Growing Pain Essay Example for Free

Growing Pain Essay So by the end of 1992, Waterway had begun selling its own line of compact, inexpensive, high-impact plastic kayaks. Within one quarter, Maher had known that the move had been a smart one. Almost all of Waterway’s existing canoe customers— mostly wholesalers who then sold to liveries and sporting goods stores—had placed sizable kayak orders. A number of private-label entities had also inquired about Waterway, and Maher was considering producing privatelabel kayaks for those companies on a limited basis. For the most part, the staff had adjusted easily to the company’s faster pace. The expanded business hadn’t changed Waterway’s informal work style, and people seemed to appreciate that. Maher knew that most of his employees were avid outdoor types who viewed their jobs as a means to an end, and he respected that perspective. On days when the weather was particularly good, he knew that the building would be pretty empty by 4 P. M. But he also knew that his employees liked their jobs. Work was always completed on time, and people were outspoken with new ideas and with suggestions for improving current designs and processes. There was no mistaking the genuine camaraderie. Maher walked through the design room, stopping to talk with one of the two designers and to admire the latest drawings. Then he headed for the administrative suite. His thoughts returned to the company’s recent history. Until 1990, Waterway’s sales and revenues had increased with the market, and Maher hadn’t been motivated to push any harder. But when he had decided to venture into kayaking, he also had thought he should gear up marketing— get ready for the big trend if it came. Until then, there had never been a formal, structured marketing department at Waterway. He had thought it was time. That’s why he had hired Lee Carter. Carter had gotten her M. B. A. when she was 31. To do so, she had left a fast-track position in sales at Waterway’s major competitor in the canoe market to devote her full attention to her studies. Finch, who was something of a mentor for Carter, had told her that she would hit the ceiling too early in her career if she didn’t have the credentials to compete in her field. In her final term at business school, which had included a full course load plus a demanding internship with the Small Business Administration, Carter had interviewed ith Waterway. Finch had called to introduce her, but once Maher had met her and she had begun to outline the ways in which she could improve the company’s sales and marketing efforts, Maher had needed no other references. He had thought from the start that Carter might be the right person to nurture the company’s interest in the growing kayaking business and to run with it if the sp ort’s popularity really took off. When it had, he was proved right. True, the market was extremely favorable, but Carter had brought in more orders than even Maher had thought possible. Fortunately, the company had been able to keep up by contracting with other manufacturing companies for more product. Waterway had been extremely effective in keeping inventory in line with customer demand. Maher was impressed with Carter’s performance. From day one, she had been completely focused. She traveled constantly— worked so hard that she barely had time to get to know the staff. She came in on weekends to catch up with paperwork. Along with two of her direct reports, she had even missed the annual Waterway picnic; the three had been on the road, nailing down a large order. It was a dedication—a level of energy—that Maher had never seen before, and he liked what it said about his company. Back in his office, Maher found that he couldn’t concentrate on the product development report in front of him. That bit of conversation he had overheard outside Carter’s office was troubling. He certainly knew about the lucrative packages that were being offered in the sporting goods industry—even in Waterway’s niche. He’d even heard that some sales managers were commanding a quarter of a million dollars or more. He had read enough of the annual reports of his publicly traded competitors to know that larger organizations created all sorts of elaborate systems—supplemental retirement packages, golden handcuffs, stock options, deferred compensation arrangements— to hold on to their top performers. harvard business review †¢ july–august 1996 page 2 Growing Pains †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ †¢HBR C AS E S TUDY â€Å"The business could stand to pay more,† Maher said, â€Å"but I want to avoid the habit of paying now for results down the road. † Maher wanted to recognize Carter’s contribution.

Impact Of The Studio System On Filmmaking

Impact Of The Studio System On Filmmaking Examine the extent to which the Hollywood studio system nurtured or inhibited the artistry of film makers. This essay will be analysing to what extent the studio system has helped or possibly hindered the artistic nature and idea of filmmakers. The studio system can be defined under the idea that the studio owns and controls all aspects of the film creation. The largest and most prominent studios at this time were Warner Brothers, Paramount and MGM, they had final say over all decisions to do with the film (Filmsite, 2010). The Studio system was at its most prominent in the 1950s after having dominated the market from the 1920s to the 1940s, they made the final decision on all aspects of the film, and choose who they wanted to direct the film; this director would be given clear guidelines and rules to follow when creating the film. During the 1950s there started to emerge in Europe a belief that film should be more than just a story on the screen and that it was in fact an art form. This idea of the director taking control over the film to produce their own version, to show how they felt about the film carries into the theory of authorship. Authorship is when a creator of something puts their own stamp on what they are producing, from telling the story in a different way to shooting the film in a different style. The idea of authorship is seen in many texts over the centuries like Shakespeares Hamlet, where Hamlet speaks to the audience and in Jane Eyre when the main character addresss the reader in the first person. This idea is related to filmmakers because a film adopts the idea of literacy theory. During the 1950s a group of film critics in France created a magazine called Cahiers Du Cinema, to celebrate the film maker within the system, and to champion the cause of authorship. (Versobooks, 2009) From this the idea of Auteurism was born, whereby the director was given the control of the film making process to create their vision for the film. This theory is born out of the idea that film is art, and not just about making money, as was the conception to be the goal of the studio system during this time. The resulting flow of privately created artistic films that were created in Europe in this period, was known under the title of The French New Wave. This gained more momentum due to the magazine set up by Banzin, Chabrol, Truffaut, Rohmer and Godard, due to the growing idea of film as art through the theory of Autuerism. (Suite101, 2008) The French new wave was about legitimising cinemas as an art form, they believed that the idea of authorship was about the notion of a creative person, you are responsible for what you create and it will show in your art. They wanted to make films that were different from what most studios allowed. Most studios just made films that were based on novels and stories. A medium in which and by which an artist can express his thoughts, be they abstract or whatever, or in which he can communicate his obsessions as accurately as he can today in essay or novel (Unattributed B, 2010: 1) The French new wave believed that the director should be seen as a chief source of creativity, they believed that the idea the director comes up with has a huge impact on the film. It could be argued, that the Hollywood studio system has always tried to nurture the artistry of film makers, because even though the idea of film makers being seen as the director emerged slowly, studios did begin to see that directors has specialities in certain genres, and allowed them to build on that genre. John Ford was best known for his westerns, and Alfred Hitchcock was best known for his horror and suspense stories, this idea grew and allowed directors to grow in their own right. After the idea of the French new wave hit American it brought thought