Chapters 15 20 Questions Answers Essay Example for Free

Chapters 15 20 Questions Answers Essay 1. In Chapter 15, Amir meets with the dying Rahim Khan. Where are they? Peshawar, Pakistan 2. What does Amir say about cliches? Why does Amir use the cliche about an elephant in the room to describe his meeting with Rahim Khan? They are usually dead on. The elephant is the truth about Rahim Khan’s condition – he is dying and doesn’t have much time left. 3. Afghanistan has been seized by what political group in Chapter 15? Taliban 4. In Chapter 16, Rahim tells us what happened to Hassan. What has happened? Where is he living? Hassan went to live in a village just outside Bamiyan where. Rahim Khan finds Hassan, who tells him that Ali was killed by a landmine. Rahim Khan asks Hassan and his wife, Farzana, to live with him. Hassan at first refuses, but agrees after learning of Baba’s death. Their first baby was a stillborn girl. Hassan’s mother, Sanaubar, returns to the home, starving and ill. Hassan and his wife nurse his mother back to health. She in turn delivers Farzana’s son, Sohrab. Sanaubar dies when Sohrab is four. 5. Who is Farzana? Who is Sohrab? Farzana is Hassan’s wife. Sohrab is their son. 6. What happened in 1998 by the Taliban in Mazar-i-Sharif ? The Taliban massacred many Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif. 7. In Chapter 17, Rahim gives Amir a letter from Hassan, who wrote it six months before. What is the tone of this letter? How does Amir react? Hassan is the same old Hassan; a loyal friend who is concerned about Amir. Hassan wrote the letter with excitement and pride. Hassan says he would like to see Amir again. Rahim Khan reveals, however, that Hassan and his wife were murdered by the Taliban a month after the letter was written. Their son, Sohrab, is now living in an orphanage in Kabul. 8. In Chapter 18, Amir finds out that both Hassan and his wife were shot by the Taliban while trying to protect Babas house, as a result, orphaning their son. Rahim tells Amir it is his job to find Sohrab in Karteh-Seh, Afghanistan, and take him to an orphanage in Peshawar, Pakistan. What is Amirs reaction? Do you think Rahims dying wish is unfair? Why or why not? Amir’s reaction is of shock and anger. He doesn’t understand why no one told him this before. Rahim’s wish is not unfair – this is how Amir will remove the guilt and pay back Hassan for what Amir never did in the alleyway years ago. 9. How does the cliche, like father, like son mentioned on page 238, relate to Baba and Amir? Baba and Amir were more alike than he’d ever known. â€Å"We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us. And with that came this realization: that Rahim Khan has summoned me here to atone not just for my sins but for Baba’s too. † (209) 10. What clues hint at the secret that is revealed in Chapter 17-18? Baba had always been so close to Hassan and it makes sense now why he loves Hassan so much. (forgiveness of â€Å"theft†, cleft lip, threatened Amir over the â€Å"new servants† comment, bought the same gifts for Hassan and Amir (kite) – treated them equally, wishes Hassan was here (in America), etc.) 11. In Chapter 19, Farid is engaged to drive Amir from Peshawar to Afghanistan. Describe his first impression of Amir. When Farid said, Youve always been a tourist here, you just didnt know it, (page 245), what did he mean? What is Farids impression of emigrant Afghans who return to visit Afghanistan? Many are shocked at the changes in Afghanistan. They are like tourists in the country, considering the many horrible changes that have taken place. Farid believes that Amir has always been a tourist. Amir has only known a better Afghanistan. Afghanis only come back to sell their land and leave again. 12. What realization does Amir come to in Chapter 19? Amir realizes his life has been a lie all along. Baba favored Hassan in the past – Amir realizes this as a sign that Hassan is his half-brother. He also realizes he must leave to help Sohrab right away before he talks himself out of going. This was his last chance at redemption. (195) 13. In Chapter 20, Amir sees Kabul for the first time since leaving. Describe what he sees. Amir is shocked by the state of Afghanistan. On arriving in Kabul he discovers it has been severely damaged by twenty years of war. The Taliban patrol the streets looking for people to punish. Amir is advised to avoid even looking at them. Amir feels pain and sadness at what he sees. 14. In Chapter 20, the director of the orphanage, Zaman, tells Amir that Sohrab was taken by a Taliban official who takes children, usually girls, about once a month for his sexual pleasure. The official gave Zaman a great deal of cash. How does Zaman defend his actions? He has so many other children he must take care of. If he were not there, they would starve and die. If Zaman refuses, it could destroy the orphanage and save others from being taken and/or killed. The money also provides for their needs (i. e. food. ).

