Imagine Yourself 26 Years Ahead Essay Example for Free

Imagine Yourself 26 Years Ahead Essay It was flaming hot, the sand beneath my bare legs burned when it hit water. I thrived to keep my eyes open, but instead I drifted into my daydreams imaginations, and spontaneously everything was peaceful and utterly dreamy. It was more to a vision than a dream when I imagine myself in 2026, but within an instant I am blown away. I discover that I am the new legend in the genetic research field in the United States, not only that but a mother too. Consequently, I see an extraordinary day of my future sought life, a casual day yet inscribed within history: the day I discover the AIDS cure. Suddenly, a river of emotions erupts through my veins but I know it’s everything I want in my future and everything I want the world to remember me by, to be a person who changed the world. In my future life I’m married to a guy called Joseph khan, he becomes the first man to step on Jupiter. I linger in my visions and expectations of future, wanting nothing more but to reach for it and make it happen, but then I wake up. The sun was down but I can see my surroundings as still as they were, then out of nowhere I see a guy setting near, â€Å"what’s your name† the stranger said in a soft deep voice, â€Å"Mariah† I breathed, stunned. He walked slowly and stretched his tanned arm toward me â€Å"khan, Joseph khan.† I was hooked.

State of the Union Address Essay Example for Free

State of the Union Address Essay State Of the Union Address 2013 While President Obama will primarily focus on discussing the economy and jobs for Americans, here are five hot topics you can expect President Obama to address in his annual State of the Union address. 1. Immigration: With immigration reform picking up major traction, Obama will likely encourage continued bipartisan action to move towards comprehensive immigration reform. Current proposals by the Gang of Eight would bring about tough and fair reform for over 11 million undocumented immigrants to move towards citizenship. In 2007, the Congressional Budget Office rated the plan as generating $48 billion in additional revenue over 10 years, while costing about $23 billion in additional welfare and health care payments. 2. Foreign policy: From the security of U.S. diplomatic posts to the U.S. policy towards Syria, Obama should have lot to say about the countrys foreign policy agenda. It will be interesting to see if Obamaa speechwriters will address the recent breaking news out of North Korea, where a successful third nuclear test was reported. President Obama called the action a highly provocative act that demands swift and credible action by the international community against North Korea. Of note are quick condemnations from Russia, Britain, South Korea and the United Nations. Will Obama use primetime to address the recent actions? Is the Iranian nuclear program of greater concern than North Korea? 3. Drones: Obamas drone program came under fire since last weeks Senate hearing regarding counterterrorism adviser John Brennans nomination to become director of the CIA. Will Obama use tme to justify the administrations policy of deploying unmanned drones to kill Americans suspected of being Al-Qaeda allies? 4. Gun violence: Background checks have picked up significant momentum across party lines and Obama is well on his way to pushing for comprehensive gun control and gun violence prevention. The NRA has been very vocal about Second Amendment rights, and recent events have pushed gun violence into national spotlight. Is this issue big enough to address in his primetime address? Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, mother of slain Chicago teen Hadiya Pendleton, and a young girl from Newtown, Connecticut will be present inside the Chamber when Obama delivers his address. 5. Climate Change: Obama came out strong during his January inaugural speech on addresssing climate change. He expressed the need to deal with the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. However, his address tonight will likely cover climate change as it relates to energy technology, new industries, and economic growth. With all these issues that need to be addressed, you can expect some mention of the above. Count his words and see how many times Obama addresses the above topics. But expect it all to be overshadowed by the big issue that has carried through Obamas tenure as president the economy, jobs and economic recovery.