to studios, and they began to consider whether or not film should be seen as an art form. T.W. Griffiths film Birth of a Nation, was one of the earliest films that made studios question film as an art. His film brought the beginning to the golden age of Hollywood cinema, it shows that filmmakers tend to use film to make a point about what is going on at the time. Like Griffith many cinematic historians have examined stories from the past to suggest lessons concerning modern day controversies. (Toplin, R B, 1940: 18) The ideas that the Hollywood studios allowed the growth of creativity of film makers, is easy to see because, the auteur theory expresses the belief that a creative personality can surface through unpromising studio material, and in the end they make it their own. A film is seen as being unique because it does something only a film can do, it is an art form that can express a moment in time, and this idea is also called the holy moment. The idea of the auteur theory began to emerge from this, and it expressed a belief that some Hollywood directors could shape their material to something that meant something to them. It sought to establish individual creativity as the source of value in Hollywood ( Maltby, R, 2003: 46) the idea of the film maker being creative soon followed, and studios began to develop, with each studio having specialities like directors, MGM was good at creating musicals like singing in the rain, Warner brothers was good at making gangster film. One main person who believed that film makers like directors should be acknowledged more in a film is Alexandre Astruc, he was a film critic who was born in France and he argued that certain directors used the camera like a pen. The images themselves add nuance and develop the narrative as much as the dialog does (Unattributed C, 2010: 1) Using this idea and looking at American directors, it could be argued that as well as film makers being seen as authors with a creative process, there is an artistic value that results from their ideas and thoughts, allowing them to creatively express their imagination. The ideas of a film maker being creative, is all about whether they can create something amazing from not much that is given to them, and allowing themselves to work within the studio system. Sometimes auteurism is identified within specific genres and is linked to specialisation; each director has reoccurring elements that is found in all films they make. Alfred Hitchcock is one of the directors who makes each of his films with similar elements, and whose name always comes up when talking about auteur theory. His films are suspense films that keep audiences on their seats. Hitchcocks success didnt come from the type of genre the film was in. The skill which he exhibited in the filmmaking i.e. his treatment of the subject in terms of the shots he uses and how he combines them (Unattributed D, 2010: 1) However on the other hand it could also be argued that the Hollywood studio inhibited the artistry of film makers because, most film makers really only do what studios tell them, most work they do has to be checked by someone higher. The whole idea that Hollywood wanted to produce product not art is common because, under the studios rule the director is mainly a person hired to do what they want, he just puts the camera in the right place. Singing in the rain is a prime example of the way Hollywood saw its actors, directors etc, they were just hired. The ideas of auteur theory being a celebration of a directors freedom cant be understood by everyone because, it isnt just one person that works on a film it is a variety of people. More than one person will work on a film, so what makes the director more worthy of praise than, say, the scriptwriter or the camera operators? (Unattributed A, 2007: 1) Whether a film maker is creative or not in their film making process, may not even matter due to the fact that everyone sees things differently, what the person feels is not always what the audience sees. Due to the fact that films are made by studios, and the director isnt always the dominant one, most try to go independent but lose because, equipment used to make and produce films was expensive and not widely available. The idea of the independent American auteur is rare however, they do exist and they try to create a film that is away from the control of the studio system. Independent filmmaking consists of low-budget projects made by (mostly) young filmmakers with a strong personal vision away from the influence and pressures of the few major conglomerates that control tightly the American film industry (Daisies, G, 2010: 1) Independent film makers do work for studios as directors/ writers, and even actors for hire, just to make money to fund their project. Orson Welles is one of the film makers who pushed away from the studio system to make something he wanted. Welles embodies the concept of the tragic artist, he does everything an ideal film maker should do, he acts, writes, to raise money, but making his films he becomes a suffering artists. He wrote and starred in Citizen Kane which was about an investigation into the life of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane. Orson Welles did make many films after Citizen Kane, but his success in making independent films was very expensive and so he didnt make many big budget films, after twenty years in the studio he made another independent film called chimes at midnight. The fullest, most completely realized expression of everything [Welles] had been working toward since Citizen Kane. (Unattributed E, 2010: 1) No matter the financial problems at the end, Orson Welles remains the ideal film maker who fought against the studio systems control. In conclusion it is hard to try to discover whether or not the Hollywood studio system nurtured or inhibited the artistry of film makers, no matter how much the directors/film makers are seen as creative, most of them all are contracted by the studios. Followers of the French New Wave movement argue that, the studio system does hinder a director, as they think that films should be art and should be a representation of the directors views, and emotion towards the script. According to (Alfred Hitchcock: Auteur?, 2010) the idea behind the auteur director are done in terms of personal vision, the recurring themes, even a defined view of the world, and a degree of control over production, In auteur films, it is the director who controls the artistic statement, takes credit for the film and is responsible for attracting the audience. (Unattributed F, 2010: 1) Alfred Hitchcock was a major example of seeing a director as a auteur, as his films follow the necessary needs taking up by the French new wave, they have reoccurring themes which are done by a personal vision of his and will even shock audiences. So looking at American directors it is common to see that each one has a creative way to express their imagination. Studios throughout the 50s and onwards always had some control over the films production, when a director is hired and given a clear set of rules and guidelines to follow, and is not given full control of all aspects of the film, (such as stars of the film, setting or style) then they cannot possibly make their mark on the film. This may well be the case that the Studio system does hinder a director, and stop him from being an artist, but maybe this is not what the public want from films. This can be seen in the current situation we have where, although previously widely thought to be a hindrance to directors and their artistry, the studio system period is now being heralded in the media and by the public as the golden age of cinema. The idea of authorship takes hold in the film industry after the 1950s when film was seen as art not entertainment, however Hollywood had been in an era of a golden age, there reign caused many problem and in 1948 the US department of justice sued the ma jor studios for anti competitive practices. No longer could the film industry control (or monopolize) all aspects of film production, distribution and exhibition (Kliedie, 2007: 1) It seems that regardless of whether or not the studio system affects the artistry of filmmakers, it is now becoming more popular again, and some of the films from this period that are used to stereotype the studio system, are being heralded as classic films. So it would seem that despite films not being creative art and having complete authorship from the director, the mass public does not seem to mind watching studio system type films.