Investigation into Human Resource Planning

Investigation into Human Resource Planning Human Resource Management Planning is not as easy as an organization might consider; it requires intensive work to come out with a programme that ease work. Commenting is complicated, but once a business start and finish it; such company have a smile because everything moves efficiently. Planning is the process that has to be launched from somewhere and completed for the purpose. It involves collecting data that would enable management to make effective decisions. Information obtained is used to make better decisions for achieving Phipps Enterprise objectives. There are many factors that Phipps Enterprise Travel Agency has to consider when choosing an HR Planning programme. HR Planning at Phipps Enterprise Travel Agency involves collecting of data, making objectives, and making effective decisions to enable Phipps’s to achieves its objectives. Unexpectedly, the HR is one of the most neglected fields. When HR Planning is applied correctly in the field, it will assist to address the following questions: How much staff does the organization have? How should the company best exploit the available resources? How can the business retain its staff? HR planning has made the organization move and succeeded in the 21st Century. Human Resources Managers at Phipps Enterprise prepare the HR Planning programme to assist the company to manage its employee strategically. The programme will helps to direct the movements of the HR department. The programme does not help the company only, but it will also facilitate career planning of the staff and assist them to achieve the objectives. This augment motivation and the business would become a safe place 4to work. Poor HR Planning and shortage of it in the company especially like Phipps Enterprise may result in enormous costs and financial losses. The augment costs and hampers effective work functioning because staffs is requested to work overtime and may not put in additional effort due to fatigue. If given additional work, it may stretch employee beyond their limit and may cause pointless disruptions to the organization production. The most important reason HR Planning is used at Phipps Enterprise is to manage and executed is the costs involved. Costs form a significant part of the Organizations budget; workforce planning enables Phipps’s to provide HR provision costs. When there is a staff shortage, the company appoints discriminately because of the costs suggestions of the other options, such as training of staff. Steps in HR Planning Action of Plan There are three essentials necessary for this step. Know where the company is heading. Acceptance and backing management for their plans. Knowledge of the all available resources. Once in action, the HR Plans become a business programs. Failure to achieve the HR Plans may be a serious constraint on the company long-range objectives. Below is an illustration of Phipps Enterprise Travel Agency HR Plan, which is linked to the corporate Plan. Forecasting HR Planning at Phipps Enterprise requires that data gathering on the organizational goals objectives. Employee should understand what the organization wants achieve and how it plans to. The need of the employees is to derive from the business objectives of the company. Inventory Once employees have an understanding of the human resources in the company, the next stage is to take stock of the present staff in the organization. The HR inventory should relate to not only data, ages, and locations, but also to analysis of individuals and skills. Audit Phipps Enterprise does not live in a Static World, and HR resources can transform dramatically. HR inventory collection of data includes HR audit, which requires systematic examination and analysis of such data. Audit looks at what has occurred in the past and present in terms of labor turnover, training costs and absence. Based on this evidence the HR manager can then predict HR in the future in the organization. HR Resource Plan Phipps Enterprise Travel Agency looks at career planning and HR plans. Employees are the greatest assets in any company. Phipps Enterprise is at liberty to develop its employees at full pace in an ideal manner to the individual capacities. The primary motive is that Phipps’s objectives should be aligned with the business strategy in order to give excellent scope for the developing potential of its staff. Therefore, career planning may be referred to as HR or succession planning. Questions that would concern Phipps Enterprise are: Is the company making use of the available talent in the business? Is Phipps Enterprise employees satisfied with the company care of their growth? Human resource planning is a method through which it anticipates future business. It also provides sufficient manpower required to perform all the business doings. HR planning is a continuous practice which starts with employee identifying HR plans, analyze manpower resources and ends with an appraisal for HR planning. The following are the steps involved in human resource planning at Phipps Enterprise Travel Agency: 1. Human Resources Assessing The valuation of HR begins with environmental analysis, both external (PEST) and internal (objectives and resources) is to analyze to the current available HR inventory. After analyzing the external and internal forces of the market, it would be easier for HR manager to discover the internal strengths and weakness of the business in one hand and the other opportunities and threats. It also includes taking inventory of the workers and skills at Phipps Enterprise Travel Agency and a comprehensive job analysis. 