Monet’s Waterlilies Essay

For as long as I can remember, water lilies have always been a sign of peacefulness to me. This is one of the reasons I have always been drawn to Claude Monet’s Bridge over the Water-lily Pond (1905). The green hues in this piece bring me a feeling of happiness. The Bridge over the Water-lily Pond has a sense of calmness and tranquility. There exists such expression and emotions from the impasto in this piece as well. The foreground is filled with beautiful water lilies floating atop a peaceful pond. In the middle ground is the famous Japanese bridge with some green shrubbery. In the background there are tall droopy trees somewhat like willows. Monet uses color to create his tranquil mood throughout the painting. He uses cool colors such as green and purple. He also uses black, brown, white, yellow, and pink. There utilizes his limitless color range. Monet’s choice of colors is expressive and symbolic for the mood. For example, the green emphasizes peacefulness and the yellow adds the warm calm feeling. Texture is a significant element used in this piece. The piece shows the rough, thickness of the paint. Monet uses the effect of actual texture so, for example, if you were to go up and touch the painting you would be able to feel the impasto. Another important element used in this piece is value/light within the atmosphere. There are highlights present on the pond, using white and yellow, where the light is shining. Also, there are shadows, using black and brown, where the trees are blocking the light. It is apparent where the emphasis in this piece is centered. The bridge is the only one focal point in this painting. The lines from the trees and shrubbery lead your eye toward the center where the bridge is centered. These lines are imperative to create movement toward the focal point. Unity is the principle that holds this piece together. The color in this artwork has the cohesion needed to make everything similar. Also, the  texture helps to bring unity into the piece by giving everything another similarity along with the color. In addition, unity allows the piece to be aesthetically pleasing. Monet uses oil on canvas for the bridge over the Water-lily Pond. Due to the fact that Monet used oil paint, he had the ability to create a thickness of paint, layering it on the canvas. Monet used the technique of impasto, which also gives the painting that rough looking quality on the canvas. If Monet had chosen a different type of medium he would not have been able to create the layered look as he did in this piece. It is that rough, layered, impasto look which assists in the emotion and feeling of this painting. This piece would not be the same without the expressionism created from that particular medium. Monet’s piece is displayed in the West Pavilion Impressionist Gallery at The Getty Center in Los Angeles. It is in an extravagant, gold color frame covered in intricate designs and the walls are of a dark, earthy brown color. The color of the walls gives the gallery a warm sense. There is a skylight overhead, which has a cover that automatically changes with the lighting outside of the gallery. Also, there is overhead spotlighting at the top of the ceiling, around the skylight, which is pointed toward each piece. The painting on the left is ‘The Rue Mosnier’ with Flags by Edouard Manet. It is oil on canvas and it was done in 1878. The painting on the right is After the Bath by Edgar Degas. It is oil on canvas as well and was done approximately 1895. I believe these pieces detract from The Bridge over the Water-lily Pond due to the fact that many people tend to walk right by landscapes and atmospheric pieces. They go straight towards pieces with humans as the focal point because we as humans relate better to those pieces. However, I myself love Monet so I was drawn to his piece. Claude Monet’s Bridge over the Water-lily Pond (1905) gives you a place where you would want to be alone. It gives you the calmness that you perhaps might be looking for in your life. It is not just any ordinary landscape it is a sanctuary; it is a place of safety. This piece holds so much emotion just in its color and expressionism. No one should just casually walk past this  piece, but should look deep within the emotion and see the tranquility of the pond and how still the water lilies are resting. They should see peace as if they were looking at it through Monet’s eyes.

