Buchanan- Human Status and Moral Enhancement (Summary 2nd Half) Essay

Buchanan- Human Status and Moral Enhancement (Summary 2nd Half) - Essay Example Buchanan treats this larger question under two subsets, the first of which deals with the question â€Å"If enhancement did result in posthumans, what implications would this have for the concept of human rights: would it make that concept obsolete, as some have claimed; and if it did, would this be a moral catastrophe, as they have intimated?†. The second subset, which and the further sections are under analysis in this paper, deals with the question â€Å"Could the emergence of post humans result in there being a moral status higher than that of persons and hence require a rejection of the widely held Moral Equality Assumption, the assumption that all who have the characteristics sufficient for being persons are of equal moral status?† (353). The second question which rather addresses the concerns regarding privileging the enhanced group of persons – post persons – and thus resulting in a higher moral status raises questions regarding the very basic assumptions regarding moral equality. Buchanan, in the second section, contemplates on this basic assumption and challenges those concerns on the basis of the â€Å"inviolability†, which should be understood as a threshold concept, of this assumption (363-364). That greater â€Å"personhood† does not confer â€Å"greater inviolability† seems to question the belief that ‘persons’’ interests might be sacrificed in the interests of the ‘post persons’ (364). Even in times of â€Å"supreme emergency† when persons might literally have to be sacrificed for the benefit of many it does not follow that there is a difference between the values of the former and the latter (364). Buchanan justifies himself by refe rring to instances of racism, ethnic minorities, developmental and physical disabilities etc., where similar concerns popped up and were dealt with on the basis of the

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 34

English - Essay Example Many people have had their faith in the American dream shattered by the crisis and the loss of their home. Many have said that the whole financial system will collapse due to the huge problems revealed by the credit crunch and the failure of banks around the world. In the face of these problems each country has had to find economic policies to try to stave off a serious depression. Many economists believe the crisis began because of a big asset boom in the United States. Banks and other lenders gave away many loans at very low interest rates to people who simply who could not afford to pay back the money. In the beginning this led to a huge boom in housing prices because there were so many buyers in the housing market and there was a high demand and a somewhat low supply. However, eventually what happened was that people began to default on their mortgage payments. During the boom years many complicated financial products involving mortgages were bought and sold by banks and it was d ifficult to know how many of these "toxic mortgages" were actually on a banks balance sheet. As the number of defaults and foreclosures increased people began to become very nervous as they had trouble determining the value of banks stocks and how many bad mortgages they held. These are serious problems the government needs to fix. We need to have a new era of hope and faith in order for people to begin to believe in the American dream

Critical Review of three Scholarly Journal Articles Essay Example for Free

Critical Review of three Scholarly Journal Articles Essay One of the most important finding generated by this paper is the effects of race on the view that police is biased on race. This includes racial profiling of police where Black or minority group in general are most like stopped by police than White American. In all four models, blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to believe that police bias is a problem (Weitzer Tuch, 2005). Blacks however, according to this article perceives police bias more of a problem than Hispanics. One interesting subset of this is that Blacks tend to perceive police discrimination against Hispanics than Hispanics see themselves. So that Black Americans tend to see that Hispanic drivers are being racially profiled compared to white drivers. Another important finding presented by this article is the role of media in shaping the perceptions of people regarding racial discrimination. People who frequently hear or read about incidents of police misconduct, as transmitted by the media, are inclined to conclude that the police engage in racial profi ling, are prejudiced, and discriminate against minority individuals and neighborhoods (Weitzer Tuchs, 2005). The data gathering method and analysis technique used in this article is solid considering that it is based on a national survey of national survey of 1,792 white, African American, and Hispanic adult residents of U. S. metropolitan areas with at least 100,000 population (Weitzer Tuch, 2005). The survey results where advantageous in the sense that oversampling African Americans and Hispanics, in contrast to the small number of minority respondents common to other surveys. Another advantageous factor is the tapping of both attitudes toward police and personal and vicarious experiences with the police. Another very important correction factor they have added is idea that there are differences in the number of households with phone access from the three different races, Black, Hispanics and White American. This is very important consideration since the data was collected using random dialing of phone numbers. So in general the data was very reliable. Race-Based Policing: A Descriptive Analysis of the Wichita Stop Study Unlike the previous article which discusses racial discrimination of policing in a wider perspective, this article focuses on racial profiling. The results of this rigorous effort put on the analysis of enforcement pattern do not prove race-based policing. The result of this document instead provides guidance for what are needed on studies to determine if race is a significant determinant for police to decide whether to stop them for inspection or not. According to this article, in order to fully understand the results of these decisions we must document the process by which these decisions are made (Withrow, 2004). Unfortunately, nothing in this data-set or any similar data-set is capable of such an analysis (Withrow, 2004). Although important findings emphasized by this study is that police awareness of the incorrect conceptions of well-established beliefs regarding race plays an important role in dealing with this sensitive police profiling issue. It is however certain that by asking the appropriate questions police administrators have a real opportunity to raise their department’s level of sensitivity to the issue (Withrow, 2004). One important finding that supports this idea is the result of this study that the proportions of searches that produces contrabands does not vary with race. The data gathering method used in this study is based on qualitative information recorded on every police stops from the Wichita Stop Study Dataset and the analysis technique are based on logical reasoning. In late July 2001 representatives from the Wichita Police Department provided the author with a data-set representing the first six months of collected information including 37,454 stops (Withrow, 2004). What is interesting about this data is that to date (relative to this article) this is the largest qualitative data set of this type. This provides reliability of the data gathered and provides validity of the results of this study. Perceptions of Racial Profiling: Race, class and Personal Experience The important result study is