Saturday, December 21, 2019

Sidneys The Defence of Poesy and Television Commercials...

Sidneys The Defence of Poesy and Television Commercials I know that something major has changed in the world of television when my sons refuse requests to turn the set off with the comment, Just let me finish watching this commercial. I have always thought that commercials were something to endure until the real program came back on. Apparently some of them have now become the form of entertainment par excellence of the medium. What do TV commercials have to do with Sidneys The Defence of Poesy? More than one might think. Faced with the Puritans attack against poetry who saw it as a secondary form of knowledge, called it the mother of lies and believed that it fed the fires of passion, Sidney responds with a practical argument:†¦show more content†¦Well, I am exaggerating a bit, but certainly the arts were not in the same league as farming and preaching. When my father-in-law evaluated a story or a film, he wanted to know whether it was true or not. Fiction lowered it to an inferior level of truth. Why the Mennonite mistrust of the arts? I believe that it can be traced to our traditional belief in conformity to the community and non-conformity to the world. The strong emphasis on conformity put certain restraints on the imagination; remaining non-conformed to the world meant that one could not emulate or profit from non-Mennonite artists. So unless the arts were used directly to support our faith and the values of the community (such as congregational music, quilting, preaching, etc.)., they tended to be seen as frivolous or downright dangerous. One should not ridicule that argument; if the arts truly have the power to move us and if the best come from the outside world, it is only logical that the Amish-Mennonite culture would take steps to protect itself. So when Sidney tries to change the mind of his Puritan critics, his strongest argument is based upon the assumption that good poetry will cause people to act more virtuously. Puritans and Mennonites would both appreciate that approach. If one believes that good literature results in

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Role of Training and Development

