Inspirational Speech Essay Example for Free

Inspirational Speech Essay Good afternoon everyone. Today I am here with you, giving an inspirational speech to help you overcome life’s challenges and I wish that this speech of mine is worthy of your time. One day, when I was lying on my bed, some questions about life comes to my mind like, â€Å"What is the purpose of life? †, â€Å"Why we are here in this world? †, and ‘’Why do certain things happen? ’’. I had always kept these questions to myself but eventually pushed them away on my mind because I can’t find any answer and it’s just making me in doubt of everything. After thinking of those questions, I reminisce the times of my life that I experience trials and hardships. Those are the times that I almost given up and I feel like that I can’t bear those problems anymore but I said to myself not to surrender because God will not give us burden that we cannot bear. If you have a problem, don’t say, â€Å"God, I have a big problem†, but instead say this out loud whole-heartedly†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Hey problem, I have a great god! ’’ and surely it will lessen the heavy feeling in your heart and it will inspire you to fight those problems. The challenges and difficulties that come into our life will makes us closer to God, makes us stronger and a better person that we should be. Most of the time, we only remember God when we have problems and forget him when we are happy and sometimes or maybe often, we blame him and ask, â€Å"Why me, Lord? †, â€Å"Why you are doing this to me? †,†Did I do something wrong? † We always say that but have we ever question him why we are happy and receiving those many blessing. Have you ever asked â€Å"Why you are giving these blessings to me, Lord? Did I do something right? † and said â€Å"thank you lord? ’. Never, right? Think of this my friend and realize that some things will not be as we want it to be. We should also learn from our mistakes and we should our limitations. If we did not learn from those mistakes, then, there’s no sense in making them. Life has its ups and downs, just always remember that everything happens for a reason. After the hardships we’ve been through, blessings and graces wait. God doesn’t tell us how he’s working out his plans, but in his time and his way, he’ll clearly let us know he’s working out his best for us because He loves us so much.