to provide a significant basis for the need to examined both race and class determinants of citizens’ relation with the police. In the discussions provided by the author, it was indicated that disadvantage black are more likely to believe that police are abusive of African American because of their personal experience. Another very important point generated in the discussion is with regard to racial profiling. We found that better educated African Americans are more likely than are less educated to disapprove of profiling, to view it as a pervasive practice, and to say that they have personally experienced it (Weitzer Tuch, 2002). The authors argued that the reason for this is that higher education fosters greater exposure to media and information related to profiling problems. The data gathered were collected from a nationwide random-digit-dialing telephone survey of 2006 respondents conducted by the Gallup organization between September 24 and November 16, 1999 (Weitzer Tuch, 2002). This offers reliability on the data gathered and considering it has the same strength of oversampling African Americans. Couple this data with various related literature from refutable sources, the data collection are quite valid. The analysis employed in the discussion where supported by citations from previous studies which further validates the ideas presented. CONCLUSION The important results generated by these documents suggest that minority group and Black American in particular, perceives that racial discrimination in the form of racial profiling is an issue. Through proper police awareness of incorrect conceptions that race is a factor that determines people tendency to commit crime, the sensitivity of this issue can be controlled. Couple this with the important role of education in providing proper understanding of the situation there is a possibility of correcting this perception. References Weitzer, R. Tuch, S. (2005). Racially Biased Policing: Determinants of Citizen Perception. Social Forces from the University of Carolina Press, 83 (3), 1009-1028. Withrow, B. (2004). Race-Base Policing: A Descriptive Analysis of the Wichita Stop Study. Police Practice and Research, 5 (3), 223-240. Weitzer, R. Tuch, S. (2002). Perceptions of Racial Profiling: Race, Class, and Personal Experience. Criminology, 40 (2), 435-453.

Employee Retention Strategies in Insurance Sector

Employee Retention Strategies in Insurance Sector Increasing pressures on the corporates to cut the costs, resulting in frequent layoffs and downsizing, diminishing employee loyalty, absence of job security and increasing competition in the hunt for talent etc. are just a few reasons why the process of attracting and retaining talent has become an onerous task more than ever before. As the highly talented workforce in organizations, across various levels, enhances skills and job-hop from one company to another, managers seem to be feeling the heat in countering abnormally high attrition rates. One of the key responsibilities of a manager or supervisor is to get the work done through the employees. Moreover, when we say work, it is not just the basic minimum work to get by, but also those tasks that are accomplished when the employees are highly motivated to succeed, excel in their work, and continue to be committed to the organization. Managers and supervisors indeed find it extremely difficult in keeping their star performers satis fied and not wanting to shift their jobs. Employee retention is important in almost all the cases. It is senseless to allow good people to leave your organization because when they leave, they take away with them the intellectual property, relationships, investments (in both time and money), an occasional employee, or two, and a chunk of the organizations future. Employee Retention Strategies helps organizations provide effective employee communication to improve commitment and enhance workforce support for key corporate initiatives. The insurance sector in India is rising rapidly to bring in growth and employment opportunities. Insurance companies are basically human intensive, and human resources act as an undoubted differentiator. Quality manpower and its retention would act as a Litmus test. Turnover of sales force has been high because of low entry and exit barriers. The paper addresses issues of recruitment, retention, and turnover of sales force in insurance companies. An attempt is made to integrate them to Maslows Need Hierarchy. A survey was conducted among 350 employees who worked in or had left insurance companies to analyze factors that inà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uenced their decisions and job satisfaction. The data were treated with factor analysis. Factors such as Safety Security, Social Esteem, and Personal Work Style emerged as the inà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uencers to join insurance companies. Primary Needs and Social Self Esteem Needs were the factors associated with job satisfaction; Stress, Career Advancement, and Work Environment emerged as factors for leaving the companies. INTRODUCTION Intense competition and globalization of businesses has put mounting pressure on organizations to deliver more and better than before. Organizations need to develop and deploy human resources that can articulate the vision of the organization and make teams with the synergy to perform at much higher levels. Human resource management (HRM) is a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organizations most valued assets i.e. the people working there, who individually and collectively, contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business. Human Resource management is evolving rapidly. The terms human resource management and human resources (HR) have largely replaced the term personnel management as a description of the processes involved in managing people in the organizations. Human resource management is a business practice as well as an academic theory that addresses the practical and theoretical techniques of managing the workforce of an organization. The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and the most important among them is to decide what are the staffing needs of the organization and the ways to fill these needs i.e. whether to hire employees or use independent contractors to hire employees to fill these needs, to recruit and train the best employees, to ensure that they are high performers, to deal with performance issues, and to ensure the organizations personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Managing the organizations approach to employee records, employee compensation and benefits, and personnel policies are also the included activities. The small businesses whether for-profit or nonprofit ones usually have to carry out these activities themselves because they cannot yet afford part- or full-time help. However, it must be ensured by them that the employees are aware of the personnel policies, which confirm to current regulations. The HRM function and HRD profession have undergone tremendous changes over the past 20-30 years. Many years ago, large organizations looked to the Personnel Department, mostly to manage the paperwork around hiring and paying people. More recently, organizations consider the HR Department as playing a major role in staffing, training, and helping to manage people so that people and the organization are performing at maximum capability in a highly fulfilling manner Human resource builds and drives the knowledge assets of an organization, the value of which has been established to be many times more than the tangibles. In the present scenario, it is becoming important for organizations to focus on finding, developing, and retaining talented employees. This paper aims to enhance understanding of the phenomenon of