Employee Management Procedures

Employee Management Procedures Unitary and pluralistic frames of reference one can be able to analyze employee relation approach. According to the unitary approach, members of an organization have to have objectives, goals and values for the organization to be successful. This explains why organizations have goals and mission statements as they give guidance to the employees. The unitary approach is very important as it helps to promote the team culture in an organization and ensures that there are good employee relations within an organization. The pluralistic approach supports the fact that there are different employees with different values and perspectives. The pluralistic approach is very important as it helps in conflict resolution in an organization. The unitary and pluralistic frames can be used as a point of reference to guide employees who have a wrong perception about the relation of employees in the organization. Through the frames, managers can be able to manage people whose interests coincide with the interests of the organization. For example with the unitary frame of reference, one can hardly find conflicts since with the reference frames managers can be able to identify the sources of conflicts and therefore know how to control and avoid them. Reflect and explain how changes in trade unionism have affected employee relations The trade union plays a very important role to employees. Its main aim is to protect the rights of the employees inters of pay and the working conditions. The union has come in order to help employees in an organization. It has played a role in ensuring good employee relations in an organization in several ways which may include: It helps to prevent conflicts between employees as it acts as a communication channel between the employees and management. This helps the employees to stay informed and thus helps to prevent conflicts that may arise between the managers and the employees. The union makes bargaining arrangements to the employees which may help the employee and thus may help to prevent conflicts among employs. This is due to the fact that conflicts may arise among employees who might be doing the same job and one gets more salary than the other. This has an impact on employee relations in an organization. Through unions, one can have lay representatives who help to communicate managerial shortcomings which may help to prevent irresponsible managers which may help to prevent conflicts in an organization between employees and the managerial sector. The union has taken many measures to ensure that there is a good balance between the managers and the employees and thus help to prevent conflicts since it is the main source of conflicts in organization. Using a real life example of your choice, explain within context the role of the main players in employee relations issue you have chosen There are different players in an organization who play different roles in an organization to ensure that there is good employee relations within an organization. The main players in employee relations in an organization are the managers, the employees and the organization. They are the ones that contribute to good or bad employee relation in organization. For example for the case of a disciplinary issue whereby an employee has done an action that is illegal according to the rules of the organization. This issue will lead to an employee relation problem in an organization. In this case, the employee is the main contributor of the issue since he did what he was not supposed to do since it is illegal according to the organization. The other employees will have an issue with this and it may lead to conflicts within the organization. They will therefore play a role of taking the issue to the manager. The manager will then take an action according to the rules of the organization or the contract. His main role will be to ensure that the same issue does not arise again by punishing the employee accordingly. The organization plays a very important role since it is the one that come up with rules and regulations that will govern the conduct of the employee and employee relations within an organization to ensure there is harmony within the orga nization and that people are responsible for their actions. All the players of employee role relation should therefore coordinate to make sure that there is good employee relation in an organization for the well being of the organization as a whole since it is the employees who will determine the performance of the organization. Task 2 Discuss and evaluate the procedures that should be followed by an organization when dealing with different conflict situations Conflicts arise in organizations due to the different perceptions on different matters in an organization. In dealing with conflicts in an organization, there are procedures that should be followed in dealing with the conflict. This is to ensure that managers are able to solve the conflict with fairness without favoring some employees. There are different kinds of conflicts in an organization and this is very important in solving a conflict. This is the first step that all managers need to understand in solving a conflict in an organization. There are several factors that need to be understood in solving a conflict in an organization. One firstly has to understand the situation leading to the conflict. There are different conditions that lead to the rise of conflicts and it is important for manager s to understand them in order to know how to solve them. After understanding the condition leading to the conflict one should then find out the effect of the conflict to the organization which may be either positive or negative. This will help the manager to weigh the effect of the conflict. One should then understand the stages of the conflict process. Conflicts have different stages and the stage of the conflict is very important to be known in order for the manager to know how to solve the conflict. After understanding all these, one can then find ways of dealing with the conflicts. One can assess the different ways of dealing with the conflict and choose the best way according to the situation at hand. Discuss and reflect on the key features of employee relations in recent UK conflict situation of your choice Conflicts may arise among employees in an organization due to many features. Conflicts have different features depending on the type of conflict. An example of a conflict in employee relation in an organization may be: For the case whereby in a department where there are several employees and one employee does not to do some tasks just because they think that it is not right according to their culture to do some tasks. In this case the employee may be using others such that they are the ones that do most of the task. This case will lead to conflicts among the employees in the organization due to cultural differences. The conflict may be due to the fact that other employees feel that they are doing so much while they also have their cultures that they may be having and may want to follow. In this case this conflict may lead to many effects which may include reduced performance at the workplace and lack of cooperation among the employees. IN solving this kind of conflict, there are procedures that should be followed by managers to ensure that the conflicts are solved in harmony. One should also refer to the requirements of the organization by the employees. There should be rules that should be set to govern employees when it comes to cultural differences. Evaluate the effectiveness of procedures used in the chosen conflict situation, making recommendations for areas found lacking and identifying areas of good practice. Following the right procedure in solving the conflict in the situation above is very important for effective solving of the conflict. This is due to the fact that it is very important to understand the source of the conflict in order to know how to solve the conflict. The manager should understand the reason why the conflict arise which in this case is cultural differences and the condition leading to conflict situation in an organization. The manager then needs to assess the effect of the conflict to the organization. One should then identify he stage in the conflict process. With understanding all these one can then indentify the best way of dealing with the conflict which in this case will be negotiating. What I would recommend in this case is negotiating with the employee to change his habits in order to be able to relate with other employees well. The areas that might be lacking in this case are specifying the conduct of an employee as far as cultural differences is concerned. In this case the area of good practice would be that everyone should respect everyones culture and should compromise in some cases for the sake of the work involved.

