HR Practices to Enhance Employee Commitment

HR Practices to Enhance Employee Commitment Introduction Human Resource Management is a consistent and productive approach towards the management of employees who are ‘valued assets to the organization. And managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business. Hence linking the HRM more explicitly to the strategic goals to improve the business and foster innovation and flexibility, thus serves the overall purpose. Through best possible use and application of HR policies in the organization, commitment can be encouraged thus leading to better performance, improve staff attitude and lower labour turnover, this is the ideal aim of the human resource practices which has been argued to neglect the fact that HR specialists and line managers have a major impact on how these HR policies are implemented at the hotels and whether all the HR practices are universally applicable. Human resource management is the techniques businesses incorporate to maintain an effective workforce to meet operational requirements. It is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, administration, organization development, employee motivation, wellness, benefits, safety, communication, performance management, and training. Human resource practices implemented in an organisation are used for recruitment, selection; training and development, reward management, performance appraisal etc. Human Resource Management strategically manages people and work place environment and culture. Effective HRM practices enable employees to contribute effectively and productively towards the attainment of the organizations goals and objectives facilitates overall company mission. HRM practices are one of the channels of communication for an organization with its employees it consists of the actual programs, processes and techniques. It conveys as to what the organization desires as valuable and appropriate behaviors. The workers on reception of such a message build up their own distinct perceptions and through a self-assessment (evaluation) process subsequently shape their attitude and behavior. For instance, if an organization implemented a training program for their workers, it will develop workers knowledge, skills and capability, and thus cultivate better employee commitment due to contented experience with the organization; however, such correlation may at times be misleading or unpredictable i.e. even though some employees may think this training as useful and recognize the implementation of organizational HRM practices, but on the contrary, other workers may see the program as non-effective and view it as a trouble that hamper their regular work timeta ble, hence this may work in an unintended way by bringing down their satisfaction with the organization and negatively effect their commitment. This is the very reason why employees individual view plays as a vital intermediary in the association between organizational HRM practices and the real disclosure of employees outlook and behaviors. Therefore, from this point of view, one can argue that HRM practices in its dominating effect alter an employees affective commitment, by first impinging upon their perception of organizational HRM practices and consequently further alter or transform their emotional commitment towards the organization. Thats why, by the means of implementation of high-commitment HRM practices, i.e. intensive training and development, high level of compensation, promotion from within, socialization, etc. convince the employees that the organizations purpose is in conformity with their insight, and it impinges upon them to reciprocate with advanced commitment and stronger deference to devote and put in for the organization. Therefore this research will try to establish a correlation between HR practices and their effects on employee commitment. The HR practices that will be examined in the research will be Selection and Recruitment Process, Training and Development programs, Performance management, Reward management and industrial labour relations.These are some of the main HR practices followed by the hotels aiming for the more committed team. But the researcher is interested in knowing whether these HR practices really result in more committed employees. And if these HR practices really result in committed employees then is it universally applicable in all countries of the world or all types of industries. These are some of the questions that have encouraged the researcher in conducting this research. LITERATURE REVIEW Philosophy of Human Resource Management Human Resource Management is shifting its traditional stance from personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are being increasingly outsourced. HRM is now focusing more and more towards adding quality and value to the strategic exploitation of employees and that employee development programs impact the business in tangible terms. This new approach towards revolution in HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements in tangible terms to gauge the effect of these practices. Some of the HRM practices studied in this project are selection, benefits, training, performance feedback, communication systems, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and employee participation. David E. Guest (1987) says â€Å"HRM is a means of achieving management objectives at least in enterprises which haverecognized, or have been compelled to recognize, the utilization of the human resource inachieving competitive edge becomes clear from an examination of four important goals ofeffective.† The primary objective of HRM is amalgamation of companys mission and goal with the HR practices acomprehensive corporate strategy is essential to continuing business success in many cases,human resource planning is not an integral part of strategic planning, but rather flows fromitDavid E. Guest (1987). This holds especially true in todays context where the accomplishment of the process of adjusting to change warrants an escalating level of individual and group participation, for the seamless integration of human resources into the strategic plans. HRM also focuses to attain employee committment, this involves classification of the type of commitment required e.g. attitudinal, behavioural. Commitment of an employee can be at different levels it could be towards the organization, to his job, for individual career advancement and numerous such like things. Commitment in an employees context can be defined as approval of enterprise mission and goals, and could be reflected in behaviour adopted by him/her that furthers these goals. David further says: The theoretical proposition is therefore that organizational commitment,  combined with job related behavioural commitment will result in high employee  satisfaction, high performance, longer tenure and willingness to accept  change. The third goal of strategic HRM is to exercise flexibility and adaptability, which basically translates into the ability to manage change and innovation and to react swiftly to transforming market demands and changes. Thus arises a need for a HRM policy which is favorable to change at all levels of the organization, an arrangement which is practical not bureaucratic, functional and adaptable, with an absence of rigid job divisions and with capable of functional flexibility i.e. flexible skills and motivation to move from one assignment to another. Promoting these is possible only according to David if employees at all levels display highorganizational commitment, high trust and high levels of intrinsic motivation. Attaining and maintaining total quality is the fourth goal of HRM. This highlights the importance of policies and practices to recruit, development and retention of skilled and flexible employees, and the formulation of established performance standards and performance procedures. This can be further subdivide into two broader goals i.e. building a integrated organizational culture and achieving and maintaining competitive advantage through the dynamic use of human resources. Guest (2002) has argued that the â€Å"Impact of HRM on performance depends upon  workers response to HRM practices, so the impact will move in direction of the  perception of HRM practices by the employee†. Wood (1999) and Guest (2002) have  stressed upon the need to build a competent, committed and highly involved work force is the one required for best implementation of business strategy. Huselid (1995) discovered that the effectiveness of employees is directly related to the impact of HRM practices on behavior of the workforce. Patterson et al (1997) while arguing about the effect of human resource management practices on business performance have said that HR practices in selection and training influence performance by providing appropriate skills. HR practices have a potent impact on performance even if it just measured in terms of overall productivity. Huselid (1995) stressed that â€Å"by adopting best practices in selection, inflow of bestquality of skill set will be inducted adding value to skills inventory of the organization.† He also highlighted the role of personnel training as a accompaniment of selection practices through which the organizational culture and employee behavior can be integrated with the organization goals to produce positive results. Cooke (2000) has included competence and effectiveness as the vital ingredients of performance apart from competitiveness and productivity. She further amplifies training as the tool to grow knowledge and skills and as way of improving individuals performance (efficiency and effectiveness). Singh (2004), whose interpretations are more pertinent in our cultural context, says that â€Å"compensation is a behavior aligningmechanism of employees with business strategy of the firm†. â€Å"Career planning is a tool that aligns strategy with future HR needs and encourag esemployee to strive for his personal development† (William et al, 1996). By encouraging employee involvement, the firm will profit from increase in efficiency of theemployee due to improved commitment of the employee. Financial participation schemes are more beneficial for the organizations than the associated cost (Summers Hyman, 2005). â€Å"Use of best HR practices shows a stronger association with firmsproductivity in high growth industry† (Datta et al, 2003). Wright et al (2003) have said that â€Å"an employee will exert discretionary effort if proper  performance management system is in place and is supported by compensation system  linked with the performance management system.† Similarly, â€Å"Job definition is combination of jobdescription and job specification. It clearly outlines duties, responsibilities, workingconditions and expected skills of an individual performing that job† (Qureshi M Tahir, 2006). Ichniowski (1995) while studying productivity of steel workers have argued that harmonizing HR practice System positively effects employees performance.Sels,2006 Collins (2005) in a study of similar character targeting small business have also argued that efficient HR practices affect employee productivity to a great extent. Meyer and Allen (1997) indicated that HRM practices have been considered to be valuable and effective tools for elevating organizational commitment, especially affective commitment. However, there are some other perspectives also on this subject; De Coninsk and Stilwell (1996) argued that what directly influences employees affective commitment is not the actual practices itself, but the employee perceptions of fairness of practices that affects organizational commitment. Ogilvie (1986) found that, even with personal and work characteristics controlled, employees perceptions of two characteristics of HRM practices, namely, the accuracy of the merit rating system and the fairness of promotions, contributed to the prediction of commitment. Gaertner and Nollen (1989) also found that employees commitment was related to the perceived HRM practices, including internal promotion, training opportunities, and employment security. Ostroff and Bowen (2000) made use of â€Å"meso† theory t o explain that the implementation of HRM practices helped to amplify workers identification with their organization through employees psychological contracts. Therefore, just as what the above mentioned scholars stated, the HRM practices itself cannot have impact on employees commitment, it is after the implementation of the HRM practices that triggered employees own perceptions and then assess whether the practice is considered fair or favorable to them and consequently influence their attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, if the HRM practices that an organization implements permit the employees to acknowledge it as highly committed, consequently, this will lead to reinforced trust and concurrently generate higher emotional attachment with his/her serviced organization. Despite several experiential studies that have established a relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment, however, such a connection seems to be a little too straightforward (Paul Anantharaman, 2004; Ulrich, 1997; Wimalasiri, 1995). Ostroff and Bowen (2000) projected that it was the psychological bond of an individual that unified how an organizational HRM practice influenced employees mind-set and behavior. This also entails that HRM practices may conjointly manipulate employees organizational commitment obliquely, and must go through by means of individuals psychological alteration system. Guzzo and Noonan (1994) said that   â€Å"an organizations HRM practices influenced employee commitment since they are communications from the employer to the employee. How employees interpreted and made sense of their organizational HRM practices affected their psychological contract with their employer and, ultimately, their commitment to that employer.