Genetically modified organism Essay Example for Free

Genetically modified organism Essay Everywhere where you go, there are fast food companies advertising their products. You take a road trip to your familys house, and what do you see? Rest stops filled with fast food restaurants. According to Google maps, there are close to 50,000 fast food chains across the United States. (with Mcdonalds being the largest restaurant chain. ) Fast food companies go above and beyond to lure you to buy their products. But what exactly is in their food? Not many people look into that. All theyre looking for is a quick fix and convenient food. But, what is this food doing to your body? How do you know what youre eating is good for you? In this essay, I explain in full detail about the pros and cons of consuming fast food. During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the U. S; and Also an increase in obesity-related medical problems. Such problems include: including type II diabetes, hypertension, caridiovascular disease, ect. In particular, diabetes has become the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. Whats the cause of this? Genetic modification is a process in which the genetic make up of living organisms such as plants, animals bacteria, ect are altered. Thus the resulting organism is called genetically modified, genetic engineered or transgenic. By using the genetic information from one organism and inserting or modifying it into another organism, scientists can make food crops stay fresher, grow bigger, and have the crops create their own pesticides. Over the past 10 years, food has been improved in many ways. Before the second World War, all American beef was grass-finished, meaning that cattle ate pasture grass for the duration of their lives. Today, the vast majority of cattle spend anywhere from 60-120 days in feedlots being fattened with grain before being slaughtered. Most cattle today are being fed genetically modified corn, thanks to the Monsanto Corporation. Monsanto Corporation has been feeding the world with its genetically engineered food crops for many years. In 2001, Monsantos genetically modified crops accounted for 91% of the total area of genitcally modified crops planted worldwide. This resulted in Monsanto suing good farmers for copyright infringement. Monsantos crops would spread to neighborhood crops, and contaminate their vegetables. When farmers purchase a patented seed variety, they sign an agreement that they will not save and replant seeds produced from the seed they buy from Monsanto. They CANNOT outline the rules of use, for example, they are not allowed to save any of the seed from their crop to plant the next season. Saving seed is a common practice used for thousands of years, but Monsanto forbids it, requiring farmers to buy new seeds from the company every year. This moves on to farmers feeding their cattle genetically engineered maize. In factory farms in eastern Colorado, genetically modified corn grows next to the confined animal pens. Its DNA-altered pollen is blown over the stockyards, adding further to the contamination of the animals. Even worse, the urine-soaked manure from these animals is recycled as fertilizer in the adjacent corn fields, then contaminating the soil. That cycle of genetically modified toxin is then passed on to you in your meat. This brings us to beef sold in markets and in fast food chains. The artifical growth hormones in beef production poses a potential risk to human health. These six hormones include three which are naturally occurring: Oestradiol, Progesterone, and Testosterone; and three which are synthetic: Zeranol, Trenbolone, and Melengestrol. People have also questioned whether hormone residues in the meat of growth enhanced animals can disrupt human hormone balance, causing developemental problems, interfering with the reproductive system, and even leading to the developement of breast, prostate or colon cancer. Fast food chains such as Mcdonalds claims to use 100% beef though, that isnt entirely true. Americans are literally bombarded with ads for McDonals, Burger King, and Wendys. Icons like Michael Jordan to Drew Bledsoe are featured in Mcdonalds ads.. Even children are lured into their restaurants with the indoor playgrounds, and must have toys. Little do people know that consuming fast food can cause serious health damage. 52 million people are served at Mcdonalds daily, worldwide. 27 million americans out of that 52 eat Mcdonalds daily. Mcdonalds restaurants today seldom have their nutritional information charts up but which to be fair, isnt very nutritional at all. Their Big Mac is made up of 450 calories, 29 grams of fat, 1040 grams of sodium, and 9 grams of sugar. This is way too unhealthy. Mcdonalds promote their food as nutritious, but the reality is that it is junk food. Its high in fat, sugar and salt, and low in fiber and vitamins. Most Americans today eat fast food atleast 3-4 times a month. A diet of this type is linked with a greater risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and other diseases. A good question is how does Mcdonalds sell their cheeseburger so cheap? Heres how. Rumor has it that their meat is made from eyeballs, and intestines. Well, not true. Those things have a distinctly different texture and flavor than even the most finely ground muscle meat (Also more expensive. ) Mcdonalds meat is scraps of meat from the tough parts of the animal that arent sold at higher prices at your local grocery store. Its the strips, and scraps, and the unedible parts of the animal. This, obviously, is not fit for human consumption. But, there is technology in America that can turn that into edible food we eat today in fast food restaurants. After it being stripped of its fat, its then soaked in ammonia. The ammonia kills the pathogens lurking in the meat (E-Coli, Salmonella, ect.) It is then drained, and minced. After thats done, its shipped off to be sold at the cheapest price on their menu. Mcdonalds isnt the main reason why most Americans are obese, though their highly processed food is full of high fructose corn syrup all of which CAUSES obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, the amount of food and the frequent visits Americans choose is what causes the obesity. So, as you can see, genetically modified food has had a huge impact on American life. Advertising of unhealthy foods and products have spread worldwide and dangered the lives of many people (diabetes, hypertension, cardiovasular disease, ect).

