STAR Industries - Managing Performance - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2308 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Research paper Level High school Did you like this example? STAR Industries Manage Performance Table of Contents Background Summary Reasons for Probation Review Current Policy and Procedures Processes and Methods Performance Management Feedback Appraisals Tools Feedback Forms and Questionnaires Action plan Checklist Online resources Schedule Conclusion References . Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "STAR Industries Managing Performance" essay for you Create order Background Summary STAR Industriesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ current Probation Policies and Procedures need to be reviewed and amended. In compliance with government legislations, new employees are entitled to have a probation period, which would make their transition much easier from induction to working productively. The current policies and procedures are too vague as it does not entail what its performance managements are as well as how they receive feedbacks and appraisals. In order for STAR Industries to continuously improve, the company would review and amend their current policies and procedures, and they will implement these changes into the probation process. Reasons for Probation After every induction process, it is essential to have a probation period. The probation period can be seen as a trial/ testing period where they can assess whether or not the job is right for the new employees. The employer will find that the new employees may not have the skills and knowledge expected or they are unsuitable for the job. Likewise, the employee/s may find that they are not suited to their new roles. The probation period allows both the employer and the employees the power to terminate the employment within a shorter notice than if it was continued beyond the intended timeline. This is also a period where the employer will be able to identify and assess the new employeesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ performance gaps as well as helping them to adjust to their new roles. By identifying and addressing the new employeesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ performance gaps early on, it will prevent the company from making unfair dismissals/ terminations as well as keeping the new employees leavin g their jobs. It will also prevent the employees from anxiety, stress and other negative attitudes that would affect their performance. The company would able to deal these by conducting training (such as mentoring, coaching, shadowing, etc.), performance management criteria and routine interviews, as well as allowing the new employees to provide feedback and answering any of their enquiries regarding their employment. To provide support to these new employees, they are encouraged to discuss their job performances as well as work goals, targets and milestones during their routine sessions with their immediate supervisor or manager. Their work goals, targets and milestones will reflect on the employee awards and salary. By discussing these, the STAR Industries would be able to help and support these new employees through developing their skills and knowledge up the employee awards and salary ladder. Thus this is why having a probation period is essential to both the company and th e new employees. Review Current Policy and Procedures The current STAR Industriesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ probationary policies and procedures are quite vague in terms of the processes of performance management, feedbacks and appraisals. Because it is not specific enough, when read through the document, many will have different interpretations of its content. As a result, there will be possibility of unfair procedures and repercussions. To prevent this from happening, it is recommended that the Probationary Policies and Procedures are to be reviewed and implemented for the new employees of STAR Industries. Processes and Methods To be able to assess the new employeesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ performance gaps and preventing them feeling any negative attitudes that would affect their work performance, all new positions are entitled to be placed in a probationary period. The standard STAR Industriesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ probation period is 3 months which will include performance management, feedback and appraisals. By implementing these, it gives an opportunity to evaluate the new staffà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance, commitment and general suitability for the role/s. Performance Management Training There is a possibility that the new employeesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ do not have the level of skills and knowledge expected for their roles. It is for that reason that training can be used to develop skills and knowledge in order to improve their work performances. Most of these methods are done face-to-face so that should anything happen, they can be dealt with as quickly as possible. Coaching To monitor on an individualà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s overall progress, coaching is use to improve a wider range of work and life skills. Coaching is most effective type of training in response to performance gaps. To help employees develop their potential, workplace coaches are there to help employees providing opportunities to achieve their short and long-term work goals. Mentoring Mentoring is use when there is a role model or a more experienced person in the organisation passes on their knowledge and skills to the new employee or lesser experienced individual. Usually, but not always, the mentor would be the employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s boss/ manager/ supervisor. The trainee or lesser experienced individual looks up to these role models to see how things are done and what is being accepted as suitable behaviour within the workplace. Shadowing Shadowing is a process where the new employee follows another employees (more experienced staff) observing them at work for a specified period of time. This helps the employee by giving them an understanding of the company as they see them in daily action and application in the workplace. It also gives the employee an insight to explore potential career paths within the company. Shadowing can also allow the employee to see examples and then demonstrate/ practice the job skills as well as foster relationships and communications with other current staff members, clients/ customers and vendors. Goal-setting sessions Goal setting can be the most challenging but also the most important task in the workplace. Employees need to be aware of the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s goals, targets and milestones in order to achieve them. It also uplifts the employeesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ morale by developing a weekly or monthly meeting system to talk with them about companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s status and upcoming events and objectives. This will get the employees on board and give them an understanding of companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s strategic direction. To ensure that the goals are met, they should be written clearly and easy to understand. The progress must also be followed up to make sure that the employees are on track of achieving their goals. Feedback Two-way Feedback Providing feedback simply tells the new employee on their quality of performance. Two-way feedback on the other hand is a more effective way where the employer also received feedback, either on their performance and/ or business. Both parties must be prepared to listen to what the other is saying, without being defensive if the comment is not good. Not only does feedback is use as to criticise on poor performance, but also as a way to motivate, direct and present the opportunity to improve. It is vital to listen to the feedback carefully, ask questions to clarify, and understand the valid points that have been discussed. Peer Feedback Another way for people to continuously improve is peer feedback where it would be used to give each other suggestions, opinions and ideas. From the new employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s perspective, it can be used to see what their fellow co-workersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ evaluation of the new employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s work performance. To compare and determine if they have conducted the probationary programme effectively, managers/ supervisors would ask for feedback from their fellow peers/ colleagues. Peer feedback can be seen as a two-way process where it gives people the opportunity to determine each otherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s strengths and weaknesses and to give support when needed. Interview/ meetings Regularly meeting face-to-face is one of the most effective ways that people get feedback or inform on poor performance or workplace behaviour. These meetings can be done formally or informally. During these interviews/ meetings, it is important to address any concerns in these opportune moments as well as to assess the new employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s progress. Since the probation period is 3 months long, it is recommended that these meetings must be done weekly in order to support the new employee and to check up on any of their concerns. Appraisals Performance gaps During the probation period, it is important to identify, document and address the new employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance gaps. By analysing these performance gaps, this will help the employer to determine whether or not the new employee will need training on particular skills/ jobs. This will help the employee to become quickly productive and to achieve their own personal work goals/ targets/ milestones. If the new employee fails to improve on their performance after their training, employers, who document their performance gaps, would use these as evidence to support a decision to terminate the employee at the end of the probation period. Tools These are the tools that the line managers/ supervisors and new employees would use to help them during the probation period. Feedback Forms and Questionnaires Managers/ supervisors would use these templates (which is available on the STAR Industriesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Intranet) to receive feedback from the new employees and other managers. These documents/ forms would be used to determine the effectiveness of the probation process. In order to continuously improve, these will be collected and assessed by the HR department to determine the effectiveness of the probation period. Action plan Employees would be given a probationary action plan which they are obligated to submit their personal work goals, targets and milestones. With their goals, targets and milestones made known, this will allow the managers/ supervisors help the new employees to achieve their goals, targets and milestones. The action plan would be used in conjunction with the goal-setting sessions and/or interviews/meetings. Checklist There are two types of checklist; one for the manager/ supervisor and the other for the new employee. The checklist will be used in conjunction with the probationary schedule. The checklist will be broken up into weekly sections, which would include all of the necessary tasks, methods, objectives and tools. The checklist is used as a reference to ensure that the probation process is on track and that it does not let the manager/ supervisor stumble through the procedure. This also reduces the new employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s anxiety and gives them some reassurance that the company does see that their employment to the organisation is important. Online resources Online is a multi-medium which would possess a great number of resources. Online resources will not only gives staff access to the STAR Industriesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ intranet with links to probationary templates, it also allows them gain access to electronic manuals and tools, case studies, reference videos, websites, and other related resources. Both the manager/supervisor and the new employee would use resource in their own time. Schedule Both the manager/supervisor and the new employee would use the probationary schedule. The schedule would be used in conjunction with the probationary checklist. This is used as a reference to ensure that the probation process is on track. The schedule would be an Excel spreadsheet with the necessary tasks, methods, objectives and tools in alignment with a 3-month period, weekly timeline. On the next page is a brief timeline of what the schedule should be based on. Probation Timeline Week 1 First probation meeting/ interview Talk about their employment and probation to ensure they understand Provide them with checklist and schedule of their probation Answer any of their enquiries Goal setting session Establishing what their goals and targets are going to be over the next twelve months with milestones in between; action plan Introduce to coach/ mentor/ trainer Provide other resources (online, intranet, manuals, videos, contact list) should they need them Week 2 Work through probation checklist 1 Weekly meeting/ interview to check employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s progress Goal setting sessions à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" check progress and achievements Check progress with coach/ mentor/ trainer Identify performance gaps and address them Answer any of their questions and enquiries Week 5 Work through probation checklist 2 Weekly meeting/ interview to check employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s progress Goal setting sessions à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" check progress and achievements Check progress with coach/ mentor/ trainer Identify performance gaps and address them Answer any of their questions and enquiries Week 9 Work through probation checklist 3 Weekly meeting/ interview to check employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s progress Goal setting session à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" check progress and achievements Check progress with coach/ mentor/ trainer Identify performance gaps and address them Answer any of their questions and enquiries Week 12 Work through probation checklist 4 Feedback + Evaluation Last meeting/ interview to check employeeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s progress Two-way feedback Peer feedback Goal setting session à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" check progress and achievements Check progress with coach/ mentor/ trainer Answer any of their questions and enquiries Remind them that there is support if they need it Conclusion As it is essential that every new employee have a probationary period, it is also necessary that the probation policies and procedures themselves should be outlined clearly. This is so that there is little to no chance of different interpretations and ineffective/ illegal methods which would then potentially lead to dire consequences. Not only does this improvement help and support the new employees, it also helps the managers and supervisor who would be conducting them. By reviewing and implementing the new probation process whilst complying with government legislations, it would allow STAR Industries to continuously improve and help them achieve their business goals. References CCH Australia Limited, Baker and McKenzie Lawyers Macquarie University 2014, Australian Master Human Resources Guide, 10 edn, North CCH Australia, Sydney, New South Wales. Heathfield, S.M 2014, Why Do Organizations Need to Provide Job Shadowing for On-the-Job Training?, viewed on 18 April 2014, https://humanresources.about.com/od/On-The-Job-Training/f/Why-Organizations-Need-To-Provide-Job-Shadowing.htm. Positive Change Consulting 2014, Employee Feedback Building a Positive Workplace Culture, viewed on 22 April 2014, https://www.positivechange.com.au/articles/employee_feedback.html. TAFE Queensland à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE 2014, STAR Industries Intranet, viewed on 7 March 2014, https://my.tafe.qld.gov.au/MSI/MSI_Common/Toolboxes/HR506/shared/intranet/ index.htm. Wanish, H.R 2009, Setting Goals in the Workplace, viewed on 18 April 2014, https://suite.io/heather-rothbauer-wanish/1n9020a.

