Miss Ferenczi in “Gryphon” by Charles Baxter Essay

In the short story Gryphon, Charles Baxter creates a far-from-perfect character, the substitute teacher Miss Ferenczi, who lives in a fantasy world without boundaries and tiresome limits. Her arrival has a great influence on the whole rural Five Oaks community. Miss Ferenczi’s appearance and behaviors, portrayed through her student’s eyes, place her as a symbol of reformation and immerses her students into a rich and fascinating world. Charles Baxter introduces Miss Ferenczi into the fourth grade class of Five Oaks community in a mysterious way. Unlike other boring normal substitute teachers the children are used to, she comes in with her purple purse and checkerboard lunchbox signaling the beginning of an unusual experience. As she walks to the blackboard, picking up pieces of white and green chalk, she draws a large oak tree on the left side of the blackboard saying the class needs this tree in it. This first scene alone has already created a mystic fog about the new teacher’s behavior and personality. She then tells the class about her royal Hungarian ancestor, which adds more to the strange atmosphere. She was proud of her mother being a famous pianist who succeeded her first concert in London for â€Å"crowned heads.† The way she nostalgically looks up to the ceiling, makes the students follow her eyes but see nothing except for ceiling tiles. Her actions are far more than what fourth graders can possibly understand. This is the start of strange events following in the plot. However the most remarkable detail is her physical appearance: â€Å"her face had two prominent lines, descending vertically from the sides of her mouth to her chin.† This abnormal feature is foreshadowing for what happens later on and also a hint at an unreal, numinous personality. The two lines remind Tommy, the little narrator, of Pinocchio. The comparison of Miss Ferenczi to this character is foretelling of her later unreliability of her words, since, like Pinocchio, her nose is also prone to extend. The students later on question on the truthfulness of Miss Ferenczi’s lessons. Moreover, Pinocchio is a product of imagination, as Miss Ferenczi living in her unreal world. Miss Ferenczi is also well portrayed through her lectures. The first incident is when John Wazny is doing the multiplication table. As another boy pointed out Wazny said six times eleven is sixty eight, and the right answer should  be sixty six. Miss Ferenczi on the other hand tells them the answer of sixty eight is also right, â€Å"when I am in the room.† She encourages the children to form their own perspective of life and tries to make them break out of the rules and norms other adults created. Mr. Hibler, as well as any other teacher would tell the kid that math, as a science, is facts which cannot be bent. In contrast Miss Ferenczi simply states â€Å"It’s more interesting that way† to explain her odd answer. She exposed her class to â€Å"substitute facts,† things perceived out of ordinary and accepted by the minority or even just an individual. Being with the majority does not mean it is right; there is always another solution for every happening in the world. The utmost influential image is the gryphon when Miss Ferenczi talks about the Egyptians. The magical creature is half lion half bird, which represents Miss Ferenczi herself in this story. The things she tells the students are half truth, and half myth or even unreal. She tells them about the plant that eats meat, which is a fact. She mentioned the sea creatures that are as thin as pancakes and cannot be studied as they will explode in the normal pressure air, which could be the truth. However there is other information which remains to be doubtful, such as Beethoven pretending to be deaf, the Hope diamond’s curse etc. Some are even personal views or beliefs, for instance the comment on the genders and planets control over behaviors. The point is gryphon makes people imagine and long for the other side of the dream world, and broaden their mind, like how Miss Ferenczi makes the children start to form their own thinking. In addition, Miss Ferenczi is unique in her behaviors and reaction with the class. She seems to be strict at the first moment when she first gathers the boy to settle for lecture. However she reveals her sweet side when choosing to have lunch with the kids. She claims other teachers seem to lack ideas, which means they are boring and all the same. She gently warns the children about choosing their food and she tells the stories to them because she knows they like â€Å"these secrets†. Miss Ferenczi’s appearance, throughout the three times she teaches in class, gradually changes as well. She first had an elegant chignon, and then on the second day her clothes were of bright green blouse and pink scarf with her hair done into a pigtail held by red rubber bands. Finally the last day she goes to the class, her hair â€Å"hung  straight down and seemed hardly to have been combed.† The way her appearance changes shows as she goes on the more she gets away from the reality and the ordinary. The climax of the story is when Miss Ferenczi read the fate for the students through her Tarot cards. She reads the cards for several children, and when it comes to Wayne Razmer, the little boy gets a Death card. She tells him the card means he will soon face his fate, but as she mentions earlier, death is not the end; it is just a new beginning. Her motivation on telling to boy about his fate is not to scare him, but to tell him not to fear of what will come on his way. However this action is to the extreme and inappropriate with elementary children, despite her good intentions. At the end of the story Miss Ferenczi has gone too far from the reality world, where the boundaries trap her dream. She lives in a different world, of Gryphon, Sphinx and all beautiful miraculous creatures. Perhaps she does not belong to Five Oaks, where people like Tommy’s mom, Mr. Hibler and others cannot accept such imaginative and individualistic thinking and ideas. Miss Ferenczi is fated to leave the school, as the society not yet realizes the importance of her innovative dreams. As Miss Ferenzci said to the children, â€Å"angels live under those clouds† and they are among us. Angels are everyone inside these children, if they allow their imagination to fly; they will soar up and reach the peak of understanding of themselves and the world. Though she may not be perfect, Miss Ferenczi symbolizes change and creativity that human beings should not put limits on. Dreams and beliefs are the only resources that we never lack, and the teacher in Gryphon changes her fourth grade students, help them wonder and reach out to new concepts. Works Cited Baxter, Charles. Gryphon.1985. Rpt. in Compact Literature ReadingReacting Writing. By Kirszner and Mandell. 6th ed. 2007. â€Å"Gryphon: Often Asked Questions.† Rev. of Gryphon, by Charles Baxter. CharlesBaxter. 3 June 2009 .

Finance and Banking Essay

â€Å"Identify an experience in which you failed to communicate a message.† As mentioned in the communication process, communication has only succeeded when the information given by the sender has been received and understood by the recipient. If the recipient has not understood the information, then this may not necessarily be the recipient’s fault. Typically, ineffective communications can be attributed to one of three things: 1. A poor message;  * The message was too short; * The message was too long; * The message was ambiguous 2. Poor transmission; * That the message is being delivered in a wrong format that the recipient both does not expect and understands; * That the message is being delivered when the recipient does not need it, and where the recipient will not expect to find it. 3. Poor reception;  * A lack of awareness; * Obstructionism; * A lack of understanding; A striking example where I failed to communicate a message was my first day as an ‘A’-Level biology teacher at a certain private college. I was lost and found myself tutoring a form 4 class instead of a form 6 class. Some of the teaching staff read, â€Å"Human monocytes were cultured for 24 h in serum-free AIM-V medium, followed by 24-h maturation by polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid (polyI:C). Short term cultured, polyI:C-maturated DC, far more than immature DC, showed typical mature DC markers and high allogeneic stimulatory capacity and had high autologous stimulatory capacity in an influenza model system using peptide-pulsed DC. Electroporation of mRNA as an Ag-loading strategy in these cells was optimized using mRNA encoding the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Monocytes electroporated with EGFP mRNA, followed by short term, serum-free differentiation to mature DC, had a phenotype of DC, and all showed positive EGFP fluorescence. Influenza matrix protein mRNA-electroporated monocytes cultured serum-free and maturated with polyI:C showed high stimulatory capacity in autologous T cell activation experiments†. The text content was technically correct, but it was presented to the wrong audience, there was every chance that the students would not understand it. Such an example is a clear cut illustration of failure to communicate a message. â€Å"Investigate and discuss the possible forms of noise that can interfere with the communication process†. Communication noise refers to obstructions on effective communication that influence the interpretation of conveyed messages. While often looked over, communication noise can have a profound impact both on our perception of interactions with others and our analysis of our own communication proficiency. Forms of communication noise include psychological noise, physical noise, physiological and semantic noise. As postulated by (F. Teague, 2010), Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood hence all these forms of noise subtly, yet greatly influence our communication with others and are vitally important to anyone’s skills as a competent communicator. Psychological noise Psychological noise refers to qualities in us that affect how we communicate and interpret others. For instance, if you are preoccupied with a problem, you may be inattentive at a team meeting. Likewise, prejudice and defensive feelings can interfere with communication. Psychological noise results from preconceived notions we bring to conversations, such as racial stereotypes, reputations, biases, and assumptions. When we come into a conversation with ideas about what the other person is going to say and why, we can easily become blinded to their original message. Most of the time psychological noise is impossible to free ourselves from, and we must simply strive to recognize that it exists and take those distractions into account when we converse with others. Physical noise Physical noise is any external or environmental stimulus that distracts us from receiving the intended message sent by a communicator (Rothwell, 2011). Examples of physical noise include: others talking in the background, background music, overly dim or bright lights, spam and pop-up adverts, extreme temperatures, crowded conditions, a startling noise and acknowledging someone outside of the conversation. Semantic noise This is noise caused by the sender, that is, the encoder. This type of noise occurs when grammar or technical language is used that the receiver (the decoder) cannot understand, or cannot understand clearly. Semantic noise exists when words themselves are not mutually understood. Authors sometimes create semantic noise by using jargon or unnecessarily technical language. Physiological noise Physiological noise is distraction caused by hunger, fatigue, headaches, medication, and other factors that affect how we feel and think.