Metapsychologism In The Philosophy Of Logic Essay -- Philosophy Philos

Metapsychologism In The Philosophy Of Logic ABSTRACT: The problem of psychologism in the philosophy of logic and the different solutions of this problem are considered. Both traditional psychologistic and antipsychologistic solutions are shown to be untenable and the need for a new solution is demonstrated. The original program of metapsychologism is advanced as a solution to the problem of psychologism based on deduction-search theory. Two formalized levels of a logical procedure are distinguished: 1) an object-level at which a notion of inference is formalized; 2) a metalevel at which principles of deduction-search are formalized, and a thesis of metapsychologism according to which metalevel processes are formulated. Metapsychologism lifts usual psychologist considerations one level up in the hierarchy of logical procedure, while a non-psychologist justification of logical relations is kept at the object-level. The application of the thesis of metapsychologism to different concrete logical procedures is considered. "In the old anti-psychologistic days ...". W. van O. Quine. "Epistemology Naturalized" The debate between psychologism and antipsychologism in the XXth century psychology of logic seemed to be solved ultimately in favor of antipsychologism. After G. Frege, E. Husserl, R. Carnap and J. Lukasiewicz it was almost generally recognized that the only true philosophy of symbolic logic is antipsychologism. Antipsychologism was considered as a thesis belonging to the body of symbolic logic itself. In this paper I try to re-examine relations between antipsychologism, psychologism and modern logic. The problem of psychologism The re-examination mentioned presupposes an analysis of notions of psychologism and a... ...ress, 1993. Vol. 1. P. 349-489. (4) S. Haack Philosophy of Logics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978. (5) G. Frege Logik [1897] // Schriften zur Logik und Sprachphilosophie. Aus dem Nachlaß. Hamburg: Felix Meiner Verlag, 1990. S. 65. (6) J.A. Robinson, Logic: Form and Function. The Mechanisation of Deductive Reasoning. Edinburgh: Edinburg University Press, 1979. P.93. (7) Ibid. P.94. (8) E. Barth, E. Krabbe, From Axiom to Dialogue: A Philosophical Study of Logic and Argumentation. Berlin, 1982. P. 10-11. (9) Of course in practice we do not use such elaborate constructions. However, if we work with sequential systems, then the existence of an object level system and an opportunity for the translation of the results of a proof-search in sequential calculi into the proofs of a Hilbert type axiomatic or natural system are tacitly presupposed.

The Evolution of Piracy :: Economy

The Evolution of Piracy The protection of trade in general has always been considered as essential to the defense of the commonwealth, and, upon that account, a necessary part of the duty of the executive power. INTRODUCTION Adam Smith lived in a turbulent and unpredictable world. Indeed Britain was an affluent nation at the time, but that does not over-ride the sometimes-barbaric notions of its citizens. Piracy was rampant in the Eighteenth Century reaching its peak in 1724 when trade almost came to a complete stop due to the constant threat of encountering pirates while at sea. The property-seeking vagabonds would hijack a ship, take what they wanted and either leave the crew to their own means in a damaged vessel or alternatively, enslave them and possibly use them for bartering later. Adam Smith when writing, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, was all too aware of the threat that pirates were still having on trade in 1776. Smith was logical in his assumption that the state should strive to protect the trade industry whenever possible, especially since in those days the sun never set on the British flag and England ruled the seas. Although Britain cannot be blamed though for lack of trying, piracy still exists today. Yet, because the act continues at sea often far from land, it gains little media attention, and therefore less action from governments. China, despite being a number one producer of pirates, continues to deny that there is a problem while at the same time often pardoning those who are caught. Countries such as Indonesia and Philippines, which have been hardest hit in the past few years by pirates, are looking for international assistance. The West is, of course, looked to for solutions yet choose seemingly chooses to turn a blind eye, perhaps in the name of diplomacy. When the world is ready to combat the perpetual problem of piracy, it may discover that by intertwining tougher policies aimed at dealing with piracy with current or future trade negotiations, productive steps can be taken to initiate plans to curtail modern day sea wolves who prey on the helpless. The suggestion of ‘Piracy Cha rters’ will be discussed further as the means of which to add the topic of to multilateral agreements. BODY Piracy is not something, which developed recently. The young Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates in 78 BC on a voyage to Rhodes and held for ransom.