Cultural Identity Ideology or Nationalistic Sentiments - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 1 Words: 343 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/04/10 Category Culture Essay Level High school Tags: Cultural Identity Essay Did you like this example? Huntington predicts that in modern world nation states will form groups on the basis of civilizational identities, so any coming conflict will be motivated by cultural identity contrary to any ideology or nationalistic sentiments. To explain why any upcoming conflict across different civilizations, he argues that heterogeneity among groups of people, increasing interactions, globalization affecting national identity, non-Western civilisations exploring their own identities, inflexible nature of variations Vis a Vis culture and focus on area based financial agreements. According to him, the confrontation will appear at two levels, lower and higher level. At lower level groups living next to each other quake for control of territory and themselves, while at higher level they outweigh each other in financial and military terms as well as exploitation of IGO’s and propagate their ideologies. Then he explains how west exploits international institutions for her interests and imposition of their civilization values which are not parallel to others, particularly Muslim world. He describes torn countries where leadership is curious to be part of West and being challenged in their efforts by fundamentalists in the society. It will give way to clash between West and non-West and one of the popular reaction would be make an alliance against West. Further, he explains that there will be an anti-West centric alliance due to above mentioned reasons between Confucian and Islamic States against West, and both are working on enhancing of their military capabilities. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Cultural Identity: Ideology or Nationalistic Sentiments" essay for you Create order He concludes his essay with prediction that in the future there will be more and more clashes between different groups among different civilizations and situation will be West Vs non-West. And a conflict between West and Islamic-Confucian alliance. And to stop this emerging threat, he recommends to unify Western civilization, help other civilizations close to West, strengthen international institutions and take steps to stagnant Islamic and Confucian states by limiting their military capabilities plus exploiting internal differences. Lastly, he believes in long term West should maintain its defence and economic strength to any rising civilisation, also understand other civilizations and find elements which both share.

Sexual Harrasment Prevention Essay - 741 Words

Sexual Harassment Prevention BA411 Training and Development Grantham University Gustavo A. Hernandez 1. Create 2 more SMART goals for this training. Identify Different Types of Sexual Harassment Specific: Trainees will become familiar and aware of the many different forms that sexual harassment comes in. Measurable: Trainees will obtain knowledge on the following topics on sexual harassment: Harassing Conduct, Sexual Joking, Sexist Words, Sexist Behavior, Sexual Advances, and Requests for Sex and Sexual Intimidation. Attainable: At this programs conclusion, participants should be able to: * Define sexual harassment. * Identify the myths surrounding sexual harassment. * Review the laws and basic court decisions†¦show more content†¦For the option confronting the harasser, the mean pre-training rating was 3.8, as compared to a mean post-training rating of 4.0, a statistically significant change at plt;0.001. For the option ignoring the behavior, the mean pre-training rating was 2.5, as compared to a mean post-training rating of 2.2, a statistically significant change at plt;0.001. For the option discussing with a co-worker, the mean pre-training rating was 3.4, as compared to a mean post-training rating of 3.6, a statistically significant change at plt;.05. 3. Using the Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model did the training achieve the desired results? Why or why not? Results from the case study information indicate that the Sexual Harassment Prevention Training program â€Å"achieved the goal of increasing the likelihood that attendees would contact a manager and/or human resources if sexually harassed. The training program also achieved the goal of decreasing the likelihood that trainees would ignore sexually harassing behavior† (Moskowitz, 2008). 4. Where any unexpected questions raised from this training? If so which questions? If not, why do you think the results were expected? Yes. In this case study, or evaluation process, we found that the trainees would rather confront the harassers face-to-face as a first line of defense rather than seeking help elsewhere. 5. Which levels of information were collected and used in the Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model?Show MoreRelated Sexual Harrasment in the Workplace Essay793 Words   |  4 PagesSexual Harrasment in the Workplace Sexual Harassment in the workplace is something so common, but ironically pushed aside which results in serious legal matter. What is sexual harassment? Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It also takes the form of unsolicited sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment that interferes with an individual’s work performanceRead MoreThe Relationship Between Bullying And Suicide Essay1308 Words   |  6 PagesSchool of Medicine’s Child Study Center.