A Detailed Description of the Kipande House Essay

Hope, a word used all too commonly but not defined very clearly. When someone hopes for something, they wish for it, but they have some idea that their wish might happen. Many things have been accomplished because of hope, people resort to hope when they have nothing else to go to. People hope their mother’s gets better, people hope they get the Job, they hope for many things and do not even realize that they make these things happen. People are hope, they determine the outcome of their wishes most of the time, they Just have to go out and do something. There are any things that go along with the word hope, most people think of hope as a wish, but this is far away from the actual truth. People might say â€Å"l hope everything is fine† or â€Å"l hope I get this car†, but for these things to happen, a person needs to do something serious about it. In most cases the person who is hoping for something actually goes and does something to his situation. For example, I hope my brother gets an excellent GPA, so to help the situation I try and tell him at least once a day to work hard, also if he crosses any difficulties he can depend on me. In many ways such as that where I gave my prime example, it would be one of the ways in which I can influence what I hope would happen. Sometimes things may take a while or they may not even get a chance to have time pass by them, but I am actively trying to always influence the outcome, whether or not everything goes the way I want. A lot of people knew how to use hope in their favor. They had only one choice, and this choice was to take the path of hard work where hope was its fuel that makes it run. There is no one better to give an example for rather than Oprah Winfrey. In the long days when her mother was absent from the inner city apartment, young Oprah was molested by her male relatives. Her abuse lasted till she was 13 years old. She began her professional life at the age of 17. After hard work in the field of media and entertainment, Oprah Winfrey began a new show called â€Å"The Oprah Winfrey Show’; which has captured the hearts of millions in the North American continent and the entire world. The Oprah Winfrey Show had its special theme. This show helped in employing people and bringing out sensational stories to the viewers so that the eople could learn and gain pure morals from these stories which are real and happen in our daily life. Oprah’s persistent character made the regular citizens voices reach the governments brain so that the government could find a way to solve the citizen’s problems. Oprah also is a native in the field of public and worldwide services. She has contributed with all she had so that she could revive the concept of â€Å"hope† in the souls of those who really need it, and that was the secret of Oprah’s success. Oprah is a true example of hope in the era we are living in. The word hope paints a different picture in every persons mind. A lot of people think of angels and messengers but I think of people working hard and giving effort on something and then depending on the angels and gods will to fall on it. There are also many meanings people think of when the word hope is said like promise, trust, faith etc. People look for hope in times of despair, but in times of despair they also work hard to finish what they were hoping for. That is why the only meaning that best suits the word hope is effort or hard work. In the end we can finally reach to a point that hope â€Å"treasure† of hope. Hope is viewed as the battery for the spirit, but hope is not the hing that gives people this feeling, it is also the people around you and the community that you live in. The people are they who create the sense of â€Å"hope† by encouraging you to work hard and give effort in the task you have, or the project you are obliged to do, and even with doing your home work. Hope is also seen as a child because this child will grow up to do things to help others and help spread the right- of-hope, even if it was in a simple or a massive way. In my opinion, I see that hope is a Holy right that should be available at any time to who deserves it. We live in a world hat was created with laws and orders so that people could have their rights equally. Hope is the golden key that truly opens the gate for a better life. A Detailed Description of the Kipande House By Charity-Nyange Kipande house. It is a colonial architecture building that was built in the early 1900. It was designed by gurdit Singh and was the tallest building in Kenya before city hall was built in 1935. The building has a clock tower that is 65ft high and is a one storey affair. It is located on Kenyatta avenue opposite GPO, general post office building and currently ouses the Kenya commercial bank KCB as do other colonial style buildings on Kenyatta avenue. It is made of grey building rock with a beautiful hand dressed finish which allows it to have sharp defined edges. It has an arc above the main door and the two windows next to it while other windows are rectangular. The labour for this was provided by slaves in Kenya. Historically, this building as the name suggests was where Kenyans went to get their Identity cards. Culturally, the kipande played a very important role in the Kenyan man’s life and history. This building that still stands eminds us of our not so pleasant past and sheds light on the progress we have made as a people since independence. There’s no more slavery. For some, however, it reminds them ofa horrible past. In my opinion, the building is beautiful. In its form, I see a use of line that is magnificent. There are curves, arch’s around the door and windows and also as the clock tower begins. From its structure we can see shadows and highlights depending on where the light falls. The colour of the building, grey gives it a sense of age and antiquity. It is unique. Its edges are interesting. The in and ut placement of the bricks gives it a beautiful finish. My conclusion is that this building was built to last. It has stood for a century and does not wield a single crack. I recommend that architects today design buildings that can stand the test of time. Jommo Kenyatta statue. It is an intricate double life-size, 12ft seated statue of president Jommo Kenyatte in 1969 with every detailed aspect to a birthmark on the presidents face and his trademark peep toe sandals. It was sculpted by James Butler and unveiled in 1973 when the Kenya international conference centre was opened to mark 10 years of independence.

