Progression of Human Resource Information System

Progression of Human Resource Information System EXECUTIVE SUMMARY : Human Resource Information System has become one of the core software for each and every company. The companies policies are now monitored by the HRIS system.   Bank Dhofar strives to provide efficient service to its employees. They are in disadvantage in meeting these objective because they are having an out dated and inflexible human resource system.   In response to these challenges the company has   come to a conclusion that a proper human resource information system will be a major improvement for them by providing an efficient human resource system. Various potential alternatives for replacing the current human resource system has been analysed in the document. The recommendations and the strategy for going with the replacement of the HR system has been studied. The existing human resource application lack the needed functionality and flexibility which can allow the Bank Dhofar to deliver the HR services as effectively as possible. Human resources information systems have functioning right from the 1980s. In the initial days it was a simple computer application. It went on expanding from a simple application to a complex one where the whole organization details are being entered within the system. HRIS also is the name of the human resources discipline for HRIS specialists and other human resources professionals involved in the technology for employment and personnel matters. (Alan Price, 2004) INTRODUCTION In this modern world, the technology is changing day by day. Without the use of proper and latest technologies, the business cannot survive long. In order to make the human resource department more efficient there are many new technologies which are been introduced in the market. HRIS ( Human Resource Information System ) is one of these technologies which has been introduced. It is an integrated system which is designed to help the human resource management in decision making. It clubs the human resource management with information technology to reduce the time for decision making process, but also helps in complex consultations that come under the human resource work.  Ã‚   The main purpose of any HRIS system is to computerize employee records and to maintain upto date account of the decisions that need to be made or that has been made as part of the human resource management preparation. There are some defined principal areas of human resource that are affected by the Human resource information system. It includes Payroll, Employee benefits, Time and employee management and HR management.   Once these four areas of regularly updated, the system allows the user to see online the history of the employee details right from being appointed till the payroll and perks received by him. All the personal data of the employees can be viewed in flash (Bratton John and Gold Jeffrey (2003). The role of human resource is changing day by day with the introduction of rapid technologies, with the result of globalization and with the changes in the stake holders. The current issue of the human resource now a days is to manage the global human resources. The workers are migrating from one place to another, the expatriate employees issue are some of the common. The another issue is the increase presence of the female employees. The female employees are now competing in the job race which were mostly the male dominated one. The another issue is the employee behavior. The employer cannot terminate or dismiss an under performing employees as easily as they used to do earlier.(Heuring, Linda 2003). The existing human resource application lack the flexibility to allow the company to deliver the human resource services as effectively as possible. There were issues and challenges that directly impacted the company.   The challenges were as follows. The inability for job applicants to apply online The risk of shadowing the sensitive employee information Difficulty in obtaining the timely information for the management. Lack of flexibility of the current system to meet the changing business. (Cornelius N.E., Human). BANK DHOFAR Bank Dhofar was first started in the year 1990 in the name of Bank Dhofar Al Omani. It started its operations with two branches, one in Muscat and the other branch in Salalah. For the corporate growth of the bank Bank dhofar has assured   Effective Human Resource planning and management. In 2008 Bank dhofar had included a new organisational structure for the bank. A strategic five plan was launched. The introduction of new products, services and the investments made in upgrading the banks technological platform makes it clear that Bank Dhofar is scaling up its business to meet increased customer demands. The bank is committed to its ‘Customer First philosophy to build a strong relationship with customers. Technology plays a vital role in how a bank conducts business. Bank Dhofar is making significant investments in technology, giving customers convenient banking access, better service and greater value for money. Bank Dhofar is committed to continuously upgrading systems to enhance our customers experience. For employing the   people it has implemented the HRIS system within their database. This is helping them a lot for maintenance of employee records. The problem bank Dhofar faced with the old way of HR management was that they were keeping all their   employee records manual. The HR manager left for a new job and a other employee who joined has to figure out that system. The other weakness was that the manual workforce administration system was creating inefficiency and it was resulting in strain relation between the employees and the manager. Many companies have seen a need to transform the way Human Resource operations are performed in order to keep up with new technology and increasing numbers of employees. In the past recording keeping was done on paper and with spreadsheets. Mangers at Bank Dhofar realized that there was a need to change to a more computerized system and looked into different HRIS vendors. By making the move to a HRIS system, Bank Dhofar is able to keep more accurate records as well as better prepare for future growth. To meet the challenge of handling 800 new employees, Bank Dhofar acquired Web-based technology programs from an international company, like electronic pay stub, electronic timesheet software, time-off system, and human resource information system. By adapting these new programs, Bank Dhofar was able to reduce waste and cost. LITERATURE REVIEW (Tannenbaum, 1990) defined Human Resource Information system as a technology which is used to collect, store the information, analyse the collected information, and distribute the information to the human resource.   