Performance and Reward Challenges in the Retail Sector

Performance and Reward Challenges in the Retail Sector REPORT ON PERFORMANCE AND REWARD CHALLENGES RETAIL SECTOR FACE IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD. OVERVIEW This report aims to discuss, analyse the Reward and Performance challenges faced by the retail sector, there were two major retail organisations used in the names of Tesco Store and Waitrose Supermarket, Hence the report considers recommendations and solutions to these challenges with the help of performance and reward theories by the writer. INTRODUCTION Organisations generally need to monitor the performance of itself and its employees in order to achieve its goals either in a short or long term, however, in order to attain an acceptable performance level, there is a motivating factor attached to the employer/employee relationship which is called reward. In relations to the Retail organisations there is a need for organisations to retain and motivate employees to work due to the demand for manpower to satisfy the retail sector needs, for employees to perform well, it is necessary for an existence of a reward package in place; this is basic in retail organisations just like any other business firm, on the other hand, organisations expects a good performance from the rewarded employees as well, thus, there are some arising issues and differences of opinions between both parties such as failure in psychological contracts, low employee morale,absence,e.t.c which results in major challenges for organisations to reach their desired goals, however, there is a need to explore what performance and reward really entails in order to have a easy understanding as this report evolves, hence, examine how rewards scheme enhances employee performance as there are major challenges faced by organisations to fulfil psychological contracts between them a nd their employees which has a vast implication on performance. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT This has changed over the years, it has been a general believe that performance management is about rating employees using a trait-biased instrument such as neatness, punctuality and attendance as opposed to focusing directly on the work output, it tends to be secretive while employees were not really involved in the process nor told of what rating they got, however, this style of performance method is no longer considered to be of good practice. It is the means of getting better results from the organisation, teams, and individuals where there is an agreement of objectives, skills and competence required so it is therefore, the way in which an organisation improve and develop its workforce, however it is also used to measure the distribution of rewards aligned to a performance related pay procedure.(Armstrong,2002:373), hence it is the believe that PM is a process of management by using it to analyse,measure,monitor performance and plan for organisation improvements. Furthermore, as it has been highlighted earlier that performance management aids the measurement and distribution of rewards, the next paragraph would explain what reward is, and how it helps performance within an organisation. REWARD MANAGEMENT This has been related to the performance output of an individual, it has changed the tradition of status but contribution as employees are being awarded benefits which could be tangible or intangible rewards for their additional hard work, Armstrong and Murlis,(1998) argued that performance related pay is a motivator for reward management but stressed that it should not only be about money but those non-financial rewards which provides intrinsic and extrinsic motivation such as continuous development, more employee involvement, partnership, mutuality, trust and transparency hence, it is now evident that performance is related to rewards. As they are both key factors in organisation success, there would now be an in-depth evaluation of the current challenges retail organisations face today. There are two retail organisations considered in this report, first is Tesco Plc which I have worked with for five years, second is Waitrose supermarket which is also a leading retail firm in the U.K, the use of these two organisations has given me advantage to compare and contrast while I was able to critically evaluate these challenges they face. TESCO BACKGROUND/OVERVIEW Tesco is the largest food retailer in UK with over 2,200 stores worldwide and 450,000 employees around the world, it also has around 1,878 stores throughout the UK with many other stores outside the country which includes America, Asia and Europe. The company also offers online shopping and home delivery, its largest market is in the UK with four different types of stores namely Extra store which runs 24hours, Superstore which also runs 24hours, Metro and Express, it has as a non-food and clothing department with three different own label named value, normal and finest which accounts for almost a half of the organisation sales. REWARD AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN TESCO Tesco organisation structures runs in form of a bureaucratic structure as power and authority flows from the top to the low level in the organisation, this equally has similarity in the rewards structure as well because top level employees get much reward that the low level though the latter are more influential in the carrying out of the operational activities that makes the organisation succeed. The present salary structure does not reward individual or team effort, the staff receives the expected automatic annual increments that are incorporated into their base pay in addition to that they get cost of living rise which is determined by the location, this structure reflects the increasing value which individuals are deemed to give to the organisation as they gain experience in the job, it has major disadvantages as increments reward the passage of time and ignore performance as the current reward structure is thus geared towards rewarding staff for their time and loyalty to the organisation and disregards individual performances within the organisation(Boyne,2002) The pay structure is standardised as directors, senior managers are set on individual basis, and new employees are normally placed on the lowest salary point within the grade for their post and service longetivity, the appropriate grade for a post is identified using HAY job evaluation scheme, progression in the grade is reached by acquisition of annual increments until the maximum of the grade is reached which however leaves employees stuck at the top of their grade with no real prospects to progress further or get a