(www.medicine.yale.edu) Prevention starts at home , children should have it instilled in their minds what bullying may do to someone even themself if bullied. Most bullying starts in grade school with just name calling and throwing of objects , as we progress in age the bullying may get worse. All though Bullying is not illegal there are anti-bullying legislations in 49 states. Harrasment, and intimidation are terms used in the state of NJ to identifiy withRead MoreEnsure A Safe Workplace : Muhammad Talha. Automotive Industry And A T Autoworks N S Report5562 Words   |  23 Pagessuch as training, supervision, and procedures, require constant vigilance and effort to maintain. Physical changes such as improved workplace layout do not require the same level of effort and are more effective and a sustainable means of injury prevention. 2: Use mechanical devices to reduce heavy lifting, awkward postures, sustained postures and other body stressing Many mechanical devices are already in use, such as tools powered by compressed air, hoists, cranes and lifting hooks, bead breakers

Movie Review Full Metal Jacket - 1477 Words

Ronald Lee Emery, retired Staff Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps famous for his role in the movie Full Metal Jacket, once spoke about the call to battle saying, â€Å"It s my firm conviction that when Uncle Sam calls, by God we go, and we do the best that we can.† This is a simple yet powerful quote that embodies the feeling of duty to his country that provokes ordinary citizens to leave their everyday lives behind them and join the cause to protect their country. People enlist in the armed forces for a multitude of reasons but one reoccurring reason is a feeling of duty towards protecting ones country and in the case of the civil war this was a widely spread concept. The Union and Confederate soldiers possessed deeply held ideological, political, and patriotic convictions, which were the major reasons they enlisted, fought, and remained in the ranks. McPherson claims these ideals that motivated soldiers to join the army were a combination of duty to country as well as ones comrades, personal honor, and patriotism. Furthermore he claims that ideology and images of manhood were just as important to soldier motivation as group cohesion was. McPherson’s main argument about what motivated soldiers during the war breaks down the motivations of Civil War soldiers into three categories, the initial motivation or enlistment, the â€Å"sustaining† motivation, and finally combat motivation. While different, these three motivations were all intertwined and if not strong enough couldShow MoreRelatedMasculinity in Movies: Full Metal Jacket Essay753 Words   |  4 PagesMasculinity in Movies: Full Metal Jacket Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 film which portrays the early careers of U.S. Marine Corps recruits preparing for the Vietnam War. 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The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Chapters 13 Free Essays

Fred raised an eyebrow and relaxed just slightly. I glanced behind us. What had Riley been looking at? Nothing had changed – just some family pictures of dead people, a smal mirror, and a cuckoo clock. We will write a custom essay sample on The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Chapters 13 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Hmm. Was he checking the time? Maybe our creator had given him a deadline, too. â€Å"‘Kay, guys, I’m going out,† Riley said. â€Å"You don’t have to be afraid today, I promise.† The light burst into the basement through the open door, magnified – as only I knew – by Riley’s skin. I could see the bright reflections dance on the wal . Hissing and snarling, my coven backed into the corner opposite from Fred’s. Kristie was in the very back. It looked like she was trying to use her gang as a kind of shield. â€Å"Relax, everybody,† Riley cal ed down to us. â€Å"I am absolutely fine. No pain, no burn. Come and see. C’mon!† No one moved closer to the door. Fred was crouched against the wal beside me, eyeing the light with panic. I waved my hand a tiny bit to get his attention. He looked up at me and measured my total calm for a second. Slowly he straightened up next to me. I smiled encouragingly. Everyone else was waiting for the burn to start. I wondered if I had looked that sil y to Diego. â€Å"You know,† Riley mused from above, â€Å"I’m curious to see who is the bravest one of you. I have a good idea who the first person through that door is going to be, but I’ve been wrong before.† I rol ed my eyes. Subtle, Riley. But of course it worked. Raoul started inching his way toward the stairs almost immediately. For once, Kristie was in no hurry to compete with him for Riley’s approval. Raoul snapped his fingers at Kevin, and both he and the Spider-Man kid reluctantly moved to flank him. â€Å"You can hear me. You know I’m not fried. Don’t be a bunch of babies! You’re vampires. Act like it.† Stil, Raoul and his buddies couldn’t get farther than the foot of the stairs. None of the others moved. After a few minutes, Riley came back. In the indirect light from the front door, he shimmered just a tiny bit in the doorway. â€Å"Look at me – I’m fine. Seriously! I’m embarrassed for you. C’mere, Raoul!† In the end, Riley had to grab Kevin – Raoul ducked out of the way as soon as he could see what Riley was thinking – and drag him upstairs by force. I saw the moment when they made it into the sun, when the light brightened from their reflections. â€Å"Tel them, Kevin,† Riley ordered. â€Å"I’m okay, Raoul!† Kevin cal ed down. â€Å"Whoa. I’m al †¦ shiny. This is crazy!