As a consultancy group of 2 members you have been commissioned to Essay

As a consultancy group of 2 members you have been commissioned to present your findings on how motivation of employees may be different in the public sector - Essay Example Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory emphasize that each person has five (5) basic needs, which are (PLS 500, page 6): 1)Physiological needs (hunger, thirst, shelter and other bodily needs); 2) safety needs that includes security and protection; 3) social needs which encompasses affection, acceptance and a sense of belongingness; 4) esteem needs which are self-respect, recognition and achievement and; 5) self actualization where an individual becomes his ultimate self through his own capabilities. Each need within the hierarchy should be satisfied before being able to say that he or she is actually contented with what he or she became. To relate motivation of employees with the preceding statements, it is essential to remember that the hierarchy of needs is not sufficient to drive a certain individual to reach his goals in life. Often, most motivating factors stem out of one’s culture and beliefs, which when taken generally is not the same baseline for everybody. Taking this into consideration, motivation in the workplace is affected by several variables which cannot be controlled by the individual to suit his wants and goals. These variables or outside factors are: 1) Ability, 2) leadership, 3) organizational culture, 4) technologies and 5) institutional constraints (PLS 500, page 6). As in any workplace or company that employs a number of people who may have similar or dissimilar goals, it is significant to note that these external factors may cause complication that would hinder or limit one’s ability to actually accomplish a desired objective. Reinforcement theory is the balance between performance and pay. In a review done by James Perry, et al. an organization’s desire to increase productivity and outcome will depend greatly on the monetary rewards that are to be given to an employee who has

Performance Assessment Test Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Performance Assessment Test - Essay Example Having determined the score of each student, using the rubrics the teacher is then able to evaluate the students’ performances and determine whether they have understood and mastered the basics of the unit. Rubrics are an important part of the assessment since they provide teachers with the criteria to use in evaluating the student's performance. Through rubrics, students are also able to benefit since they know what is expected of them (Lund & Kirk, 2010). They are also able to see how instructions fit with the set goals. Reliability and validity can evaluate from two different points of view. The teacher's content given to the students must be excellent both quantitatively and qualitatively (Riggs, Verdi & Arlin, 2009). This is mainly because, when the features are present, then it can be concluded as being both reliable and valid. Validity is usually evidenced when the students are able to apply the ideas taught by the teacher without difficulty. Students should be able to come up with ideas close to or exactly like those of their teachers after their own private research. Validity can also be demonstrated by the achievement of the set goals. Where there is a very big difference between the students' performance and the previously set goals. Reliability, on the other hand, is mainly evaluated on the basis of the usefulness of the teacher's content in the assessments. When the teacher gives details that are out of context then he or she is deemed to be unreliable. On the other hand, will be judged as invalid.... This will normally depend on the goals set at the beginning of the learning period. The teacher should use the objectives to determine the standards of the assessment. The standards will mainly be based on how challenging the exam is. b) Setting of the test and determination of the date The teacher should then go ahead and set the questions of the assessment depending on the content taught. To avoid leakage or copying of the test or any other such irregularities, it is preferred that the teacher does not inform the students of the test. This also assists in ensuring that the teacher does not obtain inaccurate results. The teacher should also set the date on which to administer the test in advance. This is mainly to avoid any delays or interferences with the normal program. c) Administration of the test Once all arrangements are made, the test is then given to the students on the set date. Generally, study shows that it is better when the test is short and clear with no long instructi ons. Students should be able to finish all the questions within the stipulated time; holding all other factors constant. d) Marking of the scripts and determination of the score Since it is a performance assessment and not a summative one, the score of the test is to be determined immediately after the test. The method mostly used is the exchange of scripts, where the students mark each other’s scripts whilst the teacher gives the answers. Having determined the score of each student, using the rubrics the teacher is then able to evaluate the students’ performances and determine whether they have understood and mastered the basics of the unit. 3) Rubric Rubrics are an important part of the assessment since they provide teachers with the criteria to use in evaluating the

Create atmospher Essay Example for Free

