Foreign Investment in Farmland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Foreign Investment in Farmland - Essay Example The interrelated problems of over-industrialization, decades of poor land use policies, a rising population, scarcity of resources like water, and the skyrocketing prices of food have made governments in the developed parts of the world realise that they cannot feed their peoples with oil and asphalt, and therefore should seek out alternatives. Experts agree that something big is taking place and that there are risks involved to small-holder farmers. These fears revolved mainly but not exclusively around the themes of food insecurity and peasant dispossession. The disagreement is how to read the issue and what solutions are necessary in order to address the dangers. For organizations such as the World Bank, these are birth pains of a new but promising phenomenon, and whatever risks are taking place can be solved by corporate responsibility and efficient governance of land. This means making sure that there is no corruption, that small-holder farmers get to see the contracts to lease their land, that farmers are given titles so that they can transact freely and equally. The World Bank’s opinion on this matter is laid down in its recent publication, Rising Global Interest in Farmland: Can It Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits by the World Bank (2010). For another group of experts, however, the phenomenon is something that must be resisted and that it indicates a new form of colonialism. They think that because the corporation wanting to take lands from the developing world are only after profit, it will result in farmers being displaced and dispossessed, and no more lands in the developing world to produce food. The World Bank report, dotted with case studies demonstrating the difficulties of rural peoples as a result of the rising phenomenon of transnational corporations and rich countries taking over their lands, states that the risks attaching to land grabbing actually â€Å"correspond to equally large opportunities† (page xxi) as long as a ccess to technology, capital markets, infrastructure and information are granted. It contends that foreign investments have the potential to make positive contributions to rural livelihood and can support small-holder farmers.. It is supported by experts such as Liversage, who contends that â€Å"mutually beneficial partnerships between small-holder farmers and private sector investors† (2010: 2) give benefits to both. On the other hand, critics of land grabbing have also stated their case. We turn to an article entitled From Threat to Opportunity: Problems with the Idea of a â€Å"Code of Conduct† for Land Grabbing by Saturnino Borras and Jennifer Franco (2010: 1). Borras and Franco argue that global land grabbing is a threat in and of itself, and the institutionalization of corporate responsibility mechanisms only serves to legitimize existing capitalist interests at the expense of the rural poor in the global south. They make the call for a human rights-framed, cate gorically pro-poor land policy framework that questions current production and consumption patterns. This is similar to the Accumulation by Dispossession that David Harvey (2006: 112) speaks of – â€Å"the perpetual search for natural resources of high quality that can be pillaged for surplus and surplus value production has therefore been a key aspct to the historical geography of capitalism.†

The safety issues in the Ford Motor Company Essay

The safety issues in the Ford Motor Company - Essay Example In addition, the company is likely measuring the costs of replacing the part to the amount of money it might cost to pay off those who are injured or die in car accidents. Casualty costs sometimes are less than fixing a problem.  I understand your concerns and I am going to take a look at the issue with what you have told me and consider some of the ethical issues you are facing.  Ã‚   The first issue that we need to discuss is the idea that a cost/benefit analysis is appropriate where safety is concerned. According to the cost/benefit analysis that has been done on this vehicle and its safety issue with the placement of the engine, it is expected that there will be 180 deaths and 180 injured. These deaths are valued at 200,000.00 and the injuries at 67,000.00. Although that seems low, even twice that would equal less than the expected cost of putting in the part that would have saved all those lives and injuries. The question that arises is how a dollar value can be put on a dea th when that death could have been prevented? A death that happens when that is the result of the faulty design, but was not expected nor the system evaluated for that risk may create a dollar value to a jury when taken into a court of law. How should that be valued? Harley, I hate to say this but I believe it is your responsibility to go to the public before the car is released and let the world know that if they buy this piece of machinery they are vulnerable to this design flaw that can easily take their life.... How should that be valued? Harley, I hate to say this but I believe it is your responsibility to go to the public before the car is released and let the world know that if they buy this piece of machinery they are vulnerable to this design flaw that can easily take their life. This car has been rushed into production at a quick pace in order to compete with Volkswagen. In addition, I have already heard that they are lobbying in Congress to make sure that certain government safety standards are not made into regulations, which would affect their design and force them to make the car safe (Dowie, 1977). This vehicle is not meeting any form of reasonable safety standards, let alone expected regulations from the government and even though they are not yet in place, they should be