promotion into the next salary grade as this could be considered as a factor which derails the morale of individual and it certainly affects performance too. Hence, there is a big issue that needs to be solved as Tesco needs to balance the advantages of having a long service,reliable,experienced,commited workforce against the inherent conservatism, inflexibility and resistance to change usually associated to them, the organisation faces pressures to become more efficient and performance-oriented. Automatic service increments are costly to Tesco and they are not fully appreciated by employees that feel they are entitled to annual increases and progression though star performers are encouraged and signed on to a programme called Options which is training on how to be a manager but there are still questions if everyone is motivated with such motive as some wouldnt be interested in this initiative. As a result they may put in the minimum effort as they are fully aware that they will be guaranteed a pay increase at the end of the year which some writers referred to as a golden handcuff as poor performers continue to stay with the organisation because they continue to be rewarded well, as a matter of fact, a director mentioned 2we have many long-serving staff, as pay and conditions here are very good and there are not too many performance expectations. (Dittenhofer, 2001). This might contribute to organisational inertia if managers are reluctant to manage poor performances through the performance management system and employees may feel as the programme manager put it so they can get away mediocre and contribute to under- performance. Additionally, there is a free company shares given annually to employees as a way to reward them for their hard work which is a good idea and gives them the advantage of 10% discount from any of their purchases from the company by issuing employees a discount/privileged card after six months of service but how are the exceptional performers rewarded? It is left be unknown which is a major challenge to be considered and looked into. Therefore, the challenges faced by Tesco from the discussion above could be listed as follow Non-existence of Individual/Team Reward Lack of Motivation Organisation is Less Performance Oriented Low Performance Output from Employees Inability to Manage Poor Performances Hence, the need for comparison with a relatively successful and large retail organisation is needed in order to justify the challenges the retail sector is facing in the reward and performance management world, this would enable one to evaluate the situation more and leads me to the discussion of reward and performance management in Waitrose supermarket in the subsequent paragraphs. PERFORMANCE AND REWARD MANAGEMENT IN WAITROSE Waitrose is a relatively big supermarket in the UK; it has 221 branches across the United Kingdom. Waitrose creates some act of uniqueness for itself from competitors by offering high quality food and emphasising good customer services which is fundamental for the success of any organisation. However, for the organisation to attain the required level of customer services offered, they strategized by making cultivating the culture of making all its employees a co-partner which is very welcoming from the view of any employees as this gives them sense of belonging in the business running, partners get certain benefits called partnership bonus which is around 10-20% of a partners annual income and it is paid in a monetary value sometimes in the year, discount cards are issued after 3 months of service which entitles them to 15% discount in Waitrose and 25% in John Lewis departmental store as to rewards for their efforts towards the success of the organisation, this sound like a good initiative to reward the employees for their good and hard work. There is a focus to train new partners for customer services skills, health and safety, fresh food handling and fire safety, partners are trained to drop whatever they could be doing(within reasoning) upon the request of the customer and lead customers to the product ,so this shows the extent at which customers are being taken to be their priority. In 2005, there was an introduction of performance management scheme called Mystery Shopper which scores its branches on the service they provide considering the presentation, service on the shop floor by the employees ranging from the service counters, checkouts, wine, grocery departments and general assistants, this initiative is believed to help keep level of performance of each partner on top but it is left to be known if it is a motivator for good performance or trick for the organisation to succeed In 2008 W?itro introduced training for its p?rtn?r? with a new program called frh on rvic? which ?im? to lift core rvic? ?t?nd?rd? and continue to make the bu?in ?t?nd out from its competitors by training partners to be more confident on their job to deliver great service by inspiring among other things an attitude to believe things can be done. (www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk) At this point, it can be deduced that Waitrose tries its best to attain the best performance level with range of offers and trainings they give to the partners of the business, additionally they train people to be managers, and where school leavers are being trained to become section managers within a period of few years, then they also offer a graduate scheme that groom people achieving high managerial posts within some few years. The last few paragraphs evidently shows how Waitrose rewards its co-partners in order to achieve its set goals but the argument is that, does these rewards and benefits given to the partners motivate and spur them all to put in a better performance on their jobs, is money a good key to motivate them or is everyone motivated with tangible things? This leads me to highlight the challenges faced by Waitrose in Respect of Performance and Reward Management. Inability to manage performance Non-existence of Individual/Team Reward Too focused on customer satisfaction INTRODUCTION Organisations generally need to monitor the performance of itself and its employees in order to achieve its goals either in a short or long term, however, in order to attain an acceptable performance level, there is a motivating factor attached to the employer/employee relationship which is called reward. In relations to the Retail Supermarket sector, there is a need for organisations to retain and motivate employees to work due to the demand for manpower to satisfy the retail sector needs, for employees to perform well, it is necessary for an existence of a reward package in place; this is basic in retail