Prison makes bad people worse Essay Example for Free

Prison makes bad people worse Essay In the year 2002, there were just over 68,000 persons in prison in England and Wales, 6,000 in Scotland and 1,200 in Northern Ireland. In the case of England and Wales, this is a few thousand more than in 1999, but at this time the plateau stood in marked comparison to the trend up to 1997-8 and it was by no means certain that this could be maintained, (Morgan, 2002). These findings serve to highlight the progressive increase in rising prison numbers in the UK the causes of which are continually in debate and beg the question; what happens when there is no more room left in our prisons? For the purpose of this essay, this author assumes that the statement â€Å"prison makes bad people worse† infers that an offender, who serves a custodial sentence, is more likely to re-offend upon release. Before evaluating this statement and reaching a conclusion, this author will introduce a brief history of the prison system in an attempt to offer an understanding of how imprisonment has become the most severe penalty imposed on offenders in the UK today. Prisons all over the world have existed for many years for the purpose of confining those in society who have committed a crime serious enough to warrant such a sentence. The purpose of prison is now not only to inflict a punishment but also to attempt to rehabilitate offenders contrasting with the early days of imprisonment where little rehabilitative work was done. A custodial sentence is now the most severe penalty that an offender can be sentenced to in the UK following the abolition of the death penalty in 1965. Imprisonment is intended to punish offenders through restricting freedom and liberty as well as unfavourable living conditions in the name of ‘less eligibility’, (Morgan, 2002). This in no way is intended to suggest that conditions in prisons are inhumane although reports exist from previous investigations that would suggest otherwise. Punishment for offenders was served in a very different manner prior to the nineteenth century. Punishments at this time in the main consisted of physical punishment which would often involve torture, public humiliation and even execution. After decades of this type of punishment being administered, the torture and public humiliation elements ceased. The infliction of physical pain was replaced by the principle that the loss of rights and wealth would serve as an adequate deterrent for further offending. Although this altered form of punishment apparently focused on the mind of the individual, it could still be argued that custodial sentences still impose an element of physical torture indirectly by food rationing, sexual deprivation and solitary confinement. These aspects of punishments are still relevant within the penal system today, (Flynn, 1998). Many different explanations exist for why this change from physical punishment to imprisonment came about, one of which argues that the reason for the shift was due to humanitarianism and reform which would offer a more humane and civilised alternative to the methods of previous years, (Wilson, Ellis, Mikulski, Nash, 2003). An opposing argument suggested that this was not the case and that the defining of a new age and more effective punishment by focusing on the reform of offenders into the ‘disciplined subject’ were the main reasons for this shift in operation, (Foucault, 1977). Despite this argument, one of the most influential factors associated with how prisons operate in the UK today is the concept of human rights. The 1998 Human Rights Act governs these rights. Along with this, the Prisons Inspectorate introduced guidelines on what factors should constitute a healthy custodial environment based on international human rights principles. Arising from the World Health Organisation’s influence, four tests are used to identify whether a healthy custodial environment is present. Firstly, prisoners must be held in safety. Secondly, they must be treated with respect and dignity as human beings. Thirdly, they must be able to engage in purposeful activity, and lastly, prisoners must be prepared for resettlement into the community prior to release, (Owers, 2003). Because of the unpleasantness of imprisonment it is necessary for this type of punishment to be justified. Prison can be very unpleasant for many offenders as their liberty is severely reduced, their contact with family and friends is minimised, and it can infer many social disadvantages that may lead to offenders becoming socially excluded upon their release from custody. In order to justify imprisonment as a viable punishment, numerous theories or arguments have been introduced in an attempt to support this sentencing option. One argument that attempts to justify imprisonment is the concept of Reductionism. This argument suggests that custodial sentences reduce the number of crimes committed. Those in agreement with this theory also argue that the number of crimes committed will be less if someone is punished in this manner, than there would be if no punishment were imposed at all, (Cavadino Dignan, 1997). This theory also suggests that society as a whole, has a greater influence than the individual and therefore an offender would be powerless to justify not going to prison if he/she had committed a crime that endangered public safety, (Abercrombie, Hill, Turner, 1988). However, it could be argued that this theory suggests that crimes are only committed by those who are in prison ignoring the concept that there are many in society committing crimes that have never been caught. Deterrence is another theory used to justify imprisonment as an appropriate punishment by arguing that people will not offend because they are too fearful of the consequences should they be caught as the punishment is seen as too severe. There are two elements to this theory, firstly there is individual deterrence which suggests that an offender will not re-offend because the punishment they received last time was so severe that it has deterred them from doing it again. Secondly, there is general deterrence which argues that a punishment imposed on one offender for a crime will deter others from offending, as they know exactly what the consequences are. At first glance, deterrence theory appears to hold validity, but in reality research findings have indicated that sentencing offenders to custodial sentences has a more influential effect. Once an offender has been in prison they may find themselves labelled by the rest of society and categorised into a stereotype with unfavourable connotations. This may hinder their attempts to live lawful lives for example; problems getting a job and even psychological effects, which may become apparent in their behaviour, (Cavadino Dignan, 1997). This evidence could be used to support the argument that prison does make people worse. Rehabilitation theory suggests that some forms of punishment can actually reduce the likelihood of re-offending and alter an offender’s behaviour and attitude. Together the prison service and the probation service are heavily involved with rehabilitation as well as the treatment and training of offenders, (Wilson et al, 2003). As a main aim of the prison service to assist in the rehabilitation of offenders, the provision of accredited programmes such as PASRO (Prisons Addressing Substance Related Offending) and ETS (Enhanced Thinking Skills) attempt to address prisoners’ offending behaviour whilst in prison. However, a report by the Social Exclusion Unit found that the prison experience causes such damage to an offenders’ rehabilitation that it outweighs the effectiveness of the programmes, (Solomon, 2003). Another criticism of the penal system is that many offenders are sentenced to such short periods of custody that they are unable to gain access to any rehabilitative interventions. This evidence could also suggest that prison can make bad people worse. The theory of incapacitation implies more emphasis on public protection rather than the behaviour of offenders which coincidently is another main remit of the probation service. Quite simply, this theory argues that if an offender is in custody they are unable to commit crime and therefore ensuring public safety for the duration of the sentence giving piece of mind to members of society, (Ainsworth, 2000). It could be argued that this theory fails to recognise that crime often occurs within prisons including violence, bullying and drug offences. Another criticism of this theory is that as mentioned earlier, the public will only be protected in this manner for the duration of a sentence. Lastly, retribution theory holds that punishment is imposed on an offender to redress the balance between offenders and their victims in making sure that the offender suffers for their crime. Ainsworth (2000), recognises that seeing an offender incarcerated may make the victims feel that justice has been done. However, this is often not the case as many offenders receive sentences that the victim may feel does not reflect the harm that has been caused to them as a result of the offence. Now that some of the justifications for imprisonment have been discussed, it is now possible to explore conformity within prisons which may assist in reaching a conclusion on whether the statement â€Å"prison makes bad people worse† can be justified. Conformity, a theory closely linked with labelling theory, suggests that an individual may conform to social rules or may even assume a social role because it is recognised as the norm in their environment. Heavily influenced by the levels of power, social roles exist predominantly in the prison environment especially between prison officers and offenders. One study that attempted to explore power dynamics and how easy it is to assume a role was conducted in August 1971 by psychologist Philip Zimbardo and was named the Stanford Prison Experiment. Twenty-five male volunteers took part in the experiment and were taken to a mock prison where each person was assigned a role of either prisoner or guard. The guards had the authority to dictate 24 hour a day rules to the prisoners the results of which were shocking and are still referred to today. A number of prisoners had to be released due to mental health illnesses arising from the trauma of the situation. The experiment, which was intended to last for two weeks, was terminated after six days due to the pathological reactions of the prisoners who ironically had been selected for their normality. The findings were that the environment transformed the participants and after a few days, the role dominated the person, (Alexander, 2001). This experiment highlighted social power as the being the major factor in the participant’s behaviour as all the guards at some point displayed abuse, authoritarian attitudes, and appeared to enjoy being in control. Zimbardo argued that this abnormal behaviour is a product of transactions within an environment that supports this behaviour. The labels placed upon the participants became valid in this environment and pathological behaviour was the outcome, (Wilson et al, 2003). This experiment still has implications for the prison system today in that Zimbardo argued that the current prison system is guaranteed to cause severe pathological reactions within prisoners causing a debasement of their humanity, low self esteem and making it difficult to integrate into society outside of prison, (Wilson et al, 2003). This would suggest that labelling and conformity theories are a case for prison making bad people worse. Whilst in prison an offender may assume a role that could be continued upon their release. Zimbardos’ experiment provides an adequate basis for discussing the sociological theory of a prison subculture sometimes referred to as the inmate code. The prison society exists apart from the rest of society and therefore it is understandable that norms and values are very different between the two. Sykes (1958) found that the inmate code is something that may give a prisoner an identity and help them to cope with the effects of imprisonment. The code is thought to include certain rules such as not fraternising with staff, acquiring a position in the inmate ‘pecking order’, and giving the impression of toughness in emotion and physical appearance. Clemmer (1940) argued this to be part of the prisonisation process which arguably reinforces criminal behaviour as prisoners become used to opposing authority which is likely to continue in the outside world, (Cited in Morgan, 2002). Therefore, attempts at rehabilitation may be hindered by this and could be used to argue that prison makes bad people worse. So what statistical evidence is there to support the statement â€Å"prisons make bad people worse†? Reports into the subject have found that prisons have a poor record in reducing re-offending and that 59% of offenders are reconvicted within two years of release. For male youths under the age of twenty-one, the reconviction rate is 74% over the same period of time. Research findings from the Social Exclusion Unit have indicated that re-offending by ex-prisoners costs society approximately ? 11 billion each year and that they are responsible for one in five recorded crimes, (Solomon, 2003). This evidence would appear to suggest that people who have served custodial sentences have been made worse by the experience and that imprisonment is not an effective punishment. Contributing to this argument is the theory that these statistics are only obtained from recorded crime suggesting that the figures may in reality be significantly higher as many crimes are not recorded. In conclusion it would appear that there is much evidence to support the claim that prison makes bad people worse such as the statistical evidence revealing reconviction rates. On the other hand, there are also arguments for prison as an effective punishment such as the justifications for imprisonment including rehabilitation and deterrence theories. It would appear that prison does indeed have an influence on some prisoners re-offending but it would be difficult to assume that this is the case for all offenders who have served a custodial sentence. This would suggest that for some offenders prison is effective and for others it is not. Having said this, it is important to recognise that prison does ensure public safety from offenders who pose danger to society, but only for the period they are in custody unless they emerge from prison rehabilitated. For those offenders who could be dealt with in another manner, community penalties offer the versatility in sentencing options necessary to provide effective punishment without contributing to the growing problem of increasing prison numbers. It is therefore vital that the most appropriate punishment is imposed individually taking the crime and the offenders’ circumstances into account when sentencing.