considered when thinking about releasing this care into the public. The ethics of an engineer are important to think about as you face this dilemma. It is your responsibility to create objects that are safe to t he general public. Having knowledge about a vehicle that is not constructed in a safe manner makes you responsible for that knowledge and for whatever else happens if you fail to act. The first code of ethics for an engineer is that it is the responsibility of the engineer to uphold the safety for the public with which they have been entrusted. This would mean that you have an obligation to make sure this vehicle never emerges into the market. The problem with this decision is that it is going to come into conflict with another ethical mandate that you do not reveal information about the products of your clients and that you â€Å"Act as a faithful agent† of your client (Canadian Engineering Qualifications Board, 2012, p. 3). I think that the public safety is going to come before

Sustainability In Julius Berger Nig Plc Construction Essay

Sustainability In Julius Berger Nig Plc Construction Essay Civil engineering has played a vital role in human development. It has also enhanced the quality of live of people today, through the provision of basic water supply, pollution control, transportation, industrial/commercial, urban infrastructure. Each of these engineering work has made life more comfortable, convenient, accessible, healthy and longer not only for the local population (Nigerians), but for all. The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering ( 2007a). A Nigerian civil engineering company, which was a subsidiary of Bilfinger Berger AG, called Julius Berger Nigeria Limited was incorporated in 1970. The company became listed in the Nigerian stock exchange as Julius Berger Nigeria PLc, to carry out complex and diverse engineering projects in Nigeria. One of which is the Eko bridge constructed in 1965. Others include Buildings, offices, residential facilities, functional buildings, sports/recreational facilities, construction of roads, bridges, railways, airports, dams and water supply, plants and factories. Julius- Berger( 2010). The company has modernised much of the transportation infrastructure in Nigeria since 1970 and is responsible for the design and construction of the new Nigerian capital at Abuja. ide-Jetro ( 2010). It must be emphasised that the same infrastructure developed in the country, and the economies and standard of living these enormous facilities support, is contributing to environmental degradation due to the size and scale of its effects on the environment. There are clear and unambiguous signs that show that the human population is now impacting negatively to the global environment, thus threatening our life support systems .The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (2007b). SUSTAINABILITY AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT (JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC) In defining sustainability from the perspective of Julius Berger Nigeria PLc. it is pertinent to understand that it is not as easy as the text book definition of sustainability which lays emphasis on the future. A sustainable society is defined to be aware of the needs of future generations and is farseeing enough. New Civil Engineering (2010a). However, according to them, in the real world most societies are not run that way. This is because politicians are more interested in how a project performs during their tenure in office than the whole life cycle of the project. This is the reason why projects fail to be sustainable. The only reason why a newly constructed bridge collapsed in India just before the commencement of the 2010 commonwealth games, or why the water system stopped working and needs urgent maintenance. According to New Civil Engineering (2010b) that cited a report from the American Society of Civil Engineers 2 (ASCE), twenty seven percent of six hundred thousand bridg es in the US are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. This is the case also in Nigeria. Where there are so many unsustainable projects. Nigerian cities are witnessing high rates of environmental deterioration and are rated among urban areas with the lowest livibility index in the world Adedeji and Eziyi ( 2010a).The fact is that these old systems are subjected to the end of their life time and there are some responsibilities about the maintenance of these infrastructures. New Civil Engineering (2010c). The obvious problem is that government still insists on taking the old fashioned path, of assigning absolutely unsustainable projects for the mere fact that they are less pricey options. Sustainable development should be one that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. The Bruntland Report (WCED) (1987). This is the general definition of the concept. The harsh reality is that Nigerian cities are hug ely under developed and unsustainable. This is inspire of the fact that Julius Berger Nigeria Plc is the biggest construction company in the country. Majority of the problem can be traced to a number of factors. These include the colonial antecedent of most Nigerian cities (Ogbazi, 1992 ; Ikya, 1993) the high rate of urbanization, bad psychological orientation of urban residents on the environment as well as poor environmental management practices (Meale, 1991; Agukoronye, 2004). Sustainability is improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems IUCN; WWF and UNEP (1991). These generally accepted definitions are recognised also at Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, where management and in fact all the stakeholders are aware of the new concepts on sustainability which according to The Canadian Society for civil engineering ( 2007c)includes the newly emergent issues of climate change, peak oil, sustainable