Create atmospher Essay The writer creates a tense, aggressive and misleading atmosphere. Miller creates a tense atmosphere as Eddie is attacking Rodolfo with sneery comments to lower his self esteem and make Rodolfo look bad in Catherines eyes. The quote thats why the water front is no place for him (Rodolfo) Eddie is making Rodolfo feel unwanted and like this place is no place for you. Also this could imply that Catherine also no place for him and he needs to back off. In the stage direction Miller make the atmosphere tense by I quote (has has been unconsciously twisting the newspaper into a tight role) and everyone is looking at him and acknowledging him knowing how much Rodolfo annoys him. Then miller writes in the stage direction about the paper suddenly tears in two this doesnt only show eddies frustration and strength but also could symbolise Eddie and Catherines relationship, it shows if Eddie keeps on pushing her and twisting their relationship and eventually it will break and Catherine will have to make a decision and that is exactly what happens later on in the play when Catherine has to chose between staying with Eddie or going with Rodolfo and she finally feels she needs to stand up for herself and grow up so goes with Rodolfo. Eddie then moves on to how Marco and him should go see a fight together, and constantly addressing Marco showing he feels Marco as the only person who can put Rodolfo down a peg or two, he loves the dominance over Rodolfo so then takes advantage of this by always asking for Marcos approval on matters on how Rodolfo has done bad, like when Catherine and Rodolfo were out late at the pictures and Eddie states about how Rodolfo might get picked up if hes out that late and how he dragged Catherine off and shouldnt be out so late with her. Marco asks Eddie what has he done and Eddie tells him about being late In and Marco say to Rodolfo you come home early now Eddie loves how Marco can embarrass and be dominant over Rodolfo. When Eddie is talking about fighting Marco is uneasy because he can see that its not a good idea, but Eddie is making the atmosphere so misleading he is being nice and saying things like you want to come and I treat you and he says Ill buy the tickets at this point the reader is not sure of what is going to happen but we have this thought at the back of our head that its not a good idea and foreshadowing danger. Then the atmosphere turns violent and tense, it starts out Eddie saying about how he could teach Marco how to box, then he turns to Rodolfo and then states well come on, Ill teach you instantly this seems an innocent gesture from anyone else but not Eddie, he knows what he is doing and just wants to get back at Rodolfo. He is saying Ill show you a couple a passes these are all excuses he just wants a chance to inflict pain on Rodolfo. Boxing is another manly sport that feminine Rodolfo cant do, and Eddie knows this so takes advantage of this weakness knowing he wont be able to defend himself so expects Rodolfo to be weak. It then turns out that Rodolfo is very good and both Eddie and Marco are praising him so this all seems like a bit of fun but then Eddie is egging him on to do worse and saying dont pity on methrow it we then get this superstition that its not going to turn out well. Eddie then states you cant hurt me but we know this is not true because Rodolfo has already hurt him but through Catherine instead, Eddie knows this and takes advantage of this all the time making the atmosphere tense and aggressive, Eddie knows he has sort of lost Catherine to Rodolfo and is determined not to lose to Rodolfo at something Eddie is good at. Catherine then becomes scared and is the only one sensing trouble so asks what are they doin? and Beatrice doesnt think anything of it and is happy they are finally getting on and cant see the trouble behind it. Eddie seems fine and happy then all of a sudden fakes a punch and lands his right on Rodolfo, Rodolfo staggers. Marco then rises this shows that Marco is not afraid to stand up for his family and is kind of warning to Eddie. Then Catherine rushes to Rodolfo this will seriously anger Eddie as it seems Catherine has already made the decision to go with Rodolfo instead. Eddie senses Catherine is angry with him so instantly comments on how Rodolfo is fine and saying did I hurt you kid? he is trying to keep the atmosphere neutral and not get on the bad side of Catherine. Beatrice then puts and end to it and says thats enough to Eddie. He then says to Marco Ill teach him again and in the stage directions It states Marco nods dubiously this shows that Marco weary of this. Eddie is made out to be a bully and Rodolfo seems even better in the eyes of Catherine for being so good at boxing and not fighting back to Eddies punch. After the boxing the atmosphere becomes tense again Rodolfo puts on the record paper doll and we know that this record has created quite a tense atmosphere in the past because the lyrics symbolises the love triangle between Eddie, Catherine and Rodolfo. The lyrics state about how Catherine is Rodolfos girl and not Eddies anymore and Its tough to love a doll thats not your own and thats how Eddie feels. We know that this was not a good idea for Rodolfo to do then he asks Catherine to dance. Marco can see that Eddie is uncomfortable with this, so Marco sets him a challenge he places a chair in front of him and asks him to lift the chair by one leg and with one arm behind your back, Marco only demonstrates this though, this may imply that Marco wants to be the dominant one and show Eddie how its done after Eddies pathetic attempt to do it, Eddie then proceeds to accept the challenge it. Eddie cant do it and never faults himself and how its because the chair is on an angle not because he isnt strong enough. This could also symbolise about how Eddie feels his judgments are right about Rodolfo and now Marco needs to show Eddie some dominance and prove Eddie is wrong. Marco then raises the chair exactly how he showed Eddie and he carries on hiring the chair all the way above his head and holding it there. The stage directions state Marco gives of a glare of warning to Eddie all the while still holding the chair over his head, he is stating to Eddie to back off and leave Rodolfo alone before he does something his regrets. His glare then turns into a smile of triumph this shows that he has dominance over Eddie and control. Marco ends the scene as the most powerful man. All the while the atmosphere has a constant theme of tension and aggressiveness. In this extract there is pathos which means you feel sympathy for a someone and this particular person is Eddie. He never seems to get what he wants and has been seen as a bully and not a nice person in everyones eyes. We feel pity for him as Catherine has shown she has chosen Rodolfo over Eddie and now Eddie seems powerless and not the man of the house when Marco shows his act of dominance.

