Scots Law of Contract

All of the case studies are concerned with the Law of Contract, specifically the formation of a contract and the differences between an invitation to treat and a contract. We will investigate each consumers’s specific contract or lack thereof individually and advise Bruce on his legal position. A contract is an agreement between two or more parties which in Scotland does not need to take a specific form, as a spoken agreement is still equally as enforceable as a written contract in certain circumstances such as in most social and domestic arrangements.A contract creates a legally binding bond between the parties involved. Contracts are made everyday sometimes without even realising it from buying a coffee to buying a house. A contract is formed bilaterally when an offer has been unconditionally accepted by all parties involved leading to consensus in idem and is not to be confused with a promise which is a unilateral agreement requiring only one party to make the promise. In B ruce’s case some of the customer’s mentioned have not actually entered into a contract but rather have either received an offer or an invitation to treat.An offer unlike a contract is not legally enforceable but rather an invitation to enter into a contract and an invitation to treat is not an offer but rather an invitation to make an offer. In the case of Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company (1893) The Carbolic Smoke Ball Company released an advertisement stating that a ? 100 reward would be paid to any person who contracted influenza, colds or any disease caused by taking cold, after having used the ball three times daily for two weeks according to the printed directions supplied with each ball.Despite the claims one of the companies customers Mrs Carlill caught the flu and sued the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company for the ? 100 they refused to pay her stating that their advert was in fact a legally binding contract which she had accepted by purchasing the product. The a bove case could be applied to Bruce as his failure to properly state the conditions in his advertisement will result in him having to honor his original promise of selling the â€Å"Slow Patrol† CD to as many customers as ave a flyer at the price stated on the advert. Although most modern adverts are treated as an invitation to treat this particular advert would be considered a unilateral promise as Bruce has promised to sell the CD to anyone who produces the flyer at the price of ? 1. 99. Unlike an offer a promise is the product of one persons intention and no acceptance is needed to create a binding contract where as an offer can be revoked until agreed upon.If Bruce had not put such specific terms in the advert simply offering the product at the wrong price he could have claimed it was an invitation to treat but as it stands Bruce is legally obligated to follow through with his unilateral promise. To quote the court in regards to Hunter v General Accident Fire and Life Ass urance Corporation (1909) â€Å"†¦ when a general offer addressed to the public is appropriated to himself by a distinct acceptance by one person, then it is to be read in exactly the same was as if it had been addressed to the individual originally. In the case of Wolf and Wolf v Forfar Potato Co Ltd (1984) Forfar sent a telefax to Wolf & Wolf offering to sell potatoes at a specific price but the offer was only valid until 5pm the next day Wolf & Wolf replied accepting the offer but with extra conditions to which Forfar did not accept and when Wolf & Wolf later tried to accept the original offer there was no reply by Forfar and the potatoes were not sent. Wolf & Wolf sued arguing that Forfar were in breach of contract.The court held that Wolf & Wolf’s first â€Å"acceptance† was a counter offer and due to the law in Scotland this had rejected Forfar’s offer and put in place a new offer which Forfar had rejected as Forfar’s offer had lapsed upon rej ection Wolf & Wolf’s second attempt at accepting the original offer could not result in a contract being made as it was a new offer which Forfar had chosen not to accept therefore no contract existed between the parties.The area of Law concerned in this case is The Law of Contract specifically relating to the revocation of an offer and counter offers. The case Wolf and Wolf vs Forfar Potato Co Ltd (1984) directly links to the case between Bruce and Ken. As Bruce is once again dealing with the Law of Contract specifically the non-acceptance of an offer, he is under no legal obligation to sell Ken the rare vinyl at the original price of ? 40. When Ken rejected he original offer he created a counter offer which in Scots law is a completely new offer and caused Bruce’s original offer to lapse and was up to Bruce to decide wether or not to accept the new terms, after Bruce rejected the counter offer all offers between Bruce and Ken had lapsed. When Ken came back insisting t hat there was a contract between them and he was entitled to the album Bruce was in fact under no legal requirement to give Ken the vinyl as all offers had lapsed and no contract existed between then.In the case of Fisher v Bell (1961) a shopkeeper had displayed a flick-knife in his window with a price tag next to it but under the restriction of Offensive Weapons Accontents Restriction of Offensive Act (1959) it was illegal to sell hire or offer to sell or hire any knife which had a blade that opened automatically, on December 12 1959 the shopkeeper was brought to trial alleging that the defendant had broken the law by offering to sell the knife in his shop.The shopkeeper was acquitted on the basis that by displaying the knife it was an invitation to treat and not an offer to sell. In regard to Stella we are once again dealing with the Law of Contract specifically relating to an invitation to treat rather than an offer. When Stella was trying to purchase the CD for the advertised pr ice of ? 1. 39 instead of ? 13. 99 she in fact had no legal authority to do so as the price offered was an invitation to treat and not a contract but rather an invitation to enter into one.The contract is not created until a price is agreed and the item has been paid for. Stella is basically making Bruce and offer to pay ? 1. 