Major Problems in Mexican American History Essay -- Mexican History Cu

Major Problems in Mexican American History Mexicans have been a people long oppressed. That is evident not only by the readings edited by Zaragosa Vargas in Major Problems in Mexican American History, but also by the the documentary Chicano!. The Mexicans’ past is underscored by conquest of the present-day American Southwest first by the Spanish and then by the United States following the Mexican American War. With other countries establishing control over them, Mexicans have never really been able to establish themselves. Efforts were repeatedly made to shape them into what others perceived them to be. The language they should speak, the religion they should practice, the things they should learn, and the way they should live, were all decisions that for many years Mexicans did not have the power to control. This lack of power allowed the Spanish and the United States to take advantage of Mexican rights, labor and land. In addition, it also produced a loss of Mexican identity and culture. Mexican American history began in the16th century under Spanish colonialism. The Spanish had a goal of conquest and colonization. Evidently, that goal was successfully accomplished because when the Spanish first arrived in 1492 Mexico’s population was fourteen million, but by the end of the 16th century it had drastically declined to one million. Numbers decreased because of the cruel treatment, forced labor, and disease brought by the Spanish. The Spanish eventually controlled most of the territory in the Southwest and over three hundred towns had been established for the purpose of control and conversion. The Spanish imposed conditions on the natives of Mexico that would belittle them. They aimed to convert them in order to make them re... ...heightened sense of self and group identity. The term Chicano encouraged Mexican Americans to take pride and interest in their history of struggle in America. It is when dealing with this period in Mexican-American history that the documentary Chicano! steps in for Vargas, better explaining the movement that occurred. Mexican Americans distinguished themselves at home and abroad during World War II and worked toward political, educational, and social equality in the country they defended. ...La Raza! Mejicano! Espanol! Latino! Hispano! Chicano! or whatever I call myself. I look the same. I feel the same...I cry and Sing the same. I am the masses of my people and I refuse to be absorbed. I am Joaquin...The odds are great but my spirit is strong...My faith unbreakable...My blood is pure...I am Aztec Prince and Christian Christ...I SHALL ENDURE! I WILL ENDURE!

Analysis of The World of Wrestling by Roland Barthes Essay -- The Worl

Analysis of The World of Wrestling by Roland Barthes Roland Barthes's essay on "The World of Wrestling" draws analogically on the ancient theatre to contextualize wrestling as a cultural myth where the grandiloquence of the ancient is preserved and the spectacle of excess is displayed. Barthes's critique -- which is above all a rewriting of what was to understand what is -- is useful here insofar as it may be applied back to theatre as another open-air spectacle. But in this case, not the theatre of the ancients, but the Middle English pageant presents the locus for discussing the sport of presentation, or, if you prefer, the performance of the sport. More specifically, what we see by looking at the Harrowing of Hell -- the dramatic moment in the cycle plays that narratizes doctrinal redemption more graphically than any other play in the cycle -- as spectacle offers a matrix for the multiple relationships between performance and audience and the means of producing that performance which, in turn, necessarily produces the audience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The implications of the spectacle could sensibly be applied to the complete texts of the cycle plays, and perhaps more appropriately to the full range of the pageant and its concomitant festivities. The direction of pseudo-historical criticism, especially of the Elizabethan stage, certainly provides a well-plowed ground for advancing the festive and carnivalesque inherently present in the establishment and event of theater. Nevertheless, my discussion here is both more limited and more expansive: its limits are constructed by the choice of an individual play recurrent through the four extant manuscripts of what has come to be called the Corpus Christi plays; its expansion is expressed through a delivery that aims to implicate the particular moment of this play in the operations of a dominant church-state apparatus, which is, ostensibly, a model of maintaining hegemony in Western culture. The Harrowing provides a singular instance in which the mechanisms of control of the apparatus appear to extend and exploit their relationship with the audience (i.e. congregation). The play is constructed beyond the canonized operations of the sacred, originating a narrative beyond (yet within) the authorized vulgate; it is constructed only through church authority yet maint... ...thorizing. It seems we are not merely to claim, as Hardin Craig does, that the plays are "a theological intelligence motivated by structural imagination that lasted from age to age in the development of a great cycle of mystery plays." Instead, we should interrogate the multiple dimensions of artistry and artificiality of the play; our task is to ask how these plays operate as a performative moment coming directly from the dominant arms of orthodoxy while still being influenced by the severely limited mass culture. We may find, then, at the center of the controlling mechanisms of the church-state apparatus, the necessitated desire for community that even Satan validates and proclaims:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nay, I pray the do not so;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vmthynke the better in thy mynde;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Or els let me with the go,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I pray the leyffe me not behynde! The desire, of course, extends past Satan's plea, for the homogenized desire of the congregation ultimately -- which is in history written and yet to be -- is directed toward