Performance Appraisal of Mahindra Finance

CONTENTS CHAPTER NO PAGE NO CHAPTER – 1 2-9 †¢Introduction †¢Need for the study †¢Objectives of study †¢Scope of study CHAPTER – 2 10-31 †¢Company Profile †¢Industry Profile CHAPTER – 3 32-66 †¢Research Methodology †¢Primary Data †¢Secondary Data †¢Review Literature Data Analysis & Interpretation CHPATER – 4 67-68 †¢Limitations Of study CHPATER – 5 69-73 †¢Findings and Suggestions †¢Conclusion CHAPTER – 6 74-77 †¢Questionner CHAPTER–7 78-79 †¢Bibliography CHAPTER- I INTRODUCTION NEED FOR THE STUDY OBJECTIVES OF STUDY SCOPR OF STUDY INTRODUCTIONPerformance Appraisal is the process of assessment systematically the performance and progress of an employee on the present job and his potential for higher level jobs in future. It consists of all formal procedures used in working organizations to evaluate personalities, contributions and potentials of employees. It is the process of analyzing, obtaining and recording information about the relative worth of an employee. According to Flippo performance appraisal is the systematic, periodic and impartial rating of an employees excellence in matters pertaining to his present job and his potential for a better job.Beach has defined performance appraisal as the systematic evaluation of individual with regard to his/her performance on the job and his potential for development, Heyel observes â€Å"It is a process of evaluating the performance and qualifications of the employees of the employer in terms of the requirements of the job for which he is employed. For the purpose of administration including placements, selections for promotions, providing financial rewards and other actions which require differential treatment among the members of a group are distinguished from action affecting all members equally.The performance appraisal is the evaluation of present performance and future capabilities of an employee or group of employees. It is regarded as a process of estimating or judging the value, excellence, qualities or status of some object, or person. Performance appraisal is the part of all the other staffing process, namely recruitment, selection and placement. Performance appraisal is essential to understand and improve employees performance through HRD. In fact performance appraisal is the basis for HRD. It is a good mechanism to control people.Employees want to promotions, salary increments, and good work conditions and they would like to be placed in prestigious positions and would like to be transferred to places of their choice and like jobs giving them maximum satisfaction and so on. Therefore, employees get what they want, they should give what their superiors want. And performance appraisal is one mechanism to make sure that people at every level do things the way their superiors want them to do. Thus the superiors at every level strive for better writing of th eir own performance by assessing the performance of their subordinates and thus controlling their behavior.The success of an organization will therefore depend on its ability to measure accurately the performance of its members and use it objectively to optimize them as a virtual resource. At the every outset, it may be pointed out that the performance appraisal is a continuous function and not merely an issue of formal reports at particular point of time. Organization needs to measure employee performance to determine whether acceptable standards of performance are being maintained.The six primary criteria on which the value of performance may be assessed are quality, timeliness, cost effectiveness, need for supervision and interpersonal impact. If appraisals indicate that employees are not performing at acceptable levels step can be taken to simplify jobs, trains and motivate workers, or dismiss them depending upon the reasons for poor performance. EVALUTION OF PERFORMANCE APPRAIS AL. Employees appraisal techniques are said to have been used for the first time. During the first world war, when, at the instant of Walter Dill Scott, the US Army adopted the ‘Man-to- Man' rating system for evaluating military personnel.During the 1920-30 period, rational wage structures for hourly paid workers were adopted in industrial units. Under this system, the policy of giving grade wages increment on the basis of merit was accepted. These early employee plans were called merit rating programs, which continued to be so called up to the mid-fifties. By then, most of these plans were of the rating scale type, where emphasis was given to factors, degree and points in the early professional & managerial personnel, Since then, as a result of experiments and a great professional and managerial personnel.Since then, as a result of experiments and a great deal of study, the philosophy of performance appraisal has undergone tremendous changes. Consequently, a change has also t aken place in the terminology used. Now, the older phrase merit rating is largely restricted to the rating of hourly paid employees, and it is used frequently in developing criteria for salary adjustment, promotions, transfer etc. the later phrase, personnel appraisal, places emphasis on the development of the individual as and widely used to evaluate technical, professional and managerial personnel.Prof. Beach has provided a useful chart, showing the changes in the terminology of employee appraisal which have taken place since 1920. Although the interest in the use of performance appraisal has increased over the last thirty years, the practice of formally evaluating employees has existed for centuries. The performance appraisal system has undergone a lot of changes over the years as shown below: 1900; Subjective appraisals. 1940:Increased psychometric sophistication. 1950:Management by objectives (MBO). 1960:BARS. 1970-90:Hybrid system & approach.The appraisal of individuals in an employment has been labeled and described by experts over the years in different ways. Common descriptions include performance appraisal, merit rating, behavioral assessment, employee evaluation, personnel review, progress report, staff assessment, service rating and fitness report. Some personnel authorities use such concept interchangeably, while interpret some of these appraisal phrases differently. However the term performance appraisal or evaluation is most widely used. NEED / IMPORTANCE OF STUDY Performance Appraisal is a formal exercise in which an organization makes an evaluation in a documented form of its employees, in terms of contributions made towards achieving organizational objectives and or their personal strengths and weakness, and in terms of attributes and behaviors demonstrated for meeting whatever objectives the organization may consider relevant. ?Appraisals are judgments, trades and performances of employees. Performance Appraisal is an effective instrument fo r helping, people grow and develop in organizational settings.It could as an effective mechanism of continuing education learning from one another. ?Provide information about the performance ranks. Decisions regarding salary fixation, confirmation, promotion, transfer and demotion are taken based on performance. ?Provide feedback information about the level of achievement & behavior of the subordinate. This information helps to review the performance of the subordinate, rectifying performance deficiencies and to set new standards of work ? Provide information which helps to counsel the subordinate. ?To prevent grievances and in disciplinary activities in organization. Provide information to diagnose deficiency in the employee regarding skill, knowledge, determine training and development needs and to prescribe the means for employee growth provides information for placement. OBJECTIVES OF STUDY: Performance appraisal aims at attaining different purposes, they are: ?To enable each em ployee to understand his role and become effective on the job. ?To intensify the development needs of each employee. ?To create and maintain a satisfactory level of performance. ?To contribute to the employee growth and development through training, self and management development programmes. To help the superiors to have a proper understanding about their subordinates. ?To guide the job changes with the help to continuous ranking. ?To facilitate fair and equitable compensation based on performance. ? To facilitate for testing and validating selection tests, interviews techniques through comparing their scores with performance appraisal ranks. ?To ensure the organizational effectiveness through correcting the employee for standard and improved performance and suggesting the change in employee change in behavior. ? To serve as mechanisms for importing communication between the superiors and subordinates. To help management in fixing employees according to their capacity, interest and aptitude and qualifications. ? To provide a valid data base for personal decisions concerning placements, pay, promotions, transfer and punishment. Main Objectives of Performance Appraisal From the organizational point of view, performance appraisal serves two sets of goals, 1. Evaluation goals. 2. Coaching and development goals. Evaluation goals ?Give feedback to subordinates so that they know where they stand. ?To develop valid data for pay an promotion decisions and to provide a means of communicating these decisions. To help the organization in making discharge and retention decisions and to provide a means of warning subordinates about satisfactory performance. SCOPE OF THE STUDY: The scope of the study encompasses managerial and non-managerial cadre employees of Mahindra & Mahindra finance ltd. To asses the performance appraisal system, to know the employees perception towards PAS. CHAPTER – 2 COMPANY PROFILE INDUSTRY PROFILE COMPANY PROFILE Mahindra Group Incorporated as Mahindra & Mahindra in 1945. the company was re-christened Mahindra &Mahindra in 1948. J. C Mahindra K.C. Mahindra Core purpose â€Å"Indians are second to none in the world. The Founders of our Nation and of our organization passionately believed this. We will prove this right by believing in ourselves and by making Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Known worldwide for the quality, durability and reliability of its products and services. † Anand Mahindra Keshub Mahindra Auspices of JIPM Japan. † Mahindra & Mahindra Tractors was awarded the Deming prize for excellence in quality Mahindra & Mahindra becomes the first Indian tractor company to achieve sales of 1 million tractors. Mahindra Champion† becomes India's highest selling large 3 wheeler within four years of launch. 2004 Mahindra & Mahindra and Renault set up a joint venture Mahindra & Mahindra announced the launch of Mahindra Australia Mahindra & Mahindra Joint Venture with China's Jingling Tractor Company. Mahi ndra Auto motive Steel Pvt Ltd (MASPL) a newly formed subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Acquired Chakan unit of Amforge Industries Ltd. 2005 Leaders in diverse business sector SectorLeaders in AutomotiveUtility Vehicle Farm EquipmentTractors Telecommunication & software Time Share Resorts & Technology ParksRural Finance Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited History: Mahindra Finance was incorporated on January 01,1991 with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Leading Manufacturer of utility vehicles and tractors in the country and Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd. Vision Statement: To be the number one Rural Finance Company and continue to retain leadership position for Mahindra products. Mahindra Finance will provide products and services tailored to the needs of M&M, its most favoured customer. In case of demand supply mismatch of funds, Mahindra finance Will Put all their resources to find a solution.Mahindra Finance may finance other products after catering to the need of M&M. Howev er, this would always constitute a small proportion of mahindra Finance's total business. Mahindra Finance will help M develop better products by providing first hand information received from the target market. Mahindra Finance Strengths The vision of Mahindra Finance is validated by its strength, which are ?Parentage of M Ltd. RBI classification as HP Company ?Excellent reputation for prompt repayment. ?Wide rural net work. ?Dealer shareholding and relationship of dealers with M ?ensure dealer commitment Well connected to M& M / Dealer network. Wide knowledge of rural financing Mahindra Finance Values: ?Good corporate Citizen ship ?Professionalism ?Customer First ?Quality Focus ?Dignity of the Individual. Milestone 1991Mahindra Finance Incorporated on 1st January Commenced Regular Operations Employees : 5 Disbursement: 6 Crores Disbursement: 37 Crores Employee: 15 Branches: 4 1994Disbursement: 757 Crores 1994-95Employee: 52579 Branches: 343 1999-00Significant Milestone in terms of total assets 2000-01Steep rise in business volume with total contracts of 76663. Celebrated their 10* Anniversary.Retail Financing Covered 80% of Indian Districts. Financing Non- M Vehicles. 2001-02MMFSL Network covered 180 branches (98% of total districts throughout the nation) 2004Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd is incorporated 2005Branches:256 Employee : 1812 Contracts : 336891 Department of Mahindra Finance: To ensure smooth & effective functioning of the organization, Mahindra Finance has been divided into various departments ? Operations ?Finance ?Marketing ?Legal ?IT ?HR ?Administrator Each department has its own norms. Let's see the Do's and Don't of each Department. ?General Do's Mark attendance on a daily basis oTake prior approval form your immediate supervisor for Leave, travel or any expenses oInform your Supervisor immediately in case you come across any case of misconduct relating to cash or assets o Trust and respect colleagues, customers, vendors and associates. Don 'ts oSalary information should not be shared or compared oDon't indulge in misappropriation of cash or assets, this will invite disciplinary action. o Do not use abusive language in public. ?Operation Do's oOnly Mahindra Finance employees should deal with customers/dealers for their payments and collections. Collect & Habituate Customers to pay â€Å"On or Before Due Date†. oDocuments must have Duly Stamped and signed agreement along with PDC's and security cheques. Don'ts oNo payment and / or collection should be carried out by any of the dealers/brokers/DSAs/ DmAs etc. ?Finance Do's oCustomer Centric (Internal as well as External): Adhere and observe compliance to Company policies. o Data Accuracy and updation. o Always meet / Best the deadlines. Don'ts oDo not Accept / relay on anything without proper documentation and authorization there by ensuring audit trail. Do not make any activity people oriented but try to make it process oriented with help of systems. oAvoid dupli cation of work. ?Marketing Do's oAlways keep your eyes open for any competitive marketing activities like new media campaigns. oKeep yourself updated with the latest happening s in the industry /function through continuous learning (like books etc). oMaintain strict confidentiality of the company's marketing plan. oAlways provide a structured and written brief to the advertising agency for all kinds of communication. Don'ts Never tamper with the corporate identity of the organization (like logos, symbols, font colors etc). o Don't execute any activity (eg: promotional campaign, product launch, etc. ) without the involvement and inputs from the local representatives of the field operation team. ?Legal Do's oBe proactive rather than reactive. oKeep the documentation immaculate. It's better to prepare than to repair. Don'ts oDon't ignore any correspondence, whether from the customer, guarantor, their lawyers, insurance company, statutory authorities or any court or forum. oRepossessed vehicles are not to be used by any officials IT Do's ?Utilize IT to the maximum of its potential and thereby reduce unnecessary paperwork. ?Save power and reduce wastage of consumables. Don'ts ?Don't use pirated software of nay nature while working with MMFSL. Mahindra Finance maintains a strict policy against Piracy. ?As a member of the IT department, you may have access to sensitive company information contained in he system database. The company trusts yo with this information. Don't violate company trust by prying through this information or disclosing the same. ?HR Do's oMaintain confidentiality of all information All employees of the organization are our internal customers. Treat them with respect & Provide necessary resources to help them perform better, o Reserve criticism for private discussions whereas rewards and recognition to be addressed in public Don'ts oDon't make biased decision – all employees should receive equal respect and opportunity o Do not make commit ments on behalf of management without prior permission. Organization structure A sound organization structure ensures a smooth progress path & achieving of milestones. Mahindra Insurance Broker Ltd (MIBL) ?MIBL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra Finance MIBL manages the Motor insurance for Mahindra Finance's retail customers ? MIBL is a direct insurance broker for Life and Non-life products, and operates in the Retail and Corporate lines of business Vision: To be come India's most admired insurance Intermediation Company Goal: To be among the top 5 direct insurance brokers of India by 2010 Work Culture & Classification Mahindra Finance's work culture is a framework of shared attitudes and beliefs. Some of the important aspects of this work culture are ?Open and transparent communication and feedback ?Internal and external customer focus Creating and upholding a learning environment ?Proactive orientation ?Creating result through synergy. INVESTMENT ADVISORY We at Mahindra Fina nce are all-encompassing of clients needs. So while we believe in making assets easily available, we also believe in catering to those who want to create wealth from these assets. Our Investment Advisory Services act as an avenue to help create and multiply wealth. Mutual Fund Distribution Recently we have received the necessary permission from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start the distribution of Mutual Fund products through our network.Hitherto we were only participating in the liability requirements of our customers but with a mutual fund distribution business, we can also participate in their asset allocation. When it comes to investing, everyone has unique needs based on their own objectives and risk profile. While many investment avenues such as fixed deposits, bonds etc, it is usually seen that equities typically outperform these investments, over a longer period of time. Hence we are of the opinion that, systematic investment in equity allows one to create substantial wea lth.However, investing in equity is not as simple as investing in bonds or bank deposits, because only proper allocation of portfolio gives maximum returns with moderate risk, and this requires expertise and time Our investment advisory services you invest your money in equity through different Mutual Fund Schemes. We ensure the best for our clients by identifying products best suited to individual needs continent except Antarctica. M&M one tractor manufacturing plant in China, three assembly plants in the United States and one at Brisbane, Australia.It has made strategic acquisitions across the globe including Stokes Forgings (UK), Jeco Holdig AG (Germany) and Schoneweiss & Co GmbH (Germany). Its global subsidiaries include Mahindra Europe Srl. based in Italy, Mahindra USA Inc. and Mahindra South Africa. M&M has entered into partnerships with international companies like Renault SA, France, and International Truck and Engine Corporation, USA. Forbes has ranked the Mahindra Group in its Top 200 list of the World's Most Reputable Companies and in the Top 10 list of Most Reputable Indian companies.Mahindra has recently been honored with the Bombay Chamber Good Corporate Citizen Award 2006-07. INVESTOR ZONE: At Mahindra Finance, we pride ourselves on having pioneered rural finance in India. We have grown with each passing year, met targets, exceeded expectations and in the process created wealth for our shareholders. Here we have a dedicated section of up-to-date information, from our financials to our events and presentations – easy access to information at the click of button. Much like most of our quick and simple processes at Mahindra Finance.PRODUCT PORTFOLIO: At Mahindra Finance we have a wide range of products and services, with something to suit everyone's needs. Right from finance for two wheelers, tractors. Farm equipment, cars and utility vehicles to commercial vehicles and construction equipment, we also have a group of experts providing invest ment advice, surveying available market products and choosing the most suitable to our customers' needs. GROUP STRUCTURE: We are a company with a strong foundation and a shining legacy, growing every day to create a legacy of our own.Our leading promoter Mahindra & Mahindra holds the majority of our Equity Shares and is also a leading tractor and UV manufacturer with over 60 years' experience in the Indian market. As a supplement to our business, in May 2004, we started an insurance broking business through our wholly owned subsidiary, Mahindra Insurance Brokers Limited. ABOUT MAHINDRA GROUP: The US $6 billion Mahindra Group is among the top 10 industrial houses in India. Mahindra & Mahindra is the only Indian company among the top tractor brads in the world.Mahindra's Farm Equipment Sector has recently won the Japan Quality Medal, the only tractor company worldwide to be bestowed this honor. It also holds the distinction of being the only tractor company worldwide to win the Deming Prize. Mahindra is the market leader in multi-utility in India. It made a milestone entry into the passenger car segment with the Logan. The Group has leading presence in key sectors of the Indian economy, including the financial services, trade and logistics, automotive components. Information technology, and infrastructure development.With over 62 years of manufacturing experience, the Mahindra Group has built a strong base in technology, engineering, marketing and distribution which are key to its evolution as a customer centric organization. The Group employs over 50,000 people and has several state-of- the-art facilities in India and overseas. The Mahindra Group has ambitious global aspirations and has presence on five continents. Mahindra products are today available on every. Company profile of Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, we are one of India's leading non-banking finance companies.Focused on the rural and semi urban sector, we provide finance for utility vehicles, tractors and cars and have the largest network of branches covering these areas. Our goal is to be the preferred provider of retail financing services in the rural and semi – urban areas of India, while our strategy is to provide a range of financial products and services to our customers through our nationwide distribution network. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM IN MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. In MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. the performance appraisal report is annual and is co-terminus with financial year, i. e. , 1st April, to the end of March next year. There is no need to write in duplicate. No Annual Appraisal Reports are required to be written by officers under suspension and on duty for less than two months during the reporting year. Where officers are transferred before the full period should write the appraisal reports for that part period straight away after obtaining the self assessment reports from the officers concerned and send the same to competent authority through proper channel.Reporting Officers who get relieved without writing AAR's are liable for disciplinary action. In case of death or non-availability of reporting officer for any acceptable reason, the AAR's can be written by the next higher authority straight away. Counter signing of the AAR's is normally done by the officer under whom the Reported officer works. In case of sudden illness, death retirement or for any acceptable reason, the counter signing officer or the Head of the Department is not available, AAR's can be signed by the incumbent at the time of receipt of AAR's by him.A self assessment Report in the proffering designed is obtained from the reported officer on the duties performed by him during the period under report within 15 days after the expiry of the reporting year for writing the AAR. If the Self Appraisal Report is not received, for any reason, the reporting officer may write the AAR duly recording the fact of non receipt of SAR. The acceptanc e or otherwise of the SAR should be endorsed in the column provided. The reasons for non acceptance should be recordedAdverse remarks, if any with, proper substantiation should be communicated to the Reported officer by the final counter signing authority. The Adverse remarks should be supported by specific instances. The format of AAR's for P&G services contains grading A,B,C, D & E indicating Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Satisfactory and Poor performance. Grading A,B & E are to be supported by justification along with recorded proof. Without such justification, the overall writing can be reduced to ‘C' grade by the counter signing officer duly recording that the grading is allotted as no justification is forth coming from the reporting officer.If the countersigning officer wants to award different grades, full justification with specific instances should be furnished by them. The grading awarded by foreign employers in the AARs of MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. em ployees on deputation is to stand but the grading so awarded is not binding on the Departmental Promotion Committees. The sum total of marks against rating awarded in respect of each item will determine the over all rating as follows: ‘A’ Grade 81% and above B’ Grade 71%to80% ‘C’ Grade 61% to 70% ‘D’ Grade 50% to 60% ‘E’ Grade below 49% Another column â€Å"General Remarks† is also provided for writing the General Remarks on the Reported Officer by the Reporting Officer in a nut shell. To evolve a performance appraisal system to serve as the basis for transfer policy and incentive/dis-incentive schemes, the MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. approved performance appraisal system based on objective, tangible parameters.The appraisal system consists of performance indicators evolved for the staff in P & G Service on the basis of the job charts prescribed for the staff, nature of duties performed by the staff of di fferent levels, nature of decision involved vis-a-vis, the cadre of employee and the sequential tasks involved in each HRD function like recruitment, promotions terminal benefits etc. The tasks to be performed by an employee in a given cadre form the performance indicators for the employee. A time frame is set for performance of a given task keeping in view the mandatory nature of compliance under the service regulations, leave regulations etc. optimum time required for performance of the task and the periodicity of performance. The points earned on an average overall the relevant Performance Indicators in a month by an employee will be the GPA (Grade Point Average per month) and the performance of an employee is rated on the basis of CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) obtained as an average of GPA earned over 12 months period. The scale adopted and weightage given in grading the performance of an employee in a given parameters is Scale GradeWeightage > 95% A4 points – Out standing 85% to 95%B3 points – Good 0% to 85% C2 points – Satisfactory < 75% Grade Point Average (GPA) = Total Grade Points (per month) No. of performance Indicators Cumulative GPA (CGPA) – Total of GPA 12 CGPA=A=4-Outstanding B = 3 to 4 -Good C = 2 to 3 -Satisfactory D = 1 to 2-Poor The Impact of AARs on Promotions in MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. In terms of regulation 9(B) (1) of APSEB SRs – part-Ill, the following criteria is adopted for fixing the merit in respect of Class-Ill and above Officers for promotions to higher categories. ) The total marks obtained in last five years AARs/CRs are added and divided by five to obtain the average marks. b) Where an employee has not put up five years of service in the category from which promotion is to be made and for purpose of considering his/her case for out of turn promotion if the average marks of the AARs/CRs earned by him/her in that category is 90% and above, the last AARs/CRs in the lower c ategory to make up the total pfperiod of five years shall also be taken in lo consideration. If the average marks of the five AARs/CRs earned is 90% and above, the only he/she shall be considered for out of turn promotion. ) Based on average marks so obtained, the grading is made as follows: Out of turn —- 90% & above In turn —- less than 90% Unfit —- not to be considered † provided that the â€Å"out of turn† grading shall be awarded only if two different reporting officers have written the last five years AARs and also that each of these reporting officers have awarded one out standing A – grade report†. d) Provided, further, that the candidate selected for promotion under the grading of ‘out of turn' shall not be assigned more than five ranks.These five ranks shall be assigned as indicated below. Marks 90 and above up to and inclusive of 92 -1 Rank Marks above 92 up to and inclusive of 94 -2 Ranks Marks above 94 and up to and i nclusive of 96 -3 Ranks Marks above 96 and up to and inclusive of 98 -4 Ranks Marks above 98-5 Ranks e) The grades obtained based on the above criteria shall form the basis for fixing the ranking among the candidates considered suitable for promotion. The inter-se-ranking in each group shall be their inter-se-position/seniority in the existing cadre. CHAPTER – 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY a) PRIMARY DATA ) SECONDARY DATA REVIEW LITERATURE DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research is an academic activity and as such the term should be used in a technical sense. Meaning of Research D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences define research as â€Å"the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an art†. Objectives of Research 1. 2. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it. 3.To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group. 4. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with something else. Types of Research The basic types of research are as follows: 1. Descriptive & Analytical 2. Applied & Fundamental 3. Quantitative & Qualitative Research Process The following order concerning various steps provides a useful procedural guidelines regarding the research process: 1. Formulating the research problem; 2. Extensive literature survey; 3. Developing the hypothesis; 4. Preparing the Research design; 5.Determining sample design; 6. Collecting the Data; 7. Execution of the Project; 8. Analysis of data; 9. Hypothesis testing; 10. Generalizations’ and Interpretation, and 11. Preparation of the report or presentation of the result, i. e. formal write-up of conclusions reached. Sample Design Samples can be either probability samples or non-probability samples. Probability samples are those based on simple random sampling, systematic sampling, etc. Non-probability samples are those based on convenience sampling, judgement sampling and quota sampling techniques. Sample designs are as follows: 1. Deliberate Sample . Simple random Sample 3. Systematic Sample Collection of the Data The methodology being following for the study is data collections through (primary and secondary sources), interviews, views of employees and other personnel and questionnaire etc. A)Primary Data: The main source of primary data comprises of: 1. Structured Questionnaire 2. Formal and Informal interviews 3. Feedback obtained form the employees B)Secondary Data: The sources of secondary data comprises of: 1. Manual of the Organization 2. Books published by different agencies – 3. Other relevant books, magazines, periodicals and Journals etc. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Main Components of a Performance Appraisal System. The specific objectives of an Appraisal determine the components to be used in a performance appraisal system. Basically the following components are in use in Indian Organizations. 1. Key Performance Areas (KPAs):- For role clarity and key result areas (KRA's) for accountability. While KPAs stress what main functions the appraisal as an individual is expected to perform in the performance period, KRAs emphasis the accountability or the results the appraisal is expected to achieve in the performance period.However KPAs are to be preferred over KRAs as KOAs stress on what the appraiser should do and the effort he has to put in moreover, an identification of KPA's given and understanding of the nature, quality and level of performance expected of the time in which the tasks are expected to be completed. 2. Attributes/Qualities/Trait: – Attributes as a part of performance Appraisal help in reinforcing the behavior of qualities or competencies that are required or are to be developed by the executives.Most organizatio ns, however, realizing the extent of subjectively involved in trait based appraisals and recognizing the need to promote performance orientation rather than merely trait orientation have stated using a mixture of KPAs and attributes for assessment. 3. Self Appraisal: – Development or change takes place only if the appraise is interested in development or change. Self-appraisal is an opportunity for the appraise to recapitulate and list down the accomplishments and failures during the performance period. The most important part of self-appraisal is the process of review and reflection and through Performance appraisal.Such performance analysis should be done both by the appraise and appraiser separately and exchanged during review discussions. 4. Performance Analysis: – Performance Appraisal should be based on the performance planning dimensions. The work done or the performance during the year should be broken down into various KPAs/KRAs/tasks/targets. Performance unde r each of the above should be analyzed under the following headings. How is the actual performance with respect to the planned performances what factors contributes to the achievements from the point of view of the appraise, appraiser environment etc. 5.Performance Review Discussion or counseling: – A number of objectives can be achieved through performance review discussions which aims at making the appraiser and the appraise understand each other better by communicating the performance analysis of appraiser's performance. Performance Appraisal does not serve the purpose of developing employees unless an effective system of performance counseling in practiced in the organization performance counseling can be defined as the help provided by a manager to his subordinates in analyzing their performance and other job behaviors in order to increase their job effectiveness. . Performance Ratings: – One of the useful out comes of an appraisal is the ratings assigned at the e nd of the appraisal to the appraise. This practice distorts the main purpose of appraisals. In view of this, some organizations are seriously considering dropping rating as a part of the development oriented appraisal system and keep simple, short and confidential form separately for it. 7. Identification of training/development needs: – Appraisal provides a good opportunity to identify the developmental needs of an employer.Developmental needs should flow from performance analysis. It is important to identify the ‘competency' or ‘capability' (he appraise needs to develop in order to perform a given task better. This rather than (raining program titles. It is useful to needs of all employees and work out strategies and plans to meet them. 8. Final assessment by the Appraise: – In some organizations the final ratings given by the appraiser are not shown to the appraise because the final ratings are given taking into consideration comparative performance of o ther in the department.If an organization subscribes to such philosophy, it is useful to have separate formats for ratings rather than mixing it up with development oriented appraisals. 9. Reviewing officer's Role: – In almost all organization the requiring officer given an important role. As the reviewing officer has a larger responsibility, span of control, authority and accountability, it is useful to design a significant role for him in the appraisal process. The remaining officers, to examine the rating behavior of the reporting officers, give recommendations on developmental needs. 0. Potential Appraisal: – A system of developing employees for occupying higher positions in the organizational hierarchy to undertake higher potential appraisal. A good potential appraisal system attempts to generate data about employees and their potential for occupying higher positions from a variety of sources, and helps the top management to make decisions about the suitable perso ns for given job. 11. Signature by the Appraiser: – Some organizations require the appraiser to sign the form after the review discussion is over and ratings are assigned.The intention is that the appraiser should know what is being stated about him and he should be given a chance to express his own views in case of negative marks. APPRAISERS; 360 Degree Performance Appraisal: The appraiser may be any person who has thorough knowledge about the job contents, contents to be appraised, standards of contents and who observes the employee while performing a job. The appraiser should be capable of determining what is more important and what is relatively less important.The appraiser should prepare reports and make judgments without bias. Typical appraisers are: supervisors, peers, subordinates, employees themselves, users of service and consultants. Performance appraisal by all these parties is called 360 degree performance appraisal. Supervisors: Supervisors include superiors of the employee, other superiors having knowledge about the work of the employee and department head. Peers: Peers appraisals may be reliable if the work group is stable over a reasonably long period of† time and performs tasks that require interaction.However, little research has been conducted to determine how peers establish standards for evaluating others for the over all effect of peer appraisal on the groups attitude. Subordinates: The concept of having superiors rated by subordinates is being used in most organizations. This method can be useful in organizational settings to provide the relationships between superiors and subordinates are cordial. Users of services: Employee performance in service organizations relating through behaviours, promptness, speed in doing the job and accuracy can be better judged by the customers or users of services.Consultants: Some times consultants may be engaged for appraisal when employers do not trust supervisor appraisals and management does not trust self appraisal, peer appraisals or subordinate appraisals. In this situation, consultants are trained and they observe the employee at work for a sufficiently long time for the purpose of appraisal. Process of Performance Appraisal Performance can be undertaken either on informal basis or on formal or systematic basis. Informal appraisals are conducted when ever the supervisor or personal managers feel it necessary.However, formal and systematic appraisals are conducted on a regular basis. The systematic performance appraisal process follows a set pattern and consists few Steps: Establishing Performance Standards Communicating the Standards Measuring actual performance Comparing the actual with the Standards Discussing the Appraisal Taking corrective action 1. Establishing Performance Standards The Appraisal process begins with the setting up of criteria to be used for appraising the performance of employee. The criteria is specified with the help of job analysis whic h reveals the contents of the job.The criteria should be discussed with the supervisors to ensure that all the relevant factors have be included. These standards should be indicated on the appraisal form. Appraisal form should be carefully designed and printed. Performance standards will depend upon the objectives of the appraisals. 2. Communicating the standards The standards set for performance should be communicated to all the employees. The standards set must be explained to the employees, so that they come to know what is expected of them. When the standards are made known to the employees, they will try to make their performance equal or above them. . Measuring actual performance Once the performance standards are specified and accepted, the next stage is the actual performance. This requires choosing the right technique of measurement, identifying the internal and external factors influencing performance and collecting and results achieved. Personal observations, written repo rts and face to face contacts are the means of collecting data and performance. 