Price Reaction To Merger And Acquisition Announcements Finance Essay

Price Reaction To Merger And Acquisition Announcements Finance Essay Event study of stock price reaction to merger and acquisition announcement has been concerned by experts since it started being developed. The common method to estimate the price reaction around the event is residual analysis, which means that test whether there are abnormal returns before and after announcement date. Also, residual analysis can be used as a mean to test the market efficiency. In this paper, it concentrates on the study of the effect of merger and acquisition announcement on share prices of target companies and then tests the market efficiency by analyzing the result of abnormal returns before and after announcement date, whether there is inside information influence before announcement date and whether the price reflection public information quickly after the announcement. The paper first will review the literature of development of event studies and methodology used in event studies. Then, it will illustrate the data and methodology of the event study of this paper . Last but not least, it will analysis the effect of announcement on price reaction and market efficiency according to the statistic result. Literature review An event study is a method to estimates the stock price impact of certain corporate events, such events can be dividend announcements, mergers and acquisitions. According to S.P. Kothari and J.B. Warner(2004), event studies that focus on announcement effects for a short-horizon around an event provide evidence relevant for understanding corporate policy decisions. In financial markets, event studies can be used to specify and test economic hypotheses. Besides, event studies also research on evidence of market efficiency focusing on long-horizon tests at least twelve months. The evolution of event studies started from Dolley(1933), who examined stock price reaction to stock splits, plusing several other published papers indicating that by the 1960s, which made their way into leading business economics journals(C.J. Corrado). S.P. Kothari and J.B. Warner(2004 ) reported that the total number of papers reporting event study results is 565 in five leading journals from the year 1974 to 2 000, Journal of Business(JB), Journal of Finance (JF), Journal of Financial Economics (JFE), Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis (JFQA), and the Review of Financial Studies (RFS). The number of papers published per year increased in the 1980s. Among these papers, Fama(1991) paid attention to the relation of event studies to tests of market efficiency and Kothari and Warner(1997) summarized of long-horizon tests. Beyond financial economics, event studies are also researched by experts in related areas, such as accounting literature (Kothari(2001)), law and economics. As a standard method of measuring security price reaction to certain corporate events, the methodology of event studies is also concentrated by experts and developed in parallel with the event studies. Initially from event study methodology being introduced by Fama, Fisher,Jensen and Roll(1969), the basic format of methodology of event studies has not changed over time. The key focus is to measure the sample securities mean and cumulative mean abnormal return around the event(S.P. Kothari and J.B. Warner(2004)). There are two areas of changes that make the methodology more precise and sophisticated, one is the use of daily instead of monthly security return data. According to S.J. Brown and J.B. Warner(1984), as long as methodologies are based on the OLS market model and using standard parametric tests, the characteristics of daily data present few difficulties in the context of event study methodologies. For example, the non-normality of daily returns has no obvious impact on method ologies of event studies. The other is the long-horizon event study methods used to estimate abnormal returns and calibrate their statistic significance, although there are more limits in using long-horizon event study methods compared with short-horizon methods. The basic of methodology is to measure abnormal returns as residual by using some benchmark model of normal return. Specifically, there are a variety of models can be used to measure the normal rate of return, with the addition of certain variables, and then to generate abnormal return estimates. J.J. Binder(1998)reported that abnormal returns have be measured as mean-adjusted returns, market-adjusted returns, deviations from the market model, deviations from the one factor Capital Asset Pricing Model(Sharpe(1964), Lintner(1965), Black(1972)), deviations from a multifactor model like Arbitrage Pricing Theory(Ross(1976)). Stock price reaction to merger and acquisition events There are a large number of literatures representing the impact on the market value of merging firms before and after the merger and acquisition events and numerous studies have examined the impact of merger announcements on the prices of the stocks of the acquirer and target firms(M.F. Leong, B. Ward and C. Gan(1996)). Hawawini and Swary(1990) reported the stock market reaction by examining 130 acquirer banks and 123 target banks during 1980s, they found that targets banks perform better than that of acquirer banks in mergers and the share price of a target bank increased by 11.5 percent during the week of the merger announcement on average. Dodd and Asquith(1980) concluded the evidence that mergers have a favourable effect on the common stocks of the merging companies, besides, they