high employee turnover in the insurance industry and factors that lead to job satisfaction of employees. Researchers have also made an attempt to integrate Maslows Needs Hierarchy to the underlying inà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uencers for the sales force of insurance companies to join or leave the organization. The findings may be helpful for the companies to improve retention levels. OBJECTIVES: Employee turnover is a larger problem currently faced by insurance companies, as a major part of their revenue is lost. Analyzing the causes of employee turnover is imperative for insurance companies. An exploratory survey is designed, keeping in mind following objectives: To identify the factors which influence the decision to join the Insurance Industry. To analyze the factors which play a major role in job satisfaction. To identify the factors which influence the high attrition rate. To study and formulate the strategies for employee retention. EMPLOYEE RETENTION OVERVIEW: By looking in a dictionary, we are given that the word retention has synonyms like preservation, maintenance, withholding, and custody. Not just the meaning, the concept has different perceptions for the employees and organizations. Effective employee retention is a systematic effort by employers to create and foster an environment that encourages current employees to remain employed by having policies and practices in place that address their diverse needs. A strong retention strategy becomes a powerful recruitment tool. Retention of key employees is critical to the long-term health and success of any organization. It is a known fact that retaining your best employees ensures customer satisfaction, increased product sales, satisfied colleagues, and reporting staff, effective succession planning and deeply embedded organizational knowledge and learning. Why are we concerned about employee retention now, when we also are talking about a reduced state workforce? The reality of hiring freezes and possibly even layoffs during economic slowdowns means it is critical to focus on retaining and enabling our remaining people to reach peak performance. Lean organizations depend heavily on the performance and quality of current employees. Current employees have specialized, institutional knowledge. Employee retention matters as organizational issues such as training time and investment; lost knowledge; insecure employees and a costly candidate search are involved. Hence, the failure to retain an important employee is a costly affair for an organization. The importance of retaining the best talent in the organization is usually realized by intelligent employers INDIAN INSURANCE SECTOR AT A GLANCE The insurance sector in India is one of the booming sectors of the economy and is growing at the rate of 15-20% per annum. Together with banking services, it contributes to about 7% of the countrys GDP. The sector has completed a full circle in India from being an open competitive market to nationalization, and back to a liberalized market again. The government of India liberalized the insurance sector in March 2000, lifting all entry restrictions for private players and allowing foreign players to enter the market with some limits on direct foreign ownership. Under the current guidelines, there is a 26% equity cap for foreign partners in an insurance company. There is a proposal to increase this limit to 49%. With several reforms and policy regulations, the Indian Insurance Sector has witnessed tremendous growth in the recent past. According to a report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), a growth of over 200% is likely to be seen in Indian insur ance business by 2009-10, in which private insurance business would grow at 140% in view of aggressive marketing techniques. Insurance companies in India are growing vertically and horizontally bringing growth and new employment opportunities. Even after having so many private players in the insurance sector, still the largest company is the government owned, Life Insurance Corporation of India. Insurance sector is an intensively people-oriented business and human resources will be the undoubted differentiator. The quality of work force attracted and retained by insurers and how their abilities and ambitions are harnessed would be the litmus test for the industry. Traditionally, a large number of insurance agents, who work on a commission basis, manage the insurance business. The turnover of insurance agents has usually been high in this business. The insurance sector faces high rates of employee turnover. The highest employee turnover is at the financial advisors (agent) level, where the entry barriers are low but targets and work pressures are very high. The insurance companies in India are: Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd HDFC Standard life Insurance Co. Ltd ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd. ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Ltd. Life Insurance Corporation of India Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd Met Life India Insurance Company Ltd. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited. Aviva Life Insurance Co. India Pvt. Ltd. Shriram Life Insurance Co, Ltd. Sahara India Life Insurance Bharti AXA Life Insurance Future Generali Life Insurance IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Religare Life Insurance DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Agriculture Insurance Company of India Apollo DKV Insurance Cholamandalam MS General Insurance HDFC Ergo General Insurance Company ICICI Lombard General Insurance IFFCO Tokio General Insurance National Insurance Company Ltd New India Assurance Oriental Insurance Company Reliance General Insurance Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Shriram General Insurance Company Limited Tata AIG General Insurance United India Insurance Universal Sompo General Insurance Co. Ltd VIEWS OF RECRUITERS IN INDIAN INSURANCE COMPANIES The attrition rate is about 35% in the first year of recruitment. This goes down to about 18% by the fourth year. Most of those who drop out are non-performers, as told by the Executive Director of the Kotak Mahindra Mutual Life Insurance Company; he attributes it to the high expectations on the part of the agents. Most people think that they can make a lot of money in a short span of time. It is a high-pressure job. Sustenance requires constant networking and acquiring new relationships that requires a lot of discipline. MD Kotak Life Insurance opines that it is a sunrise industry, many people just want to join the race, but cannot retain the enthusiasm till the end of a year. The attrition rate in the industry is pitched between 14% and 38% at this rate; it will soon rival the 50 per cent churn rate of the ITs-BPO sector. Country Manager, Tata AIG, argues that the industry today is more at an attraction stage; insurers are also attracting a lot of talent from banking, Fast Moving C onsumer Goods, BPO-IT industries. Head (hr and Admin, HDFC Standard Life Insurance) stated that attrition rates are at 14% in the industry. Companies have to go beyond building a brand to offer the agents careers and let them grow with the market. While retaining employees may be a problem, attracting fresh talent is still relatively easy. The slowdown in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods and Consumer Durables sector and people trained by direct marketing companies like Amway and Orflamme, too find a way into selling insurance. Head (hr ICICI Prudential Life Insurance) opines that companies cannot hold on to people, especially among frontline sales force, and this will rise as the market matures, since people are actually experiencing large amount of money coming in. Managing director and CEO (Prudential Life Insurance), the