Best practices in performance appraisal in government organizations Research Paper

Best practices in performance appraisal in government organizations - Research Paper Example Performance appraisal has been viewed as a crucial tool in the HRM and it helps in appraising the employee’s performances irrespective of the organizations they are working in. Government organizations have been pioneering in the field of performance appraisal of their employees. Since, government organizations have been serving the common people performance appraisal of these civil servants becomes mandatory. However, the requirement to mandate performance appraisal in the federal organization in order to measure performances is quiet evident. The civil servants of the system have faced certain backlogs in maintaining this standard of appraisal. The government of United States has been placing greater emphasis on the performance of their civil servants, for meeting up the expectations of their stakeholders and customers. However, one of the major problems faced by the government is regarding validating the standards of performance appraisal for maintaining transparency in the appraisal techniques (Maher, 2011). Moreover, it has also been observed that the current government workforce planning are lacking behind the set standards. This fragmented practice of the government, hinders their ability towards achieving their perceived targets. The unplanned structure of the government for the workforce management makes them deviate from their operations and results in lack of confidence within the people along with shattered market conditions (IBM, 2002). Government organization practices have largely been observed, to be the weakest while considering the performance appraisal approach. It has also been observed that many organizations, operating under the federal government, lacks proper tools for evaluating the performance appraisal of their employees (Rubin, 2011). The commercial institutions are more efficient in managing the employee performances and achieve their strategic goals. Moreover, the major backlog

System Development and Project Management Essay

System Development and Project Management - Essay Example We are interested in a system development, which can manage projects within the organization. Organizations felt the need for system development as the requirements increases. First of all, they have to depute a team leader or manager who plans, manages and controls the development process of the project. The project manager has to understand the requirements of the client and then determine the scope of the project. At the same time, a system development team has to be created by those employees who have requisite qualifications and knowledge. The team should be lead by dynamic, able leader who can control and manage the project. Normally due to lengthy projects having complex activities and scarce resources, development team feels demotivated. Employees having negative attitudes also create problems in the team results in lower productivity. Unproductive work environment, inefficient project management styles, lack of stakeholders’ interest and commitment of senior managemen t team results in a demotivated team, low level of productivity, delay in projects and subsequent failure of projects. So before forming a system development team we have to analyze on the above aspects first then only we can move forward to develop a system to manage projects. Previously software development consists of a programmer writing codes to solve a problem or automate a procedure. Nowadays systems are so big and complex that team of architects, analysts, programmers, testers and users must work together.  

Leadership Style Essay Example for Free

Leadership Style Essay Leadership is a role that not all can partake but that many have excelled at. When asked who I admire as a leader I had to think quite a while. I had to decide what category of leader I could relate to the most. Would it be a political leader, a spiritual leader, a business leader or even a military leader? Ultimately I decided that I want someone who is multi-faceted in that they can lead in many situations and scenarios. Further it seems that leading in unfamiliar and new situations can allow a leader more freedom in his direction without being swayed by observations of others in similar situations. This led me to choose George Washington as my admirable leader since â€Å"George Washington can be used as an example of strong and ethical leadership in virtually any walk of life.† (Rees 2007, p. preface) Growing up we all learned of George Washington and his role as the first president of the United Sates. We hear of his honesty as told through the story of the cherry tree and so on. His leadership is what gave him this large mark in our history books and it was not only displayed through his presidency. He was first a great military leader. In this role he displayed leader characteristics such as toughness, persistence, bravery and organization. These characteristics earned him the respect of his troops and the ongoing admiration of an entire country. His time as a political leader is what he is remembered most for. He was able to use his charismatic presence and moral strength to maneuver through a turbulent political environment. The leadership traits of foresight and strategic planning allowed him to hold at bay the continental army from a brittle and new civilian government. Through his, and with the help of other great leaders, efforts the path was paved for the United Sates to become the world’s leading super power. Though other leaders have achieved similar feats throughout history this one stands out for me as I have directly benefited from George Washington’s leadership.  Lastly a notable leadership trait that I admire of George Washington’s is his moral leadership. This helps distinguish him from other leaders of world powers before and after his time. It was not uncommon for leaders like Hitler, Stalin, and the Caesar’s or Persian Empire leaders who accomplished similar â€Å"world power† feats to rule by an iron fist and without morality to reach their goals. George Washington used his moral compass to create what may be a much longer lasting arena in which to lead, one that could be passed on to other worthy leaders. Many would like to think that they have the characteristics of a great leader. The reality is that if I, or anyone else, had the perfect mesh of traits for a leader then we would in fact be leading. While I do manage staff, departments and facilities I see myself as a professional and only an aspiring leader. It is my hope that through this course and the others I with be involved in throughout my time at University of Phoenix I will come closer to actually leading. Currently I have some leadership characteristics. There are some that seemed to come naturally and others that have taken time, effort and education. I’ve always seemed to have a knack at argument, or for our scholarly purposes, excellent persuasion ability. I can think clearly during exchanges and use opposing thinkers own examples and analogies to further substantiate my position. I treat people with respect regardless of their status. I strive to have a perfect balance on confidence and humility. I do not fear collaboration and tend to communicate well. If I were to list all the things I would need to do in order to become a better leader this paper would never end. In order to avoid this I will talk only about the traits I feel are the most important and in need of further understanding and practice from myself. Leveraging team strength’s needs some attention from me. I tend to look at people in their roles and corner them there. If I open my eyes a bit more as to their aptitude in other areas I could find that shining stars are sitting right in front of me. I need to be more fearless and take more risks. I have a tendency to play things safe seeking acceptable outcomes when I could take risks and seek excellent outcomes. If I were to take on a little more compassion for things going on with the people around me I may be able to find ways to create more dedicated followers. Followers that know I believe in them and care for their own well-being as opposed to simply the desired outcome of my leadership. Ultimately I wish to lead by example. I want to  lead follower’s development and act as a resource for their advice and assistance (Daft 2008). The greatest satisfaction I can achieve as a leader would be not only for my own desired success in life to be experienced but also to carve a path for those around me to thrive as well. Good leadership in my opinion will always result in an accumulative good, not and individual good. References Daft, R. (2008). The Leadership Experience. Mason: Thompson Learning, Inc. . James Rees, Stephen J. Spignesi (2007). George Washingtons Leadership Lessons. Hoboken: John Wiley Sons, Inc.