2. Demand Forecasting Forecasting of HR is the process of estimating the demand and supply of HR. Demand is the method of determining future needs for HR as o relates to the quantity and quality. Phipps Enterprise uses this method to meet the future requirements of the organization and in the process it achieves the company desired level of production. Future HR needs can be estimated with the assistant of the organizations current human resource and analysis of organizational plans procedures. It will be necessary to perform a yearly analysis for substantial level and type. 3. Supply Forecasting Supply is another side of HR assessment. It is concerned with the valuation of resource of manpower given the analysis of the current resource and availability of HR in the future. Supply forecast estimates the future sources of Phipps’s HR that are likely to be available. Internal source includes promotion and job development, whereas external source includes recruitment and selection. 4. Matching Demand and Supply Another step of HR planning is matching demand and supply, which is a concern with bringing the forecast of HR future demand and supply at Phipps’s. The process talks about demand and supply in a balanced position so that the organization does not have any shortage and overstaffing situation. In the case of shortages, Phipps’s has to hire a number of employees, while if the opposite, over staffing has to be use to reduce the level of current employment. Therefore, by using the matching process it will give the business information about requirements and sources of HR in the company. 5. Action Plan This step is the last phase of HR planning that is concerned with surplus and shortages of the company. Here, the HR program is implemented through the design of different HR events. The primary activity which is required to execute the HR program is a recruitment, selection, training and development, etc. Finally, the stages or steps are charged by control and evaluation of performance to evaluate the program matches the HR objectives and policies. A comparison of recruitment and selection process in two organizations will be done on McDonald’s (company A) and KFC (Company B). McDonald is one of the leading Fast food Chain in the World since 1998. The headquarter is located in Karachi and the regional head office in Lahore. The basic objective of HR Policies at the restaurant is to respect and recognition, values and leadership behaviour, learning, development and personal growth while KFC was establish in the early 1930s by kernel Senders and is a project of Mackenzie Restaurants International limited since 1997 in Pakistan. Over this organization currently employs 6000 people as at such government obtains over 10 million per month as direct taxes. The basic objective of HR Policies at the establishment is to provide coaching, leadership and operational support to employees and in the process providing an optimistic working environment. Illustrated below is a table showing the similarity in the recruitment and selection process at McDonald’s and KFC. Recruitment McDonald’s KFC Decentralized Hiring Batch Hiring Attracting qualified people for the job. Decentralized Process. Internal Based on Past Performance (Promoting from within) Jobs post www.mcdonalds2.rozee.pk Company evaluate current employee to see if they are fit for the opening position (Promoting from within) Job post at www.jobswithkfc.com External Via Internet Newspaper or Magazine ads College Recruiting Internship Contacts with universities Banners ads Newspaper Walk- In Resumes drop off Selection Initial screening McDonald’s Test Interview Background Investigation Final interview Initial screening KFC Tests Skills, behavioral and Physical Test After successfully completed examination, they then move on to the interview stage Training and Development Lectures On job training Crew leader development course Summer crash course Lectures On job training Language programs Regular Counseling and guiding Launching of development programs Recruitment and selection is a vital component in determine an organizations effectiveness and performance, when organization are able to obtain employees who already passes appropriate knowledge, skills and talents also be able to make correct guess about their future abilities. The requirement and selection of employees are fundamental to the performance of an organization. Inappropriate selection decisions decrease organizational effectiveness, cancels reward and develop strategies, are frequently unfair on the individual recruited and can be hard for the manager that has to deal with unfit employees. In order for Phipps’ to stay competitive, they need to have the best employee and them skills. McDonald’s and KFC recruitment process usually start when employee in the organization leaves and such position opens up an opportunity for another applicant to fill their position. One significant effectiveness of recruitment and selection for McDonald’s and KFC is that it help in the decision making of the high management to fill a gap; it help them to find the right candidate with the proper qualifications and skills to do the job not taking into through their race, age, gender or color. The recruitment and selection process is critical to both organizations even though the process can be expensive. It is time-consuming swell, and much thought will be needed by the manager in order to choose the right candidate. References 1. HR Policies KFC McDonalds by Ali Maan on Prezi. [ONLINE] Available at: http://prezi.com/clqamwplk7l6/hr-policies-kfc-mcdonalds/. [Accessed 13 October 2014]. 2. Human Resource Planning Process Or Steps Of HR Planning | Accounting-Management. [ONLINE] Available at:http://accountlearning.blogspot.com/2013/01/human-resource-planning-process-or.html. [Accessed 13 October 2014]. 3. Hr Planning Essay Sanka07. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.studymode.com/essays/Hr-Planning-458782.html. [Accessed 13 October 2014].