buy custom First Love and Last Rites essay

buy custom First Love and Last Rites essay The First Love, Last Rites is a story by McEwan. The story is a story about Sissel and Joey who live together in a shabby room in the forth floor of an empty harbor building somewhere in an industrial city in England. Joey and Sissel share an unappealing one room house. They spend most of their time talking, asking questions about their pasts-and above all exploring each others bodies in bed. The only interruption in their rustic affair comes from Adrian, Sissels younger and lonely brother. Annoyed by his noisy presence, whenever the couple wants to get rid of Adrian, they start stripping and making love. Their relationship later begins to founder reaching its high point when a big rat comes through the wall into their dirty and untidy room. The narrator killed the rat, an action that seems to mark a significant change in their lives. First Love, Last Rites is a collection of very traditional, rather conservative stories as depicted by the kind of events it depict, the characters involved, and the issues generated by the relationships. The kind of events depicted in the story is traditional. The story depicts the fascinating character of the adolescents. They are close to childhood and yet are constantly baffled and irritated by the initiations into what the adulthood entails. The Concept First Love In McEwan's short story First Love, Last Rites, he uses the two main characters Joey and Sissel to build the theme of love. By using the term first love, the author of the story refers to the initial sexual encounter between the two teenagers in the story (McEwan 117). The two are in the prime of lovemaking to an extent that they are not even able to clean their house. The concept of the first love refers to the fact that the act of lovemaking was absolutely new to the adolescents. In fact Sissel actually admits that, Everything about women was new to me. It was thus his first experience with sexuality. She says: it was new to me, all this . The thrilling and exciting experience of their love makes them exult in each others bodies. They make love passionately until their bodies are slack with this romantic encounter and discovery (McEwan 86). The true meaning of this first love can be pictured and so precisely illustrated by the fact that two spend all their time in making love with no work or school responsibilities (Jungmann 4). All they do is sharing a steamy romance in a lazy shack. They seem lost in their own private universe, moving through day-to-day life permanently joined at the hand and often mouth. They seem oblivious to the fact that they share the planet with other people. The only thing these lovers are abe to see is each other. The scenes spend plenty of time with the young lover to create an intense atmosphere of infatuation. Joey is a Brooklyn native who has left his home for Louisiana may be because he was kicked out of the borough for not developing an accent. Sissel also comes from a broken family. He r mother and father have split up for unspecific reasons. Joey plays Sissel with a mysterious detachment and a knowing whimsy that things wont last long, but the true motivation are never developed. Later, the two characters become unable to communicate with each other resulting in a heavy symbolic climax with a pesky rat. The book gives an intimate drama about the idyllic romance of two misfits and its inevitable sad aftermath. Dissecting on the essential and universal ingredients of first adolescent love, First Love is good at illustrating how initial thrills of freedom and lust gradually turn into confusion, fear and anxiety, particularly when the grand amour concerns innocent young stars. The effects of divorce on both parents and children are also conveyed effectively. The young couple is used effectively to show the fine line between intense and quiet feelings, sexual desire and alienation. The concept of Last Rites The word rite in the title can be taken to allude to the rights of passage that describes some rituals which help young persons in the process of initiation to take an adult status or adult roles (Jungmann 4). Last Rites is represented in McEwens story by two aspects. The first aspect is the fact that the narrator is experiencing sexuality for the first time. This reveals individual attempting to negotiate the tricky passage into sexual and social maturity (Ellam 11). The second is depicted in the transformations that occur in the actors ways of life. These aspects depict an initiation that seems to take the narrator and his friend from the adolescent to adulthood. From the beginning of the story the young lovers seem neither aware nor care about their external world. They isolate themselves in a room with no responsibility. All they care for is making love. However, they experience a significant change about their knowledge in the world and that of themselves and begin to adjust to fit in the society. First Love, Last Rites is told by a narrator at the brink of adulthood. They are at the age of eighteen and nineteen though with no responsibility. The narrator confesses that even the act of lovemaking was absolutely new to him. In fact Sissel also admits that about women was new to her. It was thus their first experience with sexuality. She says: it was new to me, all this. However, the major transformation in his relationship with the silent, guarded girlfriend later becomes strangely stagnant. The two lovers in First Love, Last Rites start to live in a simultaneously inert and decaying world. The narrator reports that Sissel grew tired of her records, and her foot rot spread from one foot to the other worsening their already smelly room. Their room begins to stink and they make love less. The rubbish from milk bottles, grey sweating cheese, butter rappers, yogurt cartons, over-ripe salami that they could not bring out themselves to carry away gathered around them. This condition brought us to a subplot about a large rat scratching on the wall of the lovers apartment, threatening to burst through at any minute. The rat can be interpreted to represent Joeys doubts about his relationship with Sissel. This means that at the end of the story, when he kills the rat, he is destroying his personal fears. The turn of events that leads to the transformation of the characters began when the couple begins to argue with one another. The feeling of mistrust and mutual frustration later tarnishes their passionate affair. Before long, Joey and Sissel stop making love and cease communicating on any level. However, the two seemed to have learnt after their encounter with a pregnant rat. Their transformation into adult world is revealed when the two later seem to be ready to take on their responsibility as adults and members of the larger society. Though Sissel is estranged from her parents, she now wants Joey to meet her father, Henry, a talkative Vietnam vet. She