Thursday, October 31, 2019

Reversal of gender roles in Macbeth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reversal of gender roles in Macbeth - Essay Example One can see that Lady Macbeth is feminine in outlook but masculine in character. Thesis statement: The gender role of Lady Macbeth is reversed because of her masculine character and conscious denial of femininity (special reference to the conceptions of gender in the early modern period and the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare). The gender role of Lady Macbeth in the play is totally against the traditional conceptions on femininity and motherhood. For instance, femininity is generally regarded as tender natured and motherly affection. In the play, Lady Macbeth does not possess the qualities of femininity. She totally denies her gender role as a woman. Besides, Shakespeare did give equal focus to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth because he was aware of the fact that Macbeth does not possess masculine qualities. So, there must a powerful character (say, Lady Macbeth) to compensate the loss of masculinity in Macbeth. In the play, Lady Macbeth is portrayed as an immoral character, without any moral consideration. She cunningly manipulates her husband to fulfill her selfish motive. She was aware of her husband’s strengths and weaknesses. But the element of ambitiousness was inherent in Macbeth; his wife ignited the same and corrupted him totally. Her ultimate aim was to become the queen of Scotland. So, she made use of her husband as an instrument/ medium to attain her aim. In addition, Macbeth’s masculine failure is exploited by his wife. Macbeth loved his wife so dearly but she made use of the same to influence him in a negative way. One can identify that the first half of the play is under Lady Macbeth’s control. So, Lady Macbeth’s gender role is totally against her femininity and she made use of the same to manipulate her husband and to fulfill her selfish motives. First of all, Lady Macbeth was ambitious like her husband. Her desire to be the queen of Scotland resulted in her ultimate doom. Lady Macbeth requests the spirits to unsex her because her

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

What are the special developmental needs of children in public care Essay

What are the special developmental needs of children in public care Outline the role of social work in meeting these needs - Essay Example It refers to the full-time parenting of children by individuals related by blood, law, or marriage. In some contexts, it also includes care provided by â€Å"members of [a] tribe or clan, godparents, stepparents, or other adults who have a kinship blood with a child† (CWLA 1994), although these caregivers are more widely referred to as â€Å"kith†. While gaining increasing contemporary attention in social-policy circles, the practice of rearing a relative’s child is ancient and global. In early Hawaiian cultures, for example, paternal grandparents typically claimed the first-born son, and maternal grandparents the first-born daughter, as their own (Luomala 1987, p. 1-45). In many African nations, kinship care has been widely practices for decades (Hegar 1999), and in colonial America children who lost their parents to death or incapacity were typically reared by grandparents or other relatives (Trattner 1994, p. 39-49). Public-policy makers generally appreciate the role of relatives in the lives of children; without their assistance, many children might otherwise be forced into the arms of the state and/or strangers for custody and support. Yet efforts to affirm grandparent’s labors in a no-strings-attached policy environment, where parents are tacitly discouraged from raising their children, may have unwittingly contributed to the development of social trends in family patterns and unregulated care for children that is less than ideal. Instead, acknowledgement of the role grandparents play in the lives of children can be balanced by a combination of social recognition, financial support, and modest bureaucratic regulation. The more generous financial support, and the fewer obligations attached to the funding, the greater the concern that such assistance may create opportunities for and pressures on parents to move children into more economically stable environments in the homes of relatives .