Twin Deficit Relationship in a Developing Open Economy

Twin Deficit Relationship in a Developing Open Economy 5.1 Summary. This study investigates the twin deficit relationship in a developing open economy like India. The study strives to demonstrate that Keynesian proposition of a long run equilibrium relationship exists between the twin deficits, but the reversed direction of causality was found. That is the causality flows from current account deficit to budget deficit as against from budget deficit to the current account deficit. This study reveals that the twin deficit have a positive long run relationship between the budget deficit and current account deficit using the Johansen multivariate co-integration approach. The result confirms the existence of a long run relationship between the two deficits, thus supporting the Mundell-Fleming theory and refuting the Ricardian Equivalence Hypothesis (REH). The term â€Å"twin deficit† was initially invented to describe the co-movement between the budget deficit and the current account deficit in the United States (Chang and Hsu, 2009). Afterwards, researchers began applying it to other countries. Ever since, it has become an important area for researchers to examine the causal link between the two deficits and the direction of causality. The coincident of budget deficit and the current account deficits for most countries most especially in the United States (US) during the mid-1980s led to the characterization of this phenomenon as the â€Å"twin deficits† issue as both economic theory and empirical observation suggested a link between the two deficits. The main thrust of the twin deficit hypothesis is that current account deficits of most countries is caused by government’s budget deficits phenomenon and the most suitable way to solve this problem and stabilize internal and external deficits is reducing the government’s budget deficit. In other words, the direction of causality flows from the budget deficit to current account deficit. Two major theories used to explain the causal link between budget deficit and current account deficits are the Mundell-Fleming Model and the Ricardian Equivalence Hypothesis (REH). The traditional Keynesians use the Mundell-Fleming model to explain the twin deficit relationship by arguing that when budget deficit increases, the current account balance will deteriorate as the increases in the budget deficits will lead to increase real exchange rate, domestic interest rates and leads capital inflows and will deteriorate budget deficit. Some group of researchers used the Ricardian Equivalence Hypothesis (REH) to argue that no relationship exists between the two deficits as budget deficits results mainly from tax cuts which tend to reduce public revenue and public savings. They suggest that individuals will recognize these tax cuts as incurring future tax liabilities and thus will increase savings rather than consumption and will not have any effect on the current account balance. In examining the causal link between the two deficits for India, the study carry out the Augmented Dickey Fuller unit root test (ADF) and all the variables were found to be stationary after first differencing at 1 percent level of significance. Then applying the Johansen co-integration method, the study followed the max statistics and maximum Eigen value which stated that there exists at most one co-integrating equation in the model, signifying the existence of a long run relationship between the twin deficits as argued by the conventional twin deficit hypothesis. To identify the direction of causality between the two deficits multivariate Granger causality test was employed. To estimate the short run causality among the variables Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) was employed between the twin deficits and their interacting variables (such as inflation, interest rate and exchange rate) for the period (1990 to 2013). To predict the movements and behavior of two deficit impulse resp onse function was used to traces the impact of one standard deviation shock to one innovation on its current and future value of endogenous variables. The Granger causality test showed a uni-directional causality flowing from the current account deficits to the budget deficits in India between 1990 and 2013. The result of the Wald Test showed that the causality between budget deficit and current account does not exist, on the other hand it has been proved it is the current account deficit which leads the budget account deficit for the India economy. What is the reason it moves from cad to bd write 5.2 Recommendations. From the findings of the study, the following recommendations are given: 1) If government intends to reduce its â€Å"twin deficit† dilemma, it must begin by reducing its current account deficits and this can be achieved by reducing imports, increasing exports or a combination of both measures. 2) Also, since the findings of this study showed evidence of reverse causation from current account deficits to budget deficits, adjustments in fiscal balance can only be achieved through the implementation of strong external policies. 3) It is important for government to equally diversify the sources of national income since the economic transformation will result to minimal fluctuations in the fiscal balance of the Indian economy, thus resolving the â€Å"twin deficits† dilemma. 4) The study found that of all the interacting variables, in which interest rate and exchange rate Granger causes current account deficits. This implies that changes in the interest rate of the Indian economy will impact significantly in the current account balance. So the Central Bank of India must endeavour to consciously monitor the inflation and interest rate in the economy. 5) In reducing the current account deficit, increase in domestic savings is required which in turn requires the development of a strong financial sector. Write more 5.3 Conclusions. The study using modern econometric methods for estimation which showed that the twin deficits hypothesis was valid for the Indian economy as the result from the co-integration test showed the existence of long run equilibrium relationship between the budget deficit and the current account deficit. Also, the study found strong support for reverse causation also known as â€Å"current account targeting† for India. This implies that even the Mundell-Fleming model was valid for India the direction of causality was not from budget deficit to current account deficit but rather from current account deficit to budget deficit. It is evident from the results of the study that the direction of causation is from trade deficit to budget deficit therefore if there is trade deficit then it can certainly cause serious problem for the fiscal policy as well. That is why to avoid such problematic situation prudent steps should be taken to reduce trade deficit by coordination of fiscal and moneta ry policies with trade policy. Higher interest rate and higher inflation reduce competitiveness of our export and consequently deteriorate our trade balances and creates new problem for economy. The economic implication of this phenomenon is very important for the Indian economy. The reverse causality that was found to exist for India implies that if the Indian government intends to reduce the â€Å"twin deficit† phenomenon in India, it must begin by reducing the current account deficits. In other words, policies showed should be geared towards controlling the deficit in the current account most especially by diversifying the export base of the economy by promoting.