also cleanses their room which is a sign of taking on responsibility. Joey also agrees to meet Sissels father who insisted on knowing whether he sleeps with his daughter. Somehow, the two men became partners in a bizarre eel-catching business. This is a major transformation as the initially irresponsible and isolated adolescent takes on the role of the young adult. He begins to be responsible becoming relevant in the larger society. For a moment he found meaning to life and was excited. Generally, most of the stories in First Love, Last Rites can be described as stories of initiation. It is certainly the narrators fist experience of sexual intercourse in Homemade and Butterflies. The same is the case in Henrys induction into the confused world of adult games and sexuality and also in childhood friendship in Disguises. Even Last Day of Summer depicts a further initiation of the protagonist-narrator into the world of sadness and loss. All these descriptions point to a form of passage of rites. Buy custom "First Love" and "Last Rites" essay

HRM 2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

HRM 2 - Research Paper Example The firm seeks to improve the productivity of the staff to realize greater output at relatively low cost. This plan is in line with the policy recommended by their management team to improve the welfare of the employees for better organizational performance. Clinix is established on a strong foundation of the spirit of service to humanity and this explains its aim to provide a comfortable working environment for the workers and clients in line with efforts to realize quality healthcare provision as proposed by the contemporary campaign on the healthcare sector across the globe. The Human resource department is at the center of discussion in regards to the increasing pressure on it to develop mechanisms of enhancing employee performance. The HR management in this firm is also expected to seek highly skilled human capital that would deliver quality output to justify the wage bill and promote the organization and the public relationship. Successful attainment of these HR performance pro jections are pegged on the above mentioned organizational strategic plan. The current human resource practices in Clinix healthcare can be categorized at an average level. The organization has always been working on a contractual engagement of most of its staff especially the nurses as a strategy of pushing employees to perform if they are to have their contracts renewed. It is important to note that the HR has very stringent laws and punitive measures as far as workplace malpractices are concerned. Issues like unexplained absenteeism, bullying of co-workers, insubordination, and negligent behavior towards safety precaution stipulations of the organization are highly prohibited and can attract heavy penalties if committed to the limit of prosecution. Another critical practice of Clinix HR is its objection towards flexible working policy towards the staff. The only available flexible working option is for the nursing officers who are allowed to report on their duties in shifts. Other members of the workforce are strictly on 8.00 a.m to 5.00 p.m reporting policy. It is worth to note that this healthcare organization emphasizes on continuous and free communication between its staff and the top management for effective co-ordination of activities. The interest of the workers is fairly taken care of in terms of their health conditions, emotional status, and spiritual wellbeing. The HR has consistently been undertaking employee appraisal as an effort towards encouraging the staff members to pursue their career and boost the performance index of the firm. Being a healthcare organization, the HR absorbs staff on pure merit criteria to achieve its target of working with skilled manpower capable of measuring up to the competitive environment on which the organization operates. Clinix has consistently believed in internal control as a tool to ensure that the staff is doing the right thing all the time with the culture of integrity and accountability. The employees are ex pected to uphold ethical standards and strict adherence to legal framework on which the healthcare sector is based. There is an annual on-job training on how to manage stress in the workplace and professional approach towards interpersonal relationships between the workers and patients. The nursing profession is fairly

Reproductive Health as A Womans Issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reproductive Health as A Womans Issue - Essay Example Perhaps nowhere in the world today where every aspect of women’s reproductive health is heavily scrutinized than in that country. Which explains why it is worthy to take notice if such measure of improving women’s health is valid and re-examine our own stance with the arguments presented. There are two sides of the argument, according to pro-RH Bill â€Å"the reproductive health (RH) bill promotes information on and access to both natural and modern family planning methods, which are medically safe and legally permissible. It assures an enabling environment where women and couples have the freedom of informed choice on the mode of family planning they want to adopt based on their needs, personal convictions and religious beliefs. On the other side of the coin is the â€Å"the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines' Fr. Melvin Castro drew raised eyebrows when he said tubal ligation, a popular medical method involving the cutting women's Fallopian tubes to preve nt them from becoming pregnant again, is considered as a sin by the church (Philippine Daily Inquirer).

Essay qustions Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Qustions - Essay Example The health system is a formal and orderly process made to function through the expertise and corresponding functions of health professionals involved in the care of patients. 3. HIV prevention mainly relates to health education. There is no other way to prevent HIV than by the education of the people about the disease, its causes, mode of transmission, and means of prevention. HIV prevention involves the active process of informing other people – children, adolescents, and adults – about the disease and how they can avoid getting it and how they can prevent its spread. This process can entail involving oneself in lectures in schools and health centers; making posters, pamphlets, and other educational materials on HIV and posting or making such materials available in schools, clinics, health centers, town halls, pharmacies, and other public institutions. 4. Informatics health is the process of digitizing the health system or process. It is about bringing health care services and the system online and accessible to the public. Informatics health is about using computers in data entry in hospitals and other health care institutions. It is about using such data to make a more dynamic and technologically updated process in health care delivery. My motivation in life and in enrolling in this course is my need to prove that learning can occur and can still happen at any age or stage of one’s life. I also want to learn more and to learn as much as I can about the practice and about the innovations available in the practice. Learning is a powerful motivator for me because it is a very engaging and invigorating process for me. I managed to attain a Bachelor Degree in Laboratory Medicine in the year 2005-2006 and I followed that with a year of internship in a hospital. Such internship enabled me to acquire practical experience. It taught me numerous skills – skills that I was not able to gain in my classes. In order to enhance my

