Management Evaluates the Performance

Question: Discuss about the Management Evaluates the Performance. Answer: Introduction Performance management is a system where the management evaluates the performance of individuals, teams, groups or the entire department by measuring their contributions towards the achievement of organisational goals and objectives. Performance management has been regarded as one of the most useful tools provided to the modern day business world by the concept of human resource management. It allows business organisations to set up organisational goals and objectives, communicate the performance expectations to the employees, review the performances of various components and then take appropriate actions according to the assessment made on the basis of performance shown by them (Acas.org.uk, 2016). The modern day business world is tough and only the fittest can survive in this environment of global competition. In such a scenario, business organisations are largely dependent on their human resources, which can help them in achieving market competencies. Therefore, it is essential that the management is effective enough so that it can maximise the performance of the employees by motivating them by hook or crook. Performance management systems come to the rescue of the companies and provide them with an approach to maximise the performance of the employees by focusing the attention of the whole organisation towards performance management (U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2016). Allocating Work While designing a performance management system, it is very important that the system is efficient and is accurate in measuring what the management actually wants to measure. Many a times it has been observed that the management ends up designing a dysfunctional performance management system which does more harm to a company that the potential benefits of a carefully and well-designed performance management system. To increase the accuracy and efficiency of a performance management system, it is important that the resources are properly allocated and the work is allocated to the right people and in total accordance with the operational plans. Allocation of work and resources within the organisation, while starting up a performance management system, actually describes the expectations of the company from various individuals, groups or departments. The expectations that a management communicates to its employees forms the basis of the performance that they depict in the future. Therefore, it is very important that the management communicates the right performance expectations by assigning the right roles and duties to the employees. To achieve this, the management should always consult the senior level executives and front line managers. Senior level executives are the people who have charted out the operational plans for the company and they have a better idea of what work has to be done by whom so that the strategical objectives can be fulfilled. Once the management is aware about the role of an individual, a group or a department in the strategy, it should then consult the front line managers as they have a better idea of how they can be motivated to work in the right or the required direction. Consulting the senior level executives and the front line managers would ensure that the right work and the right resources are allocated to the right people in the organisation. The management should also be well prepared to deal with any risks that might be encountered with the allocation of work or resources. To deal with such risks, the management should regularly assess the performances of the employees and should find out areas where the performance is totally lacking. The management should be ready with professional staff or higher level executives who would then intervene to check out the problems in performances and then also try to eliminate them. The management can further set up performance standards according to the industrial average of by calculating average performance metrics from past performance data. The management should ensure that the performance standards that it sets up are realistic and are achievable. If the performance standards are not achievable or are unrealistic, the performance management system might demotivate the employees, who would ultimately lose their morale. Assessing Performance One of the most crucial elements in a performance management system is the assessment of performance. Performance assessment is a process that has to be carried out throughout the year so that accurate and reliable results are obtained. Assessing the performance also becomes important because a number of rewards or incentives are tied up with performance management system which require transparency and non-biasness in the final step of the system i.e. performance appraisal. There are a number of ways in which a company can measure or assess the performance of its employees. Some of the common methods are Balanced Scorecards, Key performance indicators, ratings, forces rankings, forces distribution, etc. but one of the most accurate methods is the 360 degree feedback method (Managementstudyguide.com, 2016). In a 360 degree feedback method, the management obtains performance information of employees from various sources in an organisation. The process is known as 360 feedback method because in this method all the peers, seniors and juniors of an employee are required to submit an anonymous review about the performance of an employee to a senior level manager. The feedback taken from multiple sources ensures that the performance feedbacks are accurate and are not given due to influence of personal relations while the anonymity of the process increases the chances of accurate and reliable feedback. The process is also highly recommended by many senior level managers as it provides a great deal of knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of the employee whose performance is being measured (Custominsight.com, 2016). Another efficient technique of measuring and evaluating performance of employees is by assigning some important metrics and identifying key performance indicators. Key performance indicators can help the management in measuring performance on the basis of their strategic and organisational goals and make the system of performance management more effective. Providing Feedback The management does not only have to implement a performance management system and measure the performances of each employee. Rather, the management has to assess the performance of the employees and provide a feedback either to a manager or directly to the employees once the managers have been able to compile all the performance data of the employees. Performance feedback is a process where a manager and an employee exchange information about expected performances and exhibited performances (Smallbusiness.chron.com, 2016). One of the best ways to provide a feedback on employee performance has been taken up by Philips India. It has developed a combined system for performance as well as for potential appraisal. The diagram given below shows a matrix that is used by the company in its performance and potential appraisal: The company regularly assesses the performances of its employees and at the end of the year, provides a feedback to the employees by arranging them in the above matrix on the basis of their performance (YourArticleLibrary.com: The Next Generation Library, 2014). Let us now discuss the matrix in detail: Employees who have low potential and are consistently exhibiting low performances are termed as question marks and are prepared for a planned separation. These employees lack the skills and potential and they are not able to perform according to the expected performance standards set up by the company. As a result, the management tries to separate them in a planned way. Employees with low potential and high performance are known as solid citizens. These employees are the ones who do not have the skills or potential to be upgraded to higher jobs but are best at what they do. Thus, the company provides them with some kind of benefits or incentives that helps in keeping the motivated (YourArticleLibrary.com: The Next Generation Library, 2014). Employees with high potential but low performance levels are categorized as problem children. These people have the potential to perform well but due to some reasons, they do not perform as expected. The management tries to consult them and arrange for counselling sessions so that it can try to eliminate any problems that they are facing with their work. Once their problems are dealt with, the organisation again assesses their performance. If the performance continues to be below the average standards, they are shifted to the category of question marks and are considered for planned separation. Employees with high potential and high performance are categorized as stars as they are the ones who contribute the maximum towards the achievement of organisational goals and objectives. These people exhibit high performance and have the potential to handle higher posts in the organisation. The management tries to train and develop its stars so that their skills can be increased and they can be promoted to high level jobs with due course of time (YourArticleLibrary.com: The Next Generation Library, 2014). Using such an effective system, a management can easily link performance and potential of employees to derive better results and provide them a better feedback. The feedback provided in this way is more accurate and linking performance with the potential of employees makes the information more reliable and valid. Managing Follow-UP Following up on the performance levels of employees is one of the most important tasks in a performance management system. The implementation of a performance management system in the organisation increases the focus of the organisation on performances. Following up implies that the management continues to keep a track on the performance of the employees even after they have been provided with a feedback about their performance levels in the past. Following up on the performance of employees ensure that the difference in performances exhibited before and after performance review is carefully noted and is taken up in the next performance review session. Following up on the performance of employees helps a company in correcting them when they are moving in a wrong direction. The management can arrange for counselling sessions or other types of interventions to warn them about their dropping performances and the ultimate consequences while it can reward those employees who exhibit an improvement in their performance levels (Harvard Business Review, 2014). The process of following up is basically carried out more carefully for under performers as they are on the risk of being separated in the near future. Dealing with underperformers is not an easy task and requires a lot of care. First of all, the company should try to converse with the underperformers and talk to them about their low performance levels. If the employees have shown good performance in the past but are not being able to perform due to some issues, these employees are worth saving. The next step to deal with the underperformers is coaching. It helps them in attaining sk ills and competencies that can help them in increasing their performance. If there is no improvement in the performance levels of the employees whatsoever, the last and the final step is to conclude that the individual is not right for the job. These employees should be encouraged to look for new jobs that can suit their skills and competencies. They should be separated from the organisation in a much planned manner so that they do not feel that they were kicked out of the organisation unethically (Harvard Business Review, 2008). Evaluation of Performance Management System Once a management has successfully implemented a performance management system in the organisation, the next step is to evaluate the system implemented so that the organisation can get a better knowledge about the good and the bad of the system and can consequently work to improve it. Some of the key points that must be checked while evaluating a performance management system are discussed below: The management should check for actual improvements in the overall performance exhibited by various departments and employees The management should check whether the performance management system has actually been able to measure what it was intended to measure The management should take feedback from the employees regarding the performance management system The management should check whether the employees were able to fulfil the performance expectations or will it have to revise its performance goals and objectives to make them more realistic and achievable The management should also check whether the shift of the organisation to a performance oriented environment has been accepted by the employees without any resistance. By ensuring some of the above given key points, a management can gain information about what went wrong in its performance management system, allocation of work and resources, setting up of performance expectations and in the implementation phase of the performance management system. The collected information can help the management in making future changes to the performance management system and make it more effective by eliminating the problems. Selection and Training System The selection process of a company defines how it selects and recruits potential applicants for filling up of vacant positions in the organisation while training is defined as a session where the employees learn new skills and gain technical competencies so that they can compete in the market, achieve higher growth in their career path and contribute more towards the success of their organisations (Business Jargons, 2015). ABC Company is one of the best companies in the country that runs retail stores offering groceries, furniture, consumer electronics, etc. The company has over 150 stores in the country and has a workforce of 10,340 employees. The company was found in 1990 and has achieved great success in its lifetime and is now competing multinational retailing brands in the country. The company has a very effective and efficient human resource department which is highly skilled and knows what to do to maximise the output of its human resources. For the selection process i.e. recruitment of new employees, the human resource department uses both external and internal recruitment methods. The department uses internal recruitment methods when there are vacant positions in the organisation while it uses external recruitment methods to recruit freshers into the organisation. The selection process of the company is a tough one where it