organisations just like any other business firm, on the other hand, organisations expects a good performance from the rewarded employees as well, thus, there are some arising issues and differences of opinions between both parties such as failure in psychological contracts, low employee morale,absence,e.t.c which results in major challenges for organisations to reach their desired goals, however, there is a need to explore what performance and reward really entails in order to have a easy understanding as this report evolves, hence, examine how rewards scheme enhances employee performance as there are major challenges faced by organisations to fulfil psychological contracts between them and their employees which has a vast implication on performance. RETAIL SUPERMARKET SECTOR OVERVIEW The retail sector a very active in the society in terms of day to day living as it involves food,clothing,furniture.e.t.c it is always an increasing market though the present economic situation in term of recession making slow down of growth as companies who cannot compete suffer, however organisations face challenge of meeting both customer and employee needs, organisations try to secure the confidence of customers as there is a high risk of losing them because customer spending will decline, hence there is need to be at utmost best delivery best service at every given time, on the other hand, this would require a 100% performance from its employees in order to deliver a high and acceptable service but there are challenges being faced in this respect at the sector as employers face the challenges of meeting employees expectations such as psychological contracts which this report aims to evaluate and suggest recommended solutions with the help of academic theories. This report would discuss findings on the performance and reward challenges faced currently by have two of the Britain most successful retail supermarkets namely Tesco and Waitrose. It aims to discuss and analyse the Reward and Performance challenges faced by the retail sector, there was a SWOT and PEST analysis carried out in order to realise the situation of the supermarkets and the challenges they face. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT This has changed over the years, it has been a general believe that performance management is about rating employees using a trait-biased instrument such as neatness, punctuality and attendance as opposed to focusing directly on the work output, it tends to be secretive while employees were not really involved in the process nor told of what rating they got, however, this style of performance method is no longer considered to be of good practice. It is the means of getting better results from the organisation, teams, and individuals where there is an agreement of objectives, skills and competence required so it is therefore, the way in which an organisation improve and develop its workforce, however it is also used to measure the distribution of rewards aligned to a performance related pay procedure.(Armstrong,2002:373), hence it is the believe that PM is a process of management by using it to analyse, measure, monitor performance and plan for organisation improvements. Furthermore, as it has been highlighted earlier that performance management aids the measurement and distribution of rewards, the next paragraph would explain what reward is, and how it helps performance within an organisation. REWARD MANAGEMENT This has been related to the performance output of an individual, it has changed the tradition of status but contribution as employees are being awarded benefits which could be tangible or intangible rewards for their additional hard work, Armstrong and Murlis,(1998) argued that performance related pay is a motivator for reward management but stressed that it should not only be about money but those non-financial rewards which provides intrinsic and extrinsic motivation such as continuous development, more employee involvement, partnership, mutuality, trust and transparency hence, it is now evident that performance is related to rewards. As they are both key factors in organisation success, there would now be an in-depth evaluation of the current challenges retail organisations face today. There are two retail organisations considered in this report, first is Tesco Plc which I have worked with for five years, second is Waitrose supermarket which is also a leading retail firm in the U.K, the use of these two organisations has given me advantage to compare and contrast while I was able to critically evaluate these challenges they face. TESCO BACKGROUND/OVERVIEW Tesco is the largest food retailer in UK with over 2,200 stores worldwide and 450,000 employees around the world, it also has around 1,878 stores throughout the UK with many other stores outside the country which includes America, Asia and Europe. The company also offers online shopping and home delivery, its largest market is in the UK with four different types of stores namely Extra store which runs 24hours, Superstore which also runs 24hours, Metro and Express, it has as a non-food and clothing department with three different own label named value, normal and finest which accounts for almost a half of the organisation sales. (www.tesco.com) REWARD AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN TESCO Tesco organisation structures runs in form of a bureaucratic structure as power and authority flows from the top to the low level in the organisation, this equally has similarity in the rewards structure as well because top level employees get much reward that the low level though the latter are more influential in the carrying out of the operational activities that makes the organisation succeed. The present salary structure does not reward individual or team effort, the staff receives the expected automatic annual increments that are incorporated into their base pay in addition to that they get cost of living rise which is determined by the location, this structure reflects the increasing value which individuals are deemed to give to the organisation as they gain experience in the job, it has major disadvantages as increments reward the passage of time and ignore performance as the current reward structure is thus geared towards rewarding staff for their time and loyalty to the organisation and disregards individual performances within the organisation(Boyne,2002) The pay structure is standardised as directors, senior managers are set on individual basis, and new employees are normally placed on the lowest salary point within the grade for their post and service longetivity, the appropriate grade for a post is identified using HAY job evaluation