a different answer from Jesus: one that affirms salvation and again confirms the church's orthodox pageantry of performance. Analysis of The World of Wrestling by Roland Barthes Essay -- The Worl Analysis of The World of Wrestling by Roland Barthes Roland Barthes's essay on "The World of Wrestling" draws analogically on the ancient theatre to contextualize wrestling as a cultural myth where the grandiloquence of the ancient is preserved and the spectacle of excess is displayed. Barthes's critique -- which is above all a rewriting of what was to understand what is -- is useful here insofar as it may be applied back to theatre as another open-air spectacle. But in this case, not the theatre of the ancients, but the Middle English pageant presents the locus for discussing the sport of presentation, or, if you prefer, the performance of the sport. More specifically, what we see by looking at the Harrowing of Hell -- the dramatic moment in the cycle plays that narratizes doctrinal redemption more graphically than any other play in the cycle -- as spectacle offers a matrix for the multiple relationships between performance and audience and the means of producing that performance which, in turn, necessarily produces the audience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The implications of the spectacle could sensibly be applied to the complete texts of the cycle plays, and perhaps more appropriately to the full range of the pageant and its concomitant festivities. The direction of pseudo-historical criticism, especially of the Elizabethan stage, certainly provides a well-plowed ground for advancing the festive and carnivalesque inherently present in the establishment and event of theater. Nevertheless, my discussion here is both more limited and more expansive: its limits are constructed by the choice of an individual play recurrent through the four extant manuscripts of what has come to be called the Corpus Christi plays; its expansion is expressed through a delivery that aims to implicate the particular moment of this play in the operations of a dominant church-state apparatus, which is, ostensibly, a model of maintaining hegemony in Western culture. The Harrowing provides a singular instance in which the mechanisms of control of the apparatus appear to extend and exploit their relationship with the audience (i.e. congregation). The play is constructed beyond the canonized operations of the sacred, originating a narrative beyond (yet within) the authorized vulgate; it is constructed only through church authority yet maint... ...thorizing. It seems we are not merely to claim, as Hardin Craig does, that the plays are "a theological intelligence motivated by structural imagination that lasted from age to age in the development of a great cycle of mystery plays." Instead, we should interrogate the multiple dimensions of artistry and artificiality of the play; our task is to ask how these plays operate as a performative moment coming directly from the dominant arms of orthodoxy while still being influenced by the severely limited mass culture. We may find, then, at the center of the controlling mechanisms of the church-state apparatus, the necessitated desire for community that even Satan validates and proclaims:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nay, I pray the do not so;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vmthynke the better in thy mynde;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Or els let me with the go,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I pray the leyffe me not behynde! The desire, of course, extends past Satan's plea, for the homogenized desire of the congregation ultimately -- which is in history written and yet to be -- is directed toward a different answer from Jesus: one that affirms salvation and again confirms the church's orthodox pageantry of performance.

The Brain in Ecstasy :: Biology Essays Research Papers

The Brain in Ecstasy â€Å"LITTLE PILL WHITE AND ROUND GULP OF WATER, TURBO DOWN! ANXIETY NOW, CAN'T STAND OR SIT, JUST WAIT, DON'T WORRY, IT WILL HIT! IN HALF-AN-HOUR YOU RISE INSIDE, EVERYONE LOVES, NO HATE TO HIDE. EVERYTHING'S GOOD, THERE IS NO WRONG, IF THE WHOLE WORLD SWALLOWED IT, EVERYONE WOULD GET ALONG... WORLD PEACE I HAVE A VISION, CANNOT BE OBTAINED THROUGH RELIGION BUT CAN BE RESOLVED CHEMICALLY THERE IS A GOD CALLED ECSTASY!† - By Anonymous user of ecstasy (1). The various account of users of a drug known as ecstasy were among the most moving and perplexing reading that I had ever encountered. It is remarkable to imagine that each of us is able â€Å"to rise inside,† overcome the barriers of all negative feelings, and to love to our outermost capacity.... with some help from the little white pill. While most of the accounts that I reviewed had an overriding theme of experience of closeness, love, and peace, the accounts were very case specific: A writer finds a years lost muse, a girl â€Å"learns† how to love herself and others, a religious man finally achieves â€Å"spiritual expansion,† a couple is able to exchange sexual roles as if having their partner’s body, and the list goes on and on (2). But there are also negative experiences associated with the use of ecstasy, although they are documented much less. For example, a user describes his state after a trip on ecstasy: â€Å"for the next couple of days aft erwards I was an emotional wreck, paranoid as hell, shaking, involuntary muscle spasms, and my tonsillitis came back† (3). After a similar negative experience, another user who actually had to stop taking ecstasy because of the detrimental side effects it produced, comments: â€Å"It’s just a pity that people can’t feel like they do on Ecstasy, naturally† (4). Perhaps trying to understand how a chemical can cause a state of euphoria would help us figure out how to achieve it naturally. Then, we can make some sense of, or at least hypothesize about, the neurobiology which underlies the depth of human experience. From even some accounts I outlined above, one can see how complex the feelings brought about by this drug really are. Finding the muse and everything that encompasses it, is a quite complicated behavior, not to mention the vision of world peace and love! It seems unlikely that a simple chemical should cause such a wide range of effects.