† Zucker (1983) also suppose that the organization members attitudes and behaviors are subjective and are governed by organizations official communication of ‘common understandings. Term common understandings denoting what were considered the appropriate, essential and meaningful behaviors within an organization.Basically, the official organization communication of common understandings will direct its members to alter their own personal attitudes and behaviors so that they can match organizational expectations and requirements. HR PRACTICES HRM propose that there is a universal ‘one best way to administer people. By assuming a best practice method it is argued that organizations will attain improved commitment from people leading to better organizational performance, top levels of service quality and eventually boost in efficiency and profitability, Usually couched in terms of ‘bundles, the HRM practices that are offered in support of a high commitmentand performance model are generally fairly consistent. A range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational strategies aimed at securing high-quality service are:- Recruitment and Selection: One of the main and most basic HRM practice is of Recruiting and selecting staff with the correct attitudinal and behavioural characteristics. The process of choosing a candidate from a group of applicants who best meets the selection criteria for a particular position is called Selection. â€Å"In this process the right person chosen for the requisite qualifications and knowledge is placed in the appropriate job position to decrease the cost, and maximise the profits by means of their merit and talent† (Vlachos 2008). A variety of considerations in the selection process should be employed to assess the work values, interpersonal skills, personality and problem-solving capabilities of likely employees to evaluate their ‘service orientation. To maintain the high degree of competitive advantage an organisation requires capable and skillful personnel (Liao Chu 2006). Huselid (1995) has established that organisational productivity and high degree of performance is dependant upon the selection of the appropriate person, which is also a way to reduce employee turnover. Michie and Sheehan-Quinn (2001) recognized a positive link between hiring employees, and the creation of the appropriate culture for organisational growth. Cho, et al. (2006) established a positive and considerable connection between HRM practices and staffing (recruitment source, pre selection test, IQ test, structured interview, and biographical information blank of the organisation) for enhancing financial performance. Therefore, it made compulsory for the organisations to attract qualified candidates and recruit them for survival and growth. Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal has attracted a immense degree of interest. Levin (1986) identified uses of performance appraisal, like potential analysis which assesses the feedback and suggestion of employee past performance, employees training needs, financial expectations salary, employee merit appraisal, employee career development etc. Thang (2004) in his study has shown as to effect of suitable HRM related decision on how well employees are performing their jobs. Performance appraisal is a constant procedure rather than a once a year fatigue. It is the official arrangement of periodical evaluation and assessment of an individuals or teams job performance and providing feedback. Stone (2002) said that â€Å" in the competitive environment, organisations need to keep improving performance to survive†. In addition, in the fast changing surroundings, tighter finances, downsizing and demands for enhanced employee accountability result in more emphasis on performance appraisal in relation to organisational objectives. Performance related rewards target those who meet the performance requirements (Stone 2002, Cho, et al. 2006, Chand Katou 2007). Performance appraisal provides information that is dealt with employee salary, training needs, compensation, promotion as well as employee development, transfer and employee feedback by (Huber 1983). Appraisal systems have also moved away from conventional top down approaches to appraisal in more mod ern and pertinent terms such as customer evaluation, team-based performance, the appraisal of managers by subordinates and peer review. Generally, all of these performance appraisal methods should focus on the quality objectives of the organization and the behaviors of employees required for maintaining these. Performance appraisal has both administrative and individual development focus and organizations sincerity towards performance appraisal goes a long way in developing commitment and trust among people.Overall attitude towards HRM department is a significant predictor of organizational commitment. This aspect of HRM practice refers to how people see their HRM department, with respect, with disdain, with indifference and so on. It refers to the fact that the acceptance of various HRM practices depend largely on the overall image of the HR department. Hospitality industry needs to rely on the commitment of a well-trained, multi-skilled workforce in order to achieve a competitive position, especially in terms of providing high quality customer service. This suggests that hotels need to adopt HRM organisational practices that enhance the motivation of employees and improve organisational effectiveness. Reward Management Huselid (1995) asserts that the compensation system is recognised as employee merit and it is widely linked with firm outcomes. Compensation by its definition means all monetary payments and all commodities used instead of financial to recompense employees. The reward system was organised to attract and motivate so as to keep employees. More so, employee influence was tailored on controlled authority and decision making. The expectancy theory (Vroom 1964) suggests that rewards, that can be comprehended as a form of direct and indirect recompense packages, have the ability to manipulate employee work enthusiasm. Thang (2004) suggests that ‘compensation and reward can be powerful tools for getting efforts from the employees to fulfill the organisational goals. On the same lines, Wan (2008) argued that compensation should be measured depending on employees performance not on the basis of position or seniority in the organization.Pay practice is one of the tools of human resources management practices which manages wage, salary, pay and benefits etc. for the employees. Reward management has got an important role in HRM. A high level of pay and remuneration in comparision to that of rivals ensures the attraction and retention of high-quality employee, however this may impact negativly on the companys overall labor expenditures. Also by connecting pay with performance, the company can educe desired standards of performace as well as specific task orientation from employee (Noe et al., 2006). Generally, pay practice is very significant for the organizations and firms which can attract employees to apply for the job as recruitment.Attractive pay practices play a major role in attracting talent and are very helpful during the recruitment process. Similarly for the employees this means that they are required to show a continuously high level of commitment and performance in order to keep their jobs. Pay packages also have a degree of connection with the job satisfaction of an employee. Ting (1997) asserts that the significance of pay is a strong determinant of job satisfaction. He further explains two different type of effect of pay practices on job satisfaction; first is the satisfaction with pay itself and second is the satisfaction with financial prospects in the future. There is a venerable interest of these two things which are correlated with job satisfaction. Thus, it is pertinent to understand the relationship between job satisfaction and pay practices which eventually materializes in terms of higher productivity. Efficiency wage theories also suggest that paying higher wages can often result in increased efficiency. There are three main channelsthat are addressed in these theories that improve productivity, as described by Katz, 1987. Firstly it means that the harder the employees of an organization work higher will be the punishment for someone who is caught shirking a nd higher will be the probability of losing job of the employee getting caught. Thus higher wages means an increased effort on part of the employee due to the enhanced probability of losing job in a high performance environment. In other words, wage and pay practice are directly responsible for employees productivity and turnover. Secondly, a higher wage translates directly into workers loyalty towards organization thus improving employees efforts. Also it is a pertinent deduction that higher wage structure plays considerable amount of restraint on the employees to turnover their jobs. Thirdly, in more tangible terms higher wages are responsible for reducing firm employee turnover and recruitment costs. Training and Development Training and development (TD) is a very important tool of HRM (Vlachos 2008). Training refers to some activities which equip employees with needed skills to perform better in their current jobs (Li, et al. 2008). In the environment of todays business an employee is needed to cope with various pressures and are required to keep their skills and knowledge current to stay competitive. Tai (2006) asserts that more adaptability, ability , flexibility, motivation, maintenance of skills and efficiency are greatly enhanced by proper training and development of employees. There is an indirect relation betweentraining and firms performance (Vlachos 2008). In most of the manufacturing industry, unstructured on the job training programmes are prevailing. Bartel (1994) in her study found a positive and significant relation between training and labour productivity. Guidetti and Mazzanti (2007) found that high performance and training activities are positively associated. Also they have a direct impact on high performance practices, work force skill level innovative labour demand features. It is also affected by labour flexibility in various directions. Apospori, et al. (2008) in their study of southern European countries have discovered the impact of training on firms performance. Equipping of service level staff enables them towards ‘service orientation. Training is the planned effort that facilitates the acquisition of job related knowledge, updation of skill sets, and impacts the behavior of an employee. In the implementation of HRM tools training is an important factor responsible for productivity. Higher productivity observed in firms are a direct outcome of training programs. â€Å"High-Involvement practices such as autonomy, team collaboration, and training are helpful in reducing employee turnover and enhance productivity. Untrained workers tend to change job more often.An increasing in high-performance work practices converts decreasing in turnover† (Bradley, Petrescu Simmons, 2004). Training programs are particularly helpfulwhen an employer is experiencing a high degree of employee turnover more so during the times of economic uncertainity. Even during the times when the business is flourishing an organization should proactively earmark their investment for on the job training and other traing programs balancing the cost of training with the perceived benefits of productivity. On the other hand, a trained worker has got the required skills and knowledge and can be a candidate for job turnover. Therefore, job satisfaction is crucial factor to retain the employee from shifting his jobs. Bradley, Petrescu and Simmons (2004) explain that creating on-going learning as well as training in workplace has a highly significant effect on job satisfaction, in addition on their study indicates that training increases the probability of work being either completely or very satisfied that enhance employee motivation and commitment. Therefore it is argued that aqusition or know ledge or training has a positive impact on job satisfaction. Traditional and Recent HR Practices in Hospitality Industry Keep and Mayhew (1999) in their study regarding the personnel problems in the tourism and hospitality industry some of them areas follow: low pay, no fixed hours and shift. poor career growth ,seasonal employment; informal recruitment methods; lack of good HR practice; high attritation rate and retaining employees.Riley et al. (2000) to recognise the reality of traditional and poor HR practices, he said that determining factor for HR policies and practices in tourism and hospitality industry is the key economics. Riley et al. says that it carries a very important meaning in tourism and hospitality industry, as in this service sector there is every thing which is intangible. According to (ILO, 2001: 6).Employers and the organizational representatives consider employee turnover in the industry as not the major issue according to them it is the part of working they have not realized that what are its causes and reasons, retaining staff is costlier than hiring new for them. When the organizations will realize that poor HR practices like low pay benefits, lack career opportunities, work life imbalance are the main reason employee turnover. That day the organizations will be successful in real terms. The inability of the businesses and the industry to recognize the most glaring issues can be attributed to the hostility and opposition from employers associations in the industry such as British Hospitality Association (BHA), to governmental initiative such as the minimum wage and working time directive. BHA is still apprehensive of these initiatives despite support from other quarters who favour these initiatives (Lucas, 2004). It is to a great extend clear from the above researches which supports the fact that tourism and hospitality industry is a poor employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), Kelliher and Johnson (1997) have clearly said that â€Å"the dominant paradigm has tended to stress thenegative aspects of working in the hospitality sector†. It is not surprising to see a long history that supports the fact that hospitality remains a poorly employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), did an analysis of a designer restaurant. These type of ventures were supposed to be implementing sophisticated HRM approaches as they aimed at building competitive advantage. Although the restaurant had adopted a more modern and sophisticated approach towards, training and development and focused on an innovative strategy ‘there was little real evidence that humanresources were seen as a source of competitive advantage (p. 434). Instead, the HRM approaches adopted by the restaurant were much more reflective of immediate environmental constraints, such as the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. In short, any number of reasons for poor HR practices in the tourism and hospitality industry. Economic determinism, the predominance of SMEs, a low-skills base, employer antipathy to a more progressive approach to HRM, labour market characteristics, organizations ensuring best fit HRM practices to support a high volume, low-cost strategy; all are plausible reasons for a view of HRM which is not necessarily premised on high-skills, high-wages and a high-quality route to competitive advantage. That said, it would be equally wrong to paint a wholly pessimistic picture. Hoque(2000). On his work of good practice in the hotel sector, says that the hotels have started taking the issues seriously and have come up with good HR practices for the employee commitment. He further says that argues that arguments which give a picture of the industry as backward and unstrategic isnow outdated, hotels have started taking it seriously as there main aim is customer satisfaction which is possible only through strong employee commitment. In fact, he says that the management