The Silent Era Of Hollywood Film Studies Essay

The Silent Era Of Hollywood Film Studies Essay The Silent Era of Hollywoods History was a great milestone in paving the way for todays film industry. With great actors and innovative technology, silent films poked fun at society and helped America get through some tough times. Happening between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression, silent films helped American audiences sit back and relax for an hour or two and laugh at society. Slapstick comedy made fun of high society and authority, absorbing the audience. Actors like Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks took the audience on adventures beyond any they had ever seen. In a world of black and white, silent films brightened up the lives of Americans everywhere. Whether it was a comedy, horror, or suspense, on television or at the theater, everyone in America has seen at least one movie. But have they ever stopped to appreciate how far the movie industry has come to produce outstanding special effects, eye-popping 3-D, and out-of-this-world colors? Where did all the film studios come from? Who paved the way for todays actors? Advancements and dilemmas in a world of silent black and white helped shape the movie industry forever. Early Beginnings. In 1873, a photographer was asked to find a way to photograph running horses to study their gait. Eadweard Muybridge set up twelve cameras and snapped his pictures. Each one had a half-second period of movement. He never went on to create films, but he certainly paved the way for many others. Émile Reynaud built a toy he called the Projecting Praxinoscope in 1877. It was a spinning drum where viewers saw various images in mirrors. In 1882, he found a way to project moving pictures using a lantern and mirrors. In 1888, Kodak started introducing film on paper rolls. This caught the eye of inventor Thomas Edison. He and his assistant cut the film and punched four holes onto one side so that gears could pull the film strips through the camera (Thompson Bordwell, 1994, pgs. 5-8). Early film was definitely primitive with choppy editing and jerky movements, but without it movies would have never come to existence. It took many years to perfect it, and by the time America needed enterta inment, film makers were ready. The Silent Era. Looking back, the roaring twenties was a great decade for directors, actors, and audiences in America. Post-World War I and Pre-Great Depression, America was the leading producer of movies, dealing with many of the societys problems and taboo topics. Scott Mintz of Digital History, described the silent movie era: American films were born in an age of reform, and many early silent movies took as their subject matter the major social and moral issues of the Progressive era: birth control, child labor, divorce, immigration, political corruption, poverty, prisons, prostitution, and womens suffrage. The tone of these films varied widely some were realistic and straightforward; others treated their subjects with sentimentality or humor; and many transformed complex social issues into personal melodramas. Yet there can be no doubt that many silent films dealt at least obliquely with the dominant issues of the time (2007). Film Studios. By 1926, over 400 feature films touching on societys problems were made and were emerging from eight different studios, five major and three minor. The Big Five produced 90% of films in America (Scott, 2005). Warner Bros. Pictures was the first of the five. Created by four Polish brothers, Jack, Harry, Albert, and Sam, Warner became prominent after first introducing talkies in the latter half of the decade. The studio later became infamous with Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes cartoons. The next great studio was Famous Players-Lasky Corporation in 1916. In 1935 it became known as Paramount Pictures, and generated many silent film stars such as Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, and talking stars including Bing Crosby and Bob Hope (Dirks, 1996). Paramount made a total of 101 movies in 1921 (Scott, 2005). The third studio was known as RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum) Pictures. It struggled in the 1920s until talking films came to the surface. The next studio is more commonly known as MGM o r Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Metro Pictures Corporation, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures Company merged together in 1924. They are best known for the Tom and Jerry cartoons. The final big studio was a merger of two big studios, Fox Film Corporation/Foundation and 20th Century Picture Company. It became known as 20th Century Fox (Dirks, 1996). The last three studios may have just been minor then, but today two of them are top-selling studios. Universal Pictures was