Class Project Presentation Essay

In narrow perspective, PA is a documentation, filling form, checking boxes, once-a-year drill, annual fiasco, meeting held between lower and higher worker, and they will meet again next year (Grote, 2002; DelPo, 2007; Tourish, 2004). It s a common misconception that performance appraisal entails simply filling out an evaluation form answering prefabricated questions and checking boxes. If this were the case, you wouldn t need an entire book to help you do it right, and your evaluation wouldn t be worth the paper you wrote it on. When done correctly, performance appraisal is a process, not a document it is a way of structuring your relationship with your employees. A good appraisal system includes observation, documentation, and communication. It envisions a workplace in which supervisors know what is happening in their departments (who is doing what and how well) and document employee performance as it occurs. Supervisors and their employees should have open lines of communication. Employees should know how they are doing so they can make adjustments when they veer off track. Supervisors should know what obstacles get in the way of their employees performance so they can remove those obstacles as they arise (DelPo, 2007). PURPOSE Study shows that PA is commonly used by companies now, from every level or industrial background (Nakervis and Leece, 1997; Bach, 2003). Of course the phenomenon is not without cause, consider that sometimes PA is a hectic and hated job, time and cost consuming. Grote (2002) case in No. 14 is cited from DelPo (2007)- list the purpose of PA as follow: 1. Providing feedback to employees about their performance 2. Determining who gets promoted 3. Facilitating layoff or downsizing decisions 4. Encouraging performance improvement 5. Motivating superior performance 6. Setting and measuring goals 7. Counseling poor performers 8. Determining compensation changes Encouraging coaching and mentoring Supporting manpower planning or succession planning Determining individual training and development needs Determining organizational training and development needs Confirming that good hiring decisions are being made Providing legal defensibility for personnel decisions Case : A hospital fires an African-American doctor. She does not have an employment contract, so the hospital does not need just cause to ire her. Nonetheless, the doctor files a wrongful termination lawsuit, claiming that she was fired because of her race. When she files her lawsuit, she has no real evidence of racial discrimination; her case is based on her belief that she was always treated more harshly than her coworkers, most of whom were white men. The hospital responds by asserting that she was fired because of her poor diagnostic skills and her inability to get along with her coworkers. Her attorney requests her performance evaluations. Well managed PA system can prevent this kind of situation. Further reading about the issue of legal practice and PA, read The Performance Appraisal Handbook; Legal & Practical Rules for Managers by Amy DelPo. 15. Improving overall organizational performance Performance Appraisal is an integrated part of company s Performance Management Strategy (PMS). Performance Management is a set of regular, ongoing human resource activities carried out by managers and supervisors relative to their subordinates to enhance and maintain employee performance toward the achievement of desired performance objectives (Vance and Paik, 2006). Why company need to create such job, what are the job requirement, job description, the most important thing to do in this job, issue surround the job, etc. 2. The Jobholder Who is suitable for the job? What are the requirements? 3. The Person Now, you have to know the person deeper. How is his performance compare to the previous year. Remember, know the person based on the job, not based on individual prejudices 4. The Self-Appraisal or Accomplishment List If you asked the individual to prepare a list of accomplishments or complete a self-appraisal (and return it to you in advance), this will be a worthwhile source of performance data. This information then can be gathered by assigned appraiser (supervisor, specialist, peers, appraisee, or all). There are two types of information: 1. Qualitative: Information of behavioral remarks, comments, symptom, process, expectation, etc. 2. Quantitative : Numerical information. Information about sales number, revenue, productivity (number of product per hour or per day), and area covered, etc. Quantitative is easier to be measured and less subjective. There are two types of quantitative information; pure numerical information, and scaled information. Scaled information is subjective and non-numerical information, but converted into number by scaling method. For example, 5 for Excellent, until 1 for very poor. Or 1 for Approved, 0 for Rejected (see additional exhibit, example of performance appraisal form of University of California). The appraiser can use combination of questionnaires, observation and interview to gather the information (an example of the standard PA form can be seen in the exhibit 1). The job can be very useful, yet sensitive because: 1. Common agreement among HR specialist that subjectivity cannot be avoided. . Legal consideration (sexual harassment, racism or libel issue) 3. No standard question or appraisal method available. Most of the organizations have to adjust the method for their organizational style. Performance Appraisal by only one appraiser sometimes might trigger subjectivity and bias. To prevent this, the method known as 360-degree Performance Appraisal is implemented. This form deviates from the vertical, hierarchical arrangement in that every member of an organization is placed at the centre point of a circle embracing all related employees, superiors and colleagues. Manager hates to measure their employee for some reason, while in the same time, employee hate to be scrutinized. Time consuming, high cost, and focused on past result rather than future development, are among the arguments, also additional findings show that performance appraisal can actually lead to poorer rather than better performance, tend to create prompt argument between appraiser and employee (Rothwell and Kazanas, 2003, cited from Martin and Bartol, 1998; Kikoski, 1999). Gloomy predictions about the end of performance appraisal even have been prophesied by some writer. As Bach (2003) noted, some have predict that appraisal would fall apart at the seams (cited from Margerison, 1976), due to employee ambivalence and union opposition, and added that the days of standardized appraisals