Blog Image Context How To Choose Relevant Blog Images

Blog Image Context How To Choose Relevant Blog Images It was mid-autumn, and the air was getting colder. I was walking with a friend down the street, heading to that evening’s symphony performance. As we passed by the county jail on the opposite side of the street, I stopped. I could not believe my eyes. â€Å"Look at that!† I said to my friend. I pointed to the south entrance of the jail building. Now I know that it is commonplace to see photographers with their clients out and about, shooting photos in alleys, the middle of the street, parks, and especially our state capitol grounds library which has soaring two-story Ionic columns and is about the only place around here that you can get that kind of architectural background. But I admit I was surprised to see a photographer out shooting a very-pregnant woman in a tube top on the steps of the county jail. â€Å"What are they doing?† my friend asked. â€Å"I imagine she is having some pregnancy photos taken. You know, the ones that show a baby bump.† â€Å"But why in front of the jail?† â€Å"I assume they want the Art Deco architecture in the background,† I said, hoping it wasn’t because the baby’s father was inside the jail or that she was establishing some horrific self-fulfilling prophecy of where her child would end up. â€Å"I’m not sure the subtlety of the Art Deco elements is really worth it if you have to use the jail as the background.† Our discussion continued as we walked to the concert, ranging from how cold it would be to wear a tube top on that chilly evening to the proclivity for Art Deco to pop up in North Dakota architecture. But I’ve thought about that incident a lot since then, weighing the photographer’s decision to go for an interesting background for her photo and choosing to ignore the context that background provided. Not everyone would know the photo was in front of the jail, but many would. Every image carries, and is in need of, context. This is important when it comes to choosing powerful images for your blog posts. Every Image Needs Context Benign images- stock photos at their worst- carry very little context beyond that of you grabbing a photo for your blog post because you know it’s a best practice to have one. The problem is that even that seemingly innocuous context can work against your great blog post, suggesting that the copy that goes along with this plain vanilla image is just as unexciting. Every image needs context and has its own context, and all of this can work for or against your blog post and the likelihood that someone will read it. 1. A picture is worth a 1,000 words. Any words. A picture is worth a thousand words. But which thousand? On its own, a photo assumes the context the viewer is most comfortable with. Rare is the image that can’t be interpreted differently depending on what the viewer brings to it. One viewer sees complexity while standing before a Pollock painting, and another sees the handiwork of a kindergartner gone mad. That same painting evokes different reactions, too, depending on whether it is hanging in an art gallery or on the wall of an elementary school. A few weeks after the jail photo shoot, I met a friend for coffee. Out of curiosity, I asked her what she would assume if she saw the county jail in the background of baby bump-type photo. â€Å"I’d assume the father of the baby was in jail.† â€Å"Really?† Her reaction surprised me, but maybe she was correct. My assumption had been that the Art Deco elements were the goal, but then again, my major was in art and that’s how I see everything. Pollock’s painting will always be hanging in a gallery for me. The context of your  images helps define the content in which they  appear.Consider your audience. Consider your blog. The thousand words that your image contributes to your post might not be the thousand you were aiming for if you don’t consider who is reading and the blog it is being read on. Tip: In this day and age where it seems as if everyone is looking to be offended, always review the images you select for your blog posts. While you can’t please everyone (and you don’t want to, because that leads to bland, flavorless content), get a set of fresh eyes on the imagery and ask them what they think when they see it with your blog post’s headline and after reading the blog. 2. The words you put with an image changes its impact. Moving beyond the thousand words that your image brings with it, you can include words with images to change its impact. This works best with flexible or peripheral images, those that are illustrating an abstract concept or scenario that could be used lots of ways. These are powerful images because they evoke reader curiosity (which we’ll talk about in a bit). However, they also have to be framed into proper context or confusion arises. For example, imagine an image of a child, head down at a school desk. What does that image mean? If your headline or caption reads: â€Å"Almost half of children don’t eat breakfast before school†... ...your interpretation of that image would be different than if that same text read: â€Å"How to blame your dog for eating your homework, and other productivity hacks†. The same image can mean very different things. The words you use with an image puts it into context so that you don’t have to wonder if the baby’s father was in jail or if the mother loved Art Deco architecture. Recommended