Problems of global waste

Problems of global waste The caring for and management of global waste is a global concern for the Earth as the population of Earth grows, and places where waste is deposited becomes a problem. Waste of various kinds is a danger to human health, wildlife preservation, and the environment in a broad range of aspects including how waste affects water supplies, soil contamination, and hazardous environments that remain or become uninhabitable. As the human population grows, so does consumption, and with that consumption huge amounts of waste are formed. concerning the management and the future of how waste is handled locally and globally, as it is a global problem not just local. How people and wildlife can cope with or without a world filled with hazardous material left over from various human activities caused from their disposal of waste. municipal solid waste of most human households affect how we live and how we affect the environment. How medical waste that is thrown in places where it may come into conta ct with the human population and how it can spread disease. How hazardous waste that is perceived by the public as the most potentially dangerous waste, can prove to be fatal if left untreated in populated areas . Is the future of waste management that of recycling or turning waste into usable energy such as electricity and other powered devices. Waste problems do not only affect local environments but the global environments as a whole. Unfortunately when waste is put into landfills the waste does not disappear just because the human eye can no longer see it does not mean the earth and global habitats dont feel the consequences. There are many kinds of waste that effect the world. they are classified by their physical, chemical and biological characteristics of their compounds . Solid waste materials can contain less than 70% water. Solid waste can be materials as household garbage, industrial wastes, mining wastes, and oilfield wastes. Liquid wastes contain less than 1% solids. Liquid waste can contain high concentrations of salts and metals. Sludge is whats in between liquid and solid. Sludge is usually made up of 3% and 25% solids, everything else is water dissolved materials. Landfills affect pollution levels of the environment the contamination of groundwater and aquifers that are used for consumption by humans and anim als the leakage of waste and soil contamination methane gas caused by decaying organic wastes methane which is a greenhouse gas more potent and deadly than carbon dioxide it can cause severe problems for the local environment around the waste site they can also be disease zones can cause outbreaks of certain diseases to the surrounding area and problems of annoyance and health risks such as dust, pests, bad odor, and other problems. Alternative methods can help the environment such as waste reduction and recycling incineration of waste can also reduce waste problems but when waste is burned harmful substances affect our air quality and health. When Waste is burned in incinerators It is a more expensive alternative way of disposal than landfills. In the united states the EPA reported 118.5 million tons or 57 percent of the united states total waste were managed in landfills. Todays incinerators are capable of destroying around 99.9% of the organic waste material that are put into the furnaces. Also this can produce a form of usable energy for Numerous thermal processes that recover energy from the burnt solid waste. waste organizations burn wastes in incinerators to produce steam for energy and is cleaner. Garbage as plastic and other non organic substances burned in incinerators poisons water soil and the air. Areas of life that are near incinerators have objected to them because of fears of harmful pollution. There are drawbacks to the use of incinerators but it is one of the measures that can reduce organic waste problems. In the United states 33.5 million tons of waste or 16 percent total were combusted at high temperatures. Recycling methods are becoming more popular worldwide. Recycling can also be a way to gather energy through thermal treatment from using waste as a way to use for appliances, and too make boilers to produce steam and electricity in a turbine. When items that would be waste if not recycled can be reused and prevent waste of reusable mate rials, lowers the need to keep making more items that would be more waste, and keeps the environment safer than use of other waste management methods like incineration and to prevent water pollution from landfills. recycling has also lower greenhouse gas that is a major concern for our planet. Recyclable products are many items from glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles, and electronics that are refurbished cleaned and gone through different checks to make sure they are safe for re-consumption. unfortunately recycling methods tend to be very expensive alternatives to traditional waste management and for this reason they are turned away for much more environmental damaging solutions. The Environmental Protection Agency reported that 56 million tons or 27 percent of Americas total waste were recovered by recycling. The EPA is encouraging recycling and that recycling in the united states has reduced the countrys total carbon emissions. Recycling has caused some controversy by critics as they often say that the practice is too expensive and not as effective as other methods as incineration which produces energy that is used more than the reused products that are saved from recycling and how landfills are becoming more organized and more environmentally friendly than in the past. To Methods to turn waste into energy as discussed with how incinerators create energy are called Waste-to-energy and is becoming increasingly popular as it turns harmful waste into energy in the form of heat of electricity from the incineration of the waste materials. This form of waste management produce electricity in the form of combustion or produce a combustible fuel in the form of ethane methanol methane and also synthetic fuels that can power various equipments. There are also some very new and developing technologies that produce energy from waste and other fuels without direct combustion like that of incinerators. These new forms of energy producing waste deduction have the poten tial to produce more electric power amount of fuel than would be by direct combustion. The converted fuel produce a higher combustion temperatures. A modern form of waste management is Plasma arc gasification it uses a very high electrical energy and the extreme temperatures created by an electrical arc gasifies. The arc converts waste into elemental gas and solid waste in a plasma converter. this method has been intended to be a generator of electricity, depending what the composition of input wastes are and to reduce the volumes of waste being sent to landfill mounds. Another method of making waste or other products into energy is gasification which converts carbon materials like coal and petroleum into carbon monoxide and hydrogen by placing the materials in a high temperature within a controlled setting of oxygen and steam. This forms synthesis gas and is a fuel. mechanical biological treatment system facilities is a sorting facility that takes care of biological treatment such as anaerobic digestion and composting . mechanical biological treatment facilities are designed to process household wastes along with commercial and industrial wastes.