Drugs and Their Effect on Society Essay

Drugs have been a long standing issue in this country from sniff and cocaine as one of the main ingredients in Coca-Cola and opium dens in much of the west coast till in recent years of prescription drugs being sold illegally. It wasn’t till the early 1900’s has drugs been addressed as habit forming and legislation being implemented to curtail addition and violence that can go hand-and-hand with the drug trade culture. The history of drugs in this country can go as far back as the Native Americans sharing the peace pipe with the Pilgrims. Drugs have taken many different forms within American society from what may have originally been used in the form of something as innocent as a soft drink (the original ingredients in Cocoa-Cola) and in forms of ailing some sort of deficiency that originally was prescribed by doctors can eventually be abused. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s Chinese’s immigrants brought over opium and created opium dens in much part of the west coast where the drug itself left the user in a euphoric and mind and mood altering state. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s with the hippie cultural, much part of the society was introduced to drugs like psychedelics which would be considered LSD and other drugs with heavy usage like mushrooms, marijuana and hashish and in other forms of society like the inner cities heroin pelage the communities with how highly addictive and deadly the drug came to be with heavy use. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s cocaine became the prominent drug in club the atmospheres of disco techs and later became in the form of crack cocaine that pelage major cities around the U. S. with addiction and violence over the drug trade. In the early 1990’s till recent years many perception drugs and meth have been highly addictive and have been a part of the illegal drug trade. The DEA was established in 1973 that was assisted by President Richard Nixon in its creation as a form of a task force with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States of all the drugs deemed illegally additive or dangerous. â€Å"Controlled substances are generally grouped according to both pharmacological and legal criteria into the following seven categories: stimulants, depressants, cannabis, narcotics, hallucinogens, anabolic steroids and inhalants. (Schmalleger, 2012, p. 341) By federal law these categories are deemed illegal from use or distribution; stimulants: cocaine and amphetamines; cannabis: cannabis plants, hashish, hashish oil and marijuana; narcotics: codeine, Dilaudid, heroin, methadone, morphine and opium; hallucinogens: belladonna, LSD, Ectstasy (MDMA), mescaline, MDA and PCP; anabolic steroids: nandrolene, oxandrolene, oxmetholone and stanozolol; inhalants: acetate, amyl nitrite, butyl nitrite, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, Freon, nitrous oxide and toluene. Trafficking is a form of distribution of illegal drugs through the means of either smuggling which is the illegal shipment of controlled substances across state and national boundaries in many different methods like shipment overland, direct shipments to U. S. ports concealed in containers or packed with legitimate products, flights onto United States commercial airplanes or private aircrafts and airdrops to vessels waiting offshore to smuggle drugs into the U. S. boarders. The DEA follows different routes used by traffickers and one of the methods to track the occurrences is the Heroin Signature Program (HSP) is a Drug Enforcement Administration program that employs special chemical analyses to identify and measure chemical constituents of sample of seized heroin. Border patrols have protected the boarders to ensure that traffickers are disparaged from attempting to smuggle in their products. The supply and demand has kept smugglers in business because as long as there is a need for their product by the users and suppliers; distributors of the drugs will find new and advanced methods of smuggling in drugs. Government agencies have enacted different policies to somehow impact drug abuse like the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 which required manufactures to list their ingredients and specifically targeted mood-altering chemicals. The Harrison Act was passed in 1914 which was the first federal anti-drug legislation that required anyone dealing in cocaine, heroin and morphine and other drugs to register with the federal government and pay a tax of $1 per year with the authorized the registration of only those in the medical profession and outlawing the street use and street distribution of these drugs. In 1956 the Narcotic Control Act increased penalties for drug traffickers and made the sale of heroin to anyone under the age of 18 a capital offense. In 1970 the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act established five schedules that classified psycho-activity and potential for abuse. In 1988 the Anti-Drug Abuse Act proclaimed the goal for a â€Å"drug-free America by 1995 by increased penalties for drug users and made weapon purchases by drug dealers much more difficult. The goal of drug control acts are to battle illegal drugs from use and distribution by anti-drug legislation and strict enforcement, interdiction, crop control, asset forfeiture and antidrug education and drug treatment. Conclusion Early legislation against drug abuse focused on eradicating the wide spread problem of drugs in numerous of ways like requiring companies to list their ingredients on their products if it may alter the users mood or brain chemistry, taxation on drug companies, making harsher drugs illegal for sale or distribution and harsher sentencing for those whom distribute illegal drugs. Since numerous types of legislation; the focus has been much in fact on punishment and less on rehabilitation which has caused a financial strain on society and has given a stigma upon those involved in the drug trade or an abuser of these substances.

Basic Rhetorical Analysis of Science Fair Project Booklet Essay

Basic Rhetorical Analysis of Science Fair Project Booklet - Essay Example creating a document that was both engaging, interesting, and presented the core weighty issues that should be considered and employed by the targeted stakeholders in middle school/elementary school. As a function of this analysis, it is the hope of this student that the reader can come to a more informed understanding concerning the rhetorical best practices that are utilized within the EPA handbook and seek to appreciate the mechanisms through which they are employed and the way in which they are presented. One of the most effective rhetorical strategies that is employed is with respect to the direct and nearly immediate representation of what the booklet is for, who, and why. This helps to provide the stakeholder with an understanding both for the overall importance of environmental protection, science, learning, and the role that the EPA plays in helping to secure and safeguard the viability of the future environment. Along with this representation of underlying rubric, the booklet does not stray very far from the core goal that the teacher within middle school is attempting to engage the student with; that both science, inquiry, and learning are all â€Å"fun†. As such, the booklet begins by stating this and giving some of the ways in which inquiry based learning provides a level of inference into the way the world works and gives the student a level of satisfaction with respect to discovering the answers for themselves. The greatest difficulty in presented the rubric that has thus far been alluded to is the fact that it is directed towards two distinct groups; the teachers and administrators of middle schools as well as the students themselves. In such a manner, the rhetoric and approach is split and needs to provide interest and ideas on both the part of the students and their teachers; a somewhat difficult task for a single booklet of such brevity. Regardless of this, the step by step approach and â€Å"keys to success† that are represented within the

Discussion Board Post Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 31

Discussion Board Post Response - Essay Example One of the threats relating to your identified need is exposing patients and care providers to risks particularly in relation to toxicity due to overdose. Therefore, strategic planning in this case would help in effective planning of care processes and implementation of standardization strategies aimed at preventing negative outcomes linked with self medication in hospitals. Long queues in ERs is a major challenge in many healthcare organizations. In this regard, I agree that achievement of optimal waiting periods at the ER is an example of an unmet need. According to Dr. Carol Huston in the media, strategic planning involves analysis of both the internal and external environment in an effort to identify unmet needs (Laureate Education, 2013d). Your assertion that attending minor injuries and illnesses in the ER is costly and inefficient shows an existing problem that ought to be addressed. Forecasting is also an element of strategic planning. Your proposition that opening small urgent care centers around the county to reduce number of patient in the main ER is an illustration of strategic planning involving looking at the desired future of the organization (Laureate Education, 2013d). I also agree that involvement of clinical staff, board of directors, and the community as stakeholders is imperative for the achievement of the projected outcomes. Strubhar, A. J. (2011). The application of an environmental scanning and strategic planning framework in an academic department of physical therapy.Journal of Physical Therapy Education, 25(3),

What is collective efficacy and, how, if at all does it affect local Essay

What is collective efficacy and, how, if at all does it affect local crime rates - Essay Example far as collective efficacy is concerned then crime is actually any harmful act or criminal offense which might be injurious for a particular individual or the entire community. Local crime has a very strong relationship with collective efficacy as it is drastically increasing today in the world while collective efficacy is becoming essential to reduce the crime. Hence it is clearly evident that they both are interlinked with one another. However, the impact of collective efficacy over the crime rates and the critical aspects of their relationship are still unidentified. This paper aims to analyze collective efficacy from different perspectives including all of its influencing factors, how it initiates in a society and what are its possible consequences. Moreover, its affect over the local crime rate would be argued so as to make a conclusion that either the prevalence of collective efficacy in the modern societies will reduce the local crime rate or this would have rather an unnotice d impact. Since this paper is based upon local crime statistics and the general phenomenon of collective efficacy therefore the argument is made considering all the secondary sources including journal articles. These articles have focused upon previous researches in the same area while they have also given a very clear outlook on the criminal world. Thus they have been significantly used to build the argument and also to make the convincing conclusions based on practical ideas. Here, people often misunderstand that crime or criminal activities are linked with the personal attributes of an individual however, the reality is far different from this assumption. It was considered appropriate to present arguments in the paper which will be helpful in understanding organizational and social characteristics of a society which are actually associated with the increasing/decreasing crime rate (Sampson, 1997, p.918). The overall research and critical analysis of collective efficacy reveals that

Visual Arts and Film Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Visual Arts and Film Studies - Essay Example This is in view that people would understand fully their roles and take up responsibilities as expected of them. This would have the effect of reducing friction and misunderstandings among people and eventually strengthen the social fabric that links people together. However, it is not all about cinemas having a socially conscious message (Russell, 2009). Overtime, people have been driven by a need to reproduce cinemas for commercial reasons a move that has diluted the messages passed on by these films. It thus calls for people to be overly conscious of the messages they perceive from these films as it is not always about positive messages. In fact, some have been seen to produce messages that are in great contrast with the values and beliefs of people. Such films upset society and are marginally responsible for the high levels of delinquency witnessed in society and at times they may be blamed for the complacency and ignorance of basic social norms by youths (Turner, 1999). Reference to youths is not accidental but is a connotation which seeks to point out the most affected group by the emerging films some of which leaves them worse of morally. This comes from the fact that this group is the most targeted group by filmmakers and at the same time it is the most active in watching films. Unfortunately, the group seems to perceive negative messages more than they perceive messages that have some social relevance. To examine further the social role of cinema/films, this study adopts an objective approach. It explores the film’s social impact by looking at three films; The Italian (2005), Pixote (1981) and NEDS (2010). It looks at the themes propagated by these films and particularly those of social realism and the representation of children as a social symbol. Attention will also be given to representation of crime, delinquency, and evil in the films. The assignment will hope to draw enough resources to substantiate information gathered from these primary resources in an endeavor to produce a complete and thorough representation of the social function of cinema. The three films have some common themes but the way they eventually deliver their message is different. They take us through the lives of innocent souls, children, who in their tender ages have to contend with tough choices and decisions only to guarantee their survival and existence in a rather brutal world. For instance, The Italian illustrates a child’s effort to get reunited with the par ents. It illuminates on the rather unobserved role of children as home makers and the fabric which holds the family together. The second film, Pixote, illuminates the harsh reality on the streets. It represents a course that few choose to talk about; street life that turns children into brutal beings. It also shows the rather ugly side of unconcerned societal members who do not care about what they lead children into. When children eventually become delinquent, they turn against them forgetting their role in making them what they are (Smidt, 2006). The last film, NEDS, shifts focus into the very basic unit of the society, the family, as the molding block of our children and the many faults within this unit that eventually lead rather focused individuals astray. Section I The Italian The Italian is a film directed by Andrei