Reading:  How To Design The Best Blog Graphics With Free Tools And Design Theory Admittedly, when searching for stock images, we only have keywords to go on, and it’s tough to find images outside of the typical realm of our search. A search on â€Å"productivity† will turn up boring images of computers, notepads, office scenes, and so on. You’ll miss out on those peripheral images that can mean different things in different settings unless you get really good at searching on abstract words for big ideas (which we’ll talk about in a bit). Tip: Use captions with images, and consider captions that do more than indicate where you got the image. Pose a question as a caption, one that the image hints at to answer. Or, use highlighted text or pull quotes in the body of your blog post that frame your images properly. People who are skimming content will see images, headings, and pull quotes. If they are all in contextual sync, the better for you. 3. Images pulled out of context take on new context. Several years ago, I was reading a story online about a man who had been arrested for abusing children after quite a manhunt. The story had only one photo, a small headshot of the reporter who wrote the story. It was the newspaper’s practice to include the headshot of the author. The headshot was a few paragraphs down, embedded in the text of the story, on the right. The problem was that there was no other photo for the story. As this story was shared on social media, the bold headline that told of a man who had committed a horrific crime against children was associated with an image of the reporter. By the next day, the headshot was pulled from the article, so this unfortunate realization must have occurred to the newspaper, too, but I’d already seen the article shared on social media with the grinning reporter next to the headline, insinuating he was the criminal. The first rule would be that you should always have a featured image for every blog post so that your headshot or a random ad doesn’t become the image on social media. But there’s more to it than that. A clever or innocuous image that relies on the body copy of a blog post may seem fine, but when it gets shared on social media, all that people may have to go by is the headline and the image. Is the right context still there? More than ever, headline clarity matters. But so does headline-image match. Look at your blog post’s featured image, the one that you (and others) will be seeing when it is shared on social media. Is the context all wrong? Is the message not what you expected? Tip: If need be, incorporate words into your graphic itself (using Canva.com perhaps) so that wherever the image travels, the context does, too. This is especially helpful if your blog post topic is controversial or evokes strong reactions. Choosing Powerful Images That Work It isn’t easy choosing an image to go with a blog post, matching image with message. Most of the time is devoted to the actual blog post, and it’s pretty common to toss an image in as an afterthought just before you publish. The image, however, is doing some serious work (such as helping your blog post get read on already image-saturated social networks), so you should give it serious consideration. Recommended Reading:  How To Make The Best Blog Graphics (For Non-Designers) I came up with a few ways to approach making a decision about images you will use with your blog posts. Whether you use all or some from this list is up to you. 1. Your image must stand out. Getting your image to stand out isn’t easy. Every social network is overrun with images. The methods you’ll use to get your image to stand out are, quite simply: Color Startling image Using humor. Humor is probably the easiest way to go when it comes to creating a startling image that stands out, but when everyone does it...no one does it well after a while. This is particularly the case with memes. I know that a lot of blog posts recommend using memes and other pop-culture images, but I suggest proceeding with caution in how you choose those types of images. We’ve all seen the Boromir â€Å"One does not simply†¦Ã¢â‚¬  meme to death, or the Dos Equis Most Interesting Man In The World meme. Neither are particularly funny at this point, and are almost completely ignorable. In other words, they are no longer a startling image because they became overused. Humor startles when it’s fresh and stinks when it’s stale. Shake up assumptions. Startling images are hard to come by, at this point, and completely subjective. However, you can use an image out of typical context and make a strong point for your blog post that is completely within your context. An example is an image I found for a post Garrett wrote several years ago. Despite the age of the post, that image still comes to mind even now. In his post, he introduced the concept of content marketing to readers, and discussed how it was different from traditional marketing forms. While looking for an image to illustrate the post, I considered the usual suspects: stock photos of computers, people, pens on notebooks, guy holding a loudspeaker- you know the kind of generic images I’m talking about. And then I found this: The color (or the lack thereof) is striking, but the image itself is also startling. And the image, in conjunction with the title (â€Å"What Is Content Marketing?