It is basically a online solution which is used for data entry. It can tackle many issues within the organization. It is used to manage all the employee information, to analysis and report the employee information, and to store the applicant tracking and resume management. HRIS is a systematic procedure for collecting, storing, retrieving and analyzing the data which is needed by the organization about its employees, their personnel activities and organization unit characteristics. HRIS is an integration between human resource management and the information technology (Kovach et al., 1999). Human Resource Information system is not limited to the computer hardware, software application which has a technical part of the system, it includes the employees, the procedures, policies and the data which is required to manage the human resource functions (Hendrickson, 2003). Human Resource information system merges the human resource management as a discipline and in a particular basic human resource activities and processes with the information technology (Gerardine DeSanctis, 1986). The core business functions of the HRIS system are Employee information, Payroll management and the benefits.   The system helps in streamlining the processes which frees up the Human resource staff to do the project work and solving the issues of employees. Before the implementation of the HRIS the resumes were handed over to the companies physically. The HR management staff has to physically handle it and then forward those applications to the specified department. But with the implementation of the HRIS system, the applications applying for job can straight away email their resumes through internet.   (De Cenzo David A. and Robbins Stephen P. 1996). The whole   employee information because of HR basic process are automated and stored in the connected database. HRIS simplifies the reporting and management decision support activities.   The system can be allowed for data sharing and integration with each department within the organization. The finance department and the supply chain department can be shared. An HRIS is used for employment actions such as applicant tracking, performance management, attendance, compensation and benefits management, work force analyses, and scheduling.   A very popular use of HRIS is employee self-service. Many employers are utilizing their HRIS to addition the human resources department staff by enabling employees for find answers to common questions they would have asked a human resources rmanagement people. Components of HRIS There are three major components of an Human Resource Information System (Kovach et al., 1999). Input   - > Maintenance of Data > Output. Input :   The user enters the employees information into the system. The input can be in the form of data entry or through scanning of the related documents. Maintenance :   The user updates the records which were entered in the input stage. The new employee records are also added in this component. Output : This is the most visible function in an HRIS system. According to Kovach et al., (1999) output is to generate valuable information for the user, the system has to process the output then do the necessary calculations and then that output has to presented in the form in which the management can understand it. The companies have realized the many of the cost reductions and efficiency gains very soon after implementing the human resource information system.   The pay back period or the time it takes to pay back the investment will be any where between one to three years .   HRIS contributes to cost reduction, customer satisfaction and innovation (Broderick and Boudreu, 1992). The disadvantages of the human resource information system are the human error during feeding the data within the system. The other disadvantage of this system is it is a costly technology to update the system and malfunction or insufficient application to support the human resources need. (Fombrun C. J., Tichy, 1984) One of the most significant challenges facing human resource managers today is the justification of the costs associated with the purchase and implementation of a Human Resource Information System. Most organizations already have a policy of cost justifying any new technology, and todays tight economy dictates that this be done for every new investment of this nature. The cost justification of an HRIS has always been a challenge as methods for quantifying the costs of personnel systems have only recently received much attention by executives and human resource practitioners. In comparison to financial and operational information systems, cost benefit analysis for HRIS are recent and still quite rare. (Scarborough, 2001) There is a growing realization that human resources cost money and that their inefficient use may lead to red ink on the corporate ledger. For many companies, as much as 90% of the corporate budget is spent on salaries and benefits. However, few are able to make the link between their people costs and the corporate bottom line. Although there was difficulty adapting to a new way of recordkeeping, Bank Dhofar was able to find a system that will help support the current and future growth of the company. Fortunately, some of the HR staff had experience working with an HRIS and were able to help their colleagues imagine new processes, as aided by a system. In order to help Bank Dhofar ease the HR burden of implementing a new HR system, the management of Bank Dhofar was convinced to look for a vendor to help implement and maintain a HRIS system. This system has helped Bank Dhofar better prepare for current and future growth. (Dessler Gary, 1999) The Internet is an increasingly popular way to recruit applicants, research technologies and perform other essential functions in business. Delivering human resource services online (eHR) supports more efficient collection, storage, distribution, and exchange of data (Friesen, 2003). An intranet is a type of network used by companies to share information to people within the organization. An intranet connects people to people and people to information and knowledge within the organization; it serves as an â€Å"information hub† for the entire organization. Most organizations set up intranets primarily for employees, but they can extend to business partners and even customers with appropriate security clearance (Byars Rue, 2004). The human resource department is the group formally established by an organization to help manage the organizations people as effectively as possible for the good of the employees, the company, and society. HR professionals include external consultants and service providers with HR expertise. At the end of the day, however, the managing of human resources gets done through a working partnership of HR professionals, line managers, and employees. At times, this partnership extends outside the organizationfor example, as the firm strives to forge better working relationships with its suppliers (Schuler and MacMillian, 1984). It may also venture into local education facilities as the HR staff works with schools to prepare students for internships in the firm. And, increasingly, companies use HR consultants to help with activities such as compensation, benefits, training, recruiting and selection, and implementing large-scale organizational change. RECOMMENDATION The weekness which has been identified as the contemporary issues in the human resource can be solved by implementing the Human Resource Information System in the company.  