Question: Discuss about the Role of Training and Development. Answer: Introduction Agarwal et al. (2016) depict that in order to attain more profitability; every business has to take initiatives to improve their business operations through different aspects. The taxi industry is a new business strategy that provides vehicle facility that takes people from their location to their desired detonation. However, according to the survey it has been found that this disruption formulates three challenges- displacement of legacy, embracing of disruption with open-minded and lack of proper knowledge to overcome this disruption (Singapore Business Review, 2017). All these aspects result in poor performance of the organization and less customer base which on the other hand affects the profitability of the organization. These disruptions in the taxi service can be overcome by giving training to the working personnel of the employee (Channel NewsAsia, 2017). Ho et al. (2017) portray that internal training to the employees can customize the learning to fit business needs and help s in omitting any unnecessary jobs. Moreover, Agarwal et al. (2016) also affirm that employee training enhances the morale of the employee and makes them aware of their current market trends and customers demands. The prime objective of this assessment is to evaluate the disruption adversities of Comfort Transportation Pte Ltd.which can be overcome by providing effective training to their employees along with the outcome of the training. Moreover, the training methods will also be illustrated along with their validity and appropriateness. Training needs analysis and achievement of the business goals Kuruzm and Anafarta (2014) stated that for obtaining correct training needs in working personnel and targeting correct competencies, it is important to formulate a training program. This process is accomplished through a proper design of training need analysis so that training needs of the employee can be clarified. The training process that is considered in this case has eight steps: In this step, the managing authorities of Comfort Transportation Pte Ltd. have to clarify the goals of training and expected business outcomes. The desired business goals are to obtain customer service satisfaction and improve employees morale so that they can serve their best. In this case, it can be noted that the employee got frustrated and refused to provide a ride to the people (Singapore Business Review, 2017). Moreover, they also misbehave with the customer and it results in poor customer services. Thus, it is important to provide training to their employees regarding the behavioral issues and the organizations objectives. Third Step- Identification of the trainable competencies In this aspect, the organization has to evaluate the critical competencies of the employees, whether they had some skills or need training to enhance their job competencies (Ho et al., 2017). Thus, the taxi drivers should learn how to behave good and ethically with their customers. Agarwal et al. (2016) define that in this step, the organizations have to identify where the gap between their performance and the current market demands is present. The human resource of the Comfort Transportation Pte Ltd. can take regular surveys or interviews from their employee to know whether they are aware of the recent trends in their business. On negative outcome, proper training regarding the new business requirement should be provided to the employees. Shrestha (2016) stated that after the survey it could be easily assessed how many people need training in order to obtain desired organizational objectives. After assessing that the major problem occurred for commuter safety, legal and regulatory battles among drivers and the behavioral issues among the taxi drivers. Thus, these objectives should be considered for enhancing the taxi services better so that customer base can be enhanced. Sixth Step- Formulation of the training programs In this step, the appropriate training programs are formulated so that best outcome can be obtained (Hauch et al., 2016). Comfort Transportation Pte Ltd. can provide training to their employee through- mentoring and coaching, on the job training (OJT) and e-learning procedures. However, it should be confirmed by the organization that every candidate qualified for training must have a driving license. The mentors offer training to the drivers regarding the complete workplace orientation/induction procedures, health and safety procedures, instruction and demonstration of driving skills along with the knowledge of safe driving behaviors and application of the safe car driving behaviors. Ziegler (2014) moreover explain that this type of training helps the driver to understand all the theoretical knowledge regarding the taxi services and current market demands. In this phase, drivers are mentored in practical so that it can be used whether they are performing effectively or not (De Grip Sauermann, 2013). The concerned organization can provide on the job training for learning behavioral skills, safety guidance for driving and real-time utilization of the technical knowledge like navigating customers through their smart phones or to book the ride order instantly. In this session, Comfort Transportation Pte Ltd. can show different safety videos and message from driving experts or experiences taxi service employees so that they can make these drivers more knowledge regarding the recent and updated trends of the customers. Seventh Step- Planning for the resource for resource planning Hauch et al. (2016) portray that every organization have to invest some financial resources for organizing a training program for their employees, which is described below: Resources for training Required time / Cost Outcome Training time 1 months Employees will be competent enough to obtain the organizational objectives. Content development time (for mentoring and coaching) 2 Weeks Employees will be aware of theoretical knowledge regarding the taxi services and current market demands. Accommodation $400 All the employees can be included in the training programs Experts and coaches $500 (Fees) All the employee will be able to take Regulation Guidebook copies $250 A copy of the guidebook to all the employee that can make them more knowledgeable regarding the safety legislations Table 1: Training resources (Source: Created by Author) Eight Step- Evaluation of the training progress In this case, the performance of the trainee is evaluated and regular feed should be provided to them so that they can improve their performance as per as the desired training goals. Ziegler (2014) moreover depicts that feedback plays a crucial role not only for the improvement in the performance but it also makes the employee feel that the organization is giving value to them. Conclusion Thus, it is found that Comfort Transportation Pte Ltd. is facing technical problem in their car booking system and the behavioral issues of the drivers. It is hence suggested to provide them training for improving their behavioral aspect and make them learn regarding the utilization of the new technical advances so that they can perform their business performance more efficiently. Reference List Agarwal, S., Cheng, S. F., Keppo, J., Sato, R. (2016). Learning by Driving: Evidence from Taxi Driver Wages in Singapore. Channel NewsAsia. (2017). New entrants turn the taxi industry on its head. Retrieved 21 March 2017, from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/new-entrants-turn-the/2214680.html De Grip, A., Sauermann, J. (2013). The effect of training on productivity: The transfer of on-the-job training from the perspective of economics.Educational Research Review,8, 28-36. Hauch, V., Sporer, S. L., Michael, S. W., Meissner, C. A. (2016). Does training improve the detection of deception? A meta-analysis.Communication Research,43(3), 283-343. Ho, T. H., Chong, J. K., Xia, X. (2017). Yellow taxis have fewer accidents than blue taxis because yellow is more visible than blue.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201612551. Kuruzm, A., Anafarta, N. (2014). The role and importance of training in total quality management: the case of Turkish automotive suppliers. Shrestha, R. B. (2016). Reflecting Rapid Market Appraisal: A Practical Tool for Training Needs Analysis.Journal of Training and Development,2, 50-56. Singapore Business Review. (2017). Disruption defines three challenges for Singapore. Retrieved 21 March 2017, from https://sbr.com.sg/economy/commentary/disruption-defines-three-challenges-singapore Ziegler, M., Bensch, D., Maa, U., Schult, V., Vogel, M., Bhner, M. (2014). Big Five facets as predictor of job training performance: The role of specific job demands.Learning and Individual Differences,29, 1-7.