Motivation Essay

INTRODUCTION Motivation is the process of initiating and directing behaviour based on the persistence of effort to satisfy an individual goal or need (Petri, 1991; Robbins et al, 2000 and Robbins et al, 2001). There are two approaches to understanding motivation, each of which has theories expanding to support the nature of motivation. Content theories focuses on what motivates an individual. In contrast to process theories of motivation which focus on how individual behaviour is motivated. This essay will focus on motivation in an educational context and the importance to provide opportunities and motivation for students.The purpose of this essay is to present a theoretical overview of the key differences between content theories and process theories of motivation. Then a programme developed from a theory to be applied to an undergraduate business course at Monash University. The motivational programme will focus on improving the assessment technique used by lecturers and tutors (â €Å"teachers†) that will motivate and improve undergraduate students learning ability. The aim will be to encourage students to gain a better understanding of the core concepts of business.Assessment in universities needs to be reshaped in order to motivate students. CONTENT THEORIES OF MOTIVATION Content theories are also referred to, as need theories. That is, motivational theories that look at what individual needs motivate and direct behaviour to respond to specific goals. Many early theories from the 1950? s, include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y and Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, established core concepts which have helped explain motivation especially in an organisational setting.McClelland’s three needs theory is a more contemporary view on the content theory approach to motivation that focuses on three important needs in work situations. Each theory identifies individual needs in order to understand b ehaviour. The main factors that underlie this approach is the need to understand that individuals have different needs, and what can be offered in response to these different needs as well as the importance on the external working environment to give individuals the opportunity to satisfy their needs (Robbins et al, 2000, p558).An example of a content theory of motivation is Douglas McGregor theory of the A? A ±A? A µeconomic manA? A ±A? A ¶. He proposed 2 contrasting views of human nature. McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y suggested one negative (Theory X) and one positive (Theory Y) view on human beings. He â€Å"concluded that a manager’s view of the nature of human beings is based on a certain grouping of assumptions and that he or she tends to mould his or her behaviour towards employees according to these assumptions† (Robbins et al, 2001, p199).The negative assumptions were labeled â€Å"Theory X†, which held four dominant assumptions of wor kers. Workers dislike work and go to great strengths to avoid it. Based on this it is believed that workers need to be punished with tight control systems in order for them to achieve goals. In addition, workers lack responsibility, thus need formal directions from superiors to perform. Such Theory X workers are predominately motivated by lower-order needs according to Maslow’s hierarchy for example they need security.In contrast, â€Å"Theory Y† assumes higher order needs dominate individuals. Thus, Theory Y workers enjoy responsibility where they can exhibit self-direction and self-control. Therefore, in order to motivate workers, mangers need to provide a working environment that provides challenging jobs and minimal formalisation. Applying this to an educational context, it can be assumed that teachers can either have a Theory X or a Theory Y view of students. That is, teachers can view students as A? A ±A?A ·lazy or un-cooperative† (Theory X) OR as †Å"being clever and work hard† (Theory Y). Teachers that adapt a Theory Y approach, are more likely to be attuned to students’ needs, actively participate with students to increase student skill-development and learning (OECD, 2000). It is important for teachers to become more student-centered. Therefore assessment must â€Å"focus more on student learning outcomes and students’ attitudes about what they are learning and their role in the teaching and learning process† (Carey, Wallace and Carey, 2001).This can be better understood by considering process theories of motivation. Process theories of motivation set out to explain how people choose a course of action they will pursue, not solely on individual needs like content theories. PROCESS THEORIES OF MOTIVATION Despite the fact that content theories of motivation have helped many organisations understand employee motivation, many of their concepts alone do not provide a comprehensive understanding of moti vation. Therefore, the introduction of another approach to understanding motivation was brought about.Process theories of motivation attempt to explain the process of arousing behaviour, sustaining and regulating the pattern of behaviour (Ames and Ames, 1989). Theories include goal setting, reinforcement, equity and expectancy theory. â€Å"These theories attempt to explain why people choose to behave in a certain way and the reasons they react as they do† (Robbins et al, 2000, p558). In contrast to content theories of motivation, which looked at what initiates behaviour to satisfy a need, this approach broadens the perspective of motivation. It looks at the underlying reasoning that influence individuals to behave and respond in a certain way.Therefore, motivating students by either punishing them to perform or encouraging self-direction, the goal setting theory, identifies underlying factors that achieve a given behaviour, which is the key to understanding the process appro ach to motivation. Goal setting theory states that â€Å"specific and difficult goals, with goal feedback, lead to higher performance† (Robbins et al, 2001, p770). That is, work motivation can be increased with goal specific directed behaviour. It also proposes that difficult goals, provided that the individual has accepted them, lead to higher performance than general goals.However, feedback is essential in the achievement of specific and difficult goals â€Å"because feedback helps identify discrepancies between what they have done and what they want to do† (Robbins et al, 2000, p559). In order to gain the performance benefits of specific goals, feedback helps shape the individuals behaviour. Better still, self-generated feedback is a greater motivator as it allows the individual to monitor their progress. Robbins et al (2000) suggested that goal setting theory is best suited to cultures were there is a moderate power distance, low in uncertainty avoidance and high i n quantity of life like Australia and New Zealand.These ensure a reasonable level of independence amongst individuals and those individuals will not be threatened to take on difficult goals. Also the importance of performance is shared by all. In goal setting theory, â€Å"the characteristics of a goal and attitudes towards it are thought to be influenced by incentives, self-perceptions and the manner in which the goals are set† (Brotherton, 1999, p36). Therefore, in an educational context the teacher and student need to work together to determine behavioural strategies that will lead to performance.End-of course evaluations conducted by Monash University A? A ±A? A ·elicit students’ attitudes about instructors and the role that they play in the teaching/learning process† (Carey, Wallace and Carey, 2001). Such instruments assess students’ motivation for learning and allow for continuous course and program improvement. MOTIVATIONAL PROGRAMME Feedback fr om end-of course evaluations â€Å"usually prompts an ongoing adaptation of a course to the emerging learning needs of its students† (Panasuk and Leabaron, 1999).It was found that â€Å"students consistently expressed views that new assessment motivated them to work in different ways† (Sambell and McDowell, 1998). The aim in developing motivational programme for undergraduate students will focus on assessment reform applying the goal setting theory. This proposition will encourage students to target specific goals, in hope that it will result in higher performance. The programme will involve students in their evaluation process in order to motivate them to actively participate in their skill-development and improve learning. Every act of assessment gives a message to students about what they should be learning and how they should go about it† (Sambell and McDowell, 1998). The programme will suggest that goals based evaluation criteria will improve studentsâ€℠¢ motivation in turn achieving a greater level of performance. The programme will focus on behaviour related to undergraduate business students at Monash University. It will include a check mark grading system that will be designed around behavioural objectives. The check-mark systems sets a specific standard for document quality, and instructors give a paper a â€Å"check mark† when it meets the standard† (Sorenson, Savage and Hartman, 1993). Students are required to set their own achievement goals, in terms of grades based on their overall subject result. That way they can evaluate their progress toward their goals on their own with each assignment mark. â€Å"This necessitates defining goals for oneself, using self-directed strategies to accomplish these goals, and assessing progress† (Larsen and Thisted, 1999).The programme will involve behavioural objective questionnaires that will identify what the students want to achieve at Monash. This will include long- term goals (degree completion) as well as short-term goals (average subject result e. g. distinction, right down to improving structure of writing). â€Å"Defining tasks in terms of short-term goals can help students to associate effort with success, but of course long-term goals are also needed if students are to become lifelong â€Å"learners† (OECD, 2000, p. 31). It will also involve social objectives (develop a good rapport with teachers). Using behavioural objectives may help students organize and structure† their learning and â€Å"may produce positive attitudes toward learning† (Sorenson, Savage and Hartman, 1993). Also, they outline behavioural objectives of each student, which are associated with goal difficulty. In addition, a student performance evaluation form is to be handed in with each assignment, outlining specific goals that the essay is to achieve. For example, good use of relevant and current references, each paragraph systematically links one to the other etc.Also the overall mark the student expects on the assignment based on their effort. From this teachers are to use the check mark system and self-evaluation system to grade the work. It is very important to give feedback, especially in relation to student evaluation forms outlining their objectives. Limited feedback such as â€Å"meaning well done or â€Å"meaning re-consider, needs to be more specific. Effective feedback should provide shorthand comments, throughout the paper and on the marking sheet, clearly clarifying any issues. Such feedback is called evaluative feedback. Evaluative feedback helps the individual understand the performance information by comparing it to standards or to the individual’s own past performance† (Larsen and Thisted, 1999). In addition, it is important to direct them where possible to achieve a higher mark, therefore feedback needs to be constructive. â€Å"Constructive feedback is task-specific and focuses attention on the task† (Larsen and Thisted, 1999). By focusing on the task and â€Å"providing target objectives results in the achievement of more objectives† (Sambell and McDowell, 1998).When students use the check-mark system, they can identify what they must do to achieve higher marks. Obviously, the goal difficulty set by students varies among the constraints of his/her ability. In this programme, it is important to provide specific feedback and include student participation in selecting objectives. In light of this, between the behavioural objectives system, grading method and student outcomes, students should actually be motivated to increase performance under these systems. CONCLUSIONThe theoretical issues proposed in motivational theories such as the economic man developed by McGregor and the benefits of setting specific and difficult goals are important. The distinction on how they motivate an individual is a major influence on behaviour. Applying motivational theory to a n educational context we draw our attention toward skill development, satisfaction and achievement. In developing a motivational programme, the focus was on assessment reform focusing on undergraduate business students at Monash University. Teachers and students need to work together in assessing ones performance.It is believed that â€Å"individuals are mutually motivated to learn when they do not have to fear failure, when they perceive what they are learning as being personally meaningful and relevant and when they are in respectful and supportive relationships with teachers† (OECD, 2000, p29). Therefore, by using a goal setting approach to motivate students, student participation in selection of objectives in as â€Å"research on the motivational value of goals, both the check-mark and behavioural/performance objective systems seem to motivate students to improve performance† (Sorenson, Savage and Hartman, 1993).However, with today’s rapid change and emergen ce of new knowledge and theory, universities will have more concepts on which to build and develop on â€Å"motivating the school’s participants so as to obtain the best possible educational results† (Panasuk and Lebaron, 1999). http://www. writing-expert. com/blog/sample-essays/essay-on-motivation. html