Ã‚   The organization has to strictly implement the system so that the employee record can be maintained in the sequence order. The performance of the employee can be analysed and proper justification can be given while appraisal of the salaries. The under performing employee can be notified.   The following are the recommendation for implementing the system. * A good human resource management team has to be set up Every company should have a proper human resource management system. The employees are the asset to the organization. If the employees with a high caliber are selected for the company, the company can gain their experience and run in making profits. * Selecting of the proper HRIS system after examining the need of the organization. The management has to select a proper HRIS system for the organization.   The organization has to first set up a team to manage the selection process of the HRIS system. The next step must be the team has to set a goal for the project. Once the goals are developed, The vendor who will be supplying the system has to be selected precisely. The actual need of what the organization is looking has to be identified. Demonstration for the new product has to be checked by the team members. Once the demonstrations are finished and all the questions have been answered, the selection has to be done. After selecting the vendor, the technical environment of the company and whether the new application will be suited for the same technical environment has to be verified.   After doing the budgeting and proper research the system has to be selected and implementation has to started. * Carefully entering the employee information within the system The next important part of the system will be to enter the employee information from starch. All the personal data of each and every employee has to be entered properly. Because this data will be base for the system. * All the new recruits resumes must be posted within the system The team has to see to it that all the resumes of the new recruited employees has to be entered in the system. This will help the management to clearly understand the strength of the employee. * Any employee appraisal / memos has to be entered within the system. Any memo issued to the employee either it might be in the form of appraisal / warning letters those has to be entered in to the system. * The automated attendance system should be linked to the system CONCLUSION Bank Dhofar is a good examples of facing issues similar to human resources information technology and human resources information systems. It know the importance of new technology, human resources information systems, and data security. Because of the increasing complexity of human resource management, nearly all medium to large size companies employ human resource professionals as full time employees, as vendors with long term contracts, and/or as consultants who work on short term projects. The ways organizations allocate responsibility for HR activities are many. Regardless of how HR activities are structured, however, companies that are most concerned with HR management seek professionals who effectively perform as the roles of business partner, enabler, monitor, innovator, and adapter. When this occurs, HR professionals can help organizations link their HR activities to the business. The three major groups that uses the advantages of HRIS are the human resource professionals, th e managers and the employees. The human resource professionals depends on the system for fulfilling their job functions, the managers rely on the system to provide the data collection and for analyzing the data especially for the salary increments of their employees. The employees are the end users of the system.   The usage of HRIS depends upon the size of the organization and the modules which the organization adopts. The study which has been done shows that the human resource professionals agree that the use of HRIS system leads to long professional standing within the organization.   The HR professions has to improve their IT skills and has to use this system inorder to remain competitive in the market. The role of integrating human resource management and information technology has lead to competitive advantage and has attracted many human resource personnels and managers. The usages of this system has increased remarkly well among organization of different sizes mostly bec ause of their increasing role in human resource management.

Military force and promoting humanitarian values

Military force and promoting humanitarian values This essay will argue that military force is an ineffective instrument for the promotion of humanitarian values. However, this is qualified by also presenting reasons for discounting the effectiveness of non-military interventions. This essay will be structured as follows. The first sections will confront methodological issues that have to be addressed before the question can be answered. Following this we will embark on a comparison of military and non-military interventions. The essay will evaluate a paradigm case of a successful operation, Australia in East Timor. We will argue it is anomalous and can barely qualify as a genuine intervention. We then see a true case of an intervention, Afghanistan, and conclude that this constitutes a failure of a military promotion of humanitarian values. We will then move onto evaluate two cases of non-military interventions, UN Resolutions and economic sanctions. It will be argued that UN sanctions are impotent, with reference to the actions of Israel. The essay will then examine the sanctions placed on Iraq, and argue that they caused a greater humanitarian crisis than any hitherto encountered intervention. The essay will conclude with