Analysis of the Discourse and Rhetoric since September 11 Essay

September 11, 2001. After terrorists hijacked four American airliners, toppling the World Trade Center in New York and damaging the Pentagon just outside Washington, rhetoric in various circles of the West among authors, theorists, and pundits centered around a number of interesting topics. The nature of evil has become a topic over which much debate and rhetoric has ensued. Some have used it as a means by which they can explain these actions, whereas others see it as an obstacle to a proper explanation. Even others see it as false, but a necessary falsehood for the war effort. Furthermore, the debate over if, or the extent to which, United States and Western foreign policy contributed to these attacks has also stirred passions on both sides of the argument. My intention is to engage in an analysis of the discourse and rhetoric since September 11. Discourse can be defined as the production of knowledge through language (Hall 201). Certainly, events such as those that occurred on September 11 lead to a production of knowledge, or, at the least, attempts at understanding. Language is being used in very interesting ways by many people in an attempt to produce knowledge or understanding since September 11. I have selected both public figures and intellectuals for this discursive evaluation in order to make a sufficient analysis. There is a dichotomy between the context within which public figures such as the Reverend Billy Graham and President George W, Bush speak and academics or literary figures such as Stanley Fish, Edward Said, and Salman Rushdie. Part of this dichotomy, undoubtedly, exists because of the accountability of public figures to those they represent. One of the first references to evil in the wake of t... ...ction to Modern Societies. Ed. Stuart Hall et al. Polity Press. 184-227. Kurtz, Stanley. â€Å"Edward Said, Imperialist.† The Weekly Standard. 8 October 2001: 33-35. Rushdie, Salman. â€Å"Fighting the Forces of Invisibility.† The Washington Post. October 2, 2001: A25. --------. â€Å"Yes, This Is About Islam.† The New York Times. 2 November 2001. 12 December 2001 . Said, Edward. â€Å"Islam and the West are inadequate banners.† The Observer. 16 September 2001. 12 December 2001. . ---------. â€Å"The Clash of Ignorance.† The Nation. 22 October 2001. 12 December 2001 . Williams, Raymond. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.

Weak People in the Bible

Regard For Those Who Are Weaker In Society Written in Torah are lessons and stories about how God created Earth, animals, plants, day and night, the sun, and also how God created man to dominate over all living things. Within Torah is a story of Abram and his relationship with God. Abram or Abraham had a covenant with God. God promised to bless the nation and Abraham. Abraham had no rules or law to follow he simply had to have faith in God and believe in him. God said to Abraham â€Å"†¦ You shall be the ancestor of nations.No longer shall your name be Abram but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, all t he land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God† (Genesis 17:4-8).The covenant between Abraham and God said that Abraham was blessed and so his descendants shall be blessed, so they were. Moses, one of Abraham’s descendants, was spoken to by God and he was told to go into Egypt and rescue the Israelites from slavery. Moses did what God had asked of him and rescued the Israelites; they were weak, poor and in bad shape. God had mercy on them and he heard their cries and helped. He made another covenant and this time it was a bit different. He promised to make the Israelite his treasured people if they would agree to follow and keep his commandments.This was good for the Israelites because they came from a place where times were hard and God saved them and made them his people. Torah instructs the Israelites to follow the laws given to them through the covenant between themselves and God. Morally the Israelites are to treat others as they would like to be treated. They were once slaves to the Egyptians and treated very poorly. The Israelites should have mercy on others less privileged because God had mercy on them. When Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt they were not completely grateful.They complained to Moses. The Israelites said â€Å"If only we had died by the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger† (Exodus 16:3). With the complaints and cries from the Israelites, God sent them bread to eat and gave them only one rule. They were not to take more than a day’s worth of bread at a time. Even though God gave the Israelites laws he still had mercy on them and helped them when they cried out.The laws were a test of faith and trueness between God and the Israelites. God helps those in need, when they are really in need of help. Since the Torah is written to the Israelites it should be read as a lesson and the lessons should be taken into consideration to the readers. There are many commandments that the Israelites are instructed to follow. A lot of them have to do with regard for those who are weaker in society. Just like God had mercy on the Israelites, the Israelites should have mercy on others because they once were the weaker persons in society.