Criteria For Performance Excellence Business Essay

Criteria For Performance Excellence Business Essay The Baldrige framework benefits any organization whether it is starting a journey toward performance excellence or fine-tuning its current improvement efforts. Use of the Baldrige framework leads organizations to identify industry best practices guided by feedback provided by experts. Thus organizations using the this framework improve and align processes, go for measurement and analysis, and strategic planning, further leading to better decision making, stronger leadership, and greater organizational alignment and success. Criteria for performance excellence The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence provide a systems perspective for understanding performance management. They reflect validated, leading-edge management practices against which an organization can measure itself. With their acceptance nationally and internationally as the model for performance excellence, the Criteria represent a common language for communication among organizations for sharing best practices. The Criteria are also the basis for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award process. The Baldrige criteria form an excellent model of Total Quality Management (TQM). The criteria are divided into seven key categories: Leadership Strategic Planning Customer Focus Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management Workforce Focus Process Management Results Each category is scored based on the approach used to address the category, how well it is deployed throughout the organization, the cycles of learning generated, and its level of integration within the organization. An excellent way to improve your TQM maturity is to use the criteria as a self-assessment and then compare your organizations methods and processes with winners of the Baldrige award. An integral part of the Baldrige process is for winners to share non proprietary information from their applications so you have a ready-made benchmark for your organizations TQM maturity. As part of our assignment we would focus on the category 4 that is Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management and category 5 which is Workforce Focus. Category 4: Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management The Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management category looks at how an organization uses data to improve its operations. This includes how data is gathered, analyzed, managed as well as the use of information technology. This category holds 90 points. These 90 points are further divided into two parts which are Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement of Organizational Performance (45 pts.) that is how do you measure, analyze, and then improve organizational performance? And Management of Information, Knowledge, and Information Technology (45 pts): that is how do you manage your information, organizational knowledge, and information technology? The division and sub- division of category 4 can be illustrated in the diagram below: 4.1: Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement of Organizational Performance: This item examines your organizations selection and use of data and information for performance measurement, analysis, and review in support of organizational planning and performance improvement. It serves as a central collection and analysis point in an integrated performance measurement and management system that relies on financial and nonfinancial data and information. Its aim is to guide your organizations process management toward the achievement of key organizational results and strategic objectives, to anticipate and respond to rapid or unexpected organizational or external changes, and to identify best practices that may be shared. Performance Measurement Here it is mostly about how the organisation select, collect, align and integrate data fro tracking daily operations and overall organisational performance. These include progress related to strategic objectives and action plans. They should identify the key organisational performance measures, both long term and short term financial measures. The frequency of tracking these measures as well as how they use this information to support corporate decision making and innovation should be included. Alignment and integration are key concepts for successful implementation and use of your performance measurement system. They are viewed in terms of the extent and effectiveness of their use to meet your performance assessment and improvement needs and your strategy development and execution; it also include how the performance measurement requirements are deployed by senior leader to track group work and process- level performance. Baldrige also lays emphasis on the use of comparative data and information to know the organisational needs to know where they stand compared to competitors and the best practices. Comparative performance projections may reveal organisational challenges as where innovation is needed. It may also support business analysis and decisions relating to core competences, partnering and outsourcing. Another point is customer data. Here it is about how the organisation makes use of the voice-of customer data and information to support operational and strategic decision making and innovation. The goal is to achieve customer engagement. Voice of customer can be in terms of customer complaints and feedback for services to improve offerings. Measurement agility is about how you ensure that your performance measurement system is able to respond to fast pace growing, unexpected, or external changes. Performance Analysis and review Here it is about how the organisation reviews and analyses organisational performance and capabilities. How they use these information to assess organisational success, competitive performance, financial health, and progress relative to strategic objectives and action plans. Also how the organisation uses the information to assess its ability to respond quickly to the changing organisational needs and challenges in the operating environment. Performance Improvement Here is about how the findings from reviews are used for lesson learnt and best practice sharing across departments to improve performances. It also includes how the competitive and comparative data is used to project future performance. Also, how these information are used for continual improvement and identify opportunities for innovation. How these are deployed to workgroup, functional-level operations, suppliers, partners and collaborators to ensure organisational alignment. 4.2: Management of information, Knowledge, and Information Technology This item examines how your organization ensures the quality and availability of needed data, information, software, and hardware for your workforce, suppliers and partners, collaborators, and customers, normally and in the event of an emergency. It also examines how your organization builds and manages its knowledge assets. The aim is to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness and to stimulate innovation. Data, information , and knowledge management This section lays emphasis on the different properties that the organisation should focus on. That is, how do they manage organisational data, information and knowledge to ensure accuracy, integrity and reliability, timeliness and security and confidentiality? Also how you make data and information available to your stakeholders that is workforce, suppliers, partners, collaborators, and customers. MBNQA also lays emphasis on knowledge management that is how do you manage organizational knowledge to accomplish the collection and transfer of workforce knowledge, the transfer of relevant knowledge from and to customers, suppliers, partners, and collaborators, the rapid identification, sharing, and implementation of best practices, the assembly and transfer of relevant knowledge for use in your innovation and strategic planning processes Management of information resources and technology It deals with how you ensure that hardware and software are reliable, secure, and user-friendly. In the event of an emergency, how do you ensure the continued availability of hardware and software systems and the continued availability of data and information to effectively serve customers and business needs? Category5: Workforce focus 5.1 Workforce Environment 5.2 Workforce Engagement Research has brought evidence that high level of psychological well-being and employee engagement play a central role in delivering some of the important outcomes that are associated with successful, high performing organisations. (Robertson and Cooper, 2009). In an interview by Bob Gorman from Robert E. Gorman Communication, Ray Baumruk from Hewitt Associates (2006) talks about three interesting general behaviours that characterise engaged employees. These are: Say: the employee advocates for