reasons why one should refrain from drawing methodological precepts from previous interventions, and advocates a case-by-case analysis. It is important to limit the scope of this debate. First of all, I will not be discussing issues such as the legitimacy of military force being used in national liberation movements with the discussion instead focusing on third party military intervention. There are questions that further need to be addressed: Firstly, what constitutes military force? Is it the mere presence of military personnel (e.g. UN Peacekeeping forces), or does it have to be active military participation? Secondly, what are humanitarian values? Thirdly, how does one measure the promotion of such values? Is there a quantifiable way to ask whether their promotion has been effective? Fourthly, are there case studies which can be turned to in order to address the question? If there has never been a genuinely humanitarian intervention, then it will be impossible to assess the success of such an endeavour. In response to the first question, it is simpler to treat all military interventions of the same ilk. Consider the criteria set out by the Red Cross (1997), arguing that a prerequisite for an intervention to be humanitarian it has to be neutral, impartial and independent. The position of the Red Cross is that no armed force could satisfy these requirements backed as they are by political governments with their own agenda. If one finds this cogent, then there is no prima facie reason for discerning between mercenary, state-backed and UN organisations[1]. In regards to humanitarian values, and how to measure their effectiveness, to find a view backed by consensus is almost impossible. We confront positions as diverse as simple, utilitarian measurements of the amount of people whose lives have been saved (Janzekovic, 2006: 144) to more specific positions such as Regan (1996: 341-342) who claims that an intervention can be deemed successful if it destabilises the region in such a way, so that it is more difficult for the oppressing-state to continue with its human rights violations. This position would not use a short-term measurement such as deaths to measure the success of an intervention. However, I shall err on the simpler measurement. This is simply due to that the measurement of injuries, fatalities and abuses in a conflict is a simpler tool of analysis, rather than a vague notion such as favourable destabilisation[2]. Finally, as to whether there has been a genuine humanitarian intervention, the answer seems to be negative[3]. Regardless of whether or not one agrees with the historical analysis in the books cited, there is an explanatory problem for believers in genuine intervention, which is the sporadic and inconsistent use of such interventions. This is what Paris (2014: 578-588) calls the inconsistency problem. The thrust of the problem is that such inconsistent use of military intervention in regards to humanitarian crises implies that there is more tha n just selfless means motivating the intervenors. Although other factors affect the ability to intervene (Binder: 2009), there is a strong motivation that, when combined with the historical record, humanitarian intervention is a misnomer. However, let us leave this issue to the side. What we shall discuss now is the following: Do military interventions for nominally humanitarian ends, save more lives than non-military means for the same ends? Let us examine some of the paradigmatic cases of successful military intervention. One often cited is the success of the Australian intervention in East Timor in 1999. The intervention was required due to the Indonesian governments oppressive measures used to quell an East Timorese population insistent on independence from Jakarta. During the referendum campaign, there was widespread use of militia intimidation to quell support for independence, accompanied by widespread human rights violations. The actions of the Indonesian forces resulted in the displacement of around 40,000 – 85,000 East Timorese (T. Seybolt, 2007: 88.)). The success of the Australian military has been praised by some, such as Wheeler and Dunne (2001) who took such success as totalling almost a paradigm shift on the effectiveness and new normative perspective of a humanitarian intervention (contrasting it with the collusion of the United States in the violent occupation of the East Timor in 1975 (Amnesty In ternational, 1985). However, although the Australian intervention is largely considered successful, unfortunately, it does not meet the criteria of a humanitarian intervention. Humanitarian interventions, under most definitions (Roberts, 2003:5) have to be a military action without the consent of the oppressing power, in this case, Indonesia. However, as is noted by Chesterman (2002), Australia sought the consent of the Indonesian government, before intervening. The Australian government of the 5th of September said that they would only consider intervention if four conditions were met: (i) there was a security council mandate, (ii) if the Indonesian government consented, (iii) if the endeavour was a short term one, and (iv) if the force had a strong regional component Wheeler and Dunne (ibid p.807). What makes the fact that consent was sought from Indonesia considerably stranger was the fact that, apart from Australia, the international community did not believe that Indonesia had any rights over East Timor, with East Timor being internationally considered to be an independent state. As Chesterman goes onto note as well, that, although it is often cited to be an example of successful intervention, the fact remains that the international community displayed great reticence in intervening (contrasted with their enthusiasm regarding Bosnia). Chesterman concludes that if Australia had not intervened, no one else would have (Chesterman 2002:181)) There are also significant reasons that the reason for Australian intervention were hardly impartial either, as Chesterman also notes that the Howard Government of Australia was probably more worried about the influx of refugees that would come from such a crisis (a point which is corroborated by Gonzalez-Forester (2004), who documents Australia and other countries previous ambivalences to violent Indonesian actions towards the East-Timorese.) This case study appears to support the question posed in the affirmative, as once the Australian forces intervened, the extent of the massacres and expropriations stopped considerably. Thus, there does appear to be some motivation for considering military intervention a useful technique. However, there are also other considerable problems by extrapolating from this example. First