A Critical Analysis of Wind By Ted Hughes Essay -- Papers Essays

A Critical Analysis of Wind By Ted Hughes Hughes's opening line is sculpted in such a way that it gives the reader an abundance of sensations. The poet achieves amazing efficiency in the line "far out at sea all night" in that the reader is exposed to distance, time and environment. The metaphor of the house being "out at sea" projects the image of a boat "far out" feeling totally isolated. The house faces wave upon wave of inexhaustible pounding from the wind as a boat would from an enraged sea. The time scale of "all night" could literally mean all night or it may refer to the perception that the wind is so acutely intense that it feels prolonged. The words "crashing", "booming" and "stampeding elevate the wind to one of biblical proportions which sounds like an orchestra thumping out a killer crescendo. The line "stampeding the fields" accentuate the brutality of the wind attacking the natural surroundings. In keeping with the oceanic metaphor the house "floundering" evokes a sense futility. The alliteration in "black" and "blinding" impose emphasis upon the words and a heightened sense of awareness in the reader. The second stanza is a witness to the winds legacy. The magnitude of the winds power is illustrated with "the hills had new places". The ultimate measure of the winds potency is that its changed the environment which we would normally imagine reassuringly permanent. The personification in the "wind wielded blade-light" makes the wind dangerous and randomly spiteful. I think the " black and emerald, flexing like the lens of a mad eye" refers back to the sea metaphor in the first stanza. A stormy sky like a stormy ... ...e last two lines of the poem Hughes writes the "window tremble to come in" and "stones cry out". The personification in "tremble" and "cry" show that even inanimate objects are displaying signs of fear and distress. The theme for the poem is ultimate respect for nature's weapons and total humility for anything caught in the conflict. In some instances respect turns to terror as if hiding from an omnipotent tyrant. The structure of the poem is consistent throughout with six stanzas of equal length. Hughes uses a lot of alliteration to break up the reading fluency to reflect the choppy subject of the poem. Hughes's use of metaphor skilfully illustrate the scale and nature of the wind whilst drawing attention to the way the wind exploits the delicacy of the surroundings we usually consider so dependably solid.

Downfall and Salvation in Crime and Punishment :: Crime Punishment Essays

In the novel Crime and Punishment, the so-called "extraordinary man" theory plays an important role. Raskolnikov, downtrodden, and psychologically battered, believes himself to be exempt from the laws of ordinary men. It is this creedo that makes him believe he has the right to murder Alyona Ivanovna. In the nineteenth century, the extraordinary man theory was widely popular. There were two main schools of thought on the subject, the proponents of which were the philosophers Georg Hegel and Freiderich Neitzsche. Both philosophers believed that there were a certain, select, handful of extraordinary people in the world. Both believed that these extraordinary people were above the laws of ordinary men and did not have to submit to their moral code. However, these philosophers disagreed on the motivation of the extraordinary man. Hegel believed that the "superman" could ignore the laws as long as his actions benefited the race of man as a whole. On the other hand, Neitzsche believed that the superman broke the laws in order to benefit himself alone. In a way, Raskolnikov submits to both theories of the extraordinary man. What is important to understand is why Raskolnikov believes himself to be extraordinary. Firstly, Raskolnikov's perilous financial state and near destitution cause him to be pushed to the edge of sanity. Secondly, the natural arrogance that stems from possessing a great intellect (which Raskolnikov does) causes Raskolnikov to believe that he is above everyone else. In respect to his crime, one can look at it from both the Hegelian and Neitzschean point of view. For the first five sections of Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov takes a Hegelian view of his crime. He convinces himself that he killed Alyona Ivanovna because she was a bloodsucking leach on the body of the poor. Raskolnikov believes he is doing mankind a service by removing the dishonest and unfair pawnbroker. It is not until part six that Raskolnikov admits to himself that his ultimate motive was Neitzschean. He finally admits to Sonia that he killed Alyona just to see if he could do it. He wanted to know whether he was a "Napoleon," able to commit an evil act and walk away with no remorse. In short, Raskolnikov killed Alyona not because she was dishonest and he needed money, he killed her simply to benefit his ego. In some ways, the extraordinary man theory also applies to Svidrigailov and Luzhin.