39 for the CD as that is what it has been advertised as and by Bruce not accepting the offer due to a mislabeling issue a contract has not been formed. As in the case of Fisher v Bell (1961) just because there is a price tag next to an item or on an item the establishment is under no obligation to sell at said price.In conclusion in regard to the first legal question Bruce is legally bound to sell the Album at the price stated in the advert as it was a unilateral promise which is legally binding contract and not able to be revoked like a offer. In regards to Ken after he counter offered Bruce’s original offer to buy the rare vinyl Bruce was no longer und er any legal obligation to sell the rare album to Ken as the offer had lapsed meaning no contract was in place.Finally Stella is unable to take legal action against Bruce and Bruce does not have to sell the CD to Stella at the advertised price and it was an invitation to treat and not an offer and although the two are similar when dealing with an invitation to treat rather than an offer there is no liability to accept. CITATIONS Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company (1893) Wolf and Wolf v Forfar Potato Co Ltd (1984) Hunter v General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation (1909) Fisher v Bell (1961) BIBLIOGRAPHY Black, G (Editor) – Business Law in Scotland 2nd edition Crossan & Wylie – Introductory Scots Law 2nd edition Scots Law of Contract All of the case studies are concerned with the Law of Contract, specifically the formation of a contract and the differences between an invitation to treat and a contract. We will investigate each consumers’s specific contract or lack thereof individually and advise Bruce on his legal position. A contract is an agreement between two or more parties which in Scotland does not need to take a specific form, as a spoken agreement is still equally as enforceable as a written contract in certain circumstances such as in most social and domestic arrangements.A contract creates a legally binding bond between the parties involved. Contracts are made everyday sometimes without even realising it from buying a coffee to buying a house. A contract is formed bilaterally when an offer has been unconditionally accepted by all parties involved leading to consensus in idem and is not to be confused with a promise which is a unilateral agreement requiring only one party to make the promise. In B ruce’s case some of the customer’s mentioned have not actually entered into a contract but rather have either received an offer or an invitation to treat.An offer unlike a contract is not legally enforceable but rather an invitation to enter into a contract and an invitation to treat is not an offer but rather an invitation to make an offer. In the case of Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company (1893) The Carbolic Smoke Ball Company released an advertisement stating that a ? 100 reward would be paid to any person who contracted influenza, colds or any disease caused by taking cold, after having used the ball three times daily for two weeks according to the printed directions supplied with each ball.Despite the claims one of the companies customers Mrs Carlill caught the flu and sued the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company for the ? 100 they refused to pay her stating that their advert was in fact a legally binding contract which she had accepted by purchasing the product. The a bove case could be applied to Bruce as his failure to properly state the conditions in his advertisement will result in him having to honor his original promise of selling the â€Å"Slow Patrol† CD to as many customers as ave a flyer at the price stated on the advert. Although most modern adverts are treated as an invitation to treat this particular advert would be considered a unilateral promise as Bruce has promised to sell the CD to anyone who produces the flyer at the price of ? 1. 99. Unlike an offer a promise is the product of one persons intention and no acceptance is needed to create a binding contract where as an offer can be revoked until agreed upon.If Bruce had not put such specific terms in the advert simply offering the product at the wrong price he could have claimed it was an invitation to treat but as it stands Bruce is legally obligated to follow through with his unilateral promise. To quote the court in regards to Hunter v General Accident Fire and Life Ass urance Corporation (1909) â€Å"†¦ when a general offer addressed to the public is appropriated to himself by a distinct acceptance by one person, then it is to be read in exactly the same was as if it had been addressed to the individual originally. In the case of Wolf and Wolf v Forfar Potato Co Ltd (1984) Forfar sent a telefax to Wolf & Wolf offering to sell potatoes at a specific price but the offer was only valid until 5pm the next day Wolf & Wolf replied accepting the offer but with extra conditions to which Forfar did not accept and when Wolf & Wolf later tried to accept the original offer there was no reply by Forfar and the potatoes were not sent. Wolf & Wolf sued arguing that Forfar were in breach of contract.The court held that Wolf & Wolf’s first â€Å"acceptance† was a counter offer and due to the law in Scotland this had rejected Forfar’s offer and put in place a new offer which Forfar had rejected as Forfar’s offer had lapsed upon rej ection Wolf & Wolf’s second attempt at accepting the original offer could not result in a contract being made as it was a new offer which Forfar had chosen not to accept therefore no contract existed between the parties.The area of Law concerned in this case is The Law of Contract specifically relating to the revocation of an offer and counter offers. The case Wolf and Wolf vs Forfar Potato Co Ltd (1984) directly links to the case between Bruce and Ken. As Bruce is once again dealing with the Law of Contract specifically the non-acceptance of an offer, he is under no legal obligation to sell Ken the rare vinyl at the original price of ? 40. When Ken rejected he original offer he created a counter offer which in Scots law is a completely new offer and caused Bruce’s original offer to lapse and was up to Bruce to decide wether or not to accept the new terms, after Bruce rejected the counter offer all offers between Bruce and Ken had lapsed. When Ken came back insisting t hat there was a contract between them and he was entitled to the album Bruce was in fact under no legal requirement to give Ken the vinyl as all offers had lapsed and no contract existed between then.In the case of Fisher v Bell (1961) a shopkeeper had displayed a flick-knife in his window with a price tag next to it but under the restriction of Offensive Weapons Accontents Restriction of Offensive Act (1959) it was illegal to sell hire or offer to sell or hire any knife which had a blade that opened automatically, on December 12 1959 the shopkeeper was brought to trial alleging that the defendant had broken the law by offering to sell the knife in his shop.The shopkeeper was acquitted on the basis that by displaying the knife it was an invitation to treat and not an offer to sell. In regard to Stella we are once again dealing with the Law of Contract specifically relating to an invitation to treat rather than an offer. When Stella was trying to purchase the CD for the advertised pr ice of ? 1. 39 instead of ? 13. 99 she in fact had no legal authority to do so as the price offered was an invitation to treat and not a contract but rather an invitation to enter into one.The contract is not created until a price is agreed and the item has been paid for. Stella is basically making Bruce and offer to pay ? 1. 39 for the CD as that is what it has been advertised as and by Bruce not accepting the offer due to a mislabeling issue a contract has not been formed. As in the case of Fisher v Bell (1961) just because there is a price tag next to an item or on an item the establishment is under no obligation to sell at said price.In conclusion in regard to the first legal question Bruce is legally bound to sell the Album at the price stated in the advert as it was a unilateral promise which is legally binding contract and not able to be revoked like a offer. In regards to Ken after he counter offered Bruce’s original offer to buy the rare vinyl Bruce was no longer und er any legal obligation to sell the rare album to Ken as the offer had lapsed meaning no contract was in place.Finally Stella is unable to take legal action against Bruce and Bruce does not have to sell the CD to Stella at the advertised price and it was an invitation to treat and not an offer and although the two are similar when dealing with an invitation to treat rather than an offer there is no liability to accept. CITATIONS Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company (1893) Wolf and Wolf v Forfar Potato Co Ltd (1984) Hunter v General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation (1909) Fisher v Bell (1961) BIBLIOGRAPHY Black, G (Editor) – Business Law in Scotland 2nd edition Crossan & Wylie – Introductory Scots Law 2nd edition

Oliver Peoples Essay

Oliver Peoples Essay Oliver Peoples Essay Wesley Harvin #1 Www. Style.com September 10, 2013 â€Å" OLIVER PEOPLES REFOCUESE ITS WEB SITE† The sunglass and optical frame company of 25 years known as Oliver Peoples has created new online experience for costumers and eye wear fanatics, with a new and improved web site. The site was created to preserve their classic reputation while staying relevant in the market. The new site is broken down in to four categories, two of them being optical, sun wear and the other two which are â€Å" The world of peoples† and â€Å" Working Opticians â€Å" two features on the site that demonstrate editorial content, collaborations within the company and the designee process behind the company. The co- owner and creative director said that â€Å"Although in my opinion, nothing can really compare to our in-store experience,† â€Å"the new site is as close as it gets.† After reading the article in my personal opinion I felt as though it was interesting to see a company that old and in the market of eye wear to take such measures to advertise a product, that most of the time is an in store kind of thing, like mentioned in the article. From what I am guessing I could imagine the new web site makes it more sensible and reassuring for per say a customer interested in buying a product off-line appose to going to a store. I mentioned before that I thought this was an interesting that this company made a whole new website, but I also believe it is sensible, as far as competing and staying ahead of other

Topic Clusters What They Are (And How They Can Boost Your Traffic)

Topic Clusters What They Are (And How They Can Boost Your Traffic) What do you think when you hear â€Å"topic clusters†? Your initial thought might not be â€Å"the future of SEO and content strategy.† That’s okay. It’s probably not the first thought your competition has, either. And that’s where the opportunity lies for you and your brand. In this post, we’re going to cover exactly what topic clusters are and how you can leverage them for your brand. A few key benefits here include: Higher rankings, traffic, and conversions. Greater authority with your audience. Improving the results from every piece of content you publish around a given topic. It’s time to take your  content strategy and keyword research  to the next level. What Are Topic Clusters (And How Can They Boost Your Traffic)?Download Your Free Topic Cluster Keyword Research Template Building effective topic clusters requires careful planning and thoughtful execution. With so many different moving pieces in the process from idea to implementation, you’ll likely find yourself looking for help along the way. With these free templates, you’ll be able to create everything you’ll need with ease. Download this bundle now and you’ll get: A Topic Cluster Keyword Research Template to store your topical ideas and keyword data. A  Marketing Calendar Template to plan out all your content. A Latent Semantic Indexing Infographic explaining how to use secondary keywords to create content that thoroughly covers a complete topic. Grab your freebies quick, and then let’s get down to learning. What Are Topic Clusters? A topic cluster is a group of interlinked web pages. They’re built around one piece of pillar content targeting a broad topic, linked to several related but more narrowly-focused pages. Seem complicated? It’s more simple than it sounds. Here’s a visual guide to what a topical content cluster might look like: For further explanation, watch this excellent brief video from Hubspot: Why Are Topic Clusters Important? Once upon a time, marketers could win by targeting a single keyword per page. Now, targeting entire topics is the key to success. There are a few primary reasons for this: Personalized search has made keyword rankings more fluid. Since Google tailors search results to individual users, keyword ranking positions are harder to calculate across the board. Search engines are better at understanding semantically related concepts. Advanced search algorithms are now better at understanding when multiple search terms are actually about the same thing. This means a piece of content targeting one keyword may rank for several other related terms. Google (and other search engines) want to provide users with authoritative and trustworthy results. One way to show your authority to people and bots alike is to consistently create useful and accurate content around a topic, rather than one-off pieces targeted to particular keywords. Here's why (and how) you should target topics over keywords:Collectively, this means sites that feature multiple pieces of content thoroughly addressing a given topic will generally outperform those with fewer, less authoritative pieces. As a result, the implications of this for marketers are clear. You need to be focusing on the big picture (and that means thinking topics). The benefits to this approach are numerous, too. Here are just a few: They keep audiences on your site. If you have tons of content related to your visitor’s interests, they’ll be more likely to stick around (and potentially purchase from you). When one piece does well, every interlinked page does better, too. Creating content around a topic often improves the search rankings of other similar content that’s already on your site. In some cases, this can lead to owning multiple SERP positions for a single keyword. They help bring in more traffic. As a result of increased rankings, you’ll bring in more visitors. And as we’ve established, they’ll be more likely to stick around on-site. This builds a positive feedback loop of increasing traffic and conversions. Sounds too good to ignore, right? That’s because it is (and fortunately, we’re here to show you how to achieve these benefits yourself). Recommended Reading: The Most Massive SEO Copywriting Guide That Will Make Your Traffic Soar What Do Real-World Topic Clusters Look Like? It’s easier to emulate something you can actually see, right? So, let’s take a look at two examples of sites applying this principle so you can learn from their approach. Example 1: Jeff Goins Guide to SEO Jeff Goins is a highly successful writer and marketer who understands how to present content in a way readers and search engines love. His beginners guide to SEO is a great example of this. First, we’ll look at the URL of his pillar content. It’s targeting a nice, broad topic (SEO guide): The body content is crisp, concise, and well-written. It summarizes the main topic and touches on some basic high-level questions a reader might have: Then, at the bottom, he has internal links to several pieces of related content targeting narrowly-defined subtopics around his pillar content: Each of these pieces of sub-content is internally linked to one another, too: Example 2: Moz Beginners Guide to Content Strategy The Moz brand is synonymous with search engine optimization and content marketing itself. They’ve spent years establishing themselves as a leading industry authority. So, it’s no surprise to see them utilizing topic clusters effectively on their site. Take a look at their Beginner’s Guide to Content Strategy. It’s similar to the example from Jeff Goins above. Instead of being a series of interconnected blog posts, though, it’s built with a collection of pages directly on their website. The first page targets a simple question: â€Å"What is content marketing?† That’s a common query. Using Moz’s own Keyword Explorer, it looks like it gets a decent amount of search volume: The page is comprehensive (over 2,000 words- while word count doesn’t matter too much, it does indicate this is an in-depth piece). It also links to other relevant pages that help answer the searcher’s question: Near the bottom, each page in the guide makes it easy to navigate to the next one (the internal link in the button also shows search engines that each of these pieces are related): At the very bottom, you can easily access every chapter in the guide. Again, those internal links help show search engines these are all connected, with topically relevant keywords on each page covering an entire subject (content marketing): If you read the title of each chapter, you’ll notice each one tackles a different piece of one core topic. Many of those pieces also ranks well in organic search. Here’s an example of a search for â€Å"content ideation† (which is chapter 5): This illustrates a clear benefit to building dense topic clusters: when one piece succeeds, it pulls up the rest of the cluster with it. When one piece in a topic cluster succeeds, it pulls up the rest of the cluster with it.Getting Started: Selecting Topics Let’s get down to business and figure out how you can build topic clusters yourself. The first step is to identify topics that are relevant to your brand and audience. These could include: Problems your audience faces. What do your potential customers need help getting done? What you want to be known for. What topics do you want to be the Internet's top authority on? Things people use your products for. What do customers buy your product to accomplish? These are a few simple examples. Brainstorm Topics Like a Genius If you need to generate tons of ideas fast, try our simple three-step brainstorming process. Here’s how it works: Gather your team and spend ten minutes writing down as many ideas as you can think. Don’t worry if those ideas are good (yet). Just get them out there. Spend another ten minutes scoring those ideas. Nominate one team member to gather everyone’s responses and read them aloud (while keeping the original contributor anonymous). Then, have everyone on your team rate each idea on a three-point scale. 3’s are awesome ideas you need to act on, 2’s are okay (but need some work), and 1’s are duds. Spend the final ten minutes of your meeting narrowing down unanimous 3’s. These are your very best ideas and the ones that should get top priority for consideration. This process will consistently yield tons of great topics in a short amount of time. Recommended Reading: The Best 30-Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process Next, Start Doing Keyword Research If we’re targeting topics, does that mean keywords no longer matter? Not at all. Keywords remain as important as ever. When it comes to building out topic clusters though, the key is to create multiple pieces of content with different keyword phrases that all revolve around one central theme. To do that, we’ll need to select a core keyword topic for our pillar content, and several related terms for other pieces of supporting content.

Employee stress in the work place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Employee stress in the work place - Essay Example Managers need to create a stress-free environment at the workplace for employees in order to ensure sustainable organizational performance. In this paper, we will discuss some of the main factors that can contribute to employee stress in the workplace, as well as the possible measures that managers can take to reduce stress in employees. 2. Factors That Cause Stress in Employees There are many individual, administrative, job concerning factors that can cause stress in employees. Some of those factors include discrimination, keeping employees away in decision-making processes, less promotional opportunities, rotating shifts, work overload, role conflict, team-based conflicts, excessive managerial control, increased job timings, lack of confidentiality, unsafe working conditions, and less salary (Akrani 2011). Let us discuss some of these issues in detail to know the way they cause stress in employees. 2.1 Discrimination Discrimination is one of the main factors that make employees str essed. Discrimination occurs when managers give preference to a particular individual or a group of individuals while taking any important decision. Such preference is usually based on racial, ethics, social, religious, and gender differences. For example, promoting a male employee to a higher position even when his performance is low than his female counterparts. Such decisions put a negative impact on the productivity and performance of other employees. 2.2 Keeping Employees Away In Decision-Making Processes Employees also feel stressed and depressed when they are not involved in decision-making processes related to their jobs. Employees want some recognition and value for the performances that they show for their companies. Involving them in decision-making processes is one of the best ways to do so. However, when employees are neglected during critical decision-making processes, they feel inferior and their level of commitment to their jobs decreases. 2.3 Less Promotional Opport unities If there are less opportunities of employee promotion in a company, employees may not like to work there because of less chances of career development. Working in a company where there are less progress opportunities and job enrichment is a main factor of stress in employees. 2.4 Increased Job Timings The balance between work life and family life is very important for every employee. In situations where employees do not find enough time to spend with their families due to longer working hours is also a reason of stress in employees. 2.5 Work Overload As Akrani (2011, p. 1) states, â€Å"excessive work load leads to stress as it puts a person under tremendous pressure†. Employees feel stressed when their managers give them huge amounts of work to complete in a single day. Similarly, giving less or very simple work also causes stress in employees. Doing work of simple nature leads to boredom that eventually leads to stress and depression. 3. Strategies for Managing Stre ss in Employees As Manley (n.d.) states, â€Å"stress in the workplace is bad for an employee's health and also causes distractions, making it harder for the stressed individual to perform their job† (p. 1). It is the responsibility of managers to take effective measures and strategies to offset those negative effects

Cultural Differences and Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cultural Differences and Justice - Essay Example From a social science perspective, the term refers to an individual's subjective perceptions of whether or not he/she is treated fairly (Markovsky, 1985 in Mueller and Mulinge, 2002). It is likewise important to consider that justice pertains to the application of a normative rule to the allocation of resources to recipients (ibid). It is important to examine these subjective perceptions of justice and injustice since individuals' understanding affects their attitudes and perceptions of the subject. Since cultural differences may alter a group's perception on what is just and what is not, it then implies that people's actions and approaches to these actions on the given subject also vary. The perception and understanding of justice is different in various nations and cultures, thus there is a need to focus on cultural differences when attempting to understand how a particular group views this concept. It must be noted that the concept of justice has not only emerged from levels of individual issues but also from levels of group or collective issues (Hayashi and Sekiguchi, 2006, p. 207). This is where the importance of how a group perceives the concept of justice and injustice takes place. It is from this multi-level perception that this paper considers describing how cultural differences alter understanding of injustice and approaches to justice. Collective justice perception is tended to be viewed to have associations with group-oriented cultures such as India. It connotes whether a group as a whole is treated fairly within the organisation and how such understanding of justice alters their view of said treatment (Hayashi and Sekiguchi, 2006, p. 207). In India, it may be inferred that religion is a factor that alters people's understanding of injustice and approaches to justice, accounting for a cultural difference between its people and the rest of the world. As a starting off, it is important to mention that the Indian culture and its general economic structure are heavily founded on religion and there is a need to understand the system of worship as well as the central concept of reincarnation governing people's lives. The cultural differences of the Indian people in terms of understanding justice and injustice lie on the understanding of various connections between Hinduism and general Indian culture, which includes history with an underlying caste system that has thrived for several centuries. The Indian caste system governs the social system in India, directly linking religious beliefs and social segregation into status groups, thereby creating divisions. Weber notes the prevention of the development of urban status groups by this caste system (Dumont and Gulati, 1980). He analysed how the aspect of traditionalism of the caste system is supported by religion and posits that the economic development of India is slowed as the "spirit" of

Evolution of Life in Prisons Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Evolution of Life in Prisons - Research Paper Example However, the male and female prisoners were kept in the same area, although housed in different dorms. The women were normally kept in attics and were subject to sexual abuse. Historical studies done by Johnson, Dobrzanska, Palla (2005), show that due to shortcomings of the Congregate System in terms of rehabilitating the prisoners, the format was discontinued in order to try out the Reformatory era of prisons. During this era, men were taught skills and educated in classes which would help them become better citizens upon leaving prison. Military drills were part of their daily training in an effort to create gentlemen out of the convicts. While women were educated in decorum and housework in preparation of what was then deemed to be the proper role of women in society. (p. 6) The 20th century saw the advent of the so called â€Å"Big-House†, a place where the punishment or work assigned to the prisoners did nothing to help redeem their soul or place in society. Instead, it w as a place where men were made to do empty jobs just to show that their spirits had been broken and that they were now submissive to those running the prison. This was the era when â€Å"Chain Gangs† became known as the term for prisoners and they were used mostly in the government construction field. This type of prison became the norm in the 1930's. Any prisoner who found himself out of line was given Corporal Punishment. Although much stricter than a penitentiary, the Big House was seen as more lenient and effective in reforming the prisoners since they had a wider sense of freedom in the Big House set up. (p.9) In the modern times, prisons came to be known as Correctional Institutions and function far differently from their early counterparts. According to Pearson (2009) , modern prisons are actually mini communities that function by their own set of rules and regulations independent of the prison laws. Male and female prisoners now exhibit a distinct lifestyle and values system which helps them adapt to life outside of the world they once knew. (p.2) It was only 30 years ago when the penal system of America came to the realization that the old way of treating prisoners was not effective in any way due to the disconnect between the prisoners, the prison administration, and the outside world. Mark Saunders, the warden of the Southeast Correctional Institution in Ohio wrote (2006), that the modern prison system works with the prisoners in order to help them become educated, trained, and motivated to change their ways. No longer are prisons expected to simply be the holding place for societies problem members. These days, prisons are expected to impact the lives of the male and female prisoners positively. Prisoners need to adjust psychologically to their prison lives. according to psychologist Robert Morgan, PhD (2003), requires the help of prison psychologists to overcome. He explains that â€Å""There's a great need for these folks to receive psych ological services ...†. According to Pearson (2006), they now need to â€Å"learn convict values, roles, attitude, and language in order to survive the prison subculture† (p.4) Prisoners quickly learn that in order to to evolve and survive in their new atomosphere they must abide by the 5 Elements of the Prison Code namely: 1. Don't interfere with the interests of other inmates - don't rat on others 2. Play it cool - do your own time 3. Don't whine - be a man / woman 4. Don't exploit inmates - don't break your word 5.

The Recruitment And Selection Process Business Essay

The Recruitment And Selection Process Business Essay In this report the topic that will be discussed is The Recruitment and Selection process and how it has moved on from the days of newspaper ads and block interviews. The introduction of the report will discuss recruitment and selection and the methods of recruitment and selection. The main body of the report will focus on companies today, and how they are recruiting and selecting with more innovative approaches that many companies are beginning to use in 2013. Then in the report there will be a section on some weaknesses about the ways in which companies are beginning to recruit and select. To conclude the report I will sum up everything on the topic of recruitment and selection and state my opinion. Recruitment and selection is one of the many roles played by a human resource manager in an organisation. In the human resource department they deal with what positions need to be filled, they take the possible candidates through a series of interviews, select the best candidate for the job, the training of the employees, they also tell the employees all about the services they offer and they make sure that the employees and the organisation are highly motivated. Organisations all over the world have realized that human resources is a very valuable asset to them and therefore necessary measures have been put in place to make sure that the organisation will gain and keep a highly skilled workforce which would guarantee that the organisation manage a competitive advantage over its competitors (Jones George, 2007). In recruiting and selecting it is very important to have a clear job description and personal specification. A job description will entail what the title of the job is, to whom the job holder will be responsible and for whom they will be responsible too. It will also entail what their roles and responsibilities will be. A person specification will look for what skills and characteristics the applicants will need for the job. When applying the two together they provide the foundation for a job advertisement. Recruitment is the process in which you source possible applicants for a job. The manager who is in charge of hiring the applicants can use the likes of job boards, social networking sites, recruitment programmes that may be linked with colleges and possibly job fairs. These may be used by companies to create an interest in jobs that are available in a certain company (Peterson, J. 2013). Selection is the process where when all the candidates have been selected the group of candidates will be broken down and one out of all of them will be selected for the job. This process may and can require a couple of different interviews and assessments of the applicants personality (Peterson, J. 2013). For the selection of a candidate, many organisations use a range of different tools and technologies to measure a candidates abilities and skills, allowing them to successfully choose the most qualified candidates that would benefit the company most to proceed to the interview process. By assessing a candidates skills this will enable the organisation to look into different qualifications within the interview.(Human Resource Management in Ireland 3rd edition (2006) Page 119). As part of the recruitment and selection process, it is very important to assess the candidates true interest in the company and their position in the organisation, which can then ensure you are hiring a long-term employee. A good way to retain employees in an organisation is to include things such as telling them about their salary and the benefits that they may offer within the good work environment. Today there are many different methods of recruitment such as: 1. Internal methods e.g. Internal promotion 2. External agencies e.g. Employment agency 3. Printed media e.g. National local newspapers 4. Other media e.g. Internet, TV 5. Education Liaison e.g. Careers fairs 6. Professional contracts e.g. Conferences, trade unions 7. Other methods e.g. Past applicants, word of mouth (Noel Harvey Lecture slides) There are a few different selection processes, which are as follows: The interview The objective of this, is to meet the candidate face to face to see if they are the right person for the job, to record some answers to critical incident-type questions, to discuss contractual terms and conditions etc. Psychometric tests Standardised test of performance attitudes or personality. There are a few different types for example: cognitive ability, personality, attitudes and values, and career choice and guidance. These tests can either precede or follow interview stage. Results can form basis of further interview questions, or interview can be used to feedback test results. Assessment centres Multiple-method design, usually incorporating testing, interviews, and work sample exercises, where candidates are tested by observers on job-relevant dimensions. Can last from 1-5 days. These are usually the final stage of assessment to reach outcome decisions. This is a good form of selection because it gives employers the opportunity to observe candidates over a longer period of time in formal and informal situations, and multiple assessments by several assessors over several exercises can eliminate some individual biases associated with one-to-one interviews.(Human Resource Management in Ireland 3rd edition (2006) Page 120) It is essential to recruit and select employees who are fully committed to the aims and objectives of the organisation. An employee who believes in what the company is about and what it wants to achieve, will try their best to accomplish the companys goals. They will want the company to be successful, and will feel the sense of achievement from being part of the companys success. By hiring the right high quality employees for the job, with the right qualifications and skills, who are determined to succeed, this will result in increased levels of organisation performance. Every company has recruitment and selection processes in place to hire their employees, for example Boston Scientific, ESB, Google, and Dunnes Stores etc. In recruiting today we are now in an era where technology rules. The whole process of the recruitment and selection has and is continuously changing and evolving as the years go by. Its changing as technology is changing. As stated in paragraphs above recruitment and selection strategies can vary but now employers are turning to more efficient, effective and modern ways of recruiting staff. Methods today are changing drastically for not just the employer but the employee too. Online recruitment is the way forward and in 2013 its what most companies are using to recruit and select. Online recruitment uses the power of the internet to match people to jobs (George Finnegan- Lecture slides). Some examples of the online recruitment methods are using social networking sites like Facebook and twitter, job boards and even mobile apps. Research shows that 2012 was the year for workforce innovation; companies were testing in the use of social media in branding and marketing their organisations. But in 2013 research has shown that now companies are taking social further and that this year 2013 will be the year of social HR, as many organisations are integrating with social technology to recruit, develop and engage employees (Meister. J, 2013). Employers have begun to find out more about who they may be recruiting and selecting by going online. The Death of the CV, in 2013 the traditional CV is being replaced by a persons personal brand and how they are portrayed online. Now that times have changed employers are checking out potential candidates backgrounds before they are even interviewed. The manager that is going to hire you will definitely look into some of the following sources about a potential employee. (Meister. J, 2013). They will check your Facebook profile. They will enter your name into Google and Bing to see what may come up. They will check up on your twitter account to see how many followers you have and to look through your tweets. They will check your LinkedIn profile, they will look into the quality and size of it community. They will also check your recommendations on your LinkedIn profile. Another innovative approach online that some employers are taking in recruiting and selecting candidates is through Gamification. This process is edging its way in through the back door. Here is an example of how the Marriott use it as a method of recruiting and selecting. The Marriott Hotel have come up with a hotel-themed game that is played online, its quite similar to Farmville. In this game the players (potential candidates) have to play and manage the responsibilities if they were to be an actual manager in a kitchen. The candidate playing the game will get to know a bit about the industry, also there is a reward system in place to make it more realistic for the candidates. The basis behind the game is first of all the Marriotts name is growing outside the market, and the younger generation coming up they are finding new ways to interest them in careers in hospitality. Gamification is now a popular tool being used in the recruitment process because it attracts possible candidates through these social games on Facebook and LinkedIn. The game My Marriot on Facebook is an opportunity for any company to use a social network like these as a platform to engage global perspective new hires and show them what it could be like to work for them in there co mpany (Meister. J, 2012). Another innovative approach used online to recruit is using YouTube a social media site it a very effective tool for recruiting employees today. It is used by managers who are hiring. They may talk about a role that they are looking to fill in their team. When using this method of recruitment it means that anybody who is a candidate for the job can get the chance to see where they might be working, who they may be working for and they may be working with. Another approach online that is being taken is RSS (really simple syndication). This website is used by applicants. Its a website that keeps potential applicants up to date with any jobs that have been posted online. There is a daily update about the posting of jobs without the applicant even having to return to the website. When the website is set up the RSS reader will continuously check websites for any new and available jobs that may have been posted online. It will then proceed to show these jobs to the applicant without them having to do a thing. This section of the report will discuss some of the disadvantages of online recruitment. Today online recruitment and selection is one of the most popular methods with most companies and it is the way forward in this process. There can also be some disadvantages to this method. The first disadvantage may be the high volume of responses to the job because now everyone around the world is able to gain internet access so easily they could see the job advertisement online. Many unqualified may apply for the job this may be time consuming for a company to go through each applicant. To avoid this happening make sure the job advertisement is specific to exactly what you are looking for. Another disadvantage is online recruiting is too impersonal because a lot of it involves emailing and telephone interviews this can make it come across as too impersonal. The employer may not get the chance to interview the possible candidate multiple times; this makes it hard for the employer to determine if the candidate would be correct for the job and for the company and its culture. Another disadvantage of online recruitment is security problems that may come about with the internet. People can create spams and fake profiles. Here are some of the more innovative approaches being taken by companies in 2013 towards filling vacancies in an organisation. These recruitment sources have become very popular also. This section of the report will discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of these different recruitment methods. Companies have now begun to use airplane banners in recruiting. The advantage of these is that it will grasp the attention of potential applicants. Although some may think it is an unprofessional approach even slightly intrusive. Companies have also begun to hang large banners and signs. The advantage of these banners is that they are cheap making them cost effective. But also they may be considered as an unprofessional approach and a busy location is always needed. Bill bored advertising is now another popular recruitment method. Its advantage is its a high volume attention grabber but its unable to display a large amount of information this could come as a disadvantage. Another popular recruitment method that is now being used is companies have begun to use competitions to recruit. The advantage of this would be the opportunity to evaluate skills before extending the job offer. It may be very time consuming though. The use of kiosks makes it easy for the person to apply for the job. The disadvantage of kiosks would be the unmonitored application flow. Many companies are now using movie ads because they attract people who are currently looking for a job. The disadvantage is that these ads may be intrusive and disturbing. Another recruitment method would be on site recruitment. Here the company can reach a wide variety and audience of people; it also saves time and deals with good public relations. There would be a disadvantage that it would deal with lots of unqualified applicants. To conclude this essay it entails a thorough analysis and discussion and on what the recruitment and selection process is and how it is one of the many roles played by a human resource manager. There is a definition of what recruitment is and what selection is and how they come together as a process. In the report it states many different methods of recruitment and different selection processes. It discusses why it is so essential to recruit and select employees who are fully committed. The report then goes on to discuss the innovative approaches that are now being used by companies in recruiting and selecting. This was the primary aim of the report. The main one and most popular being online recruitment. It discusses firstly how employers are now before interviewing possible candidates, finding out more about these candidates online. Then the report discusses a new innovative approach called gamification that is starting to become popular and how companies are using it as a tool for recruiting. The report also states some of the disadvantages of online recruitment. After discussing the innovative online approaches of recruitment and selection in the report, there is then a few other examples of innovative approaches that are being used in recruitment and selection in 2013. Here the advantages and disadvantages are discussed of each. In my opinion after researching this topic on recruitment and selection it gave me a better understanding and insight into how companies are going about recruiting and selecting today. As technology is evolving so are the methods and processes of recruitment and selection. In an article that was discussed in the report it stated that 2013 will be the year of social HR, as many organisations are integrating with social technology to recruit, develop and engage employees. The further I researched the more true this statement became. I feel after doing this research that online recruitment will be how all companies will be recruiting and selecting within the next few years. As technology gets more innovative so will the approaches to how companies will recruit and select. There where both pros and cons to online recruitment but within the next year I feel that any negative of online recruitment will be flushed out. There is no problem with using the old methods of recruitment and selection but as the new generation workforce coming up now they should be mostly aware and comfortable with the online methods that they are going to come across as they begin to look for employment.