were number (Bach, 2003, cited from Fletcher, 1993). (Cited from my journal study). Tourish (2004) revealed even more shaking information. As he cited from various research, that Appraisal should be avoided if it linked to numeration and payment, because sometimes may lead to moral hazard and even bankruptcy. As he wrote it: An illuminating example of what happens when this research is ignored may be in order. Enron was an organisation that combined both a ranking system and the linking of performance to pay. Its bankruptcy in 2001 stands (at the time of writing) as the biggest in US corporate history. As with many other aspects of its internal culture, its approach to appraisal is a valuable case study in what not to do. An internal performance review committee rated employees twice a year (Gladwell, 2002). They were graded on a scale of 1 to 5, on ten separate criteria, and then divided into one of three groups A s, who were to be challenged and given large rewards; B s, who were to be encouraged and affirmed, and C s, who were told to shape up or ship out. Those in the A category were referred to internally as water walkers. The process was known as rank and yank. The company s propensity to disproportionately reward those who were high achievers and risk-takers was widely acclaimed by business gurus (e. g. Hamel, 2000). Faculty from the prestigious Harvard Business School produced 11 case studies, uniformly praising its successes. However, problems multiplied. People chased high rankings because the potential rewards were enormous, while low rankings imperilled both their salaries and eventually their jobs. The appearance of success mattered more than its substance. In addition, internal promotions due to the appraisal system reached 20% a year. This made further evaluation more difficult, and inevitably more subjective how could you honestly rank someone s performance when they did not hold a position long enough to render sound judgement possible? Paradoxically, Enron had a punitive internal regime ( rank and yank ) but loose control (those adjudged to be top performers moved on too fast to be pinned down). In this case, ratings and performance pay formed a lethal mix. Internal staff churn, and a relentless emphasis on achieving high performance ratings in the interests of obtaining ever-greater personal rewards, contributed to the lax ethical atmosphere that precipitated the company s downfall. Versions of rank and yank have been used by many organisations, including General Electric and IBM. IBM, in the early 1990s, actually required that one out of every ten employees be allocated a poor rating, and given three months to improve or be fired (Gabor, 1992). The research evidence overwhelmingly suggests that such practices produce only defiance, defensiveness and rage (Kohn, 1999). However, despite all the criticisms, number of companies utilize this system is still growing. I think this is understandable because some findings correlate the implementation of effective and well created performance management system and performance appraisal, with employee s or organizational success. Waal (2008) in his research titled The effects of performance management on the operational sales results of a bank , showed that the PM related key events had a significant and lasting positive impact on the quantitative result of the division (Waal, 2008). Table 1: Disadvantage of PA, as identified from literature Source : Kourkit and Waal (2008) Other study conducted by Kourkit and Waal (2008), strengthen the previous findings. In this research, writers try to find out the correlation between advantageous and disadvantageous of Performance management, with companies success. The research showed that in general the advantages were experienced to a much greater degree than the disadvantages, and that specific reasons for use achieved specific advantages. With the research results, management can convince organizational members that SPM (strategic performance management), indeed beneficial for the organization (Kourkit and Waal, 2008. Italic added). Kourkit and Waal try to find the answer for dissatisfaction of PA process and they found out that there is no correlation between advantages created by Performance Management with dissatisfaction. In other word, companies where PA system works well will create the advantages it has promised. Future studies are needed to identify about what is going on with PA system in bankrupt companies (like Enron). Is it poor performance management might result their bankruptcy? Figure 2 : Relation Model developed by Kourkit and Wall (2008). Source : Kourkit and Wall (2008) TQM (Total Quality Management) by some also seen as the opposite of PA. Adoption of TQM, which emphasize more in team effort (Wikipedia, accessed 2010), didn t seems to lessen the spreading and growing importance of PA. Some have tried to reconcile the difference by creating a PA system that actually works so well in TQM (Marr and Kussy, 1993). This criticism is closely related with argument of team (emphasized by TQM) Vs. individual appraisal (PA). However, Kessler (2003) find out that, There is some evidence to suggest that use of team pay to support job design may have positive outcomes in terms of individual and organizational performance (Wageman 1995; Burgess et al. 2003). However, the take-up of team pay remains low with well under 20 per cent of organizations using it (CIPD 2003). Salary progressions based on team performance is even less in evidence; these findings are confirmed by other surveys (Thompson and Milsome 2001: 13). This low takeup suggests that despite some evidence of effectiveness, administrative difficulties remain in introducing team pay. It is not always easy to find a standard of team performance that can be linked to pay because teams often break up quickly and do not therefore represent a stable base for a pay. Moreover, it remains questionable whether team working in the strictest sense is as widespread as assumed (see Cully et al. 999: 43). Team-based pay may well be rare simply because genuine forms of team working are scarce. AVOIDING THE PERIL Performance Appraisal process, as we have seen, proven to be a dangerous game. However, it is necessary for company s success. Failure of PA process can sometimes attributed to human shortcomings. Tourish (2004) list 8 of that phenomenon that must be carefully avoided: 1. Appraisers frequently fall victim to the halo effect. There is a tendency to assume that a positive attribute or a job related success in one area automatically implies success in others. 