Effect of violent video games Essay

There are millions of people who play highly controversial games like Grand Theft Auto and other violence video games, realize that it is a game and do not do things they do in the game in real life. If people believe that video games cause behavior problems, they are underlying issues with the gamer himself, and not with the software, but according to American Psychological Association, almost ninety percent of kids between the ages eight and sixteen are addicted to video game especially the violent one. The average girls spends almost six to eight hour week’s playing video games which does not sound bad comparing to boys who spends an average of thirteen hours a week. Some parents reported that video games only describe virtual reality, and should not translate into real world problem. However, children are more likely to imitate the actions of a character with which they classify themselves with. In all violent video games, players are often required to take point of view of the shooter or perpetrator, which show a change of their behavior. Study shows that repetition increases learning and video games required repetition in order to master control characters movement. If the game is violent, then the effect is a behavioral practice for a violent activity. These children who are involve in playing violent video games are more aggressive than who are not involve with these game, which at some point of their life, they will get heart or might die because of their action. Recently, parents become unaware with their kids behavior in real life. Some of them let their kids do whatever they like to do like playing violent video games for long hours or watching brutal shows on television. Report by American Psychological Association â€Å"disagree that violent video games cause behavior problems, because the choices people make cause violent behavior. Video games, even the violent once, can be good experience. † But parents need to teach their kids those video games need to be separate from reality. The choices they make in their daily life have absolutely nothing to do with video games. In fact they may be able to take out any aggressions that they have on a video game, rather than go out and beat someone up, that what their parents believe, but what they do not know is playing video game frequently for long hours has a huge negative on kids because it feed their brain with aggression, violence, and fighting which creates problems such as poor social skills from kids to their parents and the outside world. Sociology studies shows that boys by the age of twenty-one had spend more than 10000 hours or more just by playing video games American Psychological Association wrote â€Å"97% between the age 12 to 17 in the US played video game†¦ top 10 out of 20 were violent. † USA today made study twenty years ago about sixty percent of American family had sat down as family dinners, same study last year the number drop down to twenty percent. Because kids are spending their times on video game, it creates huge problems such as poor social skills, poor grade in school, and live in hostile environment. Psychologist concludes, that video game is nature requirement activities, because it based on reward system and as human we try to be satisfied and achieved all requirements. For example, in video game Mafia 2, the character is required to rob bank which is the basic objective. But if the player kills all securities without triggering the alarm, the player will receive bounce. Since all players love to achieve more, they will do the mission, after completing the mission they will play it again in order to get the bounces. If parents are worried that their children are addicted to violent video game and spending so much time playing it, they should set limits, like playing video game for an hour after completing their homework, also try to encourage their children to play outside, and do other activity. Parents must check the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to learn about the video game’s content and what age range it belongs to. Parents should strongly monitor their children about video games that they are buying, and from online games. Violent video games have been blamed for increase bullying, assaulting women, and school shooting, because violent games teach children that violence is way to solve problems and it is acceptable in this world. Studied showed that sixty percent of middle school children who played at least one video game that rated mature has hit, beat, and assault other students. Also it shows that students who committed this violence act were enjoying inflected pain and become less forgiving. For example, in Bully the character have to fight with teacher and other student in order to be popular in school. In other word, this video game encourages kids to be disrespectful to the elder and to the other student. Female in violent video games are mostly present as explore to sexual contact, like being rape, get killed, and thrown behind the bushes. What make it ironic is the player is rewarded by getting some extra feature. For example, in LA Noire the character is homicide, in one of his chapter the player must solve several of cases that women been rape, nude, murder, and thrown in dumpster or tree. In 1998 study shows that thirty percent of violent video games involve women been attacked and rape. Another example, in Grand Theft Auto, which considers one of the best seller games in 2008, player must gain money to be able to buy armor or guns so the player will target female for two reasons. First, they carry more cash, and second they weak. Schools shooting have been connected to shooting video games. Students who have been exposed to violent video games held more violent attitudes, had more hostile personalities, were less forgiveness, and believed that being sadistic with other is normal. Seung-Hui Cho the student who opened fire at Virginia Tech incident. He was addicted to shooting game called Counter Strike, the objective of that game is to kill the other team where character are allowed to buy guns, armor, and grenade. Every time the character kill member of the other team he rewarded with money. If parents and schools are affected by kids who play violent video games for long hours, it means media and society are affected too. Societies are concern with violence and media including the internet have extend worlds of video game, especially the violent one, such as the Hitman series, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat, and more. The character in video games may get away when he committed crime or brutal events. As adults they know the different between real life and fiction one, but kids do not know that. Kids might steal money or attack other kids believing they will get away. For example, in Grand Theft Auto player can steal car, run over pedestrian, and hit another car. With kind action the police well attempt to arrest you character. However, if the character were able to drive fast or hide inside building for couple of minutes police will ignore you and let you free.

