Employee competence & reward strategys - Read the provided case study Essay

Employee competence & reward strategys - Read the provided case study on UtilityCo then answer the questions set out in the Project Outline document - Essay Example An individual can be said to be competent if he possesses the skills, knowledge and abilities that are necessary to perform a particular task that the individual is given the responsibility of. With such a combination of traits, a person can be able to competently perform a task in any given situation or a working environment. In the same respect, one may lose competency without losing the skills, abilities or knowledge if the requirements for executing a particular task changes or the working conditions changes (Dickmann, 2008). Competency is also used as a general term when the requirements of people in communities and organizations whereby there are requirements for the people to perform various tasks for the community or organization. These can be described by the various requirements that organizations have put in a particular language for the employees to be considered competent or what educational institutes have put in a specific language for the students to graduate from them. One of the most important aspects of this kind of competence is that it has to be an action competence and this means that the people must show their competence in action (Armstrong, 1999). As far as human resources are concerned, it is more significant to have competence development policies especially for some general competences that an organization is dependent on to run its business. The general competences can be classified into levels and they include the novice whereby a person who can be classified as a novice has the behavior based on the rules of the organization and is very inflexible as well as very limited. The next level is the experienced beginner whereby this employee has the ability to incorporate aspects from a given situation. The third level is the practitioner who is capable of acting consciously in relation to any long term plans and

Contextual Positioning Of Photographic Media Photography Essay

Contextual Positioning Of Photographic Media Photography Essay Using one image that you feel is representative of the work of a particular photographer, movement or genre, contextually deconstruct the image, in an objective and considered way. The image I have chosen to contextually deconstruct, is one photographed by Henri Cartier- Bresson. This image was taken in 1969 it is named Sidewalk Cafe, Boulevard Diderot, Paris. To discover the socio-cultural identity of Henri Cartier- Bresson, an exploration into his history must be undertaken, to determine the attitudes and outlook that influenced his thinking, understanding and perception, which can be leant from the social and cultural group to which he belonged. Henri Cartier Bresson was born in the 1900s and was raised and grew up during the age of the bourgeoisie. A Period in time that lasted for around a century and a half, Bourgeoisie translated means city dweller, this was considered a social class. Henri Cartier Bresson captured many great images that symbolise this time period during his life. Paris at that time was the city of its age, the 1900s, incredible wealth, incredible beauty, incredible art next to incredible poverty and bohemianism and a complete reworking of social morays. Henri Cartier Bresson was primarily a photojournlist who was most concernered with time and timing, his photographic fusion of form and content was groundbreaking. His images captured the moment, they are unplanned, this was made obvious when he publisised his book The Decisive Moment in which his introduction stated i craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes. Henri Cartier Bresson decided what to take a photo of, what elements to exclude and what angle to frame the photo, and these factors may reflect a particular socio-historical context. In the 1900s, World War I, was beginning, in the northeast of France, by 1918 the war was over and the Versailles Treaty was signed, the period between World War I and World War II was a time of Depression which lasted almost ten years, this was also the time of the avant-garde movement, in which France played a leading role, which brought artists, musician and filmakers worldwide, to France. The Avant- garde movement was a time in which boundaries of the norm in society were pushed. Henri Cartier Bresson was born into this world, being the eldest of five children and having a wealthy upbringing, he had the option of succeeding his fathers business, however Henri Cartier Bresson held a existentialist view, which meant that he believed he responsible for giving his own life meaning and living his life passionately and sincerely. Many people had this view as it was the time of existentialism. For Bresson it ment persueing his own dreams and passions instead of being duty bound to his f athers company. Henri Cartier Bresson influencer was his uncle, who was a painter, that died during the first World War, when Bresson was a mear age of five. Henri Cartier Bresson mentioned in an interview, in the year in which he died, my uncle, by being a painter, represented freedom to me. Bressons uncle represented bohemianism. Bresson was primarily a painter until he became inspired by a photojournalist from hungary, Martin Munkacsi. Munkacsi captured an image called Three boys at Lake Tanganyika, after seeing this image, Bresson was entralled, and took his camera and began image making himself, mainly in the streets. Bresson began working with a Leica, which he apparently painted black as to disguise it. this gave him anonymity in a crowd and he was able to capture more intimate shots such as the one he capture above, the couple outside a cafe, probably had no idea they were actually being photographed. Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in a candid situation, it is like holding up a mirror to society. This particular image that I have chosen I feel is a fair representation of his work, it captures the decisive moment attitude. It perfectly captures the Parisian cafe culture. Philosopher Josef Peiper said leisure is the basis of culture. The French cafe is as much a part of the culture of France as wine and cheese. This image captures a sterotype of France, the cliche black and white striped shirt, the Cigerette, and of course the beret. Even nowadays a trip to Paris, will almost always involve, french cafe culture, no matter which area of France a person goes to. Cafe culture is still a prominent leisure activity in France today. Henri Cartier- Bresson being a documentary photographer, photographed significant and historical events, he took images across the world in the beginning of his career, until doing extenstive work on the streets of Paris. Being brought up in a bourgeoisie society, where many people dwelled in cities, could have been part of the reason why Bresson entered the world of street photography. Bresson would have been considered fairly wealthy, in that era, simply because his was born into wealth, this gave him the oppurtunity to pursue his career in photography and the arts, which may not have been made possible otherwise. Bresson also had an full and beneficial education, attending university, and doing his mandatory service in the French Army. Bresson matured both artistically and as a man during a turbulent cultural and political era, which reflects in many of his images because of his documentation, of the worlds great events during his lifetime, such as Gandhis funeral, the final stage of the Chinease Civil War and many other great historial events. Bresson has a skill at envisaging an image, even when simply walking through the streets of Paris, his compostion is second to none, the rule of third is a compostional technique, captured in most of his images seems almost flawless. The fact that his camera is hand held, he manages to capture images, without camera shake, with good compostional skill, with the lighting being natural and without the subjects even realising they are being photographed. Once a subject realises they are being photographed they become far more formal and adapt and unnatural behaviour. The fact his subjects are completely unaware of the image being taken, makes his photographs far more pure and untainted and therefore even more spectacular. Especially so in this image, the couple being photographed are kissing, and are clearly unaware, if they were, this image would have lost its natural beauty, because the image would have been posed for. The small camera Bresson used when taking this specific shot, gave him the ability to get very intimate with this couple without there knowledge. For Bresson the street was his studio Susan Sontag a philosopher argues, To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting oneà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s self into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge, and therefore like power. Bresson managed to do this with such ease, and elegance, his perception of the world was captured through his camera, which was basically an extension of his eye. Although Bressons images are influential even in todays society, it can be argued that the way in which he took his images, violated social norms. However, this could be deemed acceptable considering he was living during a time of bohemian revolution whereby the norms in society were being pushed anyway. The fashion captured in this image is a perfect example of the time period. The strippy black and white shirt is not just a sterotype of France, it was the dress that middle class parisians wore. The sterotype of a person riding a bicycle through the streets of Paris, selling bread, garlic and onion is also somewhat true, it was the uniform the sellers wore, but became fashionable and others began wearing it. Another example of parisians pushing boundaries of the norm. Bresson was the co-founder of a company called Magnum photos, in which he himself as well as his co-founders began a project whereby they went out and took a series of images there project names were People live everywhere, Youth of the World, Women of the World and The Child Generation. The aim of the organisiation was to use the photographic medium as a service to humanity. Being a street photographer Bresson captured specific images of the time and the fashion and the attitude Parisians had. The fact that Bresson capture images that were publisized at the time could have been what influenced society, because it is not just society that influences a person, a person can influence society. The image I chose represents Bressons work well because it gives an insight into how exactly he created and captured the image and also gives an example of some of his greatest street photography, as well as proving that Bresson socio-cultural identity does effect his work in many ways. He photographed very ordinary things for the time period, but because they are documenting an era, it makes them timeless. The world in which Bresson has been raised and brought up in, definitly is apparent in his images especially those taken in Paris, his native country. This exploration into Bressons past and subsequently his image making proves that a his upbringing and the social climate in which he existed made an impact on his work, and lifestyle.