makes the applicants go through a series of psychological and personal ity tests to find the right fit for the right jobs. Once the company is done with the recruitment process, it provides a brief training to the new employees before they can join their jobs. The training period is meant to provide them a brief view of what their roles and responsibilities would be once they join the company. The employees are provided an increment after every year while they are promoted to higher jobs after every two years. During this period, the company arranges a number of on the job training sessions for them so that they can acquire new skills and competencies. The system of selection has worked very well for the organisation as it has enabled the management to find the best suitable candidates for the vacancies that develop in the organisation. By making them go through various personality and psychological tests, the human resource department is able to intercept the future performance of the candidate in the company. Thus, the management is able to recruit a talented pool of employees whenever there are vacancies. One major area that needs improvement in the selection process of the company is that it only uses internal recruitment process when higher level jobs are vacant. The company should also start using external recruitment sources even for higher level jobs because it has been observed a number of times that people with incomplete knowledge or lesser potential are promoted to higher jobs just because the company would not go for external recruitment. If the company starts external recruitment for all job profiles, the employees wo uld become more competitive and would show higher performance so that they receive the promotions instead of higher posts being offered to external sources. Further, the training programs of the company are also very effective. It uses on the job training programs, such as coaching, mentoring, role-play, in-basket games, etc. to train its employees and to make them acquire new skills. One of the drawbacks of the training system of the company is that it never sends its employees away from their jobs to undergo training sessions. Off the job training sessions have been considered to be equally important as are on the job training session (BusinessDictionary.com, 2016). Off the job training sessions provide more exposure to the employees and help them in gaining knowledge about what new trends are entering the industry that they are working in. Working with different training providers and in different set ups would provide additional benefits to the employees if they are given the opportunity to go for off the job training and development programs. In the past few reviews and feedback sessions, some of the employees have already said that the workforce was more interested in attending off the job training sessions rather than attending on the job training sessions all the time. Therefore, it is quite evident that the company needs to start offering off-the job training programs to its employees, which would be more cost effective and would provide better learning abilities to the employees (Training, 2016). Conclusion Managing the performance of people is an art and should be carefully done. If a management is able to get a performance management system in place and running, it can actually boost up the overall performance of the company but at the same time, a dysfunctional or a carelessly planned performance management system can cause a company more harm than the benefits that an efficient performance management system can have. Therefore, by keeping the performance management systems simple and transparent, business organisations can actually manage the performance of their employees. References Capko, J. (2016). Five Steps to a Performance Evaluation System - Family Practice Management. [online] Aafp.org. Available at: https://www.aafp.org/fpm/2003/0300/p43.html [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016]. YourArticleLibrary.com: The Next Generation Library. (2014). How to Evaluate Employee Potential? Answered. [online] Available at: https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/employee-management/how-to-evaluate-employee-potential-answered/35505/ [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016]. Harvard Business Review. (2014). How to Help an Underperformer. [online] Available at: https://hbr.org/2014/06/how-to-help-an-underperformer/ [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016]. U.S. Office of Personnel Management. (2016). Overview History. [online] Available at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/performance-management/overview-history/ [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016]. Zvavahera, (2016). An evaluation of the effectiveness of performance management systems on service delivery in the Zimbabwean civil service. 1st ed. [ebook] National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe. Available at: https://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/131746.pdf [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016]. Hr.utk.edu. (2016). Performance Evaluation | Human Resources. [online] Available at: https://hr.utk.edu/performance-evaluation/ [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016]. Acas.org.uk. (2016). Performance management | Acas. [online] Available at: https://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4668 [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016]. Graduates.teachfirst.org.uk. (n.d.). Selection process | Teach First. [online] Available at: https://graduates.teachfirst.org.uk/application-selection/selection-process [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016]. Managementstudyguide.com. (2016). Techniques for Assessment of Performance and the Factors Affecting Assessments. [online] Available at: https://www.managementstudyguide.com/performance-assessment-techniques.htm [Accessed 19 Jul. 2016]. Harvard Business Review. (2008). The Three Cs of Dealing with Under Performers. [online] Available at: https://hbr.org/2008/09/underperformers [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016]. Training, A. (2016). Advantages Of Off-the-job Training | Accounting-Management. [online] Accountlearning.blogspot.com. Available at: https://accountlearning.blogspot.com/2013/03/advantages-of-off-job-training.html [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016]. Custominsight.com. (2016). What is 360 Degree Feedback ?. [online] Available at: https://www.custominsight.com/360-degree-feedback/what-is-360-degree-feedback.asp [Accessed 19 Jul. 2016]. Custominsight.com. (2016). What is 360 Degree Feedback ?. [online] Available at: https://www.custominsight.com/360-degree-feedback/what-is-360-degree-feedback.asp [Accessed 19 Jul. 2016]. BusinessDictionary.com. (2016). What is on the job training (OJT)? definition and meaning. [online] Available at: https://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/on-the-job-training-OJT.html [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016]. Smallbusiness.chron.com. (2016). What Is Performance Feedback?. [online] Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/performance-feedback-1882.html [Accessed 19 Jul. 2016]. Business Jargons. (2015). What is Training Process? definition and meaning - Business Jargons. [online] Available at: https://businessjargons.com/training-process.html [Accessed 20 Jul. 2016].