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Analysis of the community psychology field

Analysis of the community psychology field The Swampscott conference in 1965 highlighted a growing need for psychologists to be political activists and agents of social change this conference is considered the birthplace of community psychology (Barry, 2008). The ultimate aim of community psychology is to enhance the quality of life through collaborative research and action. Community psychology consists of three dominant perspectives namely, the ecological perspective, the social constructionist perspective and the critical perspective. Community psychologists use these perspectives to structure research and formulate interventions. Community psychology focuses much attention on health and creating interventions to alleviate health concerns. Health, is not just physical well being, but is a state of complete physical and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (Petee Asch, 1949) As the discussions progresses, the three perspectives will be explored in detail, the case study Deadly Cells: The struggle of HIV positive prisoners will then be utilized to contextualise the three perspectives in formulating HIV/AIDS health interventions within prisons. Before we dive into the complexities that underlie these interventions it is important to have an accurate understanding of the three perspectives that are considered to be the foundation of community psychology interventions. Urie Bronfrenbrenner was the first to propose the ecological model based on a nested level of analysis. Bronfrenbrenner asserted that the individual does not exist as a static entity but is at the core of various levels of analysis that are all in constant interaction with each other thus an individuals behaviour does not exist in a vacuum and is influenced by the environment. The levels of influence include: the microsystem (refers to interpersonal relations), the mesosystem (refers to interaction among the systems that the individual is involved in), the exosystem (this involves the larger social system) and the macrosystem (refers to cultural and religious beliefs). James Kelly evolved Bronfenbrenners theory by shifting the focus from the individual and the levels of analysis to develop an understanding of how human communities function (Kelly, 1966, p. 537). Kelly highlighted four important principles that govern the behavior of individuals in different contexts. The four princi ples are as follows: adaptation (individuals need to adapt to the demands of change); succession (acknowledges the history (values, culture etc.) of a context history helps understand the present); cycling of resources (this is the identification and utilization of the resources available within a context the central aim being, to focus on the strengths of the particular context and its constituents) and interdependence (change is directly proportional to the other systems, thus change in one part of the system may cause negative or positive effects in other parts of the system). The ecological perspective helps stress that systems are not static entities, thus effective interventions can only be achieved by adopting a holistic stance. Social constructionism are sociological theories of knowledge that consider how social phenomena or objects of consciousness develop in social contexts (Daniel, 1998, p. 126).Therefore, our world has been constructed, through social interactions within our environment Social constructionism has many underlying principles that help accurately understand this theoretical paradigm. Social constructionism is anti-naturalism, which according to Bruner states that: It is culture not biology that shapes the human mind that gives meaning to action by situating its underlying intentional states in an interpretive system (Gergen, 1999, p. 27).This point illustrates that there is a danger involved if we treat individuals and societies as mere objects, to probe and study (as in biology), agency and interaction need to be considered. Secondly, is the use of language. Language is not just a means of communication, but a complex tool of symbolic representation that we utilize to construct our social reality, to define roles, formulate traditions and develop unique systems of representation. Closely tied to language is the third principle of meaning. Food is food because we have socially constructed it as an edible substance within our culture we gave it meaning (e.g.: the stomach of the sheep is a delicacy in Indian culture, however in Western culture it may be incomprehensible to eat). Fourth is power, power is closely tied to the notion of discourse (Refers to how people operationalize language within a culture (Freedman Combs, 1996).The various discourses of a particular culture dominate the culture, and knowledge of such discourses create a sense of power. Power and discourse is utilized to normalize individuals within a culture. Each and every culture contains a grand narrative which can be defined as the dominant, overarching ideology that exists within a culture. Grand narratives are sustained and constructed through the use of guiding metaphors, which refers to the selective use of language to actualize our realities. The fifth principle is that there is no si ngle truth. This can be illustrated by the speech entitled The Danger of a single story, delivered by famous Nigerian author Chimamande Adichie. In her speech Adichie speaks of her childhood and the books that she read which were chiefly British and American. These