Privatization in Russia :: essays papers

Privatization in Russia As a result of privatization in Russia, tens of thousands of state-owned enterprises - from small retail shops to major industrial enterprises - have been transformed into privately owned companies. Millions of Russian citizens became owners. The privatization is guided by the special government program which operates on different administrative levels: federal, regional and municipal. The authorities on any given level are authorized to privatize only those assets transferred to their ownership. Large-scale privatization By July 1994, 15,052 medium and large enterprises, employing more than 80% of the industrial workforce, had been privatized in a voucher-based privatization scheme. The second (post-voucher), cash-based phase of privatization is under way now. Government blocks of shares will be sold primarily to strategic investors in special investment tenders. The list of Çstrategic enterprisesÈ, including energy, defence and utilities, majority state ownership is to be retained for at least two to three years. In the second stage of privatization, enterprises will be able to buy the land and buildings they are associated with. Farm privatization has made limited progress so far. More than 80% of agricultural land is owned by large farms with some form of collective ownership and 10% remains state property. Only 6% is in the hands of private farmers and urban dwellers with small household plots own 4%. Property rights over agricultural land remain subject to heavy restrictions. Small-scale privatization By the end of 1995 more than 100,000 state-owned small-scale businesses (with less than 200 employees) had been transferred to private hands. The overwhelming majority of these were in the retail trade, public catering and consumer services sector, where private entities account for 80% of activity. The size of the private sector The non-state sector, including all corporatized enterprises irrespective of the share of state ownership, accounted for 70% of GDP and 60% of employment by the end of 1995. Forecast for 1996 Financial assets will be the main instrument of privatization in 1996. The share of facilities sold at auctions and commercial and investment tenders and privatized by the redemption of leased property and sale of immovables and land will grow. The development of the stock market will be based lagerly on demand from Çstrategic investorsÈ interested in high profitability for their investments and the gaining of control over enterprises.

Lafleur Trading Company Selected Service Request Analysis Essay

These days, being a long-established business is not enough for success. Look at companies like Hewlett-Packard, Research In Motion, and Blockbuster Video. These companies failed in the task of collecting data, analyzing that data, and making intelligent decisions based on that data and now they are either slowly failing, losing market share, or, in Blockbuster’s case, already declared bankruptcy and doing whatever it can to stay in business. Lafleur Trading Company is currently at a crossroads in its efforts to stay viable in its market. Outdating network infrastructure and non-existent business intelligence processes could bring the company to its knees and see the doors to the business close for good. Service Request SR-lf-001 addresses this problem and outlines a solution to modernize the infrastructure and it’s data collection and retention process. The Organization Lafleur is a 37-year-old company that supplies the world with the finest foods and wines. Lafleur have trading partners across the planet. Lafleur buyers deal with reputable producers and exporters so you the consumer can be assured the highest quality. The buyers that Lafleur trade with ensure the products are â€Å"organic† and meet health, ethics, and lifestyle needs. Lafleur has the latest technology to get the products from the producers to you as quickly as possible and at the lowest price possible. Company Description Lafleur Trading Company’s mission statement is to â€Å"provide our customers with the highest quality foods at a reasonable price. While profit is important, Lafleur Trading Company recognizes that they have responsibilities to corporate citizens, customers, employees, our community, and to the world. Lafleur will act fairly and justly in the conduct of business.† (LaFleur, 2012) The life-blood of Lafleur business is the employees. They are theface of the company and the customer’s perception of the company is how the employees interact with them. Since the customer’s recognitions are through company employees, the organization of the company must meet the needs of the customer. The overview organizational flow chart shows the positions that report directly and indirectly to the Chief Operations Officer (COD) of Lafleur Trading Company. The Chief Operations Officer reports to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The Chief Operations Officer supervises the Director of Sales and Marketing, the Director of Human Resources, the Director of Warehouse Operations and the Director of Purchasing. Sales and marketing supervises ten Salespersons, a Marketing Manager and a Development Staff of five members. The Director of Human Resources supervises a Staffing Specialist, a Labor Relations Specialist and a Benefits Coordinator. The Director of Warehouse Operations supervises ten Supply Technicians, five Local Delivery Drivers, a Facilities Manager and a three person Maintenance Staff. The Director of Purchasing supervises ten Supply Coordinators and a Purchasing Manager. The Purchasing Manager supervises ten Buyers. Now that the description of the Lafleur trading company is been established, the CEO and executive team have identified a particular business problem that is affecting the profitability of the organization. The Busine