The Story of None free essay sample

During the early days of the Clinton presidency, after years of war on antipoverty programs, struggling single mothers were all too common. Somehow, some found ways to provide for the children they loved and were willing to give the world for. Mama was one of those women. When I was younger, there were times we had no electricity, times when we had to accept food from strangers, times when all we had was each other. Somehow, Mama made it all work. She was willing to sacrifice anything for my brother and me. She was willing to sacrifice the world. In the end, all she had to sacrifice was her health. It happened when Mama switched jobs. She lost her health care, and COBRA was too expensive. In order for her to pay the heat and electricity bills and put food on the table, Mama suffered from undiagnosed, severe rheumatoid arthritis for six months. We will write a custom essay sample on The Story of None or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I was eight when she lost the ability to tie her shoes, put on her seat belt, or even turn on the ignition of her car. She depended on me, a child in all senses of the word, to do these things for her. I won’t lie. I was selfish and resentful toward my mother, the â€Å"evil witch† who disrupted my playtime because she needed my help. I was only eight, only a child. But when I remember the temper tantrums I threw when she made me carry the laundry basket, or when she wouldn’t give me an allowance, I feel a knot of guilt well up in my chest. Even now, all these years later, long after Mama has forgotten what a terrible, bratty child I was, my face still burns with shame. Today, life is better. Life is easier. Mama can (usually) afford to see doctors and pay for her medication. She still has bad days. Sometimes, she has to grasp a wall as she walks, hunched over. Sometimes, she bites her lip in pain. Rarely does she  ­complain. Mama’s trials have, ironically, provided me with my most valuable vantage point. I’m able to look at the world through eyes that don’t perceive everything as black or white. I know that being poor is not a mark of unworthiness. I know that everyone, regardless of income, deserves everyday necessities like health care. People ask me why I want to enter politics. That’s when I point out that my story isn’t as unique as many people want to believe. Every day, there are parents who worry about affording groceries and others who can’t pay medical bills because it’s winter and heating is more important. When parents cannot pay for the cost of living, their children suffer too. My story is the story of millions. I want to make it the story of none.

Domestication History of Squashes (Cucurbita spp)

Domestication History of Squashes (Cucurbita spp) Squash (genus Cucurbita), including squashes, pumpkins, and gourds, is one of the earliest and most important of plants domesticated in the Americas, along with maize and common bean. The genus includes 12-14 species, at least five of which were domesticated independently, long before European contact in South America, Mesoamerica, and Eastern North America. Five Main Species The designation cal BP means, roughly, calendar years ago before the present. Data in this table has been assembled from a variety of available sources, listed in the bibliography for this article. Name Common Name Location Date Progenitor C. pepo spp pepo pumpkins, zucchini Mesoamerica 10,000 cal BP C. pepo. spp fraterna C. moschata butternut squash Mesoamerica or northern South America 10,000 cal BP C. pepo spp fraterna C. pepo spp. ovifera summer squashes, acorns Eastern North America 5000 cal BP C. pepo spp ozarkana C. argyrosperma silver-seeded gourd, green-striped cushaw Mesoamerica 5000 cal BP C. argyrosperma spp sororia C. ficifolia fig-leafed gourd Mesoamerica or Andean South America 5000 cal BP unknown C. maxima buttercup, banana, Lakota, Hubbard, Harrahdale pumpkins South America 4000 cal BP C. maxima spp adreana Why Would Anybody Domesticate Gourds? Wild forms of squashes are harshly bitter to humans and other extant mammals, but there is evidence that they were harmless to mastodons, the extinct form of elephant. Wild squashes carry cucurbitacins, which can be toxic when eaten by smaller bodied mammals, including humans. Large-bodied mammals would need to ingest a huge amount to have an equivalent dose (75-230 whole fruits at once). Interestingly, when the megafauna died off at the end of the last Ice Age, wild Cucurbita declined. The last mammoths in the Americas died off about 10,000 years ago, around the same time squashes were domesticated. See Kistler et al. for a discussion. Archaeological understanding of squash domestication process  has undergone a considerable rethinking: most domestication processes have been found to have taken centuries if not millennia to complete. In comparison, squash domestication was fairly abrupt. Domestication was likely in part the result of human selection for different traits related to edibility, as well as seed size and rind thickness. It has also been suggested that domestication may have been directed by the practicality of dried gourds as containers or fishing weights. Bees and Gourds Evidence suggests that cucurbit ecology is tightly bound up with one of its pollinators, several varieties of an American stingless bee known as Peponapis or the gourd bee. Ecological evidence (Giannini et al.) identified a co-occurrence of specific types of cucurbit with specifics type of Peponapis  in three distinct geographic clusters. Cluster A is in the Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahan deserts (including P. pruinosa); B in the moist forests of the Yucatan peninsula and C in the Sinaloa dry forests. Peponapis bees may well be crucial to understanding the