hr challenge is being addressed by offering employees learning and growth opportunities. The company offers opportunities for cross-functional learning, skills and talent development, thereby expanding ones job profile. Further, employees also develop a sense of belongingness with the company. Recruiters explain that high employee turnover rates significantly increase the investments that are made in the employees. The problem of losing funds in employee acquisition is prominent. Companies invest significant amounts of money and time in training in the initial phase; but these investments do not always get converted into actual profits. In the case of the insurance industry, each agent level recruitment costs a company nearly Rs.5000, other associated costs of training and administrative service are also involved. Each agent works in a non-productive or partly productive mode in the organization for nearly the first 2-3 months. An employee leaving the organization within the first 6 months is a bad investment for the company. While most insurers were not willing to share the number of staff members they lost to competitors and other sectors i n recent times, industry sources indicate that newer companies like Reliance, Bharti Axa, IDBI Fortis, Pantaloons-Generali and others have been active in fresh recruitment of officials from established companies like ICICI Prudential Life, Birla Sun Life, HDFC Standard Life. LITERATURE REVIEW Researchers have done a literature review on the issues related to the reasons for and consequences of the employee loss and how the management may deal with turnover in various industries, in order to have a fair understanding of the strategies that can be adopted by the Insurance companies. William J Rothwell (May 2008) in his article, Motivating for Retention refers to motivation as a topic of perennial interest. As organizational leaders begin a war for talent, they need to consider new ways to motivate people to stay. Since much research indicates that people often make decisions to leave because of their supervisors treatment with them, it only makes sense to consider ways of improving managers treatment of workers and this article focuses on that particular issue. While many theories of motivation have been proposed, many managers today are looking for ways to retain their most talented people. One way to do that is to focus attention on how a manager treats the workers. This article also offers some thoughts on what behaviors to examine for improvement and has provided two instruments that may be helpful in doing that. Dongho Kim (2006) in his article Employee Motivation: Just Ask Your Employees says that the imperative need of discovering, comprehending and implementing employee motivation has been a principal concern for organizations, managers and even first line supervisors, as employee motivation has been and will be the deciding factor in work performance as well as the success or failure of an organization. The purpose of this paper is to re-emphasize and analyze the necessary components of employee motivation so that the contemporary managers, especially those who are inexperienced, can enhance their knowledge and understanding of employee motivation. If a company knows as to why its employees come to work on time, stay with the company for their full working lives, and are productive, then the company may be able to ensure that all of their employees behave that way. The priorities of employee motivational factors change over time, and there is more than one reason why these changes occur. The reasons may be the economic conditions, change of the working environment or industries, labor market conditions, industry competitions, change in the workers attitude etc. An organization must realize that the employee motivation and its process are there to motivate its employees, and hence, the employee input must be valued and included throughout this process. In todays knowledge-based economy, the most challenging task before a HR Manager is to motivate and retain employees. Though various attempts have been made in this direction, there has not been much of success and no one knows as to what exactly is the route to employees heart. Sanjeev Sharma (22 July 2006), in his article, A Right Way to Motivate an Employee is to Win his Heart, focuses on the reasons why motivation is ignored even though it is of greater significance motivation is intangible, drives all human actions, can be observed but not measured and is lost in a twilight zone; he compares motivation to that of a pop-up fly ball which can fall into cracks, if not handled or played effectively. Further, he explains the need for motivation and profile 10 areas that powerfully impact motivation which include economic rewards, promotion and transfers, opportunity to grow, challenging and stimulating work, autonomy, leadership, informal psychic rewards, goals and fun. Helping the management team optimize employees emotions will enable the organization to make significant impact on the primary sources of competitive advantage in todays market place. Beach, Brereton, and Cliff (2003) in their article Workforce turnover in FIFO mining operations in Australia: An exploratory study. examined that the term turnover refers to employee movements that create vacancies within an organizational unit. These vacancies may be the result of resignations, transfers, retirements, dismissals, or the completion of fixed term contracts. Jyothi and Venkatesh (2006), in their book Human Resource Management, have told that the application of skill or competence leads to performance and performance is the criterion for evaluating effectiveness. Therefore, a pay-for-competence program enhances productivity and product quality, reduces absenteeism, turnover, and accident rates. Campbell and Baldwin(1993), in their article Recruitment difficulties and skill shortages: an analysis of labor market information in Yorkshire and Humberside, suggest that in many industrialized countries there is a concern that skills shortages and mismatches are appearing in the labor market and that policy makers are aware that recruitment difficulties and skill shortages may reduce the competitiveness of small and large firms. Islam and Rasad (2006) in their article, Employee performance evaluation by the AHP: A case study, studies that employee performance appraisal has been practiced by numerous organizations since centuries. Though performance appraisal system has been debated by many, however, overall, it is viewed that performance appraisal is an inseparable part of organizational life. Wu (2005), in his article A DEA approach to understanding the performance of Taiwans steel industries 1970-1996, mentions performance management as a complex problem and it involves various kinds of judgments about which performance measure to use. Evaluation scores depend upon these criteria heavily. Hale (1998) in his article Strategic rewards: Compensation and benefits management. stated that employers cited recruitment costs of 50% to 60% of an employees first years salary and up to 100% for certain specialized, high-skill positions. Bowen and Shuster (1986) in their article American professors: A national resource imperiled. stated that while all constituting elements of an organization are important for its success, it is its enhanced ability to attract and retain the best quality talent that separates it from the others. Abbasid and Holman (2000) in their article Turnover: The real bottom-line. Public Personnel Management sought to determine the impact of employee turnover on an organization and found that excessive employee turnover often engenders far-reaching consequences and at the extreme may jeopardize efforts to attain the organizational objectives. Elangovan (2001) in his article Casual