Impact of Performance Appraisal System on Employee

Impact of Performance Appraisal System on Employee Research Background The proposal for this research is regarding investigating the impact of existing performance appraisal on the development of employees system in LT. Every company follows a method of performance evaluation. Performance appraisal process and evaluation is conducted with an aim to understand the level to which the employees of the company have achieved their targets. Performance appraisal is a periodical process whereby the supervisor observes his subordinate and reports his conclusions regarding the performance level at the end of each period. The superiors retrospect and make it a point that the employees are evaluated suitably. There are various kinds of performance appraisal method. Companies follow various kinds of appraisal methods like 360 degree feedback system, MBO, BARS, Critical incidence methods etc. Performance appraisal in every sense caters to the companys competitive advantage. The performance evaluation system helps the company retain its efficient employees; help the company to find out the areas were training needs to be provided; the company can also ensure that a common value system if followed. Thus aiding in complete development of the employees. Performance evaluation process will help the employees do an evaluation of themselves and work for improvements if any. This will ultimately lead to the development of the organization (Bratton and Gold, 1994).Thus every company tries to investigate the level to which its employees have achieved their targets and if not what are the measures to be taken for their performance improvement. LT follows the MBO model of performance appraisal in the company. MBO means management by objectives, in this kind of an appraisal process the superior and employee agree upon certain objectives. These objectives will be based on the overall target of the company. In this kind of an appraisal process the employees know beforehand as to what they need to achieve in the particular period of time. In LT since they follow this method the employees are aware of what is expected of them. In order bring specificity and quality to the process they performed the evaluation process based on SMART, which expands as specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time linked. Larsen Toubro- Company Description LT is one of the largest construction companies in India. ECC is the Engineering Construction and Contracts Division which is a reputed construction division of LT which has to its credit some of the monumental and modern buildings and constructions in India. The company not merely does the construction of buildings but also industrial structures, Flyovers and many more other large-scale construction works in India and abroad. The company carries out various projects that use high end technology and expertise. The company has various divisions around the country i.e. almost 7 offices regionally and nearly 250 work sites. Apart from Construction LT has various other businesses also, like the LT Infotech and insurance. Under ECC division the company has various strategic business units like the transportation infrastructure, Industrial projects and utilities, buildings and factories etc. The company employs a large number of people at managerial and non managerial level. Thus the company needs to have a well defined performance appraisal system. The company thus follows MBO method to evaluate it employees. The company has a well defined Human Resource Policy and system which enables the employees to work efficiently and effectively. Rationale for the research topic The topic Investigating the impact of existing performance appraisal system on employee development of Larsen Toubro, ECC division was chosen with an aim to identify the performance appraisal process followed in one of the largest construction companies in India. The research would help in analyzing the various performance appraisal problems in company like biasing etc. The study will also lead to analyzing the effectiveness of the performance appraisal process in identifying and bringing out the core competencies and role clarity in the employee. The research is meant to finally give recommendations and insights for the betterment of the performance evaluation in the company. Literature Review Armstrong in 2006 proposed that performance appraisal can be considered as an instrument to measure and utilize the technical skills and knowledge of employees in a better way as well as to equip them for facing the future challenges and goals. Performance appraisal can also be regarded as a method to obtain feedback about the performance effectiveness of employees in an organization (SzilagyiWallace 1990). A survey conducted by the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) revealed that in the year 2005 almost 65% of organizations conducted annual appraisal for their employees. The companies which conducted appraisal twice a year accounted to 27%. From this it becomes clear that almost all organizations in the world now realize the importance of appraisal system. Employees are considered as valuable assets by present day organizations since the scarcity of skilled labor is high. Companies try all ways to retain their skilled employees and an effective performance appraisal system helps to keep track on the KSA (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities) of employees (Amstrong and Baron, 2004). The companies now recognize the fact that only high performing employees could help it to achieve it short-term and long-term objectives (Michlitsch ,2000). Edmonstone in 1996 stated that there exists many purposes for performance appraisal. This may include improving the communication between the superiors and employees with the help of feedback mechanism. This way it helps in building the rapport between the members of organization. Another purpose is that it helps to find out whether the employee lacks any skills and identify areas where he/she needs training. The standards kept for performance by the companies helps to identify those employees who need to be appraised and those who should be demoted. Public and private sector companies follow different methods of appraisal that suits their organization structure. But Boice Kleiner (1997) proposed that all successful appraisal methods have similar characteristics. But its difficult to measure performance in certain organizations and they face the difficulty of implementing an effective performance appraisal method. Marsden in 1999 explained that any appraisal system that cannot constantly measure job performance of employees cannot be regarded as effective. There are several methods of appraisal followed by organizations. The most common methods include 360 degree feedback, Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS), Management by Objectives (MBO), Balanced Score Card etc (Bohlander Snell 1998) The importance of communication in performance appraisal system was explained by OReilly and Anderson, (2006). They said that there should be an open communication between the employee and the superior. More they interact better would be the appraisal system. The manager could explain about the actual performance of employee and the expected performance. The method followed by LT is also based on communication. Appraisal method in LT, Chennai Larsen Toubro has adopted the method of MBO (Management by Objectives). This method was first introduced by Peter Drucker in 1954. In this method, the superior and subordinate conducts a meeting in which they jointly sets the objectives of the employee for the next appraisal period (Bohlander Snell 1998). The employee performance is evaluated on the basis on these pre-determined objectives. These objectives will be usually amount of sales, quantity of production etc. The organizational objectives are attained in this method with the help of a cyclical process. In this the management initially sets the objectives of organization followed by departmental objectives and finally individual goals. All these goals will be interconnected in such a way that fulfilling one of them will positively affect the other. Caroll and Tosi explained that MBO must fit into the philosophical framework of an organization. This is due to the reason that the management attitude and MBO must go hand in hand. Merely giving support to MBO through words is not sufficient. Lussier in 2008 explained about the possible reasons for the failure of MBO. A major reason behind the failure of MBO method is many companies is absence of commitment and follow-up from the management. Another reason is that management fails to convince employees that they are also an integral part of the decision making process. Employees feel that all major decisions and goal-setting have been done by the management without consulting them. When this happens, the employees will be less committed to work for the management and meet the objectives. The autonomous and dynamic involvement of employees can be considered as the most significant contribution of MBO to the communication mechanism within the company (Roodman Roodman 1973). Singla (2009) has explained the features of MBO method. All the activities included in this method are aimed at achieving the goals. The individual, departmental and organizational objectives are interconnected. Organization is considered as a dynamic entity in this method. MBO compares the resources available with objectives and makes the best match. This method is rather a philosophy or idea than a technique. MBO emphasizes on performance review and appraisal. The employees are given more autonomy in this method. Outcomes are given more weightage than the job. These features make the method of MBO unique from other methods of performance appraisal. Research Question One of the relevant questions that can be put forward in this context would be; what is the impact of performance appraisal system on employee development? Certain other kinds of questions that can be asked as per the topic are the following: Does the appraisal system aid in the performance improvement of the employee through proper training methods? Does the appraisal process bring about a positive relationship between the employees and the superiors? Is the appraisal process (MBO) followed in the company effective in utilizing the employs core competences for the betterment of the organization? Does the appraisal process clearly define the roles of the employees? Research Objectives General objective To investigate the impact of existing performance appraisal system on employee development. Specific objectives To study the effect of performance appraisal system on employee potential with respect to core competency. To evaluate the issues related to the performance appraisal process in the company. Methodology 7.1 Research design design adopted The research design includes the whole process of data analysis and study. This study follows a diagnostic research design where in the researcher identifies a problem related to the topic in the company. After diagnosing the problem the researcher goes on for an evaluation and ultimately finds a solution for the problem. The research design involves data collection through various means, after which the collected data is analyzed. The analysis will lead to giving solutions to the problem. The solutions obtained are recorded in the research as the result of the study. 7.2 Data Collection Methods (a) Sampling methods Sample is taken from the population of employees in LT ECC. The sampling method that can be followed in this research work is simple random sampling. In this kind of probability sampling every person in the population has an equal chance of being chosen for the study. The employees who are involved in the performance evaluation process are taken for the study. (b) Size of the sample The sample size chosen for the study will be 100. The data collection is done with the help of these 100 individuals chosen through simple random sampling. (c) Sampling Technique Sampling technique is the means by which the researcher chooses his respondents. Every research or study has a planned sampling process wherein the researcher clearly identifies the sample individuals for his study. The samples chosen depend upon the topic of the study because the respondents play a crucial role in formulating a result for the topic as they are asked to respond to the researchers questions through questionnaires etc. In this research the respondents will include both the managerial level employees and also the non managerial employees, as both the groups are involved in performance appraisal process. Questionnaire Questionnaire is a structured form of data collection used in any research. The researcher includes all the important questions regarding the topic in the questionnaire. The respondents chosen using the sampling method are identified and given the questionnaire for response. The respondents will respond to the questions in the questionnaire which will help the researcher gain an idea about the problems in the company. In this research at LT the researcher will be including questions related to the performance appraisal process and issues in the company, also the questions regarding employee development. The researcher can use this data for the purpose of drawing results for the problems identified. Interview The researcher may at times find it apt to collect data by interviewing the respondent. In such situations interview will be more useful compared to questionnaire. In case of this study the researcher can ask direct questions related to the performance appraisal method followed in the company. Interview method will give more precise answers as the interviewer can ask many questions on performance appraisal and also employee development compared to the questionnaire. The interviewer can ask questions related to the particular core competency of the employee. Interview can also include many suggestion questions as to what changes the employees would like to have in the process followed in the company. Telephonic interview can be done in this research. Data Analysis A research cannot be concluded with the help of a rough data. For a researcher to obtain the right kind of result for his study the researcher needs to formulate a method to analyze the data in the most suitable way. Thus data analysis part of the research is essential in the sense that it converts the raw data into a form that can be well understood. Data analysis in this study is done using SPSS which is a tool for data management. Data analysis refers to that stage in research process in which different statistical techniques are applied. One should have a clear understanding of statistical thinking behind a data analysing technique in order to explain it in detail (Ader, Mellenberg Hand(2008). Resource Requirements The resources for the study need to be obtained from the library and also the internet. The relevant information on the topic can be collected using primary and secondary means. Resources of other forms include printed materials like magazines of the company and also other reports and journals, websites are also an important means or source of data collection. The researcher can obtain primary data by means of structured questionnaires and telephonic interviews. These resources will help the researcher in his research as they provide the base for the researcher to work upon.