the organisation to co-workers and refers potential employees and customers. Stay: the employee has an intense desire to be a member of the organisation despite opportunities to work elsewhere. Strive: the employee exerts extra time, effort and initiative to contribute to the success of the business. Workforce Performance. To achieve workforce performance it is vital for managers or leaders to firstly understand the elements inhibiting engagement within employees through workforce surveys and focus groups for instance. An organisational culture that works towards achieving workforce engagement should be created to eliminate those inhibiting elements. In an article written by Krugel (ManpowerGroup Russia CIS) published by the Moscow Times (February 2013), four areas of action are recommended for immediate managers to enhance workforce performance: Communicate! Help your people understand change. Conversations make change management possible since they clear out doubts and confusions employees may have. Managers cannot assume that employees understand; employees should know what exactly is expected from them, what is the organisations mission, how they contribute to meeting customers needs and what is the business strategy. Provide learning and development opportunities. Employees may feel less secured and frustrated by a sudden reduction of workforce or by major changes in the workplace. Hence they worry about their future in the organisation. The same situation is faced by employees who are asked to take on new responsibilities. A solution to this could be to show such employees you are committed to them by providing them with learning and  career development opportunities. Empower your people. Managing change often means learning to  manage differently. This implies changing the traditional command and control modes of management to respond to the needs of a diverse workforce and to retain employees with specialised skills. According to  ManpowerGroup Surveys, engagement is positively impacted when employees are empowered to  succeed. Therefore everyone should be treated with respect, their opinions counted, encouraged to  take ownership of  their work and  provided with the  authority they need to  do their job well by managers or leaders. Organise work processes to minimize stress. Engagement impacts on productivity and empirical evidence from the ManpowerGroup Russia CIS research shows that engagement is strongly impacted by the appropriateness of  an employees workload, by  the pressure he or she experiences at  work, and  by his or her ability to  balance work with family life and  personal interests. Hence too much pressure on employees and high demands from them will lead to their low engagement and poor productivity. Managers should play a  significant role in  engaging their employees. They should at least recognise that emphasizing balance could actually lead to  higher productivity. This could be achieved by optimizing work processes. Assessment of Workforce Engagement. Organisations should make use of indicators showing workforce engagement to assess how engaged their employees are. For instance, the institute for employment studies (IES) carried out extensive research on defining and measuring engagement and identifying engagement drivers. In 2004, the IES came out with a report on the Drivers of Employee Engagement and according to the report, an engaged employee: believes in the organisation works to make it better understands business context and the bigger picture respects colleagues and helps others is willing to go the extra mile Therefore the latter brings business benefits. Moreover, according to Smythe (2007 cited in Certificate in Internal Communication, 2008) engagement is quite a recent development of older theories of motivation and communication which originates from social psychology. Hence classic theories of employee motivation such as McGregors Theory X and Y (1960), Hertzberg Two Factors'(1966), Alderfer s ERG Theory (1969) and Maslows hierarchy of needs (1943) could be used as indicators of engagement. Others, such as absenteeism rate, workforce retention, grievances, safety and productivity could also help to assess employee engagement. All these factors should be linked to business results and analysed so as to make improvements to workforce engagement and business results. Workforce and Leader Development. Each organisation may have its own workforce development, learning and career development systems. Nowadays knowledge is a critical business asset, hence organisations should do their best to capture and retain that knowledge which is significantly stored is employees minds. A set of core and complementary HR practices were proposed by Evans(2003) namely competency framework, recruitment and selection, induction, performance management, reward and recognition, resource management, learning environment, training and development, career development, and retention. In fact all these HR aspects are essential to achieve organisational performance. Training and development needs of both the leaders and the employees should be identified. Self-directedness in learning has been recognised by various authors as having an important role to play in the competitiveness of enterprises in the 1990s (Smith et al. 2007) and hence should not be ignored. According to a recent BusinessWeek.com/Hay Group survey, the twenty best companies in leadership share some common characteristics. They address leadership development from various dimensions, from articulating how leadership behaviour needs to change to meet the challenges of the future to managing their pools of successors for mission-critical roles and make leadership their top priority despite of bad situations. Baldrige and Other models There are different alternatives to achieve the Total Quality Management implementation for instance, the ISO standards, the Malcolm Baldrige model and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model. The first quality model was established in Japan. Business Excellence model is a crucial mechanism for refining the performance of organisations, along with national competitiveness. The EFQM model The EFQM is a non- profit foundation created in 1988 by fourteen leading European organisations with the aim to become the leading force of excellence in Europe. Nowadays, EFQM has a population of 30000 members across the world. This model is similar to excellence models used in Japan (the Deming prize) and America (the Malcolm Baldrige). EFQM is a model used for self-assessment that an organisation of any size can use by applying the criteria. EFQM provides assistance to understand the gaps and to find the appropriate solution. This model is updated every three years to ensure if it corporates with the current environment. The European Quality Award (EQA) was established in 1992 with the aim to encourage and access the development of quality improvement activities and also to identify the business excellence companies in Europe. The EFQM provides for guidance through 3 important components: The Fundamental Concept of Excellence The Criteria The Radar The Fundamental Concept of Excellence Achieving Balanced Results It is a must for any organisation trying to achieve excellence to meet their mission and progress towards the vision set and also to meet both the short and long term needs of stakeholders. Adding Value for customers Due to fast moving trend customers will be attracted to innovating and creative organisation. Leading with vision, Inspiration and Integrity The leaders must act as role model to shape others so as to achieve the targeted aim. Managing by processes The main vein of organisation is the processes. It must be managed in a structured manner to generate stable and continuous results. Succeeding through people The organisation must value the talents of its employees and encourage them to participate in the empowerment projects for the company to achieve organisational goals. Nurturing Creativity and Innovation Organisation generates increased value and levels of performance through continual improvement and systematic innovation by joining the creativity of their stakeholders. Building Partnerships Organisation maintains good relationship with various partners that can contribute to success. Taking responsibilities for a sustainable future A good culture must prevail and processes must be ethical as consumers are attracted to such company. The Criteria The Enabler Criteria: Leadership This relates to the behaviours that the leaders adopt to facilitate the achievement of mission and vision. People The organisation helps to improve the skills of the employees and promote justice and equality. In addition they cater for the proper communication and rewarding people. Strategy The organisation reviews its mission and vision and implements it with the concept of continuous improvement. Partnership and Resources It refers how the organisation