spread of domesticated squash in the Americas, because bees apparently followed the human movement of cultivated squashes into new territories. Lopez-Uribe et al. (2016) studied and identified molecular markers of the bee P. pruinosa in bee populations throughout North America. P. pruinosa today prefers the wild host C. foetidissima, but when that is not available, it relies on domesticated host plants, C. pepo, C. moschata and C. maxima, for pollen. The distribution of these markers suggests that modern squash bee populations are the result of a massive range expansion from out of Mesoamerica into the temperate regions of North America. Their findings suggest that the bee colonized eastern NA after C. pepo was domesticated there, the first and only known case of a pollinators range expanding with the spread of a domesticated plant. South America Microbotanical remains from squash plants such as starch grains and phytoliths, as well as macro-botanical remains such as seeds, pedicles, and rinds, have been found representing C. moschata squash and bottle gourd in numerous sites throughout northern South American and Panama by 10,200-7600 cal BP, underlining their probable South American origins earlier than that. Phytoliths large enough to represent domesticated squash have been found at sites in Ecuador 10,000-7,000 years BP and the Colombian Amazon (9300-8000 BP). Squash seeds of Cucurbita moschata have been recovered from sites in the Nanchoc valley on the lower western slopes of Peru, as were early cotton, peanut, and quinoa. Two squash seeds from the floors of houses were direct-dated, one 10,403–10,163 cal BP and one 8535-8342 cal BP. In the Zaà ±a valley of Peru, C. moschata rinds dated to 10,402-10,253 cal BP, alongside early evidence of cotton, manioc and coca. C. ficifolia was discovered in southern coastal Peru at Paloma, dated between 5900-5740 cal BP; other squash evidence that has not been identified to species include Chilca 1, in southern coastal Peru (5400 cal BP and Los Ajos in southeastern Uruguay, 4800-4540 cal BP. Mesoamerican Squashes The earliest archaeological evidence for C. pepo squash in Mesoamerica comes from excavations carried out during the 1950s and 1960s in five caves in Mexico: Guil Naquitz in Oaxaca state, Coxcatln and San Marco caves in Puebla and Romero’s and Valenzuela’s caves in Tamaulipas. Pepo squash seeds, fruit rind fragments, and stems have been radiocarbon dated to 10,000 years BP, including both direct dating of the seeds and indirect dating of the site levels in which they were found. This analysis allowed also to trace the dispersion of the plant between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago from south to north, specifically, from Oaxaca and southwestern Mexico toward Northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Xihuatoxtla rockshelter, in tropical Guerrero state, contained phytoliths of what may be C. argyrosperma, in association with radiocarbon dated levels of 7920/- 40 RCYBP, indicating that domesticated squash was available between 8990-8610 cal BP. Eastern North America In the United States, early evidence of initial domestication of Pepo squash comes from different sites from the central midwest and the east from Florida to Maine. This was a subspecies of Cucurbita pepo called Cucurbita pepo ovifera and its wild ancestor, the inedible Ozark gourd, is still present in the area. This plant formed part of the dietary complex known as the Eastern North American Neolithic, which also included chenopodium and sunflower. The earliest use of squash is from the Koster site  in Illinois, ca. 8000 years BP; the earliest domesticated squash in the midwest comes from Phillips Spring, Missouri, about 5,000 years ago.   Sources Dillehay TD, Rossen J, Andres TC, and Williams DE. 2007. Preceramic Adoption of Peanut, Squash, and Cotton in Northern Peru. Science 316:1890-1893.Fuller DQ, Denham T, Arroyo-Kalin M, Lucas L, Stevens CJ, Qin L, Allaby RG, and Purugganan MD. 2014. Convergent evolution and parallelism in plant domestication revealed by an expanding archaeological record. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111(17):6147-6152.Giannini TC, Lira-Saade R, Ayala R, Saraiva AM, and Alves-dos-Santos I. 2011. Ecological niche similarities of Peponapis bees and non-domesticated Cucurbita species. Ecological Modelling 222(12):2011-2018.Hart JP, Brumbach HJ, and Lusteck R. 2007. Extending the Phytolith Evidence for Early Maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and Squash (Cucurbita sp.) in Central New York. American Antiquity 72(3):563-584.Kistler L, Newsom LA, Ryan TM, Clarke AC, Smith BD, and Perry GH. 2015. Gourds and squashes (Cucurbita spp.) adapted to megafaunal extinction and ecological anachronism through domestication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112(49):15107-15112. Lira R, Eguiarte L, Montes S, Zizumbo-Villarreal D, Marà ­n PC-G, and Quesada M. 2016. Homo sapiens–Cucurbita interaction in Mesoamerica: Domestication, Dissemination, and Diversification. In: Lira R, Casas A, and Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: Interactions of People and Plants in Mesoamerica. New York, NY: Springer New York. p 389-401.Là ³pez-Uribe MM, Cane JH, Minckley RL, and Danforth BN. 2016. Crop domestication facilitated rapid geographical expansion of a specialist pollinator, the squash bee Peponapis pruinosa. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 283(1833).Patton PE, and Curran S. 2016. Archaic Period Domesticated Plants in the Mid-Ohio Valley: Archaeobotanical Remains from the County Home Site (33at40), Southeastern Ohio. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 41(2):127-158.Piperno DR. 2011. The Origins of Plant Cultivation and Domestication in the New World Tropics: Patterns, Process, and New Developments. Current Anthropolog y 52(S4):S453-S470. Piperno DR. 2016. Phytolith radiocarbon dating in archaeological and paleoecological research: a case study of phytoliths from modern Neotropical plants and a review of the previous dating evidence. Journal of Archaeological Science 68:54-61.Ranere AJ, Piperno DR, Holst I, Dickau R, and Iriarte J. 2009. The cultural and chronological context of early Holocene maize and squash domestication in the Central Balsas River Valley, Mexico. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106:5014-5018.Sanjur OI, Piperno DR, Andres TC, and Wessel-Beaver L. 2002. Phylogenetic relationships among domesticated and wild species of Cucurbita (Cucurbitaceae) inferred from a mitochondrial gene: Implications for crop plant evolution and areas of origin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99(1):535-540.Simon ML. 2011. Evidence for variability among squash seeds from the Hoxie site (11CK4), Illinois. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(9):2079-2093.Smith BD. 2011. The Cultural Context of Plant Domestication in Eastern North America. Current Anthropology 52(S4):S471-S484. Smith BD. 2006. Eastern North America as an independent center of plant domestication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103(33):12223-12228.Zheng Y-H, Alverson AJ, Wang Q-F, and Palmer JD. 2013. Chloroplast phylogeny of Cucurbita: Evolution of the domesticated and wild species. Journal of Systematics and Evolution 51(3):326-334.

Overview of the First Battle of Panipat

Overview of the First Battle of Panipat Trumpeting, their eyes wide with panic, the elephants turned back and charged into their own troops, crushing scores of men underfoot. Their opponents had brought a terrifying new technology to bear, something the elephants likely had never heard before Background to the First Battle of Panipat Indias invader, Babur, was the scion of the great Central Asian conqueror-families; his father was a descendant of Timur, while his mothers family traced its roots back to Genghis Khan. His father died in 1494, and the 11-year-old Babur became the ruler of Farghana (Fergana), in what is now the border area between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. However, his uncles and cousins fought Babur for the throne, forcing him to abdicate twice. Unable to hold on to Farghana or take Samarkand, the young prince gave up on the family seat, turning south to capture Kabul instead in 1504. Babur was not satisfied for long with ruling over Kabul and the surrounding districts alone, however. Throughout the early sixteenth century, he made several incursions northward into his ancestral lands but never was able to hold them for long. Discouraged, by 1521, he had set his sights on lands further to the south instead: Hindustan (India), which was under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate and Sultan Ibrahim Lodi. The Lodi dynasty was actually the fifth and final of the Delhi Sultanates ruling families during the late medieval period. The Lodi family were ethnic Pashtuns who took control over a large section of northern India in 1451, reunifying the area after Timurs devastating invasion in 1398. Ibrahim Lodi was a weak and tyrannical ruler, disliked by the nobility and commoners alike. In fact, the noble families of the Delhi Sultanate despised him to such a degree that they actually invited Babur to invade! The Lodi ruler would have trouble preventing his troops from defecting to Baburs side during the fighting, as well. Battle Forces and Tactics Baburs Mughal forces consisted of between 13,000 and 15,000 men, mostly horse cavalry. His secret weapon was 20 to 24 pieces of field artillery, a relatively recent innovation in warfare. Arrayed against the Mughals were Ibrahim Lodis 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers, plus tens of thousands of camp followers. Lodis primary weapon of shock and awe was his troop of war elephants, numbering anywhere from 100 to 1,000 trained and battle-hardened pachyderms, according to different sources. Ibrahim Lodi was no tactician; his army simply marched out in a disorganized block, relying on sheer numbers and the aforementioned elephants to overwhelm the enemy. Babur, however, employed two tactics unfamiliar to Lodi, which turned the tide of the battle. The first was tulughma, dividing a smaller force into forward left, rear left, forward right, rear right, and center divisions. The highly mobile right and left divisions peeled out and surrounded the larger enemy force, driving them towards the center. At the center, Babur arrayed his cannons. The second tactical innovation was Baburs use of carts, called araba. His artillery forces were shielded behind a row of carts which were tied together with leather ropes, to prevent the enemy from getting between them and attacking the artillerymen. This tactic was borrowed from the Ottoman Turks. The Battle of Panipat After conquering the Punjab region (which today is divided between northern India and Pakistan), Babur drove on toward Delhi. Early on the morning of April 21, 1526, his army met the Delhi sultans at Panipat, now in Haryana State, about 90 kilometers north of Delhi. Using his tulughma formation, Babur trapped the Lodi army in a pincer motion. He then used his cannons to great effect; the Delhi war elephants had never heard such a loud and terrible noise, and the spooked animals turned around and ran through their own lines, crushing Lodis soldiers as they ran. Despite these advantages, the battle was a close contest given the Delhi Sultanates overwhelming numerical superiority. As the bloody encounter dragged on toward midday, however, more and more of Lodis soldiers defected to Baburs side. Finally, the tyrannical sultan of Delhi was abandoned by his surviving