Case on TQM Essay

ABSTRACT: Using case study methodology, the authors asked quality managers about their company’s experience with ISO 9000:1994 and total quality management (TQM) implementation. The results show that initially the standard could help some companies reorganize their procedures and define responsibilities and duties. However, managers’ perspectives on its possible effect on company performance are not positive. Only product quality improves after implementation. On the contrary, TQM has improved many aspects of performance, the most influential aspects being those â€Å"soft† dimensions of leadership and human resource management. These aspects were not included in ISO 9000:1994. After analyzing ISO 9000 as a first step toward the TQM implementation, as much of the literature advises, the authors’ findings suggest that managers consider it to be a disturbing element when implemented jointly with TQM. Their study points out that, in practice, there are two parallel quality systems in a company. To get better results, it is important to adapt ISO requirements to facilitate TQM implementation; otherwise, the only advantage of the registration is the â€Å"permission† to selling the market. INTRODUCTION: Over the last decade, ISO 9000 certification has been the subject of many articles. The phenomenon of its quick development led to a belief that it was a great advantage for a company to attain registration. In keeping with this, many researchers tried to identify the impact of ISO 9000 certification on companies’ results and management. An important group of researchers has not found any strong positive relationship between certification and results. However, there is another group of articles that points out an influence of registration on product quality. Apart from any influence derived from implementation, some authors advocated that certification could be a good first step toward a total quality management (TQM) system, raising awareness of quality among workers and a good climate in which to implement it. Regarding this point, implementation of the standard was advised with the aim of implementing TQM in order to obtain maximum benefits from the registration (Brecka, 1994; Meegan and Taylor 1997; Huarng, Horng, and Chen 1999; Hughes, Williams, and Ryall 2000; Sun 2000; Gotzamani and Tsiotras 2002). The question is: Do companies really implement ISO certification with this aim? Is the accepted wisdom that ISO certification could â€Å"help† companies attain a TQM system true? Which aspects of ISO do that? The purpose of this research is to empirically evaluate the real contribution of ISO 9000 toward TQM implementation. METHODOLOGY: Case study methodology is best when the objective is to build theory in preliminary phases of a research study or to add new perspectives to previous research (Yin 1994). Part of this research can be considered as preliminary, because there is still little evidence on how the ISO 9000 and TQM act jointly in management. The objective of the case study is not the statistical generalization, but the analytical one. This methodology tries to generalize from case to theory; it does not attempt to extrapolate facts from sample to population. Relating to the number of cases, the lower number will allow the researcher to obtain more information (Voss, Tsikriktsis, and Frohlich 2002). However, a multiple case study increases reliability and external validity. †¢ Predict similar results (literal replication) †¢ Get different results due to predictable reasons The authors chose a multiple case study instead of a single one to increase external validity and reliability. Fourteen companies among the biggest manufacturing companies in Spain were selected for the study. The cases were selected with the condition of being certified at least by the ISO 9000:1994. Three of them were applying TQM and two were recently certified by the new version of ISO 9000:2000. The case study protocol included two questionnaires in order to apply triangulation. One of them was used in the interview with the quality manager. The other questionnaire was to be completed by other managers not associated with the quality area. The authors took into consideration other documents supplied by the company and direct observation through plant visits. Table 1 shows the companies participating in the study and their characteristics. Later in this article, the authors assign a number for each company in order to safeguard confidentiality of responses. The criteria used to select companies were mainly: †¢ Homogeneity of external factors: The authors focused on manufacturing companies since ISO 9000 was initially designed for industrial companies. RESULTS: Effects of TQM on Company Performance: First the authors classified companies according to the degree of implementation of a total quality system. They identified three companies with high levels and experience in TQM the remaining companies had a low degree of TQM implementation. This classification was based on information about TQM dimensions such as customer orientation, work teams for continual improvement, consciousness about quality, quality planning, and so on. Managers of the three TQM companies were asked about the perceived performance improvements as a result of TQM implementation. The three managers agreed that TQM implementation had benefited the company in many ways. Then the authors asked them to position the improvements in a set of performance measurements, explaining why the TQM system had improved every measure. Measurements were obtained from a literature review that relates quality management and performance. The richness of the case study is that the manager is able to explain at the moment of completing the questionnaire the â€Å"why† of each rate and to add evidence to the question. Table 2 shows the results along with some notes from managers. The last column shows the value of the influence on each measure based on the majority of responses (1-2=low, 3=medium, 4-5=high). In the cases where companies’ responses are very different (one of each) there is not enough evidence to affirm that TQM influences that point. According to these managers’ perceptions, TQM influences product quality, customer service, fast response, competitiveness, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and motivation, rate of defects, and stock price. Regarding the customers’ claims, it is important to note that two managers indicated that this point had not improved because customers today are more demanding than before. A similar explanation is valid for warranty costs. One company also pointed out that these costs often come from a wrong use of the product and not from its quality. Exports and innovations were not tested because of the particular characteristics of the companies interviewed Financial measures were difficult to mark. Managers agreed that they would need more information to position themselves, although they perceived that the market in general values the fact that the company has implemented a TQM system and consequently, the stock price rises. After completing the questionnaire, managers were asked to indicate the elements of TQM that are â€Å"more responsible† for company improvements. Following are their responses †¢ Company 1: â€Å"The most important aspect is that everybody in the company, including the cleaning service, the doorman, and the accountant, is conscious and worried about quality. Before, the only people interested in quality were the quality department staff.† †¢ Company 4: â€Å"Personnel motivation and participation. If you get this, then the complete system works.