has become very serious regarding the polices and practices of HR .The hotels have started experimenting with innovation approaches, quality enhancement of HRM polices and practices. The hotels industry has started paying well, have revised appraisal system, proper training programs for employees skills development, schemes for proper balance between work and life, special advantages to women, job rotation, employee empowerment, performance based pay, teamwork etc. the implementation of all these polices and practices helps in gaining employee commitment and customer satisfaction. The focus of hospitality industry should be on delivering quality service, it should be able to attract and retain enthusiastic, competent staff and should consistently focus on high performance. This is exactly what Pechanga Resort and Casino did two years ago with excellent results. VP of HR and Talent Management, Tony Chartrand explains: â€Å"Since implementing Halogen eAppraisal at our organization over two years ago we have been able to include all of our staff across the resort and casino as part of our strategic approach to talent management. Subsequently, weve seen real business results with lower turnover and better alignment. Every single employee has a clear picture of what is expected of them, which helps to ensure were delivering customers with the best service in the industry†. Organizational commitment refers to a force that binds an individual to a course of action that is of relevance to a particular target. Commitment could manifest in terms of three ways i.e., affective, normative and continuance and each type of commitment ties the individual to the organization in different ways and will differently affect the manner in which the employee conducts him/herself in the workplace. The roots of affective commitment can be traced to exchange principle. An organization provides rewards or punishment at its disposal i HR Practices to Enhance Employee Commitment HR Practices to Enhance Employee Commitment Introduction Human Resource Management is a consistent and productive approach towards the management of employees who are ‘valued assets to the organization. And managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business. Hence linking the HRM more explicitly to the strategic goals to improve the business and foster innovation and flexibility, thus serves the overall purpose. Through best possible use and application of HR policies in the organization, commitment can be encouraged thus leading to better performance, improve staff attitude and lower labour turnover, this is the ideal aim of the human resource practices which has been argued to neglect the fact that HR specialists and line managers have a major impact on how these HR policies are implemented at the hotels and whether all the HR practices are universally applicable. Human resource management is the techniques businesses incorporate to maintain an effective workforce to meet operational requirements. It is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, administration, organization development, employee motivation, wellness, benefits, safety, communication, performance management, and training. Human resource practices implemented in an organisation are used for recruitment, selection; training and development, reward management, performance appraisal etc. Human Resource Management strategically manages people and work place environment and culture. Effective HRM practices enable employees to contribute effectively and productively towards the attainment of the organizations goals and objectives facilitates overall company mission. HRM practices are one of the channels of communication for an organization with its employees it consists of the actual programs, processes and techniques. It conveys as to what the organization desires as valuable and appropriate behaviors. The workers on reception of such a message build up their own distinct perceptions and through a self-assessment (evaluation) process subsequently shape their attitude and behavior. For instance, if an organization implemented a training program for their workers, it will develop workers knowledge, skills and capability, and thus cultivate better employee commitment due to contented experience with the organization; however, such correlation may at times be misleading or unpredictable i.e. even though some employees may think this training as useful and recognize the implementation of organizational HRM practices, but on the contrary, other workers may see the program as non-effective and view it as a trouble that hamper their regular work timeta ble, hence this may work in an unintended way by bringing down their satisfaction with the organization and negatively effect their commitment. This is the very reason why employees individual view plays as a vital intermediary in the association between organizational HRM practices and the real disclosure of employees outlook and behaviors. Therefore, from this point of view, one can argue that HRM practices in its dominating effect alter an employees affective commitment, by first impinging upon their perception of organizational HRM practices and consequently further alter or transform their emotional commitment towards the organization. Thats why, by the means of implementation of high-commitment HRM practices, i.e. intensive training and development, high level of compensation, promotion from within, socialization, etc. convince the employees that the organizations purpose is in conformity with their insight, and it impinges upon them to reciprocate with advanced commitment and stronger deference to devote and put in for the organization. Therefore this research will try to establish a correlation between HR practices and their effects on employee commitment. The HR practices that will be examined in the research will be Selection and Recruitment Process, Training and Development programs, Performance management, Reward management and industrial labour relations.These are some of the main HR practices followed by the hotels aiming for the more committed team. But the researcher is interested in knowing whether these HR practices really result in more committed employees. And if these HR practices really result in committed employees then is it universally applicable in all countries of the world or all types of industries. These are some of the questions that have encouraged the researcher in conducting this research. LITERATURE REVIEW Philosophy of Human Resource Management Human Resource Management is shifting its traditional stance from personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are being increasingly outsourced. HRM is now focusing more and more towards adding quality and value to the strategic exploitation of employees and that employee development programs impact the business in tangible terms. This new approach towards revolution in HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements in tangible terms to gauge the effect of these practices. Some of the HRM practices studied in this project are selection, benefits, training, performance feedback, communication systems, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and employee participation. David E. Guest (1987) says â€Å"HRM is a means of achieving management objectives at least in enterprises which haverecognized, or have been compelled to recognize, the utilization of the human resource inachieving competitive edge becomes clear from an examination of four important goals ofeffective.† The primary objective of HRM is amalgamation of companys mission and goal with the HR practices acomprehensive corporate strategy is essential to continuing business success in many cases,human resource planning is not an integral part of strategic planning, but rather flows fromitDavid E. Guest (1987). This holds especially true in todays context where the accomplishment of the process of adjusting to change warrants an escalating level of individual and group participation, for the seamless integration of human resources into the strategic plans. HRM also focuses to attain employee committment, this involves classification of the type of commitment required e.g. attitudinal, behavioural. Commitment of an employee can be at different levels it could be towards the organization, to his job, for individual career advancement and numerous such like things. Commitment in an employees context can be defined as approval of enterprise mission and goals, and could be reflected in behaviour adopted by him/her that furthers these goals. David further says: The theoretical proposition is therefore that organizational commitment,  combined with job related behavioural commitment will result in high employee  satisfaction, high performance, longer tenure and willingness to accept  change. The third goal of strategic HRM is to exercise flexibility and adaptability, which basically translates into the ability to manage change and innovation and to react swiftly to transforming market demands and changes. Thus arises a need for a HRM policy which is favorable to change at all levels of the organization, an arrangement which is practical not bureaucratic, functional and adaptable, with an absence of rigid job divisions and with capable of functional flexibility i.e. flexible skills and motivation to move from one assignment to another. Promoting these is possible only according to David if employees at all levels display highorganizational commitment, high trust and high levels of intrinsic motivation. Attaining and maintaining total quality is the fourth goal of HRM. This highlights the importance of policies and practices to recruit, development and retention of skilled and flexible employees, and the formulation of established performance standards and performance procedures. This can be further subdivide into two broader goals i.e. building a integrated organizational culture and achieving and maintaining competitive advantage through the dynamic use of human resources. Guest (2002) has argued that the â€Å"Impact of HRM on performance depends upon  workers response to HRM practices, so the impact will move in direction of the  perception of HRM practices by the employee†. Wood (1999) and Guest (2002) have  stressed upon the need to build a competent, committed and highly involved work force is the one required for best implementation of business strategy. Huselid (1995) discovered that the effectiveness of employees is directly related to the impact of HRM practices on behavior of the workforce. Patterson et al (1997) while arguing about the effect of human resource management practices on business performance have said that HR practices in selection and training influence performance by providing appropriate skills. HR practices have a potent impact on performance even if it just measured in terms of overall productivity. Huselid (1995) stressed that â€Å"by adopting best practices in selection, inflow of bestquality of skill set will be inducted adding value to skills inventory of the organization.† He also highlighted the role of personnel training as a accompaniment of selection practices through which the organizational culture and employee behavior can be integrated with the organization goals to produce positive results. Cooke (2000) has included competence and effectiveness as the vital ingredients of performance apart from competitiveness and productivity. She further amplifies training as the tool to grow knowledge and skills and as way of improving individuals performance (efficiency and effectiveness). Singh (2004), whose interpretations are more pertinent in our cultural context, says that â€Å"compensation is a behavior aligningmechanism of employees with business strategy of the firm†. â€Å"Career planning is a tool that aligns strategy with future HR needs and encourag esemployee to strive for his personal development† (William et al, 1996). By encouraging employee involvement, the firm will profit from increase in efficiency of theemployee due to improved commitment of the employee. Financial participation schemes are more beneficial for the organizations than the associated cost (Summers Hyman, 2005). â€Å"Use of best HR practices shows a stronger association with firmsproductivity in high growth industry† (Datta et al, 2003). Wright et al (2003) have said that â€Å"an employee will exert discretionary effort if proper  performance management system is in place and is supported by compensation system  linked with the performance management system.† Similarly, â€Å"Job definition is combination of jobdescription and job specification. It clearly outlines duties, responsibilities, workingconditions and expected skills of an individual performing that job† (Qureshi M Tahir, 2006). Ichniowski (1995) while studying productivity of steel workers have argued that harmonizing HR practice System positively effects employees performance.Sels,2006 Collins (2005) in a study of similar character targeting small business have also argued that efficient HR practices affect employee productivity to a great extent. Meyer and Allen (1997) indicated that HRM practices have been considered to be valuable and effective tools for elevating organizational commitment, especially affective commitment. However, there are some other perspectives also on this subject; De Coninsk and Stilwell (1996) argued that what directly influences employees affective commitment is not the actual practices itself, but the employee perceptions of fairness of practices that affects organizational commitment. Ogilvie (1986) found that, even with personal and work characteristics controlled, employees perceptions of two characteristics of HRM practices, namely, the accuracy of the merit rating system and the fairness of promotions, contributed to the prediction of commitment. Gaertner and Nollen (1989) also found that employees commitment was related to the perceived HRM practices, including internal promotion, training opportunities, and employment security. Ostroff and Bowen (2000) made use of â€Å"meso† theory t o explain that the implementation of HRM practices helped to amplify workers identification with their organization through employees psychological contracts. Therefore, just as what the above mentioned scholars stated, the HRM practices itself cannot have impact on employees commitment, it is after the implementation of the HRM practices that triggered employees own perceptions and then assess whether the practice is considered fair or favorable to them and consequently influence their attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, if the HRM practices that an organization implements permit the employees to acknowledge it as highly committed, consequently, this will lead to reinforced trust and concurrently generate higher emotional attachment with his/her serviced organization. Despite several experiential studies that have established a relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment, however, such a connection seems to be a little too straightforward (Paul Anantharaman, 2004; Ulrich, 1997; Wimalasiri, 1995). Ostroff and Bowen (2000) projected that it was the psychological bond of an individual that unified how an organizational HRM practice influenced employees mind-set and behavior. This also entails that HRM practices may conjointly manipulate employees organizational commitment obliquely, and must go through by means of individuals psychological alteration system. Guzzo and Noonan (1994) said that   â€Å"an organizations HRM practices influenced employee commitment since they are communications from the employer to the employee. How employees interpreted and made sense of their organizational HRM practices affected their psychological contract with their employer and, ultimately, their commitment to that employer.