books influenced her overall view of the world to such an extent that when she began writing (at 7 years old), all her characters were predominantly white and lived in their white world. It is important to note that she developed a single story of the world devoid of her African heritage. Her unilateral views were confirmed when she entered university and her American roommate was awestruck, that she, a Nigerian girl could speak fluent English. As her roommates view of Africa was nothing but poverty and war a single story of Africa. Coupled with the single story notion is the issue of power. Power is the ability not just to tell a story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person (Adichie, 2002) . It is evident that a single story robs all the colour of any painting. The consequence of a single story is it robs people of dignity and emphasizes how we are different than how we are similar (Adichie, 2002). The above illustration illuminates the notion that there are multiple sides to any story ,however what may be the most important side is the underlying dynamics that are absent from sight. From the above discussion on social constructionism it is clear that this perspective by no means objectifies reality, but subjectifies experiences, interactions and social construction within a particular context. Critical psychology can be understood as a metadiscipline that urges the discipline of psychology to critically evaluate its moral and political implications (Painter Terre Blanche, 2006, p. 215) Critical psychology places importance on challenging the dominant values of mainstream psychology. Critical psychology points out that the roles of professionals (e.g. politicians, psychologists etc.) are not value free roles and the values of professionals need consideration. Therefore, it is evident that critical psychology poses a much needed criticism of mainstream psychology. Critical psychology and mainstream psychology differ in the following aspects: Traditional psychology attributes problems to particular individuals and their contribution to the emergence of a problem ,conversely critical psychology identifies a problem within a particular system and the existing power differentials, secondly, mainstream psychology emphasizes individualism and capitalist values, critical psycholog y challenges this view, asserting that this view stunts the search for self-actualization and the final aspect is power. Power according to mainstream psychology is attained through professional training and knowledge, however critical psychology asserts that power should be shared and not exist within individuals. Critical psychology highlights that power can either empower or marginalize individuals and all interventions do not benefit all individuals. Thus from the above discussion it is clear that critical psychology is a coupling of the previous two perspectives with ultimate goal of freedom and empowerment. Now that a clear understanding of the three perspectives community psychologists utilize in formulating interventions has been developed, it will be used to contextualise the case study : Deadly Cells: The struggle of HIV positive prisoners The article Deadly cells, illustrate the plight of HIV positive prisoners in a South African prison (Westville). The article states that infected inmates were denied access to anti-retroviral treatment (ARVs) robbed of their human right of access to appropriate healthcare. The Department of Correction when notified of the issue responded by stating that prisoners need their identification documents (which they did not have) and that there was limited access to hospitals that would treat the prisoners. After much contention the matter reached the courts. Due to the harsh conditions (rape, unprotected sex, overcrowding, gang life etc.) in prisons, infection of the disease was exacerbated. In 2006, after much deliberation the government agreed to provide ARV treatment, however this conclusion does nothing to curb the problem of the rapid increase of HIV/AIDS victims in prisons. The above case study will now be contextualised with the use of the three perspectives discussed earlier and interventions will be suggested to alleviate the problem. A community psychologist working from an ecological perspective will define the prisoners perception of their environment, analyse the characteristics of the environment and then adopt a transactional analysis of how the perceptions and external characteristics interact to produce the problem a holistic systemic view. The researcher will spend time at the prison in a participatory manner, engaging collaboratively with the prisoners to understand their problem on various levels. The ecological intervention will promote participation and instil the belief that the affected can indeed effect change. An example of an appropriate ecological intervention to alleviate the problem of HIV/AIDS at the Westville prison includes the following: first and foremost the prisoners need to be made aware of their rights and the laws that protect their health; this can be done by running education programs. The prison staff (officers, wardens etc.) need to play a proactive role in the prevention of rap e, discrimination and the alleviation of gang fights in the prisons, this can be achieved through training programs for the staff. The issue of overcrowding within the prison needs to be referred to the authorities or community based organisations (CBOs) in order to create awareness and mass media attention. The prison authorities need to provide