European Construction and Property Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

European Construction and Property - Essay Example The first part of this report attempts to assess the scope and value of the Bulgarian construction market comparing it with the UK. The second part of the report focuses on the scope for service integrators or managers that manage the operational service procurement for their customers in the construction industry, especially in the residential and office building sector. Bulgaria is situated in the South-East Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula, and is one of the oldest European states. To the south it borders with the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Greece, to the west - with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Danube River is the natural north border with the Republic of Romania, and to the east Bulgaria borders on the Black Sea. It is characterized by an extremely varied terrain: huge plains and lowlands, high and low mountains, plateaus, caves, basins and gorges. The lowest altitude is 0 metres (at Black Sea), the highest altitude is 2925 metres (the peak of Mussala in the Rila mountain). It has favourable position in terms of location from national and international perspective, and easy accessibility by air, rail and road. Encompassing just 2 % ... Bulgaria is a country of tranquil, ecologically clean, distinctive places of interest, where one can be absorbed by the traditional Bulgarian customs and culture at the same time. Capital Sofia (pop. 1.2 million) is a vibrant city thriving on expansion, architectural buildings and deep respect for multi-cultural diversity. The Black Sea coastal stretch faces east and extends over 378 km, its seawater clean and not tidal and its vast beaches covered with fine golden sand. The majority of Bulgaria beaches have been awarded the EU Blue Flag for their environmental excellence. The conditions for investments in the real estates sphere in Bulgaria have never been better. Bulgaria is a country of unlimited possibilities and it is the time to be first. Bulgaria is the newest hot destination for the real estate market in Europe. CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN BULGARIA - AN OVERVIEW Over 36,000 construction companies are registered in Bulgaria, 2,400 of which can be classified as medium and a few as large-sized. The volume of building and construction activities amounts to 2,500 million Euros per annum and the industry has a 5 % share in Bulgaria's GDP, which is expected to double over the next two years. Estimated annual growth is 15%. The sector employs some 120,000 people. Smaller companies have tended to merge into large joint-stock companies and consortiums, particularly seeking foreign technologies and management expertise. Bulgaria has been receiving large amount of donor aid and PHARE/ ISPA funds for infrastructure projects, the implementation of some of which will continue until 2008. Major road/ railroad, waste disposal, water/waste-water and landslide stabilisation projects are expected to be

Diversity And Equality In Workplace Commerce Essay

Diversity And Equality In Workplace Commerce Essay According to the Yearbook of Statistics Singapore 2012, the main ethnic group in Singapore consisting of Singapore Residents and Permanent Residents are Chinese, Malays, Indians and Others. Figure Statistics for Ethnic Groups in Singapore (June 2011) Under Part IV, Act 12 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, stated that 12.-(1) All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law. (2) Except as expressly authorised by this Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against citizens of Singapore on the ground only of religion, race, descent or place of birth in any law or in the appointment to any office or employment under a public authority or in the administration of any law relating to the acquisition, holding or disposition of property or the establishing or carrying on of any trade, business, profession, vocation or employment. Diversity and equality in workplace are important to maintain a safe and comfortable working environment for all. Diversity Diversity is generally defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status (Esty, et al., 1995). Each individual person comes with the visible and non-visible differences and through respecting the dissimilarities would make each of them feel valued for their efforts which is valuable not only for the individual but for the organization. Equality Equality can be described as breaking down barriers, eliminating discrimination and ensuring equal opportunity and access for all groups both in employment, and to goods and services; the basis of which is supported and protected by legislation. Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly states that All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Some other definitions of Equality are: Equality is simply a quest for sameness in all aspects of social life. (Dunleavy, 1989) Equally talented people have an equal chance of attaining them fair equality of opportunity' (Sachs, 2011) However, due to the face that there is no correct or one specific definition of equality, there are many limitations to the policies being implemented. Equality can cover over a broad area such as gender rights, age, race, culture, religion, beliefs and etc. Importance Importance of Diversity Diversity in the workplace can reduce lawsuits and increase marketing opportunities, recruitment, creativity, and business image (Esty, et al., 1995) However, when an organization focuses only on results and ignoring the importance of having a diverse team, communication and trust can break down, resulting in lower performance. Importance of Equality It is important to have equality policies enforce in workplace to ensure that all employees have the same rights as each other regardless of any differences in gender, age, religion, language and disability. Equality will also create a more favorable environment by promoting a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ as they are given equal opportunities to improve themselves. Limitations Limitations