†), is startling, too. It inspires curiosity that could get someone to read your blog post, because what would a post-apocalyptic dystopia have to do with content marketing? When I stumbled across the image in the stock photo gallery, I was immediately drawn to it, and it suddenly occurred to me that it perfectly illustrated the problem that content marketing solved. In the wasteland of marketing, there had to be a better solution. I captioned the image, â€Å"Traditional marketing has desensitized our audience and made them tune out our message. What now?† and used it to tap into the initial problem that filled the introductory paragraphs of the blog post (to which content marketing was the eventual solution, of course). Another example is this post, a blog post about capturing ideas. Avoiding the usual imagery of a lightbulb, post-it notes, or someone with question marks above their head, I went with goldfish in a bowl that had striking orange-blue (complementary/opposite) colors. An example of blog image context with an unusual, interesting visual. Tip: The best image is the one that makes you ask a different question about your blog post. Instead of merely illustrating the blog post’s obvious concepts or generic associations, try finding an image that illustrates an abstract concept in a surprising way. 2. Your image should illustrate the idea. Not every post will have a post-apocalyptic dystopian photo to go with it (nor should it), but you should always try to match your graphics up to the big idea in your post. What I mean is that your post is about something bigger than a computer keyboard or a jar of pens or whatever other generic stock photo image you so often see on blog posts. Boring imagery often illustrates objects that are related to the topic instead of the higher concepts. Sure, a computer is related to content marketing, but who cares? This is tricky, particularly if you are pressed for time and know that you need to have an image with every blog post so that it fares well on social media. It takes serious time to find or create images that perform this level of illustration. One of my favorite illustrations is the one Ashton did  for a blog post I wrote about creating content for fragmented audiences. When Ashton finished the illustration and sent it to me for review, I absolutely loved it. She illustrated the big idea perfectly, showing two forms of fragmentation (generational and device use) in one simple image. The image hit on concrete points in the post as well as showed, at a glance, the challenge a fragmented audience presented to content marketers. The post-apocalyptic dystopia image from #1 fits this criteria, too, by addressing the big idea behind the problem which requires the solution outlined in the blog post. Any image is better than none (mostly), but part of your editorial planning should be about deciphering the big idea in your post and finding or creating imagery that illustrates that instead of peripheral objects or actions that don’t mean anything. Tip: When you finish writing your blog post, sum it up in one sentence for yourself. Find the big idea, and then find an image to illustrate that specific idea instead of finding an image to illustrate your blog post in general. 3. Your image could evoke curiosity. As long as your image isn’t fighting the proper context (i.e. suggesting the opposite of what your blog post is about), it could function successfully even if it is vague (sort of like the examples in #1). Let’s take a look at an old blog post of mine from several years ago. The blog post is about how the people you follow on social media can actually change you and how you view and react to things. When I set about trying to find an image that would go with the post, I wanted to avoid social media logos, stock photo people, or those creepy white stock photo balloon stick figures. But this was a tough topic to find an image for. Should I find something that illustrated the concept of following? Of social media? Of change? These were abstract ideas, which are hard to find images for. I decided to focus on the idea of â€Å"view†, and I ended up using this image: It was visually strong with its graphic circles and bold red element, fulfilling #1. It’s a photo of camera filters, suggesting the idea of how the people we follow on social media filter our understanding and view. Now, in hindsight, I’d have gone back into the post to rework the copy a bit to highlight this concept, freely using the camera/lense/viewfinder/filter analogy so that it would make better sense to the reader. That would have made it work better. Tip: Write your post. And then, if you find a fantastic image that evokes curiosity, go back and edit your post so it fits. Sometimes the image can inspire the copy, and that’s perfectly fine. How Will You Explore Blog Image Context? In a nutshell, this post is about understanding how context can affect a reader’s interpretation of an image, and what you can do to frame that context. And then, it’s about playing around a bit with context, bending those rules as far as you can so that you choose blog post images that really get attention and get readers to read. Recommended Reading: We’ve written a lot of posts to help you with both choosing and creating images for your blog content. Are You Sure You’re Using Copyright Free Images For Your Blog? Should You Use Stock Or Free Images For Blog Posts? Color Psychology In Content Marketing: The Ultimate Color Guide

Definition and Examples of Elocution in English

Definition and Examples of Elocution in English Elocution is the art of effective public speaking, with particular attention to the clear, distinct, and socially acceptable pronunciation  of words. Adjective: elocutionary. In classical rhetoric, delivery (or actio) and style (or elocutio) were considered separate divisions of the traditional rhetorical process. See: rhetorical canons. Etymology:  From the Latin, utterance, expression Pronunciation:  e-leh-KYU-shen Also Known  As:  elocutio, style Examples and Observations The word elocution means something quite different to us from what it meant to the classical rhetorician. We associate the word with the act of speaking (hence, the elocution contest)... But for the classical rhetorician, elocutio meant style. ...All rhetorical considerations of style involved some discussion of choice of words, usually under such headings as correctness, purity..., simplicity, clearness, appropriateness, ornateness.Another subject of consideration was the composition or arrangement of words in phrases or clauses (or, to use the rhetorical term, periods). Involved here were discussions of correct syntax or collocation of words; patterns of sentences (e.g. parallelism, antithesis); proper use of conjunctions and other correlating devices both within the sentence and between sentences...A great deal of attention was paid, of course, to tropes and figures.(Edward P.J. Corbett and Robert J. Connors, Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. Oxford University. Press, 199 9)​ The Elocutionary MovementVarious factors contributed to heightened interest in the study of elocution in both the 18th and 19th centuries. Numerous scholars recognized that traditional students interested in the ministry or the bar were lacking effective speaking skills, and attempts were made to overcome these deficiencies. Beginning in England and continuing in the United States, elocution became the main focus of rhetoric during this time. . . .In studying elocution, students were primarily concerned with four things: bodily gestures, voice management, pronunciation, and vocal production (the actual formation of the sounds of speech). (Brenda Gabioud Brown, Elocution. Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition: Communication From Ancient Times to the Information Age, ed. by Theresa Enos. Taylor Francis, 1996)The Principal Parts of ElocutionElocution (elocutio) . . . is the proper exposition of the appropriate words (idonea verba) and thoughts (idoneae sententiae) suitable to the th ings invented and arranged (res inventae et dispositae).Its principal parts are elegance, dignity, and composition . . .. Elegance is sensed most frequently in words and thoughts; dignity in the brilliance of the figures of words and thoughts . . .; and composition in the joining of words, in the period, and in the rhythm. (Giambattista Vico, The Art of Rhetoric (Institutiones Oratoriae), 1711-1741, trans. G. A. Pinton and A. W. Shippee, 1996)The clear enunciation of separate words and their elements.The just expression of the sense of words in connected discourse.Appropriate gesture, comprehending under this head the attitude, motions, and aspect of countenance most suitable to lend animation and force to speech. The Requisites of a Good DeliveryElocution is the art of delivering written or spoken language in the way best calculated to express the sense, beauty, or force of the words employed by the speaker.The requisites of a good delivery are:(Alexander Kennedy Isbister, Outlines of Elocution and Correct Reading, 1870)Lord Chesterfield on Becoming a Fine SpeakerThe vulgar look upon a man, who is reckoned a fine speaker, as a phenomenon, a supernatural being, and endowed with some peculiar gift of Heaven; they stare at him, if he walks in the park, and cry, that is he. You will, I am sure, view him in a juster light, and nulla formidine [without apprehension]. You will consider him only as a man of good sense, who adorns common thoughts with the graces of elocution, and the elegance of style. The miracle will then cease; and you will be convinced, that with the same application, and attention to the same objects, you may most certainly equal, and perhaps surpass, this prodigy. (Philip Stanho pe, letter to his son, February 15, 1754) Teachers of ElocutionIf there is a word more repellent than all others to an actor, or to the descendant of actors, it is the word elocution. It is saying a good deal, but, probably, outside of patent medicines, there is no humbug so great as characterizes nine tenths of elocution teaching. Men and women utterly incapable of speaking one sentence naturally undertake to make public speakers. What is the result? Pulpit, bar, rostrum, and stage teem with speakers that mouth, orate, rant, chant, and intone, but are never natural. It is a grievous evil. That elocution can be taught I have no doubt, but I know that most teachers are to be shunned as you would shun the plague.(American journalist and actress Kate Field, quoted by Alfred Ayres in Acting and Actors, Elocution and Elocutionists: A Book About Theater Folk and Theater Art, 1903)