ss Problem The one major problem within the Lafleur Trading Company is exposed within its networking topology within its local area network (LAN). The networking topology is the complete architecture of a network. Organizations such as corporations, colleges, and government agencies have all acquired large numbers of single user computer systems and upon reviewing and analyzing the Lafleur Trading Companies ‘Enterprise Sales Application’ on Microsoft Visio, there is a major problem within its network methodology. The architecture of the network is flawed. Although there is enough hardware to produce success within the companies’ infrastructure, the entire network lacks communication. This interconnection may include word processing, scientific computation, process control, or maybe general-purpose departments that perform many tasks. Interconnection allows users to exchange information (data) with other network members. It also allows resource sharing ofexpensive equipment such as file servers and high quality graphic printers, or access to more powerful computers for tasks too complicated for the local computer such as data warehousing and business intelligence processes. The problem with Lafleur Trading Company exists because they lack these basic needs to have a healthy communication between any departments. They lack in the major component of networking, which is data transfers or exchanging information. Let’s take a closer look at the company’s LAN. The company LAN is designed in what is known as a bus topology. Karl Falls describes a Bus topology as such: â€Å"A Bus topology refers to a single cable that connects all the workstations, server s, printers and other devices on the network. The cable runs from device to device by using tee connectors that plug into the network adapter cards. Each end device has a terminator on one end of the tee and a cable going out to the next device on the other end, while all devices in the middle have one cable coming in and one going out. The terminators on each end device simply stop the network signal from reflecting back into the cable and colliding with other transmissions.† The most common type of network cable used for a bus topology is RG-58 thin net. The network speed is limited to 10 megabits per second, making it a suitable media for only 10 BASE 2 Ethernet. There are also network size limitations. You may have a maximum of twenty network devices on a segment, and the segment cannot exceed 185 meters in total length. By using a device called a repeater that boosts the signal, you can have up to five segments on a network. However, only three of these segments can have devices attached to them. The other two segments are used to link the three populated segments, giving you a maximum number of sixty devices with a to tal network length of 925 meters. This topology works equally well for either peer to peer or client server. There are advantages and disadvantages to this set up or architecture of the organization. Some of the advantages include being less expensive to install because it is a one-cable network that requires no switches or routers for messaging. This is good for a small network like dental office or an optometrist. However, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Some of the disadvantages are that the trading company is too big for such a LAN because the company limits itself in size and speed of meeting the demands of a competitive trading market. Moreover one bad connector can take down entire network and that is very costly and difficultto troubleshoot. This leads to a quote by Gordon Bell, â€Å"The easiest way for an enterprise to fall is to select cheapest, fastest, and most unreliable components for its big business network.† Lafleur Trading Company is guilty of cutting corners in its initial networking topology and this leads to problems within the hardware infrastructure, problems within the client to company relations, problems in the speed of the network, problems in the repair of the network, problems in the maintenance of the network, problems in the communication between departments that need to talk with each other, problems with privacy in the upper ranks of the company, problems with data management and analysis, and problems keeping up with the competition. SR-lf-001 presents the opportunity for Lafleur to bring it’s network infrastructure to a place where it can handle the advanced data storage and analysis operations it needs to conduct in order to stay competitive in their market and look forward to a profitable, intelligent future for the business. The Benefits of This Approach Having a high quality network for communication between departments and branches of a company brings with it a certain set of advantages when it comes to data warehousing and business intelligence. Some of these benefits include quick, efficient retrieval of information from data warehouses, more efficient queries when analyzing data, the ability to make educated decisions based on that data, and effective reporting processes. Business intelligence systems are important in a company because they allow an organization to collect sales data and quickly analyze trends in order to respond to changes in customer demand resulting in increased sales. A business intelligence application supports and provides intelligence for Business Process needs. A good business intelligence system delivers information that is insightful, timely, and reliable. This information is delivered in a way that is useful (i.e. not complex. The data is understandable and actionable) and relevant to what is currently happening in the company. This data is also retained for enough time for analysts to look at historical data and make decisions and determine future trends based upon customer activity shown in that data. (McQuigg, February 2009). Business intelligence