formed in 1912 and became known for the Woody Woodpecker cartoons. The C.B.C Film Sales Company was founded in 1920 and later became known as Columbia Pictures. They established fame with the first Batman serials. The last of the little three was United Artists, formed in 1919 by the top film stars of the time, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, and D.W Griffith (Dirks, 1996). Movie Palaces. Not only did the film companies create innovative movies, they also constructed deluxe palaces to showcase their films. By starting these movie theater chains, the movie industry skyrocketed. Between 1922 and 1930, investment jumped from $78 to $850 million, and movie patrons doubled from 40 million people a week to 80 million (Thompson Bordwell, 1994). The Strand Theater opened in 1914 with 3,300 seats. The 6,200-seat Roxy Theater opened in New York City in 1927. It closed in 1960 and became known as Radio City Music Hall in 1965. On the west coast, Sid Grauman built three theaters in Los Angeles: the Million Dollar Theater (2,345 seats), the Egyptian Theater (1,760 seats), and the infamous Chinese Theater (2,258 seats). Grauman decided to start a tradition of Hollywood stars leaving their imprints in front of the theater (Dirks, 1996). Many of todays stars have their imprints at the theater, including one of the best known silent film stars of all time: Charlie Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin. Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London in spring 1889. His parents were both actors and singers, giving Charlie each a piece of their talents. Unfortunately, the sudden death of his father and the mental illness of his mother forced him out on his own at the age of 10. Having his first stage performance at the age of 14 in Sherlock Holmes, Charlie started doing vaudeville comedy and was immediately taken to America to showcase his talents (Overview). Easily recognized by the toothbrush moustache, bowler hat, and funny walk, Chaplin starred in 87 short films and became known for his trademark Little Tramp character (see figure 1) (Smith, Mini Biography). Chaplin became ambitious and starred in a drama that ridiculed high society. His audience, however, avoided a film without the Little Tramp. He brought the character back in two of his greatest films, The Gold Rush (1925) and The Circus (1927) (Thompson Bordwell, 1994, pgs. 166-167). Figure : Charlie Chaplin as The Tramp Not only did Chaplin star in almost 100 films, he also wrote and directed, financed and produced, and composed all the music for them. During his spare time he wrote four books and composed many other songs. His films always focused on the economic and social problems of the time, making him relatable to the public while still being a comedian. He died on Christmas day in 1977. He was married and divorced four separate times and was survived by nine children (Smith, Mini Biography). Douglas Fairbanks. Another co-creator of United Artists, and a great actor in the action genre was Douglas Fairbanks. Born in Denver, Colorado in 1883, Fairbanks moved to New York in 1900. He made his Broadway debut there in 1902 and quickly prospered in his career. Wanting to move on to bigger and better things, he was under close watch of D.W. Griffith and became a huge movie star. He starred in many social and romantic comedies, making him very appealing to his audience. During a World War I Liberty bond tour, he met his future wife and equally popular actress Mary Pickford. After divorcing their respective spouses, they were married. Divorces were frowned upon during this era, but at the time they were so popular that America forgave and forgot their divorces. The couple was known as the king and queen, the royal couple of Hollywood. He is best known for action films such as The Mask of Zorro (1920), The Three Musketeers (1921) (see figure 2), Robin Hood (1922), The Thief of Bagdad (1924), and The Black Pirate (1926) (Stars, 2004). Figure : Douglas Fairbanks in The Three Musketeers In 1927, Fairbanks and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was founded. Together they created the Academy Awards, to acknowledge, appreciate, and reward excellence in film (Dirks, 1996). Fairbanks died suddenly of a heart attack in 1939, and was given a special Oscar for recognizing the unique and outstanding contribution of the first President of the Academy to the international development of the motion picture (Stars, 2004). Early Innovations in Color. Making these award-winning movies was no easy feat since technology was moving fast. In the 1910s, directors and cinematographers were placing semi-transparent fabrics over their lenses to give the shot a soft, blurry look. By the 1920s, special lenses were created that focused all attention on the main actors and scenery, while blurring out the background. Another