A Considerable Speck By Robert Frost - 1257 Words

A Considerable Speck - Analysis Sometimes, the most insignificant object can hold infinite meaning. â€Å"A Considerable Speck,† by Robert Frost tell us of a story representing a legacy, with the main thematic statement revolving around all entities having meaning if an individual were to look close enough. The title of the poem, an oxymoron in itself epitomizes an entity that would have otherwise been overlooked almost immediately by any other person. As the reader progresses through the poem, it becomes a distinct possibility that Frost himself was writing the poem as the events were unfolding live, actually seeing the dust mite skittering across his paper and documenting his thoughts via poetry. This particular element of thought expression can be seen when he expresses his statements â€Å"Plainly with an intelligence I dealt. It seemed too tiny to have room for feet, Yet must have had a set of them complete, To express how much it didn’t want to die.† (15-18 ) further cementing his judgment into the pillars of his poetry. Throughout the poem, these thoughts can be connected to not just one particular dust mite, or â€Å"speck,† but other entities as well. The poem begins with a line immediately drawing attention to the subject, â€Å"A speck that would have been beneath my sight.† (1.) This line is oxymoronic in the sense that, although the speaker acknowledges that the speck was beneath his gaze, he still feels the need to validate the object’s existence in his statements. This, alongShow MoreRelated Fire And Ice - Compared To 4 Other Poems Essay1607 Words   |  7 Pagesthink Robert Frost is a understandable, but yet an unconventional poet. Frost wrote in his own style, and as a result, he took quite a bit of heat from the critics of his period. Frost has an elegant style of writing descriptive and understandable poems. I am going to tell you about the five best pieces he has ever written. First off, amp;quot;A Considerable Speckamp;quot; is a unusual poem about Frost noticing a tiny speck on his paper. Upon further observation, Frost notices that the speck is