of all, the Indonesian forces consented to their intervention, so the Australians were entering a comparatively un-hostile environment, and secondly, this fact is bolstered by the generally warm relations between Australia and Indonesia. In order for us to extrapolate from this example, we would have to see how well interventions perform in a country which does not openly consent to the intervention from a third party. Such an example would be Afghanistan, a country that has twice been intervened by hostile forces supporting apparently humanitarian goals (both Russia (1979-1989) and the United States (2001- Ongoing)). Both of these interventions have had the nominal motivation of humanitarian ends, and both have, to some extent worked towards them. In the case of the Russian intervention, it seems to be that the attempt to intervene has failed, despite the attempt to implement progressive policies (Bennis, 2015). The report cited documents how their attempts to implement progressive policies in the rural areas of Afghanistan provoked widespread rebellion, thus making the humanitarian situation considerably worse. The United States intervention initially seemed to be a more intelligent intervention, with there being a pronouncement of the military intervention being accompanied by humanitarian aid drops. However, as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) note, the aid packages of food (which only occurred a round once a month) shared the same yellow packaging as cluster bombs, which led to a number of casualties (Calas and Salignon: 2004, p. 82.) Asides from that, there also seems to be strong reports that human rights are being abused by militant forces which the united states support. For example, the New York Times have reported on a massacre occurring in Dasht-E-Leili, where Afghan Soldiers killed Taliban POWs on their route to Sheberghen Prison (Gall, 2001).this directly violates Article 13 of the Geneva Convention regarding the treatment of POWs (ICRC, 1949). Incidents such as this are indicative of a failed intervention, in regards to the promotion of explicitly humanitarian values. Although the indefinite extension of the US-Afghanistan war means that any conclusion might seem premature, the track record of the past 14 years indicates that military interventions do not promote humanitarian ends if the members of the occupying country do not welcome it. We have thus encountered compelling reasons to dismiss the effectiveness of military means for promoting humanitarian ends. What is now necessary is to contrast this with the effectiveness of non-military interventions. We shall examine two such examples: UN declarations and economic sanctions. We shall conclude that both are ineffective: UN declarations are ineffective without military support, and economic sanctions can exacerbate already precarious situations. In regards to the first point, there does seem to be a strong case for this. Consider, for example, the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as their occupation of the Golan Heights in Syria. All of these violate international law, and violate UN sanctions (Hammon, 2010)). However, this does not seem to have deterred the Israeli government from refraining from the maintenance of such illegal activities, nor does it seem to have any force in preventing further breaches of internationa l law. Secondly, consider the economic sanctions that were placed on Iraq in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait implemented by United Nations Security Council Resolution 661 (S/RES/661 (1990)) These sanctions are considered to have some of the most disastrous humanitarian results of recent history. The result of these sanctions have resulted in UNICEF reporting around 500,000 Iraqi children under the age of 5 dying (an increase of over 4,000 deaths a month compared to before the sanctions were enforced) (Edwards, 2000) In fact, the oil-for-food program has had effects that compelled the organiser of the program, Denis Halliday, to resign, calling the program genocidal. The fact that this resignation at such a senior level in the UN is almost unprecedented is remarkable in and of itself. What makes this fact more remarkable is due to the fact that the person assigned to replace him, Hans von Sponeck, also resigned from the post, citing similar reasons (ibid.) A counter-point co uld be raised here, to the effect that it was not so much the food-for-oil program itself that was the problem, but rather the insufficiencies of the program in light of the bombing campaign that almost crippled Iraqs infrastructure. For example, Eric Hoskins claimed that [the bombing campaign] effectively terminated everything vital to human survival in Iraq – electricity, water, sewage systems, agriculture, industry and health care (Curtis, 1995: 189). Thus, the point could be raised that this should be cited as a failure of military intervention, rather than non-violent. This point is a strong one, yet the cataclysmic consequences were not invoked by the bombing campaign, rather it was the sanctions which prevented the rebuilding which precipitated a humanitarian disaster. It is difficult to equate the success and failure of these positions, as they are often used in tandem, and it becomes difficult to dissociate what could be indications of mere incompetence, from the mor e malice invocations of the doctrine of realpolitik. In conclusion, it is difficult to ascertain the effectiveness of military force. This is because paradigmatically successful operations, such as East Timor do not qualify. The possibility of a further answer is complicated due to the fact that the Israel-Palestine conflicts demonstrates the impotence of non-military means without the possibility of an armed intervention. Yet, the fact that condemnations are powerless also does not help us answer the question: Afghanistan shows how a militarily backed campaign can make a military solution to legitimate grievances considerably worse, and yet Iraq shows us how economic sanctions also exacerbate precarious scenarios. It seems to be that to offer an answer regarding the effectiveness of this-or-that method is premature, and universal laws determining efficacy should be replaced with a case-by-case analysis. Footnotes 1 For a response to this, see Janzekovic (2006, p.130). For a more methodological reason regarding the difficulty of providing meaningful distinctions between forms of intervention, see Raymond (2015. p.295-298) 2 For example, did the UN sanctions against Iraq in response to their invasion of Kuwait destabilise Saddam? It is not obvious to say. 3 For why interventions previous to World War I were not humanitarian, see