† Zucker (1983) also suppose that the organization members attitudes and behaviors are subjective and are governed by organizations official communication of ‘common understandings. Term common understandings denoting what were considered the appropriate, essential and meaningful behaviors within an organization.Basically, the official organization communication of common understandings will direct its members to alter their own personal attitudes and behaviors so that they can match organizational expectations and requirements. HR PRACTICES HRM propose that there is a universal ‘one best way to administer people. By assuming a best practice method it is argued that organizations will attain improved commitment from people leading to better organizational performance, top levels of service quality and eventually boost in efficiency and profitability, Usually couched in terms of ‘bundles, the HRM practices that are offered in support of a high commitmentand performance model are generally fairly consistent. A range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational strategies aimed at securing high-quality service are:- Recruitment and Selection: One of the main and most basic HRM practice is of Recruiting and selecting staff with the correct attitudinal and behavioural characteristics. The process of choosing a candidate from a group of applicants who best meets the selection criteria for a particular position is called Selection. â€Å"In this process the right person chosen for the requisite qualifications and knowledge is placed in the appropriate job position to decrease the cost, and maximise the profits by means of their merit and talent† (Vlachos 2008). A variety of considerations in the selection process should be employed to assess the work values, interpersonal skills, personality and problem-solving capabilities of likely employees to evaluate their ‘service orientation. To maintain the high degree of competitive advantage an organisation requires capable and skillful personnel (Liao Chu 2006). Huselid (1995) has established that organisational productivity and high degree of performance is dependant upon the selection of the appropriate person, which is also a way to reduce employee turnover. Michie and Sheehan-Quinn (2001) recognized a positive link between hiring employees, and the creation of the appropriate culture for organisational growth. Cho, et al. (2006) established a positive and considerable connection between HRM practices and staffing (recruitment source, pre selection test, IQ test, structured interview, and biographical information blank of the organisation) for enhancing financial performance. Therefore, it made compulsory for the organisations to attract qualified candidates and recruit them for survival and growth. Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal has attracted a immense degree of interest. Levin (1986) identified uses of performance appraisal, like potential analysis which assesses the feedback and suggestion of employee past performance, employees training needs, financial expectations salary, employee merit appraisal, employee career development etc. Thang (2004) in his study has shown as to effect of suitable HRM related decision on how well employees are performing their jobs. Performance appraisal is a constant procedure rather than a once a year fatigue. It is the official arrangement of periodical evaluation and assessment of an individuals or teams job performance and providing feedback. Stone (2002) said that â€Å" in the competitive environment, organisations need to keep improving performance to survive†. In addition, in the fast changing surroundings, tighter finances, downsizing and demands for enhanced employee accountability result in more emphasis on performance appraisal in relation to organisational objectives. Performance related rewards target those who meet the performance requirements (Stone 2002, Cho, et al. 2006, Chand Katou 2007). Performance appraisal provides information that is dealt with employee salary, training needs, compensation, promotion as well as employee development, transfer and employee feedback by (Huber 1983). Appraisal systems have also moved away from conventional top down approaches to appraisal in more mod ern and pertinent terms such as customer evaluation, team-based performance, the appraisal of managers by subordinates and peer review. Generally, all of these performance appraisal methods should focus on the quality objectives of the organization and the behaviors of employees required for maintaining these. Performance appraisal has both administrative and individual development focus and organizations sincerity towards performance appraisal goes a long way in developing commitment and trust among people.Overall attitude towards HRM department is a significant predictor of organizational commitment. This aspect of HRM practice refers to how people see their HRM department, with respect, with disdain, with indifference and so on. It refers to the fact that the acceptance of various HRM practices depend largely on the overall image of the HR department. Hospitality industry needs to rely on the commitment of a well-trained, multi-skilled workforce in order to achieve a competitive position, especially in terms of providing high quality customer service. This suggests that hotels need to adopt HRM organisational practices that enhance the motivation of employees and improve organisational effectiveness. Reward Management Huselid (1995) asserts that the compensation system is recognised as employee merit and it is widely linked with firm outcomes. Compensation by its definition means all monetary payments and all commodities used instead of financial to recompense employees. The reward system was organised to attract and motivate so as to keep employees. More so, employee influence was tailored on controlled authority and decision making. The expectancy theory (Vroom 1964) suggests that rewards, that can be comprehended as a form of direct and indirect recompense packages, have the ability to manipulate employee work enthusiasm. Thang (2004) suggests that ‘compensation and reward can be powerful tools for getting efforts from the employees to fulfill the organisational goals. On the same lines, Wan (2008) argued that compensation should be measured depending on employees performance not on the basis of position or seniority in the organization.Pay practice is one of the tools of human resources management practices which manages wage, salary, pay and benefits etc. for the employees. Reward management has got an important role in HRM. A high level of pay and remuneration in comparision to that of rivals ensures the attraction and retention of high-quality employee, however this may impact negativly on the companys overall labor expenditures. Also by connecting pay with performance, the company can educe desired standards of performace as well as specific task orientation from employee (Noe et al., 2006). Generally, pay practice is very significant for the organizations and firms which can attract employees to apply for the job as recruitment.Attractive pay practices play a major role in attracting talent and are very helpful during the recruitment process. Similarly for the employees this means that they are required to show a continuously high level of commitment and performance in order to keep their jobs. Pay packages also have a degree of connection with the job satisfaction of an employee. Ting (1997) asserts that the significance of pay is a strong determinant of job satisfaction. He further explains two different type of effect of pay practices on job satisfaction; first is the satisfaction with pay itself and second is the satisfaction with financial prospects in the future. There is a venerable interest of these two things which are correlated with job satisfaction. Thus, it is pertinent to understand the relationship between job satisfaction and pay practices which eventually materializes in terms of higher productivity. Efficiency wage theories also suggest that paying higher wages can often result in increased efficiency. There are three main channelsthat are addressed in these theories that improve productivity, as described by Katz, 1987. Firstly it means that the harder the employees of an organization work higher will be the punishment for someone who is caught shirking a nd higher will be the probability of losing job of the employee getting caught. Thus higher wages means an increased effort on part of the employee due to the enhanced probability of losing job in a high performance environment. In other words, wage and pay practice are directly responsible for employees productivity and turnover. Secondly, a higher wage translates directly into workers loyalty towards organization thus improving employees efforts. Also it is a pertinent deduction that higher wage structure plays considerable amount of restraint on the employees to turnover their jobs. Thirdly, in more tangible terms higher wages are responsible for reducing firm employee turnover and recruitment costs. Training and Development Training and development (TD) is a very important tool of HRM (Vlachos 2008). Training refers to some activities which equip employees with needed skills to perform better in their current jobs (Li, et al. 2008). In the environment of todays business an employee is needed to cope with various pressures and are required to keep their skills and knowledge current to stay competitive. Tai (2006) asserts that more adaptability, ability , flexibility, motivation, maintenance of skills and efficiency are greatly enhanced by proper training and development of employees. There is an indirect relation betweentraining and firms performance (Vlachos 2008). In most of the manufacturing industry, unstructured on the job training programmes are prevailing. Bartel (1994) in her study found a positive and significant relation between training and labour productivity. Guidetti and Mazzanti (2007) found that high performance and training activities are positively associated. Also they have a direct impact on high performance practices, work force skill level innovative labour demand features. It is also affected by labour flexibility in various directions. Apospori, et al. (2008) in their study of southern European countries have discovered the impact of training on firms performance. Equipping of service level staff enables them towards ‘service orientation. Training is the planned effort that facilitates the acquisition of job related knowledge, updation of skill sets, and impacts the behavior of an employee. In the implementation of HRM tools training is an important factor responsible for productivity. Higher productivity observed in firms are a direct outcome of training programs. â€Å"High-Involvement practices such as autonomy, team collaboration, and training are helpful in reducing employee turnover and enhance productivity. Untrained workers tend to change job more often.An increasing in high-performance work practices converts decreasing in turnover† (Bradley, Petrescu Simmons, 2004). Training programs are particularly helpfulwhen an employer is experiencing a high degree of employee turnover more so during the times of economic uncertainity. Even during the times when the business is flourishing an organization should proactively earmark their investment for on the job training and other traing programs balancing the cost of training with the perceived benefits of productivity. On the other hand, a trained worker has got the required skills and knowledge and can be a candidate for job turnover. Therefore, job satisfaction is crucial factor to retain the employee from shifting his jobs. Bradley, Petrescu and Simmons (2004) explain that creating on-going learning as well as training in workplace has a highly significant effect on job satisfaction, in addition on their study indicates that training increases the probability of work being either completely or very satisfied that enhance employee motivation and commitment. Therefore it is argued that aqusition or know ledge or training has a positive impact on job satisfaction. Traditional and Recent HR Practices in Hospitality Industry Keep and Mayhew (1999) in their study regarding the personnel problems in the tourism and hospitality industry some of them areas follow: low pay, no fixed hours and shift. poor career growth ,seasonal employment; informal recruitment methods; lack of good HR practice; high attritation rate and retaining employees.Riley et al. (2000) to recognise the reality of traditional and poor HR practices, he said that determining factor for HR policies and practices in tourism and hospitality industry is the key economics. Riley et al. says that it carries a very important meaning in tourism and hospitality industry, as in this service sector there is every thing which is intangible. According to (ILO, 2001: 6).Employers and the organizational representatives consider employee turnover in the industry as not the major issue according to them it is the part of working they have not realized that what are its causes and reasons, retaining staff is costlier than hiring new for them. When the organizations will realize that poor HR practices like low pay benefits, lack career opportunities, work life imbalance are the main reason employee turnover. That day the organizations will be successful in real terms. The inability of the businesses and the industry to recognize the most glaring issues can be attributed to the hostility and opposition from employers associations in the industry such as British Hospitality Association (BHA), to governmental initiative such as the minimum wage and working time directive. BHA is still apprehensive of these initiatives despite support from other quarters who favour these initiatives (Lucas, 2004). It is to a great extend clear from the above researches which supports the fact that tourism and hospitality industry is a poor employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), Kelliher and Johnson (1997) have clearly said that â€Å"the dominant