ordering of stress, satisfaction and commitment, and intention to quit: A structural equation analysis. has argued that there is a reciprocal link between organizational commitment and turnover intention, i.e. lower commitment increases turnover intention, which lowers commitment further. Abdul Rahman, Raza Naqvi, and Ismail Ramay (2008) in their article Measuring turnover intention: A study of it professionals in Pakistan. revealed that job satisfaction and organizational commitment had a negative effect on turnover intentions, whereas perceived alternative job opportunities had a significant positive correlation with turnover intentions and is the major factor associated with turnover intention among it Professionals in Pakistan. Van Dick et al. (2004) in their article Should I stay or should I go? Explaining turnover intentions with organizational identification and job satisfaction. have also identified job satisfaction as a predictor of turnover intention; however, they argue that it is a mediating variable between organizational identification and turnover intention. According to their study, organizational identification feeds into job satisfaction, which, in turn, predicts turnover intention. Gomez-Mejia, Balkin and Cardy (2003) in their article Managing Human Resources have analyzed that socialization is the process of orienting new employees to the organization or the unit in which they will be working. Socialization can make the difference between a new workers feeling like an outsider and feeling like the member of the team. Zheng and Lamond (2009) in their article Forthcoming Organizational determinants of employee turnover for multinational companies in Asia. found out that training, size, length of operation and the nature of the industry are significantly related to turnover. Determining what constitutes high turnover is a complex issue, because there is no simple linear relationship between turnover rates and the social and/or economic performance of companies. Issues ranging from poor job fit, lack of recognition or support from senior management, uncertainty about the organizations future and poor management communication are some of the reasons why people start looking for other opportunities. Reasons that can be attributed to high employee turnover in the insurance sector are: Being an insurance agent in India is seen as a societal stigma as there is uncertainty of job and income attached to it. People join insurance companies as a part time job or a gap filler occupation and not as a long-term career. Very few competent people want to become agents owing to low social status attached to it. It is a high-pressure job. It is expected from an agent to understand the customers needs and sell the products accordingly. This process involves a high level of persuasion and a sustained effort for a long period. A lot of people succumb to such pressures. The expectation achievement gap adds to the turnover. Many people are lured to the profession with a high earning potential. However, to earn a decent income, agents require a lot of patience, perseverance, and persuasion in the field. During early phase, the earnings of the agents are low despite hard work. This expectation achievement gap leads many of them to break down in the initial period of joining the profession. Scarce skilled or experienced human resource in insurance market leads to wide scale poaching and head hunting amongst the competitors. The industry has yet to witness mature hr processes, like work force planning, training, motivation, and retention. The lack of preplanned recruitment leads the firms to indulge in poaching human resources working in other insurance firms. With insurers having a high percentage of the workforce from multiple sectors (non-domain), the chances of losing employees to other fields, like Fast Moving Consumer Goods companies or other financial outfits, are high. Employee Turnover is perhaps paid the least attention among various employees issues. It is shrugged off as inevitable. Few companies take a proactive approach towards reducing employee turnover. It always includes substantial costs of replacing the key employee who fall into the category of high performers. Replacing includes the costs of recruitment advertisement, referral bonuses, selection testing, training costs, etc. Moreover, turnover results in loss of time and efforts, low productivity, loss of morale, loss of knowledge and so on. DEALING WITH EMPLOYEE TURNOVER Organizations that keep the front line staff motivated and equip them with the right tools are most likely to enjoy long-term superior performance (Rogers and Peccoud 2005). The challenge of creating a dynamic, enthusiastic, motivated front line environment is an opportunity in disguise for organizations. Organizations need employees who are committed, à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡exible, and ready to participate in decision-making. Retaining such employees in the organizations is becoming imperative in todays competitive environment. Behavioral research studies show that all human activities including jobs are directed towards satisfying certain needs. Patterns of individual behavior and motivation differ, because individuals seek to fulfill different sets of needs in different ways as adopted from their environmental and social backgrounds. Maslow (1943) propounded the Hierarchy of Needs theory originally applied as a general theory of psychological motivation. However, the usefulness of its the oretical model was adopted by organizational theorist McGregor in 1960, who applied Maslows theory in the work place. Later on, the Hierarchy of Needs theory has been adopted and incorporated into applications in many areas in business (Shoura and Singh 1998). In the management field, it is an effective approach towards understanding motivation. Motivation is connected to several levels of the needs hierarchy of human beings. Appreciation, love, respect and fulfilling work are several motivators other than monetary benefits that an individual looks for. An attempt is made in the paper to align Maslows Hierarchy of needs to the findings of the survey to offer a better understanding of employee turnover. Maslow suggests that each individual aspires for a higher-level unfulfilled need once they have gratified the lower order need. An individuals level of aspirations rise when needs on lower levels are satisfied. The lower four layers of the pyramid are called deficiency needs or D-needs, physiological, safety and security, love and belongingness and esteem. With the exception of the lowest layer of physiological needs, if these deficiency needs are not met, the body gives no physical indication but the individual feels anxious and tensed. Various levels of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs are analyzed  in the perspective of insurance agents: PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS: These include the most basic needs that are vital to survival, including the need for water, air, food, and sleep. These needs are the most basic and instinctive needs in the hierarchy. All other needs become secondary until these physiological needs are met. In the perspective of insurance agents, these needs are addressed by the compensation plan. Insurance companies primarily work on incentive-based compensation plans, which lead to income uncertainties. An employee looks forward to a sufficient compensation structure, which would take care of all of his/her basic physiological needs. A robust, safe, and easy to understand compensation plan may retain employees who are striving to materialize their physiological needs. It is necessary for the companies to update the compensation plan with time, so that it fulfills the physiological needs of the individual and his/her family