The Lost Symbol Chapter 1-3

CHAPTER 1 The Otis elevator climbing the south pillar of the Eiffel Tower was overflowing with tourists. Inside the cramped lift, an austere businessman in a pressed suit gazed down at the boy beside him. â€Å"You look pale, son. You should have stayed on the ground.† â€Å"I'm okay . . .† the boy answered, struggling to control his anxiety. â€Å"I'll get out on the next level.† I can't breathe. The man leaned closer. â€Å"I thought by now you would have gotten over this.† He brushed the child's cheek affectionately. The boy felt ashamed to disappoint his father, but he could barely hear through the ringing in his ears. I can't breathe. I've got to get out of this box! The elevator operator was saying something reassuring about the lift's articulated pistons and puddled-iron construction. Far beneath them, the streets of Paris stretched out in all directions. Almost there, the boy told himself, craning his neck and looking up at the unloading platform. Just hold on. As the lift angled steeply toward the upper viewing deck, the shaft began to narrow, its massive struts contracting into a tight, vertical tunnel. â€Å"Dad, I don't think–â€Å" Suddenly a staccato crack echoed overhead. The carriage jerked, swaying awkwardly to one side. Frayed cables began whipping around the carriage, thrashing like snakes. The boy reached out for his father. â€Å"Dad!† Their eyes locked for one terrifying second. Then the bottom dropped out. Robert Langdon jolted upright in his soft leather seat, startling out of the semiconscious daydream. He was sitting all alone in the enormous cabin of a Falcon 2000EX corporate jet as it bounced its way through turbulence. In the background, the dual Pratt & Whitney engines hummed evenly. â€Å"Mr. Langdon?† The intercom crackled overhead. â€Å"We're on final approach.† Langdon sat up straight and slid his lecture notes back into his leather daybag. He'd been halfway through reviewing Masonic symbology when his mind had drifted. The daydream about his late father, Langdon suspected, had been stirred by this morning's unexpected invitation from Langdon's longtime mentor, Peter Solomon. The other man I never want to disappoint. The fifty-eight-year-old philanthropist, historian, and scientist had taken Langdon under his wing nearly thirty years ago, in many ways filling the void left by Langdon's father's death. Despite the man's influential family dynasty and massive wealth, Langdon had found humility and warmth in Solomon's soft gray eyes. Outside the window the sun had set, but Langdon could still make out the slender silhouette of the world's largest obelisk, rising on the horizon like the spire of an ancient gnomon. The 555- foot marble-faced obelisk marked this nation's heart. All around the spire, the meticulous geometry of streets and monuments radiated outward. Even from the air, Washington, D.C., exuded an almost mystical power. Langdon loved this city, and as the jet touched down, he felt a rising excitement about what lay ahead. The jet taxied to a private terminal somewhere in the vast expanse of Dulles International Airport and came to a stop. Langdon gathered his things, thanked the pilots, and stepped out of the jet's luxurious interior onto the foldout staircase. The cold January air felt liberating. Breathe, Robert, he thought, appreciating the wide-open spaces. A blanket of white fog crept across the runway, and Langdon had the sensation he was stepping into a marsh as he descended onto the misty tarmac. â€Å"Hello! Hello!† a singsong British voice shouted from across the tarmac. â€Å"Professor Langdon?† Langdon looked up to see a middle-aged woman with a badge and clipboard hurrying toward him, waving happily as he approached. Curly blond hair protruded from under a stylish knit wool hat. â€Å"Welcome to Washington, sir!† Langdon smiled. â€Å"Thank you.† â€Å"My name is Pam, from passenger services.† The woman spoke with an exuberance that was almost unsettling. â€Å"If you'll come with me, sir, your car is waiting.† Langdon followed her across the runway toward the Signature terminal, which was surrounded by glistening private jets. A taxi stand for the rich and famous. â€Å"I hate to embarrass you, Professor,† the woman said, sounding sheepish, â€Å"but you are the Robert Langdon who writes books about symbols and religion, aren't you?† Langdon hesitated and then nodded. â€Å"I thought so!† she said, beaming. â€Å"My book group read your book about the sacred feminine and the church! What a delicious scandal that one caused! You do enjoy putting the fox in the henhouse!† Langdon smiled. â€Å"Scandal wasn't really my intention.† The woman seemed to sense Langdon was not in the mood to discuss his work. â€Å"I'm sorry. Listen to me rattling on. I know you probably get tired of being recognized . . . but it's your own fault.† She playfully motioned to his clothing. â€Å"Your uniform gave you away.† My uniform? Langdon glanced down at his attire. He was wearing his usual charcoal turtleneck, Harris Tweed jacket, khakis, and collegiate cordovan loafers . . . his standard attire for the classroom, lecture circuit, author photos, and social events. The woman laughed. â€Å"Those turtlenecks you wear are so dated. You'd look much sharper in a tie!† No chance, Langdon thought. Little nooses. Neckties had been required six days a week when Langdon attended Phillips Exeter Academy, and despite the headmaster's romantic claims that the origin of the cravat went back to the silk fascalia worn by Roman orators to warm their vocal cords, Langdon knew that, etymologically, cravat actually derived from a ruthless band of â€Å"Croat† mercenaries who donned knotted neckerchiefs before they stormed into battle. To this day, this ancient battle garb was donned by modern office warriors hoping to intimidate their enemies in daily boardroom battles. â€Å"Thanks for the advice,† Langdon said with a chuckle. â€Å"I'll consider a tie in the future.† Mercifully, a professional-looking man in a dark suit got out of a sleek Lincoln Town Car parked near the terminal and held up his finger. â€Å"Mr. Langdon? I'm Charles with Beltway Limousine.† He opened the passenger door. â€Å"Good evening, sir. Welcome to Washington.† Langdon tipped Pam for her hospitality and then climbed into the plush interior of the Town Car. The driver showed him the temperature controls, the bottled water, and the basket of hot muffins. Seconds later, Langdon was speeding away on a private access road. So this is how the other half lives. As the driver gunned the car up Windsock Drive, he consulted his passenger manifest and placed a quick call. â€Å"This is Beltway Limousine,† the driver said with professional efficiency. â€Å"I was asked to confirm once my passenger had landed.† He paused. â€Å"Yes, sir. Your guest, Mr. Langdon, has arrived, and I will deliver him to the Capitol Building by seven P.M. You're welcome, sir.† He hung up. Langdon had to smile. No stone left unturned. Peter Solomon's attention to detail was one of his most potent assets, allowing him to manage his substantial power with apparent ease. A few billion dollars in the bank doesn't hurt either. Langdon settled into the plush leather seat and closed his eyes as the noise of the airport faded behind him. The U.S. Capitol was a half hour away, and he appreciated the time alone to gather his thoughts. Everything had happened so quickly today that Langdon only now had begun to think in earnest about the incredible evening that lay ahead. Arriving under a veil of secrecy, Langdon thought, amused by the prospect. Ten miles from the Capitol Building, a lone figure was eagerly preparing for Robert Langdon's arrival. CHAPTER 2 The one who called himself Mal'akh pressed the tip of the needle against his shaved head, sighing with pleasure as the sharp tool plunged in and out of his flesh. The soft hum of the electric device was addictive . . . as was the bite of the needle sliding deep into his dermis and depositing its dye. I am a masterpiece. The goal of tattooing was never beauty. The goal was change. From the scarified Nubian priests of 2000 B.C., to the tattooed acolytes of the Cybele cult of ancient Rome, to the moko scars of the modern Maori, humans have tattooed themselves as a way of offering up their bodies in partial sacrifice, enduring the physical pain of embellishment and emerging changed beings. Despite the ominous admonitions of Leviticus 19:28, which forbade the marking of one's flesh, tattoos had become a rite of passage shared by millions of people in the modern age–everyone from clean-cut teenagers to hard-core drug users to suburban housewives. The act of tattooing one's skin was a transformative declaration of power, an announcement to the world: I am in control of my own flesh. The intoxicating feeling of control derived from physical transformation had addicted millions to flesh-altering practices . . . cosmetic surgery, body piercing, bodybuilding, and steroids . . . even bulimia and transgendering. The human spirit craves mastery over its carnal shell. A single bell chimed on Mal'akh's grandfather clock, and he looked up. Six thirty P.M. Leaving his tools, he wrapped the Kiryu silk robe around his naked, six-foot-three body and strode down the hall. The air inside this sprawling mansion was heavy with the pungent fragrance of his skin dyes and smoke from the beeswax candles he used to sterilize his needles. The towering young man moved down the corridor past priceless Italian antiques–a Piranesi etching, a Savonarola chair, a silver Bugarini oil lamp. He glanced through a floor-to-ceiling window as he passed, admiring the classical skyline in the distance. The luminous dome of the U.S. Capitol glowed with solemn power against the dark winter sky. This is where it is hidden, he thought. It is buried out there somewhere. Few men knew it existed . . . and even fewer knew its awesome power or the ingenious way in which it had been hidden. To this day, it remained this country's greatest untold secret. Those few who did know the truth kept it hidden behind a veil of symbols, legends, and allegory. Now they have opened their doors to me, Mal'akh thought. Three weeks ago, in a dark ritual witnessed by America's most influential men, Mal'akh had ascended to the thirty-third degree, the highest echelon of the world's oldest surviving brotherhood. Despite Mal'akh's new rank, the brethren had told him nothing. Nor will they, he knew. That was not how it worked. There were circles within circles . . . brotherhoods within brotherhoods. Even if Mal'akh waited years, he might never earn their ultimate trust. Fortunately, he did not need their trust to obtain their deepest secret. My initiation served its purpose. Now, energized by what lay ahead, he strode toward his bedroom. Throughout his entire home, audio speakers broadcast the eerie strains of a rare recording of a castrato singing the â€Å"Lux Aeterna† from the Verdi Requiem–a reminder of a previous life. Mal'akh touched a remote control to bring on the thundering â€Å"Dies Irae.† Then, against a backdrop of crashing timpani and parallel fifths, he bounded up the marble staircase, his robe billowing as he ascended on sinewy legs. As he ran, his empty stomach growled in protest. For two days now, Mal'akh had fasted, consuming only water, preparing his body in accordance with the ancient ways. Your hunger will be satisfied by dawn, he reminded himself. Along with your pain. Mal'akh entered his bedroom sanctuary with reverence, locking the door behind him. As he moved toward his dressing area, he paused, feeling himself drawn to the enormous gilded mirror. Unable to resist, he turned and faced his own reflection. Slowly, as if unwrapping a priceless gift, Mal'akh opened his robe to unveil his naked form. The vision awed him. I am a masterpiece. His massive body was shaved and smooth. He lowered his gaze first to his feet, which were tattooed with the scales and talons of a hawk. Above that, his muscular legs were tattooed as carved pillars–his left leg spiraled and his right vertically striated. Boaz and Jachin. His groin and abdomen formed a decorated archway, above which his powerful chest was emblazoned with the double-headed phoenix . . . each head in profile with its visible eye formed by one of Mal'akh's nipples. His shoulders, neck, face, and shaved head were completely covered with an intricate tapestry of ancient symbols and sigils. I am an artifact . . . an evolving icon. One mortal man had seen Mal'akh naked, eighteen hours earlier. The man had shouted in fear. â€Å"Good God, you're a demon!