lubricants and condoms to prisoners teaching them to be proactive. Pressure should be put on the Department of Health for ARVs and in-house HIV/AIDS care centres by creating media attention. Lastly, an external officer needs to monitor that the interventions are in place (by weekly visits). The above suggestions emphasise that the problem is not just a health issue and in order to alleviate the problem a holistic, nested stance needs to be adopted. The social constructionist perspective differs from the ecological model as the values of the participants are central to the formation of an intervention. A researcher working from the social constructionist perspective will work closely with prisoners, in order to understand their subjective experiences, through qualitative methodologies. The researcher will search to uncover the prisoners discourses, utilisation of language and their grand narratives in relation to the causation and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Once a contextually specific view has been developed the researcher will begin to build a context specific intervention. An example of an intervention that may alleviate the problem at the Westville prison includes the following: A researcher may begin by conducting focus group interviews with the prisoners to gain an empathic understanding of the plight of the prisoners. Once a clear understanding of the problem (rape, overcrowding and the lack of proper healthcare) has been dev eloped, the researcher will then collaboratively formulate possible solutions to the problem with the prisoners. Possible solutions may include: a prisoner awareness programme carried out by the prisoners, practicing safe sex, alleviating gang violence and rape through creating awareness and reporting incidences and by involving CBOs- thus taking responsibility for their own health. The lack of medical treatment can be alleviated by forming a campaign that emphasises the disabled healthcare rights of the prisoners, the ultimate aim being to gain media attention, ultimately government fulfilment of the laws that protect prisoners. The social constructionist view places importance on the value structure within a context, once these structures have been unwrapped, they can solve the problem by building new structures that are proactive thus the answer may lie within discourses or narratives. The critical perspective differs as it is an integration of the above two paradigms with the ultimate goal of freedom and empowerment. Critical psychology like social constructionism values the subjective experiences of the prisoners and therefore, can be considered to be value-driven. A key goal of critical psychology is to transform the problem and therefore, has political connotations. The aim of the researcher begins with a transformative stance, understanding the plight of the prisoners and to empower and liberate them to action, by enlightening them on the possible solutions. An example of an intervention to alleviate the problem at the Westville prison includes: Participation Action Research (PAR) is a collaborative approach, with research aimed at social change, researcher and participants are partners and communication is central to successful intervention (McTaggart, 1997). PAR is an activist approach. The prisoners could form a mass demonstration (protest) and form allianc es with CBOs that can create awareness outside the prisons, thus jointly accessing media attention. Once attention is attained the CBOS can appeal to the relevant legal authorities and international organisations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organisation ultimately this would push the government to act. Therefore, it can be seen that the critical approach emphasises transformation and activism. From the above discussion it can be deduced that community psychology is a multidimensional field that employs the use of various perspectives namely, ecological (a holistic systemic view), social (value-driven, constructed reality) and the critical perspective (a critical, activist view). Each perspective sheds new theoretical light on the plight of the Westville prisoners all emphasising the need for stronger health systems, a need for coordination and cooperation between authorities, CBOs, prisoners and prison staff and a limited exercising of rights related to healthcare and laws protecting the well-being of prisoners. Therefore it can be concluded that community psychology with the utilization of the three perspectives can help the marginalized prisoners break free from the stigma that prisoners have dissolved their rights to healthcare.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Bondage and Escape in Sons and Lovers :: Lawrence Sons and Lovers Essays

Bondage and Escape in Sons & Lovers A major theme in "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.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

A Soldier’s Play

