James Bond films Essay Example

James Bond films Essay James Bond is a simple secret agent based on the books by Ian Fleming that were first created in the early 1950s, but has become an international British legend and the most successful film franchise ever. In forty years, twenty films have been made starring five different actors, each film being as brilliant and unique as the previous one. The Bond formula has remained successful because of the large number of differences and similarities between each film as well as the many simple characteristics of the Bond franchise. The charm, wit and heroic figure of James Bond has for many years made men want to be Bond and women want to be with Bond. Over the forty years, James Bond has developed many trademarks which are due to the effects of music, action, special editing and of course the unique plot of each film thought up by Ian Fleming. The opening sequence of every Bond film starts off with Bond in a dinner suit walking across the screen with a point-of-view shot from the barrel of a gun. Bond then abruptly turns and shoots the person aiming the gun; blood pours down the screen, and then cuts to the next shot. Every time a person watches this sequence, they can immediately establish that it is a James Bond film not only due to the special editing, but also the music. Bond has a world famous theme tune which is another trademark. In both the credit scenes of Goldfinger and Goldeneye, the soundtrack is sung by women with very strong, powerful voices who are Tina Turner and Shirley Bassie. We will write a custom essay sample on James Bond films specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on James Bond films specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on James Bond films specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The title of the film is continuously mentioned in the song and onscreen, there are silhouettes of girls or reflections of them on gold. This effect helps the audience to establish the genre of the film. The way Bond is introduced into each film usually has an impact on the audience. In Goldeneye, the audience sees a man on a mission dressed in black, however they are denied the mans identity, therefore many questions are raised such as Who is that? and What is he doing? . Suspense builds when the man does a bungee jump and the audience wonders why and whether he will survive or not. During this sequence, sound effects also add to the tension with plenty of diagetic sounds such as his footsteps, the plane and the loud gate. As the bungee jump is performed, there is a long silent and dramatic pause that is then broken by the sound of a gunshot which turns out to be one of Bonds numerous gadgets to draw him safely towards the ground. These all give the effect of action, drama and mystery which thrill the audience because it is exactly what they expect from a Bond film. In other films, Bond does not always appear in the opening sequence, and for instance, other men, whose identities are denied, will appear during the action and then may get killed to mislead the audience to wonder whether that was Bond who just died. However in Goldfinger, Bond enters in a wetsuit underwater, in low key lighting with a seagull on his head as a disguise. This time the only mystery is what Bond is up to but the use of a seagull creates humour and cuts any tension there may be within the audience. The audience then simply has to watch as Bond typically plants a bomb in the building. Once he completes this task, he simply removes his wetsuit to reveal an immaculately dressed secret agent in a dinner suit. This is a typical image of James Bond tiny characteristics such as his sartorial elegance is exactly what makes him such a unique character. In the opening sequence of Goldeneye, the loud diagetic sound of a plane is heard from a helicopter shot of an enormous dam which cuts straight to the man on a mission. The helicopter shot achieves the image of one man against an immense monolithic adversary which emphasises Bonds heroic figure. It is also clear to see that James Bond is typically British with his unusual politeness as well as his accent and dialogue. For example, in Goldeneye, he sneaks up on an enemy in the toilets and just before he punches the man, Bond says, Beg your pardon, forgot to knock. It is his iconic Englishness that also makes Bond a unique and memorable secret agent. James Bond is admired by women for his good looks and charms; however he does not always appear to be the perfect gentleman. Bond easily knows how to seduce a woman, by simply using his charms, although the audience does notice how quickly his behaviour changes in different situations. In Goldfinger, he is seen with three different women in the first few scenes alone. After seducing each one, he first uses one woman as a shield against an attacking enemy, and then later dismisses a woman in a rude and sexist manner. He appears to be charming but is remorselessly brutal when he needs to be. The way Bond quickly seduces different women, but never thinks about a more long-term partner emphasises the idea of working alone. James Bond is always working by himself never as part of a team and this also adds to his brave and heroic figure. There is always a villain in every Bond film, usually just as brutal as Bond and will do anything to defeat him. In Goldeneye the smartly dressed villain enters with an army of men aiming guns at Bond. When one of the men try to shoot Bond after being ordered not to, he is immediately shot by the villain. Similarly to Bond, the villain is brutal and feels no remorse for his actions. It seems the villain can never be any real threat towards Bond because all James Bond films have become predictable to a certain extent and the audience knows that the chances of Bond being killed are almost impossible. It is the special features of every Bond film such as the character of Bond, girls, villains, cars, gadgets, his iconic Englishness and of course the plot, which is what makes the Bond formula so successful. The James Bond franchise is so successful that spoofs have been created to try and match its fame, such as Austin Powers, but of course these could never match the success achieved by Bond.