Literary Genre

Literature (from Latin litteraetantri (plural); letter) is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources (although, under circumstances unpublished sources can be exempt). Literally translated, the word literature means â€Å"acquaintance with letters† (as in the â€Å"arts and letters†). The two major classification of literature are poetry and prose. â€Å"Literature† is sometimes differentiated from popular and ephemeral classes of writing.Terms such as â€Å"literary fiction† and â€Å"literary merit† are used to distinguish individual works as art-literature rather than vernacular writing, and some critics exclude works from being â€Å"literary†, for example, on grounds of weak or faulty style, use of slang, poor characterization and shallow or contrived construction. Others exclude all genres such as romance, crime and mystery, science fiction, horror and fantasy. Pop lyrics, which are not technically a written medium at all, have also been drawn into this controversy.POETRY A poem is a composition written in verse (although verse has been equally used for epic and dramatic fiction). Poems rely heavily on imagery, precise word choice, and metaphor; they may take the form of measures consisting of patterns of stresses (metric feet) or of patterns of different-length syllables (as in classical prosody); and they may or may not utilize rhyme. Relaxation Through Poetry is a tool used to help someone relax in times of stress. One cannot readily characterize poetry precisely.Typically though, poetry as a form of literature makes some significant use of the formal properties of the words it uses – the properties of the written or spoken form of the words, independent of their meaning. Meter depends on syllables and on rhythms of speech; rhyme and alliteration depend on the sounds of words. Arguably, poetry pre-dates other forms of literature. Early examples include the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh (dated from around 2700 B. C. ), parts of the Bible, the surviving works of Homer (the Iliad and the Odyssey), and the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.In cultures based primarily on oral traditions the formal characteristics of poetry often have a mnemonic function, and important texts: legal, genealogical or moral, for example, may appear first in verse form. Some poetry uses specific forms. Examples include the haiku, the limerick, and the sonnet. A traditional haiku written in Japanese relate to nature, contain seventeen onji (syllables), distributed over three lines in groups of five, seven, and five, and should also have a kigo, a specific word indicating a season.A limerick has five lines, with a rhyme scheme of AABBA, and line lengths of 3,3,2,2,3 stressed syllables. It traditionally has a less reverent attitude towards nature. Poetry not adhering to a formal poetic structure is called â€Å"free verse† Language and tradition dictate some poetic norms: Persian p oetry always rhymes, Greek poetry rarely rhymes, Italian or French poetry often does, English and German poetry can go either way. Perhaps the most paradigmatic style of English poetry, blank verse, as exemplified in works by Shakespeare and Milton, consists of unrhymed iambic pentameters.Some languages prefer longer lines; some shorter ones. Some of these conventions result from the ease of fitting a specific language's vocabulary and grammar into certain structures, rather than into others; for example, some languages contain more rhyming words than others, or typically have longer words. Other structural conventions come about as the result of historical accidents, where many speakers of a language associate good poetry with a verse form preferred by a particular skilled or popular poet. Works for theatre (see below) traditionally took verse form.This has now become rare outside opera and musicals, although many would argue that the language of drama remains intrinsically poetic. In recent years, digital poetry has arisen that takes advantage of the artistic, publishing, and synthetic qualities of digital media. An essay consists of a discussion of a topic from an author's personal point of view, exemplified by works by Michel de Montaigne or by Charles Lamb. ‘Essay' in English derives from ‘attempt. ‘ Thus, one can find open-ended, provocative and/or inconclusive essays.The term â€Å"essays† first applied to the self-reflective musings of Michel de Montaigne–even today he has a reputation as the father of this literary form. Genres related to the essay may include: †¢the memoir, telling the story of an author's life from the author's personal point of view †¢the epistle: usually a formal, didactic, or elegant letter. †¢works by Lady Murasaki[citation needed], the Arabic Hayy ibn Yaqdhan by Ibn Tufail, the Arabic Theologus Autodidactus by Ibn al-Nafis, and the Chinese Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanz hong[citation needed].Early novels in Europe did not count as significant litera perhaps because â€Å"mere† prose writing seemed easy and unimportant. It has become clear, however, that prose writing can provide aesthetic pleasure without adhering to poetic forms. Additionally, the freedom authors gain in not having to concern themselves with verse structure translates often into a more complex plot or into one richer in precise detail than one typically finds even in narrative poetry. This freedom also allows an author to experiment with many different literary and presentation styles—including poetry—in the scope of a single novel.Other prose literature Philosophical, historical, journalistic, legal and scientific writings are traditionally ranked as literature. They offer some of the oldest prose writings in existence; novels and prose stories earned the names â€Å"fiction† to distinguish them from factual writing or nonfiction, which writers histori cally have crafted in prose. Natural science As advances and specialization have made new scientific research inaccessible to most audiences, the â€Å"literary† nature of science writing has become less pronounced over the last two centuries. Now, science appears mostly in journals.Scientific works of Aristotle, Copernicus, and Newton still possess great value, but since the science in them has largely become outdated, they no longer serve for scientific instruction. Yet, they remain too technical to sit well in most programmes of literary study. Outside of â€Å"history of science† programmes, students rarely read such works. Philosophy Philosophy, too, has become an increasingly academic discipline. More of its practitioners lament this situation than occurs with the sciences; nonetheless most new philosophical work appears in academic journals.Major philosophers through history—Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Descartes, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche—have become as canonical as any writers. Some recent philosophy works are argued to merit the title â€Å"literature†, such as some of the works by Simon Blackburn; but much of it does not, and some areas, such as logic, have become extremely technical to a degree similar to that of mathematics. History A great deal of historical writing ranks as literature, particularly the genre known as creative nonfiction. So can a great deal of journalism, such as literary journalism.However these areas have become extremely large, and often have a primarily utilitarian purpose: to record data or convey immediate information. As a result the writing in these fields often lacks a literary quality, although it often and in its better moments has that quality. Major â€Å"literary† historians include Herodotus, Thucydides and Procopius, all of whom count as canonical literary figures. Law Law offers a less clear case. Some writings of Plato and Aristotle, or even the early parts of the Bible, m ight count as legal literature.The law tables of Hammurabi of Babylon might count. Roman civil law as codified in the Corpus Juris Civilis during the reign of Justinian I of the Byzantine Empire has a reputation as significant literature. The founding documents of many countries, including Constitutions and Law Codes, can count as literature; however, most legal writings rarely exhibit much literary merit, as they tend to be rather garrulous. Drama A play or drama offers another classical literary form that has continued to evolve over the years.It generally comprises chiefly dialogue between characters, and usually aims at dramatic / theatrical performance (see theatre) rather than at reading. During the 18th and 19th centuries, opera developed as a combination of poetry, drama, and music. Nearly all drama took verse form until comparatively recently. Shakespeare could be considered drama. Romeo and Juliet, for example, is a classic romantic drama generally accepted as literature. Greek drama exemplifies the earliest form of drama of which we have substantial knowledge.Tragedy, as a dramatic genre, developed as a performance associated with religious and civic festivals, typically enacting or developing upon well-known historical or mythological themes. Tragedies generally presented very serious themes. With the advent of newer technologies, scripts written for non-stage media have been added to this form. War of the Worlds (radio) in 1938 saw the advent of literature written for radio broadcast, and many works of Drama have been adapted for film or television. Conversely, television, film, and radio literature have been adapted to printed or electronic media.Oral literature The term oral literature refers not to written, but to oral traditions, which includes different types of epic, poetry and drama, folktales, ballads. However the use of this oxymoron is controversial and not generally accepted by the scientific community. Some prefer to avoid the etymolog ical question using â€Å"oral narrative tradition†, â€Å"oral sacred tradition†, â€Å"oral poetry† or directly using epics or poetry (terms that no necessarily imply writing), others prefer to create neologisms as orature.

Tuition Is Necessarily for All Students, What Do You Think?

Nowadays, tuition has become indispensable for the new generation. There are many tuition centres in our country. Tuition has also become common among students nowadays. Many of them are attending tuition classes after school. Some of them have to attend tuition classes every day even during public holidays. I agree that tuition is necessary for students. It is needed in order to achieve the optimum academic performance. Tuition is an effective extra coaching for all students. Some of them are unable to catch up in school due to too much work load give to them in school. As a tuition class is smaller compare to a class in the school, the tutors can give their students more individual attention. Tutors can also target students’ weaknesses and try to improve their academic performance in school. Normally, students who attend tuition will be able to catch up and have some improvement in their studies. Besides that, the tutors can get more freedom in tuition. They do not need to follow and stick to the syllabus in school strictly. There is more variety in tuition and this can make the students gain more extra knowledge. Tutors can also set the exercises according to the students’ needs. The exercises according to their needs are very effective to help them to score good marks in the exam. Tutors can give the weaker students more remedial work to help them to catch up. On the other hand, they can give the brighter students some enrichment exercise to help them score better in the exams. Tuition is a necessity to achieve the optimum performance. It helps students to have a good preparation for the exam. Tutors specifically teacher students on how to score well in exams. The tutors will give them plenty of exam oriented questions so that they will know how to answer the questions and score good marks in the exams. Tuition has good track records. It helps students to pass their tests or exams in flying colours. Students can achieve good results by attending tuition classes. In addition, tuition is essential to balance the students’ studies and recreation. It can prevent them from wasting their time doing recreation activities such as watching movies, playing computer games, shopping and others. It can help them to utilize their time efficiently but not wasting their time for recreation or just doing revision at home. It is important in balancing their free time. Lastly, students can get many benefits from tuition. Students can deepen or enrich their knowledge about the topics on core subjects. Tuition also gives extra knowledge that is useful in the future. The students who attend the tuition classes have the edge over the others. This can make them perform well in class and score well in exams. In the nutshell, attending tuition classes I necessary to all students. It gives an edge to students who attend the classes. They are able to perform better in exams and score good results. It is important to balance studies and recreation as students will not waste their time doing something unbeneficial. Thus, I agree that tuition is a necessity for all students as it gives lots of benefits to them.