scheme, progression in the grade is reached by acquisition of annual increments until the maximum of the grade is reached which however leaves employees stuck at the top of their grade with no real prospects to progress further or get a promotion into the next salary grade as this could be considered as a factor which derails the morale of individual and it certainly affects performance too. Hence, there is a big issue that needs to be solved as Tesco needs to balance the advantages of having a long service,reliable,experienced,commited workforce against the inherent conservatism, inflexibility and resistance to change usually associated to them, the organisation faces pressures to become more efficient and performance-oriented. Automatic service increments are costly to Tesco and they are not fully appreciated by employees that feel they are entitled to annual increases and progression though star performers are encouraged and signed on to a programme called Options which is training on how to be a manager but there are still questions if everyone is motivated with such motive as some wouldnt be interested in this initiative. As a result they may put in the minimum effort as they are fully aware that they will be guaranteed a pay increase at the end of the year which some writers referred to as a golden handcuff as poor performers continue to stay with the organisation because they continue to be rewarded well, as a matter of fact, a director mentioned 2we have many long-serving staff, as pay and conditions here are very good and there are not too many performance expectations. (Dittenhofer, 2001). This might contribute to organisational inertia if managers are reluctant to manage poor performances through the performance management system and employees may feel as the programme manager put it so they can get away mediocre and contribute to under- performance though organisation sometimes tend to stay on the neck of employees trying to impose behaviours that meets the need of organisation. Additionally, there is a free company shares given annually to employees as a way to reward them for their hard work which is a good idea and gives them the advantage of 10% discount from any of their purchases from the company by issuing employees a discount/privileged card after six months of service but how are the exceptional performers rewarded? It is left be unknown which is a major challenge to be considered and looked into. The next paragraph shows the strong and weak sides of Tesco with aid of Swot analysis to figure out its challenges. Therefore, the performance and reward challenges faced by Tesco from the discussions above could be listed as follow Non-existence of individual/team reward Lack of motivation Organisation is more performance oriented than rewards Low performance output from employees Inability to manage poor performances STRENGTHS Increasing Market Share It has an increasing market share and a good percentage of the UK retail market of around 13% which continues to grow share in food and non-food, it has also grown to into various parts of the country and world making it the second biggest chain convenience store chain retailer so far and it plans to explore with new stores openings so it has a good market share which is a strength. Tesco Online The companys dot.com is the world online biggest online supermarket with huge millions of sales with an increase of 29% on last year and operates in over 250 stores in the UK so this is a strong base where they could still exploit for longer time. Brand Value The results from the last fiscal year suggests that the company profits on operations around the world increased by 78% which is affected by the strong image the company has and also the good quality that equals to good value, profits from the other forms o their market such as insurance and finance is a major factor to this. WEAKNESSES Reliance upon Success. The company is too dependent on the believe they are the leading retailer in U.k which could cause them lapses making them exploit in some cases as they believe people will come for their products because of their customer base and also could exploits staff too as it is widely known that people will always come to work for them. Reliance upon the UK Market. The company is too dependent on the UK market bringing 73.8% of revenues in 2003 though it might not affect them in short term but they are of risk of any changes in the UK supermarket industry in the near future like threats from organisations merging could alter the balance of power and affect them, however the international business is still growing and widely known to contribute huge amounts to the companys profit till the near future. Signs of Serial Acquisitions The company is in risk of becoming a serial acquirer due to the firepower it has and the circulation of its product range mostly in the UK while the gap filling strategy would be useful just as it is to the convenience markets so this may reduce earnings visibility and quality. OPPORTUNITIES Health and Beauty Tescos UK health and beauty ranges grows drastically, and it is currently the fastest growing skincare retailer in the UK market leading in toiletries and healthcare, it also delivers a first class service in the baby goods products. It continues to invest in price to deliver the value customers have come to expect and this year invested  £27 million on health and beauty pricing and it now has 19 ?tor with opticians and closely 200 ?tor with ph?rm?ci. Non-food retail The companys plan to make its non-food be as big as the food sector is a sign of growth opportunity they are really planning to exploit which would see their retail share climb over the next few years as it boost sales and production, it has advantage of a good clothing brand as well which could bring profits too. TREATHS UK structural change could spark a price war The price followers in the UK market are about to become aggressive investors in price, Safeway because of now ownership and Sainsbury because of now manegement. Morrison is reducing safeways prices by up to 6% ?nd Sainsbury is bound to see lower prices is one of the basic changes necessary to drive its recovery. With both Asda and Tesco committ?d to price leadership, this could result in a step down in industry profitability. Wal-Mart/ Asda Challenge Since the US shopping giant Wal-mart purchased Asda, Tescos rank as the top UK supermarket has been threatened. Asda can now compete extremely well on price and range of goods. For the moment, Asda is the third largest supermarket in the UK, just behind Sainsburys and then Tesco. However, Asda closed the gap on Sainsburys in 2003, leaving the company to directly