Grand Apartheid in South Africa

Grand Apartheid in South Africa Apartheid is often loosely divided into two parts: petty and grand apartheid. Petty Apartheid was the most visible side of Apartheid. It was the segregation of facilities based on race. Grand Apartheid refers to the underlying limitations placed on black South Africans’ access to land and political rights.  These were the laws that prevented black South Africans from even living in the same areas as white people. They also denied black Africans political representation, and, at its most extreme, citizenship in South Africa. Grand Apartheid hit its peak in the 1960s and 1970s, but most of the important land and political rights laws were passed soon after the institution of Apartheid in 1949. These laws also built on legislation that limited black South Africans’ mobility and access to land dating back as far as 1787. Denied Land and Citizenship In 1910, four previously separate colonies united to form the Union of South Africa and legislation to govern the â€Å"native† population soon followed. In 1913, the government passed the Land Act of 1913. This law made it illegal for black South Africans to own or even rent land outside of native reserves, which amounted to just 7-8% of South African land. (In 1936, that percentage was technically increased to 13.5%, but not all of that land was ever actually turned into reserves.)  Ã‚   After 1949, the government began moving to make these reserves the homelands of black South Africans. In 1951 the Bantu Authorities Act gave increased authority to tribal leaders in these reserves. There were 10 homesteads in South African and another 10 in what is today Namibia (then governed by South Africa). In 1959, the Bantu Self-Government Act made it possible for these homesteads to be self-governing but under the power of South Africa. In 1970, the Black Homelands Citizenship Act declared that black South Africans were citizens of their respective reserves and not citizens of South Africa, even those who had never lived in their homesteads. At the same time, the government moved to strip the few political rights black and colored individuals had in South Africa. By 1969, the only people permitted to vote in South Africa were those who were white. Urban Separations As white employers and homeowners wanted cheap black labor, they never tried to make all black South Africans live in the reserves. Instead, they enacted the 1951 Group Areas Act which divided urban areas by race and required the forced relocation of those people – usually black – who found themselves living in an area now designated for people of another race. Inevitably, the land allocated to those classified as black was furthest away from city centers, which meant long commutes to work in addition to poor living conditions. Blamed juvenile crime on the long absences of parents who had to travel so far to work. Limiting Mobility Several other laws limited the mobility of black South Africans. The first of these were the pass laws, which regulated the movement of black people in and out of European colonial settlements. Dutch colonists passed the first pass laws at the Cape in 1787, and more followed in the 19th century. These laws were intended to keep black Africans out of cities and other spaces, with the exception of laborers. In 1923, the government of South Africa passed the Native (Urban Areas) Act of 1923, which set up systems- including mandatory passes- to control the flow of black men between urban and rural areas. In 1952, these laws were replaced with the Natives Abolition of Passes and Coordination of Documents Act. Now all black South Africans, instead of just men, were required to carry passbooks at all times. Section 10 of this law also stated that black people who did not â€Å"belong† to a city – which was based on birth and employment – could stay there for no more than 72 hours.  The African National Congress protested these laws, and Nelson Mandela famously burned his passbook in protest at the Sharpeville Massacre.