Preparation for Mentorship ( Given Scenario) Essay

Preparation for Mentorship ( Given Scenario) - Essay Example Due to his many issues, Paul is identified as having a learning disability. However, his case is neither new nor is it unique, and certain metrics can be utilized to better understand the situation. According to Duffy (2004), mentors find assessment of underperforming learners to be a substantial challenge. However, it is the role of both the health care professional and mentor to offer support to such learners, ensuring they are competent in their practice. Thus, as a mentor, coaching around Paul’s learning disability may make the process more difficult, but definitely not impossible. The mentor actually has a powerful takeaway from working with Paul in the sense he or she is able to share his experiences and coach another individual. In fact, it is overcoming his obstacles that may breed inspiration within his mentor in future scenarios. Research Aims Against this background, this work intends to critically analyse the role of the mentor in such a scenario. Initially, it wil l define mentorship, following up with an explanation of the mentor role, concluding with a critical analysis of research studying mentoring effectiveness in similar situations. Furthermore, this paper will explain the impact mentoring has on the mentor. In Paul’s case, mentoring will help him to live with his learning disability, rather than deal with it. At the same time, he will be doing more than learning, but also teaching. He will be showing the mentor that he can do what he is putting his mind to and so can they. Some of the characteristics of a mentor that will help Paul in realising this goal include the ability to initiate ideas and foster a willingness to learn in another person. While mentoring another person, the mentor is actually getting just as much, if not more, than the mentee. Paul will learn about emotional intelligence, and be afforded the opportunity to explore what that looks like in a mentoring relationship. Another characteristic is openness to divers ity. This is one characteristic that both benefits the mentor and the mentee. To the mentor, Paul is granting a unique and in-depth look into his life, allowing others to experience the diversity that he brings to various situations. What is Mentorship? To gain a clear understanding of the concept of mentorship, it is imperative to first define the terms for intents and purposes of this research. The Businesswomen’s Association (2011) website defines mentoring as â€Å"a relationship between two parties who are not connected within a line management structure, in which one party (a mentor) guides the other (the mentee) through a period of change towards an agreed objective.† This definition will be the one used for the purposes of this research. Mentoring is about providing help and support in a non-threatening way; such a manner that the learner appreciates and values the constructive criticisms and feedback, allowing it to empower him or her to move forward confident ly toward his or her ultimate goal(s). The process is also concerned with creating an informal forum in which one person can feel encouraged to discuss needs, wants, desires, and circumstances openly, confiding in another person who may be in a position to positively help him or her, or at the very least lend an ear and

Viruses are living organisms Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Viruses are living organisms - Research Proposal Example Viruses are not as alive as bacteria because bacteria are proven to contain DNA which is missing in Viruses. However Viruses are not dead. They may lie dormant for certain period of time and then become active when they find a host. Thus we can say that viruses are very close to life and are only looking for a suitable host. Once the host is found, viruses can multiply rapidly just like bacteria. Mahy (1998) explains, "Outside a living cell, viruses are unable to multiply; they must enter a living cell - called the host cell - to reproduce. Thus, viruses exist at the threshold of life, and their multiplication is intricately bound up with cellular processes of the host. For this reason, antibiotics, which stop the multiplication of bacteria, cannot be used against viruses, since most substances that stop virus multiplication will also kill the host cells." As mentioned above, another important distinction lies in the presence or absence of DNA that distinguishes viruses from other living organisms like plants and bacteria. For an organism to qualify as living, it must contain both DNA and RNA. DNA is responsible for heredity while RNA aids in cellular functions. In most viruses, only RNA is found while DNA is missing. But interestingly scientists have found some viruses that contain DNA and no RNA. In other words, viruses are still not living organisms in the way bacteria are because to qualify as a living thing, they must have both RNA and DNA. Absence of either one can mean sub-life existence. Viruses are also different on account of the genes present in them. It must be argued that living organisms need a large number of genes to qualify as living things. Based on this presumption, we can say that even the smallest of bacteria are more alive than viruses. This is explained by Oldstone (2000) in these words: "Viruses have relatively few genes compared with other organisms. Measles virus, yellow fever virus, poliomyelitis virus, Lassa fever virus, Ebola virus, Hantavirus, as well as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), have fewer than ten genes each, whereas a smallpox virus may contain between 200 and 400 genes. These numbers compare with 5,000 to 10,000 genes for the smallest bacteria and approximately 80,000 to 100,000 genes for a human." (p. 9) These are the reasons why Viruses are neither called dead nor alive. They however qualify for a near-alive status because once they find a host; they can multiply with amazing rapidity and can suddenly become very active. In their dormant state however, they are nothing more than a speck of nucleic acid material. It must then be concluded that viruses cannot be called alive in the true sense of the word though they are almost-alive and act like parasites waiting for a suitable host. It must also be mentioned here that a living organism is one that is not dependent on other organism for its survival. Viruses meet this requirement to an extent because while they depend on a host for multiplication and activity, they do not exactly die when they are left alone. Instead they stay dormant till they find an organism to live upon. "Viruses never really die. If viruses are not actively reproducing, they can indefinitely maintain an inert state." (Goudsmit, p. 5) It would thus not be wrong to say that viruses maintain an almost-alive state but are not as living as bacteria or some other organisms capable of reproduction. They do not both DNA

The socail responsibility of business is to increase its profit Essay

The socail responsibility of business is to increase its profit - Essay Example Social responsibility of a business means the responsibilities which the business must undertake for the betterment of the society. These are the policies and programmes which a business must pursue for the general upliftment of the society. The business must be concerned about the welfare of their customers, employees and the society on the whole.The idea behind assuming social responsibility by the business is to help for the rapid development of the society besides increasing the profits of the business. In the ancient times the businesses were concerned only about increasing the profits. But the modern business has to undertake certain social responsibilities also. The difference between traditional business and modern business is that the former is concerned only about economic and technical objectives while the latter extends it to social responsibilities as well.There are various authors who have supported the idea of assuming social responsibilities by the business. On the ot her hand some authors feel that the question of assuming social responsibility by the business falls outside the scope of business. Milton Friedmen is of this view.According to Friedmen the political principal capitalism will be affected if the business assumes social responsibility. In a capitalist economy the business firm has the complete freedom of using its available resources in a manner it wants. But if the business firms are compelled to assume social responsibility the political principle of capitalism will be violated.... The owners will have main objective of maximising the profit. Therefore the managers have no right to direct the resources of the firm for any other purpose other than for the purpose of increasing the profits. There are various constraints which blocks a manager from assuming social responsibility. The corporate managers are trained to increase the profits and they do not have any idea about the manner in which they can improve social well-being of the people. Milton Friedmen feels that the principle of taxation would be violated if the business undertakes social responsibility, because the business will be using the money of the people for undertaking some measures for the betterment of the society. And this is similar to the taxes imposed by the government. The taxes imposed by the government and the money which the business use for undertaking social responsibility are similar because both the government and the business are using the money of the citizens for the benefit of the society. The government asks taxes from the public only for undertaking some social functions. And the right of taxes is given only to the government. So the business has no right to take money from the public for undertaking social works. If the people feel that they should contribute something for the betterment of the society they can use their own resources for undertaking these works. Friedmen believes that if we bring the concept of social responsibilities into the business it will amount to bringing socialism into the business which will be against the principle of capitalism or a free-enterprise economy. In a free enterprise economy the business firm has full freedom to use the available resources of the economy for maximising the profits. Only in a socialist

International Human Resource Mnaagemnt - Examination Essay

International Human Resource Mnaagemnt - Examination - Essay Example Moreover an important factor which causes low productivity of labor in developing nations is because they suffer from low motivation. The concept of motivation is linked to capacity and must be addressed and analyzed in all capacity levels, i.e., individual level, organization and enabling environment. Measures of incentives, like salaries, intangible rewards, secondary benefits, recognitions and sanctions are some of the conventional ways of motivating employees for increasing their performance (UNDP, 2006, p.5). Because developing nations are characterized by high supply of labor and excess competition in the labor market, an incentive system based on performance generally results in improved performance on the part of the employees through instigating motivation. Because of the high rates of unemployment in the nations, even the slightest of incentives results in employees delivering the best of their capacities to perform their jobs. In such a condition it is recommended that mul tinational organizations having subsidiaries in the developing nations incorporate incentive based system of pay for motivating employees and recognizing their efforts. There are certain cultural aspects that are common among developing nations. They are seen to demonstrate high collectivism which shows their affinity to remain and operate in groups. There is high degree of integration among the people in society which reflects through the organizations as well. Organizations can employ team work and group activities which employees are more comfortable with. However, such team activities generally undermine the individual efforts which might go unrecognized. This is the reason why an incentive based pay system must be incorporated in organizations in developing nations. Along with the group performance, such a pay system helps to recognize individual performance as well, such as none of the individual efforts go unrecognized. Also the intangible incentives like rewards; recognition plays a major role in motivating the employees. Since remuneration remains low in developing nations, cash awards are given major value in these nations. Some of the non financial incentives like rewards, gifts and travel also provide added stimulus to the motivation level of employees in developing nations. Some of the less tangible incentives which work for the developing nations are independence of working, work flexibility, career advancement possibilities, work recognition etc. Also an incentive necessarily means that the fixed salary of the employee is not dependant on the performance of employees. This provides a sense of security for the employees who can then perform their jobs without anxieties. It is important that a certain amount of the employees’ remuneration must be independent of performance while the remaining part can be performance based. This is especially applicable for the developing nations where the remuneration of employees generally remains low (Jai n & Narayan, 2010, p.7). Question 3: Analyze the ethical dilemmas associated with human resources management in developing countries. Answer: Because of the volatile and fluctuating economic and political conditions in the developing nation’s organizations face difficulty in making long term plans. Also there are state dependencies with regards to policy and financial issues. Also there are frequent changes in government rules and regulations because of which multinational organizations are confronted with

What are the major conventions of Revenge Tragedy Discuss how they are Essay

What are the major conventions of Revenge Tragedy Discuss how they are used, combined or altered in Cyril Tourneur's 'The revenger's tragedy' - Essay Example T.S. Eliot recognized the dominance of the Senecan mood in drama during the era of the revenge tragedy when he suggested, â€Å"No author exercised a wider or deeper influence upon the Elizabethan mind or upon the Elizabethan form of tragedy than did Seneca† (Arkins 2). Any analysis of the revenge play genre centers on two particular plays, which both typify and transcend the revenge play genre Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy and ur-Hamlet. The blueprint of the revenge tragedy is laid out and executed here to brilliant and devastating effect, an effect which indeed defined the notion of how revenge was to be played out on stage. There is of course significant disagreement to how the concept of revenge was interpreted via Elizabethan mores, whether the multitude of avengers in the various stage dramas put on during the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries represented immoral exemplars, examples of Anglo-Saxon barbarianism combined with un-Christian Senecan ethic (Broude 39), or perhaps something more noble like retribution in the mode of divine justice. Regardless, the ethical valence in the standard form of the revenge tragedy was generally unambiguous and robustly on the side of revenge and its attendant carnage. As as interesting caveat to this, Shakespeare’s Hamlet often seen as a response to the non-extant ur-Hamlet offers a level of ambiguity that does not so much negate the vengeful mood of the play but nuances it in such a way that makes Hamlet the singularly important and influential play it is today. A purer example of the revenge tragedy is perhaps Cyril Tourneur’s The Revenger’s Tragedy. Though as we will show, while it is most obviously ruled by many of the conventions of the revenge tragedy and is clearly meant to fall within it as an artful example of the genre, it does not adopt all of its conventions carte blanche. In order to make sense of this it will

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Case Study Example There big breakthrough came in 1997, when they designed a software system known as COSMOS which would totally focus on the customers needs. This system had various advantages. One of them is that the customers organized it (Plunkett 27). This had several reimbursements. Through this system, it was easy for intuit to know who are its most loyal profitable customers. This system kept a record of every customer, and with this, company would easily identify the profitability drivers. Therefore, this was very advantageous as it developed a greater understanding of Intuits customers. An added advantage is that it enabled the sales agents to be well informed when dealing with customers. This is because all the customer information was accessible to them as they could see it in the customers file. The advantage of this is that it created an efficient way of working with customers, for example, those customers that had special requests. Decisions made on how to deal with these customers could be supported by having information on the customers specifications, and his or her past transactions. COSMOS also developed a system that automates data entry. This was of great significance as it helped reduce errors, and decrease call length. In 1999, Intuit integrated a new phone system technology into COSMOS (Plunkett 120). The system performed in a way that it identified the customer who was calling, and brought his or her records regarding any transaction made in the past. This enabled FSG to track its high value customers, and direct them to highly skilled and trained special agents for the provision of optimum services. As much as there were several advantages the company faced as a result of becoming online intermediaries, there were also a number of challenges faced. The company faced the challenge of the company changing its mindset from being a product driven company to an online servicing company (Plunkett 45). According to Redmond, the companys CEO, the switch

The Government of the Russian Federation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Government of the Russian Federation - Essay Example The transformation in foreign policy thinking profoundly impacted policy making and was based on the realization that the real security threat to Russia came from the deteriorating economy due to excessive military spending. Rather than applying the overt exhibition of military power, Gorbachev chose to apply political influence. He improved diplomatic relations and economic cooperation by such actions as unannounced personal appearances at public events both within and outside Soviet borders. Gorbachev charismatically utilized the world media and made political concessions in the resolution of regional conflicts and arms negotiations that were previously unimaginable under the old regime. The ‘New Thinking’ aided the Soviet Union in garnering wide approval of many nations. Its peace-making policy that released Soviet control over Eastern Europe ultimately led to the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War. Its success would entail radical changes not only in t he way the economy functions, but in social and cultural policy, in Soviet political life, and ultimately, in the way in which the Soviet Union deals with the larger international community. By-products of the ‘New Thinking,’ perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness) initiated far-reaching governmental policy changes that affected virtually every aspect of Soviet life. These new concepts were a distant departure from previous Soviet practices. This discussion will focus on the building of the Russia Federation, the competing ideologies within the government along with Russia’s new approach to foreign policy and how it was designed to tie in with internal reforms. It will briefly review recent political history leading up to this new way of thinking including how such a radical departure from past procedures and policies was accomplished and the subsequent consequences this reversal of political thought inspired as well as its far-reaching

Human Cloning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Cloning - Research Paper Example Besides therapeutic and reproductive cloning another category of cloning called the replacement cloning is also gaining prevalence. Replacement cloning is an amalgamation of therapeutic as well as reproductive cloning. The term gained prominence as it involves comprehensively injured, abortive, or weakening body, and replacement of the whole or partial organ or part of the body. The present article discusses the pros and cons of human cloning while extracting attention to understand the significance of human cloning in the advancement of human civilization. Introduction Human cloning is the process of generating a genetically indistinguishable replica of human being. The process is thought to be of therapeutic or reproductive importance. Therapeutic cloning encompasses cloning cells for their exploitation in treating various ailments. On the other hand reproductive cloning generates human clones, this is prohibited in many nations because of ethical concerns. The moral predicament of human cloning lies on the argument either to promote or to impede cloning (Human cloning). The Problems/Dangers and Controversies of Cloning Cloning is discouraged by various nations as cloning is against the rule of nature, which is generating humans, nurturing them and paving the way for uncertainties related with the repercussions of science. At present human population has crossed the figure of 7 billion, a huge burden on the planet. Is cloning going to resolve the issue of exponentially increasing human population is a big question imposed by the detractors of human cloning (Disadvantages of cloning). Considering the previous failures that involved Dolly experiments, uncertainty of science technology is mounting. Detractors of human cloning have their say about the loss of genetic diversity leading to higher probability and pervasiveness of genetic diseases. Poor adaptability of clones may become detrimental for situations of jeopardy. Inbreeding leads to self-annihilation. Cl oning is inhumane as it abolish the bond of love and care and is said to be transgressing the nature. The process of cloning highlight that the human or scientists can play the role of Creator or God as cloning is a kind of asexual reproduction, therefore reduces the sense of distinctiveness of a character, lacking uniqueness and freedom (Disadvantages of cloning; Williamson, 1999). Morally it is not supported by the opponents as they believe that human beings cannot take the laws of mother nature in hand and one cannot play the role of the Creator, God of the universe. For therapeutic use also if embryonic stem cells are being used, it is an eventual process of killing the embryo (Ethical Dilemmas of Cloning). It is also noteworthy to have an insight regarding the amplification in human population and ecological burden on resources and on other surviving species. Growing population is putting pressure on the demands of basic amenities, infrastructures and social set ups; with human cloning, further contribution to disaster cannot be eluded (Disadvantages of cloning). According to Savulescu (1999), human cloning is accountable to abuse, a person's right to individualism and self-sufficiency and being self is violated, moreover genetic individuality is also lost and human beings are used as a model organism.

Linguistics and Interjections Essay Example for Free

Linguistics and Interjections Essay In Western philosophy and linguistic theory, interjections—that is, words like oof, ouch, and bleah—have traditionally been understood to indicate emotional states. This article offers an account of interjections in Q’eqchi’ Maya that illuminates their social and discursive functions. In particular, it discusses the grammatical form of interjections, both in Q’eqchi’ and across languages, and characterizes the indexical objects and pragmatic functions of interjections in Q’eqchi’ in terms of a semiotic framework that may be generalized for other languages. With these grammatical forms, indexical objects, and pragmatic functions in hand, it details the various social and discursive ends that interjections serve in one Q’eqchi’ community, thereby shedding light on local values, norms, ontological classes, and social relations. In short, this article argues against interpretations of interjections that focus on internal emotional states by providing an account of their meanings in terms of situational, discursive, and social context. p a u l k o c k e l m a n is McKennan Post-Doctoral Fellow in Linguistic Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H. 03755, U.S.A. [[emailprotected]]). Born in 1970, he was educated at the University of California, Santa Cruz (B.A., 1992) and the University of Chicago (M.S., 1994; Ph.D., 2002). His publications include â€Å"The Collection of Copal among the Q’eqchi’-Maya† (Research in Economic Anthropology 20:163–94), â€Å"Factive and Counterfactive Clitics in Q’eqchi’-Maya: Stance, Status, and Subjectivity,† in Papers from the Thirty-eighth Annual Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society (Chicago: Linguistics Society, in press), and â€Å"The Interclausal Relations Hierarchy in Q’eqchi’ Maya† (International Journal of American Linguistics 69:25–48). The present paper was submitted 1 vi 01 and accepted 27 xii 02. 1. A longer version of this article was presented at the workshop â€Å"Semiotics: Culture in Context† at the University of Chicago in January 2001. Chris Ball, Anya Bernstein, John Lucy, and Michael Silverstein all provided very helpful commentary. This article also greatly beneï ¬ ted from suggestions made by Benjamin S. Orlove and several anonymous referees. Western philosophy and linguistic theory have traditionally considered interjections at the periphery of language and primordially related to emotion. For example, the Latin grammarian Priscian deï ¬ ned interjections as â€Å"a part of speech signifying an emotion by means of an unformed word† (Padley 1976:266). Muller (1862)  ¨ thought that interjections were at the limit of what might be called language. Sapir (1921:6–7) said that they were â€Å"the nearest of all language sounds to instinctive utterance.† Bloomï ¬ eld (1984[1933]:177) said that they â€Å"occur under a violent stimulus,† and Jakobson (1960: 354) considered them exemplars of the â€Å"purely emotive stratum of language.† While interjections are no longer considered peripheral to linguistics and are now carefully deï ¬ ned with respect to their grammatical form, their meanings remain vague and elusive. In particular, although interjections are no longer characterized pure ly in terms of emotion, they are still characterized in terms of â€Å"mental states.† For example, Wierzbicka (1992:164) characterizes interjections as â€Å"[referring] to the speaker’s current mental state or mental act.† Ameka (1992a:107) says that â€Å"from a pragmatic point of view, interjections may be deï ¬ ned as a subset of items that encode speaker attitudes and communicative intentions and are contextbound,† and Montes (1999:1289) notes that many interjections â€Å"[focus] on the internal reaction of affectedness of the speaker with respect to the referent.† Philosophers have offered similar interpretations. For example, Herder thought that interjections were the human equivalent of animal sounds, being both a â€Å"language of feeling† and a â€Å"law of nature† (1966:88), and Rousseau, pursuing the origins of language, theorized that protolanguage was â€Å"entirely interjectional† (1990:71). Indeed, such philosophers have posited a historical transition from interjections to language in which the latter allows us not only to index pain and express passion but also to denote values and exercise reason (D’Atri 1995).2 Thus interjections have been understood as a semiotic artifact of our natural origins and the most transparent index of our emotions. Such an understanding of interjections is deeply rooted in Western thought. Aristotle (1984), for example, posited a contrastive relationship between voice, proper only to humans as instantiated in language, and sound, shared by humans and animals as instantiated in cries. This contrastive relation was then compared with other analogous contrastive relations, in particular, value and pleasure/pain, polis and household, and bios (the good life, or political life proper to humans) and zoe (pure life, shared by all living things). Such a contrast is so pervasive that modern philosophers such as Agamben (1995) have devoted much of their scholarly work to the thinking out of this tradition and others built on it such as id versus ego in the Freudian paradigm. In short, the folk distinction made between interjections and language 2. D’Atri (1995:124) argues that, for Rousseau, â€Å"interjections . . . are sounds and not voices: they are passive registerings and as such do not presuppose the intervention of will, which is what characterizes human acts of speech.† Proper maps onto a larger set of distinctions in Western thought: emotion and cognition, animality and humanity, nature and culture, female and male, passion and reason, bare life and the good life, pain and value, private and public, and so on (see, e.g., Lutz 1988, Strathern 1988). In this article I avoid such abstracting and dichotomizing traps by going straight to the heart of interjections: their everyday usage in actual discourse when seen in the context of local culture and grounded in a semiotic framework. I begin by characterizing the linguistic and ethnographic context in which I carried out my research and go on to relate interjections to other linguistic forms, showing how they are both similar to and distinct from other classes of words in natural languages. Next I provide and exemplify a semiotic framework, generalizable across languages, in terms of which the indexical objects and pragmatic functions of interjections can best be characterized. Then I detail the local usage of the 12 most commonly used interjections in Q’eqchi’ and show the way in which they are tied into all things cultural: values, norms, ontological classes, social relations, and so on. I conclude by discussing the relative frequency with which the various forms and functions of interjections are used. In short, I argue against interpretations of interjections that focus on emotional states by providing an account of their meanings in terms of situational, discursive, and social context. Linguistic and Ethnographic Context While I am attempting to provide as wide a theoretical account of interjections as I can, thereby providing a metalanguage for speaking about similar sign phenomena in other languages, I am also trying to capture the grammatical niceties of Q’eqchi’ Maya and the discursive and social particularities of one Q’eqchi’-speaking village in particular. Before I begin my analysis, then, I want to sketch the linguistic and ethnographic context in which I worked. Q’eqchi’ is a language in the Kichean branch of the Mayan family, spoken by some 360,000 speakers in Guatemala (in the departments of Alta Verapaz, Izabel, and Peten) and Belize (Kaufman 1974, Stewart 1980). 3 Lin ´ guistically, Q’eqchi’ is relatively well described: scholars such as Berinstein (1985), Sedat (1955), Stewart (1980), Stoll (1896), and Chen Cao et al. (1997) have discussed its syntax, morphology, phonology, and lexicon, and I have detailed various morphosyntactic forms (encoding grammatical categories such as mood, status, evidentiality, taxis, and inalienable possession) as they intersect with sociocultural values and contextual features and as they illuminate local modes of personhood (Kockelman 3. Typologically, Q’eqchi’ is a morphologically ergative, head-marking language. In Q’eqchi’, vowel length (signaled by doubling letters) is phonemic; /k/ and /q/ are velar and uvular plosives, respectively, and /x/ and /j/ are palato-alveolar and velar fricatives, respectively. All other phonemes have their standard IPA values. 2002, 2003a, b). This article is therefore part of a larger project in which I examine how intentional and evaluative stances are encoded in natural languages and the relations that such stances bear to local modes of subjectivity. Alta Verapaz, the original center of the Q’eqchi’-speaking people who still make up the majority of its population, has had a unusual history even by Guatemalan standards. In 1537, after the Spanish crown had failed to conquer the indigenous peoples living there, the Dominican Friar Bartolome de Las Casas was permitted to  ´ pacify the area through religious methods. Having succeeded, he changed the name of the area from Tezulutlan (Land of War) to Verapaz (True Peace), and the Dominicans were granted full control over the area—the state banning secular immigration, removing all military colonies, and nullifying previous land grants. In this way, for almost 300 years the area remained an isolated enclave, relatively protected by the paternalism of the church in comparison with other parts of Guatemala (King 1974, Sapper 1985). This ended abruptly in the late 1800s, however, with the advent of coffee growing, liberal reforms, and the inï ¬â€šux of Europeans (Cambranes 1985, Wagner 1996). Divested of their land and forced to work on coffee plantations, the Q’eqchi’ began migrating north into the unpopulated lowland forests of the Peten  ´ and Belize (Adams 1965, Carter 1969, Howard 1975, Kockelman 1999, Pedroni 1991, Saa Vidal 1979, Schwartz 1990, Wilk 1991). In the past 40 years this migration has been fueled by a civil war that has ravaged the Guatemalan countryside, with the Q’eqchi’ ï ¬â€šeeing not just scarce resources and labor quotas but also their own nation’s soldiers—often forcibly conscripted speakers of other Mayan languages (Carmack 1988, IWGIA 1978, Wilson 1995). As a consequence, the past century has seen the Q’eqchi’ population spread from Alta Verapaz to the Peten and ï ¬ nally to Belize, Mexico, and even the  ´ United States. Indeed, although only the fourth largest of some 24 Mayan languages, Q’eqchi’ is thought to have the largest percentage of monolinguals, and the ethnic group is Guatemala’s fastest-growing and most geographically extensive (Kaufman 1974, Stewart 1980). The two key ethnographies of Q’eqchi’-speakers have been written by Wilk (1991) and Wilson (1995), the former treating household ecology in Belize and the latter upheavals in village life and identity at the height of the civil war in highland Guatemala during the 1980s. In addition to these monographs, there are also a number of dissertations and articles on the history (King 1974, Sapper 1985, Wagner 1996), ecology (Carter 1969, Secaira 1992, Wilson 1972), and migration (Adams 1965, Howard 1975, Pedroni 1991) of Q’eqchi’-speaking people. The data for this article are based on almost two years of ethnographic and linguistic ï ¬ eldwork among speakers of Q’eqchi’, most of it in Ch’inahab, a village of some 80 families (around 650 people) in the municipality of San Juan Chamelco, in the department of Alta Verapaz. At an altitude of approximately 2,400 m, Ch’inahab is one of the highest villages in this area, with an annual precipitation of more than 2,000 mm. It is also one of the most remote, access to the closest road requiring a three-hour hike down a steep and muddy single-track trail. Its relatively high altitude and remote location provide the perfect setting for cloud forest, and such a cloud forest provides the perfect setting for the resplendent quetzal, being home to what is thought to be the highest density of such birds in the world. Because of the existence of the quetzal and the cloud forest in which it makes its home, Ch’inahab has been the site of a successful eco-tourism project the conditions and consequences of which are detailed in my dissertation (Kockelman 2002). While the majority of villagers in Ch’inahab are monolingual speakers of Q’eqchi’, some men who have served time in the army or worked as itinerant traders speak some Spanish. All the villagers are Catholic. Ch’inahab is divided by a mountain peak with dwellings on both of its sides and in the surrounding valleys. It takes about 45 minutes to hike across the village. At one end there is a biological station kept by the eco-tourism project and used sporadically by European ecologists, and at the other there is a Catholic church and a cemetery. In the center there is a small store, a school for primary and secondary grades, and a soccer ï ¬ eld. The surrounding landscape is cloud forest giving way to scattered house sites, agricultural parcels, pasture, and ï ¬ elds now fallow. All villagers engage in corn-based, or milpa, agriculture, but very few have enough land to fulï ¬ ll all of their subsistence needs.4 For this reason, many women in the village are dedicated to chicken husbandry, most men in the village engage in seasonal labor on plantations (up to ï ¬ ve months a year in some cases), and many families engage in itinerant trade (women weaving baskets and textiles for the men to sell) and eco-tourism (the women hosting tourists and the men guiding them). Dwelling sites often contain a scattering of houses in which reside an older couple and their married sons, all of whom share a water source and a pasture. The individual families themselves often have two houses, a relatively traditional thatched-roof house in which the family cooks and sleeps and a relatively new house with a tin roof in which they host festivals and in which older children and ecotourists may sleep. Because of eco-tourism and the inï ¬â€šux of money and strangers that it brings, there has been an increase in the construction of such tin-roofed houses, and, as will be seen, many of my examples of interjections come from such construction contexts. My data on the use of interjections among villagers in Ch’inahab comes from 14 months of ï ¬ eldwork carried out between 1998 and 2001. The data collection con4. Before 1968, what is now Ch’inahab was owned by the owner of a plantation. Q’eqchi’-speakers who lived in the village of Popobaj (located to the south of and lower than Ch’inahab) were permitted to make their milpa in this area in exchange for two weeks of labor per month on the ï ¬ nca (Secaira 1992:20). Only in 1968, when a group of villagers got together to form a land acquisition committee, were some 15 caballerÄ ±as (678 ha) of land purchased from the owner  ´ for 4,200 quetzals (US$4,200). This land, while legally owned by the entire community, was divided among the original 33 villagers as a function of their original contributions.

Factors of Absenteeism and Impacts on Organizations

Factors of Absenteeism and Impacts on Organizations It create a big problem in an organisation when employees misses too many days off from work and in these situations other employees have to cover their work who are off from work and the work simply does not get gone in a well manner. The company must find out that the absence is involuntarily or voluntarily because involuntarily means any kind of illness or any unavoidable reason by which the employee is unable to come on work. Voluntarily means when an employee is absent from work without any reason manager need to worry about this kind of absence of employee need to get any documentation. Some time the absence may be excessive in this case manager should compare the employees attendance record with the other employees if the record of one employee is bad then the other means he was too many days off from work then it may be excessive absenteeism. So the manager should discuss all the matter to the employees very friendly to improve the performance of the company the employees must aware of this thing that their absence is affecting others. Manager should give a written notice to the employee who is absent too many days from the work to warn him/her Basically absenteeism occurs when an employee of any organisation does not come to work due to several intentional or unintentional reasons like illness, injury, or any other habitual reason. Absenteeism affects the business in the terms of lost productivity. According to U.S. bureau of the census and U.S. bureau of labour statistic up the direct losses about $40 billion a year and social security administration determined that, annually workers missed more then half a billion days. http://www.enotes.com/biz-encyclopedia/absenteeism Types of absence There are many reasons why people off from work. Some those can be categorised as: Short-range sickness absence (uncertificated, self-certificated, or covered by a doctors fit note which replaced the sick note from April 2010) Long-standing sickness absence Unofficial absence or persistent lateness Other absences:  for example,  annual leave; maternity, paternity, adoption, or parental leave; time off for public or trade union duties, or to care for dependents; compassionate leave; educational leave. How much does absenteeism cost your business? The workers which are absent from the work cost the business a lot and decrease the revenue of the business Especially unplanned absence from work cost a lots to business like casual sickness of employee casual absence can affect per day productivity of business. This is a common problem of organisations in every organisation employees have 5.4 unplanned absence in 1 day. According to Mercer,  Absences, the total cost of absence can equal as much as 36% of payroll (compared to 15.4% for health care coverage). Of that figure, 9% accounts for unplanned absences. Planned absences, like vacations and holidays, average 26.6%. For a midsize business, this unplanned absence can account for as much as $4.5 million dollars per year. (http://www.super-solutions.com/CostofAbsenteeism.asp) Employer of the business must look upon the direct and indirect expenses incurred by the employee absent from work. Direct cost are the cost which are normally paid to the employee as a benefit during the absence form work it include sick absence, paid holidays or vocations. But the real impact of the absence of employee comes in the form of indirect cost which are represented by: The absence of employee affect badly in the completion of any project or can slow it down If the employee us absent from worker the a temporary worker or the employees supervisor have to cover the work of the absent employee The absence of the employee slows but does not stop bleeding The replacement of employee is less efficient in an organisation it can be percentile as follow: 71% as efficient during unplanned incidental absences 79% as efficient during planned absences 80% as efficient during extended absences The work output of 4 to 8 co-workers was reduced by 19% Normally non attendance can cost as much as about  £1000 to business per employee every year one person is taking day off from work might be not seem like a big issue but when we add up the sum it cause the decrease in the productivity with the increased strain on other areas of the business. The fact is that it should not be taken lightly. What if you need to hire in a temporary worker to pick up the workload? What if someone who is covering the work needs to be paid overtime? What if their absence means a suggestion doesnt get in on time resulting in a lost contract? Indeed, absenteeism can take a financial toll in several companies for that matter in different respects. The most obvious cost in the sector of sick leave benefits provided that the business offers some benefits but there are many hidden costs as well. These are some hidden charges which cost to business in the case of absenteeism as follow: Lost productivity of the absent employee Overtime for other employees to fill in Decreased overall productivity of those employees Any temporary help costs incurred Possible loss of business or dissatisfied customers Problems with employee morale More over IHC estimates that 13.4 million working days a year are lost to stress, anxiety and depression, and 12.3 million to back and upper limb problems. And the overall cost to UK industry? A whopping  £11.5bn in 2002 was paid out in wages to absent employees and on additional overtime and temporary staff cover, according to the CBI. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3563609.stm Numerous factors Taking a one-off sick may not seem a problem to the employees in a organization but they all add up to a major cost to a organization as well a industry of any country So much so that according to a report by healthcare consultancy IHC, 40 million days are lost each year in the UK to workplace absenteeism. And 93% of employees was absent from work due to colds and flu IHC says that in reality at least half of all workplace absence has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with health. People decide to stay away from the office personal or domestic issues. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3563609.stm Motivation Many employers attempt to clear out on unwarranted absenteeism through tighter control. They ask employees to attend a meeting with their supervisor straight away upon their return to work, they demand a note from a doctor or use some other ways that targets the symptoms of absenteeism rather than its underlying causes. But the problem remains the same because they must concentrate to cut the roots of the problem the only thing that must do is to motivate. They must start by creating a relaxing an secure environment in which to communicate must create a point one where the shop floor workers can meet management without any pressure n discuss the problem which they are facing . Employers must communicate it is very important task in motivation which tell the views and happiness of everyone in the business Performance = function (ability x motivation) There are number of different views of different people that what can motivate the workers. The most common theory of Herzberg is discussed follow: Motivational Theory: Herzbergs Two Factor Theory Herzberg found many aspects of that what factors please the employees or displease the employees about their work place. He developed the motivation hygiene theory in which he called the motivators and the dissatisfiers to using hygiene term in the sense of to maintenance factors which are very important to avoid dissatisfaction. Herzberg theory of motivation was based on two factors hygienic factors and motivator factors Hygiene Factors which can demotive when the employee is not present. Hygiene Factors influence the dissatisfaction of a person, but are rarely  identified as creating job satisfaction.   Supervision Interpersonal relations Physical working conditions Salary Company car Security Relation with subordinates Personal life Motivation Factors which will motivate when present.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Job dissatisfaction isnt  usually  caused by a lack of Motivation Factors, but they are  identified as the cause of job satisfaction. achievement advancement recognition responsibility work itself The factors that motivated them in the workplace These all are the factors that gave the employees an motivation to work to resultant in job satisfaction. These are also known as motivators these motivators increased the job satisfaction of the employee towards his work and further increase the efficiency Those factors that prevented job dissatisfaction These factors are those that banned the job dissatisfaction. These factors did not make the employee happy or have job satisfaction it just removed the un happiness out of working. They are also know as hygiene factors these factors effect on the efficiency of the employees or it reduce the performance of the employee in work Herzberg believed that all factors include into one of these categories and therefore had separate cost. Some factors include into both categories although they held a stronger position in one of them. Attribution theory Attribution theory suggests that we observe a persons behaviour and then try to establish whether internal or external forces caused it. If it is a judged to be internal it is seen as being under the persons control if it is judged to be external it seen as a result of the situation. Attribution is said to be subjected to a number if consideration because we judge actions in a context. For example we judge how distinctive behaviour is and whether behaviour is unusual for a particular person. If for example the person is absent from and the circumstances are that his or her attendance record is exemplary then the behaviour could be considered unusual and an external cause (that is that the behaviour is outside the control of the individual) will be attributed. If the absenteeism fits in with the general pattern of behaviour then an internal attribution will be attached (that is it will be seen as being under the persons control. We also judge how consistent the behaviour is if it is consistent then we are most likely to attribute the behaviour to internal causes. (Organisational Behaviour and Work 3rd edition Fiona M.Wilson 2010) Measurement HOW TO MEASURE ABSENTEEISM: The most clear way to measure employees absenteeism is to make records of the attendance of the employees that how many days have employee not have came to work in many companies there is some sort of clock in or accountability set up to record the attendance of the employees working there when we have the proper record then we can easily know that how many employees are ill. Another key element of measuring the absence effectively is accurate measurement and monitoring. An organisation must measure if it has a problem with the absence issue its extent and the best way to solve or control this issue. There are just a fewer organisations which have set the target to reduce the absenteeism There are different measures that can be used to calculate the absence each of the measure provides the different aspects of absence. Lost time rate This measure show the overall percentage of the total time available which has been lost due to the absence of the employees of organisation For example:   10 one-day absences: 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000   1 ten-day absence: 1 x 1 x 10 = 10   5 two-day absences: 5 x 5 x 10 = 250   2 five-day absences: 2 x 2 x 10 = 40   The trigger points are normally different in many organisations. As for all types of absence, the underlying causes will need to be identified. This measure  shows the percentage of total time available which has been lost due to absence of employees: Total absence (hours or days) in the period  x 100   Possible total (hours or days) in the period   For example, if the total absence in the period is 124 person-hours and the total time available is 1,550 person-hours, the lost time rate is:   124  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   x 100 = 8 %   1,550   It can be calculated separately for individual departments of the organisation or groups of employees to reveal particular absence problems. Frequency rate    The measure access the average number of absences per employee, it access as a percentage. It does not give any sign of the length of each absence period, nor any sign of employees who take more than one spell of absence:   No of spells of absence in the period  x 100   No of employees   for example: If we take the record of organisation of one month so employed on average 80 workers, and during this time there were a total of 16 of them was absence, the frequency rate is:   16  x 100 = 20%   80   by counting the total number of workers who take at least one day absence in one period rather than the total days of absence this measurement will show the individual frequency rate Bradford Factor The Bradford Factor identifies the constant short range absence for individuals, by measuring the number of days of absence, and is therefore a useful measure of the disturbance by this type of absence. It can be calculated using the formula:   S x S x D S = number of absents in 52 weeks taken by an person   D = number of absents in 52 weeks taken by that person For example:   10 one-day absences: 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000   1 ten-day absence: 1 x 1 x 10 = 10   5 two-day absences: 5 x 5 x 10 = 250   2 five-day absences: 2 x 2 x 10 = 40   the trigger points will be different for all of the organisations. As for all types of absence, the underlying causes will need to be identified. Steps to Control Unauthorized Absence There are different theories which explain the causes of the absence and by which we can realize that we cannot solve the casual absence issues and other types of absence but we need a comprehensive approach to reduce the issue of absenteeism. There are three steps on which the company or employers must concentrate to avoid or control the absenteeism Step 1: The employers must make a absence policy in an working order. Not only the absence policy but also they must use other systems to make sure the rules and regulations of the absenteeism policy are implemented to employees in well manner such as: We must train the manager about the cost of the absenteeism and how to overcome it Make an policy or more rules regards to reduce the money if the employees gone absent and communicate with them that how much money they have lost it will force them not to be absent without any reason but the most important thing we have to check the local legal regulation and policy before this method Must record the attendance of the employees and there should any kind of reward for the employee who was on work all the days in a period or who containing the maximum attendance let all the employees chose the winner for that We must make an absence policy align to the other policy specially which is related with the employees benefits. Such as we can create rules to not to give any kind of incentive or any loan to the employee whom attendance is not good Step 2: We must make sure the employment system and the selection system consider absence issue such as: The recruiter for employees should mention the medical and health conditions as an main concern We must make sure in interviews or in start that the candidate has an positive attitude towards the attendance importance It is very important to check not only for competency fit he must be checked for job fit which includes the interest and personality of the candidate according to the nature of the job Step 3: Some of the problem of absenteeism is related to the job problem. If there is any poor performance of any employee then we must take action: We must make the elastic working time arrangements like if employee have any kind of problem to go on Monday for domestic demands they can easily replace Monday to Saturday or any other day or if the employee attend the half day then he can work additional hours tomorrow to cover the missing hours We must put some interesting aspects in the job by enlarging the responsibilities by changing the nature of the job by making it challenging to the subordinates or by providing the additional trainings or coaching. What actions a manger should take for absence The important challenge for managers is to make people happier at work. This is a fact if the people are happy on the work then there will be less day off from work every time they wake up with a stuffy nose. Managers need to become more tuned to their employees they have to take care of several things like emotional needs and find out what really motivates them. To reduce the amount of absence they must take some good decisions: Pick the right person for job by interviewing and selecting people Give more time to or pay more attention to the applicants human side other then the qualifications. Find out what makes the employees happy and make sure about the views of them that they think positive and sure about it that job suits them Should motivate your people and coach them in different ways . As with all theories there is not even any guarantee that it will work very time but the majority employees are responsible people and if the we treat them in a good manner them they attitude towards the work will be positive manner. Mostly some of the employees need to know about their performance in the organisation if we want to really motivate them then we must give them the feedback and must guide them how they can improve their work more efficiently. Managers can make the job more interesting to employees by giving them the responsibilities, challenges, giving them new projects for work, or trainings. We should regularly communicate with them formally and informally and must involve or organize the staff meetings.

Writing a Business Letter

Writing a Business Letter Abstract: Stylistics is a systematic and marginal subject which studies the characters of literature, innate character and its discipline. English business letter is a specific type of writing ,and it is a comprehensive subject that combines English writing and international business practice, the main function of it is transmit information. This article is going to apply the theories of stylistic to the analysis of English business letter from the view of stylistic, and analyze stylistic features in language feature, textual structure features and grammatical features, and it makes many examples to prove them respectively. From the view of linguistic characteristics, the English business correspondence has to follow 7Cs principle; from the view of text, the standardized structure and complete outline, furthermore normative format, strong logic, clear thought, and precise structure are the characteristics of text structures; from the view of grammar, complex structure of sentence is an importa nt syntactic characteristic of business correspondence. Furthermore, this article is to propose how to follow these features in English business letter writing as well. At last, it makes the estimated effect and research prospect of studying stylistic to integrate with business letter. Key words: Stylistics, English Business Correspondence, type of writing, language features, textual features, vocabulary features Introduction of Stylistics Stylistics is a systematic and marginal subject which studies the characters of literature, innate character and its discipline. It is a subject that falls between linguistics, art theory, esthetics and psychology, it is a subject that is in the view of linguistics to interpret the objectives of literature and writing styles as well. Actually, it has a long history in studying of linguistics at home and abroad. The study of modern western Stylistic can date back to the study of rhetoric in ancient Greece and ancient Rome. In a long period before twentieth century, the discussion about the styles of stylistics was limited in the subjective impression, and it was studied in rhetoric, literature and the analysis of grammar, so it didnt have its own status in the area of researching. Until the beginning of twentieth century, after adapting the modern language method, the style analysis started break away from the limit of traditional analysis which based on intuition, and systemized and became scientific gradually. The European historical linguistic and normal linguistic became influential independent subjects in the beginning of twenties century, and integrating with linguistic, stylistics became a inter discipline which had independent status as well. Stylistics was initial known as literature criticism in China. But with the development of linguistics, people started to know the substance of stylistics, and tried to apply relevant theories to analyzing stylistics, so that it could promote the rapid development of stylistics. To the time of twenty-first century, Liu Shi Sheng who derived Stylistic from style, stylistics ,functional stylistics, textual stylistics and social cultural stylistics which based on Carters point of view, and its rationale is based on Foucouhs point of view that the knowledge and belief of people owns the features of social symbols(Chen, 2003:4), it further promoted the development of Stylistic in China. Stylistic is in the stage of development and improvement currently, yet there are different point of views about the definition of stylistic and the understanding of its meanings among literates. Stylistic has widened meaning and narrowed meaning: the narrowed one means literary style, while the widened one means language varieties of literary style (Qin, 2001:2). Therefore, more and more scholars study and investigate it in the area of theories and practices widely and massively. A numbers of the scholars even apply the theories of stylistic to analyze business writing, which promote the rapid development of studying in this area. 2. An Overview of English Business Letters In todays highly developed and competitive society, communication between individuals and groups is becoming more and more important. And it serves to pass on information, to express ideas and to exchange their own feelings as well. Generally speaking, business letters plays an important role in various trading businesses, which is the principle means used by a business firm to keep in touch with its customers. Business letter usually is a formal written style that for external contacts, such as inter-organizations, among organizations and their clients, and it is used for business connection such as getting or conveying business information, business negotiation such as making or accepting an offer and so on. 2.1 The Definition and Classification of Business Letters Hutchinson Waters and Halliday stressed that business letter belonged to the branch of professional English, it was the generic term of English Language Variety adapted by business trade members in business activities, and the use of English in business ways. Robinson used to sum up the characteristics of business English in such ways: (1) content-based; (2) goal-directed; (3) needs analysis; (4) time pressure. (Zhou, 2010:4) Very often, letters are a companys only contact with a client, and through letters, the receivers form an impression of the company. In the present age of information, however, people tend to make phone calls instead of writing letters for the purpose of communication. The rapid development of telecommunication seems to have decreased the importance of letters. Nevertheless, in this age of electronic communication, the business letter not only retains its importance on account, but also is re-born in the form of e-mail and fax. The purposes of business correspondence are building and maintaining business relationship, promoting business cooperation, maintaining good business relationship, and the expression of business correspondence will influence the economic benefit of the company. Thus, business letters may be defined as a media or means through which views are expressed and ideas or information is communicated in the process of business activities Business letters can be classified in such ways as follows: First, business letters can be classified according to the content of the letter such as request letters, claim and adjustment letters, reply letters, credit and collection letters, sales letters and so on. Second, classification can appear according to different functions in the process of a business communication. There are letters for establishment of business relations, enquiry letters, quotation letters, ordering letters, payment letters, shipment and insurance letters, claim letters, etc. Thirdly, business letters can also be classified into personal business letters and official business letters. In personal business letters, the greeting may be formal or informal. And the body is usually intended paragraphs; the typed signature line can be omitted and the full name or the first name should be handwritten. While on the other hand, the official can be more formal in greeting and its body. And the signature is made up of a typed signature with professional or social or company name, under which the Chinese name should be typed by its Pinyin in the next line. 2.2 The Stylistic Features of Business Correspondence As a branch of professional English, business correspondence has its own characteristics of style. Business letters are now meant for modern businesspeople, so their style should not be long-winded, old fashioned, or jargon-filled, as it was several decades ago. Business letters today should be simple, concise, concrete, and easy to understand, etc. And from the view of characteristics of style, consult letters are usually with direction, request and courtesy; business informal letters are usually tendentious, illustrative and flexible; the formal business letters are usually optional, informative, contactable and courtesy. (Zhao, 2007 ¼Ã… ¡186). 2.3 The Necessity of Using Business Letters Properly However, we may misuse the business letters if we are lack of general knowledge of stylistics, and the consequence of misusing business letters maybe serious. So when we observe language activity in the various contexts in which it takes place ,we find differences in the type of language selected as appropriate to different types of situation(Cheng,1988:3)à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ 3. Specific Studies on Business Letters from with the Perspective of Stylistics English business correspondence is a special type of writing, and it is a comprehensive subject to integrate English writing with international trade, we can analyze characteristics of stylistics from the views of characteristics of language, characteristics of text, and characteristics of grammar. 3.1 Language Feature of English Business Letter Business letter is a common style used in international business activities. As it comes from and serves for kinds of business, and reflects the relative professional content, its words, syntaxes, meanings and intensions have a strong charm of business. And a business message is considered successful when (1) the receiver interprets the message as the sender intended it, and (2) it achieves the senders purposes. The language of it is brief and accurate, the expression is strong but moderate .And its manner of writing follows the principle of 7Cs, which are Courtesy, Consideration, Completeness, Clarity, Conciseness, Concreteness and Correctness. They tie in closely with the basic concept of the communication process, which are significant for business letters by providing guidelines for the choice of content. 3.1.1 Courtesy Business letter plays a decisive role in business activities, and Courtesy is a virtue of all business documents ¼Ã‹â€ Wang ¼Ã…’2007 ¼Ã… ¡8 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °,it create so friendly atmosphere of equality that it can promote bilateral cooperation and reach an agreement. However, it is not merely politeness with mechanical insertions of thank you or please. Instead, it stems from sincere respect and friendly human concern for one another. So in your business message, you can develop courtesy by putting yourself in your readers shoes(Wang ¼Ã…’2007 ¼Ã… ¡8), and observing the following techniques: to be prompt, to be polite, to be on a positive tone. Firstly, applying promptness is an important way to show courtesy in business communication. Whenever we are asked a question or receive a letter that needs our response, we should reply it within the day. If it is impossible for us to give a prompt reply in detail on the same day, we should write a short note to the customers to explain the reason. Promptness is so good manners that it prompts goodwill. In addition, it indicates efficiency because of its quick process in business letters. Secondly, the senders should be very polite even in asking the receivers to pay back the debts or refusing their demand, and irksome expressions should to be avoided, particularly when we use with you: Thirdly, Courteous letters should be written in a positive tone, which helps to create or to strength goodwill. E.g. (1) We are sorry that you misunderstood us. (2) We are sorry that we didnt make ourselves clear. The meanings that the author tries to express are basically the same in these two sentences. However, in the sentence (1), it intents to blame others; while in sentence (2), the author takes responsibility actively and uses courtesy .So the results of these two sentence are obviously. 3.1.2 Consideration Consideration used in business letters means that the senders should keep receivers in the first place when composing and transmitting the letters, because they are dealing not only with a business organization, but more significantly with the people whose reaction determines what the sender can achieve in transmitting the business letters. Consideration means using you attitude in business letter  ¼Ã…’which is to consider in others perspective and be considerate others desires and feelings. (Yuan Li, 2010:11) We will compare with the following sentences, sentences (1) adapt we attitude, while sentences (2) adapt you attitude e.g. We are pleased to announce that You will be pleased to know We want you to do that. You will no doubt do it. Sentences 1) adapt we attitude which are in a rigid tone and express a feeling of ordering others, and it shows that senders think only of themselves and their problem, not about the receivers, while Sentences 2) adapt you attitude, that can reflect politeness and tact, emphasize what the receivers want to know, refer to the receivers request or order specifically, protect the receivers ego and respect the receivers intelligence. So The you attitude also creates a conversational tone 3.1.3 Completeness Business letter should fully express the contents and meanings. When the message is complete, it contains all facts the receivers need for the reaction that the senders desire. The function of completeness in business letters is bringing the desired response without the expense of additional messages, both parties can do a better job of building goodwill and averting the costly lawsuits that may result becomes possible, even if important information is missing. You can use 5Ws and 1H to verify whether it has fully replied what the others perspectives requests. Whats more, you should give something extra, when desirable. Sometimes we must do more than answer customers specific questions. Because they may not know what they need, or their questions may be inadequate. For instance, in the letters of placing an order, it has to explain What you want, When you need the goods, to whom and where the goods to be sent, How the payment will be made. And you should explain why when you reject t he request of the parties (i.e. reject to an offer, reject to settle of claim etc.). The 5Ws and 1H question method is especially useful when we write requests, announcements, or other informative messages. 3.1.4 Clarity In business letter writing, Clarity is important in such business writing as reports, memorandums ,procedures ,and proposals(HuCheLiSu,2004:43) clarity means making sure the meaning of letters you have written is clear, and it will not generate misunderstanding (Wei , 2005:6),we should avoid ambiguous thought and equivocate phrasing in the letter. And there are three specific ways to help make the message clear: 1. choose understandable words, 2.construct effective sentences and paragraphs, 3.write on the Write on the level of the receivers understanding E.g. As to the steamer sailing from Wenzhou to Italy has bimonthly direct services. In this sentence, the writer chooses these understandable words such as sailing, direct to make the receivers understand clearly as there is a strong need for words that are not only familiar and clear, but simple and easy to read. However, the word Bimonthly may cause misunderstanding, because it can be understood either as twice a month or once every two months, so it is easy to misunderstand the meaning of this sentence. Therefore, it should be amended as We have two direct sailings every month from Wenzhou to Italy. or We have direct sailings from Wenzhou to Italy every two months. 3.1.5 Conciseness Conciseness means that on the premise of not going against the other C qualities, we use words as less as possible to express the actual meanings you are trying to express. Use brief, direct, simple words to prevent unnecessary repetition and ornate words. It gets rid of hackneyed and stereotyped phrases in business letters, saves time and expense for both sender and receiver, aids the receiver in understanding the message, and makes the communication more interesting. E.g. We use We have begun to export machines. instead of We have begun to export our machines to the foreign countries. Because the former sentence eliminates the unnecessary expressionsto the foreign countries, which express the same meaning with export. 3.1.6 Concreteness The contents of business letters must be detail and clear, especially those letters that request other parties reply or will affect contact in after period. So we should use specific facts, figures to achieve concreteness instead of using words that are unclear, generalized or abstract. Because concrete words are direct and vivid, clear, and exact. While abstract words are often intellectual, academic, or philosophical. Using specific rather than general language, using concrete rather than abstract words, using active rather than passive voice will be helpful to compose concrete, convincing messages E.g. We say We confirm our goods of January 3th,2011 rather than We confirm our goods yesterday. The reason is that the former sentence use concrete words that are clear so that there will be no question in the receivers mind as to the meaning intended. And on the other hand, yesterday is less clear in meaning and is more likely to create wrong or confusing connotations in the receivers mind. 3.1.7 Correctness The terms and phrases and punctuations should be used correctly in business letters because most parts of business letters involve bilateral right, duty and interest among business communications. And it will cause needless troubles if any mistakes happen. The term correctness, as applied to a business letter, means the sender should use the right level of language and include only accurate facts, words, and figures. And one erroneous digit (for example, $75,000 instead of $750,000) can make a difference of millions of dollars. Even small errors of a few cents can annoy customers and undermine goodwill. E.g. Using It is the lowest price we can offer you now. is more accurate than using It is the lowest price available to you. 3.2 Textual Structure in Business Letter The success of English business letter writing is not only based on its words and sentences, but its structure as well. Text which is the meaning unit to communicate by using language symbols is made up by sentences, so it can be either short or long. A novel can be a text, a sentence or phrase, even a word can make up text. Business letter is a way of communication that bilaterally communicates in written form (Qin,2001:82). In the aspect of text, business letter should indicate the image of writers through orderly and clear structure; indicate the accomplishment of writers through polite language; indicate the goal of letters through accurate and logical expression. Sono matter how simple or complex the business letter is, it is generally concerned on the goal of writing which has clear and standardized structure and complete outline. Whats more, the textual structure should exist with standardized form, logically structured, clear clue, and tight structure. First of all, the length of business letter is short and pithy whose language is frankly and condensed, and most business letters have an average sentence length of 20 words or fewer. Short and pithy, and straightforward indicate the terseness and effective of business letter. In contrast, overly long sentences can make the whole message clumsy and difficult to understand and the reader soon begins to lose interest in the letter, thus hinder clear communication. Next, Paragraph length is also significant in business letters. Because most businesspeople are so busy that they do not have more time to waste through a series of long paragraphs. Instead, they may only skim a line or two in each paragraph. Therefore, paragraphs in business letters should be short enough with the average length between one to eight sentences. Besides, the paragraph should be arranged in a clear, logic order, with the most important idea getting primary emphasis and the less important points placed in secondary positions, which will make the letter more clear and improve the success of establishing business relationship. Furthermore, the format is standardized in business letter. A typical business letter consists of seven parts: the letterhead ,the date line ,the inside address ,the salutation ,the body of the letter ,the complimentary close ,and the signature(Chen ¼Ã…’2002 ¼Ã… ¡11). (1)The letterhead of a business letter shows where the letter comes from, contains details of addresser, such as company name, address, telephone number and so on, which have usually stated in the up-left of the letter. It also expresses the companys personality and contributes to the companys image. So a good letterhead is always a soft sell, but should not look like an advertisement. (2)The date line is generally typed two or three lines below the letterhead and may start from the left margin, or be centered, or appear on the right-hand side, which differs from country to country. (3) The inside address should be the same as the name and address on the envelope. It is conventional to set it at the left-hand margin in business letters, about two or three lines below the level of the dateline and above the salutation. And the inside address usually includes the full name of the recipient, business title of the recipient, name of the company addressed to. (4) Dear Sirs or Dear Madams are usually used as the salutation, which is placed against the left-hand margin with at least two lines under the inside address and two lines above the body of the letter (5)The schematic structure of body should depend on the alternating goal of business letters whose contents mainly concern on attention, interest, desire, and action and raising expectations. For example, letters which reply to the enquires should contain: the expression of thanks to enquire; description of the name, specification, quality, quantity, package, price, payment methods, the date of shipping; the comments on the goods; other relative matters, such as other goods that the other party may interest; and the expression of the desires to establish business relationship with the parties and to look forward to placing the orders. (6) The complimentary close is a line following the body of the letter that politely signals the end of the letter. (7)The signature should be signed by the addresser himself/herself, which is four lines below the complimentary close. And signature always contains three or four parts: the name of the company, the signature of the writer, the typed name, and the business title. The paragraphs of business letters usually exist with hierarchy, which is based on the topic in the introduction. And the sentences are cumulated layer upon layer with conjunctions, so that these multi-layer sentences can be linked in a vertical hierarchy, in which progressive, adversative, causal relationship should be most commonly used. The complimentary closes usually use Sincerely or Sincerely yours. 3.3 Grammatical Features of English Business Letter Complex structure of sentence is an important syntactic characteristic of business correspondence. And these complexly structured sentences can not only express the business meaning, but make the main information be emphasized and make the essay formal. 3.3.1 Use of Complete Sentences and more Compound Sentence. Business letter is a formal style, the most significant grammatical feature is that sentences are completed, the structure is complex and the sentences are long. And adverbial clause, parenthesis, appositive, and the absolute structure are frequently used. Because the complex long sentences in business letters can not only express complex meanings so that the writing will appear to be rigorous, but also the main information will be emphasized in the form of word order, and strength the degree of formality. E.g. With the increase of the prices which becomes conspicuous this year, the next consignment will be much dearer, so we recommend you to take prompt advantage of this offer. This is a compound sentence that compounded by so, the prepositional phrase With the increase of the prices which conspicuous this year is located in the first half, and the attributive clause is among the prepositional phrase which makes the structure more complex. However, the hierarchy is clear and precise, and it clearly indicates the condition of each other relationship. 3.3.2 Use of Assertive Sentences rather than Negative Sentences. In order to express polite and friendly relationship, business letters should not use negative sentences too much. Assertive sentences emphasize to the receivers what can be done rather than what cannot be done, thus helping the writer develop and maintain favorable relationships and goodwill. In contrast, negative sentences may generate other unfavorable reactions, and if we point the undesirable things that the other party cant complete , it will give the impression of disrespect which against the principle of polite, so we should use as more assertive sentences as possible, so that the manner will be circumbendibus and polite. E.g. We cannot fill your order because you failed to send your check. 2) We shall be glad to fill your order as soon as we receive your check. By comparing these two examples, it can be easily found that sentence (2) is more circumbendibus and polite than sentence (1), which is in accord with the grammar of business letter, and it imparts enthusiasm and confidence. 3.3.3 Use of Common Language Since the primary purpose in business letters is to transmit information, ideas, beliefs, and emotions, the sender dont need to impose burden upon the receiver with too difficult words that influence quick and precise communication between both parties. Whats more, business letter is an official letter that is with property of business to business. So we should use common and familiar language to express the politeness and formality of the letter, and these words are gradually fixed to become a routine after long time used in business activities, and now they are widely used in business letters, such as We offer you Enclosed we hand we are pleased to inform you thank you for.. 3.3.4 Use of Declarative Sentences rather than Imperative Sentences Most of the two parties involved in the business letters are business partners, so each others statuses are equal. Therefore, imperative sentences will not be used, even if one party wants another party to take some actions, because imperative sentences express the manner of giving orders which seems too arrogant and direct. However, the manner will become so polite if we use declarative sentences to express ones desire in the letter that building the image of writers will become possible. Whats more, this manner often motivates the other party to take actions (Peng, 2008:198). E.g. It would be appreciated if you could send us your shipping instructions. What this sentence trying to express is Please send us your shipping instructions, however, using declarative sentences will show the politeness of the writer and be in accordance with polite principle. 3.3.5 Use of Passive Voice Properly The passive voice is a very important way in writing business letter. The passive voice does not emphasis the action of source, which will appear that the action is not imposed on the other party. In business letter, we usually use It is hoped that the offer is made as soon as possible instead of Make the offer as soon as possible. 3.3.6 Use of the Inversion Sentence Properly We use inversion sentence in two situations: one is placing the emphasized component in front, especially when the writer wants to remind that the recipient materials have been posted with the letter; another situation is to express the possibility of uncertainty. E.g. Enclosed please find the invoice of 60 bales wool bought by your order. In this sentence, the writer place enclosed in front of the sentence to emphasis the objective. 3.3.7 Use of Abbreviations Abbreviation, strictly means a shortening or abridgment word or phrase, and commonly refers to a letter or a group of letters taken from a single word or phrase. Because of its space-saving and time-saving, abbreviations are used frequently in business letters. And most abbreviations have fixed meanings in the business letters, such as FOB=Free On Board, CFR=Cost and Freight, CIF=Cost, Insurance and Freight, UK = United Kingdom ¼Ã…’S.S=steamship, etc. 4. How to Follow Stylistic Features in Business Letter Writing As business letter has particularity in communication and transmitting on the information, the functions and goals of business letters are not only obviously different from literary activities and daily life, but other business text, such as instant advertisement. So in the business letter writing, we should grasp the format, use proper words, attentive to the details, and use appropriate tone. 4.1 Grasping the format Though the basic parts in the business letter have remained the same for centuries, ways of arranging do change. Sometimes a company adopts a certain format as its policy. Three major letter formats are commonly used: Full-Block style, Indented style, Semi-Block style, whose major differences lie in indentation of paragraphs, placement of letter parts, and use of punctuation. In general, first, we should place the date in front of the salutation; second, the salutations generally use a fixed format Dear then, the body should come straight to the topic; at last, we should end with sincerely or sincerely yours 4.2 Use of proper words There is a direct relation between business letter and the success of the business, so we should use fair-spoken, polite, formal and professional vocabularies properly and accurately. E.g. We trust you will see to it that the order is shipped within 3days, as any delay would cause us no little inconvenience and financial loss. The writer uses trust and no little inconvenience in the example sentence to show a so mild tone that the other party will accept it easily. 4.3 Attentive to details Business letter must be practical and realistic, it should neither exaggerate the vocabularies nor narrow its vocabularies. We should not be careless and be ambiguous in the details of business activities, such as quantity, date, price, the amount and insurance. E.g. Our offer is a firm offer and remains good until 3:40p.m., 20th January, 2010, Wenzhou. 4.4 Use of Appropriate Tone Business letter is a mean of written communications, so we should particularly pay attention to the mood, which should be polite, in appropriate manners, objective and formal. They have more life, and can therefore best hold the readers attention and interest and build the company image of the sender and show the quality of the employees. Beside, we should select polite language to point the other partys undesirable things that the other party cant complete ¼Ã…’which is to express thank, happiness and satisfaction. E.g. We shall appreciate it if you will make us a firm offer for 60tons of peanuts. 5. Conclusion: Estimated Effect and Research Prospect of Studying Stylistic to Integrate with Business Letter.