major advancement was the development of panchromatic film stock. Film was only sensitive to purple, blue, and green. Yellow and red barely registered, making any object of that color appear black (like an actress lipstick, see figure 3), while blue and purple appeared white. The sky with clouds rolling by was hard to film since the blue washed out to white with the clouds. By 1925, Eastman Kodak starting producing panchromatic stock and film studios were quickly switching over (Thompson Bordwell, 1994, pgs. 177-178). While vibrant shades of gray and black becoming popular, a world famous icon was still just an idea. Figure : Mary Pickfords lips appear black and she clearly stands out from the background A Mouse for All Ages. Walt Disney started his own arts firm in 1919. After many failed attempts at short cartoons, he and his brother Roy started the Disney Brothers Studios in Hollywood. It would later grow into one of the biggest corporations in the twentieth century. A character Disney created was taken over by another during a legal battle (Thompson Bordwell, 1994, p. 179). In retaliation, Disney created Steamboat Willie, starring Mickey Mouse for the first time in 1928. Steamboat Willie was also the first cartoon with synchronized sound. Strangely enough, the first sound was not Mickeys voice, but background noises and music. Mickey didnt speak until his ninth cartoon when he said hot dogs!, using Disneys voice for Mickeys (Dirks, 1996). Lets Hear it for the Movies. As the decade came to a close, the arrival of sound was a major disturbance. Silent films could be distributed all over the world, having no language barrier. Now that actors were beginning to talk, the movies had to stay strictly in the US and audiences started to realize the actors lacked an appealing speaking voice. Many directors had to have their actors imported from Broadway, knowing they already had excellent speaking voices. Cameras were bulky and created a lot of noise, and immobile microphones attached to the actors limited their mobility. Soon the silent film studios became almost extinct and boom mikes, mounted cameras, and sound-proof stages were the most innovative equipment (Dirks, 1996). With the new microphones, actors could move freely and speak at their normal pace, giving films a new rhythm. The Bell Howell Rotambulator was also invented, giving cameras movement they never had before. The dolly could raise the camera vertically from 18 inches to 7 feet and pannin g, tilting, and tracking were simpler and easier (Thompson Bordwell, 1994, pgs. 241-242). Coloring a Black and White World Black and white was also becoming obsolete. People had tried in the past to paint or hand-tint the film strips, but their efforts were futile after realizing the films looked unrealistic. Kinemacolor was introduced and used alternating red and green filters, black and white film was projected through them. In 1915, the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation was developed. They added the green and red color to the negative film strips and printed them together. A two-color system starting in the 1910s had evolved into a three-color system in 1932, due to Technicolor (Dirks, 1996). Effects of the Great Depression In addition to new advancements slowly deteriorating the Silent Era, The Great Depression also hurt everyone, including the film studios and their palaces. Theaters could no longer afford ushers, and they started selling popcorn, soda, and candy as an extra means of income. Since audiences had very little money to spend outside of necessities, theaters needed to create new sales pitches. Theaters began playing double and even triple features. Even though the last movie was a short, cheap B movie, audiences felt they were getting more for their dollar. Prize giveaways were also done at the door, giving away anything from pillows to dishes. Each week a new dish was given away, further persuading patrons to come back every week to collect and complete their dishware set (Thompson Bordwell, 1994, p 240). Never Forgotten. Even though many Americans think of silent films as ancient, boring antiques, they are so much more. In addition to addressing major social and moral issues, early films were laced with anti-authority themes, poking fun at bumbling cops, corrupt politicians, and intrusive upper-class reformers. Highly physical slapstick comedy offered a particularly potent vehicle of social criticism, spoofing the pretensions of the wealthy and presenting sympathetic portraits of the poor (Mintz, 2007). Silent films let audiences know that it was alright to laugh at the morally corrupt world after the first World War. They opened the door for great actors and actresses to pave the way for todays movie stars. Silent films are a major part of Hollywoods history and should never be forgotten.