Human Resources in Tanglewood Case Example

Essays on Human Resources in Tanglewood Case Case Study Human Resources: Tanglewood Case Part Human Resources: Tanglewood Case Part Employees are the most essential resource for every firm, as they are the key implementers of company decisions, goals and strategic plans. Therefore, every business should have HR processes that allow it to attract, train and retain the best talents in the market. Tanglewood needs to develop a selection plan that combines the best staffing qualities and quantities for optimal performance. In order to do this, the firm must ensure selection practices that align the output of its workforce with its goals and objectives. The aim of this report is to analyze the company strategy of Tanglewood, and recommend staffing levels in line with these strategies. Business Strategy Tanglewood’s vision and mission include the involvement of its employees in key decision-making processes; however, this may be limited because the human resources management is not standardized across stores. However, the employees working at the stores already have the company culture at heart since they have already been receiving information about company performance from their department heads, and they have seen other forms of participatory management style at work (Vance and Paik, 2010). The firm aims to foster teamwork in its attempts to ensure employee as well as customer satisfaction, and profitability; all without compromising one to favor another. Though the firm has been having success in encouraging peer support and sharing of tasks by employees, this may change if the management decides to adopt a new human resource management style. Therefore, the main concern for the firm about the new approach is if it will be able to retain the beneficial components of the old system, and introduce new concepts that will increase efficiency and effectiveness. Finally, the human resource management function in the firm should be centralized, mainly to ensure uniformity and curb redundancies in the system. However, this may interfere with the employee development program in which future managers are trained as they work to ensure continuity of company culture, which is a factor that the company should consider while designing the new system. Strategic Staffing Decisions Staffing Levels Acquire or Develop Talent: The firm should develop its own talent; this is because the management will have the time and capacity to inculcate company culture into new employees. Talent that has been developed somewhere else may not have the values of Tanglewood; and employees may take longer to learn the new standards of workmanship since they already have other values in them (Pynes, 2008). Hire yourself or Outsource: The firm should outsource from firms that specialize in recruiting for others; since these firms do this as their main business, there is an increased likelihood that Tanglewood will benefit from the high quality that results from specialization. Tanglewood will also benefit from the databases of these firms, and will specify its requirements for new recruits (Catano, 2009). External or Internal Hiring: Tanglewood should balance between hiring from outside the firm and promoting its own employees. This means that the firm should always hire internally trained professionals, except if certain skills are needed and none of the existing employees has the skills. This will not only enable the firm to save on hiring externally, but will also employ people who are familiar with the company culture and objectives (Daft, 2011). Core or Flexible Workforce: The firm should have a flexible workforce since the world economy has been characterized by rapid and unpredictable fluctuations. This will enable the firm to reduce or increase the size of its workforce while incurring little or no costs. Core workforce may have shortcomings when the market has a shortage of the skills that Tanglewood would like to outsource (Catano, 2009). Hire or Retain: The recruitment process at Tanglewood should be centered towards maximizing employee retention, especially due to the prohibitive costs of acquiring a new workforce. In addition, employees will participate in management activities if they are familiar with the implementation of the company strategic plan (Vance and Paik, 2010). National or Global: Staffing at Tanglewood stores should be global to enable the firm to take advantage of different market prices of labor, such that the firm can hire employees economically. In addition, having employees from all over the world is advantageous for the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (Daft, 2011). Attract or Relocate: Attracting employees from the region of operation is always the best option; employees from the local area understand the local people best, and this is invaluable if the company wants to offer specialized customer services for the locals. In addition, relocating employees from other stores can be expensive and strain the company budget that is already under pressure due to market changes (Catano, 2009). Overstaff or understaff: Since Tanglewood will adopt a flexible workforce; the firm should overstaff its stores by a slight margin. Overstaffing is helpful in circumstances when there is a high season, and the firm has to deal with increased number of customers, in which case Tanglewood should engage all its employees to deal with the workload (Vance and Paik, 2010). Short or Long-Term Focus: Tanglewood should focus on the long-term; therefore, all employees should be trained with their long term effects on the firm in consideration. Treating them like this creates a feeling of ownership or belonging and they tend to view Tanglewood as a place they can always return from college or other workplaces (Mathis and Jackson, 2011). Staffing Quality Person/Job or Person/Organization Match: Tanglewood should focus on a person’s ability to work in the firm rather than their suitability for the job. This is because a person may have the best skills in the market, but their beliefs and the way of working may be incompatible with company objectives. For instance, a person may be professionally skilled but not have the necessary skills to work in a team. On the other hand, if a person is compatible with the firm, then they can acquire the necessary skills while on the job, especially from peers at Tanglewood (Vance and Paik, 2010). Specific or General KSAOs: Tanglewood should hire people with general knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics. As opposed to specialists who are limited to working in one job position, a person with general KSAOs is more versatile and can be trained to work in any department if need be. For instance, if the company does not need a certain skill, a person with general KSAOs can be trained to work in another position, but a specialist would have to be laid off (Pynes, 2008). Exceptional or Acceptable Workforce Quality: Tanglewood should employ people who are not satisfied just by achieving bare minimum, which means that the firm should employ people with a capacity of exceptional work quality. Acceptable workforce quality is enough to sustain the firm in its current state; however, if the management wants the firm to have any progress, then it should hire exceptional individuals (Daft, 2011). Active or Passive Diversity: Tanglewood should practice active diversity for its employees; each employee should be encouraged to shun conformity and express their individuality as long as it does not interfere with the company’s goals and objectives. Active diversity promotes innovation and creates a favorable public image for the firm. In addition, each employee should be a person capable of working with different people, a characteristic that should be improved on during induction (Mathis and Jackson, 2011). Conclusion By following the suggestions laid out above, Tanglewood will be able encourage teamwork and participatory management as its main tools for achievement of the strategic plan. Some considerations made in making the choices include the need for the firm to keep costs at a minimum and maximize revenue, and remain competitive even in the face of fast expanding firms. This means careful planning, implementation, and improvement of the company recruitment mechanisms on a continual basis. References Catano, V. M. (2009). Recruitment and selection in Canada. Michigan: Cengage Learning. Daft, R. L. (2011). Management. Michigan: Cengage Learning. Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J. H. (2011). Human resource management: Essential perspectives. Michigan: Cengage Learning. Pynes, J. E. (2008). Human resources management for public and nonprofit organizations: A strategic approach. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons. Vance, C. M., Paik, Y. (2010). Managing a global workforce: Challenges and opportunities in international human resource management. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe.