2. Personal liking bias means that when supervisors like a subordinate, for whatever reason, they generally give them higher performance ratings, their judgment of the subordinate s work performance becomes less accurate and they show a disinclination to punish or deal with poor performance. 3. The horn effect arises when a problem in one area is assumed to be representative of defects elsewhere 4. The consistency error suggests that we have an exaggerated need to feel consistent in our opinions and judgments, and to assume that people and circumstances are more stable than they actually are (Millar et al. 1992). 5. The fundamental attribution error, discussed above, means that an appraiser tends to attribute poor performance to the personality of the interviewee, rather than to the situation. 6. The similarity bias means that we are attracted to people who look like us, sound like us and form a convenient echo chamber for our own ideas. 7. The what is evaluated problem arises when the behaviors being evaluated differ from those required to obtain organizational goals. 8. Each of these problems is exacerbated by ingratiation effects. People with lower status habitually seeking to influence those of greater status by exaggerating how much they agree with their opinions, policies and practices, and so ingratiate themselves with the powerful, and sometimes might create bias to these so called powerful. DelPo (2007) also found that unwise selection of words can lead to poor PA system. Not only create false hope and false impression, it also might lead to legal problem. Brief, based on the fact, rather than personal conclusion is better than a long, trying to be funny or conclusive word. The latter, might bring not only false facts, but also future problem. Organization is comprised of human, which is all unique, so also the organization. Standardized PA schemes from industry to industry, from size to another size will be better if was avoided. The common mistake that also always lead to rejection to PA is, the believe that PA is just an annual ordered ritual. Useless but a must. In fact, PA is a never stop process. The shift in paradigm regarding PA is needed now days. Formal, written and companies scale PA can be held annually, monthly, quarterly or half-a-year, but everyday informal PA through Management By Walking Around, Management By Objectives, through constant communications and immediate daily basis feedback, might lessen the hectic work of annual PA and might reduce the frighten about PA. If I can extent the scope of Performance Management Process, PMS actually started since the recruitment. If the recruitment ran well, it will reduce the burden of PA, since all employees are ready, or willing to improve. Future study also needed in this part to know whether good recruitment system is correlated with successful PA scheme, and vice versa. Communication is also the most important. Employee must have the willingness to hear the feedback, while management also must be willing to receipt critics regarding the PA schemes and procedure. At very last, but one of the most important, Company s value, philosophy, vision and mission is also are fundamental in PA system. CONCLUSION y PA is an integral part of human life. We have experienced it since the moment we can remember and understand word. We live by it, cope with it, and shaped by it. Strengthened and weakened by it. In school we received report card, in university we get grades, those all are part of life s Performance Appraisal. Even as Christian, I believe that PA will continue in the afterlife. Appraisal is needed, it is necessary for company s or employee s development. Some study reported that PA is correlated with performance, and the growing number of user of this method, strengthen its position of importance. y PA is needed to measure performance, personally. PA is irrelevant under assumption that all member of organization has done and will do a fine job with, or without evaluation.

Succubus on Top CHAPTER 20

Striking Sol with that tiny piece of wood was like dropping a nuclear warhead into the room. The blast threw me off the couch, and I hit the floor with a jarring, painful thud. Small objects flew into the walls. Art tumbled to the ground. The windows in the room blew out in a sparkling shower of shards. And it was raining inside. Blood and glitter fell down around me in red, gleaming streaks. Mine wasn't the only true nature to be revealed. In the instant before Sol had exploded, I had felt him. Really felt him. Yes, he was part of a different system than mine, but he was no minor immortal player looking to stir up a little trouble. He was a god. A bona fide, honest to goodness god. Now, I should point out that gods come and go in the world based on belief. Godly power is directly proportional to the faith of their believers. So, those whose names no one remembers often walk around literally as bums, no different from humans save for their immortality. Sol, however, had had a fair amount of power. Not like Krishna power or God with a capital G power, but a lot. Certainly more than me. Holy shit. I had just destroyed a god. I straightened up from my fetal curl and looked around. Everything was still except for a light wind blowing in though the now-open windows. My skin and clothing were spattered with sticky scarlet blood, like I'd been at the wrong end of a paintbrush at the Mortensens,. My heart rate refused to slow. A moment later, I heard the pounding of footsteps on the stairs. Alec burst into the room, drawn by the noise and the shaking. He looked around, his lower jaw practically dropping to the floor as he came to a screeching stop. My intoxication had not passed with Sol's destruction. That fucking ambrosia was still in my system, and it was actually getting worse. Still, my anger at Alec was such that I again overcame my befuddled senses and reflexes, and with a speed that came as a surprise even to me, I sprang at him and knocked him to the ground. A moment's shape-shifting, and my short and slim frame suddenly held considerably more muscle and strength than its appearance suggested. I straddled Alec with my legs and arms, and panic blazed on his face when he realized he couldn't budge an inch from my grip. I hit him hard across the face. My coordination might have been off, but it didn't take much to apply brute force. â€Å"Who the hell was he? Sol?† â€Å"I don't know!† I hit him again. â€Å"Honest, I don't. I don't know,† blathered Alec. â€Å"He was just this guy†¦he found me and made me a deal.† â€Å"What was the deal? Why'd you bring me to him?