found that acquired firms stockholders earn large positive abnormal returns from the merger and acquisition events and the acquiring firms stockholders are affected little if at all. The same results co mes from Asquith and Kim(1982)s research, which concluded that abnormal returns are positive and statistically in acquired firms significant but are not significantly different from zero. The reason why target companies performed well is established at a condition, which is that investors do not anticipate the event before the announcement period, in another words, the market is at least semi-strong. If not, the returns of the target company around merger announcement date do not reflect the complete economic impact of the event(M.F. Leong, B. Ward and C. Gan(1996)). Leong, Ward and Gan(1996) concluded that if the market doesnt reflect to an event, it can be interpreted as evidence of the irrelevancy of the event instead of an indicator of market efficiency. They also directed that market price reaction following the announcement of the merger can be affected by either the content of the information or how its relation to previous information expectations. Gopalaswamy, Acharya and M alik(2008) reported that there was an upward trend of target companies in India between the year of 2000-2007 in the cumulative average abnormal return few days before the announcement of mergers because of anticipation or leakage of information. Besides, there is sudden downfall in the CAAR for the target companies from the day after the announcement and the average abnormal return is negative and significant after two days of announcements, as a result, they concluded that the India market is semi-strong efficient. Data and methodology To analyse the stock price reaction around merger announcement date, it is necessary to choose the appropriate sample in order to represent the entire trend of the stock market in one country. In this paper, it chose 50 target companies of France that were announced during1/ 2010 to 3/2012. The more the companies are chose, the more the result is closed to normality. The announcement date is identified as the day when the target company first publishes disclosed information about the merger and this was specified as day zero in the event time. In order to be included in the event study, all target companies should be listed in France-continuous market. Besides, the sectors of selected companies are widely spread so that it can avoid the market impact on the specific sectors. According to S.P. Kothari and J.B. Warner(2004), constructing a portfolio of event firms for a number of days around the announcement can address the bias of estimated standard deviation of cumulative abnormal re turn. The information and the data of each company are obtained from the website http://banker.thomsonib.com/ta/. The data of each company are selected 100 days prior to the announcement date and 10 days after announcement date. The data obtained is daily price other than monthly price or else. OLS Market model In order to measure the magnitude of the share price variation around the announcement date, abnormal return should be calculated. According to A. Leemakdej(2009), since an abnormal return is unobserved, it is identified by taking the difference between an actual return and an expected return derived from a financial model. There are a variety of expected return model can be used in event studies to calculated the expected return of stocks. Here, the market model is selected to be used to calculate the expected return of stocks: In order to calculate the expected return of stocks around the announcement date, the event study separates the data of the sample into two sections, namely estimated periods and test periods. Estimated periods are identified as the day 100 before the announcement to the day 15 before the event. While, test periods are identified as ten days before and after the event and the event window is[-10, 10]. Speaking of event window, it is a consideration that the dissemination of company-specific information may extend over more than one day. Because the release of information of a company and the financial express reporting information may not happen simultaneously, it is unsure that whether market participants had information released by companies when they are trading. So, it is necessary to extend the day of event into multiple days(M.F. Leong, B. Ward and C. Gan(1996)). Data during the estimate period is used to estimate the expected return model by representing the return of stocks i n [-100, -15] as expected return. Rmt is the market return calculated by using the SBF120 index of France. The objective of estimate period is to calculate two parameters in the market model alpha and beta in order to estimate the expected return of the stock in event period. and are obtained by an ordinary least-squires regression of E(R) and Rm, which are used to estimate the true value of and . Besides, event period data can investigate the impact from the event and the abnormal return should be calculated in this period in order to get the cumulative abnormal return. The return of stocks can be calculated using the formula: The equation of abnormal return is: The equation of cumulative abnormal return is: The sample has chose 50 target companies, in order to avoid the specific influence of some special companies, it is necessary to calculate the average cumulative abnormal return of each day in test period. The equation of average cumulative abnormal return is: Note that by using a time-series of