The Poem, Woman, by Nikki Giovanni Essay -- Poetry Analysis

The poem â€Å"Woman†, written by Nikki Giovanni, uses several metaphors to describe the journey of a woman and what she feels the man should do but will not do. She describes in many different ways how she wants support from the man, but he is unwilling to give it. In the first stanza, she starts the poem with the woman being a simple, insignificant thing. â€Å"She wanted to be a blade of grass amid the fields† (lines 1-2). Grass grows under your feet. Blades of grass are plentiful and ordinary. She just wanted to be just like every other woman. â€Å"But he wouldn’t agree to be her dandelion† (line 3-4). A dandelion is a deeply rooted weed. If it is pulled up by the roots, one has to get every single root up or the dandelion will grow back. This signifies that the woman wanted the man to be the solace in her life. In the second stanza, the woman in the poem is now referring to herself as a robin. â€Å"She wanted to be a robin singing through the leaves† (lines 5-6). Robins mostly stay in their own climate during the winter, and feed off of the berries in the tree. When spring is coming the robin starts to sing. â€Å"But he refused to be her tree† (lines 7-8). She wanted the support when she needed, but she also wanted the freedom to fly away when she needed to. The tree signifies structure and stability. She needed that stability, but he did not want to give it. In the third stanza, the woman has progressed into a spider. â€Å"She spun herself into a web and looking for a place to rest turned to him but he stood straight declining to be her corner† (lines 10-14). Spiders are normally very independent by nature. However a spider’s most desired place for a web would be a corner. A corner allows the spider a safe haven and many exit routs to esc... ...endent, aggressive, and predatory. Then she tried to be a book, a great resource. In her final attempt to get a response from him, she turned herself into a bulb, his vital life source. However she was a woman the whole time. The author could have been using metaphors to show what she thought were the characteristics of men and women. The poem more likely shows the progression of women over time to find their place in society and the man’s struggle to deal with it. The woman in the poem was desperately trying to find her place of significance. She learned in the end, that being who she was in other people’s eyes was less important than being who she was in her own eyes. Work Cited Giovanni, Nikki. â€Å"Woman†. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing.7th ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2004. 1098.

diamond industry Essay -- essays research papers

The value of diamonds lies on their physical properties that make them suitable for many applications. Natural diamonds are only of high value if they are scarce in nature. Realizing this, De Beers Consolidated Mines was formed to control the supply of diamonds from mines across the world. The diamond market is influenced by mine production, rough diamond distribution, preparation/cutting, and retail markets. The project will be concentrating on the retail markets for diamonds and other high end jewelry. Jewelry purchases are highly discretionary because they are heavily affected by adverse trends in the general economy and are measured by disposable consumer income. The first half of fiscal 2003 can be described with a lackluster economy, lower consumer confidence and an unstable geopolitical environment. However, general economic conditions and consumer confidence improved in the second half of fiscal 2003, resulting with increased sales. Since the economy has taken some major strides towards recovery, the jewelry industry represents a bullish market. Large and small retailers are evaluating expansion opportunities outside of the traditional regional mall venue. With this in mind, it is the intention of this paper to assess the comprehensive strategies of the cyclical retail jewelry industry. In this highly competitive industry which is extremely sensitive to the level of discretionary consumer income and the subsequent impact of the type of good purchased, competitors include foreign and domestic guild and premier luxury jewelers, specialty stores, national and regional jewelry chains, and department stores. To a lesser extent there exist catalog showrooms, discounters, direct mail suppliers, televised home shopping networks, and jewelry retailers who make sales through internet sites. It is a highly fragmented US market estimated at approximately 54 billion dollars. The breakup of the industry is accordingly: mass merchants representing 10%, chain jewelers with 100+ stores as 14%, chain department stores representing 12%, TV home shopping with 4%, independent jewelers taking the largest share at 36% and other (general, misc.) accounting for 24%. (Please refer to exhibit E) The specialty retailers with the highest sales are Zale Corp ($2.2Bn), Signet US($1.7Bn), Tiffany ($.8Bn) other players include Friedman’s ($.4Bn) Whitehall ($.3Bn), and Samuels ($.1... ...d consignment terms have become the norm for wholesalers to extend to their retail partners. A good proportion of the inventory costs are transferred to wholesalers through these consignment purchases. Since jewelry is not a perishable good such as the garments and shoe industries, it still works as an asset even if the retailer returns the merchandise back to the wholesaler. The amount of power that a retailer has is directly correlated to the size of their operation. Only a few companies command extensive volumes. To fill the capacity present in most factories owned by wholesalers they require these volumes to remain profitable. Due to these factors, the major chain stores are able to leverage better financing, costs, and payment terms than the rest of the industry. The largest percentage of jewelers can be categorized as independent jewelers accounting for 36% of the overall market. Their ability to leverage power comes from their financial credibility in the market. Jewelry, being a luxury good and furthermore having high costs leads to great losses in the cases of defaults. Thus, the financial strength of these companies dictates the amount of power they have in the industry.