Title: A Soldier’s Play Professor: Wallace Bridges I really enjoyed this play as it kept me wondering what will happen next and taught me some life lessons on how people react or make decisions. As I read on this play goes into the man Sergeant Vernon C. Waters personality and who he really was. We learn that Sergeant Waters hates being black and anyone who may exhibit black characteristics or stereotypes for example. For example in Act Two we learn that Sergeant Waters does not really like C. J. as he frames him and provokes him to attack so that he could be arrested for any reason. Sergeant Waters admits to this is Act Two and wanted C,J. rrested so the world would be free of one more simpleton colored boy. In Sergeant Waters’s eyes he wanted to prepare his men to survive in a white man’s world and by having his men adopt the white man’s culture or characteristics would help them survive. The theme of A Soldier’s Play in my eyes would be racism. I f racism exists in a community, then racism will affect the behaviors and ideals of others within the community. Starting with the white soldiers and Sergeant Waters racism is the main source of violence at this army post as the black soldiers are not welcomed at this dominated white community.Captain Davenport who is assigned to this murder assignment is black and is not welcomed very warmly and they do not want a black captain arresting a white soldier. The murder is first blamed on the Klu Klux Klan and the white officers and soldiers are all aligned against the blacks and as mentioned there is racism within the black community as Sergeant Waters’s turns against C. J. who thought Waters liked him. For example in Act Two we learn that Sergeant Waters has Private James Wilkie plant a gun under C,J’s pillow that could earn three stripes back that he had lost.This in turn contributes to C. J. getting arrested and eventually killing himself all because of what Sergeant W aters perceived C. J. to be as another black holding other blacks back. It is not said that Sergeant Waters wanted C. J. dead but he wanted him arrested because of his viewpoint of surviving through white characteristics. The protagonist of A Soldier’s play is Captain Davidson who is a black officer. After a black Sergeant is murdered Vernon Waters, Captain Davidson is assigned to solve this murder.His superobjective is to interview other officers and soldiers, learn about Sergeant Waters, and find out who and why Waters was murdered. In Act One his superobjective begins with Corporal Ellis who is assigned with Davidson to bring the officers or soldiers into questioning and get answers. Davidson asks Ellis of any informal theories of Sergeant Waters’s death and all Ellis has come up with is the Klu Klux Klan is responsible but there are rumors of two white officers. The investigation stalled but they continue to investigate and bring soldiers in for questioning.Captain Davidson does accomplish his superobjective through investigating and questioning other soldiers. As Davidson questions soldiers he learns more about Sergeant Waters as Waters believed the way to success was the white man’s way. He also learned that Waters was a drunk and abusive towards his own men but did this to mold them into white characteristics. In Act Two when Smalls has gone A-W-O-L Davidson questions him and wants to know why he has gone A-W-O-L and as Davidson questions Smalls he breaks down and admits to watching Peterson shoot Waters as he did nothing to stop it.One of the Afrocentric Objectives in a Soldier’s play is storytelling when Davidson is speaking with Wilkie. In Act two Wilkie tells Davidson that Waters told him a story involving a colored soldier in France during World War I. Waters told Wilkie that the white soldiers told the women that all the colored soldiers had tails like monkeys. So the white soldiers played a game and paid a black soldie r to tape a tail to his behind, they placed the balck soldier on a table with a reed in his hand and a crown on his head.They called the black soldier moonshine, king of the monkeys. Later on Waters and some other soldiers cut the soldiers throat and none of the other soldiers knew what the black soldier had done wrong. This is where we learn more about Waters and possibly the straw that broke the camel’s back to stand for what he believed in. Waters vowed to eliminate all matter demeaning simpleton behavior from people of his own race. If I were to direct this play I would manipulate the lighting to reinforce the theme of the play.As stated I believe one of the themes to be racism in this play as there are struggles of racism within the black soldiers as there leader Sergeant Waters believes the only way to success is by adopting the white way. In Act 2 when Wilkie admits to Davidson that Waters had him plant the gun under C. J. ’s pillow so he could earn his stripes back that were taken away and this could lead to C. J. being taken to jail. I would manipulate the lighting here to set the mood and direction of the play which is Waters hates being black and his plan to eliminate simpleton black men.Waters would get his way by eliminating another simpleton black man and this would show the racism that existed within the blacks because Waters himself hated being black and he took it out on his soldiers. When Charles Fuller wrote this play in 1981 the military was the largest equal opportunity employer for blacks for many years. But historically it was not always this way as blacks fought for freedoms and made sacrifices for nothing because none of this was going to be theirs (land or opportunities in America).Many blacks viewed World War II as a white man’s war but in the play Sergeant Waters viewed it as a chance for blacks to prosper. This is why he was so hard on his men and wanted them to adapt the white man’s way, but this also a ffected his and his men’s behavior and ideals. The contemporary significance of the production’s primary theme is racism existed during the plays time and setting but was viewed as a way blacks could try and eliminate racism and slowly but surely be accepted and be honored for their sacrifices they made for a country that they belong to as the white’s.Today racism still exists but we have made tremendous strides and came a long way to distance ourselves from racism an example is today the military is one of the largest equal opportunity employer for blacks as everyone is recognized as one and they are a family watching each other’s back. Even though strides have been made racism does still exist and it affects behaviors and ideals.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Review of Operations Management