average excess returns, the test statistic below can take into account cross-sectional dependence in the excess returns of specific securities(S.J. Brown and J.B. Warner(1984)). Hypotheses testing The objective of this event study is to access whether there are any abnormal returns in the test period. So the null hypotheses is there is no abnormal performance while the alternative hypotheses is that abnormal return is not equal to zero. H0: ARi,t = 0 H1:ARi,t à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   0 The test statistic used sampling distributions and it is a random variable because abnormal returns are measured with error, which comes from two reasons, predictions about securities unconditional expected return are imprecise and individual firms realised returns at test period are affected for reasons unrelated to the event. In order to reduce this error, the estimated standard deviation of cumulative abnormal return is the portfolio of 50 target firms of 10 days before and after the announcement. M. Barakat and R. Terry(2011) concluded that OLS market model is well specified under a variety of condition, for example, non-normality of daily returns has no impact on event study methods. As the deviation of abnormal return is estimated by the sample,so the hypotheses used t-statistic: As there are two variables É‘and ÃŽÂ ²that have been used, the degrees of freedom is (n-2). The significant level is 5%. With the two-tail test, the null hypotheses should be rejected if A test statistic larger than the upper-tail critical value t0.025 provides statistical evidence that the announcement had a significant positive impact on the price. While, a test statistic less than the lower-tail critical value -t0.025 provide evidence that the announcement had a significant negative impact. Furthermore, the hypotheses can also test the market efficiency. If the market is efficient, the share price will reflect all available information and the announcement will cause the abnormal return performance. Empirical result on stock returns The event study chose two event windows to analyse the result from the empirical research. First, when the event window is [-10, 10], the estimated standard deviation of the mean abnormal return is 1.626. Putting the figure into the t-statistic test can obtain the daily critical value used to test the null hypotheses. The table below illustrated the critical values 10 days before and after the announcement. event window average CAR t-statistic -10 -0.34 -0.207671297 -9 0.10 0.061251696 -8 0.07 0.040681124 -7 0.21 0.130356535 -6 0.22 0.135745854 -5 -0.01 -0.003102476 -4 0.17 0.101805486 -3 -0.25 -0.155581646 -2 0.58 0.355347928 -1 0.63 0.386680663 0 2.73 1.679904902 1 3.81 2.342014843 2 3.83 2.356724889 3 3.69 2.266579855 4 3.25 2.000369788 5 2.99 1.838127393 6 2.75 1.694045979 7 2.77 1.70510293 8 3.24 1.991626516 9 3.40 2.093802276 10 2.93 1.800949686 As the significance level is 5% and the degrees of freedom is 48, the critical value of two-tail test is 2.01. According to the table above, the t values in day 1,2,3 and 9 are greater than critical value, which means that the abnormal return are significantly positive in the day 1,2,3 and 9 after the announcement. However, the t-values of the day before the announcement are all less than the t-value, which concludes that there is no abnormal return before announcement. So, it can infer that there is no information of announcement leaking to certain market participants, the stock price does not change and investors can not acquire abnormal returns before announcement date. If there is abnormal return before announcement, according to M.F. Leong, B. Ward and C. Gan(1996), there are two reason can be explained. First, there is insider trading. The information is leaking to some investors who then buy stocks before the announcement, as a result, the stock prices will start to react the inside information and those investors will obtain abnormal returns before the announcement. It can conclude that the market is semi-strong efficient. However, the information may not be leaked, the reason of the increase of stock prices is that public may become suspicious of merger before the announcement. So, it is impossible to monitor directly all trading motivated by the possession of inside information. No matter what happen, it can conclude that the market in France may be not semi-strong efficient because if the inside information is leaked the share prices will reflect the insider information, however, the null hypotheses should be accepted as there is no abnormal returns before the announcement. So, in these condition, the market is strong efficient and prices incorporate all information that any investor can acquire. Therefore, non-public information is not useful for certain investors make abnormal return. On the other hand, the semi-efficient form market can not be rejected. The inside information may not be leaked and investors have no anticipation that the firm they they owned would be acquired by other companies, so they have no incentives to buy a large number of shares before the announcement and the share price would not increase beyond participants expectation. According to the table above, on the announcement date, the realised value is 1.68, although the figure is much larger than that one day before announcement, it still smaller than the critical value. There are two reasons that can explain this condition. First, the market is not efficient because the share prices can not reflect the public information. This may be the result of European