paradigm has tended to stress thenegative aspects of working in the hospitality sector†. It is not surprising to see a long history that supports the fact that hospitality remains a poorly employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), did an analysis of a designer restaurant. These type of ventures were supposed to be implementing sophisticated HRM approaches as they aimed at building competitive advantage. Although the restaurant had adopted a more modern and sophisticated approach towards, training and development and focused on an innovative strategy ‘there was little real evidence that humanresources were seen as a source of competitive advantage (p. 434). Instead, the HRM approaches adopted by the restaurant were much more reflective of immediate environmental constraints, such as the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. In short, any number of reasons for poor HR practices in the tourism and hospitality industry. Economic determinism, the predominance of SMEs, a low-skills base, employer antipathy to a more progressive approach to HRM, labour market characteristics, organizations ensuring best fit HRM practices to support a high volume, low-cost strategy; all are plausible reasons for a view of HRM which is not necessarily premised on high-skills, high-wages and a high-quality route to competitive advantage. That said, it would be equally wrong to paint a wholly pessimistic picture. Hoque(2000). On his work of good practice in the hotel sector, says that the hotels have started taking the issues seriously and have come up with good HR practices for the employee commitment. He further says that argues that arguments which give a picture of the industry as backward and unstrategic isnow outdated, hotels have started taking it seriously as there main aim is customer satisfaction which is possible only through strong employee commitment. In fact, he says that the management has become very serious regarding the polices and practices of HR .The hotels have started experimenting with innovation approaches, quality enhancement of HRM polices and practices. The hotels industry has started paying well, have revised appraisal system, proper training programs for employees skills development, schemes for proper balance between work and life, special advantages to women, job rotation, employee empowerment, performance based pay, teamwork etc. the implementation of all these polices and practices helps in gaining employee commitment and customer satisfaction. The focus of hospitality industry should be on delivering quality service, it should be able to attract and retain enthusiastic, competent staff and should consistently focus on high performance. This is exactly what Pechanga Resort and Casino did two years ago with excellent results. VP of HR and Talent Management, Tony Chartrand explains: â€Å"Since implementing Halogen eAppraisal at our organization over two years ago we have been able to include all of our staff across the resort and casino as part of our strategic approach to talent management. Subsequently, weve seen real business results with lower turnover and better alignment. Every single employee has a clear picture of what is expected of them, which helps to ensure were delivering customers with the best service in the industry†. Organizational commitment refers to a force that binds an individual to a course of action that is of relevance to a particular target. Commitment could manifest in terms of three ways i.e., affective, normative and continuance and each type of commitment ties the individual to the organization in different ways and will differently affect the manner in which the employee conducts him/herself in the workplace. The roots of affective commitment can be traced to exchange principle. An organization provides rewards or punishment at its disposal i

The Anarchiste in Walden Two by Skinner Essay -- Psychology

In this time we must fully realize the true origins of our society, not the so called â€Å"party line† they feed us. True, while few of us find sanctuary in hidden places, what place is there for we strangelings? Is absolute equality truly a good idea? In our new world, our Walden Two, we are taught from an early age to behave, to conform. From our glass cages at birth, to our debuts at age seven, to our eventual marriages, all we do is in the name of a peaceful, simple existence. We are taught that anger is not allowed, faith in God is not allowed, anything harmful is forbidden! I ask of you, is this truly a life, much less, a life worth living? Now life was not always like this. Life used to be full of emotions, both dark and light. Pain and suffering were not to be avoided, but embraced. Can we really create true art through the same emotions again and again? Can we have unique lives if, like our sheep, we only follow what the prior generation and the one ere that tells us what is and what is not? Shall we continue to spread out our message, this ‘true’ message of peace and simplicity? In our origins we survived alongside the old ways; we meant to keep ourselves separate. We were taught how to survive, how to function as the Waldenites taught us, alongside the supposedly troubled outside world. Our world knows not the beauty any longer that the old one held. We are base, functional creatures, only doing what we are told to in hopes of reward, in a hope of praise. However, if that is not given, do we really care? Is there a point in keeping our society as such, much less spreading this tale of peace and love and harmony? How this worked, none of us know. Did we slowly overtake the old ways? Did Frazier’s... ...on of the Anarchiste, we believe that man must feel pain, must know himself before others, must know his own pain and suffering to truly live. To reason out all of this jumbled mess; their utopia, their dreamland, is in essence flawed. The basis they reasoned from, while, in essence true, was poorly executed. The only end that a utopia can come to is disaster. Espicially in this, their Walden, where the individual is ignored and distroyed in favour of the greater good. Is this greater good, this ease of living worth the sacrafice of small bits of oneself? We, the Anarchiste stand by the fact that no, it is not, nor shall it ever be so. Pain and suffering are the basis of life, they are the measure by which we know we are truly alive, and more so, above the sheep in our pasture, the cattle in our dairy. Rebel, refuse, this drab non-life! Viva la Anarchiste! The Anarchiste in Walden Two by Skinner Essay -- Psychology In this time we must fully realize the true origins of our society, not the so called â€Å"party line† they feed us. True, while few of us find sanctuary in hidden places, what place is there for we strangelings? Is absolute equality truly a good idea? In our new world, our Walden Two, we are taught from an early age to behave, to conform. From our glass cages at birth, to our debuts at age seven, to our eventual marriages, all we do is in the name of a peaceful, simple existence. We are taught that anger is not allowed, faith in God is not allowed, anything harmful is forbidden! I ask of you, is this truly a life, much less, a life worth living? Now life was not always like this. Life used to be full of emotions, both dark and light. Pain and suffering were not to be avoided, but embraced. Can we really create true art through the same emotions again and again? Can we have unique lives if, like our sheep, we only follow what the prior generation and the one ere that tells us what is and what is not? Shall we continue to spread out our message, this ‘true’ message of peace and simplicity? In our origins we survived alongside the old ways; we meant to keep ourselves separate. We were taught how to survive, how to function as the Waldenites taught us, alongside the supposedly troubled outside world. Our world knows not the beauty any longer that the old one held. We are base, functional creatures, only doing what we are told to in hopes of reward, in a hope of praise. However, if that is not given, do we really care? Is there a point in keeping our society as such, much less spreading this tale of peace and love and harmony? How this worked, none of us know. Did we slowly overtake the old ways? Did Frazier’s... ...on of the Anarchiste, we believe that man must feel pain, must know himself before others, must know his own pain and suffering to truly live. To reason out all of this jumbled mess; their utopia, their dreamland, is in essence flawed. The basis they reasoned from, while, in essence true, was poorly executed. The only end that a utopia can come to is disaster. Espicially in this, their Walden, where the individual is ignored and distroyed in favour of the greater good. Is this greater good, this ease of living worth the sacrafice of small bits of oneself? We, the Anarchiste stand by the fact that no, it is not, nor shall it ever be so. Pain and suffering are the basis of life, they are the measure by which we know we are truly alive, and more so, above the sheep in our pasture, the cattle in our dairy. Rebel, refuse, this drab non-life! Viva la Anarchiste!

Billy Budd Essay -- essays research papers

Billy Budd By: Herman Mellville   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Herman Melville’s Billy Budd is a classic tale of innocence and evil. The main force of innocence is constantly attacked by the force of evil until the innocence falters. Through the use of many literary devices, Melville shows how sometimes the obvious results do not always occur when they are being expected. However, he also shows that the force of all that is good and righteous will triumph over evil at the end, even over death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The protagonist, Billy Budd, is the major force of innocence in the book. Billy is a young man who seems to have everything going for him. He is big, strong, handsome, and he has a personality that draws everyone to him. Everywhere he went he charmed people, gaining the respect of those around him. A great deal of imagery is used describing how aesthetically perfect Billy is. Besides Billy’s stutter, he seems absolutely perfect.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Billy is a sailor. His original ship was the Rights-Of-Man but he later was impressed by the Bellipotent. Here he becomes a foretopman. As usual he charms everyone. They even call him “The Handsome Sailor';. On the ship, Billy is respected by everyone except the protagonist, John Claggart. Claggart is extremely jealous and holds considerable amounts of contempt for him. At first he tries to be nice to Billy but soon his true jealousies surface. He begins to scold Billy for insignificant lapses and tries to degrade him. In one instance when Billy spills a bowl of soup, Claggart sardonically says to Billy, “Handsome is as handsome did it.'; Deep inside Claggart also thinks that Billy is secretly plotting against him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When his madness really begins to take over, Claggart starts thinking of ways to prove Billy to be a traitor. Finally his chance came when a guardsman approached Billy in the middle of the night. He asked Billy if he wanted to join a mutiny effort with all the others that were impressed. He was also offered a bribe. Billy became so angry that he almost threw the guardsman overboard. However, when Claggart heard of this, he immediately ran straight to Captain Vere. Captain Vere was a well-educated, level-headed man. He was stern but he was just. He offered Billy a chance to see his accuser and Billy acce... ...ling him that Billy doesn’t deserve to die and that he should be released because everyone knows what kind of guy Billy really is. In the end, though, Captain Vere’s duty wins as it probably should, which is the climax of the book. Because of the point-of-view, limited omniscient, it is hard to fully understand Vere’s thought process during the whole trial.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The irony in the book is kind of subtle but able, nevertheless, to be found. When one is analyzing each character it is shown that the fate of each character is the exact opposite of what is led to be expected by looking at his nature. One would originally think that Claggart would end up being the one that might kill Billy because of the obsession he had with him. It is strange to think of Claggart as the victim but that was the case.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the book, these instances of literary devices help shape the book into the classic that it is. With all that had happened to Billy, he was a hero even in his death. That helps define the theme of the book. No matter how much the forces of evil tried to bring him down, goodness triumphed over all.

Regional Band Competition :: Example Personal Narratives

Regional Band Competition The situation was insane. Not only did I have to make time in the busy schedule of my junior year to take a few days off from school to attend the District One East High School Band Festival, but I actually had to audition to get a decent seat. Don't get me wrong; I was thrilled about attending. I just wasn't looking forward to having to make up two day's worth of schoolwork. For once, I would be attending a festival where the seating arrangement wasn't based on how fast you could sprint to the stage from your seat in the auditorium, but on how talented of a musician you were. And the music for the audition? Amazingly difficult. I knew many of the other students from other competitions and festivals, so I was familiar with their talent and ability. Based on that knowledge, I decided that I had no chance of placing higher in the rankings than, say, a jar of mayonnaise. After diligently practicing - or cramming - the night before the audition, I felt I was as prepared as I'd ever be. Out of all the pieces we were given for the audition, my friends and I had narrowed it down to a few choices that the judges would most likely pick for the try-outs. From the three or four that we picked, we determined that the hardest song was Gustav Holst's "Second Suite in F." Fortunately, this song was one that I was familiar with already from concert band. I felt somewhat confident about the audition, but managed to convince myself that I'd be ecstatic if I placed any higher than last chair. I didn't even dream of placing high enough to be selected for Regional Band. The students with the highest scores at the District festivals were chosen to advance to the Regional competition. The first night of the District Band Festival, held at Yough Senior High School, took place on the evening of January 19, 2000. Cramming seven Hempfield students and one tuba into a mini-yellow bus, which we dubbed "The Sped Sled," we trekked through the blustery winter weather to the school. Surprisingly enough, we were early, giving us all a little more time to relax, warm-up, or practice music.