manages and develops its external partnerships and internal resources so as to accomplish the mission. Processes, Products and Services This is related how the organisation designs, manages its processes with the intention of satisfying its stakeholders. The Results Criteria: People Results Excellent organisations systematically measure and achieve outstanding results that meet or exceed the needs and expectation of their people. Customer Results Measures what the organisation is doing to meet the expectation of its targeted customers. Society Results It is concerned with what the organisation is achieving in satisfying the needs and expectations of relevant stakeholders within the society. Key Results This determines the success of the organisations strategy and the satisfaction of stakeholders. The Radar This model can be used to assess the current capabilities of the organisation. Meaning that, the organisation can know its strengths and opportunities by performing the RADAR. The application of the RADAR logic helps an organisation to: Determine the Results it is targeting to accomplish as part of its policy and strategy making process. Plan and Develop an integrated set of sound Approaches to deliver the required results both now and in the future. Deploy the approaches in an efficient way to ensure implementation. Assess and Review the approaches by monitoring and analysing the results achieved through ongoing activities. Comparison between the MBNQA and EFQM: Both are results oriented awards Both the awards give maximum weight to customer satisfaction results The European Quality Award include the impact of society as one of its criteria while Baldrige covers this point in the leadership criteria The Baldrige Awards does not include the financial performance whereas the European Awards in broad-based due to the inclusion of financial performance. Analysis The 4th criterion of Baldrige which is the Measurement, Analysis and the Knowledge Management is similar to the Radar which is the Assess and Review approaches and their deployment. Both models lay emphasis on measuring and analysing past performance in order to improve their processes to achieve the desired results. Besides, the Knowledge Management focuses on the knowledge that employees will need to increase their performance together with the improvement of the processes so as to bring innovative solutions. Moreover, Baldrige and EFQM criteria help the organisation to know where it actually stands compared to its rivals and also where there is scope for improvement to reduce the gaps in their processes and performances. The Workforce focus criterion of Baldrige can be compared to that of the People criteria in EFQM. The similarity between both is that they take into consideration the importance of an effective working environment for supporting their personnel. The crucial concept is to have a motivating workforce for the achievement of organisational and personal goals. Both models lay emphasis on compensating and rewarding the workforce. Such actions will motivate people which will result for benefiting the organisation as many studies have shown that motivated employees generate positive impact on the organisations performance. ISO 9001:2008 ISO 9001:2008 Certification has been in place for over a decade now. Both customers and companies use ISO 9001:2008 as a method of controlling their quality. ISO 9001:2008 is an international standard for quality management system. The standard provides a framework to manage your business and ensure a common sense approach to the management of your business activities to consistently achieve customer satisfaction by providing a set of principles to the company. The eight principles are: Customer focus organization It is where the organization depends on their customers and therefore the organization need to shape activities around the fulfillment of market need. Leadership Leadership is needed in order to provide unity of purpose and also a direction. Involvement of people The organization should create an environment where people become fully involved in achieving the organizational objectives. Process approach In order to achieve organizational objectives, resources and activities need to be managed as processes. Systems approach to management The effectiveness and efficiency of an organization depends on a systemized approach to work activities. Continual improvement An organization key objective is to adopt continual improvement as a part of everyday culture. Factual approach to decision making Effective decisions are based on the logical and intuitive analysis of data and factual information. Mutually beneficial supplier relationships Such relationship between an organization and its supplier will enhance the ability to create value for both of them. The above eight principles are structured into the following 5 major section with reduced documentation requirements with high emphasis on continual improvement and customer satisfaction. Quality management system Management responsibility Resource management Product realization Measurement, analysis and improvement ISO 9001:2008 and Baldrige Just like baldrige provides a category on workforce, in the same way ISO 9001:2008 provides a section on resource management. However the main difference is that baldrige provides quantifiable data whose weightage is 85 points and it allows an organization to self-assess itself whereas ISO does not allow to self-assessment and also ISO allows you to have part of your organization to be ISO certified because of economic reason whereas with baldrige this is not possible. Section 6 of ISO 9001:2008 Resource management Section 6 of ISO 9001:2008 consists of resource management which relates to resource needed for an organization which includes human resource, hardware and software. However baldrige talks about assessing your workforce capability and capacity needs. Section 6.1 provision of resources, here resources can be in terms of manpower or machine. The organization must determine and ensure that the determined resources are available. It should be ensured that the implantation maintain and continually improve the effectiveness of ISO 9001 system and make sure that customer are satisfied whereas baldrige focus on how to recruit and retain your workforce. 6.2 human resources; is another critical resource for an organization and therefore ISO 9001 emphasis on human resource competency and training but baldrige makes sure that you organize and manage your workforce. According to the general requirement people who are performing the task will directly or indirectly affect the conformity of product requirement. Therefore the workforce must be competent base on education, training, knowledge, skills and experience. However in order to handle this requirement the competency must be well defined. In baldrige there is workforce change management which emphasize on changing your workforce capability and capacity needs. The next section which is based on competence, training and awareness makes sure that an organization must identify the training needed for each job or task and review the gap between the people who perform the job to the requirements. Baldrige however focus on exceeding performance expectations by organizing and managing your workforce. Moreover the organization must identify, provide and maintain the facilities needed to ensure to achieve conformity of product. This includes facilities like equipment, building, transport, communication method and so on. The last section argues that organization must determine and manage the work environment needed to achieve the conformity of product requirement. One example can be the availability of enough lighting. Section 8 of ISO 9001:2008 Measurement, analysis and improvement ISO 9001:2008 provides a requirement for measurement, analysis and improvement. The standard now requires that measurement and monitoring activities needed to ensure conformity. Moreover the achieve improvement must be defined, planned and implemented. In order for this to occur there must be appropriate measurement methods. Baldrige also focus on performance measures which will collect information on the overall organizational performance. Section 8.2.1 which is customer satisfaction states that organization will monitor information on customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction. There must be a system in place which will address customer complaints and general feedback. Baldrige also ensure the effective use of voice-of-the-customer data and information to support operational and strategic decision making and innovation. Section 8.2.2 which is internal audits argues that organisation should review their internal audit procedures to ensure the inclusion of responsibilities, requirements and methodologies for conducting the audits. However Baldrige focuses on benchmarking. Furthermore organisations are required to determine