sovereign debt crisis, during the crisis, the bond market was influenced heavily in France, even in the stock market, investors had less confident to invest fund to financial market, so even the announcement of merger can not bring them confidence to investment. However, there is also evidence that the market is efficient. According to Mitchell Netter (1990), they reported that corporations may release information one day and the financial press may report this information on the following day, therefore, it is sometimes unclear on which day the information reaches the market. It can happen because m arket participants had the information during the market trading hours on the day is not the information that is released by corporations. So, the share price may not reflect to the announcement because investors did not receive the information if the financial market, or only a minority of investors have confidence to purchase stocks. From the table above, the t-value on day one is greater than the critical value. The null hypothesis is rejected from the first day after the announcement, so the share prices reflect the announcement start from the following day of the announcement until the third day after the announcement. However, there is an abnormal condition that the abnormal return is not equal to zero on the ninth day after the announcement, which can happen for the reason beyond the merger event. In order to clear away the influence this abnormal return, the event window can shrink to five days before and after the announcement date. event window CAR t-statistic -5 -0.01 -0.003182304 -4 0.17 0.104424975 -3 -0.25 -0.159584813 -2 0.58 0.364491149 -1 0.63 0.396630085 0 2.73 1.723129414 1 3.81 2.402275663 2 3.83 2.417364204 3 3.69 2.324899708 4 3.25 2.051839968 5 2.99 1.885423021 The table illustrates the t-value when the event window is [-5, 5]. Similarly, there is no abnormal return before the announcement. Although the t-value on the announcement date is much larger than that before the announcement, the abnormal return is still equal to zero. The share prices begin to reflect the announcement from the following day of the announcement. So, it would thus appear that the market is efficient in France. Conclusion According to the statistic result, there is no abnormal return before announcement, which concluded that no inside information was leaked before announcement date. On the day of announcement, there was still no abnormal return, this can not be explained that the market is not efficient because there may be a gap between the releasing of information and reporting of information. It can be demonstrated that the abnormal return emerged after announcement until the third day. However, this method used to test market efficiency has its weakness generated in its estimation of regression of market model. Nevertheless, the result presented that the market is efficient.

Ageism in the Workplace Essay -- Age Discrimination

Age discrimination has long been present in society due to the rapid development happening around us. According to Farney, Aday & Breault (2006), this era of ageism is defined as "discrimination against any age group", but it often is pointed to age discrimination among adults which is slowly causing a negative effect for them in the workplace. In the workplace, adults with more experience and longer history behind them are targets of this ageism belief that companies and employers tend to have (Farney, Aday, & Breault, 2006). They are shunned and even fired in favor of accepting new and fresh faces for the company they have worked for. Unknown to most companies and employers, this notion of favoring the young and banishing the old can cause them a lot of losses in terms of business, economy and individually if this continues on. For this paper, it is my fervent belief that this concept of age discrimination in the workplace can be stopped if there is a proper decorum on addressing t he importance of older employees in the workforce and the discussion of the possible consequences of continuing this age discrimination practice and how revise the current recruitment system so that employees are given equal opportunities and not fire them just because of their ages. The problem of age discrimination especially in the older generation is not a new issue as it has been around for quite a long time. Segrave (2001) noted that most workers are deemed old if they reach their forties in the early nineteenth century. Employers and companies would already start firing people just because of this particular notion on age. Employees find this idea ludicrous and insulting as they are judged just because of their age and some would file charges ... ...younger generation would also feel this stereotyping, discrimination and prejudice once they step in the age where they can be classified as part of the older generation. The problem of age discrimination is a long cycle of problems that all members of society would face in some point of their lives. Now that everyone is taking good interest of worker rights, they would realize that this old notion of age discrimination is still happening and they would stop at nothing to get rid of the problem before they experience it themselves. Once this problem is resolved and eliminated, not only would the older generation benefit from it but also the society in general. Everyone must be given a chance to work on their professions even in their golden years, as long as they are happy and stress free because of the lack of discrimination on their age, we should let them be.