applications retrieve their data from data warehouses. A Data Warehouse (DW) is simply a consolidation of data from a variety of sources that is designed to support strategic and tactical decision-making. Its main purpose is to provide a coherent picture of the business at a point in time. Using various Data Warehousing toolsets, users are able to run online queries and ‘mine† their data. (data-warehouses.net, February 2012) Being subject-oriented enables the data to be analyzed based upon a particular subject, making the analysis process more streamlined than if the BI process had to loop through bytes of unrelated data in search of relevant information. These things are very important for a company that wants to stay competitive in their market. Up to date, accurate and integrated information about a company’s supply chain, products, and customers are critical for the company’s survival. (data-warehouses.net, February 2012)Without these things, a company has no intelligence on their customers, what is happening with their product, and no way to make decisions about how to go forward in the future. If a company is unable to probably store, retrieve, and analyze their data to make business decisions, the company will fail. By implementing strong, modern, fast networking infrastructure and data collection channels, Lafleur Trading Company positions itself as a competitive, forward-thinking company that will be able to succeed. This is due to their ability to make smart decisions based on actual, relevant data retrieved from their business intelligence process. Conclusion Lafleur Trading Company is the type of organization that can live or die based on the whims of its customers. Especially in this modern, computerized society, without the infrastructure in place to collect customer data, analyze that data, and make intelligent decisions based on that data, Lafleur cannot hope to be competitive in their market and will likely fail as an organization. The completion of SR-lf-001 and the development of a strong data warehousing plan and business intelligence application will allow them to be successful, profitable, and will stimulate growth and expansion for the entire company. REFERENCES LaFleur.com (January, 2012) Human Resources. Retrived from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/Business/Lafleur/intranet/human-resources/cio.asp Bell, G. (June 29, 2011). Network Infrastructures. Retrieved from http://quotes.cat-v.org Falls, K. (jan 7, 2011). Network Topologies. Retrieved from http://fallsconnect.com 1keydata.com (Januray, 2012) Data Warehouse Definition. Retrieved from http://www.1keydata.com/datawarehousing/data-warehouse-definition.html http://data-warehouses.net (February, 2012) Guide to Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence. Retrieved from http://data-warehouses.net/guide/introduction.html

Storytelling in Homer’s Odyssey

Tall Tales Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten. –Neil Gaiman The escapades of wily Odysseus are ingrained into the hearts of countless children. The bedtime story of one man’s journey home and the obstacles he faces along the way forever lives on in youthful imagination. Alas, a problem arises when mythology-loving children grow up. Vocabulary and comprehension matures slowly over time, and, at some point, the youth is ready to delve into the feast that is Homer’s unabridged poetry.As the reader devours book after book of The Odyssey, he or she finds comforting familiarity in the stories, the characters, and the monsters, but something is not quite right. While hearing of Odysseus’ adventures as a child, the action was spoken from the steady voice of a omnipresent narrator, but in Homer’s work, the poet often speaks through Odysseus as a storyteller recounting his glorious past. This is when the disillusioned youth comes to a devastating conclusion: Odysseus is a liar.Homer distances himself as the poet from the more fantastic tales that the reader recognizes from youth: the Lotus eaters, the Laestrygonians, the Cyclops, Scylla and Charybdis, Circe, Aeolus and the winds. All these wondrous tales are told from the deceitful, crafty mouth of Odysseus. To the Phaeacians, he is a illustrious adventurer ready for derring-do at all times. To the knowing Athena, he claims to be a Cretan fugitive. And to Eumaeus and Telemachus, he in all his craftiness asserts that he is (while still a Cretan) a beggar who fought alongside the great Odysseus on the Trojan shore.Odysseus adopts these facades for different motives, but the response to his stories are unanimously positive. Through his stories, Odysseus does not sacrifice his integrity, rather he gains honor. When the eager reader reaches Book IX, he or she reaches some of th e most familiar events in Homer’s lore. Homer, through Odysseus’ account to the Phaecians, crafts some of the most thrilling action in the poem. Daring escapes, clever plans, and terrifying beasts are woven into a tapestry of wonder and enchantment. Yet for the great storyteller that he is, Odysseus s hesitant to relate his tale. â€Å"But now you wish to know my cause for sorrow / and thereby give me cause for more† (Homer 158). As exaggerated as the following account is, Odysseus seems to be truthful about his grief. Whether or not his men perished as he claims is not certain, but death was the end to their stories nonetheless. Odysseus honors the memory of these men by spinning a yarn so great that his men become immortal in his story. This does not, however, mean that he wishes to present his shipmates as faultless.He freely lays blame on the crew for releasing King Aeolus’ winds. By doing this, Odysseus proves his skill as a raconteur by showing manà ¢â‚¬â„¢s greedy nature and the consequences that are a result. Odysseus’ goal is not to raise himself up as the greatest of heroes either. He freely admits to