4. Comparing the actual with the standards Actual performance is compared with the predetermined performance standards. Such comparison will reveal the deviations. Deviations may be positive or negative.Positive deviations occur when the actual performance exceeds the standards. Negative deviations occur when the actual performance is less than the standards. 5. Discussing the appraisal The results of the appraisal are communicated to the employees and discussed with the employees. Such discussion will enable the employee to know his weakness and strengths. There fore employee will be motivated to improve themselves. 6. Taking corrective action Appraisal process will be useful only when corrective action is taken on the basis of reports. Corrective action may be in the form of advice, council or warning.It may also be in the form of additional training, refresher courses, delegation of more authority, sp ecial assignment and coaching, etc. these actions will be useful in helping employees to improve their performance in future. If the actual performance is very poor and behind the scope of improvement, it may be necessary to take steps for demotion or retrenchment or any other suitable measure. Methods and technique of Performance Appraiser The Performance Appraiser methods differ in the approach for the following reasons. ?Firstly, they differ in the resources of traits or qualified to be appraisal. Secondly, they differ because of the different kinds of worked who are being rated. ?Thirdly, the variations may be caused by the degree of precision attempted in an evaluation, ?Finally, they may differ because of the methods used to obtain weightings for various traits. A number of performance Appraisal methods are available. The idea used categorizations is that given Strauss and sakes the methods are classified into traditional and modern methods. METHODS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL Tr aditional Methods Modern Methods 1. Straight ranking method 1.Assessment Center 2. Man to man comparison method 2. Appraisal by Results or 3. Grading Management by Objectives 4. Graphic Rating Scales 3. Human Asset Accounting 5. Forced choice description method Method 6. Forced distribution method 4. BARS (Behaviorally 7. Check List anchored rating scales ) 8. Freeform or essay method . Critical Incidents 10. Group Appraisal 11. Field Review Method TRADITIONAL METHODS 1. Straight Ranking Method 2. Man to Man comparison method 3. Grading 4. Graphic Rating Scale 5. Forced choice Description method 6. Forced Description method 7. Checklists 8. Free Form Essay method 9. Critical incidents 10. Group Appraisals 11. Field Review method MODERN METHODS 1. Assessment Center 2. Appraisal by Result of management by Objective (MBO) 3. Human Asset According method 4. BARS (Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales) TRADITIONAL METHODS STRAIGHT RANKING METHOD:It is the oldest and simplest method of per formance appraisal by which persons are tested in order of merit and placed in a simple grouping. One of the disadvantages of the system is that it permits similar total scores for two or more individuals. But it is a similar method of separating the most efficient form of the least efficient. MAN TO MAN COMPARISION METHOD: By this method, certain factors are selected for the purpose of analysis (such as leadership, dependability and initiatives) and a scale is designed by the rates for each factor, and personnel are compared to the ‘key man' in respect to the factor of a given lime.But it is not of much use because the designing of scale is a complicated task. GRADING METHOD: Under third system, the rater considers certain features and marks them, according to a scale they may be: A—Outstanding; B– very good; C— good or coverage; D—-Fair; E —poor; The actual performance of an employee is then compared with these grade definitions, and he is allotted the grace which best describes his performance. GRAPHIC RATING METHOD: These methods assess the degree of certain qualified required for the job such as industriousness, reliability and dependability.The degree usually, measure on a scale that can vary from 3 points (good, coverage and poor) to several points. When rating and objectively given, they provide useful feedback. But a serious drawback is that the rating is generally subjective. FORCED CHOICE DESCRIPTION METHOD: The forced choice method from contains a series of groups of statements, and the rater checks how effectively the statements describes each individuals being evaluated The use of this method calls for minimum subjective judgment nd objective reporting, but at the each time, the results of evaluation do not prove useful for counseling and training purpose because the rater is ignorant of evaluating the individuals. FORCED DISTRBUTION METHOD: In this method the rater is forced to distribute his subordinates into performance categories such as outstanding good poor etc. Everyone cannot be given average or good rating. Hence some percentage of the subordinates is rated better then the others. This-method is useful for rating a large number of employers.CHECK LIST: Under this method, the rater does not evaluate employee's performance, he supplies report about it and the personnel department does the final rating. A series of questions are presented concerning on employee to his behavior and the rater the checks to indicate if the answer to a question about and employee is positive or negative. This method suffers from bias on the part of the rater. FREE EASSY METHOD: In this method the supervisor makes a free form, open – ended appraisal of employees in his own words.The description is always a factual and concrete as possible. An essay can provide a good deal of information. However no attempt is made to evaluate an employee in a quantitative manner. CRITICAL INCIDENT METHOD: Und er this method work performance is measured in terms of certain events or episodes shall occur in the performance of the rater job. This method provides objectives basis for conducting a discussion of individual performance. How ever, negative incidents are generally more noticeable than positive ones. GROUP APPRAISAL METHOD:Under this method, employees are rated by an appraisal group, consisting of their supervisor and there are four other supervisors who have same knowledge on this performance. The advantage of this method is thorough, very simple and is divide of any bias, of it number multiple judges. But it is very time consuming. FIELD REVIEW METHOD: Under this method, a trainer employee from the personnel department interviews line supervisor and is required to give his opinion about the progress of the subordinates. This system is useful for a large organization.The man defect is that helps two management representatives busy with the appraisal. MODERN METHODS OF APPRAISAL: These methods place more emphasis on the evaluation of work of job achievements that in personality traits. Result oriented appraisals tend to be more objective and worthwhile, especially for counseling and development purposes. APPRAISAL BY RESULTS OR MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES (MBO): MBO differs significantly from the traditional approach for it shifts the emphasis from appraisal to analysis; the subordinate is no longer examined by his strength and potential.Thus he assumed the role of and ‘active agent' rather than a ‘passive agent1. But the major problems that company's face in implementing MBO is in defining objectives. In the same organization, the purpose of the worker is different from that of management. ASSESSMENT CENTER METHOD: In this method, the organization develops its own internal reoccurred for the continuous assessment of its members for the recruitment of new members the purpose of this method is to test candidates in a social situations, using a number assessors and a variety of procedures the most important features of the assessment center is job related simulations.These simulations involve characteristics that managers feel are important to the job success. Assessments are made to determine employer potential for purposes of promotion. Assessment center ratings are said to be strongly influenced by the participants inter personal skills. Judges tend to evaluate the quality of the individuals social skills rather than quality of the decisions themselves. HUMAN ASSET METHODS: This method refers to activity devoted to attaching money estimates to the value of a firm's internal human organization and its external customer goodwill.The current value of the firm's human organization can be appraisal by developed procedures, by understanding periodic measurements of â€Å"by casual† and intervening enterprise variables. The â€Å"by casual† variables include the structure of organizations management policies, business leadership, strategies, skills of behavior. The â€Å"intervening† variables reflect the internal state and health of an organization. This method is not yet popular. BEHAVIOURALLY ANCHORED RATING SCALES (BARS): This technique, which has been recently developed, provides a more equitable appraisal as compared to other techniques.In this method, persons with knowledge of the job lo be appraised are asked to describe critical incidents of effective performance behavior. A second group is asked to rate the behavior described in the incident. Subjects to incidents arc used as â€Å"behaviors anchors† for the performance dimensions. The main advantages of this method are that experts do this, and hence the results are sufficiently accurate the use of critical incidents may be useful in providing feedback to the people being appraised. PROBLEMS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL.The ideal approach to performance evaluation is that in which the evaluator is free biases, pre judicious. This is objective, it minimize the potential capricious and dysfunctional behaviors of the evaluator which may be detrimental to the achievement of the organizational goals. However, a single foolproof evaluation method is not available. Inequalities in evaluation often destroy the usefulness of the performance system resulting in accurate and invalid appraisals, which are unfair too. There are many significant factors, which deter or impede objective evaluation. HALO EFFECTIt is a tendency to let the assessment of an individual one-trait influences the valuation of that person on other specific trait. There is this effect in appraisal when the appraiser assigns the same rating to all traits regardless of an employee's actual performance on these traits. The â€Å"Halo effect† refers to be tendency to rate an individual consistently high or low or average on the various traits, depending upon whether the rater's overall impression of the individual is favorable or not this me ans that the halo effect allows one characteristic, observation or occurrence to influence the rating of all performance factors.The halo effect arises when the traits are unfamiliar; it defined and involves personal relations. This often occurs when an employee tends to be more contentions and dependable, that the appraiser might become biased towards that individual to the extent that the appraiser rates him high on many desirable attributes; or when the employee is more friendly or unfriendly employee towards the appraiser. In such cases, a very high role may be given to an unfriendly employee so that he may be by passed even though he is very capable one. LENIENCY/STRICTNESS TENDENCY:Every evaluator has his own value system, which acts as a standard against which he makes his appraisals. Relative to the true or actual performance an individual exhibits, some supervisors have a Tendency to be liberal in their ratings, i. e. , they consistently assign high values to their employee s, while at other times they may have a tendency to assign consistently low ratings. The former tendency is know as â€Å"positive leniency error†, while the latter in lenient in his appraisal, an individual performance becomes overstated, i. e. , rated higher than it actually should be.Similarly, under the negative tendency, performance is understated, than what is should. Both these trends usually arise from varying standards of performance observer by supervisors and form different interpretations of what they evaluate in employee performance. The tendency can be avoided by holding meetings or training sessions for raters so that they may understand what is required of them in rating. SIMILARITY ERROR This type of error occurs when the evaluator rates other people in the same way he has perceived himself. For example the evaluator, who peruses himself s aggressive, may evaluate others by looking for aggressiveness. MICELLANEOUS BIASES Bias against employees on ground of Se x, Religion and Caste position is also a common error in rating. For example a higher rating may be assigned to a senior employee. The rater may be influenced and give higher ratings to those holding higher positions. Besides this, there may be opportunity bias, group characteristic bias and knowledge of predictor bias. Analysis And Interpration The techniques of analysis are based on the response received from the employees.The sample consists 50 employees randomly selected from various departments. The responses were analyzed and interpreted. Period Of Study: The data is collected for the period 2007-2008. 1. In your opinions what should be the frequency of writing performance appraisal reports c. Annually. a, Monthly b. Half-yearly To understand the overall employees opinion on frequency of writ in performance appraisal report, with the help of 100 responses following data observed. SI. No. Category No. of respondents Percentage of respondents 1Monthly1632% 2Half-Yearly1020% 3Yea rly2448%Analysis and Interpretation; By observing the above data, most of the employees are satisfied with the performance appraisal policies in the company, preferred annually performance appraisal. 2. In your opinion who will be right person to appraise your performance? a. Immediate boss b. countersign authority. To understand the overall employees opinion on who will be right person to appraise performance of employee, with the help of 50 responses following data is observed. SI. No. CategoryNo. of respondentsPercentage of respondent 1Immediate Boss2550% Counter Signing Authority2550% Analysis and Interpretation: By observing the above data, most of the employees of the organization preferred that immediate boss is the right person to appraise his performance. 3. Is the present appraisal system helping you to know your strengths an weakness? a) Yes b) No The employee's strengths and weaknesses will be known through the person appraisal system with the help of 50 respondents data is observed. SI. No. Category No. Of respondents Percentage respondents 1 Yes 2550% 2 No 2550% Analysis and InterpretationBy observing the given data, The performance appraisal report speaks about the strengths and Weaknesses of the employees in the Organization. 4. Arc monthly reports of performance of each employee are prepare and taker as basis for preparing performance appraisal reports? a) Yes b) No To understand the given data Monthly report of performance of each employee's are prepared and taken as basis with the help of 50 responses following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage respondents 1 Yes 33 66% 2 No 17 34% Analysis and InterpretationBy viewing the above data, the Performance appraisal report can be prepared based on the Consolidation of monthly report of each employee in the Organization. 5. Do you feel career part and succession plan should become part of performance appraisal? a) Yes b) No To know the employee's opinion on the career part and succession plan should become part of performance appraisal, by taking 50 responses following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of respondents 1 Yes 33 66% 2 No 17 34% Analysis and InterpretationBy observing the given data, employees are referred for the career part and Achievement of succession plan become the part of performance appraisal. 6. Performance appraisal reports should be revealed or not? a) Yes b) No To understand the overall Employee's opinion, performance appraisal repo should be revealed or not on the basis of 50 responses following data observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage Of respondents 1 Yes 33 66 2 No 17 34 Analysis and Interpretation By viewing the above data, Most of the employee preferred to reveal this performance appraisal report. . Are you satisfied with the present appraisal system? a) Yes b) No To know the employee's that they are satisfied with the present appraisal system on the basis of 50 res ponses following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of respondents 1 Yes 35 70 2 No 15 30 Analysis and Interpretation: By viewing the data, Most of the employees are satisfied with the present performance appraisal System followed in the organization. 8. Does the performance appraisal system followed by your organization Improves the overall performance of organization? a) Yes b) NoTo understand the performance appraisal system followed in your organization' Improves the overall performance of organization, by taking 50 respondents d? is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of Respondents 1 Yes 35 70% 2 No 15 30% Analysis and Interpretation By observing the given data, the performance appraisal system followed in the MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. improves overall efficiency in the management and control over the staff towards the promotional policy and achievement of the goals. 9. Performance appraisal should be evaluated? ) More than once in a year b) Once in a year c) Occasionally To know the Employees opinion Performance appraisal should be evaluated for the period by taking 50 respondents data is observed, SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage. Of respondents 1 More than Once in a Year 1327% 2 Once in a Year 3366% 3 Occasional 47% Analysis and Interpretation: By viewing the above data, Most of the employees preferred to evaluate the performance appraisal yearly. 10. Do you get any guidance from your superior in your day today work? a) Regularly b) Occasionallyc) Not at allTo understand the employees opinion, to get the guidance from your superior in your day today work with the help of 50 respondents following data is observed. SI. No. CategoryNo. of RespondentsPercentage of respondents 1 Regularly 27 54% 2 Occasionally 20 40% 3 Not at all 3 6% Analysis and Interpretation; By observing the given data, most of the employees wish to guide by the superior regularly in day to days and occasi onally in specific purpose. 11. Do you think the performance appraisal Performa / program covers all aspects of the job? a) Covers all aspectsb) Does not cover some aspects ) Does not cover many aspects. To know the overall employees opinion performance appraisal Performa / program covers all aspects of the job with the 50 respondents following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of respondents 1 Covers all aspects 20 40% 2 Does not cover some aspects 3 8% 3 Does not cover many aspects 27 52% Analysis and Interpretation: By view the above data, most of the employees have reported that the appraisal Performa that does not cover many aspects of the jobs. 12. Which of the following is a better form of appraisal? a) Self appraisal b) Confidential reportsTo know the overall employees opinion which will be the better form of appraisal system, with the help of 50 respondents the following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of respo ndents 1 Self Appraisal 40 80% 2 Confidential Reports 10 20% Analysis and Interpretation: By observing the above data, most of the employees wish to have their self appraisal is better than the confidential report. CHAPTER – 4 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The study is limited to the policies and practices being followed in Mahindra & Mahindra finance ltd. Time factor is the main constraint for the study as it was restricted only to eight-nine weeks. ?Sampling error is not taken into consideration. ?The information given by the