Parenting Styles and Culture Free Essays

Given the diverse cultures that can shape parenting behavior, some basic assumptions regarding the links between parenting styles and developmental outcomes may not be universal. Much research has been conducted on the different parenting styles across cultures. There are also many myths about which parenting style is the best or the most beneficial to the social development of children. We will write a custom essay sample on Parenting Styles and Culture or any similar topic only for you Order Now Reviewing past literature on this subject matter reveals that the authoritarian parenting style produced more overt aggression and many more social interaction difficulties among young children. Recent research point to the theory that the best parenting style is dictated by the culture in which it is practiced. A study by Whaley (2000) states that although a positive correlation between the use of physical discipline (i. e. , spanking) and disruptive disorders in children is found in studies of European American families, research on African American families has found a negative association or none at all. Moreover, a review of the literature indicates that the positive association between spanking and child behavior problems is bidirectional for White families, whereas it is the product of reverse causation (i. . , negative child behaviors result in spanking) in Black families. The implications of these sociocultural differences for parent training programs and the family study of disruptive behaviors are discussed. This study establishes that the positive correlation between the use of physical discipline and disruptive disorders in children found in research on European American families does not appear to be generalizable to African American families. Black parents’ use of spanking is more a consequence than a cause of problem behaviors in children. Moreover, parents in the African American community, especially in low-income urban areas, may use authoritarian methods in attempts to protect their children from noxious social environments. Awareness of sociocultural differences in the relationship between parenting practices and developmental outcomes would put Black parents’ behavior in proper perspective, as well as encourage interventions and policies that address community-level problems to ensure healthy child development in high-risk environments. On the one hand, these controlling methods of parenting may be effective in reducing undesirable or high-risk behaviors of Black children and adolescents. On the other hand, they may place African American children at risk for other problems, such as academic failure and child abuse. Thus an appreciation of sociocultural differences in parenting styles and related outcomes should not lead to unconditional acceptance of punitive behaviors because of their cultural significance. Alternative strategies that are culturally compatible, such as response cost, may be useful if the motivation is child oriented and not parent oriented. Sensitivity to differences in parenting styles across cultures simply means that the functional significance of spanking should be explored, and the ecological context in which families live should be taken into consideration in theory, research, and practice devoted to understanding environmental influences on child development. Research conducted by Hart and colleagues (1998) shows that maternal and paternal parenting styles and marital interactions are linked to childhood aggressive behavior. This study included an ethnic Russian sample of 207 families of nursery-school-age children. Results corroborated and extended findings from Western samples. Maternal and paternal coercion, lack of responsiveness, and psychological control (for mothers only) were significantly correlated with children’s overt aggression with peers. Less responsiveness (for mothers and fathers) and maternal coercion positively correlated with relational aggression. Some of these associations differed for boys versus girls. Marital conflict was also linked to more overt and relational aggression for boys. When entered into the same statistical model, more marital conflict (for boys only), more maternal coercion, and less paternal responsiveness were found to be the most important contributors to overt and relational aggression in younger Russian children. Similar to Western findings, the results of this research supports the idea that the absence of positive parenting is as important in the development of childhood behavior problems directed toward peers as is the presence of negative parenting. In terms of the development of aggression, lack of Russian paternal responsiveness and more maternal coercion remained significant contributors to overt and relational aggression, regardless of which other parenting style or marital hostility variables that they were pitted against in the regressions. Although this supports prior work concerning relationships between maternal coercion and aggression, it highlights the importance of paternal responsiveness that involves positive, playful, and engaging interactions in children’s social development. It is interesting that only maternal (and not paternal) psychological control was found to significantly correlate with Russian preschoolers’ overt aggression. However, when pitted against the effects of other predictors in the regression model, its contribution was reduced to a marginal trend. Although these findings appear to suggest that psychological control may not be as powerfully related to aggressive outcomes in young Russian children, firm conclusions should be reserved for future researchers using a variety of methodological approaches. A study conducted by Chen and colleagues (2000) included a sample of children, initially 12 years old, in the People’s Republic of China who participated in a 2-year longitudinal study. Data on parental warmth, control, and indulgence were collected from children’s self-reports. Information concerning social, academic, and psychological adjustment was obtained from multiple sources. The results indicated that parenting styles might be a function of child gender and change with age. Regression analyses revealed that parenting styles of fathers and mothers predicted different outcomes. Whereas maternal warmth had significant contributions to the prediction of emotional adjustment, paternal warmth significantly predicted later social and school achievement. It was also found that paternal, but not maternal, indulgence significantly predicted children’s adjustment difficulties. The contributions of the parenting variables might be moderated by the child’s initial conditions. Since the implementation of the one-child-per-family policy, maintaining the balance between expressing love and affection and imposing requirements and limits on the child has been a significant challenge to Chinese parents. Many parents in China are concerned about whether their child is indulged or spoiled because they may give too much attention and privilege to the child. Does parental indulgence predict children’s problems? An examination of this issue would not only help us understand the meaning and significance of the parenting dimension, but would also have practical implications for childrearing in China. The results of this study indicated that paternal indulgence had significant and negative contributions to the prediction of later leadership, social competence, and academic achievement. Furthermore, paternal indulgence significantly and positively predicted later aggressive-disruptive behaviors. Thus, children who had indulgent fathers tended to be less competent and more maladjusted in both social and academic areas than other children. Maternal indulgence, in general, was not significantly associated with children’s adjustment outcomes. Two possible explanations may be offered. First, because parental indulgence is likely to result in a lack of social assertiveness and poor skills in self-control and self-regulation, which are important for social interactions and school performance, the effect of indulgence may be more salient on social and school adjustment than on psychological well-being. Fathers may focus mainly on children’s social functioning and school achievement, whereas mothers may be more sensitive to the children’s emotional adjustment. The review of literature on the different parenting styles and child development in different cultures support the current theory which states there is no particular parenting that is best over all others. There are, however, parenting styles that are more suitable to different cultures. Furthermore, it is becoming more clear and evident that not only culture determines which parenting style is best for children. Many other factors, such as social and economic circumstances play a significant role in this matter as well. References Chen X. , Li D. , Liu M. (2000). Parental warmth, control and indulgence and their relations to adjustment in Chinese children: a longitudinal study. Journal of Family Psychology 14(3) pp. 401-419 Hart C. , McNeilly-Choque M. K. , Nelson D. A. , Olsen S. F. , Robinson C. C. (1998). Overt and relational aggression in Russian nursery-school-age children: parental style and marital linkages. Developmental Psychology 34(4) pp. 687-697 Whaley A. L. (2000). Sociocultural differences in the developmental consequences of the use of physical discipline during childhood for African-Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 6(1) pp. 5-12 How to cite Parenting Styles and Culture, Papers