Recruitment and Retention of Knowledge Workers - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2303 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Review Did you like this example? Introduction The professional services sector is largely comprised of highly skilled, specialist knowledge workers, with an array of qualifications, expertise and experience (Suddaby, Greenwood and Wilderom, 2008). According to Newell, Robertson, Scarbrough and Swan (2009, p. 18), knowledge workers, also known as gold collar workers, are individuals with a high level of education and specialist skills, combined with the ability to apply these skills to identify and solve problems. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Recruitment and Retention of Knowledge Workers" essay for you Create order It is these characteristics of knowledge workers that creates both opportunities and challenges for the Human Resources (HR) functions of professional services organisations. The highly skilled nature of knowledge workers makes them very attractive to organisations seeking to deploy their human capital for strategic advantage (Kelly, Mastroeni, Conway, Monks, Truss, Flood, and Hannon, 2011). At the same time, knowledge workers are less apt than their less skilled counterparts to remain in one position for an extended period of time (Vaiman, 2010). Scarbrough (1999), for instance, suggested that one of the most salient characteristics of specialist, skilled professional workers is their lack of an occupational identity. This makes them organisationally and occupationally fluid, which creates a retention challenge for HR managers. With this context in mind, this paper identifies strategies that a growing professional services organisation could use to attract and retain highly skilled workers. The strategies that are highlighted are predicated on the assumption that professional services organisations are not able or willing to use pecuniary reward as a means of increasing their appeal to these specialists. Recruitment is concerned with the set of processes utilised by business organisations to identify a sufficient pool of candidates from which they can select an employee (Wilton, 2013). However, recruiting is not as straightforward as it might seem. There are a plethora of methods and strategies that organisations can use in order to increase their appeal to job hunters, and thereby increase the pool of talent from which they are able to apply their selection procedures (Hiltrop, 1999). What is important is that the recruitment policies, practices and procedures are carefully designed with the needs of both the organisation and the candidates in mind. This question about the optimal design of recruitment and hiring practices was considered by Horwitz, Hen g and Quarzi (2003). Those authors conducted a survey of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and HR directors in a range of organisations that rely on a highly skilled and specialist workforce. The research identified two key strategies that the companies used for attracting skilled workers: carefully designed recruitment strategies and the provision of opportunities for career and talent development. Of the recruitment strategies that were utilised most effective strategies were the use of targeted media advertising, and, to a lesser extent, the use of headhunters (Horwitz et al, 2003). The authors suggested that targeted media advertising is more effective than general advertising because candidates for specialist roles are characterised by occupational fluidity and are therefore more likely to keep an eye on the job market by scanning the recruitment media that are specialist to their roles. Headhunters and other specialist external recruitment agencies are also likely to have access to large databases of potential candidates, many of whom they may have aided in finding work before (Wilton, 2013). The professional services firm may therefore find it easier to identify and locate a pool of suitable candidates for its specialist roles if it outsources its search and hiring activities to an agency that specialises in such activities. Importantly, research suggests that the organisation needs to take into account the nature of the external business environment in designing their recruitment strategies. In particular, the extent to which there exist a tight labour market is vital (Wilton, 2013). A tight labour market is one in which there is intense competition for a relatively short supply of workers, and skills shortages exist. This is certainly the case in the professional services sector (Hor and Keats, 2008). Where a tight labour market exists, a firm may be required to adopt more creative recruitment and hiring practices. One way of overcoming the challenge of recruiting highly skilled professional workers would be to extend the reach of the search (Vaiman, 2010). One of the key features of highly skilled, specialist knowledge workers is their geographical mobility. Since these gold collar workers apply their intellect and intelligence rather than their physical labour to work activities, they are also able to work remotely (Vaiman, 2010). This means that a professional services firm that is struggling to identify appropriate workers locally might be able to find skilled candidates by extending the search in geographical terms (Richardson, McBey and McKenna, 2008). Interestingly, one of the most effective ways to attract skilled workers identified in the Horwitz et al (2003) research is for the firm to have a reputation as an employer of choice (p. 32). Reputation is thought to be an important factor in enhancing attractiveness for reasons relating to both the labour market as well as to the characteristics of the knowledge workers (Sutherland, Torricelli and Karg, 2002). First, a good reputation enables an employer to gain a competitive edge when it is competing for scarce talent in a highly competitive labour market. Second, because of their skills and abilities, knowledge workers are in a good position to be selective in their choice of employer. A good reputation, particularly in terms of working conditions is one way in which a growing firm can attract candidates from their rivals. Giauque, Resenterra and Siggen (2010) see reputation as particularly important to young professionals, because these individuals are sensitive to the way in which their own image is projected, and view their own image as reinforced and reflected by the corporate image. For this reason, knowledge workers, very mobile and anxious to retain an important employability, will therefore invest more sustainably in a prestigious organization rather than in an organization that does not enjoy a positive image (Giauque et al, 2010, p. 19 0). The HR function has a key role here in ensuring that working conditions are organised and arranged in such a way as to support the development of the firms reputation as a good employer (Wilton, 2013). This will include such aspects as managing the relationship between the employees and the employers (through aspects such as ensuring that conflicts are resolved adequately or enhancing employee voice), developing, managing and coordinating