† â€Å"If you perceive me as such,† Mal'akh had replied, understanding as had the ancients that angels and demons were identical–interchangeable archetypes–all a matter of polarity: the guardian angel who conquered your enemy in battle was perceived by your enemy as a demon destroyer. Mal'akh tipped his face down now and got an oblique view of the top of his head. There, within the crownlike halo, shone a small circle of pale, untattooed flesh. This carefully guarded canvas was Mal'akh's only remaining piece of virgin skin. The sacred space had waited patiently . . . and tonight, it would be filled. Although Mal'akh did not yet possess what he required to complete his masterpiece, he knew the moment was fast approaching. Exhilarated by his reflection, he could already feel his power growing. He closed his robe and walked to the window, again gazing out at the mystical city before him. It is buried out there somewhere. Refocusing on the task at hand, Mal'akh went to his dressing table and carefully applied a base of concealer makeup to his face, scalp, and neck until his tattoos had disappeared. Then he donned the special set of clothing and other items he had meticulously prepared for this evening. When he finished, he checked himself in the mirror. Satisfied, he ran a soft palm across his smooth scalp and smiled. It is out there, he thought. And tonight, one man will help me find it. As Mal'akh exited his home, he prepared himself for the event that would soon shake the U.S. Capitol Building. He had gone to enormous lengths to arrange all the pieces for tonight. And now, at last, his final pawn had entered the game. CHAPTER 3 Robert Langdon was busy reviewing his note cards when the hum of the Town Car's tires changed pitch on the road beneath him. Langdon glanced up, surprised to see where they were. Memorial Bridge already? He put down his notes and gazed out at the calm waters of the Potomac passing beneath him. A heavy mist hovered on the surface. Aptly named, Foggy Bottom had always seemed a peculiar site on which to build the nation's capital. Of all the places in the New World, the forefathers had chosen a soggy riverside marsh on which to lay the cornerstone of their utopian society. Langdon gazed left, across the Tidal Basin, toward the gracefully rounded silhouette of the Jefferson Memorial–America's Pantheon, as many called it. Directly in front of the car, the Lincoln Memorial rose with rigid austerity, its orthogonal lines reminiscent of Athens's ancient Parthenon. But it was farther away that Langdon saw the city's centerpiece–the same spire he had seen from the air. Its architectural inspiration was far, far older than the Romans or the Greeks. America's Egyptian obelisk. The monolithic spire of the Washington Monument loomed dead ahead, illuminated against the sky like the majestic mast of a ship. From Langdon's oblique angle, the obelisk appeared ungrounded tonight . . . swaying against the dreary sky as if on an unsteady sea. Langdon felt similarly ungrounded. His visit to Washington had been utterly unexpected. I woke up this morning anticipating a quiet Sunday at home . . . and now I'm a few minutes away from the U.S. Capitol. This morning at four forty-five, Langdon had plunged into dead-calm water, beginning his day as he always did, swimming fifty laps in the deserted Harvard Pool. His physique was not quite what it had been in his college days as a water-polo all-American, but he was still lean and toned, respectable for a man in his forties. The only difference now was the amount of effort it took Langdon to keep it that way. When Langdon arrived home around six, he began his morning ritual of hand-grinding Sumatra coffee beans and savoring the exotic scent that filled his kitchen. This morning, however, he was surprised to see the blinking red light on his voice-mail display. Who calls at six A.M. on a Sunday? He pressed the button and listened to the message. â€Å"Good morning, Professor Langdon, I'm terribly sorry for this early-morning call.† The polite voice was noticeably hesitant, with a hint of a southern accent. â€Å"My name is Anthony Jelbart, and I'm Peter Solomon's executive assistant. Mr. Solomon told me you're an early riser . . . he has been trying to reach you this morning on short notice. As soon as you receive this message, would you be so kind as to call Peter directly? You probably have his new private line, but if not, it's 202-329-5746.† Langdon felt a sudden concern for his old friend. Peter Solomon was impeccably well-bred and courteous, and certainly not the kind of man to call at daybreak on a Sunday unless something was very wrong. Langdon left his coffee half made and hurried toward his study to return the call. I hope he's okay. Peter Solomon had been a friend, mentor, and, although only twelve years Langdon's senior, a father figure to him ever since their first meeting at Princeton University. As a sophomore, Langdon had been required to attend an evening guest lecture by the well-known young historian and philanthropist. Solomon had spoken with a contagious passion, presenting a dazzling vision of semiotics and archetypal history that had sparked in Langdon what would later become his lifelong passion for symbols. It was not Peter Solomon's brilliance, however, but the humility in his gentle gray eyes that had given Langdon the courage to write him a thank-you letter. The young sophomore had never dreamed that Peter Solomon, one of America's wealthiest and most intriguing young intellectuals, would ever write back. But Solomon did. And it had been the beginning of a truly gratifying friendship. A prominent academic whose quiet manner belied his powerful heritage, Peter Solomon came from the ultrawealthy Solomon family, whose names appeared on buildings and universities all over the nation. Like the Rothschilds in Europe, the surname Solomon had always carried the mystique of American royalty and success. Peter had inherited the mantle at a young age after the death of his father, and now, at fifty-eight, he had held numerous positions of power in his life. He currently served as the head of the Smithsonian Institution. Langdon occasionally ribbed Peter that the lone tarnish on his sterling pedigree was his diploma from a second-rate university–Yale. Now, as Langdon entered his study, he was surprised to see that he had received a fax from Peter as well. Peter Solomon OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Good morning, Robert, I need to speak with you at once. Please call me this morning as soon as you can at 202-329- 5746. Peter Langdon immediately dialed the number, sitting down at his hand-carved oak desk to wait as the call went through. â€Å"Office of Peter Solomon,† the familiar voice of the assistant answered. â€Å"This is Anthony. May I help you?† â€Å"Hello, this is Robert Langdon. You left me a message earlier–â€Å" â€Å"Yes, Professor Langdon!† The young man sounded relieved. â€Å"Thank you for calling back so quickly. Mr. Solomon is eager to speak to you. Let me tell him you're on the line. May I put you on hold?† â€Å"Of course.† As Langdon waited for Solomon to get on the line, he gazed down at Peter's name atop the Smithsonian letterhead and had to smile. Not many slackers in the Solomon clan. Peter's ancestral tree burgeoned with the names of wealthy business magnates, influential politicians, and a number of distinguished scientists, some even fellows of London's Royal Society. Solomon's only living family member, his younger sister, Katherine, had apparently inherited the science gene, because she was now a leading figure in a new cutting-edge discipline called Noetic Science. All Greek to me, Langdon thought, amused to recall Katherine's unsuccessful attempt to explain Noetic Science to him at a party at her brother's home last year. Langdon had listened carefully and then replied, â€Å"Sounds more like magic than science.† Katherine winked playfully. â€Å"They're closer than you think, Robert.† Now Solomon's assistant returned to the phone. â€Å"I'm sorry, Mr. Solomon is trying to get off a conference call. Things are a little chaotic here this morning.† â€Å"That's not a problem. I can easily call back.† â€Å"Actually, he asked me to fill you in on his reason for contacting you, if you don't mind?† â€Å"Of course not.† The assistant inhaled deeply. â€Å"As you probably know, Professor, every year here in Washington, the board of the Smithsonian hosts a private gala to thank our most generous supporters. Many of the country's cultural elite attend.† Langdon knew his own bank account had too few zeros to qualify him as culturally elite, but he wondered if maybe Solomon was going to invite him to attend nonetheless. â€Å"This year, as is customary,† the assistant continued, â€Å"the dinner will be preceded by a keynote address. We've been lucky enough to secure the National Statuary Hall for that speech.† The best room in all of D.C., Langdon thought, recalling a political lecture he had once attended in the dramatic semicircular hall. It was hard to forget five hundred folding chairs splayed in a perfect arc, surrounded by thirty-eight life-size statues, in a room that had once served as the nation's original House of Representatives chamber. â€Å"The problem is this,† the man said. â€Å"Our speaker has fallen ill and has just informed us she will be unable to give the address.† He paused awkwardly. â€Å"This means we are desperate for a replacement speaker. And Mr. Solomon is hoping you would consider filling in.† Langdon did a double take. â€Å"Me?† This was not at all what he had expected. â€Å"I'm sure Peter could find a far better substitute.† â€Å"You're Mr. Solomon's first choice, Professor, and you're being much too modest. The institution's guests would be thrilled to hear from you, and Mr. Solomon thought you could give the same lecture you gave on Bookspan TV a few years back? That way, you wouldn't have to prepare a thing. He said your talk involved symbolism in the architecture of our nation's capital–it sounds absolutely perfect for the venue.† Langdon was not so sure. â€Å"If I recall, that lecture had more to do with the Masonic history of the building than–â€Å" â€Å"Exactly! As you know, Mr. Solomon is a Mason, as are many of his professional friends who will be in attendance. I'm sure they would love to hear you speak on the topic.† I admit it would be easy. Langdon had kept the lecture notes from every talk he'd ever given. â€Å"I suppose I could consider it. What date is the event?† The assistant cleared his throat, sounding suddenly uncomfortable. â€Å"Well, actually, sir, it's tonight.† Langdon laughed out loud. â€Å"Tonight?!† â€Å"That's why it's so hectic here this morning. The Smithsonian is in a deeply embarrassing predicament . . .† The assistant spoke more hurriedly now. â€Å"Mr. Solomon is ready to send a private jet to Boston for you. The flight is only an hour, and you would be back home before midnight. You're familiar with the private air terminal at Boston's Logan Airport?† â€Å"I am,† Langdon admitted reluctantly. No wonder Peter always gets his way. â€Å"Wonderful! Would you be willing to meet the jet there at say . . . five o'clock?† â€Å"You haven't left me much choice, have you?† Langdon chuckled. â€Å"I just want to make Mr. Solomon happy, sir.† Peter has that effect on people. Langdon considered it a long moment, seeing no way out. â€Å"All right. Tell him I can do it.† â€Å"Outstanding!† the assistant exclaimed, sounding deeply relieved. He gave Langdon the jet's tail number and various other information. When Langdon finally hung up, he wondered if Peter Solomon had ever been told no. Returning to his coffee preparation, Langdon scooped some additional beans into the grinder. A little extra caffeine this morning, he thought. It's going to be a long day.

Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal is a process of identifying, observing, measuring and developing human performance in organizations and has attracted the attention of both academicians and practitioners. The process is also viewed as making an important contribution to effective human resource management as it is closely interlinked to organizational performance (Erodogen, 2002). Performance appraisal is a management tool that helps management in its drive towards optimizing performance, primarily individual performance and therefore, organization performance now and in the future. The aim of performance appraisal can be achieved through assessing how effectively employees are working in their present jobs and what they need to do and know to perform even better (Bono, 2003). (Gupta 2006) defines performance appraisal as a process of assessing the performance and progress of an employee or of a group of employees on a given job and his potential for future development. He further argues that performance appraisal consists of all formal procedures used in work organizations to evaluate personalities, contributions and potentials of employees. (Torrington et al. 2005), define performance appraisal as a system that provides a formalized process to review the performance of employees. Performance appraisal varies between organizations and covers personality, behavior or job performance and it can be measured quantitatively or qualitatively. Performance appraisal involves unstructured narrative on performance of the appraiser. Political behaviors in an organization consist of actions that are taken by individuals or group (Mintezberg, 1983). Their direction is pointed toward the goal of one's own self-interest without focusing on regard for the humans and others in the organization (Kacmar ; Baron, 1999). These actions are informal and are considered a part of an organization's culture, help to maintain interpersonal relationships. As Mayes and Allen (1977) noted, that the actions can implement a dynamic power of influence. When this influence is practiced within organizational boundaries, the behaviors are not considered political. Self-promotion and ingratiation are considered to be examples of political behavior in the workplace include (Godfrey, Jones, & Lord, 1986). Self-promotion actions are mostly proactive. Their purpose is to earn the attention, to build an image of oneself as a competent committed employee. Ingratiation behaviors are less proactive then self-promotion. They emphasis on â€Å"attention- giving† to a targeted person or persons relative to â€Å"attention is getting† from others. A recent study found that politically skilled employees who were involved in ingratiatory behavior toward their supervisors were not only graded positively by them, they were subsequently rewarded for doing this (Treadway, Ferris, Duke, Adams, & Thatcher, 2007). In fact, career success is typically affected by an ability to make accept others that one has the necessary skills needed to perform higher level jobs effectively (Rafaeli, Dutton, Harquail, & Mackie-lewis, 1997). Self-promotion is one important way to do this.Organizational Affective commitmentOrganizational Affective commitment refers to an emotional attachment. Employee beliefs and values regarding their job and role in the organization measure their organizational commitment (Swailes, 2012). Affective Organizational commitment is the measure of employee's identification with the mission and values of the organization perspectives (Mowday, 1982) and supervisor. It is the commitment approach that provides a clearer and more focused scale of organizational commitment (Jaros, 1997) . In addition, recent measures of organizational commitment are attitudinal (Ko, Price ; Mueller, 1997; McGee ; Ford, 1987), and the build validity of affective (attitudinal) commitment is provided support . With strong supervision from their current employers the level of employee knowledge understanding and their commitment level in operations will be higher (Okpara, 2014). Process in evaluating the performance of employees is one of the most important determinants of organizational justice (Greenberg, 1986; Folger et al., 1992). Affective organizational commitment is beneficial to the employee as well. Employees that have affective commitment at their higher levels, experience less stress levels even if they work for longer and harder hours than those not committed. Affective commitment helps in employee's motivation (Meyer & Allen, 1997) and low downs psychological physical, work-related stress (Reilly & Orsak, 1991).Employees are committed to the organization, their jobs and careers exists comfortable, and are able to spend more quality time to their families and hobbies (Reilly & Orsak, 1991). The employee's commitment is the perception of employees procedures used to evaluate their performance is fair (Greenberg, 1990; Colquitt et al., 2001). Further review in the literatures indicates that fair practices in human resource management, particularly in terms of performance appraisal has a predictive role in the employees' attitude such as the organization's commitment (Jehad, 2011). Performance appraisal is viewed as an important mechanism for changing employees' attitude and behaviors such as affective commitment (Morrow, 2011). Moreover, a study by (Tam 1996) indicates that the commitment of government employees is higher in the federal government agencies that implement a fair and transparent assessment.In our study the psychological attachment of the employee with the organization i.e. organizational commitment (Tella , Ayeni, Papoola, 2007). It can be due to the comfort level with the current organization, cost and fear associated with leaving of the organization and joining the other and social disruption caused by new acquaintances in the new environment and leaving the old ones. This particular component which is the need component is known as effective commitment. It may also be due to the feeling that after joining the organization the employee is ought to be loyal and faithful to it (Bruckner 2002). This sense of obligation towards the organization is also termed as the normative commitment. The attachment of the employee can be due to some emotional reasons by which the employees identify him with the goal of the organization. This shows that the employee is affectively committed towards the organization (Hyde, 2000). There can be many antecedents of organizational commitment as suggested by (Comelier 2012) who after investigating a state owned IT industry in Malta, Europe indicated that the employees with lesser educational qualification, having a higher position in the organizational hierarchy and with lesser ambiguity in the role performed, with lower role conflict and positive impact of overall state of roles played within an organization are more committed to their organization. It increases all the normative, continuance commitment and affective components of the organizational commitment (Delaney and Hustled, 1996; Becker and Gerhardt, 1996). Performance Appraisal A DISSERTATION PROJECT On â€Å"STUDY ON PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT WAY TO WEALTH† Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for MBA Degree of Bangalore University BY JYOTSNA Register Number 04XQCM6037 Under the guidance of Prof. S. Santhanam M. P. Birla Institute of Management Associate Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Bangalore-560001 2004-2006 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the report titled â€Å" STUDY ON PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AT WAY TO WEALTH†is prepared under the guidance of Prof. S. Santhanam in partial fulfillment of MBA degree of Bangalore University, and is my original work.This project does not form a part of any report submitted for degree or diploma of Bangalore University or any other university. Place: Bangalore Date: JYOTSNA M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 2 PRINCIPAL’S CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Ms JYOTSNA, bearing registration No: 04XQCM6037 has done a project and has prepared a report â€Å"STUDY ON PERFORMANCE APRAISAL S YSTEM AT WAY TO WEALTH â€Å"under the guidance of Prof. S. Santhanam, M. P. Birla Institute of Management, Bangalore. This has not formed a basis for the award of any degree/diploma for any other university. Place: Bangalore Date: Dr . NAGESH. S.MALLAVALLI PRINCIPAL MPBIM, Bangalore : M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 3 GUIDE’S CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Ms JYOTSNA, bearing registration No: 04XQCM6037 has done a project and has prepared a report â€Å"STUDY ON PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT WAY TO WEALTH â€Å"under my guidance. This has not formed a basis for the award of any degree/diploma for any other university. Place: Bangalore Date: Prof. S. Santhanam M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all those who guided me in the right direction to complete this report.I would like to thank Dr. Nagesh Malavalli ,principal for his support and also to thank my guide Prof. S. San thanam, faculty member, for his guidance and support for making this project a success. I would also thank my family and my friends for supporting me during the project. Place: Bangalore Date: (JYOTSNA) M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 5 CONTENTS Sl. No Page No CONTENTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION METHODOLOGY STATEMENT OF PROBLEM OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY LIMITATIONS COMPANY PROFILE DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION SUMMARY & CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY 9 10 11 14 16 26 27 32 54 59 M. P.Birla Institute Of Management 2 LIST OF GRAPHS Sl. No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Graphs Graph showing whether PA is conducted every year in the company Graph showing whether job increments & promotions are based on PA Graph showing whether PA objectives are clearly defined Graph showing the purpose of PA Graph showing Feedback on Pa is collected Graph showing the Opinion of the present PA system Graph showing whether PA system needs to be improved Graph showing methods that can be suggested for PA Page No 33 34 35 36 38 39 42 43 PA: Performance Appraisal M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 3 LIST OF TABLES Sl. No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11Tables Table showing whether PA is conducted every year in the company Table showing job increments &Promotions are based on PA Table showing whether PA objectives are clearly defined Table showing the purpose of PA Table showing Ranking of methods employed in PA Table showing whether Feedback on PA is collected Table showing the Opinion on present PA system Table showing factors covered in PA Table showing Improvements to be done in PA Table showing whether Pa system needs to be improved Table showing methods that can be suggested for PA Page No 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 PA: Performance Appraisal M. P.Birla Institute Of Management 4 ABSTRACT It is a well-established fact the people differ in their abilities and aptitudes. These differences are natural to a great extent and cannot be eliminated completely by giving them education and trainin g. There will always be some difference in quality and quantity of work done by different employees. Therefore it is necessary for the management to know these differences so that it may develop certain programs in the organization for those employees who posses better potentials so that they may be developed to accept the challenges of higher jobs or wrong placement of employees may be rectified .The individual employee may also like to know his capability in terms of his performance on his capability in terms of his performance on the job qualitatively and quantitatively in comparison to his fellow employees so that he improve upon it. No firm has a choice as to whether or not it should appraise its personnel and their performance but the choice lies between the systematic and the unsystematic or casual appraisal. The system of appraising the man is not new but the systematic approach of evaluating the man is by any means a new development .The technique of appraising the man by s upervisors or others is widely known as â€Å" Performance Appraisal† . It is also sometimes termed as Personnel Performance Evaluation, Merit Rating. Thus main objective of the project is to study the Performance Appraisal process being practiced in WAY 2 WEALTH and evaluate its effectiveness. This project aimed at finding out effectiveness in terms of familiarity, and satisfaction level of performance appraisal among the employees WAY 2 WEALTH. The project also focuses on finding out how performance appraisal is matching in meeting the company’s goals and objectives.M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 5 METHODOLOGY The research methodology used in the project is the descriptive approach and it is done among 200 employees . The main sources through which data is collected are 1. Primary data 2. Secondary data The data collected for this research is through primary data collection method. The instrument used for collecting primary data is structured questionnaire fille d up by the employees Statistical tools were used to find inferences between the variables and analyzing the results.The following are the tools used. 1) 2) 3) Kalmograv Smirnov Test Chi – Square test (? 