STROKE Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

STROKE - Assignment Example The effect of stroke on a person depends on the region of its occurrence in the brain and the extent of the damage. A stroke can occur to any person. In some affected individuals, there is total recovery while others may have some form of disability. However, a stroke can be prevented. The paper will discuss the signs and symptoms of a stroke. It will also demonstrate how stroke differ from transient ischemic attack (TIA). It will also include tests as well as a type of referrals or consults. There are various signs and symptoms of stroke. The first main symptom for the disease is numbness or weakness. Numbness is evident in the face, arm or leg and usually is felt on one side of the body (National Library of Medicine (NLM), 2015). The other symptom is confusion and challenges on speaking as well as lack of proper understanding of speech. There is also a problem in seeing in one or two eyes. The affected person may also experience challenges in walking, feels dizzy, and may demonstrate loss of balance or coordination (NLM, 2015). The individual may also experience a persistent headache with no identifiable cause. There is a difference between stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA). In TIA, blood flow to some areas o f the brain is only stopped for a short duration (National Stroke Association, 2014). As it the flow stops temporary, the symptoms may be like of those experienced in stroke. However, the symptoms last only for a day or less (National Stroke Association, 2014). The other difference is that TIA does not lead to any permanent damage in affected person (National Stroke Association, 2014). However, the signs should be a warning of an impending stroke. The initial workup of a patient with a possible stroke is a crucial process. It entails carrying out a physical assessment (NHS, 2014). The doctor will try the best to establish about the symptoms. Also, various tests will be done to help confirm the diagnosis as well as determine the

Thesis Research_How Chinese International Students deal with Research Paper

Thesis Research_How Chinese International Students deal with Acculturative Stress in their First Year of Studying in Canada - Research Paper Example The study also involved the collection of primary data from two online forums and mapping students in various places. The study shows that a majority of Chinese international students experience acculturative stress in the Canadian environment. The study also reveals that many of the students prefer to live, study and work in groups from which they get social support. The study further reveals that apart from relying on social support, the students maintain positive thoughts and engage in a variety of activities to overcome acculturative stress. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that Chinese international students engage in various constructive activities, maintain positive thought and seek social support to as a way of dealing with culture shock and acculturative stress. A Study on How Chinese International Students Deal with Acculturative Stress in Their First Year of Study in Canada Ever since the late 70s, the government of China implemented a policy that aimed at facilitating students’ learning of advanced western technology by studying in western universities and colleges. Today, statistics indicate that China is the biggest exporter of students in the world according to Gu (2013). ... The general trend toward the preference to study abroad among Chinese students is driven by the belief that education outside the boarders of China is more systematic and comprehensive, and that the experience is better than they otherwise would get in China. Other students are motivated by the fact that they do not have to sit for and pass university entry exams when they select to pursue education in foreign educational institutions (Anonymous, 2013). One of the main motivations that Chinese students cite for preferring to study abroad is the experience of other cultures. While this is the case, the students are often subject to culture shock and acculturation challenges within their first few months or years of their introduction to the new culture. Having left behind their friends, family, and homeland, many of these international students face numerous challenges and difficulties in their new environments. Like other immigrants, Chinese students studying in foreign countries nor mally experience acculturative stress and its effects as they struggle to adapt to the new culture and environment. Several studies have been conducted with respect to acculturation and culture shock in different parts of the world. Most of the studies that have been conducted regarding acculturative stress focus on immigrants to the U.S. from different parts of the world. While this is the case, no study has been conducted on how Chinese international students deal with acculturative stress in their first year of study in Canada. This study seeks to fill this knowledge gap. My objectives are listed as below: 1. To establish how Chinese international students in Canada suffer from acculturative stress in their first year study 2. To explore the different

Liberalism, Civic Reformism and Democracy Essay -- Argumentative Argum

Liberalism, Civic Reformism and Democracy This paper argues that liberalism provides democracy with the experience of civic reformism. Without it, democracy loses any tie-argumentative or practical-to a coherent design of public policy endeavoring to provide the resources for the realization of democratic citizenship. The case for liberalism rests on an argumentative reconstruction of the function it performs before the rise of a world economic order and, more specifically, in the creation of the welfare state after the Second World War. Accordingly, liberalism defines a reformist political program: it is an emancipatory political project by virtue of its struggle for an egalitarian and universalist extension of citizenship rights. This is but a formulation of the modern idea of citizenship, conceived of as a universalizable contract of rights. At the same time, liberalism embraces a socioeconomic emancipatory project that endeavors to provide the conditions, within the institutional framework of modern societies, for the ac complishment of citizenship rights. The origins of liberalism in the seventeenth century tell the story of the struggle for recognition of religious tolerance. This early form of pluralism provided the antecedent for the constitutional recognition of civil rights, interpreted in terms of universal adscription. A further step of constitution-building in liberal polities was taken when the universal principles of equality and liberty assumed the status of fundamental rights. That happened under the form of a constitutional program aimed at the improvement of the civil condition. Liberalism as a revolution of rights not only meant the conquest of civil rights by society, but also their extension by constitut... ... Studies, 1, pp. 73-86. Rawls, J. 1993: Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press. Rosales, J. M. and J. Rubio-carracedo 1997: "To Govern Pluralism: towards a Concept of Complex Citizenship", in W. Krawietz, E. Pattaro and A. Erh-Soon Tay, eds., Rule of Law. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. Sen, A. 1992: Inequality Reexamined. Oxford: Clarendon. Turner, B. S. 1986: Citizenship and Capitalism. London: Allen & Unwin. ____ 1997: "Citizenship Studies: a General Theory", Citizenship Studies, 1, pp. 5-18. Van steenbergen, Bart 1994: "Global Modelling in the 1990s. A Critical Evaluation of a New Wave", Futures, 26, pp. 44-56. Vogel, U. 1991: "Is Citizenship Gender-Specific?", in U. Vogel and M. Moran, eds., The Frontiers of Citizenship. Houndmills and London: Macmillan, pp. 58-85. Walzer, M. 1983: Spheres of Justice. New York: Basic Books.

