudes have important implication for effective implementation of CCE in the school. In the area of CCE plenty of researches are not available in general and attitude of secondary social science teachers towards in CCE in particular. Few research like Rao and Bharati (1989) found positive attitude of teachers towards continuous evaluation system. It was observed that majority of teachers seemed to think that it promoted creativity, analytical ability, regularity  and command over the subjects by students. Similarly, in the study of Thangamani (1989) teachers showed positive attitude towards oral examination as a di agnostic device, this also comes under the purview of present CCE but it was not launched at that time. The effectiveness of CCE implementation depends on teachers’ positive attitude and awareness towards it. Rajput and Kumar (2003) also opined the need of orientation for teachers in the conceptual and practical aspects of scheme to give them clear understanding as to how to go about the CCE. Present study reveals that, teachers possess positive attitudes towards CCE. It was found by Rao and Rao (2008) that primary school teachers were not doing continuous assessment systematically, not identifying the learning difficulties and remedial instruction was not provided. It also revealed that teachers were recording against the each student’s performance and activities just to satisfy the supervising and inspecting authority. Such findings about the teachers were probably due to lack of awareness about CCE among the teachers as it was not implemented in all areas. Rao Manjula (2002) also found evaluation practices carried out in schools were still conventional in their nature and purposes in those schools were teachers are not trained in in-service programmes. In concluding, it would seem that positive attitude of social teachers towards Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation was probably due to proper in-service training. In some of the studies it was found that attitude was not positive due to lack of training, awareness and significance about CCE. Present study also found social science teachers’ attitude not influenced by gender, area and teaching experience, which probably due to large scale awareness programme in Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation and in-service training to all the teachers without any criteria of gender, experience and area of school. Further, in-depth qualitative study on teachers’ attitude towards CCE and its effect on effective implementation are essential to unveil the truth. References 1. Agrawal, M. (2000) Towards Quality school through Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation. Journal of Indian Education xxvi, 2, 1-12 August. 2. Bhattacharjee, A. & Sharma, N. (2010). Status of co-scholastic activities in the school programme of the elementary schools. Journal of all India association for educational research 22, 1, 61-65, June. 3. Government of India (1986): National Policy on Education, MHRD, Department of Education, New Delhi. 4. Green, L. W. & Kreuter, M. M. (1991). 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