Memoirs Of A Mountain High :: essays research papers

It was the summer of 94 when I took a Wilderness Leadership Semester from the Colorado Outward Bound School . Needless to say that it was the most emotional, challenging, and rewarding experience that I have had in all of my 19 ears of existence. One week spent running the Upper Green River in westernColorado and northern Utah. Through The Gates of the Ladour Canyon and Dinosaur National Monument, we floated to end where the Green meets the Colorado River just beyond Echo Canyon. The high desert canyons echoed with rapids ovarious classes; Hells Half Mile and Disaster Falls were the most memorable. Upon completion we headed to climbing camp in Wyoming at a place called Vedauwoo (va-da-vu).Two weeks of vigorous climbing these granite towers left many scars both physically and emotionally for this rock was indeed as sharp as knives. Somehow no matter hard climbed; even if successful, this rock always seemed to have the last say. By this time a month had passed and I was very grateful to have that one shower on the way to the Gore Range in Colorado. This section of the course was by far the most demanding, the mountaineering section. Stepping off the bus in Frisco, Colorado we looked back knowing that we were not to see civilization for at least a month. There were 8 men and women in my group from all over the country. Each one had a unique personality not knowing that we would all become closer to each other than family, possibly being dependent during life threatening situations which we experienced on many occasions. This in itself could be another long story. By the end of this section we were required to do what they call a solo. In addition to rest up for the 15 mile marathon and finals, (a week of travel) this was also used for reflecting on our experiences. The solo was for three days. During these three days we were all to be separated about a quarter to half mile apart, alone. All of our flashlights, candles, and watches were taken away along with any books which were left at base camp. All we were allowed to take was our clothes, a tarp(not a tent) which wasn't but 5ft by 2ft, a water bottle, a pencil, paper, and our iodine to purify the water.I also want to note that we had the choice to fast or take a survival pack which consisted of a few crackers and raisins. I wanted the full experience so I chose to fast. This was a trip in itself, no food for three days. My spot on this solo was at around