President Bill Clinton and The Lewinsky Scandal Essay -- William Jeffe

Clinton and The Lewinsky Scandal On January 17th, 1998, President Clinton videotaped a deposition for the Paula Jones lawsuit against him. December 19th, eleven months later, Bill Clinton became only the second president in our nation’s history to face impeachment from congress. The 1998-1999 was a tumultuous year for the President, the media, and the American people as a whole. Yet, the most intriguing and surprising aspect of the scandal was not that Bill Clinton would ever cheat on his wife or that his administration would survive such a terrible scandal. Nor was it a revelation that the media would be zealously intrigued by a sex scandal involving the President. The one aspect of the Lewinksy Scandal that was truly interesting was the response of the public. Despite the knowledge that Clinton had an affair with an intern and probably lied about it, Clinton’s job approval rating did not decrease or even stay the same– his ratings rose to levels approaching 70% Every time a new damning piece of evidence came to light, media pundits everywhere believed that Clinton’s ratings would fall. Yet, they were wrong. The Republican Party believed that the scandal would finally bring down Clinton and his popular support. They also were wrong and paid a considerable political price. How did this happen? To help understand and explain this phenomenon, I will examine three political actors -- the President, the media, and the public – and their relationship with each other. I will discuss President Clinton’s past and his history of scandals. The way that each actor has dealt with Clinton’s scandal-ridden past has had an important effect on how each responded to and was affected by the Lewinsky Scandal. Each actor’s res... ...Wilcox, â€Å"Public Opinion: The Paradoxes of Clinton’s Popularity†, ed. Mark J. Rozell and Clyde Wilcox, The Clinton Scandal: and the Future of American Government (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2000)p. 117. Ibid. Ibid. Molly W. Andolina and Clyde Wilcox, â€Å"Public Opinion: The Paradoxes of Clinton’s Popularity†, ed. Mark J. Rozell and Clyde Wilcox, The Clinton Scandal: and the Future of American Government (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2000) p.117. Michael J. Gerhardt, â€Å"The Impeachment and Acquittal of William Jefferson Clinton†, ed. Mark J. Rozell and Clyde Wilcox, The Clinton Scandal: and the Future of American Government (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2000). Robert Busby, Defending the American President: Clinton and Lewinsky Scandal (New York: Palgrave, 2001) p.47. Ibid. p.213. Ibid.