Introduction and Organizational Background Methodology Limitations of Research Literature Review Motivation and Culture Employee Reward Conclusion Recommendations References Need for Strategic Human Resource Procedures for Effectiveness Operation Management in Lead Way Business Group International.This report Is an evaluation of Lead Way Business Group International (ALIBI) a general business multinational servicing firms, human resource practices to see if it effective and follows best international best practices, in relation to its rewarding employees performance and what system sand strategies it uses to engage its staff towards achieving Its goals and objectives as a business. The challenges that ALIBI face is that of its operation management in its call centre department.Recent changes in its management structure of the centre has led to a decline In profits. It needs to adopt a strategic Human Resource strategy to be able to maintain its customer base and ultimately its profit s. To achieve get a holistic view of its Human resource policies and practices a robust examinations was undertaking o identify the level of motivation and the attitudinal disposition of the staff of the at different level from the Executive team to the newest recruit to the company .As with most companies in its industry Lead Way aim and drive for doing business 1 org that its clientele demand and also the in order to fulfill its obligation as a whole Lead Way has a relatively highly motivated team of employees this may be as a result of its qualities of leaders and managers in the Human Capital division however some variances occur in the level of enthusiasm in all the other parts of the company this s due to an ongoing reposition and change management process being implanted in the company.On paper it strategy to encourage performance is effective as it uses regular appraisal tools to assess the performance of its staff to meet the need its business targets This submission of the evaluation of Lead Ways has highlighted minored for the company to meet is business target and save cost and deliver on quality it most lay emphasis on its staff training and human capital development and change the over culture to one that it becomes a learning organization which is considers employee involvement and engagement is paramount to ensure improvement in service delivery.Managing the Operations at Lead Way employee is the role of the managers who have the task of doing it effectively by making it a fundamental part of its operations by emphasis development and progression in career and also recognition for outstanding performance. In order to achieve its Organizational goals and business targets its Operations management policies must work hand in hand with its human resource objectives too. 1.Introduction and Organizational Background Lead Way Business Group International is in a highly competitive service based industry that demand innovation , creativity , service de livery excellence which are all dependent upon the performance of employees in its organization. As a result it need to have start performing at optimal level in the next ray in line with is change management agenda to transform the firm to expand and begin to expand to other international territories . Arrives to its client from Office supplies, Sales Outsourcing, International Freight services to business management Consultancy it employees over 100 employees in 3 different cities and seeks to expand to it forth in Africa The heart of the business is error in its slogan called â€Å"Servicing Your Business Needs Efficiently'. It business target is to be a leader in providing business services of Medium and Large cooperation's in the areas it is situated also providing global business insights due to its international presence.Efficiency being at the heart of Lead Ways business ethos demands that performance of its staff is at optimal level all the time in-order to also meet its b usiness targets. Lead Way Business Service is a new generation sustainable social enterprise whose profits are reinvested in it, how its aim is to serve small start- p entrepreneurs and medium scale business to grow them to foster economic development.So its business with a heart as a result. Its main objective is not profit making but rather have to do with more socio political Issues which are influenced but changing technology, environmental and legal issues and also governmental policy changes (Slack et al,1995) As Lead Way is an international group and runs diverse services, to underpin its success it has a very elaborate human resource system that caters for the need of its employees.It is very effective and supports the rest of the organization in reaching TTS business objectives through various human capital development plans and procedure and people management strategies. Peculiar to its multicultural and multi-location set up it has HER challenges always arising from misco mmunication and due to language barriers and personal relation problems, employee motivation staff welfare and attendance takes a lot of its productive