Things you probably didn`t know about British student life

Things you probably didn`t know about British student life Interesting facts from the history of British student life British student life was quite interesting and exciting even during the Middle Ages. It was full of various traditions, riots, revelries, and characters†¦ Women were not always welcome in academia The male students of Cambridge University didn`t want female students to be granted with the full degrees. In 1897, they hung an effigy of a female cyclist from Cambridge Senate House to show their disapproval. Only in 1948 women could finally get the full degrees. In the late 19th century the first female colleges were established. Women had the opportunity to receive education. However, their student life was not easy. Female students were narrowly watched and tightly scheduled. The violent student protests There was an increasing tension between the local people and Oxford`s students. The St Scholastica Day riot of 1355 became the bloodiest conflict in British student history. There was a violent pub brawl between two scholars and the taverner. After that, the armed struggle began. The medical students had the conflict over vivisection which lasted almost seven years. They scuffled with police, let off stink bombs during court cases, and attacked effigies of a local magistrate. In 1907 a lot of students marched on London in order to defend their rights. In 2010 the student protests spilled over into violence on the streets of London. Students breached the peace, smashing windows, throwing eggs, and setting off the smoke bombs. As a result, 153 students were arrested. The admittance of the young students Nowadays, a lot of the senior students can laugh at the freshmen, who can behave like little children. However, during the Tudor and Stuart periods it was quite normal to admit the students in the age of 12 to the university. The process of gaining a university degree was very long. Those young students could impress their tutors with the astonishing knowledge of different languages and subjects. The boundless merrymaking Students have enjoyed a bit of revelry since the earliest times. St Andrews University is known for its party atmosphere. The tradition of the ‘Raising Weekend’ was something special. Students had several days of parties and challenges which usually ended with a foam fight. That is how the academic family welcomed its freshmen. In the 16th century, the students of Cambridge University usually entertained their peers with the satirical comedies. Everybody was drinking and singing until the morning. They even made fun of the local people. Sometimes, such celebrations could be uncontrollable, so the university authorities were forced to ban such revelry for three years. A warm welcome of foreign students Foreign students could study at the British universities since the 12th century. Many of them faced suspicion, hostility, discrimination, and prejudice. However, a large number pained a positive picture of their student life in Britain as a foreigner. Edward Atiyah, who was born in the Ottoman Empire, was treated with friendliness and kindness while studying at Oxford. He didn`t feel that he was a stranger among the English people. He had positive experience of studying in another country. Samuel Satthianadhan was the Indian student, who studied at Cambridge in the 1870s. He felt himself quite comfortable studying with British students. He had not any feeling of awkwardness. Moreover, the British universities welcomed a lot of the refugee students during the two world wars. Student life was remarkably regulated The student life was not always the time of freedom. In the Middle Ages, students` behavior and morals were significantly controlled. Students were supposed to be sober in character and honest in life. They hadn`t enough time for the extra-curricular activities they were interested in. Students practices archery or took walks speaking in Latin. In 1410 the authorities of Oxford University issued a decree which enforced the students to live in the university halls to prevent them from visiting brothels and taverns at night. Universities weren`t just for the rich It is a popular belief that only children from the wealthy families could study at the first British universities. The medieval Oxford, St Andrews, and Cambridge admitted students from the middle-ranking families. By the 17th century the sizarships were established. Sizars had to work as university servants in order to pay the reduced fees. It was rather degrading for them, but such early bursary system gave many bright minds the opportunity to get the higher education.