† †¢ Company 12: â€Å"First, the general belief of the importance of quality. Second, the decision to be real leaders. Managers and staff move together towards the same aim.â⠂¬  Effects of ISO 9000 on Company Performance: Quality managers were also asked about the influence that ISO 9000:1994 registration has had on the same aspects of company results that were considered for TQM. They were asked to give a score from 1 to 5 (1=no influence, 5=very strong influence). The global influence that ISO 9000:1994 has had over each variable, evaluated according to the majority of responses, is presented in the final column of Table 3. As can be seen, the only aspect that clearly improved from the date of certification was product quality. One manager said this was because they had to create procedures and reduce variability in the production process because of ISO implementation. All of them agreed that the product was the same as before certification. The only difference was that after ISO implementation it was more controlled. The defect rate had consequently decreased as well. The effect on both customer satisfaction and competitiveness was medium. It is worth explaining that when the quality manager considered that certification could improved these variables, he always explained that â€Å"customer satisfaction† was derived from the accomplishment of a previous requirement from him: to attain certification. Some other managers pointed out that this satisfaction could be due to improvement in claims management. When ISO 9000 was first created, being a certified company was a competitive advantage. Today this advantage has disappeared and it has become a requirement to compete in the market. The effect on customer service was also medium. In this sense, ISO 9000 certification has been useful to organize the claims management system. Each claim must be registered and evaluated. There must exist a procedure to solve claims. Regarding the employees, the ISO 9000 system improved their productivity and their interest in quality problems. Improvement in productivity is again explained by better procedures and work instructions. However, many managers have confessed that employee satisfaction worsened because of the bureaucracy of the system. The documentation needed to sustain the system increased their workload. The remaining variables are not considered to have any impact on results. Note that the financial measures were not influenced by the implementation of the standard. When managers were asked about the main advantages and disadvantages of certification, they agreed that certification is helpful to organize the production system through procedures and work instructions. The paperwork generated was identified as the most negative consequence. After asking if certification was profitable, the majority answered that â€Å"it had to be,† pointing out that nowadays it is a basic requirement. â€Å"If we did not have it, we couldn’t sell,† they affirmed. ISO 9000 and TQM: If data on the companies that had implemented TQM are analyzed, it can be seen that certification had less impact on nearly all results. The first company shows higher marks in some variables. This company was the only one that started the quality journey by implementing ISO 9000 first and then TQM. It would explain the fact that the ISO standard could help managers organize the production process when quality management was at an initial stage. In fact, the manager of this company stated that formalization was useful for learning and for having criteria for future comparisons. The other two managers of companies applying TQM did not find any impact, although they suggested that the certification could help in some cases when companies had problems regarding process management. Finally, as an interesting note, one of the managers was worried about the new version of the standard, ISO 9000:2000. As explained before, managers try to establish minimal requirements in the quality manual to avoid what they believe as disturbances in their normal work. In his opinion, the new version represents a higher level of a quality system, is more demanding, and tries to incorporate some points more in line with the TQM system. It would mean that the auditor should have access to new fields in his or her company, and they would have to allow him or her to interrupt many aspects of the process. It could mean that the company worked less well than before. CONCLUSION: The authors asked quality managers of 14 companies about their experience with both ISO 9000:1994 implementation and TQM. Only three of the 14 companies had implemented TQM. Those companies have had improvements in performance as a result. These were mainly in product quality, customer and employee satisfaction, and competitiveness. When asked about the most important dimensions of TQM for getting these better results, managers agreed on leadership and employee participation. Regarding ISO 9000, the results show that the only clear improvement is in product quality. Managers agree that certification was useful in the initial stages of quality system implementation, mainly because they improved their production process through the development of work procedures, creating an atmosphere in which quality played an important role and defining responsibilities and duties. Initially, ISO 9000 certification was a competitive tool because it was still a novelty. However, today, certification is no longer a competitive advantage, but a prerequisite to play in the market. The authors have detected that companies that are applying TQM have fewer improvements in performance when ISO 9000 was implemented than the others. One of them presents slightly higher values, and, by coincidence, it is the only one that was ISO 9000 registered before implementing TQM. This could give the impression that the standard could be a good first step toward TQM implementation n. However, a more in-depth interview with managers changed the authors’ point of view. The managers point out that the ISO standard can be an obstacle when implemented jointly with a TQM system, interfering in the normal operation of the business and allowing the auditor to â€Å"inspect† too many aspects of the quality system and slowing it down. The solution to this problem provided by some of the Spanish managers interviewed was to completely separate implementation of a TQM system from the ISO 9000 system. Within other business culture contexts, the solution could well be different. Those companies that decided to apply the ISO regulation more strictly introduced all those aspects related to GCT in the manual. Then, the auditor will have a more important role and his or her understanding of what TQM is will be more important in these cases. Therefore, the effect of ISO 9001:2000 on company results will also depend on two factors: 1) the managers’ fulfilment of norms, and 2) the auditors’ understanding of TQM. Differences among countries due to different management cultures will then be a cause of differences in ISO 9001 effects and an interesting topic of analysis. The new version of the standard is closer to a TQM system. In particular, it tries to improve human resource management, customer focus, and leadership. According to managers, and supported by the conclusions of previous authors, the â€Å"soft† variables of TQM are responsible for the improvement in results derived from TQM implementation. It is an opportunity for companies to achieve better performance by applying the new version adequately. This new standard could also be a good first step toward a TQM system. Further research in this sense would be interesting to help managers attain more benefits from certification.