challenge Tescos dominance. Tesco is well aware of this, and has so far been quick to keep up with price cuts or special offers at Asda. Wal-mart may also decide to wield its buying power more heavily in the UK, and this could spell the end of Tescos brand dominance in the future. Hence, the need for comparison with a relatively successful and large retail organisation is needed in order to justify the challenges the retail sector is facing in the reward and performance management world, this would enable one to evaluate the situation more and leads me to the discussion of reward and performance management in Waitrose supermarket in the subsequent paragraphs. PERFORMANCE AND REWARD MANAGEMENT IN WAITROSE Waitrose is a relatively big supermarket in the UK; it has 221 branches across the United Kingdom. Waitrose creates some act of uniqueness for itself from competitors by offering high quality food and emphasising good customer services which is fundamental for the success of any organisation. However, for the organisation to attain the required level of customer services offered, they strategized by making cultivating the culture of making all its employees a co-partner which is very welcoming from the view of any employees as this gives them sense of belonging in the business running, partners get certain benefits called partnership bonus which is around 10-20% of a partners annual income and it is paid in a monetary value sometimes in the year, discount cards are issued after 3 months of service which entitles them to 15% discount in Waitrose and 25% in John Lewis departmental store as to rewards for their efforts towards the success of the organisation, this sound like a good initiative to reward the employees for their good and hard work. There is a focus to train new partners for customer services skills, health and safety, fresh food handling and fire safety, partners are trained to drop whatever they could be doing(within reasoning) upon the request of the customer and lead customers to the product ,so this shows the extent at which customers are being taken to be their priority. In 2005, there was an introduction of performance management scheme called Mystery Shopper which scores its branches on the service they provide considering the presentation, service on the shop floor by the employees ranging from the service counters, checkouts, wine, grocery departments and general assistants, this initiative is believed to help keep level of performance of each partner on top but it is left to be known if it is a motivator for good performance or trick for the organisation to succeed In 2008 Waitross introduced training for its partners with a new program called fresh on service which aims to lift core service standards and continue to make the business stand out from its competitors by training partners to be more confident on their job to deliver great service by inspiring among other things an attitude to believe things can be done. (www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk) At this point, it can be deduced that Waitrose tries its best to attain the best performance level with range of offers and trainings they give to the partners of the business, additionally they train people to be managers, and where school leavers are being trained to become section managers within a period of few years, then they also offer a graduate scheme that groom people achieving high managerial posts within some few years. The last few paragraphs evidently shows how Waitrose rewards its co-partners in order to achieve its set goals but the argument is that, does these rewards and benefits given to the partners motivate and spur them all to put in a better performance on their jobs, is money a good key to motivate them or is everyone motivated with tangible things? This leads me to highlight the challenges faced by Waitrose in Respect of Performance and Reward Management. Inability to manage performance Non-existence of Individual/Team Reward Too focused on customer satisfaction

Survival and Love in Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain Essay examples --

Survival and Love in Charles Frazier’s "Cold Mountain" I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. (ll. 19-24) Wordsworth’s famous and simple poem, â€Å"I wandered lonely as a cloud,† expresses the Romantic Age’s appreciation for the beauty and truth that can be found in a setting as ordinary as a field of daffodils. With this final stanza, Wordsworth writes of the mind’s ability to carry those memories of nature’s beauty into any setting, whether city or country. His belief in the power of the imagination and the effect it can have on nature, and vice a versa, is evident in most of his work. This small portion of his writing helps to illuminate a major theme of the Romantic poets, and can even be seen in contemporary writings of today. One such work is Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. This story follows two characters, Inman and Ada, who barely know each other and are forced apart by the Civil War. As Ada waits in North Carolina Appalachia for Inman to return home from three years of battle, Inman decides to abandon the war effort and journey across the Southern states to reach his beloved. Although this may seem like a simple love story, the changes each lover goes through in their journey of survival and love shows the romantic ideals of the beauty of nature and appreciation for the present time and reality. Frazier uses several themes prominent in the Romantic Age, significantly by the poets Wordsworth, Keats, and Coleridge, in order to show the power of the human imagination in extraordinary situations and everyday living as well. Inman and Ada each learn through their diffe... ...cal Tradition. 11 (2004): 232-243. Edgecombe, Rodney Stenning. â€Å"Wordsworth’s ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud.† ANQ. 16 (2003): 23-27. Frazier, Charles. Cold Mountain. New York: Vintage, 1998. Gifford, Terry. â€Å"Terrain, Character and Text: Is Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier a Post- Pastoral Novel?† Mississippi Quarterly. 25 (2001):87-96). Heddendorf, David. â€Å"Closing the Distance to Cold Mountain.† Southern Review. 36 (2000): 188-9. Inscoe, John C. â€Å"Cold Mountain: Appalachian Odysseus.† Appalachian Journal. 25 (1998): 330-337. Schoemaker, Jacqueline. â€Å"Travel, Homecoming and Wavering Minds in Lyrical Ballads and other Poems.† 'A Natural Delineation of Human Passions': The Historic Moment of Lyrical Ballads. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004. Wordsworth, William. â€Å"The Prelude: Book Fifth.† Abrams 341-2. - - - â€Å"I wandered lonely as a cloud.† Abrams 254-5.