† He laughed. â€Å"Wel done, Kevin,† Riley said loudly. That did it for Raoul. He gritted his teeth and marched up the stairs. He didn’t move fast, but soon he was up there sparkling and laughing with Kevin. Even from then on, the process took longer than I would have predicted. It was stil a one-by-one thing. Riley got impatient. It was more threats than encouragement now. Fred shot me a look that said, You knew this? Yes, I mouthed. He nodded and started up the stairs. There were stil about ten people, mostly Kristie’s group, huddled against the wal . I went with Fred. Better to come out right in the middle. Let Riley read into that what he would. We could see the shining, disco-bal vampires in the front yard, staring at their hands and each other’s faces with rapt expressions. Fred moved into the light without slowing, which I thought was pretty brave, al things considered. Kristie was a better example of how wel Riley had indoctrinated us. She clung to what she knew regardless of the evidence in front of her. Fred and I stood a little space from the others. He examined himself careful y, then looked me over, then stared at the others. It struck me that Fred, though real y quiet, was very observant and almost scientific in the way he examined evidence. He’d been evaluating Riley’s words and actions al along. How much had he figured out? Riley had to force Kristie up the stairs, and her gang came with her. Final y we al were out in the sun, most people enjoying how very pretty they were. Riley rounded everyone up for one more quick practice session – mostly, I thought, to get them to focus again. It took them a minute, but everyone started to realize that this was it, and they got quieter and more fierce. I could see that the idea of a real fight – of being not only al owed but encouraged to rip and burn – was almost as exciting as hunting. It appealed to people like Raoul and Jen and Sara. Riley focused on a strategy he’d been trying to dril into them for the last few days – once we’d pinpointed the yel oweyes’ scent, we were going to divide in two and flank them. Raoul would charge them head-on while Kristie attacked from the side. The plan suited both their styles, though I wasn’t sure if they were going to be able to fol ow this strategy in the heat of the h unt. When Riley cal ed everyone together after an hour of practice, Fred immediately started walking backward toward the north; Riley had the others facing south. I stayed close, though I had no idea what he was doing. Fred stopped when we were a good hundred yards away, in the shade of the spruce trees on the fringe of the forest. No one watched us move away. Fred was eyeing Riley, as if waiting to see if he would notice our retreat. Riley began speaking. â€Å"We leave now. You’re strong and you’re ready. And you’re thirsty for it, aren’t you? You can feel the burn. You’re ready for dessert.† He was right. Al that blood hadn’t slowed the return of the thirst at al . In fact, I wasn’t sure, but I thought it might be coming back faster and harder than usual. Maybe overfeeding was counterproductive in some ways. â€Å"The yel ow-eyes are coming in slowly from the south, feeding along the way, trying to get stronger,† Riley said. â€Å"She’s been monitoring them, so I know where to find them. She’s going to meet us there, with Diego† – he cast a significant glance toward where I’d just been standing, and then a quick frown that disappeared just as quickly – â€Å"and we wil hit them like a tsunami. We wil overwhelm them easily. And then we wil celebrate.† He smiled. â€Å"Someone’s going to get a jump on the celebration. Raoul – give me that.† Riley held out his hand imperiously. Raoul reluctantly tossed him the bag with the shirt. It seemed like Raoul was trying to lay claim to the girl by hogging her scent. â€Å"Take another whiff, everybody. Let’s get focused!† Focused on the girl? Or the fight? Riley himself walked the shirt around this time, almost like he wanted to make sure everyone was thirsty. And I could see from the reactions that, like me, the burn was back for them al . The scent of the shirt made them scowl and snarl. It wasn’t necessary to give us the scent again; we forgot nothing. So this was probably just a test. Just thinking about the girl’s scent had venom pooling in my mouth. â€Å"Are you with me?† Riley bel owed. Everyone screamed his or her assent. â€Å"Let’s take them down, kids!† It was like the barracuda again, only on land this time. Fred didn’t move, so I stayed with him, though I knew I was wasting time I needed. If I were going to get to Diego and pul him away before the fighting could start, I would need to be near the front of the attack. I looked after them anxiously. I was stil younger than most of them – faster. â€Å"Riley won’t be able to think of me for about twenty minutes or so,† Fred told me, his voice casual and familiar, like we’d had a mil ion conversations in the past. â€Å"I’ve been gauging the time. Even a good distance away, he’l feel sick if he tries to remember me.† â€Å"Real y? That’s cool.† Fred smiled. â€Å"I’ve been practicing, keeping track of the effects. I can make myself total y invisible now. No one can look at me if I don’t want them to.† â€Å"I’ve noticed,† I said, then paused and guessed, â€Å"You’re not going?† Fred shook his head. â€Å"Of course not. It’s obvious we’re not being told what we need to know. I’m not going to be Riley’s pawn.† So Fred had figured it out on his own. â€Å"I was going to take off sooner, but then I wanted to talk to you before I left, and there hasn’t been a chance til now.† â€Å"I wanted to talk to you, too,† I said. â€Å"I thought you should know that Riley’s been lying about the sun. This four-day thing is a total crock. I think Shel y and Steve and the others figured it out, too. And there’s a lot more politics going on with this fight than he’s told us. More than one set of enemies.