at different stages of their lives. SAFETY NEEDS: Such needs are important for survival, but they are not as demanding as the physiological needs. Desire for steady employment, health insurance, safe neighborhoods, and shelter from the environment could be a few. There are two aspects of the security, which would concern a person in the insurance business. One is the personal physical security while on field; and the psychological fear of job security with high targets is the second. SOCIAL NEEDS: Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and receiving love, affection and the sense of belongingness. This need of an individual gets highly affected in insurance companies predominantly. Individuals do not gain a high status in society, which is attributed to the social stigma of being an insurance agent, and big target pressure causes separation from ones family, friends, and relatives. Employees have been found complaining about not being able to spend ample time with their family and friends. The insurance companies may compensate for this by creating a fun-filled work environment and developing a conducive work environment. Teambuilding initiatives can be taken by mangers to inculcate the sense of belongingness. NEEDS FOR ESTEEM: A normal human desires to be accepted and valued by others. People engage themselves to gaining recognition, attaining a sense of contribution, feeling accepted and self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby. Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. Those working as employees in an insurance company are viewed as people of comparatively less ability. The attitude is developed due to mass recruitment undertaken by insurance firms, where not much focus is placed on selecting suitable candidates. This diminution in esteem leads to leaving the industry on getting a better opportunity. Many companies are focusing on creating a positive image of the industry by using the media, though much is yet to be done. Measures like change in job title and nature of the job could be positive steps in this direction. As the industry matures, the positioning needs a change from being a mere moneymaker option to an industry that provides learni ng and high growth opportunities. NEED FOR SELF-ACTUALIZATION: Maslow describes self-actualization as a persons need to be and do what he/she was born to do. These needs make themselves felt in signs of restlessness. A person

Peyote and Native American Culture Essay example -- Botany Biology Res

Peyote and Native American Culture Peyote was originally described in 1560, however it was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that botanists were able to conduct field research and correctly classify the cactus (Anderson, 1980). Field studies have concluded that there are two distinct populations of peyote which represent two species. The first and most common, Lophophora williamsii extends from southern Texas reaching south to the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. The second and least common of the two species is Lophophora difusa, which occurs in the dryer terrain of the Mexican state of Queretaro. This species differs from the more common species by, "being yellowish-green rather than blue green in color, by lacking any type of ribs or furrows, by having poorly developed podaria (elevated humps), and by being a softer, more succulent plant" (Anderson 1980). Native Americans use peyote in their religious practices because of its psychoactive properties, and is usually eaten as mescal buttons, the dried, brown pieces of the above part of the cactus (Lewis, 1977). The peyote religion is ancient in its origin and spread from Mexico, North in the mid 1800's at a time when Native Americans were desperately in need of spiritual strength and enlightenment, Native Americans were confined to reservations which were overseen by military authority, while many of their ritualistic practices and traditions were deemed as illegal. Origin stories regarding the practice of peyote ritual vary, however all encompass a common theme, namely that the 'Supernatural' took pity on those persecuted and communicated spiritually to the Native Americans through the journey experienced while under the chemical effects of peyote (Steltenka... ...s as an escape from the world the white man created. The impact this plant has had on civilization is that it is only way out for some, it is their vehicle of escape to drive them out of the material world and down the peyote road. Bibliography Anderson, E. 1980. Peyote, The Divine Cactus. Arizona: University of Arizona Press. Boyer, B., Boyer, R., & Basehart, H. 1973. Hallucinogens and Shamanism M. Hamer, Ed.. England: Oxford University Press. Csordas, T., Kiyaani, M. 1997, March. On the Peyote Road. Natural History, 106,48. Lewis, W. 1977, Medical Botany. New York: Wiley. Steltenkamp, M. 1982. The Sacred Vision. New Jersey: Paulist Press. Stewart, 0. 1987. Peyote Religion. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. Swan, D. 1998. Early Osage Peyotism. Plains Anthropologist, 43(163), 51-71. Unknown, The Peyote Religion. www.peyote.net. Peyote and Native American Culture Essay example -- Botany Biology Res Peyote and Native American Culture Peyote was originally described in 1560, however it was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that botanists were able to conduct field research and correctly classify the cactus (Anderson, 1980). Field studies have concluded that there are two distinct populations of peyote which represent two species. The first and most common, Lophophora williamsii extends from southern Texas reaching south to the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. The second and least common of the two species is Lophophora difusa, which occurs in the dryer terrain of the Mexican state of Queretaro. This species differs from the more common species by, "being yellowish-green rather than blue green in color, by lacking any type of ribs or furrows, by having poorly developed podaria (elevated humps), and by being a softer, more succulent plant" (Anderson 1980). Native Americans use peyote in their religious practices because of its psychoactive properties, and is usually eaten as mescal buttons, the dried, brown pieces of the above part of the cactus (Lewis, 1977). The peyote religion is ancient in its origin and spread from Mexico, North in the mid 1800's at a time when Native Americans were desperately in need of spiritual strength and enlightenment, Native Americans were confined to reservations which were overseen by military authority, while many of their ritualistic practices and traditions were deemed as illegal. Origin stories regarding the practice of peyote ritual vary, however all encompass a common theme, namely that the 'Supernatural' took pity on those persecuted and communicated spiritually to the Native Americans through the journey experienced while under the chemical effects of peyote (Steltenka... ...s as an escape from the world the white man created. The impact this plant has had on civilization is that it is only way out for some, it is their vehicle of escape to drive them out of the material world and down the peyote road. Bibliography Anderson, E. 1980. Peyote, The Divine Cactus. Arizona: University of Arizona Press. Boyer, B., Boyer, R., & Basehart, H. 1973. Hallucinogens and Shamanism M. Hamer, Ed.. England: Oxford University Press. Csordas, T., Kiyaani, M. 1997, March. On the Peyote Road. Natural History, 106,48. Lewis, W. 1977, Medical Botany. New York: Wiley. Steltenkamp, M. 1982. The Sacred Vision. New Jersey: Paulist Press. Stewart, 0. 1987. Peyote Religion. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. Swan, D. 1998. Early Osage Peyotism. Plains Anthropologist, 43(163), 51-71. Unknown, The Peyote Religion. www.peyote.net.