officers  and left to die on the battlefield from his wounds. The Mughal upstart from Kabul had prevailed. The Aftermath of the Battle According to the Baburnama, Emperor Baburs autobiography, the Mughals killed 15,000 to 16,000 of the Delhi soldiers. Other local accounts put the total losses at closer to 40,000 or 50,000. Of Baburs own troops, some 4,000 were killed in the battle. There is no record of the elephants fate. The First Battle of Panipat is a crucial turning point in the history of India. Although it would take time for Babur and his successors to consolidate control over the country, the defeat of the Delhi Sultanate was a major step towards the establishment of the Mughal Empire, which would rule India until it was defeated in turn by the British Raj in 1868. The Mughal path to the empire was not smooth. Indeed, Baburs son Humayan lost the entire kingdom during his reign  but was able to regain some territory before his death. The empire was truly solidified by Baburs grandson, Akbar the Great; later successors included the ruthless Aurangzeb and Shah Jahan, the creator of the Taj Mahal. Sources Babur, Emperor of Hindustan, trans. Wheeler M. Thackston. The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince, and Emperor, New York: Random House, 2002.Davis, Paul K. 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.Roy, Kaushik. Indias Historic Battles: From Alexander the Great to Kargil, Hyderabad: Orient Black Swan Publishing, 2004.

Does the rotation of auditors improve the quality of auditing Essay - 3

Does the rotation of auditors improve the quality of auditing - Essay Example ntial advantages of MAR fail to outweigh costs incurred and other associated risks. 3 In this context, the essay will review the available literature that analyses whether rotation of auditors improve quality of auditing. It will use deductive reasoning to derive that while there are not much empirical data that prove MAR significantly improves audit quality, at the same time, there is not much conclusive evidence that shows MAR has an adverse effect on audit quality, thus keeping the debate open. Discussion Audit, audit quality and auditor rotation In the UK, it is mandatory for all public sector organisations and large business firms to produce an annual, audited financial report. In this context, the term auditing refers to â€Å"a systematic process of objectively gathering and evaluating evidence relating to assertions about economic actions and events in which the individual or organisation making the assertions has been engaged, to ascertain the degrees of correspondence betw een these assertions and established criteria.†4 The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) had recently published a report asking for public suggestions on the improvement of audit quality and auditor independence, wherein auditor rotation was taken into consideration.5 There are varying opinions on the effects of auditor rotation, and researches have revealed that existing literature fails to derive conclusively on the effects of audit rotation, hence researchers must be careful when analysing audit rotation reports from the past.6 Supporters for auditor rotation claimed that a long-term relationship between an auditor and a company develops a feeling of dependency that in turn diminishes audit quality.7 However, those against auditor rotation claimed that auditor rotation is an expensive process and the costs far exceed any derived advantages.8 Furthermore, they also claimed that auditor rotation is a hurdle, in regard developing a relationship between the firmâ €™s managers and auditors based on confidence and trust, and social exposures between the two often lead to improved audit quality, without hampering auditor independence.9 The theoretical debate on the issue of auditor rotation is based on how one views the auditor. If the auditor is seen as a medium for wealth optimisation, there are various theories that support the concept that there is an improvement of audit quality due to rotation.10 However, if one viewed the auditor as an agent for the principals, rotation is deemed disadvantageous, and a long-term relationship would allow the auditor to get a better understanding of the principals’ objectives, thus making him/her a better auditor.11 The term ‘audit quality’ denotes the probability that an auditor will find shortcomings within a firm’s accounting system (competence), and will report on them (independence).12

Accommodation and outcomes for the special children Essay

Accommodation and outcomes for the special children - Essay Example Designing an activity for preschoolers aged three to four years old is a good way to make use of their motor skills, while at the same time, a means for them to be able to create patterns that they are starting to see in their surroundings, whether observed on their own or intentionally taught by teachers and caregivers An activity that combines finger painting and hand sculpting using a variety of materials that will allow them to choose on their own their choice of materials in creating shapes, figures or even imitate letters of the alphabet -- combines play, creativity and learning. Preschoolers as such are more concerned with the novelty of the activity itself, rather than what they produce. For the teachers and caregivers, it will serve as an activity that will allow them to see the individual interests and capabilities of the children.The setting for such an activity where typically developing children and children with special needs both participate in may be in that part of t he classroom that serves as an art corner surrounded by illustrated materials and special toys of varied shapes and sizes that lend them to handheld explorations. Since a classroom set-up with children with special