towards diversity policies According to (Mayhew, Demand Media), the challenges related to receptiveness to training and prioritizing hiring decisions based on diversity can transform those challenges into disadvantages. Negative behaviors and attitudes can be barriers to organizational diversity because they can damage working relationships and bring down morale and work productivity (Esty, et al., 1995). Workplace diversity creates opportunities for organizations to get a wider perspective on business situations and to improve global reach, but it does often create some negative impacts in the company (Kokemuller, Demand Media). Common negative impacts arise are: Unresolved Conflict Staff that comes from different cultural and backgrounds have dissimilar perspectives and opinions in handling issues or concerns that emerges. An incapability to observe where the other person is arriving from can forbid effective resolution of conflicts. When employees feel that they cannot reach to an agreement in conflict, the tendency to give up and simply let ill feelings fester can create a pessimistic behaviour. Poor Communication If an organization has employees from different backgrounds with different languages, communication can prove to be difficult. However, a number of filters can forbid meaningful and clear communication between staff and employees. It is vital that organizations educate employees on cultural differences in the attempt to encourage them to freely converse their diverse viewpoints on things as opposed to generating conflict. Turnover A considerable bottom line result of poor management of diversity is the case of high turnover as they are displeased with the working environment. The replacing of employees lost to feelings of discontent is expensive as the organization has to pay to hire and teach replacements. Businesses will risks losing top talents to rivals unless the organization makes available a safe and inspiring culture where employees from diverse backgrounds are treated fairly. Limitations towards equality differences Although having equality among employees, the organization may still find it difficult to establish a perfect equality workplace for all. There are limitations in having equal opportunities due to internal and external factors. Poor Implementation Lack of awareness of the laws being executed can lead to poor implementation by organization and the managers. Poor implementation can also be attributed to the presences of deeply ingrained negative attitudes and gender stereotypes, which cannot be uprooted through legislation alone. (Spehar, 2011) Limited implementation can happen due to the development of bureaucratic responses that focus only to comply with the duty rather than removing the inequality in question. Lack of support Managing equality in the Organization cannot be carried out by the Organization and managers alone. In addition, with the lack of support from the Government, weak equal treatment bodies, shortcomings in judiciary together with the lack of support from the Organization itself, where there are no consensus, no single position being defended or attacked; it is difficult for equality policies to be carried out. Lack of clarity The lack of clarity can lead to confusion among the employee. If the Organization does not successfully and clearly communicate their equality policies or the definitions of equality, and without the proper identification of what kind of equality is desirable, equality of whom all of humanity or members of particular political society it can bring the whole equality agenda into disrepute. The lack of general agreement of equality can cause employee to be uninterested in equality within their communities. Religion and Beliefs Many religion and beliefs exist in an Organization for e.g. Christianity, Buddhist, Jewish, Communism, Marxism, and Socialism. Although some may understand religion in a more communal and cultural way, there are others that are not particularly agreeable to the idea of equality. Some religion might be hostile to equality on grounds of sex and sexual orientations, believing that men should enjoy headship over women, homosexuality is sinful. (Vickers, 2011) This can be problematic as well. Discrimination or disadvantage can be experienced regardless of individual beliefs, because of group identity18. (Vickers, 2011) Different values in equality S. Temkin (2011) stated that many argue for equality and in so doing think of themselves as opposing non-egalitarianism because they favour significant redistribution from the better- to worst off. The reasons they have for favouring such redistribution vary markedly, and may have nothing to do with a concern for equality itself. Managers can get confused with the meaning of equality and therefore think that the action they carry out will be beneficial to the employees where in actual fact, they might be doing the wrong thing. Lack of proper training The types of training method taught will affect the way managers react in situations. They might be unaware of the complexity of the issue and are uncertain on how to deal with it as they may not be trained using a variety of situations. Population Size The size of the population affected by the policy of equality matters due to the fact that more parties involve means more attention needs to be given to each individual. A complete equality is difficult to attain in a society that is marked by diversity is that people in such a society come attached to groups. This can result in difficulty to maintain both individual equality and group equality. (Kukathas, 2002) Lack of positive messages from senior level within the authority Even if the Organization has a policy on equality, it would be deem useless if there is no positive influence from the senior management with positive commitment to equality in practice. Culture of Organization Different Organization has different cultures. These cultures will affect how equality is being implemented internally. Is the Organization culture a heavily masculine workplace culture or feminine collaboration culture? This can have an effect on some managers that are genuinely interested in becoming more equal with the other groups in society, but are hampered by its very nature of cultural structure. Presence of Diversity Diversity presents a serious problem for equality. The existence of diversity is not only inescapable, but also reflective of the fact that people pursue the good life collectively but in different ways, not all of which value equality in the same way, or at all. If diversity is to be accepted, then equality must be abandoned as the situation might become too complex. (Kukathas, 2002) Obstacles Obstacles resulting from diversity policies For policies to be effectual in promoting the acceptance of workforce diversity by the company it is required to understand the obstacles to its implementation for diversity. CESS (2003) suggests