Design Thinking Process its Influences and Critiques Essay

Design Thinking Process its Influences and Critiques - Essay Example Value creation techniques have shifted from manufacturing intense approaches to knowledge based designs which mean that companies have to adjust adequately to fit the market requirements. Innovation requires more than one approach in coming up with a complete recognizable product. Thus, companies have to amalgamate their resources to achieve quality innovation techniques. Despite the need for coherence in the market many industries have failed to implement this, competition has worsened the situation making each company rely on its own resources. However, this may not be an ideal platform for design thinking methodology. In this paper, I depict the roles and applications of design thinking in different scenarios, in the society. I draw up cases from a number of resources to depict the importance and how design thinking process can be attained with maximum benefits in the long run. Design thinking enhances the process of interoperability of the strategic and operational mindsets of individuals towards the set work environment. Design thinking is used in the derivation of human, technological and business sources and their interplay. Secondly it is influenced by socio-cultural and process based patterns (Lockwood, 23). Recent discussions evolving around knowledge usage have stressed the importance of utilization of distributed knowledge in innovation. It is illustrated that exploitable knowledge lies outside the organization that wants to undertake a new product development, this means that such an organization has to consider different components which may include and not limited to consumers, suppliers, and competitors and among other stakeholders in the business environment. The principle has an immense effect on management who are supposed to be open-minded and allow views from the external environment. By doing so, these managers will be allowing necessary skills to

Window Server 2012 Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Window Server 2012 - Research Proposal Example Accordingly, in order to improve the effectiveness of the communication procedure and secure the integrity of the brand image along with the operational data, the company wants to implement the concept of Windows Server 2012 within all aspects of their data protection and communication setup. Thus, this proposal will mostly remain focused towards understanding the aspect regarding how Windows Server 2012 can be implemented within the areas of active directory, group policy setup, domain naming system (DNS), file services, remote services and windows server update services (WSUS) in order to reinforce the functionality of Shiv LLC. The concept of domain model demarcates the availability of usable networking resources that remain stored within multiple server machines in a network setup. The users just have to log in within the domain system through a specific id and password after which they can attain access to the stored data and other resources in an appropriate manner. Moreover, different domain models have been created by Microsoft that finds applicability to a platform depending on the version of server operating system installed within it. Since in the case of Shiv LLC the considered version of server operating system is Windows Server 2012, thus two specific categories of domain models can be found applicable in this context. The first model is the’ Single Domain Model’ and the second one is the ‘Regional Domain Model’. The diagrammatic representation provided below will help in gaining a lucid comprehension about the concepts of these two models in an appropriate manner.

Global Population Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Global Population - Essay Example Taking into consideration the expected future data till 2050, population growth estimation can be viewed till 2020 in the figure below, showing fast growth till 1656 until the Flood of Noah decreased the population. At the time of Christ, world population was between 200 to 300 million. The world population would be 12,000,000,001 by the year 2200 if we take into consideration the recent history of population growth (Dolphin). Due to uncertainty regarding the population growth 2000 years before, logical bounds on the value of world population in AD1, for example, can be put with a lower bound of 50,000,000 and upper bound with 200,000,000. Population in AD 1000 can be bounded for lower and upper at 250,000,000 and 350,000,000 (Dolphin). According to the Press Release (11 March, 2009) of the UN population division, the world population currently at 6.8 billion will touch the mark of 7 billion by early 2012, and reach to 9 billion people by 2050, as revealed in the 2008 Revision of the official United Nations population estimates. The data indicates certain trends in world population like the population in developing countries will be young with children under the age of 15 accounting 29 percent of the total population and between 15 to 24 years age accounting to 19 percent of the total population. It would be a bigger challenge for the governments in developing countries to face education and employment challenges with the economic and financial crisis surmounting. Another trend would be seen on the growth rate of population above the age of 60 increasing more than 3 percent per year. Controlling HIV/AIDS would be another challenge linked to continuous growth. There is vast difference in the data of developing countries and developed countries on population growth. Let’s take the example of United Kingdom to analyze the population growth data, as given below

Business Strategies of Marks and Spencer towards Their Business Essay

Business Strategies of Marks and Spencer towards Their Business Expansion into China - Essay Example This paper illustrates that Marks and Spencer were established in the year 1884 by Michael Marks and since then has grown rapidly to about 600 stores in the UK alone employing about 75000 individuals across the globe in diverse markets. However, the aspect of international expansion must be handled with caution as one of the most important mistakes made by multinational firms involves undermining the aspect of local sentiments and beliefs that can lead to disastrous consequences in terms of positioning of the brand in the new foreign markets. The company has a dedicated presence in about 40 nations across the globe. China holds considerable promise for Marks and Spencer for expanding its business as the nation holds a good position with regards to ease of doing business. According to a report published by the World Bank China ranks 79 among all the nations with regards to ease of doing business preceded only by India, Brazil, and Russia among the emerging markets. In addition, China is also the highest populated country in the world and its recent strides in economic growth have led to making it one of the major markets for retailers across the globe. Cities like Shanghai and Beijing score high on the list of international companies trying to expand internationally due to good market potential.A research study conducted to analyze the consumer behavior states certain key trends of the Chinese consumers that include a good growth in consumption patterns, greater sophistication of the consumers, a reduced trade up of products and brands, shift towards brand value and brand image and finally display of greater smarter purchasing trends among the consumers. In addition to this, the Chinese consumers have also become more inclined towards better service and are also influenced to some extent by Western brands.

Throughout Zora Neale Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Example for Free

Throughout Zora Neale Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses a number of different items as symbols to convey the significance of certain events that take place in Janie’s, the main characters, lifespan. In this novel, Janie’s life moves in stages. With each stage comes a different item of clothing that represents another relationship and reflects Janie’s inner self during that period in time. Using an apron, a head rag, a blue satin dress, and overalls, Hurston communicates how Janie grows and evolved as a person throughout her relationships with Logan Killicks, Jody Starks, and most importantly, Tea Cake. In the beginning of the novel, Janie’s marries a man by the name of Logan Killicks, a very successful farmer. During their relationship, Janie wears an apron. The apron shows that Janie is a housewife, merely taking orders and doing what she is told to do. During the course of their marriage, Janie came to realize that she â€Å"knew now that marriage did not make love† (25). Janie does not love Logan. She married him for Nanny, her grandmother, and never was able to develop the love for him, as she desired. At this point, Janie begins seeing Jody Starks, and eventually leaves Logan. Upon leaving, she â€Å"feels the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside one road and walked on† (32) as if release of being a housewife and allowing herself to move on; no strings attached. In Jane’s second marriage with Jody, Janie is forced to wear a head rag by Jody. This hides Janie’s hair. Janie’s hair is very different from other women in her community. Her hair is straight, like white women, as opposed to curly. Her hair is a symbol of her uniqueness and independence. By forcing Janie to cover her hair and wear the head rag, Jody extinguishes Janie’s independence. Jody controls Janie, insults her, and destroys her self-esteem. She conforms to his wants and demands, not even fighting back when he hits her. The head rag represents Jody’s dominance over Janie in their relationship. Ultimately, this proves that their relationship in not based on true love, and this ends in a failed relationship. After Jody dies, Janie’s meets Tea Cake, who buys her a blue satin dress. This dress is worn at their wedding and is of high significance despite the small amount of time it is worn by Janie. It is a symbol of a new start with Tea Cake. In addition, it has only been nine months since Jody’s death. At one point. Janie says to Pheoby: Ah ain’t grievin’ so why do Ah hafta mourn? Tea Cake love me in blue, so Ah wears it. Jody ain’t never in his life picked out no color for me. De world picked out black and white for mournin’, Joe didn’t. So Ah wasn’t wearin’ it for him. Ah was wearin’ it for de rest of y’all (113). This shows that Janie is sad about his death since she is not mourning, as the community believes she should do. Janie did not truly love Jody, however, she does love Tea Cake greatly and is â€Å"always in blue because Tea Cake told her to wear it†(110). Later in their marriage, Janie switched her attire to overalls. These overalls are nothing fancy and are worn for her work in the fields with Tea Cake. For this reason, they are proven to be a symbol of equality and true love. Neither Tea Cake nor Janie are of higher stature than one another as the men were in Janie’s past relationships. â€Å"What if Eatonville could see her in now in her blue denim overalls and heavy shoes?† (134) is a thought that Janie simply laughs at. Janie’s love is proven in her ability to become Tea Cake’s equal despite what the people of the town say about how he is poor. Janie continues to wear the overalls after Tea Cakes death, when she returns to Eatonville. She doesn’t dress up to mourn. Janie â€Å"went on in her overalls. She was too busy feeling grief to dress like grief† (189). This further proves Janie’s feelings for Tea Cake more than anything. With Jody, Janie mourned his death and didn’t care for him, showing that mourning doesn’t mean she was sad. In this situation, Janie does not follow what is considered the right thing to do. She knows how sad she feels about Tea Cake and that is the only thing that matters to her at this point in time. The use of clothing as symbols is a dominant element of Hurston’s writing in Their Eyes Were Watching God. It successfully conveys Janie’s emotions and thoughts throughout her life. The symbolism of clothing shows how she evolved from following what is considered â€Å"right† and becoming what she wants; someone who experienced true love. Janie wore an apron for Nanny’s dream, a head rag to satisfy Jody’s need for dominance, and a blue satin dress and overalls for true love and equality with Tea Cake. Works Cited Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.