needs are present, the size of the classroom participants have to be small enough that will enable the teacher to attend to every child, typically developing and those with special needs alike.... The expected outcome for the above activity for those who are typically developing would be that at the end of the activity they would gain confidence in their ability to recreate the shapes and forms that they see in their environment and those that are taught them. Another outcome would be that they would progress from just drawing with no shapes or patterns to a stage where there can portray discernible patters, even relationships among the things that they see and observe. If the activities preceding this activity allowed for the familiarization of the alphabet and the numbers from one to ten through visualization and phonetics, typically developing children may start to write some letters of the alphabet and a few numbers. Another expected outcome since the activity joins typically developing children and those with special needs is that typically developing children would be more open-minded to the fact that other children who are not like them have their own typical or unique ways of doing things. Accommodation and outcomes for the special children: While special children or those with disability have their own pace and their own unique ways of doing things and learning, they could benefit from being with their typically developing peers by making them aware of their own capabilities which are may be different but the similar in terms of aspirations. Accommodations need to be made to enable those who have learning disabilities to be not unduly disadvantaged. At the same time, accommodations are focused to using the IEP whereby each child's individual strength and relative capability are put to use. Jonathan Carter, 3 years old and with Down's Syndrome may benefit from finger painting and hand sculpting activity by allowing his social skills to

Psychology Revision Notes Essay Example for Free

Psychology Revision Notes Essay Participants were divided into four groups which were acoustically similar, acoustically dissimilar, semantically similar and semantically dissimilar. Participants were presented with the list a total of 4 times and each time was interrupted to try to prevent rehearsing. They were then presented with a 20-minute interval task and afterwards were asked to recall their list. Semantically dissimilar words were recalled the most telling us that encoding in LTM is semantic. Summary of study on capacity of STM and LTM  Summary of study on duration of STM  Peterson Peterson-  Showed PPs a list of nonsense trigrams and asked them to count back from 400 in 3 second intervals for a duration ranging from 3 to 18 seconds. Found that duration of STM was 18-30 seconds maximum.  Summary of study on duration of LTM  Bahrick-  400 participants aged between 17 and 74 were tested using different methods including free-recall tests, photo-recognition test, name recognition tests and photo-name matching test. PPs performed less well on free recall tests (30% after 48 years) but were much better in the photo-name test (90% after 60 years). Models of memory  Description of the multi-store model of memory, plus evaluation inc. research  Atkinson Shiffrin-  Multi-Store Model which consists of three parts sensory, short term and long term stores. Rehearsal is required in order for information to move across stores and retrieval is needed to access the information. If information is not rehearsed it will decay.  Description of the working memory model, plus evaluation inc. research Baddeley Hitch-  Working Memory Model which consists of three parts central executive, phonological loop (store and articulatory control system) and the central executive. Memory in the real world  Knowledge of what Eye Witness Testimony (EWT) is-  The evidence provided in court by a person who witnessed a crime, with a view to identifying the perpetrator of the crime. The accuracy of eyewitness recall may be affected during initial encoding, subsequent storage and eventual retrieval.  Loftus Palmers (1974) study on EWT-  Reconstruction of an Automobile Disaster. 9 student PPs per 5 conditions (bumped, contacted, hit, smashed and collided). All watched a video then asked to estimate speed. Smashed the highest (40.8mph) and contacted the lowest (31.8mph). PPs in second part of experiment then asked a leading question about broken glass. 16/50 of the smashed condition PPs said yes in comparison to 7/50 in the hit condition. Knowledge of the factors which affect the accuracy of EWT  anxiety-  Christianson and Hubinette (1993)  Anxiety and EWT real incidents involving high levels of stress lead to more accurate, detailed and long lasting memories.  Deffenbucher (2004)  Carried out a meta-analysis of 18 studies, looking at the effects if heightened anxiety on accuracy of EWR. It was clear that there was considerable support for the hypothesis that high levels of stress negatively impacted on the accuracy of EWM. Age-  Parker and Carranza (1989)  Compared the ability of primary school children and college students to correctly identify a target individual following a slide sequence of a mock crime. In the photo identification task, child witnesses has higher rate of choosing somebody than adults witnesses, although they were also more likely to make errors of identification than college students.  Weapon focus effect-  Loftus(1987)  In violent crimes, arousal may focus attention on central details e.g. a weapon. Loftus et al identified weapons focus effect. 2 conditions, one involving weapon the other not. Condition 1 (less violent) people was 49% accurate in identifying man. Condition 2 (more violent) people were 33% accurate. Suggests weapon may have distracted them.