Malayan Campaign – the Matador Plan

MALAYAN CAMPAIGN – THE MATADOR PLAN INTRODUCTION â€Å"Unfortunately, it has come to this, that either Japan must stop her expansion, or England must willingly give up some of what she has or hopes to have. Therein lies a cause for war. † Lt Cdr Tota Ishimaru, Imperial Japanese Navy 1. The fall of Malaya and Singapore to the hand of the Japanese is a tremendous sign that showed the failure of Operation Matador. In this battle study, there are chronology of events that will guide us very closely in knowing and understanding the reason why this operation failed to meet its objectives.In doing the research on the background of the battle of Malaya and the relativity to the Operation Matador, our syndicate members came across a reference to a plan of action for the defence of Singapore codenamed â€Å"Matador†. In fact there were two plans, so totally different, that in the end they contributed to the downfall of Singapore. Both had their weaknesses and one of the ma jor ones was the lack of co-ordination and command between the Army, Navy and Air Force. The other and more serious was a clash of ideals.The drawn-up plan was Land based Matador and Sea Based Matador. 2. From the research done, Operation Matador is not the sole reason for the fall of Malaya or even Singapore, besides there is some other reasons that had been identified as a contributing factor as well. This has been discussed in detail under the column of Battle Analysis. An examine on the lesson learned from this battle study would benefit the most as it focuses more on principles of war that will teaches us how, why, when and where it is applicable for an action plan taken at one time.AIM 3. This paper will examine two main part of the whole study on Matador Plan. The first part is to analyze the incidents that occur prior and upon the operation called The Matador Plan. Secondly, it is fundamentals to determine the lessons learnt and the effects on both forces. OBJECTIVE 4. The m ain objective of this battle study is to meet the requirement of the EOBC serial 28/2006 and secondly is to learn and adapt the knowledge of the war history generally on the Malayan Campaign and specifically the Matador Plan.In this way the young officers would be able to use battle study as a comparison between previous and present state of battle warfare in order to meet any circumstances and decision makings in the near future. SCOPE 5. Scope of discussions are as follow: a. Background. 1)Pre-war examination. 2)Forces involved. 3)The Attack. b. Matador Plan. 1)Land Based Matador 2)Sea Based Matador c. Chronology of events. d. Analysis on factors and effects. e. Tactical aspects applied. g. Lesson Learnt. h.Conclusion. BATTLE BACKGROUND PRE-WAR EXAMINATION 6. Before we look further into the Matador Plan, the fundamental or the main causes that inflict the war in Malaya should be given a consideration as it may be very useful in understanding the battle study. The battle in Malaya was a conflict between British Commonwealth forces, comprised of British, Indian, Australian and Malayan units, and the Imperial Japanese Army from December 8, 1941 until January 31, 1942 during the Second World War.Prior the attack by th Japanese forces, the British government's plans relied primarily on the stationing of a strong fleet at the Singapore Naval Base in the event of any enemy hostility, both to defend Britain's Far Eastern possessions and the route to Australia. At this time tension mounted in the region folowing the outbreak of the European war and the French in Indo-China clashed with the Thais. The Japanese make use of this as an oppurtunity with the increase on aggression over the region as well. 7.Upon the completion of the Singapore Naval Base and airfields on Singapore Island with other constructions on the Malayan Peninsula was underway, it was decided by the Air Ministry in London that was a right time to provide a fighter force for the area, even though few could be spared from the defence of Britain and her offensive in the Middle East. However, a threat to British and American possessions in the area was not considered to be imminent, as revealed in a letter from Prime Minister Churchill to US President Roosevelt, dated 15 February 1941: I do not myself think that the Japanese would likely to send the large military expedition necessary to lay seige to Singapore. The Japanese would no doubt occupy whatever strategic points and oilfields in the Dutch East Indies and thereabouts that they covet, and thus get a far better position for a full-scale attack on Singapore later on. They would also raid Australian and New Zealand ports and coasts, causing deep anxiety in those Dominions, which had already sent all their best trained fighting men to the Far East†. 8.In October 1940, Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham was appointed Commander-in-Chief Far East, and the G. H. Q. Far East opened at Singapore on the 18th November, 194 0. The Commander-in-Chief was responsible for the operational control and direction of training of British land and air forces in Malaya, Burma and Hong Kong, and for the co-ordination of plans for the defence of these territories. It also includes the control and training of British air forces in Ceylon and of reconnaissance squadrons in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal.His headquarters was an operational one, not administrative, and had no control over any naval forces. So Brook-Popham the man in charge on the spot had little control over the immediate military situation. Also just as important, he had no authority over the Civilian population in case of an impending war. This came under the direct control of Shenton–Thomas the Governor of Singapore, and to all intents and purposes he had absolute control. The only recourse Brook-Popham had to any control of the forces was directly to the Chiefs of Staff in London. FORCES INVOLVED 9.In November 1940, the army strength in Malaya was 17 battalions, with 1 mountain regiment of artillery. Reliance for the defence of the Far East was to be placed on air power until the fleet was available but it was the Governments policy to avoid war with Japan. The strength of the air forces in Malaya in November 1940, however, was only 88 first-line aircraft, of which only 48 could be counted as modern. The previous month, the Singapore Conference had recommended a strength of 582 aircraft for the Far East but it was admitted that this was an ideal, and far beyond the bounds of practical possibility.In May 1941, Lieutenant-General A. E. Percival had been appointed General Officer Commanding, Malaya Command, and with it a motley collection of 85 000 British, Australian, Indian and Malayan troops. 10. When in July 1941, the Japanese spread into southern Indo-China, the potential danger to Malaya and Burma increased, as the move gave them a naval base within 750 miles of Singapore and airfields only 300 miles from Kota B haru, the nearest point in Malaya. By the latter part of November, 1941, information accumulated which showed that an early Japanese attack was likely, despite the negotiations in progress in Washington.Both land and air reinforcements had been reaching Malaya, and by 7th December, the eve of the Japanese attack, there were 158 first-line aircraft available, with 88 in reserve; the land forces counted 31 infantry battalions, plus the equivalent of 10 volunteer battalions with some artillery, engineers, and a small armoured car unit, and 5 battalions of Indian States forces, with 7 field regiments 1 mountain regiment, 2 anti-tank regiments, 4 coast defence regiments and five anti-aircraft regiments of artillery and 10 field and 3 fortress companies of engineers – a total strength of close on 85,000 men.Almost one quarter of them were British, about one-sixth Australians, nearly one-half Indian Army, and the remainder local forces. 11. Even then, the R. A. F. Far East Command w as not in a position to fulfill its responsibility of being the primary means of resisting Japanese aggression, while the Army strength was far short of what was required to compensate for the deficiency in aircraft. There were only two-thirds the number of infantry required, no tanks and few armoured cars, and the lack of mobile anti-aircraft guns was serious.The Japanese Order of Battle remains unchanged throughout the course of the Champaign. The Japanese 25th Army consisted of 36,000 men plus air power, naval support and artillery support from the mainland, plus 100 tanks. Even though the Japanese soldiers were not as many compared the British forces they were significantly superior in close air support, armour, co-ordination, tactics and experience, with the Japanese units having fought in China.The Japanese had slightly fewer aircraft, their fighter aircraft were generally superior and achieved air superiority. THE ATTACK 12. Earlier the British had plans in place to forestall Japanese landings in Southern Thailand but Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Far East Command refused permission to launch Operation Matador and Operation Krohcol in advance of the Japanese attack, not wishing to run any risk of provoking the coming war. 13.Incredibly, as late as 29 September 1941, it was still believed by British military and civilian leaders in the Far East that Japan was committed to concentrating forces against the Soviet Union, and it was therefore improbable, so it was argued, that she would at the same time take on Britain, the United States and the Netherlands. By mid-November 1941 the official assessment was that war would not come until March 1942. The Japanese decided otherwise. Now the Japanese has really been on an invasion plan to attack the Malayan Peninsula and take over Singapore with a well planned tactics and operation. 4. On 7 December 1941, a British Hudson reconnaissance aircraft spotted Japanese naval vessels 100 miles/160 Km north-east of Singora with others steaming towards Patani. Despite this clear act of war by Japan, ‘Operation Matador' was not fully launched. Even so, the advance to The Ledge could, and should, have been immediately ordered. This was not done. As a result, an invaluable twenty four hours was lost during which time the Japanese forces landed and the British lost a most valuable opportunity.If they had held The Ledge, the invasion could have been delayed even though the landings could not have been prevented. 15. On the next day it was reported that Japanese troops were attempting to land at Kota Bharu and at the same time Singapore suffered its first air raid. War had come to Malaya. On 8 December the Japanese attacked the British air bases in Malaya with the devastating result that by the end of the day a mere 50 British aircraft were operational, the rest being destroyed. Those still operational were immediately ordered back to Singapore.Thus , on the first day of the attack Japan obtained total air supremacy over Nothern Malaya. The naval Force Z, consisting of the battleships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, together with four destroyers, and commanded by Admiral Tom Phillips had arrived right before the outbreak of hostilities. Later the Japanese came to realised the presence of the battleships and its marching to the Northern Malaya. Two days later, on 10 December, the battleship Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser Repulse, the only Royal Navy capital ships in the Far East, were sunk by Japanese torpedo-bombers off Kuantan. 16.The negative effect of the sinking of the Prince of Wales on British morale throughout the world was serious, with a concomitant boost to Japanese morale. By this single stroke Japan gained complete naval command of the South China and Java Seas and a large part of the Indian Ocean by leaving the east coast of Malaya exposed and allowing the Japanese to continue their landings. The drift to war by the Japanese met its objectives by the invasion of the Malayan Peninsula subsequently the Singapore Island. MATADOR PLAN 17. What is Matador Plan? What is the relativity of the drawn up plan is all about to this study?Matador Plan is a plan of action for the defence of Singapore. The two plans were totally different, that in the end they contributed to the downfall of Singapore. Both had their weaknesses. One of the major ones was the lack of co-ordination and command between the Army, Navy and Air Force. The other and more serious is the clash of ideals. The first one a Naval plan by Churchill, the other a Land based plan by Brook-Popham. Now I will outline both plans for a thorough understanding. The Land Based Matador 18. History of Malaya War shows that Brook-Popham was the man on the spot who could evaluate a more accurate assessment of the needs.His plan was a land based Matador. This was a plan of action that envisaged an attack by the Japanese from the North of Ma laya via Thailand and the Kara Isthmus. It was drawn up by Brook-Popham, in August 1941 and he submitted his plan to London for approval. It is believed that if the plan was implemented at the right time, it possibly could have delayed the Japanese long enough to allow the British forces stationed in Malaya and Singapore to mount a delaying action until reinforcements arrived. 