Arbitration Dispute Settlement Procedure

Discuss About The Arbitration Dispute Settlement Procedure? Arbitration is the dispute settlement procedure where the impartial party (Arbitrator) is selected to study a case as well as hear both sides of the party so as to arrive at agreement; some of its features include law ; Mediation is the process where a mediator facilitates dialogue in a multi-stage manner to help both parties reach a conclusion plus satisfactory agreement. Its features include; Blain, N., Goodman, J., & Loewenberg, J. (1987). Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration-An International Comparison of Australia, Great Britain and the United States. Int'l Lab. Rev., 126, 179. Cooley, J. W. (1985). Arbitration vs. mediation-explaining the differences. Judicature, 69, 263. Fisher, R. J., & Keashly, L. (1991). The potential complementarity of mediation and consultation within a contingency model of third party intervention. Journal of Peace finanacial Research, 28(1), 29-42. Sgubini, A., Prieditis, M., & Marighetto, A. (2004). Arbitration, Mediation and Conciliation: differences and similarities from an International and Italian business perspective.

Influence of habitat diversity and substratum on the composition of Essay

Influence of habitat diversity and substratum on the composition of macroinvertebrate communities from riverine systems - Essay Example They are a key component of the food chain and their abundance and diversity have been used to assess the ecosystem health and bio diversity in a given habitat. A very recent study by Leroy et al iexamined the relative importance of litter quality and stream characteristics in determining decomposition rate and macro invertebrate assemblage living on autumn shed leaves. The decomposition rates of five riparian tree species (Populus fermonti, Alnus oblongifolnia, Platanus wrightii, Faxinus velutina, Quercus gambelli) were compared across three south -western streams in the Verde River catchments (Arizona, U.S.A). Also to test whether plant species diversity affects rate, the decomposition of three and five species mixtures was compared to that of a single species. The results showed that decomposition rate was affected by both litter quality and stream although litter quality accounted for most of the variation. The relative importance of litter quantity was shown to decrease from 97% in the first week to 45% by the eighth week. It was also found that the rate of decomposition increased relatively when all the species included were highly la bile. The most significant outcome of this study was the difference in invertebrate assemblage, which seemed to be more pronounced across streams than across leaf litter species within a stream. There was also a significant difference between the invertebrate assemblage colonizing leaf mixtures compared to that colonizing pure species litter, indicating non -additive properties of litter diversity on stream invertebrates. The conclusion of the study was that leaf litter diversity has the capacity to affect in -stream decomposition rates and stream invertebrates but these effects depend on both litter quality and stream characteristics. A research conducted in Griffith University, Australiaii studied the basic principles and ecological consequences of altered flow regimens for aquatic bio- diversity. The article stated that the flow regimen is considered to be the primary factor governing river and flood plain wetland ecosystems. Four key principles highlighted the important mechanisms that link hydrology and aquatic bio diversity and the impacts of alteration in the flow regimes: 1. Flow plays a major role in determining the physical habitat in streams, which influences the biotic composition. 2. The evolution of aquatic species has a direct response to the natural flow regimes. 3. The viability of populations of many riverine species requires maintenance of natural patterns of longitudinal and lateral connectivity. 4. The alteration in flow regimes facilitates the invasion and success of exotic and introduced species in riverine systems. Wide ranges of taxonomic groups are impacted by altered flow regimes including riverine plants, invertebrates and fish. A study by Douglas et al iii related macro invertebrate community structure to physical, chemical and biological gradients in flow through constructed wetlands receiving secondarily treated domestic wastewater and lower nutrient river water in Ohio, U.S.A. Benthic colonization plates and emergence traps were used to collect macro invertebrates which were then analyzed with diversity, biotic and combination indices and related to seventeen parameters of water quality, substrate characteristics and primary productivity in both wetland systems. 36 and 39 macro invertebrate

LAN Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

LAN - Essay Example The justification of the selected computing devices and the network equipment is required. The second step includes the network design. The design will clearly identify, floor connections, office connections, servers, workstations, printers, scanners and cable types. The third step is to implement a Wide Area Network (WAN) to connect other locations or Internet connectivity. 2 Network Pre requisites 2.1 First Floor The first floor includes Administration, Staff Office and the technical staff. The staff office will access the file server which is the ‘Students notes distribution server’ for uploading notes. Students are facilitated at the same time for downloading the notes. The lecturers will connect their laptops with the wireless access points installed equipped with the new 802.11n technology. Since the requirement of high bandwidth multimedia transmission is increasing, improving the (QoS) (Quality of service) is essential. A comprehensive illustration of Quality of services is available on network dictionary as â€Å"Quality of Service (QoS) refers to the ability of a network to provide higher priority services, including dedicated bandwidth, controlled jitter and latency (required by some real-time and interactive traffic), and improved loss characteristics, to selected network traffic over various WAN, LAN and MAN technologies.†.Keeping this in mind a new technology 8.2.11n is introduced by the IEEE (Kuo 2008). For keeping the network robust and efficient 802.11n protocol provides comprehensive support for voice and video services (Cai, Ling et al. 2009). These wireless access points are connected with a Cisco switch. For providing security, Virtual local area network (VLAN) is the best match for this scenario. The VLAN will split all domains for better administration, management and security. VLAN uses encryption techniques for transmitting data over the network. Access policy list is configured in the router for defining the rou tes. The router processes the data packets based on parameters. Internet protocol and subnet is the composition of the router to handle the routes on the destination. The policy for lecturers is to access to the file server, printers and email server. In this way, data transmission from the educational domain is secured. No one can determine the wireless network because only lecturer Internet protocol pool is allowed to communicate. If anyone tries to access the wireless network from outside, he or she is prompted to enter the Wired Equivalent Privacy key (WEP). A good illustration of WEP is available in the network dictionary which says † Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a security protocol, specified in the IEEE Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) standard, 802.11b, that is designed to provide a wireless local area network (WLAN) with a level of security and privacy comparable to what is usually expected of a wired LAN.† WEP provides security by an encryption algorithm. No one in the school can access the wireless network or the lecturers system. An additional Cisco switch installation has been proposed. Although one access point within a range of approximately 200 feet is enough for connecting 253 laptops. The staff can access the printer on the network. The printer is shared on the network and is visible at â€Å"My network places† in case of Microsoft operating systems. The requirement for the administrative staff is to access the email server,