transportation, environmental restoration, ecosystem disruption, ethics and equity and infrastructural operations and maintenance, as it concerns the construction industry. However in practice, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc has not done so much to implement sustainability. For sustainability to be implemented in the Nigerian built environment, there has to be four distinguished management levels of which the environmental sustainability of the built environment can be influenced. These are the environmental cooperatio n routines, environmental technology policies, environmental regulations and incentives. Bossink, (ed) (2010). Sustainability at Julius Berger should simply consider the whole life cycle assessment (LSA) of the alternatives when building a project. New Civil Engineering (2010d). In other words the company should first consider the whole life cycle of the product before construction starts. This will have the least effect on the environment and biodiversity as well as the capitals that have been eluded earlier. Practically according to New Civil Engineering (2010e), this entails a detailed study of the stages of making, using and disposing of the product before choosing on an option. The stages of the product which starts from extraction of the raw materials needed for the project to the design of the project, the formulation, specification, processing, manufacturing, assembly, construction, packaging, use, maintenance, refurbishment, reusing, recycling and finally disposal. What obtains at Julius Berger today is that after the project has been critically analysed and studied to ascertain the cost, in terms of its profitability and affordability. The company would then decide on the source of capital for the project. Then after wards the project is assigned to workers for construction. Julius Berger Nigeria Plc concept of sustainability is improving the quality of projects for future generations of Nigerians. ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN NIGERIA AND THE ROLE JULIUS BERGER SHOULD PLAY IN NIGERIA (On Sustainability) The Nigerian environmental problem has been identified to have serious adverse socio economic and ecological implications .These are traceable to factors like high rate of urbanization, poor environmental management etc (Rashid, 1982; NEST, 1991; World Bank, 1992; Anih, 2004). This means that Julius Berger Nigeria Plc is faced with an enormous problem caused by a rapidly growing population. According to Adedeji and Eziyi (2010b), rural urban migration remains one of the major contributors to the ever increasing urban population growth in Nigeria. Also in Nigeria, Mba et al (eds) (2004) identified several other types of environmental problems which were classified as ecological, poaching, loss of habitat, increasing desertification and soil erosion. These were further subdivided into pollution, deforestation, global warming and slum development. The coastal regions currently experiencing widespread contamination from petroleum exploration, gas flaring and oil spillage. In this regar d, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc should realise that infrastructural development can no longer be done in a microcosm on a project level a more holistic inclusion of the complex interactions of human society and the environment upon which it depends, is needed. The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (2007d). JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC AND SUSTAINABILITY Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, should instil the concept of sustainability which is a concept that includes the triple bottom line and a life cycle assessment into the planning, design and operation of civil infrastructure, and in this way promote the development of new technologies and management practices for the use of energy, non renewable resources, and the production of waste materials The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (2007e). There are several sustainable development issues that affect Civil Engineering practices that should be understood and implemented by Julius Berger, Nigeria Plc to mitigate their ecological impact. These include climate change. The potential impact of climate change upon the built environment (civil infrastructure) changes in extreme hydrological and meteorological events, and there should be a growing effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as adaptation requirements. Already the effect of climate change can be felt in Nigeria Where environmental problems due to oil exploration has inflicted tremendous damage on the ecosystem, health and livelihood of the people of the region Adedeji and Eziyi, (2010c). According to the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (2007f) Julius Berger Nigeria Plc should adopt best practices for eco-efficiency, such as increased energy/water efficiency, the minimization of waste and resource consumption and the employment of clean technologies. Also stated by them, there should be the use of performance based standards and guidelines identifying the outcome required as opposed to a prescriptive path that must be followed to enable designers to achieve improved results. There is also depleting oil and natural gas reserves which have severe consequences (Peak oil). The society and indeed Julius Berger Nigeria Plc must meet certain societal priorities and implement policies: these include energy conservation and efficiency, developing alternative renewable sources and strategies to reduce waste. Julius Berger Nigeria Plc should also endorse Green Construction construction that achieves the beneficial objectives of engineering work with the lowest possible consumption of raw materials and energy, both during and after construction. The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (2007g). In this regard every