crown molding Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Walls can be protected and enhanced quite simply without the mess of paint, wallpaper, and tile, ect. Applying Moulding to ones walls today is very easy and comes in large variety of styles and materials. It also adds architectural interest and a finished look to the room, which conveniently hides settling cracks and nails. When customize with a treatment it will fit any decor. Types of moulding:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Architectural molding a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Made of polystyrene or polyurethane b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With large profiles that mimic the look of built-up moulding c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Will not warp, rot or split d.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Low maintenance material that saws and works just like wood e.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lighter than hardwood for easier handling  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Veneer hardwood moulding a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Made by wrapping finger jointed pine moulding with a veneer of real oak, cherry or maple b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The veneer is wrapped all the way around to the back completely obscuring the pine base once installed c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The elegance of hardwood moulding at a significant savings  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prefinished moulding a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Made from polystyrene b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lower cost than wood moulding c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Comes ready to install ...

The Death Penalty Is Archaic and Immoral Essay -- Against Capital Punis

The death penalty is simply a modernized version of the Holy Bible’s â€Å"an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot†. Some argue that death is a necessary retribution for murderous cases - but is it effective morally? Revenge only glorifies violence, which is most definitely not the message the world strives to display. The death penalty is a negative form of punishment and insinuates a harsh reflection of society economically, politically, and socially. More than two thirds of the world’s countries formally oppose the death penalty, yet only fifteen out of the fifty United States also object against the decree. What does this say about America? The United States represents freedom yet braces an extremely unjust law that sharply curtails the lives of innocent people. From 1972 to 1976 the death penalty was deemed â€Å"cruel and unusual punishment† under the eighth Amendment. Though technology has allowed for a less painful death, what makes the action of killing someone today any different from killing someone in 1972? We simply do not have the ...