appropriate reward packages, providing training and development initiatives and interventions and ensuring safety and wellbeing (Wilton, 2013). Strategies to aid retention of highly skilled specialists Empirical research suggests that the way in which work activities are designed should be commensurate with the nuanced needs of specialist skilled workers (Newell et al, 2009). Since highly skilled professionals tend to rely on their intellect and expertise in the performing of their workplace tasks and activities, they may demand and require less in the way of workplace monitoring and control, and greater autonomy (Holland, Hecker and Steen, 2002). Indeed, there is some evidence that granting skilled workers autonomy over the way in which they approach their organisationally designated tasks can lead them to be more committed both to their jobs and to their employers (ODonohue, Sheehan, Hecker and Holland, 2007). This could include delegating these workers managerial control over tasks and activities or allowing them flexibility and mobility in terms of their work schedules. Furthermore, skilled workers seem to prefer to work in organisations with flatter organisational structures , for these are facilitative of trust-oriented relationships and hierarchical structures undermine their need for autonomy (Newell et al, 2009). The new, Strategic Human Resources function can help to support job design and organisational (re)structuring because of its role as a strategic business partner (Teo, Lakhani, Brown and Malmi,2008). The design of work should be considered as a key HR practice that supports the achievement of the organisations goals. More specifically, it is recommended that the organisation offers its skilled workforce autonomy and control over their mandated tasks and activities, and that the organisation moves towards a flatter structure if it is serious about wishing to retain its specialist workers. Alvesson (2000) has argued that while knowledge workers may not necessarily have an occupational identity, they do have a professional identity and seek communitarian and peer collegiality through their employment choices. This suggests that skilled work ers that are provided with a sense of belonging will be more likely to remain with the organisation and resist the enticements of the firms competitors (Alvesson, 2000). There are a number of ways in which the development of a social and professional identity can be supported through HR initiatives. First, skilled workers can be supported to join and progress through the ranks of relevant professional bodies or learned societies (Hor and Keats, 2008). This might mean paying membership fees, providing workers with time off so that they are able to take up learning and training programmes, or providing internal training to support workers upskilling ambitions (Newell et al, 2009). Benson and Brown (2007) add that supervisor and co-worker support are key to the development of peer collegiality, and reducing turnover intentions. Co-worker support can be stimulated by the organisation of workers into teams, as appropriate to the task, and providing workers with adequate training to under take team-based work whilst maintaining individual levels of autonomy. Supervisor support can also be encouraged through the careful design of line manager training schemes. Aside from salary, the aspect of work that was identified in the Horwitz et al (2003) research as making the greatest contribution to knowledge workers organisational commitment were opportunities for promotion and personal and professional development. As Giaque et al (2010, p. 191) note, a willingness to develop skills, whether by means of training or other career development activities, indicates to employees that the organization considers its human capital to be a source of competitive advantage. Offering skilled workers the ability to engage in continuing professional education serves two purposes. First, it communicates to the employee the desire on the part of the company to forge long term relationships with the employee (Giaque et al, 2010). Second, it communicates to the worker the notion that the employer is supportive. Both aspects are thought to enhance feelings of commitment and loyalty on the part of the worker and may prevent them from defecting to competitors. Finally, developing an organisational culture that is conducive to information sharing is thought to bring about enhanced organisational commitment in knowledge workers (Benson and Brown, 2007). To a greater extent than their traditional blue or white collar counterparts, gold collar workers rely on readily available information in order to undertake their work because they tend to work autonomously and exert greater control over decision making (ODonohue et al, 2007). In addition, a culture in which information is easily disseminated creates a climate of trust, confidence and respect, which is known to facilitate affective attachment in highly skilled workers (Giaque et al, 2010). Thus, HR policies and practices should be designed in such a way as to stimulate information sharing in order to prevent loss of s pecialised workers to competing firms. Conclusion To conclude, recruiting and retaining highly skilled gold collar workers is increasingly difficult as the rate of growth of the professional services sector of the economy appears to be outstripping the rate at which individuals are acquiring and accruing the skills necessary to sustain it. In this climate, it is vital that firms identify and deploy strategies designed to attract highly qualified suitable candidates to the organisation, and put into place policies, practices and procedures that will engender those workers loyalty and commitment once they are there. Drawing on the extant literature in Human Resource Management, this paper has identified a number of strategies and methods available to professional services organisations including enhancing the firms reputation, outsourcing recruitment activities, developing the corporate culture and offering these vital workers opportunities for upwards progression and development. References Alvesson, M. (2000). Social identity and the problem of loyalty in knowledge-intensive companies. Journal of Management Studies, 37(8), 1101-1124. Benson, J., Brown, M. (2007). Knowledge workers: what keeps them committed; what turns them away. Work, Employment Society, 21(1), 121-141. Giauque, D., Resenterra, F., Siggen, M. (2010). The relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment of knowledge workers. Facts obtained from Swiss SMEs. Human Resource Development International, 13(2), 185-205. Hiltrop, J. M. (1999). The quest for the best: human resource practices to attract and retain talent. European Management Journal, 17(4), 422-430. Holland, P. J., Hecker, R., Steen, J. (2002). Human resource strategies and organisational structures for managing gold-collar workers. Journal of European Industrial Training, 26(2), 72-80. Hor, J., Keats, L. (2008). Finders Keepers: How to Attract and Retain Great Employees. Melbourne: CCH Australia Limited. Horwitz, F. M., Heng, C. T., Quazi, H. A. 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