Assess the extent to which governments shape the global oil economy Essay

Assess the extent to which governments shape the global oil economy. In your analysis, consider the respective roles of nature, industrial structure and war - Essay Example y by oil prices, since it is the major economic activities in such countries factors such as political corruption, foreign debt, militarization, and power intervention are problems that this countries experience. Energy is a key driver of growth and industrialization in this century. The current global economy relies heavily on oil as a form of energy, manufacturing, transport and other key industry depend on oil either directly or indirectly. Some of the household goods as well as cooking gas is as a result of oil, hence, the global population depends heavily on oil. Due to this reasons oil prices have been reported to be very volatile, and this has affected both developed and developing nations. Fluctuations of oil prices shift political balances around the globe. When the oil prices are high the exporters tend to gain power, but face severe challenges when the prices drops (Bridge and Le billion, 2012). The need to control sources of oil has historically made many countries to go to war. For instance, the US paced an oil embargo over Japan, which obstructed 80 percent of its oil supply. This then prompted Japan to join World War II with the embargo being one of their key motivator. Oil industry is a continuous process that involves extraction of oil from the earth. There are two levels in this industry structure, upstream and downstream. Upstream comprises activities such as explorations, looking for oil bearing lands, construction of gas separators and oil well infrastructure. Downstream comprises of activities such as transportation that is sometimes done through pipelines, railroads and tankers; refining, which is the process of converting crude oil to usable products such as gasoline and fuel oil; and finally marketing that is done by setting up petrol stations. This industry is capital intensive despite using sophisticated technology in present times (Bridge and Le billion, 2012). Everything from production requires large amount of capitals and this has

Mcdonald's case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Mcdonald's - Case Study Example In 2003, McDonalds reinvented its mission/vision by implementing a â€Å"Plan to win† strategy that focuses on becoming â€Å"bigger, not just better†. Action plans in implementing this strategy are to increase sales in every geographic segment of the business; to offer relevant menu to its 60 million customers per day, and to gain the confidence of stockholders by the profitability of its operation. McDonald uses 5 key strategies in implementing this plan, i.e. product, price, people, place and promotion (McDonalds 2009 annual report). In increasing sales in every geographic segment of the business thru franchising. Focused on brand availability, menu variety, beverage choice, convenience and day part expansion. McDonalds introduced McCafe and premium Angus third pounder, focused on classic favorites like big Mac and Quarter Pounder, and emphasized affordability in the US market; and in mid-2010s introduced frappes and smoothies. In all areas of operations, reinvestment was done in the facilities and equipments, opened stores in convenient areas, extended store hours, build up its drive through systems and offered locally relevant selections. The strategy included advertising and promotions. In U.S, drive-through systems, and cafà ©-ambiance were developed; in Europe, the portable snacks were popularized; in Germany, breakfast time was introduced and designed the same strategies in other areas where McDonalds is present. McDonalds joined the bandwagon of globalization and has developed franchised business in 119 countries. In 2010, McDonalds has 32,737 franchise units all over the world, an increase of 28% from 21,078 units in 2009 (McDonald’s Annual Report). This means the company has to work with franchise owners with diverse cultures, religion and ethnicity. The tactics of McDonalds is to adopt its menu to the culture and taste of the region, to hire and train locals to work in the

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) of Vodafone

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) of Vodafone Introduction Strategic Human Resource Management is a modern day business concept that has been now been widely used the organization; the crux of the concept is that all the human resource activities of the companies should be aligned with the organizational corporate objectives. In this assignment we are required to select an organization of our choice and then analyze their strategic human resource practices, we are required to see that how the practices and strategies of human resources department are aligned with the companys objective. What are the areas that are performing well and what the areas that need the improvement are? For this I have selected leading telecom company of UK. Vodafone has been the market leader with their continued growth in UK and other parts of the world. This paper will analyze two dimensions, one is their strategies for recruitment, selection, learning, development and training and I shall explain how these strategies are maximizing employee performance and are linked with corporate strategies. The second part of this paper will present the performance management processes of the organization we shall how this organization manages the performance of their employees and how human resource department is managing the employee relations. Introduction to the Company Vodafone is a leading telecom player in the UK and other parts of the world including India. The products and services they provide are of high quality and high standards and the market they are operating is highly competitive. The nature of competition requires the management of the company to have a strategic clarity and all the business operations should be working in same direction. Their service portfolio includes mobile phone connection including 2G and 3G networks, broadband internet in homes and on mobiles (www.vodafone.com, 2011). In order to understand the strategic human resource activities of the organization is very important to understand that what company all about