The Transgenic Tomato Essay examples -- Science Genetics Papers

The Transgenic Tomato The Need for Genetic Engineering of Crops For most Americans, fresh vegetables come from the supermarket. One only has to walk down an aisle loaded with gleaming red tomatoes, juicy melons, fresh potatoes, and a plethora of other vegetables and fruits and gather whatever captures one's fancy or appetite. A person living in a Westernized culture often takes for granted the hard work, resource usage, and waste that occurs to bring food to him. Tomatoes, for example, currently follow a long and difficult route to the supermarket. To begin with, field workers must pick the tomatoes by hand while they are still green. The unripe tomatoes are then trucked to facilities where they are gassed with ethylene to artificially induce ripening (Engel 108). Treating green tomatoes with gas to make the red color appear before the tomato ripens allows them to be shipped with less bruising and spoilage because they are still hard, but this practice detracts from their flavor and makes them taste, as some like to say, like cardboard! After the tomatoes are gassed, the red (but tough) tomatoes are distributed to the supermarkets. The "cardboard" tomato problem illustrates a larger problem in agriculture - crop spoilage associated with the predations of insects and fungi and with shipping. We saw that picking fruits such as tomatoes while they are green and chemically ripening them is a solution to some of the spoilage problem in crops, while using other chemicals can prevent some damage by pests. However, these chemicals often create environmental hazards in areas where they are used, and pests can often develop resistance to chemicals used to destroy them, making the release of even more pesticides and fungicides int... ...ill form a string, and the tRNA molecules will be released into the cell. When this string of amino acids is completed, it is called a protein. Some proteins provide structure in living things (such as the protein in muscle tissue), while others can promote certain chemical reactions in cells (such as the breakdown of pectin in tomato cell walls). The above information was taken from Biology, Neil Campbell, et. al., New York: Addison Wesley, 1999, p.316. Works Cited Campbell, Neil et. al. (1999). Biology. New York: Addison Wesley Engel, Karl-Heinz et al., editors. (1995). Genetically Modified Foods: Safety Aspects, Washington, DC: American Chemical Society. Nettleton, Joyce. (1999, January). Wedging Science into Public Policy, Food Technology, p. 20. Wilson, Edward O. (1999). The Diversity of Life. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Mapping The Violence in Colombia Essay -- War, Structural Violence

Mapping The Violence in Colombia The peace researcher Johan Galtung proposes a typology of violence, constructed as direct and indirect, formal-informal and visible-invisible. Regarding it as a triangle, Galtung (1990) states that typology of violence corresponds roughly to the ‘ABC’ levels of the conflict triangle: Attitude, Behaviour and Contradictions. In the first level Direct violence (acts of violence as such) and in second and third level underneath the surface; Structural violence and Cultural violence. See figure below. The ‘Structural Violence’ concept by Galtung (1969) asserts that the structure and culture in societies are a central facet on the explanation of violence; thus, ‘human beings are being influenced so that their somatic and mental realisations are below their potential’. The author distinguishes two types of outcomes of violence: a) effect that violence has; and b) the form of violence. The first is violence manifested on either person-to-person basis (such as familiar violence) or conflict confrontation (i.e. shooting). In the second one, the forms of violence are manifested within society, in its systems and institutionalised practices, and also violence as social phenomena and its constructions in mass media. This will set the basis for the next section to contextualise the multiple causes of violence in conflict situations, such as the case of Colombia, in order to understand the journalism coverage and the development of peace initiatives. I conside r it important to analyse profound violence because of its complexity, diverse variables and causes involved, such as social, economic, political and psychological causes that help to comprehend this society and its journalism with violent and ... ... studies on violence as the following: ‘literary-anthropological (urban scenarios focused on gangs); studies centred in psychological and individual effects of violence (kidnap); analysis of perceptions on violence in all its manifestations, from every-day life; and the internally displaced because of violence†. Violence and sacrifice are two concepts constantly seen in Colombian social imagery; the guerrillas, the paramilitary and political parties propose that it is necessary to sacrifice in order to achieve social goals. Therefore, the sacrifice of martyrs and innocent civilians is justified in either side by demagogic discourse. The notion of sacrifice is also seen in the journalists; the majority of those I interviewed (who were threatened and have been in exile) also exercise the notion of sacrifice for their profession and country by doing their work.