Management of Patient With Vestibular Neuronitis (VN)

Management of Patient With Vestibular Neuronitis (VN) Stephen Chiang (21209166) Rural GP Case 2GP CLINIC Presenting complaint TW is a 22 year old woman who was presented with a 3 day history of dizziness and light-headedness. History of presenting complaint Patient first experienced dizziness and light-headedness after returning from her holiday in Sydney. History of viral URTI 4 weeks ago which has been resolved. Describes the dizziness as â€Å"walking on air† and feeling unstable on her feet. Patient denies any sensation of vertigo – â€Å"head spinning† or â€Å"everything spinning†. Associated with a right- sided headache that worsens the day after. Also associated with nausea, malaise and myalgia. Denies any vomiting. Symptoms are exacerbated by changing position – getting out from bed and standing up from sitting position. Relieved by resting in a dark, quiet room. Patient denies any visual symptoms (flashes), tinnitus or deafness. No recent head injury or ingestion of any drugs – alcohol marijuana Pt went to see a physiotherapist ?vertigo but no abnormalities was detected by the physiotherapist. No nystagmus. Patient admits dizziness improved slightly with the hall-pike manoeuvre. Past Medical History Nil Medications Estelle-35 ED tablets2mg/35mcgdaily No known drug allergies Family History Nil remarkable Social History TW works as a hair stylist. Lives with her parents and siblings. Non-smoker and occasional ETOH consumption 2-3 standard drinks a week. Diet consists of take outs and fast food. Moderate physical activities. Examinations Pleasant looking young woman. Not in any obvious pain or distress. Vitals – BP 118/80, HR 80, RR 18, afebrile, no signs of anaemia. ENT – NAD on otoscope examination, no redness, swelling or discharge. Weber and Rinne test grossly intact. Optic – visual acuity 6/6 on L and R eye. No evidence of nystagmus on examination. Cardiovascular – Dual heart sound noted, nil added. No postural drop of blood pressure. Cranial nerves – olfactory sensation intact. Visual field and pupillary light reflex normal. Nil ptosis, diplopia and good accommodation. Light touch on the cheeks and forehead grossly intact. Power of muscle of mastication 5/5. Facial nerve intact and NAD. No deviations and fasciculation of tongue and uvula. Accessory muscles 5/5. Cerebellum – Normal gait, good coordination, negative dysdiadochokinesia and negative rhomberg test. Normal reflexes and no past pointing. Negative Hallpike manoeuvre. Investigations Ordered Nil Murtagh’s Diagnostic Model Management Plan 1. Viral vestibular neuronitis Reassurance and careful explanation to patient about nature of disease. Symptomatic treatment of nausea, prochlorperazine prescribed. Supportive treatment at home, bed rest and special vestibular exercises – explained by GP. Avoid movement or position that exacerbates symptoms. Return to GP if no resolution of symptoms. Follow up Patient did not represent to GP practice during my placement. Preventative Health Activities 1. Nutrition – education and advice on healthy diet plan 2. Alcohol – education on appropriate alcohol intake, early recognition or drinking problem 3. Sexual health – education for prevention of sexually transmitted infection and contraception. 4. Physical activity – encourage importance of physical activities. Clinical Evidence Base In the management of patient with vestibular neuronitis (VN), is the usage of pharmacological treatment (glucocorticoid) more effective in terms of recovery compared to supportive treatment alone. Vestibular neuronitis is defined as the dysfunction of the peripheral vestibular system with associated vertigo, nausea and vomiting.5 Hearing symptoms such as deafness and tinnitus are rarely associated with vestibular neuronitis.3 Up to today, the cause of vestibular neuronitis remains unknown hence, the main treatment options remain unclear limiting it to corticosteroids, antiviral therapy and vestibular exercises.1,4 The OneSearch UWA library database was searched and keywords used were â€Å"acute†, â€Å"vestibular neuronitis†, â€Å"corticosteroid†, â€Å"conservative treatment† and â€Å"head manoeuvre†. Other related terms were also included in the search. One study was identified, â€Å"Corticosteroid and vestibular exercises in vestibular neuronitis† by John K. Goudakos, MSc; Konstantinos D. Markou, George Psillas, Victor Vital, Miltiadis Tsaligopoulos.1 The study is single-blind randomised clinical trial measuring the recovery of 40 patients with vestibular neuronitis by using vestibular exercises vs corticosteroid at 1, 6 and 12 months.1 The 40 patients were randomised into 2 groups where one received corticosteroid therapy and the other underwent vestibular exercises for 3 weeks.1 Recovery was measured by monitoring the scores on the European Evaluation of Vertigo scale (EEV), Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) and vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs).1 Patient included in the study were: Aged 18-80 presenting with history of acute onset associated with vertigo, nausea, vomiting, postural imbalance, no hearing loss, no central lesion on neurological examination, horizontal nystagmus with rotational component, ipsilateral deficit on the head thrust test and unilateral reduced calorie response on the electronystagmography(ENG).1 Patient excluded from the study were: glaucoma, recent infection, signs of central vestibular dysfunction, history of chronic vestibular dysfunction, hearing loss and patients that are contraindicated for steroid use.1 Results: At 1 month, the EEV in both group showed an improvement with a score of 3.75 in the vestibular exercise group and 4.17 in the corticosteroid group. However (P>0.05) hence there is not significant difference between the two groups.1 At the 6 months follow up, 35% of the patient in the corticosteroid group had a complete disease resolution compared to 5% in the vestibular exercise group, (P1 At the 12 months follow up for disease resolution, 50% of patient in the corticosteroid group showed complete disease resolution and 45% of the patient in the vestibular exercise group showed disease resolution however (P>0.05) hence there was no significant difference.1 Strength and Weaknesses This study is level II based on the NHMRC. Methods of measuring outcome were clearly explained. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were well defined. Single-blinded study. No statistically significant difference in age, sex and disease onset between both groups. Small sample size of 40 patients. Method of randomisation was not defined, may include bias. Measurement of recovery did not include other factors. Tools of measurement such as VEMPs are good for diagnostic clarification but not measurement of disease. Measurement did not include clinical improvement. Application – This study showed that there is a quicker resolution of vestibular neuronitis in the short term within 6 months of corticosteroid therapy. However in the long term follow up, (12 months) the efficacy of corticosteroid therapy is similar to vestibular exercises. Further studies should be performed combining vestibular exercises with corticosteroid therapy with a larger sample size to measure efficacy. In this case, my GP did not offer corticosteroid therapy to the patient but educated the patient on vestibular exercises which corresponds to the finding above because corticosteroid therapy does not offer additional long term benefits. References 1. John K. Goudakos, MD, MSc; Konstantinos D. Markou, MD, PhD; George Psillas, MD, PhD; Victor Vital, MD, PhD; Miltiadis Tsaligopoulos, MD, PhD. Corticosteroids and Vestibular Exercises in Vestibular Neuritis Single-blind Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck SurgeryPublished online March 6, 2014.; 140(5) pages 434-440 2. Mikael L.-Ã…. Karlberg and Mà ¥ns Magnusson. Treatment of Acute Vestibular Neuronitis With Glucocorticoids.Otology Neurotology2011; 32 pages 1140-1143 3. Keith A Marill, MD.Vestibular Neuronitis. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/794489-overview#a5 (accessed 18 June 2015) 4. John Murtagh AM.Murtaghs General Practise, Fifth edition ed. Published in Australia: McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd; This fifth edition published 2011 5. John C. Goddard MD and Jose N. Fayad MD. Vestibular Neuritis.Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America2011; 44(2)pages 361-365