his follies and to the deaths that heavy his heart with guilt. Odysseus confesses to his own human weaknesses saying, â€Å"Now, being a man, I could not help consenting† (189), when tempted by Circe to forgo his return home to Ithaca, putting his men in danger in the process.He even tells how one of his men, Eurylochus, blamed Odysseus for the death of his shipmates at the hands of the Cyclops, â€Å"That daring man! They died for his foolishness! † (190). He willingly admits to being overpowered by lust in the case of Circe, but he also tells of his tactical genius concerning the Sirens. Odysseus’ story is not a matter of boastfulness, rather a matter of honor, his own and that of his fallen comrades. Clearly, the Phaecians are satisfied with the narrative, â€Å"He ended it, and no one stirred o r sighed / in the shadowy hall, spellbound as they all were† (241).So impressed by the story and empathetic to Odysseus’ losses, in fact, that King Alcinous almost immediately loads his ship and has a Phaecian crew sail him back to Ithaca. The Phaecians are so entertained and enamored by Odysseus’ eloquence that they believe any word that flows from his lips, no matter how ludicrous. Odysseus does not set out to deceive his hosts, quite the opposite. When King Alcinous asks him to relate his travels, he does not want facts, he wants a story. After incurring the wrath of Poseidon one last time, Odysseus awakens on an Ithaca that he does not recognize thanks to Athena’s deviousness.When confront by the goddess in disguise, Odysseus â€Å"†¦ answered her / with read speech–not that he told the truth, / but, just as she did, held back what he knew, / weighing within himself at every step / what he made up to serve his turn† (250). After clai ming to be a Cretan fleeing his homeland after murdering a courier, Athena reveals herself to her favorite Odysseus. Then, surprisingly, she does not chastise him for lying, instead she praises him for his gift of deception, â€Å"Whoever gets around you must be sharp / and guileful as a snake; even a god / might bow to you in ways of dissimulation. You! You chameleon! † (251). Athena is not condoning Odysseus deceit, she is commending him. This prioritization of wit and cleverness over straight honesty is harder for modern readers to fully grasp than it would have been for the Greeks hearing the lovely recitation. Using the guise of a Cretan once more (fittingly because as the famous Cretan Epimenides once said, â€Å"All Cretans are liars,†) Odysseus tests the swineherd’s, Eumaeus’, loyalty and hospitality.Odysseus hints that Eumaeus’ master may be closer than he expects (263). In direct contrast to the Phaecians response, Eumaeus does not let hi mself believe the words of the stranger, how ever silver-tongued he may be. Eumaeus responds to the hidden Odysseus’ message of hope with pessimism concerning lonely Penelope, old Laertes, and absent Telemachus. In the manner of Greek hospitality, Odysseus and Eumaeus share a meal, wine, and stories, and while Eumaeus’ origin may not be as mythic as Odysseus, who is to say it is factual?His background is shared gracefully enough that even the esteemed Odysseus complements Eumaeus’ skill, â€Å"That was a fine story, and well told, / not a word out of place, not a pointless word† (275). When Telemachus returns, Odysseus carries on his charade. In the guise of a old beggar, Odysseus tests Telemachus’ valor saying, â€Å"If my heart were as young as yours, if I were / son to Odysseus, or the man himself, / I’d rather have my head cut from my shoulders / then to suffer the pestilence that is the suitors† (304).In rebuttal to this harsh in sult, Telemachus explains that Odysseus left him too young to prevent the suitors from swarming to Penelope. It is then that Athena deems it time to reveal Odysseus’ true form. This revelation and reunion is not only touching, but it also fills Telemachus with a pride and hunger to face the suitors. Odysseus disguised himself on Ithaca for almost four days before enacting revenge on the suitors who dishonor his home. Why would he wait so long? Why not burst through the doors right away and start cutting down men one by one?Odysseus never claims to be the strongest, the boldest, or even the bravest, but everyone knows that Odysseus is the wiliest. It is Odysseus, the master tactician and master of disguise, not a rage-filled berserker that reclaims his throne. It is safe to assume that Odysseus’ stories are not factual, but that in no way justifies the statement, â€Å"Odysseus is a liar. † His purpose in the story to the Phaecians is not to recount his travels v erbatim, rather he only wishes to convey the bravery of his men and the sadness in his heart. By the end of his tale, the hall is silent with grief.His reason for acting as a Cretan outlaw is not treachery, but an exercise in his great skill. He hides himself to his friends and family not out of malice, but so his intellectual stratagem banishes the suitors to Hades, not brute strength. Odysseus’s slyness and wit are to be admired, not admonished. When he announces his identity to the Phaecians, he does not cite his brute strength or skill in warfare as his gifts. He exclaims proudly, â€Å"I am Laertes’ son, Odysseus / Men hold me formidable for guile in peace and war: / this fame has gone abroad to the sky’s rim† (158).While heroes such as Achilles and Heracles establish their place in legend and eternity among Elysian fields with force and passion, Odysseus forever immortalized himself in the epics of the Ancients and the storybooks of children because of he is a â€Å"man of twists and turns† who knows how to tell a good story.Works Cited Gaiman, Neil. The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country. New York, New York: DC Comics, 1991. Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. Garden City, New York: Doubleday ; Company, 1992.