19. Land Based Matador relied on assumption that the Japanese would land on the east coast of Thailand at two points that of Songkhla and Pattani.The next would be advancing south to Jitra and lower down to Kroh. It was envisaged in Matador that two forces could intercept them just over the boarder in Thailand, thus allowing long enough for the main force to assemble and attack. There was only one problem, if the British were to implement this without the Japanese being at war with Thailand first, it would be seen as an attack by the British on a neutral country. To complicate matters further Sir Josiah Cosby the British Ambassador in Siam the previous year 1940 had signed a non-aggression pact with Pibul the President of Thailand.Requests by Brook-Popham to London for additional resources to cover this Plan were made around January 1941, but remained unfulfilled. This plan was considered a good plan and consequently it also had its problem due to unavoidable consequences. The main obstacle was one of them being Churchill. It is known that  Churchill had distrust of it lay in the political aspects and at the same time he also favoured being a naval man with a naval solution wherein the plan was mainly a Land Based Matador. The Sea Based Matador 20.The Sea Based Matador referred on the need of resources especially the battle ships to defend the Singapore Island. In Duff Coopers report of the Defence of Singapore in 1939 it was stated that no less than 8 war ships would be needed to defend Fortress Singapore. Churchill was not in the business of land forces at the time, he was First Lord of the Admiralty  as such was fighting for his part in any forthcoming action. Churchill had been told of the situation of what he later proclaimed in Parliament as, â€Å"Fortress Singapore† and its armaments.He proclaimed that â€Å"It had several big guns and there were a lot of troops on a island that he had never seen, but not enough in the way of Navy†. 21. At Duff Coopers conference of the 29th September 1941 in Singapore, it was stated that at the least Two Battleships would be needed as a minimum. Those attended the meeting were Sir Robert Brook-Popham, Sir Earl Page, Sir Archibald Clark-Kerr, Sir Shenton Thomas, Governor of Singapore and Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton. Once Churchill became the Prime Minister he held the final decision. But what Churchill sent and eventually happened, was a cobbled result. The Prince of Wales' and ‘Repulse' that turned up with escorts called â€Å"Force Z†. It was a disaster for the British upon the sinking of the two main battle ships. CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS 22. The chronology of events that involved along the path of Matador Plan implementation are as follows. a. In year 1937. Major-General William Dobbie Officer Commanding Malaya (1935 – 1939), looked at Malaya's defences, he reported that during the monsoon season from October to March landings could be made by an enemy on the east coast and bases could be established in Siam.He predicted that landings could be made at Songkhla and Pattani in Siam, Thailand and Kota Bharu in Malaya. He recommended large reinforcements to be sent immediately. His predictions turned out to be correct but his recommendations were ignored. b. In January 1941. A request for additional resources remained unfulfilled which the plan intended to use and the previous year in 1940 Sir Josiah Cosby the British Ambassador in Siam, had signed a non-aggression pact with Prime Minister Pibul of Siam. c. In August 1941.The Commander-in-Chief (Cin C) of British Far East Command Air Chief Marshal Robert Brooke-Popham submitted a plan code named Matador to London for approval. The plan relied on assumption that the Japanese would land on the east coast of Siam at Songkhla and Pattani, then advancing south to Jitra and lower down to Kroh. It was envisaged that two forces could intercept them just over the border in Thailand, long enough for the main force to assemble and attack. d. On November 29, 1941. Air Headquarters at Singapore is warned to be ready to support Operation Matador at 12 hours notice. e. On November 30, 1941.The Commanding Officer of the Japanese 25th Division, Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita, receives orders to proceed with the invasion of Singapore. At the same time 21 Squadron RAAF is based at Sungei Patani. f. On December 2, 1941. HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse arrive at Singapore Harbour escorted by a number of ships including HMAS Vampire. g. On December 4, 1941. The Japanese fleet leaves Samah Harbour at d awn. h. On December 5, 1941. When the threat of Japanese invasion became more likely, the plan was modified to use the forces available, it was to be put into action as soon as an attack was imminent.The plan was that if an enemy attacked, or were invited into, Siam, troops under British command would rush to Songkhla and defend it against a sea borne attack. This job was allocated to Major-General Murray-Lyon's Indian 11th Infantry Division who also had to defend Jitra, this over stretched his resources and made it a difficult task to do. i. On December 5, 1941. London gave permission for Cin C Far East Command to decide if Operation Matador should be activated. The chief strategic decision to be decided was whether Siam should be invaded in a pre-emptive move before the Japanese landings took place.Sir Robert Brooke-Popham was ordered to launch Operation Matador. The Malaya Command was responsible for the detailed planning of Operation Matador. j. On December 6, 1941. It had rewor ked the plan and allocated forces for immediate deployment. Which is what General Officer Commanding Malaya Arthur Percival recommended that evening in meeting with the Governor Sir Shenton Thomas and Cin C Brooke-Popham decided it is premature to launch the operation which included the pre-emptive move into Siam. With hind sight this was the wrong decision. 23.However, if Matador had been implemented the Japanese had a counter worked out. They would use the Bangkok airport and the airfields of Southern Siam to enable air cover to be established, and then invade from the Kra Isthmus. TACTICAL ASPECTS APPLIED 24. There were a lot of differences between British prediction and actual location of the Japanese landings in Malaya Peninsula. For detail, refer to figure 1 and figure 2 in appendix. The ‘Red' dot on the map is where the last sighting of the approaching Japanese armada was on the 6th December at approx 12. 30am by British RAF spotter planes.And the ‘Orange' dot on the map the â€Å"presumed British† and â€Å"actual Japanese† meeting place of the Japanese fleet on the 7th December 1941. The real Japanese meeting place was just 200 miles from Songkhla, Pattani and Kota Bharu, the assumed meeting place by Brook-Popham was some 400 miles, double the distance and of course double the time. In the event the Japanese landed at, Prachoup 1 craft, Chumphon 2 craft, Bandon 2 craft, Nakhon 3 craft, Songkla and Pattani 18 craft and  Kota Bharu 3 craft. 25. The Japanese had forestalled the effect of Matador by having a secondary plan.In the event if Matador was implemented, the Japanese were under the orders to occupy the airfield of Bangkok and the airfields of Southern Thailand to enable air cover to be established, thus paving the way for the invasion from the Kara Isthmus and the inevitable fall of Singapore. It shows the invader is truly tactical enough to apply the secondary plan if the primary met with failure. It was the combinati on of confused action and wildly differing approaches to what was perceived as the enemies’ tactics that eventually lead to the fiasco of Malaya and Fortress Singapore.Beside, the Japanese also use ‘blitzkrieg’ tactics that was used by the Germans during Europe Campaign. BATTLE ANALYSIS ANALYSIS ON FACTORS AND EFFECTS 26. The Matador plan can be analyzed from several factors which concluded to its failure. The factors identified are as follows: a. Lack of Resources. The Matador plan relied on assumption that the Japanese would land on the east coast of Siam at Songkhla and Pattani, then advancing south to Jitra and lower down to Kroh.British forces could intercept them just over the border in Thailand, long enough for the main force to assemble and attack. But the plan was modified to use the forces available and it was to be put into action as soon as an attack was imminent. If an enemy attacked, or were invited into Siam, troops under British command would rush to Songkhla and defend it against a sea borne attack. This job was allocated to Major-General Murray-Lyon's of Indian 11th Infantry Division who also had to defend Jitra, this has over stretched his resources and made it a difficult task to do.Beside, in the absence of the main fleets, RAF was fully responsible to carry out its task effectively in defence, it was estimated that it required a minimum of 336 modern aircraft including a long range striking force. At the outbreak of hostilities it had a mere 158, most of which were obsolescent. The lack of resources and the assign of multiple tasks at one time by the British made them facing more difficulties in defending its position against the Japanese. b. Non-strategic defence position.The decision to defend the Singapore base by holding the whole of Malaya meant that in the absence of the fleet the task fell primarily on the RAF. Because of the key role allotted to the air force it was decided that the primary task of the army was to defend the airfields from which the RAF operated. These airfields had been built without reference to the military but rather to suit civilian requirements. From a military viewpoint they were located too close to the coast and too close to the border of Siam to be effectively defended. c. Time Window.Matador was approved late for the plan to succeed. For Operation Matador to succeed, time was of the absolute essence. British forces had to be in Singora before the Japanese landed. However, as Britain attempted to the very end to avoid war with Japan, the military were forbidden to violate Siamese territory until an actual outbreak of war. With such a constraint, and time being of the essence, Operation Matador should have been abandoned. d. Command and Control. Earlier on December 5, 1941, London gave permission for Cin C the Far East Command to decide if Operation Matador should be activated.The strategic decision to be decided was whether Siam should be invaded in a pre-emptiv e move before the Japanese landings took place. The Malaya Command was responsible for the detailed planning of Operation Matador and on December 6, 1941 it had reworked the plan and allocated forces for immediate deployment. General Officer Commanding Malaya Arthur Percival recommended in meeting with the Governor of Singapore Sir Shenton Thomas and Cin C Brooke-Popham decided it is premature to launch the operation which included the pre-emptive move into Siam. e. Political Aspects.British do not want to be the first nation to trespass the non alliance of Thailand in the war and will not approved matador planned until there is solid evidence that shows that the Japanese is up to move to Thailand territory. To forestall the anticipated Japanese invasion the British High Command evolved a plan to seize the Siamese port of Singora which is ‘Operation Matador' and to delay the anticipated Japanese advance from Patani by holding a position called ‘The Ledge'. This plan requ ired crossing the international frontier into Siam thus making Britain guilty of violating official Siamese neutrality.In the year 1940 Sir Josiah Cosby the British Ambassador in Siam, had signed a non-aggression pact with Prime Minister Pibul of Siam. f. Lack of Importance. Under the command of Jen AE Percival, there were some 85000 British, Australian, Indian and Malayan troops. However some of the problems associated with this force included poor quality officers, poor training, especially in jungle warfare, lack of civilian labour to construct defences and lack of homogeny. g. The Blame. The blame of Matador Plan failure cannot only be pointed to General Percival because the launch of the plan must be approved from Churchill in London.He must have disliked it so much and there weren’t any reference to it in Churchill's memoirs as well. He seems to have conveniently forgotten all about it. Churchill’s distrust of it lay in the political aspects, he also favoured bei ng First Lord of the Admiralty   a naval man, a naval solution thus the sea based matador were developed. h. Operation Theatre Priorities. The Matador Plan was stalled repeatedly by Churchill, who wanted the scarce resources of aeroplanes, troops and other equipment diverted to his other priority areas, such as the Middle East and Russia.Britain's defence, the Middle East and the Soviet Union had all received higher priorities in the allocation of men and material, so the desired air force strength of 300 to 500 aircraft was never reached whereas the Japanese invaded with over two hundred tanks, the British Army in Malaya did not have a single one. i. The Wrong Assessment. Other than that, the war in the Middle East, the world's oil pipeline and gateway to India, was not going well. At the same time, Russian vulnerability added to the complexities of the situation.In 1941, Churchill delivered 440 aircraft to Russia. He also diverted an entire division, which was bound for Singapor e, the 7th Australian Division, to the Middle East and one brigade of the 9th Indian Division to Iraq. Churchill estimate, Japan will not enter the war unless the Germans had invaded Britain successfully. j. Lack of Intelligence. British intelligence had failed in providing the real assessment of Japanese assault lan on Malaya. As a result the British had failed to provide an adequate force and resources to meet the Japanese thrust.LESSON LEARNT 27. In the final analysis, it was a British failure to adhere to the principles of war in the implementation of the Matador Plan and the Japanese vision and motivation that led to the defeat of the British in the Malayan Campaign. a. Selection and The Maintenance Of The Aim. British has made the wrong decision making on the aspects of strategic defence plan of Malaya rather than knowing and understanding the Japanese strategic plan to conquer Malaya and Singapore. Japanese intentions are as follows: )Japan maybe to conquer Singora and Patani as habour to seize the important air field at Kedah and then move to North West of Malaya. 