Influence of Employee Relations on Work Performance

Influence of Employee Relations on Work Performance This research is based on the assumption that it is the good relation with staff factor that leads to increase staff performance in the service department of hotel industry. Both the variables are very important in hotel industry. Staff performance is key to success for the hospitality organizations because hospitality organization is labor intensive industry so it becomes very important to focus on those factors that motivate employees for the work and to deliver their best to the organization. There are many factors that influence employee and work of employees. Relation with employee is one of them. Employee motivation may relate with money, position in the organization, future perspective, but relation with the peer group and boss is foremost factor that have direct impact on employee performance. Good employee relation means creation of congenial environment that retain the motivation of employees and keep motivating them for their commitments towards the organization. 1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVES / RESEARCH QUESTIONS / HYPOTHESIS: 1.2.1 Aim of this research: aim of this research is to find out the influence of good employee relation on work performance of an employees, with special reference to restaurant service staff of hotel industry. 1.2.2 Objectives: To explore the ingredients of good employee relation To explore the ingredients of employee performance To explore good relation of employee as an factor of motivation. To find out the impact of good employee relation on employee performance 1.2.3 Research Questions: R.Q.1 What are the basis of good relation? R.Q.2 What are the basis of employee performance? R.Q.3 How good relation of employee have positive impact on employee performance? 1.3 RATIONAL: Author believes that employee relation is very important as an motivating factor, and employee performance is also very important for the development of an organization and in achieving organizational goal. This philosophy is very much important in the hospitality industry because hospitality industry is guest based business and employees are the only factor that brings guest satisfaction. So keep employee happy should be the right slogan for human resource department of the hotel and concerned functional department too. This is the thinking behind choice of this topic. 1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION: This research work is having many sections. Author is giving brief introduction and the sequence of the chapters. Chapter two is based on secondary research and placed just after this chapter, after that third chapter is on methodology and fourth is on depth analysis of the questions of the questionnaire and after that fifth chapter is containing conclusion of the research. After conclusion there is list of references followed by appendix section. Chapter2 Literature Review 2.1 What is employee relations? Employee relation or industrial relation is basically relation between employees and employer collectively. In this research author has established aim and objective which basically focus on impact of good employee relation on employee performance. Author is presenting this section as secondary research which is conducted through many books and websites. There are many variables of this research topic such as employee relation and its basis, employee performance and its basis, so all the related areas are also explored in this section of the research so that a valid conclusion can be drawn at the end of this section which would be conclusion based on secondary research. 2.2 Employee relation: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Employee relations can be seen primarily as a skill-set or a philosophy, rather than as a management function or well-defined area of activity. Despite well-publicised instances of industrial action, the emphasis of employee relations continues to shift from collective institutions, such as trade unions and collective bargaining, to the relationship with individual employees. The ideas of employee voice and the psychological contract have been accepted by employers and reflected in their employee relations policies and aspirations. Employee relations skills and competencies are still seen by employers as critical to achieving performance benefits through a focus on employee involvement, commitment and engagement. Employee relations is seen as strategic in terms of managing business risk: both the downside risk of non-compliance with an expanded body of employment law, and the upside risk of failing to deliver maximum business performanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. http://www.cipd.c o.uk/subjects/empreltns/general/emprelsovr.htm 2.3 Job Satisfaction and Job performance: To understand the nature of job satisfaction and its effects on work performance is not easy. For at least 50 years industrial/organizational psychologists have been wrestling with the question of the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance. Researchers have put a considerable amount of effort into attempts to demonstrate that the two are positively related in a particular fashion: a happy worker is a good worker. Although this sounds like a very appealing idea, the results of empirical literature are too mixed to support the hypothesis that job satisfaction leads to better performance or even that there is a reliable positive correlation between these two variables. On the other hand some researchers argue that the results are equally inconclusive with respect to the hypothesis that there is no such relationship. As a result of this ambiguity, this relationship continues to stimulate research and re-examination of previous attempts. This paper strives to describe t he relation of job satisfaction and performance, keeping in mind the value this relation has for organizations. http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/job-performance-and-satisfaction-53672.htm Job satisfaction is a complex and multifaceted concept, which can mean different things to different people. Job satisfaction is usually linked with motivation, but the nature of this relationship is not clear. Satisfaction is not the same as motivation. Job satisfaction is more an attitude, an internal state. It could, for example, be associated with a personal feeling of achievement, either quantitative or qualitative. In recent years attention to job satisfaction has become more closely associated with broader approaches to improved job design and work organization, and the quality of working life movement. The relationship between job satisfaction and performance is an issue of continuing debate and controversy. One view, associated with the early human relations approach, is that satisfaction leads to performance. An alternative view is that performance leads to satisfaction. However, a variety of studies suggest that research has found only a limited relationship between satisf action and work output and offer scant comfort to those seeking to confirm that a satisfied worker is also a productive one. Labor turnover and absenteeism are commonly associated with dissatisfaction, but although there may be some correlation, there are many other possible factors. No universal generalizations about worker dissatisfaction exist, to offer easy management solutions to problems of turnover and absenteeism. The study suggests that it is primarily in the realm of job design, where opportunity resides for a constructive improvement of the workers satisfaction level. Individual performance is generally determined by three factors. Motivation, the desire to do the job, ability, the capability to do the job, and the work environment, the tools, materials, and information needed to do the job. If an employee lacks ability, the manager can provide training or replace the worker. If there is an environmental problem, the manager can also usually make adjustments to promote hi gher performance. But if motivation is the problem, the managers task is more challenging. Individual behavior is a complex phenomenon, and the manager may not be able to figure out why the employee is not motivated and how to change the behavior. Thus, also motivation plays a vital role since it might influence negatively performance and because of its intangible nature.http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/job-performance-and-satisfaction-53672.htm 2.4 The elements of a job that create job satisfaction Flexible work arrangements, possibly including telecommuting Training and other professional growth opportunities Interesting work that offers variety and challenge and allows the worker opportunities to put his or her signature on the finished product Opportunities to use ones talents and to be creative Opportunities to take responsibility and direct ones own work A stable, secure work environment that includes job security/continuity An environment in which workers are supported by an accessible supervisor who provides timely feedback as well as congenial team members Flexible benefits, such as child-care and exercise facilities Up-to-date technology Competitive salary and opportunities for promotion http://www.answers.com/topic/job-satisfaction 2.5 Workers Roles in Job Satisfaction If job satisfaction is a worker benefit, surely the worker must be able to contribute to his or her own satisfaction and well-being on the job. The following suggestions can help a worker find personal job satisfaction: Seek opportunities to demonstrate skills and talents. This often leads to more challenging work and greater responsibilities, with attendant increases in pay and other recognition. Develop excellent communication skills. Employerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s value and reward excellent reading, listening, writing, and speaking skills. Know more. Acquire new job-related knowledge that helps you to perform tasks more efficiently and effectively. This will relieve boredom and often gets one noticed. Demonstrate creativity and initiative. Qualities like these are valued by most organizations and often result in recognition as well as in increased responsibilities and rewards. Develop teamwork and people skills. A large part of job success is the ability to work well with others to get the job done. Accept the diversity in people. Accept people with their differences and their imperfections and learn how to give and receive criticism constructively. See the value in your work. Appreciating the significance of what one does can lead to satisfaction with the work itself. This helps to give meaning to ones existence, thus playing a vital role in job satisfaction. Learn to de-stress. Plan to avoid burnout by developing healthy stress-management techniques. http://www.answers.com/topic/job-satisfaction Employee engagement:   Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The achievement of business goals and financial returns is increasingly dependent on delivery by front-line employees. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Engagementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ has been described as a combination of commitment and organisational citizenship. There is no shortage of evidence about people management policies and practices that contribute to building employee engagement. They include: Employee voice: Managers are much more convinced than they were a decade ago that involvement produces business benefits. This is confirmed by the range of methods for direct communication and recognising individual employee contribution that HR departments now implement and operate. Teamworking: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Training, teamworking, supervisors trained in employee relation matters and problem-solving groups are all associated with one another. In combination, this group of practices might be construed as a model of direct employee participation in decision-making. Work-life ba lance: Policies on work-life balance are being used by employers to underpin positive workplace behaviours. Our various surveys of employee attitudes, for example Guest and Conway5, have underlined the link between work-life balance, commitment and performance, and there is strong support by employers for the current legislation giving employees the right to request flexible workingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/general/emprelsovr.htm HR and employee relation: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Communication is the glue that makes policies real and without which they are ineffective. The fact that communication is necessarily a two-way process, involving dialogue rather than simply instruction, is well established. Yet many organisations perform badly in this area, failing to give communication the priority it deserves. Getting communication right involves both professionalism and persistence. The qualities required include focusing on positive behaviours and outcomes, taking a positive, problem-solving approach, anticipating problems, recommending solutions and being able to offer sound advice to senior managers about implementation. Negotiating skills are still useful but needed less often. A much wider area of knowledge is now required, along with the skills to apply it, including surveying and interpreting employee attitudes, communications and conflict management. Most important is the ability to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"fità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ policies and practices to suit the organisationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s goals and the character of its workforce. http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/general/emprelsovr.htm Value of employee relation: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“To a considerable extent, it is only in the public sector that trade unions retain a measure of their former strength and influence in the workplace. This is partly through the existence of institutions of collective consultation, reinforced by continued reliance in many cases on industry-level bargaining and the public policy emphasis on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"partnershipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Union influence in the private sector, on the other hand, continues to decline. The main areas of the private sector where industrial disputes are still experienced from time to time, for example, public transport, are those where thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a clear public or political interest and/or the Government is seen as the ultimate à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"bankerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Employee relationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ as a term remains ambiguous, with no clear boundaries. Most HR people donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t use the term on an everyday basis. It is not calculated to help manage rs focus on what they need to know and do to increase performance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the language has echoes of a historical era that offers few insights into contemporary practice. The traditional academic models of industrial relations have only limited relevance to what managers do today. Employers are in charge and the role of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"joint controlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"rule-makingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ by employers and trade unions has been substantially replaced by employment regulation and organisational values. Employee relations can nevertheless point to an underlying philosophy and attitudes and skills that are still needed by HR practitioners. The current à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"business partnerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ model is helpful in identifying an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"added valueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ framework within which HR practitioners need to operate, but an unreflecting business focus may lead to a neglect of the softer skills, which are essential to managing the em ployment