Employment and Absenteeism Problem Essay

Absenteeism refers to unauthorised absence of the worker from his job. According to Benefits Interface (Edited 2010: 1 of 4) absenteeism can be defined as ‘failure of employees to report for work when they are scheduled to work’. Employees who are away from work on recognized holidays, vacations, approved leaves of absence allowed for under the collective agreement provisions are not included. In South Africa, managers consider absenteeism their most serious discipline problem (Nadlangisa, 2003). Absenteeism is not unique to any particular geographical area or industry. It is a major problem for every organisation, particularly since downsizing and other lean changes have left employers with a smaller workforce (Grobler, Warnich, et al, 2006: 123) According to a recent study conducted by AIC Insurance, companies and the country’s economy are losing more than R12 billion annually due to absenteeism in South Africa. In 2000, 0. 7 million workers were absent from work, which is a fraction compared to the 397% leap it took up until 2012 (Goldberg, 2012). Employees are often considered to be a company’s most valuable asset and according to Hamilton-Atwell (2003: 56-61) one of the best ways to increase profitably is by increasing the returns on this asset. Reducing absenteeism is one of the most overlooked methods of reducing costs According to Goldberg (2012) managing absence is critical for all organisations, as the negative impact that they feel with regards to efficiency, operations and cost- effectiveness is enormous. Whatever the causes, absenteeism is costing the country and its businesses heavily and therefore needs to be addressed. Many employers, however, choose to disregard the possibility that there may be issues in the workplace causing poor performance and absenteeism. It makes sound economic sense to address any such issues and pro-actively encourage improved employee performance. This research framework focuses on a medium-sized local organisation, which has asked to not be mentioned. Therefore it shall be referred to as Organisation X. 3 2. Problem identification The failure to show up for work creates problems of varying degrees for managers and administrators. Excessive employee absenteeism can decrease productivity and profits significantly, creating numerous problems for supervisors and the employees who work regularly (Carrell & Kuzmits, 1992: 735). 2. 1. Problem Statement The motivation for this research will be discussed by highlighting problems related to employee absenteeism as experienced within Organisation X Main Problem Unauthorized employee absenteeism from Organisation X and the actions that might be implemented to reduce this due to the fact that absenteeism causes a liability to the company. Sub-Problems The unauthorised employee absenteeism is leading to an overall decrease in: i. Cost- effectiveness – Profitability ii. Operations – Production iii. Efficiency – Competitiveness 2. 2. Explanation of problems: Financial Costs Overtime and agency costs for replacing workers are incurred. Administrative Costs Staff time required to secure replacement employees and to re-assign the remaining employees. Staff time is required to maintain and control absenteeism. 4 Decrease in Productivity The employees that come to work daily carry an extra workload and support new or replacement staff. Also they are required to train and orient new or replacement workers, which cause them to neglect and disregard their own work. The work group itself has a considerable stake in absenteeism, particularly with respect to morale. People in work groups are very sensitive to equity. If one member takes excessive and perceived inappropriate absences without some equitable cost to that individual, other group members are often affected. They take revenge by going absent themselves, o lowering the productivity of the group as a whole (Furham, 2000: 377). Possible reasons for the absenteeism rate in Organisation X Lack of commitment Employees are simply not interested in their work or concerned about the success of the organization. This can stem from low wages or low employee morale, which might be caused by poor treatment by management or an unpleasant working environment. Also the length of service within the company will determine the commitment to the work and the workplace. Lack of consequence The lack of consequences, e. g. no incentives for strong attendance or no punishment for poor attendance leads to increased absenteeism of the employees. Also employee packages that allow for a lot of absence can lead to workers abusing this. Poor working conditions Employees might feel that they receive poor treatment from managers, work in an unpleasant or stressful working environment, have long working hours a lack of breaks, are given an excessive workload or there is too much strict supervision. Personal factors Although there is a fair bit of absenteeism that could have been avoided, employees are often away from work for ‘valid’ reasons. Examples may include domestic 5 problems (bad housing conditions, family issues) and consequent worries, social and religious causes, problems with transport facilities or accidents/ illnesses (Hamilton-Atwell, 2003: 82-95) 2. 3. Research questions I. What are the main factors causing employees to be absent from work? II. Is one specific group of people more absent than another (e. g. male/female, old/young)? III. What are the current disciplinary actions within Organisation X’s Human Resource Department? IV. What is the behaviour of the employees towards these disciplinary actions? V. What are the possible and most suitable solutions for Organisation X? 2. 4. Possible solutions for the absenteeism problem include, but are not limited to the following: Consequences To avoid absenteeism as much as possible the company should implement positive/ negative consequences for strong/ weak attendance. Examples may include offering rewards and incentives, e. g. monetary bonuses, simple raise or recognition (Employee of the month) for strong attendance and punish employees with poor records and unexcused absence (Gitman & McDaniel, 2008: 248). Work-Life Balance According to Chick (2004: 67) managers should allow employees to be able to have or create a work-life balance, as this can reduce the stress levels they are exposed to. Dual income households have increased over the last decades and longer working hours are expected. Managers need to help their employees to manage the numerous and sometimes competing demands in their lives. Employees need to achieve a balance between their work responsibilities and their personal life (Gitman & McDaniel, 2008: 251). Follow-ups The Supervisors need to sit down with the employees when they return from an absence to discuss the reason for absence, if the absence could have been 6 prevented and the implications of absenteeism on the company (if it is a common occurrence for this employee). 3. Hypotheses I. Females are more absent from work then men II. Individuals in any relationship are more absent than singles III. Employees with children are more absent than those without children IV. Employees below 40 are absent from work more frequently V. Current disciplinary actions are not perceived as a reason for employees to reduce the absenteeism VI. Implementing other stricter disciplinary actions will reduce the rate of employee absenteeism 4. Objectives The Objectives of the project are: To understand and analyze: I. The main causes of absenteeism in Organisation X. II. The current disciplinary actions taken by the HR department for reducing absenteeism. III. The attitude of employees towards these disciplinary actions. IV. The factors to be considered in order to reduce absenteeism. V. Suggestions that can be given to the management to improve the regular attendance of the employees in the company.