Gene Therapy Essay -- Biology Medical Biomedical Genetics

Gene Therapy: The New Vaccine ABSTRACT This research paper details what gene therapy is and what it is (and potentially will be) used for. It also describes the gene therapy techniques and delivery methods that have been clinically tested and/or verified by scientists and the ideas that stimulate activity in the field in the race to perfect gene therapy methods and their application, as well as telling about the beginnings of its clinical testing and where this budding technology is headed. Finally, it discusses one last question: Is gene therapy the vaccination of the future? RESEARCH Gene therapy is a biotechnological technique that has recently made significant leaps of progress in the world of scientific research. The theories behind its use have created many new goals and ideas in scientists’ minds, and there is much opportunity for discovery in the field. There are two types of genetic technology that are currently being researched for application in clinical testing and for the cure of certain genetic diseases in humans: somatic cell gene therapy, and germ-line therapy. Somatic cell gene therapy is a development that could potentially eliminate a hereditary disease’s effects in a patient through the injection of genetic material that would fill in for a nonfunctional gene, alter an abnormal one in the patient’s chromosomes, or exchange the defective gene for a new, fully-functioning one (www.ornl.org). Germ-line therapy would be used similarly in embryos’ germ cells, but would have the additional effect of the faulty gene’s permanent eradication so that it could not be passed on to future descendants. There are also multiple types of somatic cell gene therapy. In vivo gene therapy, the most common in clinical testin... ...entists will make many revolutionary discoveries. With this new technology being researched, there’s no telling when the technology will be perfected. Who knows? Someday soon, gene therapy could even be something as commonplace as vaccination. Bibliography: 6 Friedmann, The Development of Human Gene Therapy http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/medicine/genetherapy.shtml http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/BA/Gene_Therapy_Overview.html http://asgt.org/news_releases/basics.html http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2000/500_gene.html http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/gene (G.T. for Cancer) http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/346/16/1185 (Ex Vivo for X-SCID) http://asgt.org/news_releases/06022005a.html http://genome.gov/13014325 Reilly, Abraham Lincoln’s DNA and Other Adventures in Genetics Turksen, Adult Stem Cells 7

Americanization Versus National Culture Essay

Changes are realities of life regardless of one’s origin, skin color, beliefs and traditions. These are unavoidable facts that affect all living creatures on earth in both ways-good and bad. Like all other changes, globalization is one concept born as early as 1960s and has rapidly influenced literally all peoples even those at the edge of the world. In fact, the United Nations Organization (UNO) declared the 1960’s as the dawn of global development (Dass, Rakesh 2008). Drivers of globalization include economic, political, cultural and social factors that eventually led to the spread and elimination of traditions and practices in all aspects of human life. The bottom line is that globalization has two faces: the beneficial and the devastating one. One’s point of argument will depend on which side is he in at the moment. Although the reality that globalization has been advantageous in some ways, this paper would try to prove that globalization has more devastating effects especially on human culture and identity. In particular, this paper would like to point out the multi-faceted risks posed by globalization trend in South East Asian nations. Cultural differences are sacred things that each person is required to respect. It is this culture and tradition that South East Asian nations are rich of and their individual history will prove this argument right. â€Å"Culture is used by the organizers of society – politicians, theologians, academics, and families – to impose and ensure order, the rudiments of which change over time as need dictates† (Rothkopf, David 1997). It is this culture that identifies Asians from the Americans and the Europeans. The differences should not however be treated as walls that hinder other nation to relate with others because the significance of international relations for national development should also be acknowledged. It happened however that globalization forced each nation to open not only their doors but also their windows to let the influence of the Western culture peep in and eventually seep deep into its culture and tradition. Globalization and the technological revolution will also have a significant impact on the diversity and convergence of cultures (Huntington, Samuel 1993, p. 22). We can take culture in its two meanings. The first meaning encompasses a people’s lifestyle, folkways, traditions, art, literature, dance, music and so on. Culture by this definition has to be preserved, nurtured and enriched. It links people to the origins of whom and what they are. It is what binds them together. It gives them their identity beyond the family. It is the source of their sense of self-worth. It imparts meaning to their lives. The diversity of people’s cultures and the interaction among them enrich the human race. Culture comprehends a people’s set of values and attitudes, their outlook on life, their ways of thinking and working, and their mindsets. It is people’s cultures in this sense that globalization and technology are disrupting. In this sense, cultures have to adjust in order for people and nations and regions to be competitive in the global economy (Achenbach, Joel 2001, p. 17). If science and technology, especially information and communications technology and biotechnology, are the arena and weapons for global competition, nations and companies have to undertake a massive re-allocation of resources to education, training, research and development, and the infrastructure for the knowledge industries. National and corporate priorities have to be reset. Legal assumptions and institutional arrangements have to be re-examined. Just as importantly, people’s mindsets have to change. They have to acquire a scientific bent, develop a certain rigor in their thinking, and cultivate the capacity and inclination to turn knowledge into practical applications. People have to develop the willingness to question knowledge that is handed down and challenge intellectual authority – and be allowed to do so. Personal relationships have to be tempered by the objective application of law and rules in the conduct of government and business. In sum, the proverbial paradigm