the measurement and monitoring methods which will be used in order to ensure that both processes and product requirements are met. Baldrige also review the performance and capabilities of the organization. Organisations must take action related to the consequences of non-conformity owing to the requirement control of nonconforming product. Baldrige also has a criteria on best practice sharing where the lessons learned are shared. Section 8.4 consists of analysis of data where organization must collect and analyse data to determine system sustainability and effectives so that improvements can be made. Baldrige focus on future performance. Based on the section on improvement organization must facilitate continual improvement through the use of the quality policy, objectives, audit results, analysis of data, corrective and preventive action and management review. ISO 9001:2008 clearly establishes top management responsibility for an organization improvement. It also states that actions taken must prevent recurrence. When reviewing actions taken over time, organization must ensure that repeat occurrences are addresses on the other hand Baldrige focuses on continuous improvement and innovation. To conclude, Baldrige and ISO are quite similar, the only difference is that with baldrige you can do benchmarking but with ISO it is not possible. Organisations who applied the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework The Baldrige framework is uniquely different than any other framework for organizational excellence and management. It contains criteria that relate to any organization in any sector which are as follows: Manufacturing Service Small Business Nonprofit Education Healthcare The Baldrige Criteria are recognized globally as a premier excellence framework, and approximately 80 international quality or performance excellence awards either use the Baldrige Criteria or a derivative of it like for example the Japan Quality Award. The award is presented to Japanese companies displaying excellent overall management qualities that continue to create new values through the continuous improvement process. The Fukuiken Saiseikai hospital in Japan is the recent winner of the Japan Quality Award 2012. There are many organisations who have won the Baldrige National Quality Award in the United States. We shall take examples of some companies having won this award which are as follows: Motorola Inc. which was the first company to have won the first edition of Baldrige award in year 1988 and in 2002 made it twice. Employing approximately 99,000 employees in 53 different locations in the world, it aims at having the highest sales volume in world markets for electronic components and equipment. The only thing that counts is quality improvement leading to total customer satisfaction. In order to achieve this, the company made use of some techniques such as the six-sigma quality which aims at reducing the defects rate in the processes and manufacturing consistent products. Second one is the reduction in total cycle time where the time a customer placed and order and the time at which it was delivered to him was reduced. Another concept adopted is the benchmarking programs that were used to compare the processes, resources, performance and products of rivals with that of the company. The company had what they called Participative Management Program where the employees had the opportunity to participate in the decision making process of the company helping in analyzing the past performances and results in order to set strategic objectives for the future. Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is another big company that has applied the Baldrige Framework. It has 23 business and resorts hotels in United States and 2

Comparing Elizabeth Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments and The Women’s

Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments and The Women’s Bible      Ã‚  Ã‚   Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the most renowned women to lead campaigns for women’s rights. Her efforts were focused on "opportunities for women, for married women’s property rights, the right to divorce, and the right to custody of children; her most radical demand was for women’s right to vote" (Davidson and Wagner-Martin 845). In general Stanton wished to instill independence and self-reliance in all women. Stanton was an inspiring orator of speeches including the Declaration of Sentiments as well as the book The Women’s Bible. Upon analysis of her speeches and other works, as well as gaining knowledge of her background, one is able to assume that personal experience strongly affected her writing, which illustrates her writing as representative in that it addressed inequality based on the issue of gender. Another factor that influenced her writing was the way in which she interpreted the great works, the Declaration of Independence and the Holy Bible. Noticing the obvious discrimination and guidelines set for women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton composed a new "women friendly" version of each that she called the Declaration of Sentiments and The Women’s Bible.    It has been noted that Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s father on several occasions expressed that he wished Elizabeth had been a boy. Even when she excelled in life and completed tasks in attempts to please him, he constantly reminded her it was a shame she was born a girl. His constant reminder expressed to Elizabeth that her father believed that only males could be successful, which merely fueled her ambition to succeed and prove the contrary along with ensuring that other women follow... ..., she was merely trying to make her point known and knew that she must be forceful about her beliefs to order to get attention and get her point across. Stanton is a woman to honor for the work and success she accomplished in the fight for womenà ¢s rights.    Works Cited Banner, Lois W. Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Radical for Womanà ¢s Rights. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1980. Davidson, Cathy N. and Linda Wagner-Martin. The Oxford Companion to Womenà ¢s Writing In The United States. New York: Oxford United Press, 1995. Lauter, Paul. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. Nelson, Thomas. The Holy Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1985. Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. The Womenà ¢s Bible. New York: Arno Press, 1972. Ward, Geoffrey C. Not for Ourselves Alone. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999.  Ã‚  Ã‚  

The Importance of Mrs. Joe in Great Expectations :: Great Expectations Essays

The Importance of Mrs. Joe in Great Expectations    The importance of Mrs. Joe in Great Expectations has two major parts: the significance of the character, and the symbolism of the character. The significance of Mrs. Joe is to complete the figure of Joe.   The symbolism of Mrs. Joe is the physical manifestation of Joe's fears, in combination with his desire for a commanding father figure. Mrs. Joe's reign of terror is obviously necessary for Joe's existence. In the beginning of Great Expectations, Joe requires identification as a major character. Without the weakness that Mrs. Joe instills in Joe trough her reign of terror, Joe is never able to develop his own character. Joe is identified as a compassionate, sensitive character; the most direct way to display this feature is to have the character appear vulnerable. Mrs. Joe serves as the tyrant for which Joe is made helpless. Joe, unless he is a scared character, does not recognize the friend he has in Pip. Without Joe as a major role in Pip's life, Pip also seems very incomplete.   Mrs. Joe also serves as the comical interlude for an otherwise somber story. When she had exhausted a torrent of such inquiries, she threw a candlestick at Joe, burst into a loud sobbing, got out the dustpan -- which was always a very bad sign -- put on her coarse apron, and began cleaning up to a terrible extent. Not satisfied with a dry cleaning, she took to a pail and scrubbing-brush, and cleaned us out of house and home, (author’s last name and page #) Truly, a frightening creature is that which may destroy a household, by cleaning when anger besets her. The comedy also has a serious side, though, as we remember our mothers exerting their great frustrations upon the household tasks of cleanliness.   So Mrs. Joe serves well as a mother to Pip. Besides the age difference and the motherly duties of housekeeping for Pip and Joe, the attitude of a scornful mother is also apparent. This, of course, draws Joe even closer to Pip, by relation. Mrs. Joe serves as a link to make it possible for Joe to appear the father of Pip. In addition, Joe, although terrified of Mrs. Joe, is a very honorable man and would never consider divorcing her. Joe chooses to preserve the sacred marriage rather than seek his comfort.