Broadcasting Industry

When Newton Minow delivered his first formal address as the newly appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1961, his speech triggered discussions about the role broadcasting, specifically the television played in the society. Minow’s Address to the National Association of Broadcasters elaborated on the critical task the broadcasting industry brings to the audience, in the case of television, the viewing public. He presented the harmful and constructive effects that the television possesses. Winow highlighted his major arguments on television’s negative or ill effects to viewers.It is a common knowledge that the viewers more especially the children of this generation will be devoting more of their time watching television – waiting for their favorite programs, switching channels and choosing programs they will be interested to watch or simply killing time. The premise was that the programs offered to the publics are not intelligibly cho sen and put on-air. Most networks air programs for the purposes of earning high ratings and viewership without really considering what the viewer will be getting from such programs.It is indeed true that TV works for one general function – to inform, but it seems like the broadcasting industry’s trend has done away with integrating or injecting values to the programs they air. With the current set-up or trend, the viewers are the ones at risk. The reason why mass media – particularly the television is blamed for the collapse of the society’s (especially the children’s) value system. According to Marsden, the disintegration or what was termed as fragmentation affected the religious and moral life in the United States over the decades when the mass media proliferated.With Minow’s account of the world currently living in a â€Å"television age† one of the worst effects would be such disintegration. This proves how immense the television can influence the viewing public. What the viewers see on television is often times accepted to be the truth and is treated as something to be absorbed and to some extent, be imitated or applied in real life. Stories and programs with themes about violence, revenge, murder and sex leave the viewer without morals or values to keep but in some cases make them believe that violence is justifiable.These details were some of the reasons why the FCC chairman illustrated the television shows as a vast wasteland. Television is one of the most powerful mass media which can reach millions of viewers with a single program at one sitting. With this great potential the television offers, Winow believed that the broadcasting industry should take advantage of this. Television industry should not just be satisfied of fulfilling its information function but it should make use of its power to educate, inspire, motivate, challenge and empower the loyal viewers.It is still good news that there are stil l a few programs that cater to the mentioned functions. Putting the viewers into consideration not only making them enjoy what they watch but also more importantly allow them to learn and decide for themselves. Minow emphasized that the broadcasting industry owes a lot to the viewing public, leaving the practitioners the challenge of giving back to the publics what they truly deserve. The public is given the choice and control over programs to tune in, and responsible broadcasting is all about providing them with quality programs to choose from.Television has a very big potential in molding the public, but along with this potential also comes a crucial responsibility of airing appropriate shows both for children and adults and other segments of the viewing public. He had also stressed that the broadcasting industry, more specifically the television should be used as a tool or instrument in molding the viewers as he mentioned about educational television. Newton Minow posed a challen ge to the industry practitioners to be more responsible, to use the television to the viewers’ advantage considering the tremendous power and influence such broadcast medium provides the public.

How Earth Supports Life Essay

Basically, Earth is not the only planet that supports life. In a broader sense, Earth is the only planet capable of supporting complex life forms. Other planets and their moons can sustain life such as that of bacteria but only the Earth can constitute evolution into more complex species. Major components that sustain life are water and oxygen and only Earth has an abundant supply of both. Futuristic views point to Mars as another planet which is capable of sustaining life because it is able to sustain life for bacteria and there are traces of water and oxygen. However, one problem is that all water on Mars is frozen in its polar ice caps. Earth is the only planet that is strategically positioned wherein water can remain in its liquid state in order to sustain life (Springboard Magazine). The Earth also has the right temperature levels. Mercury and Venus are too close to the Sun that the heat would make it impossible to sustain life. Also, there is no sign of water on the planet. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are positioned way too far from the Sun resulting in extremely cold temperatures which makes it impossible for humans or any other life forms to survive. On the other hand, Jupiter and Saturn are formed from gas. Hydrogen, methane and helium make up the atmosphere of these two planets. They have no oxygen which is essential in sustaining life (Springboard Magazine). The Earth’s size and position also plays an important factor in the planets ability to preserve life. If the planet is larger, the pull of gravity would be greater which would affect the organisms living in the planet in a sense that hydrogen will not be able to escape from the atmosphere. On the other hand, if the pull of gravity was less, oxygen would escape from the atmosphere which would make it impossible to sustain life. The planet’s rotation period is also perfect otherwise; plant life would not be able to survive (A Planet Perfect for Life) These are just some of the factors that describe why the Earth is perfect for the sustainability of life, particularly the complex life forms. Although there are discoveries that may prove that there are other planets that may be similar to the Earth that may support life, it is difficult to confirm because of such great distances. Scientists can only make assumptions based on evidence but now, the only planet that is known to sustain human life is the Earth. Works Cited Only Earth Supports Life. Springboard Magazine. Accessed April 28, 2008, from A Planet Perfect for Life. United Church of God. Accessed April 28, 2008, from