Axis Bank Future Plans

Axis Bank plans VRS to cut flab at top Anita Bhoir, ET Bureau  Dec 12, 2012, 06. 00AM IST * (The bank plans to roll out†¦) MUMBAI: Three years after  Shikha Sharma  took the corner room at Axis Bank, the country's third-largest private sector lender is making another attempt to cut flab. The bank plans to roll out an early retirement scheme for senior employees aged 40 or more, who have been with the lender for 10 years or longer. This is the bank's second attempt to trim its 31,000-strong workforce since 2009.The first attempt had received a lukewarm response, and this time the private sector lender has tailored the scheme to target people who may be good performers but don't have the ability to make it big. â€Å"This time, the scheme seems to be more targeted and we hope executives will prefer to accept it rather than be fired at a later date on the pretext of non-performance,† said an  Axis Bank  official, who requested anonymity. â€Å"The management wants to reduce the number of vice-presidents and senior vice-presidents. It wants a leaner and younger organisation,† the official added.Axis Bank is not the first private institution to offer an early retirement scheme. In its earlier avatar as a financial institution, ICICI had introduced its first  VRS  in 1996-97. The second scheme came in late-1999. Later, in 2003, the KV Kamath-led  ICICI Bank  announced an early retirement offer targeted at erstwhile employees of ICICI and Bank of Madura. Shikha Sharma, who headed ICICI Prudential before taking up the reins at Axis Bank, seems to be following the ICICI management style in her new job. Axis has 31,738 employees. Its staff cost was 577. 90 crore at the end of September 2012, compared with 498. 2 crore in the year-ago period. â€Å"The bank may face immediate financial burden as it would have to make lump sum payments to employees. However, over a period it would led to cost savings,† said Kajal Gandhi, an analy st with ICICI Securities. http://articles. economictimes. indiatimes. com/2012-12-12/news/35773778_1_shikha-sharma-axis-bank-private-sector-lender Axis Bank plans Rs 6000 crores share sale to meet Basel III norms ET Bureau  Dec 18, 2012, 08. 06AM IST MUMBAI:  Axis Bank, the country's third-largest private bank, is looking to sell as many as 4. 8 crore new shares to boost its capital before the  Basel-III norms  kick in, which at current prices may help it fetch more than Rs 6,000 crore. The lender, headed by  Shikha Sharma, will be the second private sector bank to raise funds this year after IndusInd Bank. City Union Bank's rights share sale is underway whileYES Bank  and  Development Credit Bank  are also in the process of raising equity. ICICI Bank  and  HDFC Bank  may also reach out to investors in the coming months for funds as the market for equity issuances opens up and the need to raise funds increases to meet capital norms. The capital raising is large ly to fund growth and also to meet Basel-III norms,† said  Kajal Gandhi, analyst ICICI Securities. â€Å"Other private sector banks like YES Bank and  IndusInd Bank  have also raised funds recently. † The equity issuance by Axis will lead to a 10. 75 per cent dilution. Axis said its board has approved the fund-raising plan, which will either be a domestic sale to institutions or a GDR issue. It also retains the right to sell to existing holders. Indian lenders are raising capital as loan growth is seen picking up next year after more than a year of sluggish demand.With the government proceeding with some reforms, investment demand may accelerate and banks will need to keep a higher capital buffer. RBI's plan to implement the Basel-III norms to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis mandates banks to keep higher capital. It will be implemented in phases over six years. Axis Bank's tier-I capital, or equity capital, is at 8. 99 per cent, compared with 7 per c ent prescribed by Basel-III norms. http://articles. economictimes. indiatimes. com/2012-12-18/news/35890925_1_basel-iii-shikha-sharma-axis-bank Axis Bank plans to step up lending to MFIsKOLKATA  Ã‚  Aug 13, 2012 Axis Bank – which had gone slow on lending to the microfinance institutions (MFI) post the recent crisis in the industry – now plans to scale up its exposure to the sector. The bank also looks at direct lending to self-help groups. â€Å"We had gone slow on lending to the MFI sector due to the recent crisis. However, with the regulations in place we plan to step up our lending to the sector,† said Ms Shikha Sharma, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Axis Bank. The bank's exposure to MFIs was earlier in excess of Rs 800 crore.She was talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the launch of a financial inclusion programme organised by Axis Bank Foundation and microfinance institution Bandhan here on Saturday. MFIs have been recently criticise d on issues of multiple lending, evergreening of loans, lack of due diligence and coercive recovery practices. Axis Bank, Ms Sharma said, aims to achieve a credit growth in excess of 18 per cent during the current year. â€Å"The RBI has projected a growth rate of 18 per cent, we are hopeful of doing better than this,† she said.Asked about concerns regarding asset quality, she added, â€Å"There are no signs of rising defaults in the system at present. † http://www. thehindubusinessline. com/industry-and-economy/banking/article2354147. ece Axis Bank launches new campaign ‘Zindagi ke highway pe koi akele nahin badhta’ Udaipur, January 23, 2013: Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector Bank, today announced the launch of its new campaign ‘Zindagi ke highway pe koi akele nahin badhta’ that aims to drive home the message that progress and subsequent success is mutual.The campaign designed by Lowe Lintas features Axis Bank’s Br and Philosophy ‘While we keep progressing in our lives, there always is someone else progressing along with us, so let’s Progress Together’. The campaign highlights Axis Bank’s credentials as a customer centric bank and a partner in progress who walks with its customers on the highway of life – hence the tag line Zindagi ke highway pe koi akele nahin badhta. Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Mr. R. K Bammi, Executive Director – Retail Banking, Axis Bank said, â€Å"The new film takes our brand positioning of Badhti ka naam zindagi†¦ or Progress On†¦ ahead.We understand that Progress always has a ripple effect. When one person progresses, others around him progress too. This insight is captured in our new TVC that clearly demonstrates the circle of progress and how you touch lives of others even when you do not know them. † Explaining this new phase in Axis Bank’s communication journey, Arun Iyer, National Creativ e Director, Lowe Lintas says that, â€Å"Last year we crafted ‘Badhti ka naam zindagi’ to define the fundamental philosophy for Axis Bank. The task this year was to continue building this sentiment on a larger canvass.What better than changing the frame of reference from what it means for one individual, to what it means in the context of the entire community we live in? The fact is that when you progress, others benefit too. And hence no one really progresses alone. When you move up, others do too. We hope the execution will make our audience have this joyful realization about how we are connected with each other. † Taking its philosophy of progress together Axis Bank plans to enable its customers to acknowledge contributions of others in their progress through an application called ProgressTogether.The application would be hosted on a microsite which can be reached on the URL www. progresstogether. in and will also be mirrored on Facebook. com on the Axis Bank page. Customers can use the application from their PCs and from their tablets. http://thetimesofudaipur. com/? p=1308 Axis Bank eyes 30 per cent retail assets by FY15 Press Trust of India | Updated On: October 17, 2012 12:46 (IST Private lender Axis Bank plans to increase the share of its retail lending from the present 26 per cent of the total loan book to 30 per cent by 2015, a top official said on Tuesday.As of the September quarter, the third largest private lender saw its retail loan book jump by 5 percentage points from the year-ago period, Axis Bank Executive Director Somnath Sengupta told reporters in a post-earnings conference call. On a year-on-year basis, the retail banking grew 43 per cent as of the second quarter, while large and mid-corporate banking grew just 15 per cent, he said. â€Å"The focus on retail assets will continue to grow, and our target is to take it further to 30 per cent by the end of FY15.It is a part of strategic intent to grow the retail book. We a re expanding through home, auto and personal loans. We are also selling credit cards to our existing customers. † On Monday, the bank reported better-than-expected Q2 numbers logging in 22. 08 per cent rise in net profit to  Rs. 1,123 crore. Terming the quarterly numbers as satisfactory despite a challenging environment, Sengupta said retail advances and lower expenses helped the bank post good numbers.Total income rose 27 per cent to  Rs. 8,280. 29 crore in the July-September quarter. NII rose to  Rs. 2,327 crore from  Rs. 2,007 crore, while other income grew 29 per cent to  Rs. 1,593 crore, driven by growth in fee income which stood at  Rs. 1,343 crore, a growth of 20 per cent. The bank saw its trading income rise to  Rs. 207 crore during the quarter, he said. The bank improved its net interest margin to 3. 46 per cent in the reporting period from 3. 37 per cent at the end of the first quarter.Sengupta further said the bank could maintain asset quality as its g ross NPAs and net NPAs stood barely unchanged at 1. 10 per cent and 0. 33 per cent, respectively as against 1. 08 per cent and 0. 34 per cent as of September 2011. The bank held a provision coverage of 80 per cent as a proportion of gross NPAs, including prudential write-offs. The bank had made an additional provision of  Rs. 115 crore in the quarter, he said, adding it has provided for the exposure to the troubled Hyderabad-based Deccan Chronicle Group, which has become a bad asset now.However, Sengupta did not reveal whether the bank has made full provisions for the Deccan loans and also the exact amount of the exposure. However, it has been learnt Axis Bank has exposure of over  Rs. 400 crore to the diversified company. Asked about the bank's exposure to the state-run power distribution companies (discoms) whose  Rs. 1. 9 trillion of debt was recast last month, he said it was â€Å"limited† but refused to quantify it. Similar was his response when asked about the tex tile sector, whose  Rs. 16,000 crore of debt is being recast with government intervention now.Sengupta also refused to disclose the status of other two default accounts– SevenHills Hospital (exposure at around  Rs. 463 crore) and Icomm Tele (around  Rs. 220 crore). About fresh slippages during Q2, he said the quarter saw a gross slippage of  Rs. 628 crore primarily due to a large corporate account. During the quarter, the bank saw  Rs. 99 crore incremental slippages net of restructuring and upgrades. http://profit. ndtv. com/news/corporates/article-axis-bank-eyes-30-per-cent-retail-assets-by-fy15-312162