relationship, and of employee interests and influence. Employers also need HR managers with a positive, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"can doà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ attitude who will resist the temptation to adopt a defensive or compliance-led HR culture. Commitment and engagement are crucial to performance but they are not consistently high enough in the hierarchy of line management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" or, often, HR à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" priorities. The Employee Information and Consultation Regulations may be helpful in raising the profile of employee voice and involvement, but the WERS 20042 findings give little basis for optimism that this will happen. More effort needs to be put into training and supporting line managers in, for example, teamworking and change management as the basis for establishing and maintaining motivation and commitment, which is a critical role for employee relations managers. Issues about à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"alignmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ of HR and business strategies have mostl y to be resolved within this area. There is too much focus within organisations on strategy formulation and planning, and not enough on implementation and delivery. Managing the employment relationship rests heavily on the shoulders of line managers, but their competence in this area is, in general, seriously neglected. The concept of engagement is helpful in promoting wider interest in the measurement of HR outputs, including through the widespread use of employee attitudes surveys and in performance management/appraisalsystemsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/general/emprelsovr.htm Maintaining employee relation: Good employee relations means you create an environment which delivers what people want today. They want to feel good about who they are, what they do and where they work. Although there is probably an endless list of opinions as to what employees want today, here are 10 that are important as you consider building an employee relations program for your business: Employees want to be comfortable with what their employer stands for. Social psychology research indicates the chances of success are much greater for your organization if you have a clearly defined vision that all your people can follow. In some organizations, this is also referred to as a mission statement. Does your organization, department or division have one? Use it as a part of your employee relations strategy to ensure that your employees are comfortable with what your business is about. Employees want to identify with corporate principles. Today employees are very opinionated about the moral and ethical issues in business today. They care about such things as employee privacy and employee rights. By having a set of guiding principles, and following these principles, your organization creates a framework within which to develop principle-centered policies and procedures or make principle-centered decisions regarding difficult employment related issues. Employees want to know their employer cares about their opinions and concerns. If youre going to create a good employee relations program, you need to have a mechanism for finding out what your employees care about, what they are concerned about, what they think of you as an employer. Conduct employee opinion surveys. http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/1998/03/30/focus4.html Chapter: 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 RESEARCH METHODS Research methods can be qualitative, quantitative or both (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000). The selection of the particular research method depends on the kind of information required. Qualitative method collects, analyzes, and interprets data that cannot be meaningfully quantified, that is, summarized in the form of numbers. For this reason, qualitative method is sometimes referred to as soft research method. Any research using non-structured questioning or observation techniques can be labeled qualitative research. Qualitative method typically studies relatively few respondents or units. In other words, a research of a large, representative sample would normally not be called qualitative research method even if it used some non-structured questions or observations. The non-structured and small-sample features of qualitative research techniques have an important implication. They are intended to provide initial insights, ideas, or understanding about a problem, not to recommend a final c ourse of action. Therefore, qualitative research techniques are most appropriate in situations calling for exploratory research. Quantitative research method, in contrast, is characterized by more structure and larger, more representative respondent samples. Consequently, the logical place for quantitative research techniques (usually in the form of large-scale questionnaire surveys or structured observations) is in conclusive studies. A primary role of qualitative research method is to generate hunches or hypotheses. In contrast, each of the situations under quantitative research calls for very specific data, capable of suggesting a final course of action (Parasuraman, et al. 2004). The above description suggests us that qualitative research method is a soft approach in which collected and identified data or information cannot be meaningfully quantified and more importantly in this approach non-structured research is conducted; but so far as quantitative research method is concerned, in this approach structured research is conducted with approaching larger respondents and the collected data can be meaningfully quantified. This research is qualitative based so required qualitative data to achieve the aims and objectives of the research, therefore qualitative research approach has been applied to conduct this research. 3.2 DATA COLLECTION Research data can be collected either in the form of secondary or primary or both (Clark et al, 2003). In this research both primary and secondary data were collected considering the aims and objectives of the research. 3.2.1 SECONDARY DATA: Secondary Data usually factual information can be obtained through secondary data, that have already been collected from other sources and are readily available from those sources (Parasuraman, et al. 2004). The definition and characteristics of secondary data presented above suggest us that secondary data are data that have already been collected for purpose other than the problem in hand. Before detailing as how and what secondary data were collected in this research, in would be worth to examine the advantages and disadvantages of such data. Secondary data are easily accessible, relatively inexpensive, and quickly obtained. Some secondary data, are available on topics where it would not be feasible for a firm to collect primary data. Although it is rare for secondary data to provide all the answers to a non-routine research problem, such data can be useful in a variety of ways (Kotabe, 2002). Secondary data can help: Identify the problem, better define the problem, develop an approach to the problem, formulate an appropriate research design (for example, by identifying the key variables), answer certain research questions and test some hypotheses and interpret primary data more insightfully. Because secondary data have been collected for purposes other than the problem at hand, their usefulness to the current problem may be limited in several important ways, including relevance and accuracy. The objectives, nature, and methods used to collect the secondary data may not be appropriate to the present situation. Also, secon dary data may be lacking in accuracy, or they may not be completely current or dependable. Before using secondary data, it is important to evaluate them on these factors (Malhotra, 2004). Although so many disadvantages are associated with the secondary data, but such data were found useful in this research as identifying and defining the problem, and developing research objectives. The secondary data in the this research is in the form of literature review. The various sources of secondary data in this research were: books, journals, periodicals, newspapers and magazines and websites. 3.2.2 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION Primary data is collected for the specific purpose of addressing the problem at hand. The collection of primary data involves various steps. Thus obtaining primary data can be expensive and time consuming (Malhotra, 2004). These suggest that primary data are those data that are collected for the particular purpose of research in hand. The disadvantage of collecting primary data is that it is lengthy and resource and time consuming process (in comparison of secondary data), but the advantage of primary data is that they are first hand information and comparatively more reliable (than secondary data). Primary data can be collected from various sources and methods that are case studies, observation, questionnaire survey and interview (Clark et al, 2003). In this research questionnaire survey method was applied in order to collect primary data. Designing questionnaires may appear to be simple, especially to those who have not designed one before. After all, you may think, once you have a clear notion of the information desired, it should be easy to formulate appropriate questions and arrange them in the form of an instrument (Parasuraman, 2004). Primary data collection approach adopted in this research: Sampling technique: Author has followed convenient sampling technique and chosen sample hotel based on the same technique. This technique involves choice of hotel which easily accessible by the author. Sample: samples were based on Delhi based 5 star hotels. Sample size: Tools used in primary data collection: Author followed questionnaire technique to collect the data from the samples, in some cases author went to the sample hotel and met with the person concerned for this research but in many cases author referred telephonic talk and get the questionnaire filled over the phone. 3.3 DATA ANALYSIS Before analyzing a data set using sophisticated techniques, a researcher should get a feeling for what the data are like. The purpose of preliminary data analysis is to reveal features of the basic composition of the data collected. It can also provide useful insights pertaining to the research objectives and suggest meaningful approaches for further analysis of the data. Preliminary data analysis examines the central tendency(mean) and the dispersion of the data on each variable in the data set. The measurement level of a variable that is, whether the variable is nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio has a bearing on which measures of central tendency and dispersion will be appropriate for it (Parasuraman, 2004). In accordance with the above prescription of data analysis, firstly all the collected data were coded and arranged in a systematic manner and then analysed in accordance with the objectives of the research to reach the conclusions after comparing secondary and primary data. Author has followed tabulation of data and use of percentage technique to find out average of the response and based on the same conclusion has been drawn. 3.4 LIMITATIONS Due to limited time and resources, the author had to downsize his plan on various fronts. Firstly, getting an appointment with the respondents was not easy as in some cases because they had tight schedule in their professional activities, whereas some were found unwilling to response. Secondly, due to provided limited time, the author could not get filled the questionnaire face-to-face or personally from the respondents, and thus in many cases the author had to satisfy with telephonic conversation for filling the questionnaire. Chapetr 4 FINDING AND ANALYSIS Question no-1-Do you feel that employee relation has importance in hotel industry? Answer no-1- ( ) YES ( ) NO OPTIONS RESPONSE PERCENTAGE YES 10 100 NO 0 In the above response collected, it is visible that 100% of the employees said that good employee relation has significance in hotel Industry. Question no-2-Good employee relation leads to employee motivation. Answer no-2- ( ) TRUE ( ) FALSE OPTIONS RESPONSE PERCENTAGE TRUE 10 100 FALSE 0 Above tabulation shows that all the 10 respondents said that good employee relation is motivating factor for the restaurant staff and leads to employee performance. Question no-3-Employees can compensated with other motivating factor with good relation? Answer no-3- ( ) AGREE ( ) DIS AGREE à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å" OPTIONS RESPONSE PERCENTAGE AGREE 9 90 DIS AGREE 1 10 90% of the staff working in the hotel restaurant agree that employee motivation can be compensated with good employee relation due to the good relationship of the staff with the employer helps this help motivating employees. Due to good relation employee may be happy with differed financial benefits. Question no-4- Do you feel that Employees always want to be appreciated for job done? Answer no-4- ( ) TRUE ( ) FALSE OPTIONS RESPONSE PERCENTAGE TRUE 7 70 FALSE 3 30 70% of them have said that the above statement is true as, employees want to be appreciated and recognized for a job done, and rest of them (30%) have said that this statement is false. Question no-5- Do you think reward based work promotes the team spirit among employees? Answer no-5- ( ) AGREE ( ) DISAGREE OPTIONS RESPONSE PERCENTAGE AGREE 4 40 DIS AGREE 6 60 above table shows that reward does not lead to team spirit among the employees. Here author would like to say that it is very much clear that individual performance may go up by introduction of reward but integration of efforts can not be achieved with reward. So author would like to highlight that it is the relation among peer and employer that promote employee satisfaction and so overall there will be enhancement in the performance of entire employee as a team. Question no-6- Do you think gap between organizational objective and individual due to communication may lead to employee dissatisfaction and hence lower performance? Answer no-6- ( ) YES ( ) NO OPTIONS RESPONSE PERCENTAGE AGREE 100 100 DIS AGREE 00 00 Here this response reveals that there should not be communication gap between employee and employer because this is also a reason of employee dissatisfaction. Employee actually want to know the overall direction of the organization failing which there is rise in reluctance and less performance. So this communication gap is part of good relation if there is gap means there is no good relation between employer and employee so again it is proved that good relation leading to positive impact. Question no-7-what you feel about relation between communication gap between employer and employee leads to low performance and motivation of employees? Answer no-7- ( ) TRUE ( ) FALSE Above table shows that 90% of the staff of the hotels are agree and having the same belief that communication gap increases employee de-motivation hence lower performance of employees. Chapter 5 CONCLUSION In order to conclude the topic author would like to mention the aim and objectives of this research which author had established at the starting of this research. Objectives: To explore the ingredients of good employee relation To explore the ingredients of employee performance To explore good relation of employee as an factor of motivation. To find out the impact of good employee relation on employee performance 1.2.3 Research Questions: R.Q.1 What are the basis of good relation? R.Q.2 What are the basis of employee performance? R.Q.3 How good relation of employee have positive impact on employee performance? Based on the research conducted by author now at this stage author have been comparing what was to achieved and what have been achieved then author found there is no variance in the research objectives and all the steps of research till conclusion. All the aspects have been recognized and evaluated. Based on the primary research conducted by the author it is very much clear that it is the good relation between employer and employee or peer group that leads to feeling of team work and overall performance of employees goes up that Influence of Employee Relations on Work Performance Influence of Employee Relations on Work Performance This research is based on the assumption that it is the good relation with staff factor that leads to increase staff performance in the service department of hotel industry. Both the variables are very important in hotel industry. Staff performance is key to success for the hospitality organizations because hospitality organization is labor intensive industry so it becomes very important to focus on those factors that motivate employees for the work and to deliver their best to the organization. There are many factors that influence employee and work of employees. Relation with employee is one of them. Employee motivation may relate with money, position in the organization, future perspective, but relation with the peer group and boss is foremost factor that have direct impact on employee performance. Good employee relation means creation of congenial environment that retain the motivation of employees and keep motivating them for their commitments towards the organization. 