decision taken should aim to minimise environmental burdens of climate change, resource depletion, energy depletion, the loss of biodiversity, and human health, genetically modified products and modified environmental vectors. On the issue of sustainable transportation, Julius Berger should introduce the use of pedestrian amenities, mass transit, and energy conservation in transportation systems. The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (2007h). Effort should also be made by the company to sensitise government about the need for environmental restoration. This entails reconstruction of natural features, and fish habitat in rivers and streams, the control of sediment runoff and the removal of dams and tidal barriers. There should also be cleanup and/or redevelopment of contaminated sites. According to (Adedeji and Eziyi, (2010d). A typical example of this can be seen in the issue of end of gas flaring and oil spillages in the Niger Delta region. An area of equal importance to the populace which can eventually bring to an end the restiveness of the youth especially at the Niger delta area is transparency and equity in the provision of basic human services to disadvantaged people, contributing to poverty alleviation, human health and public welfare. Julius Berger Nigeria Plc can contribute to this by implementing its corporate responsibility to communities. However, so far corporate social responsibility does not play an important role in Nigeria, and has not been the subject of a wider public discussion. Bertelsmann. (2009). Application of sustainable energy sources to develop linearly distributed social infrastructure is a key enabling factor that will stimulate grass root economic development, stem the prevailing state of crime, access sufficient quantities of clean water, maintain acceptable standards of food and goods production, sanitation and health of the citizens of Nigeria Udoma and Arciszewski (2010).Infrastructure operations and maintenance is also vital to guarantee an optimal use of the infrastructure. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES Sustainable risks /opportunities identification: sustainable risks identified at Julius Berger Nigeria Plc include: Cost related risks: Tight project schedule, design variations, variations by the client, unsuitable construction programme planning, occurrence of dispute, price inflation of construction materials, excessive approval procedures in administrative government departments, incomplete approval and other documents, incomplete or inaccurate cost estimate and inadequate programme schedule. Time related risks: Tight project schedule, design variations, excessive approval procedures in administrative government departments, variations by the client, incomplete approval and other documents, unsuitable construction programme planning, inadequate programme scheduling, bureaucracy of government, high performance or quality expectation, variations of construction programmes Quality related risks: Tight project schedule, inadequate programme scheduling, unsuitable construction programme planning, incomplete or inaccurate cost estimate, low management competency of subcontractors, high performance or quality expectations, variations of construction programmes, unavailability of sufficient amount of skilled labour, design variations and the lack of coordination between project participants. Environment related risks: Tight project schedule, variations of construction programmes, unavailability of sufficient professionals and managers, excessive approval procedures in administrative government departments, variations by the client, inadequate or insufficient site information(soil test and survey report), low management competency of subcontractors, high performance or quality expectations, inadequate programme scheduling and serious noise pollution caused by construction Safety related risks: Tight project schedule, low management competency of subcontractors, unsuitable construction programme planning, variations of construction programmes, general safety accident occurrence ,high performance or quality expectations, design variations, lack of coordination between projects participants, excessive approval procedures in administrative government departments, unavailability of sufficient amount of skilled labour and unavailability of sufficient professionals and managers. Sustainable Risks and Opportunities , Adopted from: Zou, P. et al (2010): identifying key risks in construction projects: Life cycle and stake holder perspective. SUSTAINABILITY RISKS OF JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC The identifiable risks of Julius Berge Nigeria Plc are socioeconomic factors which include environmental protection, public safety regulations, economic instability, and exchange rate fluctuations. Other risks are organisational relationships which deal with contractual relations, attitudes of participants, and communication. There are also technological problems experienced by the company. These include design assumptions, site condition, construction procedures, and construction occupational safety. Civil Engineering Blog (2010a) Environmental Protection contributes to our companys uncertainty. This stems from the companys inability to know what will be required and the time it will take to get approval from the environmental agency of Nigeria. Requirements associated with continued re evaluation of problems and the lack of definitive criteria which are practical have also resulted in added cost. Civil Engineering Blog (2010b). According to them, economic conditions have added to the uncertainty that our company experiences. High inflation and high interest rates, the deregulation of financial institutions have created problems associated with the financing of construction. The stakeholders of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc (share holders and management) are interested in achieving some financial break through that will help lower the cost of projects and eliminate lengthy delays. The risks related to organisational relationships also affect the company. Strained relationship sometimes occurs between the various organisations involved in the design/construction process. According to Civil Engineering Blog (2010c), when problems occur discussions often centre on responsibilities rather than project needs at a time when the focus should be on solving the problem. The risks associated with technological advancement also affect Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. Some new technologies pose problems to designers and constructors. Many design assumptions which have served the professions well in the past may become obsolete in dealing in dealing with new types of facilities which may have greater complexity or scale or both. Civil Engineering Blog ( 2010d). SUSTAINABILITY OPPORTUNITIES OF JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC Sustainability opportunities of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc include the follows: Investment in human capital, investment in new technologies, corporate social responsibility and carbon footprint. AUDIT TO IDENTIFY AN ACTIVITY (CONSTRUCTION OF A STORM WATER PROJECT) THAT ADHERES PARTIALLY TO THE PRINCIPLE OF SUSTAINABILITY. In conducting the audit, the following steps were taken: Identify every activity on construction Identify the actual activities that are not sustainable Identify the number of activities that are Partially sustainable Identify the number of completely sustainable activities; check if construction was based on best practices for eco efficiency. Identify the environmental impact of activities during construction Calculate the current cost of the sustainable construction Julius Berger Nigeria Plc construction activities cannot be considered as Green Construction which was defined as construction that achieves the beneficial objectives of engineering work with the lowest possible consumption of raw materials and energy, both during and after construction. The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering ( 2007h). An audit conducted to identify whether the companys storm water project adheres only partially or completely to the principles of sustainability revealed that the companys decisions on construction work were partially aimed at minimizing environmental burdens under five global consequences: resource depletion, energy depletion, climate change, biodiversity, and human health. The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (2007i). Best practices for eco-efficiency, such as increased energy/water efficiency, the minimization of waste and resource consumption, the employment of clean technologies were not employed. The Canadian Society for Civil Engineeri ng (2007j). SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT TOOL Sustainability management tools that can be used to develop a sustainable solution to the storm water project include an EIA, ISO 14001 and GRI. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): There are two assessment processes introduced under 2006 EIA regulations. These include; Basic Assessment: This involves a simpler and faster process of which the public participation process and development of the basic assessment report take place before the submission of an application. Jones (2010). ISO 14001: The international organization for standardization 14001 was published in 1996. It is the most well known and widely used specification standard on environmental management systems. Starkey and Welford (eds) (2005). ISO 14001 are also a series of voluntary, auditable standards that are designed to provide a reasonable assurance of the accuracy of the performance claims of companies. Weybrecht (2010a). GRI: The Global Reporting Initiative (GTI) is for disclosure on economic, environmental, and social performance. This is as commonplace and comparable as financial reporting, and as important as a companys success. Weybrecht (2010b). AN IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTED IN THE AUDIT Promote the wise use of non renewable resources, waste minimization and recycling in engineering activities and the development of alternatives to the use of non renewable resources; Select materials and systems with low embodied energy and easy reuse; Promote the principles of conservation and energy efficiency; Rigorously examine the basic functions and purposes behind a project to recognise options and alternatives that will increase sustainability; Identify appropriate technology for sustainable development, recognizing that may mean low-tech solutions; Choose a built form and orientation that contribute to environmental economies and future adaptability, flexibility of use and reuse; Select construction methods that minimize the effects of construction and demolition in terms of land take, waste and pollution; Aim to reduce natural, accidental and wilful hazards; Consider individual and cumulative social, economic and environmental impacts (the Triple Bottom line) including long-term and indirect impacts; and Adopt practices, policies and design goals that focus on efficiency, conservation of materials and energy, and waste minimization. Adopted from: The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (2007k). For construction activities at Julius Berger Nigeria Plc to be sustainable, the company should simply consider the whole life cycle assessment (LSA) of the alternatives when building a project. New Civil Engineering (2010f). In other words the company should first consider the whole life cycle of the project before construction starts. This will have the least effect on the environment and biodiversity. According to New Civil Engineering (2010g), this includes a detailed study of the stages of making, using and disposing of the product before choosing on an option. The stages of the project which starts from extraction of the raw materials needed for the project to the design of the project, the formulation, specification, processing, manufacturing, assembly, construction, packaging, use, maintenance, refurbishment, reusing, recycling and finally disposal. What obtains at Julius Berger is an analysis of the project to ascertain the cost, (profitability and affordability) and the best possible approach to undertake the project. However, even where every care is taken to reduce natural, accidental and wilful hazards, with emphasis on social, economic and environmental impacts, the project is undertaken using the normal unsustainable approach the company has adopted successfully over the years. CONCLUSION: It is obvious that human societies have in the past decade or so taken a path which is clearly unsustainable. In Nigeria for instance there have been a whole lot of unsustainable activities by oil exploration and producing companies. This coupled with years of unsustainable construction and urban planning, poor environmental practices by the citizens, poor regulatory practices and a lack of compliance by multinational companies, has led to environmental problems like, oil spillages, gas flaring, erosion, soil and water contamination, acid rain etc in the oil rich country. Sustainability therefore has become an inevitable way forward in the face of a looming environmental catastrophe. As the years go by, fewer resources than we are now relying on in Nigeria will have to support the nearly over 150 million Nigerians that require food, water, clothing, shelter, electricity and other modern amenities of life. A growth in the population of Nigeria will put a further strain on available resources. This is where sustainability in the built environment becomes very necessary. A construction company like Julius Berger Nigeria plc can use this opportunity and offer sustainable civil engineering solutions to the environmental problems that Nigeria faces today. The opportunities or benefit of sustainable construction will have on the society is, cleaner environment, resource efficiency, compliance and effective risk management etc.

Philosophy and Religion Essay -- essays research papers

The many religions of the world exhibit a large amount of different beliefs and philosophies. Some believe in many gods, some believe in just one god and yet there are those that believe in no god. One of the things that I agree with is that you can not love anything else unless you first learn to love and respect yourself. I also think that after one?s physical body is deceased, you become reincarnated. And lastly, I don?t recognize one god or overall being, but rather follow the example made by others. These are some religious elements I follow.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First of all, you can not love anything unless you love yourself. If you go around with self hate and little confidence, it gives you no room for any other affection. Buddhism and Taoism also believe this. Buddhism emphasizes love for one?s self greatly, and believe that you can not accomplish anything in life unless you take care of your mind and body. After you achieve self contentment, you must learn to love all beings. I am concerned with loving nature, much like Taoism. We get our food, oxygen, clothing and everything else we need to survive from nature. Without it, we would not exist. You should also pay great respect and love to your family and elders. As with nature, without them we would never have come into being. They teach us lessons and morals of how to live our lives. Shintoism feels strongly about praising our elders. They think that basically our whole life should revolve around those w...

English essay on Of Mice and Men Essay

Steinbeck uses an example of symbolism in the form of Candy’s dog. Re-read pages 70-76, what qualities/ values does this dog represent? Which human characteristics could be represented by these qualities/ values? Candy is the oldest man on the ranch. As he is the oldest, he has more things to worry about than the others. He has only one hand and a women’s name, and through Steinbeck’s writing, we know why this is, because he has lost his masculinity and pride. He also has a pet extremely old pet dog, which he loves and everyone loathes, as they think it is useless and suffering, Candy thinks otherwise and doesn’t want it shot. Candy’s dog, which doesn’t have a name and is incredibly old in the story, represents the fact that things that are unimportant are unknown to other people. This represents Candy as an old undervalued character that is slowly loosing value like his dog. It establishes that if you’re an old animal, then you’re in trouble. This is why Candy is so reluctant to have his dog shot because he knows what its like to be old and unwanted, but because he and his dog share the same qualities, he feels like they are close friends that rely on each other. In the book, he says ‘I’m so used to him,’ he said softly. ‘I had him as a pup.’ This shows the closeness between the two. Candy can’t bear to imagine loosing something he has been so close to for most of his life on the ranch. And has he and the dog don’t have anyone but themselves, Candy feels that he will be completely alone after the dog dies. Because Candy doesn’t want the dog to die before him, he wants to savour what he has got left. Candy and the dog are both living on borrowed time, which means as soon as the boss finds out Candy is too old to work, he’ll throw him, and Candy won’t have anywhere to go. When Candy’s dog does get shot he feels instant regret. This is because he felt he should have shot the dog, and not Carlson. Candy feels that by not doing this, he has betrayed his dog and let him down. If anyone is supposed to take responsibility over anyone, it should be their best or closest friend. He wasn’t there to comfort the dog too, he feels guilt and is let down by his actions. Some one else that is in the same position as Candy and his dog are Lennie and George. George being the strongest to the two is very protective over Lennie. He makes a point of always telling what to do, but for his own good. People at the ranch criticize George on his choice of friendship, but this is because no one else seems to have a close companionship except them and Candy and his dog. They are jealous they don’t have the privilege to have someone to rely on. George and Lennie really do count on each other, as they are planning to get some money together and buy and farm so they can grow their own food and have animals. At the end of the book, when George kills Curley’s wife, he runs away just like George told him to and hides. When George finally finds him, he knows Lennie is going to be killed by an angry mob, so he takes the matter into his own hands. He speaks to Lennie about how they’re going to live, and about rabbits, as Lennie loves them so. This way he can kill Lennie without a sore consciousness and with Lennie truly happy. The only other couple in the story are Curley and his wife, who has no name in the book. This shows that women weren’t the same status like men, and also like Candy’s dog, she doesn’t really have any value to anyone’s life in the book, so she dies along with Lennie and the dog. Though she and Curley didn’t have a good relationship, he obviously cared for her, and went crazy when she was killed. Because it was Lennie who killed her, Curley felt like it was his responsibility to kill Lennie. Curley new what his wife’s nature was like, flirtatious and open. This would make the reader think that Curley was maybe jealous that it wasn’t him that killed her, but Lennie, who is seen as the ‘village idiot’. In this novel, I think Steinbeck was trying to tell us that if you have companionship throughout the toughest times of your life, don’t count on it, because one day the other person will let you down. He also wanted to show that whoever you take companionship with; you will have to take responsibility of their death. He wanted to show the readers that in a tough time, you can’t have someone to reply on all the time you have to be independent and strong.

Job Analysis Process

All businesses have daily needs and challenges to everyday, which is why Human Resource managers and other managers’ turns to Job analysis to help them plan efficiently and effectively. Job analysis an important practice widely used in today’s business. A thoughtful and carefully constructed job analysis process gathers information about the duties, responsibilities, and essential skills required to ensure that the proper persons are placed in the appropriate positions with the right qualifications to fulfill and perform the required job demands.Thoughtful collaborative planning, led by the HR Manager and staff, lends flexibility to the dynamic and constantly changing needs of the organization and the people who labor within. The purpose, process and method of job analysis is the subject of further discussion here to help understand the critical nature creating a true value add within the HR function. The Purpose of Job AnalysisJob Analysis and the information obtained is crucial to recruiting, selection and retention; training programs; performance evaluation and managing compensation; job design and redesign; and above all supporting management to meet the demands of efficiency and productivity. It is essential for the organization’s HR to understand what is needed, where and when to help fulfill the company’s goals and objectives, yet remain responsive to changing needs and circumstances.Job analysis certainly provides this highly beneficial insight in the following key areas: Recruitment and Selection: HR management uses Job Analysis to select the ‘best’ fit of applicants to positions. Job analysis assists HR in carefully identifying the most capable candidates possessing the most suitable education, advanced knowledge, and appropriate proper skills necessary to perform a job, or better, function. Training and Development: Job Analysis is also essential in determining the type, depth and quantity of training and deve lopment needed to integrate new-hires, enhance organizational and personal job  proficiencies and maintain current awareness and understanding of changing workplace initiatives.Continuing training and development goals are particularly well served to improve the employees’ knowledge and understanding of the required job duties. A good The Job Analsis system provides detailed tools to assist management in deciding which systems, tools and materials are needed to help accomplish training and development goals.Evaluation of Employees Performance: Measuring employee performance and productivity is essential to aid management in meeting company goals as well as hiring and retaining quality staff at all levels of the organization. Thorough, thoughtful and monitored Job Analysis process can be used to flexibly and objectively measure metrics and objective s to make sure that goals are being met, productivity maintained ensuring continuing company success.Compensation and Benefits: Objective Job Analysis allows ‘fair’ standards to be set for salaries, wages and benefits paid. The process underscores the value of employee experience, skills and growth with particular job requirements. With a good process in place HR can capably assist management in setting career paths, employee development, incentives, promotions, raises and so forth. The Process of Job AnalysisThe Job Analysis process will help companies intelligently align tasks and functions with ‘most’ qualified applicants, hire