time.There need to be a shift from such elementary but important issues to much more strategic and pro- growth and developmental issues that HER can contribute too , to ensure that the company tests its growth and service objectives In order to have a clear picture of the company's performance and how the employee engagement and motivation contribute to it, an in-depth look at its performance management practices is essential. There are a range of services provided by Lead Way delivered by both skilled and unskilled staff and there are key performance indices that are used to asses performance.Everyone employed manual staff, volunteers, part time and full time start are all appraised and the Performance Management Framework is the basis of this report. Terms of Reference This report aims to establish and asses the following The Manag ement of Operations in the call centre of ALIBI The effect and influence of HER polices and procedures on Operations in LABS! The Strategies for employee motivation and engagement within the company 1. In order to get a god understanding of the organizational culture in relations to performance of the Operations management framework a simple research was undertake of different types of employees ranging from the skilled to the unskilled managers to the new entry staff and they were asked to give their own view of the HER raciest and how it impacted them from different point of views Things that were sought after where the level of staff motivation and their attitude toward their work and how it affected communication, relationships and the culture of and within the organizations.It is essential to find out the relationship that exist if any of staff attitude/motivation, Strategic Human resource management and the overall Performance management Strategy for the organization and to ac hieve this both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed. 1. 2 Limitations of Research Some of the limitations face during this research had to do with the different actions of the staff as some were office based and others where site based so the working culture couldn't be duly ascertained holistically Also the samples size of the employees form various levels was limited.And due to the fact that the CEO of the organization was not physically present during the research and it was not commissioned by the organization. They were reluctant in provide all the support to reach a more conclusive and deductive results, Limited time and space was giving. Sam Lewis & Thrill (2007) view of methods of data collection formed t the basis of nagging valuable insight that involve data collection and triangulation will assist in seeing if the figures and data match up with the perception and reality of the employees. 2.Literature Review – Operations Management According to Josep h G . Monks (2004. ) Operations Management is governed by polices that are stipulated by the management of an organizations It governs the predefined flow of resources in a systematic manner in a controlled environment to create a valuable service or product that meets the consumers' needs and the organizations objectives Source http://www. Mandarin. Com/operation/ 27370849x_IPPP . PDF Two things are paramount which are the resources and systems. Resources which may include but are not limited to human I. E. He use of intellectual knowledge in planning and coordination of the process, capital I. E. Cash , stocks , store values etc. And material I. E. Physical inventories, supplies, plants etc. That are injection in the production process. Systems relate to components of management for the achievement of the objectives of the organization as a whole. For there to be efficiency there has to be a systematic approach to everything from problem solving o achieving goals Operations manage ment refers to the administration of business practices to create the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization.Operations management is concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization. Performance is important, and the optimization of the performance of employees and seeks to address, for there to be a harmonies operation of system and people a comprehensive Human Resource policy and procedure my in place to oil the wheels of efficiency. Pawpaw (2005) research looks at effect of HARM on Performance management and the focus should not be on policy creation to drive performance alone but also in addition to that their implementation.In relations to other internal and external environmental factors. The question now is how do you measure performance? Performance Management is as Newly (1998) is about evaluation the of past action because past action is always a good determinate of present performance. It also involves picking, defining and applying of key bench marks for performances, factors which are used to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the process. Fine & Sender (1999). Len any organization the main objective are quality, flexibility, dependability, cost and Speed .And a good reflection of if the company of meeting this objectives will be measured in its financial performance Self-Assessment Model of Performance Measurement Jackson, Zaire & Whammy (1998) describe the self-assessment model as a tool that is foundational to effectiveness of any company business or organizations, because it gives full and clear view of activities and it also facilitates constant improvements. This is because it links organization performance with customer satisfaction, financial reference sphere headed