2)Landed at Kota Bharu to take over the air field. 3)Landed at Kuantan and move to west over the Kuantan-Raub road or Mersing road for Singapore assault through North of Malaya. Percival was unaware of these intentions and put the little sources to defence the other different area. On the other hand, the British thought that Japan will assault Malaya through Singapore. b. Maintenance Of Morale. The Japan inner strength was very high.All the Japan soldiers had their ideology which is â€Å"east for east† where in their psychology they had to rise with the morale in order to face war difficulties. Japan had all the factors that guaranteed the success with having good war equipment, efficiency and encouragement. c. Concentration of Force. The British didn’t forestalled a large number of forces at the planned or strategic location in order to resist any Japanese landing from the Nor th wherein this was an advantages to the Japanese forces. d. Economy of Effort. The highest Japan Royal Company gave 100 days to conquer Malaya and Singapore.Thinking about the mission, Jen Yamashita gave their order to throw the unnecessary equipment from their soldier and planning to remain a smooth movement from combination of expensive British roads and cheap Japan bicycle. He ordered his soldier that didn’t have any vehicle to ride bicycle. This is not just gave the smooth movement but also reduce man power from jungle tracking and walk. e. Surprise. Japan has attack Malayan from North where the British defence was very weak at the enemy aimed position. They attack Malaya in raining season when British not expected the Japan will attack on that time.That situation was entirely a surprise and a piece of well planned action. f. Offensive Action. Japan launched amphibious assault in north beach Malaya at Kota Bahru to move down into East beach of Malaya. This movement is do ne by landed at Patani and Singora in Thailand, whereas they move to South through road land to cross Malayan-Thailand borders to attack from west of Malaya. g. Cooperation. Cooperation can be analysed by comparing the both forces and there are: 1)Original defence planning on Malaya and Singapore depend on two factors, and it was British Far East Armada and American Pacific Armada.Far East Armada was supposed to have 1 carrier, 7 battleship, 11 cruiser and 24 destroyer was not to send because the strategic situation at Europe and Mediterranean and the effect from France failure. The British had no option rather than to deliver 2 battleships that are Repulse and Prince of Wales, while America Pacific Armada was destroyed at Pearl Habour. It was a fail of cooperation that British had no choices to support while Japan easily landed at Malaya. 2)While the Japanese had successfully integrated their entire asset including land, sea and air in giving the maximum fire power and maneuver.The cooperation between 3rd div (Air) Commander, Southern Sqn (Sea) Commander with all (Land) Army Chief’s a success to destroyed the British defence position. 25th Army Commander Lt Jen Yamashita had given his authority to coordinate the sea and air asset in order to achieve ‘mui’ in conquering Malaya and Singapore. h. Security. Beach defence built at Malaya in order to face the Japanese landings, including concertina wire, under water obstacles and machine gun placement were not good enough to give a supreme security and protection for the British.The implication from this, the British suffered a lot of casualties. Japanese also suffered a lot of casualties and this has shown that the British weakness in order to make sure the safety of their soldier itself. i. Flexilibity. To launch the Matador Plan Percival needed permission from British government in London. British government refused to launch this plan until they have proofs that the Japanese has landed in Th ailand. That situation shows that matador plan does not have the flexibility for an execution purposes. CONCLUSION 28.The Matador plan can be analyzed from several factors which conclude to its failure. The factor involves all aspects from the column of battle analysis. Matador was approved late for the plan to succeed. For Operation Matador to succeed, time was of the absolute essence. The delays in mobilization meant that the troops did not receive the order to launch ‘Operation Matador' effect, and morale suffered. An attempt by British troops to advance to The Ledge fell six miles 9. 6 km short of its objective when on 10 December 1941 Japanese troops overran the leading battalions.Another disaster, and with it any real chance for British troops to delay the Japanese advance until relief came, occurred on 12 December 1941 when the strategically-located and well-prepared Jitra position was abandoned within twenty four hours of being attacked. 29. The intention of the Britis h had been to hold it for approximately three months. Thus, after the twenty years of preparation to avoid such an eventuality, the fate of Malaya, and with it Singapore, was sealed in the first four days of the campaign.In the words of Major General Woodburn Kirby, ‘One can sum up by saying that those responsible for the conduct of the land campaign in Malaya committed every conceivable blunder. They underrated the enemy, paid insufficient attention to the training of their troops and delayed taking urgent decisions even after the Japanese had landed on Malayan soil. Singapore and the naval base were lost between 8 and 12 December'. Prime Minister of Britain, Churchill and all his decision made during the Malayan Campaign was also considered as a worst decision making in the war campaign ever in the history.Appendix 1 [pic] Figure 1: This shows what Brook-Popham had assumed happened from the intelligence he had received. [pic] Figure 2: This is what actually happened from the records of the Japanese BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Cull Brian, Buffaloes Over Singapore, Grub Street, London 2003. 2. Lt Gen AE Percival, The War in Malaya. 3. Sir John Smyth V. C, Percival and The Tragedy of Singapore, 1987. 4. Wikipedia, Battle of Malaya, HTML. 5. Chye Kooi Loong, The British Battalion In The Malayan Campaign 1941-1942, 2002. [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic]

Beauty

What is Beauty? Everyone looks at beauty differently and everyone has his or her own definition of it. In today’s society beauty is seen as a person’s psychical appearance, what clothes they wear, their hair and make-up, and even the shape of their body. The World English Dictionary’s first definition states beauty as â€Å"the combination of all qualities of a person or thing that delights the senses and pleases the mind. †(â€Å"Beauty† N. pag. ) I agree with this definition because I believe beauty goes deeper than the appearance of a person that it is the combination of all a person’s qualities.Too many people do not see beauty for what it really is but only see it as a psychical quality. Beauty is more than skin deep; beauty is kindness, gratefulness, courage, unselfish love, and happiness. A person’s beauty is not something that should be measured on how they appear physically, but is something that should be measured on their ki ndness. People’s kindness can show them for who they really are showing their true beauty. To be kind is to be generous and caring of others. It is being able to help others when they need it, to be respectful of everyone, and to show fairness no matter what.Kindness is beauty because kindness is a person showing respect for the feelings of another individual. It is to be aware of their actions and how their actions are affecting others. They treat others the way they hope to be treated. Ninon de L'Enclos said â€Å"That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful† (N. pag). I believe this is how people should describe and see beauty today because beauty should be seen not how people see each other, but as how people treat one other.Beauty is not the type or style of clothes a person wears, but beauty is being grateful. It is people being thankful and appreciative. For their family and friends, for the stuff their pare nts provide for them. Gratefulness is beauty because people who are grateful acknowledge what they have been given in life and are not greedy for more but are happy for what they have. people who are grateful have beauty because they are not unappreciative or ungrateful but they say thank you when they receive a gift or service no matter how little or small it was. This is beauty because eople should look at beauty as the actions of others whether they are appreciative or selfish. Beauty is not dependent on the shape of a person’s body, but it is the unselfish love they have and share to others. People who are able to love everyone in their life without judging or mistreating others have beauty. Unselfish love is being able to love people for who they are and not strive to change them but to accept them for everything they are. Unselfish love is being able to put someone else’s needs first, and to care for others no matter who they are.This is beauty because people sho uld see beauty should be seen on the love that people have on one other. It can be a difficult task to have unselfish love and not many people today can say they are able to go without judging others or being hurtful. Beauty is having courage. Beauty is people having the courage to stand up for what they believe in no matter what other say or do. It is people being able to look past what others want them to do or think and to do what is right for themselves and others.It is being able to go for their goals no matter how frightening the journey looks. Courage is beauty because people with courage are able to stand up for themselves, to go for their dreams, and to do the right thing no matter what. People should see this as beauty because courage is nothing small it takes a strong person to have courage in life. Beauty is how a person’s hair and makeup looks, but it is a person’s happiness. people with happiness are able to show joy and satisfaction in their lives. They are over all happy not only with themselves but also with life.Happiness is beauty because to be happy is to have the feeling of delightfulness and contentment. When people have happiness that does not mean that they will never get sad or down occasionally, but it means that they will be able to push past the down times in their life and remember that tomorrow is always a new day. A person with happiness will remember to keep their head up because they know things will get better. Everyone has his or her own definitions of beauty. Some people see beauty as the appearance of a person.They think that beauty is defined as the type or style of clothes they have, or how their hair and makeup look, and some even define beauty as the shape of a person’s body. However, some people are more like me and define beauty by what is on the inside. Some believe beauty comes from a person’s personality or their characteristics. As Kevyn Aucoin says, â€Å"beauty has a lot to do with c haracter. † (N. pag. ). I agree with Kevyn Aucoin, I do not think that beauty should be looked at as the physical appearance of a person. I believe beauty is a person’s kindness, gratefulness, courage, unselfish love, and their happiness.