Losurdo (2014) For why interventions post- World War II were not humanitarian see Blum (2003) Bibliography Amnesty International. (1985) East Timor Violations of Human Rights: Extrajudicial Executions, Disappearances, Torture and Political Imprisonment, 1975–1984. London: Amnesty International Publications. Bennis, P. (2015) Afghanistan in: Assange, J. The WikiLeaks Files: The World According to US Empire. New York: Verso Books. Pp. 368-394 Blum, W. (2003) Killing hope: US military and CIA interventions since World War II. London: Zed Books Calas, F. and Salignon, P. (2004) Afghanistan: From Militant Monks to Crusaders. In: Weissman In the Shadow of Just Wars, Weissman, ed. London: Hurts and Co. Chesterman, S. (2002) Just War or Just Peace? Oxford: Oxford University Press Curtis, M. (1995) The ambiguities of power: British foreign policy since 1945. London: Zed books. Edwards, D. (2000) An Interview with Denis Halliday. Media Lens. [Online] 16th May. Available at: http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/interviews/77-an-interview-with-denis-halliday.html. [Accessed 19th October 2015] Gall, C. (2001) Study Hints at Mass Killing by the Taliban. New York Times [Online] May 1st Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/01/world/study-hints-at-mass-killing-of-the-taliban.html [Accessed 19th October 2015] Gonzalez-Foerster, G. (2004). East Timor: Better Late Than Never. In: Weissman. Ed. In the Shadow of Just Wars, . London: Hurts and Co. 25-42. Hammond, J.R. (2010) Rogue State: Israels violations of UN Security Council resolutions Foreign Policy Journal. [Online] 27th January. Available at: http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/01/27/rogue-state-israeli-violations-of-u-n-security-council-resolutions/. [Accessed 19th October 2015] International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (1997) Can Military Intervention and Humanitarian Action Coexist? World Disasters Report. Oxford: Oxford University Press International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) (1949), Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention), 12 August, 75 UNTS 287, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b36d2.html. [Accessed 19 October 2015] Janzekovic, J. (2006) The use of force in humanitarian intervention: morality and practicalities. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., Losurdo, D. (2014) Liberalism: a counter-history. London: Verso Books. Paris, R. (2014) The Responsibility to Protectand the Structural Problems of Preventive Humanitarian Intervention. International Peacekeeping 21.5: 569-603. Raymond, D (2015). Military Means of Preventing Mass Atrocities. In Rosenberg, S. Galis, T. Zucker A. eds. 2015: Reconstructing Atrocity Prevention. New York: Cambridge University Press. Pp.295- 320 Regan, P M. (1996) Conditions of successful third-party intervention in intrastate conflicts. Journal of Conflict Resolution 40.2: 336-359 Roberts, A. (2002) The So-Called Right of Humanitarian Intervention, in Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 2000, 3. The Hgue: T.M.C Asser. Seybolt, T B. (2007) Humanitarian military intervention: the conditions for success and failure. Oxford: Oxford University Press. UN Security Council, Resolution 661 (1990) Adopted by the Security Council at its 2933rd meeting, on 6 August 1990, 6 August 1990, S/RES/661 (1990), available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3b00f16b24.html [accessed 25 October 2015] Wheeler, N. and Dunne, T. (2001) East Timor and the New Humanitarian Interventionism, International Affairs, 77, 4, pp. 805–27.

Assistive technology for the blind and visually impaired Essay examples

For this research project the topic I have chosen to cover is, â€Å"The impacts of assistive technology for the blind and visually impaired.† I will discuss the benefits and drawbacks to using advanced technology to promote development. I will also look at how assistive technology is being implemented and what effects it has on the visually impaired. There are approximately 10 to 11 million blind and visually impaired people in North America, and their visual abilities vary almost as much as their ethnic, racial, and personal characteristics do. The term "visual impairment" covers a wide range and variety of vision, from blindness and lack of usable sight; to low vision, which cannot be corrected to normal vision with standard eyeglasses or contact lenses; to moderate visual impairment and an inability to read the fine print in a daily newspaper. People who are visually impaired, like everyone else, pursue a great range of interests and careers and participate in the full range of daily activities. They may need to receive training in various adaptive techniques in order to do so, and educational and other services and products are designed and available for this purpose. Federal and state estimates used for planning educational services do not adequately account for the number of children in the United States who are blind or visually impaired. In some cases, only students who are legally blind are reported, ignoring those who have difficulty seeing but do not qualify as "legally" blind. In other instances, children who are visually impaired and have other disabilities such as mental retardation are not counted as visually impaired because they are reported in other federally defined categories, such as multiple disabilities. Tragically, because many 3 professionals lack the specialized skills necessary to recognize and address vision loss, there are also children with visual and multiple impairments whose vision loss remains undiagnosed throughout their school experience. The inadequate count of visually impaired children means that our nation lacks critical information about the need for specialized services for these children, and cannot correctly allocate the specialized resources and ... ...sts despite the fact that education experts agree that for some children, special schools are the best placement option, and that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act passed by the U.S. Congress makes access to all educational placement options, including special schools, every child's right. As a result of my research I have found that assistive technology is very helpful to blind or visually impaired people when used appropriately. Technology has set new standards and goals for the visually disabled and blind that were never within reach without these new break throughs. The main issues that still need to be dealt with is making sure the new technology is taught correctly to the people who need to use it, and that access to the latest technology is easily attainable. References Van Huijgevoort, Toos. (2002) Coping with a visual impairment through self- investigation. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 96, Abner, G. H. & Lahm, E. A. (2002) Implementation of assistive technology with students who are visually impaired: Teachers’ readiness. Journal of visual impairment and blindness, 96, Assistive technology for the blind and visually impaired Essay examples For this research project the topic I have chosen to cover is, â€Å"The impacts of assistive technology for the blind and visually impaired.† I will discuss the benefits and drawbacks to using advanced technology to promote development. I will also look at how assistive technology is being implemented and what effects it has on the visually impaired. There are approximately 10 to 11 million blind and visually impaired people in North America, and their visual abilities vary almost as much as their ethnic, racial, and personal characteristics do. The term "visual impairment" covers a wide range and variety of vision, from blindness and lack of usable sight; to low vision, which cannot be corrected to normal vision with standard eyeglasses or contact lenses; to moderate visual impairment and an inability to read the fine print in a daily newspaper. People who are visually impaired, like everyone else, pursue a great range of interests and careers and participate in the full range of daily activities. They may need to receive training in various adaptive techniques in order to do so, and educational and other services and products are designed and available for this purpose. Federal and state estimates used for planning educational services do not adequately account for the number of children in the United States who are blind or visually impaired. In some cases, only students who are legally blind are reported, ignoring those who have difficulty seeing but do not qualify as "legally" blind. In other instances, children who are visually impaired and have other disabilities such as mental retardation are not counted as visually impaired because they are reported in other federally defined categories, such as multiple disabilities. Tragically, because many 3 professionals lack the specialized skills necessary to recognize and address vision loss, there are also children with visual and multiple impairments whose vision loss remains undiagnosed throughout their school experience. The inadequate count of visually impaired children means that our nation lacks critical information about the need for specialized services for these children, and cannot correctly allocate the specialized resources and ... ...sts despite the fact that education experts agree that for some children, special schools are the best placement option, and that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act passed by the U.S. Congress makes access to all educational placement options, including special schools, every child's right. As a result of my research I have found that assistive technology is very helpful to blind or visually impaired people when used appropriately. Technology has set new standards and goals for the visually disabled and blind that were never within reach without these new break throughs. The main issues that still need to be dealt with is making sure the new technology is taught correctly to the people who need to use it, and that access to the latest technology is easily attainable. References Van Huijgevoort, Toos. (2002) Coping with a visual impairment through self- investigation. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 96, Abner, G. H. & Lahm, E. A. (2002) Implementation of assistive technology with students who are visually impaired: Teachers’ readiness. Journal of visual impairment and blindness, 96,

Longitudes and Attitudes, by Thomas Friedman :: September 11th Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Longitudes and Attitudes†, written by Thomas Friedman, is a collection of columns, broken by September 11th’s great catastrophe and including material from his diary. The book displays his outstanding strengths as a commentator along with a few weaknesses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Longitudes and Attitudes† is a collection of his more recent columns and a diary of supporting incidents. It relates to the theme that has consumed him in his career. This theme is given point by Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the attack of 9/11.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Tom Friedman went to work as a journalist in Beirut, Lebanon soon after securing a masters degree from Oxford University in Middle Eastern Studies. Employed by United Press International in 1978, he soon transferred to the New York Times and covered the Syrian destruction of that country’s own town of Hama, the Israeli Lebanese invasion, the massacre of Palestinians in refugee camps, the evacuation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, etc. In 1995, he became the foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times with carte blanche--unlimited travel budget and no supervision as to content. He has written two books and collected three Pulitzer Prizes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In his current job, Friedman writes a 740-word column twice a week. It appears in many of the world’s newspapers and on the Web. This latest book, Longitudes and Attitudes, is a compendium of his more recent columns and a diary of supporting incidents. The text relates to the theme that has consumed him in his career: the failure of the Arab nation to develop, democratize, and compete properly with the West. This theme is given point by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the attack of 9/11.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Friedman’s ideas are presented primarily through many columns that he had written for he New York Times. Their datelines stretch from December 15, 2000 to April 20, 2003 and from Jerusalem, Israel to Peshawar, Pakistan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this book, Friedman presents a coherent picture of forces in the Middle East that have led to the Israeli- Palestinian confrontation and to bin Laden and his group of terrorists. Friedman’s articles describe meetings, discussions, and arguments he had with people at all levels of society through out the Middle East. From his extensive travels and through dynamic interactions with the people he derived intense insights into how 9/11 came about, why, and what should be done about it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  His arguments and conclusions are well thought through, so much that they draw opponents to reason with him.