is. Their vision values and business orientation are the key drivers that are driving the human resource management department (www.vodafone.com, 2011). Company Vision They see their future in outstanding data services and products backed up by the best customer experience in the business. Their journey has already begun, with things like Mobile Internet and Mobile Broadband. And their Vodafone at home fixed broadband service. And their targets are big, which means millions of customers using their data services every day (www.vodafone.com, 2011). Company Values Speed They are focused on speed to market, they relentlessly priorities and pursue the outcomes that matter to our business. Simplicity They make things simple for their customers, partners and colleagues. Trust They are reliable and transparent to deal with. They deliver for others, and trust others to do likewise Literature Review of Strategic HRM: Strategic Human Resource Management is a modern day business concept that is now being practiced in many of the organizations, its acceptability and practice is increasing with the time as organization have realized that this management philosophy is actually adding value to business profitability in many indirect ways . As we know that human resources are one of the most important resources of that a company can have, their ability to participate in development of companies sustainable competitive advantage is unquestionable, in past the human resource management has been a separate department with no influence and participation in strategic management of the company. Whatever have been the corporate strategies companies were not linking the human resources management with it. The result of which was the disintegration of companys objective and human resource management, this scenario made the human resource participation in sustainable competitive advantage limited. (Appleby Mavin, 2000). With the evolution of modern business era, that has started from 1980s, the management practitioners and commentators has been feeling the need of taking the companies to one direction, and they have also realized that it very important that human resource department should be made part of the strategy formulation process and their human resource strategies should be made while keeping in mind the business strategy of the organization. Therefore the researchers came up with the concept which is called the Strategic Human Resource Management, that enables the HR department to derive their practices from the corporate strategy and they are also made part while making the business strategy (Armstrong, 2006). Strategic Human Resource Management requires the dept being proactive rather than being reactive, they are required to adjust themselves according to the human resource need of the company. They are also required to foresee the upcoming needs of the company and then plan beforehand accordingly (McMahan et al., 1998). Strategies for Recruitment, Retention, Training Learning Vodafone is a market leader in their category, they have a competitive advantage because of their diversification in products, services and marketing strategies, therefore their corporate objective is to sustain their marketing leader position with the help of their diversification. Below is the snapshot of HR strategies for various HR functions of the organization that tells us the organization is linking their business strategy with their human resource strategy: Recruitment Selection Vodafones recruitment and selection process is aligned with their business strategy, as they are in the business of providing services and their market position is a leader with differentiations, therefore when they recruit individuals on different seats, they have set of core competencies that are required for each position and they check these while hiring someone(Armstrong, 2006). Their selection process makes sure that the right person with right set of capacities and attitude is selected, for example if they are hiring for the position of customer service they would make sure that person being hired has the soft skills, the empathic attitude and is not aggressive in nature. They have devised a set of such soft skills that are evaluated on each of the hiring and these skills vary from position to position. For managerial level position they make sure they hire someone with good analytical skill along with flare of leadership in them. So in Vodafone the entire selection process is linked with the corporate objectives (Armstrong, 2006). Compensation Benefits Vodafones entire compensation and benefits are also linked with business strategy, their remuneration systems and annual appraisal systems are derived from corporate strategy. Since our case company is working in highly competitive environment and they have to maintain their market leadership position therefore they have designed their compensation system that encourages the quality individuation to work in this organization. They provide they employees with state of the art facilities and salary packages so that the best in the industry are attracted to work in the company and then they play their part in making the organization a market leader (Armstrong, 2006). His annual appraisal system is also managed strategically, in Vodafone, every department has their quarterly and annual objectives, and these objectives are then used to make the individual and teams quarterly and annual objectives. Now when performance appraisal is done, Vodafones human resource department makes the objective achievement the part of the appraisal system and all the increments in salary and bonuses are linked with the objective achievement in teams and individuals. For their objective achievement calculation they make sure that performance objective are time bound, quantifiable and measureable (Armstrong, 2006). Training Development Training and Development is an important component of their human resource strategy. They keep on adding value in their human resources by training them on hard skill and soft skill whatever is required by the nature and role of the job. The processes start from indentifying the training needs of each of the department. They after understanding the objective of the each of the department for the coming year, asks the relevant managers to identify and evaluate the individuals