by strategic planning.For there to be strategic planning a concrete HARM strategy must be employed The management must be cognizance of these factors and as a result create systems in the operation management process that would engage employees and keep them motivated to undertake the work at hand. So what is good Human Resource management in relation to operation management? Janssen and Stewart (2008) see human resource management as a set of social and cultural practices in every organization in to effectively manage the human capital taking into consideration the level and skill of employees, motivation , etc.They also say that it is easy to assume that employee and employers are working together toward a specified goal but in reality this must be subjected it the individual Interpretation and engagement with the HARM practices and how it motivates, engages or disengages them. Best HARM practice where explored by Thereof, Programs and Catalogue (2007). And it was discover that knowledge management and organizational learning are important contributors, they also suggest that HARM best practice leads to the effective running of and or ganization and that in turn performance of operations management.So there is a link between best HARM practices and peak performing Operation Management Systems in organizations. However these HARM policies and procedures must be continually monitored and buttressed to ensure they meet their specified objectives. Strategic HARM should always compliment Strategic Operations Management which aims at playing an active role working towards constant improvement to move to the next level of service delivery and empowering other sectors of the company play an active role in the overall strategy There are three main types of strategy employed Corporate, business ND functional level strategy.Slack & Lewis (2001) see strategic operation as decision objectives taking into consideration it resources and its ability to meet ever growing market. Demands The Hayes and Wheelwright Model (1998) can be used to identify how effective the organization is as a whole and how operations affect this from a strategic stand point It has 4 stages I-Internal neutrality (being unable to contribute to effectiveness) & 2-External neutrality (comparisons with external companies) 3- Internally supportive (employing best practices for credible effective operations) & 4- Externally supportive (looking how operation can be a driver of cooperate strategy).For the purpose of this study we are going to be looking at the operation management of the office supply department of Lead Way Business service and in particular we would be looking at how it effective the operation are managed in its customer service department of its office supplies division In recent time there have been a lot of complaints from customers about the poor level of service delivery of the customer service team and this intern has affected the performance of the company as people are now taking their business somewhere else Last year in an attempt to save cost company outsource it s customer service operation to India and were able to save a lot off money .In the initial stage the initial stage the Indian company Tolerance India which they part own having substantial amount of shares in seem to be dependable and delivered on quality and it seemed their business approach was quite innovative compared to their competitors at the moment as they were also offering online chat support service for customers who order their services online. But in recent time there has been a drop in the quality of service. They had a new management team come in and changed most of the way he company operates and has also cut down lots off staff as a they have lost the advantage of flexibility and they are unable to meet the growing demand in calls and the online response time has slowed down drastically and the average call waiting time is minutes instead of the 4 minutes last year and 2 minutes average when it was based in the ask.Customers have been posting negative reviews and feedback on the internet and this has drasticall y affected their office supplies business services There is also the issue of language barrier that man Britons and English people say hey have difficulty understanding the ascents of the Indian employees and in some recent cases their English is very bad and as a result communication is gravely impaired. Discussion and Analysis of the HER strategies for Effect operations management in ALIBI This report would be assessing how the operations quality of service can be improved The major problem not uncommon to LABS managers is staffing level. A times demand falls and they need lest staff and a times it rises and they need more staff How can they maintain cost and quality and also be flexible in the staffing need to meet their consumers expectations dependably.They need to be able do an efficient long-tern forecast of demand for services to be able to avoid problems so they would have a good number of agents at all times. This must be done several week and even months in ahead and in c onjunction with HER department to be able to operation management process. These are the inputs into the system and selection of adequately trained staff with the necessary skill is essential for the running of an internal call centre and how do y Characteristic of call centers is high turnover rate and also seasonal workers. How do you balance cost of training staff that would eventually leave the company and the emend for service from the customers.