that, with the other forms of investment into new human resource policies, there will be two groups of implementations to workforce diversity policies: Internal obstacles they are distinct to individual organizations and developed from attitudinal, institutional, cultural, and historic elements within individual enterprises. In spite of this, many groups of organizations may face the same types of obstacles. Its been identified that there are some internal obstacles which have the possibility to prevent the implementations of diversity policies within individual organizations Awareness among managers there may be some who lacks the knowledge of the business advantages of a diversity workforce and the implementation to make changes to be effective. Attitudes within some organizations there may have negative behaviors towards the emergence of a diverse workforce in the midst of significant groups of staff or managers. This may reflect on a wider resistance to all major changes in the context of HR processes and policies. Additionally, there may be already well-established work cultures that create indirect discrimination and which employees are unwilling to change. Economics there may be apparent economic reasons that affects why some businesses are unwilling to invest in the establishment of a diversity workforce. On the other hand, furthermore disadvantage of investing in diversity programs is that intangibles are significantly more difficult to manage than tangible assets. Thus, these obstacles make it difficult to measure benefits and therefore to undertake traditional investment evaluation processes. Resources some organizations lacks the key resources necessary to implement changes required to emerge a diversity workforce. Such resources include monetary cash, management time, managerial experiences, external advices, and the leadership and competence of senior managers. External obstacles these are developed from regional or national factors, such as the institutional networks, attitudes/culture, and regulatory components. They affect large groups of organizations in similar ways. The implementation of diversity workforce policies by organizations may serve complications to accomplish because of wider and broad attitudinal and cultural factors in certain countries or regions. Potential causes include national cultures that concentrate on the incorporation of ethnic groups rather than on the acceptance of multi-culturalism. 3.2 Obstacles resulting from diversity policies (Maybe can put in point form like Ben and add a few more points?) There are a few obstacles leading from the implementation of equality policies. Firstly, the Organization may feel obligated to hire someone of different race and gender even though their skills or talent may not be ideal for the Organization. This is to ensure an equal number of individuals from each race or ethnicity. Secondly, due to the fact that there are many equality laws or policies being passed, employees might feel that the Government or Organization is trying to intrude in their working lives to ensure workplace equality. What is to be done? Diversity An application to provide support to the process of implementation of diversity management in organizations is by adopting the diversity management setup (diversityatwork.net). It provides support in two main ways: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ It details a 5 phase procedure on how to implement a diversity management program in the organization; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ the setup support for each of the action to carry out during the implementation of a diversity management program in the organization. It is best to regard the development of diversity management policy in the organization as an assignment or project. It is vital to establish support for the project, analyze the requirements and opportunities, developing own solutions and then implement the project as it progresses. The setup provides the organization with a set of methods, information and skills which have been created to simplify the process of a diversity management implementation. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Phase 1 Given the lack of awareness of diversity management, it is fundamental that the diversity management project is inserted into the mainstream of the organizational activities as smooth as possible. Additionally, setting up the procedure should include using the best practices from project management skills. These approaches are demonstrated in the four activities of this phase Campaigning support and determining potential stakeholders, examine the degree of the problem, establishing diversity management structures and attaining agreement on taking place with the process. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Phase 2 This phase is essential to the diversity management project as it establishes the current practices and the problems and opportunities in the organization for managing diversity. The success of this phase depends on factors, which most important of these is the participation of employees. To ensure participation, they need to be well briefed about the project and its actions, the reason that it is being undertaken and how will they stand to benefit from it. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Phase 3 In this phase, solutions are being generated to tackle problems and opportunities known in the previous phase. The objectives of this phase is to evaluate the problems and needs that has been identified and to use creative skills to suggest a set of solutions which are then prioritized and established into a diversity management plan. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Phase 4 This phase manages issues that are related to implementing diversity management activities in the organization. With the diversity management program plan developed in the previous phase, the team is required to decide which activities to be financed and to start developing during the initial year of the implementation program. It should be clear what the aims and objectives are and how to meet them, who is going to do what, when and how. Encouraging employees for participation and to deal with possible resistance during implementation must also be put into consideration. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Phase 5 The activities undertaken during this phase the monitoring and evaluation of the diversity management project provides the foundation for assessing the overall value of the project and for making necessary recommendations for changes in the future. Monitoring the phases would allow the user to moderate how well the activities worked in that phase, while results from the evaluation exercise are helpful in providing feedbacks to employees and management on the difficulties and successes faced in the project. Alternative Approaches Another approach towards implementation of diversity management is the transformative approach (Cockburn, 1991) which is required to challenge organisational structures, therefore enabling diverse perspectives to influence organisational activity (Bendick et al., 2001). This will resemble an effective and learning approach where both the differentiation and integration of individuals is acknowledged (Thomas and Ely, 1996), thus identifying value in bringing differences together to generate continuous development. However, diversity literature puts slight emphasis on the distinction between legislative knowledge and the knowledge of putting legislations into practice. Briefly, knowledge that is easily quantifiable and can be stored is regularly termed as hard knowledge and the knowledge which is less quantifiable and cannot be easily stored is referred as soft knowledge (Hildreth and Kimble, 2002). One of the possibilities highlighted as being a method through which the diverse perspectives and soft knowledge in the workforce can be coupled is by the use of informal staff networking, which generates interactions and provides the organisation with a mechanism within which to generate improvements as well as new initiatives and ideas (Kandola, 2004). CASE STUDY NTUC FairPrice Food and Service How FairPrice have been successful in implementing diversity and equality policies in workplace. CASE STUDY 1: NTUC FAIRPRICE (Food and Service) From a single supermarket in Toa Payoh, FairPrice has grown to become one of Singapores leading retailers, with more than 100 supermarkets, 7000 employees and 2.8 million customers per week. FairPrice also operate in 6 different store formats (FairPrice Supermarkets, FairPrice Finest, FairPrice Xtra, FairPrice Xpress, Cheers and FairPrice Online), a Fresh Food Distribution Centre and a centralised warehousing and distribution company, Global Logistics of Singapore Pte Ltd. Beyond Singapore, FairPrice has also recently entered into a joint venture to open a hypermarket chain in Vietnam. Workplace Equality A number of commitments shape a Great Workplace agenda. Looking into one of the commitment where FairPrice promotes workplace equality: Promoting an open communications culture to support a tolerant workplace free from discrimination with regard to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disabilities, age, marital status and social background As one of the leading supermarkets in Singapore, FairPrice wants to be the Best Place to Shop and the Best Place to Work. This commitment stated shows that FairPrice values workplace equality and wants their staff to be aware that they will not allow any discrimination. And by doing so, they can achieve a harmonious working environment. FairPrice believes that if they work in a desirable environment, their employees will be motivated and inspired, leading them to deliver professionalism and teamwork when working, and most importantly creating a customer focus team. With the commitments kept in mind, FairPrice proved themselves by achieving the most number of awards at the National Excellent Service Award (EXSA)  [1]  for 3 years straight (2009-2011). This can only be possible when FairPrice creates an excellent working environment and treating each employee equally. This will inspire more employees to aim for the best when they work. Workplace Diversity FairPrice believe that their stores should reflect the communities they serve, and that included the people who work there. The diversity policy that FairPrice enforced in their workplace strives their employee to work hard. The management looks into recruitment, language training and flexible working practices in particular, to ensure that all employees have the same opportunity to succeed with us regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disabilities, age, marital status or social background. Shown in the diagrams below are ways in which FairPrice manage diversity in their company: FairPrice hires staff from all four major ethnic groups from Singapore and kept a balance of full-timers and part-timer in their company. Moreover, 90% of the workforce consist of Singaporeans, leaving10% opportunity open to foreign workers and the company also emphasizes on gender equality. Active Aging project Of particular note is FairPrice effort in recruiting seniors aged 60 and above as Customer Relations Officers (CROs) at some of the stores in conjunction of its newly launched Active Aging Project. By launching this project, FairPrice aims to promote a more active lifestyle for those aged over 60. These CROs main role is to assist customers with their needs or enquiries, or simply chat with the customers to gather feedback and suggestions. Seah Kian Peng, chief executive of FairPrice, believes that seniors have very good skills, and by staying active they are able to use their time meaningfully and added that older workers are ideal employees because they offer stability and experience. This project that FairPrice launched, shows that they are willing to accept employee regardless of age and promotes diversity and equal working opportunities for everyone. CASE STUDY anf Retail Abercrombie Fitch failure to manage diversity well within the organization. Case Study 2: Abercrombie Fitch (Retail Industry) Abercrombie Fitch, an American clothing retailer which focuses on casual wear targets mainly consumers aged 18-22 has more than 700 stores in the States and has been expanding its market internationally. The management team responsible for the implementation of the diversity policy to ensure that equal treatments are being addressed in the organization only focus on employing a diverse workforce but pay little attention when coming to the application of the diversity policy. Below are 2 examples of Abercrombie Fitch incapability of diversity management. Example 1 In 2009, Riam Dean, a 22 year old who was born without a left forearm sued Abercrombie Fitch for disability discrimination after being told not work on the shop floor unless she took off the cardigan as she was breaking the firms look policy. Being excluded from her main job role which requires her to be on the shop floor due to her disability simply shows discrimination from the company towards Riam. The tribunal has found in Riams favour on Abercrombie and Fitch harassment and failure to make reasonable adjustments towards her. Riam won the disability claim of  £8,013 against the company for loss of earnings and wrongful dismissal. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/woman-with-prosthetic-arm-forced-to-work-out-of-sight-in-storeroom-1718041.html Example 2 In a 2004 lawsuit  Gonzà ¡lez v. Abercrombie Fitch, the company was accused of discriminating against African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and women by preferentially offering floor sales positions and store management positions to the whites and men. Abercrombie Fitch agreed to the settlement of the class case suit which not only requires the company to pay up to $40 million and also to set up a range of policies and actions required to promote diversity among its workforce and to prevent discrimination based on race, gender, nationality or physical disability. Below are some of the initiatives that Abercrombie Fitch have to comply to promote diversity within the company; Abercrombie marketing materials will reflect diversity by including members of minority racial and ethnic groups. Advertising of available positions in publications targeting minorities of both genders. Benchmarks for hiring and promotion of women, Latinos, African Americans, and Asian Americans. These benchmarks are goals, rather than quotas, and Abercrombie will be required to report on its progress toward these goals at regular intervals. A new Office and Vice President of Diversity, responsible for reporting to the CEO on Abercrombies progress toward fair employment practices. Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Training for all employees with hiring authority http://www.afjustice.com/index.htm Abercrombie Fitchs legal cases of discrimination had resulted in unfair treatment in the workplace and requirement process. The cases dictate that people with same qualification do not get the job at Abercrombie Fitch because of their physical outlooks, race or gender and this may hinder the companys competitive advantage over its competitors as talents of the diverse population are not being utilised due to the lack of enforcement on diversity management. However, since the start of the initiative, Abercrombie Fitch has made significant focus on diversity and inclusion; Diversity and inclusion are key to our organizations success. We are determined to have a diverse culture, throughout our organization, that benefits from the perspective of each individual. As of April 30th, 2010, vase improvement in the diversity of the in-store staff can be seen; The in-store workforce, as a whole is 50.22% people of color, The in-store models are 48.44% people of color, The in-store managers-in-training are 41.04% people of color. http://sg.abercrombie.com/anf/careers/diversity.html People in general has very broad range of differences in their needs and an interest that needs to be managed well hence treating everyone the same way may not work to avoid the conflict. Therefore it is important that the management not only needs to be aware of what diversity is about but also managing diversity and equality well in an organization in order help to tackle the issue on the fair treatments and discrimination at work place. Lastly, organizations that are able to manage the workforce diversity well will have a competitive edge as they are able to maximize the potential of the team through their diverse talent and background. As stated by Terence Swee, the chief executive of Muvee Technologies; You need to be made of the world to sell to the world. Terence Swee, Chief executive officer of Muvee Technologies (Singapore-based Software Company) : http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/Pages/WDM.aspx (DONT KNOW IF THIS PART IS RELEVANT, IF ITS NOT JUST REMOVE K THANKS) (: What can be done by companies to ensure that diversity and equality is not only being preach but also practice at the workplace? Management needs to put in place necessary channels to enable employees to raise any concerns regarding unfair treatments or discrimination so that necessary actions towards unfair treatment can be rectify. Support from management to implement the right practices. Reduce workplace tension that arises from the different demographics of employees by not limiting benefits to any one particular group. Ensure that management role has a clear understanding on what managing diversity is about in order to promote equality in the workplace. Diversity and equality must be lodged in the heart of any organization serious about implementing the policy. As Ng and Burke (2005) states that the best educated and most able are attracted to an environment that embodies diversity and equality. Therefore, company should implement and follow-thru the diversity and equality policies in order to ensure that equal opportunity exists for everyone. Diversity and equality training and education play an important role in avoiding potential failure of diversity initiatives, Wentling (2004). REFERENCING Anderson and Metcalfe. (2005). Managing diversity: linking theory and practice to business performance. Available: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/research/managing-diversity-business-performance.aspx Last accessed 7th Aug 2012. Badici, Emil. (2011). Standards of Equality and Humes View of Geometry. Pacific Philosophy Quarterly . 92 (1), p448-467. Bendick, M. Jr, Egan, M.L. and Lofhjelm, S.M. (2001), Workforce diversity training: from anti-discrimination compliance to organizational development, Human Resource Planning, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 10-25. Centre for Strategy Evaluation Services . (2003). Methods and Indicators to Measure the CostEffectiveness of Diversity Policies in Enterprises. Available: http://edz.bib.uni-mannheim.de/daten/edz-ath/gdem/03/cbfullrep_en.pdf Last accessed 8 Aug 2012. Cockburn, C. (1991), In the Way of Women: Mens Resistance to Sexual Equality in Organizations, Macmillan, London. Dunleavy, Patrick. (1989). The Concept of Equality in Policy Analysis. Journal of Theoretical Politics. 1 (2), p213-248. Hildreth, P.M. and Kimble, C. (2002), The duality of knowledge, Information Research, Vol. 8 No. 1, paper No. 142, available at: http://InformationR.net/ir/8-1/paper142.html (accessed 28 May 2010) Lawsuit  Gonzà ¡lez v. Abercrombie Fitch (2004) http://www.afjustice.com/index.htm Kandola, B. (2004), Skills development: the missing link in increasing diversity in leadership, Industrial Commercial Training, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 143-7. Kukathas, Chandran. (2002). Equality and diversity. Politics, Philosophy and Economics. 1 (2), p185-212. Ng, E.S.W. and Burke, R.J. (2005), Person-organization fit and the war for talent: does diversity management make a difference?, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 16 No. 7, pp. 1195-211. Rawls, J. (1971). A theory of justice. Cambridge: The Belknap Press Riam Dean (2009) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/woman-with-prosthetic-arm-forced-to-work-out-of-sight-in-storeroom-1718041.html S. Temkin, Larry. (2001). Inequality: A Complex, Individualistic, and Comparative Notion. Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy. 13 (11), p327-353. Sabrina Zolkifi. (2011). NTUC FairPrice Keeps Older Workers Active. Available: http://www.marketing- interactive.com/news/24824. Last accessed 15th Sept 2012. Singapore Government. (1965). CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE. Available: http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/aol/search/display/v