Surveillance in Foucaults Panopticism and Vonneguts Harrison Bergeron

Surveillance in Foucault's Panopticism and Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron Ever feel as though someone is watching you? You know that you are the only one in a room, but for some reason you get an eerie feeling that you are not alone? You might not see anyone, but the eyes of a stranger could be gazing down on you. In Foucault's "Panopticism," a new paradigm of discipline is introduced, surveillance. No one dares to break the law, or do anything erroneous for that matter, in fear that they are being watched. This idea of someone watching your every move compels you to obey. This is why the idea of Panopticism is such an efficient form of discipline. The Panopticon is the ideal example of Panopticism, which is a tool for surveillance that we are introduced to in â€Å"Panopticism.† Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," has taken the idea of surveillance one step further. The government not only observes everyone, but has complete control over society. The citizens of the United States cannot even think for themselves without being interrupted by the go vernment. They are prisoners in their own minds and bodies. The ideals of â€Å"Panopticism† have been implemented to the fullest on society in Vonnegut’s "Harrison Bergeron," through physical and mental handicaps. In â€Å"Panopticism† Foucault states, â€Å"the major effect of the Panopticon: to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power† (Foucault, pg. 201). The function of the Panopticon is to keep the prisoners orderly by instilling fear inside of them, this fear forces them to stay in their cells, and to remain compliant. The Panopticon is a building designed for surveillance. In â€Å"Panopticism,† the Panopticon is a centra... ...y are not prisoners, they are mere citizens that must constantly live lives of punishment in order to achieve equality. They can not think for themselves, or excel at anything in life, because they are all equal. Each of them is just like the next citizen. In Vonnegut’s â€Å"Harrison Bergeron,† the United States in 2081 are not a society, but a Panoptic prison where the citizens are held and guarded like inmates, and this is no way to live. Works Cited Foucault, Michel. â€Å"Panopticism.† Discipline and Punish. New York: Vintage Books, 1979. Vonnegut, Kurt. â€Å"Harrison Bergeron.† Short Stories Characters In Conflict. Ed. John E. Warner. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981. 344-353 Winokur, Mark. â€Å"The Ambiguous Panopticon: Foucault and the Codes of Cyberspace† CTHEORY.NET. 13 March 2003. Access date : 28 April 2005.