1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVES / RESEARCH QUESTIONS / HYPOTHESIS: 1.2.1 Aim of this research: aim of this research is to find out the influence of good employee relation on work performance of an employees, with special reference to restaurant service staff of hotel industry. 1.2.2 Objectives: To explore the ingredients of good employee relation To explore the ingredients of employee performance To explore good relation of employee as an factor of motivation. To find out the impact of good employee relation on employee performance 1.2.3 Research Questions: R.Q.1 What are the basis of good relation? R.Q.2 What are the basis of employee performance? R.Q.3 How good relation of employee have positive impact on employee performance? 1.3 RATIONAL: Author believes that employee relation is very important as an motivating factor, and employee performance is also very important for the development of an organization and in achieving organizational goal. This philosophy is very much important in the hospitality industry because hospitality industry is guest based business and employees are the only factor that brings guest satisfaction. So keep employee happy should be the right slogan for human resource department of the hotel and concerned functional department too. This is the thinking behind choice of this topic. 1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION: This research work is having many sections. Author is giving brief introduction and the sequence of the chapters. Chapter two is based on secondary research and placed just after this chapter, after that third chapter is on methodology and fourth is on depth analysis of the questions of the questionnaire and after that fifth chapter is containing conclusion of the research. After conclusion there is list of references followed by appendix section. Chapter2 Literature Review 2.1 What is employee relations? Employee relation or industrial relation is basically relation between employees and employer collectively. In this research author has established aim and objective which basically focus on impact of good employee relation on employee performance. Author is presenting this section as secondary research which is conducted through many books and websites. There are many variables of this research topic such as employee relation and its basis, employee performance and its basis, so all the related areas are also explored in this section of the research so that a valid conclusion can be drawn at the end of this section which would be conclusion based on secondary research. 2.2 Employee relation: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Employee relations can be seen primarily as a skill-set or a philosophy, rather than as a management function or well-defined area of activity. Despite well-publicised instances of industrial action, the emphasis of employee relations continues to shift from collective institutions, such as trade unions and collective bargaining, to the relationship with individual employees. The ideas of employee voice and the psychological contract have been accepted by employers and reflected in their employee relations policies and aspirations. Employee relations skills and competencies are still seen by employers as critical to achieving performance benefits through a focus on employee involvement, commitment and engagement. Employee relations is seen as strategic in terms of managing business risk: both the downside risk of non-compliance with an expanded body of employment law, and the upside risk of failing to deliver maximum business performanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. http://www.cipd.c o.uk/subjects/empreltns/general/emprelsovr.htm 2.3 Job Satisfaction and Job performance: To understand the nature of job satisfaction and its effects on work performance is not easy. For at least 50 years industrial/organizational psychologists have been wrestling with the question of the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance. Researchers have put a considerable amount of effort into attempts to demonstrate that the two are positively related in a particular fashion: a happy worker is a good worker. Although this sounds like a very appealing idea, the results of empirical literature are too mixed to support the hypothesis that job satisfaction leads to better performance or even that there is a reliable positive correlation between these two variables. On the other hand some researchers argue that the results are equally inconclusive with respect to the hypothesis that there is no such relationship. As a result of this ambiguity, this relationship continues to stimulate research and re-examination of previous attempts. This paper strives to describe t he relation of job satisfaction and performance, keeping in mind the value this relation has for organizations. http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/job-performance-and-satisfaction-53672.htm Job satisfaction is a complex and multifaceted concept, which can mean different things to different people. Job satisfaction is usually linked with motivation, but the nature of this relationship is not clear. Satisfaction is not the same as motivation. Job satisfaction is more an attitude, an internal state. It could, for example, be associated with a personal feeling of achievement, either quantitative or qualitative. In recent years attention to job satisfaction has become more closely associated with broader approaches to improved job design and work organization, and the quality of working life movement. The relationship between job satisfaction and performance is an issue of continuing debate and controversy. One view, associated with the early human relations approach, is that satisfaction leads to performance. An alternative view is that performance leads to satisfaction. However, a variety of studies suggest that research has found only a limited relationship between satisf action and work output and offer scant comfort to those seeking to confirm that a satisfied worker is also a productive one. Labor turnover and absenteeism are commonly associated with dissatisfaction, but although there may be some correlation, there are many other possible factors. No universal generalizations about worker dissatisfaction exist, to offer easy management solutions to problems of turnover and absenteeism. The study suggests that it is primarily in the realm of job design, where opportunity resides for a constructive improvement of the workers satisfaction level. Individual performance is generally determined by three factors. Motivation, the desire to do the job, ability, the capability to do the job, and the work environment, the tools, materials, and information needed to do the job. If an employee lacks ability, the manager can provide training or replace the worker. If there is an environmental problem, the manager can also usually make adjustments to promote hi gher performance. But if motivation is the problem, the managers task is more challenging. Individual behavior is a complex phenomenon, and the manager may not be able to figure out why the employee is not motivated and how to change the behavior. Thus, also motivation plays a vital role since it might influence negatively performance and because of its intangible nature.http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/job-performance-and-satisfaction-53672.htm 2.4 The elements of a job that create job satisfaction Flexible work arrangements, possibly including telecommuting Training and other professional growth opportunities Interesting work that offers variety and challenge and allows the worker opportunities to put his or her signature on the finished product Opportunities to use ones talents and to be creative Opportunities to take responsibility and direct ones own work A stable, secure work environment that includes job security/continuity An environment in which workers are supported by an accessible supervisor who provides timely feedback as well as congenial team members Flexible benefits, such as child-care and exercise facilities Up-to-date technology Competitive salary and opportunities for promotion http://www.answers.com/topic/job-satisfaction 2.5 Workers Roles in Job Satisfaction If job satisfaction is a worker benefit, surely the worker must be able to contribute to his or her own satisfaction and well-being on the job. The following suggestions can help a worker find personal job satisfaction: Seek opportunities to demonstrate skills and talents. This often leads to more challenging work and greater responsibilities, with attendant increases in pay and other recognition. Develop excellent communication skills. Employerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s value and reward excellent reading, listening, writing, and speaking skills. Know more. Acquire new job-related knowledge that helps you to perform tasks more efficiently and effectively. This will relieve boredom and often gets one noticed. Demonstrate creativity and initiative. Qualities like these are valued by most organizations and often result in recognition as well as in increased responsibilities and rewards. Develop teamwork and people skills. A large part of job success is the ability to work well with others to get the job done. Accept the diversity in people. Accept people with their differences and their imperfections and learn how to give and receive criticism constructively. See the value in your work. Appreciating the significance of what one does can lead to satisfaction with the work itself. This helps to give meaning to ones existence, thus playing a vital role in job satisfaction. Learn to de-stress. Plan to avoid burnout by developing healthy stress-management techniques. http://www.answers.com/topic/job-satisfaction Employee engagement:   Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The achievement of business goals and financial returns is increasingly dependent on delivery by front-line employees. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Engagementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ has been described as a combination of commitment and organisational citizenship. There is no shortage of evidence about people management policies and practices that contribute to building employee engagement. They include: Employee voice: Managers are much more convinced than they were a decade ago that involvement produces business benefits. This is confirmed by the range of methods for direct communication and recognising individual employee contribution that HR departments now implement and operate. Teamworking: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Training, teamworking, supervisors trained in employee relation matters and problem-solving groups are all associated with one another. In combination, this group of practices might be construed as a model of direct employee participation in decision-making. Work-life ba lance: Policies on work-life balance are being used by employers to underpin positive workplace behaviours. Our various surveys of employee attitudes, for example Guest and Conway5, have underlined the link between work-life balance, commitment and performance, and there is strong support by employers for the current legislation giving employees the right to request flexible workingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/general/emprelsovr.htm HR and employee relation: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Communication is the glue that makes policies real and without which they are ineffective. The fact that communication is necessarily a two-way process, involving dialogue rather than simply instruction, is well established. Yet many organisations perform badly in this area, failing to give communication the priority it deserves. Getting communication right involves both professionalism and persistence. The qualities required include focusing on positive behaviours and outcomes, taking a positive, problem-solving approach, anticipating problems, recommending solutions and being able to offer sound advice to senior managers about implementation. Negotiating skills are still useful but needed less often. A much wider area of knowledge is now required, along with the skills to apply it, including surveying and interpreting employee attitudes, communications and conflict management. Most important is the ability to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"fità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ policies and practices to suit the organisationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s goals and the character of its workforce. http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/general/emprelsovr.htm Value of employee relation: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“To a considerable extent, it is only in the public sector that trade unions retain a measure of their former strength and influence in the workplace. This is partly through the existence of institutions of collective consultation, reinforced by continued reliance in many cases on industry-level bargaining and the public policy emphasis on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"partnershipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Union influence in the private sector, on the other hand, continues to decline. The main areas of the private sector where industrial disputes are still experienced from time to time, for example, public transport, are those where thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a clear public or political interest and/or the Government is seen as the ultimate à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"bankerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Employee relationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ as a term remains ambiguous, with no clear boundaries. Most HR people donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t use the term on an everyday basis. It is not calculated to help manage rs focus on what they need to know and do to increase performance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the language has echoes of a historical era that offers few insights into contemporary practice. The traditional academic models of industrial relations have only limited relevance to what managers do today. Employers are in charge and the role of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"joint controlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"rule-makingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ by employers and trade unions has been substantially replaced by employment regulation and organisational values. Employee relations can nevertheless point to an underlying philosophy and attitudes and skills that are still needed by HR practitioners. The current à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"business partnerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ model is helpful in identifying an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"added valueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ framework within which HR practitioners need to operate, but an unreflecting business focus may lead to a neglect of the softer skills, which are essential to managing the em ployment