Discuss the activity in the laboratory that are designed to assure Assignment

Discuss the activity in the laboratory that are designed to assure Quality (Collection of specimen - Reporting ) - Assignment Example It is also important to collect the specimen with sterile instruments while preventing the specimen from coming into contact with any disinfectants (Stokes & Ridgeway 1980, p10). These precautions prevent the specimen from becoming contaminated while avoiding killing off any pathogens in the specimen. Lastly, there are specific procedures to be followed depending on the type of specimen being collected. Proper collection of specimens ensures that laboratory testing is accurate and safe. Once a specimen reaches the laboratory, thorough records must be kept for quality assurance and accuracy. It is especially important that care "should be taken to prevent reporting results on the wrong specimen and transposing digits in reporting quantitative data" (Kumari & Bhatia 2003, p160). The records must be detailed enough to determine any possible sources of error during testing. Keeping detailed and accurate records is essential for quality

Developing and using power and influence tactics to influence people Article

Developing and using power and influence tactics to influence people - Article Example Different leadership techniques have to be adopted under different circumstances and for different purposes. For instance, to get a project through, people need the support of others. The first action taken by the leaders is to adopt the project as their own and show personal commitment to it. They then work towards generating support from others in the organization. They have knowledge about the company and know how to use the company’s informal system of relationships. Markham (1998) indicates that some types of influence tactics are more successful like the logical argument. Some prefer to use the coercive and persuasive techniques rather than confrontive influence strategies even when they expect resistance although threatening tactics are unsuccessful influencing people. Use of personal power or positional power would depend upon target commitment. Expert power has been more useful than reward or legitimate power sources. Although leaders may use enthusiasm and drive to make their projects successful, these have a detrimental effect on projects and targets according to Markham. This requires influencing many people who may not wish to be influenced and the end result may be tension and conflicts. The project leaders may not be trained enough in interpersonal relations, which imply that being a project leader does not give an individual the power or ability to influence, although Carson and King (2006) believe that empowerment leads to self-leadership. Today’s work environment call for self-leadership, say Carson and King. Empowerment implies to delegate power from the higher organizational levels to the lower ones. Employees must be given the power to take decisions rather than just making suggestions. This leads to self-leadership which involves an analysis of how and why a task should be completed. It is the process of influencing oneself. This helps to improve direction and motivation within

Is the money the most important source of power in international Essay

Is the money the most important source of power in international politics - Essay Example The executive branch of government excessively controls these powers. State ownership in the economy links both the political and the economic power in Ukraine, hence generating some possibility for those with political power to convert into economic power. But the influence runs the other ways as well. Money can create some influence in the broke society. Furthermore, campaign finance laws, enforcement of bribery laws which are the status and enforcement of laws governing the use of money in the politics are weak. Those who are wealthy can easily convert into political power, mostly by obtaining the parliamentary seats in the Ukraine; this has been closely related to the New York Stock Exchange which is the centre of the country’s business dealings. Due to the conspicuous link between the political power and the economic power, they both strengthen each other, and the tendency becomes almost identical to that in Russia. The benefit of wealthy is becoming politically powerful is not different in Ukraine, as revealed by United State former president’s family Bush or Silvio Berlusconi in Italy. But in Ukraine there are no significant barriers to using money to gain political power and this is an extraordinary capacity to use political power to make money (Brix, 2014, pg. 54). The link relating money and political influence has significant effects. Since economic power produces the political power, a way to wear down an opponents’ political control is by violating their economic base. However, because economic and political powers are associated, the mostly concerted allocation of economy power, as they use their power in authority to scramble for themselves and to exclude others. Possibly this is the main difference between the states like Ukraine and states that have attained liberty democracy, which the link in two directions between economic and political power are loose enough such that

Germany and the germans class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Germany and the germans class - Essay Example Despite the ban the process still continues in many slaughter houses. According to animal practitioners stunning process is a right to all animals, despite the customs and norms of a given community and it should be put forth at all times. In this consideration, the exemption should be granted only to uphold peoples’ religious and social practices. By doing so, this will reduce conflict from such societies encouraging the integration to all the government functions. The ban of un-stunned meat for example, limits religious practices of the Muslim and the Jewish, limiting their rights of freedom of worship. Therefore, as this order is put in place people’s democratic right should be considered. In addition, people are usually very sensitive on what they purchase (Neville & Grandin, 66). The government should not ban un-stunned meat due to the fact that many businesses that contributes to economic development. For example meat produced ritually is no longer accepted by

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 27

Case Study Example According to the patient’s history and physical report, she experiences â€Å"severe, short-distance, lifestyle limiting right lower extremity claudication,† which is the reason why she is being admitted to the hospital. The patient typically develops paresthesias as well as complete numbness to her right foot after walking for more than 20 yards. However, if she walks for an approximation of 20 yards, she experiences pain in her right calf, which goes away after she gets some rest. From these considerations, it is possible to determine that she meets the criteria for admission based on the severity of her illness, since she experiences an acute loss of the ability to move a body part as set out in the hospital’s admission criteria. On the other hand, the plan set is for the patient to undergo operative intervention, whose intention is to repair the injury in the femoral artery. This was after tests were conducted, thereby revealing evidence of a mild narrowing o f the artery, presumably due to the previous catheterization. It is possible to determine that the patient meets the admission criteria based on the intensity of service, given that the plan is to operate on her within 24 hours, once the operating room is free. On the other hand, palpable pulses are not present in the patient’s right lower extremity. This factor meets the intensity of service requirements outlined in the admission criteria, which establishes that the patient meets the criteria for admission to the hospital.

Tecnology Adventage Essay Example for Free

Tecnology Adventage Essay Modern technology has solved many problems that people face and play an important role in the development of many countries. Modern technologies create many kinds of products computers, cloning technology, and video games etc.. Technology today has made life better and quicker In our modern society, people cant see themselves without computers, cell phones, voice mailetc As we look at technologies, questions are risen. The Technological progress make our society more convenient and safe. Making impossible things possible are similar features of the change which previous people have experienced by social change, like shifting from a hunting society to an agricultural society and establishing a commercial society due to the invention of new tools. To consider these advantages and change of society, modern technology, which we use today, might be not only a new tool but also the tool, which makes a dramatic change in history. However, the contribution of modern technology to society should not be eliminated and should be distributed evenly. ADVANTAGE: Modern technology has solved many problems that people face and play an important role in the development of many countries. Modern technologies create many kinds of products computers, cloning technology, and video games etc.. Technology today has made life better and quicker In our modern society, people cant see themselves without computers, cell phones, voice mailetc As we look at technologies, questions are risen. The Technological progress make our society more convenient and safe. Making impossible things possible are similar features of the change which previous people have experienced by social change, like shifting from a hunting society to an agricultural society and establishing a commercial society due to the invention of new tools. To consider these advantages and change of society, modern technology, which we use today, might be not only a new tool but also the tool, which makes a dramatic change in history. However, the contribution of modern technology to society should not be eliminated and should be distributed evenly. ADVANTAGE: Modern technology has solved many problems that people face and play an important role in the development of many countries. Modern technologies create many kinds of products computers, cloning technology, and video games etc.. Technology today has made life better and quicker In our modern society, people cant see themselves without computers, cell phones, voice mailetc As we look at technologies, questions are risen. The Technological progress make our society more convenient and safe. Making impossible things possible are similar features of the change which previous people have experienced by social change, like shifting from a hunting society to an agricultural society and establishing a commercial society due to the invention of new tools. To consider these advantages and change of society, modern technology, which we use today, might be not only a new tool but also the tool, which makes a dramatic change in history. However, the contribution of modern technology to society should not be eliminated and should be distributed evenly. ADVANTAGE: Modern technology has solved many problems that people face and play an important role in the development of many countries. Modern technologies create many kinds of products computers, cloning technology, and video games etc.. Technology today has made life better and quicker In our modern society, people cant see themselves without computers, cell phones, voice mailetc As we look at technologies, questions are risen. The Technological progress make our society more convenient and safe. Making impossible things possible are similar features of the change which previous people have experienced by social change, like shifting from a hunting society to an agricultural society and establishing a commercial society due to the invention of new tools. To consider these advantages and change of society, modern technology, which we use today, might be not only a new tool but also the tool, which makes a dramatic change in history. However, the contribution of modern technology to society should not be eliminated and should be distributed evenly.

Metabical Case Essay Example for Free

Metabical Case Essay The weight loss drug vailable in three four-week packages. The four week packaging was at the specific point where the consumer did not have to spend too much money to buy it, yet got invested in the product enough that they would come back to buy the second and third portions Marketing Research According to the US survey 34% overweight 25. % obese 4. 7% severely obese Health care providers were positive about the prospects of weight loss drugs. Responses of individuals: indicates 12% would immediately opt for such a solution. Focus group: Need of Prescription-strength drug with FDA approval clinical results o backup weight loss results. Decision making The process of decision making for the consumers would follow the hierarchy of effects and would include the following steps Users involved in word of outh publicity First prescription drug to be approved by the FDA specifically for weight loss of overweight individuals credibility First prescription drug for BMI of 25-30 It worked on low dose formulation hence stress on liver and heart was lesser Side effects were less severe and conditional Behavioral modifications and healthier eating habits Results were seen on an average in 12 weeks More comprehensive support plan The above advantage could be used for positioning in the following ways: Premium pricing as it is the only FDA approved prescription drug for weight loss. Strikingly different from dietary supplements for weight loss Segmentation Targeting multi cluster segmentation Demographic Income levels High Income group, since they are ready to pay out of their pockets. Gender- Females are more weight conscious. Age: 35+ Education: college plus Psychographic : Based on, Physical activity, Food preferences, Nutrition, Self image, Overall health l want to be healthier I want to fit into my skinny Jeans Geographic : US is the largest geographic segment where 65% of the entire adult population is over-weight, obese or severely obese . Targeting customers with a BMI of 25-30 Positioning Strategy Positioning as a ?Life saving drug Those 20 extra pounds can kill you. Being overweight leads to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes Its time to get Healthy- Metabical can help. Positioning as a ?Motivational Therapeutic drug Discover a happier and a more attractive you Increases confidence Boosts self- esteem Marketing Communication Strategy Electronic media TV Radio Social media Print media NEWS Magazines Viral media DTC and prescriber advertising ?Free lunch pre launch program Metabical Challenge Biggest looser contest Medical education events Thank you