† I said it fast, feeling with terrible urgency the movement of the sun, the time passing. I had to get to Diego. â€Å"I’m not surprised,† Fred said calmly. â€Å"And I’m out. I’m going to explore on my own, see the world. Or I was going on my own, but then I thought maybe you might want to come, too. You’d be pretty safe with me. No one wil be able to fol ow us.† I hesitated for a second. The idea of safety was hard to resist in that exact moment. â€Å"I’ve got to get Diego,† I said, shaking my head. He nodded thoughtful y. â€Å"I get it. You know, if you’re wil ing to vouch for him, you can bring him along. Seems like sometimes numbers come in handy.† â€Å"Yes,† I agreed fervently, remembering how vulnerable I’d felt in the tree alone with Diego as the four cloaks had advanced. He raised an eyebrow at my tone. â€Å"Riley is lying about at least one more important thing,† I explained. â€Å"Be careful. We aren’t supposed to let humans know about us. There are some kind of freaky vampires who stop covens when they get too obvious. I’ve seen them, and you don’t want them to find you. Just keep out of sight in the day, and hunt smart.† I looked south anxiously. â€Å"I have to hurry!† He was processing my revelations solemnly. â€Å"Okay. Catch up to me if you want. I’d like to hear more. I’l wait for you in Vancouver for one day. I know the city. I’l leave you a trail in†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He thought for a second and then chuckled once. â€Å"Riley Park. You can fol ow it to me. But after twenty-four hours I’m taking off.† â€Å"I’l get Diego and catch up to you.† â€Å"Good luck, Bree.† â€Å"Thanks, Fred! Good luck to you, too. I’l see you!† I was already running. â€Å"I hope so,† I heard him say behind me. I sprinted after the scent of the others, flying along the ground faster than I’d ever run before. I was lucky that they must have paused for something – for Riley to yel at them, I was guessing – because I caught them sooner than I should have. Or maybe Riley had remembered Fred and stopped to look for us. They were running at a steady pace when I reached them, semidisciplined like last night. I tried to slide into the group without drawing attention, but I saw Riley’s head flip around once to scan those trailing behind. His eyes zeroed in on me, and then he started running faster. Did he assume Fred was with me? Riley would never see Fred again. It wasn’t five minutes later when everything changed. Raoul caught the scent. With a wild growl he was off. Riley had us so worked up that it took only the tiniest spark to set off an explosion. The others near Raoul had the scent, too, and then everyone went crazy. Riley’s harping on this human had overshadowed the rest of his instructions. We were hunters, not an army. There was no team. It was a race for blood. Even though I knew there were a lot of lies in the story, I couldn’t total y resist the scent. Running at the back of the pack, I had to cross it. Fresh. Strong. The human had been here recently, and she smel ed so sweet. I was strong with al the blood we’d drunk last night, but it didn’t matter. I was thirsty. It burned. I ran after the others, trying to keep my head clear. It was al I could do to hold back a little, to stay behind the others. The closest person to me was Riley. He was†¦ holding back, too? He shouted orders, mostly the same thing repeated. â€Å"Kristie, go around! Move around! Split off! Kristie, Jen! Break off! † His whole plan of the two-pronged ambush was selfdestructing as we watched. Riley sped up to the main group and grabbed Sara’s shoulder. She snapped at him as he hurled her to the left. â€Å"Go around!† he shouted. He caught the blond kid whose name I’d never figured out and shoved him into Sara, who clearly wasn’t happy with that. Kristie came out of the hunting focus long enough to realize she was supposed to be moving strategical y. She gave one fierce gaze after Raoul and then started screeching at her team. â€Å"This way! Faster! We’l beat them around and get to her first! C’mon!† â€Å"I’m spear point with Raoul!† Riley shouted at her, turning away. I hesitated, stil running forward. I didn’t want to be part of any â€Å"spear point,† but Kristie’s team was already turning on each other. Sara had the blond kid in a headlock. The sound of his head tearing off made my decision for me. I sprinted after Riley, wondering if Sara would pause to burn the boy who liked to play Spider-Man. I caught up enough to see Riley ahead and fol owed at a distance until he got to Raoul’s team. The scent made it hard to keep my mind on the things that mattered. â€Å"Raoul!† Riley yel ed. Raoul grunted, not turning. He was total y absorbed by the sweet scent. â€Å"I’ve got to help Kristie! I’l meet you there! Keep your focus!† I jerked to a stop, frozen with uncertainty. Raoul kept on, not showing any response to Riley’s words. Riley slowed to a jog, then a walk. I should have moved, but he probably would have heard me try to hide. He turned, a smile on his face, and saw me. â€Å"Bree. I thought you were with Kristie.† I didn’t respond. How to cite The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Chapters 13, Essay examples

International Economic Development Responsibility