Video Games and Violence Essay examples -- classical conditioning, pav

One of the main concerns with respect to violence in video games compared to other media is the fact that games are immersive, and interactive. They are repetitive, and based on a reward system which is a proven psychological component of classical conditioning discovered by Ivan Pavlov. This argument however has been going on since the days of the comic book in the 50's, and because of the graphic violence portrayed in them, parents blamed them for their children's bad behavior. It seems that blaming games, and other media in this way is quite a lazy view to take. Subsequently, it is really using game manufacturers as a scapegoat, while ignoring the bigger issue, the person who has committed this act of aggression or violence, and other issues that have brought them to this point. Apparently, according to a 2001 U.S. Surgeon General's report, the panic over video game violence is twice as harmful as it misdirects energy that could be used in helping kids with problems, and allows them to fester to the point where they break down, and act out in aggression. A more appropriate question would be "Do violent games inspire the gamer to cause violence"? If the game does make a person commit violence, then are they mature enough to be playing it in the first place? Does this mean though one learns to be violent from playing a violent game, any more than watching a violent film, or listening to an aggressive Hip-Hop or Rap song, and have a long term effect to make the player violent and aggressive in real life, where they may otherwise have been non-violent. A prison in Missouri seem to think that they do affect the player, as since 2004 they have been the first to remove them from prison privileges. Whether or not this has r... ...ey, n.p.: New York ; Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2007., University of Cumbria Library Catalogue, EBSCOhost, viewed 23 December 2013. Death Race. (2013) DEATH RACE (Video Game). [Online]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Race_%281976_game%29. [Accessed 21/12/2013]. Egenfeldt-Nielsen, S. S., Smith, J. and Tosca, S. (2013) 'Video Games and Risks', Understanding Video Games, Second Edition. New York: Routledge, pp 255-277. Springer. (2013) Video games do not make vulnerable teens more violent. Available at: http://www.springer.com/about+springer/media/springer+select?SGWID=0-11001-6-1433942-0 (Accessed: 29/12/2013). Wendy Stogner. (2007) Do Video Games Cause Violence in Children?. Yahoo Voices. Weblog [Online] 23rd May. Available from: http://voices.yahoo.com/do-video-games-cause-violence-children-359143.html?cat=25. [Accessed 29/12/2013].

Crime and Violence in Jamaica Essay

Jamaica is a small third world country in the Caribbean with a population of approximately 2, 709, 300 people. The country faces many problems yearly but the worst is the ever increasing crime rate. In October 2011 Jamaica was ranked 3rd in a report of countries with the highest crime rates by the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development . The country has taken a turn for the worst over the past few years. Our local television stations and newspapers are packed with daily stories of robberies, political disputes, abuse in its many forms, murders, kidnappings, rapes and more recently, scamming. There are many factors which may contribute to crime and violence in our country. There are factors such as lack of jobs, lack of education, poverty, abuse or influence in homes, poor justice system and improper methods of dealing with conflict. A primary contributing factor to crime and violence in Jamaica is lack of jobs. Upon leaving school it is extremely difficult for Jamaican youths to find jobs so many of them turn to crime to sustain themselves. Many young people who fail to get jobs, either because they were under qualified or there was just nowhere to accommodate them, turn to felonies such as robbery and drug sale (especially marijuana). When asked why they choose to rob and sell drugs, many persons reply that they are just trying to make a living. There are also some situations in which students whose parents are out of jobs, sell drugs to make money for their tuition. Read more: Crime essay Another primary contributing factor to crime and violence in our country is poverty. It is a well known fact that many families in Jamaica are poor. In many of these families there is usually only a single parent, more often than not- a mother, and several children. In these situations the parent is unable to care for so many children. We see families with five, seven and sometimes even ten or more children appear on our local news programs asking for assistance because their children cannot attend school or they cannot buy necessary items for them. Many of these families are not able to provide proper shelter or food for their children, and they cannot afford to send them to school. A child from such a home might turn out to be uneducated and  may not be able to get a job in the future. Another child might decide that he cannot endure poverty any longer and may turn to crime to get â€Å"quick cash† or to try and make a living. Lack of education is another contributing factor to crime and violence in Jamaica. It is said that â€Å"Education is the key to success†, but sadly in this area, Jamaican youths are found lacking. Many young people have to drop out of school early for a variety of reasons. Some are unable to find school fees, books and other necessary items to attend school, others are made to stay home to look after an ill parent, many teenage girls get pregnant in school also and end up leaving school to try and find work to look after themselves and their child and others decide that school is just â€Å"not working out† and they choose to drop out. With a lack of education and proper training, and with the economy being the way it is, it will be nearly impossible to get a job. Being