Mathematics - The Fencing Problem :: Math Coursework Mathematics

Fencing Problem A farmer has exactly 1000 meters of fencing and wants to fence of a plot of level land. She is not concerned about the shape of the plot but it must have a perimeter of 1000 m. She wishes to fence of a plot of land that contains the maximum area. I am going to investigate which shape is best for this and why. I am going to start by investigating the different rectangles; all that have a perimeter of 1000 meters. Below are 2 rectangles (not drawn to scale) showing how different shapes with the same perimeter can have different areas. Text Box: 300Text Box: 50[IMAGE][IMAGE] Text Box: 450 Text Box: 200 Below is a table of different rectangles. Height Length ====== Area 10 490 4900 20 480 9600 30 470 14100 40 460 18400 50 450 22500 60 440 26400 70 430 30100 80 420 33600 90 410 36900 100 400 40000 110 390 42900 120 380 45600 130 370 48100 140 360 50400 150 350 52500 160 340 54400 170 330 56100 180 320 57600 190 310 58900 200 300 60000 210 290 60900 220 280 61600 230 270 62100 240 260 62400 250 250 62500 260 240 62400 270

Hypocrisy in Democracy Essay

Freedom of Speech Silence What is democracy? Democracy is a form of government where the people rule, not a dictator, a king or aristocrats. Democracy means that people have a say in law and state. This is impossible to do without a voice. How are people supposed to run the government if they aren’t allowed to speak their mind? This is hypocrisy. That is like telling someone they can travel where ever they want as long as it is in this little box. Our voice is the most important tool and weapon that we have possession of. Without our voice, we are nothing. American is â€Å"the land of the free and the home of the brave† or at least it is supposed to be. Certain people, like college presidents and other leaders are trying to take away the freedom that Americans have. If they succeed in taking away our rights and freedoms, America will no longer be a democracy. America will turn into a dictatorship. This is unacceptable. It is written in the constitution that Americans h ave freedom of speech. Freedom of expression and speech is the First Amendment, the first. It is the first because it is the most important. Without freedom of speech; people are unable to learn and grow, unable to find themselves and stand out, and unable to stand up for what they believe in. If universities get rid of freedom of speech, people will be incapable of learning and developing into the person they should be. Mistakes teach people more than anything else could. Mistakes might not be made if freedom of speech is taken away; if they are made others would be unable to tell them for fear they might embarrass them. Even worse than that, people would be unable to learn and discuss about history for fear of hurting other people. Keith John Sampson was said to be guilty for public racial harassment for reading a history book. This book was about the KKK and how the Irish defeated them. It was a complete anti-Klan book and a history book, but the university didn’t care. Sampson was just trying to expand his knowledge, but he was to be punished. They claimed that he was guilty of reading a book that has a lot of bad feelings behind it in public. However, it is a history book. It is something people learn about in school. The only way to prevent the past from happening again is to learn about it, no matter how bad it is. If the universities take away the right to learn and discuss about the past, we are doomed to repeat it. Besides learning about mistakes, freedom of speech also allows people to discover themselves. College is the first time that people are able to do what they want. They decided what times they want to go to school and what classes they want to take. College is when people find themselves. They find out what they want to do, what the love and who they are. One of the ways people do this is by expression, which falls under the freedom of speech. How can people grow if they are confined in a small box? They can’t grow; they can’t become the people they are supposed to be. College is about exploring, making mistakes, and discovering their life path. College is supposed to be freeing. One of the biggest reason people go to college, besides getting a degree for a better futu re, is to discover themselves. If universities ban self expression people will stop going to college. People will start dropping out and unemployment will sky rocket. The main reason people go to college on campus is for all the experience. If people will still get a college education, they will take online courses and there will be no need for campuses or presidents or staff. They will all lose their jobs. However, the most important thing that will be lost without freedom of speech is the right to stand up for what we believe in. Without freedom of speech, people will not be able to stand up for they believe in. without peoples powerful voices, the world wouldn’t be where it is today. This is why the First Amendment was made, to make sure that people would always be able to speak out and stand up. Unfortunately, people are trying to take that right away. Hayden Barnes, a former Valdosta student, was almost expelled for standing up for what he believes in. The University was planning to spend forty million dollars to build a parking garage. Barnes didn’t like this. He believed that all the money would be better off going to something different. He started protesting the building of the garage. The president of the University was extremely mad. He was the one who wanted to make the garage and he didn’t want someone to stop him. He started going out of his way to get Barnes expelled from school. He looked into Barnes’s background and even looked into his social networks to see what he put on there. Barnes was almost kicked out of school for what he stood up for. No one should ever be afraid to say what they believe and what they stand for. People have the desire to be in control and take rights away from people. Thankfully we have rights and regulations that don’t let them take away what is ours. The First Amendment was made to make sure that everyone in America has the right to express themselves through words and actions. Also, thankfully, there are people who fight for our rights when people try to take them away. FIRE is there to help anyone who needs it. When there are people trying to take away rights, it is wonderful to know that someone will be there to help.