shift must take place. â€Å"Language, religion, political and legal systems, and social customs are the legacies of victors and marketers and reflect the judgment of the marketplace of ideas throughout popular history† (Rothkopt, David 1997). Rothkopt also stressed that culture is often seen as living artifacts, bits and pieces that are being passed from generation to generation through the processes of indoctrination, popular acceptance, and unthinking adherence to old ways. This way, cultural differences lead one nation to consider globalization a threat to one’s culture and eventually to one’s identity. Whether it is the rapid proliferation of Starbucks in Tokyo, changing realities of the real estate market in Greater Vancouver, the recent boom in Korean popular music and TV dramas in Taipei, or the widespread employment of Filipino maids in Hong Kong, the fabric of everyday life in many cities in the Asia Pacific region are comprised of increasingly transnational elements. Intensification of foreign direct investment, trade, cross-national corporate alliances and mergers, cultural exchanges, and university tie-ups have fortified world-wide links between people, organizations, regions, and governments of various nation-states. Terms such as â€Å"global economy,† â€Å"cultural diversity,† and â€Å"global environment† have wended their way into the lexicons of major business schools, while at the same time, a constellation of demonstrations and discontents have been stuffed into the category of â€Å"the anti-globalization movement. † Observing these trends and changes is an easy enough task, requiring little more than a walk along any major commercial street in any major city, or a casual perusal of university course catalogues. How one analyses and understands the changes associated with â€Å"globalization† are another issue, one that presents a considerably more complex intellectual problem. Does â€Å"globalization† writ-large promote greater understanding of cultural similarities and differences, or does it merely diffuse a wider array of simplistic and essentialist stereotypes? Does globalization propagate exploitation and income disparity, or does it offer the individual freedom of choice and convenience of standardization? Do these shifts bring the world closer together, consuming the same hamburgers in a new global community, or is this a homogenizing cultural imperialism, obliterating local cultures in MacWorld synchronicity? How does the nexus of global and local inform individual and collective identities and cultures? First, the historical context behind globalization needs to be kept in mind. While there are some obvious discontinuities as well as continuities, European expansion, modern colonialism, modernization, and globalization constitute different media for the intensification of global ties. For example, certain clothing practices for men in the Asia Pacific (such as wearing ties in suffocating humid midsummer heat) were initially disseminated via Western European imperialism and colonialism. The use of modern statistical methods to measure economic output is yet another example of a â€Å"global† standard originally propagated through the practices of colonial administrations throughout the region. This is not to suggest that the process of globalization can be explained solely by tracing the expansion of European notions of â€Å"civilization† and â€Å"modernity† (both terms which need to be examined critically before blind invocation) or that there is a universal teleology that history must inevitably follow, but to point out that the decoupling of cultural experience from particular geographic locales is not an unprecedented phenomenon. By acknowledging the historical precedents, we may focus our analysis on what might be different or new about the term â€Å"globalization† or whether we ought to discard the term entirely due to the absence of any meaningful conceptual or descriptive value-added. For example, some scholars have argued, however vaguely, that the speed, scale, and scope of these changes and flows have accelerated over the last fifty years. The oft-cited acceleration in the development and diffusion of communication technologies has facilitated the dissemination of information and intensified financial transactions. Thus, while commodity trade may be less global than in pre-1945 years, the amount of money traded in foreign currency exchange dealings or the capital flows through various investments is more intense now than before. Second, it is important to examine the underlying assumptions and operating definitions undergirding much of the debate. The ways concepts such as â€Å"culture† or â€Å"global† or â€Å"local† are defined invariably affect the analytical approach taken. For example, â€Å"culture† is a frequently contested term. Many disciplines such as anthropology, having devoted considerable efforts to grappling with the concept, consider it a central analytical issue. Conversely, some approaches in other disciplines might exclude it from analysis, feeling that â€Å"culture† is too vague a black box to constitute a meaningful independent variable. If one takes the former view, cultural industries and exchanges are central to any understanding of any economic, political, social, and technological change. If one adheres to the latter approach, then it makes sense to distinguish between â€Å"globalization,† confined to economic activities, and â€Å"internationalization,† applied to ‘cultural’ interactions. In another example, some scholars invoke Manichean contrasts between an idealized â€Å"local† or â€Å"traditional† culture and a menacing â€Å"global† or â€Å"modern† culture. If one associates â€Å"local† with sites of national purity and resistance to rising tide of global capitalists, â€Å"local† culture should presumably be protected and maintained. If one defines â€Å"local† culture as reactionary, ignorant, and parochial, than one would presumably wish that â€Å"global† culture ‘enlightens’ â€Å"local† culture. Such latent normative values need to be fore-grounded for any meaningful discussion to occur. Further complicating the issue is the fact that there are increasingly fewer pockets of isolated, undiluted fonts of â€Å"local† identity left, at least in the major urban centers. For example, some commentators in Korea assert that McDonald’s is undermining traditional Korean culinary culture, and promoting obesity in young Korean children. However, the employees and managers of McDonald’s in Korea are Korean, as are its customers (Choe, Yong-shik. 2001). For better or for worse, the reality is that to make it more essential the visions of ‘good’ â€Å"local† and â€Å"traditional† cultures elide the fact that cultures — at the global, national, regional, local, and individual levels — change over time, and are often retroactively reconstituted to serve political interests of a particular moment, place, or institution.