Three day road summary

The story opens in 1919 after the war and we are first introduces to an old woman named Nicks, a native American living in Canadian we learn she is a medicine woman and healer. She's one of the last of her clan to live in the bush, having fought off going to the reserves and governments wanting to take the Indian out of the Indian at the time. She hears that her nephew whoso been sent off to the war has returned and paddles a long way to get to the train station.She sees Just how much the war has left him damaged: he's lost a leg and Is addicted to morphine, which was the pain medicine was used at the time. She understands that he's actually close to death and as she paddles him home, she realizes that In order to help him all she has to offer are the stones of her life. While she does this, Xavier who can't even talk and almost deaf Internally reflects on the past number of years, on his experience In the war with his childhood friend Elijah.This gives way to two different stories, two different narrators Nicks and Xavier. The novel Is structured Like one of those Russian Matrons dolls, the ones where you open up the doll to find other, smaller dolls inside. Nicks tells Xavier stories of her life, Elijah is obsessively compelled to tell Xavier war stories and poor Xavier is too damaged to speak of his own stories and so relives them in his morphine-addled head. One of the many ironies is that the skills of the two friends used for hunting in the bush become incredibly valuable on the battle field.The army quickly realizes their skill as trackers and as marksmen and so they are made into snipers quite quickly once they reach the front. Although their killing-abilities are remarkably respected and quite well regarded by the rest of the regiment, they still face racism within the army as a consequence of who they are. The characters feel very much like they eave to prove themselves as they face prejudice. Elijah discovers a lust for killing and is encouraged by s ome French soldiers to retrieve the scalps of his victims to prove he's killed as many as he claims.He treats the war as a game wanting to be the one to hold the most kills, while Xavier tries to come to terms with his devastating war-experiences. Elijah In his madness becomes a virtual killing machine, a winding In native terms. The welding Is a two sided thing: legend goes that If a person eats another human being In times of great starvation then he will grow to great heights and have an Insatiable appetite. The notion has a psychological aspect too: moral boundaries are hard to set when In the trenches and some Like Elijah get carried away by It all to a point of no return.Three day road summary By floral Indian at the time. She hears that her nephew who's been sent off to the war has the war has left him damaged: he's lost a leg and is addicted to morphine, which was death and as she paddles him home, she realizes that in order to help him all she has to offer are the stories o f her life. While she does this, Xavier who can't even talk and almost deaf internally reflects on the past number of years, on his experience in he war with his childhood friend Elijah.

The Manual Method compered to ICT

I did not have to use any form of computer of ICT equipment to do this task, as it could have been done by hand. To do this I would take a piece of paper and pencil and draw the company logo and either by freehand, or with the use of stencils could have written out all of the information required and then included the vacancy details. To keep a track of the staff wages and production situation I could have used a card for each position. This would keep all of the job details including: shift times and rates of pay etc. I could use an adding machine to calculate pay, tax and national insurance etc. This manual system would be very time consuming considering the staff wages needs to be recalculated on a regular basis. THE BENEFITS OF ICT The use of ICT is of great benefit for this type of system as once the details are created for the first time they can be used over and over again. This can be done by saving the original spreadsheet and pay slip template then recalling it each time it has to be used. The spread sheet and pay slip can be updated easily by adding, removing or changing information. No need to start all over again each time a week, no need for a rubber or correction fluid if you make a mistake or want to delete information. I have the use of tools such as spelling or grammar checking, I can easily experiment with different size and shape of typeface, I can use colour, clipart, boarders, word-art, tables and frames to make the pay slip easier to read. By using a spreadsheet, similar features as above can be used for adding, changing and deleting information. The uses of formulas help with calculations these are redone automatically each time workers details might change. For example the user would not have to recalculate the total pay or the number of hours worked or garments produced, if job roles changed or wages went up or down, income tax and national insurance can change at least on a yearly basis. Spreadsheets are used as modelling tools to make predictions. For example, as manager could see the over all cost of the company staffing if there was to be a 3% pay rise or pay cut for all of the staff, or if they were to increase or decrease the piece rate for the number garments produced. If a manager had to make a report about these predictions he or she could use the chart functions within the spreadsheet to create a graphical of these situations. ICT has made great steps in the communication of information, files can be sent and received by e-mail instantaneously. Data can be passed around a network for other users to access or the system could be placed on a disk or CD-ROM, which could be used to keep it safe or to pass it to other places or sites.

Breakeven & Business

Certain elements of business show that to achieve high profitability a better and diverse product mix will result in more capacity utilization. Therefore capacity utilization has a direct relation to profitability and product mix. This is because if capacity is fully utilized will the profit be reaching to the maximum as fixed costs will remain the same.However if the profit is to be further increased it is necessary to enhance the capacity as a result more capacity would need to be used to first cover the fixed costs of the new capacity installed. Similarly in one machine, a number of products can be made; therefore not all products will be made to the fullest as one product or the other production will be scarified. What companies try to achieve is the right product mix so that optimal profitability is achieved and therefore make the business more versatile.Though it is the decision of the person in charge to decide either to fully utilize the capacity using the most profitable pro duct or make a number of products to focus on product diversity rather than on profitability. (Source: Reliance Industries Limited, High Density Polyethylene Pipes Beyond Water Supply)References 1. Ms Poorvi C. Desai – Polymers, Reliance Industries Limited, High Density Polyethylene Pipes Beyond Water Supply. Retrieved on October 5, 2008, from http://www. polymerupdate. com/poorvidesai/pdf/HDPE_Pipes. pdf