in their teams that require the training and development in certain areas of their job. These training needs can be of soft skill and also can be of hard skills that are directly related to the job (McMahan et al., 1998). Once the training needs are indentified then human resource department manages the training calendar of the year, in which all the required training are mentioned and employees are sent for on job and off job training. Human resource department also have the eye on the upcoming expansions and technological developments in the market so the relevant employees can be trained before the time and they are ready to work when there is any technological advancement and change in the organization. Learning Human resource department of the organization put special emphasis on developing the learning culture within the organization. Employees are encouraged to share their experiences and learning with each other so that team members can have a learning culture in the organization. Since Vodafone is working in different geographical regions of the county, therefore they make sure that employees are encouraged the learnings regarding technical and marketing knowledge with each other, so that employee of one region can learn from the experience of the other region (Armstrong, 2006). As discussed above they also send employee on training, they also send different employees of different department to their different geographical markets so that they can have the training of various situations and have the understanding of various markets, that rotation also helps employees and increase the learning within the organization. Career Building Since attracting and retaining the quality employee is challenge for the organizations working in todays competitive market, therefore Vodafone have the policy of having a clear and well defined career path for each of their employee. This clarity of career path makes it clear for employee that where they should see themselves after spending different number of years in the company. The department also makes sure that all the career advancement of the employees are based on their performance and every top performing employee should have the advancement in their career, this policy helps to control the employee turnover and encourage employees to work hard and perform as they would have the chance to grow (Armstrong, 2006). Empowerment Vodafone is working in competitive environment and to stay ahead of competition it is very important for organizations to have the fast and correct decision making. Therefore the human resource department put the special emphasis on empowering the employee for timely decision making. For this purpose they have worked in devolution of power, decentralization of decision making and flatter organizational culture. They have been working on the dimensions on giving the employee the power of making the less critical decisions and top management should only be making decision that are or critical nature are of strategic importance. This empowerment of employees gives them sense of responsibility, increases their commitment towards the organization and save the precious business time that is required to take the decision from top management (Armstrong, 2006). Retention As it is very important for organizations working in competitive business environment, Vodafones human resource practices also work in the same way, they try to retain their quality employees to go to the competition. Their retention strategies revolve around the good compensation and benefits, pay per performance, rewards and increments on good performance and then having the well defined promotional system that gives the chance to every employee to perform and build their careers and then grow. Their retention policy is derived from the strategic objective of the organization to be diversified in their business, and same is the case in their human resource management (Armstrong, 2006). Performance Management Employee Relations Below we shall see that performance management is done in Vodafone, these lines will presented the different methodologies and practices that are being adapted in the performance management section of strategic HRM of company. Determination of Performance Targets The first step in strategic performance management of the organization is to determine the required performance targets of the organization for the year. These targets are derived by combining number of activities, first of all market analysis is done; the management analyze the external environment so that market growth trends and competitors market share can be understand. Once this step is done management have the background information for dominating the organizational performance for next year, then the next step is to decide and agree upon the performance targets, once the corporate level targets are decided then these targets are divided into department level targets. These department level targets are then reflected in individual level targets and objectives.(Wall, 2007). Encouraged Individual Commitment Vodafone has realized the importance of encouraging the employee commitment towards organizational objective, as without this commitment employees will not be able to achieve the performance that organization is expecting them to achieve. Once organization is able to make the organizational objectives the target of the individual then we can see the success rate of achieving this objective is high. Therefore Vodafone increases the employee commitment to the organizational objectives by involving them in the objective making process (Rheem, 1996). It has been the practice in the Vodafone that managers and teams decide their performance targets themselves and once these are approved by the management their personal commitment to these targets is high. They strive and struggle more to achieve the targets that has been made in consultation with them (Wall, 2007). Delegation, Mentoring and Coaching There are some other activities that play their role in strategic management of the performance of the organization, Vodafone on the also using the three of the activities that are delegation of power with responsibility, proper mentoring and feedback system, and coaching (Wall, 2007). Vodafone believes in delegation of power to the employees that are responsible for achieving