uneducated and unable to get a job many young people turn to crime to support themselves. The fourth contributing factor to crime and violence in Jamaica is abuse and/or influence in the home or a difficult home life. Some young people come from homes where they are abused or where there is violence. The popular saying â€Å"The child is a product of his environment† proves to be true. Children who grow up in homes where there is violence or criminal activities are more likely to grow up doing the same thing. Sadly, some children in our country are even introduced into criminal lifestyle by their parents. For example there have been cases where teenage girls are led to prostitution by their mothers who are also prostitutes. A child such as this will grow up doing this and even if she decides to change, it will not be easy because it is what she is used to. Also if such a child wishes to change, other factors could also prevent it. Factors such as poverty and lack of education. She will find it difficult to get on her feet and will eventually be forced to continue the lifestyle. In such situations the parents are to be blamed for introducing the child to certain lifestyles but they can also indirectly cause their child to turn to a life of crime. An example of this would be a child who has a difficult home life where there is abuse or conflicts. As a result this child may have a low self esteem and  self worth and will be easily influenced by his/her peers and may eventually get involved with things such as drugs. This same child may also have pent up anger and might be violent with his peers. The influence of music is also a contributing factor to crime and violence in Jamaica. Dancehall music has become increasingly violent over the past few years and it is evident that it is influencing our people negatively, especially our young people. It is no secret that Jamaican teenagers look up to and imitate the behaviors of our Jamaican artists. Watching the incredibly violent videos of dancehall sensation Tommy Lee, it is hard to believe that he would allow the distribution of such violent songs and videos. His videos are so violent that they cannot be viewed on television and can only be found on the popular social network Youtube. His songs are also heavily edited to allow radio play. With so many young people looking up to him and singing his lyrics it is nearly impossible for them not to be influenced by his negative lyrics. And this has indeed been happening in our society. My own brother told me about a situation at his school where a teenager wrestled a fellow class mate to the ground and rubbed his shoe in his face. When taken to the office the boy said his classmate had said something he did not like and he referred to popular lyrics from Tommy Lee. Here we are seeing where music is contributing to violence in our country. Many of these popular songs also include lyrics about the use of marijuana and other drugs. When teenagers listen to these songs and hear the people they look up talking about marijuana , they will want to try it too. This leads to the use and distribution of the illegal substance in our country. Jamaica’s poor justice system is also contributing to crime and violence in our society. Recently we are seeing where persons suspected of committing crimes are held in prison and awaiting trial for months and sometimes years at a time. Others are never convicted and are left to roam the streets and even to commit other crimes. It is understandable that persons will want justice for crimes committed against them and/or their loved ones. It must be very difficult to see someone who is responsible for murder walking around free while someone‘s parent, friend or sibling‘s life has been cut short. The family or friend of this deceased person may eventually decide to  stop hoping for the justice system to come through for them and may take matters into their own hands. When this person decides to end the life of the suspected murderer some friend or family of this person may decide to exact revenge on the disgruntled person, thus the chain of violence continues. It has also come to light that some members of the police force are involved in crimes in the country. If we cannot trust the persons who are supposed to protect us and look out for our best interests, then who can we trust? This also explains why many people decide to take their own revenge instead of waiting for the justice system to work. Even police officers who are not involved in crime will sometimes cause the public to lose faith in the justice system by poor methods of investigation, inactivity and poor judgment. Many investigations and open cases are jeopardized by police officers who are either ignorant or just negligent of the procedures to take when gathering evidence. Considering all these problems with the justice system it is not hard to see why some citizens take matters into their own hands and exact their own revenge. The final contributing factor to crime and violence in Jamaica is ineffective methods of dealing with conflict. The citizens of our country seem to not know how to correctly resolve problems. As soon as we feel threatened or offended, even about the smallest things, we resort to violence to â€Å"get back† at the person. We are not a people who will sit and talk through our problems, instead we find the quickest or easiest way to get revenge. Many people are injured and some even lose their lives over simple misunderstandings that could have been resolved without violence. Though our country has a high crime rate we must continue to hope for and work towards a day when there is no violence and crime plaguing our little island. In order to achieve this goal we must first address the root causes of crime and violence, these include factors such as lack of jobs, lack of education, poverty, influence of music, abuse and influence in the home, ineffective methods of conflict resolution and poor justice system.