Question: Discuss about the International Economic Development Responsibility. Answer: Introduction: According to Albassam (2015), Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), is an investment association created in the year 2000, by the government of Saudi Arabia. It helps in formalizing the processes to generate investment in the country and help in gaining economic liberalization. Its prime objective is to provide services of investments to the different sectors of the country like energy, transportation, ICT and knowledge based industries. Achieving economic stability by fostering investment is one of the main objectives of such an association. SAGIA establishes various investment strategies each year that facilitates in the improvement of the economical structure of the country. At present, the rate of gross domestic product for the year 2015 is 653 billion US dollars, with an economic growth rate of 3.4% (SAGIA.gov.sa. 2016). This present value of the economys GDP is a sudden fall in the value, comparatively to the earlier three years. The annual variation investment percentage is -1.5%, which emphasizes a negative impact upon the productive capacity country. There is a record fiscal deficit of 15%, with an accumulated public debt of 5.8% (SAGIA.gov.sa. 2016). The country is in ardent need of an efficient investment strategy that would help the country to upgrade its growth conditions. SAGIAs investment strategies for Saudi Arabia must be able to incorporate effective techniques that would initiate the positive growth of the society. An investment strategy plays vital roles in attaining economic stability of the country. One of the most beneficial effects of the investment strategy is to promote regional development, achieve economic diversification, create employment, enhance competitiveness and generate trade and investment in the country. SAGIA helps in forming a well developed investmet promotion strategy that helps the construction sector of the country. Saudi Arabia has a large construction sector with an annual gdp of about 21billion US$. In 2013, the country had to import almost 36% of medium value added inputs and 62% of high value added inputs for construction sector of the country. The country can invest the forign direct investments in the construction sector, so that it easily utilizes the resources for building an equipped infrastructural unit of the economy. The foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia has decreased to a certain extent in the country. Government has heavily invested on the countrys infrastructural facilities in order to attract the FDI, as it is considered to be one of the effective ways to diversify the economy. SAGIA aims at attracting the FDI in order to create the largest construction market in the middle east. Government lays emphasis on improving infrastructure , transport, and real estate. The Saudi Arabian government has planned to raise funds by formulating promotional investment strategies in order to construct 3000 new schools and 117 hospitals over the period of 2015-2020. Ministry of housing would launch housing projects in various cities of the country. A new court would be created who would tackle only the real estate matters and the firms are supposed to join the ijar system. The non-oil sector is being put to focus by the banking sector, so that it initiates FDI in the country (Flora and Agrawal 2014). SAGIA provides with information and assistance to the foreign investors. It permits the foreigners to invest in various sectors of the economy. By improving the investments inflow in the country, it would help the country to open trade and investment establishment. Investments are encouraged to be invested inindustrial district, seaport, residential area, central business district, resort and educational zone. Main focus is laid on cities like Rabigh, Hail, Madinah And Jazan which are aimed at building economic cities of the country. Along with the information provided by the SAGIA to the investors, it even provides them with the license and support services, coordinates with the government ministries to enhance the process of investment (Jensen and Lindstdt 2013). Along with the positive effects of trade and investments in Saudi Arabia, there are some negative effects prevailing in the country that discourages investors to invest in the country. Government of Saudi Arabia lays stress on hiring the Saudis for higher proportions and at higher costs, restrictive visa policy for the foreign workers in the country, slow payment under the government contracts, following a conservative social customs, and gender biased workforce (Moosa 2016). An efficient investment strategy should be created by SAGIA that would be worthy enough to attract the foreign investors, thereby helping the country to overlook the negative effects of dealing with the country and emphasizes on building a healthy trade relation. Sustainability Issues and Implications of Investment Promotion Strategy Investment promotion strategies help in building the image of the country and generating investment by attracting them through different sets of incentives by targeting specific investors who are committed to various social benefits . The world bank has ranked Saudi Arabia as the 12th country out of 183 countries who has been able to do business with foreign investors (Data.worldbank.org, 2016). This rank showcases the methods and effort made by the country in improving their investment promotional strategies as generated by SAGIA. Yet there are many investors who have shown some concerns regarding the laws that are applied un practice by the company. There is a limit on the amount of foreign investments that can be made in Saudi Arabia. There is uncertainity of the global economies impact on private sector participation. Developers find it difficult to get the availability of contracting capacity, while contractors fin it difficult to source labour and materials during many phases of the economic cities project development. The construction sector faces a great drop in value of contracts awarded during the year 2014. There was a fall of 77% in the contracts as a result of decline in the price of hydrocarbons thereby putting an impact on the oil revenues and raising government expenditure. This delay hampers the progress of building economic cities in the country and threby posing a thrat to the construction sector