Sister Carrie Symbolism

Sister Carrie Symbolism The naturalistic writer presents his theme through symbolic detail. The use of symbolism in Sister Carrie offers some evocative effects to this novel, namely, it eases to determine the elements, expose the reality and consolidate the theme. In this way the symbolic degree of the narrative put down straight over the events and occurrences of the simple story itself. Dreisers use of symbolic detail permeates the novel ranging from careful descriptions of dresses and adornment to descriptions of great American cities and their surroundings. The author must make the reader aware that the details are important to the meaning. According to Donald Pizer in his The Novels of Theodore Dreiser: A Critical Study, Dreiser is much more successful as a symbolic than as a metaphoric writer. Dreiser generally accomplishes this end through a kind of incremental repetition (qtd. in Ward, web) of important details. Occasionally, however, he shows a lack of subtlety when he addresses his reader directly to reveal his intention. By recording carefully Carries reaction to specific events Dreiser shows her moving from her early naà ¯ve optimism to her final disillusionment and despair. Carries sensitivity to details provides the emotional centre of the novel. The most important patterns of details, in addition to clothing and money, are mirrors, the theatre, hotels, and restaurants; interiors and dwellings mainly. These comprise the walled and gilded city to which Carrie seeks entrance. Rocking to dreamland Symbols in Sister Carrie are what E.K. Brown, in his Rhythm in the Novel called rhythmical symbols because they constantly reappear in various contexts changing in character and situation during the novel. The rocking chair as a symbol of dream for Carrie in Chicago and of escape for Hurstwood in New York, and it is an obvious example of a rhythmical symbol. .(qtd. in Pizer, 1976: 91) Throughout Sister Carrie, the symbol of the rocking chair is employed by Dreiser to reflect the restlessness, the feverish activity, which leads Carrie to no satisfying destination( Gerber,1964: 62). Early in the novel Carrie is seen rocking in her sisters flat on Van Buren Street , dreaming of escaping with Drouet. As Drouets mistress in Ogden Place she desires a luxurious life, fame, applause, refinement. The rocking chair is a symbol of Carries continued frustration and her inability to make a choice, wavering instead from one possibility to the other. Just before Hurstwoods two visits which occur along chapters eleven and twelve Carrie sits rocking in her chair. Dreiser takes the opportunity to foreshadow the future outcome of her desire: She hummed and hummed as the moments went by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and was therein as happy though she did not perceive it, as she ever should be(87). In New York when living with Hurstwood, she sits rocking to and fro, thinking how common place( 229) her pretty flat is compared with what the rest of the world was enjoying(229)- the rest of the world made of those who had money and had a better life than hers.( Gerber, 1964: 62) In contrast to Carrie, after losing his business, Hurstwood uses the rocking chair to meditate over the lost days, the exhausted funds and his lack of strength. In the chairs slow and repeated motion he finds a narcotic dream of security. The final view of Carrie is moving. She now finds herself rocking in her chair, successful but unhappy, accomplished but unfulfilled (Gerber, 1964: 63), she dreams of new conquests which undoubtedly will or must bring her joy. Yet she accepts for the first time that happiness may not be for her, that perhaps her fate is forever to be the pursuit of that radiance of delight which tints the distant hilltops of the world (369). Dreiser creates a universe where life takes on the aspect of a fierce, grim struggle in which no quarter was either given or taken, and in which are laid traps, lied, squandered, erred, through illusion. (Dreiser, 1991: 82) And even the survivors of the struggle to become a king, are left without a trophy. The symbolic action of rocking is most fitting: Carrie is at once discontent, physically uneasy, reasonably energetic, and passively waiting for better fortune to come and find her. At the end of the novel, Carrie is still rocking. Her dwellings are different now and better by material standards-she is now in a lush New York hotel-but the action is the same and is symbolic of everlasting discontent. (Gale, 1968: 88) Carrie has reached in her quest the empty terminal, which Dreiser points out, so many Americans reach especially those who ascend from humble beginnings and are deceived by the life around them into believing the money ideal to be all in all. (Gerber, 1964: 63) Dreisers symbolism reveals the separate and distinct worlds of Sister Carrie. There is the realistic world of the reasonable mind in the imagined world of the emotional world, a world described in the novel as: Elf-land, Dream Land, or Kingdom of Greatness. This is the world from which Hurstwood emerges as an ambassador to bring Carrie back with him. It is this world from which Carrie ironically becomes a citizen ironically because it never seems to yield the rewards and beauty it promises. Life is a constant battle fought between the giant armies of frustration and desire. Dream symbolism provides a method of revealing what the world outside thinks of Carries behaviour. Minnie, Carries sister, functions in the novel as a choric figure. In her dream, the standard judgement of Carries actions is revealed. Carrie leaves the world of her sister to go to a dark and dangerous world below the surface of the ground. The swirling waters and unplumbed darkness of that world without a rigid morality seem certain to destroy the naÃÆ' ¯ve girl. It is no more necessary to accept Carries estimate of her sister Minnie as absolute and unbiased truth. Each girl unconsciously sees the other as a projection of herself, and thus interprets the life of the other as it would seem to herself. Clothes and Appearance The finest clothing made is a persons skin, but, of course, society demands something more than this.   ~Mark Twain( il las sau il elimin pt ca doar acest subcapitol e introdus de un citat?) The most obvious and well-known recurring symbol in Sister Carrie is that of clothes- clothes as an index of taste and social position and for Carrie of a naÃÆ' ¯ve but moving desire for a fine and pleasing life. (Pizer, 1976: 92) One can acknowledge the fact that appearance, while not including value and morals, as should be of more importance, defines oneself and helps them establish a place within the social system. Sister Carrie serves as an outstanding model to portray this idea. To the majority of the characters, how they appear and act hides the reality of which they live. Dreiser carefully lists in precise detail everything Carrie owns: a cheap imitation alligator-skin satchel, [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦], a yellow leather snap purse,[à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] and four dollars (1). Since Carrie does have enough money to pay for a real alligator-skin satchel, she holds a fake with the intention that she appears to be something else than she is. False appearances are a dominating theme through out Sister Carrie. Because so little is revealed about Carries identity, the first impression left by her is formed not by what she does or by what she opinions but by her belongings. Dreiser ends the description of her with the precise amount of money she holds. This stress on money will be a major theme all through the rest of the novel.    To Carrie, the feeling of completeness comes only when dresses magnificently. On her first day at work, she feels ashamed with her female co-workers. After leaving her obscure work station, she proceeds to the lobby where she encounters other young women. As she walks past, She felt ashamed in the face of better dressed girls who went by. She felt as though she should be better served and her heart revolted.(31) Being of middle class stature, she thinks degraded and believes she can get no respect or attention from these, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ better dressed girls.(31) Though she is extremely attractive in her lesser state, as proven by the young men who flirt with her, she feels only remorse because she was not lavishly displayed. Carries first come across with mass fashion comes with her visit to the Fair, a Chicago department store. In this episode she is not shopping or more appropriately, having no money she is only window shopping. (Geyh, 2006: web)   Carries call to the department store prove her interest in conspicuous consumption; it had developed a new and curiously intimate relationship between purchaser and consumer goods. (Eby, 2001: web) As she observes the eye-catching goods available for sale, Carrie could not help feeling the claim of each trinket and valuable upon her personally [. . . .] The dainty slippers and stockings, the delicately frilled skirts and petticoats.[. . .] all touched her with individual desire (22). But the lure that attire and other personal possessions have for Dreisers protagonists-that he calls the voice of the so-called inanimate! (98)-lets us to notice that memorable change. Every one of of the fancy items tempts Carrie although she cannot afford to pay for any of them; thus a capitalist economy manipulates the desire of the consumer without ever completely satisfying it (Eby, 2001: web). Carrie realizes how far removed she is from its glamour and attraction. Although she desires for herself the frilly dresses, the jewellery and trinkets heaped upon the counters, she keenly feels how none of these are in the range of her purchase. An outcast without employment (17), a mere job-seeker, even the shop-girls could see she was poor and in need of a paying job. The coveted items of clothing put on display in the department stores, restaurants, hotels and streets, are for Carrie, matter of both conscious and unconscious desire, but the desire is unrelated to any organic, biological need. The clothes are functional primarily as indicators of what Carrie might possess and be, of this desire, but also indicators of she is not , of her class bound status as a daughter of working-class parents, and of all that exceeds her grasp.( qtd. in Geyh, 2006: web) The importance of clothes in Sister Carrie arises from the choice that one can exercise over them as a conspicuous performance of prospective being. Drouet seduces Carrie buying her the clothes that would be the appropriate costume only for the role of mistress. The clothes are ones that she could not even explain let alone wear were she to stay in her role of working girl at her sisters flat.. Similarly, Carries first acting job in New York translate into a paradoxical ability to buy the clothes for the role of a young actress. ( Fisher, 1991: 554)( se intelege ca citatele sunt ale lui Fisher?) While Carrie is the main character whose existence thrives on the dependence on her looks, she is not the only one who Dreiser chooses to make a victim of appearance. At Carries first meeting with Drouet on the train from Colombia City to Chicago his clothing and conduct built up for her a dim world of fortune, of which he was the centre ( 6) The young man whose charm and audacity caught Carries attention on the train also suffers from the value he places on appearance. While uttering her first words in their first sparked conversation, she notices his, Flush, colourful cheeks, a light moustache, a gray fedora hat. (3) She further observes him noticing every light detail of his suit and the jewellery. His suit was of a striped and cross pattern brown wool, [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] the low crotch of the vest revealed a stiff bosom of white and pink stripes. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] his fingers bore several ringsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (3) From this quote, one can come to the conclusion that Drouet is a ra ther wealthy man with many refined tastes. In reality, He was not a moneyed man. (32) When in the presence of those who were fortunate, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ he straightened himself a little more stiffly and eats with solid comfort. (32) This defines his social status since he is well known among the prosperous. Carrie soon realized all the city had to offer her, such as wealth, fashion, eases every adornment for women, and she longed for dress and beauty with a whole heart (21).    Carrie is aroused by something promising in the entire material prospect that Drouet had to offer (5). While her background does subconsciously caution her momentarily, she ignores her misgivings in exchange for the happiness that Drouets success might bring her. While Drouet did work, he wants to hide his reality. His false preens dazzles many, including Carrie. As soon as Carrie sees that Drouet is not as well off as she originally perceived him to be, she turns to another man, another man who, like D rouet, was masking his own reality behind his allure of money and position. Mr. G. W. Hurstwood is the second gentleman to catch Carries fancy. He is the manager of a renowned restaurant and is known as a successful man about town. Many see him as a solid man of good physical stature, rather young, and is known for his, fine clothes, his clean linen, his jewels, and, above all, his own sense of his importance. (33) On the surface, Hurstwood is a man of power. He holds a valued opinion among many and some kind of effect on many more, Drouet and Carrie included. With all of the appeal, there is no possible way for anyone to see Hurstwoods personal life. No hint of the slightest inconsistency of the glamour can be found. People of social royalty know and see his family on many popular social outings. His wife is a charmer as well and many have high hopes for their young daughter. One would not conceive that Hurstwood and his wife were having heated arguments leading to marital problems. Due to the fact that many knew the family and how affluent in all aspects t hey are, most overlooked Hurstwoods callings on Carrie. Appearance, which led to this mans social status, kept people from considering this. Looks and charm is the only thing that kept this man from suspicion. Later in the story when Hurstwood social status declines, clothes and implicitly appearance reflect this time the reality. Gradually running out of money Hurstwood is not preoccupied with his appearance, he once rigorously guarded. Still, for the sake of old times, he tries to bring to light the old self. This fact emphasis Hurstwoods desire to keep appearances even though his social status was not the same. As Hurstwood experiences life as poor individual he begins to see the life of his wealthy past as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a city with a wall about it (328) on the other side Hurstwoods shabby clothes expose his state, the opposite but equally conspicuous equivalent to the display of state, that is the normal function of clothes.