A Rose For Emily: Fallen From Grace :: essays research papers fc

A Rose for Emily: Fallen from Grace A comparative essay on the use of symbolism in William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily." Authors traditionally use symbolism as a way to represent the sometimes intangible qualities of the characters, places, and events in their works. In his short story "A Rose for Emily," William Faulkner uses symbolism to compare the Grierson house with Emily Grierson's physical deterioration, her shift in social standing, and her reluctancy to accept change. When compared chronologically, the Grierson house is used to symbolize Miss Emily's physical attributes. In its prime, the Grierson house is described as "white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies" (Faulkner 69). This description suggests that the house was built not only for function, but also to impress and engage the attention of the other townspeople. Similarly, the wealthy women of the era, Emily Grierson not withstanding, were dressed in a conspicuous manner. This, for the most part, is because their appearance was perceived as a direct reflection on their husbands and/or fathers. This display of extravagance was egotistically designed by men to give an impression of wealth to onlookers. Emily was regarded by her father as property. Her significance to him was strongly ornamental, just as their overly lavish home was. As the plot progresses, the reader is clearly made aware of the physical decline of both the house and Miss Emily. Just as the house is described as "smelling of dust and disuse," evidence of Emily's own aging is given when her voice in similarly said to be "harsh, and rusty, as if from disuse" (70-74). Ultimately, at the time of Emily's death, the house is seen by the townspeople as "an eyesore among eyesores," and Miss Emily is regarded as a "fallen monument" (69). Both are empty, and lifeless. Neither are even remotely representative of their former splendor. Just as their physical characteristics, Faulkner uses the Grierson house as a symbol for Miss Emily's change in social status. In its prime, the house was "big," and "squarish," and located on Jefferson's "most select street" (69). This description gives the reader the impression that the residence was not only extremely solid, but also larger than life, almost gothic in nature, and seemingly impervious to the petty problems of the common people. The members of the Grierson family, especially Emily, were also considered to be strong and powerful. The townspeople regarded them as regal. And Emily, as the last living Grierson, came to symbolize her family's, and possibly the entire south's, rich past. The townspeople's reveration of Emily soon decayed, however, once it

Cultural Taboos :: essays research papers

Axtell, Roger E. Gestures: The DO’s and TABOOS of Body Language Around the World. Jon Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1998 -- Rev. and expanded edition. Over the past decade the author has been presenting seminars, speeches and workshops around the United States on the subject of international behavior. This book is the result of accumulation of more than ten years of research on the subject and it includes research on his travels to England, Germany, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. All this reinforced a conviction that gestures are powerful communicators used by people all over the world. The purpose of this book is to let people know how powerful gestures can be when used correctly or incorrectly. He also wants you to know how a gesture can mean one thing here and another thing somewhere else, something as simple as a wave good bye, could get you into a lot of trouble in another country. This book was broken down into seven chapters: Chapter 1, illustrated with numerous examples, is that not only are gestures and body language powerful communicators, but different cultures use gestures and body language in dramatically different ways. Chapter 2 discusses the most popular gestures found around the world, beginning with how we greet each other. Shaking hand is not the universal greeting. In fact, there are at least a half-dozen other social greetings - even different ways of shaking hands. This chapter also deals with farewells, beckoning, insulting, touching and other types of gestures. Chapter 3 gets into the special types of gestures such as, American Sign Language, Tai Chi, flirting & kissing. Chapter 4 is designed to help you learn or trace a particular gesture, using scores of drawings. Chapter 5 describes what the author calls the ultimate gesture, which is simply the "smile". It is rarely misunderstood, scientist believe this particular gesture releases chemicals in the brain called endorphins into the system that create a mild feeling of euphoria. It also may help you slip out of the prickliest or difficult situation's world wide. Chapter 6 is an important list of gestures to keep in mind. It is compiled of 20 gestures that can help you separate right from rude, and rude from crude. Chapter 7 is a listing of country-by-country common gestures and body languages. They group the countries by major geographic region. The organization of the book was a combination of narrative and topical.