of teh economy. According to Moser, Swain and Alkhabbaz (2015), SAGIA , in order to attract the foreign investors, provide them with 100% ownership of projects, removes restrictions on foreign employees, charges no personal income tax from the foreign companies, provides with various export and import incentives along with least amount of leasing charges with a contract term of minimum 2 years. In spite of all the major facilities provided to these companies, there are some flaws if the in the rules framed by the country that discourages the foreign investors to sign a deal with Saudi Arabia . All the companies that are willing to invest in the country must possess a license issued from SAGIA to that company. After the issuance of the license, SAGIA is supposed to respond to the application within thirty days. If SAGIA does not respond within the prescribed time period, then the application is supposed to be accepted. As stated by Seguin (2014), in reality, the true picture states a different scenar io. All these contradicting matters have discouraged various foreign investors to obtain a license in Saudi Arabia (Aldosari and Atkins 2015). SAGIA has been establishing various investment promotion strategies and have been diverting itself from the previous strategy. The companies have been forced by SAGIA to some extent to abide the hiring quotas and transfer of technologies within 18 months. This model does not fit all the business types (Rogmans and Ebbers 2013). Many investors were discouraged by the regulations made by SAGIA . They found it quite vague in nature. There is lack of coordination and rivalry persists mong the government bodies and ministries of the state. All these various issues implies sustainability problems of the various investment promotional strategies generated by Saudi Arabian general investment authority (SAGIA). Recommendations for Investment Promotion Strategy As stated by Hsu and Tiao (2015), Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) has formulated various investment promotion strategies that helps the country to attract the foreign direct investment and initiate the productivity in the economy. Investments would help the country to upgrade their infrastructural facilities and upgrade the construction sector of the country. Generation of employment schemes for the Saudi people would take place that would maintain the standard of living. Yet, the strategies created by the association is not able to successfully attract the foreign investors. Various issues have created a controversial environment dor the association in attracting foreign investment. The association must specify the investment companies that had been targeted for the promotion process and must be contacted by the association to provide them with various incentives and invite them to invest in Saudi Arabia. It must lay emphasis on the coordination with the concerned authorities regarding the investment promotion. SAGIA must actively participate in the promotional activities in less developed areas. The website of SAGIA must be linked with the websites of other authorities concerned with investment. It must help in attracting the companies that are interested in investing for the economic cities of the country. The process of building the cities must be made quite attractive so that it is successful in attracting the investors. SAGIA must be clear in its strategies and provide the companies with a detail list of facilities that would be provided to them.(Cader and Anthony 2014). SAGIA must organize periodic meetings with the investors to present them with the investment opportunities and get the opinions , suggestions and problems from them . They must provide the investors with all the detailed information regarding the investment schemes and organization their visits to Saudi Arabia . These above mentioned recommendations would help to attract most of the investments and would be successful in implementing an efficient investment promotion strategy. Reference Albassam, B.A., 2015. Does Saudi Arabias economy benefit from foreign investments?.Benchmarking: An International Journal,22(7), pp.1214-1228. Aldosari, A. and Atkins, J., 2015. A study of corporate social responsibility disclosure practices in Saudi Arabia. Cader, A.A. and Anthony, P.J., 2014. Motivational issues of faculty in Saudi Arabia.Higher Learning Research Communications,4(4), p.76. Flora, P. and Agrawal, G., 2014. Foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth relationship among highest FDI recipient Asian economies: A panel data analysis.International Business Management,8(2), pp.126-132. Hsu, J. and Tiao, Y.E., 2015. Patent rights protection and foreign direct investment in Asian countries.Economic Modelling,44, pp.1-6. Jensen, N.M. and Lindstdt, R., 2013.Globalization with whom: Context-dependent foreign direct investment preferences. Working Paper. Moosa, I., 2016.Foreign direct investment: theory, evidence and practice. Springer. Moser, S., Swain, M. and Alkhabbaz, M.H., 2015. King Abdullah Economic City: Engineering Saudi Arabias post-oil future.Cities,45, pp.71-80. Rogmans, T. and Ebbers, H., 2013. The determinants of foreign direct investment in the Middle East North Africa region.International Journal of Emerging Markets,8(3), pp.240-257. SAGIA.gov.sa. (2016). About SAGIA. [online] Available at: https://www.SAGIA.gov.sa/en/AboutSAGIA/pages/default.aspx [Accessed 15 Sep. 2016]. Salem, M.I., 2014. The role of business incubators in the economic development of Saudi Arabia.The International Business Economics Research Journal (Online),13(4), p.853. Seguin, J.F., 2014. An overview of recent developments at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority.Client Briefing, Clifford Chance.