More Government Assistance for College

The importance of college education is undeniably evident in today’s economy and society.   What makes college education a very important factor is because it provides greater opportunity, to an individual, especially when it comes to making career and financial-related decisions. As opposed to generations of the past, high school graduates today are unable to obtain the number of high-paying jobs that were once available. The world is continuously being been transformed from a manufacturing-based economy to an economy based on knowledge. In fact, experts predict that in the near future, around 90 percent of the fastest-growing jobs and careers would require college education. Moreover, it is also evident that in the present society, the major benefit of having college education is that college graduates receive salaries that are twice as much as those of undergraduates, aside from this, college graduates are also twice as much likely to be accepted in a job application, as compared to an undergraduate. With the continuously increasing importance of a post secondary education, the cost of it also continuously escalates. At present, the cost of college, in most countries, has been so expensive, that many would wonder whether, the high cost of tuition fees and school fees, the years to be spent in college instead of choosing to be in full-time employment, and the anxieties of keeping up with college life and financial constraints for a couple of years, in the long run, would still be worth the investment. The risk is especially large for those that belong to low-income families that already have difficulties in making ends meet, as tuition fees would definitely be an additional financial burden. Due to these constraints and various others, countries from all over the world are in grave danger of facing a societal phenomenon known as brain drain. Brain drain will arise when majority of the citizens of the society will lack education. This will happen then people, would focus on only obtaining secondary education and basic skills. The best form of remedy for this type of situation is for the government to provide greater support for College education especially in financial terms. The aim of this project is to be able to request the government to provide more assistance for college education. If the government makes a financial investment in College education, for sure that in the long run, the country’s citizens will feel be the ones to feel the benefit that will impact in the near future. Good education is beneficial in many view points. Increased government support in college education will result to a country with a higher number of educated and globally competitive professionals. This would automatically correspond to an increase in the economic status of the country. Also, it can be expected that the overall crime rate, in the country would decrease correspondingly. Background Information According to a recent study made in the U.S., about 76 percent of students that finish education would pursue a college degree, of the remaining 24 percent, 75 percent would not pursue college due to financial constraints. The goal should not be to determine whether college education is worth the investment or not, for there should be no question to this, college education is definitely of great value. The goal should be to answer on how to make college education more affordable. Post secondary education will provide students and individuals with the great opportunity to read books and listen to the lectures of top experts in their field of study, and from this they can pick-up vital ideas in choosing their careers. This form of stimulation would encourage students to think, ask questions, try out and explore new ideas, which consequently provides additional growth and development in their well-being as a person, and provides the college graduates with an edge in the job market over those who were not fortunate enough to have experienced a college education. The importance of a college education is also emphasized because of the opportunity to gain valuable resources during your tenure. During college life, students will be able to make relevant connections and affiliations with people and organizations that will later help them in the career which they would pursue. The more connections which are collected during your college years, the more options you will have when you begin your job search. Once the job search has ended, and a good and steady career has been obtained, however, the importance and benefits of a college education has not yet been exhausted. Having a college degree often provides for greater and faster opportunity for promotions. A good education is beneficial from many different viewpoints, and while the importance of a college education is quite evident for many high school students, what is often not as clear is how they will pay for that education. Although most of the colleges and universities at present would carry a very heavy price tag, it is of great importance not to let that discourage prospective college students from obtaining a college education. While the cost of tuition continues to rise, so should government support and financial aid continue to rise along with it. From local and federal options, to categorical and corporate options, college-bound students have variety opportunities worth exploring when attempting to obtain financial aid. A common misrepresentation of financial aid packages (e.g. scholarships, grants, loans, work study programs) is that they would be sufficient enough to provide funding for an entire college education. The reality is that most of these packages are smaller and it may take several of them to add up. If you are still asking yourself why you should go to college, it is important to remember the significant amount of opportunity available for college graduates compared to the minimal opportunity available for college undergraduates. The global economy is becoming increasingly more competitive, and in order to give yourself the best chance for a well-paying job, you must first understand the importance of college education. Attending college provides students with the knowledge and experience they are unable to receive from a secondary education, and finding a way to fund a higher education now can pay off in a huge way in the years to come. During their high school career, students may begin to question the importance of a college education. They might find themselves asking, â€Å"Why is it important to go to college?† The answer is that, more than ever, attending college provides opportunities for graduates which are not as widespread to those who have not received a higher education. For many students that attended high school, being able to immediately generate an income after graduation is an appealing thought, that most often, the importance of obtaining a college degree may be disregarded. Most often, they may also be repelled by the rising cost of tuition fees. This is exactly what the country should try to avoid. While it is true that a higher education may be one of the largest expenses, the importance of a college education has become quite evident in terms of earning potential and financial independence, within today's economy. Research and Methods As a starting point, it will be relevant to review the statistics of the trend in the number of college enrollees at about ten years ago and up to the present. This will provide relevant data on whether college enrollment has increase or decrease within the past decade. Taking into consideration the obtained information, solutions would be drawn on as to how to increase or further increase college enrollments. Interviews on college students should also be conducted, from this, data as to what constraints are being most common to college students can be achieved. From this gathered data, solutions on how to minimize the constraints being faced by college students should be drawn. Questionnaires should also be prepared and distributed to Colleges and Universities; this will serve as a wide-scale data gathering procedure. Data should also be gathered from secondary students. Likewise, questionnaires should also be distributed and interviews should also be conducted. The goal would be to gather data and draw a conclusion as to determine the major factor on why most secondary school students would choose to immediately enter corporate life or employment, rather than pursue a college degree. In gathering data it is important to handle, personal information from responders especially from interviews, with at most care and confidentiality. Based on the data and information which will be gathered, solutions should be formulated. Formulated solutions should be formally presented to the government. Data and results should have high credibility and integrity for it will the major basis for the support, projects, and resolutions, which will be provided by the government. A formal proposal would be presented to the government, indicating the nature and relevance of the project, the present problem, a detailed and well-presented data analysis and results, Cited possible solutions and a feasibility study on how likely the proposed solutions to the problem would be effective. For this study, a budget of about $250.00 would be sufficient enough as for the data gathering materials, travel expenses, research expenses, printing, and other miscellaneous expenses. It is expected that the success of this study would lead to a significantly higher number of people that would be taking college education; and likewise there would be an increase in the number of college students that would finish their college degree. In the long run, it is expected that these results would correspond to an increase in the economical, social, ethical, moral, and cultural growth of the country, and its citizens as a whole. References Boesel, D., ; Fredland, E. (1999). College for all? Is there too much emphasis on getting a 4-year college degree? Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Library of Education. Cohn, E., ; Geske, T.G. (1992). Private Nonmonetary Returns to Investment in Higher Education. In Becker, W. ; Lewis, D. The Economics of American Higher Education. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Day, J.C., ; Newburger, E.C. (2002). The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings. (Current Population Reports, Special Studies, P23-210). Washington, DC: Commerce Dept., Economics and Statistics Administration, Census Bureau. [On-Line]. Available: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p23-210.pdf Institute for Higher Education Policy (1998). Reaping the Benefits: Defining the Public and Private Value of Going to College. The New Millennium Project on Higher Education Costs, Pricing, and Productivity. Washington, DC: Author. U.S. Department of Education (2001). Digest of Education Statistics 2001. [On-Line]. U.S. Department of Education (2000). Think College Early: Average College Costs.