The Story of an Hour Analysis

On â€Å"The Story of an Hour† â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† a short story by Kate Chopin, details the events of the short hour when Mrs. Mallard finds out her husband has died, only to see him walking through the door. Chopin makes it clear through the structure of the story that the irony of these events is no coincidence; there is conflict when people are oppressed and their soul has no joy or freedom. It is clear in the exposition that Mrs. Mallard is afflicted with heart trouble, implying she is weak, both physically and emotionally. Her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend, Richard, know how fragile she is so, â€Å"great care was taken† to break the news of Mr. Mallard’s death. Following the news of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard, â€Å"wept at once†¦in her sister’s arms,† showing her dependence on others. As the immediate feeling of grief spent itself, she went up to her room to be alone with her thoughts. Although she is at first weak, someone who is completely emotionally unstable would not be so willing to go be alone in her room to grief. There is obviously some want to be self dependent and free. The story’s rising action builds through a series of scenery descriptions. After Mrs. Mallard has gone up to her room, she faces an open window. The blue sky â€Å"showing here and there† and â€Å"countless sparrows† twittering outside were mentioned, symbolizing happiness and peace. Mrs. Mallard is then described by the narrator as a woman with â€Å"a dull stare in her eyes,† as she fixed her gaze on the blue sky, as if finally realizing that they were there. The details of the rising actions transition into the climax, where Mrs. Mallard feels an emotion â€Å"approaching to possess her. † After the realization that â€Å"there would be no one to live for† for the rest of her life Mrs. Mallard continues to whisper under her breath, â€Å"Free! Body and soul free! † This moment is filled with joy; however a turn of events could be predicted to come soon as she prayed â€Å"that life might be long. † At the falling action of the story, Mrs. Mallard leaves the room with the open window with a â€Å"feverish triumph in her eyes. † She is unquestionably a confident and new woman as she walks down the stairs with her sister. The story concludes with the denouement in which Brently Mallard enters the front door, unharmed. The shock of his homecoming is extremely evident through Josephine’s â€Å"piercing cry† and Richard quickly trying to block him from the view of his wife. Mrs. Mallard apparently has a heart attack and dies â€Å"of the joy that kills. † By the time Mrs. Mallard realizes that because her husband has died she will now be able to experience the joy of freedom, â€Å"the face of this possession† has unexpectedly walked in through the door. Although most would expect the weak Mrs. Mallard to die when hearing the news of her husband’s death, it is seeing him alive and realizing that she will continue to be his possession that causes her heart and her soul to die.

Design of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems Essay

Storage Tanks are the tanks in which flammable and combustible liquids are stored. The storage tanks should be constructed of steel in case they are constructed above grounds. The non-combustible substance can be used for the construction if it is used to store a combustible liquid. The material used for the construction must be that helps the tank to be protected against the fire. In one of the storage tank fires broke out at the island of Palau Merimau, Singapore and the fire started catching tankage containing petroleum, motor gasoline and diesel product. Despite the size of fire and adverse logistics, fire fighting efforts were successful in controlling the fire. This require operational and design engineering considerations, proper fire fighting strategy, prefire and emergency response plans, fire water management and fixed/semifixed system. A permanent water supply, of sufficient volume, duration, pressure, required to properly operate the fire fighting equipment shall be made available as soon as combustible materials accumulate and in the same way underground waters are to be provided, installed and made available for use as early as possible at the place of fire. In case were fixed water protection system is not installed with the tank with flammable or combustible liquids the floating roof to cover on liquid which helps to protect the fire to be broke out. Most fires in this design of tank burn only at the seal and are usually easily extinguished. Tanks with floating roofs are not likely to be involved in serious fires. This is because there is far less liquid surface is exposed to the fire. When storage tanks are not equipped with fixed fire protection then it must contain a stable liquid storage at a pressure 17kPa (gauge). The tanks containing flammable liquids should be normally kept closed for protection of unless the tank is venting. Where drainage facilities are provided to drain water from dike areas, efforts should be made to prevent flammable liquids from entering into any natural resources as it constitute fire hazard. REFERENCE Referred to sites:1. http://www. ofm. gov. on. ca/english/Publications/Guidelines/part4/4commen5. asp SECTION 4. 3 TANK STORAGE Subsection 4. 3. 1. – Design, Construction and Use of Storage Tanks 2. http://www. osha. gov/doc/outreachtraining/htmlfiles/subpartf. html Fire Protection and Prevention DEFINITIONS APPLICABLE TO THIS SUBPART – Â §1926. 155 3. http://www. ofm. gov. on. ca/english/Publications/Guidelines/part4/4commen5. asp SECTION 4. 3 TANK STORAGE Dated 4th August 2007