Employee Relations Management

Employee Relations is a process of managing diversity, flexibility and change, which involves maintaining employer-employee relationships that contribute to satisfactory productivity, motivation, and morale. Employee Relations is concerned with preventing and resolving problems involving individuals, which arise out of or affect work situations.Employee Relations cover all areas such as employer & employee relationship, communication, employee participation and involvement, developments in collective bargaining, equal opportunities, grievances handling, disciplinary management, health and safety, industrial relations and employment protection law, organizational change and people, personnel and recruitment and quality of working life etc. Today employers should now be undertaking an in-depth review of their approach to employment relations.Organisations which out-perform their competitors do so because they apply a coherent set of people management and development practices appropria te to their needs. Successful organisations are increasingly those which have a constructive relationship with employees and a management approach which enables them to develop and draw on the full potential of their people. Considerable improvements have been made to the practice of employment relations in recent years. People are working hard and enjoy going to work. They want to learn.However, while the damaging effects of poor relations have been radically reduced, many organisations are failing to secure the positive benefits that are available from improving them. Economic pressures dictate that organisations will change more frequently than in the past. Technology and the demand for customised services are shifting managerial focus towards knowledge management and people as their key differentiators. This will require substantial changes in the understanding and behaviour of the people who work in organisations.Employees will need to extend their skills and use them more effe ctively. But change initiatives often fail to deliver the results expected of them, largely because people issues have been neglected or not fully thought through. The test of employment relationships in the future will be their effect on managing change and eliciting employees’ willing contribution. 2. EVOLUTION OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS From the beginning of organized work activity when first one person directed the work of others, the subject of industrial relationsUntil the end of the 1970s, the acceptance of adversarial industrial relations, and therefore the need to resolve conflict, as being the natural order led both management and unions to from develop collective bargaining to a fine art. At the end of the 1970s, the employee relations entered into a new era. Disorderly collective bargaining played its part in bringing down the elected government and marked the start of a new era during which much of the legislation underpinning trade union influence was removed and rep laced by new legislation limiting the scope for damaging industrial action.Instead, a growing coalition of interests aimed at the maintenance of industrial peace and price stability in the context of substantial inward investment resulted in their making social partnership work at the national level. Similarly, in other major countries in Europe, social partnership at national level did not break down in the way in which it did in the UK. There is no doubt that attitudes to work and relationships at work have changed since the year 1970s.The driving force for much change has been economic and the agenda has been framed by managers. Working patterns and practices have become more flexible and managers are using people more effectively. The term ‘Employee Relations’ was conceived as a replacement for the term ‘Industrial Relations’. Industrial relations is generally understood to refer the relationship between employers and employees collectively. The decline of industrial relations can be measured on number of different dimensions.From peak of some 12 million plus union memberships has fallen to around 7 million today. Between 1980 and 2000, the coverage of collective agreements contracted from over three-quarters to under a third of employed workforce. At the same time, the range of issues over which bargaining took place decreased massively. The content of collective bargaining has been reflected in a dramatic reduction in industrial actions since 1980. 3. IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON EMPLOYEE RELATIONSWhile there is widespread agreement that changes in the international economy associated with globalisation have important consequences for employment relations, there are fewer consensuses about their nature and significance. One view is that globalization has created pressures for convergence between different countries in regard to employment relations. Another is that national level institutions play a mediating role in maintaining c ross-national differences, leading to divergence.A third school rejects the convergence/divergence dichotomy and argues that complex interactions between global and national (or local) forces shape employment relations outcomes. 4. CHALLENGES IN 21ST CENTURY Customers have become more demanding. They want increasingly high quality service and they want to know that the latest technology at the lowest price is available. The achievement of business goals and financial returns is increasingly depend on delivery by organizations employees, where the employee relations play major role.The communication is the glue that makes policies real when they are ineffective. Two-way communication in employee relations is highly necessary in today’s situations. Getting communication right involves both professionalism and persistence. The qualities required include focusing on positive behaviours and outcomes, taking a positive problem solving approach, anticipating problems, recommending s olutions and being able to offer sound advice to senior management on implementations. The ability to manage conflict remains a key issue for many organizations.Mediations as a method or technique of resolving work place issues represents an important shift from the traditional industrial relations framework, with its emphasis on formal discipline and grievance procedures, towards more of a ‘win-win’ approach consisted with the philosophy of human resources management. Commitment and employee engagement are crucial to performance but they are not consistently high enough in HR- priorities. The employee information and consultation are helpful in raising the profile of employee voice and involvement.More effort need to be put into training and supporting employees to achieve their job objectives. As examples, team-working and change management as the basis off establishing and maintaining motivation and commitment, is among one of critical role of employee relations mana gers these days. 5. CONCLUSION Employee relation is maintaining employee – employer relationship that contributing to satisfactory productivity, motivating employees and ensuring healthy employee morale.The most successful organisations are those which have constructive relationships with employees and a management approach which enables them to develop and draw on the full potential of their people. Considerable improvements have been made to the practice of employment relations in recent years. People are working hard and enjoy going to work. They want to learn. However, while the damaging effects of poor relations have been radically reduced, many organisations are failing to secure the positive benefits that are available from improving them.