2) Spearman’s Rank Correlation M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 6 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 7 INTRODUCTION An organization’s goals can be achieved only when people put in their best efforts . How to ascertain whether an employee has shown his or her best performance on a given job?. The answer is Performance Appraisal. Employee assessment is the fundamental job of HRM, but not easy one though.Thus â€Å"Performance Appraisal† is the systematic evaluation of the individual with respect to his or her performance on the job and his or her potential for development . The performance is being measured against such factors as Job Knowledge, quality, initiative, leadership abilities, supervision, co-operation, versatility etc. It is systematic in th at it evaluates all performance in the same manner utilizing the same approach so that the ratings obtained to separate personnel are comparable. It is undertaken periodically according to plan .The essential purpose is the accurate measurement of human performance It attempts to reduce, if not eliminate human bias and prejudice, by means of a system that is subject to impartial review and check. Often such personnel performance appraisal are labeled as ratings where an individual employee, after comparison with another, is rated or ranked as â€Å"Excellent, normal or average† and are commonly used for determining an employees eligibility for promotion or transfer and widely being used for the development of the individual.Any appraisal program will involve time and money . The wise manager should plan up a program with the minimum cost to give maximum benefit . The rationale for using any particular method should be determined by the size ,financial resources ,and philosoph y of the organization . M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 8 Appraisal can be made by one or more superiors or subordinates or by the peers . There can also be committee of members from various related departments to appraise an employee.There may even be a system of self –appraisal in which each employee evaluates his own performance and potential. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 9 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM To evaluate is to assess the worth or value. In social life, we generally evaluate or appraise the behavior of others in relations to our own needs or goals. Appraisals are judgments of the characteristics ,traits and performance of others. On the basis of these judgments, we assess the worth or value of others, and identify what is good and bad.In industry, performance appraisal is a systematic evaluation of personnel by supervisors or others familiar with their performance because employers are interested in knowing about employee performance. Employees also wish to know their position in the organization. Appraisals are essential for making many administrative decisions: selection, training ,promotion ,transfer ,wage and salary administration ,etc . Besides ,they aid personnel research . Performance appraisal thus is a systematic and objective way of judging the relative worth or ability of an employee in performing his task . Performance ppraisal helps to identify those who are performing their assigned tasks well and those who are not and the reasons for such performance . Differentiating between individuals is easy provided one knows what aspects to take into account. Identifying performance measures is easy if job is clearly defined but difficult if it is broad. At the lower levels of an organization, there are specific jobs and certain tangible and objective standards of performance can be identified. Further up in the hierarchy, jobs become more complex and clear–cut, tangible standards of performance are difficult to specify.Irr espective of the level by and large, most companies use various parameters for measuring the performance like quality of work, quantity of work, job Knowledge, meeting the job requirements, initiative, team working, communicative etc. And they would be rated in accordingly quarterly, half yearly or annually depending on company’s policies. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 10 Many companies would have a standard format for appraising the performance. Ironically many of the employees would not know the norms of the appraisal and to the surprise many of them may not be fully familiar with contents of the appraisal form.This would be great hazel for the company as well as to the employees because if the employee is not aware of what basis he is appraised, he may not put up all his efforts for better improvement which indirectly effects the companies profits by not meeting the companies objectives and targets. Thus this project â€Å" A Study On Effectiveness of Performance Sy stem† aims at complete study on performance appraisal system and finding out effectiveness of the system in terms of familiarity and satisfaction level of the employees in WAY 2 WEALTH, ChennaiM. P. Birla Institute Of Management 11 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY PRIMARY OBJECTIVES ? To find out the effectiveness of PA system in way-2-wealth ? To Know employee satisfaction on PA system in way-2-wealth ? To suggest the way-2-wealth improve the employee satisfaction on PA system SECONDARY OBJECTIVES ? To find the opinion of employees on various factors involved in PA system ? To find out the openness of personal department in PA ? To find out the scope of critical attributes and other factor coverage of PA system ?To know post appraisal measures taken b way-2-wealth M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 12 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Once the employee has been selected, trained and motivated, he is then appraised for his performance. Performance appraisal is the step where the management finds o ut how effective it has been at hiring and placing employees . If any problems are identified steps are taken to communicate with the employee and to remedy them. A â€Å"Performance Appraisal† is a process of evaluating an employee’s performance of a job in terms of its requirements.It is the process of evaluating the performance and qualifications of the employees in terms of the requirements of the job for which he is employed, for purposes of administration including placement, selection for promotion, providing financial rewards and other actions which require different treatment among the members of a group as distinguished from actions affecting all members equally. _ Heyel Performance Appraisal seeks to provide an adequate feedback to each individual for his or her performance. It purports to serve as a basis for improving or changing behavior toward some more effective working habits .It also aims aat providing data to managers with which they may judge future job assignments and compensation -Levinson M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 13 Performance Appraisal determines who shall receive merit increases; counsels employees on their improvement ,determines training needs ,determines promo ability, identifies those who should be transferred -Ronald Benjamin PURPOSE OF APPRAISAL It can serve as a basis for job change or promotion ? By identifying the strengths and weakness of an employee it serves as a guide for ? formulating a suitable training and development program It serves as a feedback to the employee ?It serves as an important incentive to all employees ? The existence of regular appraisal system tends to make the supervisors and ? executives more observant of their subordinates Performance appraisal often provides the rational foundation for payment of ? salaries and bonus M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 14 ESSENTIALS OF GOOD APPRAISAL SYSTEM It must be easily understandable ? An appraisal plan must be integrated into the or ganization so as to have clear cut ? relationships between the appraisal plan and organization policies relating to performance of the employees.It must have the support of all line people who administer it ? The system should fit the organizations operations and structure ? The system should be both valid and reliable ? The system should have built in incentives that is a reward should follow satisfactory ? performance The system should periodically evaluated to be sure that it is continuing to meet its ? goals What should be Rated? The seven criteria for assessing performance are: 1. Quality 2. Quantity 3. Timeliness 4. Cost Effectiveness 5. Need for supervision 6. Interpersonal impact 7. Training M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 15Trends in employee Appraisal ITEM Terminology Purpose FORMER EMPASIS Merit Rating Determine qualifications for wage increase, transfer, promotion, lay- off Application For hourly –paid workers Heavy emphasis on personal traits Techniques Ratin g scales, Statistical manipulation of data for comparison purpose PRESENT EMPHASIS Performance Appraisal Development of the individual, improved performance on the job, and provide emotional security For technical, professional and managerial employees Factors Related Results, accomplishments, performance Mutual goal–setting, critical incidents, group appraisal, performance standards, less quantitative Post Appraisal Interview Superior communication his rating to employees and tries to sell his evaluation to him; seeks to have employee conform to his view Superior stimulates employee to analyze himself and set own objectives in line with job requirements superior is helper and councilor M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 16 Approaches to Performance Appraisal: 1.A casual ,unsystematic and haphazard appraisal: This method was commonly used in the past . The basis of this method are seniority or quantitative measures quantity and quality of output for the rank and file personn el 2. The traditional and highly systematic measurement: This measures the employees characteristic and employee contributions or both. It evaluates all the performances in the same manner ,utilizing the same approach so that the ratings obtained of separate personnel are comparable 3. The behavioral approach ,emphasizing mutual goal setting: here emphasizes has been laid upon providing mutual goal setting and appraisal of progress by both the appraiser and the appraise .This approach is based on the behavioral value of fundamental trust in the goodness ,capability and responsibility of human beings. The Evaluating Process The process of performance appraisal follows a set pattern viz, a man’s performance is periodically appraised by his superiors. Questions are raised . Is his potential the greatest as a manager or as a staff specialist? What are his strengths and weakness? Where can he make his great contribution? Next sometimes in consultation with the man himself, tentati ve decisions are made on what might be done to advance his development. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 17 Thus the process would involve following steps ESTABLISH PERFORMANCE STANDARDS COMMUNICATE PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS TO EMPLOYEES MEASURE ACTUAL PERFORMANCECOMPARE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE WITH STANDARDS DISCUSS THE APPRAISAL WITH THE EMPLOYEE IF NECESSARY, INITIATE CORRECTIVE ACTION M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 18 TOOLS/METHODS FOR APPRAISING PERFORMANCE: Several methods and techniques of appraisal are available for the measurement of the performance of the employee . The methods and scales differ for obvious reasons 1. They differ in the sources of traits or qualities to be appraised. 2. The variations may be caused by the degree of precision attempted in an evaluation. 3. They may differ because of the methods used to obtain weightings for various traits. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 19 Methods of Performance appraisalTraditional Methods ? Straight Ranking ? Man-t o-man Comparison ? Grading ? Force choice Description ? Graphic Rating Scales ? Forced distribution Method ? Check Lists ? Free Form Essay Method ? Critical Incidents ? Group Appraisal ? Field Review Method y Modern Methods Assessment Centres Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 20 COMPONENTS OF APPRAISAL EVALUATION ? â€Å"Who† of the Appraisal ? â€Å"What† of Appraisal ? ? ? Common Pitfalls in Appraisal: ? There is often tendency to rate not only the employee but also the job ? Errors are introduced in the appraisal because of a defect or bias in the person conducting the appraisal ?As Appraisal are in fact opinions ,it is difficult to remove from the subjective element whilst making the judgment ? Performance appraisal do require a lot from the supervisor as they require periodic observation of subordinates performance by them which becomes difficult in case of a first line superior have a large number of subordinates ? There is of ten a large variations in the standards and ratings because some raters are tough where as others are lenient ? There is often lack of communication where by the employee does not know how he is rated ? Often Superiors are reluctant to give a low rating to ineffective subordinate and gives him an average rating ?Sometimes communication of the rating of the employee if done properly would be taken as criticism and may even result in his performing more poorly The â€Å"Why† of Appraisal The â€Å"When† of Appraisal The â€Å"where† of Appreciation M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 21 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The researcher has made efforts for an errorless study but the following limitations were occurred ? The survey was restricted to only in Way 2 Wealth and the sample size was 200 ? There may be some changes if the sample size and the geographical segmentation were increased ? Time was a handicap for a detailed study ? A few respondents might have been given biased information, which may affect the reliability of the results ?Unwillingness and inability of the respondent to provide information M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 22 COMPANY PROFILE Way2Wealth is a premier Investment Consultancy Firm that has been launched with the aim of making investing simpler, more understandable and profitable for the investors. Way2Wealth brings a wide range of product offerings from Fixed Income Securities, Life Insurance and Mutual Funds to Equity and Derivatives (on the National Stock Exchange) for the convenience and benefit of it customers. Way2Wealth has over 40 easily accessible Investment Outlets spread across 20 major towns and cities in the country. Mission Way2Wealth is a premier Investment Consultancy Firm, launched with the ission â€Å"to be the pre-eminent destination for personalised financial solutions helping individuals create wealth†. Philosophy We believe that â€Å"our knowledge combined with our investors trust and in volvement will lead to the growth of wealth and make it an exciting experienc Sivan Securities started in 1984, has a long and illustrious track record of being amongst the premier Financial Intermediaries in the country as well as being an incubator for IT start-up firms. The Venture Capital division came to be known as Global Technology Ventures (GTV has provided venture capital to companies such as Kshema Technologies, MindTree, Ivega etc. ) and the Financial Intermediary Division was spun off as Way2Wealth in the year 2000. M. P.Birla Institute Of Management 23 Way2Wealth is promoted by Sivan Securities and Global Technology Ventures Ltd. Prudential ICICI AMC provides further strength to Way2Wealth as strategic equity partner. Over the years, Sivan has developed a strong reputation for navigating its investors through all the ups and downs in the market. Way2Wealth has inherited these same values in addition to a base of 75,000 individual customers, over 300 corporate/institutio nal clients. Other companies in the group include Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Ltd. (one of the largest Coffee Exporters in India) and Cafe Coffee Day, a chain of youth hangout coffee parlors.Way2Wealth has very credible management teams, who have well over 100 man-years of experience amongst themselves Way2Wealth Investment outlets are designed to be places where retail investors can come in touch with Investment opportunities in an atmosphere of convenience and comfort. The look and feel of the offices across India project a consistent branch image for the company. The features that enable a unique facility for retailing financial services include among others: ? Most branches are located in the ground floor sporting huge glass frontage promoting easy accessibility and reflecting our attitude of complete transparency. ? The major portion of the branch area dedicated for customer use.The furniture is in CKD formats to add flexibility in using the branch for Investors pur poses. ? ? Connectivity to NSE for trading facilities. TV and other electronic mediums to facilitate real time update and dissemination of information to our customers. ? Each branch comprises of trained and qualified Investment advisors to take care of the needs of the customers. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 24 The Way2Wealth Research Desk Research is at the core of the advice. It believes that sound investment decisions are made on sound analysis of facts, past performance and credible market information. The research cell focuses on providing data and analysis to help customers make sound investment decisions.The Research cell is managed by a highly qualified team that is handpicked and trained extensively in the proprietary Way2Wealth Investment Philosophy centered on finding the best investment solutions for our customers. Based in the commercial capital enables the team to have a pulse of the trends allowing dissemination of the most up-to-date and latest information. ? Personalised Investment Solutions: All the customers receive individual attention ? Full choice of Investments: Mutual funds, Life Insurance, Fixed Income Instruments, Equity and Derivatives ? Processing support: take care of all the paper work and provide service at the doorstep. ? Investor eligibility criteria: Customers with a minimum investment amount as low as Rs. 2500 per month can avail of the services.This unique Way2Wealth concept can be easily experienced through the innovative and customer friendly network of Investment outlets that spans 20 major towns and cities in the country. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 25 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The following points are considered in carrying out the research. A. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: A research design is purely ad simply the framework a plan for a study that guides the collection and analysis of the data. Descriptive Research Here the research is been done on 200 members through a media of questionnaire B. DATA COLLECTION METH OD: The main sources through which data is collected are 1. Primary data 2. Secondary data The data collected for this research is hrough primary data collection method. The instrument used for collecting primary data is questionnaire from the employees. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 26 E. SAMPLING TECHNIQUE Non – probability (non random ) sampling method is used in this project. F. STATISTICAL TOOLS USED: Statistical tools were used to find inferences between the variables and analyzing the results. The following are the tools used. 1)spearman’s rank Correlation 2) Kalmograv Smirnov Test 3) Chi – Square test (? 2) M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 27 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 28 DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION TABLE 1 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER PA IS CONDUCTED EVERY YEAR IN THE COMPANY S.NO 1 2 YES NO TOTAL OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS 60 0 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 100 0 100 100 80 60 40 20 0 YES NO INFERENCE: All the respondents feel that PA is conducted eve ry year in the company. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 29 TABLE 2 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER JOB INCREMENTS AND PROMOTIONS ARE STRICTLY BASED ON PA S. NO 1. 2. YES NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS 41 19 PERCENTAGE (%) 68 32 100 TOTAL 60 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 YES NO INFERENCE: Majority of the respondents feel that job increments and promotions are strictly based on PA is 68%and whereas few of them feel that it is not strictly based on PA 32%. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 30 TABLE 3 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER PA OBJECTIVES ARE CLEARLY INFORMED S. NO 1. 2. 3.CHOICE CLEARLY INFORMED PARTIALLY INFORMED NOT INFORMED AT ALL TOTAL NO OF RESPONDENTS 22 28 10 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 36 46 18 100 50 40 30 20 10 0 PERCENTAGE CLEARLY INFORMED PARTIALLY INFORMED NOTINFORMED AT ALL INFERENCE: Majority of the respondents feel that PA objectives are partially informed, some of them feel it is clearly informed and whereas few of them feel that it is not informed at all. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 3 1 TABLE 4 TABLE SHOWING PURPOSE OF PA S. NO 1 2 3 4 CHOICE SALARY INCREASE PROMOTION TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT FEEDBACK TOTAL NO OF RESPONDENTS 18 22 14 6 120 PERCENTAGE (%) 30 36 24 10 100 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PERCENTAGE SALARY INCREASE PROMOTION TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT FEEDBACKINFERENCE: Majority of the respondents feel that purpose of PA is for promotion, some of them feel it is for salary increase and whereas few of them feel it is for training and development. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 32 TABLE 5 RANKING OF METHODS EMPLOYED IN PA NO OF RESPONDENTS FACTORS 1 GRADING RANKING METHOD CHECKLIST METHOD FORCED CHOICE METHOD 15 22 13 11 2 18 17 16 10 3 12 16 20 13 4 15 6 11 26 INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that the ranking of methods employed in PA is give below: FACTORS GRADING RANKING METHOD CHECKLIST METHOD FORCED CHOICE METHOD RANK II I III IV M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 33 TABLE 6 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER FEEDBACK ON PA IS COLLECTED S. NO 1. 2. YES NO OPI NION NO OF RESPONDENTS 25 35 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 42 58 100 TOTAL 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 PERCENTAGE YES NOINFERENCE: 58% of the respondent feel that feedback on PA is not collected ad whereas some of them feel that feedback on PA is collected. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 34 TABLE 7 TABLE SHOWING OPINION ON PRESENT PA SYSTEM IN THE COMPANY S. NO 1. 2. 3. 4. OPTIONS VERY GOOD GOOD AVERAGE POOR TOTAL NO OF RESPONDENTS 6 24 18 12 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 10 40 30 20 100 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PERCENTAGE VERY GOOD GOOD AVERAGE POOR INFERENCE: Majority of the respondents opinion regarding present PA system in the company is good, some of the respondents opinion is average and whereas few of the respondents opinion is poor. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 35 TABLE 8TABLE SHOWING OPINION ON THE FOLLOWING FACTORS COVERED IN PA FACTORS Job knowledge Quality of work Quantity of work Ability of work Hard work Manner & obedience VERY GOOD 6 7 6 7 10 10 GOOD 21 29 14 24 26 24 AVERAGE 22 13 18 16 12 14 POOR 9 6 12 8 7 9 VERY POOR 2 5 10 5 5 3 INFERENCE: Majority of the respondent’s opinion regarding the factors covered in PA is good, some of them feel it is average and whereas few of them feel it is poor. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 36 TABLE 9 TABLE SHOWING IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE IN PA FACTORS Strongly agree 12 9 10 5 6 7 11 Neither Agree Agree nor disagree 27 25 24 22 20 24 25 11 14 8 14 18 13 14 6 7 11 13 11 11 6 Disagree Strongly disagree 4 5 7 6 6 5 4Confidentiality Critical attributes Role related attributes Post appraisal actions Introducing bars in PA Feedback on PA White paper on PA & after PA INFERENCE: Majority of the respondents agree that improvements has to be made in PA, some of them neither agree nor disagree ad whereas few of them disagree that improvements has to be made in PA M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 37 TABLE 10 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER PRESENT PA SYSTEM IS TO BE IMPROVED S. NO 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. OPTIONS STRONGLY AGREE AGREE NEITHER AGR EE NOR DISAGREE DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE TOTAL NO OF RESPONDENTS 11 20 15 9 5 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 18 34 24 16 8 100 35 30 25 20 18 15 10 5 0 PERCENTAGE 34 24 16 8 STRONGLY AGREE AGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREEINFERENCE: Majority of the respondents agree that present PA system is to improved, some of them neither agree nor disagree ad whereas few of them disagree. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 38 TABLE 11 TABLE SHOWING METHODS THAT CAN BE SUGGESTED FOR PA S. NO 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. OPTIONS ESSAY METHOD FIELD REVIEW METHOD BARS APPRAISAL BY RESULTS 360 DEGREE APPRAISAL TOTAL NO OF RESPONDENTS 9 8 11 14 18 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 16 12 18 24 30 100 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PERCENTAGE ESSAY METHOD FIELD REVIEW METHOD ARS APPRAISAL BY RESLTS 360 DEGREE APPRAISAL INFERENCE: Majority of the respondents suggest 360 degree appraisal for PA, some of them suggest appraisal by result and whereas few of them suggest essay method. M. P.Birla Institute Of Management 39 TOOLS USED F OR ANALYSIS KALMOGROV SMIRNOV TEST The Kalmogrov Smirnov Test (KS – Test) tries to determine if two data sets significantly. The KS – test has the advantage of making no assumption about the distribution of data. (Technically speaking it is nonparametric and distribution free). It is a goodness of fit used to examine the distribution function of the random variable (X). Test statistics T = = Sup | F (x) – S (x) | Supremum of the absolute value of the difference between F (x) and S (X) H0 is rejected if T exceeds the 1 – a quantile (W1 – a) of the Kalmogrov Smirnov’s Statistic. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 40TO FIND OUT THE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENT’S RATING PATTERN ABOUT â€Å"WHETHER PRESENT PA SYSTEM IS TO BE IMPROVED† H0: H1: Response Pattern obtained is uniformly distributed Response Pattern is not uniformly distributed Null Hypothesis S (x) 1/5 2/5 3/5 4/5 5/5 Opinion F (x) Cumulative Percentage 0. 18 0. 52 0. 76 0 . 92 1 Cumulative Percentage 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1 Difference F(x) – S(x) -0. 02 0. 12 0. 16 0. 12 – STRONGLY AGREE AGREE NEITHER DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE 0. 18 0. 34 0. 24 0. 16 0. 08 TEST OF UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION Calculated Value is: T (F (x) – S (x)) Tabulated Value is = 0. 16 T (tab) = 1. 22 / ? n When n = 5, T (tab) = 0. 5456 for 5 % significance level. Calculated value is less than tabulated value. H0 is accepted. INFERENCE: Response pattern obtained is uniformly distributed. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 41 PAIRED ‘T’ TESTTO IDENTIFY THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE STATEMENTS THAT ARE GIVEN FOR OPINION ON THE FOLLOWING FACTORS COVERED IN PA Ho: Job Knowledge is very good than Quality of Work H1: Quality of work is very good than Job Knowledge VERY GOOD JOB KNOWLEDGE QUALITY OF WORK 16 24 GOOD 12 96 AVERAGE 80 44 POOR 24 20 VERY POOR 8 16 N=5 X1 16 72 80 24 8 Y1 24 96 44 20 16 D1 -8 -24 36 4 -8 d=0 d1 – d -8 -24 36 4 -8 (d1 – d )2 64 576 1296 16 64 2016 d = 1Od N = 0 where N = 5 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 42 S2 = 1 O (d1 – d) 2 (n – 1) = S T = = 10. 13 3. 19 d S/ vn = Degree of freedom 0 = n-1 =4 Table Value = 2. 132 Calculated Value is less than Tabulated Value, Ho is accepted INFERENCE: Job Knowledge is very good than Quality of Work M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 43 SPEARMAN’S RANK CORRELATION The rank correlation co – efficient is a measure of correlation that exists between two sets or ranks.Spearman’s Rank Correlation Co – efficient is calculated as follows: r = 1 – 6 O di2 n (n2 – 1) where n is number of packed observation d is the difference between one paired observation. The value of Spearman’s Rank Correlation will always lie between –1 and +1. If the coefficient is HO the ranks given by two sets of judges show perfect positive correlation. If it is –1, the ranks given by two sets of judges have a perfect negative correlation between them. NULL HYPOTHESIS HO: There is no correlation between the ranking of Checklist Method and Ranking Method among respondents i. e. ,  µr = 0 H1: There is correlation between the ranking of Checklist Method and Ranking Method among respondent’s i. e. ,  µr > 0 M. P.Birla Institute Of Management 44 RAN S. NO K (X) RANK (Y) RANK DIFFERNCE (RANK X – RANK Y) DIFFERENCE SQUARE di2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 3 4 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 4 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 1 4 3 3 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 3 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 3 4 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 3 2 2 2 1 -2 1 -1 1 1 -1 3 1 1 -1 -1 2 2 1 -1 2 2 2 -1 -1 -1 4 4 4 1 4 1 1 1 1 1 9 1 1 1 1 4 4 1 1 4 4 4 1 1 1 O di2 =59 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 45 X = CHECKLIST METHOD Y = RANKING METHOD Spearman’s r = 1 – 6 O di2 n (n2 – 1) = 1 – 6 x 59 25 (252 – 1) = 1 – 0. 0226 = 0. 977 or tabulated or (t), n = 25 at 5% level of significance or calculated or (c) = 1 vn – 1 = 1 v25 – 1 = 0. 20Upper limit (U1) =  µr + or (t) x or (c) = 0 + 0. 3977 x 0. 20 = 0. 08 INFERENCE: Since the ‘r’ value = 0. 977 it lies in the rejection region therefore we reject the null hypothesis at 5% level of significance and we accept the alternate hypothesis. Hence, we conclude that there is positive correlation between the ranking of Checklist Method and Ranking Method among the respondents. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 46 CHI – SQUARE TEST Chi – Square is an importance non – parametric test and as such no test are necessary in respect of the type of population. We require only the degree of freedom (implicity of course the size of the sample) for using this test.As a non – parametric test, Chi – square can be used (i) as a test of goodness of fit and (ii) as a test of independence. Since the researcher used test of independence only the details about test of independence is given below. TES T OF INDEPENDENCE o2 test enables us to explain whether or not two attributes are associated. In order that we may apply the chi – square test either as a test to judge the significance of association between attributes, it is necessary that the observed as well as theoretical or expected frequencies must be grouped in the same way and theoretical distribution must be adjusted to give the same total frequency as we find in case of observed distribution.Karl Pearson developed a test for testing the significance of discrepancy between experimental values and the theoretical values obtained under some theory or hypothesis. This test is known as o2 test of goodness of fit. Karl Pearson proved that the statistic o2 = ? (O – E) 2 / E O – Observed Frequency E – Expected Frequency o2 is used to test whether difference between observed & expected frequencies are frequent. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 47 To find o2 table value degree of freedom should be cal culated. Degree of freedom is calculated using the formula (r – 1)(c – 1). The table value for this degree of freedom is seen using 5% or 1% of significant level. If o2 table value is greater than o2 calculated value, Null Hypothesis is accepted or Null Hypothesis is rejected.To determine whether there is significant difference between gender & whether PA is inherently unfair Ho: There is no significant difference between gender & whether PA is inherently unfair H1: There is significant difference between gender & whether PA is inherently unfair GENDER CHOICE MALE FEMALE TOTAL NO OF RESPONDENTS YES 28 20 48 NO 104 48 152 TOTAL 132 68 200 Expected Frequencies are: (48 * 132) / 200 = 31. 68 (152 * 132) / 200 = 100. 32 (48* 68) / 200 = 16. 32 (152 * 68) / 200 = 51. 61 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 48 CALCULATION OF O2: Observed Frequency (O) 28 104 20 148 Expected Frequency (E) 31. 68 100. 32 16. 32 51. 68 (O – E) 2 13. 54 18. 66 18. 66 13. 54 (O – E) 2 / E 0. 427 0. 168 1. 14 0. 261 2. 01 Calculated o2 = ? O – E)2 / E O – Observed Frequency E – Expected Frequency = 2. 01 Calculated o2 = 2. 01 Degree of Freedom = (4 – 1)(2 – 1) = 3 d. o. f at 5 % level of significance Therefore, Tabulated o2 = 7. 815 Since Calculated o2 < Tabulated o2 Therefore, we accept the hypothesis. i. e. , There is no significant difference between gender & whether PA is inherently unfair M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 49 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 50 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY. ? All the respondents feel that PA is conducted every year in the company. ? Majority of the respondents feel that job increments and promotions are strictly based on PA and whereas few of them feel that it is not strictly based on PA. Majority of the respondents feel that PA objectives are partially informed, some of them feel it is clearly informed and whereas few of them feel that it is not informed at all. ? Majority of the respondents feel that purpose of PA is for promotion, some of them feel it is for salary increase and whereas few of them feel it is for training and development. ? From the table it is seen that the ranking of methods employed in PA is give below: FACTORS GRADING RANKING METHOD CHECKLIST METHOD FORCED CHOICE METHOD RANK II I III IV ? 58% of the respondent feel that feedback on PA is not collected and whereas some of them feel that feedback on PA is collected. Majority of the respondents opinion regarding present PA system in the company is good, some of the respondents opinion is average and whereas few of the respondents opinion is poor. ? Majority of the respondents opinion regarding the factors covered in PA is good, some of them feel it is average and whereas few of them feel it is poor. ? Majority of the respondents agree that improvements has to be made in PA, some of them neither agree nor disagree ad whereas few of them disagree that improvements has to be made in PA. M. P. Birla Inst itute Of Management 51 ? Majority % of the respondents prefers PA by the HR department, some of them prefer by third party and whereas few of them prefer through top level management. Majority of the respondents agree that present PA system is to improved, some of them neither agree nor disagree ad whereas few of them disagree. ? Majority of the respondents suggest 360 degree appraisal for PA, some of them suggest appraisal by result and whereas few of them suggest essay method. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 52 SUGGESTIONS The top management should take up periodic programs to explain the objectives and the related issues to the executives and queries should be thoroughly cleared It is necessary to improve the performance analysis and review system in following areas ? There should be clear definition of rewards basing performance ?PA’S should have direct bearing in promotions ? PA should be incident specific & productivity linked & not as per personal linking. ? Self-a ppraisal discussion with the assessing officer & then the officer recording his appraisal will be ideal. Awareness is less in catering department ? Employees to work hard to achieve & a panel of officers with which interaction happens during the course of your job should be appraising officer ? Every year a appraisal letter should be given to employee because that can make a employee to show great affection to their job ascertained ? Subordinate & peers also should have a role in individual’s assessment ?Before or during PA, the reporting officer may discuss with the employee about his plus or minus points in order to educate & improved the employee’s performance in future ? Most of the assessment is based on personal interaction with evaluating officer ? Instead of giving overall rating in the paper good workers should be appreciated by the way of given extra perks or increment ? The decision obtained at performance analysis should be implemented. M. P. Birla Institut e Of Management 53 CONCLUSION The effectiveness of a system is to be determined by the people in it, the system cannot become effective automatically. Simply by basing upon few assumptions about the people involved in it.The same is the case with the executive appraisal system of Way 2 Wealth a considerable number of them have come under Halo effect and stereotyping Objectives of the appraisal system are not clear to most of the employees and behavioral dimensions are not clearly understood Unsatisfactory opinion in respect of existing system and self-assessment Wide gap between formal appraisal system and self-assessment Training needs are not met by the organisation inspite of doing serious exercise in identifying them There is lot of paper work in this system of appraisal by which the appraisal is time consuming The analysis has shown that most of the executives are in favour of a better appraisal system, which is more transparent and has provisions for unbiased assessment of per formance M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 54 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 55 BIBLIOGRAPHYPERSONNEL MANAGEMENT STATISTICAL METHODS MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES HUMAN RESORCE MANAGEMENT – C. B. MAMORLA, S. V. GANKAR S. P. GUPTHA BOHLANDER ASHWATHAPPA M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 56 QUESTIONNAIRE 1. Gender : Male ? Female ? 2. Employee Category: 3. Age Group: 4. Experience: 5. Is every year PA is conducted by the company? Yes ? No ? 6. Job increments and promotions are strictly based on PA? Yes ? No ? 7. PA objectives are Clearly informed Partially informed Not informed at all 8. Is PA inherently unfair M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 57 ? ? ? Yes ? No ? 9. PA serves the purpose of Salary increase Promotion Training and development Feedback ? ? ? ? 10.What methods are employed in PA Grading Ranking method Checklist method Forced choice method ? ? ? ? 11. PA forms/procedures are Management oriented Employee oriented M. P. Birla Institute Of Management ? ? 58 12. After PA, Feedback on PA is collected Yes ? No ? 13. The opinion on present PA system in the company? Very good Good Average Poor ? ? ? ? 14. Your opinion on the following factors covered in PA? FACTORS Job knowledge Quality of work Quantity of work Ability of work Hard work Manner & obedience VERY GOOD GOOD AVERAGE POOR VERY POOR M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 59 15. What is to be improved in PA? Strongly agree Neither Agree Agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree FACTORSAppraisal by result Confidentiality Critical attributes Role related attributes Post appraisal actions Feedback on PA 16. Among the following which one do you prefer? PA by the HR department PA by the third party PA by top level management Assessment center ? ? ? ? M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 60 17. Is the present PA system is to be improved? Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree ? ? ? ? ? 18. What method you can suggest for PA? Essay method Field review metho d BARS Appraisal by results 360 degree appraisal ? ? ? ? ? M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 61 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 62 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 63

A suitable marketing plan for a football club Coursework

A suitable marketing plan for a football club - Coursework Example The article takes a deeper look at the football club of Hapoel Petach Tikva that was founded in the year 1935 in the town of Petach Tikva in Israel. During the phase of 1950s and 1960s, the football club won various noteworthy championships such as Israeli Championships and State Cup and the period was considered as the most flourishing phase of success for them. The home ground of Hapoel Petach Tikva is HaMoshava Stadium which was recently opened at the end of 2011 replacing Petach Tikva Muncipal Stadium as the home ground of the football team. The recently built stadium i.e. HaMoshava Stadium which the club has started to use from this season is possessed by the city authorities of Petach Tikva and not by the club itself. The capacity for the attendances of HaMoshava Stadium is 12500. During the phase of 1950s and 1960s, football became the most renowned local sport in Israel. There lie certain basic features that dominated football in Israel after the establishment of the state in the year 1948. The basic features that dominated football in Israel were both political and nationalistic. The local sport of Israel i.e. football fell under the sponsorships of three political centres or federations such as Hapo’el, Maccabi and Beitar. The influences of these federations were noteworthy towards the local football clubs. The Israeli Football Association (IFA) controlled and monitored the beautiful game of soccer through these federations. The concept of sports marketing comprises certain activities that are mainly designed to meet with various requirements of the sports consumers. In order to comply with the various requirements of the sports consumers broadly concerning the sport spectators, an effective marketing plan is very much necessary for any sports organisation or any sporting club (Morgan & Summers, 2005). The report aims to deliver an adequate marketing plan for Hapoel Petach Tikva in order to raise their number of attendances to a significant lev el. Moreover, the marketing plan also includes certain marketing strategies for its successful execution. In the report, there are several areas where the marketing plan intends to focus upon. The several areas include the evaluation of the market environment, attendance purposes, complete analysis of the market segments, recognising target markets and different implications of marketing mix strategies. An Assessment of the Market Environment of Hapoel Petach Tik

Managing change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managing change - Essay Example When an organization changes its overall strategy for success, adds or removes a major section or practice. It also occurs when an organization evolves through various life cycles, just like people must successfully evolve through life cycles. â€Å"For organizations to develop, they often must undergo significant change at various points in their development. Thats why the topic of organizational change and development has become widespread in communications about business, organizations, leadership and management† (Organizational Change and Development).There are different types of organizational change, including planned and unplanned, Wide and partial changes of the organization, slow and gradual change, fundamental changes, etc.. Organization-wide change in corporations should involve the Board of Directors. Whether their members are closely involved in the change or not, they should at least be aware of the change project and monitor if the results are being achieved or not. Changes in management can be divided into two categories. One is based on individual change while the other is based on the organization. Normally the organizations won’t change. But the individuals can change. A large project usually associated with lot of individuals. The success of the project depends on the collective efforts of the employees. Even one employee’s negligence can spoil a large project. The individual change management principle lies in the understanding and appreciation of how one person makes a change. I know a person who is working in a tire manufacturing company as a tire builder. Though this fellow don’t have much education he has found out a new way to make use of the scrap rubber materials in the tire manufacturing unit. The company has promoted him as a manger and now he is working on scraps to make it again useful to the company. The new methodology adopted by this fellow has been properly rewarded by the company both of them have

Civil Rights Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Civil Rights Movement - Essay Example The two white men arrested in connection with the incident were not judged. At the same time, Henry Huff, a black lady in Chicago, was expected to part with $200,000 in a court in Mississippi so as to see if she can be assisted in finding her kidnapped son. All these obstacles made them to struggle to have quality education, not to be oppressed and eliminate stereotyping. Hence the Black community came together to form the Civil Rights Movement to help in stopping segregation and discrimination against creed, race, gender and color. The community that supported it benefited in realizing equality among all races and an integrated society. After the formation of the social movement, some amendments were performed in America which assisted the blacks to realize their rights later (Vincent, 1989). The black community benefited from the 13th amendment which ended the servitude in the United States of America. It was the 14th amendment that highly benefited the black community. It granted citizenship to the blacks and barred states from cutting their immunities and privileges as prescribed in the constitution. It also prohibited all states from taking an individual’s liberty, life and property and granted equal laws’ protection. ... The black community eventually could access polling booth. The movement caused the Voting Rights Act to be passed in1965. The passage removed several racial barriers. It actually led to the alteration of American cultural, social and political way of life. Transformation in prevailing citizenship rights together with a redefinition of the courts and government’s role in guarding those rights bolstered all the Americans human rights irrespective of their individual color. Civil Rights Movement made many black employees in some organizations to publicize various abuses of civil rights that plagued them. The movement led to the emergence of Black Nationalism in America. In 1960s, many activists that were black started to ask for reforms that would lead to formation of a political system to make blacks to be less politically as well as economically crippled. With the rise of nationalism wave in the movement, some organizations emerged. One of the organization started advocating fo r â€Å"black power†. This term was clear indication racism was forever gone. Question Two Modern feminism movement describes an organized activity that attempts to empower female by revealing the interests and rights of women. Most people have counterfeit assumptions about women’s cultural beliefs, sexual preference and general point of view on life. Even the present daughters do not ever dream of leading the lives their mothers go through. Feminism movement was designed to be an intellectual and social group that inquires about transforming the society and individuals. This society includes changing the world along with changing their fathers. Its aim is to produce a society that is unbiased for all men and women by

Entrepreneurship- Patent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Entrepreneurship- Patent - Essay Example It works a great deal in detecting cases of diabetes to those who show no symptoms towards the disease. Working tirelessly with my colleagues, we have developed a system whereby it would be simply easy to test for diabetes, pre-diabetes or people who have suffer from diabetes complication. The information included therein contains every procedure and the test device used to test for diabetes. In this regard, the information remains intellectual property of the original owners according to US Patent rights. The information contained in the file named under, â€Å"METHODS FOR DETECTING PRE-DIABETES AND DIABETES USING DIFFERENTIAL PROTEIN GLYCOSYLATION†, Application and Publication Number US 13/457,225 & US20120214179 A1 respectively is the property of the inventor. The materials and procedure provide a unique way which has not be invented by any other individual on testing of pre-diabetes which are those likely to have diabetes in future. This is the cutting edge as the owners’ claims exclusive rights towards an improved diabetes testing

Is 'gender chaos' an accurate reflection of how the twentieth century Essay

Is 'gender chaos' an accurate reflection of how the twentieth century affected the roles of men and women in African societi - Essay Example With the coming of the colonial government however, these roles came to be directly challenged, as it sought to redesign the African way of life according to its liking. The colonial policies tended to result in chaos between the genders as each strived to maintain the roles that it had traditionally held in the traditional society. Many of the policies that the colonial government instituted were aimed at achieving certain imperial goals but these came to be resisted by the men and women in African societies who felt that their way of life was being threatened by the European colonizers. While the initial response was resistance, this resistance came to fall apart as many African societies either adapted to the European way of life or chose to abandon the gender roles, which they had held in the traditional society. Therefore, it can be said that it is indeed true that gender chaos is a true reflection of how the roles of African men and women were affected in the twentieth century. The colonial policies on various issues came to affect the way men and women in African societies behaved and it can be said that they may have caused gender chaos. The colonial government tended to put limits on some of the traditional practices of African societies in order to achieve one goal or the other. While some of these intentions may have been good, they tended to create a lot of discord in the African communities involved, with some either choosing to ignore the colonial policies while others tended to do it the way they were required, and later do it the traditional way. An example of such colonial policies is given by Lynn Thomas (2003) who in her work states that in order to reduce the instances of abortion in the Meru community in Kenya, the colonial government decided that the age of female excision was to be reduced. This was done because while it was a normal thing within this community for women to have premarital sex, if they became pregnant before excision, the n they were required by their communities to abort the child. This requirement came about because those girls who had not been excised were considered not to be real women and their offspring were considered not to be human but demons. Such forced abortions were believed by the colonial government to be the reason why there were low birthrates among the Meru leading to low population growth. This colonial policy met with resistance from members of the community especially the women, who saw this as a violation of their traditions. While there was compliance with the colonial requirements, the older women in the society and at times the girls involved, often took it upon themselves to do the excision on the girls at the required age, even though these girls had already undergone the operation. The role of women in African societies came to change during the period of the struggle for independence against colonial rule. In many of the African traditional societies, men were the domina nt gender being given preferential treatment in the attainment of all the prominent positions in society. Women, on the other hand, were less visible, often concentrating on the management of their own homes and families. This was the custom throughout most of Africa until such a time as Africa came to be colonized. For several decades after colonization, the role of women in society remained the same but this came to change when some women started gaining the

Science on television and in film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Science on television and in film - Essay Example Mass media, especially television, printed media and the Internet benefits from the misunderstanding, superstitions and fears of general public who live in the world that is completely dependent on science and on scientific achievements. Television, as the most influential and powerful part of mass media, uses initial desire of a person to get information about surrounding world. As Carl Sagan , the famous astronomer and advocate of popular science, once mentioned: "children are natural-born scientists, inherently curious about the world around them and the way things work". It is the way we often encountered science in the classroom that seemed to turn many people off to science, he contended. (Sharon Dunwoody, Sharon M. Friedman, Carol L. Rogers, 180) Media started to involve general public in its nets long ago. In 1686, in a French speaking Entretiens sur la pluralit des mondes, there were recognized the need to satisfy both 'la gens du monde' and 'les savants'. Only in the next fifty years, this specification of public tended to develop more and more into two different orders of discourse: one for the scientists, the other one for the educated public. By the end of the following century, this second language had already focused on specific and paradigmatic audiences: women (as 'symbols of ignorance, goodwill, curiosity') for instance, through periodicals like The Ladies' Diary and books like Il Newtonianesimo per le dame by Francesco Algarotti (1752) or L'Astronomie des dames by Joseph Jrome Lefranois de Lalande (1785) (A. R. Hall, 339). It is only since the second half of the nineteenth century, however that one can really talk of 'large scale' communication of science explicitly addressed by its authors not just to specific a udiences but also to the general public ('grand public').Nowadays there are a lot of television programs and channels in that or this way linked with science. National Geographic, Nova, Discovery and TV communication tools are good examples. The another example are the Jacques Cousteau's discoveries, they were devoted exactly to the problem of doing science, and the programs were done in an interesting manner, attracting spectators. The usual composition of a Jacques Cousteau's program was: identification of problem, a hypothesis for the problem solution, and then action, live solution of the problem. There are also other programs, broadcast on educational channels, their distinguishing feature is that they represent science fairly, but at the same time they have very limited audience comparing to above-mentioned channels and programs.There are some peculiarities of science on TV; they are mentioned in the book of Jane Gregory and Steve Miler. The argument of the authors is that tel evision moving away from traditional scientific exposition and using popular culture one. All scientific stories on television have heroes and sometimes villains, plots, denouements, beginnings, middles, and ends, these all means that scientific stories transforms to dramatic. Jane Gregory and Steve Miler turn to media studies of professor Roger Silverstone, who determines a tension between the storytelling aspect of television science and the need for a realistic representation of the scientific processes at work. Jane Gregory and Steve Miler descried a typical TV scientific program like one that start with a problem, set out mimetically in terms of "what were, and what killed, the dinosaurs" and

Paragraphing in Academic Writing Essay Example for Free

Paragraphing in Academic Writing Essay Although it often seems that paragraphs can take an infinite number of forms, there are really only a few formats for paragraphing in formal, academic prose. What makes paragraphs seem unique to the reader is the style of the writers prose, not the actual format of the information. There are four main types of paragraphs in academic prose: the standard paragraph, the explanatory paragraph, the evidential paragraph, and the introductory paragraph (whose format is sometimes mirrored in the conclusion). Note that the rules and formats described here apply to formal, academic prose, as opposed to paragraphing in newspapers, business, or electronic discourse. Each kind of writing has its own conventions, that is, rules and rhetorical strategies unique to a particular form of composition. In poetry, for example, line breaks contribute to the poems rhythm and overall message and mark the poem as a poem, not as another kind of writing. Conventions in paragraphing can vary from one kind of writing to another as well. In newspaper writing, paragraphs are one to three sentences because the narrow columns used in newspapers make even the shortest paragraph seem long. In electronic discourse, shorter paragraphs and more listing is used because it is more pleasing to the eyetaking advantage of the internets more visual features. A. Standard Paragraph Format Standard paragraphs are the most frequently used paragraph format and most of your essay paragraphs should follow this format. Standard paragraphs contain the following elements in order: 1. Most begin with a topic sentence that makes the main point to be discussed, analyzed, or argued within that paragraph. On very rare occasions, the paragraph may begin with a transition from the last paragraph, followed by the topic sentence for the new paragraph. Paragraphs do not begin with quotations or other kinds of evidence. Evidence must be introduced after the point of the paragraph is made and explained. 2. Following the topic sentence, there is an explanation and/or further development of the point proposed in the topic sentence that clarifies and expands on this point. This explanation adds to the readers understanding of the point. 3. Following the explanation or development of the point, the writer introduces evidence. Introducing evidence includes informing the reader who the information comes from and where (i.e. author and article or book title or foundation, etc.). Such an introduction is an important part of source documentation and helps the reader understand where the evidence portion of the paragraph begins and how the evidence is being used. It is literally a signal to the reader that you have stopped talking and your source has started talking. 4. Once introduced, you provide the actual proof or evidence. This may come in the form of supporting evidence like statistics or quotations or other kinds of softer evidence like anecdotes or eye-witness accounts. Evidence is presented primarily as a paraphrase or summary, with only an occasional pithy, apt quote. It is limited to a few lines, so that the primary focus of the paragraph is on the writers point. Evidence must also be cited properly once given, using parenthetical documentation. (See your textbook for more information on citation.) This parenthetical documentation provides additional, helpful information that pinpoints even more accurately where the evidence can be found and signals the reader that you are going to resume speaking on the topic. 5. After providing proof, you must always explain the meaning of the evidence and tie its meaning to the point you are making so that the reader understands it the way you understand it. Never let evidence stand on its own merit; it must be interpreted for the reader, in light of the point being made, so that the reader understands the meaning and relevance of it. Otherwise, the reader may see the evidence in a different light or be completely lost as to its significance. Thus, evidence must always be explained, even if it seems self-evident to you. Working out the explanation of the evidence is also a helpful check on your own insights. If you cant explain your evidence in light of your point, then it probably doesnt support the point you are making. 6. The paragraph closes with either a summation of the main point or some kind of transition to the next point. This reminds the reader of the argument in progress, its essential points, and the connection between points. B. Explanatory Paragraphs Explanatory paragraphs are used to allow the writer to expand on and explain particularly complex points before providing the reader with a lot of examples or evidence. In particular fields, like the sciences or philosophy, such paragraphs are common in writings that attempt to explain or analyze difficult ideas, theories, or concepts. An explanatory paragraph can also be used to summarize someone elses ideas or concepts that you plan to utilize in your own paper. Essay conclusions are often a kind of explanatory paragraphs because they summarize and reiterate the main ideas discussed in the paper. Explanatory paragraphs contain the following elements in order: 1. Begin with a topic sentence or a transition. 2. Following the topic sentence, there is an in-depth explanation without corroborating evidence, although if the explanation is of someone elses ideas, you must cite this person. 3. The paragraph closes with either a summation. C. Evidential Paragraphs Evidential paragraphs are sometimes used to allow the writer to provide more evidence for a particular point made in a standard paragraph. These paragraphs act as an extension of the point made in the previous paragraph by supplementing the points with further, important evidence. In some fields, like in psychology where individual case studies are often used, there are occasions when there will be several evidential paragraphs for each sub point since the amount of evidence gathered is important to the proving of the point. Evidential paragraphs contain the following elements in order: 1. Begin with a topic sentence or a transition that reiterates the main point of the previous paragraph to remind the reader of the point under consideration. Paragraphs do not begin with quotations or other kinds of evidence. 2. Next, the writer introduces the next piece of evidence for the point as outlined for standard academic paragraphs above. 3. Then the writer provides the actual proof or evidence, followed by the necessary documentation as outlined above. 4. Next, writer must again explain the meaning of the evidence as outlined previously. [Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 as needed to provide additional, corroborating evidence. To avoid unwieldy paragraphs, keep in mind that a paragraph must have a sense of unity and that usually academic paragraphs run about 1/2 a double-spaced page in length. Therefore, put like evidence together in a paragraph, but use separate evidential paragraphs for items that defy categorization or if you have an overwhelming amount of evidence that you feel must be presented.] 5. The paragraph closes with either a summation of the point and, perhaps some kind of transition to the next point. D. Introductory Paragraphs All essays contain some kind of introductory paragraph or paragraphs. Often, this is where we feel that we can be the most creative in our writing because there are so many ways to begin an essay. Introductory paragraphs usually begin with a hook to draw the reader into the paper and, most often, end with the overall thesis of the paper. Sometimes the thesis includes a forecast of the papers major points. The hook might be a pithy quote, a brief anecdote, or hypothetical situation. Hooks can also be overviews of the problem or of current research on the subject. When using a hook, keep in mind that it should be handled like evidence; thus, it must be clearly introduced, documented, and explained. And, like evidence, it should be pithyshort and to the point. You dont want the reader getting lost in the hook and never get to the point of the paper. In short papers, of 900-1200 words, introductions are usually one paragraph in length. In longer papers, they may run two to three paragraphs. In books, they could run to a whole chapter. Stereotypically, the academic conclusion is merely a repeat of the essays main points and overall thesis. A truly innovative conclusion may repeat the essential point, but suggest other avenues to pursue with the topicsuggesting your awareness that you are only one voice in an on-going discussion of the topic. E. Standard Paragraph Checklist Use the following checklist to analyze the format of your papers paragraphs. If a particular paragraph does not fit the standard format, re-evaluate it: does it at least fit the format of an explanatory, evidential, or introductory paragraph and is its format consistent with the purpose of the paragraph?