( Fisher, 1991: 554) In contrast to Carries new clothing which makes her part of her new world, Hurstwoods clothing is now threadbare part and worn. It is not sufficiently warm for him to weather in the cold winter. Clothing reveals the complete inversion of the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾marriage of Carrie and Hurstwood. As Hurstowoods preoccupation for the lack of money increases he tells Carrie that they do not afford to buy her any new clothes, she had not failed to notice that he did not seem to consult her about buying clothes for himself. (340) A few short years ago he was struggling breadwinner who occasionally indulged himself in new clothing to meet the world, while Carrie remained home, running the household in her outdates garb. In Sister Carrie: An Introduction, written by Kenneth S. Lynn, the author summarizes Carries arrival in Chicago. He then proceeds to say that she is, depending solely on personal appeal to enable her to work out her salvation. He goes on to criticize Drouet and Hurstwood as well. Drouet has no reality; take away the salesmans clothes, and he has nothing. (qtd. in Pizer, 1976: 40) This quote aimed to describe Drouet, shows that though his flashy clothes are a trademark of his, he really comes down to nothing. Hurstwood is in the same situation and as Dreiser says after a passer-by inquires if he is a motorist, he finally realizes that he is nothing. Carrie is taught manners and how to become a lady. Because clothes can be changed more rapidly than apartments they become a more sensitive index to changes of state. Clothes are ones address. Only hotels are places of living sensitive enough to the fluctuations of self to equal clothing as performances of the monetary condition of the self. In New York after they separate, both Carrie and Hurstwood, move through opposite ends of the spectrum of records the need of a society in which money will be kept in the stock market so that its waverings of value can be represented in the daily newspaper rather in land or goods which are, by comparison, subject only to year-long or decade-long readings of change of worth. As the rocking chair is to fortunes wheel, second by second rises and falls, so too are clothes, hotels, and newspapers to the long-term indexes of fortune and value. ( Fisher, 1991: 554) Every feature of these characters is a show put on display like that of a theatrical play. None have a real personality because it has been erased by the tantalizing temptation of being that name on the front page, or the cause of a hush fallen over a room as they enter. They even manipulate simple features to deceive their prey audience. As far as personalities being deciphered, as mentioned earlier, these three critical characters have no real personalities. They display the best well thought out personality that the situation demands. When they are in the company of a wealthy benefactor, the room and scene is filled with gaiety on their plastered surface, but they loathe for the life. Each of these three characters uses their appearance to obtain material goods and respectable social standings. They all achieve this, yet in the end, they wind up in desolate isolation. Had these characters accepted their lives as they would have came to be, and not used deceit to con the unknowing, perhaps they wouldnt have ended up in a lesser state then they stood at originally. Money In this novel, together with mirrors and clothes, money represents social status. Dreiser chose to draw a realistic portrayal of America for what it really was- materialistic (Gerber, 1964: 52). Life is presented in relation to this driving force and seems to undergo all destinies, involving everyone, as participants in the mad-cycle of the booming economy. The money ideal would be exposed as the great motivating purpose of life in the United States: ones relative affluence at any level of society determining the degree creature comfort one might enjoy, the measure of prestige one might own, and the extent of social power one might command (Gerber,1964: 52-53). Sister Carrie completely reaffirms Americas mania with money because all characters status symbol is determined economically. Dreisers characters are often fascinated with the physical reality of money (Pizer, 1976: 91); the money she has accepted was two, soft, green, handsome ten-dollar bills (39). The physical transfer of money is an act which promises so much for both the body and the spirit that it either entails or suggests the sexual (Pizer, 1976: 91) Carries impoverished situation incites genuine pity, but Drouet offers her money having hidden desires and intentions. This allows him to touch her hand, the first act in establishing physical contact with her. The apparently harmless offer of loaning money to Carrie and the pleasant lunch are a first step into obtaining it. Giving her the money somehow permits him to feel her hand, the first move in creating physical intimacy with her. In reality, he is trading the occasion for sex. ( Pizer,1976: 92) The lunch and the loan are only the first step in getting it. As she feels the twenty dollars in her hand, Carrie fells that a she was connected to him by a strange tie of affection.(47). Having money as a principal weapon, Drouet has obtained the right to commence physical closeness with Carrie. Several times in the novel, including in this moment, an exact dollar sum is named. Carrie lives in a world of prices regardless of whether she is at work, out shopping, at home or on the street. Her labour worth is set to four dollars and fifty cents per week; accommodation costs four dollars per week; car fare amounts sixty cents per week; an economical lunch is ten cents; etc. By accepting Drouets money, Carrie unconscientiously establishes her worth to him at exactly twenty dollars. Carries desire maintain secret her intentions from Minnie and Hanson confirms that she is at least partly alert that she is selling herself. (Ward, 2000: web) Carrie symbolizes the collective values of the burgeoning American consumer culture. To her, money represents power; one might easily judge her and include her in the money-hunters category of people; those that would be happy to be trapped on a desert island if only she had a large amount of money. (Ward, 2000: web) She had not acknowledged the fact that money and nothing else is worth nothing. Only in relation to consumer goods does it represent anything of value. Chapter seven begins with one of Dreisers frequent discussions on the meaning of money. The true meaning of money yet remains to be popularly explained and comprehended (47). What Carrie does not understand, a fault she has in common with almost all of humanity, is that money should be paid out as honestly stored energy (48) not as a usurped privilege (48). Carrie definition of money would be simple and straightforward- something everybody else has and I must get (48). Dreiser then continues to give a remarkable explanation of money. Essential in his observation is that if an individual has money, it must be spent in order to recognize its value. Carrie as well as Drouet belong to this category. If not earned honestly money in this novel are obtained by theft or beggary. Money serves as a modality of characterization, consequently everyone in the novel is dependent on money to describe who they are and what they do. In the game played at the first meeting of Carrie and Hurstwood, Dreiser provides a miniature model of the characters, forces, and movement of the novel making symbolic use of the ordinary details. In this game of chance and skill Hurstwood manipulates his hand so that Carrie can win all the money while Drouet remains ignorant of what is happening. Dont you moralize Hurstwood says to Carrie, until you see what becomes of the money (74). This passage is like a vision from future, unconscious words evocative of what was to come. Social status is changed with money, at the same time offering those who acquire it the possibility to acknowledge the supreme wealth or the supreme lowering of status. For example, in the very beginning of the novel, Carrie rides in a train, the way poor people do then in a street car, as the fashionable girls of the time and finally she is forced to walk, forced to return to her initial status. This completes a chain that marks the gradual lowering of Carries status in the society until she reaches the lowest point, the point where she not only has no job but is also forced to walk around the city. Being Drouets company in the restaurant Carrie is aware of the decline. She observes that he affords to travel by train and she immediately associates means of transport with wealth. Lost between thoughts she hears him mentioning that she has to return home if she does not accept his offer, but she does not acknowledge the significance of this fact. She only sees a stage coach passing by . This serves as a visual reminder that a wealthy life can be lived only in a big city like Chicago, and is crucial to making her accept Drouets proposal. Her choice gives her a sense of well being, dragging her out from her state of dreamer, and, by the ending of the chapter, she is already riding the car from her vision. After Hurstwood and Carries affair and escape to New York, Hurstwood soon finds himself having to think carefully about small disbursements like rent and cab fare. Although he has sufficient money to invest in new businesses, he turns down many prospects because they are too low-class for him. Not only is his money very important to him now, but so is his respectability. Having to live so frugally as he searches for a job humiliates him (Balling, 1967: 61). The importance of Hurstwoods reputation to himself underscores the materialism in America. Being who you are to yourself is not as important as being someone to others (Gerber, 1964: 60-61). Hurstwoods decline pushes Carrie further away from him. Mrs. Vances decision to cut off her connection with Carrie because of Hurstwoods appearance exposes the dehumanizing nature of consumer society (Ward, 2000: web). While Hurstwood gradually sinks toward deprivation and suicide, Carrie once again moves foreword and appears on stage. Carries constant drag to something better was not to be denied (Thorp, 1963: 472). Her choice to leave him is almost completely motivated by finances, as was her decision to marry him. Mirrors reflections of the self Mirrors should think longer before they reflect.   ~Jean Cocteau Another important symbol is the mirror in which Carrie attempts to see inside herself to discover the truth or to reflect upon some problem. Like the rocking chair, the mirror represents the two poles of Carries thought, for it is also used by her simply to admire her appearance in new clothes. Both the rocking chair and the mirror fuse the desire for material satisfaction with the realisation that Carrie is never happy if she continually desires something new. Naturally, Carrie is never conscious of the symbolic import of these articles, but certainly the author is, and so, it is hoped, is the reader. Mirrors-both factual and the metaphorical mirrors of others reaction to her-contribute to this construction of identity as Carrie glimpses the ideal as reflected in them. The Mirror as the narrator notices convinced her of a thing which she had long believed. She was pretty, yes, indeed. (58) The process of mirroring through which Carrie creates her identity is, however not merely a matter of dress: it is bound with her natural acting ability. (qtd. in Geyh, 2006: web) Able to perceive the nature of those little modish ways which women adopt when they would presume to be something, Carrie mimics, mirrors, the gestures of those whom she admires: she looked in the mirror and pursed her lips, accompanying it with a little toss of the head, as she had seen the railroad treasures daughter doà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦She became a girl of considerable taste. (78-79) The urban environment itself offers numerous sites of such indemnificatory mirroring, from half-lit display windows of department stores in which one might see ones own ghostly reflection, to posh restaurants like Sherrys where the floor was of a reddish hue, waxed and polished, and in every direction were mirrors-tall, brilliant, bevel-edged mirrors-reflecting and re-reflecting forms, faces, and candelabra a score and hundred times (235) (Gyeh, 2006: web) Looking in the mirror is often considered a form of narcissism. This is particularly evident in the store episode when Carrie looks at herself with the new clothes on. Her sense of well-being is enhanced, to the point where she starts to feel a warm glow (70) creep into her cheeks. This is again shown up in chapter eight, when she realizes that she is beautiful after looking in a mirror. The two antithetical potions of Carries mind, her conscience and desire, make another appearance in chapter ten. There, standing before the mirror, she sees that her face reveals a more attractive girl than she was before but her mind, a mirror prepared of her own and the worlds opinions(70), reveals a worse creature than she had been before. She wavers between these two images, uncertain of which one to believe. The inner mirror, the reservoir of social and acquired moral option, must be watched closer by the reader. Sister Carrie is a study in depth of the character; what happens inside Carries mind is actually far more important than her outward fortune of trials and ordeal. Carries difficulties, more basic in the recent past, have now become mental ones, and altogether so turned about in all of her earthly relationships that she might well have been a new and different individual (70). In the mirror she sees a pretty face, but when she looks within herself she sees an image composed of her own judgements and those of society that makes her experience a certain moral queasiness. Carrie wavers between these two reflections, wondering which one to embrace. Her conscience, only an average little conscience (73), is shaped by the world, her own past life, habit, and convention, all welded together in a confused way. Her conscience bothers her because she failed to live with moral correctness even before she tried. Carrie is in a winter mood, full of silent brooding. Nevertheless the secret of her conscience grows more and more feeble. Before, the mirror only was an indication of vanity and represented the ability to imitate things. Now Dreiser remarks that the mirror is the symbol of a good actress as well, a good actress serves as her own mirror to her audience (Gyeth, 2006: web). Carries vocation and power as an actress find their fullest expression on stage, where she creates not only a series of idealized versions of herself, but also an array of miniature mise-en-scà ¨ne- shadow plays-of the city and its inhabitants outside. (Geyh, 2006: web) Carrie was possessed of that sympathetic, impressionable nature which, ever in the most developed form, has been the glory of the drama. She was created with the passivity of soul which is always the mirror of the active world, the narrator observes. (117) Carries greatest ability is that she can mirror back to people that they want to see. Newspapers The frequent symbol in this novel is the employment of newspapers to designate people who are no longer capable to see the future, people that are suppressed by the past and sometimes by the present. The newspaper represents old news as it presents things that have already happened. Individuals who fall back on the newspaper thus fall into the class of have-beens, of those who already lived their life and experienced the world. The first who reads the newspaper in the novel is Sven Hanson followed by Hurstwood. The two are reading the newspaper in the evening as a form of entertainment and because it is the only way they could find out about their own world. Hurstwood is scrolling the paper for the first time in chapter twenty. The paper symbolizes the past, and the incapacity to rise in the future. Thus, his wife is already making the decision concerning the future of the family, and the future vacation. In this scene between Hurstwood and Julia, the first finds in the newspaper a refuge from his wifes demands and from what his entire family represented to him. This way he tries to avoid domestic quarrels and pretends to read the newspaper. By contrast Carrie, reads the paper to see if she is written about in one of its articles. The newspaper gains more importance and is more often used by Hurstwood than ever before. Each day he could read in the evening paper (143). Later Dreiser describes Hurstwood as s pending his time reading newspapers, as the only enjoyable activity left. This again suggests that Hurstwood can only live by looking at the past rather than into the future. The significance of newspapers reaches the pinnacle in chapter thirty five during the storm. Hurstwood is entirely ruined as a man that he uses the paper even for trivial news suc