† He swallowed, blinking back tears. â€Å"Sex. He wanted sex. Lots of lovers all the time. Didn't matter if they were guys or girls, just as long as they were good-looking. I wasn't supposed to touch them. I just hooked them up with the potion until they wanted to meet Sol. Then he, you know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Fucked them and dumped them,† I finished angrily. I thought about Casey and the Abercrombie model guy in the coffee shop. I recalled Alec's desire to get me on the ambrosia but his reluctance to touch me, no matter how much he wanted to. I was meant for Sol. â€Å"So that wasn't ambros – er, potion in my cup tonight. That really was some date-rape drug.† â€Å"I don't know,† Alec whimpered. â€Å"Come on, let me go.† I tightened my grip and shook him. It took a moment since my fingers had a little trouble keeping hold. I had to work to maintain the fierceness of my face and voice. † What'd he give you? Did he pay you or something?† â€Å"No. He just†¦he just gave me more of the potion. All I wanted, so long as I kept the people coming.† â€Å"And you gave it to the band,† I realized. â€Å"Yeah. It was the only way†¦the only way we could get big. It's all I've ever wanted. To land a record deal and get famous. This was the only way.† â€Å"No,† I said. â€Å"It was just the fastest way.† â€Å"Look, what'd you do to Sol? What are you going to do to me?† â€Å"What am I going to do?† I yelled, my anger rising through the drug. I shook him, knocking his head against the floor. â€Å"I should kill you too! Do you know what you've done to all these people? To the band? Doug's in the hospital right now because of you.† His eyes went wide. â€Å"I didn't know that. Honest. I didn't want to hurt him†¦I-I just couldn't get the stuff on time. Not until I delivered you.† He spoke of me and the other victims like we were commodities. I wanted to pick him up and throw him out the window. I could do it too. Humans were indeed fragile things, and while my succubus shape-shifting didn't have the power to maintain this  §r-strong shape all night, I could hold it long enough to do some major damage. Despite my normal abhorrence of violence, I have to admit that throwing people around a room is actually more satisfying than you'd think. After Dominique had died, I tracked down the corrupt doctor who had botched her abortion. I had changed from Josephine and wore the shape of an apish, seven-foot-tall man with bulging muscles. Storming into the doctor's small, sinister office, I didn't waste any time. I grabbed him as if he weighed nothing and tossed him against the wall, knocking down shelves of curiosities and so-called medical implements. It felt fantastic. Striding over, I picked him up by the front of his shirt and punched him hard in the side of the head, ten times harder than I'd hit Alec. The doctor staggered and fell but still had enough life to scramble backwards, crab-style, in an effort to get away. â€Å"Who are you?† he cried. â€Å"You killed a girl tonight,† I told him, moving menacingly. â€Å"A blond dancer.† His eyes bulged. â€Å"It happens. I told her. She knew the risks.† I knelt down so that we were at eye level. â€Å"You cut her open and took her money. You didn't care what happened to her.† â€Å"Look, if you want the money back – â€Å" â€Å"I want her back. Can you do that?† He only stared, shaking with fear. I stared back at him, shaking with my own power. I had the ability to kill him. To throw him again or snap his neck or choke the breath from him. It was terrible and wrong, but seized by my own rage, I couldn't control myself. Honestly, it's fortunate in the long run that most incubi and succubi have mild personalities more bent on pleasure than on pain. With the ability to take on any shape, we can be pretty deadly to mortals if we're pissed off enough. They can't really stand against us. This doctor sure as hell couldn't. But another immortal could. â€Å"Josephine,† murmured Bastien's voice behind me. Then:† Fleur .† When I still didn't respond or loosen my grip, Bastien said, â€Å"Letha.† My birth name penetrated the bloodlust pulsing through me. â€Å"Let him go. He isn't worth your time.† â€Å"And Dominique isn't worth avenging?† I demanded, my eyes never leaving the wretched human before me. â€Å"Dominique is dead. Her soul is in the next world. Killing this man won't change that.† â€Å"It'll make me feel better.† â€Å"Maybe,† conceded Bastien. â€Å"But it isn't your place to mete out punishment to mortals. That's reserved for higher powers.† â€Å"I am a higher power.† The incubus rested a gentle hand on my shoulder. I flinched. â€Å"We play a different role. We don't kill mortals.† â€Å"You and I have both killed before, Bas.† â€Å"In defense. Protecting a village from raiders isn't the same as cold-blooded murder. You may be damned, but you aren't this far gone.† I released my hold on the doctor and leaned back on my knees. He stayed frozen. â€Å"I loved Dominique,† I whispered. â€Å"I know. That's the problem with mortals. They're easy to love and quick to perish. Better for all of us to keep our distance.† I didn't touch the doctor, but I didn't move either. Bastien gave me a gentle tug, still quietly reasonable. â€Å"Come on, let's go. Leave him. You don't have the right to end his life.† I let Bastien lead me out. Once in the dark alley flanking the doctor's office, I shape-shifted back to my more natural-feeling Josephine form. â€Å"I want to leave Paris,† I told him bleakly. â€Å"I want to go somewhere where there is no death.† He put an arm around me, and I leaned into his soothing presence. â€Å"No such place exists, Fleur.† In Sol's house, I still bore down on Alec, again empowered with the ability to crush his life if I chose. But Bastien's words echoed within me, and I realized with an ache how much I regretted my current hostility with the incubus. Regardless, he was still correct after all these years. Revenge killings were not my right. It was unfair for an immortal to take advantage of a much weaker mortal. I would be no better than Sol. And looking at Alec underneath me, I realized just how terribly young he was. Not much older than Dominique. And anyway, my strength and coherence were failing by the second. I leaned in menacingly to Alec. â€Å"G-get out,† I mumbled through numbed lips. â€Å"I want you to get out. Out of Seattle. Don't ever contact Doug or anyone else from the band again. If I find out you're still in the city tomorrow night†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I struggled for an appropriate threat. My mental processes were grinding to a halt. â€Å"You, um, won't like it. Do you understand?† My bluff worked; he was clearly terrified. I climbed off him and sat crouched because I couldn't stand. He scrambled up, gave me a last terrified look, and tore out of the room. As soon as the door closed, I passed out.