Migration into the United States Essay

Migration is synonymous with human movement from one place to another in search for better living conditions. Migration into the United States is not a new concept as the country owes its historical origin to individuals migrating to America from other parts of the world driven by various reasons. Some came searching for land to be used in agricultural production, others came in search for education and employment opportunities, others come in search for freedom, whereas others came running away from adversaries within their countries of origin. These are just but a few of the reasons leading to high rates of immigration to the United States. Being a historical concept, immigration issues have remained part of the unique forces that continue to shape the United States and this trend is far from over. This paper shall in brief, examine the concept of immigration in the United States and evaluate the current trends in regard to the issue. Immigration, a historical Concept: Migration in the United States can be traced back in the 16th century when immigrants from European countries including Britain, France, Netherlands, and Germany came to the Americas. These immigrants were generally referred to as ‘settlers’ looking for farm land to boost the fairly impoverished status. These were the individuals who were unable to cope up with the demands of their modernized economies. During this time, a substantial number of individuals came to the United States as indentured servants (Huspek, p 161). Such individuals could then enter into contracts with their employers in order to gain entry into the â€Å"new world†. The indentured servants had to endure spells of hardships and later given a piece of land which allowed them to work as free yeoman farmers (Huspek, p 163). The immigration trends changed during the 19th century when there was massive movement of people to the United States. Immigration to the United States has continued to increase as time goes by and the government estimates that there are millions of individuals who come to the United States each year. Of these millions, some usually enter the United States as illegal immigrants whereas others follow the legal procedural requirements (Bracey, p 116). Legal immigrants: Legal immigrants are defined in law as those individuals who gain admission to permanently reside in the United States in line with the legal requirements. They are often referred to as ‘green-card holders’. According to the Department of Homeland Security Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS), these are â€Å"aliens who are granted lawful permanent residence (LPR), aliens admitted for lawful permanent residence, immigrants admitted, and admissions† (Batalova, para 6). According to the law, there are three categories of legal immigrants which include family reunion, employment sponsorship, and humanitarian based as the case of refugees and asylum seekers. One can attain the United States citizenship in two ways which includes arriving as new legal permanent residents or by adjusting the previous status upon gaining entrance to the US so as to become a permanent resident. During the year 2008, there were more than 1. 1 million immigrants being admitted to the US. Legal immigrants can also gain access to the US through the green card lottery established by the Immigration Act of 1990 allowing for immigrant entry from those nations with poor rates of immigration to the US (Batalova, para 9). The graph below reflects the number of immigrants that have been coming to the US from the year 1986 to 2008: Immigrants Admitted to the United States (in thousands): Total and by Type, 1986 to 2008 Source: Jeanne Batalova Illegal Immigrants: These are defined as the alien population which is not part of the legal residents of the United States. These are individuals who enter the United States without being inspected or they were temporarily admitted but their period of stay has since expired. The United States is home for an estimated eleven million illegal immigrants which has caused a major concern to the political class and the public policy analysts (LeMay, p 1). There has been a dramatic rise in the number of illegal immigration into the US since the 70s and this has been attributed to the termination of the Bracero Policy in mid 60s. The Bracero Policy was referred to as the guest-worker program that allowed the American companies to employ Mexicans temporarily for nine months every year in order to address the labor shortages during the 1940s. This program ended in 1964 to pave way to the Immigration Act of 1965 (LeMay, p 4). This program set forth the beginning of a trend that has been persistent for years as much of the illegal immigrants are from Mexico or rather uses the Mexican border with the US to gain entry to the United States (Bracey, p 118). Conclusion: Migration is a phenomenon that shall continue to impact on human population everywhere in the world. Though migration might be disastrous to the economy especially if left uncontrolled, it is inhumane to lock out people who would want to exploit their potential elsewhere in a legally defined manner. Every year starting from the 16th century to the present, many individuals have continued to find their way into the United States as immigrants. These individuals comes with a different culture that later becomes assimilated to American way of life creating the diversity that is the major strength of the United States. Immigration is therefore a plausible phenomenon in the United States that is supposed to be guided and encouraged by law as it contributes to making America what it is today. Legal immigration is a welcome move that is destined to continue enriching the American culture making it unique on the international arena. Work Cited: Batalova, Jeanne. Spotlight on Legal Immigration to the United States. 2009. Retrieved on 11th May 2010 from; http://www. migrationinformation. org/Feature/display. cfm? id=730. Bracey, Gerald, W. The Research Impact of Immigration. Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 80. 1999. pp 115-125. Huspek, Michael. Production of State, Capital, and Citizenry: The Case of Operation Gatekeeper. Social Justice, Vol. 28. 2001. pp 160-165 LeMay, Michael, C. Illegal immigration: a reference handbook. 2007. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO.