Human Resources Task Essay

First, we need to ask what performance appraisals are. They are â€Å"The identification, measurement and management of human performances within an organization.† (GOMEZ-MEJIA, 2010) Performace appraisals are popular and used world wide to measure personal and team performace. Performance management has increased with the gripping economy and having less to do more. Managers have always thought of optimal performance, yet a poorly written performce appraisal has a devistating impact on the employee, the manager, and the company. Today we will discuss the negative affects of a poorly written appraisal and the positive affects of an effective written appraisal. We will cover the steps to take, the information to include, and the expected end results of the appraisal. Covering the core competencies is critical, they include: Inclusiveness, Stewardship, Problem solving and Decision Making, Strategic Planning and Organizing, Communication, Quality Improvement, Leadership, Service Focus, and Teamwork. So, are apprasials needed? Absolutly†¦the appraisal system identifies and ensures we retain the best employees. It gives an outlook of who can best do what, and where best to utilize them. It ensures they reach their highest potential within the company. It allows managers to provide coaching and feedback to the employees so they can improve performace levels in identified areas. Affective appraisals inhibit improvement and development of employee performance. On the other hand, they may be a source of justified legal documentation resulting in discussions or termination. Performance appraisals are critical when it comes to our customers, their survey comments are a source of manager documentation that allows a solid source for a well written employee appraisal. Our customers are our business, and without them our company would fail. (Levinson, 2003) Bonuses are also dependent on appraisals as they provide a fair and reliable merit system. Employees are evaluated on the exact same criteria. Target goals are based on performance and results, and are measures of expectations applying to all employees equally. Discrimination is also avioded as the employee (or team) is able to write their own successes down and have the ability to ensure they represent themselves as the best employee (or team) who deserves the highest (or lowest) recognition. Employees have to see the value in the appraisal system, and if the managers don’t display that value then the system fails. As managers embrace the system and its value, so too will the employees. This will lead to stronger performances as they take ownership in their own success. In short, Performance appraisals save time, inhibit accountability, reduce conflict, increase efficiency and consistency, and promote manager involvement in overall performance. They allow the employees to have a direct clarification of expectations, performance level, self-assessment of performance, and a clear idea of where they need to improve to attain their and the companies expected level of satisfaction. The company then benefits through time management savings, accountabiliity of managers and employees, accuracy in appraisal ratings, increased productivity, employee retention, and increased communication of expectations. PRE-APPRAISAL Collecting accurate data and documentation (D&D) allows an employee/supervisor/manager to create a solid performance appraisal. The day the employee is hired, both positive and negative D&D begins. How you collect D&D is up to you as a manager, but normally it is collected using emails, feedback from team members and the employee, performance reviews, status updates from different projects the employee is working on, knowledge of work scope, communication skills, customer feedback (when used appropriately), work attendance, and finally taking your own notes. These forms of communication and D&D collection will provide for the necessary  information in writing a firm and accurate performance appraisal, benefiting the company and the employee. It is important to know how and what is measured on a performance appraisal; quality and quantity of work performed, and social efficacy are examples of what is to be measured. (GOMEZ-MEJIA, 2010) Performance will certainly differ subject to occupation description and team objectives, yet company business goals will not differ and relevance between the two must correspond with one another. This is a serious tool for management as it has the potential of corrupting a respectable performance appraisal system Now lets address the social part of what should be in a performance appraisal. An easy way to approach this is to ask; what needs to be addressed? Areas and information might include: development intervention, establishing organizational mechanics and progression opportunities. It’s a must to discuss policy initiatives in order to govern company results. Using self-assurance, diverse assistance, joint ventures, area amalgamation and development will assist in the electives and results we are pursuing as a company. Looking back to prepare for the future minimizes and avoids common mistakes, benefiting all members. The following evaluation tools help prevent negative impacts using the pre-appraisal evaluation; relative, absolute, trait, behavior, and outcome. Let’s take these one at a time and strengthen our understanding of each. Relative – a supervisors tool used to compare employees one to another that perform the same work. An example of this is to classify employees to different categories of top, middle, and lowest; then from best to worst. It forces supervisors/managers to rank employees differently rather than equally (ranking employees the same, in effect, inulls the value of the appraisal). The downside is it also creates a difference in performance between employees when there may be none. Absolute – employee performace appraisals are according to company standards only. Supervisors s a better opportunity of a higher rating than that where  the relationship isn’t as strong with use a rating system from 1-10, lowest (1) to highest (10). The downside is that supervisors differ on who should be a 6 and who should be an 8. No consistency exists between supervisors. Personal favorites due to a strong bond between employee and supervisor haanother employee. As with all companies, supervisors change leaving the favored employee at a disadvantage because his next appraisal will not be based on the relationship he/she has with the supervisor. Integrity in the appraisal system then becomes questionable. Trait – consistent and enduring traits of the employee are judged by supervisors. These traits include: reliable, dependable, proactive, diligent, great leaders, and great followers. Keep in mind that these are easily defined but hard to find in employees. The downside; bias occurs wheather intended or not. By virtue it is, unfortunately, unusable in a legal case if requested by the courts. Behavior – this is tool takes time to prepare as employees are ranked based on employee participation in events or meetings, and timeliness to attend such events and meetings. Appraisal comments are very tangible and exact, but essentially are only illustrations of preferred behavior. They measure from 1-10, poor (1) to exceptional (10), and allows employees to assertain which behaviors are favorible and which are not. The downside is because the comments are illustrations of preferred behavior, the actual behavior is perceived rather than authentic. Also, when company changes happen, it’s possible the change can nullify the measuring system of the appraisal. Outcome – employee result focused appraisal tool. This tool can be compaired with the Management By Objectives (MBO) system. There is litheness in rating the employee because bias is eradicated, a clear well-defined standard is set as a measuring tool and allows the employee to achieve the companies objectives. The downside is this tool focuses on output rather than quality and includes areas like: production numbers, and quantity not quality of products sold. If you have produced or sold 2,500 shirts in one day, but the seams in half the sales are defective, you cost the company more money than you made it because now you have to replace those defective orders. Now lets cover which evaluation method a company recognizes for their performance appraisal method. There are 2 common models used; competency, and 360 degree. Competency Model – a model used to measure observable qualities and characteristics employees display in successfully performing job tasks. A great deal of time is spent developing this model, but once complete it is effective in meausuring and developing a sustainable human resources, products, and financial areas within the company. The downside is there is a fineline between personality and performace traits. Supported forms of discrimination are not what a company wants in their performace assessment tool. 360 Degree Model – more of a global approach to measurement. It provides feedback to managers and administrators to review in determining objectives and goals a companies work components can work towards. This feedback consists of peer evaluations, subordinate evaluations, employee evaluations, employee interactions, and company performance from all viewpoints. Each pertinent to the performace objectives the company is attempting to attain. Employees want to promote within their division or company, and in order to do that they must have a clear and direct goal to follow. Employees may be strong in certain tasks, and weak in 1 or 2 others, so too are companies when evaluated. Identifying the weak areas and addressing them head on, the employee and company are destined to succeed. The 360 degree model gives a clear view of where the company stands with reaching their goals and objectives. POST APPRAISAL ACTIVITIES Now that the appraisal is complete we are done right†¦.wrong, we still have to create a plan for improvement and development for the employee. This is called the post appraisal activity as we are now working on making a good employee a great employee. Important during this time are the supervisor/manager records of the employees precise performance. Employee participation is critical as they may discuss how they perceive their  performace to be, allowing the supervisor/manager to develop a plan of continued growth based on both parties’ feedback of each objective. In order to attain a higher level of efficiency and sustainability, a proper evaluation proccess gives the needed information for this success. In order for progress to proceed, it’s imperative that we look back at lessons learned from our performance appraisal system. It gives a snapshot of where changes are required to minimize past faults, and imperious in developing an action plan. Distinct and detailed actions plans are imperative for employee comprehension of objectives and goals. As adjustments are identified and made, the action plan is created and offered for immediate action. They must be inspirational, measurable, specific, and attainable so as to promote compliance for success. Results are key and relevant to action plan success of company goals and objectives. Modification and time bound, these goals must be effective during implimentation. Now we need to close the plan once its been finalized. Performance appraisals are implortant to the employee because they want to see if the supervisor/manager has the same vision of their performance as they do. It is important to the company because they want to have the best success with the best employees, this is a way of measuring that success and making changes where necessesary to ensure that happens. It’s important that the employee be an active member of the closing of their performance appraisal as this is a time to celebrate their succcesses and action plan for increased success. It also gives management the opportunity to instill in the employee that they are a valuable asset to the company and want to ensure they succeed at all levels. An bi-annual review of the action plan allows both the supervisor/manager and the employee time to make adjustments where needed to ensure the path to success is achieved. It’s my recommendation that we use the 360 degree model as it offers more of a snapshot of where we are, where we need to be, and an action plan to get there. This model offers the greatest opportunity for a prosperous result  in our employee and companies success. I recommend a review of our current performance appraisal system be completed by the Human Resources Department with changes being presented to the Board of Directors within 45 days. Finally, I recommend annual training to our supervisors and managers starting immediately within 30 days to ensure they are up-to-date should these changes be implemented. The training will ensure that the staff is in strict compliance with the guidelines are equal for everybody. Communication is key to this being successful as it minimizes the opportunity for error. FEEDBACK MISTAKES Would you agree that employee development is extremely important? Of course it is†¦yet one of the â€Å"faults† a manager makes is they fail to provide timely performance appraisal feedback to the employee throughout the year. The employee has no way of improving in key areas because the manager has waited until the end of year performance appraisal to provide the feedback. This is an injustice to both the employee and the company as the employee now feels victimized, or targeted and becomes self-justifying in their response and actions. DO NOT WAIT†¦if you do the only feedback you will have on the appraisal will be negative because there was nothing the employee was aware of that needed improvement. Providing feedback throughout the year will balance both the positive and negative comments (hopefully more positive than negative). As the employee receives this feedback throughout the year, it reassures them that their manager and company have their best interests at hand, and that the feedback is to ensure they succeed to their fullest potential. A successful employee is a successful manager, something that must be emphasized in Manager’s meetings. I cannot stress enough how important that keeping notes on employee performance throughout the year is critical. Far too often, the most recent of events will bear the greatest of weight on a performance appraisal, I call this â€Å"Overstating Performance† reviews. The problem with this is it appears that the employee was only successful toward the end of the appraisal period, making it look as though he did not give that 100% throughout the rest of the year. This lack of leadership and understanding of the importance of the performance appraisal  system leads to reviews of imbalanced assessments. This is an injustice to the employee and undermines what the performance appraisal system is created to do. It has a high probability that average employee performances will receive exceptional reviews, and exceptional employee performances will receive average reviews. Unfortunately when this happens it becomes a â€Å"time period† based performance appraisal instead of a yearly review, and there is no time period where we have exceptional employees all the time; it just doesn’t happen! Keeping notes throughout the year allows the manager to systematically create a timeline of events that leads to an accurate and fair performance appraisal. It is up to the manager to ensure accurate employee performance reviews are conducted, and note taking throughout the year is critical in writing accurate re Being too critical on employee performance appraisals is not constructive criticism. Negative comments are a form of constructive criticism when given in moderation; employee inclusion is critical when devising a plan of correction for self-improvement. Likewise, being too critical is detrimental to employee morale as they feel they are worthless and cannot perform to the standards set by their manager. We want the employee to understand that they are valued, and critical to the success of the company. Being able to portray this while giving negative feedback takes time, skill, and an understanding of an employee’s limits of self-worth. We need to know our employee and how we can help them be successful without being too critical, yet still being constructive. It is imperative we maintain an open line of communication to make this happen. So we know that being too critical is negative in itself, so too is not providing the constructive guidance for employee improvement. Constructive advice must have value, and insure the employee feels and sees the legitimacy in the employee appraisal system. It is important that they know we want to see them succeed and promote within the company so they can feel pride and self-worth. When they see the value constructive criticism has in the appraisal system, they see a future the company has to offer. Being critical is good, but being critically constructive is better. The manager needs to know that when they provide constructive criticism, they must hold the belief that the employee is capable of making necessary changes to be  successful. The employee needs to know that applying the constructive criticism displays their abilities and desire to remain and promote within the company. Rather than being too favorable or damaging, it should be our goal as managers to give an honest a ssessment; allowing the employees to understand and increase in value what the appraisal has to offer also increases the opportunity to be successful. The appraisal should offer an equally balanced assessment of what the employee is doing correct, their accomplishments, what they need to work on, and (if any) failures with lessons learned. Again, taking notes will allow for an equally balanced assessment that guarantees to promote success with the individual employee and the company. Finding value in the performance appraisal takes interaction between the manager and the employee, not just the manager talking. Both the manager and the employee need to be able to talk and listen, creating an environment of trust, understanding, responsibility, and accountability. The appraisal system is not designed to be a one-way discussion. Employee interaction is not only pertinent to a successful appraisal, but also necessary for understanding underachieved job performance. Two-way communications is required for both parties to attain common goals and realizing the importance in achieving those goals in the upcoming year. This two-way communication requires that the manager be prepared ahead of time by reviewing his notes from the previous year, listening to the employee and not just appearing to be in the same room, and not interrupting the employee when he/she is talking. Proper scheduling is very important, because you want to allow yourself enough time to read over the review, listen and communicate with the employee, wrap up the review once the employee has left, prepare for the next review by going over your notes on the incoming employee, then do it all over again. If your schedule does not allow for extra time, one employee Smith’s appraisal information is sure to be mixed with employee Wright’s appraisal information. This would be a drastic oversight as a deserving employee may receive not so deserving results. Scheduling a break between reviews will minimize this risk preventing a miss rating of employees. As we identify a problem in the performance appraisal process, managers must focus on the employee and not the performance, (GOMEZ-MEJIA, 2010) as this allows the manager to be objective. The employee needs to know their manager is more concerned for  their individual development. Keeping that two-way communication is instrumental to a successful relationship, appraisal, and success of the manager, employee, and the employee then takes possession in their success, and personal and professional growth. Employee performance is what we are looking for; allowing the employee to actively discuss future goals builds trust between the manager and the employee. The employee’s future success is up to them, and taking an active role in setting achievable goals for the upcoming year they are also able to communicate possible solutions to current performance levels. HOW TO ACHIEVE PEAK WORTH Performance appraisals are usually divided into two separate categories: Performance evaluation and salary judgement. (GOMEZ-MEJIA, 2010) The supervisor/manager provides feedback from the performance review so the employee can better comprehend the cooresponding performance score they attained. Relative advice is needed for employee understanding and compliance. During the performance appraisal, the supervisor/manager must become a mentor to support, teach, encourage, and energize employee and team members while providing guidance. If the employee/team believe in their abilities, they are more likely to adapt and overcome. As a supervisor/manager, it’s critical that you perfect the skill of giving guidance in a positive manor to develop their performance . Supervisors/managers want their employess to display passion, drive, skill, and belief that they are the best qualified to ensure optimal results. When the employee is assisted by his manager to move them above his position, then the manager becomes a pronounced leader and is the foundation to a companies capability to endure trying times. A managerial assessment is required on the staffs performance. It concentrates on providing appraisal feedback for administrative conclusions. Next, managers must recognize and deliver advice/feedback for the action plan with a emphasis on proficiency expansion. This process needs to involve the employee as they generate the prosperous results creating the  companies success. In the closing phase, the manager and employee discuss the action plan, it’s timeline, and their successes. All performance appraisals should be the same across the board, meaning there is no change based on position or reputation within the company. Once the performance appraisal and action plan are offered, they must be signed by both parties with the understanding that they are both in agreement with the appraisal, the action plan, the timeline, and have a new found commitment to working as a team to reach the anticipated result. THE BENEFITS Why is it necessary for our employees to succeed? Because their success is the companies success, it’s the only time we benefit. With the employee and manager on the same page and working together for a common goal, it aligns their actions with the goals and objectives of the company. Our companies future depends on how much time and energy we invest in our employees. Image is everything (so they say) and when we can display successful employees, then we have the image of a professional organization that invests in it’s future through it’s employees. Employee turnover rate reduces with a successful appraisal system in place, experienced managers, and professional employees. All these contribute to production increase, contractural agreements met, and customer/employee satisfaction. As an employee takes interest in the success of the company, they are able to relay their approval through great customer service and word of mouth (creating that positive image). Largely the internal philosophy and image of the company improves, profit margin increases with lowered revenue loss and is the single most significant stock we as a company must invest in. EVALUATIONS OF TEAMWORK There are different approaches to teamwork evaluations; these are a few:  ·Managers rate team performance centered on pre-set standards, also known as the Traditional performance review. Team performance assessments can be idiosyncratic, creating very little change, if any, in total performance.  ·Another evaluation type is called the 360 degree assessment, this type includes feedback from what I like to call the â€Å"4 corners†; managers, peers, supervisors, and customers. This type of assessment, or review, displays strengths and weaknesses based on thorough feedback from a 360 degree â€Å"4 corner† view. Unfortunately there is a drawback from this type of multi-source assessment, deciphering the information requires education and training. Once the information is properly interpreted, then performance growth sprouts like fruit on a tree. (AMISANO, 2012)  ·A third type is called objective performance appraisals. This type takes a set of pre-determined objectives and goals and evaluates them based on similar job titles. As this is effective in Individual performance appraisals, it has no bearing on team performance appraisals.  ·The concluding evaluation selection is a team performance appraisal. This assessment type allows you to have an overview of team compatability and performance in a team building environment. This type of evaluation consist of common principles, team effort, and actions achieved on the project. (AMISANO, 2012) Team evaluations are based on financial results, not individual performance results. This type of assessment takes a different approach in that you now are rating based on vital performance indicators like:  ·Customer service quality  ·Marketplace success  ·Financial strength  ·Individual growth  ·Team growth  ·Product deliverable quality These areas, as deemed by leadership as necessary measurement factors, can include other areas as approved by the appraising authority. All approved areas are used in evaluating the team as one entity and how that team functions. It’s important for you to know that there are two sections to team evaluations 1.The individual contribution to team performance 2.The team performance as one entity Outcomes, traits, and behaviors are the areas a manager uses to assess the individual contribution to the team, and behavior measurement assessment for individual involvement to the group’s outcome. (GOMEZ-MEJIA, 2010) This is another system that needs to be in balance when evaluating. For example, we would not use the same standards of measuring financial goals as we would with customer service approval/fears. (GOMEZ-MEJIA, 2010) It’s imperative that the result measurements compliment the measurements of the method. Results are important, but strong personal relationships are what drive team performance to success. A new team will not assess the same as a veteran team that has built a relationship of trust, knowledge, and teamwork. It takes time, education and training to be a successful team member, this is where the team assessments come to play. They assist new members in becoming solid team performers in a limited amount of time. These team assessments are essential in ensuring that they swiftly align with company goals and standards while minimizing undesireable behavior. Criteria influenced by team members must be united with assessment measurements to be effective. Team performance appraisals are specific, calculable, achievable, outcome determined, related, and time assured. Every team member provides feedback to management during their assessments, this is called team inclusion. Team goals must be prioritized by importance as it provides a timeline of tasks forthcoming, and allows focus to be shifted where needed. Teams are a relationship that must be nurtured prior to being effective. As issues arrise, team members are able to adequately adjust and apply changes necessary to avert disaster and solve the issues. This is important because minimal time is spent on a damaged processes and channeled to  product progression. Downside to team assessments are that some members of the team who are not as productive and not pulling their weight, receive acculades on project milestones when in essence they ought not. Employees prefer individual performance appraisals because of this reason. Their work ethics and sacrifices are who they are, and to be judged by somebody elses is an injustice that depletes morale and professional development. RECOMMENDATION Due to the amount of research completed, I feel confident in recommending the use of the 360 degree appraisal model to impliment integration of the individual performance appraisal with the individual contribution to the team appraisal and an overall team performance appraisal. Allowing the combination of appraisals ensures accurate assessments of all employees and how they performed as a team. Following previously mentioned tools, supervisors and managers will utilize all feedback from employees, customers, and individual notes to accurately evaluate the employees. The employees will evaluate their individual performance, they will evaluate their team members performance, and be evaluated by each of the team members resulting in a 360 degree evaluation method. This becomes critical as it separates individual assessments from team assessments so credit is given where credit is deserved. Team performance evaluations are also recommended to use the 360 degree appraisal model. A 360 degree snap-shot view allows the manager to see team performance and functionality from all angles. It exhibits if the team is aligned with company goals and objectives. Utilizing the following evaluator approved evaluation areas, we are able to include the finance department, customer service department, Marketing department, and the quality assurance department in the feedback stage of the assessment.  ·Customer service quality  ·Marketplace success  ·Financial strength  ·Individual growth  ·Team growth  ·Product deliverable quality With feedback from all these sources, including the managers notes, we will create a baseline to revisit when measuring growth. An precise blueprint minimizes risk! TEAM V. INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENTS Parameters, Objectives, Results, Recognition The differences between Team performance evaluations and individual performance evaluations are simple. Individual evaluations require an individual to be hired, provided a job position that comes with a job description with job responsibilities requiring accomplishment. As managers we then have a baseline of the job description and responsibilities, by which we can then evaluate their performance in accomplishing (or not) said job. After which we rate that performance by comparison to another employee with a similar or same job title. The result is a direct reflection on the employees individual performance. He/she takes ownership of their evaluation without fear of other employees mis-deeds. Team evaluations have pre-set conditions approved by the evaluation team and aligned with the company goals and objectives for a determined project. Generally team performance is a result of team member effort, and therefore performance (good or bad) is reflected on the rating of team members. Evaluation results differ based on team member abilities, training, self-reliance, knowledge, and communication. It only takes one bad apple to spoil the harvest, meaning if one team member fails at their part of the mission, the whole team looks bad and receive a disearning review. On the flip side the other team members may be skilled enough to overcome the one team members incompetency and still complete the project on time, under  budget, and to the customers satisfaction. In this case the whole team most likely will receive a great review, including the employee who did not succeed. While the most common appraisal is an individual performance appraisal, companies see the benefit of using team power to complete assigned tasks. As this team-oriented change happens, having team performance evaluations on hand has given us an unfair advantage as we now have a baseline for future team performance evaluations. We know what works and what doesn’t, we know what to look for and what to avoid. We have the tools required at our disposal to ensure our team performance evaluations become flawless. Having said that these evaluations tools can easily be imprudent in a way that causes caos and frustration among team members. That is why it is important that my previous recommendation be taken seriously and implemented immediately. As for recognition, Individual performance evaluations are subject to bonuses, salary increases, and promotions. Team performace evaluations are trickier, but not impossible. If my recommendation is implemented, it becomes a lot easier as we then can include individual contribution to the teams success (or failure) rather than to the team as a whole. Imagine the conflict that would take place if a team failed to successfully accomplish a task because of one team member, and because of that team member they failed to receive recognition for their individual successes. SUMMARY ANALYSIS Performance appraisals: 1.Improves the development and overall performance improvement of the employee 2.Aligns employee performance with company strategy  3.Defines and aligns strategic planning for the employee to emulate (GOMEZ-MEJIA, 2010) 4.Justifies legal action (termination) due to documentation, as well as promotions, bonuses, and raises. 5.Promotes a professional image Progression Planning 1.Needed for future stability 2.Removes fear, instability and uncertainty when leadership changes 3.Delivers our company mission and strategic priorities (GOMEZ-MEJIA, 2010) 4.Investment is with our employees, and therefore with the guaranteed future of our company. Team Appraisals 1.Teams identify issues and initiate change for faster resolution (GOMEZ-MEJIA, 2010) 2.Increased productivity as less time is spent identifying an issue and a resolution implemented 3.Production progression is amplified 4.Teams are an investment as society and the environment dictate change 5.Teams are what make progression planning a success. We owe our stakeholders and ourselves to remain professional, profitable and ethical in our business and personal lives. It is only right to invest in those who invest in you, and that is what our company is dedicated itself to accomplish. Their investment in you guarantees their investment in the company’s future. It is a obligation we can accomplish using the proven tools provided†¦strong performance appraisals creating better employees, a progression plan with strong teams to ensure results and growth. Increased revenue is due to the tools we have in place; it is due to customer satisfaction, increased profit margins, employment gratification, and a riveting public image projecting International quality Works Cited AMISANO, C. (2012, OCTOBER 17). METHODS FOR EVALUATING EMPLOYEE & TEAM PERFORMANCES. Retrieved October 17, 2012 GOMEZ-MEJIA, L. (2010). MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES, SIXTH EDITION. INDIANAPOLIS: PRENTICE HALL. Levinson, H. (2003, January). Management by whose objectives. 81(1), pp. 107-116. Univeristy of California, B. (2012, October 24). Human Resources at University of California, Berkeley  © UC Regents. All rights reserved. Berkley, UC. Retrieved October 24, 2012, from Core Competencies and Behavioral Anchors: http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/files/attachments/behavioral-anchors-matrix-core-competencies.pdf

Process Design Matrix and Summary Essay

We’ll begin by defining processes development. According to (Chase & Jacobs) process is defined as common manufactured products that describe the necessary essential steps for the design of a product. These methods represent a basic sequence of steps or activities that an organization uses to create or modify a product. Many of these tasks involve more intellectual knowledge than physical activity. Some companies define and follow an accurate and detailed development process, while others may not even be able to describe their processes. Every company uses a different process from any other company; in fact, the same organization may follow a different process for each of its products or markets. The purpose of this strategy process is to design a process that meets the customers needs and to product details within the cost and other administrative constraints. Note that the selected process will have a long term effect on competition and the flexibility of the production, as well as on the cost and quality of goods produced. Therefore, much of the procedures strategy is provided at the time of the decision making. I work at Humana Healthcare Insurer Company. It is a Kentucky based Company with 45 years in the market, a leader in consumer-centric health benefits and a Fortune 100 company with revenues of more than $ 30 billion, ranking 79 in our evolving approach to well-being. To help people achieve lifelong well-being, the elements of purpose, belonging, security and health all work together to produce true well-being and we make our contribution to bigger than balance through core strength of our health. Taking into considering the service offered, which is a health insurance plan, Humana has a call center that uses an advanced technology platform that allows access to multiple platforms at the same time to focus on solving the resolution of the call. Calls are answered by highly trained personnel to meet the highest standards of quality and customer  satisfaction. We answer calls in a time of 20-80 seconds allowing each call to be a good experience for our customers. This will allow flows and processes designed to meet and comply with operational requirements and customer needs. To reach the highest levels of satisfaction our Call Center Workforce Management area has to forecast calls volume, agent requirement calculation, compare results and build sc hedule workforce. Our results of the survey conducted to our customers exceed the standards of 98 percent satisfaction. Another service that Humana offers are programs directed to health care. Prevention is one of the main approaches for optimal health. Humana adds value promoting programs such as Humana Beginning for pregnant women, asthma prevention program and nutrition programs where our nutritionists coordinate health programs to guide and promote an optimal health that would result in healthier employees and lower utilization costs. With this vision a 30 percent reduction of your bill for medical claims is expected. The technology used for the call distribution it’s an ACD which allows equitable distribution. Humana provides a dedicated unit called SBU / VIP Area which is a dedicated area of integrated services for our customers. The objective of this area is to manage VIP customer calls through this dedicated area, offering them an exclusive and unique service. Our product is intangible, where each of our programming methods is directed to the contact with the customer, the response time is short, and our markets are local and international. Another of our features is the simultaneous production and consumption with re sponse; duty cycles that are closed after each call and systems technology for call log inquiries to document the call resolution. The main objective is to improve quality, associates productivity and timely response. References Boothroyd, G.,P. Dewhurst and W. Knight. Product Design for Manufacture and Assembly. 2nd ed New York Marcel Dekker 2002 Cooper, R. G Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to Launch Reading MA Perseus Books. 2001 Morgan James M., and Jeffrey K. Liker: The Toyota Product Development System: Integratimg People, Process, and Technology. New York Productivity Press, 2006 Ulrich, Karl T., and Steven D Eppinger. Product Design an Development 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2004 Un diagrama de flujo està ¡ diseà ±ado para representar un proceso, ya sea en negocios o en lo personal, para mostrar la forma mà ¡s eficaz de completar un proceso. Un diagrama de flujo puede ayudar a visualizar lo que està ¡ pasando y ayudar a la persona o personas que està ¡n buscando en ellas para entender el proceso que se describe, y si es necesario, la forma de mejorarlo. Cada dà ­a, las personas realizan diferentes tareas que consumen una gran parte de su rutina diaria. En el siguiente artà ­culo, de un proceso especà ­fico ha sido identificado y, a continuacià ³n un diagrama de flujo ha sido diseà ±ado para mostrar los diferentes factores que pueden afectar el proceso, asà ­ como la mà ©trica especà ­fica que identifica el proceso. En el diseà ±o de un diagrama de flujo, los resultados muestran cà ³mo la cantidad de tiempo podrà ­a ser minimizado y que hacer para que el proceso sea mà ¡s eficiente. Hay diferentes tipos de diagramas de flujo, y cada uno tiene diferentes cuadros que representan distintas etapas en el proceso que se discute. Tambià ©n pueden incluir distintos niveles de detalle, segà ºn sea necesario y se muestra la estructura general del sistema. Diagramas de flujo suelen utilizar sà ­mbolos especiales, como los diamantes o rectà ¡ngulos. Un rectà ¡ngulo de bordes redondos representa las actividades de inicio y finalizacià ³n. Un rectà ¡ngulo regular representa una actividad o un solo paso. Un diamante representa el punto de decisià ³n. Las là ­neas de flujo muestran la progresià ³n de una etapa a la siguiente. Los factores que afectan el proceso de diseà ±o de tiempo dedicado a prepararse para el dà ­a serà ¡n los siguientes: 1.  ¿Por quà © me levanto de inmediato o no oprimà ­ el botà ³n de la alarma? 2.  ¿Està ¡ mi ropa planchada para el dà ­a o tienen que ser planchada? 3.  ¿Mis hijos preparan sus bultos para sus prà ¡cticas de volleyball en la noche o lo hacen en la ma à ±ana? 4.  ¿Mi hijo de 11 aà ±os tienen practica o va a quedarse en casa? Si tiene prà ¡ctica, el tiempo debe ser aà ±adido en vestirse, lavarse la cara, cepillarse los dientes, desayunar. Todos y cada uno de estos factores puede afectar el tiempo de proceso, ya que potencialmente pueden afectar la cantidad de tiempo dedicado a cada tarea. Algunas otras medidas que podrà ­an incluirse en la rutina de la maà ±ana son los siguientes: 1) Lavarse los dientes 2) Ducha 3) Secarse el cabello 4) Aplicar el maquillaje La mà ©trica que se ha identificado para medir este proceso serà ¡ el tiempo. Estoy buscando una manera mà ¡s eficiente para agilizar el trà ¡fico de la maà ±ana con mis hijos a partir del tercer grado en dos semanas y un bebà © recià ©n nacido en casa. El diagrama de flujo incorporarà ¡ la mà ©trica del tiempo para cada dà ­a de la semana que se està ¡ estudiando, en un plazo de cinco dà ­as. El tiempo es un componente crà ­tico en la maà ±ana si me les pido a mis hijos preparar los bultos para las prà ¡cticas de volleyball a tiempo o salir por la puerta para el nombramiento de un mà ©dico u otra actividad programada. Los tiempos que se enumeran a incluir la colecta de datos durante cinco dà ­as de la semana del 3 de octubre de 2011. Lunes, 10/03/11 tiempo de preparacià ³n: 32 minutos Martes, 10/04/11 tiempo de preparacià ³n: 20 minutos Mià ©rcoles, 10//05/11 tiempos para prepararse: 33 minutos Jueves, 10/06/11 tiempo para prepararse: 15 minutos Viernes, 10/07/11 tiempo de preparacià ³n: 19 minutos El tiempo total gastado en el transcurso de cinco dà ­as: 119 minutos Un diagrama de flujo puede ayudar a una persona a decidir quà © medidas tomar para agilizar un proceso en el trabajo o en su vida personal. El diagrama de flujo que diseà ±Ãƒ © muestra claramente que el fin de agilizar la rutina de la maà ±ana, es necesario cuidar al mà ¡ximo la noche anterior. Esto incluye el planchado de la ropa, preparar los bultos, y tener a mi hijo ducha. El diseà ±o del diagrama de flujo muestra el tiempo extra que serà ¡ necesaria si cada paso que no se toma el cuidado de la noche anterior, o AM si me decido a golpear el botà ³n del despertador a las 6:00 a.m. CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify that the attached paper is my original work. I am familiar with, and acknowledge my responsibilities which are part of, the University of Phoenix Student Code of Academic Integrity. I affirm that any section of the paper which has been submitted previously is attributed and cited as such, and that this paper has not been submitted by anyone else. I have identified the sources of all information whether quoted verbatim or paraphrased, all images, and all quotations with citations and reference listings. Along with  citations and reference listings, I have used quotation marks to identify quotations of fewer than 40 words and have used block indentation for quotations of 40 or more words. Nothing in this assignment violates copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property laws. I further agree that my name typed on the line below is intended to have, and shall have, the same validity as my handwritten signature

Crunchs Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Crunchs Management - Essay Example However, in spite of this the Crunch management should ensure that their name is not affected by the expansion. Already people had gained so much confidence in the services that Crunch offered thus changing the brand name may cost the company some of its customers. Levine asserts that he knows exactly what needs to be done to promote the brand but all he needs is assistance. Crunch has insightful leaders who are very dedicated and all that they required was to draw a well strategic plan of all the activities they will engage in before they acquire SportsLife. Crunch’s Los Angeles position had really favored its operations and above all this positioning and expansion had been funded by a donor. At this position they were able to collect a substantial amount of revenue. Generally, the overall revenue for Crunch combined with other external collections, was enough for reinvestment. Crunch’s top management had so far proven to be very innovative for instance, the coming up with the idea of fitness clubs as tenants of real estate was great (Harvard Business School 5). They always came up with new ideas which upon exploiting proved to be very profitable for the company. The experience that the company already had on the expansion as it had started as a small business venture, would aid it to pursue the SportsLife acquisition. However, a lot needs to be put in place before doing this considering that if they acquired SportsLife, they would increase their size by 60%. This implies that what they were going to acquire was more than what they had in place already. Crunch should strive to expand its operations at this critical moment when they enjoyed a good brand name. The move to acquire SportsLife was perfect as the company would increase its club mass on a very pleasing market Harvard Business School (6). An expansion strategic plan needed to be put in place on how the activities would be executed. Firstly, flagship facilities were needed be put in place in every market in order for the company to acquire a greater coverage. Furthermore, intensive advertising activities should be pursued to inform their potential customers of the changes they had undertaken. Though expenditures would rise, they were going to be got from many clubs as well as a larger membership base. Although the acquisition was worthwhile, it would take Crunch quite some time to merge it completely into its brand. Fortunately, looking at the performance of the company it is confident that if they acquire the new facilities they will be able to generate more revenue than what the clubs currently generated. The clubs generated about $17 million revenue annually which meant they were not doing badly (Harvard Business School 8). At the time SportsLife clubs had approximately 70,000 members who had a relatively renewal rate as compared to Crunch. From such a scenario, it implies that by giving this clubs the Crunch reputation, the renewal rates are likely to go up boos ting the revenue base. In addition, the clubs’ current condition was not comparable to the Crunch clubs, thus it meant upon upgrading the clubs, they will attract more membership. Crunch should view the differences that exist between SportsLife’s clubs and its own as a stepping stone to differentiation and diversification. Since Crunch had exploited all the opportunities at their disposal successfully, they needed to explore new ideas and personalize them. Harvard Business School (9) explains that two of the SportsLife clubs were strategically positioned to Crunch’s advantage. What Crunch needed to do was to concentrate all their efforts into

Multinational Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Multinational Human Resource Management - Essay Example However, many HR managers in multinational companies face complex issues in business operation because culture changes from one business environment to another. One of the cultural frameworks that remain widely used across the global is Hofstede’s cultural framework. This framework is significant for multinational companies, but it also creates complex issues to managers in the process of policy implementations and practices. Culture impacts the role of HR managers when they attempt to address the issue of cultural differences on HR system change. 3Ghemawat and Reiche argue that the greater cultural distances among host and home companies, the complexity in the change process. Many companies employ the approach of Hofstede of national cultural differences, which include power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty and Confucian dynamism in establishing a relationship and various outcomes. Managers use high performance work system practices in relation to Hofstede cu ltural dimensions in various ways in order to create organizational transformation. However, the national cultural differences vary from one country to another; hence, they impact effective organizational performance from multinational companies. The legal and regulatory environment varies from one state to another in which these multinational companies are situated. Labor union is one of the institutional factors that impact beliefs and organizational norms within the associate companies. Many countries have varied laws that protect employees who participate in unions in order to support employment stability and compensation practices. For instance,... This paper stresses that foreign corporations seeking to execute policies and practices of western management approaches often face diverse personal issues . This results due to a different context of institutional regulations and cultural aspects where companies operate. Companies employ conceptual framework that emphasizes on HR management practices and the main issue related to adaptation of diverse policies at the national context. For instance, China is one of the countries that face varied issues in an attempt of using western managerial approach especially in recruiting are training employees with suitable or professional qualifications. Companies in varied nations differ with respect to their human resource management policies and practices. This essay makes a conclusion that cultural difference is one of the critical elements that have restricted HR managers in multinational companies from achieving their stated objectives. They force multinational companies to alter their trade practices and strategies in environment they operate. Labor union is one of the institutional factors that impact beliefs and organizational norms within the associate companies. The determinant of human resource transfer by multinational companies is high rooted to a larger extent in current institutional theory. Managerial values, leadership roles and managerial behaviors vary across nation cultures and institutions; thus, they can impact the performance for multinational companies.

Please follow the instructions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Please follow the instructions - Essay Example I have a plan to complete my graduation from Harvard University with a major in Accounting in the June of 2016. I plan to do my internship with Ernst & Young in 2015. This would be a long and detailed internship which would be helpful for me in future. I believe that, good performance during the tenure of internship would help me to get placed in the same company. I want to start my accounting career with a reputable accounting organization. It would provide me good practical exposures and platform related with accounting. During the initial phase of my accounting career, I would like to be an established CFA in future. One of my weaknesses is that I have a lot of patience and this affects the speed of meeting desirable objectives. However my weakness turns to be my strength in critical scenarios where having patience is a must. There are many job opportunities for me in the nearby future due to large friend circle and family contacts. I even plan to join the scholarly group of Harvard University which would give me immense opportunity in the accounting field. In the current market scenario there are many people having accounting major. Hence competition will be not only in university level but even in professional level. On the other hand, CFA as my career goal can be subjected to intense competition. The market belonging to the accounting is highly competitive and an individual can survive in this market if one possesses analytical skills and quantitative orientation. There are various positions in this field and it is not just about tax or audit. In any firm a decent salary is given to accountant professionals such as $40,000 minimum. The diverse accounting fields as per market research are financial accounting, cost accounting, auditing, forensic accounting, managerial accounting, etc. An individual can earn the degree of a CFA and then further study for becoming a

Stage #1 of Final Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Stage #1 of Final Paper - Essay Example s, specifically those in male-dominated industries, are feeling the pressure of â€Å"acting like men,† so that they can gain respect and establish and protect their authority. Being too nice to employees, for instance, is seen as a weakness, of being â€Å"too soft or too womanly,† a negative trait ascribed to female managers. As a result, I became a tough manager, in other words, a â€Å"male manager† that fit gender expectations about management. An example of the need for being acting like a male manager was when a male employee, Sergio, got a complaint from a male customer, Jason. Jason accused Sergio of being a racist, when he said that Sergio sounded â€Å"so nice† when talking with Hispanics, but unruly and arrogant with â€Å"white male customers.† Sergio admitted that he had a different tone when he spoke with Jason, but this was because he claimed that Jason made a racist remark first. When Jason entered the bus, he looked at Sergio and said, â€Å"These Mexicans are taking our jobs dude,† referring to his male companion, who nodded. I understood the racial tension between the two but because we have a company policy against discrimination, I suspended Sergio for a month, which he got angry with saying I was â€Å"too harsh, like I didn’t know what it means to be a minority.† Because of his comments, I often thought about why I needed to toughen up as a manager, which shows n percep tions and what I think as social perceptions about the role of gender in creating and enforcing management attitudinal and behavioral

Public Relation Campaign for Big Brother Big Sister Assignment

Public Relation Campaign for Big Brother Big Sister - Assignment Example You can be assured that his Big Brother or Big Sister has undergone an extensive background check because we value your child’s safety. Furthermore, all mentoring relationships are closely monitored and have the backing of professionally trained match coordinator. The Big Brother or Big Sister will assist your child in achieving success in school and preventing him from turning to drugs or alcohol. Most kids who enroll at Big Brothers Big Sisters become more confident and perform better in school. Their relationships with their families and friends greatly improve. More importantly, they feel better about themselves (Big Brothers Big Sisters of America , par 2). If you are committed to letting your child explore his vast potentials and want to develop him to become a mature, responsible and a well-rounded individual, this is the opportunity you have been waiting for. You may contact us at telephone number ____________ and we will gladly discuss with you about our programs. Big Brothers Big Sisters Australia Limited. "International connections." 2009. bigbrothersbigsisters.org. Web. 22 October 2012

Need to write my biography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Need to write my biography - Essay Example I enjoy travelling and camping – reveling in the sheer beauty and serenity of nature while sampling the diversity of people and cultures from across the expanse of the globe. Anyone close to me can attest that I was indeed born to become a nurse, and a dedicated one at it. Being a highly motivated and inspired individual, I am one of those characters who are ever willing to help others especially those reeling in sickness. It was this desire to dedicate my life’s effort towards the sick that led me into the nobleness of nursing. My aspirations for nursing date back into my childhood and teenage years and being the focused and relentless person that I am, I have currently been in the field of medicine for over a staggering 30 years. And my ambitions do not halt there by any means. I was lucky to graduate early from high school and immediately after my graduation I dived deep into nursing classes. I am presently the supervisor in the orthopedic unit at a reputable medical center in Arlington with further plans to advance my education and obtain a bachelor’s then a master’s degree in nursing. After relocating from Rock Island to Arlington, Texas, in 1996, I have been immensely blessed with a stable family of my own, a husband and three lovely children. Presently an active member of the COGIC in Arlington, Texas, the sky is the limit for me who with all these achievements tucked safe under my belt still feels like life is yet about to take off in

The role of HR planning in the resourcing process Essay

The role of HR planning in the resourcing process - Essay Example Presently, demographic shifts, technological changes, environmental instability and global competition have led to a new role for HR planners since resourcing process have grown to be complex than before. Ulrich and Brockbank (2005) pointed out that HR planning involves continuous and systematic process of analyzing a business human resource needs under changing conditions. In addition, it involves development of workforce policies that are consistent with long range effectiveness of a business. HR planning involves forecasting HR needs and designation of the necessary actions involved in the resourcing process such as recruitment, career development and training. HR planning helps to forecast the right numbers of employees and more so in getting the right kind of personnel at the right place within the right time. According to Robertson and Smith (2001), HR planning coordinated the enumerated elements and helps to gather resources the business needs in both long term and short term. HR planning is a vital component for organizational success in the long-run. This paper will discusses role of HR planning in the resourcing process, importance on job analysis, internal and external recruitment tools and selection techniques, importance of effective induction and appropriate retention strategies in respect of recruitment of a cinema manager while at the same time reviewing the current state of the United Kingdom employment market. The following are ways in which HR planning facilitate the resourcing process: The facilitation of pre-recruitment review is a process that involves provision of professional advice as to whether the internal staff should be taken into consideration in filling the vacant positions. A process is then followed in evaluating the staff’s suitability. The staff who were working under the former cinema manager should, therefore, be evaluated to determine if anyone is capable of filling the vacant position. The provision of guidance and expert advice is used in the initial stages of recruitment especially in defining the vacant position, preparing advertisements, advising on and identifying proper channels for advertisement among other important recruitment activities. As such, the HR planners will be resourceful in defining the roles of a cinema manager, identifying the right advertisement channels among other recruitment activities. The HR planner acts as an expert adviser to the selection committee throughout the selection process. This involves briefing the committee members on the appropriate interview techniques and providing

Dowry system in india Essay Example for Free

Dowry system in india Essay Dowry is derived from the ancient Hindu customs of ‘kanyadan’ and ‘stridhan’. In ‘kanyadan’, the father of the bride offers the father of the groom money or property, etc whereas for ‘stridhan’, the bride herself gets jewelry and clothes at the time of her marriage, usually from her relatives or friends. In Varadakshina’, the father of the bride presents the groom cash or kind. All of these could be done voluntarily and out of affection and love. The Hindu marriage system is sacramental. According to this system, a marriage is forever and there is no scope for a separation. Among the various ceremonies previously practiced, the ceremony in front of a ‘godly’ fire (‘Yajna’ in Sanskrit) has taken over, the old-fashioned system of marrying a wife by capture. This form of marriage began the practice of dowry, where originally, the family of the bride would accept gifts and money from the groom’s family as an alternative to bloodshed during the capture of the bride. A later modification of this system has paved way for the present dowry system primarily practiced by the society. The dowry custom continues to rule our society. In majority of Indian families, the boy has legacy rights, while the girl is given a large sum at the time of her marriage in lieu of the government regulated equal rights for girls in parental property. Thus, dowry system has spread in almost all parts of the country and sections of society. There are several reasons for the occurrence of the dowry system, but the main one is that it is a necessary precondition for marriage. ‘No dowry, no marriage’ is a widespread fear. There has also been an appearance of a feudal mindset with a materialistic attitude in a new globalised economy. The price tag for the groom is now bigger and bolder. The emergence of an affluent middle class, the torchbearer of social change in modern India, is the main factor for the continuation of the dowry system. Families arrange most marriages, and a man who does not marry for love; he can marry for wealth. For this man and his family, a woman becomes the ticket to shortcut riches through the system of dowry. There are a number of things people desire to have in their own houses but cannot afford; they use the opportunity of a son’s marriage to get them. The girl’s parents do not protest against variety, as they regard the union as a stepping-stone towards higher social status and better matches for the remaining children. Dowry as a phenomenon has gone beyond the ritual of marriage. Pregnancy, childbirth and all kinds of religious and family functions are occasions when such demands are made. A more sophisticated public image of an extended gifting session has replaced the old system. Now there is demand for receptions in marriage places. The trousseau includes designer wear for the bride and groom’s family. Chefs are flown in for multi-cuisine wedding dinners. The bride’s family usually pays for all this. The rich revel in the exchange of their black money, but this in turn exerts pressure on the other classes to ape them with serious social consequences. The women have become a kind of commodity. It is them who are the worst sufferers because dowry is most often a monetary agreement between two men – the bride’s father and the groom. Caste-based practices have only added fuel to the fire. Marriages in political families are arranged to consolidate the caste base for support in electoral politics, so they do not challenge the dowry system. Dowry rituals have now spread even to communities where they were unknown. It has gone to different castes, crossed the boundaries of provinces and education and religion. Muslims and Christians, such as the Syrian Christians of Kerala and the Roman Catholics of Mangalore have started demanding dowry. Official statistics show a steady rise in dowry crimes. More and more women are killed every year in India for dowry. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh still record the maximum number of dowry crimes, but Bangalore, India’s fastest growing city also shows an alarming rise – four women reportedly die every day because of dowry harassment and domestic violence. The cases of dowry torture are the highest accounting for 32.4% of crimes against women in the country. The Dowry Prohibition Act, in force since 1st July 1961, was passed with the purpose of prohibiting the demanding, giving and taking of dowry. In 1980, the Government setup a committee that recommended amendments in the Dowry Prohibition Act and also suggested expanding the definition of dowry and instituting family courts and National Commission for women. Many parliamentary debates led to some amendments in 1983,1984 and 1986. To stop the offences of cruelty by husband or his relatives on the wife, Section 498-A was added in the Indian Penal Code and Section 198-A in the Criminal Procedure Code in the year 1983. The Dowry Prohibition Act clearly stipulates that a person who gives or takes or helps in the giving or taking of dowry can be sentenced to jail for 5 years and fined Rs. 15,000/- or the amount of the value of dowry, whichever is more. The Act also prohibits the giving and taking directly or indirectly any property or valuable security, any amount either in cash of kind, jewelry, articles, properties, etc. in respect of a marriage. The control is provided by stating a limit and names of people gifting and their relationship to the married couple to be signed by both sides of parents. In 1986, the Act was amended again, empowering State governments to appoint Dowry Prohibition Officers, who not only had a preventive role but also had powers to collect evidence against people who took dowry. Despite protest by women’s organisations, serious activism, legal amendments, special police cells for women, media support and heightened awareness of dowry being a crime, the practice continues unabated on a massive scale. Despite every stigma, dowry continues to be the signature of marriage. Women need real social, political, financial and moral support in their fight against the system. They have to be empowered so that they can take their decisions about their own life by refusing the dowry system.

Testing Issues in Java Technology

Testing Issues in Java Technology INTRODUCTION: Software testing is the method of examining software, to confirm that it satisfy its necessities and to identify errors. Software testing is an experimental examination which is conducted to afford stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test, with respect to the context in which it is intended to operate. Testing can never entirely establish the exactness of computer software. As an alternative, it provides an analysis or a relationship that compares with the state or behavior of the product against a specification. Over its survival, computer software has sustained to grow in convolution and dimension. Testing in the world of Java technology proposes many distinctive and dissimilar challenges. Todays Java engineers are not only faced with multiple platforms, but also the scalability issues like limited memory, nonstandard input, network traffic considerations which are encountered with an increasing array of Java technology-based computationa l devices—from Java Rings, to telephones, to set-top boxes. Because of dealing with many different platforms, and many different types of devices the tests are written in the Java programming language. An automatic software testing is a software function which is used to authenticate that a particular unit of source codes is running as expected. Software testing can be written as: Unit Tests; Integration Tests; or Acceptance Tests. The report also gives an overview of the role of these technologies in Java testing. (ece.cmu.edu) Integration Testing: Integration tests is used to test integration of several classes as against to testing classes in isolation. Mainly in J2EE environments like Web or EJB container gives a more important functionality, hence integration testing has to be conducted in a container. This would test interaction across different application tiers like access to database, EJBs and also other resources. Integration test is occasionally done by Programmers but not as frequently as unit test. Acceptance Tests: Acceptance Test is explained as the group of tests which guarantee the contract between the application API and end user. These tests are done for the completed and deployed application. It is used to check each use-case in which the application is supported. It provides less test coverage and it is main in testing integration of application tiers such as containers and web servers. These tests are done by Quality Assurance testers and not by developers as test operates on external Application Programming Interfaces. Unit Tests Checking of the Developed Project, Programmers write unit tests to verify their own code. Unit testing vary from integration testing, which works well together, and acceptance testing, works according to the customers requirements. Unit testing is the testing mechanism which is used to test a single unit of code. In the case of Java, a unit testing that frequently connects to a distinct class. A unit test is fully automatic, non interactive, and dual ie, it moreover succeeds or be unsuccessful. By executing the code and verifying the output is not a testing. Neither instead of writing a small â€Å"test driver† that neither drives the code nor allows checking logs to see if its working correctly. Unit testing is the code which is written, as a good thing since it leads to higher-quality code, higher productivity, and lower maintenance with good evolution costs. The following report will analyze various Unit Testing technologies like JUnit, TestNG and JTiger. (devx.com) JUnit: JUnit is a unit testing method which is simple and open source frame work for regression testing released by IBM under common license version 5.0 and to write and run repeatable tests on the Java programming language it was hosted on the source forge.Junit is a instance of Xunit architecture which was used for unit testing framework , XUnit was developed by Erich Gamma and Kent Beck. Knowledge and Experience gained with JUnit is very use full in developing test driven application development, and due to this knowledge of JUnit is in use in test driven development. JUnit is also ported to other programming languages like PHP, C#,python, Fortran, Perl,and C++. It is used as PHPUnit in PHP, Nunit in C#, PyUnit in Python , fUnit in Fortran , Test::Class and Test::Unitin Perl and CPPUnit in C++ . All this unit testing frameworks family is collectively reffered as XUnit. Now recently due to the development of new client frameworks like AJAX, Junit has also been developed for use in java sc ript as JSUnit.Junit improves the quality of code and increases the speed of programming. (en.Wikipedia.org) Junit Features include: API for Easily creating Java test Cases Assertions for testing expected results verify expected versus actual result Test fixtures to share test data commonly Test runners to run tests For forums and mailing lists. Aggregating tests (suites) Junit Mechanics: Define a subclass of TestCase. Override the setUp() tearDown()methods. Define one or more public testXXX()methods Exercise the object(s) under test. Asserts the expected results. Define a static suite() factory method Create a TestSuite containing all the tests. Optionally define main() to run the TestCase in batch mode. JUnit Extensions: JUnitReport -Apache Ant extension task -Uses XML and XSLT to generate HTML Cactus -Simple unit testing framework for server side Java coding JWebUnit -Framework for creating acceptance testing for web based applications XMLUnit Provides an XMLTestCase class which enables assertions to be made about the Content and structure of XML MockObject double agent used to test the behavior of other objects Dummy object which mimics the external behavior of a true implementation observes how other objects interact with its methods and compares actual behavior with preset expectations StrutsTestCase testing code based on the Struts framework (javapassion.com) TestNG: TestNG is an annotation-driven Java unit testing framework inspired by JUnit and NUnit which aims to overcome many limitations of JUnit. TestNG isnt just really powerful, innovative, extensible, and flexible; it also illustrates an interesting application of Java Annotations, a great new feature in JDK 5.0. TestNG is designed in such away that it covers all categories in testing like:   unit, functional, end-to-end, integration, etc(testng.org) TestNG Features include: Annotations; no mandatory naming patterns for test methods or extending classes Also Supports Java doc annotations for Java 1.4 Powerful test-fixture set-up and tear-down options JDK 5 Annotations JDK 1.4 also supports JavaDoc annotations. Test configuration is flexible. Data driven testing support using @Data Provider. Parameters support. Distribution of tests in slave systems is allowed. Execution model is much Powerful no need of Test Suite. It is supported many plug-ins and variety of tools like Eclipse, Maven, IDEA, etc. By Embedding with Bean Shell improves flexibility. JDK functions are available by default for logging and runtime. Methods for testing of application server. TestNG Mechanics: Write the business logic of the test and insert TestNG annotations in the code. Adds informations about the test in testng.xml file or in a build.xml (eg. class name etc). Execute TestNG. JTiger: JTiger is a framework for unit testing and has tools for Java 2 Platform. It gives useful abstraction for writing unit test cases and fixtures. Functionalities provided by JTiger is most desired in unit testing of softwares. Generally Test-Driven Development is encouraged by JTiger development, though it is not mandatory, and any unit testing technique in software development is sufficient. Many features of Java Programming Language 1.5 is heavily used by JTiger like Generics, variable argument lists, annotations, etc,. JTiger also encourages users to do documentation of unit test cases and fixtures to give a robust and easy maintain regression harness and unit test. Published and documented API is provided by JTiger frame work if there is a need for extending the functionality. The ability to run the test cases written by using JUint framework is a good example of extending JTiger framework. As a part of JTiger framework JUnit plugin implementation classes are included. (en.Wikipedi a.org) JTiger Features include: JTiger makes every effort to ensure a robust unit test harness by providing a rich set of tools, and a reliable, usable framework on which to develop unit test cases. JTiger is an implementation that is based on improvements in software development methodologies, such as eXtreme Programming (XP), which have matured since their inception. JTiger has been implemented using the same techniques that it encourages, specifically, Test Driven Development. JTiger includes its own unit test and regression harness with 100% method coverage. This aids in new or modified requirements for JTiger that arise in the unforeseen future. The JTiger source code base has been designed to ensure the absolute maximum possible amount of decoupling of components and encapsulation such that future enhancements will not have a negative impact on future versions on JTiger. (userdoc.com) JTiger System Requirements: JTiger requires that tests are executed using a Java Virtual Machine version 1.5 or higher. This does not mean that the code under test must be written using Java 1.5 language features. The software under test may target any JVM version such as 1.2, 1.3 or 1.4. It is merely the test run that must execute under a JVM version 1.5. JTiger is capable of executing test cases that have been written using the JUnit test framework. JTiger Extensions: JTiger future development is being investigated. Some of the features and topics that are under review include the development of a swing GUI interface from which to execute unit test cases, the development of IDE (Integrated Development Environment) plugins for Eclipse, and Intellij IDEA, and the possibility of a mock objects package that mocks J2SE and J2EE core classes. (userdoc.com) Testing Of Java Language Recommended By Other Companies: Microsoft Java Virtual Machine Support: To be familiar with the need is to afford a smooth evolution for present users of the Microsoft ® Java Virtual Machine (MSJVM), Sun Microsystems and Microsoft have agreed to widen Microsofts license to use Suns Java source code along with their compatibility test cases and the test suites. (microsoft.com) Open Quality Program to Improve the Quality of Java Software: Agitar: This Software has declared a new multi-vendor scheme committed to take very careful attention on the testing side to improve the efficiency and the quality of java software packages. Based on the Open Quality Program, Agitar software has published a wide range of unit level testing metrics in its own products, It has even including a formal weekly build results on its future unannounced new products and the new trends over time. The Agitar software has also published these software testing metrics for many popular open source software Java projects, which including JUnit, Hibernate, Cruise Control, Struts, spring, and even lot of other commercial products which is based on the open source such as the Oracles BerkeleyDB Java edition and JasperSofts JasperServer. (qthreads.com) Recent Testing News on upcoming Java products: Java Graphical User Interface Testing Tool Known as Squish is Supporting the New Eclipse Ganymede version 3.4 Five weeks Two days ago(2008-07-08) Germany BasedHamburg( froglogic GmbH )has announced today , to give support for automated the testing of new Java Rich Client Platform the RCP applications which is based on the new Eclipse version 3.4 release code that is named as Ganymede. The Squish GUI for Java is a leading functional Graphical User Interface and also regression testing tool which is enabling the execution, creation and Modification of automated Graphical User Interface tests for Java programming on AWT/Swing and SWT/RCP applications. The Squish GUI, and all the other all tests created with this, are completely made as cross-platform software and work on almost all the top leading operating systems like the Windows Operating Systems, Linux Operating Systems, Unix Operating Systems, and Mac Operating Systems X and even also on the embedded Linux. The support for testing Eclipse Version 3.4 the latest one, RCP Software applications has been completed and it is also available with the just newly released GUI Squish version 3.4. The availability of the third party tools, like the Graphical User Interface testing tools, is very important for the open source Eclipse community to increase it demand. The resent glad news is to see froglogic has very quickly adopting the new Eclipse version releases with its Testing GUI Squish tool, said Mr. Mike Milinkovich, Who is the Executive Director of the Company Eclipse Foundation. The new Ganymede version release is said to be another very important and great release of the Company Eclipse community which has make it even more easy, attractive and flexible for the application developers who uses it. The Quickly integrated support for testing tools on Eclipse software version 3.4 applications with the new GUI Squish tool has been a new and great logical step for the company, said Mr. Harri Porten, platform chief of froglogics company. Squish software offers a multipurpose testing based framework for Graphical User Interfac e (GUI) applications with a base choice of the popular test scripting languages like Perl , Python, Tcl, TSL and JavaScript, VBScript extended by the new test specific functions scripts, lot of new open interfaces, many add-ons, with integrations to the test management tools, a new powerful Integrated Development Environment (IDE) aiding the selecting, creation and finally debugging of the tests and a collection of command line testing tools and the test management integrations facilitating the fully automated test runs on the applications. Contact email: [emailprotected] or visit the URL: www.froglogic.com/squish to get an evaluation pack or to purchase the GUI Squish for the java Application or to know more about the product. Squish GUI tool also supports automated testing of java applications based on GUI technologies like as Trolltechs Qt, Swing-AWT, and Qtopia, also supports Web technologies DOM, HTML, AJAX, DHTML Mac OS X Carbon/Cocoa , JavaScript and other technologies also. (embedded-computing.com) JAVA‘S ENCOURAGEMENT IN TESTING: Todays software manufacturers face a variety of challenges when creating products to meet the increasing demand for software that takes advantage of Java technology. The growing complexity and diversity of softwares—with their varying operating systems, processors, and memory configurations—increases the need for thorough testing to ensure customers will be satisfied. At the same time, service providers and manufacturers face the challenge of managing—and, if possible, lowering—internal costs caused by excessive engineering overhead, disorganized development of test cases, or the impact of new data services on support operations. The Java software Test Suite simplifies quality assurance and reduces time-to-market for Java implementations by providing comprehensive tests and a robust test manager. These enable suite users to evaluate, validate, and verify the quality of implementations on particular software. The Java Test Suite that helps the software manu facturers ensures their reputation for quality, while building customer satisfaction and loyalty. It helps lower engineering costs by standardizing and simplifying testing, and by minimizing the need to write quality assurance tests manually. Java is free and open. So java Testing is an important part of software development because of Open Source Testing Tools which are available in Java for an Effective testing key factor which reduces the total cost of maintenance of any application over its lifetime. Because of the reduced cost and time of development; this can increase savings on quality assurance and of course on sustaining. Without knowing when to invest in better design, in post development quality assurance, in manual tests or in automatic testing forms a basic difference between successful and unsuccessful software projects in these tough and competitive days. (newsgroups.derkeiler.com) Suns Recommendation for testing Java: Testing Java in an Object-Oriented Way To apply eXVantage (a tool suite for code coverage testing, debugging, performance profiling, etc.) to a large, complex Java application at the implementation and unit testing phases in Avaya. Two open source-based tools that can help to generate workloads for the enterprise application: SLAMD Distributed Load Generation Engine and Sun Java Studio Enterprise software. Container-Free Testing With Mockrunner Fitnesse Testing for Fast-Paced Agile Web Development JUnit Reloaded Using In-Process Testing Metrics to Estimate Software Reliability ECLIPSE IN JAVA SOFTWARE TESTING: Eclipse is a very widely used Open Source Integrated Development Environment (IDE), particularly for Java- and Web-based applications. Its very widely extensible with the use of scores of plugins available to help in developing these applications, so here I would like to discuss some of the plugins available for software testing. Eclipse TPTP (an evolution of Eclipses prior Hyades project) is an Open Source collaborative project that seeks to provide a common platform upon which specialized, differentiated, and interoperable offerings for software test and performance tools are created. TPTP, which stands for Test and Performance Tools Platform, supplies extensible frameworks and services for test and performance tools that are used throughout the application lifecycle, from development through production. It also delivers extensible exemplary tools that verify the utility of, illustrate the appropriate use of, and support the development and maintenance of the platform itself. (fres hmeat.net) TPTP This provides a reference implementation of the recent UML2 Testing Profile based upon the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF). For logging and tracing, TPTP employs the Common-Base-Event (CBE) Format, which defines the structure of events in a unifying format. Data pools are a concept which appears to be innovative for testing in Eclipse. A datapool contains data usable during a test run. Data pools are stored in a comma-separated file and can be displayed as an Excel-alike data sheet. Test cases can load datapools in the setUp() method and use the dedicated iterations to retrieve cell values for evaluation purposes. Separating test data from the tests themselves appears to be new functionality. Test Deployment requires the allocation of test artifacts to test locations. These locations can also be workbench locations. Through the concept of service abstraction, the Automatable services framework introduces a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) concept to TPTP. The framework introduce s a layered architecture in which a client at a lower layer employs a model adapter to employ a service provided at a higher layer. Automation Client Adapters allow normal Java programs to consume Eclipse services. These adapters can launch a headless Eclipse from a specified Eclipse home, and are available through the tptp-automation-client jar. Various properties are made available through this API (e.g., the project property specifying a specific project in the workspace of the Eclipse instance). (freshmeat.net) Solex Web Application Testing with Eclipse Solex is a free open source Web application testing tool built as a plug-in for the Eclipse IDE. It provides functions to record a client session adjust it according to various parameters and replay it later typically in order to ensure non regression of the applications behaviour (with stress testing capabilities being added at a later stage). By recording, we mean that Solex acts as an HTTP proxy and records all HTTP requests and responses going through the wire between a Web client (eg. a Web browser) and a Web server. The task of replaying a scenario consists in sending the previously recorded and eventually customized HTTP requests to the server and asserting each response. Solex 0.5.0 works with Eclipse Release 2.1.2, Build id: 200311030802 and Solex 0.5.3 works with Eclipse Release 3.1.1, Build id: M20050929-0840. (Solex.com) Unit testing Checking of the Developed Project, Programmers write unit tests to verify their own code. Unit testing vary from integration testing, which works well together, and acceptance testing, works according to the customers requirements. Unit testing is the testing mechanism which is used to test a single unit of code. In the case of Java, a unit testing that frequently connects to a distinct class. A unit test is fully automatic, non interactive, and dual ie, it moreover succeeds or be unsuccessful. By executing the code and verifying the output is not a testing. Neither instead of writing a small â€Å"test driver† that neither drives the code nor allows checking logs to see if its working correctly. Unit testing is the code which is written, as a good thing since it leads to higher-quality code, higher productivity, and lower maintenance with good evolution costs. (devx.com) Unit Testing in Eclipse Using JUnit Unit Testing in Eclipse 3.1 move towards through the JUnit mechanism which was constructed in the Workplace. Eclipse permits a quick creation of test case class and also to provide a testing suite class to write the testing codes in. By means of Eclipse, we use a Test Driven Development (TDD) which suit for a very simple mechanism to systematize and implement. The class which we wanted to test is created at 1st and so that the Eclipse finds a class that is underneath test and construct the test case class. The test cases are constructed with the desired trade in and expansion for JUnit to Execute. The test case classes are constructed with the real test case and then it is coded in through the programmer. The formation of test suite in Eclipse is still simpler. By designing a test suite, Eclipse will specify a name for specifying all of the test cases in the scope of the project. The code is to Execute test suites and to add test cases in the created software is added to the test sui tes. (open.ncsu.edu) JUnit Naming Convention: Testing Cases and Classes: Named with [classnames]First.java, hear classname is being tested for the classnames. Testing Cases with Test Methods: Name test [methodnames], where methodnames are the method name to test. Applying Test Suites: Eclipse which has a default name as First.java It is a well known thought-out for a good performance in testing, and to split the test case code from the application code. It is also a good idea which is to separate the JUnit and FIT tests as well. (open.ncsu.edu) EMPIRICAL i.e. STATISTICS AND NON-EMPIRIC TESTING: Empirical testing: Similar to theoretical tests, there is one more test called empirical test; which is being done by computers. As per the computer point of view ‘empirical means ‘experiments with certain PRNG. The generator itself is treated as black box; only the sequence of PRNs is generated and is taken for evaluating the test statistic. In order to find the empirical test, one has to implement the PRNG and the test statistic. The limitations of empirical testing are commonly proposed by the amount of time and memory needed due to the complexity of the computations. (random.mat.sbg.ac.at) Non-empirical testing: Non-empirical testing deals with non-parametric statistical models and non-parametric inference, including non-parametric statistical tests. Nonparametric methods which are often referred as distribution free methods, since they do not rely on assumptions in which the data are drawn from a given probability distribution. Non-parametric statistic can be explained as a statistic (a function on a sample) whose interpretation does not depend on the population fitting any parameterized distributions. The example for one such statistic is order statistics; which plays a vital role in many non-parametric approaches. (en.wikipedia.org) Applications and purpose: For studying populations that has been taken on a ranked order (such as movie reviews receiving one to four stars) is called Non-parametric methods. The uses of non-parametric methods may be necessary, when the data has a ranking but no clear numerical interpretation, such as when assessing the preferences. Usually non-parametric methods make fewer assumptions; other than the parametric methods, depends upon their applicability. In particular, they may be applied in situations where less is known about the application in question. Non-parametric methods are more robust due to the reliance on fewer assumptions and simplicity. Non-parametric methods may be easier to use in certain cases, when the use of parametric methods is justified. As per some statisticians, non-parametric methods are not useful because of their simplicity and greater robustness leading to leave less room for improper use and misunderstanding. (en.wikipedia.org) Recommendations: Example of a JAVA Based Application: The Table below represents an example security standard for a Java application; and mentions the type of software testing used in each controls. These Kind of security standard in applications will define how exactly the application security functionalities will behave. TYPE Questions Unit Integration Acceptance Input Validation Whether all the user inputs are proper in length and data type? X X X Authorization of Application Whether the application properly controls the accessing privileges? X X Storage Whether authentication privileges are stored securely? X Manipulation Whether application enforces its access controls? X X Special Characters Whether special characters are handled securely? X X X Error Messages Whether error message generic? X X Legacy data Whether data are removed? X It is clear that the Above Types can be tested more on using functional than, integration testing techniques. Lesser security functionality is tested by Unit tests, as lot of security functionality are provided in other modules like, web server and web container. The following sections will provide more details on performing security based tests in unit test, integration test and acceptance test: Testing in Unit Tests: Testing of classes and methods individually provides a best approach to functionality testing of codes. A unit test has to be performed on classes and methods individually without a any dependency on the other methods and classes. This issue gives limitation to the types of security tests which has to be performed, Hence this is going to test is going to be executed in very early stage of the development process. Testing Independently: Unit tests should only depends on the single independent class and it should not depend on Composition class or any base classes Testing Vulnerability: The number of security Types that are been verified by us

Noras Quest for Justice Essays -- essays research papers

Nora’s Quest for Justice In Henrik Ibsen’s, A Doll’s House, Nora struggles to achieve justice and her rightful place as a woman, mother, and wife, despite the hardships and mistreatment of her husband Torvald and her father. Throughout Nora’s life, she has faced hardships in order to survive as a normal person because of the mistreatment she received from the two men in life she ever loved; her father and her husband. The mistreatment of Nora’s father and husband has caused Nora to become and be an extremely weak individual. Nora is fearful to live the way she wants to because she no longer has an identity of her own. Despite the hardships and mistreatment Nora encounters, she still has extreme hubris. She wants everyone to recognize and believe that she is living a joyous and wealthy life. In search for Nora’s rightful place as a wife, mother, and woman, she must also search for her quest for justice. â€Å"[†¦ ] When her image of herself and her domestic life is sha ttered she does what she feels she must to become a true person.† (Clurman154) Nora encounters many struggles in achieving justice and finding her rightful place in society. Throughout Nora’s life, she has been mistreated and viewed as a doll not as a human. â€Å"Nora’s father, it transpires, an irresponsible spendthrift, brought her up with no sense of social obligations or serious thought for the morrow, while her husband, finding her a delightful companion like this, did nothing to repair the omission and treated her with a playfulness of a teen not a mother.† (Beerbohm147) As a result, Nora realizes that she has been mistreated and treated unfairly. â€Å"Nora, however, protests that she has been treated unfairly in being denied the opportunity to participate in her marriage and in society as an informed adult.† (Gosse219) Torvald and Nora’s father both viewed Nora as if she could not make decisions on her own. â€Å"The transformation from her carefree days as a girl to marriage meant no more to her than a change from a small doll’s house to a larger one.† (Salome226) In the play A Doll’s Hous e, Nora is not oblivious to her mistreatment; she soon becomes very much aware of it. Nora states, â€Å"I was simply your little songbird, your doll [†¦]† (Ibsen230) Nora has never been taken seriously; not by her father and now not by her husband. They do not take her thoughts or her comments in to any considerations what so... ...shielded from all responsibilities throughout her life. â€Å"[†¦] Poor Nora, who cannot understand why a daughter has no right to spare her dying father anxiety or why a wife has no right to save her husband’s life.† (Goldman2) Nora’s quest for justice and finding her rightful place in society ends in triumph when she comes to realize that the love she had for Torvald was never really love and that the life she thought was perfect was not in the least bit perfect. â€Å"She was never happy under his roof, â€Å"only merry.† And now when she looks back, it seems to her as if she had lived like a poor person† from hand to mouth.† She had been impoverished.† (Salome230) Nora’s find act in achieving true happiness, finding herself in society and completing quest for Justice ends with the â€Å"slam of a door† to a life of mistreatment and weakness and â€Å"opens a door† to a new life of independence and true i dentity. â€Å"The woman’s eyes are opened; and instantly her doll’s dress is thrown off and her husband left staring at her helpless, bound thenceforth either to do without her or else treat her as a human being like himself fully recognizing that he is not a creature of one superior species, man.†(Shaw143)

All Quiet On The Western Front :: essays research papers

The novel All Quiet On The Western Front contains many incidents where the readers can hold characters responsible for their actions, however his novel in particular relates to the clash of values. Though fictional this novel by Erich Maria Remarque, presents vast detail through the conflicts at the Western Front. Corporal Himmelstoss a character in the novel is portrayed as a stereotypical military man, whose actions, when all's said and done, speaks for itself as the reader really does not question his iniquitous behaviour. However, apart from just the reader holding such characters morally accountable for their actions the novel concerns the rejection of traditional values, Paul’s disillusionment, and life opposed to death. Through such clashing of values, Remarque creates a confronting novel where the plot is for the most part articulated around values in conflict. The stereotypical stance of Corporal Himmelstoss, a military officer, is presented as a physically undersized man who wears a waxed moustache, which ideally supports the many defiant occasions where he disheartens the young soldiers. Throughout the novel where he is sent into the trenches we accept his role of breaking the spirits of the young soldiers. However, we understand why Paul and Albert Kropp take revenge beating him up. It is through these instances where the reader can almost understand a character through his right and wrong actions. Remarque’s inclusion of such scenes in the novel acts out the bitter anger and disillusionment of the young soldiers. The constant close companion of death besides Paul and his friends provides such clashing of values. Throughout the novel Paul never really recalls their opponents, the allies, as enemies. We also hardly see the other side other than the time where they took on the French militia; infact it would be appropriate to conclude that their real enemy in the war was the enemy Death. Every soldier in the war wasn’t innocently fighting for his country in an attempt to win, soldiers were fighting in order to survive death – it is only the fact that chance and luck kept them going. Paul and his friends could not comprehend that World War One was simply fought due to some document signed by each side’s respective leaders. These events allow readers to follow through that novel above all was concerned with values of life against death, and peace against war. Perhaps Remarque’s intended theme at the