and retain them, all the while promoting efficiency and flexibility to meet the demands of a competitive marketplace. Staffing plans are best managed and derived in large part by determining and knowing how many employees are required for particular positions, match qualifications with pay, while setting performance measures.Establishing a dynamic Job Analysis process requires several important parts to be effective in meeting company needs, including but not limited to the following: Understanding & Embracing Job Analysis: Understanding & embracing Job analysis, even in small companies will help a firm identify and recognize the different methods of job analysis and data necessary to establish a solid effective system best suited to the company environment. Input & Analysis: An important first step is to determine who will be primarily responsible for job analysis.While usually managed by the human resource department, company managers, consultants, and even customers will have vital input and contributions. Choosing the appropriate process pays dividends later and is a vital way to self-inform management and HR as to priorities, benchmarks and the labor market. Establishing objective criteria early on in examining particular jobs, skills, an company needs establishes a good basis for managing the system and adopting methods best suited to do so.Planning & Decision Making: Any business process or system is only as good as the infor mation gathered and provided and every level of the organization could be rendered ineffective by too much, too little or irrelevant information with which to make important HR decisions. Obtaining meaningful employee feedback has long proven to be helpful but often overlooked. How much information gathered from inside and outside the organization is key consideration along with how information and data are recorded, presented and weighted.HR management and company management must pay attention to letting Job Analysis get to embedded in old information or become irrelevant to management decision-making processes. A Job Analyst: Even in small companies where employees wear various hats, it is critical to have a properly trained Jobs Analyst. The Analyst should have a thorough up to date knowledge of various analytical methods, research skills, be organized and a good communicator. Innovative experience, if affordable or desirable, would be a big help. Cost effective consulting could be a ready complement or substitute.Even if this function is ‘as needed’ or part time, the Analyst’s role will enable the function to remain useful and dynamic. Job Analysis Process Overview: Project and process information is routinely communicated within the organization in many ways. Identifying the communication channels, throughputs and outputs is much more productive than asking people what they do all day long and there are many psychologically barriers of all employees regardless of rank to answer interview questions and questionnaires honestly.While there is a place for such investigative tools, there is no substitute for observing, discussing and analyzing the skills necessary for a specific position matched against realistic management expectations and using modern methods to match with company requirements. Collecting the Data: Job information and functional data, such as available applicant qualifications, skills and abilities, job activities, duties and responsibilities, are collated so that all such needed and important is readily available in an understandable format to all recipients.The HR manager and management should be constantly searching for enhancements to recruit talent at all levels of the organization, even if not immediately required. Planning flexibly and with foresight can pay huge dividends later. Review, Validation, Monitoring: Similar to hiring, a diligent effort must be made to ensure that data and details collected for analysis are up to date, relevant and realistic and in presentable format.Review of all positions should be made objectively and at all levels of the organization. Feedback from a variety of sources is helpful. Deriving and Implementing Job Descriptions & Specifications: Generally job descriptions are referred to as tasks, duties and abilities (TDA). At this stage, no one, supervisors, managers, or job seekers should have any significant questions about the position. About the company and be nefits, yes, about the ‘job’ – not with a fully functioning, flexible and objective Jobs Analysis.Recruiting and retention are vastly facilitated by selecting proper candidates for positions by matching properly described knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics, known as KSAO. The HR manager, and department, having followed the correct steps for their company can now use Job Analysis processes to assist company management in performance measuring, turnover (and reasons for), earnings/costs, productivity, incentive programs, and most important as a ‘budgeting tool’ for human resource allocation.Care, however, must be taken not to let the process run itself. Continuous monitoring and review is required by all levels of management with HR taking the lead. By utilizing Job analysis, a company can standardize and build a dynamic, thoughtful and above all a flexible Job Analysis process, usually with nominal investment, and by engaging in th e process significantly aid in the achievement of company goals.Establishing a thoughtful process at any time will save time and money, matching the changing needs of the organization with quality and qualified personnel. The HR function can take positive proactive steps to identify quality employees with desired skills and education that match the skills needed by the firm while allowing for a variety of other value-added features to meet future demands of the firm, all starting with a Job Analysis process.