ENG Assignement

Solomon Material Assignment 2: Research Proposal Research and Report writing Professor Barry D. McCullough Date: 10/28/2013 – Thesis, Major points, and Plan ENG-215 Due to inadequate and deceptive information, poor quality control on food by FDA and due to environmental exposures, people are suffering to public health problems. Confirming the precision of food labels requires time and care. We as people need to do more to both understand this problem and develop procedures in place that better protect us.The techniques to improve the quality control of food in the Food and Drug Administration need to be changed. America is a country where food supply locally produced and large quantities imported from abroad. FDA is the responsible government agency which controls all foods quality. According to Tucker Foreman, Carol L (As cited in Who's At Risk for Fodder, illness American interest, Mayday' the equivalent of sickening people is 1 in 6 Americans each year, and these illnesses result in an estimated 128,000 hospitalizing and 3,000 deaths due to food borne diseases†.Standards ought to be set, but there is lack of adequate standards quality controls for food by FDA. A high number of approved condiments used in American foods raise health and safety fears on the society. These condiments involved in large quantities in many food products, such that they could become hurtful or dangerous due to the unhealthy conditions that result from eating. Secondly national and international distribution increases the problem. A significant portion of the vegetables consumed in the United States shipped from a different state ofAmerican large farms across the country. They transported long hours in an inadequate protection, and then be contaminated. Fresh-bagged lettuce, sprouts, berries and unappreciated juices have all been courses for food- borne illness. Farmers plant foods in soils with already high levels of arsenic chemical substances and then As Range, Ravis h (as cited in Transcript: Challenges in setting credible standards for food labeling and safety, summer 2013) â€Å"applying arsenic laden pesticides. † Regardless of the source, arsenic is still unsafe once it gets into food.That arsenic is highly dangerous†. The government fails to regulate arsenic in foods or even established action levels. As per Consumers report (Novena 2)† Arsenic not only is a potent human carcinogen but also can set up children for other health problems in later life. † Finally, very confusing marketplace for consumers with food labels has controlled to a marketplace that is confusing and dishonest. Both sugar and salt are examples of ingredients that can be involved in limitless capacities in any food product.

Cyber Bullying Essay

Cyberbullying Bullying over the internet through social media site like Facebook and twitter as well as text messaging and online gaming is becoming a larger and larger problem. Every year it gets easier to connect to others around the world and with that is an increase in harassment, threats and cyberstalking. Each state has their own laws to try and curb the problem, but Arizona is trying to pass laws making it a class 1 misdemeanor which includes fines and/or jail time. About 5,000 teens commit suicide every year, for all sorts of reasons and a growing number of it is from online bullying from classmates, neighbors or people that they have never even met before. It is not limited to children or teens, adults are affected by bullying as well at work or on forums and journals and even by what their child is going through. According to the Cyberbullying Research Center â€Å"Approximately 20% of the students report experiencing cyberbullying in their lifetimes†, and â€Å"Adolescent girls are significantly more likely to have experienced cyberbullying in their lifetimes (25.8% vs. 16%)†. Also according to the web site Puresight.com â€Å"Middle-school victims of cyberbulllying are more apt to commit suicide. The AP-MTV survey found that 8% of cyberbulllying victims and 12% of sexting victims have considered ending their own life compared to 3% of people who have not been bullied and were not involved in sexting.† Arizona is taking one of the biggest steps to try and prevent such bullying by passing a new bill outlawing it. â€Å"Right now the bill would result in a misdemeanor charge that carries a maximum $2,500 fine and six months in jail for anybody who uses a computer, smartphone or similar device to send a message to â€Å"terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend.†(FoxNews) The bill is being met with criticism by opponents saying that it violates the 1st Amendment for Free speech and is worded in such a way that it leaves the bill open for interpretation and does not spell out what would be considered offensive. The idea is there, and it is time that this type of bullying is taken more  seriously. It is not kids being kids anymore or a rite of passage. Once these comments and photos reach the internet they are there to stay and have a more lasting affect than the â€Å"wait until next Monday and it will be forgotten† thought the parents grew up with.