relationship, and of employee interests and influence. Employers also need HR managers with a positive, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"can doà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ attitude who will resist the temptation to adopt a defensive or compliance-led HR culture. Commitment and engagement are crucial to performance but they are not consistently high enough in the hierarchy of line management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" or, often, HR à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" priorities. The Employee Information and Consultation Regulations may be helpful in raising the profile of employee voice and involvement, but the WERS 20042 findings give little basis for optimism that this will happen. More effort needs to be put into training and supporting line managers in, for example, teamworking and change management as the basis for establishing and maintaining motivation and commitment, which is a critical role for employee relations managers. Issues about à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"alignmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ of HR and business strategies have mostl y to be resolved within this area. There is too much focus within organisations on strategy formulation and planning, and not enough on implementation and delivery. Managing the employment relationship rests heavily on the shoulders of line managers, but their competence in this area is, in general, seriously neglected. The concept of engagement is helpful in promoting wider interest in the measurement of HR outputs, including through the widespread use of employee attitudes surveys and in performance management/appraisalsystemsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/general/emprelsovr.htm Maintaining employee relation: Good employee relations means you create an environment which delivers what people want today. They want to feel good about who they are, what they do and where they work. Although there is probably an endless list of opinions as to what employees want today, here are 10 that are important as you consider building an employee relations program for your business: Employees want to be comfortable with what their employer stands for. Social psychology research indicates the chances of success are much greater for your organization if you have a clearly defined vision that all your people can follow. In some organizations, this is also referred to as a mission statement. Does your organization, department or division have one? Use it as a part of your employee relations strategy to ensure that your employees are comfortable with what your business is about. Employees want to identify with corporate principles. Today employees are very opinionated about the moral and ethical issues in business today. They care about such things as employee privacy and employee rights. By having a set of guiding principles, and following these principles, your organization creates a framework within which to develop principle-centered policies and procedures or make principle-centered decisions regarding difficult employment related issues. Employees want to know their employer cares about their opinions and concerns. If youre going to create a good employee relations program, you need to have a mechanism for finding out what your employees care about, what they are concerned about, what they think of you as an employer. Conduct employee opinion surveys. http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/1998/03/30/focus4.html Chapter: 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 RESEARCH METHODS Research methods can be qualitative, quantitative or both (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000). The selection of the particular research method depends on the kind of information required. Qualitative method collects, analyzes, and interprets data that cannot be meaningfully quantified, that is, summarized in the form of numbers. For this reason, qualitative method is sometimes referred to as soft research method. Any research using non-structured questioning or observation techniques can be labeled qualitative research. Qualitative method typically studies relatively few respondents or units. In other words, a research of a large, representative sample would normally not be called qualitative research method even if it used some non-structured questions or observations. The non-structured and small-sample features of qualitative research techniques have an important implication. They are intended to provide initial insights, ideas, or understanding about a problem, not to recommend a final c ourse of action. Therefore, qualitative research techniques are most appropriate in situations calling for exploratory research. Quantitative research method, in contrast, is characterized by more structure and larger, more representative respondent samples. Consequently, the logical place for quantitative research techniques (usually in the form of large-scale questionnaire surveys or structured observations) is in conclusive studies. A primary role of qualitative research method is to generate hunches or hypotheses. In contrast, each of the situations under quantitative research calls for very specific data, capable of suggesting a final course of action (Parasuraman, et al. 2004). The above description suggests us that qualitative research method is a soft approach in which collected and identified data or information cannot be meaningfully quantified and more importantly in this approach non-structured research is conducted; but so far as quantitative research method is concerned, in this approach structured research is conducted with approaching larger respondents and the collected data can be meaningfully quantified. This research is qualitative based so required qualitative data to achieve the aims and objectives of the research, therefore qualitative research approach has been applied to conduct this research. 3.2 DATA COLLECTION Research data can be collected either in the form of secondary or primary or both (Clark et al, 2003). In this research both primary and secondary data were collected considering the aims and objectives of the research. 3.2.1 SECONDARY DATA: Secondary Data usually factual information can be obtained through secondary data, that have already been collected from other sources and are readily available from those sources (Parasuraman, et al. 2004). The definition and characteristics of secondary data presented above suggest us that secondary data are data that have already been collected for purpose other than the problem in hand. Before detailing as how and what secondary data were collected in this research, in would be worth to examine the advantages and disadvantages of such data. Secondary data are easily accessible, relatively inexpensive, and quickly obtained. Some secondary data, are available on topics where it would not be feasible for a firm to collect primary data. Although it is rare for secondary data to provide all the answers to a non-routine research problem, such data can be useful in a variety of ways (Kotabe, 2002). Secondary data can help: Identify the problem, better define the problem, develop an approach to the problem, formulate an appropriate research design (for example, by identifying the key variables), answer certain research questions and test some hypotheses and interpret primary data more insightfully. Because secondary data have been collected for purposes other than the problem at hand, their usefulness to the current problem may be limited in several important ways, including relevance and accuracy. The objectives, nature, and methods used to collect the secondary data may not be appropriate to the present situation. Also, secon dary data may be lacking in accuracy, or they may not be completely current or dependable. Before using secondary data, it is important to evaluate them on these factors (Malhotra, 2004). Although so many disadvantages are associated with the secondary data, but such data were found useful in this research as identifying and defining the problem, and developing research objectives. The secondary data in the this research is in the form of literature review. The various sources of secondary data in this research were: books, journals, periodicals, newspapers and magazines and websites. 3.2.2 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION Primary data is collected for the specific purpose of addressing the problem at hand. The collection of primary data involves various steps. Thus obtaining primary data can be expensive and time consuming (Malhotra, 2004). These suggest that primary data are those data that are collected for the particular purpose of research in hand. The disadvantage of collecting primary data is that it is lengthy and resource and time consuming process (in comparison of secondary data), but the advantage of primary data is that they are first hand information and comparatively more reliable (than secondary data). Primary data can be collected from various sources and methods that are case studies, observation, questionnaire survey and interview (Clark et al, 2003). In this research questionnaire survey method was applied in order to collect primary data. Designing questionnaires may appear to be simple, especially to those who have not designed one before. After all, you may think, once you have a clear notion of the information desired, it should be easy to formulate appropriate questions and arrange them in the form of an instrument (Parasuraman, 2004). Primary data collection approach adopted in this research: Sampling technique: Author has followed convenient sampling technique and chosen sample hotel based on the same technique. This technique involves choice of hotel which easily accessible by the author. Sample: samples were based on Delhi based 5 star hotels. Sample size: Tools used in primary data collection: Author followed questionnaire technique to collect the data from the samples, in some cases author went to the sample hotel and met with the person concerned for this research but in many cases author referred telephonic talk and get the questionnaire filled over the phone. 3.3 DATA ANALYSIS Before analyzing a data set using sophisticated techniques, a researcher should get a feeling for what the data are like. The purpose of preliminary data analysis is to reveal features of the basic composition of the data collected. It can also provide useful insights pertaining to the research objectives and suggest meaningful approaches for further analysis of the data. Preliminary data analysis examines the central tendency(mean) and the dispersion of the data on each variable in the data set. The measurement level of a variable that is, whether the variable is nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio has a bearing on which measures of central tendency and dispersion will be appropriate for it (Parasuraman, 2004). In accordance with the above prescription of data analysis, firstly all the collected data were coded and arranged in a systematic manner and then analysed in accordance with the objectives of the research to reach the conclusions after comparing secondary and primary data. Author has followed tabulation of data and use of percentage technique to find out average of the response and based on the same conclusion has been drawn. 3.4 LIMITATIONS Due to limited time and resources, the author had to downsize his plan on various fronts. Firstly, getting an appointment with the respondents was not easy as in some cases because they had tight schedule in their professional activities, whereas some were found unwilling to response. Secondly, due to provided limited time, the author could not get filled the questionnaire face-to-face or personally from the respondents, and thus in many cases the author had to satisfy with telephonic conversation for filling the questionnaire. Chapetr 4 FINDING AND ANALYSIS Question no-1-Do you feel that employee relation has importance in hotel industry? Answer no-1- ( ) YES ( ) NO OPTIONS RESPONSE PERCENTAGE YES 10 100 NO 0 In the above response collected, it is visible that 100% of the employees said that good employee relation has significance in hotel Industry. Question no-2-Good employee relation leads to employee motivation. Answer no-2- ( ) TRUE ( ) FALSE OPTIONS RESPONSE PERCENTAGE TRUE 10 100 FALSE 0 Above tabulation shows that all the 10 respondents said that good employee relation is motivating factor for the restaurant staff and leads to employee performance. Question no-3-Employees can compensated with other motivating factor with good relation? Answer no-3- ( ) AGREE ( ) DIS AGREE à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å" OPTIONS RESPONSE PERCENTAGE AGREE 9 90 DIS AGREE 1 10 90% of the staff working in the hotel restaurant agree that employee motivation can be compensated with good employee relation due to the good relationship of the staff with the employer helps this help motivating employees. Due to good relation employee may be happy with differed financial benefits. Question no-4- Do you feel that Employees always want to be appreciated for job done? Answer no-4- ( ) TRUE ( ) FALSE OPTIONS RESPONSE PERCENTAGE TRUE 7 70 FALSE 3 30 70% of them have said that the above statement is true as, employees want to be appreciated and recognized for a job done, and rest of them (30%) have said that this statement is false. Question no-5- Do you think reward based work promotes the team spirit among employees? Answer no-5- ( ) AGREE ( ) DISAGREE OPTIONS RESPONSE PERCENTAGE AGREE 4 40 DIS AGREE 6 60 above table shows that reward does not lead to team spirit among the employees. Here author would like to say that it is very much clear that individual performance may go up by introduction of reward but integration of efforts can not be achieved with reward. So author would like to highlight that it is the relation among peer and employer that promote employee satisfaction and so overall there will be enhancement in the performance of entire employee as a team. Question no-6- Do you think gap between organizational objective and individual due to communication may lead to employee dissatisfaction and hence lower performance? Answer no-6- ( ) YES ( ) NO OPTIONS RESPONSE PERCENTAGE AGREE 100 100 DIS AGREE 00 00 Here this response reveals that there should not be communication gap between employee and employer because this is also a reason of employee dissatisfaction. Employee actually want to know the overall direction of the organization failing which there is rise in reluctance and less performance. So this communication gap is part of good relation if there is gap means there is no good relation between employer and employee so again it is proved that good relation leading to positive impact. Question no-7-what you feel about relation between communication gap between employer and employee leads to low performance and motivation of employees? Answer no-7- ( ) TRUE ( ) FALSE Above table shows that 90% of the staff of the hotels are agree and having the same belief that communication gap increases employee de-motivation hence lower performance of employees. Chapter 5 CONCLUSION In order to conclude the topic author would like to mention the aim and objectives of this research which author had established at the starting of this research. Objectives: To explore the ingredients of good employee relation To explore the ingredients of employee performance To explore good relation of employee as an factor of motivation. To find out the impact of good employee relation on employee performance 1.2.3 Research Questions: R.Q.1 What are the basis of good relation? R.Q.2 What are the basis of employee performance? R.Q.3 How good relation of employee have positive impact on employee performance? Based on the research conducted by author now at this stage author have been comparing what was to achieved and what have been achieved then author found there is no variance in the research objectives and all the steps of research till conclusion. All the aspects have been recognized and evaluated. Based on the primary research conducted by the author it is very much clear that it is the good relation between employer and employee or peer group that leads to feeling of team work and overall performance of employees goes up that