Cross-Cultural Film Analysis - Gattaca - 1230 Words

‘GATTACA’ Film Summary Vincent is destined to be a second class citizen, conceived naturally, rather than in a laboratory. He is born into a world which discriminates against genetics, rather than religion, race or gender. In order to gain access into the Gattaca Corporation and reach his dream of going to Titan he takes on the identity of Jerome Morrow, a person with ideal genes but crippled from an accident. He uses Jerome’s hair, blood, urine and skin to pass all tests and is set to reach his lifelong desire when the mission director is murdered. He inadvertently loses one of his own eyelashes at the scene and becomes the main suspect in the case. The killer is determined to be another of Gattaca’s directors who is initially†¦show more content†¦Vincent’s interview for entry into Gattaca entails solely a genetic test and not a physical or mental assessment. Manifestation of cultural differences: In the film we see the divergence of two very strong cultures. One belongs to the genetically gifted; and the other to the ‘degenerates’. The ways these cultures have divided themselves is explained well by Hofstede’s depiction of the ‘skins of an onion’ (Hofstede, 2005, p.6). The heroes in the film (the genetically gifted) are highly valued and show model behaviour to inferiors or naturally conceived people. Depicted as the more capable members of society the heroes display symbols which carry specific meaning such as formal hair styles and very professional, clean clothing. The heroes display rituals such as the day on the treadmill where they assert themselves superfluous to reaching a desired end as assessors are solely interested in genetic make-up rather than fitness. Contrary to Hofstede’s view that values are acquired early in our lives we see Vincent’s values change significantly in the film. These values are a strong determinant of culture and as Vincent takes on the identity of Jerome he moves into the hero status of society, or as Hofstede describes it, from abnormal to normal (Hofstede, 2005). His move from second class status to hero status is a good example of how culture reproduces itself. His role models become the members of the Gattaca Corporation and he sees an opportunity to fulfilShow MoreRelatedSources of Ethics20199 Words   |  81 PagesTABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0- JOHN STEINER AND GEORGE STEINER SIX PRIMARY SOURCES OF ETHICS: 6 1- Religion: 6 2- Genetic Inheritance: 8 3- Philosophical Systems: 8 4- Cultural Experience: 8 5- The Legal System: 9 6- Codes of Conduct: 9 2.0- EXPLANATION OF THE SOURCES OF ETHICS: 10 2.1- RELIGION: 10 Teaching business ethics 12 2.11- Impact Of Religiosity: 13 2.12- Ethics Of Islam: 14 Nature of Islamic Ethics 17 The Human-Environment Relationship: 20 The Sustainable