certain targets, as responsibility comes with authority, same is the philosophy that is applied throughout the Vodafone. Their culture is devolution of power so de-centralization, they try to give maximum power to their employees so that they can achieve their responsibilities with given authority. Vodafone also believes in mentoring and coaching of employees, managers are encouraged to act as mentor for their team members, this also involves on job training for the teams, this systems encourages learning environment in the organization(Armstrong, 2006). Monitoring and Feedback Monitoring and feedback system is an important part of the organizational performance management; same is the case with Vodafone. They have proper monitoring and feedback system that helps us monitoring the performance and individuals and teams. They have a quarterly performance management system that relates the performance of the employees with their objectives of that quarter. After the evaluation and monitoring of the performance of teams then feedback is provided to them. That system helps the organizational performance on the track and helps the organization to stay on their performance objectives throughout the year (Wall, 2007). Handling Under-Performance Vodafone handles the underperformance of their employees by having a proper monitoring system, they first evaluates the performance of the employees, then if team members are found to be underperforming then they see that if there is any training needs. If there are training needs then employees are sent on training, after the trainings their performance is again monitored. If performance is found satisfactory then it is ok, if again performance is not found satisfactory then employees are replaced to other jobs. Employee Relations Vodafone puts special emphasis on managing good relations with their employees; they believe that their employees are their more important assets, their human resource policies are more focused towards managing their employees relations with the organization. Their performance evaluation, benefits and compensation system is targeted towards retaining their employees and maintaining their motivation with the organization. Conclusion Strategic human resource management is the modern concept that is in practice by different by different organizations, in this paper we have observed the strategic human resource management practices by one of the leading organization in UK. We have observed their organizational objectives with relation to their human resource management activities. The focus of the paper has been on the recruitment selection, training and development and learning functions and their relationship with organizational strategy. It has also been observed that how performance management system is working on strategic guidelines provided by the organization and how it is playing role in competitive advantage.

Betrand Russell – Problems of Philosophy

As humans we naturally believe that the sun will rise tomorrow. But why is it that we believe this? In the following essay I will explore the logic behind this question focusing on Bertrand Russell’s arguments of induction, and the uniformity of nature as presented in his book â€Å"The Problems of Philosophy† Russell’s principle of the uniformity of nature suggests humans and animals fall into the trap of believing that everything that has and will happen becomes a â€Å"general law with no exceptions† (Russell, 63). In other words, the more frequently something occurs, the more certain it is to occur again.Russell provides an example citing the relationship between a chicken and a farmer. When the chicken sees the farmer coming everyday, he assumes, as per usual, that he will be fed, but ultimately one day the farmer will kill the chicken (Russell, 63). This is the trap that we frequently fall into by becoming too accustomed to what has already occurred, and assuming that it will always happen again. Russell argues that this is because humans use inductive logic to generate these general laws, which are used as the basis for the uniformity of nature (Russell, 66).This principle of induction states that the more times we see two things to be associated, the greater the certainty that this association is accurate (Russell, 67). An example is the rising of the sun. Through inductive logic we have determined that every morning, the sun will inherently rise (Russell, 64). There is however, a small chance that the world’s rotational force could stop which would result in the sun not rising. However, as inductive logic brings us to â€Å"certainty without limit†, it is seemingly impossible that the sun wouldn’t rise, based on the billions of times it has risen in the past (Russell, 69).This is where I believe there is an issue in Russell’s argument. I believe that there is no legitimate evidence supporting the relationship between induction and the uniformity of nature. In my opinion regardless of how many times the sun comes up; the chance of the sun rising the next day, does not change. From this I conclude that induction is not a proper way of determining whether or not the sun will rise, because there is still an unchanging probability that it will not.Russell counters this by arguing that through induction we can approach a level of â€Å"almost certainty, without limit† (Russell, 67). I believe this to be a fallacy as well because this statement in itself is an oxymoron. It suggests that there are different degrees of certainty, which is contrary to the definition of certainty itself. While I do believe that the sun will rise tomorrow, my belief is routed in the uniformity of nature, not in induction, as I am not convinced of this â€Å"certainty† which induction requires.Russell would once again refute this suggesting that it’s not the level of certainty, but r ather the probability of the sun rising that increases. I however, believe that this probability cannot change. Each sunrise is independent of one another, just as each flip of a coin is. Regardless of how many heads in a row I get, I cannot by any logical measure deduce that the coin will always flip heads. Similarly, I cannot conclude that the sun will always rise just because it has in the past. Based on these grounds, the argument of induction does not stand, and hence, is not related to the uniformity of nature.